Looking forward with Tom Smith

Mr Tom Smith has quite the career portfolio: Salon-based hair stylist, brand ambassador, trend spotter, educator, consultant… You name it, Tom is doing it – a total advocate for hairdressing.

Today Tom Smith can found at Billi Currie in central London – where he has been for the past 13 years. In that time we’ve seen him grow his visibility and influence in the hair and beauty industry by embracing communication platforms. Tom is a man of the future and is continuously looking for new trends, new practices and new methods to engage with his peers, clients and consumers. Tribu-te editor, Ellie Scott sits down with Tom to find out what makes him tick:

How much has your career journey from being a trainee informed what you do and where you are today?

I had a really strict beginning at Sassoon. When I was doing my apprenticeship there, it was very regimented, and I respected that. I’m sure they’ve evolved now, but back then, 17 years ago it was very strict. You had to choose between being a colourist or a stylist!

There’s two things they taught me that have stuck with me throughout my whole career. The first is ‘you must respect the quality and the texture of the hair as the first priority’. I think you learn very quickly that if you don’t, it just becomes a struggle. Whatever hairstyle you create, or whatever colour you do to the hair, if the hair is not healthy, it’s not going to keep it. If the shape has not had the natural texture in mind, your clients will have to fight to keep it. The second message that has stuck with me is this, ’to work with precision.’ I’m really grateful to have had that foundation, but I’m incredibly grateful to have moved on when I did.

I was there for a little under four years before moving to Billi Currie, where I still am today – 13 years later! This allowed me to broaden my skills and vision, and be more open to other aesthetics.

Is it fair to say you focus on colour – are you content being described as a colourist or do you want to be called a hairdresser?

I love this question so much. When I started at Sassoon, I was a colourist. I did my colour specialist degree, I went on to do advanced training in colour. However one of the real driving forces behind why I moved on was because I wasn’t happy only doing the one discipline.

I’m really proud of my colour work, but in the salon, I was a little sad only doing colour and then passing the client on to someone else. For me personally, it didn’t feel right. I wanted to reflect all services I’m able to offer. So, the answer is yes, I am a colourist, but I am not only a colourist. I take a full concept approach with my clients, which goes beyond just colours and cuts. It’s colouring, cutting, extensions, texture services like perming, keratin blowdries, and now hair growth.

I’m happiest when I’m doing an end-to-end service. I work with an amazing team of assistants and apprentices at Billi Currie who are only allowed to shampoo for me, because I ensure I’m able do every single step of colour in between. The feedback that I get from clients is really positive.

So please call me a hairdresser, not a colourist.

What does your role as an ambassador involve?

My role with the Evo brand is as creative colour director, and that’s global. I’m responsible for putting together all of the education, the imagery and the colour techniques behind. I work with our creative director, Nicole Kay, who looks after styling to produce things that are fresh and exciting. I also work on new product development, and I help the marketing team with work I do in the press globally.

With Olaplex, my role is more consume- facing. I quite enjoy having a different type of role. I do a lot of work speaking directly to consumers through social content, consumer events with our distributor partners, like Sephora and Space NK.

When I work with the Current Body, the red light helmet, it’s much more about trying to make this very complicated science easy to understand for hairdressers and consumers. Hopefully this will be available in more salons throughout the next year. Right now, we’re direct to consumer, but we’re keen to evolve that.

I also work with Calecim who use stem cells for hair regrowth. This is a very new, game-changing innovation, and something that I’m most proud of is being aligned with in its early days. My role with them is going to be helping to grow their presence within our industry, as many people do not feel comfortable going to a doctor or trichologist about their hair loss. 

 

What’s been the biggest challenge in getting where you are today?

You know what? This leads on really nicely from what we’ve just discussed. I don’t like the idea of doing things a certain way, because that’s the way they’ve always been done. My biggest challenge faces me when I’m trying to advance, get new opportunities, or get in front of new audiences, and being able to think openly about where I fit. There are many “cookie cutter” careers in hairdressing that everyone talks about, and the assumption that every hairdresser’s dream is to eventually to own a salon…

I’ll never say never, but it’s not in my plan right now. I think the biggest challenge for me is forging my own path, because I don’t clearly fit into the footprints of those that have gone before me.

Are you a planner or do you let things evolve organically?

Can you tell? I definitely, definitely don’t let things evolve. I am an intense planner.

I am a real believer in setting intentions. I’ve had to work really hard to focus my energy in helpful directions. So there have been times in my career, I’ve felt frustrated about not getting the opportunities that I wanted, or not moving quickly enough, or not finding myself in the spaces that I wanted to be in. I realised, through some therapy, but also through self-reflection and experience, that you can split your life into a column of things that you can control and a column of things that you don’t have control over.

So, yes I am a planner, but now I do a better job of planning within the column of ‘things I can control’, such as curating my profile through social media, taking amazing opportunities to work at events like Colour World, going to awards parties and meeting with people. I’ve found that by focusing my energy and planning in that direction, the stuff that I can’t control comes towards me organically when it’s right for me. I’m just trusting that that will continue…

Do you have a 5-or 10-year plan… Where are you heading?

I don’t know if it’s as strict as a number of years, because I think so much that I want to achieve is difficult to put into a specific timeline, but I most definitely have plans.

The thing at the forefront of my mind is continuing to align with innovation. I pride myself in taking a more cerebral approach to hairdressing. I think we are underestimated by other industries, and I’ve made it my mission to share the detail, emotion, psychology, science and innovation behind the amazing things we offer as hairdressers. My immediate goals are continuing to be a cerebral spokesperson for the industry to help push innovation forward and pull innovation in from other industries, like regenerative medicine and the conversation around lifespan, health span and longevity. 

The industry here in the UK is changing rapidly, the way we work, and the pressure on promoting hair in an economic crisis. What’s your take on this? Is the future looking grim? Or are you feeling quite positive?

I find myself feeling positive. I believe we all have a choice about the mindset that we go out with, and it is a difficult time. There are a lot of people that are struggling, and our industry, like every other, is going to feel the effects of that.

As we touched on earlier, it’s about understanding what you have control over. There’s so much around the budget and financial climate, it’s beyond any of us individually. And, while it can be a worrisome and stressful time, I don’t believe there’s any value in spending a lot of time in that space. Shift your focus, constantly remind yourself to bring your focus back to a growth mindset and make decisions out of love rather than fear.

It’s quite easy to feel a little grim about the struggles that we face, whether you’re a salon owner, salon stylist, or neither.  I would encourage you to take a step back from what you’re doing and try to look down on your circumstance and see where the opportunities are. I think there are very few situations where there is no room for growth or advancement. Maybe it’s working on your social media. Maybe it is journaling, and you need to work a little harder to get more creative ideas. Maybe it is simply creativity and just giving yourself time that isn’t revenue driven.

I think growth isn’t always a number on a page, and if the economic climate is limiting part of your growth, then I would shift your attention to where the opportunities still lie, because I guarantee you, there’ll be some somewhere.

Thank you Tom! 

Ellie really enjoyed an insight into Tom’s creative and professional processes. If you’re interested to discover more about Tom’s trend-forecasting and clever colouring, click HERE.
Then follow Tom on @tomsmithhd

Find out more about Billi Currie HERE

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