Warning: This story contains explicit language and sensitive themes, including trauma, drug usage, and self-harm, and may be triggering for some individuals. Reader discretion is advised.
Ash Wednesday has dealt with enough trauma to fill multiple lifetimes. 18 long years as a social worker on the frontline helping Vancouver’s most marginalized communities in the city’s Downtown Eastside strained his mental health to breaking point. It took a bold leap to close that chapter in his life, reinvent himself as a Barber and open his own Barbershop. And he’s never been happier.
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People weren’t always pleased to visit Ash. If you were seeing him in his previous profession, you were probably homeless, addicted to drugs, a criminal, a victim of crime or a combination of the above. After the overdose of a close friend and colleague, Ash found himself speaking to a counselor who was explaining how traumatizing experiencing an overdose can be. This wasn’t new information to Ash. He’d witnessed around 1,200 of them. The time for major life changes was long overdue.
Blanche Macdonald had glowing reviews across Canada. It seemed like the pinnacle and the place to be. Also, it wasn’t in the Downtown Eastside. I knew I couldn’t go back there.
“That’s when I got the best advice I’d ever received from a mental health professional,” he recalls. “She said, ‘You’re f*$%ed. You’ll always be f*$%ed. You can’t unf*$% yourself. You have to figure out a way to live.’ That was permission for me to accept who I am and make changes.
“I decided I wanted to be a Barber. I’d grown up in the punk rock world giving people mohawks. I was into fashion and cool haircuts and crazy colours. That was always fun to me. Also, no one dies at the Barbershop.”
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The decision had been made. Now he had to figure out where to learn his new trade.
“Blanche Macdonald had glowing reviews across Canada. It seemed like the pinnacle and the place to be. Also, it wasn’t in the Downtown Eastside. I knew I couldn’t go back there.”
Ash began Barbering School full of enthusiasm for his new life. Fate, unfortunately, had one more body blow for him.
“That first day at Barbering School was like spring. It was like a rebirth. It was lovely. Then I went home and found my partner had overdosed. She’d bought some sleeping pills but they were actually fentanyl. She was in a coma for the first three months I was at Blanche Macdonald. Then the pandemic kicked in.”
These were the toughest times for a student already no stranger to trauma. But Ash found something beyond the skills required for his new career at Blanche Macdonald. He also found support.
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Blanche was the first time it was me that people cared about. The support from Phil Loiselle and Jeff Ranger was staggering. We’re friends to this day.
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Ash, left, with his business partner and former Barbering instructor Jeff Ranger, middle, and Rial Gibbons, right.
Ash with his son, Jagger.
“I explained to my instructors, Phil Loiselle and Jeff Ranger, what was going on in my life. Speaking with those two was the first time I’d talked about this stuff with anyone other than professionals. They were incredible. Phil told me, ‘If you can’t come in don’t come in.’ By the time I made it to the end of the course, I’d missed so much. Phil told me I could stay another six months to do more. ‘Be comfortable,’ he said. ‘Be ok.’ My working life prior to that was essentially ‘Get your jacket on, we’ll see you tomorrow.’ Blanche was the first time it was me that people cared about. The support from those two guys was staggering. We’re friends to this day.”
Ash honed his skills over those six extra months and graduated with a mission to find himself a new professional home.
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“Eventually I looked up Newport Village Barbershop in Port Moody. They had a cool logo so I thought I’d visit. I walked in and they asked if I was looking for a haircut. I said, ‘No, I’m a Barber. I’m looking for a job at your Barbershop.’ We talked for about three minutes and was hired. It was trippy.
“That was a Friday. I came in on Monday and cut 13 people’s hair that day. People would tell stories, I’d cut their hair and at the end they’d say ‘Here’s five bucks for you!’ It was 100% the best job I’d had in my life!
“Veronica, the owner, is crazy, funny and cool. I feel fortunate to have been able to work with her as she built her business back after COVID. It was a fun atmosphere, full of laughs and rock’n’roll.
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Being a good Barber is more than cutting hair. I’ve been a counsellor and I’ve been counseled. I know how to steer a conversation in a positive direction. You can change the way people feel about themselves through their appearance.
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Ash began his previous career because he wanted to help people. Now he’s going into business alongside friends (including his one-time Blanche Macdonald instructor Jeff Ranger) helping people at their own Barbershop, Republic of East Vancouver.
“Everyone on the team sees Barbering in a similar way. We all see it as a lifestyle, as an artistic expression, an expression of freedom and self-reliance. We want Republic to be an important part of the community; my community. We’ll be hosting art shows, book releases, punk rock events and, of course, playing pinball.”
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“Being a good Barber is more than cutting hair. I’ve been a counsellor and I’ve been counseled. I know how to steer a conversation in a positive direction. You can change the way people feel about themselves through their appearance. One client comes to mind; I’ve drastically changed his appearance since we first met. He has a pompadour going on, he’s using product and dressing differently. He’s become the person he told me he wanted to be when we met.”
The decision to create a new life for himself may have been thrust upon Ash, but he’s eager to point out that everyone is capable of making major changes.
Everyone on the team sees Barbering as a lifestyle, as an artistic expression, an expression of freedom and self-reliance. We want Republic to be an important part of the community; my community.
“If you don’t want to continue doing what you’re doing, jump and you’ll find the net. I didn’t know if the regular world would accept me. I didn’t know if I could accept the regular world. I went for it and it was nowhere near as scary as I thought. It turns out I thrive in this world. It’s incredible to me that a ten-minute drive from my own Barbershop was the spot that caused me immeasurable pain and trauma. Now I’ve been able to not only survive but thrive, all thanks to Barbering.”
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I love the creativity. I love that people feel better when they leave than when they came in. I love that you can remake someone’s persona, their outlook, how the world sees them and how they see the world. Clients are happy to see me. It’s incredible.
Life in the regular world means that Ash’s kids, and their friends, can finally visit him at work.
“One of my teenage son’s friends had super shaggy hair. He looked like he was in the Ramones. He sat in my chair and I asked, ‘What are we doing?’ He said, ‘Just shave it.’ I was like, ‘Watch this,’ and give him this super haircut, longer on top, tapered in with a bit of fullness. I put a bit of product in and gave him some flow. He looked so cool; like he could be in a movie. I said, ‘Check it out, what do you think?’ And he replied, ‘Shave it.’
For some hair professionals, an instant thumbs down would be a blow to their ego. But as Ash leans back laughing, he understands it’s nothing to get down about. “It’s not life and death,” he smiles. “It’s only a haircut dude!”
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