Multi-award-winning barber educator Tyler Kelbert didn’t enter the industry through the salon chair. He found it backstage.
In 2013, while modeling in Japan, Kelbert’s attention kept drifting away from the camera and toward the hairstylists and barbers working behind the scenes. “Back then, hair wasn’t really seen as cool or as a respected job,” he recalls.
“I first got inspired by a barber and thought it was so dope, but everybody around me was saying, No, that’s not a real job. It just wasn’t looked at like that.
“But when I was in Japan, I thought, I don’t care what people think — I know this is what I want to do. The stuff they were doing on set just stuck with me. I needed to be part of it.”
When Kelbert returned to the United States, he started his barbering career.
Working in Utah, where barbers were limited to cutting short hair, boredom set in. “It started feeling like the same thing every day.”
Wanting more freedom to create, Kelbert went back to school for cosmetology, which opened the door to skills such as coloring, styling, working with long hair, and fulfilling creative projects. “I fell in love with it even more.”
As Kelbert’s career as a barber/ hairstylist grew, so did his love for education. In 2017, he launched A Cut Above The Rest Academy to help up-and-coming barbers learn specialty cuts, techniques, and tools, plus the business side of the industry.
Recognizing a need for more community within Utah’s beauty industry, he co-founded the Salt Lake Beauty & Barber Expo that year.
Kelbert also spent eight years as an instructor at Ogden-Weber Technical College, an experience that has become one of the most meaningful parts of his career. One standout: a student he trained for six months for the Atlanta competition SkillsUSA.
“Kenzey was the shyest girl and didn’t feel confident in her skills,” he recalls. “She ended up winning gold at the national level and was the only girl competing against all these guys in barbering.
“Seeing her confidence change was everything,” he says. “I’ve won awards, but seeing someone else achieve their goal hits different.”
Kelbert is currently prepping to teach two classes at the 2026 Be+Well | Beauty and Wellness Show in Las Vegas. His goal: to leave participants feeling inspired to follow their own vision, rather than pressured to adhere to one set way of doing things.
“I’m not one of those teachers who are like, You have to do it this way or that way,” he says.
“I believe we’re all Frankensteins. We take pieces of everybody and add them to our arsenal. I’m just there to show what works for me.”
For Kelbert, teaching at Be+Well Las Vegas feels like a full-circle moment: He’s been attending its former iteration, the International Beauty Show, for years.
“I’ve been there so many times,” he recalls. “I used to go just to take everything in. …
“It’s one of those shows that really opened my eyes to how much is happening behind the chair. There are all these companies. You’re shaking hands with the owners. You’re getting education from some of your favorite hairstylists and barbers,” he says.
“I’m super grateful for the opportunity to be there because it’s one of my favorite shows.”
Tyler Kelbert is teaching “Beard Mastery: Precision Trimming, Clean Shaves & Premium Service Upgrades" and "Short Hair, Simplified: A Stylist’s System for Clean, Confident Cuts" at the Be+Well | Beauty and Wellness Show – Las Vegas (formerly International Beauty Show), taking place June 27-29. Registration is here; use promo code EDSALON20 for 20% off education .