20 MINUTES
TOM WHITE
h t i W
A ‘hub for the good’ is how Salon Owner ‘Tom White’ describes his new salon, Same Same But Different. There are three main issues in the world that have been talked about for a long time says Tom, but really haven’t seen any true progression... Equality, Diversity and Sustainability. Hair Biz Editor Louise May had an absolute blast catching up with Tom, to get a little more up close and personal and to find out what was the inspiration behind creating his amazing new salon space.
Tell us what you do in the industry today:
Founder and Director of Same Same But Different Salon, International Ambassador and Educator for evo and I’m also a co-founder of a new initiative alongside the AHC called Pathway Connect which is a blueprint created for hairdressers to find and access different parts of the industry.
To help us get to know you a little more, would you share a little about your upbringing?
I’m one of two children. My Dad and Mum are both retired, but my dad used to run the Circulation Department for one of the country’s biggest Newspapers and my Mum was a Support Worker for women who suffered from Family Violence. 2 intense roles, for different reasons. I grew up in a small town near Wolverhampton in England. I got myself into heaps of trouble, I just loved to rebel. There is something about ‘rules’ that I just don’t understand. There are so many of them that get in the way of progression, that when I was a kid, I would break them to see what would happen. I went to a nice school, I got good grades, I was academic, but ultimately hated the education system and didn’t feel like 18
Hair Biz Year 15 Issue 4
it served me properly and couldn’t wait to get out of it!
How did you first get involved in the industry?
Once I left school and I realised I wasn’t going to be a footballer, I bounced around jobs not knowing what I wanted to do. I tried sales, retail, more sales….then a mate of mine introduced me to hairdressing. Now, I’ve never been creative at all, I’m way more analytical, but I saw opportunity in the industry. This became more apparent every day after I started my apprenticeship at 20 years old. I found that you could reverse engineer a lot of it and be ‘creative’ that way. Once I had done 3 months in a salon, I was addicted to the people, the work, the craft. I Never looked back.
What achievement are you most proud of in your life or career?
There are a couple! First of all, my wife. Actually, getting her to agree to marry me and then her turning up on the day is my greatest ever achievement! Lou is the reason I get out of bed in the morning and the most important part of my life, she has taught me what I can be and given me the belief to go and get shit done. Professionally….winning the awards is great, but it has to be Same Same But Different Salon. It’s the baby I’ve always had in the back of my head, and now is the right time to launch it.
