Hairbrained Conversations

Pulp Riot founder & CEO David Thurston joins Gordon for a talk about coping with Coronavirus, how to best prepare for the coming, post-crisis 'new normal', and much more. Known throughout the professional salon industry as an entrepreneur, educator, and disrupter, David is passionate about sharing his considerable insights on how to adapt to the changes caused by the digital revolution and thrive in the new world.

Longtime Hairbrained community member Shannel Mariano says she graduated beauty school "not knowing how to cut hair. People would tell me how much they admired my passion for learning. They were wrong. Fear drove me to education, not passion." Fast forward to today and Shannel has found her true passion: educating others by way of her unique approach to teaching the fundamentals of haircutting. With 346,000+ followers on Instagram, it's clear that many are being inspired by her passion - and we are thrilled she is sharing a bit of that passion with us on today's episode.

Inspired conversations with two of the industry's leading coaches and voices. Tabatha Coffey, Matrix Global Business Ambassador & Nina Kovner, founder, Passion Squared each share thoughts on how to best cope with the challenges facing salons and professionals in the wake of COVID-19.

Sheri Doss is Global VP, Education of Redken (and all of L'Oreal's other American Brands); Suzanne Strum Is VP of Redken Education US- and together they are a powerhouse of insights into the world of learning in professional beauty, and more specifically, education at Redken (the first major haircare company to make professional development a cornerstone of the brand essence). Recorded live at the Redken Artist Connection conference.

Nick Stenson, Eric Vaughn, Danielle Keasling, Mustafa Avci, Daniel Roldan & Philip Wolff each join Gordon for a 1-on-1 conversation as part of this 2-part series focused on bringing to our hb audience the voices of leading educators and artists from the world of Matrix. This varied collection of conversations offers up a diverse list of lessons learned, great advice, and varied experiences. Stay tuned for part 2 in this series in the coming weeks.

Hairbrained co-founders join Gordon and a live audience in the Hb Community Room at PBA's 2020 ISSE show to talk about the inspiration behind some of Hb's most iconic programs and platforms, the evolution of the community, and take some questions from our audience.

Gordon invited 'fellow geek' Ronan Perceval, CEO, creator and founder of Phorest Salon Software, for an inspired conversation about some of the big learnings that come from collecting millions of pieces of data from salons literally across the globe - including best practices for stylists and salon owners based on that data, coming global trends that the data points towards and much more.

With an eye focused squarely on innovation and how it can best benefit the future of salons and professionals, Sylvie Moreau joins Gordon immediately following her visit to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The global leader of Wella Professional, Sebastian, ghd, OPI and more talks about learnings from this future-focused event - and the award-winning premiere there of Wella Professionals' augmented reality (AR) enabled Smart Mirror - and what this kind of technology will mean for the business of salons.

Redken General Manager Leslie Marino and VP, US Marketing Carrington Cole join Gordon for a rare face-to-face conversation in Miami at the Redken Artist Connection Event. With decades of experience between them, these two passionate leaders talk about the opportunities abounding for professionals in today's highly competitive salon marketplace, the importance and power of mentorship as well as insights into Redken's iconic culture, values and history.

British native and recent transplant to NYC Darren Oram is the VP of Education for L'Oréal Professionnel USA. From his early days as a globe-trotting cruise ship based hairdresser to the evolution of his career into that of an international educator, Darren shares great insights into what it takes to succeed in the professional salon industry - behind the chair or in front of the classroom.