Transcript for Grafton barbershop team video

Nathan Thompson:

So I'm Nathan Thompson. I'm 34 years old, and I'm the owner of Prince Street Barbers. Up here at Prince Street Barbers we like to look after our local gents here in Grafton. We offer a traditional barber service, hot towel shaves and all that. We just inviteall the guys to come through and take it easy and chill out and have a bit of a laugh. When I left high school, I entered into the construction industry. I decided to make the transition from carpentry into barbering. I was 28 years old. It was just something that I was always really keen to do straight out of school. There was never any avenue for barbers or barbering at that stage. In 2016, we decided to open up a barbershop and I've just recently taken over in the last 12 months.

Michael Rigg:

I'm Michael Rigg and I'm the manager at Prince Street Barbers. A day in the shop here is mainly flat out, which is great, love the clients we get in here.

A lot of our clients are really funny, so it's good to talk to them. Cutting hair has always been a passion of mine. I used to cut my mates' hair in the bathroom and stuff like that at home, and then had the chance to start in year 11 at TAFE and just took that chance. I actually came and did a weeks trial here. And from that first week I knew what Iwanted to do, so I got offered the school-based apprenticeship. Finishing school was always something I wanted to do as well, so it was good that I had that opportunity to do both. So, it took me about three years and three months to become fully qualified.

Nathan Thompson:

It's important to hire apprentices because we need to give them the skills to learn different jobs. If we stop giving out apprenticeships, then the trades will die.

Michael Rigg:

He’s probably the best boss I've ever had. Always helpfulthat you see them so much throughout the week, so you're going to have to be kind of close with everyone you work with.

Nathan Thompson:

Having Mike is great. Yeah, he's a really funny fella. He's always getting a laugh out of everybody. It's been a really good asset to my business. I'd say to students that, "If there is an industry that you want to get involved in, then you should give it a go. So if you do try something out and you feel like it's not for you, there's no shame in giving that away. And then trying something new."

End of transcript.