Why I became a hairdresser

I am often asked why I decided to become a hairdresser. The answer I think is quite simple, if a little long.

I was 15 years old and had finished 4th year (now known as year 10) at school. As the summer holidays were coming to an end I remember sitting in my bedroom at my desk, considering the future. Here I was sitting at the desk thinking about what could be my last year of school if I decided to leave after my O-levels, or a stepping stone to 2 more years of sixth form and then university.

Honestly, I was fed up of sitting behind a desk. I was a good student, I was at or very near the top of every subject that I took, but I was bored and uninspired. I thought about what I wanted to do with my life, what profession might be right for me. I had always thought I would like to be one of two things, a lawyer or an airline pilot. One I believed was about rational argument and the other about travel, both things that appealed to me. Both would necessitate the longer educational pathway, six years more behind a desk, at least! Then in my eyes, at least with the law option a lifetime of marriage to a desk.

I considered what else I might do to free myself from that future. Now, my Dad had been a professional cyclist. A profession completely misunderstood in Britain at the time. I had however witnessed the reaction of so many admiring enthusiasts. He and Mum had lived what can only be described as a swashbuckling lifestyle, moving to continental Europe in around 1960, making the grade, existing as a professional athlete, having three children and opening a thriving sports bar before returning to the UK in 1969. Growing up hearing their tales and being part of the adventure that being in our family was, made me sure there was another way and that anything was possible. So with that in mind I thought to myself what do you really want to do with your life Ian?

Well, If I could do anything at all with no recrimination or repercussion it would be to act! To be an actor.

Why acting you might ask? Well like so many young people I had a sense of my own mortality, and a genuine fear of it. Aged under 10 this had been greatly eased when the famous silent movie actor Charlie Chaplin had died and was subsequently big news when his body was exhumed and held for ransom by a crazy lunatic in 1977. As I watched the story unfold it seemed incredible that this man who seemed very much alive on endless Saturday morning TV reruns of his films was in fact dead. I reasoned that somehow Charlie Chaplin was in fact immortal. Hence my desire to be an actor was born!

The thing about acting that 15 year old me realised was that from almost everything that I had read or heard about the profession, 95% of actors were out of work 95% of the time. Not a very stable living, even if it did bring the possibility of immortality.

Okay, I reasoned I can be an actor but it's obviously important that I have another skill in order that I don't have to stack boxes in Tesco while I'm 'resting'.

Right, further in we go. In order to come up with the right job or skill I needed to understand what it was that I enjoyed about acting aside from the offer of eternal life. On reflection I realised that whenever I saw, heard or experienced a great performance of music theatre or film it gave me an indescribable feeling in my heart, a flutter, an elation, it was life affirming and made me feel genuinely happy. I loved getting that feeling. I realised that whatever I did, I wanted to give that feeling to others. When I was a member of Ongar Youth Theatre we gave performances, I took great pride in the fact that we were hopefully giving that feeling to the audiences who watched us.

My question to myself therefore was where else do I get a feeling that is anything like that?

Terry immediately came to mind. Terry was the barber who cut my hair at 'Giulietta and Romeo', the local barber shop in Old Harlow. I always looked forward to and enjoyed my visit to Terry, he always treated me as a person, an equal, not a child. So often young people are condescended to by adults, but our conversations were open and interesting. I thought he also did a great job on my thick and unruly hair. The result as I left after my six weekly visits was that not only did I look better but I also felt better.

So there it was, a career with the possibility to give others a special feeling, an opportunity for them to feel the very best version of themselves. It seemed to be a perfect solution, a craft that is portable and would I hoped always allow me to keep a roof above me and food on my plate. So thank you Terry for inspiring my career choice. A choice that has taken me all over the world and through some of it's most interesting doors.

The next challenge would be to find the right place to work. While I loved my visits to 'Guilietta
and Romeo', it wasn't my intention to work on the local High Street, at 'A Cut Above' or 'Curl Up and Dye'. That said I've always loved the ironic comedy names that the British seem to excel at creating for some of their businesses.

No, informed by the experience of Dad as a bike rider, I understood that there was a top and the bottom of everything. Dad had been a backstreet kid from Chester and had excelled as an athlete and ended up as one of the most respected and revered riders on the continental pro cycling scene, riding for the greatest teams with the biggest stars of his generation.

I wanted to emulate that and decided that there must be salons where the movie stars and music idols went to.

That was where I wanted to be. So the young boy from Essex set about trying to work out how and where to secure a position in a top salon.

Having made my momentous decision, I went downstairs to tell my parents about my plan.

You have to consider I was in a grade A student, always with great reports and a potentially bright academic future ahead of me. What did they say? Well, Mum was quietly supportive but my Dad less so declaring 'You pansy, I never thought a son of mine.............'

That said once I was able to prove that I was serious and committed to my plan, both Mum and Dad could not have been more supportive both emotionally and financially. Without their commitment to the project I'm sure I would never have achieved the success I later did.