Rebel with cutting cause

Cutting hair helped Sye Fuimaono make a clean break from a life of drugs and gangs.

He’s now hoping to inspire others as they sit back in his barber’s chair at his recently opened shop in Otara.

Sye Fuimaono became rebellious at a very young age.

Following an attempted kidnapping at five years of age he says he lost his trust for adults.

From there his life spiralled into a vicious cycle of gangs, drugs and an on-going problem with authority.

The Otara resident says he survived by cutting people’s hair.

‘‘It was something to do at the time, it became a hobby, and then the hobby turned into money. That’s how I survived.’’

A few years ago he hit a real low point when all his barber equipment was stolen from his home forcing him to consider giving up cutting hair altogether.

But the 40-year-old has turned his life around to such an extent that he’s been able to open a brand new barber shop in Otara, thanks to support from friends and family as well as a new approach to life.

‘‘The turning point for me was just seeing and listening to how people were trying to survive week in and week out, I was doing the same thing,’’ he says.

‘‘I had enough of just surviving. I just wanted to live, and you can’t live in the system. For many years, I have been looking for a formula and I found it about a year and a half ago.’’

Fuimaono started cutting hair in his garage and upskilled by going into barber shops and watching others at work.

‘‘I enjoy it now more than ever, it’s not just the barbering side, this is the only way I can stay in touch with people, as it has become my people currency,’’ he says.

The father of eight says the ‘Law of Attraction’ is what helped him get to where he is even though he had no capital to start.

‘‘The formula that I discovered is basically about manifesting my desires,’’ Fuimaono says.

‘‘I asked the community for help, telling them my vision, and then it started happening and people responded to the call.’’

He says it’s better to be mindful of your thoughts and feelings rather than hopes and dreams.

‘‘If you are feeling and thinking it, then it’s going to come.’’