Mid-South barber gains traction on TikTok for special connection with clients

DESOTO CO., Miss. (WMC) - People from across the country are driving to a Mid-South barber shop, not only to get a haircut, but also to connect with a specific barber.

In DeSoto County, a local barber is quickly gaining popularity on TikTok under his account @Chrisnewson2.

“I never thought I’d be cutting hair for a living, or be behind a chair,” Chris Newson said. “I never thought in a million years that I’d be doing this right here. I always thought I was going to be something, but never in a million years I thought I was going to be a barber.”

Some may know Newson as the “OG Barber,” or as the talkative barber from TikTok.

Newson started cutting hair in 2016, but it’s not just his skillset that drives so many clients to his chair.

“I can easily counsel people in my chair as well,” Newson said.  

It’s Newson’s intentional effort to talk with clients about how they are doing, or what they are looking for, that helps him better serve his customers.

”A lot of times people don’t really know what they want to get,” Newson said. “So, it’s like my artist eye comes in. I’m like, ’Okay, let me put this right here with this person or their profession... let me make this haircut fit to their profession.’ So that’s the artist capability I have come up with to put two and two together.”  

What started as fun has since gained Newson nearly 800,000 followers on TikTok and hundreds of clients from all around the country.

”They come from out of state: Atlanta, Kentucky, the furthest person came from New York,” Newson said.  

And he sees clients from just up the road, too. In fact, when Action News 5 stopped by, the client in his chair was from Germantown.

“I would love to keep having people come in, people view the Mid-South and all the love and southern hospitality and everything like that, that we can offer to other people around us,” Newson said.

Newson is preparing for a Barber tour in the coming weeks.

For more on his mission, visit his website: Chris Newson - Chris Newson - CEO (chrisnewsonceo.com)

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