People often talk about “falling into” careers, going down a path forged for them, not by them. In some ways, that’s Taylor Perry’s story—unknowingly working toward something that would slowly reveal itself to be not just a profession, but also a life’s passion.
TAYLOR’S CAREER BEGAN WHEN HE WAS 15…
An intrepid young man who, strapped for cash, taught himself to cut hair. He practiced on his friends, diligently honing his skills until one day, someone took notice and hired him sight unseen to work in his barbershop.
By the next year, Perry was enrolled in cosmetology school, simultaneously working toward a license and servicing clients.
It was around this time that Perry also picked up tattooing, buying equipment and teaching himself how to draw, mix colors and shade designs like the artists he’d admired.
Tattooing only lasted a couple of years, finding himself distracted from his true ambition—cutting hair—Perry committed to being a barber full time. He spent years working at South Florida’s most well-known and highest-rated shops while he gained a following and grew his clientele across South Florida. It was a steady climb propelled by an unwavering work ethic and a very important lesson instilled in him early by one of his peers. “If I accept the task, I have to do it to the best of my abilities,” Perry recalls. “If you sit in my chair and I accept you as my client, I have to give you my best possible work because that’s my face.”
The move to scalp micropigmentation (SMP) began coincidentally in that very same chair. One day, a regular with increasingly thinning hair arrived without the receding hairline Perry had grown accustomed to seeing. He’d had it tattooed.
The idea to pursue SMP occurred to him almost immediately and he was off—researching techniques and finding out the right needles to use to create the most realistic-looking hairline. His years tattooing gave him a head start as he’d become an expert in mixing colors. Once his identities collided—barber and tattoo artist—Taylor knew he’d found his niche.
Helping clients cope with baldness has always been part of his job, and now he’s entirely devoted to making them feel their best. “It’s insane how happy people are once they sit in my chair—people cry from happiness because they can’t believe how good they look. It’s a definite plus,” says Perry. “There are a lot of emotions involved in this, and seeing people get emotional only makes me more passionate about what I do.”
Knowing most clients go into the procedure with some hesitation, Perry sits down with each person and carefully takes them through the process. Once they’ve decided on the hairline placement together, he stops to show them the progress and educate them on what they’re seeing. “People are nervous and worried it might hurt—it can be scary to get a permanent procedure,” Perry explains.
No matter the case or the person sitting in his chair, the outcome is usually the same: joy and gratitude. “I get thank-you letters, text messages that are as long as paragraphs and calls from people thanking me for how good they feel. Imagine, some of these people haven’t seen themselves with a hairline in 10 or 20 years.”
Taylor began training people in the art of SMP, teaching everyone from barbers to tattoo artists to regular people eager to learn everything they need to know in order to become an expert in the field.
He’s mentored people from across the U.S. in the fundamentals, from the highly important task of mixing colors (Sadly, I fix botched work on a weekly basis, he says) to the time-earned skill of blending blotched spots and color-correcting.
