At 31, I decided to quit my job and become a barber. I joke that I offer therapy in the chair.

"Dinner table conversations in my house weren't typical. My grandmother was a nurse, my mom was a respiratory therapist, and my stepdad was an EMT. We often talked about the medical emergencies they'd seen that day, but I liked hearing their stories. Still, I didn't want to get into medicine myself, so I went to culinary school after high school. Then, I joined my local volunteer fire department, and realized I liked the adrenaline of the work. By 24, I was a full-time EMT."

"Being an EMT gave me a built-in community - my colleagues were my family. But my brother-in-law got sick with cancer and later died at 32. It was tragic, and for me, it blurred the lines between my work and personal life. I went to a call where a relatively young man died of cardiac arrest. Seeing his wife's grief reminded me too much of the pain my sister was going through. I knew it was time to step away."

"I spent a year working odd jobs, like painting, security, and bartending. I searched my soul to figure out who I was when I'm not in an ambulance. I realized that my life's purpose is to take care of people. I had such positive memories of going to the barber with my grandfather. There would be five or six guys hanging around and talking. It stood out to me that the barber shop was somewhere men gathered and created community."

He grew up around medical caregivers and initially pursued culinary school before joining a volunteer fire department and becoming a full-time EMT at 24. The EMT role provided camaraderie and adrenaline but became emotionally overwhelming after family illness and traumatic calls. He left emergency medicine, worked various odd jobs, and searched for his core purpose, concluding that caring for people defined him. Childhood barbershop memories with his grandfather inspired a career change. Barber school felt like home despite initial discomfort with touching hair. He now sees barbering as a place where men gather, connect, and reveal vulnerability.

Read at Business Insider