Stacy “Quick” Hardy recalls touching his first barbering clippers at three years old. He used his dad’s trimmers to cut his own hair.
“I got the whooping of my life,” Hardy said while laughing. “Because I wasn’t supposed to touch my dad’s clippers.”
Although Hardy put the clippers down for a few years after that, the gratification he felt cutting hair at that young age never left. In his pre-teens, Hardy’s grandfather allowed the future barber to begin practicing on him. And as his confidence and skillset grew, Hardy began seeing clients for a small fee.
“I'm an artist,” Hardy said. “Clippers just fit in my hand. It feels like it was born there.”
Now, more than four decades later, Hardy is known for his precision, risky technique, and his tailored experience. His barbering reputation has landed numerous celebrity clients like rapper Ice Cube, and NBA players including John Wallace, Chris Childs, and Charles Oakley.
“There's a difference between barbering and cutting hair,” Hardy said. “When you come here, you leave feeling better.”
Hardy said barbers also have a duty to give back to their community. Whether it’s being a confidant or planning food drives, the barbering responsibility, for him, goes beyond the cape and chair.
“It's a feeling that you can't explain,” Hardy said. “I don't know what the name or term for it is, but it's a great feeling to help people.”
Roughly 10 years ago, Hardy began his 24-hour cut-a-thon, which has become his most popular annual Thanksgiving charity event. Barbers gather at Hardy’s barbershop on Dewey Avenue and cut hair for an entire day. Hardy then doubles the money made and uses it to buy Thanksgiving turkeys and sides for the underserved.
“I just want to be known for being a good dude,” Hardy said. “Helping people is really just in my blood.”
Jamil Gaines, the owner of Purpose Grooming Lounge — full disclosure: he is this reporter’s barber— is one of the barbers who assists Hardy with the 24-hour event. Their relationship began when Hardy would cut his hair as a young kid. Gaines now owns his own barber parlor but leans on Hardy’s mentorship.
“He loves to see other barbers do good as well,” Gaines said. “There has not been one time that I haven't called on him with an idea, a question, or just wanting to know more information, that he has not given me exactly what I’m looking for, if not a little bit more.”
Gaines advises every barber to sit with Hardy and pick his brain.
“He'll motivate you. He'll give you some insight. There's nothing in barbering that he has not experienced,” Gaines said.
Hardy prides himself on traveling throughout the U.S. and stopping in random barbershops just to observe, give advice — and possibly learn a thing or two.
“I love to see other barbers succeed in a way that I might help. Because I got help when I was young, and I'm still getting help to this day,” Hardy said.
