Dear Future Professionals,

On the mass conference call for the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation and Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation, Vidal Sassoon gave what I call a Bob Dylan finger pointing: a kind of judgment for our industry. He asked what we had done to help those in our industry after Hurricane Katrina, so I decided I would give a whirl at it.

I thought, What could I do if I put my mind to it? At the same time, the IBS approached me and said they would give $50,000 to the National Cosmetology Association (NCA) Disaster Relief Fund/Katrina if I would appear at the New York IBS. I thought, That’s a good start. Let me see what I can do.

I started asking people in the industry if they would join me. Vidal Sassoon gave us a book and 100 signed T-shirts to sell. Irvine Rusk donated some beautiful photographs he had done. I auctioned off my Harley for $25,000. We also made a Katrina T-shirt with all the names of cast members who were going to support us.

On the main stage, platform artists from around the world came bounding out and started pimping our hides. We sold T-shirts, kisses, hugs, and signed autographs on shoulders and other parts of people’s bodies. We sold off day-of-education with people like Vivienne Mackinder and Zak Moscolo from Toni and Guy. Sexy Hair Concepts founder Michael O’Rourke popped up and started cutting hair, and Sebastian’s art director Robert Lobetta jumped in. It was the biggest chaotic thing in the world, but to my knowledge probably the biggest group of assembled artists of our industry on one stage.

In our booth, Kelly Cardenas and I heckled, sang, and did whatever we could for a buck or five bucks. About 20 brilliant-looking Future Professionals worked the carpet, wearing Katrina T-shirts and selling Mardi Gras beads. You couldn’t get by without making a donation.

We raised $150,000 in one day and I got to prove my point, which is that sometimes when it comes to doing something in our industry, we need to put down our flags and get behind something that means something. All in all, it was an incredible experience. It was definitely the contribution of an industry.

SAM BROCATO

Sam Brocato is the president and artistic director of Brocato America and one of our industry’s favorite mentors. Born in New Orleans, Sam opened his first salon in Baton Rouge in 1976 and has since launched four salons and two academies of hairdressing. He chronicled some of the secrets of his professional success in his book, Beautiful Business: Retailing for the Hairdresser. He was inducted into the British Hairdressers Hall of Fame and has received the honor of World Top Fashion Hairstylist from the World Hairdressing Congress in London. He was named Editorial Stylist of the Year at the North American Hairstyling Awards and recently received NAHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

In this MASTERS interview recorded shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Sam called on the beauty industry to show what we’re made of and to keep giving. The devastation of Katrina directly affected thousands of our industry’s professionals. Homes were lost, salons flooded or destroyed, and lives were forever changed. Click here to listen to Sam Brocato’s moving message and find out what you can do to help our beauty industry family rebuild their homes, their careers, and their lives.


If you enjoyed this month’s audio message, you’ll love our MASTERS Audio Club. CLICK HERE for more information.

STYLIST CHOICE AWARDS

Over 2,500 of the industry’s leading platform artists, educators, manufacturers, and hairdressers gathered at the Hard Rock LIVE! in Orlando, Florida, for behindthechair.com’s 2006 Stylist Choice Awards.

Robert Cromeans, Artistic Director of John Paul Mitchell Systems, was named Favorite Platform Artist for the sixth consecutive year. His award was presented by Vidal Sassoon through a prerecorded video taping. In a surprise tribute, Sassoon said, “Robert, never leave the stage. We love you.”

John Paul DeJoria was on hand to accept the award for Favorite Shampoo (Super Skinny Shampoo), presented by Vivienne Mackinder. Paul Mitchell snagged two additional Stylist Choice Awards: Favorite Volumizing Product (Extra Body Daily Boost) and Favorite Non-Chemical Straightening Product (Super Skinny).

Behindthechair.com extended special thanks “to the hardworking Paul Mitchell Future Professionals from Paul Mitchell The School – Orlando for helping us stuff the 750 goody bags for the show.”

GIVE BACK TO YOUR COMMUNITY
Adapted from Be Nice (Or Else!) by Winn Claybaugh

One of the most important and meaningful ways to spread your BE NICE revolution is to embrace people who are less fortunate. Over the past 20 years, our Paul Mitchell Schools and their wonderful staffs have chosen to get involved in all sorts of causes and charities. Some of them were causes that I personally am passionate about, but the majority of our philanthropic pursuits were the causes and charities that individual staff members were passionate about.

When you ask your family, friends, staff, and fellow workers what they care about, and then you join their cause and help them make a difference, you’ll cultivate better relationships and sustain a healthy work culture like you’ve never seen before. And how do you find out what causes are important to your family, friends, staff, and your co-workers? You ask them.

At my school in Provo, Utah, for over 10 years a sweet elderly woman by the name of Gladys came to us on the same day, every single week for her shampoo set. One day, she came up to me with four dollars in her hand and asked, “Winn, how much hair color can I get for four dollars?” Amused, I stepped back and replied, “Gladys, after ten years you now want to color your hair? Have you got a special occasion coming up?” Gladys softly gazed at me and said, “It’s my husband’s funeral tomorrow.”

With that, I unthinkingly blurted out, “Gladys, your hair color is free. From now on, all of your services are free. In fact, NO SENIOR CITIZEN WILL EVER PAY MONEY IN THIS SCHOOL AGAIN!” Was it a smart business decision? No, it was stupid. But it was the right thing to do, it was a nice thing to do, and it set up a wonderful opportunity to bring out the niceness in everyone involved. And how did this simple story affect our team and our company? It sent out a message that we can and do make a difference in our bigger community. We take care of each other, we take care of our customers, we’re here to serve, and we’re nice.

TOP FUNDRAISERS RECOGNIZED


The Paul Mitchell School network raised over $100,000 for the NCA Disaster Relief Fund, to help those in the beauty industry who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. Three Future Professionals or recent graduates from across the country won an all-expense-paid trip to California to attend a three-day Advanced Academy course and dinner with John Paul DeJoria and Winn Claybaugh on September 12, 2006.

Michelle Trzaskalski from The Pulse Academy in Downington, Pennsylvania, raised more than $5,000 through a fashion show at her school. “I thought it was important to do that because I couldn’t go down and help the people who were affected by Katrina,” she said.
Jennifer Barlow, a recent graduate of Paul Mitchell The School – Salt Lake City, raised $1,000 by getting permission for her school to stay open on a Monday. She convinced Future Professionals and Learning Leaders to give up their day off and donate all proceeds to Katrina relief. “I got it announced on TV and made more than 2,000 flyers,” Jennifer said. “It was the best feeling in the world to help those people who needed it. It was a great experience!” A third winner, Paul Mitchell The School – Orlando graduate Glorie Santos, was unable to attend. She received a gift certificate for the Dermal Institute in her area.

Cat Wood and Christine Larkin, two Future Professionals from Paul Mitchell The School – Costa Mesa, were also included in the festivities, in recognition of their fundraising efforts for this year’s AIDS/LifeCycle event. Their school held a walkathon and raised over $6,000 for the California-based organization, which provides critical services to people living with HIV and AIDS.

TIM FERRELL, CLASS OF 2003
Vanguard College of New Orleans – A Paul Mitchell Partner School


Tim Ferrell earned seven degrees in business, drafting, and electrical engineering before enrolling in Vanguard College of New Orleans – A Paul Mitchell Partner School. In the three years since he graduated, Tim has done hair and makeup for magazine photo shoots, a local TV talk show, a championship bodybuilding event, Vanguard’s Hair Camp 2005, Signature Gathering 2005, and a charity fashion show hosted by Dennis Quaid where he worked with models from America’s Next Top Model. In his spare time, he writes southern gospel music.

This modern-day Renaissance man may appear to be a jack of all trades, but when it comes to the products he represents, he’s the master of one: it’s Paul Mitchell all the way. He’s an associate and national educator with Vanguard Salon Services (a Paul Mitchell distributor), an artist/educator with Ultimate Salon Services (distributor of Paul Mitchell products and Ultimate Face cosmetics), and a stylist and makeup artist at the Thomas Cousins Focus Salon in Mandeville, Louisiana.

He’s accomplished all of this while surviving two bouts of cancer, chemotherapy treatments, and Hurricane Katrina. With no renter’s insurance, he lost everything he owned when Katrina flooded his apartment. ”The support I got from my Paul Mitchell and Ultimate Face families was beyond measure,” Tim says. “The care and the support system we had as a family was incredible.”

In school, Tim’s long-term goal was to do hair and makeup for runway, print, TV, and film. “I’m doing it all within three years,” he says proudly. “Goals that I didn’t even know I had are coming to fruition.” Tim’s advice for Future Professionals: Set a goal, keep your mind on it, do the footwork, and it will happen.