POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A Polk County man has taken his decades-long passion for cutting hair to a new level by opening his own barber school in Lakeland.

He's giving people a shot at a career, after a special person gave him his first shot.

Oliver Green’s passion for cutting hair started when he was 12. His dad Oliver, Sr. got him some clippers and let him cut his hair.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Green said. “So he was my guinea pig.”

Green was a part time barber for decades while driving a truck full time for the city of Lakeland.

When he retired he opened his KOE Barber Academy, where real customers like Jeffery Clay take the risk of letting students do their training.

Green makes sure his students have everything down pat.

“You have to listen to what the students are telling you,” he said. “Find their weakness. Just build from there.

“What I try to do is pull out the greatness in my students. I don’t want them to be good. I want them to be great.”

For student Aaron Bell, being a barber is a form of artistic expression.

“I’m going to be amazing,” he said. “Phenomenal.”

For Green, passing on his passion can get emotional.

“Oh man I get a lot of joy behind that,” Green said. “Like sometimes, I don’t show it but I shed a tear when my student graduate.”