POLISHED SKILLS

Justine Wolfe has been working in the hair industry for over 20 years. While the COVID19 global pandemic saw much change in many industries, for Justine there was an opportunity to expand and provide high quality education through her Polished Skills courses. In a short time, Justine has built a reputation for engaging education building styling confidence.

In 2023, Justine is again partnering with Milk_shake Melbourne as part of a broader education calendar.

We caught up with Justine to find out what drives her and what’s next for 2023 and beyond.

What drives your passions for the industry and vision for Education?

I love this industry. It is home to me and the people in it are my family. Hairstylists are another breed, and I couldn’t be prouder to call myself one. Confidence is my “why”. What I mean by this is your follower count, earnings for the year, number of people who booked your services, or came to your education are one thing... however important, none of these no matter how great will keep me getting out of bed at 3am to style brides’ week after week, year after year.

What keeps me doing this is making a difference in people’s lives. If I can give a bride the confidence to get down that aisle knowing she is the best version of herself or give a stylist the confidence and tools to create textured styles without fear my fire is lit ongoing. This is my passion and absolutely why I continue doing what I do.

Tell us a little about your experience and career highlights to date.

I started working in a salon after I did work experience in Year 9 (before VCAL) and they offered me a job. I was always creative growing up and loved the idea of serving others and giving a great experience to be enjoyed. I knew I either wanted to be a chef or hairdresser but struggled to decide which. With this work experience – I worked a week in a kitchen and a week in a salon. Both employers offered me a job afterwards. My heart was with the salon.

I worked in the salon for a couple of years while still at school then finally became a full-time apprentice. My family were shocked that this non studious girl smashed out hairdressing school and completed in 16 months instead of 4 years.

From there I went on to work behind the chair in salons, then managerial roles for the following 10 years before completing my training and assessment qualification. I always loved educating. Passing on confidence to others in their craft gives me life. The next few years I worked in education for brands before getting married and having two children.

During this time, I started my own business Polished Style working with the convenience of my schedule offering hairdressing appointments to regular clients. After taking time off with my second child I knew I wanted more. I didn’t want to be in my house for both work and home life anymore and wanted to go for that business I’d always dreamed of. I didn’t know where to start, so I decided to update my training qualification and got a job at the hair school I had attended 20 years prior.

Although I loved the education component – I missed getting creative. I started a bridal business on the side on weekends. This has always been a dream of mine but as my husband works Saturdays, I never thought it would be a possibility. I worked out a way and decided to go for it. As I never thought this would be on the cards for me, I decided to go all in and give it all I had, whilst quietly wondering if anyone would actually book with me. They did. I remember my first enquiry vividly – I couldn’t believe it.

I called my husband at work to let him know. As the days rolled by the bookings snowballed until I had to let go of my academy role. I was sad, I loved that job. The relationships I still treasure to this day, but I knew I couldn’t keep it up whilst also running my own business. Then the COVID Pandemic and lockdown happened. Pretty much as soon as I went out on my own. I kept posting my work and the hairstyling ideas on social media. Crazily to me, I was having other stylists contact me in the hope for me to teach them my styles, my marketing and how I go about creating and editing content for Instagram. I was shocked as I had promised myself no more fingers in too many pies and to stay in my lane moving forward with aiming to book just 1 wedding a week.

Session after session I taught tailor making the content to the learner, and I couldn’t help but notice a theme of similar questions being asked, similar challenges for the participant, similar curiosities about behind the scenes in my business, so much so that I decided to have all of the answers professionally filmed into a variety of online courses to have this content more accessible and readily available to those who need it.

What can stylists expect from your education programs?

My programs online and in person are geared to what freelance hairstylists in our industry need to know to become successful with hairstyling and in business but are also loved by hairdressers in salon, makeup artists and hair novices to gain confidence with creating hairstyles that are comfortable to wear and last easily. My programs are designed to strip back all the fluff and underwhelm participants, so they have an actionable proven plan to follow and achieve results.

I teach a unique methodology called ‘5 Steps to Textured Styling’ which has become popular as it is a super simplified and step by step way of creating beautiful hairstyles every time that don’t look over pinned or over sprayed and without us stylists getting lost in the process. I also offer programs that highlight how to streamline the backend of your business, create and edit content, build your brand, and market to attract your ideal clients.

This year I will be offering in person and online options with hands on workshops in partnership with Milk_shake Mellbourne, look and learn masterclasses, my online program Polished Skills and new bite sized classes online.

What’s your focus and goals for 2023 and beyond?

Due to the incredible feedback so far, I am truly focusing on equipping more hairstylists with my simple 5 step styling plan and business material. I read the reviews and know it’s worth the intense effort to put it on for the participants. In 2023, due to demand I plan to take this in person education to more cities in Australia including Hair Festival in June.

I am also fortunate enough to be invited back to work with some of my favourite brands like Milk_ shake with hands on in person masterclasses. I am absolutely grateful for the relationship and opportunity to work with the Milk_shake team for my third year running, their salon support system and product offering are second to none – the studio feels like home to me.

I will be still servicing my bridal parties as usual, although less than before due to a family priority shift but I feel that it’s important to keep my finger on the pulse with real styling when teaching it.

For more information or to contact Justine, please visit polishedstyle.com.au or @polishedstylejustine on Instagram