Lisa and her “rock” Umberto Giannini.

Kidderminster [she has since expanded to Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham and London]. With her brand going from strength to strength and a consumer following seeing her gorgeous, sexy hair gracing numerous magazine pages the world over, you could be forgiven for thinking Lisa would have been considered a dead cert for the industry’s big gong. She says: “I know what I love, which

is beautifully cut and coloured hair, but I know that’s not everyone’s taste. The looks I was entering were ones my clients loved, but also looks people described as ‘normal’. Before me the collections up for British Hairdresser of the Year were often very graphic, and I kept getting told, ‘you won’t win if you enter with that’. Well, in 2005 I did enter with that, and, on that night, I won.” Once she’d got over the shock of her name being called out, an eight months

pregnant Lisa [with now four year-old son Jakson, who also has a baby sister, Lola, born just four months ago] had to scrabble under the table for the heels she’d kicked off her swollen feet, before heading up on stage to an even bigger shock. “So, I can feel every hair on my

body shaking with nerves. I wasn’t expecting it at all; I was just happy to be nominated, but the next thing I know, Jonathan Ross is hoisting me on stage. I look to my left and there in the wings is a St John Ambulance crew waiting in the wings, in case I go into labour!” It wasn’t just a massive triumph for

herself, but colourists everywhere. She says: “I really feel that colourists

are often made to feel as though they are second class citizens in our industry, but colour not only brings the most profit to our business, it also gives our clients their biggest and boldest change. We need to celebrate and showcase

our work more; we can’t feel as though it’s not worth going for the big awards. I’ve stood there and held that trophy and if I can do it, other colourists can too. ”That’s the thing about Lisa; she never

lets anyone else’s opinion influence what she wants to do. Instead she goes with her instincts when it comes to creating a range of versatile and beautiful hair and imagery. Her innate understanding of both what

clients want and how they want to feel, has seen her skills lend themselves to TV work like Channel 4’s makeover show 10 Years Younger and ensured that Lisa Shepherd is well on her way to becoming a super-brand in the near future. But, the thing that really makes

this Midlands girl stand out in the industry’s talent-packed crowd is her salt of the earth, tell it like it is, larger than life personality. And we love her for it.

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