Thursday 25 July 2013

Meet the team: Jonny's story



An interview with Jonny Sheppard, the newest member of our Senior Styling Team. Jonny came to hairdressing after another career and it's refreshing to see people with a love of the job discovering it's not just for school leavers and girls!

How old are you? 
26

How did you get into hairdressing?
I actually started off in Mechanical engineering! I always wanted to be a hairdresser. I grew up watching my mum as a hairdresser and was really interested but at the same time I was a bit of a lad and was too embarrassed to admit that's what I wanted to do to my mates. I worked for BMW and studied mechanical engineering. I moved to the Channel Islands for work but they only issue you a 3 year 'right to work' and so when it ran out I decided to try and do what I'd always wanted...hairdressing.

Where did you start? 
Luckily my mum gave me some contacts from her hairdressing days and I came to do some voluntary work for Silhouette du Barry, in Chelmsford. After two weeks, they offered me an apprenticeship. 

How was the training?
Different to engineering! I gained my Level 2 NVQ in hairdressing after 18 months and have now almost finished my Level 3. I've now just been promoted to Senior Stylist at Silhouette du Barry.

What's the coolest part of your job now?
Zoe and Nathan put me forward to work at London Fashion Week and I worked on Astrid Anderson's Men's SS/13 show. It was thrilling and satisfying all at the same time. I've also been sent abroad a couple of times for Matrix conferences which has been pretty cool too. To be honest though, making people feel great everyday in the Salon is ultimately the bit I love the most. 

What are you looking forward to in the future?
I'd love to be like Zoe and Nathan, working in the Salon with clients and working simultaneously on Fashion weeks and TV programmes, styling at the same time. A bit of everything really and maybe one day becoming a director. There is a lot of opportunity in hairdressing if you work hard and I love working hard.