My name is Shaka Price. I am 43 years of age and am a professional licensed cosmetologiest who specialized in hair care. I have been cutting hair for over 25 years now and know what I’m doing with your hairs. I give good home based conversations and solutions to many situations as well as haircuts.
I welcome you. We welcome you at YugoCuts!
Let’s start with this story by honoring 3 inspirational people that drove me to a level that is currently climbing to the highest of all-time barbering on the north side of Chicago. The late great Ricardo Arnold, Roger Smith, and Johnny Price. Uncle Johnny used to cut my hair when I was 9 years old. I watched him paint different art as well. I thought it was amazing how one man used his mind to create whatever he wanted with his hands. I always wanted to be an artist or an architect growing up. Creating things became a habit of nature to me. I didn’t finish my passion as an artist because I saw a better artist than me. And as far as becoming an architect, I had fear in trigonometry and calculus which is needed to design the blueprint of buildings and houses.
AT 13 years old I started practicing with my 11-year-old brother cutting his hair, creating different designs and cuts as I love art anyways. As time went on I started charging the neighborhood kids $5 then $7. By the time I was 15 I had clients all around. Including Gang members. My first lock-up for drugs was one-month probation. I was 17 and needed a job fast after being released This is when I met Roger Smith. Smitty’s barbershop, which is Rog’s late father’s name became the home of my being and understanding where I wanted to be. Drugs and alcohol became a power that I created for fuel to move forward. This is when I fell into the violent world creating an image of someone I really was trying to avoid. Moving to Mississippi where my mom was located because of her past love stayed there. I took a chance at that life. For two years I stayed there but kept avoiding my purpose as a barber. Working for companies and not satisfied with results. I stop working. Trouble followed me again or should I say I followed it. Growing up in a church encouraged me to find myself, along with 4 years and 2 months in prison. Reading and cutting hair in prison supported the growth of who I am today. As I finally moved back from Mississippi to Chicago in 2003 February I lived with my cousin Nicole for a few years. Working for Rog again gave me confidence and my purpose support. This is when I met Ricardo Arnold. He had two shops on the north side of Chicago. The first brown man male barbershop on the northside of Chicago. As he sold his businesses and worked with Roger, he gave me the encouragement to open my own shop and finished out the support steps and tools for the beginning of Yugo Cuts. By then I was married with 2 kids and a stepchild I had no control over being married at 25 years old. 13 years later I filed for divorce. Getting a divorce was hard but necessary. Two people drinking in the same house every day was bound to end soon. By this time I had My first barbershop in 2012. California Touch. I named it that because the shop was on California avenue up north. I started with 3 barbers. The shop was packed! The business was booming. We were in a lower level for 2 years. Floods started to happen. It came to the point where we stopped our clippers just to clean the floods. I knew something had to be done. I found a storefront on the same street but on the corner of the ally. 5 times as big and only $100 more! In 2016 the business was moved and became an entity. The business was doing well. I have given the barbershop a facelift 4 times already since then. I started falling in love with island trips. And that is where I met my wife Ashley Daniela Reyes Veras, now Price, in the Dominican Republic in September of 2019. I visited monthly along with getting married a month after knowing her. I did not want to waste time. 3 months later covid 19 came. I was forced to move into my barbershop after losing all 6 of my employees. I continued to take showers in the shop bathroom and work out in the front of the shop until the 3rd phase of the city opening ready to cut again. December 24th, 2020 I hired again my first two barbers. They have licensed barbers and were ready to work. Jeremy and Joseph took the load off during holiday clientele and created an atmosphere and voice as much as I day in and day out. 2021 I finally hired another barber going into the 4th phase of the covid. Hardaway was a client as well as Joseph with different histories and backgrounds life just as I. Now moving forward with the My wife working at Yugo Cuts and 3 barbers. We stand together with good energy and faith giving customers the most quality and positive energy service possible to make all of your stories evolving with our care.