In the Chair With Conor Taaffe
CONOR THANKS FOR AGREEING TO SIT IN OUR CHAIR FOR AN INTERVIEW, CAN WE START WITH YOU TELLING US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR SELF PLEASE.
Thanks for having me "In the chair" Jay it's a pleasure brother! Well without getting too into everything and ruining every other answer I am 20 years old and live in Drogheda, Ireland. I work in a salon called ryancullenHAIR alongside one of my best pals (you guessed it) Mr. Ryan Cullen. The salon is located in Newry, Northern Ireland which I have to travel an hour and a half to and from each day, the joys of public transport eh? I'm well used to the travel though, I couldn't ask for a better place to work or a better boss, what beats working alongside one of your best mates?
CONOR YOUR WORK IS FANTASTIC MATE AND WE HERE AT THE BANTER MANSION (FOR THOSE WHO ARE WONDERING THE BANTER MANSION IS A BIT LIKE DR XAVIOURS SCHOOL FOR GIFTED CHILDREN FROM X MEN) THINK YOUR GOING TO HAVE A FANTASTIC CAREER IN THE INDUSTRY, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT FIRST INSPIRED YOU TO GET IN TO THE INDUSTRY AND WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO BE AT THE TOP OF YOUR GAME.
Right, I'll start with what inspired me at the very start. All together I have been cutting hair for in and around 3 years. I've always been interested in art, hair and fashion but never ever would have imagined myself picking up barbering as a career.
As a youngster I was always getting crap haircuts, I could always invision the style I wanted (which was usually Cristiano Ronaldo inspired lol) and tried explaining certain lengths, shapes etc however nobody ever seemed to give me what I wanted. I had absolutely no faith in any barber and always came out of the shop fuming with a really short cut. That is until about 4 years ago I came across a guy online named Josh Lamonaca. For those of you who don't know, Josh Lamonaca is the co. Owner/Founder of MENSPIRE salon which is located in St.Albans. At this time Josh was a freelance stylist and I seen online that he was coming to Dublin and doing a day of haircuts. I jumped at the chance! bearing in mind at this time I was still just a regular client who wanted nice hair. Anyway, I made and appointment for that day and arrived in a dodgy little street in Cabra, Dublin. Not going to lie at this point I was proper sceptical to whether Josh was even a real person or whether I had been catfished lol. Low and behold he wasn't in fact a middle aged lonely man looking for the love of a 17 year old!! lol and he was actually just trimming hair in his mates kitchen.
When the cut was done, I was left in absolute awe. I had never experienced anything like it in my life. I had never had a straight razor used on me, I had never actually had my hair styled with a hairdryer and I had never had a fade. It was insane, I left leaving so interested in how all this was done that I went straight to Argos to buy a beard trimmer to give myself shape-ups (I had also never seen a white guy with a shape up lol) HOWEVER, this is the accidental turning point. Instead of buying a beard trimmer I accidentally bought a hair clipper with a couple of plastic guards. A few months later a mate lost a bet with me and had to let me cut his hair with these €10 clippers and a pair of kitchen scissors, I haven't stopped since. So yeah, I guess I owe alot to Josh Lamonaca, this man kicked it all off for me and I am forever grateful to him for opening my eyes to this beautiful craft.
Now to get on to what motivates me to stay on top of my game (apologies for the extremely long answer so far but bare with me guys) To be completely honest everything motivates me. I'm still so fresh in this game that I still look up to literally everybody. I previously started listing people who inspire me in this answer but had to stop as I was getting carried away lol just know that if you are reading this and I know you, you have most likely inspired me in some form or another. I think a massive issue some barbers have is that they put themselves on a pedistole and get wound up in social media too easily.
I take inspiration from literally anyone in this game. I still have such a long way to go, there is no end goal of where I want my skill to be, it's the journey to that unreachable place that is the fun part.
SO ONCE YOU DECIDED YOU WANTED TO BE A BARBER WHAT DID YOU DO NEXT.
I didn't decide I wanted to pursue barbering as a career until I left school and start studying at university. I was actually quite academic in school and did very well in my Leaving Cert (which is the Irish equivalent to A levels.) I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to study so I just picked something broad that would maybe help when I did decide what I wanted to do in life. I went to study Entrepreneurship at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. I was miserable from day one. I hated everything about my course but loved the uni lifestyle. The only time I was properly happy was when I was cutting mates hair. After only a month or two in uni I went against the advice of literally everyone and made the decision to leave uni and pursue men's hair. That's when I started to take it seriously and bought some proper kit and set up a little station in my garage (before this I was driving around to everyone's house for free). It literally blew up from then. More and more of my mates started coming to me that I actually almost had a free shop running in my garage! I then decided to start charging a couple of quid. From there I started to get realllly busy and was enjoying learning with every cut, I was never actually in barber college I just kinda picked it up myself, it was really wierd. I was seeing my barber doing different techniques such as clipper over comb and I was just copying him. With time (alongside mistakes and terrible haircuts) I started to understand the different shapes and shades that go along with different hair types/styles.
SO YOUR WELL ON YOUR WAY IN TO YOUR CAREER NOW BUT FOR OUR READERS WHO ARE JUST STARTING THERE JOURNEYS IN THE INDUSTRY WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM TO HELP THEM BECOME THE BEST THEY CAN.
This is a good question for me as I am still quite new to it all. I actually believe we never stop being on that journey. When does one know that they have reached the best they can be? The truth is we will never reach that. It is in our nature as humans to grow and evolve and constantly strive to absorb new information. I think if a day ever came where i felt I couldn't learn more, that would be the day i'd hang up my tools.
I can only truly advise people on what I myself have experienced, so something that has played a massive in getting me to where I am now is social media. I know this is a sensitive enough topic and a lot of the old school barbers don't like these "insta famous" barbers etc but I literally wouldn't have a job now if it wasn't for social media. When it's utilised correctly social media can do special things for your profile and business. What I would say to people starting out is exploit social media, post loads of work and push your name into everyone's face.
Make sure to take lots of feedback and don't let people forget you, I have gotten so many great oppurtunities through social media (including my job.) I could literally give advice all day but I do have to keep these answers at a reasonable length lol.
SO TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL IDEAS ON FASHION AND HAIR, WHATS THE CURRENT TREND IN RYAN CULLEN HAIR AND WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO COME BACK IN TO FASHION.
I have always had an interest in fashion and hair, both of which go hand in hand in my opinion. Before I was a barber I was a hip hop dancer so I have had my fair share of questionable fashion phases lol. At the minute in our salon skinfades are still really popular.
A lot of what we do are shorter choppy styles complimented alongside a nice clean fade and line-up. In recent years, Afro-Caribbean barbering and Men's hairdressing have been combined to create something truly beautiful. Crispy fades and line ups against softer, flowing shapes up top.
OK LIKE SUPERMAN WE ALL HAVE OUR KRYPTONITE HAIRCUT OR STYLE, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT YOU HATE DOING AND WHY AND IF SO WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO OVER COME THE ISSUES YOU ENCOUNTERED.
I actually don't think I have a kryptonite haircut as such. Obviously there are different images I might not like but no matter what the haircut I always enjoy the process. Each haircut I do is crafted and executed in a different way so I enjoy each cut for different reasons. However, if you really want an answer I'm going to have to say the mullet or the "V" and also kids full stop lol.
RIGHT SO WE KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE HOW ABOUT TELLING US WHAT YOU DO LIKE DOING, WHATS YOUR SIGNATURE HAIRCUT.
I also wouldn't really say I have a signature haircut. I do think however, that not only myself and Ryan but Irish barbers as a whole have very distinctive work. Ireland is absolutely saturated with crazy talent at the minute such as Neal Toner, Micky graham and the JFH team, Paul Preshaw, Jay Murray, Paul Mac, Warren Flynn, Ste Mooney, the C&S team, Craig Murtagh, Jason Brophy and the MHC team, the guys at Notorious Barbershop, and also one of my best friends and a lady who is currently taking her work to the absolute next level Ms. Leah Hayden Cassidy.
Although I say I don't have a signature cut, I reckon I'd be best known for my haircuts with a more textured finish.
RIGHT-E-OH WERE GETTING NEAR TO THE END OF THE TEN QUESTIONS NOW MATE BUT I STILL HAVE SO MUCH I WANT TO FIND OUT LIKE FOR INSTANCE WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO AND DRAW INSPIRATION FROM.
I think you have made a mistake asking me this question, prepare yourself for another list lol. As I said earlier on I draw inspiration from literally everybody and i still look up to everyone, I really do still consider myself a rookie. Apart from all of the above, there are still wayyyy too many to list but here's just a small few- Menspire, Harry and Rhys Green, the guys at Genes Barbershop, Harry Hickson and the rest of the guys at Cartmel Barbers, Andrew Kozak, Alan and Reece Beak along with Aidan and Danielle at RUGER, Eddy Nash, Jack Pullen, Jon Bourne (in my opinion one of the very best out there), Slicks Barbers, Kevin Luchmun, Glen Maher, Tariq Howes, Simon Kibbler, Liam Twist and Sean Davies at the Gentlemans Social, Greg McErlane and Lawrence Fo. I could literally go on all day but they are the first few that sprung to mind, please don't take it personally if I haven't mentioned you! Lol
WITH REGARDS TO PRODUCTS WHATS CURRENTLY FLICKING CONOR TAFFEE'S SWITCH AT THE MOMENT.
This is a question myself and Ryan constantly get asked on social media. The truth is, most of the styling should be done with your hairdryer etc. I think you should have the hair sitting basically where you want it before you even put any product into it.
Personally I'm not a fan of pomades, I tend to opt for a dryer, more natural look to the hair. The products I use at the minute are the Osis Session Label range, such as their texturising dust, Matte clay and strong hold hairspray. I'm also a very big fan of ADHdry.
OK WE TEND TO END THE QUESTIONS WITH THIS ONE CONOR, CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU SEE YOUR SELF IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
Hmmm great question. I think in 5 years time I would like to have my own salon and have maybe 1 or 2 others working with me. Where or what the name of that salon would be? I have absolutely no idea. I also hope to have established a strong educational platform by then, I get a real buzz from teaching people and the feeling of gratitude you get from them is priceless. And of course I would constantly be picking up lots of tips and tricks as I teach, like I said earlier, we never stop learning! Last but not least, I picture myself being on stage at the 2021 BarberBash Dublin in the 3arena!!!! Lol.
James it's been an absolute honour, thank you very much for having me "in the chair" and I hope you all have enjoyed my interview. See you all in June at Barber Connect, over and out!!!
