How Master Barber Taylor Tee became South Florida’s top Micro-Pigmentation Specialist.
Today I sat down with the founder of Premier Hair Tattoo, Taylor Tee for a Q&A:
What motivates Mr. Taylor Tee?
“Being a husband and a father is what motivates me to succeed a million times more than anyone else.
I’ve been blessed to have my best friend Regla as a wife, who is always by my side, and keeps me in check the few times I get off track.
My kids fuel a fire in me, every time I look into their eyes. All the hard work I do is worth it, just knowing that they’ll grow up financially secure and happy, unlike my childhood.”
Tell me a little about your childhood.
“I was born in Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, FL and was raised in East Hollywood, Florida.
My alcoholic dad was always so drunk that he couldn’t talk for the majority of my youth. My mom was a great mother, but couldn’t teach me much about becoming a man.
My oldest brother was the only person I looked up to and always wanted to make proud. Unfortunately he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
By the age of 13, I was own my own, with no direction, learning everything at my own expense.
Luckily, at age 16, an older, street-smart friend of mine named, “Cheese” became my brother, my role model, and the person that would mold me into the strong man I am today.”
You’ve been a barber for most of your life. What got you started?
“At age 15, I dropped out of school to make money, and started cutting hair in a barbershop in Fort Lauderdale, FL called, “Klean Cuts.”
It took balls to be the only white boy there, but cutting hair was my passion, eventually I was accepted, and I continued working there for 3 years.
I learned a lot working at that shop. One day, after seeing me rush through some haircuts, one of the older guys that ran the shop pulled me aside and told me that no matter what I decide to do in life, once I choose to do it, I have to do it the best I can, or to not accept the job at all, because my name and face is connected to the work. That never left my head, and has been a huge factor in the way I do everything.”
How did your career in SMP begin?
“One day, while cutting a client’s hair, I was asked if I liked the way his hair looked. It looked great, so I asked him, “Did you dye your hair? He laughed, and said, “No, It’s a tattoo.” I was amazed. I had used so many methods on a daily basis to help conceal bald spots on my clients, but this looked the best and was permanent.
As I began looking into SMP, becoming a Micro-pigmentation Specialist was a no brainer. I had been cutting the hair of 10-30 people a day for 20 years, while helping many of them hide their bald spots, and I tattooed for 4 years in my early 20’s, so SMP was a perfect fit for me.
There’s only so much you can do with client that barely has hair as a barber, but in the world of hair tattoo, a person can once again have a full head of hair.
After practicing for a month on melons, I asked my brother in-law if I could do his head. He said yes, and after seeing how amazing the first session came out, and how happy he and his wife was, I was hooked, and an SMP artist was born.
Once I decided that this was the career for me, the transition was easy. I had a contact list of over a thousand clients that came to me regularly for haircuts, so I began contacting the ones I knew could use the service. After a couple of calls, I was booked for the week.
After posting before and after photos of my clients on social media I was slammed with appointments for the next 3 months. The company name Premier Hair Tattoo began to spread, and the rest is history from there.”
What other goals have you set for yourself?
“The goal with Premier Hair Tattoo is for the business to go global, with offices everywhere throughout the world. Each center will not only provide micro-pigmentation services, but will also have SMP certification courses.
As far as passions go, I’ve had the luxury of training Mixed Martial Arts alongside the elite UFC fighters in the world famous American Top Team Academy. I’m currently a Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, and Sambo student and competitor, and plan to continue training the arts for as long as my body allows.
But my main priority is family. To always be the best husband I can be, and to continue transferring all the knowledge that I’ve accumulated to my kids. All of it, from my life experiences, martial arts training, hair cutting, SMP, life survival skills, and everything else I’ve picked up along the way.”
Is there a personal quote you’d like to end with?
“Whatever you do in life, do it the 100% best you can, never half-assing anything. If you’re not going to give it your all, don’t do it.”
Follow Premier Hair Tattoo:
Facebook.com/PremierHairTattoo
Instagram.com/PremierHairTattoo
And visit the official website of Premier Hair Tattoo: