The Barbershop Caretaker Initiative

The chair is already trusted.
Let's make it a front line for health.

Barbers and stylists see their clients more often than most doctors do. This Academy gives them a real credential ladder and scored role-plays to notice early, refer safely, sell consultatively, and protect every client's dignity — without ever diagnosing.

Start the Academy Try a 30-second sample
Dr. Rob Hosted by Dr. Rob Your guide through every lesson, exam, and role-play.
How it works

Learn It. Live It. Share It.

Every step of the Academy maps to the Force for Health rhythm — and pays out real coins as you go.

LEARN It Coin

Learn It

Short, master-barber-approved lessons on skin awareness, consultative selling, and sanitation — the science and the why behind each.

LIVE It Coin

Live It

Scored branching role-plays drop you in the chair. Make the call, see the outcome, and earn a LIVE It coin for every personal best.

SHARE It Coin

Share It

Pass the tier exams to earn a verifiable badge, then share it with your shop, your clients, and your community.

Who it's for

Built for everyone around the chair

Barbers & Stylists

Earn a real, stackable credential and the confidence to handle the hard conversations with care.

Start training

Shop Managers

Assign a Weekly Challenge for the Friday huddle and watch your shop's XP climb together.

Open the hub

Workforce Partners

A turnkey, gamified upskilling pathway that connects the trades to community health.

See the brief

Foundation & Funders

An early-detection, dignity-first model with a clear pilot and revenue map.

Read the case
What's inside

Everything in the Academy

One connected loop: a hub that assigns the work, three role-plays that build the skill, a portal that credentials it, and the strategy leave-behinds for the educators, partners, and funders behind it.

★

Scenario Hub

The front door for trainees: scenario library, auto-rotating Weekly Challenge, manager assignment, Shop XP, and a leaderboard.

Start here
🎓

Credential Portal

Register, complete Learn It / Live It / Share It training, sit the three tier exams + Caretaker assessment, and view your verifiable badge.

Credential
🔍

The Spot on the Scalp

The skin-cancer caretaker conversation. Notice early, refer safely, never diagnose — using the ABCDE framing.

Role-play
💰

A Regular Named Dave

Consultative selling done right: ask, lead with the benefit, never push — from greeting to the pre-book.

Role-play
🧹

Lice in the Chair

Stay calm, protect dignity, contain and clean. Handle a delicate moment without embarrassing a soul.

Role-play
📋

Credential Ladder & Spec

The Professional / Manager / Educator + Caretaker ladder and the badge / verify-page / Open Badges 3.0 data model.

Leave-behind
🏫

The Learning Environment

How the whole craft learns in one place — the tour of the Academy experience for a first-time visitor.

Overview
👨‍🏫

Train-the-Trainer Certification

How master barbers and educators get certified to train the next professional — the educator pathway.

Educator
✂

Why Work Here

The recruitment leave-behind: a shop that treats barbering like the profession it is — for prospective hires.

Recruitment
🤝

Workforce Partner Brief

A turnkey upskilling pathway for the trades — the one-pager for workforce boards and partner orgs.

Leave-behind
📈

The Case for Funding

A dignity-first early-detection model — the evidence and impact case for foundation funders.

Funder
Try it — no sign-up needed

The ABCDEs of a spot worth mentioning

Caretakers notice, they don't diagnose. Tap each letter to learn what a barber can gently flag for a client to get checked.

AAsymmetry
BBorder
CColor
DDiameter
EEvolving

Scope note: barbers notice and refer — they never diagnose. Clinical verification stays with the care team.

Dr. Rob

“A barber earns trust one cut at a time. That trust is a public-health asset we've never used well. This Academy doesn't turn anyone into a doctor — it gives the most trusted person in the neighborhood the words, the limits, and the confidence to say, ‘You know, you might want to get that looked at.’ That sentence saves lives.”

— Dr. Rob Gillio, The Force for Health
What you'll earn

Real coins, real badges, a real ladder

LEARN ItLEARN ItOpen a lesson
LIVE ItLIVE ItBeat your role-play best
SHARE ItSHARE ItPass an exam, earn a badge
Shop XPShop XPClimb the leaderboard

Join the Network to keep your progress

Sign up free to bank your coins across devices, earn verifiable credentials, and add your shop to the leaderboard.

Sign Up Free Sign In