PHOENIX — Barry sits down in Davon McClodden's chair inside 'Cuttin' Up,' a barbershop in North Phoenix. After a quick discussion, McClodden gets to work on Barry's taper fade with a hard part. It's his first client of the day.
The small shop sits inside an unassuming strip mall on Cave Creek Road.
McClodden became a barber in 2010 and has a loyal client base around the Valley due to his scissor skills.
"They call me 'Sauce Vegas,'" McClodden said. "Because I'm dripping sauce, baby."
He took up the trade after a multi-year prison sentence in Nevada for drug trafficking.
After serving his sentence, he moved to Arizona, kept his record clean, and supported himself by cutting hair.
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"The best part of being a barber is the smile on their faces after they get up from the haircut," McClodden said. "I like to tell them, 'Now you look like you belong to somebody.'"
But in 2020, there was a setback. When the pandemic hit, McClodden saw his customers disappear. He fell back into old habits and got another charge for drug distribution in 2021.
"It forced me to do things I was familiar with, but not OK with," McClodden said. "But I had a family to feed. I had to do what it is we have to do sometimes."
After coming home in 2022, he got a call from an old friend.
Brian Stepter owns "Cuttin' Up" and he hires people transitioning out of the prison system to work in his shop.
He knows how hard it is because he spent five years of his own life behind bars.
"Once you have done your time, they make it hard to get back into society," Stepter said. "And I'll never understand that."
Stepter sees "Cuttin' Up" as more than a barbershop. He says it's a place that can help people just like him earn a steady living and get back on their feet.
"As a village, we can come together and help each other overcome those obstacles," Stepter said.
For McClodden, the village of support has helped him stay on the right path.
He encourages other business owners to follow in Stepter's shoes and give people like him re-entering society a chance to thrive.
"When you get out of [prison], all you want to do is work," McClodden said. "You've been in there so long, working for 17 cents, that when you get out, all they want to do is get a job to provide for themselves," McClodden said.
