At Christmas time last year, Fili Esau (Fil to his friends) was cutting hair for homeless people at the Winsome Hotel and Soup Kitchen in North Lismore.

This year, he’s still cutting hair – but now, he’s has opened his own shop Numak Barber in the Village Goonellabah shopping centre.

“I like helping people and this time of year can be lonely for some people,” Fil said.  

“I wish I had time help the homeless again this year, but when my business becomes more successful, I’ll make some time to do it again.”

Fil came to Australia from New Zealand in 2017 and when he came to the Northern Rivers, he started cutting hair from his home.

“I’ve spent the last year working three jobs as well as cutting hair so I could save up money to open my own place,” he said.

“I only had $1500 and needed to work to buy equipment for the shop, like chairs and cutting tools.

“Finally I have my own shop.”

Fil said he wanted to open the shop in Goonellabah because he sees good things in the area.

“I have regular customers who love my service and keep telling others - and Goonellabah needs a barber,” he said.

“I’m still only advertising on Facebook and Instagram and people have found me.

“People come up here shopping or get a coffee and they come in and say hi and hang out in the air conditioning.”

Phil qualified to be a barber in 2016 after spending many years cutting hair for friends in New Zealand.

“They would bring me a beer and I would cut their hair,” he said.

Phil said he wasn’t always so community minded, but as he’s gotten older, he’s changed himself and his attitudes.

“I’ve been approached by an Aboriginal community to help on a project next year to keep youth off the streets and help them to fit in,” he said.

Fil now has his three sons living here with him and he said the name for the shop – Numak – is a made up from mixing together his sons’ names.

If you want to make an appointment with him, look for NUMAK barber on Facebook, or drop in to his shop in The Village on Simeoni Drive, Goonellbah.