LOCAL BARBER WINS A BRONNER BROS. HAIR SHOW COMPETITION
Compiled by Speakin'
Out News staff; courtesy photo
Huntsville
barber Mike Sales, owner of Mike & Bill’s Presidential Barbershop,
won first place in the Andis Contemporary Total Look Barbering Competition
on February 19th the 65th Annual Bronner Bros. International Hair Show
ATLANTA, GA. - - The 65th annual Bronner Bros. International Hair Show
delivered its usual array of dramatic hairstyles and fierce competitive
displays. Held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from
February 18-21, the Bronner Bros. hair show is arguably the most popular
African-American hair convention in the world. "Over 60,000 hairstylists,
exhibitors, distributors and cosmetology students" attend these
yearly festivities, according to the company’s web site. Over
nine thousand people watched the fierce barber competition alone, which
is the heart of the four-day event.
Local barber and business owner, Mike Sales of Mike & Bill's Presidential
Barbershop located on Meridian Street in Huntsville, AL. won first place
at the Andis Contemporary Total Look Barbering Competition at the 65th
Annual Bronner Bros. International Hair Show.
This competition was to allow professional barbers the opportunity to
display their fresh and new talents among their peers. Professional
barbers were to create styles that reflect their own distinctive idea.
There were a total of 30 competitors from across the nation, Sales said,
including himself, that aggressively competed for the cash prize. Each
contestant was judged on fashion and hair.
Mr. Sales is a native of Huntsville, Alabama where he established Mike
& Bill's Presidential Barbershop in 1995. He is proud to be on the
cutting edge with some of the best and leading barbers in the nation.
“I am grateful to have been taught by some of the best instructors
and mentors in the hair industry, right here in Huntsville, such as
the late Norma Jean Powers, Anderson Carroll, Dorothy Nobles, and Ben
Battle who still instructs J. F. Drake State College,” Sales said.
“These are the individuals who help set the path way for the majority
of the barber and salon owners in the Black community in Madison county.”
When asked how does Mr. Sales, who is a loving husband, father, and
God-fearing man, stay ‘on top of the game’ with today’s
ever-so changing hair industry, he replied, “the thing that helps
drives me to the next level in the hair industry is to always stay hungry
and never get too relaxed. If you don't know you can't grow.”