A Quiet Man

Niall Colgan doesn’t do razzamattazz. All he asks for is 60 minutes of your time, and he will quietly, patiently give you the perfect haircut

by CATHERINE | EXPLORE

Given the breakneck speed at which the world is moving nowadays, it’s somehow reassuring that so many people choose to sit in haircutter Niall Colgan’s chair. Niall takes his time, you see. At least one hour per appointment. And those 60 minutes not only give the client a rare opportunity to relax and take stock, they also give Niall the chance to submit himself fully to the task of creating the perfect haircut.

“For a long time in this industry we’ve been taught to go through as many clients as we could in a day,” says Niall. “But there’s no precision in that. I’ve come to realise that haircutting is like architecture – you’ve got to lay your foundations, you’ve got to build your walls, you’ve got to get the roof right before you bring in the interior designers to make that house a home. The true mastery of haircutting is the basics – you’ve got to build a structure around what you do.”

This absolute dedication to the haircut not only flies in the face of current trends – where colour is so dominant that clients are not required to integrate a haircut into their colour appointment – it’s actually (and paradoxically) resulted in a massive boost to Niall’s business. “I’ve gone from €70 when I first opened my salon 15 years ago to €120 now and I’ll need to charge a premium for new clients because I’ve got such a long waiting list,” says Niall.

“But I never take anything for granted. I’m always checking in with myself because I don’t want to go back to being the hairdresser I was before I opened my salon, where I was stuck in a rut and full of fear and frustration. I’ve gone from being someone who measured success in terms of how many clients I could do in a day, to someone who takes pride in the fact I deliver incredible hair and that my 20 staff also deliver that too.”

While the luxurious interior, buzzy environment and – yes – high-end price tags make it clear to all that Niall runs a successful business in an exclusive area of Limerick, the haircuts that give him the most satisfaction are neither the most expensive, nor the most glamorous. “Our post-chemotherapy haircuts are the most important and an area where we can demonstrate the highest level of skill,” says Niall. “This requires total vision and precision. I’m not talking about cutting wigs here. This is about going on a journey with your client that could last a year or 18 months, but that will take them to a place where they start to feel themselves again – feminine, safe and in control. You have to follow a process. You have to be consistent. They have to trust you when you tell them, ‘It’s going to be okay’.”

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