When it comes to their clients, Lefty’s Barbershop isn’t splitting hairs. One thing is not negotiable; all are welcome.
Lefty’s Barbershop, Healesville. Image: Roshai Murdoch.
Bold white bricks catch my attention from Healesville’s Main Street where Lefty’s Barbershop is freshly painted red on a shopfront with absolute precision. I’m on my way to meet owner, barber and Yarra Valley local Tara Taylor as I’m struck by the realisation, I’ve never been to a barbershop before. Will it be intimidating? Will I feel out of place?
Both questions were quickly answered with a warm smile and a wave from behind a bold red counter, set against a strikingly painted black and white striped feature wall. Stylish, polished concrete floors complete the package. You’d be pushed to find a luxury hair salon oozing this much ambience.
In the corner there’s a man relaxing with an eye mask as he receives a hot towel shave. The barber working with him is female.
“What is was for me and why I started it is because I wanted a place where everybody was welcome, starting so many years ago… I had men that didn’t want their hair cut by me because I was a female… So, I wanted to create a space that was just about cutting hair, no gender related or anything, just here to cut hair and listen to the person.”
“I don’t cut by gender; I get really upset when people don’t take a female for a haircut, it really hurts me. We just cut hair. If somebody walks into our shop, it’s because somebody is wanting that service.”
Tara Taylor, owner of Lefty’s Barbershop in Healesville and Lilydale. Image: Roshai Murdoch.
Tara Taylor’s energy is calm and unshakeable, honed by the fast paced world of barbering she has immersed herself in for decades.
“In a salon, you’re spending three hours with a client. Here, you’re doing half an hour services. Quick, real change… I think I like that pace.”
Despite being a master of her craft, taking every opportunity to listen to and learn from others is a major focus for Tara Taylor as a barber and as a mentor and employer.
“I think the minute that you think you know it all you should be stepping away… Even when I teach, I say I’m going to show you a way… but you do you, you do your way. I want us all to bring our own little thing to it. You know what, if there’s ten of you, that’s boring.”
“Each of us has things we are better at because that’s what we’re into and what makes us get excited. I love flat tops and curly hair.”
Barbering is a craft that has drastically transformed in recent times and Lefty’s has embraced the transition.
“It wasn’t what it is now, it’s way better now.”
“A lot of men are having hour services, whereas previously I was doing ten minute services. Not like they are now where I can do the full pamper session… I have a lay It on package where they just have it all their eyebrows waxed and shaped, the scalp massage, the hot towel shave and the style cut, and people love it.”
Lefty’s Barbershop, Healesville. Image: Roshai Murdoch.
Shaped by her upbringing and experience, Tara Taylor’s approach to acceptance is fierce and uncompromising. It’s one of her main drivers in business, influenced by her grandmother.
“The whole fighting against what women should do… I can’t help it… My nan was a hairdresser. She was also a disc jockey. But she was very much you know, if the girls went to school and they told them their dresses had to be past their knees, my nan was that against anyone telling her how a woman should be in the world, she would hem it all the way up. So, I think I’ve got that in me.”
“You’re telling me I can’t do that, well that’s not right, so I want to do it.”
“Even my experience being a female boss is challenging, because people will walk in and speak to anybody but me… just because I am female.”
Tara Taylor, owner of Lefty’s Barbershop in Healesville and Lilydale. Image: Roshai Murdoch.
Lefty’s in Healesville is Tara Taylor’s second barbershop. The first opened in Lilydale in 2018.
“I only had plans for one, because I think this sort of thing is so community based, you have to get to know people.”
“When I opened Lilydale, I opened it from scratch. I didn’t have a single client. They’ve been beautiful, I love them.”
Lefty’s can be found at 210 Maroondah Highway, Healesville and at 94 Main Street, Lilydale.
Follow @leftysbarbershop_healesville and @leftysbarbershop_ on Instagram.