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Is there something different about working at Sebastian Professional?

Yes, it’s new and exciting; when we re-launched Sebastian Professional we created everything brand new, from events, to courses – even our approach – it was all about keeping the heart and soul of Sebastian alive. It’s taught me a lot more about session styling and editorial hair, but mostly about how many individual, unique, creative young stylists there are here in the UK.

So how do Sebastian Professional courses break down?

We currently run three published courses within the Wella Studios and also a venue in The Studio Below, in Edinburgh. Each course is different; we have

the Gallery Jam session taught by our Creative Style Artist Sean Dawson, which is a range of cutting techniques that can be incorporated together to allow the students to create their own styles. We also look closer at dressing hair. Next Up is a course that takes a selection of the techniques and creates two complete hair cuts; this is done by my Education team and they are fully immersed in the training and development of these techniques. Finally there is Session Expert; we added this to the published courses

this year. It’s run by Dom Capel, our other Creative Style Artist and looks at the world of session. With a designer and make-up artist on hand, this course explores how to enter session styling and what elements are involved. It offers lots of information and ends with a photo shoot. We also run in-salon training courses that can be tailor-made to suit the salon, which include; Pathway to Creation – exploring the categories and styles associated with the products; Fusion ‘It’s all in the mix’ – this explores the endless product combinations and different ways of using products to create individual and personalised styling; Fashion Forecast – which looks into how fashion and trends develop, what influences fashion and how you can create your own style predictions! Finally, there’s the most fundamental course, Product Knowledge.

Do you get to spend a lot of time with the course students?

Not as much as I would like to. Unfortunately time doesn’t allow me to, but I do try and get into salons whenever I can.

What is it that sets Sebastian Professional education apart?

Sebastian is about being fearless; there are no hard and fast rules with the products, so each stylist can use them in their own way. Also when we look at our training courses they are more about giving students the techniques to be creative, not a step by step approach – our training is about coaching and inspiring individuals.

Who should follow a Sebastian education?

Individual, creative people who like to develop their own design and personality with hair.

Anyone who shouldn’t give it a go?

With our approach we welcome everybody to give it a try!

As an education professional, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career?

My biggest lesson would be to never think you have learnt something in its entirety, as there is always more to learn, and never underestimate how much fun education can be!

Info: London studio: 0207 637 7172 Manchester and Edinburgh: 0161 834 2645

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