A lot of high school students don't know yet what they want to be when they grow up-- Irvin Morales is not one of them.
"I wanted to be a barber really when I was like 15," Morales said as his friend and client Joey Maldonado slipped into the barber chair. "He wants to keep his hair in the back. He wants a mullet."
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Morales will graduate high school this year. He is also studying for his barber's license as an apprentice.
"I want to do this just to have a better life," Morales said. "So I don't have to keep following the same ways my family has to work. I'd rather have a better job so my kids, when I have kids, they can grow up in the shop."
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Morales' goal is to open his own barber shop one day.
"When people just be smiling, it motivates me even more to keep going," Morales said smiling. "They like it actually, and I like that they like it!"
The high school senior has an old soul.
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"I have points of view from everywhere by being a barber," Morales said. "But it helps me not be alone, either.
A barber is part artist, part therapist.
"I just care a lot about things and a lot about people," Morales said. "When people tell me certain things, I just feel for them and it sucks that I can't do anything else but give them some words...and a haircut."
Friend Devon Jacobs said Morales has cut his hair more times than he can count. On Tuesday, the cut ended with an ear-to-ear grin.
"They just start smiling right away, can't even hold it in," Morales said handing a mirror to Jacobs. "They just fold right when the see the mirror!"