Through inspiring messages, positive energy and free haircuts, Victor Fontanez, also known as “VicBlends,” has gained tens of millions of followers and fans on social media. 

Originally intended as a college side hustle, Fontanez’s hair-cutting career has evolved further than he ever imagined. Fontanez hopes to improve the Atlanta community and beyond by using his newly discovered fame.

“I have a real opportunity to create real change if I have this platform, and I have a moment to be heard by millions,” Fontanez said. “I need to use it to bring some change. I need to use it for good reasons. Because, who knows if it’ll last forever, but if it’s here now, I want to make sure I take care of my community and my people.”

In middle school, Fontanez gave his first haircut; since then he has cut the hair of celebrities and strangers in Atlanta, including in Piedmont Park and on the BeltLine.

“I was just cutting a lot of rappers and athletes which I still felt like was a breakthrough [for] a lot of people that wanted to be barbers and wanted to be young entrepreneurs,” Fontanez said. “I’m sort of telling my story about what I’m doing and how I got where I’m at on TikTok, and that was the first thing that caught my attention. And then once I started doing that then I realized people could relate to it and were inspired. I found the lane, making people feel good.”

Freshman Calvin Li approached Fontanez at Old Fourth Ward for a haircut. Li said Fontanez did a great job with the haircut and appreciates his positive energy.

“When I had long hair, I was talking to my friend about how he thought I should cut it all off, and I promised him if I saw Vic Blends I would cut it all off,” Li said. “I didn’t really expect it to actually happen, but when I was playing football with my friend’s at Old Fourth Ward, they noticed him, and I had to keep my promise.”

Justin Ulmer, who first met Fontanez in middle school, now works alongside Fontanez as his videographer and photographer. Ulmer and Fontanez have had a long lasting friendship and think of each other as “brothers.”

“I just moved from another school in the area, and we had a class together, Mr. Rogers history class; he knew I lived in the neighborhood, and he told me I had a nice cardigan,” Ulmer said. “I wasn’t really liking what I was doing, and Vic took a chance on me, and he lent out a hand and offered me this job to move down to Atlanta and that [was] just helping him shoot these videos.”

Within his experiences filming for Fontanez, Ulmer has gained a deeper understanding of what people are going through. 

“Through the people that we meet, I always get a new perspective of life,” Ulmer said. “Every time we meet new people, and we hear their side of the story and what’s going on in their lives, and how they react to things and how they perceive things.”

Fontanez is said to provide life-altering speeches while giving haircuts, which has many people, including sophomore Daniel Spickert, eager to speak with him.

“I would describe myself as a huge fan because I think what he’s doing, first of all, is giving free haircuts and, second of all, promoting positive vibes, and giving people advice is a really cool thing,” Spickert said. “He really connects with the people and instead of trying to just entertain them and provide them a free haircut he really gives them life changing advice and helps to better them instead of just giving them a temporary pleasure.”

Fontanez treasures the experiences he has with his clients. His friendly personality helps him easily and quickly connect with his clients. Through his videos, Fontanez aims to spread hope and kindness.

“I remember a lot of these videos; I remember almost every conversation from every person,” Fontanez said. “I really just want people to not judge others that walk past and to not feel alone with the things that they go through because there’s probably lots of strangers around you that go through the same thing and you may find some comfort in having a conversation with a stranger.”