Kieran Reilly, aka inkd.barber, tells us how he went from learning to cut in his shed to working with some of the biggest brands in barbering…
“I have been cutting hair for three years now and have been full time for one year. I first picked up the clippers in September 2020 just before the second lockdown ended. I decided to try and cut my son’s hair and automatically something clicked and enjoyed it. I then started offering haircuts to anyone on Facebook on the basis that you pay what you think your haircut is worth. I didn’t go on any training courses I studied YouTube videos and watched a lot of barbers on Instagram such as, barberLuke, barber Maroc, morethanjustatrim. I then started to ask questions while I was watching their videos, and as I progressed, I built a studio in my back garden where I could cut my clients hair. I saw this as a hobby in the beginning and was cutting up to ten haircuts a week for the first year and learning on the job – I definitely learnt a lot from my own mistakes!
“Once the lockdown ended I decided to try barbering full time at barberLuke’s barber shop in South Ealing which sadly didn’t last long as we went into lockdown again and financially I couldn’t afford to only cut hair with a family to support. I needed a steady income so I went back to my day job and carried on building my skills and knowledge through mistakes and trial and error.
“Cut to January 26th 2022 and I decided to take the leap again and join a barbershop in Ashford full time. It was difficult in the beginning because I’d never cut hair in a busy barbershop and I had full paying clients. It was a tough first couple of months but having good barbers around me I found the confidence to keep going. Thanks to Rheanna at Handsome Barbers, who helped me with barbering, I have come a long way since joining the team.
“Now I’m a full-time barber and fully booked for over a week in advance; I cut hair at festivals, events for brands such as Footlocker and I have the opportunity to travel abroad to cut hair at big festivals thanks to a barber agent, I have become an ambassador for a barbering brand and I hope to open my own shop and start my own brand too. A lot has happened for me all in the space of a year and the same could happen to anyone else as long as you’re willing to work hard for it. There were days where I had no clients all day but then someone would call out-of-hours and I stayed for that work so I could build my clientele. I still work 16 hour days some days but you have to be willing to put in the graft.
“My advice to those starting out is to learn as much as you can and remain humble. There’s always something you can learn and never talk badly about another barber’s work. Stay in your own lane, and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. In the three years since I first picked up my set of clippers I’ve been happy with two haircuts because I believe there’s always something to improve on. You have to be willing to learn to take criticism and build on it. As long as you work hard and you love what you do, only you can stop you going as far as you want.”
Interested in hearing about more experiences from self-taught barbers? Here, Toastie Styles, tells us about the challenges she has faced learning her craft in her own way…