Chasing The Vision

What a special barber story this is, it has it all, a young individual looking for direction in a world with too many conforms and restraints for his liking, finds where he belongs… his purpose, and then realizes his creative dreams and excels to a place he only ever dreamt of.

By his own admission he reaches his goals by trial-and-error and by challenging himself to get to there.

His work is totally on-point which is probably why he has been snapped up by Andis as a National Educator. He is on the cusp of opening his first Barber Studio in Melbourne and very generously gives us unfettered access to the whole process he experienced in doing so plus so much more….

Let’s meet:

MOE DIEDERICKS

First, I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to stop and read about my journey in this wonderful and rewarding industry. I’m 31 years old and was born in South Africa. My Family moved to Australia when I was 5 years old, so I’ve definitely taken on the Aussie culture.

I come from a family of 5. Mum, Dad, 1x brother and 2x sisters. I had a very loving and supportive upbringing. Whatever I wanted to do I knew I had the support from my family which really helped in my situation because I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life after finishing year 12.

I knew I was the creative type, but I didn’t know where that could take me, especially when you think of a creative industry as a whole there are so many things to do. With being so undecisive I thought that the only way to make a good income was to put on a tie every day for work, so I got into Real Estate. I hated it. The ongoing negativity from clients trying to list their properties on the market. Doorknocking every day to pretty much force them to sell their home just so you could make a living. Mentally it was destroying me. Hunger wasn’t an issue. Passion was.

After resigning from Real Estate, I then decided to get into something a bit less cutthroat… excuse the pun ha-ha... Car Salesman at Toyota. Notice how I still decided to keep looking for something in sales, man was I naïve. That didn’t last long either. To sit behind a desk and live on that hope method “hoping” that someone would walk in, “hoping” that I’d even get the chance to speak to them amongst the other 8 salesman that are floating around in the dealership.

While I was working in Real Estate, I had finally found my Barber, someone that I could trust to cut my hair. I used to be a fortnightly client coming in to see him wherever he was working at the time. He would change barbershops quite regularly. It didn’t faze me because I knew I would follow him wherever he would go.

Through this time making conversations and building that customer relationship I bloody told him everything! He knew I was unmotivated, and he knew I was lacking something. One day he just started randomly asking me these questions trying to figure out what I like and then he just said, “why don’t you become a barber or get into hairdressing, that’s how I started”.

I’m sitting there in the chair and I’m looking around the shop, everyone is smiling, and you could tell that he enjoyed what he was doing. Put it this way, if you looked up “passion” in the dictionary then you’d see a photo with this guy’s head next to the writing. 1 week later I resigned and started my journey at a small salon in a shopping centre close to me. I was enjoying it. I was sweeping most of the time and cutting foil for colour and cleaning the shop floor.

I’m someone that really researchers the ins and outs of anything new that I’d be getting myself into, so I knew that I was going to be doing that for at least 1 year, so I was prepared… fast forward 9 months later, I just finished my blow wave and styling components in my apprenticeship, and I was doing that on the shop floor. It was such a great feeling. Saturdays were always busy at the shop, and we used to have morning meetings just to get everyone ready for what’s to come. The owner came in that morning and said that this will be our last day trading as they have gone bankrupt. I WAS DEVASTATED. All these thoughts in my head started coming, what will I do now, who is going to hire a mature age apprentice, what do I tell my parents?

I kept looking for another salon to work for, finally, I got accepted on my multiple SEEK applications by someone I’ll never ever forget and all he has done for me… Mr Tom Donato.

I’m sitting there in a salon chair waiting for the salon owner to come in, a man with white hair and a singlet drenched in water came and introduced himself. “Sorry I was just fixing something at the back” he said. Shook my hand and all I’m thinking is… “Fuck, this will be interesting” we had our meeting and said for me to come in for a trial and I accepted.

Nearly didn’t go. Thank God I did, I have learnt so much from this amazing man and all the people he has employed I worked alongside, that I will be forever grateful and implement his wisdom of business and passion, service and everything else I have learnt from my time with Tom into my own style of business and barbershop.

I have worked for Tom for 8 years and in the last 5 years he opened a barbershop which I begged to move there, and I was lucky enough to help run it with him and another barber that came from the salon as well. I’ve met a lot of interesting people along the way working in salons and barbershops and it never gets old. Every day is a different day filled with stories, life landmarks and emotions.

A LITTLE ON ANDIS AND BEING AND EDUCATOR…

I’ve been an Andis National Educator for 3 years now, hosting classes around Melbourne. So far, teaching everything about Andis and how to achieve the desired haircut and look the clients want using the tools made my Andis. Normally what happens in a class is that there will be either a fading, textured, medium and a long hair cut subject for the day. I will also be told prior to the class if there is a specific tool that requires a more in-depth explanation when it is time to using it on the demo.

Normally I have 2.5 hours to explain and execute a haircut on a model that I source and show them every detail on what I am doing, then they bring in their own model and use key points in their haircuts that I showed in my demonstration. while they do the workshop bit of the day.

I hope to expand my education with Andis further and do more classes and spread my knowledge with passionate people that are keen on soaking in information and really want to better themselves.

Tell us all about your amazing shop Barber Shop that’s about to open… your business philosophy and beliefs towards the running of a modern barber shop in today’s world.

After the multiple lockdowns I decided that I wanted to go out on my own, I had always been looking online at spaces to rent but never went ahead with it. I was too comfortable where I was, and I felt that I needed a change in the industry but most definitely not out of the industry. It was in lockdown 4/4 that I was actively looking, I finally found something that was worth enquiring about. I went to have a look and I just couldn’t stop smiling, I feel that I really had to resonate with a space before taking any further steps. It all started with a calculator, then went to an excel spreadsheet, then the lawyer and then an accountant. I signed the lease and I just had mixed emotions.

Mainly scared because for me this was a huge step and I’ve always liked to be certain about things, but what I’ve learnt along the way is that a comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there, and life begins at the end of your comfort zone. It took me a while to build up the courage to tell my boss that I was resigning and when I did, I was so relieved because although there was that initial sadness from both parties, I felt that he was proud of me to take this step and build my own empire that like which he once did himself. It is one thing to be a boss, another thing to be a mentor and a completely different thing to be a leader, and he was all of those and more. The day came! I picked up the keys and I reckon I sat in that empty dusty place for at least 2 hours just taking it all in knowing that I had a lot of work to do and to do everything right. Being a creative I feel is an easy thing to envision something how you would want it to look. I was coming up with so many ideas for how I wanted the shop to look like. What structure I wanted in place, what was going to make me different from the salon or barber shop down the road, but I couldn’t think of a name for my space.

IT’S ALL IN THE NAME…

Envisioning something, having that vision for what I wanted… hang on… VISIONARY... wait no, too long, how could I make it more appealing. VSNRY?? No, I’m on the right track but it just doesn’t look right... what about VZNRY!? Yes!... I loved it! It looked sharper with the “Z” rather than the “s” being curved. I now know the stress of people choosing names for their newborn... because at the end of the day… This is my baby! I believe that the game is changing. How many times have you heard “another barbershop”, “oh, I just feel like in the last 4 years barbershops have been popping up everywhere.”

What makes you different from the barbershop or salon down the road? Why do they keep coming back to you? What experience or service can you implement for the client that wants to jump ship or grabs them, and brings them to your space?

These are all the things that goes into your mind when you’re opening a shop. Don’t get me wrong, I have no fucking idea what it takes to run a business, but does anyone really have an idea? But you know what? I am going to learn as much as I can along the way and soak in as much information as I can (sounds like an apprentice doesn’t it). And just a reminder to when you do decide to open your own shop, please go through your friends and clients for any work that you do on your shop, trust me, it builds a stronger connection and helps them out too. It lets them know that you listen and you’re willing to let them put a piece of their passion on your passion.

VZNRY is all about bridging the gap between salon and barbershop. Knowing how to cut hair… not how to do a haircut, understanding what the client wants and directing them in the way that they should go about their appearance. You don’t understand the power we have as stylists. When you do that wedding haircut, those photos and those special memories stay forever and you were a part of that, that job interview that requires 1 hour of impressing the new boss, you had something to do with that as well. Don’t ever forget how important you are to them and never forget your worth at the same time. I look forward to the support that I will be receiving from everyone in the industry and to whoever reads this because even though we are in different businesses, we are all in the same business.

Your work envelops many modern hairdressing and cutting techniques and classic barbering…. tell us about that…. can you please expand on where you see men’s grooming heading too and the skillsets we should be learning to be on top of our game?

Bridging that gap between salon and barbershop is a must. All the cutting techniques used in cutting “ladies’ hair” can all be used in cutting “men’s hair” and if you work in a barbershop, you’re going to be using more clippers than scissors. When that one client comes in with long luscious hair amongst all the other 8 skin fades you’ve done for the day, you want to be 100% positive that you’re giving them what they want. It shouldn’t have to be a guessing game filled with thinning scissors and leaving their hair wet with sea salt spray telling them “It’s better to naturally dry it and see how it sets” … come on, we’ve all been in that situation. You are going to need the skills and wish or be glad you had them. In my apprenticeship I always used to shadow fully qualified stylists (watching and taking notes) picking up different ways to execute a haircut, asking question upon question upon question to the point of me draining them physically and mentally just so I can understand what they were trying to achieve, that’s how I came up with my own unique way of cutting. If you understand hair 100% it really makes your life easier, to the point where you don’t even think about what you’re doing, you’re just cutting and conversing with your client and getting to know them. I always used to watch YouTube videos as well and signing up to some online education to further my skills in cutting and styling.

I’ve noticed that men really are starting to take pride in their appearance now. Especially after lockdowns through covid. They were often getting someone like their flatmate to cut their hair and well…. However, what they did do with this time was take closer note of their appearances and evolve, we need to as well. I really feel that the appreciation that we get now as professionals has come a long way in just 2 years of our customers being deprived of our services.

You shoot your work with a distinct style and unique look; do you take the images yourself? Expand on this a bit….

I’ve always dabbled in photography. Owning an SLR camera really made me learn about lighting and angles and that can be used on the technology that we have on our mobile phones. Surprisingly all I use now is my phone and an app to slightly tune the image into something that appeals a lot more to the human eye. It’s a trial-and-error situation with taking photos and that’s probably why I have over 7000 images on my camera roll. Small things like understanding where light is positioned and how much difference having the chin slightly up or down can make a huge change in the image. No neck wraps or hair on the cape or on the clients’ face, those are the little things I think of.

Moe, can you please give some inspirational words to the Barbers here who would one day like to open their own shop….

If you feel unmotivated where you are working or even if you don’t feel appreciated enough. Think long and hard about how you can change that. It is only you that can change that and no one else. I’ve learnt a lot with getting ready to open my Barber studio and I’ve taken it step by step. Don’t think that you have to do everything all at once. Take the desired time you need to do it right the first time. Think about what you can offer to the hair industry as well as to the client. It’s a process, just like doing a fade. Start off with the first guideline and build up from there. You want to create a clean canvas in order for you to work properly and put the steps in place to execute what you want to achieve that. Have small weekly goals and have that special someone around to bounce ideas off and tell you the truth. I can only say one more thing and that is a big business starts small and chase the vision, not the money. The things you regret most in life are the risks you don’t take.

Thank you for having the time to read this and I really hope to hear from you on my social media and if you’re local and just want to have a chat please feel free to drop in, my door is always open.

@moediedericks_

@vznry_