joi de vivre I NT E RV I E W WITH M E LIS S A D UG UAY
Pablo Picasso says “Every child is an artist; the problem is, how to remain an artist once we grow up.” However, a true artist, never really grows up. Life is always playful and full of passion. They see the world through a whole new lens, that captures moments ordinary people can’t see. So, when at 12, Melissa said she would be a hairdresser, it was real. She is a multi-award-winning stylist, and an international platform artist for JOICO. To add to her repertoire, she is a stand-up comic. Melissa is literally bringing JOI wherever she goes.
“One of the most predominant memories I have as a little girl was getting in trouble for giving all my barbies a Bob or a pixie cut. At one point my mom threatened to stop buying me dolls. But that didn’t stop me. I remember, without hesitation, giving my best friend a haircut in my bathroom. We were 12, and we got in so much trouble. Once everyone had a chance to calm down and really looked at the haircut, I believe her mom’s exact words were ‘you’re really good at this, you should be doing this for a living.’ And that was the beginning of the rest of my life.”
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“Like most stylists can attest to, you only really start to learn the art of hairstyling when you get behind the chair, find a mentor and really challenge your skills. School is where you learn the fundamentals; 1500 hours of practice for the real world. However, for me, school was where I fell in love with the art of competing. I’m from Moncton, New Brunswick, and our school hosted a competition where the top five competitors would get to travel to Halifax to compete live. I WON! This win sparked a fire in me that is still here to this day. I was then introduced to what was new to me, a photobased competition. This would take my competitive edge to new levels.”
