In the Chair With...Sophie Collins

Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8th, MB chatted to Sophie Collins about how she wants to use her achievements to encourage more females into the industry.  

Sophie Collins, of Soph's Barbers in Llanbedr, Ardudwy, was crowned the best wet shaving barber in Wales in 2017, before being invited onto This Morning with Piers Morgan, where she shaved weatherman Alex Beresford live on air. She is also an ambassador for The Bluebeards Revenge.  

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You want to encourage female barbers to enter competitions. Why is that? The increase in female barbers proves that gender doesn't affect your ability to cut hair. It doesn't matter if you're female or you've got long hair or where you come from if you can make men feel better with a good haircut.

Congratulations on your win in 2017. How did that feel? When I entered the Wet Shave competition I didn't expect to get anywhere. After I won, loads of women came up to me saying how amazing it was and how they wished they could do it too. But it doesn't have to just be a wish. I didn't enter things for years because I told myself I couldn't do it. I want to educate those that say females can't do it.

What do you want to let other female barbers know? There are a lot of women barbers who don't want to put their name out there because they don't want to be known and that's simply down to lack of confidence. I want to give them that confidence. I often get female barbers contacting me on Facebook to ask for advice.

Finally, what are you clients asking for in the chair at the moment?  About six months ago it was all pompadours, with the full quiff and a full beard, with no fade. I'm now being asked for the crop look. I'm doing lots of skin fades and beard fades. Because of where I am based in Wales, my customers tend to be slower to catch up with fashions, but they increasingly follow trends on social media and are asking for the stuff they are seeing up there.

FB @sophsbarbershop