OSMO has appointed its latest Brand Ambassador; Brodie Raeside. 

Brodie’s passion for barbering began only four years ago and he recently opened his own shop Heavy Hands, in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.  

Having initially worked in a guitar shop, Brodie was looking for a career that would both challenge and excite him. He booked himself onto a five-day barbering course with renowned barber, Sid Sottung, and never looked back. With the barbering bug firmly in place, Brodie undertook unpaid shadowing work at a local barber shop for five months to further develop his confidence and skills. 

During his training, Brodie started attending courses with the British Barber Bash team and put himself forward for demonstration opportunities at their live events. It was through this relationship that Brodie was introduced to the OSMO brand (OSMO have been key sponsors of GBBB since the beginning). “I knew I needed to go all in with barbering once I’d started to invest in my education.  It was a natural progression to stop working in the guitar shop and just go for this new career that really had me hooked. I was attending courses and exhibitions, OSMO was always there supporting barbers and giving out these great products. I started to buy them for my own kit bag and then when I opened my own shop in April 2021 – yep, just after lockdown! – it was a natural progression to take on the product range.  There’s so much choice for me as a barber and my customers like that there’s a wide selection of products, they can use at home too.  This is an exciting time; my shop is taking off and now this amazing role with OSMO.  2022 is going to be a great year!” explains Brodie. 

Brodie’s style of barbering sees him focusing on texture and scissor work but it’s his expertise in fade work and originality when it comes to styling that got him where he is today. 

“Brodie has a natural flair for barbering and his uniquely talented styling techniques really stood out to us, along with his ability for live education. It’s been a natural step to work even closer with Brodie and we know he’s going to bring lots of energy and creativity to the OSMO Family.  We’re keen to see where 2022 takes us all,” OSMO Senior Brand Manager, Sinéad McLaughlin concludes. 

Quick Fire Questions with Brodie:  

Favourite OSMO Products: Grooming Tonic, Matte Clay Extreme, Power Powder & Extreme Extra Firm Hairspray 

3 Words to Describe You: Ambitious, Passionate, Hardworking. 

Create an online store and start selling products with Fresha’s new store feature! 

Fresha, the world’s No.1 subscription-free appointment scheduling software, is transforming retail potential for barbering and men’s grooming businesses, and the online shopping experience for their clients with the launch of Fresha Store.   

Over 60,000 hair, beauty and wellness partners and 200,000 professionals that manage their appointments, promote their services and protect their incomes with Fresha, can now create an online store, promote and sell products, and collect payments all from one place to:   

• Impress clients with a professionally designed online store  
• Offer clients delivery or pick-up options  
• Collect online payments with Fresha Payment Processing  

Create your online store easily and quickly! 

It’s natural to want to impress clients, so barbers needn’t worry if they feel they don’t have the technical skills to create a professional looking online shop. Fresha has made it so simple and intuitive that any barber can set up and have a fully functioning e-commerce store in minutes.    

Nick Miller, Fresha co-founder: “We’ve created a simple, intuitive e-commerce experience within Fresha that’s designed for barbers and salon professionals, not IT experts. Within just a few clicks, you can personalise your store with a logo, store name and description. Adding products* couldn’t be easier and you can also add social links, so all your clients will know that you’re now trading online.”  

It’s time to tell your clients about your new store! 

When your store is set up a unique store link is generated, so it’s easy to promote it on social media, and by using the marketing tools available within the Fresha platform. With delivery and collection options available, barbers can offer clients the option to collect their purchase from the shop, reserve it for when they attend their next appointment or have it shipped directly their home, workplace or specified delivery address.     

“Barbers mailing products will need to ensure they have the right packaging and materials for their safe transit and arrival,” says Nick. “But providing a professional shopping experience and encouraging clients to leave reviews is a great way to maximise additional income from product sales.” 

Online payments that are easy, upfront and contactless 

To ensure smooth, seamless payments to your online store, Fresha Payment Processing is the perfect way to collect online payments. First, partners receive money upfront and it’s contactless too.  

When your store is activated, Fresha simply charges a transaction fee of 1.29% + £0.20p, so partners only pay as they sell. And if for any reason a refund needs to be processed for a purchase made on your online store, that’s easily done at the click of a button. 

William Zeqiri, Fresha CEO and founder: “The potential for online retail in the barbering and men’s grooming industry is huge, yet many businesses are yet to take advantage of this. Fresha Store is a big step in the right direction as we’ve made it easy to create a store within Fresha. As part of our feature mix, it means barbering businesses have everything in one place, which simplifies their business lives too. Their clients are comfortable shopping online with other retailers and e-commerce businesses, and it’s a big part of our lives as shopping trends continue to evolve. Barbers need to benefit from this retail transformation and now they can with Fresha Store.” 

Join Fresha FREE and set up your online store today at https://www.fresha.com/for-business  

* Fresha recommends taking high quality images to showcase products at their best and provides guidance on a dedicated blog to help salons take really beautiful product images Click here to read. 

Mental health and suicide prevention charity The Lions Barber Collective has become Denman International’s charity of choice for 2022. Global hair tools brand, Denman has pledged a raft of support measures to the charity founded by barber Tom Chapman in 2015. International Sales Director Martyn Wady says “Mental health concerns and suicide sadly touch the lives of so many, including Denman’s own staff and our wider network of partners. We were actively seeking an opportunity to offer sponsorship and support to the cause and Tom’s incredible charity enables us to make a positive impact. We are grateful for all the work done by The Lions Barber Collective and excited about the year ahead.” 

Denman will sponsor education, pop-up events and key activities across the year and supply branded tools PLUS donate a percentage of sales from every tool sold from the new professional barber range, Jack Dean by Denman. Tom Chapman says “Like all charities our needs are always funding and awareness, this partnership with Denman offers much needed support on both counts and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

The Lions Barber Collective offers education and support to help barbers create shop environments that are a safe space for their clients and raise awareness for mental well being and suicide prevention. BarberTalk training gives hair professionals the tools to help their customer community and connect them to the resources available that will truly make a difference to their wellbeing.

Image: Tom Chapman, Founder The Lions Barber Collective 

The colour blue itself is associated with freedom, imagination and inspiration to name just a few things, making it a fabulous choice when it comes to hair colour. There are so many shades of blue, making them a great colour to incorporate into your hair, with a shade to suit everyone, no matter what your current hair colour is or your hair type or skin tone. 

Jim Shaw, owner of Toni&Guy Billiericay, said: “As we quickly transition from winter into spring, pastel blue hues will be particularly on trend. I love creating a pastel blue tone on my male clients and find that a lot of men don’t feel too apprehensive about choosing this colour, as it’s not so vivid in comparison to other bold and bright hair colours. A lot of men are now being more experimental with hair colour and previous trends have included icy blondes, silver and grey tones. For men who have tried these cooler tones already, this blue is a great choice for their next look. 

“When creating this shade on male clients within the salon, it’s firstly important to pre-lighten the hair with bleach to achieve a clean blonde that the blue will take to. 

“Once the hair has been lightened, the blue colour can then be applied. My favourite product to use to create a beautiful pastel blue is Crazy Color Bubblegum Blue. This colour is lovely on its own but it can also be mixed with lighter/darker shades of Crazy Color to alter the shade slightly too, allowing it to work for all clients and achieve their desired hue. 

“When any client comes into the salon for a colour service like this, I always recommend a hair treatment to repair the hair as much as possible after the colouring process and to give the hair added moisture and shine. 

“After you’ve finished styling the look, always discuss with your client about blue hair colour aftercare and how they can keep their blue hue looking its best until their next appointment.  

“Encourage them to invest in some good quality hair care, such as shampoos, conditioners and treatment that will keep the colour locked in, as well as styling products that can be used to not only style the hair, but also give it further nourishment too. 

“The American Crew Precision Blend Shampoo is a great shampoo choice, which protects against colour fading and that rejuvenates the hair to keep the colour vibrant and healthy in appearance. American Crew Fiber is another favourite product of mine that can be used to style the finished look and give the blue a fantastic shine.” 

Business consultant Phil Jackson from Build Your Salon, offers these tips for getting your goals – and sticking to them – in 2022. 

This time of year is always full of promise. But for many, the momentum of New Year’s resolutions and goals-getting goes by the wayside in a few weeks, or worse still doesn’t even get started because the tasks feel overwhelming. 

The key to keeping momentum and motivation high is to connect your business goals with your personal goals.  Growing turnover might feel very exciting, but growing turnover so that you can generate an extra £10k in profit in order to book the family holiday of your dreams is a LOT more exciting.  our business should be there to serve you, not the other way around.  Revisit your life goals around where you want to live, the lifestyle you want to lead, even plans for when and how you want to retire and discuss over a glass of wine with your partner.  Make sure you’re on the same page and clearly define what a successful life looks like for you. 

With your life goals defined, decide which of those goals you need to work on in the next five years. Speak to your accountant about the level of profit you need to generate and how that might translate into turnover and business goals. If your accountant isn’t helpful with this kind of goal-setting, it might be a good goal to find a new accountant! 

Some of those five-year goals will need to be worked on this year – some won’t be relevant until later down the line.  Make a list of all those that need working on this year and map your progress across the next four quarters.  Some goals will be set as ‘straight line’ progress – for example if you had a goal to read 52 books this year, you can map out the reading of one book per week in a straight line.  Some goals are ‘back-end’ goals which means progress initially is slow, but builds momentum – for example turnover goals might be limited until you have new team members on board and earning.  So, goals are ‘front-end’ goals which have a lot of progress early on, but then the rate of progress slows; anyone who has drastically changed their diet will know that the first few weeks see the biggest weight-loss before the rate slows. 

Since we are an industry that is very used to setting appointments, take the first quarter of your map and schedule time with yourself to work on these projects.  Guard this time – these are the things you have defined that will move your business forward in a meaningful way in order for you to achieve your life goals.  Project time has to be non-negotiable! 

Be brave this year with your goals and find yourself a group that can hold you accountable to your progress.  Some peer support makes all the difference when your motivation starts to wane. 

For more information: 
www.buildyoursalon.com 

The ¹T Level technical qualification awarded to NCFE – developed in partnership with VTCT for the hair and beauty industry – has had a makeover of its own in the form of a title change. The new flagship Level 3 qualification for 16-19- year- olds, has now been retitled T Level Technical Qualification in Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy to better reflect its three occupational specialisms.  

Originally titled T Level Technical Qualification in Hair, Beauty and Aesthetics, the name change resulted from amendments being made to the Outline Content which resulted in a transition away from aesthetics, and the inclusion of barbering. Feedback received from employers, providers and professional body members was used to ensure the new pathway title is reflective of the updated content.  

A recommendation was also made to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (the Institute) by both the T Level Panel and Route Panel members to change the name of the qualification. The new name has been well received throughout the Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy industries and by the qualification developers, NCFE and VTCT. 

Zac Aldridge, Director of Qualifications and Assessments at NCFE said:  

“We’re fully on-board with the qualification’s title change and believe the new name is a great representation of the course’s specialisms. 

“Our T Level technical qualification in hairdressing, barbering and beauty therapy is being carefully developed to give our learners the best possible chances of launching their careers within their chosen industry. 

“We work closely with industry experts across all our qualifications, and this is a great example of working collaboratively to ensure our qualifications fully reflect the requirements of the sector and the needs of learners” 

Alan Woods OBE, CEO of VTCT said:  

“We are thrilled that the title has been amended to more accurately reflect the current occupational specialisms of the T Level Technical Qualification. After several panel discussions with individuals from industry, training providers and professional bodies, it became apparent that everyone wanted this change. 

“We are grateful for the close working relationship between VTCT, NCFE and the Institute and that we were able to embrace the feedback so early on in the development process.  

“This change will make it easier to promote communication with schools, learners, parents and employers being fully transparent of the career pathways available to students upon completion of the qualification.”  

It was announced in September 2021 that this specific T Level was being developed for first delivery in September 2023, offering a high-quality work focused training route into the hair, barbering and beauty industries. 

Employers throughout the country are encouraged to get involved with T Levels and many have already shown their support. Lorraine Nordmann, Beauty President of the Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) shared:  

“T Levels, developed in collaboration with industry, support aspiration and focus on preparing students for work while developing the technical skills and knowledge that are sought by industry.” 

1The T Level Technical Qualification is a qualification approved and managed by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. 

Talent Beyond The Chair is back in full force at the Crown Ridge Banquet Hall, 6909 Camp Bullis Rd. San Antonio, Tx, this weekend, February 6^th, 2022. With crowds expected to exceed previous years, TBtC Phase 3 will bring barber, and stylist competitions and the annual My Bloody Valentine Makeup competition.  

Organiser Amber Marie Aguilar said: “Having a business can be hard to achieve and even more difficult to maintain. At TBtC Phase 3, we provide entrepreneurial courses, business management courses, as well as social media training to provide all the tools needed to succeed. This is far from the average expo. Talent Beyond the Chair provides vendors, live entertainment, network opportunities, and so much more.”

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She added: “The expo started out as a small idea in 2017, when I had my first show it was a flop but that didn’t stop me. I came back after networking, competing myself, learning how the barber world works, to make my next show amazing. After the pandemic, I realized how important it was to teach our industry how to survive during difficult times so I started my idea for the next expo. My goal for this show is to help the industry grow, learn from national educators such as Tyrik Jackson and John Mosley – two of the biggest names in the industry – as well and myself, because we have been through the struggle, the trial, the error, and we know what to teach to help you succeed. That’s what my show is about, elevating and building your brand, building your business, learn how to survive, not struggle. I want to inspire and have them watch a great barber competition along with our fantasy hair and makeup (My Bloody Valentines Theme) it’s a great mixture of fun, education, and friendly competition.” 

Talent Beyond the Chair Phase 3 is the third annual premiere Barber/Stylist event in South Texas, providing educational guidance partnered with the glamour of a competitor’s focus on showcasing the wonderful reality that is this industry. Talent Beyond the Chair Phase 3 provides outlets for the new entrepreneur to meet celebrity guest barbers, network with fellow business owners, and learn more about what it truly takes to run their business to maximum success. 

For tickets, click here.

Introducing www.trainingmadeeasi.com, the first dedicated online training directory for the Hair and Beauty Industry launches 24th January 2022.

Meet Training Made Easi……..

Brought to the industry by the founder of Hair Made Easi, Nicola Wood created Training Made Easi with a simple mission; to connect students with training providers, ensure students learn from the best educators in the industry and help people enter and advance in our industry.

Why we created Training Made Easi……..

With in excess of 100,000 monthly searches on Google for hair & beauty training courses in the UK, Training Made Easi have carried out extensive research with our digital marketing team and our mission is to connect students through our easy-to-use directory with the training courses they are looking for on one simple to use site.

Nicola explains “following multiple enquiries over many months from students struggling to find the training courses they needed and educators searching for students to help fill their courses, it was clear that a simple and easy solution was needed within our industry to help match students with courses in the UK.”

How Training Made Easi works……..

The Training Made Easi directory lists training providers in over 20 specialist categories within the Hair, Beauty and Salon Business sector.

Using our simple online step-by-step tool, training providers can easily create a listing to promote their courses, including their contact details, locations, course descriptions, social media links, qualifications and accreditations, as well as imagery and video upload capability
to showcase their courses.

With featured listing options and dedicated offers and deals section, training providers can create professional listings and promotions with ease.

For students, Training Made Easi offers free of charge, straightforward search options including category, location and online course search capabilities, students will quickly identify relevant courses and providers.

With our marketing investment and online promotion, Training Made Easi will reach this audience for education providers for a low fixed monthly cost, with various listing options to suit all budgets, allowing them to concentrate on delivering education.

Listings start from as little as £15 per month – full details available at
www.trainingmadeeasi.com.

The latest issue of BarberEVO North America is OUT NOW.

Get your copy here!

Firing into 2022

The latest issue of BarberEVO North America is OUT NOW. This issue is packed full of advice, features and trends to keep you up to date with what’s current. In the barbering industry.

Gracing the coveted front cover is an epic talent in the form of Kenny Duncan, Andis NA Artistic Lead and Global ambassador for Luster SCurl, he is talking to BarberEVO about how reading has allowed him to continue his learning journey and the importance of always striving to be better.

Also, in this issue we are hugely excited to introduce new columnists Corey Gray and Tony Stuart, better known as the guys behind the Hairdustry podcast, that invites everyone along on their journey to fall in love with the hair industry. This issue they are talking about the shows they attended last year and the brilliant names they spoke to along the way.

Events

Events are back on! Pack your bags and sign up for everything this year! We feature an update from the organizers of Barbercon and the CT Barber Expo about what we can expect this year, and you won’t be disappointed. They are going to be epic, but a word of advice, book your tickets now. They sell out quickly.

What’s new? The turn of year always brings new trends, and we have the views of the industry’s top barbers about what trends we are likely to see in 2022. There’s a consensus that longer hair is back, and the mullet is top of the crops, albeit with an updated look.

Marketing

How you market and brand your business is up for discussion, and we talk to Octane Hairdressing for Men, which has an amazingly strong brand about why that matters. Also we have a quick word with four names that are smashing social media – TaylorCutz1, RichietheBarber, AlanBeak and Rum Barber – and how they use their chosen platform to market their brand.

Additional services

Cutting hair is your bread and butter but what about all those additional services you are missing out on. Shaving, facials, and colour, to name just a few. Have a look through our additional services feature and see what you could easily implement into your service menu. 

We speak to Colin Petrie (Hard Grind) who has taken additional services to a whole new level by adding coffee shops, cafés and apparel to the Hard Grind brand. He has some great advice on what works as additional services in the barbershop.

Clippers and trimmers

We can’t work without them, but everyone has their favorites and the choice is vast. We take a deep dive with industry pros asking what clippers and trimmers are their go-tos and why, and we have the expert view of tool reviewers Rum Barber to help make your mind up about what would work for you.

We hope you enjoy this issue! You can order your print copy here

The Fellowship for British Hairdressing’s PROJECT: Colour kickstarted their year with an amazing day with session stylist and salon owner, Adam Reed.  

Organised by project leader Paul Dennison, the team headed over to Adam Reed London salon in East London for a day of inspirational colouring with wigs. Adam told them: “I want to create hair that makes people stop for a second to look closer. Maybe it’s a weird texture or the shiniest hair they’ve ever seen. It could be astonishingly intricate or a little bit eccentric. Perhaps it’s an arse-kicking technical cut. But irrespective, it held their attention. That’s what great hair should do.” 

Paul said: “Having Adam mentoring the first day for the new team was great. He brought a great energy and made the day relaxed and fun, starting with a group discussion, giving the team a great insight into how he likes to work. The team then had an opportunity to get creative working with wigs.” 

Member Luke Logan commented: “The day was awesome! I think the main thing I took away from the day was just to be your true self and not to follow the trends within the industry,  but create them.” 

Sophie Perfect added: “We spent the day colouring wigs and really focused on placement. We went in with the less is more approach and it’s amazing the results you can get by tweaking what’s already there.” 
 
Kayleigh Byrne enthused: “Our day with Adam Reed was so inspiring! I really enjoyed learning all about his career and how he came to be the amazing hairdresser that he is today. He gave us lots of advice and really pushed our creativity to the next level by having us think back to basics and create beautiful colours using the phrase “less is more”. We spent our day working on wigs that had been previously coloured, using techniques to enhance the previous colour. Adam is extremely talented and insightful, he had a detailed story for every question we asked!”  

Project Team Leader: Paul Dennison 
Project Team Members 

Luke Logan, Strand & Lock Aveda 
Luke Tyrrell, Headmasters Mayfair Salon 
Callum Iqbal, Brendan O’Sullivan Hair & Beauty 
Andrew Feve, Anti.Dote 
Kayleigh Byrne, Tribe Salons 
Sophia Martin, Amaryllis Salon 
Louise Munro, Alice & The Hair 
April Mash, Strangeways 
James Holroyd, Yoke The Salon 
Kate Mclaughlin, Sarai Hair & Beauty 
Sophie Perfect, GFC Hairdressing 
Ella Gray, Aurora Hair Salon 

For more information: 
Instagram: @fellowshiphair 
Call 01295 724579   
Visit www.fellowshiphair.com