Efi Davies shares her tips for making the next generation better than us.
British Hairdresser of the Year, Efi Davies, is urging the hairdressing industry to treat mentoring the next generation as a core responsibility to ensure the future of the industry continues with high standards of craftmanship.
Efi, who is international artistic director at TONI&GUY and current Avant Garde Hairdresser of the Year, believes the success in hairdressing is watching a student become better than you.
Efi started her career as an assistant to TONI&GUY founder Toni Mascolo and his brother Anthony in the 1990s, and now trains, supports and hands down skills and knowledge to younger hairdressers to take into their own careers.
“We are so lucky to be doing what we are doing – making clients feel amazing about themselves, working in the salon, becoming an image creator, working on shows and shoots, expressing our creativity through avant garde work; the possibilities are endless. Hairdressing is an inherited craft,” she explains. “Every generation of stylists builds on standards set by those before them, from Vidal Sassoon to Trevor Sorbie to Toni and Anthony Mascolo, and I believe it is our generation’s responsibility to leave the industry stronger than they found it.
“Our passion and love for our craft unites us all. There are lots of pressures today, and young hairdressers can get lost on social media which distorts what success looks like. A high number of likes doesn’t mean you are a good hairdresser, and recognition can arrive and disappear overnight. This means grounded, professional mentoring is more important than ever. I understand wanting to guard our techniques, but gatekeeping weakens the industry rather than strengthening it for the future.
“If we want hairdressing to grow, we have to be willing to make the next generation better than ourselves. We don't lose anything by doing that, we raise the craft as a whole.”
Efi’s simple tips for passing on skills and knowledge to the next generation:
- Challenge and support them: Be a sounding board for them to try new ideas, remember how excited you were. Salons can be super busy but its’s important to create a safe space for creative individuals to express their creativity. As a young hairdresser; you want them to feel the same and more so encourage them to embrace and celebrate individuality to be their true selves.
- Don’t gatekeep what you know: Share your knowledge rather than guarding it. Making the next generation better than you raises the whole industry.
- Teach standards and value not just technique: While precision and skill matter, so do discipline, client care and professional pride.
- Don’t simplify training to make it quicker: Set the benchmark where it should be and mentor students to meet it, even if it takes a bit longer.
- Teach them what social media doesn’t: The fundamentals of precision, creativity, technical excellence and client communication will outlast filters and followers, it will ensure they have a long and rewarding career.
Find out more about Efi Davies at toniandguy.com and @efidavies.