In this episode Nathan Plumridge talks to entrepreneur, award winning stylist, and salon owner Cally Borg to talk about her background and journey through her career.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• I wasn’t very academic at school, I couldn’t sit still in a classroom, that’s just not my thing at all. However, when I got into hairdressing I was so focussed from day one because I just knew it was for me.
• My freelance career was really busy, I was in and out of London and Surrey taking any job that came to me. One minute I’d be doing highlights and cut and blow-dry, the next I’d be doing a photoshoot or at a show, it was really crazy but it was great. That worked until I had my daughter. I started doing local stuff and basically winged it for about three years while building up a regular clientele around looking after my daughter, in the day while she was at nursery and in the evenings while she was in bed.
• Lockdown offered a great opportunity to re-write the brand. I thought to myself, what do I really want from life and what’s most important to me. My partner and my kids are the most important thing to me so I don’t want to work evenings and weekends any more. So, do I cull 50% of my business or look at a new strategy and bring somebody in to look after those clients? And, that’s what I did and I realised I really liked helping and mentoring people.
• There’s been a massive rise in home salons in the past few years. I think that’s down to the lockdown, but also it’s to do with the freedom and flexibility that you get with working from home. I’m not in salons any more, so I don’t know the opportunities there any more, but I can only presume that the rules are stricter and that’s why people are looking for freedom and flexibility.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I liked being in the salon, what I didn’t like was being told when I could and couldn’t go on holiday. I’m a team player, but I don’t like to be controlled in any way.’
‘I did Amanda Holden’s personal styling, I’d go to her house, blow-dry her hair a couple of times a week and I started working at ITV, which was great.’
‘People used to say: “you really work a lot of hours”, but I love my job, I love talking to people, yes I was knackered and unhealthy. Then I had a health scare and life changed like that.’
‘I learned by working for free when I started out, but it’s a lot easier now to be educated, there’s a lot of free education, but people don’t seem to tap into that. This is the best time to be a freelancer.’

ABOUT THE GUEST

Cally Borg is an Award-Winning Hairstylist, Educator and Business Mentor; she’s been hairdressing for over 20 years, working for salons such as John Carne, Toni&Guy and Charles Worthington before going freelance and starting her own business.

She recently won 'Surrey Hair Stylist of the Year 2020' and the ‘Marketing Trailblazer 2021’ at the Salon Awards. Cally is on the Art Team and an Educator for the brand 'We Love Salons.' and the UK brand ambassador for TUFT international.

Website: https://www.callyborg.com/ 

ABOUT THE HOST

Welcome and thank you for reading this, I’m Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. I’ve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.

CONTACT DETAILS

 www.hairlifeshow.com

Instagram is @nathan.hairlife 

Email me at nathan@hairlifeshow.com