Sydney Barbers Defy Age and Embrace Their Craft

Charles Reeves Avatar

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Sydney Barbers Defy Age and Embrace Their Craft

Located in the very center of downtown Sydney, these two octogenarian barbers are serving their customer’s needs even past the stereotypical retirement age. Con Apostolopoulos, 84, has been going at it a full 60 years as a barber. He immigrated from Greece to Australia when he was only 20 years old. His friend Kyriakos Vasilis, 87, has also carved out an indelible niche on the local barbering scene for decades. In 1993, Vasilis constructed a miniature mobile barber shop in the dining hall of the Cyprus Community Club. Although he formally retired 15 years ago, he has continued to be an engaged leader in the Cypriot community.

That relentless spirit is what you’ll find in both artists, a love for music that’s ageless. Apostolopoulos’s barber shop is open six days a week, and Vasilis often cuts hair for local immigrants and members of his community for free. Their commitment goes beyond demonstrating what it actually means to be committed, into changing the conversation around what it means to be old and work in Australia today.

A Legacy of Service

His daughter, Virginia Apostolopoulos, has seen enough to want her father to hang up his spikes and spend more time thriving at home. There’s no reason in his mind not to go backwards. He muses about his life and then shares the thought, “What am I going to do when I retire? I’m only me now. My wife died decades ago. For him, barbering is not just a profession, but his work and passion as one.

His store, located a short distance down the road from Vasilis’s establishment at the Cyprus Community Club, draws dozens of local regulars. They cannot get enough of his concierge – style, one-on-one service! To be honest, it’s not because I make any money there. I’m saying things like, quite literally, I do it for fun, more or less, he says, underlining his abiding passion for his craft.

Vasilis has another one for the love of art rule, and he feels just as strongly about it. He describes hairdressing as an art form: “Hairdressing is not a job. Hairdressing is an art. Either you have it, or you haven’t got it.” This creative route continues to allow him to stay engaged and more connected to his clients.

Challenges and Resilience

Despite facing health challenges, including a battle with prostate cancer and a seizure two years ago, Vasilis continues to work. He claims that the physicality of barbering is not so taxing. While the work is not especially physically intensive, he says, partly it’s the joy he finds serving important and frequent customers that makes the difference. Vasilis’s creative spirit is matched only by his fearless approach to life. As he puts it, “I’m not a person who wants to crawl in the corner and just wait to die.”

Their experiences tap into a national movement in Australia, as more Australians are working well into their golden years. The participation rate for Australians aged 65 and over has more than doubled from 6.1 percent in 2000 to 15 percent in 2021. This shift represents a broader understanding of the tremendous contributions older workers can make across sectors.

Patricia Sparrow, the head of COTA Australia, an advocacy organization similar to Transportation for America, agrees, arguing that intergenerational workplaces increase productivity and creativity. In particular, she argues, best workplace practices are intergenerational. Further, our most innovative and productive workplaces flourish when people of different generations collaborate and share knowledge. She acknowledges the issues of ageism that persist in society: Ageism shuts out anyone over a certain age. Too often they can’t even get a fair shake in being able to land a job then, to be able to remain employed.

A Community Connection

For both Apostolopoulos and Vasilis, their roles as barbers extend beyond simply cutting hair. They provide companionship and support within their communities. Vasilis reflects on the importance of maintaining these connections: “When you come to a shop, it reminds you of your past and what you are, and you know, you like to meet people.”

His colleague, veteran barber Guido Piccirilli — who has worked in St Mary’s since 1962 — tells a similar story. He acknowledges the physical toll that busy days can take: “When it gets busy, and you have a long day at work, yeah, you’ll feel it in the end.” For all three barbers, the benefits—both material and spiritual—of their profession far eclipse any exhaustion.

How do these wizened barbers continue to operate in the face of changing cultural attitudes toward ageism and employment? They remind us that passion really has no age limit. Their tales encourage the next generation to follow in their footsteps and to become lifelong creators and informed advocates in their communities.

Charles Reeves Avatar
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