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COLUMBIA (WACH) -- South Carolina native Alden Washington likes to take his dog Bella out for a walk during the day.

When he's not at work he spends time with his wife but the barber shop he owns demands much of his time.

Having this shop was always a dream for Alden but it almost didn't happen.

"People pretty much count you out, but it’s up to you to make a difference in your own life," says Alden Washington.

His shop Al's Upper Cutz and Salon in Northeast Columbia has been around for about five years but it's the time leading up to it that gave Washington the push he needed to start a business.

“I sat in there I knew what I wanted to do because my grandfather always told me it's good to go to college son but always have a trade something you can fall back,” says Washington.

According to documents from the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta and Washington, Washington was behind bars from 1988 to 1999 on conspiracy and cocaine charges.

Washington says he got into drugs while hanging around the wrong crowd. While in prison Washington says he thought about his children and how once released he could start a business to help his family.

Years later Washington came in contact with someone who gave him a chance to turn his dream of having a barber shop into reality.

“Coming out of prison it was going to be hard to get back into society. People were going to label you and look at you wrong and different but I knew if I had a plan, that I could make a difference not only in my life but my kids," says Washington.

His youngest son Arsenio who with his brother would visit Alden in prison, moved to Columbia to be closer to his dad and now he's working along side him.

“If you would have told me this years ago, I would not have thought it would happen,” says Arsenio Washington, Alden’s son.

Washington says having his son work with him is like making up for lost time. Arsenio says he's learning quite a bit about business from his dad.

“I think everyone should take advantage of their father being there cause its hard growing up without a father,” says Arsenio Washington.

As for the business.

“We are trying to grow and hopefully one day I can open up another and turn it over to my son,” says Washington.

Arsenio says Father’s Day means so much to him because he remembers a time his dad wasn't there to celebrate it.

Both men say their using the past as a reminder to keep pressing and building on their father son relationship.