Our Story

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Gregory L. Jones Jr.

Founder, President & CEO — Treasure Coast Barbers United

For Gregory L. Jones Jr., Treasure Coast Barbers United did not begin with a business plan. It began from a bed.

After years of working, raising a family, teaching future barbers, operating a barbershop, and building a life in the community where he was born, a serious back condition brought Greg's world to an unexpected stop. The man who had always worked, provided, moved, and found a way forward suddenly found himself unable to do many of the things that had defined his life.

For more than a year, Greg spent much of his time bedridden. His savings dwindled. His ability to work disappeared. Simple daily activities became difficult. And once again, Greg found himself facing a question that had surfaced at other turning points throughout his life: What do I do now?

It was not the first time life had forced him to rebuild.

Greg was born and raised in Fort Pierce and spent part of his childhood in a military family before returning home. As the oldest of three children, circumstances required him to grow up quickly. By his early teens, he was helping his mother and looking out for his younger brother and sister.

At 13, another practical need would unknowingly shape his future. Greg and his brother needed haircuts, and money was tight. So Greg picked up a pair of clippers and learned to cut their hair himself.

What began out of necessity eventually became a profession.

Greg became a licensed barber, an educator, a barbershop owner, and a mentor to others entering the profession. Along the way, he discovered something that every good barber understands:

A haircut is rarely just a haircut. The barber chair is a place of conversation. Trust. Identity. Advice. Belonging. And confidence.

Greg had watched children enter his chair nervous, uncomfortable, or unhappy with how they looked. Then he would finish the cut, turn them toward the mirror, and watch something change. Their posture changed. Their expression changed. They walked out differently than they walked in.

Years later, while recovering from his back condition, that memory would take on an entirely new meaning. His mother-in-law, an educator at a local middle school, told him about students returning to school following the disruption of COVID-19. Some were sitting in classrooms with their hoodies pulled over their heads. They were withdrawn. Their heads were down. Some did not want to remove their hoods.

She wondered if Greg knew a barber who might be willing to come to the school and help.

Greg began thinking. He remembered the children in his barber chair. He remembered what happened when they saw themselves differently in the mirror. And from a season in which Greg wondered what he could still contribute, a larger question emerged:

What if barbers across the community came together to help young people see themselves differently?

That question became Treasure Coast Barbers United.

Founded in 2021, TCBU grew from a simple idea into a community movement built around a powerful belief: self-care can be an entry point to self-confidence, mentorship, opportunity, and personal responsibility.

Today, Greg serves as Founder, President, and CEO of Treasure Coast Barbers United, bringing together barbers, educators, businesses, volunteers, community organizations, and families to support young people throughout the Treasure Coast.

But TCBU has never been only about providing free haircuts. The haircut opens the door. Beyond the chair, young people are introduced to positive adult relationships, personal hygiene, mindfulness, financial literacy, career pathways, entrepreneurship, and the belief that they can create a different future for themselves.

For Greg, that mission is deeply personal. He knows what it means to face circumstances you did not choose. He knows what it means to question your future. He knows what it means to lose what you built and have to begin again. And he knows the difference it can make when someone helps you recognize that your present circumstances do not have to determine what comes next.

He does not describe himself as a perfect example or someone who has all the answers. Instead, he wants young people to see an adult from their own community continuing to learn, grow, build, make mistakes, overcome challenges, and move forward.

Greg does not want simply to be a role model. He wants to be an influence for what a growth mindset looks like in real life.

That philosophy now shapes the larger vision for Treasure Coast Barbers United. Greg envisions a community where barbers are more than service providers — they are mentors, entrepreneurs, connectors, and trusted voices. Where young people can encounter successful adults who come from neighborhoods like theirs. Where professional trades become pathways to economic independence. And where organizations stop competing for recognition and begin working together around what matters most: creating stronger opportunities and safer communities for the next generation.

What began during one of the most difficult seasons of Greg's life has grown into something much larger than he originally imagined.

The man who once wondered what he could do while lying on his back is now helping build a network designed to lift young people onto their feet.

One haircut. One conversation. One mentor. One opportunity at a time.