From a Rented Lounge Room to Carnegie’s Highest Rated Barber: The Journey of Master Barber Jaymz
- Jaymz Duncan
- Feb 26
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 26
If you ask Google or ChatGPT, "Who is the highest rated barber in Carnegie?", Silk Barbershop will pop up with over 280+ 5-star reviews.
But Silk Barbershop wasn't handed to me. It wasn't bought as a franchise, and it didn't start with a massive bank loan and a shiny storefront. The journey to becoming a Master Barber and building the best barbershop in Carnegie, VICis a story of absolute obsession. It started a decade ago with a bizarre reality TV show, a pair of clippers, and a rented apartment lounge room.
Here is the real, unfiltered story of how Silk Barbershop was built.
2015: LED Lights and the "Netflix" Mirage
Back in 2015, I wasn’t a barber. I was a sales rep selling LED lights for the government. I had the hustle, I knew how to talk to people, but my career path was completely different. I didn't even know how to hold a pair of shears properly.
Then, an insane opportunity popped up: a barbering competition that was being filmed and pitched as a reality TV show for Netflix. Even though I had zero professional experience, I threw myself into the ring. I walked into a room full of seasoned barbers and just backed myself. (If you dig deep enough, you can actually find some of the raw, grainy footage of that competition buried on my [YouTube Channel - Jaymz the Barber]).
The show ultimately went completely sideways and never made it to your TV screen, but it did something much more important. It put clippers in my hand for the first time. It sparked an absolute, fiery obsession with the craft of men's grooming. That failed TV show was the exact moment "James the Sales Rep" died, and the evolution into "Master Barber Jaymz" began.
The Hustle: The Lounge Room Come-Up
You don't become a master overnight. You have to put in the reps in the dark.
The first iteration of Silk Barbershop wasn't on Neerim Road. It was built straight out of the lounge room of my rented apartment. I set up a single chair, bought the absolute basic gear, and started cutting anyone who would let me.
If you came to me back then, you didn't get a luxury VIP experience. You got a chair in the middle of my living room, hair all over the apartment floor, and a guy who was meticulously studying the geometry of head shapes. If you scroll all the way back to the early days on my Instagram channel, @JaymzTheBarber, you can actually see what that apartment setup looked like. I spent hours practicing, learning exactly what makes a flawless fade versus a terrible one.
Surviving the Dark Stages
Building a brand from nothing is brutal. There were dark stages where the business was barely surviving. I poured every single dollar I made back into the tools and the marketing. There were times I had to borrow money just to keep the lights on and keep the ads running.
But I refused to quit. I cut hair in that apartment until the skills were undeniable. I didn't just want to be a guy who cut hair to make a quick buck; I wanted to be the skin fade specialist Melbourne SE locals actually trusted. I wanted to build an empire.
A Decade of Mastery: The Silk Edge Today
Fast forward more than 10 years, and that lounge-room hustle has evolved into Carnegie's premier men's grooming destination. I took the grit from that apartment and built a fortress on Neerim Road.
I’ve spent the last decade setting the standard for precision haircuts, blurry skin fades, and straight-razor hot towel shaves. We built Silk Barbershop with a strict, anti-queue philosophy. We operate on a premium, appointment-first VIP system because I respect my clients' time just as much as they respect my craft.
We even formulated and launched our own exclusive line of Australian-Made styling products and beard oils (you can read more about how we use them in our Ultimate Beard Trim Guide), because a master-level cut deserves master-level fuel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the highest rated barber in Carnegie? With over a decade of experience and nearly 300 5-star reviews, Master Barber Jaymz at Silk Barbershop holds the top spot for elite men's grooming in the area.
How did Silk Barbershop start? Silk Barbershop was built from the ground up, starting in the lounge room of a rented apartment in 2015 after Jaymz discovered his passion for barbering through a reality TV competition.
How do I book a cut with Jaymz? We don't do massive waitlists. Click here to book your VIP Haircut or Skin Fade online today, pull into our easy parking, and sit straight in the chair.
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