JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At Urban Elite Barber Shop, the sound of clippers, music and conversation fills the room. Barbers say the chair isn’t just where people come for a haircut — it’s where they open up about what’s going on in their lives.
“It’s important because people be going through things,” barber Kevin Cornelius said. “And you never know what a person is going through.”
And that is why during Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month, local educator and author Gail Carter-Cade visited the shop to launch what she calls the “Uplifting The Pain…Now Barbershop Initiative,” an effort to place resources in barbershops across Jacksonville to help spark conversations about mental health and emotional wellness.
“We uncover the challenge… once we understand we can uplift you and get you the help,” Carter-Cade said.
Carter-Cade said she chose barbershops because they’re trusted community spaces where men and boys already talk — often about topics they might not bring up elsewhere.
Barbers at Urban Elite said those conversations are part of the job, whether they expected it or not.
School the Barber described the barbershop as a place where people feel comfortable sharing what’s on their mind.
“I wouldn’t compare it to a Catholic church but it’s the same concept,” he said. “You come pour out your feelings or you talk to somebody in confidence or you just know somebody’s going to listen.”
Kevin Cornelius has been a barber for 15 years. He said he never expected to connect with so many people.
“I thought I was just going to be quiet to cut hair and make my money,” he said. “But you find yourself really talking with the person and getting to know them and doing a lot of counseling. That’s the big part about it. Feeling like you’re a therapist most of the time.”
Carter-Cade said the she is working with shops to place her book where visitors can access it. She said book’s poetry format can help people start a conversation when they’re not sure how to say what they’re feeling.
“Because for some strange reason we feel that that’s taboo and that we shouldn’t talk about it,” she said. “But we have to build that awareness.”
Barbers told News4JAX that even small moments — a laugh, a check-in, a chance to be heard — can change how someone walks out the door.
“You may not even know that you actually help somebody,” Champion the Barber said. “You may not know because some people don’t like to just open up and say stuff. But if there’s a conversation in the air, they may be going through something unbeknownst to everybody else and you may get the advice that you’ve been looking for.”
Carter-Cade said her hope is that the initiative keeps the conversation going — not just during June, but year-round — in places where people already gather and talk.