A 24-year-old has been voted barber of the year in Wales in the 2021 Hair & Beauty Awards.
Ryan Wood, owner of The Barber Pit in the Ogmore Valley, Bridgend, has credited the community support for his success at such a young age.
Aged just 16, Ryan left school to start his apprenticeship in Cardiff. From there he travelled to London to train and gain qualifications, before finally opening his own business at the age of 21.
Originally from Llantrisant, Ryan said opening his own business in a new community was daunting, but now wouldn't change it for the world.
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Ryan said: "When we first moved up here it was quite a close-knit community, but we've been really lucky, everyone has been so welcoming and supportive of the business.
"Obviously opening my own shop at 21 was really scary. When I first went into opening, I know nothing at all, it was all new to me, but I had nothing but support off everyone.
"It was a jump in the dark really, but it felt right. I'd always wanted my own business and it's been fantastic, I wouldn't change it for anything."
Ryan said his business has helped him not only in his work skills but in his social skills too.
"It's helped me develop with social skills and things too. When I first opened I was really shy and quite nervous to make conversation, so it's helped me a lot.
"Sometimes clients just pop in midweek for a chat with us, not even for a cut, just to check in and things."
In three short years, Ryan has gone from opening his own barbershop to winning the best in Wales.
"Even finding out I was one of the finalists, that blew me away. I was really surprised because we haven't even been open three full years, so just being a finalist was great.
"Then when they announced I had won, I was really shocked, I didn't really know how to react to be honest."
Ryan believes the support of the community can be credited for his win at such a young age.
"We've put in a lot of work over the past couple of years, so it's nice to see that it's paid off in the relationships I've built with clients, to the point they think we're good enough to be up for an award.
"It's a two-way thing though, as much as our clients support us we can check in on them because it's such a close community, we can keep up to date with everyone."
For the 24-year-old entrepreneur, it appears the only way is up.
"We're definitely going to stay in the valley, we'll never ever move this shop, but we may open up others in the future once we're a bit further down the line.
"For now though we're really happy where we are, building up relationships with our clients here and looking after the community."
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