Being On Top Of Your A-Game!

BY GUEST EDITOR, FRANK CICCONE

When I was asked by Mocha’s Editor-In-Chief, Louise May, to write this article about a person of interest, I didn’t even hesitate, as I knew exactly who I wanted to profile. Many of us in this industry need to be on top of our game and be professional in our barbershops, salons and within the education sector.

A few barbers around the country look after high-profile AFL/A league/ NRL players, which in turn helps our profiles and businesses grow.

I wanted to see how professionalism and the pressures of presentation affect a high-profile performer and how they deal with it while being in the public eye.

ENTER HIGH-PROFILE AFL PLAYER TOM DE KONING.

We at Hair By Ciccone sponsor Carlton Football Club and star player Tom De Koning, who has been a client of ours for the past 6 years.

We were very fortunate to sit down with Tom after a training session at the club. I wanted to pick his brain about his career and especially being in the limelight and how his experiences and professionalism can relate to all of us in the hair industry.

Many of us who played sport as a kid dreamt of playing at an elite level. What were your first thoughts when you discovered you were going to be an AFL player?

Thinking back on it now – it’s been a while since the draft, I think I’m in my 7th year now – the moment that I first got the call up that I was going to be playing for Carlton was amazing and the whole family was absolutely stoked, just for the amount of work that went through to getting me there. It was an absolute thrill to be able to say I’m part of an AFL list and to be able to play for Carlton Football Club, a massive club.

How do you remain in the game when there’s so much cheering and yelling from a crowd of 60 thousand plus ? How do you stay present and collected?

Good question! I think starting my career it probably rattled me a bit walking out in front of big crowds, but I think off the back of last season we saw some of our biggest numbers and especially in the finals, being able to play our first finals series in 10 years in front of 90,000 plus a few weeks in a row.

It’s funny - I was talking to someone about this yesterday - you walk out there, and you take in all the fans, take in everything and as soon as that siren goes it’s all out the window and you just focus on the game.

You don’t really notice the crowd until there’s a big moment or a goal or something like that where you can kind of really take it all in. We’re so focused on the game that it kind of all just goes out of your head until the final siren goes, and hopefully you get the win!

I know that when you have spare time you pull out the surfboard… Tell us about Tom outside of AFL ?

I think you’re all over it there. For me, if I need a chance to kind of take my head away from footy, I’m straight down the coast, whether it be the peninsula where I grew up or down at the surf coast where all my family is now. I really love getting in the ocean, using that as a chance to reset, get my mind off footy, and then once the time comes, where I have to go back to the club and really focus, then I feel refreshed and ready to go.

Like myself, many Carlton fans hope that you are playing for the Blues for many years to come, but what about life after AFL? Are you studying at the moment and is there a career path in mind? It’s funny, we talk about this a lot don’t we Chica [Frank’s nickname amongst most of the players] At the moment I’m studying a Bachelor of Business at ACU and slowly ticking those boxes and trying to kind of figure out what my interests are. For me at this period, footy is number one but I know that that’s not going to last forever.

I always have to have something to fall back on and that’s a really big focus of mine; to get something done on the outside. I try and kind of work my interests into that. I love surfing, I love being outdoors, and I love business and real estate, so I try and kind of just work and learn as much as I can at the moment and then get a degree under my belt and then sort of figure it out from there, because who knows what I’ll be doing in 10 years. FRANK: Open up a surf shop! TOM: Yeah, that’s it!

Many of us barbers have to be on top of our game every haircut or when we are demonstrating haircuts on stage at Barber expos. I want to touch on professionalism in your industry such as when you guys attend schools, meet, and greets or are in front of media. Do you prepare for these yourself or are you given a brief to follow?

For us, we’re lucky, we’ve got our media team who brief us before we go out in front of media. But in the first initial years where you get drafted you do media training, learning how to speak, learning what to say. But bringing out your own personality as well is important because you don’t want to just be a robot and answer everything the same.

You want to be able to express yourself and show people what you’re interested in. It’s interesting because you can relate that to footy or your industry as well as a barber, but you have to be able to get up on stage and perform, and preparation is key for all those things.

Now you know when it comes to hairstyling, I always talk to you about SMASH IT. You basically have no choice on the matter when you are in my chair, but what’s your routine with your hair before a game especially when your hair has some length?

Mine’s grown out a bit now, it always has been pretty long. I think there was only one year where I shaved it. Before a game, I like to have a shower, brush it straight and then put Smash It in to hold it, and then I wear a headband.

I feel like that really holds it in place and then I’m able to go out there and not have to worry about it getting in my eyes or anything like that. It’s funny, ever since I’ve met you, I’ve used Smash It pretty much every day of my life, I reckon! I think most of the boys here as well use it. It‘s a great product that we love using, which is great!

Now, let’s talk about the famous “De Koning’s in the air “ viral video posted by the legend Robbie Williams. How did you hear about it and what was going through head when you saw it ?

I think it was after the Melbourne game. I think it came up on my family group chat or someone sent it through. I thought it was a joke at first, I didn’t really know what I was watching and then I realised that Robbie posted it himself. It was a bit of a star-struck moment for me. I just felt so lucky that he was watching the game.

Initially, I was already so happy that we had won the game, and we were going on to a Prelim, so it was mixed emotions and pure excitement and joy. You can’t really beat that. He’s a “rippa”!

In this issue, I’ve touched on brand ambassadors and influencers. With having so many sponsors, is there an expectation from your sponsors or your club about posting or doing promotions on their behalf?

It kind of depends on the brand. Our sponsors pay money to be on our uniform and we choose clubs we like to represent, which the club does behind the scenes, like Puma, we all love wearing Puma, and then we all have our own individual sponsors. For me, I wear Nike shoes.

That’s just who I choose, that’s who I like to wear. Then it’s pretty much up to the individual what sort of deal they have as to what they post and how often. The bigger dogs probably post a bit more because they’ve got a better following. You’re a human billboard so whatever brand you wear is one you like to represent.

That’s the way I think about it, but I don’t have too many sponsorships yet, so maybe I’ll try and get a few more! You gotta choose brands that you like. I think the worst thing about seeing influencers who just promote anything is you get sick of it, because they’re promoting everything and anything. If you really just promote what you’re interested in, then that’s the key, I think.

@_t.d.k_ @_frankciccone_