Flat Tops and Yak Hair

Ont thing I've always wanted to try is teaching.  In the past, I've taught clipper cuts at local schools but I wanted to do something a little more official.  So, I packed up  my gear and headed to the Great Clips Training Center for Academy day 3.  I needed my CEU hours to renew my license for next year, so I was happy to help!

The training center is one smallish room that's decorated like the salons are.  I have attended plenty of meetings in this space, and it's much more comfortable being one of 8 people in the room rather than one of 100.  I also helped to teach an up-do class here earlier this year.  This class is strictly for newbies to Great Clips who need to learn a little more about how the company works.  It's a fun way to become a part of the company as well as a chance to learn some new techniques.  I took the class 7 years ago when I started with Great Clips in 2005.

Today is the clipper class day.  Students performed fades and the dreaded flat top.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the cut, it's basically a style for men where all the hair stands up and is cut to the same lever and looks like a big square on the head (think GI Joe or Jersey Shore's Pauley D, only less like a douche bag).  It's by far the hardest men's cut, and requires a large comb that has a bubble level on it.  Checking the cuts, these guys did really well considering it being their first time performing this cut, and mannequins really stink for cutting anything.

Now there's some sexy flat tops! LOL :)  I was so proud of these 6 students!  Three of them have been doing hair for a year or two, but the other three were brand new stylists!  I have to give a shout out to miss Andie, the third one back, who's a new stylist at my store.  She rocked it out!

Lastly, I got the opportunity to teach the students a higher difficulty cut, done strictly with a feather razor.  This is a cut that is wispy, fun, and funky.  I did this cut for the first time on a girl who was headed to Papua New Guinea and would be bathing in a river, so she wanted all of her hair cut off.  She pulled out a picture of  Mandy Moore and I was like, Are you sure you want this much cut off?!  I guess she liked it because she still has me cut it like this!

Unfortunately it didn't look as good on the mannequin.  I found out that while most mannequin heads are made with human hair, our supplier had switched to a head of YAK HAIR!  This is not how a person's hair looks!

I think she needs to find a new stylist...

I was, however, so happy to be a part of this class and to have the opportunity to pass on my experiences and advice to another group of Great Clips stylists!  I'm sure that they will do nothing but good things in the future, and I hope I get to see them again!

So, my first big teaching gig went really well, and I think I am going to be having the opportunity to have a bigger role in some classes in the second quarter next year!  Stay tuned!

Love,
Lura