Give Thanks for your “Hairdressing License”

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa or whatever it is that you celebrate this time of year.  Personally, I’m a Christian so I celebrate Christmas.

This month I want to talk to you about something that isn’t directly related to hair color but that definitely influences all of our lives as hairdressers.  That is to be sure to give thanks for your “Hairdressing License”.

Giving thanks for your hairdressing license may seem like a silly thing to you because it’s something that most of us just take for granted. However, to me, it represents a ticket to a new life.

 Let me explain.

 I had an older brother who became a hairdresser at a very young age; this was my first introduction into the world of hairdressing. In high school I was a very average student and found traditional education to be a little boring.

So after my junior year, I quit traditional day school and finished high school at night, while I attended beauty school during the day.

That following June, I graduated from high school. The very next month, July 1973, I passed my State board examination obtaining my license to practice hairdressing in the state of Florida at 17 years of age.

Shortly thereafter, I had the good fortune of attending the International Beauty Show in New York City and had a front row seat to hear Vidal Sassoon deliver the keynote speech to a very large audience.

During his speech, Mr. Sassoon told about growing up in extreme poverty in the Jewish ghetto of London’s Lower East Side. He spoke about how his mother called the local hairdressing salon to see if they needed help with cleaning so that her son, Vidal, might be able to get a job and earn money to help feed the family. As we all know now, he not only got that job, but also went on to become our industry’s most famous icon.

The speech that he gave that day resonated with me because I too came from a very low-income family and lived in a not very desirable part of town.

 I always knew that if I ever wanted anything in my life (a beautiful home, travel, prestige), I would have to earn it myself. Please don’t get me wrong, my family had a lot of love to give, but we just didn’t have any money.  Therefore, I saw my hairdressing license as my ticket to a whole new world.

 A while back, I started a new practice as I drive to work each morning.  After I drop our girls at school, I turn off the radio in the car and for the next 10 or 15 minutes I give thanks aloud for all that is wonderful in my life.  I give thanks for gifts like my loving wife who I have known since we were teenagers; my beautiful healthy daughters; our lovely home; automobiles and our dog and cat who bring me so much joy.  But one of the main things for which I also give thanks each day is my “Hairdressing License”.

 

During this time of economic uncertainty, I would like all of you to realize the incredible opportunities that lay before you with that simple piece of paper - your hairdressing license.

As we watch our customers, friends and family lose jobs, homes and, in some cases, their life savings, you can rest assure that with your hairdressing license you will always have work and prosperity.

 I remember when I was a beauty school student, one of my beauty school instructors was a very old gentleman we called “Pro”.  No one ever knew Pro’s real name, but it didn’t matter, he was a wonderful old man with a wealth of experience and amazing stories.

Pro once told me a story about when he was a young hairdresser during the Depression and had his own salon. He said that, even during that time when businesses were closing all around him, he never closed the doors to his hairdressing salon. During the worst times of the Depression, he said that he did have to go from a five day to a three day work week because there wasn’t enough work to fill the full five days.  Nevertheless, he was still able to keep the doors open and make an income for his family his and staff.

 

  You see, what most people don’t realize is that with your “Hairdressing License” you have the ability to do many, many things.

For example…..

You can work as a hairdresser in a salon or own your own salon.

You can do hair for film, theater, TV commercials, fashion shows, fashion magazines and hair shows.

You can do hair in hospitals, the military, nursing homes, prisons and funeral parlors.

As an employee of a hair product manufacturing company, you can work as a field trainer, sales representative, artistic director, guest artist or evaluator of hair products in their test salon.  Maybe someday, you can become the president of your own hair product manufacturing company like Paul Mitchell, Vidal Sassoon or so many others.

You can become a beauty school instructor or owner, a consultant to a hair product manufacturing company, educator at an advanced hairdressing academy, creative director for a large salon chain, owner of a large salon chain, author of your own books, videos and educational programs.

You can do hair on a cruise ship, in a vacation resort, in shopping malls, in department stores, in underground boutiques, at Disney World and at the “American Girl” doll stores.

You can do hair in the city, the suburbs, the countryside, the United States, any other country in the world in which you choose to live, and, basically, anywhere that people have hair. (I guess this may leave out Mars).

 Personally, I have had the extreme pleasure of doing hair in many of the above scenarios (although, never in prison J).

 The reason I felt the need to share all this with you is because I’m sick and tired of hearing all the negative talk about the economy.  Yes, I know that we are going through an economic recession. I am not living in denial about what is happening in our country and around the world.  However, I think it’s time we all get our heads back on straight and start thinking and working towards a better economy and a better life.

 

I would like to encourage all of you to become aware of the many opportunities that lie before you as hairdressers.  Stop dwelling on the “news of the day” and start focusing on a plan of professional growth in the coming new year.

You see, I’m a firm believer in “What You Think About, You Bring About”.

Focus your mind on the gifts that you have in your life, give thanks each and every day for the many blessings that you have and encourage others around you to do the same.

 We work in an amazing industry. You have made a great choice in becoming a hairdresser. Give thanks each and every day for the talent that God has given you, help others that are in need, encourage others to go to beauty school, and be proud of what you do.

 In closing, I would like to wish each and every one of you a wonderful, happy and prosperous new year and remind you to give thanks for your “Hairdressing License”.

 David