Matt Brown is an internationally acclaimed barber, hair artist and the founder of My Fathers Barbers, the barbershop where men go to heal. His dedication to reviving the craft of barbering has seen him teach and demonstrate all over the world. While he’s cut everyone from All Blacks to members of the Wu-Tang Clan, he believes his true calling is his work to redefine society’s view of masculinity — and to help end the cycle of domestic violence affecting families throughout the world.
Matt, a New Zealander of Samoan descent, together with his wife Sarah (Ngāpuhi/Te Rarawa) founded the anti-violence movement She Is Not Your Rehab, helping men to acknowledge their childhood trauma and take responsibility for their own healing — so that they can transform their pain, rather than transmit it onto those around them. This was launched in his 2019 powerful TEDx Talk; The barbershop where men go to heal.
Matt regularly collaborates with community and government organisations globally, speaking all over the world and hosts a local men’s anti-violence support group from his barbershop so that men in his community can access free therapy and support.
Matt is a facilitator of a barbering program he created inside men’s prisons throughout New Zealand and in 2020 became a Corrections NZ patron. He has also been an ambassador for the It’s Not OK campaign with the Ministry of Social Development since 2018 and was awarded the Westfield Mall Local Hero award in 2020. Matt was a finalist for the 2021 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year.
He is a proud father to three and resides in Christchurch, New Zealand.
