Colour Collab

South Australian hairdressers, get ready for the next level of collaborative creative education! UNITY Hair Education Collab Launches in Adelaide!

A joint passion and obsession for education, In Awe Salon’s Megan Panozzo and Director of Hair Brain Education, Abi Wales, have teamed up to launch UNITY Hair Education, an imaginative and exciting series of hair education collaborations showcasing inspiring and creative content from some of the best artists in the Adelaide hairdressing scene.

UNITY Hair Education is a space for free thinkers and like-minded people, a platform for local Adelaide Creative Artists and Educators to grow stronger connections within the local hair community, jamming with each other in a truly collaborative way.

“There is a huge collective of amazing hairdressers in SA who provide incredible education, and we wanted to create a space for them to connect with other salons and hairdressers in a nondenominational way at an affordable price,” says Megan.

Megan Panozzo & Abi Wales

“Abi & I have come together in the most dynamic way, and we can’t wait to share the infectious energy that we and so many other stylists/educators have to offer. If we can contribute to the growth of our local industry through watching and participation it can only be an amazing outcome.”

An educator and session stylist, Abi has worked all over the world creating style and education for some of the world’s largest fashion houses and a plethora of salons, whilst also assisting salon businesses via some of Australia’s best product companies.

Abi has a company called Hairbrain, that is tailored salon education, to get juniors on the floor making money because the industry needs more seniors. Abi discovered a gap in the industry, when she had been working for a couple of local companies as a rep and educator, and saw that salons were screaming out for staff and needing to get their kids on the floor, because salon owners are so busy, that it’s hard to make time to train them. So, Abi started creating bespoke education programs to get those kids on the floor sooner, and this has now provided an opportunity to grow the industry.

“We will be showcasing Juniors all the way through to Owners, Managers and Educators, With Unity Hair Education, there isn’t a cap on any level of creativity or imagination! I feel like there is nothing like this in our industry and there is a real market for sharing ideas and connecting with each other.” “I’m truly excited to bring our beautiful local community together and share knowledge with each other; after the past year, there is a real hunger for bringing everyone together and buzzing off our vibes and energy.” Says Abi.

Unity Education Kicked off at the end of May at In Awe Salon, the first instalment saw Abi and Megan presenting, along with junior presenter Demi GowSmith, a 3rd year at In Awe.

In the presentations Abi breaks down 2 haircuts, a curly model, showcasing specific scissor techniques for curly hair, and the second cut a short layered, shag technique. Megan will demonstrate how to create shape and texture with colour in curly hair. Demi will present a pre-done model, highlighting her creativity with creative colour.

Megan is currently creating a short hair boot camp program to encourage younger hairdressers to feel more confident in tackling short hair in the salon. I also have a razor cutting class coming up on the 2nd of August, so stay tuned to my Insta for the dates and any other dates that will be coming up in the not-too-distant future. Says Megan.

“We are so excited about the UNITY Hair Education movement in Adelaide, and with all our artists already booked for key dates this year, we’re looking at educators & salons for next year! Watch this space!” States Megan.

Abi Wales, Demi Gow-Smith, & Megan Panozzo

We caught up with Megan recently, and found out a little more about their brainchild “Unity Hair”

What do you feel is so unique about the Unity Hair concept?

Unity is different because we wanted to give a platform to amazing stylists who don’t always catch the eye of companies but have an amazing amount of talent and knowledge to share with their peers. Says Megan. It’s also a really great way to connect with the industry and network because everyone has an opportunity to be part of Unity. We particularly wanted to give junior stylists an opportunity to share their love of hair, no matter what level they’re at.

What inspired you to collaborate and create the Education Platform?

Abi and I both have a passion for education and the people we get to meet through those channels. Sharing what we know and connecting and jamming with other creatives is what it’s all about. We hadn’t seen each other for a few weeks and had both had a feeling that we wanted to do something great for the industry. Abi popped into the salon to say hi and we literally both said, “I want to do this thing” and we named it Unity then and there, filmed an introduction video and planned our talent list. We have become a better team than I think we ever even imagined we would be!

Who is it for? Is it for all levels of experience?

It’s for anyone who wants to share, being that it’s held at In Awe Salon, we can keep the numbers down and create an intimate and united experience. The audience gets involved and is a massive part of the ambiance.

Is it hands on or look and learn?

Its look and learn, but we are hoping that it gives our guest artists an opportunity to sell their own education packages and create hands on experiences either in salon or as a standalone event. We have all really missed hands on education over the last 18 months, so it’s fun to all learn together again.

Abi is passionate about educating juniors to help salon owners to get them on the floor, especially given our rate of apprentice drop out and the stress on salon owners to run their salons, most often these days with a lack of qualified staff on board to help. I’ve been working my way up to creating an education division of In Awe Salon. One) because I love education and two) to create opportunities for my team to have an opportunity to work towards that space too. I think it’s so important to find ways to grow your team in the ways that they want, so giving them the opportunity to grow in a space that teaches them to grow as stylists and educators is massively important at In Awe Salon.

This industry of ours is so exciting and varied in the opportunities that are presented to us, it’s really exciting for Abi and I to see what Unity is going to do here in South Australia and we have some pretty big goals for the future too, so watch this space!

To keep up with the UNITY Hair Education Collab and key dates for tickets, follow here: @unity.hair.ed For more information, DM Megan @meganpanozzo_creative OR Abi @abiwales_hair