Virgil Tibbs, The Barber

I would like to honor a childhood friend, and black entrepreneur, Virgil Tibbs.

I remember like yesterday the day I met Virgil, his brother James, who I only knew as Tank for several years, and his cousin Poodge, or Eddie. It was a summer day, at the neighborhood hub, “The Rec”, or Lake View Terrace Recreation center, in Los Angeles CA. All the neighborhood boys gathered here each summer for basketball tryouts. These workouts weren’t technically a traditional tryout, as the recreation center would not turn away any kid whose parents had money to pay the registration fees. It was more like a talent observation for the coaches to get a taste of the boys and their varying skill sets so that they can go behind closed doors and spread the available talent “evenly”, an annual event that made one wonder how the same coaches had success every year, and others weren’t so lucky. Either they knew the talent very well, or they found a way to game the system.

It had been a long day when the coaches came out to reveal which players were on which coaches teams. There was coach Ken, who was responsible for throwing huge basketball tournaments outside of “The Rec”, so he knew the talent very well. Most coaches had a star son on their team, and he was no exception to the rule with 2 star son’s playing in our league. Then there was Andre Fleming, who always had a good team full of inner-city under-privileged kids who somehow had great basketball chemistry amongst each other, and could play the street form of basketball many of us were intrigued with. Ken always appeared intellectual, scholarly, and diplomatic, while Andre was more raw and down to Earth. Sometimes Andre could come off like one of the kids, but he demanded respect, albeit in a different way then Ken, both coaches were effective in building great teams. There were usually 4 teams with 4 coaches, with Andre and Ken’s teams leading the pack, and the other coaches struggling to win a few games. So much for spreading talent “evenly”.

It was toward the end of tryout, the day was long and most of the boys had gone home in anticipation of their first practice in a few days. Just then I heard a loud voice exclaim “Hurry up boy, this thing is almost over already!” It came from a man I had never seen before at the Rec. He spoke with a sense of urgency in his voice, the heels & soles of his shiny wingtips scraping and tapping the ground as he approached the entrance to the gym.

“Where do my boy’s signup, they ready to play some ball” he said with a wide, proud grin on his face.

“I’m sorry sir, the signups are over. Coaches have already picked their teams and the boys have been assigned to their 1st practices next week. We may be able to split you guys and fit you in if you still want to play. We don’t have anyone here to assess your talent. Do your boys have any experience”

“Well, yea they can play. But I want them to play together, I’ll coach if I have to. We can have a 5th team and my boys can play together if you guys allow it.”

“I’m sure something can be arranged, but you’ll need a few more players to have enough for a team.”

“Listen, get me anybody off of the other 4 teams, I don’t care who they are!” Mr Galloway said proudly.” Tell them other coaches to give me the guys they HAD to choose. Tell them to give me the ones who's daddies made them sign up.” he said with bravado in his expression. “Tell them the O came to play.” The Galloway family was from Oakland, CA.

A few weeks went by and the league was set to start. Teams had a chance to practice together for 2 weeks and get acquainted. Coaches crammed offensive and defensive plans into the memories of their players, and it was time to play. I had completely forgotten the interaction I observed that day of tryouts but my memory would soon be triggered.

The Lake View Terrace recreation center is a place of pride for those of us from the community. We had an old dam in the neighborhood, but it had dried up and we couldn't swim there anymore, and we had the Rec. We lived in a suburb in the Valley of Los Angeles County, and most of our parents knew each other and went to school together. When basketball season would come around the gym would be packed, it was the place to be. The competition was so fierce that there were personal player and coach rivalry’s, parents screaming at referees for “bad calls' ' and referees screaming back, & often you would see parents standing outside trying to catch their breath, because the intensity had gotten to a fever pitch inside the hot, stuffy gym. At the Rec, there were star players who would consistently dominate the league year after year, in every age group. You would see competition and great games within our league, but there were certain teams and coaches that were always great teams, like those of Andre and Ken. Then you’d have the teams that would challenge them, maybe even win a game during the season, but Ken or Andre’s team would be in the championship at the end, we all knew that. That is, until the O joined the league.

“That’s my boy out there!” James, or “Butch” yelled emphatically. “We just getting started! AHHHHHAAAAAHAAA” he cackled loudly, running the sideline of the court, wingtips scraping and knocking on the hardwood.

Butch, as his kids affectionately called him, was a different type of cat. He was hip and down-to-Earth. He was tall and authoritative, blatant and intentional, and had a down-home attitude about himself that let you know that his loudness wasn’t seeded in arrogance, it was rooted in the pride he had in himself and his boys. He was proud of them and wanted everyone to know. He stood out to me that day, and his boys did too because they brought a whole different type of basketball to the Rec. They dominated, each with their own style of play. This is how I met Virgil, or Virge, his brother Tank, and cousin Poodge.

As time went on and we grew up, Virgil, who was the youngest of the 3, was the 1st in the crew and the family to have a son, Virgil Jr. Virgil was a Jr in high school when his girlfriend conceived Virgil Jr. Virgil had a decision to make regarding his future. What was he going to do to support his son and make sure Virgil Jr had what he needed? With the birth of a son, Virge could have just decided that he had to go get a minimum wage job because his son needed formula and diapers, but his next career move was more than minimum wage, it turned out to be extraordinary.

Virgil decided to go to barber school and start his own business as an entrepreneur. Just as Butch suggested that they could have their own team and didn’t need to fit in the league, Virge had chosen his own path and became his own boss. This doesn’t sound like the traditional entrepreneur story, full of sensational accomplishments worthy of headlines, but this story is sensational because it is attainable. Virgil was in a position that many minority youth find themselves in, and end up in poverty, needing government assistance as a result. But he persevered, and although tensions were high with his son’s mother, he managed to pull himself up by the bootstraps while taking full custody of his first born son.

As a result of his determination he has built one of the most successful businesses from the ground up. He has surpassed over 200k in annual earnings, and as a naturally gifted artist who took his natural talent to the next level by getting certified and licensed, he has built a career that he is in full control of. He has chosen to work only 4 days a week, and with a huge customer base he has to squeeze in clients and his schedule is ALWAYS booked. He resides in AZ, but is a frequent flyer with 2 residences, one in California and one in Arizona. He flies to CA every sunday for appointments and books appointments through Wednesday evening, returning to AZ on Thursday morning to spend every weekend with his family. Virgil now has 2 sons and a daughter with which he resides in AZ. His move to Arizona came about as he spread his entrepreneurial wings and took on real estate.

Virgil realized that the real estate market in AZ was much lower than that of CA, and without hesitation he moved his family to AZ and made his first purchase on a house. Virgil does not come from a family history of money, or property ownership, but he is making the history for his family. He has improved his life and the lives of everyone in his direct and extended family by making the move from the inner city of Oakland CA, to the suburbs of Maricopa, AZ, making the change from perpetual tenancy to home ownership and property ownership. Virgil has increased his personal portfolio by adding 2 rental properties since his first home purchase. By adding 2 more homes to his initial purchase Virge has reinvented himself again, from an inner city kid with a child in high school, to an entrepreneur barber running his own shop, to a homeowner, to a budding real estate agent/ Landlord with 2 profitable rental properties. This is a self-propelled quantum leap worthy of honor and recognition.

Virge has always had an interest in writing and performing music. He has taken an independent entrepreneurial approach to his music as well, personally writing all his lyrics, and independently producing the instrumentation. He has also produced Gospel records with his father, Butch being the artist.

Virgil Tibbs would be shocked and surprised if he knew that I was writing this summary of my observation of his life over the last 25 years because Virgil Tibbs is humble, and gracious in his excellence. I don’t know these things about Virgil because I read them in the latest entrepreneurial magazine, his income isn’t extreme enough to make an article in Forbes, but it doesn’t dilute the exemplary effort and decision making of my childhood friend. I know these things from the many hours spent and conversations had in his barber chair while allowing him to perfect my look. He doesn’t go around bragging about his success, he is too humble, but I know because he is my friend. I sat in his barber chair as a young man trying to look my best, I brought my son’s to Virgil when they were adolescents, and now my grandson is a regular patron in Virgil's chair, and this is inside information obtained over the years as a friend and a customer.

I chose to highlight my friend for this article despite it being less sexy than an article about Elon Musk, or Jeff Besos, because this story is not a one in a million, stroke of luck type story, this is an example that many young black and minority men and women can follow. This, as I stated earlier, is attainable. Any person can choose to be the writer of their own story, and can choose to follow the pull within their gut that says “I too can be my own boss, I am capable of taking care of myself.’ Virgil did not fold when school and parenting as a single father was tough, he stepped up to the plate with an iron bat. He did not sign up for minimum wage at Walmart for immediate gratification and supplement, he sacrificed and went to school so that he can earn something better. He started out asking $8 a haircut. Virgil demands up to $40 a haircut these days, and can complete a perfect haircut in 20 minutes. That happened because of his determination and desire for more. Nobody saw what he saw, but that didn’t matter. Virgil now travels frequently with his family, and never works a holiday, or anyday that he doesn’t CHOOSE to. Who would’ve thought the local neighborhood barber would be better off financially than 95% of my friends, with his name on the deeds of 3 different homes? I’ll tell you who, Virgil Tibbs, The Barber.