Treechangers…about people who change their lives to settle on the Range and why they choose to stay
Shandelle Terry-Randall and her husband Paul moved to the Range only four years ago. In Sydney they had a busy barbers shop in up-market Mosman. Despite the harbour-side buzz, the move to the Hinterland was all too easy.
Why did you come here?
After living in the UK for five years Paul and I went back to Sydney. But after two years I realised that city life wasn’t for me. As a young boy Paul grew up in the English countryside and he tends to go with the flow. I’m always coming up with new adventures and he goes along for the ride (laughs).
We had the children and we had a friend up here, so we came for a visit and fell in love with the place, as everyone does. And there were no doubts. It was instant, and within four weeks we had gone back to Sydney and sold the shop in Mosman. We packed our bags and were up here very quickly.
We both worked in the barbers shop in Sydney. Actually, I taught Paul to cut hair. He was my apprentice, but that’s another story. (laughs). We worked in the barbers shop together here for a while but he’s now gone back to his original business of cabinet making.
What did you have to change in coming here?
You know, not a great deal really. I can’t ring up and have a home delivery! Thai take-away. That’s what I have had to change! (laughs) Also, probably not going out as much in the evenings, which is very easy when you are so close to everything in Sydney.
We earned more in Mosman of course, but then when you compare the cost of a house here, it evens out. We lived in a unit down there but here we have a big house and acreage. My family is spread out so that wasn’t an issue either. One of them is in Sweden, another in Sydney and another in the Hunter Valley.
When we came here we looked around and realised a town like this could only have room for one barbers shop. Plenty of room for hairdressers, but not for a walk-in barbers shop.
You need a bright personality in a barbers shop and that’s very easy in Maleny because people are so friendly, chatty and open. And that’s really what I like about it. When I go back to Sydney I really notice when I come back how you can walk down the street to get a coffee and it’s, “Hi Shandelle”. That’s amazing. It really makes you feel you belong, and you feel safe here. There’s a sense of support in this community. And having children, you can give them the freedom just to be kids, to seek out their passions, say if they want to ride horses or motorbikes, or surf, as the beach is so close. There is nothing to hold them back here whereas in Sydney the children tend to have pressure to keep up with Joneses.
What will keep you here?
I was always someone who constantly moved on, but this is the first time in my life that I actually feel settled, and I think it’s mainly because of all the really nice friends I’ve made up here in the past four years. Paul’s the same way and his cabinet-making business is going really well.
The barbers shop is always busy and I’m looking for another assistant. But having Natalie here with me … well she’s a classic! And I love the clients. You can give them heaps of grief and they love it. And of course they share secrets. We know everything that’s going on in this town! (laughs). But what is discussed in the barbers shop, stays in the barbers shop. That’s our motto here!
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