From Long Island NY to Hawai'i, how Surfing and Barbering Shaped My Life

Vast Lives

In this episode, I had the pleasure of talking to Benjamin Faraon Jr. who is a surfer with so much passion and a barber by profession.

He has chosen Hawaii to be his home for the last 20 years. Born on Long Island in New York, Ben shared his journey from having a sober upbringing in a loving family to finding his love for surfing, which started on the shores of Long Beach.

We talked about his childhood and sports, how his parents got him out trying all sorts of things. Ben spoke about how he went from the surf industry into barbering, the financial crash stresses, and then the pandemic. He was quite candid over this crossroads in what he wanted to be doing, which led him onto barbering-an art form that lets him connect with people and creatively express himself.

He has underlined family, appreciation, and tenderness throughout our conversation. He spoke about how his father got him into surfing and the ways in which he wishes to replicate this with his own children someday. We talked about surfing: how it's like meditation for him, one of the most classic ways he observes life's lesson.

His story is one of resilience and community, especially in times of hardship-such as during the pandemic. He discussed some of the innovative ways he and his barbershop adapted to hardships, such as offering prepaid haircuts to keep business afloat.

He concluded by saying that he is committed to instilling in his children the values of environmental stewardship, echoing the ethos of caring for our oceans and communities. In this episode, humanness is celebrated through the human spirit, the joy of surfing, and, most importantly, kindness in life.