How blessed I am that my business is also one of my great passions.
Combining our work and passion is part of living a full, happy and balanced life.
I have been making dreads since way back in the late 80′s when it was all about backcombing and wax, superglue (yep) or the horrid dread perm. For me it was backcombing and wax – yes, I admit it. And back then I also did loads of the African-style braids with extensions. I was always doing something with someones hair.
There was a very popular salon in Sydney back then (I won't mention any names), and the owner had somehow heard about me. He rang me one day asking if I would come to Sydney (I was in Melbourne at the time) and teach him how to make dreads and do braids with extensions without using glue. YIKES! I said no. I was very protective of my backcombing and wax method!!!!!
Time passed and I became a dreadlock lover and obsessed with traveling, and I spent a lot of time in India and Thailand.
I eventually moved to Byron Bay (back when it was still full of hippies and pretty chilled) and I began to make dreads part-time under the name ‘Dreadlocks Byron Bay’. My ‘part-time’ soon became full-time and I changed my trading name to ‘For The Love of Locs’. I still love this name very much and use this line often. The problem was that no one seemed to understand what ‘For The Love of Locs’ meant, and people would constantly ask me what the signage on my car was about.
Then, a few years later, I moved into a converted shed about 20 ks north of Byron Bay. My home soon became known as ‘the shed’ and people would ask “Are you dreading from the shed today?” And so a name was born.
And my dreadlock method? Well, I’m happy to say that it too has developed into something which I consider to be really fantastic (if I may say so myself). The method I have developed has come mainly from what I have seen traveling, plus good old common sense. My dreadlock method is a couple of techniques that mimics what the hair would do naturally to dread, so the result is instant natural dreadlocks that look and feel like……. dreadlocks! (I do not solely use the Thai method that you can find on YouTube – my method is quite different to that).
The Dread Shed Dreadlocks has operated out of a shed, a Kombi van, a spare bedroom in my house, a shop in Sydney, markets, forests, roadside rest stops, cafes in Bali, Thailand, Amsterdam…. The list goes on. But what I have learnt is that the location does not matter. What has mattered the most has been my obvious love and obsession with dreads because that is what my clients have commented on the most, and that (along with their fantastic dreadlocks) is what has kept people coming back to me over and over again.
TDSD has been a huge part of my life for such a long time and it continues to change shape and evolve right along with me. The training in natural deadlocking and business making has been in operation since 2011, and continues to grow stronger while our wonderful community of TDSD locticians becomes bigger and bigger!
This is just glimpse into The Dread Shed Dreadlocks. I hope it answers any questions you have ha
d about its creation – and perhaps might inspire you with your own dreadlock business.
The Dread Shed Dreadlocks is a HUGE part of my life, thank you for being part of that and sharing my journey with me.
Sam