Stephen Price has been appointed Managing Director of Takara Belmont (UK) Ltd as of Wednesday 1st July, as current MD Takashi Hoshina returns to Japan to take on an international role within the corporation. Stephen previously held the position of Director since 2006.
Mr Hoshina said: “During my tenure here at TBUK, we have achieved many things and made great progress… We have had to adjust our strategy for Brexit and today we are facing huge challenges with the Coronavirus, but we will come through this together. My new job in Takara Belmont is to integrate to our international business in USA and Europe, which I am optimistic towards because of what I have learned from the UK in the past 8 years. We are fortunate to have someone of Stephen’s calibre and experience to lead Takara Belmont UK. Stephen has a solid understanding of our products and markets, a proven track record and is strong communicator with deep leadership capabilities.”
Stephen added: “We are at a critical moment and we need renewed leadership to successfully implement our strategy and take advantage of the market opportunities ahead.”
We wish both Stephen and Takashi the best of luck in their new roles.
For the past 100 days, Adee Pheelan has been collecting and donating £870,000 retail products to 46 NHS hospitals across England, but this week marks the last of ‘Phase One’ of his programme.
For his final week, he has created brand new gift boxes honouring his beloved Liverpool Football Club, personally delivering gift sets to Aintree Hospital and Liverpool Royal.
As Phase 1 comes to an end, Phase 2 begins! The second phase will involve opening four pop-up shops in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London, with the London shop due to open on July 13th. The pop-ups will provide haircuts to NHS staff completely free of charge, with over 3,000 stylists already signed up to work for free across the pop-ups.
Although the rent for the pop-ups is free, there are a number of other overhead costs involved, so Adee is looking for sponsors to help support him bring his mission to life.
To find out more about the project or if you think you could provide sponsorship, get in touch with Adee via Instagram @adee_phelan_5 or if you can spare a few pounds, donate via his Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/adee-phelan-nhs-pop-up-shop
It has been a difficult few months for our beloved industry. The pandemic has affected us all in different ways, but barbers are resilient and we know that they will come back from this stronger and better than ever.
Speaking of a comeback… we are so excited to share this new issue of BarberEVO with you. As UK and Irish barbers all prepare to get back to doing what they do best, we hope that this comeback edition of our magazine can inspire and inform you as best as possible.
We made the decision early on, as the pandemic set in, as difficult as it was, to postpone the May edition, and hold out until barbers were back behind the chair. Therefore the July ‘comeback’ edition is here!
But we haven’t hidden under a rock…! Between our March edition and now, we decided to focus our efforts on keeping this industry updated and making sure that we continued to support you in the right way. EVOLive was born! And you can read all about it in this edition.
Our cover star is none other than Johnny Baba. We exclusively spoke with the King of Barber Barber about the ‘new normal’ and his thoughts on how the industry can bounce back.
We also speak with Keith Conniford, Registrar and CEO of The Hair and Barber Council, about the topic of mandatory state registration for barbers, and how this pandemic has perhaps brought this issue closer to home.
We talk to Natalie Cresswell about her bold decision to revamp her shop during lockdown, and how Booksy has been a godsend to her and will be pivotal for a successful return to business.
Globally renowned barber Robert Braid shares his lockdown stories and explains why Squire is going to make all the difference when he returns, and a host of leading barbers, stylists and colourists share their thoughts on how to fix those pesky DIY home haircuts.
While a safe reopening is of the utmost importance, it is just as important to look after ourselves too, in both body and mind, so we have put together advice on how to take care of your own mental and physical wellbeing too.
We’re also delving into retail – an important resource for barbershops keen to claw back some of that lost revenue – with advice from the shops and barbers who have used retail to their advantage, and who will be putting an even bigger emphasis on it in the coming months.
As we navigate through this new normal, we will continue to do all we can to support the barbering industry, and we want to personally wish each and every one of you the best of luck for your return to work.
Enjoy this new issue of BarberEVO. We can’t wait to hear all about everyone getting back behind the chair in the coming days and weeks!
A recent update from the NHBF has announced that the local lockdown imposed on Leicester has resulted in a delay to barbershop reopenings in the local area.
Shops in Leicester will now NOT be able to open on the 4th of July as with the rest of England. More information can be found on the Leicester City Council website here.
At present, the lockdown is to be extended for at least two weeks due to the peak in cases in the area.
It has also been announced that Northern Ireland will be adopting the official UK government guidelines for safe reopening of salons and barbershops, while Scotland and Wales are yet to announce if they will be publishing their own.
John Mosley, also known as Popular Nobody, has built an incredible career for himself as a barber and international educator. Now, he is using is influence to give back to the community by launching his own foundation, which will help support aspiring beauty professionals as they set off on their new career journey.
“It is our mission to ignite the power of tenacity and humility by creating opportunities for successful careers in the beauty industry and beyond,” says John.
The Nobody Way Foundation believes in a future where your place in the fashion and beauty industry is determined by your talent and not your zip code. Where access to top-tier education and industry-leading mentors is limited only by your own work ethic. Where communities prosper because dreamers and do-ers discover a career path that matches their passions, and where the humble and tenacious are the innovators of our future and the champions of our communities.
So, how is the foundation helping to create this future? By partnering with top-tier educational institutions to offer scholarships and structured opportunities for aspiring barbers and cosmetologists and by building strong support and mentorship opportunities for aspiring barbers, cosmetologists, and the broader community members it serves.
The unifying focus of the Foundation is community. It exists to build a community that celebrates the hard-working and humble who are dedicated to moving their communities forward – together.
Today marks a great day for our industry, as barbershops across the Republic of Ireland have been able to reopen their doors for the first time since lockdown was first imposed back in March.
Clients have finally been able to visit their barbers for some much needed cuts, trims and fades, albeit with new safety measures in place to protect both clients and barbers.
WAHL Artistic Team member and owner of The Asylum Barbershop, Andrea Lynne Raymond said: “It’s been really exciting but nerve-wracking at the same time! We have a good system going for cleaning and sanitising between customers and its worked well so far! We have completely rebuilt one side of the shop – taking away the waiting area and coffee dock and replacing them with more stations. We have extra tools and gowns so we can alternate between customers too. We are doing temperature checks and both customers and barbers have to wear masks. So far, it’s been great, with everyone respecting the policy and an overall great buzz in the shop!”
Meanwhile, Chris O’Riordan of ST4Men, said: “It’s fantastic to finally reopen after being off for so long. We have all our usual measures in place i.e. cleaning and sanitation, but all these measures have been bumped up that bit extra. All stylists are required to wear a face covering and all clients are being asked to wear them during their service. We are also adhering to government guidelines including social distancing and hand washing, to name a few. We are also utilizing a contact tracing app to ensure the safety of our clients and staff. Clients are scanned in and out of waiting seats and our barber chairs so we have a full log of where everyone has been seated and when the seat has been cleaned. It’s a bit different now, being the first day back, but I’m sure after a week it will feel totally normal!”
We are so pleased that the first shops are able to reopen, and we look forward to hearing from England’s barbershops as they return to work on Saturday 4th July.
With the recent publication of government guidelines and the first barbershops in the UK set to reopen their doors on Saturday 4th July, PPE, for most, has been high on the list of priorities. Although the use of disposable gowns and towels is not set to be mandatory, there will be some expectation from clients and staff. Providing disposable gowns shows your client that their safety is paramount, but what about all that extra waste? Easydry have the solution.
Made from medical-grade fibre, the Easydry disposable towels are single-use and more hygienic than multi-user cotton towels and traditional laundry. This gives both you and your client peace of mind that you are offering the highest hygiene standards possible.
Made using eco-friendly processes and without the use of chemicals, they remove the issue of sustainability when it comes to disposable products. Many barbers are keen to shy away from disposable towels and gowns due to the increase in waste, but with Easydry, barbers and shop owners can breathe easy knowing there is a biodegradable solution.
To reassure your customers, with every Easydry purchase, you will get a specially created hygiene sticker to place in your shop window, showing that your shop uses disposable towels and can offer a clean, fresh towel, every client, every time.
In addition to their towels and in even higher demand in barbershops are Easydry’s new long, black, 100% compostable disposable gowns!
Currently celebrating 15 years since the launch of its’ very first eco-friendly, hygienic towel, CEO and founder, Anne Butterly, has been listening to her customer needs during this time of crisis.
“I always listen to the feedback and listening to salons over the past few difficult months, I clearly heard that salons need and want a gown that is both hygienic and eco-friendly,” she explains.
So, to address these needs and as part of the anniversary celebrations, Easydry is launching their very own 100% compostable long black gown. Many barbers have been concerned about the use of disposable gowns and the extra waste they will create, but, as with their towels, these gowns are eco-friendly and just as effective.
The full-length gown is ideal for all services, providing protection for the guest and the barber, with a soft material that provides the client with both comfort and reassurance. After use, the gowns can be easily composted, so you can reduce your carbon footprint while simultaneously protecting your staff, yourself and your clients.
Some good news for barbers, stylists and beauty professionals as Schedulicity has announced that they will be waiving their fees one last time.
Whether you have been using them for years or are just signing up, you can use all Schedulicity features for free until September 1, 2020.
A social media post on 25th June said: “We hope that this will help lighten the last few months’ financial burdens. We also know that to really use our best features – and to see how valuable they are – you need to be open and booking again. So take your time!”
This is one of many actions that the team at Schedulicity have taken to support the industry in these uncertain times. To sign up or to find out more about their services, visit https://essentials.schedulicity.com/
ANYBODY THAT CLAIMS TO BE ‘JUST’ SOMETHING IS UNLIKELY TO BE SUCCESSFUL. IT STIFLES AMBITION AND SIGNALS AN ACCEPTANCE OF ‘THIS IS IT’. FOR YEARS, THERE WAS A CERTAIN STIGMA ATTACHED TO THE HAIR INDUSTRY AS A DESTINATION FOR THE LESS ACADEMICALLY INCLINED. POPE THE BARBER, HOWEVER, DOESN’T HAVE TIME FOR SELF-DEPRECIATION, NOR ANYBODY’S BULLSHIT.
Despite her moniker, she isn’t just a barber; Pope is a brand. She is also a businesswoman with big, big plans. Her feats are made more impressive as her life, she explains, was heading in a very different direction.
“I played basketball and I had a scholarship,” she explains, perched on the steps of her Santa Ana shop, Vatican Barbershop. “I played basketball in school and we travelled with the men’s team and all my friends would be cutting their own hair and it looked fun to me. I got good at it. I went to a predominantly black school and I was like the white girl that could cut – I mean I’m not even white – but it was fun. I didn’t think it was going to be a career for me, though.”
Her dreams of playing in the WNBA, however, were crushed after a serious car crash left he unable to walk for a year. Such a period of revaluation was difficult for not only Pope – who at the time was at school for aeronautical engineering – but also her parents.
“I went to cosmetology school on crutches. It was the scariest thing telling my parents. You know, I’m not a mathematician; I would love to cut hair. I hear it all the time, but you know what? That’s what gives everybody drive. That’s the first person that says no. It’s the nature of the rebellious barber or stylist. That’s the triumph; that’s the payoff,” she smiles.
And, judging by her extensive body art, Pope is well versed in acts of defiance. Buddhist imagery and symbolism wraps intricately around the majority of her body, so much so that if you asked her how many tattoos she has, she would probably answer just three. The second – etched on her ribcage and Pope’s first ever tattoo – reads ‘all I am I owe to my mother’. Try being angry with that, mother. The third is a dagger inked on her left cheek that is indicative of her approach to life. She’s all-in at all times and incorporates her passions into her individual brand.
“There really was no job title for what I wanted to do,” says Pope. “I wanted to travel, I wanted to do this and that. I wanted to do everything really. That’s what a brand is. You can have everything you like, do whatever the hell you want. I was barbering, hosting clubs and tattoo modeling and all that. I tried to marry the two. I started getting pretty popular in the nightlife and I wanted people to know me for barbering.”
Pope, eager to focus on building, put herself in a self-imposed creative exile. And what better place to do so than Notorious Barbershop? Not only is it fucking freezing, thus curtailing partying, the Montreal-based shop has incubated some of the industry’s most well-known brands and has quite the esteemed list of alumni.
“I learned so much from being there and around people like Famos, Chink, Thad and the Maison Privée boys. We all learned what we needed to learn and all opened shops. We all knew what we wanted to do: we wanted a home base and wanted to travel. We bounced ideas off each other and pushed each other to grow. We were all doing merch at the same time. Famos would come out with a hat, and I’d be like ‘I need to do a beanie!’” she explains.
Quebec’s largest city is known for attracting a smorgasbord of creative talents seeking its nurturing environment. From clothing designers to videographers, Pope and her Notorious peers could tap into the city’s tightknit creative community and collaborate to help grow their brands.
“I wanted to translate that to out here – people just bettering each other. LA is a type of spot where there are just haters everywhere. I’m not one of those people and I don’t want to be around those people. I wanted to come here with a clean slate and build my own team of everyone: videographers, clothing designers, barbers. I took a lot from there. I met my wife there.”
Despite her relatively young age, everything, from the outside at least, seems to be falling into place. Pope has a thriving female-fronted barbershop, a beautiful wife and travels doing what she loves. Pope’s success comes from her single-minded determination and bullish attitude that most successful people possess. It hasn’t been easy. It never is, and Pope certainly doesn’t mix her words when giving her two cents on overcoming adversity.
“I grew up against every social norm. I’ve seen it all. Being a female wasn’t the hard part. I definitely noticed I was the only female in the barbershop, but now is the time for women. I’m for it; I’m for the movement. Most of my barbershop is female. We’re killing it right now. And for anybody that has had any struggles, I’m here. The most important thing I’ve learned in this lifetime is you’re not stuck anywhere you are.”
She carries that defiant attitude into her education, preaching sermons on self-belief and achieving your goals. Nobody is ‘just’ anything to her. Technically, her classes focus on diversifying ability – teaching barbers scissor work with Hattori Hanzo Shears, for one – to provide people with the skills that will underpin their brand.
“I love teaching. I teach to light a fire under people’s asses. I do like the technical work but in the end I want people to leave feeling inspired, whether it’s taking a piece of the way I cut and implementing it into their way of cutting or just something from my story. I’ve been poor, homeless, wealthy, poor again, wealthy and it’s all from making big jumps. A lot of failures, a lot of success, you know?
“I’ve been working with Hanzo for a few years now as an educator and they’re an awesome company. They’ve sent me to almost every state in the US and I’ve honestly met the most amazing people along the way. They let me be the hippie that I am and speak from the soul about hair and life in places I’d never think of flying. It’s easy to work with a company whose product I really believe in.”
Never one to sacrifice who she is for her career, Pope has built successful relationships with brands by choosing ones that really embody what she wants to do with her brand as a business owner. Recently, she has become an ambassador for Squire, who she says really focus on the wellbeing of your overall business.
“On a product level, they’ve trumped the previous system I used ten fold and have made it really easy for me to run my business from anywhere in the world with no worries. I was running an all-cash business before, as most barbershops do, and I was able to seamlessly upgrade my whole system in a matter of days. It’s easy. I like their vision, they understand mine, and we can grow together.”
Growth is something that Pope does not shy away from – in fact she is currently in the process of relocating and expanding her barbershop. How then, does she ensure a good work-life balance – something a lot of barbers struggle with?
“I work hard, rest harder! This year has been a major practice of true balance in my life. I’m at a point where I can step away from the shop for a bit and put my personal life and routines first and then build my work schedule around that. For you barbers and new business owners, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I promise! I’m able to practice working smarter, not harder, so when I do go out and teach or do events or whatever I have planned, I’m able to give 1000% without burning out. I travel mostly and cut in the shop a few times a month, but mostly I just focus on living a happy and healthy life.”
Pope knows the transient nature of success, but now has a firm grip on her future and knows the value of a good work-life balance. As she said, she wants to build an empire for herself and Joannie, and I certainly wouldn’t bet against her.
