I want that job! olivia butt-freer at lisa shepherd

Olivia Butt-Freer is a stylist at Lisa Shepherd Birmingham and a rising star in the industry thanks to her combination of styling skills and social media prowess. When did you decide you wanted to be a hairdresser? I've loved hairdressing since I was young. My mum and aunties are all hairdressers and had their own salons, so I have always been around it. I was always the one to offer to do friends' hair for parties, and was even more excited about colouring their hair. When I was 16, I got a Saturday job in a salon and absolutely loved it. That's when I knew that I loved it. I have had an involvement in the industry ever since, from front of house to salon junior and to now being a stylist. Where did you train? I did my NVQ at Reflections Training Academy, but to be honest I learnt all of my skills from Lisa. I followed her around and just watched and absorbed everything; from sectioning to application methods and colour choice. I'm a real visual learner so I like to watch and analyse what people are doing and can sometimes probably get annoying and ask a million questions. What was your first job like? My first job was with Umberto Giannini in Selfridges, The Bullring in Birmingham. It was fantastic. It was the first time I had worked in a salon and I spent most of the time being overwhelmed by what I was seeing, the coolness of the hairdressers, the creations and just the salon environment as a whole. When did you join Lisa Shepherd? I joined Lisa on my birthday, 17 February 2012. What does your role consist of these days? My role is a salon stylist/social media queen! I run a busy column, so am mainly with clients. I do also have a degree in Media so anything that I see produced within the salon or in the press that I think our followers would like, I post about. How important is it for you to work for a salon that supports your competition work? This is hugely important for me. I am a person that enjoys a challenge and staying up to date with latest trends and fashions, so having the opportunity to be able to enter competitions and create new looks and images is brilliant. What’s been your career highlight so far? Going to Las Vegas and LA for Redken Symposium was amazing and being a finalist in HJ's Junior of the Year award at the British Hairdressing Business Awards. What’s your next career goal? To continue to work hard and enter more awards, and maybe eventually enter the FAME team. What piece of advice would you give your student self? Just keep going and stay positive. Hairdressing isn't all glitz and glamour and there's a lot of hard work and tiredness, but it will all pay off eventually. Live and learn, if you have made a mistake don’t get upset about it, turn it into a positive, don’t do it again and keep going. Looking for your next career move? Take a look at HJi Jobs for all of the latest hair and beauty job opportunities!