ABOUT US

What is your current role in the industry?

I have over 42 years’ experience in the hairdressing industry, working as a stylist in the best Dublin salons, working for L’Oreal as a Technical Consultant for many years, and as educator in both private and public sector, and I have loved every minute of my varied career.

Now I manage the Academy of Hair & Beauty Studies at the Eastern Education Group in East Anglia. We are a team of talented, passionate, and professional industry educators who strive for excellence every day, we impart knowledge, skills and theories that go beyond qualifications. We are a 3 Star Fellowship Centre of Excellence, awarded because of the achievements of our students, the opportunities we create for them and how we ensure that every student achieves to their potential and more! Recently awarded OUTSTANDING in all 4 areas of OFSTED measures, including STRONG for the newest SKILLS category, we are one of only 4 x Further Education Colleges in the UK to have achieved this outcome!

I have worked with The Fellowship for almost 4 years helping to create the Centre of Excellence project, modelling, piloting, re-working, and developing a programme that will recognise excellent education for 16–19-year-olds leaving school and into industry. We create opportunity, extend training and grow experiences beyond the ‘qualification’. We plan to change the narrative around college education and to endorse those training establishments that go above and beyond for the hairdressers and barbers who will sustain our industry into the future.

We aim to bridge the gap between education and employment, to ensure we fully prepare our young people for this great industry!

What does being part of The Fellowship mean to you?

The Fellowship has enabled us to create a world of opportunity for our Academy staff and students.

We have introduced them to industry experiences, hairdressing and barbering experts, events and training that would not have been possible without the support from key individuals. The Fellowship has broadened our scope, enabling us to create follow-on projects and possibilities for our young people and we have a renewed invigoration and passion for teaching that this partnership has brought to us.

We look forward to the next chapter!