From teenage apprentice to shop owner: Filipino barber builds his dream at 24

Dan Estanislao at the counter as barber Patrick Bicarme gives a haircut to a client

At just 24 years old, Dan Estanislao has become what is believed to be the youngest owner of a barbershop in Macau, turning a lifelong passion into a brick-and-mortar reality.

Chico Barbershop, which soft-launched late last month and officially opened over the weekend on Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, marks the payoff of a seven-year journey that began when the Macau-born Filipino was a teenage apprentice.

The first time Estanislao sat in the exact same shop, he was a 17-year-old student nervous about getting his first proper haircut from a modern barber. Seven years later, he owns it.

The location carries deep personal significance. The shop now occupies the exact spot where he received his first modern barbershop haircut years ago. “It’s a full-circle moment; we’ve been saying that this whole time,” Estanislao, a marketing graduate, told the Times.

The space, however, bore little resemblance to the barbershop he remembered when he took over.

The previous tenants – a shoe cleaning company and later a perfume shop – had stripped it down. Only the ceiling light strips and the stairs remained. “It was very raw when we got here, and a lot of things had to be changed,” the young entrepreneur said.

The shop’s name, “Chico,” means “young man” in Spanish – a title that carries dual meaning for its founder.

“The first meaning would be, I started out as a young boy as a barber,” he explained. “The second meaning is whoever comes in, they will walk out as a Chico, refreshed.”

That vision began taking shape last year, shortly after he graduated from university, when his growing clientele made it clear that his chair alone could no longer accommodate demand. “I noticed that my followers and my clientele started growing to the point where I couldn’t take them all in,” he said. “I was thinking I might need to expand and do my own thing.”

He spent six months searching for a location. An initial deal fell through, but conversations with the property owner led him to the current site – a room that, unbeknownst to many, held personal history.

Dan Estanislao with NBA player Devin Booker

The journey to ownership began in 2019, when Estanislao started as an apprentice at Joker’s Barbershop at the age of 17.

He remained there for seven years, working his way up to a full-fledged barber, before making the decision to go solo. Interestingly, the shop was put together in roughly two months, with construction beginning on June 1.

“I’m not a big fan of partnerships for business, and I’m not a big fan of borrowing money from banks,” he said. “I took a very brave decision and invested everything on my own.”

He cited principles as the driving factor, noting that barbering can be a “brutal” business where owners take a disproportionate share.

“I believe that if I’m working for it, I should earn more,” he said. “I don’t want to have a partner because I don’t want to have someone else take that away from me.” He also noted that he rents the property, as buying commercial real estate in Macau is “absurdly” expensive.

His profile received a significant boost last year when he was called to cut hair for NBA players during the NBA China Games in Macau. He styled four-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala and later his personal favorite, Devin Booker – who requested a second appointment within days.

He said the opportunity came unexpectedly while he was having lunch one day and received a call from Reggie Martin, who informed him that help was needed. He had been dreaming of such an opportunity, with this client being one of his favorite players.

“I was nervous during that time, actually shaking, but not to the point where I couldn’t cut hair,” Estanislao recalled. “After cutting Iguodala, I wasn’t as nervous seeing Booker. It’s very surreal. Sometimes I look back and think, ‘Did I actually do that?’”

He added that after the exposure, people began recognizing him on basketball courts, approaching him with remarks like, “Hey, you’re the guy that cut Booker, right?”

The exposure accelerated his timeline. “I was already pretty fully booked before that,” he said. “But after people knew what happened, my social media gained more recognition. I realized that I can use this to push more momentum. I’d achieved most of the things I wanted to do as a barber. I knew I was ready.”

The shop currently operates with a small team: barber Patrick Bicarme and part-time social media manager Joshua Constancia, who also handles the shop’s online presence. Estanislao envisions growth, with a long-term goal of establishing what he calls “the first multicultural barbershop in Macau” – a space that serves the city’s Chinese, Western, and Filipino communities alike.

“I want to introduce barbershop culture more to people,” he said. “Right now, the culture for hair in Macau is still very salon-oriented, especially among local Chinese men. I want the norm to be men getting haircuts in barbershops instead of salons.”

He emphasized that the experience at Chico goes beyond the haircut itself. “All of our clients, we know what they do, we know their names, we care about them, not just about the hair, but more about building trust and rapport with the client,” he said.

The design of the shop reflects his personal interests, with flooring intentionally chosen to resemble a basketball court – a lifelong dream element. “I’ve always wanted to build a barbershop linked to basketball,” he said.

Chico Barbershop operates from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Prices are set at MOP300 for adults and MOP280 for students, with both rates covering a full-service cut, wash, styling, and eyebrow shaping. The shop currently serves an average of 16 to 17 clients per day between Estanislao and his team.

When asked about holding the title of Macau’s youngest barbershop owner, he acknowledged the claim with measured confidence. “As of now, I think I am,” he said. “There’s another guy opening up soon, and I’m still younger than him by a few months.”

He credits his ability to connect with a diverse clientele – spanning cultural and linguistic lines – as a key factor in his success. “It’s not just Cantonese,” he said. “I’ve adapted to the culture of Chinese, Western, and Filipino people alike – they’re my three main customer bases.”

He noted that about 25% of his clients have remained loyal since his earliest days as a barber, with the majority of his current customer base having built up from his third or fourth year in the trade.

For now, the young barber is focused on building something lasting in the very room where it all started. “I want Chico to be a shop that’s here for a long time,” he said. “I want all the clients to come in and just have fun, build a community, and establish the culture in Macau.”