A month in the life of sally brooks - february

Since winning HJ’s British Hairdresser of the Year, Sally Brooks has been as busy as ever! From judging international awards, being interviewed by magazines from around the world and spending time in endless meetings, she has kept a diary exclusively for HJ… It’s been a busy year so far – and I can’t believe it’s already March. Where has the time gone! I’m four months into my British Hairdresser of the Year and have been as busy as ever flying the flag for British hairdressing. Judging international hair competitions continues this month as I’m invited to join the panel in London for the Dutch Hair Awards. It’s important to see what hairdressers in other countries are creating as it helps us understand what we are contributing to the global hair community. Jamie and I were also judges at the L’Oreal Colour Trophy dossier day at the L’Oreal Academy in London. This is a great competition as the whole team can get involved and it doesn’t cost a fortune to enter. Our brief at the first-round judging is to find an image that represents quality and encapsulates a vision for the future of hairdressing. I love judging this – there are some 900 images to go through and it really showcases the passion hairdressers have. It also gives us a sneak preview of what’s to come. It’s exciting as you know that amongst those 900 images is the winner. Someone somewhere who will see their career change forever. I have been shooting collections for many years and I love to see my young team coming up with ideas and seeing if they work in front of a camera. Sometimes you get it right, other times there is an element that doesn’t work on camera and you have to play around, change the concept or simply tweak to get what you want. Our young creative team have been test shooting in the salon this month. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money – a couple of lights and a camera and a model. It’s great experience on how to create an image, how hair works on camera and how you can push boundaries. This month the creative team presented their latest ideas on the HJ Stage at HJ Live London – and I am very proud of them. They searched for models, came up with the concept and practised the presentation until they were happy. A lot of preparation goes into a show and they worked extremely hard, but it was worth it as the finished looks were spectacular. They’re now working towards their next show in March and are getting excited to show what they’ve been working on. We were hit by snow storms this month – something we’re not used to in London! However, I love the way it silences the city and the light it gives is amazing. We were lucky as we didn’t have many client cancellations and only have one member of the team who couldn’t make it into the salon (but then she does live in Portsmouth) And of course my dogs loved it! I went to the House of Commons with Emma Bavin to launch National Careers Week. Emma has created a movement on Facebook called Supporting Hairdresser’s Future – she is doing an amazing job in raising awareness of what a fabulous career hairdressing is, encouraging salons to talk about the amazing opportunities there are. She already has schools and colleges signed up looking for hairdressers to go in and speak to their students – if you haven’t already joined make sure you do! There were people from all walks of life at the House of Commons and it’s interesting to see how different industries raise awareness to recruit young people. After seeing what they are doing we are certainly not doing enough to capture the imagination of the next generation. More help is needed and more ideas to promote us in a modern, fresh and exciting way. Recruitment is one of the biggest threats we face as an industry and we need to work together on letting the next generation know how hairdressing can enrich their lives. Find out more about the Brooks & Brooks team: brooksandbrooks.co.uk Instagram: @brookshair