Beauty school cop outs: jamilla paul’s diary

Rochdale salon owner Jamilla Paul is fast becoming a familiar face to the nation as mentor to the cast of new reality MTV show Beauty School Cop Outs. In an HJi exclusive, Jamilla will be sharing the secrets from the set – read part two of her show diary below…

It’s week two of MTV’s Beauty School Cop Outs, and looking at the crazy stuff that went on last night, you know the viewers are going to love the guys. The social networks were buzzing – and are still buzzing. Thank goodness I finally got to grips with Twitter in time for the launch. I was tweeting right through the programme, talking to the cast and fans, while my PR struck up conversations on my salon Facebook page. Social networking is a huge part of any salon’s marketing mix these days and if I’m to capitalise on the exposure being part of BSCO will hopefully bring me, I know I’ve got to be really engaged and engaging on them. How else will potential clients find my salon? One of the main reason I am part of the show is to get publicity, and this show is bringing me the sort of publicity I could normally only dream of. I’m in Rochdale, for goodness sake! And one thing that’s clear already, Rochdale loves BSCO. This programme is going to appeal to a certain audience, but it’s a lucrative audience for hair salons as they care massively about their appearance. That said, I’ve had people stopping me in the street - even those who would never, in a million years, watch this sort of show - and saying amazingly supportive stuff. I loved episode two. I loved how Scarlett, Calvin and Dan overcame their fears of touching hairless or overweight people. While that was being filmed I was outside, expecting them to come running out any minute. Afterwards I had a great debrief with them on camera where I told them you can’t have anyone bringing their prejudices into the salon. Every client must be treated the same: with respect. It didn’t make it to the final cut which is the nature of TV, but it was good for them. Dan may think he’s God’s gift and that a gorgeous model is actually going to go home with him. As if! Especially on camera. But it was lovely to hear him say he felt he has grown. And Scarlett. Wasn’t she a doll? She has a great sense of humour. How could Richard treat her like that? It wasn’t all positive though, was it?  Jeremy and Savannah sloping off work and Dan asking, incredulously, hadn’t Sasha ever pulled a sickie? If there is one thing Beauty School Cop Outs is going to reveal, it’s how certain young people – that Y Generation – think today. As every salon owner knows, too many of them think a hangover or a sniffle is enough to phone in sick and let down a whole column of clients. I’m going to have to have words with them all about commitment, responsibility and maturity. And poor little Sacha? I was stunned when she dashed out of the salon, because, of course, I had no idea of the dramas going on in the house. No one warned me. All I thought was, I can’t have one of my team looking like that. But you have to be able to criticise constructively without the tears and the drama. I still live in the real world and I have a business to run. Just like any salon owner, I can’t have assistants behaving like that. But I also know that laying down the law isn’t going to work when emotions are running high. I choose to take the softly, softly approach to coax her into confidences. So she thinks she has rubbish hair. Ha! She’s come to the right person.  I know I can help build her self-esteem. After all, I am a hairdresser. I’ll sort her out. I can’t wait for you to see episode three.