Sal Misseri
Sal Misseri is the Artistic Director of Ladies & Gentlemen Salon and Spa Chicago and currently a finalist in the NAHA 2012 categories: Contemporary Classic and Newcomer of the Year.
Why do you feel competing is important? Why NAHA?
I think it's important to enter NAHA, so that you can put your skills to the test. It's a great oppurtunity to show off your own particular style(s) and hopefully inspire others while at the same time learning new things about yourself as an individual.
Tell us about your photographer.
BABAK was absolutely amazing to work with.. he's an amazing artist and super cool. I've always been a big fan of his work and knew he was the person I wanted to shoot with most for NAHA. I learned more about photoshoots in one day working with him then I have in the rest of the time I've been doing hair.
What was NAHA photo shoot day like?
The shoot day was pretty calm...A lot more then I expected.We shot in our salon in Chicago and I had a great support team there with me to help make sure things ran smoothly. We had prepped the week leading up to it so everything was done.
We just needed to make sure it all looked good on camera, but by the end of the day when I saw the photos I told myself nominated or not.. I was proud and knew the hard work paid off.
Did you shoot for your categories intentionally or let the photos dictate what you entered?
I knew what categories I wanted to shoot for, but I had cut all the models to be shot at least 3 different ways to give completely different looks so it wasn't until we were finished shooting that I decided which photos would be entered in what category.
Nominated in 2 categories!! Did you watch the announcement live? What was your immediate reaction?
I was on conference call with our salon owner and few other people and we were all watching on our ipads but mine had a terrible connection. So I didn't see it when it was announced.. I just heard everyone else start screaming and I just kept going what happened, did we do it? Did we get nominated? Then I found out it was for both categories I entered and I was speechless.
What do you struggle with most in the beauty industry?
This is a tough one... if you mean skill wise its up styling like bridal and prom type hair is not my cup of tea. I was the guy that would be like, "hey forget that fancy up do.. let's do an awesome geometric hair cut!"
The other is with the industry as a whole: I feel like we do not hold ourselves to a high enough standar industry wide. I look at the work from the greats like Vidal, Trevor Sorbie, Christopher Brooker & Roger Thompson and how they accepted nothing less then perfection.
I don't see that nearly as much today. Now of course, there are still many people that hold them just as high like Stephen Moody, Mark Hayes, Antoinette Beenders, Vivienne MacKinder and many more, but I think we need to all have those high standards for our work and all of those that we mentor and teach.
Today I see too many companies with gimmicks and tools and products that are more worried about making money than making all of us great stylist and teachers.
Top 3 Stylists you would love to work with:
1.Angelo Seminara
2.Trevor Sorbie
3. Akin Konizi
How do you feel about stylists/students who don’t know about our industry legends?
It makes me sad and angry all at the same time I'm sad for the student and angry at their teachers and mentors whose job it is to teach them about all of those that paved the way for us today.
What has been the most amazing opportunity you have had in this industry so far?
It's tied between two: 1. Watching Antoinette Beenders work on a 3 day collection shoot for Aveda. 2. Shadowing Mark Hayes for a couple days while he worked on models for a shoot and master class.
Have you ever had an "OMG, what the hell am I doing here?!" moment? Share.
Yes! The time I was watching Mark Hayes cut hair.. it blew my mind. He made everything look so easy, yet you could tell how insanely concentrated he was and I remember sitting there thinking, "What am I doing here? I don't even belong in this room with someone like this." It was a very humbling experience.
Words to live by...
If you want to go far in this industry, it takes hard work, dedication, and a commitment to advanced education.
Who has influenced your career the most?
Vidal Sassoon and Roger Thompson.
Best advice you have been given but DIDN’T take…
Slow down and take a break. Don't work non-stop.
What is the biggest challenge stylists face when they are first starting…
Wanting everything very fast but not wanting to do what it takes to get it. I don't think people understand the amount of work that is involved in being succesful.
What do people find most surprising about you?
At one time, I hated cutting hair and only wanted to color hair and now it is completely the opposite and I'm obsessed with haircutting.
Your next BIG goal?
I want to be on the Aveda Creative Team and win Hairdresser of the Year
One of our favorite “Sal tweets” ever was:
What are some of the crazy things people do with their hair that drive you insane?
Ridiculous comb overs. I saw a person in London that had their hair combed over from below occipital bone over the top of their head in to almost a "Beiber swoosh" across the front. It was ridiculous and also women wanting giant teased hair when they look so unproportinate it makes me cringe. ( It appears Sal isn't a fan of the Booby-ffant)
I knew I was a Hair Nerd when….
When everyone else is out partying and I'm at home on hairbrained.me or watching videos on myhairdressers.com both of which I'm guilty of every night.