Barber makes her mark on Blenheim

Shining a spotlight on Marlborough people,

chats to an Indian woman getting back on her feet after her barbershop was broken into just before Christmas.

Take a stroll down Market St in Blenheim and you will find an unassuming store called Headmaster’s Barbershop.

Inside works single mum Kuldip Kaur, an Indian expat who plies her trade as a barber while raising her daughter.

As if being a working single parent isn’t difficult enough, Kuldip had her store broken into on December 20.

It has left her with little to carry on, but her determination and love for her job has seen her rise to the occasion and start again.

She is back in business and keen to make her mark on the future, she says.

Kuldip hails from the northern Indian state of Punjab, but has fallen in love with Marlborough and its people.

It has been the support shown by the community in Blenheim which has helped her move forward after the robbery, she says. It is the people of the province which are its heart and soul, Kuldip says.

For her, the barbershop business is not about becoming wealthy - rather she loves her customers and seeing them happy, she says.

This attitude has attracted some loyal customers and her shop has been humming since she reopened.

How long have you lived in Marlborough?

Nine years.

How long have you been a barber?

Maybe four years ago. I trained first in India.

Why do you love your job?

I love this. This is my hobby. I would do this even if it wasn’t a job ... I don’t care about the money. I’m just trying to make the customer happy.

And I want to see them coming back again.

What’s the secret to your talent?

It’s really simple. I just ask the customer what they want, and then I do that. Nothing else.

Other people, they may care more about the money, or their own desire to give the customer what they think they should have.

I just give the customer what they tell me. I’m always doing work from my heart.

I have too many regular customers, and if for some reason I am not here, they wait.

They wait to get a haircut from me.

What’s it like raising a daughter by yourself and running a business?

It’s a little bit hard, but I get on with it.

What was it like after you had your shop’s contents taken from you?

It was so difficult to start again. But I love my business, and my customers and I was determined to get it running again. I have confidence in myself.

So yes. I am here today. Again. And I love being back.

What plans do you have for the future?

I have big plans. This is Headmaster’s Barbershop and I want to have my own big salon, with a couple of girls working with me.

And I want to make my daughter’s future a good future. My parents still live in India and they want to see me happy.

They want me to teach my daughter my own language and my own culture as well as New Zealand culture.

Name someone or something that has influenced you positively in your life.

My parents. They really want me to make a success of this.

When they visited me last in New Zealand they saw me working really hard all the time.

Not eating well. And they cried.

They want me to remember who I truly am inside, even though I focus on this business.

But my real heroes are my customers.

They are always telling me they have never had a better haircut anywhere in this town.

When they come in the door they are always smiling and saluting.

What do you love about Marlborough?

It’s beautiful here. It’s a very good lifestyle here, and all the people are happy ... that is the most important thing.

This is my country now.

Headmaster’s Barbershop owner Kuldip Kaur doing what she loves best.