National Apprenticeship Week

Debbie Digby – “Apprentice hairstylists often ask me for advice on building a successful career in hairdressing. My foremost advice is to avoid a phenomena I call the butterfly syndrome. This describes hairstylists who flit from job to job – landing only briefly, not committing long enough to make a difference to their long-term goals and results. It is my considered opinion that if a stylist can settle happily in one salon for 5 years and be consistent with their delivery of services to clients – they are able to build a clientele and charge a price that would afford them a decent wage.
For example – let us imagine a young person leaves school and undertakes an apprenticeship. After two years of learning and practice they may be good enough to graduate to a new stylist position and this may be on an entry-level price of a tiered system so they may attract clients at a competitive price. After a period of time – say 9 months, they might be promoted to the second level of price. This is often determined by client retention. Time and continuity may lead to another price promotion, which is good news for the stylist as price increases reflect in higher pay when the stylist is paid commission on takings. Hopefully what my example has demonstrated that long-term behaviours need to be cool if you want a successful career.”