Rhythm and Ledger

Dancer-actress Naomi Henderson found harmony between art and accounting at SMC.

Matt's second act

In action with Prof Brandon Ceballos

A young Matt with his dad and brother

A family portrait from the early years

The younger years in Boston

On SMC Graduation Day

Matt with barbering paraphernalia

Matt is a proud Corsair

SMC Barber

Matt adventuring

Up!

Friends are the family we choose for ourselves—thus goes a saying, holding such truth the meaning often flies right over our heads. But not for Matthew “Matt” Wong—a Network Communications Technician II at Santa Monica College—who is now also a student, in SMC’s nascent Barbering program, housed in the Cosmetology Department.

Growing up in Boston, the grandson of a Chinese immigrant who moved into an Italian-Irish neighborhood—“You’d think he’d go to Chinatown!” Matt remarks on his grandfather’s courage—Matt loved going to the barbershop with his grandfather. The same barber who cut his grandfather’s hair did so for his sons and his grandsons, too. Eventually, when this barber died, a female barber named Kathy came into Matt’s life. It was Kathy who planted the seed in Matthew’s mind, a seed that would come to life roughly four decades later.

“I always asked her questions about cutting hair, and half-joked that I would get my license when I retired,” Matt says, “and then I realized nobody’s going to want a 60-year-old rookie barber, so I better get a head start.”

Kathy was more than just a barber to Matt. “Kathy was an encouraging, positive influence I needed . . . she was great.” To this day, there are three things that matter the most in the world to Matt: people, time, and spending time with those people. “I want to die with the most friends—that’s my goal.”

Little surprise, then, that “WongCo”—a moniker his friends gave him, as he’ll help them with anything IT or tech-related—is now, also, “WongCuts”. There’s a little barbershop in Matt’s living room in Manhattan Beach, where, on certain nights, he gives his friends haircuts, gratis. Three years into the Barbering program—he still has salon hours outstanding; the program is structured for a rigorous 1,000-hours, with a 200-hour “crossover” option for students who are already licensed or completing a cosmetology program—Matt now has a plan lined up for his retirement years.

For now, though, he’s just “there to learn and ultimately hang out with my friends. I want to recreate the barbershop experience I had when I was a kid.”

A Unique Setup

Cosmetology Department Chair Samantha Manuel points out that SMC’s Barbering program has “a unique setup.” It is a game-changer for students, like Matt, who work full-time or part-time. “All other community colleges I’m aware of, in California, have cohorts,” Samantha says. This means students must attend classes at a structured, set time/day. SMC’s class is designed to be flexible for students when “life starts showing up” so that instead of dropping out, they can tailor their classes and pace to accommodate other obligations: jobs, families, and more. Because of this flexibility, SMC attracts students from a wide geographic swath: “Malibu and further, and east . . . one student who was finishing up the program was coming from San Diego!” Samantha says.

SMC’s Cosmetology Department also has a stellar reputation, ever since its inception in the 1970s. And while AI causes massive shifts in various industries, Cosmetology and Barbering are among the human-centered fields that show promise of holding strong. “I don’t think what we do can be replicated by a machine,” Samantha says. “Because it’s not just the service we provide, it’s the human interaction that’s so important.”

Samantha herself was a nontraditional student, who went back to school as an older student, and she notes that Matt Wong brings “that maturity” to class.

Barbering instructor Brandon Ceballos seconds her opinion. “I see the effort that he applies, the dedication—which is very important. And that is going to create success for him,” says Brandon. “He is eager to learn a new career, a new industry that’s totally different from what he has [been in] . . . it is going to take him to the next level, [to] different opportunities in the future.”

Full Circle

Matt admits that he wasn’t the best student. Also? “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I got out of high school.” His (late) dad worked at a local outpost of AT&T, and after graduating, Matt went to work for a telecommunications company run by his dad’s friend.

While it was something he just “fell into”, Matt doesn’t regret that trajectory. “My father was a very stoic, introverted guy . . . we didn’t have that close of a relationship growing up. But once I started working in his field, we had a common language. We were able to get a little bit closer.”

When Matt turned 22, he emulated his grandfather’s courage and moved to California—to the Bay Area, where he eventually began working at Stanford University (he also worked with a friend’s startup for a couple years and learned how easily one can get burnt out in that sector). In all, Matt spent a decade in NorCal (eight of those years at Stanford), before moving to Southern California—thanks to friends from Mar Vista, who kept inviting him to move—and eventually landing a job at SMC.

Santa Monica College also offered a particular pleasure he’d experienced at Stanford. “I loved being at school—kind of like Good Will Hunting,” Matt quips. “Being around learning, and helping people improve themselves.”

Originally, Matt thought he was going to wait until he retired to cultivate that early love of barbering, to turn it into a real skill. A friend’s cousin, who is also a hairstylist, encouraged him to not put it off—and the timing was ripe: SMC was getting ready to officially launch the barbering program, in 2024, and Matt was all in. As of this semester, he might have a year or so left to finish—including salon hours—and then get licensed. But he’s in no great hurry. Retirement is still (at least) five years or so away.

Being a student has given him a whole new perspective, too. Although IT is one of the front-facing departments, Matt sees firsthand how hard some of the students have to work, juggling jobs on top of their classes. “It gives me a whole new respect and perspective [for them].”

The Guy Who Gave Michelangelo his First Paintbrush

Matt loves the diversity of the classroom at SMC. While some of his classmates like to remind him that he’s older, he doesn’t mind that at all. In fact, Matt likes to observe and encourage certain students who have immense potential.

For example, at the first-ever Barber Battle, a very talented fellow student broke his trimmer. “I was like, ‘Let’s Go!’” Matt remembers. “And I went and bought him a new trimmer.” Why? “Because when he hits it big, I want to be known as the guy who gave Michelangelo his first paintbrush . . . something like that, you know?”

Matt is grateful for the support of his SMC supervisor Mark Engfer—who is retiring soon—and states that what drives him is a love of people. “What I cherish here [at SMC] more than anything is the relationships I’ve built, because at the end of the day, that’s all I care about.”

Little wonder, then, that Matt has found his way into a field where with a snip here and a shear there—and with a heart for others, just like a female barber decades ago, in Boston—he is poised for his next chapter when it comes, and all the clients of WongCuts will benefit.

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[For more information on SMC’s Barbering Program, see smc.edu/Barbering. Also, check out this December 2024 SMC in Focus article, celebrating the launch of the program].

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