Yosh Toya Touring 100 Beauty Schools

Award-winning hairstylist, author, and premier educator with nearly 47 years in the beauty industry, Yosh Toya’s background reads like a page from cosmetology history. His first job after beauty school was assistant to Vidal Sassoon. As a young stylist, Yosh visited Paris each summer to learn from innovators Jean Louis David, the Harlow Group, and Maniatis, who were not yet known in the United States. Yosh incorporated their techniques into his own signature style and soon became one of the industry’s best known artists and educators. His amazing energy level and his desire to share with industry professionals earned him worldwide recognition, including American Salon’s Hairstylist of the Year award and the North American Hairstyling Awards (NAHA) Lifetime Achievement Award.

Since retiring as a multi-salon owner, the energetic 71-year-old has taken on a new goal: visiting 100 beauty schools in the United States and 100 in his native Japan to share his knowledge with the industry’s future professionals. “I had a great life from the beauty industry,” Yosh says. “I’d like to return something before I cannot do any more.”

Yosh has visited several Paul Mitchell Cosmetology Schools on his tour, including Paul Mitchell The School – Costa Mesa, Paul Mitchell The School – Orlando, and three Paul Mitchell Partner Schools: the Ohio Academy, Hair, and the Lab. In his two-and-a-half-hour presentations, he demonstrates his legendary technical skills and eagerly shares his tips, techniques, and philosophies with the Future Professionals. Yosh believes, “Our future is in their hands but we have great futures because of the students.”

“I like Paul Mitchell Schools,” Yosh adds. “They have lots of energy and good teachers. Because of that, they have lots of great, ambitious students. They’re focusing on the future. I have really good feelings visiting Paul Mitchell Schools.”