Flying the flag for British Hairdressing and Barbering

By August 5, 2016General

Hi guys, me again. I hope all is good in your world.

So the end of January started my year off of international travel flying the flag for British Hairdressing and Barbering. The first trip was to Long Beach, California to the International Salon & Spa Expo.

In the US as in the UK, the Barbering world is growing at a tremendous rate and this was very apparent at the expo, Exhibitors such as Wahl US and Andis to name but a few had very high profile stands and were turning out some fantastic work all weekend.

I was demonstration all weekend on the stage of the world first & leading designers of ergonomic Scissors, Sensei Shears. There are about 15 members of the Sensei team that do all the shows. They do 20 shows around the globe spreading the word on the health benefits and ergonomics of their scissors.

The show was the normal 3 days, Sat/Sun/Mon and was packed all weekend. I have found that the audience at the exhibitions are slightly different to Salon International over here, we tend to have different people each day here, but over in the US and Aisa people get a 3 day pass, so you get to see the same people coming back for more education each day. I really like this as you can deliver more in depth education as you have already had the chance to deliver the basics the session or day before.

The other thing I have found the more I work in the US is that they are a little behind us in terms of understanding how a haircut works, what is causing the problems they have with their haircuts and how to fix it or not causing it in the first place.

I think this is due to the fact that the national training curriculum is not as thorough as it is here in the UK; they just don’t go into it in as much detail.

30 years ago when I was learning the skill we were taught the old fashioned way of freehand clipper skills and were never allowed to use guards or attachments when cutting. This skill seems to have been taken over by the use of guards/grades and when you become reliant on these to true skill of the job can be forgotten.

When I’m planning the content for my seminars and show demonstrations I try to concentrate on this skill and try to encourage barbers to up their skills to work more with freehand clippering rather than relying on guards and this went down a storm in LA and I think its because they don’t see it often.

Over the weekend I worked on about 20 demonstration models, showcasing the latest trends from here in the UK. Can’t tell you how much they love the British thing. Soon as they hear the accent and see the detail we work to they stay and watch the whole demo.

“Its all about the detail”

It’s not all work. Went to some really cool bars and had a few beers with the guys, even got asked for ID. Lol. Just wish I were a bit younger as they like to party.

After dining at some of the best restaurants in LA it was back to the hotel and time to prep for the next days shows. The thing most people don’t see is the amount of planning and prep that goes into the shows. Most people think you just rock up and get on stage. Oh if this were only the case. Throw some Jet lag in to the mix and it can be tough sometimes. #grumpywithnosleep

Got the chance to catch up with some old friends that I haven’t seen I a while, Eden Sassoon, Sean Dawson and Stephen Moody, real legends in the industry and met some new friends too.

So after five days in the amazing city of LA, time to head home. Might as well make the most of the 12-hour flight to start planning the next show in New York & Chicago in 4 weeks time.

So that’s it from me for this months blog, just one other thing, cant remember where but I heard a quote the other day that hit a bit of a cord with me, thought I would share it with you all on here.

The quote went “ the harder I work the more successful I seem to be” Funny that!!! So until next time guys.

Be amazing!!!