Uncle Eshawn

In this episode of Uncle Eshawn, I sit down with my teacher, Jay Mahmood, to meet the man behind the precision.

Jay shares his journey from growing up in London and entering Vidal Sassoon at only 16 to becoming an internationally respected educator and building the Jay Mahmood Advanced Academy in the Bay Area. We discuss how he discovered his gift for teaching, why he chose to create a career beyond the traditional salon and what it took to make his knowledge—not a clientele—the foundation of his business.

Our conversation also moves beyond hair. Jay and I reflect on fatherhood, revisiting our own childhoods and trying to become the parents we didn’t always have the luxury of experiencing ourselves. We talk about balancing ambition with presence, giving the next generation what we needed and creating a legacy that reaches further than our work.

I also share how Jay’s three-day precision-cutting class challenged me to slow down, become a student again and approach every haircut with greater intention.

This is a conversation about upbringing, discipline, reinvention, fatherhood and building a life beyond the chair.

Coming back home after two weeks away gave me a little too much time to think.

On this solo episode of Uncle Eshawn, I’m talking about the weight that comes with always being the responsible one—the person people depend on, the person expected to figure it out, and the person who doesn’t always get the luxury of falling apart.

I get a few things off my chest, talk about getting back into my routine after traveling, and reflect on some of the perspective I brought home with me. I also get into creativity, wanting more out of life without necessarily wanting to work more, and what I’ve been learning from the books I’ve been reading lately—from Giovanni’s Room and Piranesi to starting The Bluest Eye.

Sometimes getting away doesn’t help you escape your life. It helps you come back and see it differently.

I’m back from Chicago and France, and we have a lot to catch up on.

This episode begins with the full trip recap—from visiting the Obama Presidential Center and watching Ye perform in Chicago to experiencing Nice, Saint-Tropez and Paris for the first time. I’m talking about the food, fashion, luxury, culture and watching JAY-Z celebrate 30 years of music in a Paris stadium. More importantly, I’m reflecting on what the trip taught me about legacy, freedom and the kind of life I want to build.

Then, after all that beauty, I return to America—and the bullshit. In Hot Topics, we discuss universities cutting Black Studies programs, Demetrius Fleming being found hanging from a tree in North Carolina, and all the people failed by the institutions that were supposed to protect them.

Welcome home, I guess.

Content warning: This episode discusses racism, death, suspected lynching, sexual violence, transphobia and institutional neglect.

In this episode, I sit down with Emmanuel Blackwell III — photographer, film processor, entrepreneur, and founder of SWAP FILM.

Blackwell’s story starts in San Francisco’s Mission District, where photography became part of his life through family. From inheriting his grandfather’s camera, to learning how to develop film from his uncle, to eventually building a Black-owned film lab and creative community, his journey has always been about more than just taking pictures.

We talk about his love for black-and-white film, the old-school cars that have become part of what I think of as the classic “Blackwell shot,” the beginnings of SWAP FILM, and how developing his own rolls turned into creating space for an entire community of photographers.

We also talk about grief, memory, the loss of his brother Michael , and how those experiences shaped the way he sees the world and his work.

More recently, Blackwell stepped into a new chapter with his first solo exhibition, Be Good — a show rooted in sports, identity, memory, and the layers behind those two simple words.

And because our paths have crossed for years through photography, mutual friends, and San Francisco’s creative scene, we also get into how we met, what influenced both of us, and the ways our stories are more connected than we realized.

This is a conversation about photography, family, grief, community, preservation, and what it really means to be good.

Their story starts at Terra Nova High School, where Rheema Calloway and Ronnishia Johnson-Hasan met as teenagers and staged their first sit-in after experiencing discrimination from a teacher.

That moment would become the beginning of a friendship rooted in much more than just having fun together.

They became best friends, danced together in the well-known Bay Area dance group Sick Wit It, and eventually left California for Texas Southern University, where they continued organizing while pursuing their degrees. During college, they both experienced unimaginable loss, losing their mothers and becoming each other’s support system through grief—while still managing to graduate with honors in four years.

Then they came home.

In this episode, we trace their journey from teenage organizers to Healing the Hood, unpack food apartheid in Bayview-Hunters Point, and talk about the ideas that eventually became Supreme Queen and Vegan Hood Chefs.

But this conversation goes far beyond business. We talk friendship, grief, caregiving, inheriting homes and responsibility, entrepreneurship, family, boundaries, self-care, and what happens when you become the person everyone depends on.

Now, after years of building and serving their community together, they’re closing one chapter of Vegan Hood Chefs and stepping into what’s next.

This is the story of two friends who grew up together, grieved together, organized together, built together—and are now learning what it means to choose themselves.

Supreme Queen.

Before barber content became an industry, before tutorials filled our timelines, and before every barber had a camera pointed at the chair, there were people figuring out how to use the internet to teach the craft.

For me, one of those people was Randy.

Long before we ever met, I knew his work. His haircut tutorials were part of the videos I studied while learning how to cut hair—without me even realizing our paths would eventually cross.

In this episode, I sit down with CAKENisRANDY to trace his journey from picking up the clippers, building an audience online, and becoming one of the first barbers I remember using the internet to educate a generation of barbers.

But this conversation is personal too. We talk about eventually meeting at Chicago’s, becoming coworkers, creating content together, and the influence Randy had on me both before and after he knew who I was.

I call him The Barber Who Broke the Internet—and this is the story behind why.

🎙️ Uncle Eshawn — Season 2, Episode 3

Season 2 started with The Slash—the idea that none of us are defined by just one title. This week, I’m unpacking one of the earliest parts of mine: photography.

It started with my friend Tristan. Before I ever owned a professional camera, we would take his dad’s camera and head out into San Francisco to shoot. Those days gave me my first real introduction to photography and helped spark something I didn’t yet know would become such a huge part of my life.

Then came a gift I’ll never forget. A friend and photographer named Sherry surprised me with my first camera, lighting equipment and more gear than I knew what to do with—all with one request: that when the opportunity came, I pay it forward.

From there, I trace the journey through the Academy of Art, my obsession with album artwork and graphic design, Blank Mag, discovering film photography through Rully, meeting photographers like Blackwell, and eventually bringing the camera into the barbershop.

For years, I thought photography and barbering competed with each other. Eventually, I realized they were never separate paths.

They were my slash.

Barber / Photographer.

Last season, I introduced you to the barber in me.

This season, I want to introduce you to the rest of me.

When people ask what I do, the answer is simple: I’m a barber. But that title has never told the whole story. Barbering gave me a career, but photography gave me a voice. Podcasting gave me a place to ask questions. Traveling gives me perspective. Gardening slows me down. Cooking teaches me patience. Those are all parts of who I am.

This season is about exploring my slash—the passions, people, and experiences that exist beyond the barber chair.

In this premiere, I reflect on Season One, explore the rich history of barbering and why barbers have always worn many hats, and share how my mentor challenged me to build a life that was bigger than a single profession.

Over the coming weeks, I’ll sit down with barbers, photographers, creatives, educators, and friends who have helped shape different parts of my journey. We’ll step inside barbershops, studios, kitchens, and creative spaces—not just to talk about what they do, but why it matters to me and how those conversations continue to shape who I’m becoming.

Because we’re all more than a title.

I’m Eshawn. Barber slash…

Welcome to Season Two.

For the first time this season, I trade places with the guest.

Instead of asking the questions, I’m answering them.

Joined by my longtime friend Samantha, someone who’s known me since we met at the Apple Store in 2008, we reflect on the journey of creating Season One, the conversations that shaped it, and the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

We also revisit parts of my childhood, growing up between my mother and my aunt, navigating foster care, and the experiences that continue to influence the person I’ve become.

This isn’t just a season finale. It’s an honest conversation between two friends about growth, identity, resilience, and what’s next.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

See you in Season Two.

Episode 9: Three Pillars

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with three men whose stories are deeply connected to a chapter of San Francisco barbering that helped shape my journey.

In this episode, I reflect on my conversations with Robert Harlin, Anton, and Ken—three individuals who each played a different role in the legacy of Chicago’s Barbershop. From mentorship and leadership to risk-taking, loyalty, and community, their stories reveal the values that helped build more than just a barbershop.

This isn’t just a recap of three interviews. It’s a reflection on legacy, influence, and the people who plant seeds they may never get to see grow.

I also catch up on the final episodes of Euphoria and share a few thoughts on where the podcast goes from here as we approach the end of Season One.