KOBI RAYNER – APPRENTICE BARBER
Being a barber takes dedication, creativity and skill. We work with students on this everyday so when they finish their course they are ready to step onto the barbershop floor and cut with confidence.
Barbering Apprenticeships are often overlooked these days as a viable route to becoming a barber as they require dedication and hard work to both learn a trade and discover their creative ability.
Many in the barbering trade don’t think past the present day and find out what do our apprentices really think of this industry? We need to be very aware that apprentices are the ones who will continue to push the boundaries and keep this industry moving in the right direction.
Kobi Rayner, Barber Apprentice at Zeppelin Barbershop has been cutting hair for 18 months and learning his trade in the barbershop. Over the past 12 months Kobi has been working with The Barber Academy on his Certificate III in Barbering and learning valuable skills of the trade in the modern Academy learning facilities and live barbershop.
What inspired you to pursue a career in barbering, and how has your experience shaped your journey so far?
During high school I was able to land an apprenticeship at “Zeppelin Barbers”. Where I meet Jason Alpen, Rhyss Murray and Billy Gowers. Billy was able to bring me into the industry while Jason and Rhyss were able to teach me what it meant to be a barber. A year later I was introduced to the “Barber Academy” where I met Gareth and his team of inspirational mentors, The academy has passed on essentials skills to me which has made me more confident in the shop, and producing a higher quality of work.
Can you share your daily routine as a barber apprentice?
My schedule at the moment consists of 4 days working at “Zeppelin.B” and one day a week at The Barber Academy. At work, in the mornings I am getting in early, I’m either setting up barber stations or making hot towels for the clients.
Throughout the day I’m either cutting clients hair or assisting other clients with Jason and Rhyss, a few main skills I’ve picked up on is Consistency, showing up and interacting with clients can boost your clientele list and interactive skills. Another skill set would be dedication, whether you’re putting in hours to a specific genre of style cutting or putting in hours to the theory side of cutting hair.
Can you tell us about any cutting-edge techniques you’ve learned during your time there?
Slice cutting would be a favourite I’ve learnt so far. Love playing with shapes and texture work and finding more creativity for sure.
How does The Barber Academy prepare you for real-world scenarios and client interactions?
With the Academy set up like a barber shop, as well as an education space. We are lucky enough to work on real clients while at the Academy. I can cut 10-20 haircuts per day that I am in the Academy.
From Women’s Long Hair to full head shaves the clientele covers everything. The trainers demand the best from us, for every client we interact with their experience should be that of a top end barber shop from start to finish. Each trainer is still working in the industry, so they are super easy to learn from.
In your opinion, what qualities make a successful barber?
Attention to detail would be a big one, anyone can fade, but to add more detail and finishing touches to “just a fade” makes a huge difference and you can see it in their faces when you finish the cut.
How do you stay inspired and motivated in such a fast-paced and creative industry?
Setting milestones can help, everyone looks at it as a whole picture, breaking it down piece by piece can help, setting timeframes and goals makes the whole process come together – also it helps that Rhyss and Jason are my idols for sure.
As an academy we value the skills that we teach and aim to provide learning pathways that suit every type and style of learner. Not every student is the same and through the use of our modern education platforms and live barbershop studios, students have opportunity to learn through a blend of visual and physical experience that both teaches and reinforces their learning through solid skills and quality technique.
