HE’S the most expensive men’s hairdresser in Spain… yet he arrived in the country with just a few hundred euros to his name soon after both his parents died.
Colombian Edward Medina – aka Silver – is the man the big celebrities and captains of industry turn to when they need to look a million dollars.
A host of sportsmen, singers and the super-rich of Marbella bust a beeline to his door at Groomers & Ballers, in San Pedro Alcantara, to get their tresses cut, at up to €110 a pop.
They often even chauffeur him up to their luxury villas and five star hotels to snip their locks, paying him €350 a time! And then keep him on standby for days on end.
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But it wasn’t always this way for Medina, 26, who landed at Malaga airport from Cali, via Madrid, with just €210 and his suitcase in 2018.
After finding the sofa of a family friend to sleep on in Fuengirola, the 18-year-old headed out to buy a pair of hair clippers and other hairdressing paraphernalia with the idea of working door to door.
“I was alone and broke and, above all, hungry,” he tells the Olive Press. “I figured by investing in a pair of clippers I could go out and make some money.
“So I literally started going round knocking on doors. Looking for anyone who needed a trim.”
It didn’t always work, though, and some weeks went by when nobody was interested.
It was then that he took a whole range of jobs, mostly cash in hand, in gardening.
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“Whatever I could get I took, but I never stopped wanting to be a barber, so on Saturday I always cut hair.”
As he got better and better at cutting hair he started to become in demand.
“I’d walk long distances, cutting hair in dingy basements, poky flats, often in the kitchen… and usually for just €5 a time. I realised I needed to keep the price down to get enough work.
“It meant I would often set off at 7am and sometimes not get back to 2am the next morning, but at least with some cash in my pocket!”
It was finally during COVID that a Moroccan family saw the potential of employing Edward in their newly opened barber shop in Marbella.
Run by a brother and sister from Tangier, they needed someone with the talent and vision of the Colombian cutter.
Now a rapidly rising urban grooming hub, it is expanding to open a new shop and even an academy, under Edward’s tutelage.
“He’s a huge inspiration to us all,” explains owner Amira Ben Said, 28, who studied at nearby Laude school, before going to university in Holland.
“I’ve rarely met anyone as hard working as Silver and with him we are able to build for the future.”
She continues: “We saw a gap in the market here, with men also loving the pampering, particularly with good quality products.”
This includes Tea Tree oil and Paul Mitchell products and wax that costs €30 a tub.
“We also realised that in a place like Marbella customer service is amazing and the old fashioned dirty barber shops didn’t work.
“And we soon found out a lot of men liked having their nasal hairs cut as well as getting a manicure.”
And, as Amira adds: “A client will stop coming when you stop making them feel special. At Groomers & Ballers we always go the extra few yards to guarantee that.”
Check out Groomers & Ballers on their Instagram page.
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