5 minute read
CURATE Awards. Genesis of an Awards’ Platform
By Justin Pace
Before finishing grade 11, I decided to leave my Mackay, Queensland school for a hairdressing apprenticeship. My parents made it clear if my boss fired me, I’d have to go back to school and repeat year 11 – so early on in my apprenticeship, I knew there wasn’t much room to fail (academia not for me.)
As a result of the employment condition my parents placed on me, my rather hard boss, Liana noticed I wanted to run before I could walk (like most apprentices.) Unsurprisingly, this apprentice outlook hasn’t changed.
To keep me focused, Leanne encouraged me to immediately enter hairdressing competitions, so I found myself competing in the first year of my apprenticeship.
Even though my very first competition only entailed a mannequin blow-dry, competing didn’t solely encompass presenting this finished result; rather, it demanded I plan, set up and rehearse in advance (which dovetailed with what Liana was also teaching me . . . each incremental port was as substantial as the destination.)
By the second / third year of my apprenticeship, I was competing up and down the North and South Coasts of Queensland, Cairns to Bundaberg in a variety of platforms.
Looking back, I was extremely fortunate to have an authoritarian who didn’t go easy on me . . . someone to push past boundaries and help with the achievement of sequential goals. Consequently, this preliminary educational intervention ended up setting me on a strategic career path, providing the impetus and hunger to do more (since I immediately experienced the pleasure of success.)
Now I look back – due to hairdressing – I’ve realised both a professionally- / personallyfulfilling career and life, plus travelled the world and been paid. As not every vocation can lay claim to this, it’s these aspects I want to highlight to a younger generation . . . the perception of hairdressing as an exciting, gratifying career.
Currently, there’s an Australian Hair Industry apprentice dropout rate of 63%. What happens to the industry, individuals, salon owners, product companies, brands and all manner of stakeholders if there are no apprentices to carry the future baton? The industry dies a slow death, and with it a truly special community worth saving (plus a host of human dreams.)
To keep apprentices both retained and engaged – as I was in my first year onward – I created CURATE Awards alongside Lily Blue Communications. My dream is to help apprentices bank a variety of skills that contribute to long-term career growth and progression, sustaining motivation beyond the day-to-day constancy of the salon (younger generations acknowledged with industry recognition, credibility and rewards.)
In addition, there’s another equal – if not greater – component . . . perpetuation of the Australian Hair Industry. With freelance operators now no longer training nor hiring apprentices, it falls to a dwindling percentage of ‘traditional’ salons to secure the industry’s future.
As with any Government / business / personal program – if there are additional benefits that motivate an individual (for example financial incentives and / or prizes) – it’s always a more attractive proposition.
For salon owners / directors / managers, CURATE Awards presents a rousing tool to excite and direct apprentices to enter a competition platform for the first time. As most high-end salons have an expectation of excellence before an apprentice reaches the floor (enabling enterprise proliferation), competitions can function as a solid tool to keep a young mind multilaterally engaged (for example in individual investment and education, the salon where the stylist works, and of course . . . the Australian Hair Industry.) In addition, an owner / director / manager can use the opportunity to augment their internal training programme with supplementary tuition – coaching that allows an apprentice to be creative immediately (technical skills required to support imaginative instincts.)
Therefore . . . I see early-intervention competitions as a way for salon stakeholders to enhance the technical skills required to enable creative displays (ultimately benefiting apprentice career progression and business perpetuation.) Lastly, I view competitions as a useful tool for stakeholders to share promotional content.
For apprentices – our all-important next generation – CURATE Awards is a gateway experience to invest in what the hairdressing industry CAN offer: national credibility, training with leading professionals, national and international travel, lasting connections and grooming celebrities – plus perhaps –the opportunity to create a dream salon one day.
I would like CURATE Awards to take away the nerves / pressure of apprentices competing, providing an initial platform for younger generations to participate in the Australian Hair Industry. As competing requires an individual to think outside the box and then apply common sense, ensuing procedural skills can teach a person about themselves (additional traits developed in the process.) Ultimately, CURATE Awards is a stepping stone for salon owners/directors/managers and apprentices.
