10 Minutes with Rebecca Wood

Rebecca grew up on a little hobby farm of 10 acres in a tiny place called Lyndhurst in southeast Victoria. Despite her childhood being pretty tough, and her family having very little money, they did own every animal imaginable; she says, always bringing home strays, even getting a pony for her 3rd birthday.

“My bedroom was all pink, floors included. I remember cutting my barbies hair, my hair, and my imaginary friends hair. Funnily enough though I really wanted to be a criminal prosecutor, but by around year 9 I had lost interest and got my first job at Maccas…. Where I learned the importance of customer service!”

Where did your journey in the industry begin?

My first salon experience was as a shampoo girl for work experience in 1996 in a big shopping centre salon in Frankston Victoria, called Barry At Work. I remember thinking how cool it was. Pink salon, many stylists, nail techs and receptionists…. So fancy! It was here I first read about the great Antony Whitaker who almost 30 years later has become a mentor and idol to me. I knew then that I could be great at this career.

Starting my apprenticeship in the mid 90s for the Myer/David Jones conglomerate of salons, I was lucky to score a young boss who believed in sending me to all the education the company had to offer. I have worked from the Mornington Peninsula to Black Rock and Bentleigh and Melbourne CBD.

Now a little over a decade later, I have owned two salons, became a colour educator for a brand, closed the salon, became a freelancer, beat cancer, lived through a pandemic, and now have my own private studio for hair clients 3 - 4 days a week… And launched my very own independent education company.

Was business ownership always a priority to you?

Owning a business came as a necessity to survive and build something to support not only me, but my beautiful daughter. In 2009 I found myself back on the peninsula fresh out of a domestic violent relationship with a newborn baby girl and not a dollar in the bank. I did hair in my mums kitchen, with a babe at my feet and a tail comb in my hand.

After a while, word got out and everyone was keen to get their colours rinsed off over the bath. I offered colour that no one else in my hometown was doing, so after a year or so I borrowed $30k from my mum and with a bit of sass, opened my first location. (also, I still have clients from the hair bath era hahaha)

Share with us some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the journey.

Oh there’s too many f$$king challenges to mention. On top of standard biz owner shit, I have had many and constant personal challenges ranging from legal to health wise. I used to overcome these by drinking heavily and popping Valium’s every night after work, which eventually ended in a complete and proper breakdown in November 2017. This was all because I had no idea how to control a salon, let alone the monster my tiny business had become.

Overcoming all of this was a long drawn-out process. Deciding to walk away, being diagnosed with cancer, and the whole world shutting down was an absolute blessing for me! I had no choice but to lay on the couch and just rest. I lived sober for 2020 and that forced a lot of mental change. Psychology, yoga, sound healings, meditation, cold water swimming. You name it I have done it lol. But really, it's believing in yourself. Forgiving yourself and allowing yourself permission to just be safe and ok. (f#@k, that was deep… like we were on an episode of Oprah lol)

Who were your industry heroes in your early years and who inspires you today?

You know I don’t actually remember having any ‘heroes’. I admired my first boss, whose hair I still do today. But now, Gah I am obsessed with Antony Whitaker, he will vouch for this haha. Tabatha Coffey, who I used to watch on TV with that newborn baby of mine, went on to become my business coach and life mentor for a while… beautiful woman.

Sarai Speer, known as The Platinum Giraffe, also as she has a similar story of battling drug addiction to then changing her life around and be super successful. Yovanka Loria, Emily Ciardiello, and Caitlyn Menzel are all amazing lady bosses who might not know it, but inspire me to keep going!

There are soooooo many amazing people in our profession. It’s really everyone. Everyone has a story, the mums trying to balance it all, the junior hairdressers trying to work out how to hold a foil, on a board and their tail comb all at once, and the biz owners who have been in the game for the long haul.

Were you always interested in becoming an educator?

I have wanted to be an educator for many years, I just never knew how, nor did I have the bandwidth. But I knew I didn’t want to die behind the chair. I knew there was more out there for me. So, at the beginning of 2020, I got to work. I started by identifying what was missing within the education realm in our profession.

Education was always in Sydney or Melbourne. Owners having to close, travel, cover staff expenses. Lack of rural education. Time poor bosses not able to give their staff the dedicated training they needed, thus, in turn, frustrating for everyone. The rise of social media and the demise of old-fashioned business ethics. The amount of home salons and mums in business floundering their way through running a home and a biz…Big, intimidating classes. So, I came up with a solution.

What would you say are the core values or philosophies which define your business?

I can be the one who travels. I can be the educator who is on the grass roots level out on the road. I want to help other owners to train their staff to help ease the pressure. I did my apprenticeship and worked in subsequent businesses without social media. I was a mum, who started in her kitchen and built a business that has given me financial freedom. And I run my education with a lot of laughs, a lot of kindness and a lot of love.

What has been your greatest lesson or piece of advice along your business journey?

Ignore the naysayers! People will try to pull you down, f@#k them! Stop crowd sourcing prices on forums. Get yourself a financial team.

What’s on the agenda for the future?

The future, OMG SO MUCH! Planning on touring more of Victoria and Tasmania with my Education. Speaking events in the works at 2 different locations. Starting a podcast ( if anyone wants to be on it shoot me a message on the gram.) Overseas adventures with my family. A hair shoot I have been trying to plan for 5 years (hello procrastination). And heaps more…. I have like 85 journals filled with ideas.