I’ve been in the hair industry since 2000 which has been long enough to have see frosted tips, chunky foils, zig zag parts, balayage, recession panic, Instagram trends, salon booms, staff shortages, and just about every “this industry is changing” conversation imaginable.
I have 4 beautiful children which includes my step son, 2 boys and 2 girls, pretty blessed actually.
We have 2 mini sausages and currently 8 puppies running wild in our house. I played baseball for a little bit, I was terrible but I met someone who became my husband later on. So I guess that was worth the pain of being plugged at the plate with the ball cause I couldn’t see it coming 🤓.
I have a loving husband who drops everything for me the minute I ask and is an International hockey umpire (google Steve Rogers no no no not Captain America just good ole Steve Rogers from Ipswich QLD lol) and with this I have been to 8 different countries in 4 years. We even took the kids to Europe for the olympics in 2024 and a road trip through 4 countries crammed into an Audi and no room to move, with my husband thinking he was hilarious by driving us around the Arc De Triomphe while not knowing the road rules. Thats a story for another day with a glass of wine….
Hairdressing has never just been a job to me. It’s been my entire life. I wanted to be a hairdresser for as long as I can remember.
My step mother, bless her, I don’t know how she ever forgave me but I cut my own hair 3 weeks before they got married, 🫣 I was 6. It was in my blood to be creative well thats my excuse but I do know this, the hairdresser was the knight in shining armour that day and managed to perform a miracle and give me a style that hid the missing chunk from my blonde locks. (See we are miracle workers).
I started my apprentice in 2000 in a Central Queensland hair salon and then after a year moved to Brisbane and trained in high end city salons as a colourist, where attention to detail, client experience, and premium service were the standard. Those early years taught me not only technical skill, but how successful salons actually operate behind the scenes (right down to which way the toilet roll had to be placed, which to this day I am a real stickler about).
While I had children I dabbled in bits of accounting and worked for a couple of larger firms. Dealing with SMSF (Self Managed Super Funds) to BAS reports. This taught me such incredible insight into numbers and the importance of them. Plus I am known to love writing a good budget, my husband will say I can write it but not stick to it 😂.
After my children growing up and playing with spreadsheets and numbers, I went on to own my own salon for nearly 10 years, which gave me firsthand experience in what salon ownership really looks like. The good, the stressful, the “how am I paying the rent this week?”, and the “wow, I am actually building something incredible here” parts.
I understand the pressure salon owners & team members carry because I’ve lived both sides of these stories.
After retiring from working on the floor, I’ve been lucky enough to be a sales manager for a skincare company manufacturing locally and selling predominantly into overseas markets, giving me a broader understanding of branding, retail psychology, business growth, team culture, and consumer behaviour outside of just the hairdressing world.
Today, I work as a sales agent for three professional hair brands, which means I’m inside salons every single day. I hear what owners are struggling with in real time. I see what successful salons are doing differently. I speak with apprentices, seniors, managers, renters, overwhelmed owners, and teams trying to survive burnout while still delivering great service.
I’m not coaching from theory. I’m coaching from experience and ongoing real world industry exposure.
I also believe in business you don’t have to lose your personality to become successful. You can be professional and still have fun. Structured and still creative. Driven and still completely authentically yourself.
At 43 next month, I care less about pretending that we have life all figured out and more about being real and discussing what we really want to talk about but are to afraid too because of fear of judgement. I have created a safe space were you are not judged for not having all the answers or ideas but you are heard, valued, supported and guided.
No fluff. Just honest conversations, practical strategies, industry insight, and someone in your corner who actually wants to see you thrive and is cheering you on from the side lines.