Michael Bruce’s wife Mur-Ray Bruce-Bahati heard a noise outside their front door one December morning last year, so her husband investigated.
He found a small brown and white dog, looking scared and cold, with visible scars, scrapes and a bloodshot eye.
That dog went to the right house to find help.
Bruce is an animal lover. He’s also a barber and a self-proclaimed hustler. He works six days a week, at least eight hours or more a day, at Macdonald Avenue shop Beautiful Rebel Esthetics, a full service hair and skin care salon and barber shop that he owns with Bruce-Bahati. He’s hustled himself into having more than 95,000 followers on Instagram.
Not bad for a friendly animal-loving neighborhood barber.
Meet Your Neighbor
Who: Michael Bruce, 33, co-owner of Beautiful Rebel Esthetics
Neighborhood: Downtown Richmond
Richmond resident for: Born in Oakland and has lived in Richmond since 2021
Of his recent dog rescue adventure: “He looked like he’d been through the worst out there so, in the meantime, while trying to locate his family, I figured I’d give him a good day.”
For more info: Call (510) 365-1280 or visit his Instagram.
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“It’s all about consistency,” Bruce said of his social media success. “You’ve got to look at it like a tool. To get better with the tool, you have to keep using it. You have to find different ways to use that tool and make it productive for everything you do.”
Bruce’s videos show how he treats his clients (and sometimes his pets). He posts instructional videos and clips of him fishing or unboxing a toy like his new lightsaber (He’s a Star Wars and Marvel fan).
He also competes in, and judges, barbering competitions. Sometimes, between customers, he delivers for DoorDash and Uber Eats.
A stray, a sweater and a SpongeBob marathon
But back to that stray dog that showed up on his doorstep. “We weren’t even awake yet and went out there and he was literally just there,” Bruce said in an interview with Richmondside outside his barber shop. “He was looking kind of like, ‘Please let me in,’ so we took him in.
And made him a video star.
While the visitor ate breakfast, Bruce put queries on Nextdoor and a few lost pet sites.
Then he grabbed his new friend and went to work. Bruce shot video of his day with the pup, with the story stretching into a four-day social media saga that earned Bruce another 30,000 to 40,000 followers.
“He looked like he’d been through the worst out there so, in the meantime, while trying to locate his family, I figured I’d give him a good day,” said Bruce, who also has two dogs and a cat at home, which is just a stone’s throw from the shop. It was three dogs for a while.
The guest got a blanket in front of a TV to watch “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Bruce took him to Petco to pick up an outfit, some eye spray and antiseptic for his wounds, had him checked for an identification microchip, which he didn’t have, and bought him smoked duck’s feet as treats.
Back home, Bruce bathed his guest and his own dogs, pit bull mix Nova and a Frenchie named Gizmo. Then he made the stray a nest for a nap, trimmed his nails, treated his injuries and let him try on his new sweater.
Just as Bruce’s followers were coming up with names a few days later, the pooch’s owner turned up, after someone who knew the owner saw Bruce’s posts. His name is Gucci and he escaped through a fence, which Bruce said explained the scratches.
“We met with her and he instantly reacted to her,” Bruce said. “He knew his name and he was wagging his tail; he was happy to see her.”
While Bruce admits he knows animal videos help him grow his brand, he’s motivated to help homeless animals.
Bruce-Bahati said her husband is a genuine animal lover.
“He plans to own a pet rescue in the future,” she said.
Omari Sealey became a customer in 2024, after he saw Bruce’s five-star online reviews. He said the Gucci videos showed the barber’s character.
“He found the dog, took it off the street, took it to Petco — it shows his values and that he cares,” Sealey said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m a return customer. He has character and he’s a good person. I feel comfortable bringing my wife and child in there and spending time there.”
The husband and wife team opened their salon in 2022, attracting clientele from Antioch
Bruce, who’s 33 and originally from Oakland, met Bruce-Bahati at a party when they were 18 and living in Fairfield. They moved to Richmond in 2021 and opened the shop the next year.
Bruce was a property manager and an in-home health aide before going into the family business, which he calls another form of health care. His father was a military barber who gave Bruce and his brothers haircuts.
Bruce-Bahati is an esthetician who has her own room next to Bruce’s. The front of the shop consists of stations rented to stylists including Mick Bellamy, who has worked there since June.
“I wanted to come to a salon that was established and Mike was seriously established, and so was Mur-Ray,” said Bellamy, who’s been in the hair business for 18 years. “It was a good place to come, and I’m from Richmond.”
Bellamy said Bruce’s specialty is catering to a diverse customer base.
“I would call him definitely a multicultural barber, which makes him a lot different than other barbers I see in the Richmond area,” Bellamy said. “And it’s definitely a luxury haircut.”
Bruce offers clients TV and music, hot towels, beard trimming, a massage gun, oils, perfume, and beverages. He also does scalp micropigmentation, which is a method of giving someone tiny tattoos that look like hairlines. He also does regular tattoos.
“Some other barbers do some of the things that I do now but just like anything that you’re trying to get good at, you take small pieces from everywhere and you make it your own,” Bruce said. “I just kind of picked up things along the way and added them to my repertoire but it’s really just about customer service.
“It’s just making them feel like they’re wanted, which is more than just a quick haircut in and out, you know? It’s a quality service.”
EMT Michael White brings his 10-year-old son Michael IV from their Antioch home for appointments with Bruce. He said his son wanted a particular haircut two years ago and found a video of Bruce doing one.
“We came out and it happened to be one of the best haircuts my son ever had,” White said. “He told me, ‘I don’t want anybody else to cut my hair.’ ”
White said Bruce influenced his son in another way.
“We started coming here and he started getting sprayed with cologne and said, ‘I like the way it makes me smell,’” White said. “So, he’s now starting his own cologne collection at home.”
Bruce is seeing the results of working hard to make customers feel at home.
“People peek their heads in just for conversation, coming by to say ‘hi,’ ” Bruce said. “A lot of regulars, a lot of loyal clients. We try to make you feel like it’s hard to not want to come back.”
