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This week on Mission CTRL, Ramon and Jorge sit down with Andrea and Angel Perez-Montero, the husband-and-wife founders of SmartCuts Academy, to discuss how passion, purpose, and partnership can transform a traditional trade into a powerful vehicle for inclusion.
Angel brings more than 25 years of barbering experience, while Andrea is a special education teacher. Together, they combined their expertise to create SmartCuts Academy, a barber training program designed to give individuals with special needs and disabilities a real pathway to career skills, independence, and employment. Their idea recently earned them top honors at the M&T Small Business Accelerator, validating the impact of their mission-driven approach.
The conversation dives into their personal journeys - from Angel’s early days cutting hair in the Dominican Republic to building a thriving barbershop community in Connecticut, and Andrea’s personal journey, military career and work supporting students who often graduate high school without clear career opportunities. Recognizing that traditional barber school curriculums aren’t designed for different learning needs, Andrea began developing a modified program that makes professional barber training accessible and achievable.
Together, they unpack how Smart Cut Academy plans to partner with schools, state agencies, and local barbershops to create a pipeline for training and employment - equipping students with adaptive tools, inclusive instruction, and real-world opportunities in a field that desperately needs skilled professionals.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, educator, or community leader, this episode is a powerful reminder that innovation doesn’t always mean inventing something new - sometimes it means reimagining what already exists to create opportunity for everyone.
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Mission CTRL aims to ignite the innovative spirit inside us all through providing budding and successful entrepreneurs and community leaders with a platform to share their stories and inspire others. Tune in every Wednesday and catch up with the team at Peralta Design as we unleash the origin stories behind some exceptional leaders, share marketing/branding insights, and navigate the ever-changing currents of pop culture.
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