Hairbrained Conversations

Traci Sakosits (@tracisak_hair) has devoted her career to uplifting and educating future hairdressers. After spending the last decade coaching students as the North American Creative Director at Sassoon Academy, she is now the VP of Education and Creative for Aveda Arts + Sciences Institutes. We dive deep into a discussion on the current state of education and what makes a great educator. Traci also shares her ongoing mission to not only enhance cosmetology education through innovative curriculum, but to also elevate the perception of cosmetology instructors by showing the industry, and the world, how important they are to hairdressers' success.

Many brands have been known to pivot during their lifetime, but none quite like Olivia Garden (@oliviagarden_int). Established in 1967 by Jean and Micheline Rennette in Belgium, the company began life as a high-quality synthetic wig manufacturer. But as tastes changed, Olivia Garden transitioned to distributor, to education company and finally, as we know them today, a global tool manufacturer. Anne Maza, daughter of Jean and Micheline, shares how she and her brother Pierre as co-owners have continually adapted to the changing needs of the industry. She reveals how all tools are designed with explicit input from a team of hairdressers, and how this approach allows Olivia Garden to continually produce quality tools that solve the challenges hairdressers face every day.

With the brand-new Premiere Anaheim trade show just around the corner, Ed McNeill, SVP of Premiere Show Group, shares his insights into @premierebeautyshows' evolution and the continued importance of trade shows in today's digital age.

In this episode, you'll learn how Premiere grew from humble beginnings into one of the most respected and must-attend events of the professional hair industry. In a world where online purchasing continues to rise, Ed delves deep into the ongoing relevance of trade shows, as well as why and how they continue to play an important role in the industry. With new shows debuting in Austin, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, we also discuss the future of Premiere Shows and how they will cater to the changing needs of the industry.

One of the industry's best educators—not to mention a polished facilitator and presenter—Sonna Brado (@sonnabrado) reinvented her career during the pandemic by creating educational videos that offer value both to hairstylists and clients alike. As a result, Sonna's social media following grew exponentially, which has allowed her to successfully launch a tool brand and online education service. In this episode, she offers insights into her content creation process, and discusses how innate talent and hard work build a successful hairdressing career.

It has long been reported by government and private statistics reports that many, if not most, hairdressers earn less than the poverty level. But because of inconsistencies and confusion in reporting, Tom and Erin Kuhn believed these figures weren't truly representative of hairdressers' salaries, and could be dissuading people from following their passion. In this episode, the Kuhns explain their methodologies and share the their discoveries to paint a much different (and rosier) earning picture for our industry.

A non-conformist filled with ambition since her teens when she found her passion and talent for hair, Janine Jarman has continually strived to do things her way. Janine frankly discusses how being persistent and following her gut has led her on her journey from salon owner to brand ambassador to being awarded "Fan Favorite" on Bravo's Shear Genius in 2010. And when everyone thought she was crazy to launch a perm brand, she refused to listen to the naysayers and launched Curl Cult to wide success. No stranger to difficulty, Janine also delves into the challenges that the pandemic put her through as the owner of Hairroin salons in New York City and Los Angeles.

Not many can claim they went from driving a forklift at Home Depot to becoming one of the industry's most recognizable educators. But this unique origin story befits Fern Andong, better known as @fernthebarber, and his unique approach to hair and education.

In this episode, Fern reveals not only his humble beginnings, but also the benefits and challenges of being dual licensed and educating in barbering and cosmetology, as well as what it's like to constantly develop new skills to keep up with the ever-changing demands of social media content creation.

Over the past several years, Jayne Matthews (@jayne_edosalon) has blazed a trail across our industry using social media to share her "carving petals" approach to razor cutting. But her success has been hard earned; she had to overcome many challenges to find her authentic voice and approach to the craft, commerce and culture of hairdressing. Jayne is a vocal advocate for non-toxic salon environments and has a unique perspective on teaching clients how to cut their own hair. During the pandemic, she pioneered digital education that helped clients to care for their own hair and shared her approach with many stylists who otherwise would have been without an income during that time.

One wouldn't think that being an introvert would actually help a hairdresser become a celebrity stylist. But that's just what happened to Ryan Richman (@ryanrichman), who was recently named an @aveda ambassador. Ryan's incredible roster of star clients reads like a Young Hollywood It List: Sarah Hyland, Sadie Sink, Kate Mara, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams and more. In this episode, you'll learn how he broke into this area of our industry, how he developed the necessary skills and how being naturally introverted has helped him succeed.

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