The Is How We Do It By Rex A.C. Silver

You may remember Suzi O’Brien from barbershop Year 9 Issue 1 in January 2020. I know I do, as she left quite an impact on me then: and has blown me away now with the achievements she has reached, with her laser focus on where and what she wanted her business to be.

Suzi thinks outside the box and on a number of levels at the same time. This is evident in the new space she has created, again, in Maroubra in Sydney’s East with the relocation and major expansion of her very successful business Gents & Rascals.

If the past two and a half years has taught Suzi anything, it’s to make the most of what you have and then look for what more it can be. Suzi didn’t just open a bigger shop with more chairs because she was busy, no no no, she future proofed her new space by predicting the next change in our industry and then looked at what more could it be.

Suzi has installed a private spa room for grooming and treatment services she calls ‘The Anam’.

Further to Suzi’s ongoing commitment to be more to her community, both geographic and indeed the Australian Barber Community at large, Suzi created a space that can seamlessly morph into an events centre.

A mezzanine level complete with a DJ/Presenters booth overlooks the main floor, which is perfect for education purposes, product launches, private events and more… all of which the space has already been used for.

THIS IS SUZI O’BRIEN 2.0:

the studio x gents & rascals. It’s a new space. It’s a new location…

Yes, it’s double the size and we have gone from 5 “cosy” sections to 8 very spacious sections and a set of double basins. We also now have a lovely open reception area with bar seating in the waiting area.

When did you do this?

We finished the shop and had planned to move it literally just as lockdown hit Sydney! It was a bitter pill to swallow at the time as I was cutting hair through the day and working tirelessly painting until late into the night, trying to get it finished on time for weeks on end. But we were due to move into the new studio Monday 29th of June 2021 and Sydney went into lockdown three days prior. So, our beautiful new studio sat pretty and waiting for us until October when lockdown ended at last! So, October 2021 we officially opened our doors thankfully!

Have you got more staff?

Yes! We have welcomed our favourite Aussie Barber Steph Chops who is a local girl that immediately made a big impact on the whole team with her beautiful heart and attitude towards her work and life itself! Steph has been a huge missing piece to our puzzle! Not only is she highly skilled with a set of clippers, but she is also a qualified hairdresser with years of experience and produces some amazing cuts and colours for our guests. We also welcomed “Finty O’Hara” from the motherland Ireland of course! Finty made waves the minute he landed in Sydney only a short while ago and was chosen as one of the Next Gen by Area Academy to cut live at Hair Expo. Since then, we were lucky enough to have Finty come on board, and he has been a powerhouse since the beginning. His attention to detail and passion for the industry is contagious and his big grin even more so! Finty is a fun-loving soul who loves what he does and is quickly becoming a client favourite. So, we now have six full time staff including our amazing team members from our original and previous location, Manager Jordan, Mauricio, Sophie, and myself.

Why the move? Is it because your business grew? Or you wanted an upgrade?

Both. We had definitely outgrown our old space and were beginning to look like a few sardines all squished in together! But also, from day 1 I had dreamed about this shop, and I wasn’t prepared to stop until I made it a reality. As bad as it sounds, I couldn’t go to my grave having never gave it my all. I knew my first shop was always going to be a steppingstone to where I am now. I thought of every aspect of my shop for as long as I can remember. Actually, I had an old client who lives in Dubai, come to Sydney for a visit. I hadn’t cut his hair for over 11-12 years, and he looked around and said I can’t believe you did it. You told me you would do this back then and how you would design it and what services you’d like to provide and here we are all these years later and you finally did it! That meant so much to me because not a lot of people understand how big a deal this studio is to me. It literally is a dream come true. For someone like me moving to the other side of the world, not knowing many people to begin with and having no money or recourses, to now owning a shop that I’m so damn proud of, it shows how hard I’ve worked and how I’ve persevered to get there. hopefully that inspires the next person to not give up on themselves or be deterred from what their heart is set on.

Tell us about the new space, it’s fit out and the feel you were going for…

I wanted to create a calming, welcoming space when designing the studio. I decided on a simple minimalistic style with clean lines, lots of space and plenty of light. I incorporated three bare elements of concrete, natural wood, and light with a monochromatic palette to create calmness. Our concrete floors and white walls are complimented with a natural wood reception desk and basin recess. Our rectilinear pendants illuminate the shop with clean crisp design. Glass shelving line our grand arch allowing more natural light to shine through on our retail area. The black steel mirrored sections are all custom made and designed by me. I thought about how we could hide the clutter and tools that we use, so decided to reverse the mirrors and shelves so the mirror hides the noise behind. We also made the shelves retractable so when styling hair we have our product range perfectly displayed and easily accessed just by retracting the shelf. We even thought of practicality and allowed room for bins at the bottom and high shelves for plants at the top, all while being concealed. These are a major feature in the studio and the black steel contrasts well against the white walls. We did however have a nightmare when trying to spray paint the steel when they were fixed to the walls without getting the walls themselves! Fair to say I will stick to cutting hair in future...! The spa room we also renamed “Anam”. Anam is Gaelic for “soul”. We wanted somewhere clients could let go emotionally, spiritually, and physically and distress from life. I found a lot of guys were too embarrassed to visit a spa or beauty salon but when we have services such as hydra dermabrasion facials, massages and teeth whitening available to them, it feels less intimidating to try them. Anam has been hugely successful in helping our client’s mental health and overall stress levels and we are really happy that we can make such a difference to our client’s lives. The room was designed with serenity in mind. Grey textured walls add warmth to the room and the white recessed ceiling with mood led lighting really sets the scene for relaxation and rejuvenation. We also included an elevated stage/DJ booth with a projector screen and stage lighting for good measure, as my goal was to also hire the studio out for events and education. We have hosted some private events from education seminars and product launches to wedding parties and fund raisers. A massive goal of ours is to become the hub for education in Sydney and inviting men’s stylists from around Australia and the world to use our studio as their first point of contact for their education. So, when designing the studio this was front of mind.

How have your clients embraced the new space?

Overall, the design of the studio has been hugely embraced by our clients and is attracting those that are more appreciative of our craft and enjoy a higher level of service. Many clients have even hired the space for their own personal events and other likeminded creatives too, this has created an even stronger bond between us and our community. Although our mission and values have remained the same the shop vibe has completely changed. It’s definitely a more mature and sophisticated version of Gents and Rascals.

Can you walk us through the changes you had to make over the last two and a half years to your business and how you navigated through that?

Although it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever experienced, lockdown really gave me the chance to sit down and really reinvent my business to what was more aligned to my personality and how I want the brand to be perceived. I didn’t cut any corners. In the face of the biggest adversity, I had ever faced as a business owner, I really doubled down on my business. I just spent 100k on a fit out, but I still increased my prices and hired more staff! It was balls to the wall! I had to think outside the box and not just rely on revenue created by haircuts because I had a brand-new shop to pay for, 4months loss of income and 4months of rent to pay. It was sink or swim, literally! There were definitely a lot of sleepless nights and plenty of tears behind closed doors but by self-belief, and determination to ensure I would make it work, once again along with support from family and friends, that love carried me through. Offering other services than just haircuts allows for extra income on the quieter days and also turning the space into somewhere that could be used for functions has also created another form of income.

Along with merchandising and extending our range of products for hair and skin. I’m so lucky that when we did finally open our doors back up that Barbers were the new Rockstar’s, and everyone wanted a piece of us! We were inundated for the first few weeks and worked around the clock to get through the masses of long-haired mountain men who were never happier to see us, and us to see them!! I even recall a customer who never says much and is quite introverted walking into the shop, picking me up with a big hug and saying he will never take us for granted again!

How far do you believe you have grown as a creative since we last spoke in relation to your hair work, photography and vision for the style direction you have for your brand?

I believe you have to keep learning and moving forward to be really successful. I’m never content with where I’m at I always want to improve so I’m constantly researching what’s in fashion and what’s current and try to stay with it and adapt. I’ve learned that branding and brand awareness are so important. Your Instagram page is your new shop front, and you attract what you post. Our branding is deliberate simplification of design and using simple colour palettes, clean crisp lines and typesetting in our signage and advertising.

We want to come across as sleek and sophisticated. Subtle and minimal styling is very suited to our modern studio as we believe less is more. In our bustling lives especially in a busy Sydney Eastern Suburb like Maroubra, we want to make it as easy as possible to sift through the daily overload of information. I think you could define our style as trying to bridge the gap between high fashion fantasy and authenticity. Fantasy being all about perfection and ideal beautiful models, skin, clothing, hair type. Authenticity is all about embracing the individual and what makes someone unique. We want customers to see themselves represented in our imagery but also realise the potential each person has with the right guidance from our team.

The new shop attracts clients more willing to allow us to be more creative with their cuts. This is the direction I want to take my career and to do more editorial style work. Although the skin fade is my bread and butter and I actually really enjoy the satisfaction of perfecting one, there are really only so many you can do in a day without getting bored. I’m really enjoying creating longer more textured scissor cuts recently. I’ve focused a lot on self-development and worked hard to be more confident in cutting longer hair which the boys at Area Academy were so great at helping the team and I with. I’ve also had some 1-1 coaching with Eoin McCarthy and have implemented a lot of their techniques and ideals to my skillset. I’ve also worked hard to improve my photography and video editing and am still trying to understand it all, but I have a clearer vision of what outcome I want now.

Some in our field are speaking out about the changes to social media, namely Insta becoming more like TIK TOK in the way of it is more about reels now, what’s your take on this Suzi?

I think it’s just a matter of embracing it rather that fighting it. I’m now starting to create more reels and videos and actually find them really fun to do. You’re getting a chance to showcase more of how much work actually goes into a haircut before you took that final picture. I personally find them really satisfying to watch and if that’s what people want to see these days then you best believe you’re going to see my blondie head in the mix!

What products are you using and selling to your guests and why do you choose them?

For Haircare. I’m using Eleven Australia and Baxter of California. Eleven has a great range of products that are very versatile and literally do what they say on the tin. I like the simple, refined packaging and they are kinder and better for your hair being free of harsh chemicals. They’re also very affordable. I love Baxter of California’s products too. Their clays and pomades are a bit stronger than Elevens, so good to have both. They also come in glass jars which you can recycle and reuse which is great. We also stock their skincare range and fragrance which has been very popular. We use all of Baxters products during our facial treatments to add a touch of luxury. For shaving products, we use the good old reliable Proraso which we’ve always loved. Their beard balm and oil are definitely some of the most popular amongst the clients.

I also want to touch on the team of barbers I work with. Without them The Studio would not be what it is, and I owe a lot of its success to them. I am blessed with each team member who all bring something special to the table. We actually are all great mates, and our clients see it and love the banter and atmosphere that our comradery brings to the studio.

@studio.x.gentsandrascals