[KB] Everything that a barbershop would normally have, we got in here and then we got great barbers and great conversation.

(bright music) Hi, I'm Lawrence Chatters.

And I'm KB Mensah.

And we're the founders of Visionary Youth.

[Narrator] A few years ago in a barber chair, Lawrence, a PhD clinical therapist and KB, his barber and a barbershop owner, had an idea.

Through the nonprofit they created to help at-risk youth, bring mentoring and counseling into a barbershop-in-a-bus called the MIND Mobile.

-How you doing.

-For 10 weeks, nine to 13-year-old boys of color come to the bus after school, they get a cut from barbers who are natural therapists but are also following a mentoring curriculum.

Then time with a counselor.

So what really makes this stand out is that the space where it happens is a very therapeutic, intentional intervention space.

[Narrator] A unique approach to counseling in a space that doesn't look like counseling.

Hi, my name is Melanie.

And what is the importance of listening?

You know, listening to others for me has always been a skill that I hold very dear.

I am a counseling psychologist by trade, and so listening and being able to really sit with people and hear what they have to say is extremely important to me.

The way that I benefit from listening to people is hearing their perspective.

I love to learn more about people and how they see the world, and the only way that I really get to that is through listening to people.

Hi, my name is Joce.

How has your work evolved from the original idea?

We wanted to be in a school and we was gonna bring that barbershop environment, but we had to pivot since it was the start of the pandemic.

So we thought, what about a mobile concept, a mobile barbershop?

We can roll on wheels and we can go to not just one site, we can go to multiple sites.

And that was the start of the mobile barbershop.

My name is K'Sean.

My question is, where do your ideas come from?

My ideas were always trying to figure out how could I do counseling in a space that wasn't as, you know, I'd just say normal as sitting in a room across from somebody and hearing what they had to say.

When I was able to bring the idea of counseling outside of the box to KB and he had this idea that he wanted to provide mentoring with barbering, we took all those things and put them together.

That really was the genesis of how the MIND Mobile came about.

That's one of the big ideas that really has come from this innovative way of thinking.

Hi, my name is Abigail.

And how did you identify the need for what you're creating?

Well, just in the community and my experience as a barber, how the youth were and then minorities.

We tend not to talk about what goes on in our house but, you know, we talk about it in a barber shop with your barber.

We make 'em feel comfortable letting them just talk to us and we're just listening and just giving them a different perspective on life.

Hello, my name is Kenzie.

How do you measure success?

So when we're working with these youth, one of the ways is do they enjoy coming into this space?

Is that something that makes them feel better?

Is it something that brings them joy and helps them feel better about themselves?

And then as I look at it more over a longer period of time, one of the things I really think about is how are we changing this young person's life?

Are they somehow feeling more confident because of the work that we've done with them?

Are they understanding the world more?

Are they able to have a conversation with somebody and relate to someone better because we've taught them some of those skills?

Are they seeing the world around them differently?

Hi, my name's Elizabeth.

What's your best advice for young creators?

Don't stop believing in what you're trying to do and you'll achieve all the work that you can have.

And number two is, make sure you have like-minded people around you to help you see your goals and to achieve your goals.

And then number three, don't worry about the obstacles.

You have obstacles, you have things, roadblocks.

Don't let them distract you, just move around them.

And then four, manifest it until you can't anymore, and don't stop believing in what you're trying to do and you'll achieve all the work that you can have.

So you can dream big but then you have to work just as hard as you dream big to make something happen.

I've had so many wonderful ideas.

A lot of those ideas have never come to fruition because I didn't work on them.

But the ideas that I did have that I ended up working on, and I was able to collaborate with others and use my skillset and my education to try to help things come to fruition, those things have turned into amazing projects.

So don't let the constraints of society hold you back, dream big, and then work just as hard to make it happen.

(bright music)