Hard work: (noun) a great deal of effort or endurance.
It takes hard work to be successful in business. This could not ring more true in the case of Lancaster, PA’s Amit Corso, owner of the Cutting Edge Barbershop and the newly opened Cutting Edge Barber Academy.
Where can one begin to write this story of a man I not only consider family, but a man who I watched grow his dreams into an empire built on hard work, passion and dedication to everything in our industry?
Amit Corso is the pure essence of what is right about barbering. Now the teacher will educate us that a dream alone can fuel us to higher heights than ever expected.
Class is in session! Now let me introduce you to Mr. Amit Corso.
Amit has been one of the elite barbers not only in Lancaster, PA but within the whole state of Pennsylvania.
Well-recognized around the nation, Amit has been known for his great skill of barbering. His winning of numerous barber battles has Amit sitting in his rightful place of barber royalty.
Amit has taken his vision and followed his dream of teaching the future barbers the skills that were taught to him, as well as the lessons that he has learned along his journey so far.
Amit’s barbershop, The Cutting Edge (Lancaster,PA), has been a staple within the city of Lancaster,PA, putting out the sharpest and cleanest cuts around.
Through his owning of The Cutting Edge, Amit has employed barbers that have gone on to future ventures within the industry, utilizing the lessons passed down to them through the teachings of the everyday business that was conducted at The Cutting Edge.
Dreams will only come true if you want them to… My dream started at an early age but it wasn’t the type of dream that involved barbering. Honestly, barbering wasn’t in my life at all. I wanted to be
a baseball player. I pictured myself in the majors but it was a dream. I knew I had to have a more realistic dream. I have always had a realistic outlook on life, so knowing I might not ever make it to the majors only fueled me to have something to live for, something to reach for, something to dream of. As a young man growing up, my mother would cut my hair so seeing inside a barbershop just wasn’t a thing I did. I’d never stepped foot in one until I was a lot older. My first experience ever, I was just blown away by the detail and time put into the transformation of a person by a barber. It just was an eye-opening experience for me and caught all of my attention.
I spent a lot of time in Champs Barbershop (Lancaster,PA) watching and observing, and taking what I had seen and trying it out on the friends who would let me cut their hair. My first barbershop was in my mother’s basement and I named it HHU (Hooking Heads Up). All of my friends would come see me and I’d give them haircuts. It was definitely a great experience in my early growth as a barber. Until this day,
I still have those very same friends visit my barbershop for a haircut. That barber bond is truly unbreakable.
Barbering was an outlet for me to express my visions of giving the best haircut to my ability. It was an opportunity to excel in life. Barbering was a stable occupation so to answer the question of “WHY BARBERING?”,
“WHY NOT BARBERING?”
College was never my thing. I didn’t enjoy it… College isn’t for everyone and I knew it wasn’t for me while working at Timberland. I continued to cut hair, at times spending my whole work night
in the back room with my manager cutting his hair. I wanted to elevate my skill to a whole other level and knew that it wasn’t going to happen doing what I was doing. I needed to make a change,
and fast. What started out as “BACK UP PLAN” was becoming more and more the right choice for me. Just putting both feet in and making the plunge was going to be the hard part, but it was a jump I needed to make. I was a “STUDENT TO THE GAME” early. The journey was well under way and there was only one place to become the barber I wanted to be.
Champs Barbershop was that second step towards my dream becoming a reality. I spent hours in there taking everything in, not letting an ounce of knowledge drip out of my brain. Champs was a pool flooded with talent. “THE BEST OF THE BEST” worked there and I knew that if I could make it here, I could make it anywhere so it was time to get to work. Being the fresh face in the barbershop I knew I had to set myself apart to gain the respect from the other barbers. So when it was my turn to take care of the next client, I sat the client down, draped him, made some small talk and blessed him with a quality haircut that had everyone in the shop nodding, giving approval towards my cut, and. accepting me as one of them. A little tidbit of information about that client is that he was a friend of mine who I’d been cutting for years, so I know it was a little deceptive but it helped with easing my nerves and giving the other barbers the confidence in me that I belonged there.
I was gaining momentum in my craft. I was getting better, sharper and smarter. I was gaining my hours when it happened. I was the guy in my dream. I was finally the barber I knew I could be but I was far from where I wanted to be. After saving money and planning my next move, I felt after 2 years of working with the great barbers at Champs that I wanted to take all of my knowledge and create a place of my own to serve the community quality haircuts. The wheels were in motion. I purchased my first barbershop and I named it “THE CUTTING EDGE.” It was my baby and took months and months of hard work,
with renovations inside the building. I could not wait until my first day of operation. I wanted to assemble a team with the same hunger and matching talent. I started with a group of 4 including myself, one being fulltime with me and the other two still in school. I was feeling satisfied with my team. The next day started my new chapter in my life… wait… who turned off the lights? What?!!? A blackout?
On my 1st day?! A truck backed up into a pole, knocking out a power line which pushed my grand opening back a few hours… but once it was fixed, we were up and running.
The Cutting Edge led to many of my team creating their own paths into ownership of their own successful barbershops, which leaves me very proud of them all. Growth is a very
important part of this business and we all eventually grow. Being in business now for 13 years as still one of the elite barbershops in Lancaster, PA is a staple for me. With all the barbershop businesses around, for us to still be here is a blessing and I accredit it to the many barbers that put in the work day in and day out at The Cutting Edge. I just love my team. THANK YOU for running with the ball alongside of me.
IT’S NOT WHO’S SHARPER, IT’S WHO’S SMARTER. -AMIT CORSO
You have to put in the work for you. What you don’t know you will learn. We are all students. This brings me to the latest chapter in my life. I am a husband and a father to an amazing baby girl who motivates me to keep grinding harder for my family. I have been blessed with a supportive partner in my life, my best friend, my wife who always believed in our dreams and helped me achieve them, as well as my parents and family who helped me along the way from a young man to the person I am today. I can never repay them for all they did for me growing up.
The Cutting Edge Barber Academy, the home of knowledge that’s passed down on an everyday basis, is not only a place where my students will learn but where I’m still learning as well. It is my
first time teaching and molding the minds of many future barbers who will one day stand behind barber chairs and implement their many teachings. It has been a humbling and amazing experience being able to manage the things in my life, from owning a barber school and barbershop while maintaining my household. Adding balance to my life makes living a lot simpler and more
peaceful for me and my family. With my teachings at the The Cutting Edge Barber School, I want to show these young men and women that with patience and hard work, everything can be achieved.
I often think of what my life would’ve been like if I had decided not to become a barber, or if I’d never fallen in love with the craft… I think I would have tried my hand in the real estate field. I feel my hustling spirit would have led me to excel in that field. Just like in barbering, the more hair you cut, the more money you make and the more homes you sell, the more money and opportunities you’ll have to be successful. I’ve been blessed to be able to be a barber, and now to teach and help create great barbers for a better tomorrow. This was never in my plans but I made it a plan. It was not always in my thoughts but I did think about it. I never wanted to dream about it until it was more than a DREAM.
