Looking for the way to improve your work, your skills and yourself as a barber? BDG is just what you are looking for and it takes on the Barbering World.
Booksy strives to be more than just an app: we care about the businesses we work with and love to support their professional developments. To do this, we work closely with some of the finest in the industry to provide you with the best tools, tips, and trends the health and beauty industry has to offer.
This is why we are so excited about our up-and-coming work with Mark Gaye and his collaborators as they embark on a revolutionary program for barbers: Barber Development Group, aka BDG Worldwide. BDG is the first global program of its kind. It pairs barbers looking to gain more from the industry with master barbers who work as mentors to the group.
Whether you’re a young barber looking to start up your business or an established barber looking to take your business to the next level, BDG is there to guide you through the process.
As with many barbers and stylists, Mark’s career began with cutting his own hair, and he has been cutting other’s hair since he was about 15-16. While many in the industry recognise Mark Gaye as an extraordinary master barber and successful entrepreneur, they are less familiar with his initial obstacles. “Not many people know I actually started my first business when I was about 18. I set myself up for failure. I knew I had to have stronger preparation to succeed.”
For him, this involved pursuing more training and education, a topic he is passionate about. He was fortunate enough to work with Josh Lamonaca and other great barbers/stylists in order to get his haircutting skills to the level where they needed to be.
In his own words, “I’m lucky enough that I’m an educator; I’ve paid my dues and I’ve got to work with some fantastic stylists and barbers over time... As my skills with haircuts developed, so did my social media following.” As his skills and business flourished, he realized that the needed to have financial management and organizational structures to support his growth. “In a busy barber shop, you simply can't adapt without the right systems in place.”
Through his own efforts, he discovered that tools like Booksy provided both the infrastructure and professional service he needed to profit. While his personal work with experts and collaboration with suppliers aided in his own prosperity, there was educational community in place specifically for barbers. All the elements were there to make it to the top, but there was no comprehensive roadmap to success. “I couldn’t find what I was looking for, and instead found an opportunity to fill a need in the industry,” says Mark.
So Mark has gotten together with other masters of the trade; including Josh Lamonaca, Luis ‘Lou the Barber’ Fontanez, Byrd Mena and Louis Merlot; to create a like-minded group which focuses on barbering as an industry and in what the direction the industry is heading.
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