Confidence, resilience, and a strong business sense are essential for success in the beauty industry
Jo Hansford shares her inspiring journey from aspiring make-up artist to renowned hair colorist, highlighting her resilience, passion, and success in a male-dominated beauty industry.
Jo always wanted to work as a make-up artist originally and won a competition with the BBC to do an apprenticeship with them when she was 15. However, the course was for ages 19 and above so she was advised that she should do hair in the first instance for a few years until she was old enough to take it up as this would complement the make up once she was able to study it. Jo started as a junior in a salon in Mayfair, even though she lived in Greenford outside of London. She had never heard of the area but it sounded glamorous and exciting and she didn’t want to work where she lived! She started learning about the styling side of things but she didn’t have a natural flair for it and did not think she would continue. However, after a few months she was moved into the colour room which was hidden at the back of the salon and I discovered her passion!
“We look at ourselves like a little black dress that never dates.”
What is the biggest challenge you have faced in the industry as a female entrepreneur?
When I opened my salon nearly 30 years ago it was incredibly challenging and was an industry that had plenty of male hairdressers but not many females. I definitely found it hard to be respected by my peers, many of whom suggested I would only last for 3 months! To succeed in the first instance I knew I had to have a huge amount of press and this meant attracting the celebrity clients, journalists and ladies who lunched! The men could flirt and charm the female clients but I couldn’t do that so I had to work incredibly hard to prove my worth and capability. it was also hard to attract new staff because I didn’t have an ego and the team had to trust that I could lead them and build a successful business that everyone would benefit from.
Keys to Success
Confidence, resilience, and a strong business sense are essential for success in the beauty industry.
What do you like about your job as Beauty Specialist?
Every day brings something new, no 2 days are the same! I only work on my regular clients now, so I am in the salon 3 days a week but I still love colouring hair and working with the team!
What kind of person do you need to be to succeed in this job?
You need to be confident and have self-belief. A strong personality always helps as clients love to talk and you become close confidants to many of them. You must be resilient, have a passion for what you do and be reliable, you will never build a client base if you let clients down, I have barely had a day off sick in my whole career! A business head and common sense and if you don’t have the business side of things then you need to have someone you trust who can manage that area for you. Sadly, many salons that open do not survive a year because they haven’t worked out the real costs of running the business and the projections and cashflow needed.
Tell us how do you keep yourself looking good?
I try to walk every day an d I think being active in my business keeps my strong mentally. I eat very healthily as luckily I don’t have a sweet tooth or enjoy junk food, red wine and broccoli keep me going!!
Tell me if you had to offer one piece of advice to anyone looking to break into your industry, what would it be?
I would say you must have self-belief and a passion for what you do, make good connections with people and work hard.
How do you keep up with the latest trends in this industry?
We are very established and have never been known for our trends, we look at ourselves like a little black dress that never dates and always stays in fashion but is not necessarily too edgy! Our clients come to us because we deliver on what we do and reach their expectations every time. 80% of our clients are regulars and have been coming to us for many years and we create commercial looks that are beautiful, glamorous and wearable. We do stay in touch with the industry and keep up to date via social media and the glossies but we never feel we have to follow trends as we offer a bespoke look for every client.
