SCHOONER- For a few minutes, the atmosphere inside Captain Fatty's Brewery in Santa Barbara County was quiet, unlike the usual clamor of a Friday night.
On this afternoon in late May, the 15 men gathered there contemplated tackling something that few before had had the courage or ability to confront. Austin Nieves, a newcomer to the area and the man who had brought this brave group together, broke the tense silence by handing out beers.
Within minutes, the men, who ranged in age from 30 to 60, began chatting among themselves.
Then they started braiding the hair.
The May 22 event: the viral version of Goleta UK-inspired “pints and ponytails” night – I was exhausted. The idea is for expert hairdressers to train uninitiated or intimidated parents on how to style and braid their children's hair, using salon-style head mannequins but in a sibling environment.
“When the first guys got there, they were stiff,” said Nieves, a Pasadena native who moved to Santa Barbara in April 2025. “Then after that first beer, they went from sitting on the edge of the bar to starting to learn and trying.”
Dad group members Dan Ucko, left, and Eric Schalla participate in the barber shop event at Captain Fatty's Brewery in Goleta.
The meeting was one of several functions for fathers from the group Santa Barbara Dads, which Nieves founded last spring.
The May Dad's Party offered, along with the foam, a learning experience and camaraderie between parents, something Nieves believes is much needed.
“When my wife had our son, she immediately became part of at least five mom groups and classes that offered her help, advice, friendship and training,” Nieves said. “As a new father, I really only had to turn to my brothers, who also had children.”
Scientific studies have shown that as fathers have taken a more active role in raising children, they have faced loneliness, doubt, and confusion.
Researchers Chris Knoester and David J. Eggebeen wrote in 2006 in the “Journal of Family Issues” that parenthood leads “to decreased feelings of well-being and participation in social activities” as fathers spend less time with friends.
Clinical psychologists Hillary Halpern and Maureen Perry-Jenkins have documented that the transition from single life to parenthood is often accompanied by a rollercoaster of emotions. And researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm determined in a 2021 study that fathers may need help “during their transition to parenthood.”
Eric Drachman of Santa Barbara, center, pays close attention as hairstylist Chi Jou Lin, left, teaches a group of parents how to style their daughters' hair.
A detail of one of the mannequin heads.
According to the 2021 study, one of those ways to help men is specifically a fathers group.
Most men “were largely satisfied with participating in parenting groups and described it as positively impacting their relationship with their partner and child.”
The increased contact also helped improve “their self-confidence and family equality and decreased their loneliness.”
Nieves agreed that her free time and focus changed dramatically after the birth of her son, Hudson, now 3, as did updates to her friend group.
“They were talking about all this crazy fun or TV shows and I was talking about how my son could lift his head,” Nieves said. “That's when I knew I had to diversify.”
Nieves, who then lived in Costa Mesa with his wife, Katie, created the Orange County Dads Club in October 2023.
Scientific studies have shown that as fathers have taken a more active role in raising children, they have faced loneliness, doubt, and confusion.
His group of merry men held gatherings at coffee shops, breweries, and the zoo, hosted Christmas parties, and even offered CPR classes.
Its success helped spawn a chapter in the Whittier area.
Although strictly a parents' club, the group, Nieves said, has grown as wives and partners share their social media posts with their husbands.
Mikhail Alfon, founder of Blue Light Media, a social media strategy agency, took his son Santos to several meetings in Orange County.
“This is our first child and obviously life changes a lot,” Alfon said in a social media post. “Finding peers and friends who are at the same stage in life is fantastic.”
That sense of community faced a challenge, however, when Nieves and her family bought a home in Santa Barbara and moved in in April 2025.
Peter Aguilar, left, and Fredy Medel work on their technique. Medel's partner, Daniela Fajardo, with her 1-year-old daughter, Faylani, records the event.
However, within a month, he had established a parenting group based in Santa Barbara. Their first meeting was in May 2025 and they made a goal to meet once a month.
Austin Jones, a Santa Barbara-based real estate investor and agent, found Nieves through Instagram.
“I'm a husband, father and businessman, and sometimes it ends up being a lot of tasks and very little support,” Jones said. “It's nice to find people in the trenches with you.”
Jones was intrigued by Pints and Ponytails while grappling with his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Noa's hair care needs and her curly, textured locks.
Before long, Jones had gained enough confidence to put her mannequin's hair in a ponytail and vowed to try it with her daughter soon.
“Before this I was only pretty good at putting on a headband,” he joked.
The six mannequin heads and hour of instruction came courtesy of Santa Barbara cosmetologist Chi Jou “Belle” Lin, who offers mobile services in the area.
“I saw the post on social media and a lot of people reached out to me to teach the class,” Lin said. “I had to help.”
Lin said the mannequins he brought varied in length and hair type, from straight to curly, but also fine in texture, as he tried to replicate the hair of young children.
A pint of beer, hairdressing tools and sprays.
She also taught parents basic hair care techniques, including shampooing, detangling, checking for lice, and how to tie ponytails and braids.
Even if they started out reticent, parents became active participants, asking questions about how to create a neat French braid, what to do with tangled ponytails and how to deal with scared children, Lin said.
“I was very impressed by the parents, their skills and the real-life questions,” said the stylist, who has personal experience at home with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Lotus. “Not all men have the courage to ask questions.”
For Nieves, the secret to getting new dads and retaining others is simplicity.
“If you open the door, the parents will follow you because everyone could use a little help,” Nieves said. “But they just need to know that it exists and that they are not alone.”
Dads Gabriel Sandoval, left, José Guerrero and David Talavera toast each other at the “Pints and Ponytails” event for Santa Barbara County Dads on May 22 in Goleta.
Days after the Goleta reunion, Santa Barbara dad Eric Drachman became a celebrity at his soon-to-be 3-year-old daughter, Noa,'s preschool.
“When the videos of the event were released, the teachers at the school recognized me,” Drachman said. “They asked my daughter: 'Who did your hair?'”
The question that means the most, however, is when Noa asks her father to fix her hair.
“She asks from time to time,” he said. “It's a very fun dynamic we have.”
