The Chair as a Safe Space: How Industry Leaders Support Men’s Mental Health
Mental health now sits in everyday conversations, and more men speak about their experiences with less judgment and more honesty. In recognition of International Men’s Day and Men’s Mental Health Month, Beautypreneuers celebrates these leaders in the barbering and wellness industry who make these conversations possible.
In England, 12.5% of men live with conditions such as anxiety, depression, or stress, and men are three times more likely than women to take their own lives. Barber chairs have become a safe space. A routine haircut transforms into an opportunity to talk about their struggles. Barbers like Tom Chapman and Jake Cox have dedicated their work to create safe spaces to encourage open conversations, guidance to provide support, and challenge the stigma on mental health that keeps them silent.
Tom Chapman is a powerful advocate for men’s mental health and suicide prevention. Having personally lost a friend to suicide, Tom noticed that many salons and barbershops provided spaces where clients can confide and build connections with people but lacked the awareness needed to recognise how people were truly feeling.
This experience guided his mission: “create a bridge between the communities the hair and beauty community serves, and the resources people need.” In 2015, he founded the Lions Barber Collective, uniting barbers together to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention through men’s haircuts.
Source: BarberEvo
This sparked the development of the HereToTalk programme to educate and train hair and beauty professionals to ‘recognise, ask, listen, and help’ to guide people towards support. With the success of the programme, Tom expanded its reach with tailored programmes like BarberTalk, Hair&BeautyTalk, and NextGen courses to empower the next generation of professionals. His work has reached audiences through TED talks, media coverage, and awards that reflect its impact.
“It's not about diagnosing customers – it's about recognising that someone's struggling, asking the right questions, listening well, and directing them towards support.”
Founder Jake Cox started out cutting hair in a shed during 2020 in South London and has now grown into No Bad Days barbershop that offers grooming products, a podcast, and merchandise that all support mental health awareness. Having personally experienced with mental health struggles, Jake valued the support and guidance he received from Mind, a mental health charity. This support shaped his mission: “No Bad Days wouldn’t exist without Mind.”
With mental health awareness at the heart of the mission, he strived to create a safe space that fosters connection, collaboration, and conversation. Jake believes that “it’s okay to be masculine, love football, and love these great connections with your friends. But it’s also okay to cry and talk about the hardships you’ve been through... encouraging men to talk if they want to talk... we’re a safe space where you can relax and open up if you want to.’
Jake’s business model goes beyond barbering; he centres it on community support and collaboration. He donates 10% of profits from products and merchandise to Mind and works with them to train barbers on mental health awareness and navigate sensitive conversations.
Tom and Jake are redefining leadership as changemakers in the hair and beauty industry. Their work proves that these conversations can start with simple moments in familiar, safe, and non-judgmental spaces. Through building trust, sharing their own experiences, and training others to listen, barbers and hairdressers can foster a space where men feel safer to talk and seek support.
Beautypreneurs aims to be the platform that brings leaders together to grow their businesses but also remind hair and beauty professionals of their responsibility and impact on the community they serve. Change can often begin in the chair, with someone willing to listen.