In this fabulous, exciting, creative industry of hair, skin, make up, nails and beauty, one thing we are not always taught at a foundation or basic level is the business or management side of the industry. We either start up and hope for the best, or we work our way up the ranks in these roles as we progress within a salon or we go back and re-train in business & management.

From the beginning of my hairdressing life I enjoyed challenging myself, being creative, experimenting and collaborating. I involved myself with college fashion shows and photography students wanting to create images for their portfolios. I was always on the look-out for a potential model to either let me cut and colour their hair or create an Upstyle or Avant Garde look. Hair styling became my favourite way to work, no restrictions or limits to what I could create.

I still wake up in night sweats remembering the nightmare that was my early hairstyling experience. I can still picture myself, hands trembling behind the chair while my boss, an industry-leading hairstylist at the time, yelled at me to “graduate that bob!”

“But what does that mean?” I pleaded with him, wishing he would keep his voice down in front of the client, who was growing more and more uncomfortable in her chair as the situation escalated.

We had an idea that could revolutionise the hair industry. The idea is that hair salons can close on Saturdays.

An idea that could boost staff retention, productivity, and job satisfaction to new, unexplored heights. And you know the craziest thing? We tried it. And you know what happened? It worked!

I dont think it’s a new phenomenon but i do think it’s more prevalent at the moment due to Covid and various lockdowns. I have see lots of hair friends change careers and many more go freelance. But why is this???

Paper is highly recyclable and it is incredibly important to make sure it does actually get recycled. Read our article Why is it important to recycle paper? to understand why. Your salon disposes of a great deal of paper and cardboard. Even if yours is a “paperless” business (for example, you print neither receipts nor invoices), much of your inventory probably comes in small branded boxes which were probably shipped to you in larger boxes. You may also have an assortment of…

When Hairdressing live got in touch and asked would I write a blog post on mindset, I jumped at the chance. I knew I had to put my fingers to the laptop and fill you all in on what I have learned over the last 20 years reading, practicing and learning about mindset.

When covid-19 hit just over a year ago & the world went into lockdown, we all had to take a moment to pause & slow down. All of our journeys have been different and we've all had to adapt...

I am a true believer in finding inspiration from outside your industry. I find it keeps your work unique and current and creates really powerful stories. Whether you are a business owner looking for ideas to enhance the value of your products or services, explore unmet customer needs or a session stylist creating a look for a fashion campaign, taking inspiration from other sectors is a huge opportunity not to be missed.

Tom Connell has spent a lot of time thinking about and re assessing what an Art Director is, and more importantly what should they bring to a company.

What is the job of an Art Director?

Take a look into Karoliina Saunders journey into the fabulous session world and how she achieved her dreams of working with Gary Gill, Eugene Souleiman, Guido Paulo and many more. Karoliina gives advise on how you also can achieve your dreams.

So how many times have you had a consultation with a client , where they say “it’s only a full head of foils or it’s just a brown!!”? After getting down to the nitty gritty with details and after they whip out pictures on Pinterest , we realise that this ain’t just a classic foils after all. But I really think this is most clients nowadays. The picture shown is never one classic technique as we learned during our training.

So let’s break it down then…

People commonly think of education as an investment. Which in turn, gives a sense of pride in where they have been educated. The journey from assistant to stylist can be a long distant road which requires a huge amount of focus, from you and from your educator. A balancing act of your time personally and professionally. Some people require more attention and need to practice more to find themselves feeling more natural towards their subject, which they are learning. Always seek…