Tuesday, June 29, 2010
All The Bad Boys Are Standing In The Shadows
Just dropping in upside-down I suppose. I cut all of my hair off. Like actually cut it all off. I lost about 3 inches in length today. There's only a little bit left on the one side in front of my ear. The rest is about an inch to two inches long. I'm pretty in love with it although I have decided that I will retire my leather jacket until I'm sporting a more feminine haircut. I don't want to look like a big raging bulldyke, it's bad enough I already look like a lesbian. Nothing against lesbians, I just don't want to put out the wrong message... well, I don't want to put off MORE of that message than I already am. Right? Yeah.
The weekend was nice. I had today off so last night I met up with Ryan after work. I hadn't seen Lisa in forever either so she came by and we hit up the sea wall for a bit then headed up to Granville to check out some of Ryan's friends at an Open Mic they were doing. I have wanted to do an open mic for awhile but decided I wasn't anywhere near ready. I wasn't going to do it last night at all and wasn't planning on doing it for at least anothe rmonth... Apparently it didn't matter though because Lisa pretty much coerced me into getting up there... I was also given a free beer and any beer I bought after going up would be $2.50 a pint. You can't really say no to that right?
So yeah, I got up there and did John Mayer's version of Free Fallin' which was so incredibly nerve wracking. I'm kind of glad I did it though. I also played my favourite Alice In Chains song since I know it like the back of my hand. I figured since going up there was incredibly unexpected and I was really nervous it would be best to stick to things I knew best. Then to end the night AJ and I did some Sublime which was hilariously entertaining but great.
They've got Open Mic night there every Monday so I figured I'll do it again maybe next week and actually learn something for it. The one girl that went up a few times was unbelievable so it was a little tough singing after her cause well... she was amazing. Oddly, I think she was actually hitting on me? She finished her first set and came over to me and said, "I really like your whole look, you have a really rad style, and you're beautiful." ... like actually completely out of nowhere. I had curled and pomped my hair and was dressed in all black with pink lipstick. Clearly I looked like a raging lesbian. Maybe I should have sat a little closer to Ryan and a little further away from Lisa... Next time..
I've entered the competition at work for the trip to Paris. That should be interesting and scary but a lot of fun too so I hope it all goes well. We have until September to get our commercials in.
I've been spending far too much time at Ryan's house this week and not enough time at home which means my bedroom is a disaster from running in, getting changed, and leaving... my laundry really needs to be done, and I need to make a bunch of salads etc before my veggies go bad. I also have what feels like a million emails that need responding to. Whatever I guess. I think that's what always seems to happen when you first start dating someone. It's just a matter of adding something new and time consuming into your life and trying to find a way to make it balanced again. I'm slowly getting there.
At least everything with work is starting to get a little bit more routine so I'm not super unorganized anymore. That being said, my brother gets here on Thursday which I'm stoked for! I have no idea what we'll get up to yet but he's having laser eye surgery done the next day so I won't see him much afterwards but we'll probably just eat a lot of food and watch his girlfriend shop. That's my guess... Riveting.
I think it's time to eat a quick snack and get some rest though. I'm super tired today, not sure why.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Blogging On The Back Burner
Slowly but surely the blog updates are becoming fewer and fewer. They may one day peter out completely but it's hard to say as of yet. I have literally slept at my own home once maybe twice this week.
I have had a really great and busy week at the salon. I'm doing at least 4 clients every day and so far everything has been going really well. I had my old roommate come in today with her mom for haircuts and colours. Her mom was booked with one of the other girls which is too bad because I would have loved to have done her hair for her, but I was booked solid today so we couldn't squeeze her in with me! That was really exciting, it's nice to have a fully booked day. I did Krystals hair and it looked amazing! I got to do a cut I've been dying to try on someone for awhile now. It turned out beautifully and was so layered and voluminous yet still had length without looking mullety. I also did some really bright pink panels to accentuate some of the layers and I was so pleased with the results.
My work weeks are usually around 50-60 hours. On Wednesday I was at work for 12 hours, Friday for 9, yesterday 11, today 10, tomorrow at least 9 assuming my day doesn't run late. It's been really hectic but incredibly worth it and so rewarding. I'm so pleased with my progress and how fast things are moving along. I've been doing a TON of mens cuts which was challenging at first since I didn't do too many of them in school but I have become very comfortable with them and have been doing some really fun cuts that have turned out really great.
On top of the actual work schedule there is also some work activities that will be coming up soon. A lingerie cut-athon will be taking place this summer with AXIS as a fundraiser. This year AXIS will be donating everything to Childrens Brain Cancer Research so when I know more details I'll be sure to let everyone know. I really hope you will all come out and show your support! It is exactly like it sounds - the stylists will be dressing up in lingerie and cutting hair for the day! All of the proceeds are donated and there is a silent auction with some artwork from the owner of the salon as well as live music. I have no idea what I will wear for this yet but it's going to have to be something that sucks in my muffin top hah!
There is also a contest between the stylists right now. We are going to make 60-90 second commercials (if we want to enter that is) on one of our products. We each draw a product we are going to advertise from a hat and the commercials are judged by some long time clients of the salon. The winner gets to go to a major hair show in Paris with one of our managers so that's really exciting!
So as you can tell, work consumes most of my life right now so yes the blogging has been put on the backburner.
I need sleep since I'm working a little earlier than usual tomorrow and I had one heck of a busy day but if any of you readers are using facebook add "AXIS Hair" to your friends list! They will constantly be updating with pictures of things we're doing in the salon and status updates to tell you about new products, fundraisers etc, so check it out! If ever we do any cool work in the salon we'll be posting pictures of that as well. We already have some pictures from Wednesday nights class up so go check it out, please! :)
I have had a really great and busy week at the salon. I'm doing at least 4 clients every day and so far everything has been going really well. I had my old roommate come in today with her mom for haircuts and colours. Her mom was booked with one of the other girls which is too bad because I would have loved to have done her hair for her, but I was booked solid today so we couldn't squeeze her in with me! That was really exciting, it's nice to have a fully booked day. I did Krystals hair and it looked amazing! I got to do a cut I've been dying to try on someone for awhile now. It turned out beautifully and was so layered and voluminous yet still had length without looking mullety. I also did some really bright pink panels to accentuate some of the layers and I was so pleased with the results.
My work weeks are usually around 50-60 hours. On Wednesday I was at work for 12 hours, Friday for 9, yesterday 11, today 10, tomorrow at least 9 assuming my day doesn't run late. It's been really hectic but incredibly worth it and so rewarding. I'm so pleased with my progress and how fast things are moving along. I've been doing a TON of mens cuts which was challenging at first since I didn't do too many of them in school but I have become very comfortable with them and have been doing some really fun cuts that have turned out really great.
On top of the actual work schedule there is also some work activities that will be coming up soon. A lingerie cut-athon will be taking place this summer with AXIS as a fundraiser. This year AXIS will be donating everything to Childrens Brain Cancer Research so when I know more details I'll be sure to let everyone know. I really hope you will all come out and show your support! It is exactly like it sounds - the stylists will be dressing up in lingerie and cutting hair for the day! All of the proceeds are donated and there is a silent auction with some artwork from the owner of the salon as well as live music. I have no idea what I will wear for this yet but it's going to have to be something that sucks in my muffin top hah!
There is also a contest between the stylists right now. We are going to make 60-90 second commercials (if we want to enter that is) on one of our products. We each draw a product we are going to advertise from a hat and the commercials are judged by some long time clients of the salon. The winner gets to go to a major hair show in Paris with one of our managers so that's really exciting!
So as you can tell, work consumes most of my life right now so yes the blogging has been put on the backburner.
I need sleep since I'm working a little earlier than usual tomorrow and I had one heck of a busy day but if any of you readers are using facebook add "AXIS Hair" to your friends list! They will constantly be updating with pictures of things we're doing in the salon and status updates to tell you about new products, fundraisers etc, so check it out! If ever we do any cool work in the salon we'll be posting pictures of that as well. We already have some pictures from Wednesday nights class up so go check it out, please! :)
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
"Fuck You Ref!" and Other UFC Profanities
Well the weekend has come and gone, and I've barely noticed it was here. I no longer get two days off in a row. I have Tuesdays and Thursdays off. It's kind of strange really. From a business standpoint it makes sense so that I am more available to my clients, but from a social life standpoint I can see it being inconvenient. It's a good thing I love what I do and that I get to meet some really great people on a daily basis because it doesn't feel like work at all.
I'm trying to juggle a million things all at once. I'm collecting what seems to be too many hobbies. My latest interest is BMXing. Actually, it's not a "latest interest" at all as I've always wanted to do it since I was about 10 years old, but until now I've never put forth the effort in getting started.
I'm currently on a bike hunt. I'm trying to find a decent beginners bike on craigslist so that I'm not spending a retarded amount of money on a bike. Turns out there's some sweet deals out there so I will patiently await for the right one. I also very rarely drive my car anymore now that I work downtown. I drove downtown yesterday and ended up finding out that it would be 18.50 to park in the parkade until 6pm (I wasn't off until 7,) to which I decided "fuck it" and parked at a friends house and risked getting towed instead of spending so much on parking. That will be the last time I ever bother driving down there for work.
So that being said, it seems like my car is less necessity and more convenience and luxury, and a major expense in the insurance & gas department. I want to start biking and then get rid of my car all together. It also ties into the whole "moving towards Vancouver" thing as well. My friend Jessica and I are thinking about getting a place together for September most likely so again, the use of my car is becoming less and less. I've spent every day downtown for the last 2 weeks and I can see myself getting tired of this daily transit.
Anyways... This past weekend my dad and younger brother came to town because UFC 115 was here and we got tickets! We had really great seats actually. High enough up so that we could see over the cage as opposed to looking through it the whole time, but not so high that we couldn't see anything. We also only had one row of people in front of us so no one was blocking our view at all. It was a bit of a bummer because I had to work all weekend, where as at my other job I was scheduled to have Sunday off so I never got to spend much time with them but we did have a blast at the fights!
This is the first picture of my dad and I together since I graduated highschool. It's about time!! I have no family pictures with my dads family and then crap-tons of pictures with my mom. Watching UFC or boxing was something my dad and I always did when I was a kid. It was kind our "bonding time," as was hunting. I always love doing stuff like this with my dad. I love this picture.
It totally was a sea of fauxhawks, affliction, and skanks. I would say that about 95% of the female population that was there were just there because their douchey boyfriends invited them along. You know, the girlfriends that pretend they like it even when they are sitting there falling asleep (yes, that means you girl who was sitting in the row behind me passed out for most of the events! Waita waste 300 bucks of your boyfriends money!)
This is just before Rory MacDonald (white shorts) and Shithead Condit (red shorts) fought. Rory slaughtered Condit in the first two rounds but took a beating in the third. Then the ref made a really stupid call and stopped the fight with 8 seconds left! EIGHT FRIGGEN SECONDS. Rory took one punch to the head and the ref stopped the fight when he wasn't even remotely close to being knocked out. I could not believe it, the amount of uproar this fight caused was crazy. There was more cheering going on in this fight for Rory than there was for any of the other fighters that night. He's a 20 year old fighter from Quesnel (yes that's right, Quesnel, up by where I'm from yaaaay!) and he's the youngest fighter ever in UFC history. He's one tough son of a bitch. I was stoked on this fight cause I saw Rory fight in Prince George at King of the Cage when he was 16 years old and he destroyed the guy. He put up a really good fight and I wanted to see him win so bad, not just because he's a good fighter but because I really fucking hate Condit. He's such a twat-bagger. Unfortunately he lost. This was major disappointment # 1 of the night for me.
This fight was major disappointment # 2 for me. I have developed a good crush on Pat Barry. One, his legs are so thick it's retarded, and we all know how I'm a sucker for a guy in tight shorts with tree-trunk legs. No? We didn't all know that? Well, I love guys with big legs. I think it's the hottest thing ever.
Anyways, to go with that ridiculously oversized and incredibly sexy fighters body he has an incredible personality to go with it. He isn't such a cocky arrogant prick fighter like most UFC fighters today are. He is very genuine and they had a story on him on Spike for the prelims and I actually almost cried. He worked his ass off to be in the UFC and literally had nothing. He was eating rice and ketchup, was behind on all of his bills, but still pushed on to be a fighter. He's an incredible kick-boxer and has trained with some of the best kick-boxing trainers in the world. He was finally offered a spot in the UFC and after being dirt poor for months he won fight of the night, and knock out of the night and was paid 134,000 dollars for the fight. What did he do with that money? Well, he paid off his debts, used some as a downpayment on a house, and the rest he invested and put into savings for his future. He won 3 fights with a total of 6 leg kicks. He actually made a guy tap out by kicking him in the leg and turned the guys knee inside out. He's incredibly tough.
SO, I was totally stoked to see him fight against Mirko Cro Cop and I thought it would be a wicked fight. Turns out, it wasn't. I was quite disappointed. He knocked Cro Cop down twice in the first round but just let him get back up. Who does that? And then... they actually hugged DURING one of the rounds. Not in between rounds or before the round started, DURING the actual fight, they HUGGED. What the fuck?! He had an immense amount of respect for Cro Cop since the guy is pretty much a legend and I thought for sure that's why he lost the fight... that is, until I saw the interviews after the fight. Turns out he had a broken right hand AND a broken right foot that was broken during the first round. Imagine fighting for an extra 10 minutes after breaking both your right hand and foot? Ouchy. So I'll forgive Barry this time, but next time he better do me proud!
I'm trying to juggle a million things all at once. I'm collecting what seems to be too many hobbies. My latest interest is BMXing. Actually, it's not a "latest interest" at all as I've always wanted to do it since I was about 10 years old, but until now I've never put forth the effort in getting started.
I'm currently on a bike hunt. I'm trying to find a decent beginners bike on craigslist so that I'm not spending a retarded amount of money on a bike. Turns out there's some sweet deals out there so I will patiently await for the right one. I also very rarely drive my car anymore now that I work downtown. I drove downtown yesterday and ended up finding out that it would be 18.50 to park in the parkade until 6pm (I wasn't off until 7,) to which I decided "fuck it" and parked at a friends house and risked getting towed instead of spending so much on parking. That will be the last time I ever bother driving down there for work.
So that being said, it seems like my car is less necessity and more convenience and luxury, and a major expense in the insurance & gas department. I want to start biking and then get rid of my car all together. It also ties into the whole "moving towards Vancouver" thing as well. My friend Jessica and I are thinking about getting a place together for September most likely so again, the use of my car is becoming less and less. I've spent every day downtown for the last 2 weeks and I can see myself getting tired of this daily transit.
Anyways... This past weekend my dad and younger brother came to town because UFC 115 was here and we got tickets! We had really great seats actually. High enough up so that we could see over the cage as opposed to looking through it the whole time, but not so high that we couldn't see anything. We also only had one row of people in front of us so no one was blocking our view at all. It was a bit of a bummer because I had to work all weekend, where as at my other job I was scheduled to have Sunday off so I never got to spend much time with them but we did have a blast at the fights!
This is the first picture of my dad and I together since I graduated highschool. It's about time!! I have no family pictures with my dads family and then crap-tons of pictures with my mom. Watching UFC or boxing was something my dad and I always did when I was a kid. It was kind our "bonding time," as was hunting. I always love doing stuff like this with my dad. I love this picture.
Josh and my dad.
I may or may not have been sporting a UFC shirt that night... but in my defense it was bought at the actual event and I have liked UFC and have been watching it since I was 6 years old... back when Royce Gracie was bad ass. I'm still slightly ashamed to have this shirt, but at the same time I do actually like it. I can't believe I'm admitting this right now. I really wish that the douche population hadn't taken over and made this shit unbearable.
It totally was a sea of fauxhawks, affliction, and skanks. I would say that about 95% of the female population that was there were just there because their douchey boyfriends invited them along. You know, the girlfriends that pretend they like it even when they are sitting there falling asleep (yes, that means you girl who was sitting in the row behind me passed out for most of the events! Waita waste 300 bucks of your boyfriends money!)
Bad ass Bruce Buffer was announcing as per usual.
My dad was very clearly stoked on life. It's a pretty cool thing when you've watched something for SO many years and then FINALLY being able to see it live for the first time in Vancouver.
Joe Rogan doing the commentary on the other side of the ring. Its really weird watching the fights and not actually being able to hear the commentary. It seems oddly quiet in real life. He totally kept hyping it up to be more exciting than it was. Some fights were straight up terrible and boring and then Joe Rogan would come out and act all excited, but you know damn well he was thinking the same thing everyone else was.
This is just before Rory MacDonald (white shorts) and Shithead Condit (red shorts) fought. Rory slaughtered Condit in the first two rounds but took a beating in the third. Then the ref made a really stupid call and stopped the fight with 8 seconds left! EIGHT FRIGGEN SECONDS. Rory took one punch to the head and the ref stopped the fight when he wasn't even remotely close to being knocked out. I could not believe it, the amount of uproar this fight caused was crazy. There was more cheering going on in this fight for Rory than there was for any of the other fighters that night. He's a 20 year old fighter from Quesnel (yes that's right, Quesnel, up by where I'm from yaaaay!) and he's the youngest fighter ever in UFC history. He's one tough son of a bitch. I was stoked on this fight cause I saw Rory fight in Prince George at King of the Cage when he was 16 years old and he destroyed the guy. He put up a really good fight and I wanted to see him win so bad, not just because he's a good fighter but because I really fucking hate Condit. He's such a twat-bagger. Unfortunately he lost. This was major disappointment # 1 of the night for me.
This fight was major disappointment # 2 for me. I have developed a good crush on Pat Barry. One, his legs are so thick it's retarded, and we all know how I'm a sucker for a guy in tight shorts with tree-trunk legs. No? We didn't all know that? Well, I love guys with big legs. I think it's the hottest thing ever.
Anyways, to go with that ridiculously oversized and incredibly sexy fighters body he has an incredible personality to go with it. He isn't such a cocky arrogant prick fighter like most UFC fighters today are. He is very genuine and they had a story on him on Spike for the prelims and I actually almost cried. He worked his ass off to be in the UFC and literally had nothing. He was eating rice and ketchup, was behind on all of his bills, but still pushed on to be a fighter. He's an incredible kick-boxer and has trained with some of the best kick-boxing trainers in the world. He was finally offered a spot in the UFC and after being dirt poor for months he won fight of the night, and knock out of the night and was paid 134,000 dollars for the fight. What did he do with that money? Well, he paid off his debts, used some as a downpayment on a house, and the rest he invested and put into savings for his future. He won 3 fights with a total of 6 leg kicks. He actually made a guy tap out by kicking him in the leg and turned the guys knee inside out. He's incredibly tough.
SO, I was totally stoked to see him fight against Mirko Cro Cop and I thought it would be a wicked fight. Turns out, it wasn't. I was quite disappointed. He knocked Cro Cop down twice in the first round but just let him get back up. Who does that? And then... they actually hugged DURING one of the rounds. Not in between rounds or before the round started, DURING the actual fight, they HUGGED. What the fuck?! He had an immense amount of respect for Cro Cop since the guy is pretty much a legend and I thought for sure that's why he lost the fight... that is, until I saw the interviews after the fight. Turns out he had a broken right hand AND a broken right foot that was broken during the first round. Imagine fighting for an extra 10 minutes after breaking both your right hand and foot? Ouchy. So I'll forgive Barry this time, but next time he better do me proud!
For the record... Barry is in the blue shorts. Look at those sexy legs.
The main event was Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin. I have honestly always hated Liddell but he's slowly started to grow on me. Something about his face makes me angry though. This was the only knock-out fight of the night and was actually decent. Liddell is off his game though and needs to retire. He has no chin anymore and gets knocked out really easily. He also fights like an idiot most of the time and keeps his hands down so he always gets tagged because he can't get his hands up to block in time. Idiot. Surprisingly though he came into the fight like he'd actually spent the last 9 months training. He was fighting pretty good and even broke Franklins left arm... BUT Franklin caught him with a nice right elbow and as Liddell was on his way down Franklin tagged him with a nice left hook with his broken arm just for good measure. When they showed the replay in slow motion it was so disgusting watching all of his broken bones contort even more.
Overall the fights were awesome. The card wasn't the greatest card but it was still really exciting and a lot of fun to watch. There were a few really boring fights for sure but there were a few that made up for it. The entertainment value alone is hilarious though. The things that people yell out are always perfect for a good laugh!
The main event was Chuck Liddell vs Rich Franklin. I have honestly always hated Liddell but he's slowly started to grow on me. Something about his face makes me angry though. This was the only knock-out fight of the night and was actually decent. Liddell is off his game though and needs to retire. He has no chin anymore and gets knocked out really easily. He also fights like an idiot most of the time and keeps his hands down so he always gets tagged because he can't get his hands up to block in time. Idiot. Surprisingly though he came into the fight like he'd actually spent the last 9 months training. He was fighting pretty good and even broke Franklins left arm... BUT Franklin caught him with a nice right elbow and as Liddell was on his way down Franklin tagged him with a nice left hook with his broken arm just for good measure. When they showed the replay in slow motion it was so disgusting watching all of his broken bones contort even more.
Dana fucking White! (The bald guy in the suit behind the guys with the sign)
Family photo! The first picture I have with my little brother since we were kids I think. I finalllllly convinced him to take a picture and actually smile! I'm stoked.
Overall the fights were awesome. The card wasn't the greatest card but it was still really exciting and a lot of fun to watch. There were a few really boring fights for sure but there were a few that made up for it. The entertainment value alone is hilarious though. The things that people yell out are always perfect for a good laugh!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
A Sunny Day And Some Good News
I'm doing this new thing in my life where it's called "Do what's best for me and stop thinking so much about other peoples feelings."
That sounds quite selfish but it is obviously something that's within reason. I have this tendency to feel guilty for things that I really shouldn't feel guilty about at all. I also have a tendency to sometimes stay doing things that make me unhappy or that aren't benefiting me at all just because I feel like I will let someone else down if I stop doing those things.
I've been quite fortunate with my jobs and have always worked for companies for long periods of time (and by long I would say about 2-3 years since these jobs were by no means ever going to be my career.) I've only ever actually quit 2 of my jobs though. Some of my jobs were strictly summer jobs. I quit the restaurant I worked at because I was offered a 25+ dollar an hour job (who wouldn't quit?) and then I quit the mill because I was making the move to Vancouver. I've always had good reason to leave and never left jobs on bad terms. Even though I'm not working full time at the steel fab shop anymore I never really "quit" there because I took a lay off for medical reasons and then never really went back because work was slow. I still work there occasionally though.
Basically it's been 3 years since I've had to quit a job at all, and 5 years since I have actually left one job for another that was in the same place.
As most know I have been working at a salon on Main Street for the past month. Unfortunately things weren't really working out for me. I was frustrated, irritated, and everything that I went to school to do (and paid good money for) was going to be put on hold for a year and a half roughly. Basically the salon wanted me to have my license but you need to have a certain amount of hours in order to take your exam to be a licensed hairdresser.
This posed a huge problem for me because I only had 520 school hours and I would need 1500 school hours to take my licensing exam. If you don't have 1500 school hours then you need 3000 related work experience hours. This meant that I needed about 2500 more hours before I would be able to work on the floor as a hair stylist.
I don't mind apprenticing for 6 months but I wasn't about to spend over a year getting hours when I feel as though I'd be ready for the floor full time long before that time frame was up.
I decided that I didn't want to go through with all of that and waste anymore of anyone's time. Not only is it inconvenient for me but it is also inconvenient for the salon because they have to create a more structured education program specifically for me. Since they aren't equipped to take on apprentices (not because they're not capable but because it's a pain in the ass and they don't want to take on apprentices) it was just a lot better that I go elsewhere.
I called AXIS last week and talked with someone about whether or not they were hiring. An interview was set up that day and I was asked to bring in my resume, and at least 5 questions for them to discuss during the interview.
I brought in 2 pages of things to prep me for the interivew. Some were questions but some of that was just reasons for why I wanted to work at AXIS, why I wanted to leave my other job, and what sorts of goals I have for this career. The reason for this is because I do not want to bounce around from job to job. I want to find a place that I feel fits my personality, and also fits what I aspire to do. I asked a ton of questions, some included things like "What is the salons community involvement like? Does AXIS partake in fundraising events? If not, why not? How often are there courses for the stylists? Are there more for the Jr Stylists? If I want to take courses anywhere outside of Vancouver is there travel fund opportunities?"
I loved the way the interview went. It was the longest interview of my life (an hour and 45 minutes to be exact) but it was so thorough that by the end of the interview when I was asked "Do you want to hire me as your boss?" there was literally no hesitation in saying yes. I am 100% certain that this is the right place for me to be.
It is one of the top salons in Vancouver and has been around for 20 years now. There are so many opportunities that are readily available, all I have to do is put forth the effort into using them. If I want to do photoshoots in the salon on a day that it's closed then the entire salon is mine to use for the day. After I have been working there for 6 months I can come in and work on one of my days off per week and the money that I make those days gets put into my travel education fund. This money has to be used on a course outside of Canada which I think is so awesome because it encourages you to travel. If I want to take a razor class with Nick Arojo in New York then I can work hard to get the money in there and go. They do a major charity event every year and choose a different organization each year to donate to. If I want to become a platform artist for the colour line they use then that opportunity is there as well. If I want to be an instructor at John Casablanca's then I will go through a training program and become an educator. It's just an endless amount of opportunity which is exactly what I want and need.
So after the interview I got my schedule, got a stack of business cards (50% off your first haircut with me for new clients or a free haircut with any colour service!) and left the salon. I went to work as quickly as I could get there and within 20 minutes of arriving I put in my notice. I was nervous as fuck but thankfully everyone there was incredibly understanding and supportive which made it a lot easier to quit. My boss gave me a hug and congratulated me and agrees that this is much better for me. I also didn't burn any bridges and was told that should I ever decide I want to come back to their salon then the door is always open (once I have my hours in of course.)
I did feel bad. I was worried about how they would react but I knew it had to be done. I mostly feel bad because I know it screws up the schedule for the other assistant for awhile until I'm replaced. I told her I felt bad leaving her with all of the scheduling issues but she was honestly okay with it and I think as a fellow hair graduate she understood with great ease that you'd have to be an idiot not to take this job.
So, it's all over with. Saturday will be my last day at this location and then I will be moving on to bigger and better things. It's really exciting because I'll now be working alongside all of my instructors from school and even one of my classmates, not to mention all of the other talented stylists.
So... Come get yer hair did!
That sounds quite selfish but it is obviously something that's within reason. I have this tendency to feel guilty for things that I really shouldn't feel guilty about at all. I also have a tendency to sometimes stay doing things that make me unhappy or that aren't benefiting me at all just because I feel like I will let someone else down if I stop doing those things.
I've been quite fortunate with my jobs and have always worked for companies for long periods of time (and by long I would say about 2-3 years since these jobs were by no means ever going to be my career.) I've only ever actually quit 2 of my jobs though. Some of my jobs were strictly summer jobs. I quit the restaurant I worked at because I was offered a 25+ dollar an hour job (who wouldn't quit?) and then I quit the mill because I was making the move to Vancouver. I've always had good reason to leave and never left jobs on bad terms. Even though I'm not working full time at the steel fab shop anymore I never really "quit" there because I took a lay off for medical reasons and then never really went back because work was slow. I still work there occasionally though.
Basically it's been 3 years since I've had to quit a job at all, and 5 years since I have actually left one job for another that was in the same place.
As most know I have been working at a salon on Main Street for the past month. Unfortunately things weren't really working out for me. I was frustrated, irritated, and everything that I went to school to do (and paid good money for) was going to be put on hold for a year and a half roughly. Basically the salon wanted me to have my license but you need to have a certain amount of hours in order to take your exam to be a licensed hairdresser.
This posed a huge problem for me because I only had 520 school hours and I would need 1500 school hours to take my licensing exam. If you don't have 1500 school hours then you need 3000 related work experience hours. This meant that I needed about 2500 more hours before I would be able to work on the floor as a hair stylist.
I don't mind apprenticing for 6 months but I wasn't about to spend over a year getting hours when I feel as though I'd be ready for the floor full time long before that time frame was up.
I decided that I didn't want to go through with all of that and waste anymore of anyone's time. Not only is it inconvenient for me but it is also inconvenient for the salon because they have to create a more structured education program specifically for me. Since they aren't equipped to take on apprentices (not because they're not capable but because it's a pain in the ass and they don't want to take on apprentices) it was just a lot better that I go elsewhere.
I called AXIS last week and talked with someone about whether or not they were hiring. An interview was set up that day and I was asked to bring in my resume, and at least 5 questions for them to discuss during the interview.
I brought in 2 pages of things to prep me for the interivew. Some were questions but some of that was just reasons for why I wanted to work at AXIS, why I wanted to leave my other job, and what sorts of goals I have for this career. The reason for this is because I do not want to bounce around from job to job. I want to find a place that I feel fits my personality, and also fits what I aspire to do. I asked a ton of questions, some included things like "What is the salons community involvement like? Does AXIS partake in fundraising events? If not, why not? How often are there courses for the stylists? Are there more for the Jr Stylists? If I want to take courses anywhere outside of Vancouver is there travel fund opportunities?"
I loved the way the interview went. It was the longest interview of my life (an hour and 45 minutes to be exact) but it was so thorough that by the end of the interview when I was asked "Do you want to hire me as your boss?" there was literally no hesitation in saying yes. I am 100% certain that this is the right place for me to be.
It is one of the top salons in Vancouver and has been around for 20 years now. There are so many opportunities that are readily available, all I have to do is put forth the effort into using them. If I want to do photoshoots in the salon on a day that it's closed then the entire salon is mine to use for the day. After I have been working there for 6 months I can come in and work on one of my days off per week and the money that I make those days gets put into my travel education fund. This money has to be used on a course outside of Canada which I think is so awesome because it encourages you to travel. If I want to take a razor class with Nick Arojo in New York then I can work hard to get the money in there and go. They do a major charity event every year and choose a different organization each year to donate to. If I want to become a platform artist for the colour line they use then that opportunity is there as well. If I want to be an instructor at John Casablanca's then I will go through a training program and become an educator. It's just an endless amount of opportunity which is exactly what I want and need.
So after the interview I got my schedule, got a stack of business cards (50% off your first haircut with me for new clients or a free haircut with any colour service!) and left the salon. I went to work as quickly as I could get there and within 20 minutes of arriving I put in my notice. I was nervous as fuck but thankfully everyone there was incredibly understanding and supportive which made it a lot easier to quit. My boss gave me a hug and congratulated me and agrees that this is much better for me. I also didn't burn any bridges and was told that should I ever decide I want to come back to their salon then the door is always open (once I have my hours in of course.)
I did feel bad. I was worried about how they would react but I knew it had to be done. I mostly feel bad because I know it screws up the schedule for the other assistant for awhile until I'm replaced. I told her I felt bad leaving her with all of the scheduling issues but she was honestly okay with it and I think as a fellow hair graduate she understood with great ease that you'd have to be an idiot not to take this job.
So, it's all over with. Saturday will be my last day at this location and then I will be moving on to bigger and better things. It's really exciting because I'll now be working alongside all of my instructors from school and even one of my classmates, not to mention all of the other talented stylists.
So... Come get yer hair did!
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