I want that job! angel montague sayers

Angel Montague-Sayers is an art director at the Sally Montague Hair Group and is UK creative ambassador for Cloud Nine. Here we find out more about how she balances session work with salon life. When did you decide you wanted to be a hairdresser? I've grown up in the industry. My mother runs the Sally Montague Hair Group, a chain of six salons in Derbyshire. I can remember flicking through her hair magazines on holidays when I was young and being intrigued as to how diverse the industry really is. I started working at the group's Old Hall salon when I was 17 years old and have been hooked on hairdressing ever since. Where did you train? I completed my apprenticeship at the Sally Montague Hair Group and chose to further my studies at the Sassoon Academy in London on the Creative Cutting course. I have been working backstage at London Fashion Week ever since; session styling is a discipline I love and it continually excites and inspires me. What was your first job like? I started working for the Sally Montague Hair Group when I was 17 years old. I'd just finished my AS levels at school and was really keen to begin working in the hairdressing industry. I worked at The Old Hall, which is the group's flagship salon and quickly became obsessed with styling and finishing hair. I would collect all the old magazines at the end of the month, tear out my favourite editorials and file them into inspirational trend sketchbooks, which I still have today. I often refer back to my sketchbooks for shoot references. When did you get a taste for session work and decide that was the area you wanted to work in? I first got a taste for session work around the age of 16 when I was sent to work backstage at the Clothes Show Live in Birmingham. I was at school at the time, but was always styling my friend's hair, so my mum encouraged me to join the session team. Mum had always taken me to industry events, but working backstage and seeing the buzz it created really got me hooked. I am represented by Aart London and continue to work backstage at fashion weeks as well as shoots and advertising campaigns. How do you juggle session work with day-to-day clients? Combining session work with my day-to-day clients has proved to be quite positive. My clients show a huge interest in my session work and many follow me on Twitter to see what I'm up to – they get really excited over Fashion Week and hearing what shoots I’'e been working on. Many clients follow my daily hair blog for style updates and tutorials too. I spend Friday and Saturday in the salon. For a while I concentrated only on session work, but I missed the energy from working in the salon. I'm usually back in London on Sundays and ready to sink my teeth into whichever job my agent has lined up for me. I love the combination of session and salon and it means I really get the best of both worlds! Did you feel it was necessary to move to London from Derbyshire to progress your career? I was originally only meant to stay in London for three months while I completed my course at Sassoon, but I fell in love with the city and I'm still here five years later. Session work is usually last minute, so it's much easier to be in London. Derbyshire is only two hours away so the weekly drive isn't that bad. Being located in London so early on in my career has definitely helped me with work experience and has enabled me to quickly build my portfolio with test shoots and editorials that may not have been available in other cities. What’s been the highlight of your career so far? There have been so many highlights in my career; from working at New York, London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks to talking trends for Cloud Nine in Dubai as the brand’s UK Creative Ambassador, and working on a film at Cannes Film festival last year. Working in my role for Cloud Nine and educating for L'Oréal Professionnel has been a dream come true and to collaborate with such iconic brands has been very rewarding. I have recently been working on Styling Sessions for Cloud Nine, where I establish trends for the brand and teach the key looks to the rest of the Education Team. This is really rewarding and it is amazing to see my trends brought to life in sessions across the UK and Scotland. It's also overwhelming to think of the awards and nominations I have received during my eight-year career. Earlier in my career, I got through to the semi finals of the L'Oréal Professionnel Talent Spotting Award and the finals of the L'Oreal Professionnel Colour Trophy. In 2012 I won the Fashionista award at the IT Awards and went on to be crowned IT Girl in 2013. The last two years I have been shortlisted in the Backstage Stylist category at the 2013 Hair Awards. What’s your next career goal? I would love to pursue film work in the future, as it's something I have only dabbled in and I find the process really interesting. I'm really enjoying writing my daily blog on my website. I think it appeals to stylists and clients. I also hope to continue juggling session work with working from the salons and developing the Sally Montague Hair Group Art Team. What piece of advice would you give your student self? The key to success is hard work. It's important to stay on top of your game, to continually evolve your skills and ensure you never stop learning. Working in this industry is not a 9-5 job; if you want to succeed you really have to push yourself. Looking for your next career move? 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