I want that job! jenny pelter

Jenny Pelter has been part of the Westrow group for ten years and now has her own franchise, as well as her own course for L’Oréal Professionnel. Here we found out more about her career. When did you decide you wanted to be a hairdresser? At 18 years old. After deciding not to go to university to study nursing as originally planned, I began working as an apprentice at Westrow Wetherby and have never looked back. Where did you train? I began my training at Westrow, which has eight salons in Yorkshire, and ten years later I'm still here. Last year, I was given the opportunity to open a franchise within the organization. It’s the most exciting thing I have ever done and the salon won a national award recently, which made me very proud. What was your first job like? Starting a career in hairdressing is hard work and the long hours can be a shock to the system after leaving school. Luckily, I worked with a great group of people and absolutely loved the training, so I really enjoyed it. When did you decide to specialise in colour? A year after qualifying, Steve Rowbottom, who is the director at Westrow, suggested I attended a specialist colour course. I was 22 at the time and the course opened up an array of amazing opportunities, which is why I decided to specialise in this area. My passion is colour. I was always in awe of the work from expert colourists such as Christel Lundqvist, Edward Darley and Edoardo Paludo from Davines. Specialising in colour is one of the best decisions I have made in terms of progressing my career and I am truly grateful for the jobs that have come my way. Why was it important to you to get a place on the ID Artist Team? The L’Oréal ID Artist team builds upon your existing skills and allows you to become a better-rounded hairdresser. Working with other hairdressers who share the same passion and excitement for hairdressing gave me so much more confidence. My time on the ID Artist Team was an amazing couple of years and it gave me the energy and ambition to further pursue my career in hairdressing. What was the best thing about being on the team? I learnt how to educate other stylists and how to present myself on stage in front of an audience. Since leaving the team I have continued to utilize my training skills, teaching the Creative Colour Courses for L’Oréal Professionnel with Westrow and with the EDIT Team. I would never have gained the confidence and skills needed to achieve this if I hadn’t have been part of the L’Oréal ID Artist Team. What’s been the highlight of your career so far? There are two highlights to my career so far. Opening a franchise with my business partner, Amy Lopez - the eighth salon for the Westrow brand, housed on Street Lane in North Leeds. It was an amazing adventure, coupled with a lot of hard work that has been extremely worthwhile. The salon has already won an award for its luxury interior design. The second highlight was going to Paris with Westrow director, Steve Rowbottom for three days at the end of last year, having been enlisted to work on the shoot for the Global Spring/Summer 2015 L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Collection. It was a huge privilege to collaborate on such a prestigious project and we had a lot of fun working on it. What’s your next career goal? I hope that Westrow Street Lane will continue to grow as an extremely successful salon, renowned for colour, in the north of England. I would also like to continue educating for L’Oréal Professionnel and eventually run my own colour courses, expanding on my knowledge and developing new teaching techniques. What piece of advice would you give your student self? Take every opportunity that comes your way and get involved in anything you can. It’s hard work and long hours but eventually you will reap the awards.