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College of Hair & Beauty

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Sharon Leavy

College of Hair & Beauty
Church St, Portlaoise,
Co. Laois,
Ireland.

Phone :+353 (57) 86 62600

Email : info@collegeofhairandbeauty.ie

Open Day

5 minutes with Frank Hackett - Barbering Tutor

Frank Hackett - Barbering Tutor

Multi award-winning barber Frank Hackett is renowned for pushing traditional barbering to new levels Frank has competed at the highest level and in 2014 was a finalist in the British Barber Association finals in Newport Wales. He has worked with some of the worlds best barbers such as Chris Foster and Dale Ted Watkins. Frank opened Retro barber Shop in 2007 and was an has been a huge success since.

Frank is one of Ireland’s leading barber educators conducting courses in his own academy in Limerick and in salons and hairdressing colleges all over the country. Recently Frank has founded the Irish Barber Association in an effort to create a strong community of like minded barbers and work towards getting barbering in Ireland licenced.

Frank came on board to The Sharon Leavy College of Hair & Beauty in 2014 and is currently one of the tutors over out Barbering Department.

Q1. How did you start out in the barbering industry?

I originally started out my barbering journey in 1994 while at school I used to cut my friends hair in my father’s shop Hackett’s Barbershop which was opened in 1926 . After school I began a career working for Hugh Campbell in Limerick City were I stayed for almost 4 years.

In late 1999 my father asked my if I would come and work for him for a week as cover while he took holidays. It was a big change going from a big salon into a small barbershop but I felt at home straight away and felt much more comfortable doing gents hair . My 1^st wage as a barber was £135 a week which was more than double what I was getting as a hairdresser. After that week I was hooked and there was no going back.

I perfected my barbering skills over the next 3 years attending course in London and Dublin and wherever I could to perfect my barbering skills.

Q2. What advice would you give yourself looking back to when you first started out?

Train from the best and keep learning .Barbering is a journey and your not going

to learn all you need to in 2 or 3 years ,you have to live and breath the trade

Q3. How has selecting people to work with impacted your business?

Picking the right staff is crucial for a successful business. Loyalty and honesty are important but a passion for the job is key ,you have to love your job and love working with people.

Q4. What has been a particular high and low for you business wise?

If I was to pick a high point for me in my barbering career it would be been shortlisted into the top 10 Classic Master by the British Barber Association at Barber Connect 2014,

A low point would be having to close one of our family barber shop which was open since 1926.

Q5. What's next for you and your business?

Next up for me is lots of competition work for 2016

Jackie Lynch - Beauty Therapy Tutor

Q1. How did you start out in the beauty industry?

I got into the beauty industry in 2006 when I trained in the Coogan – Bergin College of Beauty, Wicklow St, Dublin. From there I went on to take up employment in The Marriott Hotel & Spa, I worked there as a Spa Therapist. While there I worked and trained with Elimis gaining a great knowledge and experience of working in the beauty industry. I think starting out working in a spa was a really valuable experience as what I learned there I brought forward with me throughout my career and working life since.

Q2. What advice would you give yourself looking back to when you first started out?

If I was to give myself advice looking back to when I started out I think it would be to have more confidence in myself. I was quite shy in college and when I started out working I was also a little nervous. I think starting out sometimes as a junior therapist you can feel a little intimidated by all these girls who have been trained for years, but I think if I had of realised at the time that they too at some point had started as a junior and worked their way up.

Q3. How has selecting places to work with impacted your career?

I have been lucky enough to have worked in both Spa & salon environments and this has made a huge impact for me in my career as it has given me great knowledge and experience in different aspects of the industry. Now working in education and training I can bring those experiences to my learners. I think by choosing to work in both spa’s and salon’s it gave me a great feel for the industry and idea as to where I wanted to go with my career.

Q4. What has been a particular high and low for you career wise?

For me personally a particular high in my career was when I opened up my own salon in 2010 this is probably the best experience I have ever had. I loved the responsibility of running my own business, building up my own clientele, choosing the treatments to offer and also being able to offer employment and experience to young girls starting out. I loved going to work every day as it never really felt like work, I loved every minute. In 2014 after been teaching alongside running my own salon I decided it was time to concentrate on my new love, which was training and education for the Sharon Leavy College of Hair and Beauty. I decided to close my salon and work solely teaching in the college. It felt like a personal low at the time after working so hard to build up the business and putting my heart and soul into it to close the door and leave it all behind. Thankfully opening the salon will never be regret only an extremely valuable experience.