On a good day, Markos Malone roughly makes 25 cups of tea.
Surprisingly, his job isn’t at a local cafe, but rather at his own salon, near Edge Lane. The shop, which is named after himself and just off Rathbone Road, comes complete with the standard items you would expect a hairdresser to have including scissors, razors, old-fashioned barber caps and combs.
However, tucked away in the back is a room which is coming down with a “million” different types of mugs and that is because, in Markos’ salon, a day wouldn’t be complete unless there were more cups of tea made than haircuts carried out. The 43-year-old, who lives in Croxteth but is originally from a small island in Greece, wanted to create a space where it would feel like customers were walking into one of their friend's homes.
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The former Knowsley Community College teacher told the ECHO : “I see my customers as my friends and I’m not doing something special. I don’t class myself as a therapist but I am just here for friends to come round and talk to me. I’m doing a job where it’s my hobby, so coming to work without feeling like I actually am. What makes it extra special is that people will come and say such a thing happened to me today and I’d always be able to say something similar happened to me a couple of months ago and it just makes work feel a lot more human and not like a robot process.”
One of the main reasons why the father-of-two ensures his salon is a welcoming and safe space for all is because he knows what it feels like not to belong. Markos came to Liverpool in 2005 when he was 25 to be with his now-husband, Brad, but before that, back in his hometown, he spent many years trying to find an LGBTQ+ community which is as “welcoming” as the one he has supporting him here in the city.
He said: “Where I grew up it was very Christian and there was a stigma to be gay. There are only 1,000 people there in the winter and 5,000 people in the summer. I only knew of two other gay people, but you would experience homophobia every day. It’s not like this anymore but there was only one gay bar and it wasn’t very open. It very much depended on how your family was with your sexuality. You would experience nasty comments and looks when walking down the street.”
Despite this, Markos remained true to himself as he remembered what his mum, Eugenia, told him before she passed away from Huntington's Disease and that was to be “proud of who you are and everything you do.” It’s fair to say Markos has done exactly that as at every opportunity he has given back to the community by raising funds for charities close to his heart and others that aren’t as well known. He has raised over £400 by raffling a signed LFC shirt to help those living with Huntington’s disease, sponsored a charity evening to raise funds for Ukraine, for which Markos donated a large number of prizes and gift bags for attendees, and is also been known to give out free haircuts to those who have been struggling financially.
Thankfully, Markos' hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed as he recently secured a spot on the ECHO’s first-ever Rainbow list and also made the shortlist for the Community Impact Award at this year’s North West LGBTQ+ Business Awards. Asked what it would mean for him to win, he said: “I'd be over the moon. I mean this is just something which I didn't expect it. I never want anything back from what I do, because I'm always giving back to those who gave something to me. I will be more proud of my clients, my friends and the people around me because it is not just me doing all this work, they are doing it as well.”
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