Education
Education plays a central role in Gum Cruz’s barbering career, shaped by years of formal training, competition, and real-world shop experience. His work as an educator grew naturally from a desire to help other barbers develop practical skill and long-term consistency.
Gum’s education work includes private mentorship, barbershop team training, seminars, and large-scale workshops across the Philippines. His teaching focuses on clear systems, repeatable techniques, and skills that translate directly to daily work inside the barbershop.
Foundation as a Student
Before teaching others, Gum invested heavily in his own education as a barber. He trained locally and abroad, including the UK’s top barbering academies such as OP Barberworld by Josh O’Meara Patel and MENSPIRE Academy by Josh Lamonaca. These programs exposed him to structured cutting systems, consultation frameworks, and high-level scissor work. He also sought learning opportunities through international educators and industry events. This period shaped how he approaches precision, discipline, and consistency in the craft. His teaching today is rooted in what he experienced firsthand as a student.
Gum held his first barbering seminar in 2021, teaching more than 70 barbers in a single session. At the time, he did not initially see himself as an educator, but the response from attendees and continued demand pushed him to take the role seriously.
As more barbers and shop owners reached out, his teaching work expanded beyond one-off seminars. He began refining lesson structures, demonstrations, and hands-on training methods. Teaching became a natural extension of his barbering career rather than a separate path. Over time, education became one of his core areas of work.
Gum offers multiple education formats, including one-on-one mentorships, group workshops, and full barbershop team training. He has worked with established barbershop brands in the Philippines such as Bruno’s Barbers, TUF Barbershop, and Pabling’s Barbershop, among others, helping teams improve consistency and service standards.
Training sessions cover consultation, cutting structure, scissor control, workflow efficiency, and client experience. Programs are adjusted based on the shop’s size, skill level, and operating style. The goal is always the same: create repeatable systems that barbers can apply daily. His workshops are designed to produce measurable improvement, not just inspiration.
Education is also embedded into Pomade Cartel Barbershop, Gum’s signature shop. Every barber inside Pomade Cartel is trained using the same skills, knowledge, and technical standards that Gum applies to his own work.
The shop functions not only as a service space, but also as a training environment where discipline and consistency are reinforced daily. In 2024, Gum was appointed as the first Filipino Wahl Southeast Asia Barbering Educator, expanding his education role beyond the Philippines. This position allows him to support barber education at a regional level while continuing his local work. His education today balances shop-based training, national workshops, and regional responsibility.
