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A barbershop in Denver offers more than the usual shave and a haircut. It also gives the barbers a second chance. Here's Ryan Warner with Colorado Public Radio.
RYAN WARNER, BYLINE: Sun pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows at R&R Head Labs on Colfax, a main drag through Denver. Blue vinyl barber chairs with chrome accents glimmer. No real way to tell this is a mission-driven business until you speak with its founder, Jamie Repenning.
JAMIE REPENNING: We're hiring people that have so much experience. In spite of maybe not having a license, they've been cutting hair for years.
WARNER: That experience comes from their time in prison.
REPENNING: If you think about it, there's hair growing in every prison on the planet, meaning there's barbers in every prison on the planet. Typically, they're sort of homegrown. They're learning from the other folks around them. There's not always a training program, but we're hiring from a really talented pool of barbers.
WARNER: And then getting them that training and, eventually, a license. Repenning, who's 50, knows the business. Before starting R&R, he ran a fast-growing franchise - Floyd's Barbershop, locations in more than a dozen states. But it was much earlier in his career that the seed for this was planted. At 22, he ran a recycling company and hired an equipment operator named Angelo.
REPENNING: All I knew about him was he was in a halfway house. And I grew up pretty sheltered, and I didn't know what that meant. I think it means he's been in trouble. Call him the next day and say, hey, Angelo, I'm excited to tell you that you've got the job. We loved you. And he says, well, hang on. I just need to tell you something. I've been in prison for the last 28 years. I murdered my best friend in a drug deal when I was 18. You know, quickly thought, well, that kind of freaks me out. I don't know what to expect, but I've already decided I liked him. He already decided to be incredibly honest with me about certainly the most embarrassing part of his life. I wasn't going to move the goalpost on him.
WARNER: Repenning's preconceptions melted away. Now, at R&R, he's providing more second chances, hoping to keep people from returning to prison by giving them a job - people like 47-year-old apprentice barber James Canody. A return customer is in his chair, getting a monthly buzz. Canody says without this gig...
JAMES CANODY: I think I would still be scrambling, trying to figure out where I belong.
WARNER: Canody has been in and out of prison, serving a total of 18 1/2 years - and this time, feeling proud of himself.
CANODY: I feel like there's a purpose. You know, opposed to last time, I feel like I just got out and kind of had to, you know, figure out how to blend into society the best way I could.
WARNER: Who else is proud of you?
CANODY: My mother.
WARNER: Your mom?
CANODY: My mother, yeah. My mother says it all the time. She just really wants for things just to continue to go well for me. And it really matters to her, so I'm happy for her that this is happening.
WARNER: As Canody comes into his own, R&R founder Jamie Repenning envisions a network of these mission-driven shops. But the cuts, he says, have to be solid.
REPENNING: You will only draw so many people if it's mission-based. Then how much risk do you want to take with your hair?
WARNER: For now, there's just one R&R location, with nine apprentice barbers - most who served time in prison or whose relatives have. Others are returning veterans. For NPR News, I'm Ryan Warner in Denver.
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