LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. – Being back in business is all Laguna Hills barber Rick Wood has wanted. He has re-opened against state mandate orders saying he had no other choice to be able to stay in business.

“We had to do it. We got no financial aid whatsoever from any entity - federal, state, anything. We have yet to see a stimulus check, denied for the small business loan,” Rick said.

But it’s definitely not business as usual at The BarberHood. After closing for over one month-and-a-half, he and his wife Christine met with their barbers about re-opening and used guidelines to develop a system.

Everyone is required to wear a mask, with her staff wearing KN-95 masks Christine bought on Amazon. Additionally, there can be no more than five guys at a time and they must remain six feet apart. Tools and surfaces must be cleaned between every haircut.

“We have to open in a new world. As long as you have all the precautions in place,” Christine says.

The response has been overwhelming. The shop has been booked from open to close every day since re-opening on May 1 with people coming from all over Southern California. They have tried to keep customers local by requiring them to sign-up in person.

“My hair was just growing crazy. I’d be having my buddies be cutting my hair, and they wouldn’t be giving me the greatest haircuts. So I’m thankful and very stoked to be getting a haircut today,” BarberHood customer Colton says.

While the state has yet to allow phase three for reopening businesses like barbershops, hair salons, and nail salons, Rick and Christine say they chose to do so because they have the support of county officials. Rick says law enforcement has been very supportive of their efforts.

“We support law enforcement 100 percent. They have been called out a few times. If they get a phone and dispatch dispatches them to The BarberHood, they are required to come out. They come out. We have a conversation. It’s very brief. They say, ‘Rick, you know why we’re here. We’ve gotten a phone call. It appears you’re doing everything correctly. We appreciate that, and we support you to stay in business. Just continue to keep doing it right,’” Rick says.

If the rollout of businesses is going to require safety guidelines, Rick is hoping that The BarberHood can be an example of that future.

“This is probably going to be going on for a while. That being said, there’s going to be a second wave of this and third wave of this next winter. If that’s going to be the case, then we can’t shut the economy down every time this comes around. We’ve just got to learn to deal with it correctly,” says Rick.

Hoping that small businesses will stand to make the cut.