Barbershop mogul living the American Dream

With the economy still in the midst of the largest recession since The Great Depression, many business owners are prone to pessimism and cynicism.

But don’t tell that to Bruce Soscia, a master marketer, promoter and barber known fondly as “Busta” by his friends. He owns the chic GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarters) barbershop chain with shops throughout the West Bay, and said during a recent interview that his story proves The American Dream is alive and well.

Like most successful entrepreneurs, Soscia said that the best time to expand is during an economic downturn. To that end, he’s gone from one barbershop just three years ago, to owning six West Bay locations today.

But Soscia isn’t someone who learned how to create a business plan at a prestigious graduate school or had the benefit of well-heeled financial backers to get him going. Like everything else he knows, that wisdom comes from on-the-job experience.

In fact, when Soscia opened up his first barbershop, located on East Avenue in Warwick, he didn’t even know how to cut hair.

But Soscia beat the odds – something he says that given his background, is nothing new.

“It was humble beginnings, believe me,” said Soscia.

The oldest of five siblings, Soscia, 34, was born to teenage parents who were high school sweethearts, and was told he was conceived just after their senior prom. His father joined the Marines after high school, and Soscia, who was born in Rhode Island, lived in California for the first few years of his life. His parents soon divorced, and his mother brought him back to the Stone Hill section of Cranston.

Soscia’s mother soon remarried. To put it mildly, Soscia and his stepfather never got along. It made for a miserable childhood. Soscia said his stepfather would occasionally beat him, but even worse was the constant berating he was forced to endure. Physical scars heal and can be ignored and forgotten quite easily, he said, but emotional abuse weighs on you.

He was told that he was destined for no good – and would never amount to anything.

“I usually felt helpless and hopeless. I always had people telling me I wouldn’t go anywhere in life,” said Soscia. “But then again, deep down, I always thought I had potential. I always felt that there was something inside of me that would be special. I always felt like I was a leader.”

Soscia said his first inclination toward leadership and his knack for organization emerged when he was in grade school. Soscia remembers seeing several of his classmates being bullied and it reminded him of his own situation at home.

While Soscia couldn’t retaliate against the bully at home, he decided to make a big difference in the schoolyard. He rallied five or six of the kids that were being bullied and led a charge against the biggest schoolyard aggressor. The melee that ensued and the union that emerged guaranteed that bullying was curbed significantly from there on.

“I put a bunch of us together to go out there and stick up for ourselves,” said Soscia. “I guess I proved that if we worked together, we could get make a difference.”

But that didn’t make things at home any better. Soscia became a bit of a work-aholic even as a youngster. He would do two or three paper routes at a time. Soscia would exaggerate his age to try to gain employment.

“Basically, I’d look for anything I could do to get me out of that house and put some money into my pocket,” said Soscia.

One of the major turning points in his life, he said, was when he applied for a job at Mama Teresa’s in Cranston.

“He came in looking for a job but he looked and talked like a tough kid. He had baggy pants and everything. I hired him by accident actually,” said Sergio Scarcella, who owns the restaurant, now located on Westminster St. in Providence, with his wife Karen.

Scarcella needed to hire three people and had five applicants. Soscia wasn’t one of the people he intended to call, but did so by accident.

When Soscia showed up for work that week, he knew he had erred. Both he and his wife were leery, but Scarcella quickly had a change of heart. Scarcella told her that looks can be deceiving, everyone deserves a chance, and that he did seem eager to work.

So he gave Soscia a shot. The two hit it off, and Scarcella took him under his wing.

“Sergio taught me how to cook…but he also taught me how to do business. He taught me how to have a good work ethic and a better attitude. He taught me how to deal with people in a positive manner,” said Soscia.

The two remain friends to this day.

“I think I saw potential in Bruce. I told him that he needed to work hard if he was going to make it,” said Scarcella.

Soscia took the message to heart. He had to.

A high school dropout, he married his wife Tina, who now helps him run the GQ business, and had his first child Bruce “Lil Busta” Soscia Jr. when he was 19-years-old (Tina was 17). Two years later, the Soscia’s had their daughter, Alicia.

Soscia remembers working 90-hour weeks in order to support his family. While most people his age were partying away their youth, for Soscia, it was all work. But that doesn’t seem bother him. For the family-oriented Soscia – it was all time well spent.

“There was none of that for me. It was just round-the-clock working in order to provide for and support my family,” said Soscia, sitting behind a desk that has a wooden carving of the word “family” on it.

“We said to ourselves that if we were going to be anything else in the world, we were going to be good parents first. We weren’t going to be like the parents we had,” said Soscia.

Soscia eventually left Mama Teresa’s in search of a career. He began working for a company that would travel around New England doing environmental remediation work. To say it was a tough job, Soscia said, would be an understatement.

Soscia then got his CDL license that allowed him to drive a truck. He liked trucking more, but it was still something he didn’t want to do for a career.

“I was still part of that same rat race,” said Soscia. “All those jobs taught me one thing: I didn’t want to be the guy doing them at age 50.”

Soscia toyed with the idea of getting his real estate license, and sold mortgages for a while. Some weeks the money was great. Some weeks it was nothing. With a family to raise, he needed more stability.

A connection he made eventually scored an administrative position at Boston’s Big Dig. When that job completed, he decided he wanted to become a barber.

“Ever since I was a child, I always admired the barber shop,” said Soscia.

Soscia had no experience, but he convinced five area barbers that if they would teach him how to cut hair, he would promote the business tirelessly. So they reached an agreement.

Soscia learned the craft by cutting the hair of his best friends and family.

“I still offer them all my sincerest apologies,” joked Soscia.

Soscia and his friends would dress up in suits and do their best to imitate GQ models. They would frequent Providence nightclubs and pass out fliers to promote the East Avenue location. Soscia would give local disc jockeys free haircuts in exchange for their mentioning his barbershop a few times a night from the booth.

When he opened his second store in Coventry, he gave the high school basketball team and their families free haircuts. Word spread. Within weeks, half the kids at Coventry High School were paying customers of the new GQ barbershop.

“The traditional barbers don’t market. They sit there and wait for something to happen. I’m way more aggressive than that,” said Soscia.

GQ barbershops showcase sports memorabilia. They are furnished with comfortable waiting chairs, but promise virtually no waits – given the number of barbers they employ. Customers can get anything from far-out designs to the most popular haircuts of the day (like the now infamous “Paulie D”) or a traditional businessman’s cut.

Soscia attributes his successes to a positive attitude. He raves about “The Secret,” a new-age, self help book written by Rhonda Byrne, which stresses a positive attitude.

Soscia is overjoyed by the fact that although he never graduated high school (he has his GED), he’s been able to help several high school students with their Senior Projects.

“And they all get A’s. Everyone of them who came in here has gotten an A,” said Soscia. “I have a huge soft spot for kids because I know what it’s like to have a rough childhood.”

Soscia doesn’t see his future limited to the barbershop business. He’d like to get involved in technology, or follow in his mentor’s footsteps and open his own restaurant some day. More locations could be in the future of GQ as well.

Given his background, he feels like a gambler playing with house money, he said.

“Stay tuned,” said Scarcella, referring to his protégé. “He’s not done yet.”