More than a barber school. A movement. A place where you earn your license — and your legacy.
Aug 11
Cohort Starts
1,500
Program Hours
$12,500
Total Cost
16+
Min Age
From the Founder
Founder Adrian Burney shares the mission, the vision, and what makes Mended Arrows different from every other barber school in Indiana.
Our Mission
Mended Arrows exists to transform lives through the sacred ground of the barbershop chair — training healing-centered barbers, mending young men shaped by trauma, and releasing both back into their communities as healers, leaders, and forces for change.
"It's more than a haircut, it's t(hair)apy. And now, it's your career."
Our Core Values
Six promises we keep — to every person who walks through these doors, and to every life that passes through this chair.
Healing First
We treat trauma as a starting condition, not a disqualifier. Every haircut, every conversation, every lesson is a chance to mend what has been broken. We do not flinch at people's pain. We make room for it.
The Chair Is Sacred
The barbershop has been a place of trust in the Black community since the 19th century. We honor that history. We treat every person in our chair as worthy of our full presence, our full skill, and our full care — no exceptions.
Dignity for Everyone
Returning citizens. At-risk youth. First-time students. Seasoned professionals. Every one of you is valued the same way here: as a whole human being with something to give. You do not earn dignity at Mended Arrows — you receive it the moment you cross the threshold.
Excellence in the Craft
We are a school. We earn the license. We sharpen the skill. We compete with any barber, anywhere — and we do it with the character to match. Hope without skill is wishful thinking. We train hands and hearts together.
Brotherhood Over Isolation
No one heals alone. We build community in the shop, in the classroom, and back in the streets we came from. If you are here, you have family. If you are struggling, you have witnesses. If you fall, you have hands that will pull you up.
Legacy Over Ego
We plant seeds we may never see grow. We measure success not by who walks out famous, but by who walks out changed — and by who they go on to change. We are building something that has to outlive us. That is the only kind of work worth doing.
What You Learn
1,500 hours of hands-on instruction — fully compliant with the Indiana State Board of Barbering and Cosmetology — plus the certifications that set every Mended Arrows graduate apart.
State-Required Core
Licensed Barber Training
Our Signature Add-On
Healing-Centered Training
Investment
Full Program Breakdown
Flexible Payment Plan
Who We Train
You Already Know How to Cut
Have clipper experience but no license? Come earn it. We meet you where your skill already is.
You're Starting from Zero
Never picked up a clipper. We train you from the ground up — no judgment, no shortcuts.
You're Ready for a Second Chance
Returning citizens, justice-involved individuals, those rebuilding. You are not your record. Welcome home.
Youth Welcome
High school students and young adults building a real skill before graduation. Start early. Win early.
Barberpreneur Path
Aspiring barbershop owners and entrepreneurs. We don't just teach the craft — we build the business mind.
Lead the Movement
Anyone called to use the chair as a place of healing and community. This is the movement. Get in.
Proven Results
Mended Arrows isn't a startup. The model is proven, and the outcomes speak for themselves.
Trusted Partners
Active partnerships and collaborations across Indiana.
To Everyone Who
These Doors
If you are reading this, you are standing in a place that wasn't supposed to exist. A barber school built by a Black man from Fort Wayne, Indiana — a man who landed in Indianapolis and started giving away free haircuts on the street because he didn't know what else to do with the love he had for his people. A school built by a man who watched too many young brothers grow up without a father, without a chance, without anyone in their corner who saw them as more than the worst day they ever had.
Mended Arrows exists because someone, somewhere, decided that wasn't going to be the end of the story.
If you are a student here — welcome. You are about to earn a credential the State of Indiana will recognize, and a calling your community will respect. We will teach you to cut hair with excellence. We will also teach you to listen, to hold space, to recognize when someone in your chair is hurting, and to be the safe person they need in that moment. You will graduate a barber. You will also graduate a healer.
If you are a returning citizen — you are not your sentence. You are not your record. You have a future, and that future has a place inside these walls. We were built with you in mind. There is no version of you that is too late, too far gone, or too marked up to belong here. Come in.
Here is what we promise, to anyone who enters: You will be treated with dignity. You will be told the truth. You will be given a real chance. You will not be alone.
The world is full of places that will tell you what you cannot do, where you do not belong, who you will never become.
THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE PLACES.
Welcome home.
Adrian Burney
Founder & Executive Director
Ready to Begin?
The August 2026 cohort starts August 11. Spots are limited. Submit the form below and our team will reach out within 48 hours to schedule your Discovery Conversation.