He was only 2 years old when his parents left Ohrid, North Macedonia, for the United States of America.
Although they moved to Chicago for a better life, Albanian-American Niko Dervishi says the first 10 years were quite challenging for his family.
“I was born in Ohrid, North Macedonia. My parents wanted a better future for me and my siblings so around the age of 2 we moved to Chicago. I don’t remember much of my early years besides faint memories of playing the fields. Upon coming to Chicago, it was very hard for us we didn’t have much growing up, we lived with my uncle and there 3 kids in a 2-bedroom apartment until I was 10. My father tried his best with we had worked as a busboy and slowly moved his way to manager to Able to get a house for us. But we still always struggled until I was about 13, my dad then opened a restaurant with his brothers and was able to provide a decent life for us.”
Niko was only 11 years old when he started working at his father’s restaurant, helping him prepare salads.
But not everything was going well. High School was one of the most difficult times for him.
“I was a bit of a troubled child, got into a lot of problems and ended up dropping out of high school. At this point I was 17 and lost with little hope.
Struggled for 5 years doing everything I could to try to not disappoint my parents further but it all never worked out. My dad at this point didn’t want me at the restaurant so I did everything from warehouse worker to going door to door selling for an energy company. Was always very sad because I always dreamed of doing big things and everyone around me always thought I would be something important one day, but I started to lose hope at this point thought maybe that’s just life people sometimes have to just get a job and it shouldn’t be fulfilling.”
In the most difficult moments in life, Niko says it was his sister who motivated him to pursue his long-standing passion.
“My sister knew I liked fashion/ hair and I always into my appearance and I also liked to cut hair as a hobby in high school, so she suggested I go to hair school. Not going to lie I thought about it after high school but didn’t see the bigger picture at the time. I think I had to go through that 6-year struggle to humble myself. So anyway, I went on a hair tour at Tricoci university of hair, and I ended up signing up that day. It was a very hard start and I often wondered if I made the right choice, but I knew this was my last straw I had to go all in, so I did.”
He says that after finishing school, for three years in a row he was dedicated to 100 percent work as a hairdresser, leaving aside everything else, with only one goal, to give the best of himself.
Apparently, all the effort has finally been rewarded.
Now the Albanian-American Niko Dervishi, is one of the most liked hairdressers in Chicago.
He says he is happy that he did not give up, but followed his dream, offering himself a stable life.
“I work about 5x a week usually from 11-9 or later. I charge 70$ for a men’s cut and make well over 6 figures. It’s very hard to get in with me also I’m booked out over a month. I’m currently developing my own hair line, also creating an online education program and much more. After work I usually work out for a couple hours then I come home and edit content, or I like to journal and plan the things in my mind it’s always running so it could be difficult to shut down at the end of the night.”
Successful at work, makes not only the dedication, but also the treatment that Niko gives to his clients.
“Recently I had a new client come in and we just had a heart to heart. I felt his sorrow in his tone and come to find out his father passed away earlier that week. Broke my heart. I can’t help but feel for people when there in sorrow because I was in such a dark place for so long, so we ended up having a heart to heart and I refused to take his money after the cut. We’ll turns out his father owned a jewelry store and he ended up coming back the next day and gave me a chain that was around 1000$ .Crazy!
Message from Niko
“My life goal is to inspire and motivate anyone who’s struggling to find direction in this world. I’ve done things in the past I’m not proud of, been arrested you name it. But I’ve realized good people can make bad choices under the right circumstances. So, if I can share my story of how someone with no hope, no school, no fancy background can make it anyone can as cliche as it sounds. Sky really is the limit you just have to break through that little bubble first”
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