MEMPHIS, Tenn. — "What separates Tip from a lot of the barbers that you have had at your shop" was the question asked to Eric Massey on a recent evening at his shop in Whitehaven — the answer livestreamed to fellow-barber-Alvin Perry's followers on Instagram.
"What separates Tip" Mr. Massey responded, with a pause for reflection or possible dramatic effect, "from all my other barbers — is that he started when he was six."
The history of Mr. Massey and Delterio Callicutt or "Tip the Barber," as he is fondly known, goes back a long way.
"It’s an interesting story," Mr. Massey said. "He use to live in the apartments behind the barber shop. He was riding his bike and he stopped by."
Young Tip asked to speak to the owner. Upon finding out it was Mr. Massey, he asked for a job. Intrigued Massey replied, "you looking for a job? You are six years old, what would you be doing looking for a job, and the words he said to me were so interesting — he said 'I gotta eat.'"
Mr. Massey immediately saw a drive in the young man and told Tip to come back whenever he had a chance. From that day a friendship, a mentorship — a family was born.
Eric Massey has a habit of helping and looking out for the youth. Not all of which is purely altruistic, he siad.
“Being here in Whitehaven — I have been here a long time, you have to take care of the youth," Massey said. "If you don’t take care of the youth, you're going to have a problem. If they not getting any money, they might try to get that money from you, and you don’t want those problems.”
He has been in business for almost 30 years and has helped countless youths find a path with barbering. He said he believes in teaching kids a trade early on letting them realize the empowerment that comes with owning a small business.
"This is a lifestyle that you learn how to teach the next person and the next person and the next person," he said. "When you come in, you're going to learn everything.”
The barbering program he started at Whitehaven High now has seven barbers in the process of attaining their master barber certification before they graduate high school, giving them a crucial head start in a competitive field.
Still, the first one to do it was Tip. Delterio Callicutt says that he has had the name Tip for as long as he can remember.
“My momma named me Tip," he said. "She said I use to walk around on my tip-toes, so she gave me the name Tip, and ever since then I ride with Tip.”
He started sweeping up around the shop as a kid and grew to have a deep appreciation for the space, the people who held it and the positive environment it offered. By high school, he knew what he wanted to be.
"I will never forget it, when he was in the 9th grade he said 'Mr. Massey, I want to become a barber'" Mr. Massey remembers.
Tip works at the shop after school most days staying late often to finish up, even at such a young age he is deeply aware of why he works so hard.
"He has responsibilities, and he feels like he does — he has a little sister.”
June 12, 2022 Tip and his family’s lives changed forever.
“I got a phone call — it was like three in the morning," Tip said. "My brother called and said my mother had been shot."
Tip said at first, he did not register the extent of the injuries, but when another call came a short time later, he could hear from his uncle’s reaction that the worst had happened.
Police never made an arrest, and the family has yet to find out who is responsible for the death of their mother.
“I try to keep it out of my mind because I was close to his mom, but when she passed, I told the village, which is the barber shop, 'Hey, I am going to need everyone’s helping hand,” Massey said. “I said 'listen, I can’t be here, but I can sure be someone you lean on — I am strong as hell — you leaning on me is like leaning on 100 people.”
Tip said the thing that he remembers the most about his mom was that “she always made sure everyone felt loved, that’s what I know.”
As he gets ready to graduate from Whitehaven with a 4.5 GPA and numerous scholarship offers, the master barber wants to pursue a possible business degree to learn how to take his business of cutting hair to the next level.
“He can go any direction he want to go” Mr. Massey said. “He came and rose to the occasion, I can do nothing but commend him. He makes me a proud father. He’s special to us.”
Tip said that he just looks forward to a time when he can give back and pour into the community the way Mr. Massey has done for the youth of Whitehaven — at this point now going on a generation.
“Mr. Massey — he always been there since day one, when everything happened, so he is still here in my corner today. That means a lot.”
As for the business part, Tip always dreams big.
“I want to take it to the next level — have shops in different cities,” he said.
When asked about what Tip’s mom would think of where Tip is now, Mr. Massey beams with happiness.
“She would say 'job well done,' she’s smiling right now," he said. "The things he has accomplished, especially while she is gone, are tremendous."
