DISCOVERING SONDER

A STORY OF FRIENDSHIP, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND BARBERING BRILLIANCE

BY LOUISE MAY

Ji Ratnagopal and Sam Raffaele - born and bred on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, have been cutting hair since they were 15 years old. After years of working together they finally realised their dream of opening a salon in their hometown of Dee Why.

Their mission was to create a one-of-a-kind space that’s unmatched by anything else around – a fusion of a classic barbershop and a luxury salon.

Now, 4 years on and 3 more salon locations added to the brand, they’ve made that dream come true and much more, launching their own hairstyling range, Blak Haircare, and an educational platform to create the next generation of barbers.

Louise May, Editor of Barbershop Magazine, chats with Sam, co-owner of Sonder and finds out more about the Sonder brand and what the boys have been up to.

Tell us about Sonder Men’s, how did it all begin, what inspired you to create the brand and go into a business partnership?

Ji and I both got introduced to each other when we were 12 years old by playing rugby league for the same team. Even though we went to different high schools and had different friend groups, we both went to the same Barber growing up. We loved the atmosphere that the barber created in his shop, how he was the only one doing sharp haircuts in the area we lived in, which included line ups, box cuts, mohawks and mullets.

We started cutting hair because of our barber’s influence and our passion for having a sharp haircut ourselves. We started practicing on our friends and family at home. Ji finished school a year before me, he then started working for a barbershop company in the northern beaches of Sydney. One year later I asked if he could get me a Job for the same company. We both worked there for roughly 5 or so years, Ji was always working and then travelling overseas for extensive periods of time.

During the time when things weren’t going how I was hoping for with the company I was at, I knew Ji was coming back from overseas and wanting to open his own shop. I approached him and we had one of the most impactful conversations of our lives, Sonder was created. The dream for both of us was to always own a salon, we both shared the exact same passion for hair, a strong work ethic and being honest and transparent people. Which made the partnership make so much sense for us.

We always wanted to create a brand that was bigger than ourselves, providing a premium experience to our clients. Focusing heavily on customer service, delivering high quality haircuts, and servicing every hair style, texture, and length. We want to create a salon structure within our space whilst fusing it with the classic barbershop, community feel.

We always wanted to create a brand that was bigger than ourselves, providing a premium experience to our clients. Focusing heavily on customer service, delivering high quality haircuts, and servicing every hair style, texture, and length. We want to create a salon structure within our space whilst fusing it with the classic barbershop, community feel.

What are your roles each in the business?

Today our company is multi-faceted, which does require different roles being implemented from the both of us. Ji is the head of Education for our teams and our brand-new academy, he is also the numbers guy, focusing on our finances and is very business savvy.

He is a creative and has a great eye for design when it comes to our salons, merch, and products. Ji is a natural entrepreneur and calls me 40 times a day with random ideas always popping into his head.

I’m the operations manager and have always been people focused. I’m passionate about building teams and working alongside our managers/ staff to get our salons and teams performing to their highest ability, whilst creating opportunities and pathways for growth.

I also focus a lot of my time into building our product line which is a separate business from our salons - Blak Haircare. I’m truly passionate about this venture and am excited to be in a completely different business that requires a whole new set of skills and focus.

You have a large team across the 4 stores, how do you keep everyone focused, boost team morale and maintain a positive work atmosphere?

There has to be meaning and purpose behind what you do and where you are going. Sonder is a platform of opportunity for whatever avenue someone wants to go down in their career. We sit down with all our staff to truly find out their ambitions and goals then create a roadmap to help them achieve them.

For us everything has always come down to culture, creating a space where everyone feels valued and are constantly encouraged to become better versions of themselves inside and outside the salon.

This will include weekly staff training for constant development and progression, training at the gym together, the Sonder Run Club which is held every Saturday at 5am, we are up to our 191st this coming Saturday and extracurricular activities. A lot of our team members also spend time together away from work.

You have just launched Sonder Academy; can you tell us about this?

Yes, we launched Sonder Academy in January this year. The academy is connected to our Neutral Bay location which is one suburb on the North shore of Sydney city. This has been part of the vision since the launch of Sonder .

We have always been passionate about education, and it has been a cornerstone of growth. We are now ready to share it with the world. We run various classes including Clipper work, Scissor work, team training, one on one and more personalised classes as well.

Can you tell us about your product range and merch?

The vision for Blak was to always create a separate brand that wasn’t attached to Sonder. We felt the compelling need to create a range of styling products that could cater for all the diverse styles and trends we were facing every day in the salon. We launched Blak inside our salons in 2022 and the response and feedback from our customers has been great. We’ve now got multiple wholesalers on board in different states of Australia.

One of our passion is to empower business owners by not only giving them a premium high-quality range of products but also equip them with the set of tools to sell the products. This has helped our business drive revenue without increasing wage costs and have a high retention on staff by implementing rewarding commission structures.

Our Merchandise was another way of strengthening our community. We aimed to give our clients and audience another method to feel connected to our brand. Allowing them to show support and be a representation of the brand in public.

What is your vision for the Sonder Brand?

The vision for us is to be a leader in the men’s hair industry in Australia by continuing to push the boundaries with everything we do.

We want to be on the forefront of men’s hair education and build a much larger Academy to be the one stop shop to help elevate and raise the standard in our industry.

We want to continue to partner with individuals who share the same passion & drive we have and continue to open doors to create opportunities within our business.

The next 12 months you will see a lot more of Sonder Academy, Blak Haircare and possibly a couple more locations. Watch this space!

@sondermens @blakhaircare