MOUNDS VIEW, Minnesota — Friends and family are gathering outside Shifty's Premium Cuts in Mounds View on Monday night to remember the owner, Nathan Sheferaw.
The 25-year-old was killed in a single-vehicle crash in San Jose on May 7.
"He had an amazing impact, truly, on the kids, on the grown people. The respect that he has from everybody is amazing," said Mustafa Samatar, a barber who was mentored by Sheferaw.
Sheferaw, who KARE 11 interviewed last December, recalled how Akeem Akway — the go-to barber for the Minnesota Timberwolves — gave him his start as a kid. Sheferaw would sweep and clean Akway's Sports Barbershop and he eventually became a barber for him. He then bought the shop in Mounds View in 2020.
Sheferaw, also known by "Shifty," became the youngest owner of a barbershop in the state of Minnesota at the age of 21.
"It's been a real life-changing moment for me when I took over the shop," said Sheferaw to KARE 11 in December.
At 25 years old, Sheferaw had plans to run the youngest-owned barber school in Minnesota. Sheferaw had just moved the barbershop down the road in Mounds View and had plans to open the barber school next door.
Construction was underway this past winter and Sheferaw had said he had hoped to open the school by the summer.
"I can hear his laugh every day, you know? He's always coming here, making us laugh. It's never a dull moment when Nathan's here. He was a very special person. He cared so much, even when I was so young," said Kyren Harmon, a barber at Shifty's Premium Cuts.
Sheferaw had hoped to reach more aspiring barbers through his barber school.
Samatar remembers receiving encouragement from Sheferaw through social media. Then, as a 17-year-old, Samatar was cutting hair for kids at school when his trimmer broke.
He came into Shifty's Premium Cuts to see what could be done.
"He [Sheferaw] came back with his own trimmer. He ended up giving it to me, and giving me his number, and telling me, 'I want you to come in on Friday. Come learn. Come meet the guys a little more,'" Samatar recalled.
Samatar, now 18 years old, is a barber at the shop.
"I'm extremely proud of him. Extremely proud. This is a statue of his hard work, his blood, sweat and tears... Just everything. I'm so happy he did it the right way," Samatar said.
Both Samatar and Harmon were working Monday at Shifty's. A vigil and balloon release is planned for Monday night from 6 to 9 outside the barbershop.
There are few known details about the crash at this time, because Sheferaw was driving alone, but the California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.
It's also unclear at this time what will be next for Shifty's and the planned barber school next door.
When KARE 11 interviewed Sheferaw, he said, "When people ask me what separates myself from other barbers, obviously I have a love for the craft of barbering but the idea of the entrepreneurship side of it — where I'd be able to change another kid's life like how my life was changed by my mentor — really intrigues me. That's something I look forward to."
Harmon said, "We will forever continue to push his message and push the energy of the shop: positivity."
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