From Real Estate to the Chair: Corey Adamo on Building a Barbering Experience and Community

Branden Hudson hosts Champ Talk episode 163 and interviews Corey Adamo, his barber, about Corey’s path from Pennsylvania to the area in 2021, leaving the restaurant industry after COVID, working in real estate for about two years, and later selling shears across DC and Baltimore while providing free education to barbers and stylists. Corey explains how the long commutes and time away from family led him to join his wife’s salon venture, Arlo Scarlet Salon, adding a barber chair and focusing on a traditional, experience-driven barbershop feel with marketing, customer service, and community-first values. They discuss appointments versus walk-ins, teaching young clients about time and respect, handling disagreements with empathy and integrity, and Corey’s continued education through the International Beauty Show plus ambitions to teach more and potentially create a local barber school. Corey shares where to find him: “Chopped by Corey” on social media.00:00 Welcome and Subscribe01:03 Meet Corey Adamo02:03 Moving South and Career Shift03:03 Real Estate Lessons04:45 Shears Sales and Long Commutes08:03 Back to the Chair09:58 Experience and Secret Sauce13:24 Community Over Cash17:49 Old School Shop Vision20:03 Appointments vs Walk Ins22:30 Respecting Time and Teaching Youth23:32 Walk Ins vs Appointments24:12 Marketing and Community Outreach25:27 Barbershop Conversations27:27 Listening and Hard Lines29:04 Calling Out Racism32:38 Industry Show Takeaways35:21 Teaching and Barber School39:47 Pricing Hype vs Real Value42:56 Gratitude and Plugs