Investment #3: Duane Reed of Seventy Sixes in NJ/NYC

Name of Company: Seventy Sixes

Location: North Jersey/New York City

Owner: Duane Reed

Specialization: Mobile barbering services including hair pieces for all ethnic hair textures

Website: http://seventysixes.com/

About the Owner:

When I was attending Hampton University, I was told I was expecting a child. I made the decision to leave school and support my son Taj. At first, I worked odd jobs to get by. I was sorter for the US Postal Services, and I worked at a telephone company. I even did telemarketing. but that was not me. I am an artistic person and I needed something that challenged my creativity. I had been cutting my hair since high school, and a host of friends from my neighborhood. One day it clicked that I could be a barber.

I decided to enter cosmetology school at Middlesex County Vocational and Technical School for Adults. Fifteen years later, here I stand as an accomplished young man who is emerging as a rare commodity in the hair industry---a specialist in classical male grooming.

Classical male grooming is the type of male grooming our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers received. Quality hair cuts, a great shave, a good shampoo, and a hot towel wrap. Seems simple, but I have learned that it is the simple things that makes one feel good.

The name 76s comes from the year I was born and the clippers I prefer to use, known as 76s.