“How long have you been in the industry?”
I’m relatively new to barbering. I always thought barbershops were cool, it’s a good trade to have so I did an apprenticeship a Plan B as a barber and I love it. I’m a chef by trade so working with my hands, needing to be precise and paying attention to detail is something I’ve been doing my whole life. I caught on to barbering pretty fast, working with straight razors is really similar to working with knives in the kitchen. It’s cool to get out of my comfort zone and I’m glad I made the switch.
“Why did you choose to become a stylist/barber?”
I was born in Dublin, Ireland and immigrated to Canada when I was 4. Grew up in Ontario, Kingston & Ottowa area. I came out West for a change of scenery; my dad jokes that he lost me and my brother to the mountains years ago. Originally I moved to Whistler, BC to ride etc. and came to Kelowna for summer work. I just loved it here, there’s a cool vibe to the city and the lake captured a part of my soul.
I wanted to push myself in a new direction. I like meeting new people, talking to them, hearing their stories. Plus, you can change someones day with a new haircut, make them look fresh and feel good.
“What techniques do you specialize in?”
I prefer classic sharp looking haircuts. Transformation stuff is cool but I also like giving someone a standard, clean classic style. Fades and trendy cuts are cool but I like a classic technical cut that’s tight, clean and fresh.
“Describe your personal style.”
Casual, I pretty well just wear black t-shirts every day. People make fun of me but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is what I think. Black goes with everything.
“Tell us about your worst personal haircut/hair day.”
I had pretty bad one that was just terrible… all uneven and high on one side. It took me months and multiple hair cuts to fix it so I just wore hats for a long time to cover it up.
“If you could be any Hollywood movie character, who would it be and why?”
I don’t know, I always like Johnny Depp, he’s a badass. He’s just a cool quirky dude, and he looks like a pirate all the time.
“If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and could only take 3 albums with you, what would they be?”
I was listening to records this morning actually! Van Morrison is one of my favourites. Bob Seger of course is another and if I gotta pick a third I’ll go classic old school: Chronic 2001 by Dr. Dre.
“If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and could only take 3 movies with you, what would they be?”
Forrest Gump is my all time fave, Blow (Johnny Depp of course), and Point Break (like the original with Patrick Swayze) – I’ve watched it so many times but it kills me every time.
“What’s your most embarrassing moment?”
I don’t know if I can share the most embarrassing ones… I embarrass myself all the time and I just roll with it.
“We’re not trying to pick you up…but what’s your astrology sign?”
Scorpio, I’m not really into astrology. I don’t know much about it.
“Do you have any nicknames?”
Francy – my middle name is Francis, I have a catering company too that I run on the weekends call “Francy Foods”, like fancy but francy.
“What’s one product you simply cannot live without?”
That’s a tough one. There’s so many good ones! I like all the Layrite & Ruezel pomades because they work well and smell nice. Depends what you need, but they have a product for every style pretty much.