If you were to ask Ray Bailey what he does for a living, the town’s local barber would likely say, “Cut hair and talk shit.”
In a place like Raglan, that role carries more weight than it sounds. The barber’s chair is part confessional, part meeting place, and Ray has been at the centre of it since opening his shop in 2009.
Originally from Hamilton, Ray moved to Raglan in 2004, though his connection to the town goes back much further. Like many from Hamilton, Raglan was “the beach” of his childhood, and he spent his 20s surfing here with mates.
Initially, he was commuting daily to Hamilton for a sales job. When he heard a barber shop might be opening in town and then didn’t, he seized the opportunity.
“It was one of those decisions that I just grabbed and ran with,” he says. “I found a course in Auckland, quit my job and moved up there for 12 weeks.”
Back on weekends, Ray secured the premises he still works from today and Raglan Barber opened its doors.
“I love working in this town and being the local barber has introduced me to so many of its residents,” he says. “Over time I’m slowly getting to know them, one haircut at a time.”
Cutting hair also introduced him to the Raglan Volunteer Fire Brigade.
“I had a couple of customers who were both firefighters. And they said, ‘you’d make a great firefighter’. So, I just went down one Wednesday and joined.”
He’s been with the brigade for 15 years and is now a station officer.
Balancing the barber shop with emergency callouts has become second nature. Most of the time, there’s just enough time to finish a haircut before heading out the door.
“I left John Hart (also a volunteer firefighter) with a mullet,” he laughs. “We got called out to a big scrub fire that was threatening a house. We came back after dark to finish it.”
In a small town like Raglan, work and volunteer roles blur, and people wear many hats. In Ray’s case, he’s the barber, a first responder, a sounding board, and a familiar face people trust.
Outside the shop, Ray keeps busy at the Raglan Golf Course, and while surfing drew him here in his younger days, these days it’s fishing that calls.
When he’s not out on his boat or on the tee, Ray spends time hanging out with his kids and enjoys hitting the road on his motorbike – making the most of the work-life balance he’s built in Raglan.
by Janine Jackson
