Earl B Reynolds (EBR): He immediately walked over to my dad's barbershop, and he just started shaking hands and talking to people. And he looked down at me and he said, "You must be the boot black." In barbershop vernacular, that is, "You shine shoes."

And he said, "Well come on back here and shine my shoes." Of course his shoes were already shined; he was immaculate from head to toe. So I went through the process of re-shining his shoes, and he got off the shoeshine stand and he handed me a five-dollar bill. And he told me that back in his hometown, he started out shining shoes. He said, "It's an honorable profession, it's good work, you just need to think about now what else you want to do with your life." That was my first step along to my education.

I know that your Granddaddy was counting on me to take over the barbershop. I'm his son—his only son—and he was grooming me for that....
Read the full transcript