Timely on Tour: Brisbane Hair & Beauty Expo 2016
Brisbane was covered in mist and rain for the 2016 Hair & Beauty Expo. Not my usual experience of Queensland! It did not, however, hamper the spirits of the hair and beauty peeps in Brisbane.
With more than 5,000 people through the doors at the 2016 Brisbane Hair & Beauty Expo – a 34% increase from last year’s event – it’s shaping up to be a huge contender in the Australian hair and beauty expo arena.
Industry talent: this year’s line up
Our seminar room sponsorship allowed us to meet, greet and introduce some spectacular industry experts. Jules Tognini presented an awesome session. He’s a hair-cutting lad and creator of lil’ off the top, a movement towards simple, up-front education in new media. This happy-go-lucky guy speaks from the heart and was proud to represent the industry with his whole family in tow.
One of my long time favorites Julie Piantadosi attended. She was on her usual upbeat, kind and wildly forthright form. Julie is real and candid, bringing the clear message that exceeding clients’ expectations is no longer enough. To thrive and maintain a profitable, busy salon in today’s competitive marketplace you need to create a service experience beyond your clients’ wildest dreams.
I’ve seen and heard of Lance Liufau, originally a Kiwi like myself, leading the new-wave barber resurgence. I was delighted to present him at his educational workshop. He’s a confident yet humble chap with a smooth, captivating voice. It was a delight to learn about Barbering all over again. He took me to a whole new level, all before he even cut a single hair. It takes true talent, to bring this now-techie (aka me) back to some hair basics.
My new modeling career
“If you take a pane of glass and put a frame around it, you have a window. Your eyebrows do the same for your eyes,” according to Jazz Pampling. Jazz is a Sydney-based eyebrow artist and educator re-defining the ways in which women shape their brows.
I had the pleasure again this year to sit for Jazz as her eyebrow-model… a title I’m stoked to add to my resume! She is a dab hand at bringing my ’90s over-plucked brows into today’s brow fashion. I have to give credit to Jazz for her easy manner, simple and fun approach to education. It’s definitely a true talent of hers.
The buzz of freedom
I commented on the changing tide of the hair and beauty landscape in my blog on the 2016 Melbourne Hair Expo. I see a continuation of the emerging trend that centres the stylist as the trending element of the industry.
The emergence of new offerings like Freedom Suites lends itself to this industry shift. Freedom Suites launched their freelancing salon solution at Brisbane Expo. It’s a small, single stylist salon space for those who want to work for themselves but don’t have the money or know-how to get started on their own.
It’s a practical alternative to traditional salon ownership. With multi min-salons in a single building, it offers the freedom and control the new generation of self-employed stylists-cum-salon-owner is seeking without the cost and hassle of full salon set-up and ownership.
…and a touch of Pokémon
Brisbane was alive with young people walking the streets to – you guessed it – catch Pokémon! It was almost unusual to walk past someone on the street NOT hold their phone while trying to catch some pocket-creature or other.
The convention center is right in the midst of the South Bank restaurants and markets. It’s a beautiful walk through parks, beaches, markets and resultants. Obviously, there are also hundreds of Pokéstops there too, luring the Pokémon in for the trainers to catch. What an exciting Sunday night scene!
As a typical mother, I’m well aware of the perils of too much game time, but I have to note that I think I’m a fan. Having only caught four Pokémon myself to date (total #novice) I was captivated by the swarms of young people playing the game out and about in Brisbane, and around the world.
When I was at such an age, there wasn’t much to keep teenagers entertained if they wanted to lurk on the street. The teenagers of my era would sneak into nightclubs (underage of course) to drink and dance or get up to mostly no good! I was pleasantly surprised to see that the future for my own boys might just be interactive enough to keep them otherwise occupied. The fact that it includes lots of walking long distances doesn’t hurt, either – maybe it will make fast cars and alcohol a little less enticing for a while!
With this in mind I fully embrace PokémonGo and came home to promptly download the app.
The recurring highlight of each Expo I attend is talking with super interesting and inspiring people. How lucky am I? I’ll be back at the next Brisbane Expo for sure. And see you at the next one!
