Joanne McDaniel

Salon
Salon 2, Adelaide Street, Sligo.

Profile
JOANNE has been in the hairdressing trade since 1986, when she took part in a one year course in Sligo. Originally from Rathmullen in County Donegal, Joanne was studying Legal Studies when she took a summer job in a salon. Her mum was a hairdresser and from a young age she was always messing about with hair.
Joanne realised hairdressing was the job for her, left her course, and hasn’t looked back since. She started off on the right foot by winning Hairdresser of the Year at the end of the training course.
She worked in Ziggy’s for 13 years before moved onto Salon 2, where she has been for over seven years. “I’d like to thank everybody who nominated me. I really appreciate it,” she said.
She typically deals with between 15 and 25 customers in a day. “At the salon, we have a great mixture of people from the young to old. I do a lot of colouring and upstyles, and I like highlights and changing styles. My main thing is, if the customer is happy, then I am happy.”
Joanne takes part in regular courses and competitions and finds that these always benefit her work in the salon.

John Cawley

Salon
Joca Hair Design, Collooney, Co. Sligo.

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JOHN tried to give up hairdressing twice but always ended up coming back to it.
His grandmother was a hairdresser and it seems the skill is in his blood. “I was thinking of doing interior design. But I always ended up coming back to hairdressing,” he said.
He trained with Tony & Guy in London and worked there for two and a half years. He qualified 10 years ago. “Putting up hair and doing colour are my favourite aspects,” he said.
He opened JOCA hair design in October 2006. “I always wanted to go out on my own,” said John, who hopes to open up another new salon outside town in the future.
JOCA stands for John Cawley – it represents the first two letters of his first and second name. His nine-year-old cousin came up with it.
John runs in-house training classes on Tuesday evenings. His staff also do courses with Alfaparf in Dublin.

Melinda Kelly

Salon
hair@home, mobile salon.

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MELINDA runs her own unique hairdressing business called hair@home.
Melinda, 24, from Sligo town set up the business two years ago after her dad suggested it would be a good idea.
She originally trained with Peter Mark in Sligo town. She has also worked in several other salons around town.
When you make an appointment with Melinda she calls out to your house to do your hair. She has a very varied client base. It ranges from young mums to elderly people who can’t leave home. Melinda also styles hair at Cregg House and other community care facilities. “You get very close to your clients because you are calling out to their home,” she said.
She said it is important to do courses to keep you on your toes. “You have to do courses to keep up with new trends. It perks you up and motivates you to work hard. You feel more positive afterwards.”
Styling hair in people’s homes means you have to improvise with the furnishings.
“Some clients wash their hair just before the appointment. Others wash the colour out themselves. You have to move lighting and chairs around. I mostly work in the kitchen, she said.
Melinda gets calls at all hours of the day and night from people who want to make appointments. She said she tries hard to accommodate everyone. "I would never see someone stuck,” she said.
One day she would like to open her own salon.

Monica Brady

Salon
Monica's Salon, Wine Street, Sligo.

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MONICA has run her own salon in Sligo for 25 years. She is from Fermanagh and trained in Belfast. She lives in Rosses Point with her husband, who is from Cavan.
Meeting new people is what keeps her motivated about hairdressing. “I just love the people. My clients and I are one big family. And I just love doing hair. All these years I have loved getting up and going to work,” she said.
Monica has a lot of long standing clients who she would often open early for. The age group of her clients varies.
She attends Wella training course in Dublin and Belfast regularly. “It is important to keep up-to-date with the latest fashions,” she said.

Pauline Dineen

Salon
Pauline Dineen Hair Design, Charles Street, Sligo.

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PAULINE first trained as a hairdresser thirty years ago, at her sister Gabrielle’s family hair salon on John’s Street. Over the years, she worked at the salon in between raising her children.
“My sister trained me. I trained for three years to get my diploma,” said Pauline. In November 2005, Pauline opened her own salon on Quay Street. There are two staff members besides Pauline working at the salon – Nicola Gillen and Niamh Kilgannon. “We deal with all age groups,” said Pauline. “Most of my clients have been coming for 20 years. We have grandmothers, mothers and children, three or four generations of the same families.”
When asked what makes her salon stand out, Pauline said: “We’re always very polite and pleasant and we listen to our customers and please them.” What is important to Pauline is listening to her clients: “You have to hear what people want. You cannot give people a style that will cost a lot of money to keep up. The most important thing for anybody is a good cut and a good style that is low maintenance.”
As for her nomination, Pauline said: “It was a compliment – it’s nice to think that someone took the time to write to the paper about me.”

Anthony Kilcoyne

Salon
Salon 2, Adelaide Street, Sligo.

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ANTHONY first trained in 1987 with Ignatius Baglane at his salon on Adelaide Street .
In 1993, Anthony began leasing the business from Ignatius. In 1995, he purchased the building two doors down. This enabled him to set up his own salon, which he called Salon 2. What started off as a small business, with two staff members, has grown in recent years to a staff of 17.
Anthony’s first foray into the world of hairdressing competitions was in 2004. Up until then, he had shied away from entering competitions. He has gone on take part in the National Hairdressing Championships in recent years.
Twenty years after starting of in the business, Anthony said he was delighted to hear that he and his salon – as well as a number of salon staff – had been nominated in the Golden Scissors competition. “It’s brilliant – it’s awfully nice that people take the time to nominate us,” he said. “You don’t often get the feedback on a one-to-one basis.”

See the full list of nominees here