Two years ago, Deva was bedridden. A wound vac strapped to him, tubes running out of his leg, blood draining, and a list of medications keeping him alive. He wasn't allowed to shower for months. But his hair kept growing.
Getting a haircut meant coordinating around his meds. His dad wiping him down with a wet towel so he wouldn't smell in public. Being carried to the car. Carried out. Crutching into the barbershop with a machine in tow.
The loud shop went quiet. Everyone turned to look, someone clearly not doing well, skeletal, barely standing, tubes visible. The stylist made small talk. "How's the weather? Cold and dreary." Then silence. Deva couldn't wait to leave.
He was grateful to be alive. But that experience stayed with him.
Fast forward two years and ten surgeries later.
Deva got an opportunity to attend Minerva University, a school where students travel the world together and the student body comes from everywhere. Now in San Francisco, he needed a barber. SF prices were brutal, but one guy caught his attention: Dejon, offering a cheaper subscription. Deva tried it out.
The haircut was great. But it was the conversation that kept him coming back. Dejon wasn't just skilled. He cared. Over time, Deva shared his story. Dejon shared his: years of bringing haircuts to seniors, hospital patients, people on their deathbeds. The dignity a fresh cut could restore.
Dejon had actually tried this before: an earlier version of StylesGo. But he couldn't proceed due to lack of sufficient tech. It wound down.
Deva wouldn't let it go. He pestered Dejon relentlessly. "Would you start it again?"
Dejon needed someone to build the tech. Deva didn't want to do it alone. So he called Khalifa.
Khalifa and Deva met at Minerva.
Small school. Tight-knit. Students from all over the world. That's how a guy from Nigeria and a guy recovering from ten surgeries became close friends — renting scooters to explore SF, hitting random food spots, going on hikes. Deva knew Khalifa had experience building marketplaces. He understood the grind.
One conversation later, the three of them saw the same opportunity.
Deva started paraclimbing that March and made the US national team. He took a break from school to pursue climbing and build StylesGo. He traveled to Seoul and Fukuoka for competitions while he and Khalifa built the apps together. Khalifa's next semester landed him in Tokyo. They kept building across time zones.
Over months of late nights, launches, and setbacks, the three of them grew closer.
StylesGo was reborn.
