7 minute read
Social Media International Barber of the Year – Frank Ciccone By Rex A.C. Silver
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL BARBER OF THE YEAR BY REX A.C. SILVER Frank Ciccone
Amongst Rock Stars, Sports Stars and Actors, Frank Ciccone finds himself backstage at Awards like the Aria’s, the Logies, in the US at the Emmy’s or on-call to a host of Australian and International A-List talents to do their hair when they need to shine in the spotlight.
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Now, it’s Franks turn for his close-up. Frank entered The Social Media Hair and Beauty Awards (SMHBA) out of the UK and his star-studded followers and loyal clients rallied behind him to take out the honours!!
Well Deserved Frank!
Firstly, Congratulations on representing Australia and taking out the top prize” International Barber of The Year” at the SMHBA out of the UK, Sponsored by Wahl and Schwarzkopf. Thank you, Rex. I’m stoked about this award and very thankful to everyone who supported me during the process.
How did you come across the SMHBA and what did it take to enter?
I came across the awards via a sponsored post on social media. I clicked on it to see who was being nominated. There were many talented British, American and even Dutch entrants. I decided to submit a pic of my work and I left it at that. I didn’t really look at the criteria when I submitted it, as I was overwhelmed by the quality of entries. I thought I had no chance.
I understand to win, after you have qualified as a finalist, you have to have people like your entry on the official page, so is this something your clients, friends and supporters rallied to get you there?
Yes, that is correct. Once I was notified, I then reached out to all my clients, friends and high-profile clients who in turn rallied behind me.
That’s an amazing show of love and support for you and your staff and business after such a hard past 12 moths for Victorians!
I know that the hair and beauty industry suffered across the country but for businesses here in Victoria it was very hard. We were closed for about 5 months all up. We actually closed for 6 weeks prior to being forced closed as our area was very high in cases. It was a tough decision to close earlier but we’d rather be closed by choice than to be forced closed with our business name all over the news for the wrong reasons. This award just gives us hope that as a business, like many, we are heading in the right direction when you know awards and events are happening again.
What do you think this means for your business and staff; a great motivator?
Any type of award for your business is a blessing. It gives you self-worth for starters, especially when you have been in the industry for 25 years plus. The clients love it that their hairdresser/ barber has an award as they boast about it that “my barber is better than yours” lol! The staff love it, especially the younger ones as they can see that there is appreciation & gratitude in the industry by its peers and they can work towards an accolade themselves one day. For the business itself it’s amazing as we have some marketing power up our sleeves with posting about this award.
Take us through the event when the winners were announced, I understand you had to get up at 4am and thought you were going to just watch?
Yes, I smashed out a few espressos that morning. When it was announced that the awards ceremony was being held at 8pm I had to work out the Melbourne time and realised it was an ‘am’ event. Went to bed early Friday night and was up at 4. The hosts of the event were 2X British Barber of the year Mathew Guerin and renowned make-up artist Sophie Williams. It was a live feed for everyone around the world. Because it was in Britain, they couldn’t do an event due to covid restrictions. So, it was held online. When they announced the winners from each category such as “salon of the year” etc, they would then do a live cross to the winner via Instagram to accept the award. When it was the turn of the International Barber of the year, I was just watching waiting to see who would win.
then out of left field the announced my name, I just froze then they showed the envelope with my name on it then I freaked out. I had to quickly accept a live feed from them and chat to them accepting the award. I was stunned throughout the interview. I had to watch a recording of the interview afterwards as I couldn’t even remember what I said.
Please tell our readers how long you have been in the industry – a little history.
25 years! My wife Helen and I opened Hair by Ciccone way back in 1996. We have had a great life running this suburban salon. It has been very hard but very rewarding in many ways. We have been blessed to work with some great staff who have supported us right through. Running a salon is a challenge but you need to have the drive and passion to get you over the line especially support from staff. Helen has been the backbone of the salon with staff training. I actually learnt my trade from her. Then I stepped up when all the social media platforms started, and I started doing a lot of the marketing via these platforms which has helped our brand immensely. We also launched a men’s styling brand called SMASH IT in 2013.
When you added the Barber Shop to your business, how has that affecting things?
I always had a little men’s area at the front of the salon but as I started looking after high-profile clients, I set up an area on our middle level but that got very busy, so then in 2015, Helen allocated a whole area at the back of the salon where all my male clientele visit. We have established a bar as well and a lounge area, so the lads can chill and feel comfortable having some deep and emotional conversations about life, which to me is very important. (Gold!! Ed)
Please tell us about any other awards and achievements and community recognition you have enjoyed.
In regard to awards, Hair by Ciccone has won many local businesses of the year awards and was inducted into the small business Hall of Fame for our region after winning the award 3 times. We were also named finalist for the AHIA VICTORIAN SALON OF THE YEAR in 2017. Way back in 2000 we won The FOX FM Melbourne’s Best Hairdresser which was massive for us. We have always been involved with awards that were for the salon. We never entered individual awards. So, this is new to us. Helen won Hairdresser of the year from her academy way back in 1991 so it’s been many years since another individual award has come our way. With our celebrity clientele, some come into the shop and for others we look after them at their hotel rooms. We have looked after the likes of SLASH , INXS, POWDER FINGER, BIRDS OF TOKYO, THE GEORDIE SHORE CAST such as GAZ, SCOTT, AARON, KYLE, JAMES & NATHAN. As a big soccer follower, I was blessed to look after JUVENTUS FC. such as Argentinian star Paulo Dybala, FC BARCELONA goalkeeper Neto Murara, and other players include Asamoah, Hernanes and more. I was blessed to have met Socceroo legend Tim Cahill who was a regular at the shop, he then introduced me to the Socceroos. I looked after them a few times before and after the World Cup in 2018. Since 1999 I have looked after players from AFL team Carlton Football club. Such as Bryce Gibbs, Marc Murphy and more and current players such as Patrick Cripps and Tom De Koning. I even got to shave AFL great Kade Simpson beard of for a charity at the channel 10 studios for the tv footy show Before the Bounce. I have looked after many MELBOURNE CITY players such as Garruccio, Mauk, Melling, Hoffman, Jacobsen, Luna, Galloway and current captain Jamieson. Covid sadly restricted me in looking after talent as there were not many events. The most recent personalities were tennis stars Domenic Thiem and Stan Warinka during the Australian Open this year and S5000 driver and F3 Grand Prix champion Luis Leeds. I looked after EMMY award winner Vincent De Paul when I was in LA for the EMMYS which was crazy. Most importantly, I have been an ambassador for a charity called The Polished Man which helps prevent violence against children. (The black and white pic used in this article is from that campaign.) I have been an ambassador for 2 years and I strongly support it.
Soccer Star Tim Cahiill
