Richard grew up a #hairbaby, having family that was also a part of the industry, growing up in the salon and then having the industry lure him away from film school to work behind the chair. He is a true #hairnerd - taking education, attending industry events, pushing himself to always be better and now you can include social media rockstar - making us belly laugh on the Gram and the Tok. We hope you enjoy badlyshavedpe as much as we do.

Tell us you life story in 3 sentences:

I am a 3rd generation stylist, former theater kid who dropped out of film school to go to hair school, then met his wife while in hair school and ended up working in his parents salon for 17 years. I joined the Paul Mitchell education team 2 years into my hair career which gave me the opportunity to travel and train with some of the most talented hair doers on this earth. Now I make silly videos on an app I said I would never participate in while chasing around 2 kids making sure they eat their vegetables, drink enough water and don't die.

We're obsessed with your TikTok account. What about the app made you want to jump on and how do you find the inspiration for your videos?

So earlier this year I was researching the "what to do with instagram in 2021" and it was saying it was all about "reels". The only thing I knew about reels is that it was like TikTok and I knew nothing about TikTok other than that it was for the young kids. As an elder millennial I wanted no part in this... Flash forward to around Valentines day of 2021 and we here in Texas experienced the power grid failure. We were without power for quite a while and there are only a few board games you can play with your family before you're at each other's throats, so we resorted to staring at our devices to pass the time and get our minds off the bitter cold that was engulfing us. I had just downloaded TikTok before the outage and started consuming it. I was hooked. The creativity, the humor and the bite size, yet impactful things that I saw really struck something within me. I had been creating more longform content for a while and really didn't get the gist of the short stuff until TikTok. After seeing how so many people like to "learn on TikTok" it inspired me to create bite sized educational content and the amount of time I had to invest was minimal. I came from shooting content all day and editing it for hours to upload to youtube, facebook and IG with subpar results. With TikTok i can shoot a video of myself on the couch or in the salon chair then use the editor to add voice over and some text in 10 min and 50k people will see it and find value in it. Its fucking bananas!

Do your clients follow you? What do they think about your videos?

I'm so new to TikTok that only a few of my clients have seen my videos. I feel I connect more to the stylists themselves. 90% of my followers are in the industry already. I never really directed my social media to potential clients behind the chair, more for potential education and video production clients. Once I gained more and more followers, it gave me the confidence to start to relate to the behind the chair experience and it made me more of a voice for the industry, like "Hey, this guy gets us. He is us and we are him" I say all the shit they might not want to on their own feeds because they have clients that follow them or they are looking to build their books. My books are fine... famous last words right... I'd rather connect with other hairdressers than potential btc clients. However I have had a few stylists reach out on TikTok and say they have a relative or a client moving to the DFW area and need hair done, so there is that.

TikTok seems to be a platform the trolls come out and try to beat hairdressers down. Have you experienced this and what is your advice for dealing with it?

Ugh... fucking haters.... I've been a hair educator for 15 years for a major hair company and taught in a hair school for 2 years. I've trained 1000s of people in classrooms and from stages. I. Know. My. Shit. I have the phone number of a cosmetic chemist and a couple art directors of an international hair care company. You don't think that if I'm unclear on something I don't send a quick text? Please... I know that if you give out wrong info you damage the company and the industry. Some people have such a myopic view of things that they don't see the cool shit that happens around them. I just feel that at least they digested the info enough that they gave a shit to make a comment and then I let the rest of the tribe handle them in the comments. Maybe they learn the right info, maybe they don't. I still sleep well at night

Best advice you have ever been given.

Ask for forgiveness, not for permission

What is the biggest challenge the industry is currently facing?

Jeez, there are so many.... my top 1 then..... The sheer amount of stylists that have dropped out of the industry since Covid played hell with our industry. I get it, kids are at home cause school is closed, we can't socially distance in this biz and every client is a potential super spreader event, the insured percentage in our industry are pitiful, Two weeks off work due to exposure can make a homeless situation real fast if you aren't prepared for it. I was really close to starting an OnlyFans myself... I worked half the amount last year than I did the year prior because we had our kids at home. It was fucking tough, my wife and I did it but just by the skin of our teeth. We all need to get our shit together or it's gonna happen again. Get the jab and wear a mask. Protect yourself and your family.

What is your non hair related guilty pleasure?

I am currently restoring my 1967 Galaxie 500 and my wife and I are restoring the pop-up camper we bought recently. I am also getting back into my filmmaking. Last year put a pause on that but now that more people are getting comfortable again I'm looking to take on more clients.

3 hairdressers (dead or alive) you'd love to work with...

Tim Hartley, Paul Mitchell and My Grandfather, Windol McDade, this man is the patriarch of my hair legacy. We lost him in 2016 from alzheimers and I never really got to "talk shop" with him or learn from him but everyone who knew him and has seen me on stage or behind the chair says I am the spitting image of him and his skills. This is the best compliment I can ever receive in my life.

What was your most recent Netflix binge?

I'm a huge sci fi and comic book nerd. I just finished Loki and am finishing up the Bad Batch on disney+. The Nevers by Joss Weadon was amazing on HBO (I'm a closet Steampunk nerd too) I can't wait for Dune to come out.

What is the biggest misconception about your job?

That it holds no value.... I think we all learned differently during the shutdown. My phone and email were blowing up! Also that it is totally a skill that will benefit me in the apocalypse. I'll trade a haircut for a chicken or some firewood anyday, no electricity needed.

I knew I was a Hair Nerd when...

you get the bug eyes... either when you show that guest their new hair or when a little trick you shared in a class will have a monumental impact on someone in that audience (or in the comment section online). Like... yup... this is what i was meant to do...

Where can people stalk you?

@badlyshavedape will get you where you need to go in the socials

badlyshavedape.com will get you to my website.

Magnolia Avenue Salon is where I lay my scissors and some random Texas State Park is where me and the fam like to spend our little free time camping and fishing

Richard McDade