Hair Education in Correctional Centres

Hair Education in Correctional Centres

by | May 18, 2021 | Articles

I thought I’d share this story as it’s amazing where the hair education journey has taken us. Each year at MIG, we graduate approximately 150, hairdressers and barbers. And in that group, there’s a special number who’ve had to overcome the greatest of obstacles in order received the qualification. Twice a year at Southern Cross Correctional Facility MIG has a graduation ceremony. And this is for prisoners who’ve spent six months studying the Certificate to II Hairdressing.

The students graduate in front of proud family members prison, management, and hair industry representatives. SQCC commenced the hairdressing program in Queensland back in 2012, and we were only initially engaged in an advisory capacity. We then began to deliver workshops and support those to transition to work after release. We took over the program in 2015 and recruited an experienced educator in Rachel Monahan to lead for us. The Cert II in hairdressing is delivered two days a week over a six month period. The correctional facility operates a completely functioning salon within the prison and it’s fully booked and offers a wide range of services. For many, completing this program is their greatest achievement to date and a major step towards breaking the cycle of crime.

On a graduation day, MIG educator Rachel is often joined by Nicole from MIG and some amazing supporters from industry. Mikey Forster from Horsemeat Disco and Paula Hibbard the long hair guru have always donated their time to spend training and preparing the students for the ceremony. The program is also generously supported year round by their De Lorenzo and their lead educator Mel At the last graduation in a really touching moment and ex prisoner spoke to the students about how the hairdressing program had saved her from a life of drugs, prostitution and crime and how the hair industry was non discriminatory and willing to give people a go.  

At MIG, we’re really proud to be part of such a valuable and beneficial initiative. The hairdressing community are accepting and willing to give people a second chance and I think this is what makes the program so powerful. The students have a very real opportunity to work in hairdressing upon being released, and to find a life away from crime. The joy for us is in seeing a person with a passion for the trade that’s ignited and then a great sense of accomplishment comes from completing something at one of the most difficult periods in their lives. I mean, it just goes to show that the hair journeys as diverse as it is exciting. And as an industry, we’re all doing a little bit for the community.

Thank you.

Apprenticeship Incentives

Apprenticeship Incentives

by | Apr 26, 2021 | Articles

The start of 2021 has seen an incredible upswing in the numbers of new apprenticeship signups that’s coming through the doors. We’re really hopeful, fingers crossed that the signs of national recovery are happening in 2021. That this growth will happen across the board and it will have a huge pipeline of hairdressers coming through the system. Fueling this demand is the incredible sums of money that is coming our way through the boosting apprenticeship commencement wage subsidy. It’s a $1.2 billion scheme and it’s designed to support businesses to take on new apprentices. The funding is for all trades, but in hairdressing and barbering I suppose it’s there to attract skilled workers that can act as the future building blocks of our industry.

In real terms, the boosting apprenticeship commencement wage subsidy means that a salon who engages an apprentice might be eligible for up to 50% of their wage. That’s a maximum $7000 a quarter, amazing figures. But that’s not all, there’s more funding as well.  We’ve been blessed for new entrants, with funded programs through the job trainer scheme. Job Trainer is a $1 billion dollar by funding partnership between federal and state government and it’s designed to provide low cost or fee free courses targeted at 17 to 25 year olds who are looking for work. So what does that mean for hairdressing, it really means Certificate II in Salon Assistant.

Traditionally Certificate II in Salon Assistant is the domain of school based trainees. But what it will offer is a fee free or low cost option for organizations to provide industry with new entrants who have some basic skills and can hit the ground running. While the following list isn’t exhaustive, the qualification includes the building blocks and the key elements of that qualification include a number of things. It includes salon procedures, includes an understanding of shampoo and basin, blow drying, reception and communication, being able to greet prepare clients, and then obviously, color application and massage.

The Cert II in Salon Assistant can provide a perfect introduction to the trade for an aspiring hairdresser. And it could also, in my mind help reduce the high rate of cancellation that can be the bain of a lot of salons. Successful completion of a pre-vocational programs such as Cert II helps to sift out those who are unsure if hairdressings for them.  Ideally, a strong industry based program run by a college like ourselves will incorporate lots of industry placement and that will allow salons to have a look at potential staff and invariably try before they buy. Because of the free nature of the Job Trainer program it provides industry an unprecedented opportunity to compete for new entrants with other careers. And for us it also helps us make the most of opportunities to deliver programs in college that exciting and contemporary.

Programs will need to be really focused on developing key soft skills and furthermore, ongoing success of Cert II programs only really works if your colleges align themselves really closely with salons. In the end, increasing the number of qualified salon assistants is pointless if salon owners are unwilling to take them on due to a lack of skill, and the lack of the ability to add value. So finding ways to make that happen is really important, particularly from a college perspective, in making the skills that they have really industry relevant. For salon owners looking to access those who completed the Job Trainer, qualification or engage with those who are undertaking qualifications as part of the program over the coming months, the best course of action is to contact your RTO like ourselves, as we obviously have a huge role to play in attracting new people to our industry.

With substantial government funding in place by the boost apprenticeship commencement wage subsidy, and the new entrant job training program, it’s the first sign of green shoots and new growth for the future of the industry in some time. The challenge for us is to excite and inspire those who’ve been newly attracted to industry. But above all, the challenge is to retain and nurture those people once they come so that they decide to stay.

Excellence in Education

Excellence in Education

by | Apr 19, 2021 | Articles

As we move into the award season, with the Australian hair industry awards, and the Australian Fashion Awards, it’s an important time to reflect, particularly on what excellence in education really looks like and how it can serve industry better.  Excellence in education and service to our industry is importantly recognized alongside business and creative award categories and some of the greatest names in hairdressing education have taken out these awards over the years. The honour roll reads like a who’s who, Sharon Blain Education, Dario Cotroneo Education, BIBA Academy and Sevilles are just a few of the names that have taken out these awards over time.

So I suppose for me as a training business, we reflect on what these education businesses have in common and what are the benchmarks that we need to exceed and reach to be the very best in hairdressing education. For me, in such a creative and focused progressive industry, moving forward and staying current is the critical thing. We see the best of breed educators are those who are able to reflect on what they are currently doing, outline a range of activities that they’re undertaking that challenges the norms and keeps pace with industry. There’s some real key touch points to cover if you’re going to be the best of breed in education.  You need a progressive calendar. You need to have marketing and branding that attracts the next generation.  You need to have a philosophy and teaching concept that second to none. You need to work on feedback and industry engagement from all parties and you need to develop really strong plans for your trainers to keep them up to date and current. And I suppose supporting young learners beyond just the formal training, so that they can grow as people as well to grow into our industry. I think finally contributing to industry growth and sustainability is important. Everything that you do as an educator needs to be looked at through the lens of what is best for industry.

Importantly, there are some frameworks out there that that we really admire and love to be part of.  We are a member of the Australian Hairdressing Council, and the Australian Hairdressing Council recognizes excellence in education through its RTO Select platform.  RTO Select is amazing because it looks education leaders, it looks at industry engagement and communication. It looks at training and assessment resources, and it also looks at currency of educators, as well as college salon design including those things that are so critical, which are environmental and social responsibilities. Having benchmarks like that helps us to achieve great things in training. And it helps us to keep ourselves connected with everything that’s happening in salons daily and with the barbershops that we look after. We’ll be entering the awards this year like many others, as always trying to benchmark ourselves and do the very best we can.

If you’d like to talk about ways that we can potentially work together or advice on training arrangements. We’d love to connect. MIG training is committed to working as best we can to provide excellence in education.

Know Your Client

Know Your Client

by | Apr 1, 2021 | Articles

The salons we work that do exceptional things, know their client particularly well. As a Salon, the challenge of building a client base can result in you attempting to grab every opportunity and attracting every possible person that comes past your door and the inherent fear is that if you focus on your ideal client, then you’ll let opportunities pass you by. The reality is, though, that being everything to everyone just dilutes your offering. Conversely, the closer you’re able to get to targeting your ideal client, the higher the perceived value of your services.

 Competition for clients is at an all-time high and attempting to compete across a broad range of potential services that are salon can offer only leads to a large number of average products and services that don’t provide an exceptional experience to anyone. The salons that have the greatest success have a myopic focus on their segment, they focus on a segment they’re passionate about and that they can provide a remarkable service to – and it’s a game changer. Delivering a remarkable service that people really value results in, then being able to charge a premium, and then being able to double down and offer even more value.

 The benefits of targeting a clearly defined niche are broad; firstly, it removes you from competing on price and invariably the race to the bottom that can happen when price becomes an issue. It allows you to focus on what you’re passionate about—your tribe—referral goes through the roof as a specialist provider and it results in exponential growth. Industry recognition is also an important aspect; if you’re recognised as an authority in the eyes of industry, then potential consumers see that value as well. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you can’t service those outside of your clearly defined niche. In the end, your target is not your market. If you’re renouned for meeting the needs of a clearly defined group of people, then you’ll attract clients from across the spectrum, based on the authority and value that you provide. In saying all that, getting a really clear handle on your niche isn’t easy. You need to ask targeted laser focus questions. You need to drill down, you need to say “who is that single person? What is my ideal client? Where do they live? How do they think? How do they behave?”

Secondly, are you able to truly deliver something remarkable to that person? Thirdly, do they have the capacity to pay a premium for the outcome that you want to provide? And finally, do you have an affinity for them? Do you have a passion for the services that these people require? A clear target is the foundation really on which everything is built in your business. Understanding everything there is to know about your ideal client means an understanding of their burning problems. A deep understanding then allows you to tailor truly remarkable products and services. In the end, it allows you to make a difference in people’s lives. For your business that allows you to build a loyal fan base that’s second to none. At MIG we work with many salons and see the fruits of their labor in relation to targeting and niching. We help them to educate their people.

 If you’d like to have the opportunity to talk about how we can help, we’d love to connect. Give us a call.

The Colour Wheel and Hair Colour

The Colour Wheel and Hair Colour

by | Apr 1, 2021 | Articles

The colour wheel is basically a universal tool that doesn’t change. It’s used in graphic design, interior design, and hairdressers use it a little bit differently.

 

Why do we need to know the colour wheel? The colour wheel allows us to choose create and make colours. Also by knowing your colour wheel, you won’t be creating colours that you don’t want. So the first thing we’re going to jump into is we’re going to talk about the basics of the colour wheel.

The colour wheel is divided into two sections – the warm side and the cool side. When we talk about warm colours, think of the sun. So the sun warms you up. So the sun basically has three colours to it. They are red, orange, and yellow. So these sit on the warm side of the colour wheel.

The other side is cool colours. So think of the ocean. So the ocean typically has three colours in it. You see green, blue, and violet. These are things that are going to be cool. So they represent the cool side of the colour wheel.

What sits in the middle of the colour wheel is naturals, beiges or neutrals. These three words are what we describe as brown. So brown sits in the middle of the colour wheel. So remember, the colour wheel is broken up of warm, cool, and in the middle are neutrals.

So now you understand the warm, cool and middle colours of the colour wheel. We’re going to jump in and talk about primary colours.

 

PRIMARY COLOURS

There are three colours to primary colours they are red, yellow, and blue. They are the source of all other colours and they cannot be made by mixing other colours together. Once you have red, yellow and blue, you can make any other colour.

 

SECONDARY COLOURS

The next level is secondary colours. Now secondary colours are made by mixing a primary and another primary together. So on the colour wheel, you will find that you have orange and that sits right in between red and yellow. Red and yellow are a primary colour and when they mix together, they create orange. The next colour is green. So green sits right in the middle of blue and yellow. So when blue and yellow are mixed together, they create green. Then we’re dealing with violet hairdressers tend to use the term violet rather than purple. It just sounds nicer to our clients. Violet sits right in the middle of blue and red. So when you mix blue and red together you create violet or purple. These are your secondary colours. So they are orange, green, and violet.

 

TERTIARY COLOURS

Then the final tier is tertiary colours and a tertiary colours are made by mixing a primary and there neighbouring secondary colour together. There are six tertiary colours. We have yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet, and red- orange. Once we understand primary, secondary and tertiary colours, then the most important thing a hairdresser needs to know and what we commonly use the colour wheel for is neutralising colours.

 

NEUTRALISING COLOURS

Neutralising colours means mixing two colours together to cancel out a colour and create natural, neutral or brown. So when hairdressers are dealing with neutralising colours, we’re normally neutralising warmth that’s coming through on a client’s hair. Clients tend to always complain about brassy, gold or yellow. So hairdressers really need to know their neutralising colours.

So when we’re dealing with the colour yellow, we want to find the on the colour wheel and then you want to find the colour exactly opposite it. So when you find the yellow, you’re going to go down the colour wheel and the colour opposite that is called purple or violet. When you mix yellow and violet together, you create brown or neutral. This is what we mean by neutralising.

The next colour that you would have to deal with neutralising is orange. Orange is something that clients typically request to get rid of, and it’s probably one of the harder colours to remove. So when you find orange on the colour wheel, you need to go opposite the colour wheel and find that colour that sits right across from it and that colour is blue. So blue will get rid of orange. When you mix blue, and orange together, it will create neutral or brown.

Then the final colour that you want to try and neutralise or deal with is red. Now red is the warmest colour on the colour wheel, and the colour that is opposite red on the colour wheel is green. So when you mix red and green together, they cancel each other out or neutralise each other and they create brown.

 

HAIRDRESSING MEMORY TRICKS

There are some fun little tips and little memory games we have so that you can remember these things. So for yellow and violet, you want to think of the chocolate bar Violet Crumble. This is how you remember their their neutralising colours. The next one when you’re dealing with orange and blue, think of a sunset over the ocean,this is their neutralising colour. Then the last one is red and green think Christmas. These two colours are neutralising colours. Once you have a handle of this, it will make choosing a colour, selecting colours and dealing with unwanted tones so much easier.

And that’s the colour wheel.