The Art of FRIENDSHIP

Five friends, multiple salons and a whole lot of love. Tim Scott-Wright, Dale Hollinshead, Teri Lowe, Katie Mulcahy and Brooke Evans explain why their friendship has stood the test of time

Tim Scott-Wright could be described as the magnet that brought five talented hairdressers together. But how did it all begin? Tim, Teri and Dale initially worked together at Lisa Shepherd, then Tim left to start his own salon where at various stages, Dale, Katie, Brooke and Teri have all worked. Dale now owns Hazel and Hadyn, Katie owns Paint & Powder and Brooke owns Brooke Evans Ironbridge. Meanwhile, Teri returned from a career at TONI&GUY in Australia to work alongside Tim at Tim Scott-Wright @ The Hair Surgery. What a jouney, have you kept up? Here’s their story…

Is it unique that you’re all friends, despite no longer working together?

Tim: Yes, because that doesn’t always happen when you leave a salon. But I have never taken someone leaving personally. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been with a salon, at some point you’re going to follow a new path in your career.

Dale: I always think that you never know when you’re going to work with someone again, so you should leave on a good note.

Katie: I think that when we all met each other at Tim’s it was such an exciting time so we bonded quickly. I was new to the city and it was a new venture for Tim. We would socialise after work and we were like a family.

Dale: We were close-knit. I bought a flat in the city centre and quite a few nights a week we all ended up in my bed.

Tim: Well, it saved sleeping in the office, which I’d done a few times!

How have you helped each other in your careers?

Katie: Dale was a huge support when I went freelance. Working with Dale was amazing but salon work was getting comfortable so after Dale’s encouragement, I went freelance. It was definitely the right decision.

Dale: Although I was Katie’s boss, I was advising her from a friendship perspective. I said: ‘You’re not happy, why don’t you try something new?’

Tim: Teri’s story is different because she went to work in Australia for four years. On a visit back to the UK she modelled in a shoot for us, and said ‘If there’s a place for me here I won’t go back to Australia’.

Teri: It’s been five years now!

BROOKE EVANS

Brooke: I always think that being at Tim’s is a bit of a legacy. The fact that I had a great experience with Tim has influenced me into giving my team a great experience.

Katie: I know that I would not have opened my own salon if it wasn’t for the support from Tim and Dale. I had no savings, I was rejected from most banks, but because I knew these guys had been through it all I could openly have these frank discussions with them.

How do you all communicate?

Tim: We have lots of random conversations in the week.

Dale: I always speak to Katie when I want advice. Because I don’t have a partner within the business, it’s important to have someone to vent to that’s in the same position as you.

DALE HOLLINSHEAD

Katie: We chat about everything from which tube of tint to pick up to money worries... I would one hundred per cent rather talk to one of these guys than a professional.

Brooke: I’ve definitely facetimed Tim a lot and he’ll be like, ‘It’s fine, just do this…’

How has the recruitment crisis affected you all?

Dale: I think Covid-19 has given people a different perspective on how they want to live their lives. A lot more people want to be selfemployed and have the freedom that can bring with it. I respect that and we’ve adapted our team. I recruit on personality above anything else, and I’m happy to wait for the right person.

KATIE MULCAHY

Brooke: I listen to my team – they wanted a four day week so I have now put that in place. I’ve got three employed stylists and one self-employed stylist, and I’m very much open to rent-a-chair stylists. I’ve seen the benefits to both models.

Tim: All of my staff are employed, and in terms of recruitment I’ve never had a major issue. One thing I will say is that I’ve worked in four separate decades, and I have seen a definite shift in this generation in terms of work ethic.

Brooke: I think when I was an apprentice I would have done anything for my career, but I don’t think people want to climb the ladder organically – they want it all now.

Dale: We were all prepared to work as many hours as it took to achieve something and develop our own skill and client base. I think now people are less inclined to work in their own time to develop themselves. There’s a few jobs on TV that I’ve been doing, and I can’t understand how people aren’t willing to give up their free time for the experience. These jobs can often be unpaid, but it’s about the experience.

What do you say when people suggest that you have to be in London to make it?

TIM SCOTT-WRIGHT

Tim: One of the things I loved about working with Umberto Giannini when I started out was that he reinforced the fact that you don’t need to be based in London to be a great hairdresser.

Teri: I feel like Australia was my London. I worked for a big salon and there was over 30 of us over two floors in Perth. It was full-on there, I worked there every Saturday and often until 10pm at night.

Dale: The great thing about being in the Midlands is that it’s really easy to get to London or Manchester. It’s so accessible.

Brooke: You can be anything you want to be regardless of where you live, I’m an ambassador for Schwarzkopf Professional and an educator for ghd and I don’t live in London.

What’s your proudest career achievement?

Dale: One of my proudest moments is that we’re all in this situation now getting along and producing amazing work.

Teri: I think I’ve done some amazing things in my career like travelling. I didn’t expect to do four and a half years in Australia and get sponsored for it. Since coming back I’ve done photoshoots and worked with some cool people such as Charlotte Tilbury.

Tim: I would definitely say entering the British Hairdressing Awards Hall of Fame. Also, seeing my own name above my door after working so long for other people. And seeing how far the people I’ve worked with have come gives me a warm feeling.

TERI LOWE

Brooke: I’m proud of my apprentice Katie Cook, who is now a grown stylist but won Junior of the Year at the British Hairdressing Business Awards in 2021.

Katie: For me, it’s having my own salon. Creating an environment which reflects me and having staff that love to work with me is a real sense of achievement.