Hair-raising: Tweet to help cosmetologist drum up business goes viral

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — What began as a simple tweet turned into a hair-raising success for a Texas man who was trying to drum up business for his mother.

Moses Castellano of San Antonio tweeted a plea to help his mother. Liliana, overcome a slow time in her job as a cosmetologist, KSAT reported.

“Hey y'all, my mom moved salons recently and because of that she isn't getting the same amount of customers as she used to,,” he tweeted. “She's a self-employed cosmetologist and has loved doing hair professionally for the last 30 years. Please rt (retweet) so she can gain some potential customers. Tysm (thank you so much)!!”

Castellano, 19, told KSAT.com that he thought of the idea after having a conversation with his mother, who said her recent efforts to gain new customers at Andrea’s Hair Design in San Antonio had been lagging since she changed jobs.

“The day before I tweeted, we were talking about the upcoming holiday season and I was like, ‘Well, how’s work going?’” Castellano said. “She said, ‘Well, we have our dedicated clients, but it’s been a little slow right now.’”

With just a little over 500 followers made up primarily of friends, Castellano said he never thought his tweet would go viral.

Hours after tweeting, Castellano said he received notification after notification that surpassed well over a few hundred retweets and likes by the end of Tuesday night.

“That night, it just kept going, and I was hanging out with some friends and they were like, ‘Why are you on your phone?’ And I was like, ‘I’m trying to keep up with all these notifications’… it was intense,” Castellano told KSAT.com.

Andrea's Hair Design owner Roger Sawyer said Castellano’s tweet was “awesome to see” and is excited to see the people from all over visit his family-owned business of 47 years.

Castellano said his “wow” moment came when one of San Antonio’s most well-known celebrities -- Shea Serrano, author of “Basketball (And Other Things)” -- quote retweeted his tweet a little over 24 hours after he posted about his mother.

“I was like, Shea is obviously pretty famous in San Antonio, so I was kind of completely overwhelmed,” Castellano told KSAT. “It’s amazing because he (Serrano) doesn’t even know us, so for him to support us like this, that’s crazy and we’re so grateful for it.”

Castellano’s tweet has received over 62,000 retweets and more than 70,000 likes on Twitter.

Cox Media Group