Barber, businessman and cult-survivor, Charlie McCoy speaks to students
of IS 219 about empowering themselves. Photo Jason Cohen
2173 White Plains Road 718-931-4335
Just South of Pelham Pkwy.
BY JASON COHEN
Although the Bronx is home
to a 30% poverty rate and a high
rate of crime, one person is showing
kids there are other paths in
MEGA FOODS • WILD HARVEST
RENEW LIFE • VIBRANT HEALTH
COUNTRY LIFE • GAIA HERBS
HIMALAYA
BRONX TIMES R 20 EPORTER, DEC. 3-9, 2021 BTR
OPEN
7 DAYS
SALE
WE CARRY A WIDE VARIETY OF Fresh Organic Produce • Gluten Free Foods
Organic Foods, Herbs, Homeopathic Products & More
SALE ENDS 12/31/2021
WE CARRY A FULL
SELECTION OF
CBD
PRODUCTS
SINCE 1978
GOOD N NATURAL HAS NY ‘S LARGEST
HERBAL TEA SELECTION
WE ALSO STOCK A LARGE SELECTION
OF COFFEES AND COFFEE SUBSTITUTES 25%
OFF
30%OFF
JARROW • NEW CHAPTER
life.
Charlie McCoy is a cult-survivor
who found community in his
local barber shop. He’s now partnering
with IS 219, 3630 Third
Ave., to offer that same support
and mentorship to Bronx-based
youth, through his foundation,
The Grooming Alchemist by Artisan
Barber. Currently, the program
is focusing on boys, but Mc-
Coy has plans to help girls in the
future as well.
The Grooming Alchemist
has three primary goals: provide
mentorship for kids of color, offer
cult survivors access to apprenticeship
opportunities and initiate
the conversation surrounding
mental health for men.
On Nov. 12, McCoy, 38, and
a couple of his barbers from the
Artisan Barber, his shop in the
Upper East Side of Manhattan,
stopped by IS 219 where he spoke
with students about business
while giving several of them free
haircuts.
Christos Argyros, an English
as Second Language (ESL)
teacher at IS 219, is friends with
McCoy and helped arrange the
event. Knowing that the school is
in a low-income area of the South
Bronx, Argyros wanted his students
to learn that they can be
successful and build wealth.
“For me I embrace opportunities
in life, and I understand
where I’m teaching and those
opportunities don’t come too often
for them,” Argyros told the
Bronx Times.
McCoy was raised by a single
mom, Flossy in Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. His uncle Joe, a barber,
was a major infl uence in his
life. Joe taught him the trade and
by 13, McCoy was cutting hair.
“I used it as a springboard
to make money and eventually
it became a career,” McCoy told
the Bronx Times.
As his mom was heavily involved
with the Jehovah’s Witnesses
church, McCoy followed
suit. At age 19, they moved to
Brooklyn to live at the headquarters
of the church. It was there
where he met his wife, became
an elder and made numerous
friends. His life was soon consumed
— McCoy was managing
a barbershop for L’Oréal and cutting
hair at the church.
However, in 2014, he began to
have a change in consciousness
about what the church taught
him.
“I began to question things,
which was really unorthodox for
an elder,” he said.
A year later, he was excommunicated
from the church and
has never been back since. According
to McCoy, the church
brainwashes people and doesn’t
let them think freely.
Those next two years were
fi lled with anxiety and depression
as he had to leave his wife,
mom and whole life behind.
“I basically had to recreate
my community from scratch,”
he said. “It was one of the roughest
things I’ve ever done.”
Fortunately, he was cutting
hair and that kept him on
the right path. And with a new
perspective on life, he opened
the Artisan Barber in 2017 and
from then on never stopped
hustling. Cutting hair was easy,
but now he had to manage a
business. Soon, his barbershop
became a second home and he
eventually launched a clothing
store in Manhattan, a creative
agency and in 2019, his foundation.
Stuck home during the
pandemic, he had to time to
think. Initially, he wanted to
help other ex-Jehovahs, but
soon realized it was important
to help young kids of color as
well. When Argyros invited
him to speak to the students
he jumped at the opportunity.
He saw the impact it had on the
children and plans to return to
the school on a monthly basis.
His long-term goal is to educate
students on how to be businessmen,
entrepreneurs, help
them see other options and even
take them to places in Manhattan,
such as private clubs for
men like Soho House and the
Gentleman’s Factory.
“They can see other minorities
in these places doing well,”
McCoy said. “They don’t know
these places exist.”
McCoy said the goal is to
show these young men of color
how they can be the best versions
of themselves. A lot of children
come from underserved
areas and for many, it’s diffi cult
to see the light at the end of the
tunnel, he said.
“I want to give the kids a fi -
nancial literacy course, I want
to talk to them about ownership
and entrepreneurship,” McCoy
said
Mental health, mentorship
initiative launches at Bronx school