To our fellow hairstylists and barbers:
One of our main objectives at Hair Stylist Guide Inc. is to help hairstylists along their journey to acquiring their Ontario hair license; however, it personally makes us uncomfortable to ask for money from the talented individuals we serve when you have been told that you are not legally allowed to be practicing your profession at this moment. Hair Stylist Guide Inc. would not exist without your support and we exist to support you. For this reason, we stand by you and we have decided that while lockdowns are banning hairstylists from working and hair salons from being open to the public in regions in Ontario, we will make digital copies of our study notes available to all FOR FREE.
Although our region in Ontario is not (perhaps yet) “locked down”, we believe that this lockdown situation has unjustly targeted hairstylists and salon owners and we greatly question why it is so. Why is it that people are allowed to walk into a grocery store or drugstore to buy shampoo and other hair products, but they are not allowed to enter a clean and controlled salon to purchase the same types of products? People can go buy alcohol at the LCBO and pick up junk fast food to console themselves, but they can’t get a haircut with their favourite hairstylist in a clean and controlled environment? Huh? Is this still just about people’s health and well-being? Health comes in many forms, my friends – physical, mental, spiritual and financial health are all important.
Many salons are going above and beyond in their sanitation, social distancing and safety protocols. Yet in regions with lockdowns, they have all been ordered to close despite being stricter with their procedures than most drugstores and grocery stores. Why couldn’t inspectors just be sent into our salons to see how clean and safe we are and monitor our establishments so that we could continue to serve our guests in our safe environments? Closing restaurants did not bring down the positivity rate for Covid in our regions. What has convinced our policy makers that closing salons will?
The purpose of our message here is not to go on a tangential “poor me” political rant. Nobody wants pity from anyone. But we do need to at least mention a couple of the reasons why we feel so strongly and are willing to do whatever little things we can do to help out our fellow hairstylists and salon owners. The contradictions banning us from practicing our trade are angering. Providing complimentary digital copies of our study notes is the least we can do to help the situation and alleviate some of the stress for our fellow stylists – and it’s fairly simple for us to do as well.
Yes, our website costs money and time to run. So, if you feel like you want to (and are able to) make a small contribution through our GoFundMe page to help out with that, it is most welcome. But please do not feel obliged. Just pay the kindness and thoughtfulness forward. If you really feel like it, you can always get back to us when things get better – and they will! And we know that they will because your clients need you and the world needs people that make it a more beautiful place. But in the meantime, don’t be shy! Just take the leg up by downloading the study notes and beginning your exam prep.
Pay the help forward to your colleagues, family and friends. Pay the help forward to your valued guests. And most importantly, don’t give up on creating your magic! One of your many gifts to the world is to make people feel great about themselves and to love what they see when they look in the mirror. Never forget the great privilege and power you hold as someone’s chosen hairstylist.
Hairstylists are truly special people. No matter what they have going on behind closed doors, they show up, day in and day out, for their clients, with one main objective – to make them happy! And that is magical. You cannot be a hairstylist unless you love what you do and who you serve. You can see it in every stylists’ eyes when they’re in deep concentration focusing on their guest’s hair. You can feel it in the way that they place their hands on your scalp and hold your hair. And you can hear it in their voice when they are talking to their colleagues and clients. It’s a demanding profession, with no “get rich quick” strategy. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication, passion and grit to go and stay all in. And the passion you have for what you do inspires our passion to help you.
Now, although it is easy for us to make digital copies of the study notes free, we do regret to inform you that we must charge for any physical goods (such as hard copies of the notes) and for our exam prep sessions, as those take up further resources that are not free for us – such as material resources and time away from work. But from the bottom of our hearts, we will give you everything that we can.
We thank you for your continued patronage and we will see you all on the other side of this nonsense!