Can I be a hairdresser please?
As long as I can remember I have ‘done’ everyone’s hair. As a young 10 year old, my pap would let me cut his minimal grey locks. I had a flair for braids, styling and cutting. I had no experience, it just came naturally and thank goodness it always turned out well.
I remember braiding all the older girls hair on the school bus every morning and I was only 11. My lifelong friend was always a happy client and I remember at only 17 cutting her long flowing thick brown hair, into a short bob. I had no fear, I just knew it would be OK.
Girls nights out always started for me with doing all the girls’ hair styles; curls, straight, updo’s whatever was the fashion of the moment. I always had a never ending supply of bobbles, hair pins and hair spray. I loved every minute of it.
Wedding hair was also a sideline. I have made several brides look perfect for their big day. Looking back now I’m not sure that that responsibility would sit so well with me now.
Most recently was my best friends wedding. I did her hair and makeup and if I say so myself, she looked absolutely beautiful. I was slightly nervous on the morning, but being with my best friend and being such an important part of her day was everything to me, and her.
So you may ask yourself why I’m not a hairdresser? That would be a reasonable question. The answer is that when it came time to finish high school and pursue careers or further study, I was advised, point blank, that being a hairdresser was just not an option for me. The rationale? I was too clever and had too many opportunities to do other things in the future and I should continue with my studies. The fact that hairdressers earned minimum wages in those days, had also put a negative spin on it. So I took everyone’s advice and didn’t follow my dream.
Do I regret the decision? Yes. Particularly that the advice was completely misinformed and at no point did anyone ever think that this might be something that I would love to do for the rest of my life. When I look now with admiration to the hairdressers of today, I realise that brains are indeed needed for the role. Plus creativity, personality, business acumen and skill. All essential to today’s hairdressers who, if successful, are taking the world by storm. Instead I have a degree in Law. Of which I am very proud. I have fulfilled so many roles over the years, which on reflection have brought me to where I am today, but still I have that unfulfilled yearning for a career that was never meant to be.
Unfortunately, the fact that I now have fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and Arthritis, becoming a hairdresser will probably not happen in this lifetime. So instead I fulfill my creative needs with my own hair, and that of my loved ones.
Advice: Follow your dreams, don’t let other peoples opinions put you off. Go with your gut instinct.
