Depending on whom you ask, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Boulder have a lot in common: both are undergoing rapid change, becoming wealthier and more developed.

But Boulder still lacks in areas where Brooklyn has historically excelled: Black barbershops. particularly those with services for multi-ethnic residents.

That's what motivated Ja'Mal Gilmore to open The Brooklyn Barber Academy, a salon and school at 2900 Valmont Road.

We sat down with Gilmore, a Brooklyn transport, to learn more:

How did you get into barbering?

I knew I wanted to be a barber since I was 8 years old. There was this place in my neighborhood, which is what I modeled this place on, that had barbers from all over — a transgender community, these old guys from Italy, an Irish area, people from the West Indies speaking patois, and then an urban side with blacks and Latins.

If you were a young dude, you could go sweep hair and make a little change. That's where I felt comfortable. I was there to shelter myself.

In 17 years of living in Boulder, I've been in every situation of haircutting you can imagine in this town, from $8 haircuts to $100 haircuts and all the way in between. I've done hair for editorial shoots and at morgues.

Why did you open The Brooklyn Barber Academy?

The academy portion is me teaching young people how to be future business owners. I have high school kids coming in after school. I teach them how to work the front desk, be assertive and confident, how to greet people.

Also I teach hair: cuts, colors, styles. From little bitty babies to grandmas. I want to teach them how to work with all types of hair, multiple ethnicities and mixed race people.

Have you noticed a lack of skill or knowledge in the area of how to work with different types of hair?

I do think the education behind that is weak here. You go to the south, you're learning black hair: press and curls, all that stuff. It's not like that here.

When you learn and do tests, you only test on white hair, straight hair. It cuts certain people out from not only getting their hair done but also from starting their own practice.

If you grew up in an all Spanish or Indian or Black communities and you went to cosmetology school and go back, it doesn't translate. The styles don't translate, the technique doesn't translate.

I want to be inclusive here, both in teaching and in my clients. I want to have the so-called fringes of Boulder here that maybe don't look like what Boulder looks like.

Boulder County is 87.2 percent white.* Are there enough minorities here for your business to be successful?

Absolutely. There's other people in this town. It's not just the affluent, the 2.5 (kids) and a house with a picket fence. There's a lot of people that need to be served just as well as they serve other people.

If you talk to a lot of them, they'll tell you they go down to Denver. I go down to I-225 and Parker Road (in Aurora). Its' an hour and 20 minutes, and I do it twice a month.

There's very few options, especially for women: Spanish women, black women, Indian women, even curly-haired white women have fewer options. I want those people to come in here, to have a safe space to get their hair done.

Barbers do more than just cut hair. How you feel when you leave the place is what makes a barber shop great.

What do you want people to feel when they leave your shop?

Other than sexy? Embraced, listened to, included. That someone in this town understands or has empathy for what their situation is.

*According to U.S. Census Bureau data

Shay Castle: 303-473-1626, castles@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/shayshinecastle

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