Saving Lives... One Haircut At A Time

With his family by his side, Walkabout Barber Brian is on a mission to help men open up

It’s not easy listening to someone tell you they’ve been in the darkest place a person can be, ready to end it all, and it’s even harder when you’re a nine-year-old girl and the person speaking is your dad.

When Brian Dowd recently shared his story with a crowd of people that included his young daughter Narlii, he did so with the knowledge that opening up about his experiences was helping save other people’s lives.

What blew him away, however, was Narlii’s reaction.

“She went up to her mother and she started crying and said, ‘You know what, Mum? Dad’s pretty special. He’s my hero’,” recalls Brian, a 47-year-old father-of-two from Newcastle.

Brian is the Walkabout Barber, a trauma specialist and professional barber who travels to regional, rural and remote regions with a mobile barbershop trailer, giving men the chance to open up about their mental health in a comfortable setting.

Partnering with local healthcare and social services providers, Brian and his team last year provided free haircuts, healing and hope to 2100 men in 35 communities throughout NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

“When men sit in my barbershop chair it becomes a magical space because they start to let their guard down and talk,” says Brian.