At the age of 13, Larry Roberts Jr. started cutting hair, knowing his future would be a barber.

But not only did Roberts become a barber and open his first shop at 19, he is also the CEO of Larry's Barber College, Data Foundation Inc., a nonprofit, and soon will open Larry's Automotive School of Technology. He also has other businesses he oversees.

In a phone interview with Southland Marquee, Roberts spoke about his start in the industry, his growth, the community of Chicago and the need for everyone to help each other.

"I started cutting hair when I was 13 years old. My parents built the house out in the suburbs," Roberts said. "I bought my first pair of clippers for $19, and I pretty much went around and was telling people, if they let me cut their hair, and if I messed up, I'll pay them $3. But if I did a good job, then they had to pay me $3. So I never had to pay anybody."

He had two chairs in his parents' basement, and he and another barber would cut hair. He went to barber school and saved enough money to open up his first barber shop.

"I've been in business today for 30 years," Roberts said, adding that he felt something was "missing from the industry because a lot of people minimize who we are and what we do." He said he got most of his work ethic from his father, and he decided he wanted to teach "professional ethics and traits" which "led me to wanting to open a barber school."

Larry's Barber College opened in 2004 "to provide the community a positive, professional atmosphere for barber training, career development, client servicing and mentoring to provide students a better alternative than the streets," according to its website. Since opening in Chicago, the college has expanded to Joliet and Rockford. 

In 2010, Larry's Barber College opened a branch inside the Cook County Department of Corrections, the first to do so. The college successfully graduated 300 men and women. To fund the Cook County of Department of Corrections branch, Roberts started Data Foundation Inc., which works as a non-profit organization.

There currently are seven Larry's Barber College locations, including two in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice Centers. 

"I've been at Cook County jail now for 13 years. I do it totally complimentary. I don't get paid to be paid to be there. I do a complimentary through my my non-for-profit." Roberts said.  

And if running a nonprofit, seven colleges and working on opening an automotive school sounds time-consuming, Roberts spoke of Walmart, which contacted him two years ago. 

"Now I have a couple of full-service salons inside of two Walmart locations and everything is going really, really well," Roberts said. "And then I'm opening an automotive school. It'll be teaching automotive mechanics, diesel aviation and HVAC. I'm actually opening up that school now." 

Roberts said he went through "some stuff in order to get there."

He said a lot of people may "see the glory but they don't know the story. And that's really really true." 

"I've had to go through a lot in order to sustain where I am because I have Title IV funding with my schools," he said. He added that it takes hard work to get accredited for the funding.

The barber schools have student housing so students can live on campus, use shuttle buses and the "whole gamut because I want everything to be done with excellence and really teach my students that they can succeed in this industry," Roberts said.

Larry's Barber College 'Barber Program' includes 1,500 hours of classroom, clinical and practical application work. From their website, the curriculum includes history of Barbering, professional image, anatomy, chemistry and many others. The practical application part includes razors, clippers and shear cutting, shaving, color, chemical application and hairstyling. Interested persons can qualify for financial aid to attend.

"I'm a firm believer that we have to be careful that we don't allow our gift to take us someplace that I care to can't handle," Roberts said. "In my school, part of what we teach is, of course, financial literacy, how to do resumes, but also mentoring, life skills, mental health, substance abuse. We help the veterans out and also go to the senior citizen homes. We let grammar schools come out in busloads and let students get services for free, you know, on a monthly basis."

Students at the colleges serve the community. Every fourth Tuesday of the month, they offer free services. Students also go to career days, to senior citizen homes and do Veteran's Stand Down events and service all those clients free of charge.  

"I'm grateful that God is allowing me to just really be strong enough to do it," he said. "I have probably over 50 employees through all of my companies. And without them it would be difficult to continue to grow." 

People of every race and creed attend his schools, and the college helps with job placement, Roberts said. He noted that Title IV funding requires them to do job placement, yearly audits and report how many students graduate and how many drop out. 

To officially become a barber, a student must complete 1,500 hours of instruction, and students on financial aid take 12 or 13 months to complete the whole program. Those without financial aid can complete the course in 10 months. Students also can intern at one of Roberts' Walmart locations.

Roberts spoke about living in Chicago and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

"So living in Chicago for me, there's a give and take," he said. "I understand our people, if you will, for lack of a better way to put it, which means that I'm not afraid of our people. I'm there to help. It is one of the reasons that I went inside of the jail. 

Roberts said he and his daughter have been carjacked and he's "grateful" it was not detrimental.

The pandemic had a huge impact on the Chicago community, and for Roberts, it was an opportunity. He continued school through online courses. He said he also realized how important his business is as the hair care industry is "economy proof." 

No matter how bad the economy is, "people are going to get a haircut, they're going to get their hair done," he said. ''They're going to get their nails done." 

"You should want everybody to win," he concluded. "And that's my attitude. I want everybody to win. All my employees are very well taken care of, transparent, honest, the whole nine yards."