Jimmy Ofuoyan, international celebrity hair stylist, has won the Influential Barber of the year at the 2024 Coolwealth Awards in Nigeria.
CoolWealth Awards recognize and reward hardworking individuals and brands for their extreme consistency over the year in their fields.
The recognition of Jimmy Ofuoyan as the CoolWealth Award Influential Barber of the year is a fitting reward for his longsuffering and perseverance before he became famous. Beyond the exposure of Jimmy Ofuoyan’s extreme talent as a world-class barber renowned in Italy and globally, the Nigerian is winning the award of hearts of customers who have had their hair cut by his gifted hands.
Jimmy Ofuoyan’s story and ultimate rise to stardom is quite like one sold to slavery like the biblical Joseph but eventually culminated in the making of arguably one of the finest barbers the world has ever seen.
In the prisons of captivity in Libya where Ofuoyan was seized by human traffickers enroute Italy, he honed his skills in the corners of rooms with inmates and captors as occupiers. Having undergone training back home as a kid, the skill was crucial to his survival in incarceration during which he was the official barber of fellow prisoners and their captors, with mere comb and blade.
The earliest hearts Ofuoyan won upon arrival in Italy after his ordeal n Libya were those of football stars in the Italian top football league after establish 360Kuts and Khalilimages brands. It was then he became one of the most inspiring stories of the century. The entrepreneur was so good that he was acknowledged as the best in his region.
The most significant event of his life occurred in 2018 after moving to a bigger city known as Pescara. Ofuoyan had searched for a job for a year without breakthrough, and he began to deliver home service as a hairstylist–a move which exposed his talent and skills to the world. Ofuoyan’s 360Kuts became the one-stop shop for celebrities in Italy.
“It happened when I had the opportunity to offer a haircut to a player from the “Pescara Football Club. Being the first migrant and foreigner in my state to achieve such recognition in the hairstyling industry was a game-changer. The experience brought attention to my work and attracted influential personalities and football stars to my Instagram account. It was a turning point that catapulted my career and gave me a platform to showcase my skills to a broader audience,” Ofuoyan recalled.
Ofuoyan’s popularity and fame climbed up the ladder in 2024 after the most followed content creator on TikTok, Khaby Lame, visited his salon for an haircut before a fashion show in Milan. Passion, dedication and gift are forces that have brought the barbing sensation before the greatest of humanity.
