A barber known as “Magic Mo” has revealed the tricks he uses to help children who find haircuts overwhelming, including homemade equipment, magic tricks, and “jumping around like a Kangaroo”.
Mo Subhi, 37, from Maghull, has been cutting hair for 20 years but spent the last eight specialising in sensory barbering for children and adults with additional needs. His mobile business, Mo Mobile Sensory Barber, which he launched almost four years ago, takes him into the homes of families across Liverpool and Merseyside, where he creates a calmer environment for clients who may struggle with the sights, sounds, sensations, and routines of a traditional barber shop.
Inspired by children turned away from salons
Mo said he was inspired to specialise after seeing children being turned away from salons because staff were worried about their behaviour or did not feel equipped to deal with their needs.
He told the ECHO: “I’ve worked in different salons over the years, so I’ve seen lots of neurodivergent kids and adults with additional needs who have unfortunately been turned away from salons.”
“No one wants to take them because they were worried about things like the risk, have less experience, or some kids make a lot of noise and are screaming in the salon. It’s so sad.”
“So I saw this and realised there is a need for it. There are plenty of barbers in the world, but we need more sensory barbers.”
Building routines for future barbershop visits
Mo said his decision to go mobile was about giving children the chance to have their hair cut somewhere they already feel safe. He now covers Liverpool, Southport, Warrington, Wigan, Runcorn, and St Helens, with appointments ranging from as early as 5am to as late as 10pm, depending on each individual child’s routine and needs.
Mo said the aim is not simply to get through one haircut, but to gradually help children become comfortable with the process. He said: “My mission is to build this routine for the child, prepare the child to go to a barbershop in the future.” Some of the children he has worked with for two to three years have now reached the point where they can visit an ordinary barber.
For Mo, understanding each child individually is key. Before beginning a haircut, he speaks with parents about their child's needs and previous experiences, then carries out what he describes as a gentle assessment to discover which toys they like, what interests them, and what they are comfortable with before attempting the haircut.
Entertaining and inventing for sensory needs
He said: “There is always a window. You have to find it. The key is to keep it short, because it’s not healthy to put a child through a lot of stress, and keep getting it cut consistently.”
“I always say to parents to try to do them every four to six weeks, and please don’t give up because they will eventually accept it. It is a challenge, but I always make it happen because I love this job.”
“I’ve seen lots of tears and emotions, especially from parents whose children have been kicked out of four or five barbers and are really desperate.”
Sometimes, that means Mo becoming less like a traditional barber and more like an entertainer, which has earned him the nickname amongst his clients, ‘Magic Mo’. He said: “Sometimes during the haircut, I have to jump like a kangaroo, I have to dance, I have to do it upside down. I also do some magic tricks. It's like being a kids' entertainer sometimes.”
But behind the fun is a serious understanding of how difficult the experience can be. Mo said some children struggle with being touched, the sensation of hair falling onto their skin, the noise of clippers, or the feeling of wearing a barber's cape. He said some children may only be able to tolerate a five-minute haircut, meaning speed and routine can be crucial.
And after seeing parents arrive at their appointments exhausted and upset following previous experiences, Mo said the emotional impact of a successful haircut can be enormous. He said: “When the haircut's done, the parents say, ‘I've literally lost for words. Oh my God, what happened?’ and they can’t believe it.”
“It’s the most rewarding thing in the world. It makes me so happy.”
But Mo hasn't stopped at changing his approach to barbering - he has also started designing and building his own specialist equipment using 3D-printed inventions to make the process easier for his clients. For Mo, the inventions are simply another part of finding a way through what can feel like an impossible situation.
He said: “Every child is different, so we have to make it happen. We have to get ourselves into this challenge and make it happen, no matter what. Some people think they're just naughty but they are not naughty, it's a sensory thing and they struggle a lot.”
Mo, who originally moved to Liverpool from Iraq in 2015, said he has found his calling in sensory barbering. He said: “When I got into sensory barbering, it just felt like I found myself there. It makes me so happy, so I’ll carry it for my whole life. I can be myself. This is what I love. It means the world to me.”
