The Phone Call I Almost Didn't Make - My Story in The Guardian
- therockingbarber
- Jul 17
- 4 min read
There's a moment in every unexpected journey where you look up and think - how did I get here?
This week I had one of those moments.
On Monday 13th July 2026 The Guardian - one of the world's most widely read newspapers - published my story. In their online edition and in their daily print newspaper. A piece written by journalist Paula Cocozza about leaving a 20-year marketing career at 60 to become a barber. About rockabilly music, pompadours, and starting over with a pair of scissors and absolutely no guarantee it would work.
I want to write about what it felt like from the inside.
How It Started
A few months ago I came across a callout from The Guardian. They were looking for stories from people who had made significant career changes after the age of 60.
I almost didn't submit.
Not because I didn't think my story was interesting - by this point I'd been building The Rocking Barber brand for three years and I knew there was something worth telling. But submitting to The Guardian felt like a significant reach. An international newspaper. Millions of readers. Who was I to think my story belonged there?
I submitted anyway. Three paragraphs. A photo. A phone number.
Paula Cocozza called the following week.
The Conversation
What struck me about the interview was what Paula was most interested in. Not the rockabilly culture - though we talked about that. Not the barbering technique - though we covered that too. What she kept returning to was the human story underneath all of it.
My dad.
I hadn't planned to talk about him at length. But when you're in a genuine conversation with a skilled journalist and they ask the right questions - things come out that you didn't know you were going to say.
My dad grew up on the streets as a child. He became a fishmonger, then a factory worker. His life mantras were hard-won and practical: get a trade, don't leave a job without another one lined up, stay safe, stay secure.
When I told him at 60 that I was walking away from three decades in marketing to become a barber - I genuinely didn't know how he'd respond.
He said: "That's fantastic. Life's so short."
It almost made me cry. A man who had lived the way he lived - dropping everything he believed about safety and security to give his son permission to follow his heart. That meant more to me than anything I achieved in 20 years of marketing.
Paula understood immediately why that moment mattered. It became the heart of the piece
What They Published
The article went live on Monday morning New Zealand time. By the time I woke up it was already being read around the world.
The headline they chose:
"A new start after 60: I left marketing to be a barber - and I almost cried when my dad gave me his blessing"
The line they chose to close the article with was something I said almost in passing during our conversation:
"With scissors, you can create something magnificent."
I believe that. I believed it the first time I said it. Seeing it in The Guardian made me believe it even more.
What This Means for The Rocking Barber
I started this journey two years ago with a pair of scissors, a pompadour, and a genuine belief that barbering done properly - with care, craft, and real human connection - was worth doing at any age.
The Guardian article doesn't change any of that. The chair is still at Hava & Co on 1 High Street. The music is still on. Sunday to Wednesday, 8.30am to 6pm.
But it does confirm something I've felt for a while - that this story resonates beyond the barbershop, beyond Auckland, beyond New Zealand. The themes inside it - reinvention, authenticity, the courage to follow what gives your life vibrancy rather than just income - are universal.
My dad figured that out on the streets of England as a child.
It just took me until 60 to properly listen.
A Personal Note
To everyone who has sat in my chair, followed The Rocking Barber on social media, shared a post, or sent a kind word over the past three years - thank you.
You were part of this before The Guardian was.
And to Paula Cocozza - thank you for asking the right questions. The ones that get to what actually matters.
Read the Full Article
The Guardian piece goes deeper into the story than I have here - including details about growing up in England, moving to New Zealand, the barber school experience, and what it actually feels like to cut 16 or 17 heads of hair in a single day.
The Rocking Barber operates from Hava & Co at 1 High Street in the Auckland CBD, Sunday to Wednesday, 8.30am to 6pm. Book your chair time at therockingbarber.com
