A Hairdressers at Heart scholarship recipient talks about inspiration
“When I went to beauty school, I thought I was just going to find a trade,” says Joy LaMay, a stylist at North Hollywood, CA’s Fringe Hair Studio. “But what I found was something familiar. It was like all these creative tendencies finally found something that fit, and it just made sense.”
LaMay is among the first recipients of the Vidal Sassoon Professional Beauty Education Scholarship, a partnership between Beauty Changes Lives and Wella’s Hairdressers at Heart program, which will award $1.5 million in scholarships and continuing education grants this year. The program rewards beauty school students and professional stylists who embody the iconic stylist’s ideals of creativity, craftsmanship, professional drive and a love of learning.
Like Vidal Sassoon, LaMay says she finds inspiration everywhere. “All the things I’m passionate about, and the different ways I express myself, it’s the same energy I use when I’m styling,” she says. And, like Sassoon, she believes in giving clients a look that fits their lifestyles as well as their fashion senses. “I tell my clients, ‘You should be able to wake up and in a couple of minutes have your look ready to go. And that same haircut should also be able to look fabulous for some swanky party,’” LaMay explains.
She used the scholarship this past June to take a five-day Classic Cutting course at the Los Angeles Vidal Sassoon Academy, where she says she stretched her knowledge and found inspiration that shines through in her work in the salon. “I care about what I’m doing,” LaMay says. “I want to give people a style that can change their life.”
Wella’s Hairdressers at Heart is a four-pillar program designed to support stylists at every stage of their careers. For more information, visit beautychangeslives.org/scholarships or ehairdressersathart.com.