International Women’s Day 2023 is a global celebration of the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. In the hair and beauty industry, women have played a significant role in shaping the industry and its trends.
From hairstylists to beauty therapists, women have been instrumental in creating new looks and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. For this year’s International Women’s Day, Salons Direct want to reflect on individuals in the industry who are making a difference and take the time to celebrate their achievements.
Take a look at some of the influential women below and read about their successes within the industry👇
Inspirational Women In The Nails Industry
Amy Guy
Amy is one of our brilliant Brand Ambassadors, and well, what a journey she’s had over the last couple of years! It’s been incredible to watch her and her business flourish, creating a team of like-minded individuals helping others on their journey to become talented Nail Techs.
Following eight years of experience in the nail industry and building her own personal brand, Amy felt there was a huge opportunity to pull together and inspire nail technicians worldwide through a community-based, supportive online platform. Consequently, the Nail Tech Org was born, and she has never looked back.
The Nail Tech Org is a safe online space for nail technicians to grow and learn together, regardless of their location, age, experience level or circumstances. Whether you are right at the beginning of your career or you have been nail-ing for years, the courses offered are designed to empower nail techs with the expert knowledge needed to move through the industry in a prepared and powerful way. With over 1000 members and counting, we are super excited to watch Amy and the team pave the way for future nail techs in the industry.
Shea Osei
Having provided nail care services for over 15 years, Shea Osei is an extremely talented nail technician whose clients include the likes of Maya Jama, Candice Brathwaite, and Cynthia Erivo. You only need to take one glance at Shea’s Instagram profile to understand just how talented she is. The execution of each nail look and pure technical work will leave you completely speechless!
Shea began her business as a hobby and then, at the age of 18, realised there were not many nail techs doing out-of-the-box, creative, artistic designs. Since she then began doing mobile services but soon found this avenue was time-consuming, travelling from location to location. From this, Shea became the founder of Shea’d Beauty, a nail tech salon offering both crazy acrylics full sets and keeping it simple plain gels.
Like lots of salons over the COVID period, Shea came to the unfortunate decision that the best thing for her salon was to close its doors after a successful five years. Nevertheless, this didn’t stop Shea from excelling in her business as a Nail Technician, and she has taken the industry by storm. Her popularity goes beyond her designs, and Shea has managed to build a genuine, trustworthy relationship with her clients.
Inspirational Women In the Hair Industry
Hayden Cassidy
Stereotypically, Barbering has long been considered a male-dominated industry, but in recent years, more and more women are making their mark in this field. Women in barbering are breaking barriers and challenging stereotypes, proving that gender has no bearing on skill and talent, including our brand ambassador – Hayden Cassidy.
Hayden specialises in Men’s hair, merging techniques from every aspect of barbering. She’s gained a wealth of knowledge from her experiences around the world and soaking in the different cultures. She has taken to the stage throughout Europe, Asia, and America alongside some of the top barbers of our generation.
Not only has she learnt the trade to an exponentially high standard, but Hayden has also worked in collaboration with Magazines, Photographers, Musicians, and other creatives to manifest looks that fuse fashion with today’s barbering industry.
The day I committed to working in a shop, was the day I fell in love with hair. I’ve worked now for 5 years in the industry and I’ve never taken a break from it. Every trip I do, every weekend I’m off, I’m still thinking about, or doing something creative with hair – projects, shoots, educating – it’s been an incredible journey but also an intense one. I think you need to give it everything to get where you want to be.
Hayden Cassidy Hair
Harriet Stokes
Harriet Stokes is a force to be reckoned with and has successfully made her mark in the hair industry, reaping multiple awards over the years. Hailing from a family of hairdressers, her career path was inevitable, and it wasn’t long before she was pushing herself in national competitions, scooping new talent awards and putting her name on the map as one to watch.
In October 2020, Harriet and her business partner, Anneliese Hesse, set up their own hair academy – Humankind Hair, which kept them insanely busy over the following months and lockdowns. This education-led academy helps budding hairdressers learn skills, not products, and are brand neutral to keep everything honest without limitations.
The real idea behind Humankind for both of us was creating something really special and offering the kind of education that we both always believed in.
Aside from this joint venture, in September 2022, Harriet was officially announced as a L’Oreal Professional Global Artist. This role allows her to share and educate others globally, focusing on natural, sun-kissed, lived-in colour.
Inspirational Women In the Beauty Industry
Kirsty Stevenson
Dominating the skincare and beauty industry, Kirsty Stevenson is an influential woman whose story is certainly one to share. Kirsty dropped out of school and headed straight for a career in the beauty industry. Five years of training, testing, practising, learning, and iterating led Kirsty on a path from £0 (literally) to launching her own skincare business, then her cosmetics clinic, Model Standards, and now her own training academy, MSTA.
Model Standards are a Liverpool-based Advanced Skincare Clinic. Their goal is to transform troublesome skin into show-stopping, glowy skin. They work on the idea that they don’t offer any random treatment that clients ask for. They will provide a deep skin analysis to understand what your skin really needs. Accumulating over 21k Instagram followers, Kirsty and her team of skin experts & educators have built a platform designed to increase inner confidence in females and males alike.
Off the back of Model Standard’s success, Kirsty and her team then spent over a year investing in their new venture – MSTA Skin Training Academy. Kirsty realised that most skincare training courses were just teaching a specific skin care treatment… dermaplaining, chemical peels, micro-needling, or something else.
She spotted a clear issue with this, noting how students attending those courses aren’t necessarily being taught how to solve people’s skincare problems. MSTA not only qualifies people for all the best skincare treatments available, it also teaches a deeper understanding of the different skincare problems which people can have and which treatments will get the best results.
We have loved being part of Kirsty’s journey and can’t wait to see the success that comes with her over the next couple of years.
The hair and beauty industry is flooded with inspirational women who are absolutely smashing it, and we’re here to celebrate everyone’s wins.
Spread some love this International Women’s Day 2023 (and every day), and send your appreciation to those who are completely exceptional.
Follow us on Salons Direct Instagram to be part of a community of like-minded individuals who are eager to learn more, support others, and be the best version of themselves.
We want you there!
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