Beauty school cop outs: jamilla paul’s diary

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

It’s been a week of huge highs and lows this week. My team and I were in London on Monday for HJ's British Hairdressing Awards, which were fantastic. We didn’t win, but, hey, that’s cool. The other guys in my category were amazing and I was just happy to be shortlisted because it’s great from my team to be part of the big night. What an experience. Every hairdresser should do it at least once. I'm definitely going to up my game next year. Meanwhile, it’s been kicking off in Beauty School Cop Outs. It’s what every salon owner dreads; young staff falling out and bringing it into work. Relationships in the salon, especially among the younger members, can be so intense and so unprofessional but I’ve decided enough is enough. I wouldn’t let it happen in my salon, so I'm going to do what I can to stop it happening among these guys. For those who haven’t seen the show, there is one particular chap, Jeremy, who has changed from being a lovable cheeky chappie into Mr Super Villain; cue boos and hisses. Any respect he had for women appears to evaporate a little more with each episode. I had a showdown with him – viewers only saw the smallest clip of it – I told him how unprofessional he was being. We talked for hours but all he cared about was patching it up with his mate, rather than apologising for what he’d said to Scarlett. I was furious and threw him out of the house. But it got me thinking, what would (or, more to the point, what could) I do if it was happening among my salon team, and not among a bunch of kids in front of a camera? You can’t just sack someone. Especially if they are in the middle of training. The rules around dismissal are so rigid you need a law degree to work it out. So what would I do if I faced a real-life Jeremy situation in my salon? I can’t just throw Jeremy off the ‘training programme’. I’ve got to try to make it work for him as I have a duty of care. So, first up, I’d insist on a cooling off period. Separate them. Then? In real life? I’d call my lawyer. On a much more positive note, I rewarded my amazing team (who all get on brilliantly, thank goodness) to two days’ training with the incredible Gary Gill. Gary is a brilliant session stylist, and he did one day women’s hair, then a second on men’s hair to inspire everyone as we edge ever closer to the opening of my new barbering section. The man is a genius. I was feeling so ill, but I found myself so excited and focused on what he was saying and doing that I forgot all about it. He came up to our table at the BHAs to say hi, and the team’s still all star-struck. But he is so, so lovely. That’s four amazing educators we’ve had in the salon in less than six weeks: Angelo Vallillo, Bruno Marc, Mark 'The Shave Doctor' Sproston and now Gary Gill. The team’s all like: ‘With all these educators you are really spoiling us.’ Ha! I love it. By the way, my Mum is doing great after her tumble at the Rochdale Business Awards, if a little hampered by her sling, so thanks to everyone who messaged me about it.