BarberSociety Magazine Q4 2025
Interview
Josh O’Meara-Patel
Reinvention taks ruthlessness.
Read the storyHoo a disastrous haircut on Hogmanay turned a geography student intae ane o the warld’s maist influential barber educators.
The warst haircut o Josh’s life changed everything. It wis Hogmanay, he badly needed his hair cut, and aye, of course he hadnae booked an appointment. At his parents’ hame, starin at his dad’s clippers in the cupboard, he thocht: “Hoo hard can it be?”
As it turned oot, gey hard indeed. He arrived at the pairty that nicht wi a hat on. But there wis something aboot the soond o the clippers that intrigued him. “That soond o the clippers ‘crunchin’ through the hair grabbed me richt awa.” A week later, he left his geography degree and started cuttin hair in his parents’ kitchen.
That wis ten years ago. Noo Josh O’Meara-Patel is an internationally recognised barber educator wi mair than 22,000 students aroon the warld, creator o the patented D.F.S. Formula haircutting system and winner o ‘Educator of the Decade’ at this year’s CT Barber Expo USA.
Josh’s career hardly followed the traditional path; quite the opposite, he went his ain way entirely. Three months efter that disastrous Hogmanay, he got a job at a local barbershop. Three months later, he wis in a dearer, slightly mair luxurious shop. Anither three months on, he wis workin at the dearest shop in the toun. Efter a year, he wis already bein asked tae teach. “I’d only been cuttin for a year. I hadnae planned tae become an educator at aa. But whenever I posted haircuts, folk kept askin me hoo I’d done them.”
His philosophy became simple: say ‘aye’ tae everything. “I’ve aye believed in daein things afore ye’re ready. Ma whole thinkin is: if I say ‘aye’ tae 1,000 things and only 500 work oot, some folk see that as 500 failures. Whauras I see it as winnin 499 mair times than you, because ye only tried ane thing.”
He taught his first class in Rotterdam, eighteen months efter he started. Teachin came naturally tae him. He had coached different sports aw through his life and had come across psychology at a young age through his mither’s mental health problems. It made him “emotionally literate quite early on”, ye micht say. When cuttin and teachin came thegither, it just clicked. “I mind thinkin: ‘This is it.’ Frae then on, it wis just een on the horizon and gang for it.”
O his ten years cuttin hair, he actually spent only aboot three workin in a barbershop. “I kent quite quickly that I didnae want tae be a barbershop barber, which soonds pretty strange. But I’d aye wanted tae focus on the educational side o whatever I did.” Still, he went through every stage. “I worked in the local barbershop, the slightly dearer shop, the city-centre shop, rented a chair, had ma ain barbershop. But each stage wis short because I wis driven by the idea that I had nae time tae lose.”
And here is whaur it gets interestin: Josh never went tae barber school. “I never learnt tae cut hair the traditional way. That meant I ended up just daein what worked for me personally.” When he started teachin, folk kept askin aboot his method. Then the penny dropped. “I realised that the method I wis usin wis the product, no ma haircuts.”
He developed his approach intae the D.F.S. Formula. “What it does is bring visual cuttin and technical cuttin thegither tae mak precision cuttin easy, logical and efficient.”
For him, the gap in the industry wis clear. “In oor industry, ye often see that ye hae tae learn hairdressin in its entirety tae really get on. Yet hairdressin isnae really comparable tae a barbershop: the environment is different and the pace o work is much faster.”
His vision? Tae mak this method the standard for hoo folk learn tae cut hair. “I truly believe that if ye learn this first and then want tae dae a Sassoon course, for example, ye would understand far mair. Because barbers takin thae courses noo get confused, maist o them at least. If we want tae grow as an industry, it isnae aboot 10% o us bein guid. It needs tae be 100%.”
He is clear aboot what he isnae sayin. “It isnae aboot everybody havin tae dae what we dae. What we dae gies ye a soond fundamental understandin o hair that ye can use tae get on within oor system or ony ither system. That’s what oor industry is missin: that fundamental understandin o hair and really understandin what ye’re daein.”
Josh has taught on every continent, and his online academy has 22,000 members warldwide. Maist are in the US, followed by the UK and Europe, includin “quite a lot frae the Netherlands, actually”. Till this year, marketin wis purely organic. “We never really focused on marketin beyond social media and email campaigns.” Noo they are pittin thegither a dedicated team.
And that ‘Educator of the Decade’ award? He sees it no as a personal honour, but as recognition for the whole movement. “I dinnae see it as recognition for masel, but for the movement we’re creatin thegither, as a company and wi oor students. Ye can only dae yer very best, and then the warld shows ye whaur ye can grow.”
He doesnae enter competitions. “I’ve never entered masel for ony o the awards I’ve won; ither folk nominated me. I dinnae need personal accolades, but I love that everybody’s hard work is bein recognised this way.”
Asked aboot his inspiration, his answer is sincere and simple. “The only way tae describe it is as a ‘creative process’. The hair talks tae ye; it tells ye whaur it wants tae gang.” His creative approach is almost Zen. “When it comes tae creatin, I want tae be as surprised as you are when it’s finished. If it’s already in ma heid afore I start, then technically it’s a kind o leisure activity.”
And ither barbers? “Ma tongue-in-cheek answer is: I dinnae care hoo ither folk cut. Ither folk’s work shouldnae influence ma desire tae cut hair.” But he qualifies that richt awa. “That doesnae mean guid work doesnae inspire me. Seein folk dae their best and grow motivates me every day. Onybody can inspire me. But I love it sae much that I’d dae it onyway.”
On trends, he says it is aboot what suits the individual. “I find it difficult when somebody wants something that doesnae suit them. On the ither haund, I love creatin haircuts that really suit somebody, even if they’re ordinary or fairly simple. If it enhances that person, it excites me mair than daein something strikin.”
He sees langer styles comin back in the US. “Ower the past twa tae three years, folk hae been choosin tapers mair often than fades.” Yet the internet is blurrin the distinctions. “TikTok and Instagram are blendin aw thae styles thegither. The internet is turnin the warld intae ane community.”
Is that guid or bad? “Baith. Bein different is the bonniest thing there is. I’d raither see ye bein the best version o yersel than tryin tae be a copy o somebody else.” Walk doon ony street and ye see the same haircuts everywhere, aw equally middlin. “The social media barber warld is mibbe ten per cent o the industry today. Oor real task is tae get the ither ninety per cent — the folk that dinnae use social media — tae care just as much aboot quality.”
Josh’s relationship wi BarberSociety Live has mainly been “lang-distance” since their first meetin at BarberCon in 2018. “Every year they asked me, and every year I wis already fully booked.” This year, they got in early. “I’m glad we managed it for the 10th anniversary, because it’s gaun tae be something really special.”
He is travellin frae New York, while Tony and Montel are comin frae the UK. Havin several educators there matters. “Naebody is tryin tae be somebody they’re no; everybody brings their ain value and speaks tae a different kind o barber. If we create only ane kind o person, we arenae representin the industry very weel. I want everybody tae feel represented.”
His name wis mentioned recently on the Barbersessions radio show as ane o the barbers Dutch fans maist want tae see. “It still feels unreal, because in the end we’re aw just barbers. I feel the same doubts, the same pittin things aff, that same wee voice tellin ye that ye cannae dae it. We’re aw the same.” The growin momentum ahint their work means a lot tae him. “It’s aboot mair than a haircut. It’s aboot helpin folk grow, no just technically but as individuals an aa.”
What can visitors tae BarberSociety Live expect next year? “It’s gaun tae be intense. I’m gaun tae explain everything in detail, mainly through a system that helps barbers scale up and improve no just their skills but their understandin an aa. In the end, success in cuttin hair is mair aboot makkin the richt decisions than technique alane.”
The theme o this magazine is “Reinventin yersel”, and Josh has a clear view on it. “Reinventin yersel means gettin closer tae yer true sel. Every time somebody reinvents themsel, they move a wee bit closer tae wha they really are. It’s a growth in confidence, darin tae show wha ye truly are.”
But growin and scalin up dinnae come without pain. “Scalin up is aye followed by resistance. Every time ye think or act bigger, ye move further awa frae ither folk’s comfort zones.” He turns the classic comfort-zone story on its heid: “It isnae yer ain comfort zone that hauds ye back, but ither folk’s. What limits maist folk is their fear o steppin ootside somebody else’s comfort zone.”
Josh keeps remindin his team: “If ye want yer warld tae look different next year, ye hae tae get the folk in it tae be different an aa. If I grow and that maks ye uncomfortable, I’m no gaun tae haud masel back tae reassure ye. That micht soond ruthless, but sometimes ye hae tae be tae build the success folk want.”
For barbers, that is often especially difficult. “Barbers are empathetic, real people pleasers. That’s partly why we love oor work — we mak folk happy every day. But that very desire tae please keeps ye sma. Ye haud yersel back sae ither folk winnae feel uncomfortable.”
And the solution? “Ye hae tae dare tae let go o that mindset. If ye want tae be the best version o yersel — as a barber, educator, parent, whatever — ye hae tae look efter yersel first. Fill yer ain glass first. Dinnae be feart o losin folk. Yer warld changin is normal. In fact, it’s necessary.”
Josh O.P. / D.F.S. Formula
The first time Josh really made a mess o a haircut, probably his third, proved decisive. “It wis on a family member I saw every day,” he laughs. That mistake gied him the focus he needed. “Frae that moment on, I became almost obsessed wi gettin better. That wis the moment I thocht: ‘This must never happen tae me again.’”
Noo, at 31, Josh finally wants tae really see the warld, instead o just teachin in it. “I’ve been tae Brazil nine times, but I’ve never seen anything ither than an airport, a hotel and a venue.” Professionally, his focus is shiftin. He wants his team tae become the stars while he concentrates mair on mentorin within the creative industries. “Lately I’ve been explorin dopamine and productivity — hoo tae manage a creative brain. And that’s no just theory: I talk aboot it because I struggle wi it masel every day.”
He is workin wi barber schools an aa, tae embed the D.F.S. Formula in their teachin frae the very start o trainin. “Sae students get a guid foundation frae day ane tae carry on their education.”
His advice for folk wantin tae become educators is clear. “Just say ‘aye’. Just dae it. If ye dinnae feel ready, that’s exactly the richt moment. If ye dae feel ready, it usually means ye’ve already had enough confirmation. Confidence is simply experience that’s been confirmed. And if ye only act frae that confidence, ye’re no really challengin yersel ony mair.”
Ye dinnae need a huge social media followin, accordin tae Josh. “Ane o oor best-sellin educators only has something like a thoosand followers, because he understands marketin.”
Start at the bottom. “Dae it for free first. Teach in salons and schools without askin for ony pay. Build up experience.”
And stop waitin for perfection. “Folk say they want tae become educators, but their scissor work isnae guid enough yet. Then I ask: ‘Can ye fade? Aye? Weel, teach that, then.’ Because ye hae tae learn hoo tae teach an aa. By the time yer scissor work is guid enough, ye’ll already hae experience as an educator. There will aye be something ye dinnae think is guid enough. Sae there will aye be an excuse.”
Ten years efter that disastrous Hogmanay, Josh is still hooked on the soond o clippers cuttin through hair. He still says ‘aye’ tae everything wi conviction. And he still believes that, at heart, we are aw barbers wi the same challenges, the same dreams and the same love for the craft.
What began wi a botched haircut and a hat tae hide it has grown intae something much bigger. A cuttin system noo taught aroon the warld. An online academy wi mair than 22,000 students. Ten years o education that hae helped change the way barbers look at their craft for guid.
At BarberSociety Live’s tenth anniversary, Josh stauns beside Tony and Montel, ready tae gie three hours o detailed instruction. For somebody wha ance left geography tae cut hair in his parents’ kitchen, it has been an impressive journey o discovery. And tae think it aw began because, ae Hogmanay, he thocht: “Hoo hard can it be tae cut yer ain hair?”
