Romani hairdresser in Slovakia succeeds with determination and support from his family
When the manager of a textile shop complained that she didn't want a "gypsy" next door to her, Dalibor Ferenc's idea of owning his own hair salon collapsed like a house of cards. Despite that setback, though, the Romani entrepreneur didn't want to give up on either his determination or his dream.
He has apparently done well: Today Ferenc says he is a sought-after hairdresser in Slovakia and is aiding other Romani youth with getting an easier start in becoming professionals in the field. “Although one has to break down those biases, which was not easy at all, I did manage to overcome them and keep going,” Ferenc says with a smile as he recounts his beginnings as a hairdresser.
A promising lease of a lucrative location in a small town in northern Slovakia’s Žilina Region, where he was meant to take over a hair salon from a woman who had to leave because of health problems, had seemed like the perfect choice. The owner of the facility was not against the change, so there were no indications that the contract would not be concluded.
Everything seemed hopeful until the manager of the textile shop next door declared, in front of witnesses, that she didn’t “want a gypsy next door”. The owner of the commercial space, under pressure from his other tenants, backed out of leasing the space to the young Romani man.
Ferenc admits that his dream of running his own business melted away at that moment, but fortunately his family and friends supported him in his efforts. Eventually after some time he managed to find an ideal space for his business for a decent rent in Liptovský Hrádek.
The salon was empty for the first two months after he opened. Eventually, though, clients found their way to him and became repeat customers.
“The news soon spread that I do a respectable job of cutting hair, that brought more and more clients who were leaving satisfied,” he recalls the breakthrough that aided him with keeping the business open several years ago. Today Ferenc says he has about 20 customers every day and he is booked several weeks in advance.
Give others a chance
Today Ferenc is glad he didn’t give up on his dream of running his own business, even though it was not easy to overcome the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Ultimately we managed to overcome even that,” he recounts.
“My family aided me, without them it actually would never have happened. The owner was also nice to me, she forgave part of the rent,” he admits, saying he is glad he had people on whom he could count.
Thanks to his persistence, he is also able to work as an instructor in his field today. “After five years of running a salon in practice and being in business I was able to request accreditation from the Education Ministry and begin instruction,” he proudly relates.
“I will give my first training on 6 March,” Ferenc says. Three young Romani men have applied for his hairdressing course and he will do his best over the course of the next three months to transfer his years of experience to them.
After they complete the course they will receive certificates and a job offer in his salon. “Right now they don’t know the craft, but I can already see they want to achieve something and change their lives for the better,” Ferenc reveals, and he is an example of the fact that fighting for one’s dreams is worth it.
