Barber Temple with Rex A.C. Silver

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you couldn’t have missed the buzz going on in Queensland of late with the recent opening of a major facility for the Barbering Industry that is The Barber Temple.

barbershop magazine talks with one of the centres directors Sam Jarred, to get the skinny on this amazing space designed specifically for our industry.

When did the idea come about and how did it come about?

It’s been in the works for a couple of years now. We all saw so much focus and energy and innovation in the hairdressing space, and figured it was about time that translated to something specifically for Barbers. Fundamentally, it started with a conversation around what the ultimate destination for Barbers would be, and what would our dream space look like? Everything sort of fell into place from there.

What were the driving factors behind building such an amazing centre that caters for so much more?

In a nutshell, we felt there was a need to have a true destination for Barbering. The industry has matured a lot over the last few years, but we really felt that the services to support Barbers and business owners hadn’t evolved, whether it be education, product supply, career pathways or industry connections. That was what planted the seed for Barber Temple. We really just wanted to create a space that’s open to Barbers from all walks, without any of the competitiveness or territorial vibes that are sometimes associated with our industry, while offering everything under one roof.

Who is behind the Barber Temple and tell us about your crack team of Temple Educators

We have a few partners in the business, but the most hands on are obviously Fraser Forsey, our lead educator, and Steve Purcell. I’ve known and worked with both of these guys for a long time, and we all had a similar vision for what Barber Temple could be, and a real love of the industry and the people. In terms of our educators, there’s probably too many to list here! From experienced guys who’ve seen it all like Fraser, Lino Dádderio, Mark Rabone, Steve Purcell and Tim Hutton, to social media influencers like Clipper Kayne, and up and coming guys like Anthony Nafatali, Jono Goodwin and Denny Nolan, and we’ve really tried to pull together a great group who can cater to all different needs.

It’s also a real mix of styles and backgrounds, and that’s key to the Barber Temple culture. Watching these guys come together and share their knowledge and love of barbering has actually blown me away! But the whole project has been such a huge team effort. There are so many moving parts and it’s the people behind the scenes who really make the whole operation tick day to day – our ops, administration and marketing teams are incredible!

Can you explain the function of this amazing space and its many parts?

Well, I guess the layout is a reflection of what we wanted to offer and the space itself. Being a converted warehouse (it actually used to be a Mitre 10), we wanted to retain the character and open nature of the space while integrating the complete offering. Our Barbershop is open to the public and designed to give our students real-world experience on the floor. We also have an office space with our admin, purchasing and marketing teams. That flows through into our onsite supply shop, which is such a great space designed to showcase all the tools, equipment, products accessories, and merch a barber could ever want. A bit of a candy shop for barbers’ vibe in there! We then have the largest area which is our main cutting floor, event, and education space. We’ve got room for up to 30 cutting stations for larger sessions, a stage and video wall for shows and product launches, along with a student classroom, full kitchen, and bar area. It’s a really flexible and adaptable space too, which is why we’ve seen so much demand for it.

Please detail some of the courses available.

The heart of what we offer is our certificate 3 in barbering, but that’s only one element. Our non-accredited education has been really well received too, and we’ve built off what Fraser had established over many years of delivering workshops and customised classes, bootcamps and pathway courses. What I really love is that there is always something happening. It might be an American Crew cutting workshop with Lino Dádderio, product knowledge with the Uppercut guys, a stage show and launch event with Wahl, barbers coming in to shop the supply area, or just our students learning their craft – all in one week.

The Barber Industry has welcomed The Temple with open arms and rightly so, did you expect such immediate response?

The one consistent thing we hear from most people is that it’s what the industry has needed for a long time. To be honest the response has massively exceeded our expectations. We couldn’t have hoped for a better response. What I’m most satisfied with is seeing barbers from shops across Queensland coming in to check it out. There are no boundaries, no competitiveness… just a love of barbering. And it has been at all levels too – from new apprentices and students to business owners and experienced educators. We’ve made a lot of new connections and the response has been really humbling to be honest.

I was recently at the Wahl event at the Temple that had, very comfortably, around 175 guests plus staff, crew and caterers etc. And I understand the creative team were at The Temple all week training. Can you tell us about the facility being available for such events for hair companies?

Events like the launch of Andis Resurge and the Wahl Cordless Legend have been huge for us. Having the likes of Simon Shaw and the Wahl global educators and ambassadors in the space all week in particular was incredible. There was such a good energy and so much knowledge being shared. I think in addition to the space itself; the location has played a big part in the attraction. We’re central, have onsite parking, multiple entrances so the space can be properly segmented, and we’re 2 doors down from the Novotel which has been awesome for interstate and international guest artists and educators.

I noticed by following on socials our dear friends at Revlon Professional and American Crew, uses the education centre for colour tutorials for hairdressers, has the Hair Industry embraced the Temple as well?

I’ve actually been really surprised at the lack of options for barbering and hairdressing education spaces around Brisbane. For that reason, we already have a number of other suppliers and educators using the space to deliver their own training sessions and workshops, including Revlon, Juuce, American Crew, Wella and more. It’s been great to see some of that cross over too and have hairdressers spending some time here and leaving with a new appreciation for barbering.