The Australian Hairdressing Council The AHC

Australia is a very multicultural country, there's no doubt about it. And with the rainbow of nationalities that reside here comes a myriad of hair styles, colours and textures.

Most hairdressers are accustomed to working with the most common hair type - straight and fair - however when it comes to textured locks, there's definitely a fear factor, most likely brought on by a lack of understanding and training in these specific types of hair.

Today's guests on the AHC podcast are AHC member Alannah Read from Ella & Jade salon in Brisbane and Lani Masuku from Organic SUKU. We'll be chatting to these talented and knowledgable ladies about all things textured hair and the need to not only understand it, but also effectively train our staff to be able to provide a service for those clients who visit our salons with these particular hair types.

As hairdressers, it's important that we are able to competently handle every hair type. This interview covers not only what textured hair looks like in all its forms, but also what our industry needs to do when it comes to learning something different and how to embrace these new discoveries... Because most of you would agree that textured hair education is sadly lacking when it comes to training in our industry.

Learn more about Organic SUKU here: https://organicsuku.com/

Dialling the next generation of salons: The Concierge is on Line 1.

We think you'd all agree owning a business would be SO much easier if we could just concentrate on doing hair and making our clients feel and look beautiful, and not have to worry about all the other hats we have to wear when we run a business. One of those hats is understanding the whole digital space - which not only can be pretty confusing and incredibly time consuming, but plagued with missed opportunities for your business if it's not being done well.

If this rings a bell for you, you'll love today's guest on the AHC podcast.  Step into the service suite with Brayden Beavis and Your Salon Support (YSS), where they handle all things tech and digitalisation so you can focus on growth. Like the cordless phones of the '90s that freed us to move and multitask, YSS frees up your business from the complexities of digital marketing. Brayden has worked with leading salons in Australia that prioritise digital first, and have become luxury brands. This is achievable for you too.

Brayden seamlessly bridges the gap between online buzz and in-salon success, offering tailored strategies to reach more revenue and pull in new clients. YSS can take all of those time consuming digital tasks off your hands so you can focus on your clients - emails, checking inventory, posting on social media, writing blogs, search engine optimisation, etc... They also build up your website, ensuring it's modern and high performing, converting new clients that are looking you up online and putting them into chairs in your salon. 🥂🛎️

You can learn more about Brayden and YSS at:  https://yoursalonsupport.com/

Do you ever wonder why you find some staff a breeze to manage, while others drive you C-R-A-Z-Y?
Are you frustrated that what works to motivate one staff member does absolutely nothing for another?
And why are some people naturally great at things that others find super challenging?
Is it even possible to get very different personalities working harmoniously together?
The answer is in understanding personality styles - the unique character traits and gifts that make us individuals. No personality is right or wrong or better than any other, but each comes with wonderful gifts and strengths (and a few extra ‘quirks’ we’ll call the ‘gift with purchase’).
Understanding the core personality styles and learning to master your approaches with each can transform your relationships, unlock employee performance potential, and build cohesive cultures where everyone feels valued and appreciated.
Settle in... You’re about to get the instruction manual that shows you how to manage everyone on your team and exactly why they are the way they are.
No doubt, you’ll have a giggle, but you’ll also walk away a better, more empathetic and effective leader.

Here is the online personality quiz that Kym refers to in this session to learn what personality type you are as well as your team members: https://richardstep.com/dope-personality-type-quiz/dope-bird-4-personality-types-test-questions-online-version/

There is also a printable version here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XvwtJu_NLv840lNp7jRM-qhLOh7oFIp3/view?usp=sharing

Today's guest on the AHC podcast is Christo Hall, co-founder of Basic Bananas, a marketing mentoring agency for small businesses. Christo and his team have assisted thousands of different businesses, including salons, over the years, to master their marketing and increase sales, and today we'll be talking about how to effectively outsource your social media.

We're all time poor, right? But as a business owner, you're probably struggling to manage all of your daily tasks more than most. You might look after your businesses's social media yourself, but perhaps it's becoming a bit of a time-consuming chore, so you'd like to hand the reins over to someone else to manage it. But ensuring that the next person responsible for your socials gets it right can be downright challenging.

When most business owners outsource or get a team member to implement their social media, what often happens is the person, the marketing agency, or even the in-house team member, can get your brand's tone of voice wrong, or sometimes they don't understand the industry. Maybe they make grammatical errors or choose the wrong images, or their wording just sounds wrong. Whatever the case, it can be very detrimental to your brand.

So when that happens, what happens to your socials? You end up bringing it back in house and doing it yourself all over again, which can be a struggle for a time poor business owner. So how can you move your social media off your to-do list and get it right at the same time?

Here's some great tips from Christo about how to do just that. And if you'd like to learn some other great marketing ideas from the team at Basic Bananas, visit their website here: https://www.basicbananas.com/

Today's guest on the AHC podcast is Justin Pace, owner of Co & Pace Salon, incredible educator and colourist, and also current AHIA Creative Australian Hairdresser of the Year. When Justin won this award back in September last year, he said he felt very passionate about giving back to the industry, especially in the area of apprenticeships. And the result of that drive is the Curate Awards. 


Justin has created this unique competition platform to discover and celebrate Australia’s freshest urban and regional Apprentice talent through the delivery of exciting hair vision and creativity.

The goal of CURATE Awards is to reinvigorate a sustainable industry by attracting, inspiring, and retaining a new generation of driven Apprentices whilst elevating the perception of hairdressing as an exciting career pathway.

For Salon Owners and Directors CURATE Awards is a unique tool to motivate and guide Apprentices to enter the competitive arena for the first time and to shine a light on their salon. For Apprentices CURATE presents an unprecedented opportunity to develop their profile within the industry, along with winning epic prizes.
 
HOW DOES CURATE AWARDS WORK?
This digital competition is easily accessible for all Australian Apprentice hairdressers, simply requiring entrants to create a 2-minute video edit showcasing their cut and colour skills, or colour and style skills, then upload it to the CURATE Awards competition platform along with a few photos and forms.


There are 4 CURATE Award Winners based on each of the award categories –


Urban Cut and ColourUrban Colour and StyleRegional Cut and ColourRegional Colour and StyleCURATE PRIZES INCLUDE:
A full-day photo shoot workshop for all four winners with Justin PaceTickets to the AHIA Creative Awards galaSingle-day passes to Hair FestivalCoverage in HAIRBIZ magazine and across Mocha Hair digital platformsA professional biography created in conjunction with Lily Blue CommunicationsAnd plenty more! KEY DATES:
Entries open on 8th January.Entries due by 25th March.Finalists announced on  29th April.Winners announced on  27th MayCURATE is super easy to take part, and entries are OPEN NOW!


Watch for more news and updates at www.curateawards.com, CurateAwardsForApprentices on Facebook and / or @curateawards on Instagram.

How do you see apprentices? A cost? Or an investment in your business?

The stats are pretty dismal when it comes to apprentices not only entering hairdressing, but finishing their apprenticeships. Hairdressing has an incredibly low apprenticeship completion rate, with 63% leaving in the first year. 

The big question is... WHY?

Today we chat to AHC member and salon owner Belinda Cooper, owner of Belinda's Hair Creations, just outside of Wollongong on the NSW south coast. She's been in the industry for 35 years and is incredibly passionate about upcoming stylists and how they are treated as apprentices. We are also meeting Hannah Gerritsen, Belinda's former apprentice and staff member of four years, who won the Gold title at the 2023 World Skills competition for hairdressing and will now represent Australia on the World Skills global stage. 

To achieve such success obviously means that Hannah's training has been top level - and that's exactly what we like to hear! Tune in to learn about Belinda's philosophy when it comes to employing apprentices - "My motto i if you invest in your staff, you'll reap the rewards" - and Hannah's apprenticeship journey including her coup at World Skills.