The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Studio

The Art of Cool: Passion Driven Entrepreneurship with Tony Trevino

• Stanislaus State • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Immerse yourself in the remarkable chronicles of the owner of Trevino’s Barber Shop, Tony Trevino. Listen to his journey from downtown Livermore, California, to his ventures in Modesto. Tony’s story embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship and is a testament to his commitment to uplifting his community. In essence, Tony's journey is a riveting exploration into the heart of entrepreneurial endeavors that spring from his love for art, music and barbering. 

This episode of E&I Studio takes a deep dive into the heart of entrepreneurship with Dr. Pablo Paredes Romero and Tony on The Art of Cool: Passion Driven Entrepreneurship. Depicting his inspirational journey from a microcosm of eclectic Americana to his flourishing venture — Trevino's Barber Shop — the conversation weaves the human spirit's audacity with the transformative power of creativity and determination. 

Co-produced by the Warrior Entrepreneurship and Innovation program and the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing at Stanislaus State. The E&I Studio is edited and recorded in the KCSS studios on the campus of Stanislaus State.
The views expressed by guests on this podcast are not necessarily those of the University.

Welcome to the entrepreneurship and innovation studio, where we explore the passion and the purpose behind some of the amazing people in our community and above all, their stories. I'm Dr. Pablo Paredes Romero, and all my career I've been fascinated by entrepreneurship and innovation from the moment an idea is scribbled on a napkin, drawn on a tablet, whiteboarded, spoken out loud in the shower or in the car on the way to someone's nine to five. It's all about the work and the art behind the venture. Musician, composer, visual artist, master barber, entrepreneur, Renaissance man, the modest, self effacing and congenial character known as Tony Trevino has been moving freely about the cabin at 30,000ft. Since Cole was cool, the proprietor of Trevino's Barber shop in downtown Modesto has traversed geographical, cultural, economic and societal barriers with a smirk on his face and a fearless hold my beer attitude from day one, Tony reminds us that the mad beauty of unorthodoxy is not lost in adolescence and lives in the bricolage of entrepreneurship that we can still ride that 49 chopped shoebox, Ford matte black and chrome oxblood interior with a skull shifter wherever the road leads. Welcome back to the entrepreneurship and innovation studio. We are joined today by Tony Trevino. Hello. Tell me a little bit about the community you grew up in. Man. I grew up in downtown Livermore, California, which is East East Bay Tri Valley area. The community there was know we kind of knew everybody. Go to all the stores. We had a comic book store and skateboard shops and bike stores and things and just kind of grew up, I wouldn't say poor, but on the poorer side of town. And I'd hop the tracks and I'd go and hang out downtown and it was awesome. When I go to the small towns around here, I can kind of see like it reminds me of how Livermore was. This was before they really rebuilt it and stuff like that. So I remember family parties and things and hanging out, huge backyard parties with family and stuff like that. I just remember the little country stores, western stores, all the dive bars or juke joints and things like that that I used to kind of ride my skateboard by and trip out. You couldn't really do anything without everybody knowing what was going on in your life, your family's life. So it was just close community and stuff like that. Real country, real Americana, I guess, if you want to call it that. In terms of the place, the time and place, what role did that play in the way that you do things in terms of business and your music. How did it influence you? I guess being a kid and not having too many rules. Me and my little brother would ride our skateboards or BMX bikes. And we just had full range of that town. That feeling of freedom, the unity of people. There was no separation. It was just everybody was together. We were friends with all different kinds of kinds of folks and whatnot. So I guess just loving everybody. True. Like growing up in a fairy tale type of place. It seems that way because that's how it felt. So for the DNA to go into my shop, like I decorated. We put all that stuff on the walls and this and that and that kind of came from going to an old breakfast house called Malley's. Which had been there since probably late 18 hundreds. And my great great grandmother, she was a cook there. My grandmother was a cook there. And my mom worked there too. And I remember you'd go into this place. And there'd be guns and pictures. And country and western stuff. I remember there'd be like an Uzi on the wall. Or like. I mean, it was just all decorated with funky stuff. Like taxidermy and things like that. And I remember going in there as a little kid. And just tripping out and looking all around at all the walls and just loving it. It sounds really eclectic, like, all kinds of influences, all kinds of stuff. It was just that feeling of looking around and stuff. While I'm waiting for food to show up on the table was, like, pretty mean. That was a big part of, I guess, DNA for Trevino's. Was to try to recreate that. Just because I really cherish those memories, my family and stuff. When did you first become aware, realize, sense that you yourself were very creative? Oh, man. Just from the beginning. Beginning of memory, I guess. How did it play out? Was there something you were really into in terms of the creative aspect? I have two sides of my family. One's from Texas, Corpus Christi. They moved to Livermore in the 50s, late 50s. They owned businesses. They owned, like, an electronic store in downtown Livermore. They owned restaurants in Dublin and Bullnet Creek. They owned property all around town, too. They owned a ranch, Livermore and stuff. So I would go back and forth. My family from that side was from the other side of town. My family, that's my father's side, was over there. My mother's side was on the other side of the track. So I was right in the middle. That's where I come from. Was there an art form you gravitated to first? My father is a hard worker. He's a roofer, he's a biker and a low rider, too, and stuff like that. So they would always have us go to my grandparents restaurants and kind of see how things run. So I was around to watch them build different restaurants and things like that. So they were always kind of planting that into me, which kind of helped out a lot. But getting back to the DNA of where I'm from, I mean, Malley's was one, but there was, like, bike shops, there was skateboard shops that I would go into. And to see all that stuff, all the art trip out on that stuff, going around, seeing all those things. And then also was a comic book store in downtown Livermore. It's still there. So hanging out in there was like, I'd spend most of my days in there. There was a comic book store, and next to that was a pinball game. Like an arcade, video arcade, like straight up dude. And then a few dollars down, that was where the skateboard shop was. So I was, like, right there, checking it all out. Like, I would go from my house on my skateboard, jump over the tracks, and just, boom. I had all my routes to go from any part of downtown. I knew that whole place and go from one side of town to the other, and I knew how to get all around. So I would, like, skate downtown and go past the western store called. It's called Boffman's. It's still there too. They roll a big horse out, and I would like to be, like, under it and stuff. That was a part of the DNA, I would say, like, a lot of that stuff, but the creativity. My aunt was, she was an old punk rocker. Just all the records, CDs, tapes, rock shirts from my paw and stuff. And wherever we went, he'd always have music playing. It was always just a big part of my memories with my father. And he was a drummer. Boom. So he'd, like, play drums. And it was the most amazing thing to us to watch that as a kid. And he had a garage band. My aunt, she was like a punk rocker in the. Was kind of a kid that was already paying attention to that stuff. So when hip hop and punk was kind of starting, I was there, I was understanding, I was watching it, I was following it. So me and my aunt, who was like a teen during those years, was like, going over to Carnaby street, lived in San Francisco, was like dating the hellbillies, who are now, like, some of my best friends from the city. So I remember watching her grow as an artist. She's in the music industry, but she was also an illustrator and a painter, things like that. So I was really influenced by her, too. I tried my best to start to draw and get into art, and I was trying to collect as much music as I could. If there's a stew of creativity that one could be born into. See, I come from two sides. You know what I mean? That's from my father's side, but from my mother's side. The oldies, it was like the Lowriders, and we had our backyard parties. It was like everybody had harmonicas and acoustic guitars, and they would play this kind of blues. So that was another part of a creativity that I kind of caught on, too, because at that point, when you have a whole family in the backyard, everybody has something, and they're tinking on it. Everybody's going. And that was another kind of a cool thing for that. Going back to the shop. How have you seen the local business community evolve since you started up? 10Th street has become, like, club atmosphere at night, and it's popping, popping, popping. The restaurants are full, the clubs are full. People are eating and drinking and having a good time. It's become a destination. It was kind of like that when we started, but when I first started going down there, it wasn't. It was kind of like most of those businesses that are now popping were kind of empty. I wouldn't say run down, but to me, it felt like it was a carcass of an old downtown that wasn't being used at the time on 10th and I. But to me, coming from Livermore, looking at Modesto with fresh eyes, I guess, if you will say, I thought it was beautiful. I was like, this is awesome. This is downtown. Look at these buildings. Look at this atmosphere. That's what I thought. So I guess I kind of looked over the fact that all those businesses were empty and stuff, and I'm like, hey, man, let's do it up. We had already had a following coming from Drake. That little shop just had people standing all around us while we were cutting. I mean, you'd have 15 people in there and, like, 125 square, like, little spot, you know what I mean? So I'm like, we need to get a bigger place. But moving to downtown on I intent, that was, like, big for us. Who were your earliest influences in traditional barbering? Well, that would have to be my grandfather's barber. His name was Max. He was the barber shop that I grew up going to was downtown Livermore. I would go in there with my grandfather. He would take me, and I learned a lot in there. That probably was the very first of, like, what a barbershop is. That dude. Max was head of security for Bill Graham during the 60s. Yeah, it tripped me out. I went there till I was probably in my 20s, before I moved out to Modesto. But the dude was cool. He used to cut with the cigar in his mouth. As he got older, it would drip. And he had an old bulldog, too, that would sit there with us and stuff. But he'd had the shirt on and he'd talk like this. And your uncle Joe, he owes me money. I cut his hair. He's supposed to come back. He never came back. If you see him, you tell him Max is looking for him. So I'd see my uncle and he'd have a fresh cut, and he'd be like, hey, Max is looking for like, oh, I know, I know. And he'd move know, because he was always trying to chase the women. Yeah. I mean, if you're going to go out and chase the women or go dancing or whatever, you'd want to go to Max first. So that's where the city kind of met and was in. It was one of the shops from down there, and that's where we went. That was probably the first. When did you decide to launch a musical career? Did that come before the shop, or did the shop come before it? Music was first, before anything. I was in high school, and Pa is kind of rolling Stone. We kind of raised ourselves. My mom was working all the time. She'd leave 430 in the morning to catch a bus to get out to Concord, California, from Livermore. Bless her soul. She did that for us and kept us going. But we were on our own from that time to when she got home at seven at night. So just trying to get my father's attention, I was like, if I play music because he was a drummer, maybe he'll pay attention. To know that kind of brought music to me. And I met a few cats from around the Tri Valley, and they're like, hey, you want to start a band? Yeah, I do. So I started off writing songs and singing in a band in a little tiny amp, like this big. I'd put my microphone in the amp and turn that thing all the way up and scream, take nose amp. Yeah, it was a little bigger, but yeah, it was just some cheap thing that my uncle would boost somewhere. But it was music. Music was number one. It was straight to guitar. I played in. They called us 77 punks, punk rockers. So it was like street. We called it skate rock, punk rock, kind of melodic energy. So I started writing songs, and I didn't know how to play guitar. I could hear music, so I'd, like, get a guitar, and I play the top string and make melodies, and then I would write lyrics to that. And then I would show a band where I had a really cool band. All those dudes could play. They grew up playing, and they were, like, big Danzig and misfit fans, and they were sick with those kinds of influences. You have to have a really good name. What was the name? We were called the fuzz, and we played Bay area for, like, ten years. I did ten years with that band singing. That was it. But I wrote songs and stuff, so they would take my scratches or sketches, and then they would structure it. So I learned the structure with that. So no formal training of any kind. Later in life, like, maybe a few years ago, I got lessons from Eli. Eli Lester, who owns two rock amps and Division 13. He's like, he's a giant, but he gets his haircut at the shop, and I'm like, I'll take some lessons. He's like, sure. Just dumb luck, really. So self taught entrepreneur, illustrator. Well, illustrate. I wanted to become an illustrator, growing in that comic book store. When I spent my time in there, it was when Todd McFarlane and all those dudes left Marvel to form their own company, Image Comics. And that also was influential to me. At that same time, all the skateboarders were leaving the big companies and starting their own smaller companies. So the DIY thing was huge, and I was totally influenced by that, because when I got out of high school, my first job was working at, well, an art store for one. But I worked at a place called Zoomies. I helped open up a shop in Pleasanton. We blew the shop up. They gave us stickers. We got training. I was making them over one hundred k a year, selling stuff and hustling. Then I'm like, those dudes are doing that with these big companies. I'm going to make my own company. So that was when I made unity skateboards. How was the Central Valley different for. Launching your business than, say, Livermore or Pleasanton? In Livermore, I met a lot of success, and I also made a lot of partners. Being a creative person and a hustler, an earner, I learned a lot of lessons through those years, what to do, what not to do. So I would say Livermore was kind of like my training. I learned a lot out there. The difference between there and coming to Modesto, Livermore, when I was doing my business there, was like a tattoo shop. And this was also in another little part of town that was old, an old western part where there was, like, bar that was called the bucket of blood. And it was like this little cowboy section of town that outlaws hung. That's also the side I was from. To me, I knew all that area. And there was a tattoo shop and a smoke shop, which back then, there were head shops. There's two of them. There was Charlotte's web and the devil's workshop in Canyon. See? But being an old California person, I knew all these things and stuff. So when I was growing up, I thought that was cool, and I wanted to be a part of that. So I stood in front of Charlotte's web until she let me in, like Pai May and kill Bill. Her name is Charlotte, and I bless her know. And she was, nope, go home. Nope, go home. I'd bring her applications. Can I work for. Nope. Nope. And I kept calling and calling and calling, and finally, she let me work for her. I learned how to work really hard with her because I had the Zoomies training. So I would pop her stuff. I made her shop. Like, I would take full sections of her shop, and I would merchandise customer service. So I earned my place there. But that was in an old wagon shop from. You know what I mean? And now it's like a really nice restaurant now. But the difference between growing up in that shop and then by working for her, I got the acceptance of the tattoo shop. So I got to meet all this kind of counterculture. Plus, I was also involved in the skateboard world and the punk rock world. So all that stuff was kind of working around, you know what I mean? But I learned a lot. Like, my skateboard shop in Livermore. It was on a corner of railroad in Livermore, and it was a skateboard shop for a long time. And then 2002, when the world Trade centers went down, business really suffered, and I would not give up. So what I did was I got storage containers, and I'd put all of my merchandise in these storage containers and my decks and my whole setup, and I'd put it in the back in the closet. And then I built a stage inside the shop. And so I would throw shows. The difference between there and here was, I learned in Livermore, and I did a lot of amazing things, but I didn't know that you needed to get permission from a local government. Permits, insurances. This isn't that. I was just going, you know what I mean? I was just making things happen. I was hustling and as we got more and more popular, then we started getting kind of cinched down, I guess, if you will. But when I moved here, this damn city wrote an article that I was moving here, which was like, this is awesome. And I remember some of the local promoters are like, you're moving here, man. Yeah, hell yeah, I am. Because I'd met a woman. That was the difference. It almost felt like I was celebrated when I moved to Modesto. And so I started working with all the promoters. I did all these downtown events, playing music for folks. When I first moved here, I didn't have the barber thing going yet. I was just playing music and working. Where do you see the business community here going? It's going to be huge in the next ten to 15 years, 20, because they have these schools out there. It's like school of rock, but it's called Valley Music Institute, and they have hundreds of kids learning how to play music and rock and roll and stuff and all different kinds of music. And my son's a part of it. My daughter in, I think, could be a musical capital of mean. It's big for that amount of musicians to be coming out. I mean, in a few years here, it's like, got a club? You better put a PA at a stage in there because these kids are coming. What is the single most important thing you would tell a young person who wanted to start a business in the Central Valley about the Central Valley? Well, it's growing. Meeting new people every year that are moving here. Be yourself and be prepared for ups and downs. Don't give up. Be passionate about what you're doing. Do it because you love it. Think about who you're wanting to sign a paper with and really look into the fine print. I mean, that's been probably the biggest thing that I've learned. Or what has been your greatest teacher? Just family. The elder families from the. Learned a lot from them. When I was little, they would talk to me and teach me. Any powerful advice? You ever get a lot? That's a good question. Just not to be a slob. Be tight. What does lifelong learning mean to you? I don't think that it stops. If you're doing something, you're on your own. It doesn't stop. You're going to have ups and you're going to have downs and you have to keep going. What has been the most powerful moment in your life? In teaching somebody how to do something. Giving them a career. Yeah. Teaching them skills, giving them a trade. What made you want to make the leap from barber to master barber. We had a lot of youngsters come into the shop that would ask to work for us. We would send them off to the barber schools, go get a barber license, come back and we'll give you a job. After a while, we just had so many that were wanting to work for us. Me and Lauren, we decided to become an establishment to teach. We could teach. We could become a school right now if we wanted to. I started taking on apprentices. These little dudes come to the shop and they have to sweep and they got to clean, and they have to learn how to work with our customers, talk and hang around before we even take them serious. So they're a hangaround at first. I have met your apprentices, sir, and they are brilliant. Thank you. So it's a process. It's a long process. They have to really dedicate. It's not just like, go and put an application in and you can work here, and then you put your two weeks in. It's like, no, if you're going to become a barber under us, then you're going to actually become a barber. And so that's been really cool to teach that and give them that skill, that trade, and to see them move on and start their own barbershops or become highly successful people. What emotions does the word legacy inspire. In you never really thought about legacy, being that I spent so much time in the before all this social media and videos and things that you can do yourself. So a lot of stuff that I did during that time is kind of not exposed. So that legacy of those years aren't represented now, which I'd like to upload and show because there's a lot of diversity and a lot of things I've done in all different genres. The legacy to me now is to. I'm working in studios, in recording and writing and planning on utilizing all this new technology to put a legacy out there, to show people, my kids, blah, blah, blah, to be like, this is what he was doing. But legacy in the business is just to have it strong and live on and have these young barbers take over eventually and just kind of be in the background making sure things are cool. Legacy of the shop is just to live on the barber shops, there's no reason for it to go away. They've been around since the egyptian days, even before. What role do you believe research plays. In your everyday life? It's huge. It's a matter of research can take over your life as far as other attentions you need to give to your family. It can overwhelm you if you have a passion that you're going for or learning that learning process. So you have to stop when your kid asks you like, hey, what's up? Check this out, man. You're like, you got to discipline your art and make sure that you can provide for it. First your family, but then your business. Then if you want to provide for your art, you have to be disciplined. Do you consider yourself a really disciplined person? I mean, I could always fine tune. No, I mean, I do what I can, but for what I'm doing, I try to practice more than finalizing anything, just practicing and always trying to expand, learn more. I remember Dick Cabot asked Jimi Hendrix once, do you consider yourself a disciplined person? Do you try to get up every day? And he just answered, well, I try to get up every day. Yeah, I thought that was brilliant. What role should research play, do you believe, for a small business owner, pre launch? Well, I think if you get the basics down and you learn how to provide for yourself and your family, then figure out what you want to do, research it and do it. Set it in, man. Plant some seeds and see them come to life and realize you can do a lot. What do you find yourself researching? What do you geek out on? Music. Love music, and I love watching barbers. I feel blessed and lucky that you guys come to me all over to let me cut your hair, because to me, it's like drawing pictures. It's like you're going to pay me to draw a picture or something. It's a different art medium to me. So when I watch someone in Italy or Brazil and you see how they're doing it, I can pick up things from that and kind of add it. I'm always adding what you just described. It seems like it's a lot like working in the studio, experimenting with sound. Yeah, I mean, you get a different clipper is like a different guitar or something. It's an electric tool. Now, as far as music, if I'm writing something, that's a process, too, where I have a structure I'm working to build. First I'll record something, and then I'm like, okay, I'm listening, listening, recording. Okay, I can hear this. And then if something in what I wrote inspires me, like in a song, maybe remembering or something, I'll go back and I'll find that song and I'll listen to it, and then just kind of add, like, legos or something. What is the secretly now not so secretly coolest part of what you get to do? I'm going to be honest, man. I feel lucky that I get to do what I'm doing, that it's happening, it's successful, and things are coming my way. But the coolest thing I do is teach my son and my daughters. I'm not kidding around, you know what I mean? And it's just because my father was a rolling stone and I always wanted his attention, you know what I mean? So I worked hard for that. But as I became a young man, 21 or something, he passed away. And so all I had was that art and that passion and want to have these new experiences with my kids. But being from the other side of it, teaching is like, probably the coolest thing that I could do. What does the word innovation mean to you? Just a spark shot of dopamine to your brain, naturally. Do you believe it should mean to the word innovation? That is, to us here in the. Central Valley, I would say be yourself. Don't be afraid to be yourself. And you're going to get for it. And you're also going to get praised for it. But keep going. Innovated. If you're innovated by something, go for it, man. There's nothing more fun. What else are you doing? Be inspired. Let it take you. See where you go. How do you feel that you've been innovative in the places that you've worked and grown? Just being excited to learn. I always wanted to learn, learn and to see what's what. Know what every paint does, every media does, every brush does, what different papers do, how you make a frame, how you cut a frame, like things like that. Meeting families and having them. Being able for them to trust you to become your customers and provide a safe spot for them. Customer service, great customer service. Keeping things tight. So, like working at a skate shop at Zumi's, it was. We were trained to engage in people, talk to them and see what they want and add on, blah, blah, blah. You learn. So you're asking, how did I influence that? Just being excited to do something and to learn. I also was a part of opening the mothership of guitar centers in West LA. After the skate shop days, I had had enough of dealing with trying to get acceptance from Livermore and also just. That was a battle that I went through that was really tough. They really made it hard for me to do business in Livermore. That was also during their transition when they were building what it is now. What's funny is the kids that grew up at my shop, they were all influenced by me in that business. That they all went on to do their own little things. And there's like, Altamont Brewing. All these different shops, different tattoo shops, different restaurants, bars, all grew up going to my shows, which were illegal, I guess. No, they were illegal. I always wanted to play the Gilman street. To get into the Gilman street back in them days was tough because you had like, ransom and green day and all those cats. That shit was hot. They weren't letting us because back then Livermore was cowboy. We were called kickers. We didn't really get in over there. So I was like, I'll start my own over here, DIY. But inspiring. That was an inspiration to those folks. And even to this day, I'll walk out there or I'll go to the Bay area or somewhere and I'll see a kid and they're like big old grown snuggers. And they're like, hey, remember me? And I'm like, holy. Like, I grew up at your shop. And then I'll look at them and they turn into the kid and I'm like, fuck. I bought my first skateboard from you. I lost my virginity in your bathroom. Like, whoa, hey, you know what I mean? That happens all the time. And some of these dudes became like these outlaw bikers too. And they're like, can I get you a drink, bro? And I'm like, oh, man, it's cool. I should be getting you a, you know, like three patch holders and things, but. Guitar center. When I got out there, I moved to LA after going through that in Livermore. And I had my skate shop right in the middle of downtown because I moved from railroad over to downtown in the middle. And like the Madden son opened a yoga shop and I was single. It was cool. It was cool. We were downtown. So I met Madden's son and his wife's, all the friends and hanging out and we had a little. It was an art studio, skate shop, print shop. We were doing that. I was always hustling art, too, back in those days. I got burned out because I had to, like, you need a state licensed security, which is all normal stuff to run a club. By the was. I just did it without permission and begged after big lesson. So I was burned out by it. And so I moved to Long beach. Me and a guitar player that I had been playing with, Kevin Wilson. Guys, the most amazing player. He's like, I'm moving down here to Long beach. And me and my girlfriend, they're right across street from the Long beach university. So we were on highway one. He's like, just come sleep on the couch. I didn't have anything to lose. Nothing was tying me down. Sold off all my. And I moved down to Long beach, and then I got picked up with guitar center. During the training, when they first let us go on the floor, I was always making sales. So then everybody was like, let's sell, let's sell. You know what I mean? Stuff like that. So that was pretty cool to get the attention of the big cats over know and just being motivated, wanting to learn about what every little thing was, what a pickup is. What's the difference between an epiphone and a gibson or a squire and all these different amps, a tube amp, a solid state amp, or different qualities and this and that? I think that's inspiring, and I hope that would inspire people. Just learn. Want to learn? If you like, some learn everything about it, even if it's the dumbest little knob on the end of whatever. I would say that being innovative as a barbershop, we've innovated a lot out here in Central Valley because taking small spaces and turning them into barbershops, I mean, have you noticed how many small spaces became barbershops after we started? That's innovation, but that's another thing. It's like, music goes up. It's like, some things are cool, different cuts are cool, different styles are cool. It always changes around and around the styles, the trends, and stuff like that. And so, I don't know, I just think it's been cool to innovate other barbers to know, do your thing, man. Find a small little hole in the wall, turn it into something. Make it happen. Is business art? Yeah, I would say so. It's art that you need to be responsible for. You have to do the hard things, too. Make sure you're counting straight, pay your taxes, do these things. Part of the learning experience from Mildtown? A little more. If you don't maintain those things in your business, what do you have? The art is there, yeah, but you need to protect it, and you need to sure that it's stable. Tell me about a time when it all came together for you, when you applied the things from all the different experiences that you've had in your life to make this what it is, your career right now, what it is with the barbershop. So when I started it, I was like, how am I going to set myself apart from every other shop in town? Basically, I went at it just being myself. Growing up with music, when you have a band and you're going to play somewhere back then, you'd have to go to those neighborhoods, like, say you're going to play SF, you'd have to go and you'd have to go through the whole city and put your flyers up. Did the same thing. I just promoted the barbershop like a band because that's what I knew how to do. What do you want to learn one. Day and apply just to let things go. Let things be. Let what I've done. Support me. What do you think our students should know about applying the things that they learn here with us in the world? I think they should take what they've learned here and use it. And to be able to talk to people on all different life walks of life, I think that's huge. You've been very successful doing that through. Networking, I've learned and I continue to learn. Just meeting you, my friend, I mean, I've learned a lot from you and just to be able to get along. What does the word leadership mean to you? Well, again, just be yourself as you're moving up. Be cool to people as you're moving down, because they're going to be there. Be a good leader. It's not about you. It's the whole thing. It's the whole team. It's everyone you're working with. I'm nothing without my barbers, and above that, it's my wife who's just like, amazing. So it's the whole team. It's everybody. Everybody's in on this thing, man. I've seen you manage. The phrase that always comes to my mind is servant leadership, because it seems that you put, like you just described, you put their needs, what would help situate them best to succeed before anything else. And I think it's very palpable. I put myself out for both my barbers and my musicians. If I don't have it and they need it, I'll give it to them. My family's number one. But if they need something, they get it and I get it for them. There was a time at a drummer and we played with the know, like this amazing band, the misfits, and we're playing with them in Berkeley. And this dude left his drum kit on the side where all the kits are and stuff like that, but somehow his stuff got ripped off. Half his drum kit got ripped off. And he's like, I don't know what to do. You know what I mean? So I went out and I bought him a drum kit. It's the band kit now, but I have a band kit just in case. So it's like with my barbers. Yeah, man, they have everything. Everything that goes along with that, it's there for them if they want to go buy homes, buy a car, take care of, build their lives, they can through our company. That's one thing I wanted to give to them. Who is the leader who most impressed Tony in his early years and why? I would say, like a lot of my lot, a lot of good teachers, good coaches. I think that the teachers were good leaders and they were giving those sparks to people that don't have akin to. Does any one of them stand out to you? Yeah, a lot of them do. I learned a little bit of math from, you know, he was pretty cool, dude. Mr. Bremley was my teacher. He was my coach, too, and he was huge. He helped me out a lot. Even during high school. I got in a little bit of trouble with the law, first and last, and I spent the night and a few nights in juvenile hall. Those dudes, all those coaches and teachers and stuff got me out because I almost got put into the system. They knew I was a dumb kid, made a bad mistake, and they got me out and I should have went away. I probably would still be in the system if they didn't help me out. You know what I'm saying? Teachers, man. You're given the knowledge, you're teaching these folks what's know. To me, that's an awesome leader. Who was your hero growing up? Frank Miller. There we go. Todd McFarlane. There you go. Tony Hawk. Steve Caballero, Christian Osoy, Tommy Guerrero, Mark Gonzalez. Who is it now? My wife. She's badass. I give her the most. We're a true mom, Paul company. Everything that I do musically, business wise, this in life, we're together, we're doing it together. We're making sure all the I's and T's are met. So she's the partner that I've had that been able to trust. We work together, we work well together. We've built a life. So she's awesome. Pretty much is my hero, you know. When you think of Stan State, what comes to your mind first. What comes to mind first is when I first moved out here to Central Valley is I lived just down the street from here. Oh, for real? My aunt had a house over here, so I used to drive by this place and look at it all the time like, oh, that's a huh? That's a did. That's what kind of comes to my mind at first. But walking through today, Pablo is the first time I've been on campus and see what it's like here. It's nice. I'd like to send my kids here one know. It's a pretty cool place. Describe the feeling of speaking to people just starting out. And what it means to your feelings about your career today. I don't know. I've always been kind of nervous to do something like this. But if you're not comfortable with doing something, go for it, man. See what's up. This has been awesome so far, you guys. I appreciate it. Does that answer the question? What does it feel like when you talk to somebody who's just on the come up? Somebody's starting out? Yeah, that happens a lot with me. I listen to them, listen to what they're up to. Because they're telling you what their hopes and their dreams are. And so just by them even bringing it out and listening to them speak about what they want, just to give them advice, if I have it, if it comes naturally. I'm not trying to be like, I know all I've done. All. No, because I'm still learning myself. So just listening, really. Who is Tony Trevino? I'm just a man. Just a guy growing up. I'm a barber, musician, father, husband. I love a lot of things and happy to find inspiration in the natural world, I guess, if that makes sense. I try not to party or too much and just. I'm so grateful to be doing what I do that I don't want to ruin anything. I want to go back to Tony. In his early career. Where did he see himself now? Meaning in this time and place, at. This age, then I'm beyond where I thought I would be easily back then, I lived for the day, the day, the day, the day. And not thinking of anything in the future. I've achieved more without thought than know. What would Tony now say to start a conversation with Tony, then? Watch your ass. That's good advice. How did music alter the course of your life? Meeting people, networking, going and traveling. Because, like I said, as a kid, we couldn't go anywhere. We were poor. Music took me to different cities. I was able to go. I still do. And travel and meet people and just. It's fun. It's awesome. Expand the network and just to naturally meet people and just chill out and see how things are done in other places and stuff. So when I come home, I'm, like, grateful for what we are. And I'm also grateful for going here and being able to go there and stuff like that. What's the hardest part do you find of balancing it all? The businesses, the product line, the music, the projects. Is balance even the right word? Yes, it is. Just to not get off track. Keep going. But things happen where, I don't know, like you get sick or something and you're out for a while, or your kids are sick, or you have to kind of take away from what you're doing to handle family. Sometimes family and business, and it all kind of goes together and just to make sure they're tight. Both. It sounds musical. It's almost like harmony. More than even balance. Or is it more balance than harmony, do you think? With music, with life in general, all. The things you do all comes down to scheduling and finding reliable people working with. And how did you feel the most creative in your career? That's every day. Every day, yeah. Yet another bold statement. Wow. Yeah. It's not a time or this and that. It's just everybody has it in them to what they want to do every day. I'm creating something, man. Book or film that changed your life. Goodfellas, mean streets song you heard once. That made you say, that's me, that's my life. I read the Ray and Zarek's book on the doors. Oh, yeah. That was huge for me to read all that stuff and how they came up and things like that. When they started, they only had like nine songs. Then they had 2 hours or 4 hours to play. They would expand those nine songs, and to me, that was mind blowing. So it's kind of cool. They're a very jazzy band. A lot of improvisation song that you. Heard once that made you say, that's me. There's a lot of those stray cats. Stray cats boogie dude, that was a good one. Yeah. Stray cats strut I mean. I mean, that was huge to me. Be cool, man. Stay cool. You are now a soundtrack composer. You shared with me what composers, musicians, artists would be part of the playlist of the soundtrack of the story of your life. Probably that Enyo Marikon. That dude's sick. My grandfather was old cowboy, you know what I mean? So that stuff was always on. So just hearing that in your little know that composer is pretty cool. Yeah, I would say the stuff that I'm doing is not like that, but I am inspired by that. And you can hear it in some of the stuff if you go back and listen. What about bands? Bands, though? The Clash. The Clash was a big one. Johnny Burnett Trio. It's a big one. Chester Burnett, Alan Wolf. That's a big, huge one. I also like a lot of 80s pop. I like a lot of 80s pop. I like a lot of thrash, real 80s hardcore, thrash, chili peppers. I mean, you can go on and on. The doors. I spend a lot of time with the doors. The misfits, a lot typo negative. I mean on and on. Complete these sentences. Recently I've wrote a song writing songs. Recently I've started playing with a new band and I'm having a lot of fun. The longer I do what I do. The more I love life and am grateful. Just get out there and do that. On your way into the room, be yourself. On your way out the door. Peace. There are will always be people who will get it. Go for it. Life has taught me to keep going, move on, live, improv, jazz. My mantra is work hard man, and love life and work hard. Play hard. Winning teaches you to appreciate. Losing teaches you to learn. The part of me that is the work became evident to me when I. Started getting paid for it. That's awesome. The hardest thing about learning to trust your instincts or intuition is outside influences. If you're listening to me now and need a testimony to the power of belief in yourself and others, I want. You to know that people are going to love you and people are going to hate you. Random association time. You know the rules. I'll say a word and you say the first one that comes to mind. Family. Love. Art kill eclectic yourself. Learning always. Valley home. Love, family. Money. Grind, man. Grind. Passion. Huge mentor I've had many, many. Partner, wife, chemistry, important father, missed. And now we come to the part we affectionately know as the eleven first taken from pivot to James Lipton and shamelessly pilfered by us here at the. Entrepreneurship and innovation studio. What is your favorite part of starting something new? The excitement of it. The endless energy you get to complete your project, to get it ready for folks so you can work 24 hours on something. If you're excited about opening it and it's new to you and you're going for it, it's pretty cool. What is your least favorite part of starting something new? You always forget something. You're always going to forget something, man. So just your trips back and forth to like a hardware store or whatnot, or just forgetting the little things, man. What interests you the most? What interests me the most is probably just that time in the research to creations. That's pretty inspiring to me. The process of creating what interests you the least? The IRS. This is a radio station after all. What music, artist, genre or song reminds you most of your early days in. Entrepreneurship and innovation, probably misfits and Ramones. It's a great combo. What food or beverage reminds you most of your memories of your first startup? Pizza. What profession, non entrepreneurial do you admire the most? I admire the folks that are like, they're kicking it now, and they've built different streams of revenue or whatnot. Like those cats that got it together, man. They're just kicking back, like, ICE baths in the morning and having their health food for breakfast and maybe hit the gym a little bit and call them the billionaires club, man. I learned a lot, and I see how it's done and stuff, so I really look up to those dudes, man. What job prior to entrepreneurship did you like the most? I mean, zumies was cool. I had a lot of fun working for zumies. Guitar center was cool, too, but that was really competitive when it came to selling and stuff. Sharkwaters. What job did I like the most? I didn't really like any of them. That's why I've done my own. What job prior to entrepreneurship did you dislike the most and why? Working concrete. Working concrete? Yeah. My mom's side of the family, that's what they did. They did concrete. Yeah. So when I was a boy and big enough go to work, I needed to do something with the way I am, I did it my way, man. And now we're playing Sinatra on the way out. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly gates? I don't know. That's a good one. I don't know. Nothing comes to mind? No. Immediately thereafter, whatever they, he, she they, it. Would say, what idea for a business. Would you pitch God? No. I mean, if I could have something, I would like a know a venue that would be cool. Good sound system and a good stage, good atmosphere. Nice. Know that would be cool. Sounds like heaven to me. Tony Trevino, thank you so much for coming to visit us at the entrepreneurship and Innovation studio, sir, thank you for having me. Thanks for listening to this episode of the entrepreneurship and Innovation Studio. This podcast is part of the Warrior Entrepreneurship and innovation program, affectionately known as the WEI series is recorded on the campus of Stanislaus State at the KCSS radio station and produced by Frankie Tovar. Follow and subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform. I'm Dr. Pablo Paredes Romero, wishing you the best of everything. Always.