Rocco D'Amore Hair

Want to learn barbering and men’s hairstyling techniques?

Email [email protected] for info on education…

Wanting to learn how to cut longer men’s hairstyles?

DM for info on education…

Sharp lines and fades for girls...

Sharp lines...

N°3 back and sides with N°1.5 taper

Original Old school traditional barbershop 💈

Tools or toys? Both!

Yay it's Friday - this has been a doozy of a week, right? If you're a bit Covid-weary like us, we thought it would be great to get back to our regular Friday session with the series. We missed it last week, as we were head down into our video chats with Antony Whitaker and Tabatha Coffey - btw we're working on more global interviews as we speak - but today it's all about this lady, who, with Italian barbering blood running through her veins, had very little choice but to eventually become a barber herself. 👏

Who: Rocco D'Amore
Where: Hunter TAFE, NSW

"My earliest memory of wanting to be a barber was at the age of 7. I had taken my father’s scissors and comb from his tool bag, went out to the backyard and proceeded to cut the grass ‘scissor over comb’ style. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had seen him doing this action countless times at his barbershop. ✂✂✂

My father started barbering at the age of 12 in Sicily, Italy. After moving to Australia in the 60’s, he went on to owning barbershops in Sydney’s Kings Cross for over 25 years. During the 70s he was the Australian Men’s Hairdressing Champion. He competed nationally and internationally and judged many men’s hairdressing competitions. 🤩

When I left high school, I got a job in retail and never pursued a career in hairdressing, because I didn’t want to ‘perm hair’ - after all it was the 80’s and I had built a successful career in customer service - but all along I secretly wished I was a hairdresser.

Fast track to the early 2000s, I finally decided to bite the bullet and move to Melbourne, where I enrolled at the Biba Academy of Hairdressing. It was there that my passion for teaching came alive. I had amazing and talented teachers who I gained so much knowledge from and I felt I wanted to give back to the next generation of hairdressers. 🤗

My father was obviously a big inspiration to me but so too was Pavlos Divitaris, founder of the Biba Academy. I was fortunate to be trained in cutting by him, and as it turned out, my father and Pavlos attended the same trade college in Melbourne in the 60s.

During my time in Melbourne, I had the great opportunity to teach at Biba Academy and operate my own business. Recently I have moved back to NSW where I work as a barber in a traditional barbershop and teach barbering at Newcastle TAFE. 👊

For me, education is an important journey in being a hairdresser or barber. Throughout my career I have attended countless training workshops, both locally and internationally, and I continue to seek training to better myself and enhance my techniques.

My passion is cutting hair and I believe being able to skilfully cut a head of hair is as crucial as giving the client an enjoyable salon service. 💯

If I can make a difference to my students and clients then I’m a happy person. 😍

Classic. Cross graduation.
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