Hairbrained Conversations

By Gerard ScarpaciBusiness Arts Fashion & Beauty Careers

Hairbrained Conversations episodes

September 17, 2023 Episode #306: Tatum Neill, Founder of @elevatehair
Tatum Neill's roots in the professional beauty industry run deep. His father, Edwin Smokey Neill, played a pivotal role in helping iconic hairdressers like Horst Rechelbacher, Paul Mitchell, and Irvine Rusk grow and distribute their respective brands during the 1970s and '80s. Today, Tatum and his family run 18 cosmetology schools, own and manage a distributorship, and have launched events such as Serious Business. And Tatum is leading the charge in the digital arena with his own brainchild, Elevate Hair. In this episode, Tatum reflects on the past and looks to the future, stressing the need for elevating cosmetology instructors, the future of events and competitions, and what's next for the industry.
46 min
September 10, 2023 Episode #305: Christopher Aaron, @cristopheraaronstudio, L'ANZA International Advanced Artist
Some people go through their whole lives not knowing what they want to do, and then there are people like Christopher Aaron (@christopheraaronstudio), who always knew he wanted to be a hairdresser. Luckily for him (and us), his high school offered a program that allowed him to attend beauty school. It wasn't always easy, but luckily his mentors helped him through. His first job at Supercuts allowed him to hone his craft and master all hair types and textures. Fast forward to today, and Christopher is an Advanced Healing Artist with L'ANZA. His expertise meant that he was instrumental in developing the brand's new Healing Curls line and most recently the line's newest product, Butter Whip Styling Foam. He also has branched into celebrity styling, doing hair for the Oscars and morning television shows.
47 min
September 03, 2023 #304: Adam Federico, VP of Creative Development, @randco
We are honored to count Adam Federico as one of the first Hairbrained Community members, as well as a longtime friend and fellow #crafthairdresser. In this episode, we trace Adam's and his family's deep roots in professional beauty education, going all the way back to his grandfather. And for Adam, what started with playing with student kits in his garage developed into fulfilling a passion for hairdressing, not to mention becoming a salon owner and world-class educator. We talk about what inspired him to invest in bringing overseas talent to the U.S., as well as offering classes with brands like Z Gat, Dove Palmer and more, many for the first time in the states. His love for education continued to blossom when, after selling his salon following the pandemic, he began working with R+Co and created the brand's educational identity while developing courses for both the updated Miami studio and salons around the world.
45 min
August 27, 2023 Episode #303: Ricardo Dinis, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Haircutting and Trichologist
We've long heard that scalp health equals hair health, but what exactly does that mean? In this episode, Ricardo Dinis (@ricadodinis), @Aveda Global Artistic Director of Haircutting, sheds light on scalp health and scalp solutions. He shares his journey to becoming a trichologist, a specialist who focuses on problems related to the hair and scalp, and how this has perfectly dovetailed with his career at Aveda. We also discuss how Aveda is helping to train hairdressers to become more knowledgeable about the scalp (Did you know that there's a scientific reason why shampoo benefits the scalp?), and how this will in turn help hair health, not to mention client retention and your bottom line.
38 min
August 20, 2023 Episode #302: Kati Whitledge, Mya Software Founder
In this episode, we get to know Kati Whitledge (@katiwhitledge), entrepreneur, salon owner, professional speaker, author and fellow podcaster. She shares her journey of how, as a "thirsty" hairdresser, she was fascinated with business development and why people choose brands or, more importantly, connect with certain types of people. She developed a survey that matches potential clients with hairdressers at her Madison, Wisconsin salon, Be Inspired (@be_inspired_salon). This not only helped her to dramatically increase revenue and retention, but it also led to the creation of her matchmaking software company, Mya (@join_mya). From there she launched the Beyond the Technique podcast to further business advice. Kati shares how you too can build and manage great teams, increase client satisfaction and retention, and grow revenue.
52 min
August 06, 2023 Episode #301 Maggie Hancock, Schwarzkopf Professional Artist
In this episode, Maggie Hancock, @maggiemh, @schwarzkopfusa artist reveals how determination, grit and humility helped her achieve her goals. She shares how she not only took on multiple jobs to make her dream of opening a salon a reality, but also volunteered her time and talent on photo shoots, which led her to her current role at Schwarzkopf Professional overseeing creative direction on photo shoots. We also discuss the value of showing up and assisting; the nuances of hustle culture; and how AI is impacting the landscape of creativity.
38 min
July 23, 2023 Episode #300: Gerard Scarpaci and Randy Taylor
To celebrate our 300thpodcast episode, Hairbrained cofounders Gerard Scarpaci and Randy Taylor reflect on Hb's past, present and future—and the immense gratitude they feel to each of you who have been part of the journey. They reminisce about the early days, when over pizza and beer they realized the massive opportunities that social media created for the industry, and how these thoughts became actions with the first app created for hairdressers and led to the Hairbrained community. They discuss what is working today, but more importantly dream of future opportunities and connections. Since many of you have been along since the beginning, we'd love to hear more your thoughts about Randy and Gerard's ideas for tomorrow and beyond!
48 min
July 16, 2023 Episode #299: Ben Brown, Global Educator
Aristotle once said, "The more you know, the more you realize you don't know." Ben Brown (@benbrownhair) had this epiphany when a student asked him why he was doing a technique in a certain way, and he realized he didn't actually know. So the left-handed hairdresser made it his mission to master his craft by becoming the ultimate student. He began filming his work to learn from his mistakes, and later decided to post them to his Instagram page, which now boasts more than 300k followers. In this episode, Ben reveals how perfecting his craft and showing up authentically as himself led to opportunities he could never have imagined, including being a guest on the Hb Teach In stage and imparting his knowledge with students the world over both in person and online.
51 min
July 09, 2023 Episode #298: Stef Fox Founder of Talent Match
With more than two decades in the pro beauty space, not to mention a master's degree in business, Stef Fox (@stef_fox) has had a long and varied career that allows her to simultaneously have an intimate as well as a bird's eye view of the industry. And for the past few years, the founder of Talent Match (@salonrecruiting) has conducted an annual survey, which, with more than 22,000 responses, is not only the largest that we know of, but also delivers valuable data and insights about employment and what hairdressers are looking for. In this episode, she shares five of her top findings, and she also discusses what they mean for salon owners and the hairdressers who work for them.
43 min
July 02, 2023 Episode #297: Colin Caruso and Fern Andong, John Paul Mitchell Systems
On the eve of @paulmitchellpro's latest release, the nine-SKU semi-permanent hair color line Colorways, we're joined by Artistic Director for Color @colincaruso and Colorways Brand Ambassador @fernthebarber. Creative color is experiencing a renaissance, and not just in the salon—as a barber, Fern shares how he's seen an uptick in client requests as well. Colin and Fern discuss the line's versatility and creativity and how, just like sneaker brands drop special editions, so too will Colorways release limited edition hues as trends emerge.
47 min

About Hairbrained Conversations

From the publisher's feed

A weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into the minds of some of the most talented artists, educators, influencers, and leaders in the professional salon industry. Hosted by Gerard Scarpaci,…