KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A local barber and lifelong Chiefs fan is continuing to use the success of the team to spread his personal story. KSHB 41 first introduced Ricardo Torres last April when our team found him cutting hair outside the NFL Draft.
“I walked in as a drug dealer, came out as a barber,” Torres said in April 2023.
Torres shared his past and goals with us at the NFL Draft. Almost a year later, we checked back in with him.
“I was able to become a legal licensed barber, open up this location right here on Halloween, which would be the third location — King’s Barber Shop #3,” Torres said.
Torres believes barbering gave him an education, a job and a sense of direction after prison. Because of this, his new goal is to get his instructor’s license and open up the first Hispanic barber college in Kansas.
“There’s a lot of my friends that are not going to school because they don’t understand it," Torres said. "[They] have everything to be barbers, but there’s no one teaching this in Spanish. 10-15 years ago, there were not people like us, Hispanic, providing these services. We would have to go to primarily African American barber shops, you know.”
Ronnell Jones, who has been in the business for 21 years and taught Torres, says a barber shop is a sacred place. Customers come here not only for a fresh cut, but also for therapy and a confidence boost.
Having a local barber shop, with a barber you can relate to, is crucial for a community.
“[An] all-Hispanic school would be great to help out the community more as the Hispanic population grows in Wyandotte County,” said Jones. “It’s never about money, it’s always about helping people.”
Torres says on his toughest days, that is his motivation: helping people. That, in addition to eventually getting one of the Chiefs players in his seat.
“I would love to line up Andy Reid’s mustache," Torres said. "When I seen Andy Reid’s mustache frozen on that game against the Dolphins, I was like, 'It wouldn’t have happened if you had seen me dawg!'”
Torres will be at Power and Light cutting hair for free once again on the day of the Super Bowl.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any 49ers fans, but if you guys need a haircut too, we’ll take care of you guys...with a Chiefs logo,” Torres said.
To learn more location and contact information, visit The King's Barbershop KC on Facebook.
