RAISING THE BAR BY VERONIKA BYRNE
T
hroughout my thirty-year career in hairdressing, I’ve gained a lot of practical and intellectual experience. I’ve had my highs and lows. I’ve gained some great friends and some not so great friends. I hold advanced hairdressing, teaching and assessing diplomas, and now a professional journalism diploma has joined the collection. My decision to become a journalist was due to the road accident that I was involved in recently where I almost lost my life. It was, indeed, a life-changing experience. Due to the injuries, I thought I would never return to the world of hair ever again. However, as I am recovering, I hope to return to it very soon, because it is my true passion. It would be hard to choose between hairdressing and journalism as I now find that the two qualities do complement one another, as they are both of creative nature. Journalism is not only about writing. It is also very much about listening, observing and reporting. Since I have been listening and soaking it all in for so many years, I now feel it’s about time to start sharing some of my observations. I see the hairdressing profession as a beautiful profession for one to have with enormous possibilities to grow. However, there’s been a lot of doom and gloom around the hairdressing industry lately. There’s been a lot of talks about the black economy threatening to destroy the legitimate hair and beauty industry. Indeed, it seems to be a real problem. Although certain people and groups are working hard to improve the industry already, we still can help to make it happen faster and easier by working together. Everyone can contribute in their own way and so help to raise overall standards of the industry. Working in salons, I often encountered difficulties over the 86
years because of my outspokenness or seeking fairness for my colleagues, my clients, myself; or on some occasions, even standing up for my boss. Finally, as a professional journalist, I can speak up for my hard-working colleagues without being punished! One of the most common phrases I used to hear from my colleagues during my hairdressing career was: “I better keep my mouth shut to keep my job”. A situation like that is unhealthy and entirely unsatisfactory. An environment that breeds discontent and fear is neither conducive to a healthy work environment nor a happy workforce. I started my career as a trainee in a salon while studying hairdressing in college. It was more like I had a private tutor, let’s call her Mary, after college hours as I was paying her to take me on. We didn’t have any ties. We agreed on a fee, and Mary said she’d teach me everything that she knew. I was free to leave as soon as I qualified and felt comfortable working without supervision. I opened a small salon in the village where I lived, without employing anyone. It was handy being my own boss as I had three young children at the time. Starting out in selfemployment, I had a lot to learn and explore. Maintaining a high standard of hygiene at work has always been my golden rule, as I’d try to think from the clients’ perspective. I have worked in many salons, both big and small, and I have seen all kinds of everything. One of the most bizarre experiences for me was when I started work in a new salon and was looking for the ‘blue boxes’ (tool sterilizers for stylingbrushes). They told me they didn’t have them as they are old fashioned. I was dumbfounded! Since when has hygiene become old fashioned?