Miss Independent – Charlene Fernandez By Louise May

Working out of her Armadale space, Charlene Fernandez is the industry’s most dynamic independent stylist and winning AHIA Independent Stylist of the Year 2021 is a testament to her incredible work. Formerly Creative Director of a large Melbourne salon group with over 200 staff, she is now busy making her mark on the industry with her inimitable style.

She has had the opportunity to work backstage at NYFW assisting the best in the business, including being entrusted to give Gigi Hadid’s hair a final once over, working on set at campaign and editorial shoots as well as working to help to educate the next generation of hairdressing talent. A powerhouse of technique when it comes to all things cut, colour and style, she is certainly a name to watch.

Charlene was born and raised in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne. Her parents migrated to Australia from Karachi, Pakistan in 1984. She falls in the middle of 2 sisters and has all the complexities, she says, that are usually associated with the middle child. She has a huge extended family with her mum being one of 7 siblings and dad one of 10. This means dozens of aunties and uncles and hundreds of cousins. The average family party would usually consist of up to 100 people gathering to eat, dance, laugh and celebrate. Editor Louise May caught up with Charlene recently and got an insight into what inspired Charlene to choose Hairdressing as a career and what makes her a truly unstoppable force. “My life has always been full of people and my family is the reason why community is such a significant thing to me,” says Charlene. “My family are the reason that I am able to love so many different types of people. They taught me so much about relationships, communication and connection.

At the same time as gaining a huge sense of belonging from my family, they have also been a contributing factor to some of the insecurities that I carried into my adult life. When I was younger things just were what they were but as I grew up and started to be my own person, I realised how conflicting it was at times having migrant parents. This influence, teamed with a large and opinionated family made it challenging at times to express myself how I wanted to. I was always too loud, often called an attention seeker and was just too damn sensitive. I spent many years trying to change myself and erase these labels to finally come to the realisation that these attributes are perhaps my greatest gifts after all.

I was always a big being. A chubby baby, a fat girl and now a large, full-figured woman. The ‘fat’ wound took me a long time to even address as something that needed healing. I teetered around it for years cos I thought it was just me, feeling sorry for myself. I thought, people have been through so much worse, and I was just a young fatty, I need to just get over myself. It was only in the last few years that I realised what was at the core of my fat girl story, and that was the deeply engrained belief that I was not good enough to exist.

I had a big bubbly personality through my whole childhood. I subconsciously used this bigness of personality to deflect from my pain and my sadness. I remember I would cry at night and pray really hard for God to just allow me to wake up, skinny and pretty and white. For the most part this suffering was kept hidden. The sensitivity would come out though, when I was teased or told how fat I was.

The calling out of my size came in many different forms. Sometimes it was mean kids at school, other times a family member but each time it stung and just confirmed the ugly narrative that I did not belong. Along with the comments there was also the fact that clothes never fit me, there were certain rides I couldn’t go on and I was almost always on a diet from a very young age. I can look back now and see that I just felt so wrong.

My high school years were spent at an allgirls Catholic college. I found more realness in my personality without having to navigate worrying what boys were going to think of me, however this posed a separate challenge and meant I didn’t really know how to act around them. I was the funny friend. All the girls boyfriends loved me, and they were allowed to love me because I was not a threat whatsoever. Subjects wise, I excelled in arts and drama and pretty much all the other subjects that were scaled down. School was probably more about the socialising for me and I was known to get up and belt out a tune to my year level and the whole school on occasion. I’ve always loved an audience.

Entering a salon for the first time was really intimidating. I remember that first week just feeling like ‘wow, these people are so cool’. They dressed cool; their personalities were out there. Each person adorning their own individual style. I was mesmerised. The other thing that instantly swept me off my feet was just how much everyone knew what was going on.

There was a senior apprentice that I worked with who I just wanted to be like. Her name was Candice, and she just knew what was up. I was very blessed with a multitude of incredible teachers where I worked, but this young gun was my first most memorable teacher. She taught me initiative and showed me what proactive looked like. I loved my apprenticeship. I finished a 3-year apprenticeship in 14 months. I used to come into work on my day off just because I loved it. I was so keen to get my modules completed. I loved learning and understanding the why and how behind hair. I needed to know how I could push it. I wanted to create. The salons academy was in the heart of South Yarra, and I absolutely loved venturing into the city. I’d have all my models and then some. The family coming through once again. Hair was good for me. The minute I knew I had a gift in my hands, my passion just grew and grew. This felt like the first thing I had ever been good at. It probably was to be fair… That, and my ability to make people feel good.

I moved through my career in a constant and steady incline. It was important for me to move and grow and be challenged. I wanted to be the best and our industry had it all on offer for me to go out there and get it. I remember being at my first comp and feeling so at home in this mad circus. My parents wondering what in the heck was going on and why would people want to wear their hair in such outrageous styles. My parents were quite devastated when I told them I was going to be a hairdresser. Where they came from, hairdressers were always of a lower class. It didn’t help either that my older sister was studying to be a lawyer. They migrated to Australia to give us greater opportunity and my chosen career path was not part of their plan. It wasn’t till my parents attended my first apprentice competition that things changed. It was a Headmasters State competition and I won about 8 awards. I was literally coming back to sit down and then having to run back up on stage to collect my next trophy… I was elated, and even more so when I saw my darling Dad in the audience shedding tears of happiness. He was so proud, and he got it. Safe to say my parents have been my number one fans ever since. I know how hard they have worked in their lives just so I can live out my every dream and making them proud is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

I was qualified for only a year before I began teaching classics to my peers. I loved educating just as much as I loved learning. My skill and knowledge and interest just continued to peak through this next phase. I naturally became a leader in salon, my Leo roots wouldn’t have it any other way. I was the yes woman! The humble grateful people pleaser. I wanted all the opportunities, was the first to get there and the last to leave. It was this attitude that helped me get chosen time and time again. My career is so well and consistently lit up. I have always given my all to my clients, my team and my peers.

The last year and a half has been a wild ride to say the least, I do feel blessed to be able to reflect back at both ups and down. In March 2020, after 14 years working for someone else, I became a business owner. 2 weeks later, COVID entered and before we knew it, we were living in the most locked down city in the world. I’m a sensitive soul, so the weight of the world can hit me hard. I not only feel my sadness but feel a responsibility to take on the heartache of all those around me. A turning point in coping with the lockdowns was just to surrender to what is and do so without judgment of self. Easier said than done, but a helpful practise that got me through.

The slow down gave me space and thinking time. I was able to actively invest in my healing. I took meditation courses and workshops to gain awareness of my feminine strength, I saw a personal trainer 3 times a week. Did yin yoga, kinesiology and saw my psychologist regularly. All the above via zoom.

I found a sense of peace within myself that I had never really known through this time, but I can proudly say that I worked really hard to get there.

In 2021 I shot my first solo collection. It was such a moment for me to do so. It was a time for me to tell my story through these images and express to the world what my flavour looks like.

I was telling a story with this collection, a story of triumph and enlightenment. I was so proud of myself for the work that I produced and even prouder and just blown away to have won an award with this collection. I became AHIA’s Best Independent Stylist of the Year. This meant so much more to me than just an award. This was validation that I made the right move to go off on my own. It was a reminder that I am unstoppable, and I can achieve anything I put my mind to. This accolade was the universe telling me to just keep going and it gave me a feeling that this is only the beginning!

Heading back to the salon after such a longforced pause was intense. We all went from 0 - 100 in an instant. In October I made the dumb move of going back to 7-day weeks to try and get all my clients in. This was a terrible idea and a huge lesson for all the lockdowns that were yet to come. Now when I go back in salon after an extended period, preservation of self is my number one priority.

As a sole trader, I am doing everything. Scheduling clients, cut, colour, looking after my client at the basin, sweeping, end of day cleaning, ordering stock etc. Being a one-man band definitely has its perks, but it is in no way easy to do what I do.

Along with preserving ourselves physically it’s imperative to protect ourselves mentally and emotionally when we are going back into the salon to care for people who have been through such a turbulent time. People are going through so much healing with downtime giving us space to think about our past wounds. It’s heavy.

We need to work on holding space for our clients without absorbing too much into our own being. A helpful practise is to get home and have a shower straight away. It helps me Reset and I literally imagine the shower washing away all the other energies and letting go of the day that was.

There are so many practices that I have adapted to help me get through the ups and downs of the last few years. Hairdressers have got quite the reputation. Everyone knows we work hard, but we all know just how detrimental this can be to our own health and longevity.

Urine infections, stress, body injuries, dodgy eating and sleep patterns, long unpaid days of creative work, the list goes on. Coming out of lockdowns gives us a unique opportunity to correct these wrongs, challenging, yes, because from a business point of view we have so much to make up, but we have to see this as a long game.

We need to make changes to how we do things. We must consider balance in our lives and not just submit our life and health to our job like has been glorified in the past. These changes are necessary for the future of our industry. It is how we will attract more youth into our magical and fulfilling craft.

Our industry is about making people feel good. Lifting them up and showing them value. We need to make sure the same thing is happening in our salons and amongst staff. I look forward to when I once again work in a team of people. I am very passionate about educating and growing people to live up to their greatest potential, whether it is the best thing for my business or not. I feel we are moving towards a brighter, more empowered industry and am so inspired by all the women I see running business with grace and strength and resilience. History tells women that their place is behind or beside a man.

The future is being reframed.

The future sees powerful and unwavering women running the whole damn show and I am here for that!!! We are no less but in fact so much more. Deep and wise and knowing. Healed but always healing. Inspiring to all those around us wanting to make change.

We all have a worthiness story, no matter your gender, skin tone, shape, or size. If you know this is you, go there! It’s important to remember that the brutal society in which we live in, doesn’t lend itself to us loving ourselves. It’s up to us to make this change and it all starts with us accepting and loving who we are first.