At the beginning of 2018, men would travel 300kms to Darwin for a cut, the owner of July Barberz, Sam Trang said. 

Making for a very expensive haircut. 

“I was working at Cut Above in Darwin and the guys would tell me how difficult it was to get a decent haircut in Katherine. 

“They were driving up specifically,” she said. 

After hearing time and time again from the men sitting in her chair that Katherine needed a barber, she decided to relocate her family to start a business. 

“We saw a void and we thought we could fill it,” Ms Trang said. 

“I have always lived in Darwin and we wanted a new experience and to see what it would be like to run a business.” 

Since July Barberz opened in July 2018 there has been a steady increase in bookings. 

“At the beginning we were busy with tourists but as the tourist season ended locals realised we were here and we got the clientele we wanted,” she said. 

“This year we are expecting to be crazy busy with both tourists and locals.” 

Ms Trang said the business success comes down to consistent hours as well as a great need for haircuts in the Katherine region. 

“We mainly have service men and the RAAF come in for a cut because it is compulsory for them to have their hair clean, tidy and short,” she said.

She also said due to the long distances between towns with services available in the Northern Territory, travellers and grey nomads count on getting a cut when they arrive. 

Brand new and taking advantage of the demand for quality cuts and fades in town, a new barber has opened across from the Post Office. 

Deadly Cutz, owned by Citizen of the Year nominee Jay Fiso, is less than three months old and caters to those needing their hair tended to. 

It also provides a safe space for Katherine’s youth. 

“I was always a barber on the side, and I opened Deadly Cutz because it was my passion to create a space for the kids here,” he said. 

“I would see the kids on the street rolling up and down and I said to myself one day I will have something for them, somewhere for them to go. 

“This place is all about building relationships by connecting people who can afford it and those who can’t. 

“The CEO of Katherine Aviation came along and saw there were kids here, he asked what they were doing and when he found out he donated a whole bunch of food and water for them.”

Mr Fiso said he is hoping the youth who frequent the barber shop become inspired by those who sit in the chair for a cut. 

“I get police, and firemen and pilots coming in on a daily basis,” Mr Fiso said. 

“What kids see, they copy. They can visualize themselves in the uniform and then maybe they will think ‘one day I want to be a pilot’.” 

According to the owner of The Cutting Edge, Jo Hersey, despite the increase in barber shops open in the centre of town, it is still difficult to get a cut. 

“We have gone from having eight hairdressers in the main street to one,” she said. 

“It is very difficult to get a haircut in Katherine.” 

She said the majority have relocated from the main street to more secure home locations. 

But on the whole, Australia is seeing a decline in people wanting to enter the profession. 

The lack of hairdressers is not restricted to Katherine, Mrs Hersey said. 

Long hours and low incomes during the apprenticeship phase is the main deterrent. 

“To be a hair dresser you really have to be passionate about it,” she said. 

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