Driving down an unassuming suburban cul-de-sac in Palmerston, Sam Dowdall’s mobile barbershop, dubbed the ‘Ken Oath’ barbershop, stands tall by the roadside in the front yard of his family’s home.

Going by the handle of ‘The Barter Barber’, Sam is also a qualified crisis support counsellor passionate about men’s mental health – primarily working with blokes who wouldn’t otherwise seek out treatment.

Prior to moving to Australia one year ago to be close to his terminally ill father, he spent five years taking a mobile barbershop right around his native New Zealand as ‘The Barter Barber’.

His focus in NZ was working with farmers, the most at-risk group there.

“I started on the road because the government was defunding Lifeline and I had lost five friends in the space of three years to suicide,” he said.

“It was a really big part of my life and I just got over smashing my head against the wall.”

Since arriving in Australia, he has noticed similar mental health issues here in tradies; the only difference being services are readily available here.

With that in mind, the mobile barbershop has been constructed so it can be taken onto a worksite.

“We can actually turn up on site and take the education to the tradies because that’s the problem, they won’t get into the services that are provided,” Sam said.

Over his 16 years as a barber, Sam has long been aware of the power of a barbershop to act as a space for community and conversation amongst men.

“I’ve travelled around the world doing this and I’ve seen different groups of men have a safe space within the barbershop.”

He said the nature of a haircut instils a sense of familiarity that can elicit a chat.

“The dynamics of hairdressing and conversation … it lends itself to that.

“A lot of it comes down to the body positioning,” he said, “you have to give a little bit of trust.”

A one-year labour of love

The ‘Ken Oath’ barbershop started out as a tiny home bought from the National Zoo and Aquarium.

“All it took was a drive from the zoo back to here and half of it falling apart to know it was not of standard,” Sam smiled.

With the help of his brothers, Sam ripped the structure down to bare metal on the chassis before rebuilding it from scratch with a host of recycled materials inside and outside the salon.

Timber for the back doors came from hail-damaged materials salvaged from Old Parliament House, recycled pallet boards line the interior walls, solar panels line the roof, and damaged books comprise a false bookcase that suavely hides storage space.

With the finishing touches still to go on, the whole process has been a joy for Sam, and a way for him to reconnect with his siblings after years apart.

“My brothers and I got together and built this just as much to get to know each other again as to have a means to the end.

“We’ve had a lot of fun building here and putting this together.”

Until the vehicle is roadworthy, the ‘Barter Barber’ will be operating out of his front lawn in Palmerston. Having opened to customers when lockdown restrictions allowed on 15 October, he said the response has been fantastic so far.

A few posts on social media have led to the ‘Ken Oath’ barbershop being booked out.

“People are enjoying the accessibility of it, they enjoy the one-on-one and that’s what it’s really made for,” he said.

His poodle Bobo, a trained therapy animal sporting an awesome mullet, sits by customers for pats; Sam said it’s an important aspect of his work as men tend to open up more easily when their hands are busy.

Sam can’t wait to get on the road again

The plan over summer is to divide his time on a monthly basis by spending two weeks in Canberra, one week in transit to the NSW South Coast, stopping off in the rural communities on the way, and spending a week traversing the coast.

“I’m just really looking forward to getting out there and becoming a part of the Canberra community,” he said.

According to Sam, different conversations are being had in each place.

He said self-care, mental health and drug use are coming up a lot in Canberra.

“Coming in here, people are getting that space to talk about what’s been happening in their lockdown, the frustrations that they’re feeling with the workplace, and I’m hearing that really loud and clear in Canberra.”

In the regions, it’s about reaching out and connecting with the community, while on the coast, interpersonal relationships and drug are his focus.

Sam has a longer-term plan to tour the country in his mobile barbershop and produce a documentary series on his travels.

“I’m here with my dad and that’s not going to be forever, so when that time comes, I’m going to take a year or two to travel around the country and I want to show what guys are doing well,” he said.

“We have enough conversation about what men are doing wrong,” he said, “men are seeing that and having a shellshocked reaction and kind of going the other way.”

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