Fly Guys Barbershop in Middletown aims to be a place to hang out

MIDDLETOWN - Ryan Schoentube, owner of Fly Guys Barbershop, started his career as a barber when he started giving free haircuts as a teenager.

“I was 18 years old when I picked up my first buzzer,” Schoentube said. “I was cutting out of my grandmother’s attic. I enjoyed it from the start. Although some days were tougher than others, I always realized that this was my passion.”

Schoentube knew he wanted to cut hair since he was 10 years old.

“I would always go to the barbershop with my dad and brother,” Schoentube said. “I saw how they cut hair. They would talk sports and have a back-and-forth banter constantly. I thought it was very cool and I had an interest in it. Everyone always looked like they were having a good time, and it was the first time I saw someone being productive and doing what they loved. They were able to work hard and still have fun.

Ryan Schoentube, owner, razors the hair of Robert Magliulo, master barber, at Fly Guys Barbershop in Middletown, NJ Tuesday, May 21, 2024.

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“I found that I also liked to meet new people and I liked to interact with others,” Schoentube said. “It came down to simple conversation. For me, I could talk to a brick wall if it would talk back to me. I can talk to pretty much anybody. That was the most fun part of the job for me.”

For Schoentube, cutting hair came naturally.

“As I observed other barbers as a young man, it wasn’t like they were building skyscrapers or bridges,” Schoentube said. “It’s more like you're hanging out and getting to know your customers as you cut their hair, no matter what age. I’ve had clients that I have been cutting for 10 to 15 years now and I see them grow as I cut their hair. It’s crazy that you get to know these people like they are your own family.”

Free practice

Schoentube gained experience by cutting his friends' hair for free.

“I wanted to get as much repetition and practice as I could,” Schoentube said. “I was telling everyone to come by and let me cut their hair for free, including my neighbors and anyone else I could get the word out to.

"It was kind of difficult at first because no one trusted me to cut their hair," he continued. "They knew I was brand new to it, so they would laugh it off and refuse to let me touch them. People tried to put me down, but I never cared. It took some time, but their impression of me changed after I did a good job, and I got more confidence in myself, as I knew I was getting better.”

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While dreaming of being a barber, Schoentube worked other jobs to pay the rent.

“I worked at Cablevision and I hated it,” Schoentube said. “I was getting up at 4 a.m. and heading over to Piscataway every day by 6 a.m. I also screen printed and embroidered hats and shirts with my uncle in South Jersey. All that time, though, I never stopped cutting hair for free. At one point, my friend told me I was getting better at hair cutting and advised me to get the proper education for this as a career.

“I enrolled in a cosmetology school called Robert Fiance Beauty School in Perth Amboy," he said. "It took me a little bit over a year to finish that program. I had to do 1,200 hours in a classroom, and you must complete a written and practice exam. During that time, I was still working other jobs while I was a full-time student. I was hustling, so I never had an apprenticeship or anything like that. I was self-taught at everything that I was doing. I would go to school during the daytime and work in the evenings. It was a crash course in cutting hair.”

In 2015, Schoentube graduated from school and went out into the world.

“I did well on both exams and passed them on the first shot,” Schoentube said. “I already had a job set up because I was able to get a job cutting hair after the first 600 hours of schooling. I was working at a barbershop in Belford called Swagger Barbershop starting in 2014.

"I knew the owner from being a young kid, Justin Yahara, and he offered me a job there," Schoentube continued. "He has always been a mentor to me. He taught me a lot about cutting hair, but more importantly, he taught me about life. He is a very good role model to have and he’s an outstanding person. I thank him for a lot of my success for sure.”

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“I learned a lot from my time with Swagger, as I worked there for eight years,” Schoentube said. “He taught me that you can be an average barber and still have clientele waiting out the door. Ever since he told me that, it all clicked. I’m a great barber, but I learned that it’s all about how you present yourself and how you make your customers feel comfortable while they’re in your chair. It goes a long way and he's always been right about that.”

After his time at Swagger, Schoentube found an opportunity to open his own shop.

“I originally signed the lease for my own place in March of 2020,” Schoentube said. “Unfortunately, that’s when COVID-19 happened. I was shut down with my own shop and I couldn’t even go back to working for Justin because he was shut down as well. After things got better sometime around June, I talked to Justin and told him that I was opening my own place, and he was OK with it. I made a promise to him not to promote myself while working at his shop and I kept that promise. I left Swagger and opened Fly Guys Barbershop in July 20th of 2020."

'Like a light switch'

At first, it was tough for Schoentube to find clients.

“I did not mention to any of my customers at Swagger that I was opening Fly Guys,” Schoentube said. “When I opened on the first day, it was great, and it was a good starting point. It got very slow after that and I was questioning whether I made the right choice to go it alone.

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"One of my customers told me to be patient and wait a little longer to get people to come in," he continued. "It was like a light switch went off and ever since, I’ve gotten more and more customers to come in every day. I hired a couple of employees and I found out it isn’t easy to get good help. The way I operate, I like those under me to follow my lead. I don’t ask for much, but I do like to lead by example.

“We can do anything, and we don’t discriminate by age,” Schoentube said. “We do all types of cuts from heads to faces.”

Schoentube has big dreams.

“We want to keep growing the business,” Schoentube said. “There is always room for more success and maybe one day, we can open another location. Right now, I want to continue to find more barbers and I can teach aspiring barbers who want to do what I do. I have taught many apprentices so far and it’s easy to teach. It’s simpler than people think it is.”