Fil-Am hairstylist Mark Bustos spreads the word on being ‘awesome to others’
Filipino-American Mark Bustos styles hair six days a week at the New York City salon Three Squares Studios, where, according to the New York Times, the “elite” salon charges celebrity clients $150.
Working in such an establishment is impressive. But what sets Bustos apart from other elite stylists is that on Sundays, he wanders around and helps out homeless people by giving them free haircuts. According to the NYT, he gives up to 10 free haircuts on these days.
A haircut might sound pointless if your are destitute. However, some professional grooming goes a long way in restoring a person's sense of self-worth, and flipping one's outlook.
"Every experience is a reward. No matter where we are, it's being able to give back... Just to be able to give somebody more confidence, we can all relate to it," Bustos told GMA News Online at the Final Cut Salon in BF Homes, Paranaque on Saturday.
Bustos' latest trip to the Philippines was originally planned as a vacation with friends, but the local CEO of a clothing company had asked him to help out.
That's how he and his girlfriend Lucille Javier, friends Danielle Gunther and Manny Rolon, found themselves styling the men and women of the Tahanang Walang Hagdan in Manila.
"I don't believe in coincidence. It just so happened that around the same time we were going to travel, we organized to do some work together [with the clothing company] and it worked out really well," he said.
He and his buddies, with help from his family in Pampanga, also gave free haircuts at a Masantol dump site. Some 41 families were also given four days-worth of rice.
Bustos also returned to the barbershop in Magalang, Pampanga where he started giving free haircuts in 2012.
‘It's the best thing I do’
Eventually, Bustos plans to establish his own salon, though nothing is definite yet.
"I don't make plans. Starting to open up my own place- that's the only plan I ever had. My goal is to continue inspiring others. Up until this point, I've never made plans to do any of those in the first place," Bustos explained.
Hair styling first piqued the Fil-Am's interest at age 14, and it has never left his him. "I always knew I wanted to do it and I've never made a penny in my life that hadn't had to do with hair... It's the best thing I do and I always tell people, 'Don't ask me to do anything else for you 'cause I'm probably not good at it.'"
From his parent's garage in New Jersey, Bustos went on to graduate from a cosmetology school and saved up his own money to study internationally.
Now, he's teaching courses around the world. "It's a never-ending cycle of education and learning. Even when you're teaching, you can still learn things," Bustos said.
Bustos' parents, a postal carrier and nurse who moved to New Jersey more than 30 years ago, have always stood by his decision to pursue a hairstyling profession.
Knowledge of his heritage also fuels his fire. "This (the Philippines) is where I'm from, this is where my family's from. To be able to know where I've come from, how fortunate I am that my family has worked so hard to get me to where I am... Without my family history and knowing my background, how am I going to appreciate that?"
Ripple effect
Bustos pointed out that most people don't realize that the homeless do their best to maintain an adequate level of hygiene.
"A lot of people think that these people on the streets are real dirty,” he explained. “But they're not as dirty as they look. Just because they don't have a home doesn't mean they're dirty. People still know how to take care of themselves and they'll do whatever they can to make them feel a certain way."
He found that the homeless wash their hair as often as any other person, and, sometimes, even more than he does.
But more than giving someone a haircut, Bustos feels that the greatest benefit from his efforts comes form the "ripple effect" that would inspire others to #BeAwesomeToSomebody.
"When you see one person do a certain thing, a lot of times, anyone you might encounter that is able to see what you're doing will want to do the same. Because they can see how good it can make themselves feel and how good it'll make the person they're helping out feel." — DVM, GMA News
Working in such an establishment is impressive. But what sets Bustos apart from other elite stylists is that on Sundays, he wanders around and helps out homeless people by giving them free haircuts. According to the NYT, he gives up to 10 free haircuts on these days.
A haircut might sound pointless if your are destitute. However, some professional grooming goes a long way in restoring a person's sense of self-worth, and flipping one's outlook.
"Every experience is a reward. No matter where we are, it's being able to give back... Just to be able to give somebody more confidence, we can all relate to it," Bustos told GMA News Online at the Final Cut Salon in BF Homes, Paranaque on Saturday.
Bustos' latest trip to the Philippines was originally planned as a vacation with friends, but the local CEO of a clothing company had asked him to help out.
That's how he and his girlfriend Lucille Javier, friends Danielle Gunther and Manny Rolon, found themselves styling the men and women of the Tahanang Walang Hagdan in Manila.
"I don't believe in coincidence. It just so happened that around the same time we were going to travel, we organized to do some work together [with the clothing company] and it worked out really well," he said.
He and his buddies, with help from his family in Pampanga, also gave free haircuts at a Masantol dump site. Some 41 families were also given four days-worth of rice.
Bustos also returned to the barbershop in Magalang, Pampanga where he started giving free haircuts in 2012.
‘It's the best thing I do’
Eventually, Bustos plans to establish his own salon, though nothing is definite yet.
"I don't make plans. Starting to open up my own place- that's the only plan I ever had. My goal is to continue inspiring others. Up until this point, I've never made plans to do any of those in the first place," Bustos explained.
Hair styling first piqued the Fil-Am's interest at age 14, and it has never left his him. "I always knew I wanted to do it and I've never made a penny in my life that hadn't had to do with hair... It's the best thing I do and I always tell people, 'Don't ask me to do anything else for you 'cause I'm probably not good at it.'"
From his parent's garage in New Jersey, Bustos went on to graduate from a cosmetology school and saved up his own money to study internationally.
Now, he's teaching courses around the world. "It's a never-ending cycle of education and learning. Even when you're teaching, you can still learn things," Bustos said.
Bustos' parents, a postal carrier and nurse who moved to New Jersey more than 30 years ago, have always stood by his decision to pursue a hairstyling profession.
Knowledge of his heritage also fuels his fire. "This (the Philippines) is where I'm from, this is where my family's from. To be able to know where I've come from, how fortunate I am that my family has worked so hard to get me to where I am... Without my family history and knowing my background, how am I going to appreciate that?"
Ripple effect
Bustos pointed out that most people don't realize that the homeless do their best to maintain an adequate level of hygiene.
"A lot of people think that these people on the streets are real dirty,” he explained. “But they're not as dirty as they look. Just because they don't have a home doesn't mean they're dirty. People still know how to take care of themselves and they'll do whatever they can to make them feel a certain way."
He found that the homeless wash their hair as often as any other person, and, sometimes, even more than he does.
But more than giving someone a haircut, Bustos feels that the greatest benefit from his efforts comes form the "ripple effect" that would inspire others to #BeAwesomeToSomebody.
"When you see one person do a certain thing, a lot of times, anyone you might encounter that is able to see what you're doing will want to do the same. Because they can see how good it can make themselves feel and how good it'll make the person they're helping out feel." — DVM, GMA News
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