“I decided from the flip of a coin to become a hairdresser because I loved the environment so much.” Perhaps something all hairdressers can relate to when thinking about their career choice – the salon experience, the environment, even the smells, are all subjects that tend to pop up. So when we were chatting to Leigh Keates about his journey into the industry, it came as no surprise that it all started in the salon. “I never wanted to be a hairdresser; I got into hairdressing because my mum is a hairdresser. I started getting my hair cut at The Box Hair Salon – it seemed so cool and the whole experience was completely new to me, I just ended up asking for a job. Everyone was expecting me to go to uni and there were a lot of people trying to talk me out of it, but I put my foot down and stuck with my gut.”
And so Leigh’s apprenticeship began. “I was a very slow learner – it wasn’t very natural in the beginning, but I loved every second of it,” he tells us. “I remember them asking me what hand I hold a hairdryer in, and I was like ‘Oh, I’ve never actually held a hairdryer before’,” he laughs. “I also didn’t have much exposure to creativity at school and so hairdressing allowed me to explore that, and then I just found my flow.”
Talking the breadth of the industry, Leigh explains that it was quite late in his career before he realised there were so many options within hairdressing. “I remember it slowly sinking in. I remember being on an escalator and seeing these adverts to the side of me thinking, ‘Oh, there would be a hairdresser and whole team around that’. That’s when I realised how important this career is.”
After a few years working in the salon, Leigh decided to go travelling to Australia. “I got a job over there in a local salon, and I was able to earn a bit of money cutting people’s hair in the hostels. I just took my scissors everywhere – we’d go into the community toilets or to the beach and sit on an upside-down beer crate,” he tells us.
After a year, Leigh made his way back to London and began working at Michael Van Clarke. Not long after, he started entering competitions. “I didn’t really know what I was doing but I started getting shortlisted and eventually won two awards on the same night – that was a big moment for me.” And it was during this time that Leigh entered the world of session styling too, assisting as much as possible. “I’d use my holidays to base myself in London, Paris and Milan for Fashion Week and I just started getting more opportunities come my way.” Did he prefer the session world to behind the chair? “At the time, I was doing both, but I could tell I was getting drawn into session for sure. I was learning and growing so fast, I had this fire in my belly.”
A typical day in his life now? “The reality is I could literally be all over the place, multiple jobs in a day, jumping on planes and trains or I could be sitting there waiting for the phone to ring. That’s the thing people don’t talk about,” he tells us. “But I like the unpredictability. I like the uncertainty.” One look at Leigh’s Instagram and you’ll see he’s also worked on his fair share of A-List celebs too – think Jenna Ortega, Jodie Comer, and Nicole Scherzinger. How did that come about? “I think you just get a lucky client – the first time it happened to me; someone didn’t turn up and I got a call asking if I could be somewhere within 20 minutes. I just grabbed everything and legged it – it’s just about doing a good job and being nice and easy to work with.”
Struggling with confidence though, has been a challenge. “I think you get more confident with experience, working with other people and being open about your feelings,” he explains. “We live in this smoke and mirror Instagram lifestyle but the second you open up about yourself, it kind of disarms them too.” His best piece of advice? Don’t compare! “We all have our own skillsets, and our career will go in cycles. Comparing yourself to others just makes the journey so much tougher.”
From being an assistant sweeping floors, polishing products and dusting shelves to earning a living from being a hairdresser, there have been so many proud moments for Leigh. But we can’t help but wonder, what’s next? “I’ve been distracted for the last few years with my restaurant business, but I’ve just closed the restaurants and I’m excited to get back fully into hair again. I know it’s superstitious, I have a few things floating around but I get worried I’m going to jinx it unless it’s 100% confirmed,” he laughs. Perhaps something else all hairdressers can relate to…
Read next: Pete Burkill on Travelling The World & Celebrity Clients
