TAMPA, Fla. — Gio Valle is good at making his clients at Experience the One Barber Lounge look sharp.
Now this talented man is about to get to work on improving their mental health, too.
WATCH: "Barbershop Conversations" trains local barbers to be mental health advocates
"As men, we tend to bottle everything up and keep it to ourselves," says Gio. "We're taught that when we speak about our emotions, we're considered weak in a sense. That has to stop."
That's why this barber is getting involved with "Barbershop Conversations," a national movement that started in Atlanta and is now in Tampa, the first city in Florida to host it.
The program is for men hesitant about seeing a doctor or therapist about life complications, and feel more comfortable openly sharing with their peers in a barbershop.
Barbers throughout Hillsborough County will receive training to become mental health advocates, enabling them to recommend resources to clients in need of assistance.
Launched here by the nonprofit EnVision Resolution and funded by the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, Barbershop Conversations will host regular events involving health screenings, parenting, and more.
"Barbers will have open, honest conversations without judging the client," says Jarvis El-Amin of EnVision Resolution, a wellness movement. "They will give them motivation to talk but also offer them resources."
"We're meeting men and boys where they are, and they do tend to congregate in barbershops," says Tewabech Genet Stewart of the Children's Board of Hillsborough County. "We want the men and boys to be well so they can take care of the women and girls in our communities."
For more on Barbershop Conversations — including a free kickoff event on June 22 — go here.
For more stories by Sean Daly, follow him on Instagram @seandalytv.
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