Cheri Paizen, Hairstylist

Make a Difference

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I would like to make a difference in the world. I know that people feel, "Hairdressing, oh how can you solve anything with hairdressing," but I think there's a lot of negativity in the world and I think if you can start with yourself and be proud of who you are, it projects outward. That can only be a better thing for the world.

So if I can make someone feel a little bit better about their hair and a little bit better about how they feel that can only be good."

Where I work

I have been working for the past four years at Doreen's Hair Fashions and Tanning Salon in Selkirk. I started here as an apprentice. Now I am a licensed Hairstylist and I will also soon be a Nail Technician.

In our salon there are three full-time employees and two part-time employees. We do any aspect of hair styling. We also do nails and we have a tanning bed. Anything that you need done to make yourself feel better, we do here.

Exciting work

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Some myths and misconceptions about being a hairdresser are that it's boring; that you're doing the same thing over and over again.

"That is a personal choice that every hairdresser has. If that hairdresser finds it boring, there's a reason for it. I personally find that this is a very exciting and ever-changing job."

Many tasks

My key tasks and responsibilities are to style hair for clients; to answer the phone and to generally give the customers what they want. We're a smaller salon so I do everything from the laundry to working with the tanning bed and doing make-up.

I also have to keep up with current hair styles. In this industry, we really must stay on top of styles and techniques, which are changing all the time. Doreen, the owner, is very supportive of learning, making sure we can go to classes and expand our knowledge base.

Indoors Casual

My work is all indoors of course. I do quite a bit of standing because I am working with the clients a lot. But because I'm also pursuing my Nail Technician training, I do get to sit. So it's a balance of both.

It is not as formal as an office. It's very casual but very business-like. In such a small environment, we have to be courteous and work well together as a team. This kind of atmosphere also allows us to have a little bit more creativity than an office.

Communication skills

Oral communication is the most important skill in my job. I need to know what my client wants and how to explain what I can give to them and what I can't.

My phone skills have to be good too. When I'm taking appointments for other people, I have to communicate and find out what they want, to make sure I'm not getting someone else's schedule all mixed up.

I also need to read and research current trends. It's very important to know what people want in new hairstyles. I do some writing as well because I keep a record of customers' visits.

Grew up in the country

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"I grew up in the country, in Anola, Manitoba. That's just about 40 minutes southeast of Selkirk. My childhood was wonderful. I have two parents and two older brothers.

"We have always lived where we still live on a big acreage. We weren't a farm but lots of room to run around, ride your bike. It was a very, very pleasant childhood.

"My grandparents emigrated from Poland, both sets of my grandparents came directly to Manitoba. So that's where I originated from."

Education important

My mother is a manager of a dollar store and my Dad is a mechanic. They've acquired the skills for their jobs not through college but through on-the-job training

I know my parents would have gone to college or university if it had been financially possible to do so. They think education is very, very important. I think that having enough money to go on to more education was the one barrier that they faced.

Crafts and camping

I keep active at home with lots of activities. I am bit of a "Holly Hobby" and enjoy doing crafts and calligraphy and anything artistic. Right now I'm taking an at-home course for sewing so I can sew something for myself.

I enjoy outdoors activity too. In the summer, anything outside is fun. I do a lot of camping and swimming. In the winter I'm a huge cross-country ski fan. That's something I'm teaching myself.

Pampering and travel

I like to reward myself by pampering myself. I enjoy getting facials and pedicures and manicures. I also like to travel.

My boyfriend and I went to Las Vegas at the beginning of February. We were smart, we kept to a budget and we saw more sights than we gambled. We saw the Hoover Dam and went to every attraction we could, like the Venetian Head and the Wax Museum.

I definitely want to do more travelling in the future. I would like to go everywhere but I think my next trip would be to Vancouver or Toronto since I have not seen any of Canada.

Enjoy Manitoba

I want to stay in Manitoba because I enjoy living and working here and my family's here. I really enjoy the fact that Manitoba is so welcoming and so diverse and multicultural.

I know people may not believe me, but I don't mind the weather here either. I like knowing that my land isn't going to shake underneath my feet and no tsunami is going to take away my home.

I also like the opportunity that Manitoba offers. There is great opportunity in Manitoba. If you work hard here, you can get what you want.

Full Day

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I live about 40 minutes away so I try to leave at around ten after eight. Most days I work at nine o'clock.

"From nine o'clock to about twelve o'clock I'm dealing with clients' cuts, colours, perms; any kind of specific job that they want done. I do get an hour for lunch and I find if I don't get that hour, I'm not in the best of moods.

From about one o'clock to five o'clock again, it's dealing with clients, doing the laundry, making sure that the salon runs smoothly as possible."

Regular hours

I work seven to eight hours per day, thirty to thirty five hours a week. Currently I work four days a week.

My schedule is not that flexible because I need to be here for the clients. I have to set hours for myself to create some order and a regime with my clients. I can't be flipping around all the time; they need to know when I'm in.

A good thing about working in a small town is that my clients get to know me, and they get to know my schedule.

Small town service

I prefer to get my clients in on a regular basis, to maintain what they like. But it is not always possible to get everyone on a schedule.

I like to create the feeling of ease with my clients, so that they know they can walk in and if I can't take them then, I'll take them later. I aim to ensure that I can always make them happy and give them what they want.

Work choices

When I am finished work, I don't have to take it home. I don't ever do my work from home. There are hairstylists who do work from home, and that's a choice that you can make in this business.

One of the great things about being a hairstylist is the flexibility. You can work in a salon and you can work at home. The choice is yours.

Help people relax

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"What I feel is relevant about being a hairdresser is the positive aspect of it. When people come here, they can forget about the world for a while, concentrate on themselves. I'm glad that I can do that for people.

"When someone comes in and they've just had three meetings and dropped their kids off at piano or hockey, I'm able to chat with them, give them a cup of coffee and just give them time. They just feel a little bit more relaxed and a little bit more focused and centred."

Stress varies

The stress level varies from day to day. It all depends on my client load. Usually on a Saturday, it is very crazy here. In a small town like Selkirk, we have a certain number of walk-ins, clients without appointments.

I have to make sure I give them what they want and that I'm on time, because I don't want people to sit here for a half an hour. I work with Moms and Dads with kids at home and they have tight schedules.

But when five o'clock comes and the customers are gone, a lot of my stress is gone. I don't take my work home with me.

Challenging job

I find the biggest challenge about being a hairdresser is staying current. Every month I go to classes to make sure that I know the latest about hairdressing. It's very hard because things are constantly changing in this industry.

Another big challenge is dealing with the clients. Some of them have high expectations of themselves and it is my job to let them know what can and cannot happen with their hair.

Able to be creative

Whenever I take a class, I tell my clients about it. That gives the client confidence that I'm able to do things a bit more creatively and that I'm doing everything I can for them.

Recently I took a highlighting class and the next day a client came in and told me she didn't know what she wanted. I told her I just learned something that's absolutely fabulous and asked her if I could try it on her. I wanted to be able to incorporate what she wanted as well as try out a new technique. She agreed. She loved what I did, and we were both very happy.

Ongoing learning

Every fall and every spring, there is a hair cutting class that I take as often as I can. I learn three haircuts in a day on a mannequin. It's great because not everyone has the same hair texture or the same kind of hair and that class teaches me a little bit about how to deal with everyone.

Then I'm able to come back to the salon and try those new techniques right on the clients. I'm able to incorporate what I learn daily.

Chose career later

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I did not have a concrete career plan when I was in high school. It was after high school I did some research on what I wanted to be and how I could let my creative personality speak out.

"I chose this line of work when I was 21. I had finished high school and, very stereotypically, I was bouncing around from job to job. I didn't have anywhere that I wanted to be. I discovered hairdressing and the classes at the high school here in Selkirk."

No trades in school

The only barrier to pursuing my career was where I lived. Because I was out in the country, my high school didn't offer any kind of trades courses. I knew I didn't want to go to university and that I wanted to study something that I enjoyed that would lead to a job.

That was a setback for me because I had to finish my high school there and then go on to continue training somewhere else. I wish my training had been all in one package at the high school.

Other experience

I didn't have a lot of money coming out of high school, so I had to work for a few years and save. I worked for the Dugald Costume Museum doing various jobs there. It was one of my favourite jobs.

I was working with clothes and artifacts and it was really, really interesting. I've also worked as a cashier and a waitress. When I was taking my hairdressing courses, I worked as a shampoo girl here.

I learned people skills and communication skills from all those jobs. No matter what you do, you always take something away from it.

Apprenticed at Doreens

A hairstylist has to take one to two years of apprenticeship under a licensed Journeyperson, and two exams to be licensed. To do this program, you do have to either go to a public school that offers the trade or go to a private school. I did mine at Lord Selkirk Comprehensive School.

I've finished my apprenticeship here and I am now a licensed hairdresser. Doreen helped me a lot by letting me apprentice under her. A major part of what I learnt was on-the-job.

Community volunteer

I have volunteered a few times in this community for Girls' Day Out. The grade seven and grade eight girls from various schools in Selkirk came and learned about skin care and hair.

There were also hip hop classes and things like that they were able to do throughout the day. I found that has been really beneficial because I could give a little something back to the community.

I also volunteer as a judge in hairdressing contests. I like doing this because it takes me out of my comfort zone and makes me look at things a different point of view.

Great future

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"The future for hairstyling is very, very positive; the industry is booming. It's a very good industry to get into. Lots of people are taking more time to spend on themselves and realizing that spending a little bit of time on themselves is very good and very relaxing and they can benefit from it.

"The small salons are becoming bigger and diversifying. No longer is it just hair in a salon; it's hair, it's nails, it's massage. You can incorporate so much into a salon and you can be so diverse. It's just a very positive thing."

Many goals

My goals for my career are to become a Lifetime Member Judge and to become a Certified Nail Technician. I'm taking a hair judging class offered by the Hair Arts and Sciences and I'm almost finished my Nail Technician studies.

In five years I hope to be still working as a hairdresser here. I think I would like to own my own business, eventually. But right now I don't feel that I could open a salon and make it successful. After seeing what Doreen deals with here I can see it's a lot of stress and you need experience to deal with that.

Long term happiness

What I want most in my work and my life is to be happy. To me, happiness is not so much about the money as truly enjoying what I do. I want to be able to get up in the morning and look forward to going to work.

I also want to help young people become all that they can be within this industry. I really believe that the apprenticeship is an important aspect of the Hairstyling and Nail Technician program and I want to let young people know that.

Need to be positive

If I could change one thing about the industry, it would be that young students coming out of school would be a little bit more positive. After being in school a year and a half, they're a little bit negative because they feel they won't find a job, or they want things to happen really fast.

They will find work because it is very good industry to get into although it may take a bit of time. And they should know that employers want dedication from employees. They want people who are willing to work for what they get.

Artistic and outgoing

You need to be creative and artistic to be a hairstylist. You also need to be a problem solver because customers are coming to you with problems with their hair, their nails, and you need to be able to help them.

You need to be outgoing and social as well. I have an outgoing personality. There isn't a person that I can't talk to. I'm usually very open and flexible. If you are a little bit shy and you're concerned about what people are going to be thinking about you, that's something that you're going to need to overcome to do this job.

Job market info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long range prospects for this career.

The official title for Cheri's occupation is "Hairstylists and Barbers" and its NOC* code is 6271.

Manitoba Job Futures

Who Hires? - Manitoba Labour Market Information

*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the 'National Occupation Classification' code or 'NOC'.

Education

High School

Useful High School Subjects:*

- English
- Business
- Math
- Sciences

*Source: JobFutures.ca

For those out of school, Adult Learning Centres can help you get or upgrade your high school diploma, including adding subjects that are required for work or further education. All Manitobans are normally entitled to 4 free courses.

After high school

Manitoba Advanced Education and Training

Hairstylist Apprenticeship  

Winnipeg Technical College, Winnipeg

Hairstyling

Private vocational institutions

Accademia Dei Capelli School of Hairstyling & Esthetics
204-452-7380
657 Corydon Avenue,
Winnipeg, MB R3M 0W3

Advanced School of Hairstyling
603 Princess Avenue
Brandon, Manitoba R7A 0P2

Classic Hairstyling Academy
118 - 10th Street
Brandon MB R7A 4E6

European School of Esthetics
241 Vaughan Street, 2nd Floor
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 1T6

Hairstory Beauty College Ltd.
204-783-6428
650 Portage Avenue,
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0G6

Scientific Marvel School of Hairstyling and Aesthetics
204-943-2145
269 Kennedy Street,
Winnipeg, MB R3C 1T2

Skills

Useful Experience/Skills*

- Co-ordinating skills
- Communication skills
- Supervising
- Computer skills

Source: Job Futures.ca

There is not yet an Essential Skills* profile for this occupation.

*Essential Skills provide the foundation for learning all other skills and enable people to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change.

Professional Resources

Manitoba Hairstylists' Association
501 Sargent Avenue
Winnipeg MB R3B 1V9
204-775-8633

Related careers

Estheticians, Electrologists and Related Occupations (NOC 6482)

Hairdressing teachers (NOC 4131)