Barber Spotlight: Rengie Andrino

Think of your trusted childhood barber—warm, charismatic, and skilled. That’s Rengie Andrino, known as Kuya “Gie” by friends and family. Today we shine the spotlight on him and his experiences as a GoodWork Barber.

Kuya Gie entered the hairstyling industry in 2006 as a barber for the neighborhood barbershop: “Nagsimula po ako noong 2006 as a barber dito malapit sa’min. Nung naka-dalawang taon na ako, nag-apply ako sa mas malaking salon as barber. Yung time na yun, yung mga kasamahan ko ay tinuruan akong mag-rebond at mag-haircut ng babae. Pero ang pinakarole ko doon is gupit ng lalaki sa salon. Umabot ako ng ilang years sa WOW Salon hanggang 2009, tapos Index Salon hanggang 2012. Ang last ko na experience ay with TONI&GUY.”

He joined GoodWork as a home-service barber on November 2020, where he was able to accept client bookings in his free time for extra income: “Noong nag lockdown sa TONI&GUY, sinubukan ko lang yung GoodWork. ‘Pag wala akong pasok sa salon, nag-aaccept ako sa GoodWork. Pero ngayon po, full time na ako with GoodWork.”

Because of the pandemic, his salon bookings decreased because people preferred having their hair serviced at home rather than the salon for safety reasons. According to Kuya Gie, even though the pandemic has changed the way he works, he’s glad to have found GoodWork: “Unang una, yung income mas okay kumpara sa dati kong experience. Dahil yung mga anak ko lumalaki na, siyempre lumalaki na rin ang expenses. Ang gusto ko sa GoodWork is kapag masipag ka, okay na okay ang kita. Sa salon minimum lang kasi. Pero sa GoodWork, malalagpasan mo talaga yung kinikita mo sa salon.”

Kuya Gie has mastered almost everything there is to learn about hair styling, which comes as no surprise with his industry experience of over 15 years: “Sa haba ng experience ko, kaya ko po kahit ang haircut ng babae. Yung rebond rin po, kaya ko. Unang tinuro kasi sa akin sa salon yung rebond, hanggang sa mga malalaking salon na at nadadagdagan training ko kung saan lumawak yung alam ko. Halos lahat ng service ng hair kaya ko na gawin dahil nga sa experiences ko sa mga training ng salon.”

With 15 years of experience comes 15 years worth of client-facing skills picked up from daily interactions, and Kuya Gie admits that even it’s not always smooth sailing, his favorite part about work is seeing the customers glow with their new hair style: “Nag-eenjoy ako pag masaya yung client na nagawa ko yung gusto nila. Sa isang oras ko lang na gagawin, yung gupit ko naman araw araw niyang dadalhin. Magiging framing yun sa mukha nya. Isa pa dun po yung makikilala mo at magiging friend mo sila, magkaka-relationship ka with the customer na babalik-balikan ka nila at magiging suki na sila sa’yo.”

Asked for advice to those who’ve just started their careers, he says that “Kung ano yung gusto mo, ipagpatuloy mo. Gawin mo lang yung kakayanan mo at maging tapat ka sa kung ano pa ang trabaho mo. Ang relationship mo sa customer, dun ka aangat. Gawin mong tama ang trabaho mo at makakalayo ka talaga.”

GoodWork is able to offer quality beauty home services because of service providers like Rengie Andrino, who have dedicated their lives to their honed craft. Maraming salamat po sa serbisyo niyo, Kuya Gie!