April 7th, 2025Business out the back for the Barefoot Barber
Jobbo, formerly Neil Jobson but now mostly answering to just the nickname, has been known in the region for a long time as an artisan builder who sought out recycled products for his work.
But like many people, he wanted a change. One where he still worked for himself but out of the construction game. And it happened like magic.
Jobbo popped into a barber in Daylesford for a haircut one day a few years back and was offered a job by the owner, Lesley.
“I’d never cut hair before but I like doing new things. I just said, ‘yeah I’ll cut people’s hair’, and then I realised I really liked it.”
Jobbo kept working and then went to barber college, as he called it, for one year and then opened up his own barber shop. At home. The Barefoot Barber. (Although he did briefly have to return to building, to create his own very “recycled and rustic yet warm and inviting” studio in Coomoora.)
“I love it. I genuinely love it,” he says. “I like the creativity. I like the connection. I like the conversation.
“I like the fact that as a builder you spend a lot of time with someone over a short period of time. This job is like the opposite. You spend a very short period of time with someone over a very long period of time. “And you just make good connections. It’s really fun.”
Unlike many barbers, Jobbo is happy cutting hair for men, women and kids. One of his most recent cuts was a fairy pixie cut for a female client and then there’s bobs, undercuts and shags.
Men usually choose a fade or a mullet – as Jobbo says, a good mullet will never go out of style. Business in the front, party in the back.
And every day people come armed with a photo hoping to look like their favourite celebrity. Jobbo’s response?
“I just give them the haircut.
“I think it’s pretty amazing that you can set up a small business out the back of Coomoora and people can come and get a haircut without it being in the main street.
“I end up meeting people and they come back in a few months. You have conversations, you get to know them. I just want to say thank you to everyone who comes out and gets their hair cut.”
Words: Donna Kelly | Image: Kyle Barnes
