G A RY HAC K E T T
P
STORY BY JEN MEADOWS PHOTO BY JOHN RIDDLE
THE LINE BETWEEN STUDENT & TEACHER
is a fine one
GARY HACKETT is a Master Barber, preacher, and apprentice of life and God. He’s a serial entrepreneur who travels the world but always returns to the same small town where he was born and grew up because he believes in helping others share in the lessons he’s learned along the way.
A
s soon as you walk in the door of Hackett's School of Barbering, you are greeted with a smile. When asked how he's doing, Gary Hackett is quick to respond with, “I'm wonderful, great, super, and fantastic.” A small pleasure, he shares, is when his regulars reply with the same or similar. “It's more than a haircut. My students and I know that everyone who sits in that chair
and receives a haircut was put there for a reason. They tell us their problems, we listen, and we let them know it's going to be okay. Our customers are like our family.” The Hackett School of Barbering was a dream that began in the mind of Gary Hackett more than 25 years ago. Gary admits that he “…should have done it sooner,” but he thought the process, including
licensing, accreditation, and attracting students, would take too long. Gary graduated from Swainsboro Technical College with a cosmetology degree in 1992, but he cut hair since he was eleven years old. While he didn't always love it as much as he does now, barbering seemed to be second nature to him from a very young age. His mom encouraged him to go on whenever he felt EMANUEL COUNTY LIVING
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