How giving free haircuts taught me to connect with anyone | Joshua Coombes | TEDxIbiza
Joshua Coombes describes how offering free haircuts to homeless individuals transformed his understanding of human connection and dignity. He demonstrates that simple acts of presence and attention can bridge social divides and inspire broader cultural change toward compassion.
Summary
Joshua Coombes opens by sharing how a chance encounter with a homeless woman named Levane and her dog Misty in Southeast London became a formative friendship. He reflects on the broader cultural pattern of overlooking or judging people experiencing homelessness, noting the stigma that creates distance between housed and unhoused people.
The turning point in his perspective came while working as a hairdresser in London. After finishing work, Coombes noticed a man named Derek sleeping on the street and offered him a haircut using scissors from his bag. He was struck by the intimacy created during this simple act—the physical touch, the conversation, and the transformation in Derek's energy and dignity as he saw his reflection afterward. This experience revealed that presence and genuine human connection were more powerful than monetary charity.
Coombes began regularly offering free haircuts to homeless individuals across multiple cities (London, San Francisco, Paris, Mumbai, Cuba) and documented these encounters on Instagram with the hashtag "do something for nothing." Each person had a complex story: Cuba, a construction worker sleeping in a park; Cedric, jobless after losing employment and ending a relationship; Rashid, a migrant from rural India seeking work opportunities. The simple act of sitting with someone, offering care and attention, became a vehicle for human dignity.
His message sparked a movement. Others began sharing similar acts of kindness in their communities—high school students visiting senior citizens, yoga teachers offering free classes, parents creating care packages for homeless neighbors. Coombes emphasizes that the most powerful aspect was simply being present with another person, not the service itself.
The narrative circles back to Levane, whose story of escaping domestic violence led to homelessness. Coombes reflects on what it means to truly receive and acknowledge another person's existence and experience. He concludes with the broader message that reclaiming presence in daily interactions is a powerful choice that has meaning beyond what the external world recognizes—it means everything to the person receiving that attention.
Key Insights
- Coombes argues that the intimacy created during a simple haircut—physical touch, care, and genuine conversation—transformed a stranger's energy and self-perception more profoundly than transactional charity like spare change
- The speaker claims that the background noise and organic flow of street interactions, without time pressure or financial exchange, created a better environment for deep conversation than controlled salon settings
- Coombes observed that simply being present with a person was more powerful than the haircut service itself, as the act of acknowledgment and attention was what created meaningful change
- The speaker demonstrates that his message 'do something for nothing' inspired a grassroots movement where people across communities—students, yoga teachers, parents—began offering their time and skills without expectation of compensation
- Coombes argues that reclaiming presence and acknowledging another person's existence, particularly when they are carrying something difficult, is a powerful cultural choice that has profound individual meaning even if overlooked by the broader world
Topics
Transcript
[0:11] Have you ever bumped into a stranger and it changed your life? I'd like to begin today by telling you about one of my dearest friends. Her name's Lane. She lives in Southeast London with a 10-year-old son. How we came to meet Levane and I is an interesting story. It was actually her dog Misty that I first met. I was walking in central London one evening years ago and this little black and white fluffy dog came yapping at my [0:41] feet. Thankfully, her bark was worse than her bite as when she got to my ankles, she flipped over on her back so I could stroke her belly before running over to her owner who was…
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