SoCal dads turn to braids and beer for solidarity and support

GOLETA — For a fewer minutes, the ambiance wrong Captain Fatty’s Brewery successful Santa Barbara County was quiet, antithetic from the accustomed Friday nighttime clamor.

On this precocious May evening, the 15 men gathered determination were contemplating tackling thing fewer had antecedently had the courageousness oregon accomplishment to instrumentality on. Austin Nieves, a caller transplant to the country and the antheral who had brought this brave radical together, broke the strained soundlessness by handing retired beers.

Within minutes, the men, who ranged successful property from 30 to 60, began chatting among themselves.

Then they started braiding hair.

The May 22 lawsuit — Goleta’s mentation of the viral U.K.-inspired “Pints and Ponytails” nighttime — was sold out. The thought is to person adept hairstylists bid uninitiated oregon intimidated fathers connected however to comb and braid their kids’ hair, utilizing salon-type caput mannequins but successful a mounting for bros.

“When the archetypal guys got there, they were stiff,” said Nieves, a Pasadena autochthonal who moved to Santa Barbara successful April 2025. “Then aft that archetypal beer, they went from sitting astir the borderline of the barroom to jumping close into learning and giving it a shot.”

Dads radical members Dan Ucko, left, and Eric Schalla enactment successful the hairstyling lawsuit astatine Captain Fatty’s Brewery successful Goleta.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The gathering was 1 of respective begetter functions by the Santa Barbara Dads group, which Nieves founded past spring.

May’s papa enactment offered, on with the suds, a learning acquisition and camaraderie among fathers, which Nieves believes is overmuch needed.

“When my woman had our son, she instantly became portion of astatine slightest 5 ma groups and classes that offered her help, advice, relationship and training,” Nieves said. “As a first-time father, I truly lone had my brothers, who had children themselves, to crook to.”

Scientific studies person shown that arsenic fathers person taken a much progressive relation successful kid rearing, they’ve faced loneliness, uncertainty and confusion.

Researchers Chris Knoester and David J. Eggebeen wrote successful 2006 successful the “Journal of Family Issues” that fatherhood leads “to declines successful feelings of well-being and information successful societal activities” arsenic fathers walk little clip with friends.

Clinical psychologists Hillary Halpern and Maureen Perry-Jenkins documented that the modulation from azygous beingness to fatherhood is often accompanied by a roller coaster of emotions. And researchers from Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute determined successful a 2021 survey that fathers mightiness necessitate assistance “during their modulation to fatherhood.”

After a affable competition, Chi Jou “Belle” Lin selects the winning mannequin during the May 22 meetup.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

One specified mode to assistance men is specifically a fathers group, according to the 2021 study.

Most men “were mostly satisfied with participating successful begetter groups and described that they positively impacted their narration with their spouse and child.”

The accrued interaction besides helped amended “their self-confidence and household equality and decreased their loneliness.”

Nieves agreed that his leisure clip and absorption changed sharply aft the commencement of his child, Hudson, present 3 years old, arsenic did his person radical updates.

“They were talking astir each this brainsick amusive oregon TV shows and I was talking astir my lad being capable to assistance his head,” Nieves said. “That’s erstwhile I knew I had to subdivision out.”

Nieves, past surviving successful Costa Mesa with his wife, Katie, created the Orange County Dads nine successful October 2023.

His radical of merry men held meetups astatine java shops, brew halls and the zoo, hosted vacation hootenannies and adjacent offered CPR classes.

Its occurrence helped spawn a section successful the Whittier area.

Though strictly a fathers club, the group, Nieves said, has grown acknowledgment to wives and partners sharing his societal media posts with their husbands.

Mikhail Alfon, laminitis of Blue Light Media, a societal media strategy agency, took his son, Santos, to aggregate Orange County meetups.

“This is our archetypal kid and evidently beingness changes a lot,” said Alfon successful a societal media post. “Finding peers and friends that are successful the aforesaid signifier of beingness is great.”

That consciousness of community, however, faced a situation arsenic Nieves and his household purchased a location successful Santa Barbara and moved successful April 2025.

Peter Aguilar, left, and Fredy Medel enactment connected their technique. Medel’s partner, Daniela Fajardo, holding their 1-year-old daughter, Faylani, records the event.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Within a month, however, helium had established a Santa Barbara-based dads group. Their archetypal meetup was successful May 2025, and they’ve made a constituent to stitchery erstwhile a month.

Austin Jones, a Santa Barbara-based existent property cause and investor, recovered Nieves done Instagram.

“I’m a husband, a dada and businessman, and it ends up being a batch of hats but precise small support, astatine times,” Jones said. “It’s bully to find radical successful the trenches with you.”

Jones was intrigued by Pints and Ponytails arsenic he’s battled the hair-care needs of his 2 ½-year-old daughter, Noa, and her textured, curly locks.

In a abbreviated while, Jones had gained capable assurance successful whipping his mannequin’s hairsbreadth into a ponytail that helium vowed to effort with his girl soon.

“I was lone beauteous bully astatine putting connected a headband earlier this,” helium quipped.

The six mannequin heads and the hr of acquisition came courtesy of Santa Barbara cosmetologist Chi Jou “Belle” Lin, who offers country mobile services.

“I saw the societal media station and a batch of radical reached retired to maine to thatch the class,” Lin said. “I had to help.”

Lin said the mannequins she brought varied successful hairsbreadth magnitude and type, from consecutive to coily, but besides good successful texture, arsenic she tried to replicate young children’s hair.

She besides taught the fathers basal hair-care techniques, including shampooing, detangling, checking for lice and however to necktie ponytails and braids.

Even if they started retired reticent, the fathers became progressive participants, asking questions astir creating a neat French braid, what to bash astir tangled ponytails and however to woody with frightened children, Lin said.

“I was truly impressed with the dads and their skills and the real-life questions,” said the stylist, who has idiosyncratic acquisition astatine location successful her 2 ½-year-old daughter, Lotus. “Not each men person the courageousness to inquire questions.”

For Nieves, the concealed successful gaining caller dads and retaining others is simplicity.

“If you unfastened the door, the fathers volition travel due to the fact that everyone tin usage immoderate help,” Nieves said. “But they conscionable request to cognize it exists and they’re not alone.”

Days aft the Goleta get-together, Santa Barbara dada Eric Drachman became a personage astatine the preschool of his daughter, Noa, who is soon to beryllium 3.

“When the videos of the lawsuit were posted, the teachers astatine the schoolhouse recognized me,” Drachman said. “They would inquire my daughter, ‘Who did your hair?’”

The query that means most, however, is erstwhile Noa asks her begetter to hole her hair.

“She asks occasionally,” helium said. “It‘s specified a amusive dynamic we have.”