Our resident ‘Colour Genius’ and head of the Voodou Colour team, Ro, talks us through his hairdressing journey…
I went into hairdressing at the age of 34, after a successful career as a stylist in the fashion industry. My required me to find a work placement, and as the most fashionable hair salon in Liverpool, boasting the widest range of creative colours and styles, Voodou was clearly the place to join!
Owner Rob Webb and manager Vicky Buckley agreed to see me, and effectively launched my career by offering me a voluntary position as assistant in the salon. My placement at Voodou exposed me to all practical aspects of hairdressing, and brought me into contact with external trainers coming into the salon from companies such as Wella.
This is when I developed a particular interest in colour. After graduating from hairdressing college I was offered a part-time job as a stylist on the Voodou team.
From the start I was keen to test myself against other stylists, and saw competitions as a means of doing this. My first opportunity came after just seven months at the salon, when I entered Wella’s Trend Vision competition. On that first occasion I got nowhere, but I’ve continued to enter each year and have got further and further each time, learning from my experience. My ambition now is to reach the international stage.
In 2014, having aspired to it for years, I finally got to do my MCP (Master Colour Programme) with Wella. I graduated with flying colours. Early in 2015 I was approached by the Fellowship for British Hairdressing with an invitation to join them and collaborate on the Colour Project as creative colour team leader for the North.
My reply was a resounding Yes. This is a unique opportunity for me to branch out as a colourist, the area of hairdressing about which I am most passionate. It has always been my experience that hard work and self-motivation will get you where you want to be in life, and this is the message that I hope I impart to the up-and-coming stylists around me who have the potential to realise their ambitions the way I am realising mine.
Not all hairdressers are created equally – at Voodou we invest heavily in training and nurturing the skills of our talented team.
To find out how you could join our ever expanding team, click here.
