What happens to a national education team that hosts over 5,000 in-person classes a year when you suddenly can’t teach in person? You get creative—and produce the longest online hair class ever made.

“Real Time” was born almost by accident. Justin Thomas, Allie Christine Sepulveda, and Brett Anderson were on their annual trip to Mexico when authorities warned them, “You’d better get home soon. Society is shutting down—and you might not be able to get a flight back.”

They quickly realized what that meant: hair education would grind to a halt. So they got creative and pitched a bold idea—“What if we did a live hair class over the internet, and included elements we could never do in person?” The format came together over Zoom while the team quarantined after returning home. The plan called for three full haircuts, two complete color-correction sessions, and a podcast-style Q&A.

A week later, the team gathered to shoot the entire production—live, without breaks—on a Saturday when no one else was in the building. The result was a nearly six-hour broadcast streamed through the Cleeng network, which handled registration, payment, and streaming for stylists and barbers stuck at home and missing the “salon life.”

A typical Hanzo class normally draws 10–15 attendees. “Real Time” with Justin and Allie drew 452.

Got some time on your hands? You can check out all six hours of the class at the link below.