Live with Paul Davey a true pioneer of online hairdressing and founder of Hairdressing Live.
Live with Paul Davey a pioneer of online hairdressing and the founder of Hairdressing Live. Recognised worldwide for his creativity, skill and hands-on approach to every opportunity our industry offers. Paul has travelled across the globe with his career, taking his editorial abilities to magazines including Cosmopolitan, Elle and Noise. A regular at fashion week, working backstage with designers such as John Richa, Paul Costello and Ralph & Russo. As well as mastering and developing their own talent, both Jason and Paul agree they feel there is an immense responsibility to educate and inspire upcoming stylists, driving forward their expertise and passion. Our live sparked conversation on how the future of hair education is becoming progressively more digitally dependant.
Future of hairdressing education
Paul believes online education is the future. Following this, he introduced the online hairdressing academy, Hairdressing Live. The digital academy now operates in 68 countries and offers 90 different masterclasses so far. Paul explains the project has had its hurdles, especially when the team were finding their feet with a completely new venture, but “we wing things until we learn how to do it” says Paul. The step-by-step tutorials offer expert techniques to a range of cut and colour finishes. In our live, Paul emphasised the importance to keep Hairdressing Live completely raw and connected to the audience, covering more than just what they teach you in a salon. The stories and motivations the stylists share at Hairdressing Live, make the videos unfiltered and inspiring.
Brand Building
Paul highlighted to us the importance to build your audience as you go along, rather than bombarding your platforms with loads of content. Having strategy that can be adapted when needed is essential to creating a loyal base. Paul explains the Hairdressing Live team are taking different approaches with their marketing. The focus is not to over sell or over promote events and digital packages. He believes in building an interconnected and trusting relationship with the stylists who invest in his service. Jason agreed there needs to be a middle ground to authenticity and monetary success!
Keep evolving and stay connected
With Hairdressing Live Paul is about to launch a new educational resource where aspiring hairdressers can learn the colour and cut techniques from starting with the basics straight through to what it takes to qualify as a hairdresser. Completely educating themselves from a laptop or smartphone. Paul wants his academy to not just focus on practical implications, but theory as well. It is undoubtable that hair is interlinked immensely with the fashion industry and its key for stylists to know where the trends are emerging from.
An ethos that is mirrored here at CrozNest, which is why we offer our seasonal hair and fashion trend reports as a free resource. Providing hairdressers the opportunity to have their finger on the pulse with latest trends, emerging from fashion weeks across the world and especially ones that come through the social media buzz. Paul implements fashion and hair history into his programmes, allowing the stylists to have a library of information that leaves them with confidence and inside out knowledge into every aspect of the culture of hair and fashion. Part of Pauls theory aspect in the programme is the 100 Years of Hair Fashion, looking at how hair has changed and come back over the years.
Future Proofing
Towards the end of our live the guys discussed a shared concern for how the younger generation of hairdressers will view the industry post Covid-19. Both agreed it’s important to grasp opportunities and find gratefulness in the fact hairdressing is a gift as well as a job, with the ability to make others feel good every day. If we take opportunities and remine motivated and passionate, the emotional rewards to hairdressing outweigh everything else. Paul finds himself feeling accountability towards being an educator, motivating the young stylists coming though into the industry. He illuminates that fact that learning hair can lead to so many pivots from runway to film to salon owner. Having a solid foundation of education sets you up for a highly successful global career.
Keeping It Fun
As we rounded up the 60 minute live with Paul, Jason asked some quick fire questions. We asked Paul what keeps him motivated? He answered, “opportunity motivates me”. Paul tells us when he has a complaint about something, he seeks to find a solution. “There are things that can be grabbed, but you have to have the innovation to get it” he says. Paul tells us he never wanted Hairdressing Live to be about him, but he wants to make a mark on the industry. The personal goal gives him a surge to want to do more, finding opportunity to meet and communicate with some of the most amazing hairdressers in the world and bringing them to young or aspiring stylists who don’t have that same chance, yet… If you want to watch the full live, it is available on our Instagram page as an IGTV.
Words by Izzy Fletcher