Mobbed in croydon to business in brazil - andrew barton

I often think how crazy the variety in my life is - and that's never been more true than this last couple of weeks when I've gone from being mobbed in Croydon Shopping Centre to advising a salon in Brazil how to get the most out of their business. I was in Croydon with GMTV fashion stylist Mark Heyes, who is a friend of mine, for a four day fashion event. It had been advertised on bus shelters throughout south east London and people came out from everywhere to see it! As part of the event, I was presenting the fashion show and giving out hair tips and advice. I did see the odd 'Croydon face-lift' while I was there and tried to advise against it, but it was a bit of a struggle to convince wearers it was a mistake!On Monday, I celebrated my birthday with a lovely lunch with friends before being whisked away to fly out to Sĕo Paulo. The nice thing was that the airline staff spotted it was my birthday and gave me an upgrade so I ended up having a luxury cabin to myself! My job out there was to do seminars on the Indulgence Collection and share what is going on in the hair industry in London for a private client. The hair industry in the UK and Brazil are very different. Over there, salons are still the social hub of the community and people drop in for what they call brushing (blow dries to you and I). No one makes appointments and clients pop by for other treatments such as manicures and threading. In some ways that is a bit like Saks because we offer other services as well, but unlike them we are managed in a much more business-like way. In the past, my role was all about sharing creative juice, but now it is also about sharing discipline, practice and industry know-how. It is really nice to give that sort of advice and it is relatively easy work because I care very much about the industry and want to play a part in helping it to grow and prosper. I'm not going overseas to tell people to do things how we do them in Britain, because our way isn't the only way; but I do try to help them to get the best out of what they have. A small change, like instigating regular team meetings or setting up careers paths - or whatever else I see - can make a huge difference without overhauling the salon's day-to-day way of working. As always, there are more exciting things in the pipeline, but at the moment they are all a bit hush-hush! I'm hoping to announce a new TV show, which is a concept I have written, and hopefully we'll be able to add six new products to my product range in September. It's all a bit watch this space at the moment, but I'll keep you posted...