Cuts for a Cause: “CanesBarber” Steven Rivera’s Passion Driven by Years of Sacrifice and Dedication
There’s more to Steven Rivera than meets the eye. One may look at Rivera’s fresh, new haircut he gave Tyreek Hill and see the talent and beauty of his work. Some may see the tricked-out mobile barbershop in the form of a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van. However, many don’t know the not so beautiful upbringing he faced to become one of the most prominent barbers in the industry.
Nothing was given, nothing was easy, especially for a young child whose family had just emigrated to the United States with only dollars in their pockets. Rivera sacrificed his presumed future to make the livelihood of his family better and by his late teens, he was the “breadwinner” for his family.
It was a unique, yet trialsome road to being who he is today, and he wouldn’t change a thing. This is the story of Rivera, or as many know him, CanesBarber, the barber of the athletes.
Rivera’s mother and father both immigrated illegally to the United States from Central America. His father is from Honduras and his mother is from El Salvador. At the time of their immigration, Rivera hadn’t been born yet. But, his mother was already thinking about making a better life for him.
“Talking to my mom, now that I’m old enough to know, like, she really wanted a better life coming to the (United) States,” Rivera said.
Unfortunately for many immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, it’s hard to get acclimated in the United States for many reasons. For the Rivera family, that was exactly the case.
The Rivera’s were constantly moving in and out of duplexes and efficiency housing. Growing up in Perrine, Fla., life moved fast for Rivera. Seeing and living the struggle of trying to make it day-to-day is something that Rivera appreciates because it taught him about hardships at an early age and how to overcome them.
“There were constant growing pains, but it made me who I am today,” Rivera said. “It made me appreciate a lot of things and it taught me just to always give back when I can.
"Because, I knew what it was like having nothing growing up. It’s something I always try to do with these kids nowadays when they’re in high school or they’re on a Pop Warner team. It just does something to me, my heart and my soul to know that I’m making a big difference in their lives just by cutting these clippers on and chopping away.”
It’s fair to say that barbering is an art form. Not everyone can go out with a pair of clippers and give someone a half-decent haircut, let alone one as good as what creates. They may not even know where to begin. Rivera was one of those guys when he began to cut hair. Rivera’s mother was a hair-stylist in El Salvador and continued the profession in the US, so he had been around the realm of barbering, but he never once thought of making a future out of it.
By the eleventh grade, Rivera’s father had lost his job, his mother was cleaning houses from time to time, but it wasn’t enough to keep a roof over their heads. Rivera’s father spoke little to no English, which made it extremely hard for him to get a job. That meant Rivera had to step up.
But that also meant he had to put his personal dreams and ambitions on hold while he worked to help provide for his family. It was a big sacrifice that took an even larger toll on his emotions, but once again, it was trial by fire. A necessary trial.
“It was just a lot for me, still being in high school and still trying to figure things out,” Rivera said. “I had to really put on my big boy pants and help my pops out because my mom would clean houses here and there, but it just wasn’t consistent enough to keep a roof over all of us… But it made me who I am today and I don’t regret putting my dreams on pause because everything happens for a reason. If that would have never happened, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today.”
One doesn’t have to be an outsider to know that living in the city of Miami, in Dade County, is a grind. Upon reflecting, Rivera knows that there are so many different ways his life could have gone, especially growing up in Miami. It is a beautiful city from so many different angles. The scenery, the culture and the number of things to do, are all selling points for living there.
However, when trying to make a career and create wealth in Dade County, it can chew someone up and spit them back out. For Rivera, he understood that, but he also understood that his personal potential had yet to be reached, and he was going to reach it in the city that molded him.
“Down here in Miami, especially in the city and these tough neighborhoods, there’s a lot of Steve’s out there,” Rivera said. “You lose hope sometimes. But you know, there’s always that light at the end of the tunnel, you have to be strong. Living in these neighborhoods, they try to keep you boxed in. It’s gotta be you, to want more in life.”
Rivera wanted more and worked for it and he achieved it. However, it also took a leap of faith from a few to help propel Rivera to where he is today. The CanesBarber has been cutting the hair of Miami Hurricane athletes for 17 years. But how did he get connected with the Hurricanes and eventually become the go-to barber for all of the best athletes in Miami? By working as a Correctional Officer for the State of Florida.
At the time, Miami freshman running back Javarris James’ older brother was incarcerated—at the same prison Rivera worked at. Growing up in Miami, Rivera witnessed the prime years of Miami Hurricane football which propelled him into Miami fandom. James’ brother knew how big of a Miami fan the then 19-year-old Rivera was.
When his little brother came to visit him in prison, he introduced Rivera to Javarris. The two began a good friendship and it eventually led to Rivera meeting Lance Leggett, a Hurricane wide receiver. The rest is history.
People speak of domino effects and how impactful the first domino fall is. Meeting James and Leggett was exactly the domino effect Rivera had been looking for his entire life. But then he lost his job. When he lost his job, it was one of the lowest and darkest points of his life. He was a young man at the age of 19 providing for his entire family, with no source of income. That all changed when James noticed a fresh, clean haircut he just got.
“He asked me ‘who cuts your hair,' and I said ‘I cut my own hair,’” Rivera said. “He saw my situation because it got back to him. One day he brought me to campus and he was like, ‘man, I’m gonna just tell everybody you know how to cut hair.’ So we basically lied to everybody that I knew, I was still learning as I went. But I’m thankful for it because, I mean, I’m still here, good at what I do.”
Good is an understatement. Fast forward 17 years, Rivera is now the main barber of not only the Miami Hurricanes but the Miami Dolphins. He got there through many years of sacrifice before he could reap the fruits of his labor. He’s become an icon among Floridians both for his work on the heads of other icons, and his philanthropy. Now that Rivera has the platform that he does and has made it where he is, he’s always looking to give back to the community that shaped him, especially to the young athletes of Miami.
Being that he’s from the city, Rivera knows what it’s like living and trying to make it—it’s not easy. When he was a kid, his family couldn’t afford to pay for haircuts, which prompted him to learn by himself, but he also realizes his situation was not unique to him. There are plenty of kids that can’t afford haircuts, which doesn’t sit right with him. Rivera will often give haircuts to athletes for free before high school games. He also knows how much one of his haircuts means to the young kids.
“I always told myself if I make it somewhere in my career where I can do something like that, by all means, I’m gonna do it,” Rivera said. “I was one of those kids. Played football, my parents were very poor growing up so they couldn’t really afford for me to go get a haircut. So me taking a load off these kids’ parents by providing a service to them, and not only that, but you’re getting a haircut from a guy who cuts these players that you look up to. You know, it can give these that extra fire to play better on Friday night.”
From cutting the hair of Teddy Bridgewater in high school, to making cuts for Sinorice Moss, to cutting Hill’s hair, a big-time NFL player, he’s cut a lot of hair in a lot of different places. In his time as the official barber of both Miami football teams, he’s seen a lot of turnover.
From coaches, players and administration, a lot has gone on during Rivera’s tenure with both teams. The common denominator between the two is that Rivera has been the one constant during times of turmoil and change. Why didn’t any of the new coaches for both Miami teams get rid of him or say, “we have our own barber?” It’s attributed to the loyalty and relationships he’s built with both teams, but he still finds himself asking that exact question.
“It’s always in the back of my mind, you know these coaches, once they come in they pretty much change everybody from coaching staff to players and personnel,” Rivera said. “Yeah, I’ve been able to stick around. I tell a lot of barbers that the way you carry yourself as a barber, as a person, I’ve always been very respectful and consistent in what I do and my schedule.”
The scheduling. Scheduling might be one of the biggest things Rivera has to navigate when working with high-profile people whose schedules are full and change from day to day. Rivera knows that his ability to work with others’ schedules is the X-factor. If he can’t work around others’ schedules, he wouldn’t have any business.
“One thing about coaches and players, if they see you’re consistent or you’re able to move around their busy schedule, that’s one of the big things as a barber,” Rivera said. “Just being able to work around their schedule, because a lot of the times, coaches and players, by the time they get out of practice meetings or college stuff like study hall, majority of these barbershops are closed.”
Maintaining loyalty and good relationships with athletes and coaches has certainly helped keep Rivera where is at today. But not even in his wildest imagination could he have foreseen the things that people would reward him with for his hard work. Rivera is the only barber in the country to have his own barbershop in two major college and pro organizations. Yes, he just had one built in the Hurricanes’ facility not too long ago. Not once did he ask for any of it.
And he could have, more times than not. That’s just not in his character. For him, the relationships, the service, and the time people take out of their day to go see him, means more to him than any material object. In a way, he never had to ask. People like Bridgewater, coach Brian Flores, and many others on the Miami Hurricane staff deeply appreciated what Rivera does not just for them, but the entirety of both Miami organizations.
One of the CanesBarber’s main trademarks is his Sprinter van which he turned into a mobile barbershop, courtesy of Bridgewater. As mentioned, the relationship Rivera has with Bridgewater goes all the way back to his time as a Miami Northwestern Bull. What Bridgewater did for Rivera exemplifies the fact that relationships Rivera built years ago do come full circle and that doing right by others will be rewarded with good karma.
“It was just surprising that he did that for me,” For him to do that without me having to even mention it or ask him to do something that says a lot about him and his character and his heart. It was an idea he asked me one day, ‘what would take CanesBarber to the next level?’
That was one of the ideas I pitched to him and he told me to look into it. I ended up finding this Sprinter van offer on a used Sprinter… so we went to go look at it. He looked around and said ‘Steve, if you like it, I love it.’ He told the salesman to take a check, he signed the check, and gave me the keys. That was one of the happiest moments of my life, I felt like a kid in the candy store.”
The love from others didn’t stop there. When Flores was with the Dolphins, he and the Dolphins organization felt the need to gift Rivera with his own and first barbershop in their brand-new training facility. Rivera attributes a lot of that being done to Flores.
“Out of all the years I’ve been around both programs, I want to say he’s the first coach that I’ve been able to have a close relationship with outside of football,” Rivera said. “ In prior years, I never got a chance to really engage with the head coaches because they were always so busy and I was always like, ‘man like why they don't come down and get a haircut,’ but Coach Flo, he's like one of the guys, one of the players and it's crazy because he's from Honduras, Which that's where I'm from. So that was another reason we connected so well because we’re both from the same country.”
During the height of COVID-19, Rivera was unable to cut Miami Hurricane athletes’ hair at the facility because of the protocols the university had in place. Flores kept Rivera around the Dolphins facility during the peak of COVID-19 and it was a big reason he was able to make it through the pandemic, that and the mobile barbershop that he could use to see Hurricane athletes off-campus.
Rivera’s work always keeps people coming back and wanting more, especially the people he’s worked with for years. It’s almost unfair to call it work, it’s not work for Rivera. It’s a lifestyle. They aren’t “work” relationships, but instead, true friendships and brotherhoods he’s built just by turning on the clippers and listening to these athletes’ stories. The care he shows brings the people back. It always goes back to Moss.
“He has a heart of gold, man,” Moss said. “So it’s always good to tap in and check on him. But when we are sitting in that chair, it’s fun man. We sit back and we’re laughing about certain things and my son is usually with me too. He’s cut my son since he was seven years old, and the conversations between them two are always funny.”
Rivera’s impact on pro athletes may be minuscule compared to the impact he makes on the youth of the inner city of Miami. Rivera loves being able to give back to the city that shaped him. For him, it’s not only about shaping future generations of athletes, but always remembering where he came from. Rivera is also inherently shaping the future for his own family and children to make sure they never have to go through the gritty upbringing he experienced— one haircut at a time.
“Seeing that and experiencing it growing up, I don’t want my kids or family to go through this,” Rivera said. “I want more and I’m gonna do the best of my ability to make the most out of this.”
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