Yes.  I spent much of the first 25 years in the business in pursuit of learning from the best.  That’s the value of having a dad in the business and the advantage of being young in the business with the freedom to do those things.  I tried to never miss a good opportunity to learn from the best

My very first trip was to Toronto, where I was fortunate to spend 3 days in the Vidal Sassoon salon just learning haircuts!  Early on, I travelled to Boston to the John Dellaria salon, spent time there watching and learning. His style, and the way he went about being in the business was a big influence.

Later, when John opened a salon in SoHo, I visited that salon and became friends with some of the stylists.  Ultimately, those people were influential in my evolution as a business owner/hairdresser.

In London, the Chadwicks were a husband and wife team who had a big influence on me. In fact, that’s where I met Carmine Manardi. Over the years, Carmine offered in-salon education, and I took part, and have had Carmine to my salon many times over the years, providing education to the stylists who work with me.

I also met Beth Manardi there, and we remain friends today.  She is a colorist who has trained all over the world and has given workshops at my salon many times over the years.  Beth always says, some things, only the scissors can fix.  So, once again, we come back to the point that a great cut is the foundation for a great hair look.  But Beth is a fantastic trainer for our stylists who specialize in color.  Once they master the great cut – the foundation, their training with Beth allows them to enhance that cut with great color.