Wake Tech School of Barbering Director William Graham advises a student on how to cut a child's hair. (Matthew Burns/Wake Tech)

As his students tease him about his old-school clippers, William Graham's booming laugh cuts through his classroom like the clippers he's used to trim hair on countless heads over the years.

Graham, the director of Wake Tech's School of Barbering, had spent the morning demonstrating cutting styles on a manikin head and showing the class how different types of trimmers can affect a cut.

"Most people cut what feels right and don't really understand the fundamentals – why we do what we do," he tells them.

Credit Graham's cousin Kenny as the reason he does what he does. Graham says had no idea what he would do for a career when he graduated high school. But he idolized Kenny, and when Kenny decided to try his hand at barbering, Graham decided that would be his line of work as well.

"I was totally green, but I fell in love with it," he said, adding that, when Kenny dropped out of barbering school, he took it as a challenge to complete his training so he could achieve something his cousin didn't.

Graham worked for more than a decade at a barbershop near North Carolina State University, expanding his training to nail care and massage along the way. After a couple of attempts at running his own shop with family and friends didn't last, he decided to scale back and cut hair part time while working full time for the state Department of Administration.

Even though he wasn't barbering full time, he earned his barber instructor license, thinking he could start a nonprofit and teach troubled youth to cut hair. He also landed a job with the North Carolina Board of Barber Examiners, inspecting colleges and businesses seeking to operate barbering schools.

When someone at Wake Tech called the state board in 2012 about opening a barbering school, Graham seized the opportunity to run the new program. He says the idea of teaching really took hold when he was inspecting schools.

"I would talk with students and realized, 'Hey, I know some stuff,'" he said. "I enjoy being around their energy. It's revitalizing and inspiring seeing their hunger – and even their naivete."

Graham's students say he displays as much enthusiasm – many times even more – as they do in class.

"He's very energetic, yet easy-going," said Abdeel Burgos-Baldaguez, an Army veteran looking to start a second career. "He's got a lot – and I mean a lot – of experience. It's good to know your instructor has skin in the game."

Jordan Harris, who started cutting hair for family and friends during the pandemic, says Graham is very upfront with students and helps break down techniques so they're easier to master.

"He's not someone who gives you the runaround," Harris said. "He does a good job of backing up what he says, walking you through everything on the floor."

Wake Tech's barbering program at the Public Safety Education Campus includes a barbershop open to the public where students can hone their skills. Since it opened in 2016, Graham has trained hundreds of of men and women, many of whom now run their own barbershops throughout North Carolina.

"It keeps me motivated, keeps me current," he said of teaching. "Seeing what some [graduates] are doing now, there's a real wow factor. It's exciting to see people fulfill their goals and dreams. I'm super-proud of them."