Hooker & Young talk us through the secret to creating an award-winning hairdressing brand of 30 years...
You may be familiar with the names Gary Hooker and Michael Young – or even more so with Hooker & Young, the award-winning brand the couple created. Four salons, a team of around 60 people, and a few British Hairdressing Awards under their belt, their journey is nothing short of inspirational. But let’s take it back to the beginning… “Gary was already hairdressing with a couple of successful salons as part of a franchise company, and I, as a young stylist joined the company in 1991,” Michael tells us, as we chat on the phone. “Weirdly, we didn’t actually meet through work, we met on a night out and realised we both worked for the same company, so it was fate really.”
In 1995, the duo broke away from the company they had both been part of and Hooker & Young was born. Fast forward to now, both still very much run the company but keep slightly separate schedules. Gary works in the salon two days a week doing a more regular column, and Michael works on private clients to allow room for his photography, which he has now been doing for 10 years. But creatively is where the pair work magic, and it was winning British Colour Technician of the Year at the British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional, for the first time as a couple that was a standout moment for them. “It’s real validation,” Michael tells us, “Not only to know you’re doing it right, but people recognising you as a couple – that’s always been a big thing for us.”
Speaking of what a good collection can do for your career, Michael believes they are invaluable for bringing clients through the door and stimulating your team. “There’s nothing like a professional photoshoot collection to create brand identity and let people know what you’re about. We’ve always positioned ourselves as affordable luxury and our collections have always been on point with that.” This year, though, due to the government’s budget announcements, there’s been a dip in shoots. “I think this will pass,” he adds confidently. “Creating a collection allows you to be artistic, creative, and show people what you’re about.” The secret to a good collection? “The brainstorming process. I’ve been doing this a long time – I can run with an idea and turn it into something amazing, which has helped me greatly now as a photographer when working with other hairdressers.”
Celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, Michael reflects back: “We’re very protective of the brand we’ve created – we’ve poured a lot of ourselves into that. How we want it to look, how we want it to be, how we want our team and the experience. But to get to 30 years and have a very strong and successful business that we love, makes us so proud.”
Living by the mantra ‘surround yourself with great people and great things will happen’, has certainly proven true for the power couple. In fact, when chatting inspiration and what’s in the pipeline, Michael tells us: “We went to Marrakesh last year for a holiday and loved it – we felt so inspired and thought we’d love to do a shoot here.” In two weeks' time, you’ll find Gary and Michael flying to Marrakesh to do a photoshoot for the brand’s 30th milestone. Inspiration? Manifestation? Perhaps, you could call it fate…
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