An iconic two day celebration on the hairdressing calendar, the annual Hairhouse Conference and Awards event 30 years on continues to unite the industry, with 2023 celebrating a new brand slogan and a record year in sales. ‘Powered by Professionals’ is testament to their constant trajectory both individually and company-wide, writes Cameron Pine.

As with each passing year, the tradition of arriving at the Gold Coast’s RACV Royal Pines Resort for many brands and industry partners provides industry leaders and franchisees the chance to decompress and reflect on a new path for growth while prepping for a busy end of year period. The quintessential relaxed location and the opportunity to connect over two days of education, inspiration and business planning, showed just yet again while Hairhouse is a brand that continues to evolve with the times.

After a busy two days of connection and intense buying opportunities for franchises, the Annual Awards night was opened by emcee Clint Paddison. Clint has been a regular on the Hairhouse Awards front for almost a decade and is now too part of the Hairhouse family. The night is one of the few that truly celebrates its long term partners and the unsung heroes that make the brand what it is.

Hairhouse Chairman Ahmed Fahour spoke to the future and general trends in the market – despite rising inflation and interest rates, a significant amount of spending opportunity is still there for the taking.

“At the same time while people are still struggling with mortgages, people are wealthier and there is a tonne of money being spent on luxuries such as cars and watches. Property prices are actually rising despite these pressures – purely down to the fact there is more money than supply,” Ahmed said.

Technology and ChatGPT are continuing to creep into how we communicate with customers and potential customers. Hairhouse will continue to invest in ways to use technology to bolster their strong serving of long-term and loyal franchisees.

“It may not surprise you to know that nearly $100 billion in the last 12 months was invested in artificial intelligence. And it’s going to change everything that we understand how things are done, especially with how we keep in touch with our customers,” Ahmed said.

“We are going to invest in all three of these areas to create a great customer experience. So that when we do these conferences into the future, they’ll only be bigger and better and more exciting. I want to finish off by saying to you all that while Hairhouse is powered by professionals, don’t assume that those professionals are just human professionals, there will also be non-human professionals and there will be more to see in the coming months and years in this regard. I do want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all of the people that made such a huge effort to make 2023 a success,” Ahmed continued.

Ahmed then introduced Emad Nayef, an inspirational leader and Director of Hairhouse group alongside Tony Lattouf and Michael O’Connell. Emad spoke with his typical cheeky insight into what it’s like to lead a business into the future through entrusting the right people and delegation.

“Hairhouse has had a record year of sales and this wouldn’t be possible without all of the departments and franchisees being fully engaged with the brand. When Michael speaks about a record year in sales, that just doesn’t happen magically. So, I’m here today just to say thank you, thank you to all our suppliers, for having a strong relationship and partnership with us for supporting and backing our strategies, and helping us thrive and succeed. Without you, we can’t do any of this and, for me personally, I know I can be relentless, and stubborn, and annoying, but it comes from a really strong place of passion and obsession and the need to always win and thrive and be really successful,” Emad said.

“There are a few of our suppliers that have become more than suppliers and really good friends, and have supported me in some of my unorthodox behaviour and thinking in how we can make Hairhouse better,” he added.

The love in the room was palpable as the homage to suppliers and the Hairhouse team that continues to strive to be better than the previous year. With a focus on services and the income streams of an increasing hair menu plus piercing, the brand continues to build strong professionals and many have stayed with the brand for decades or more. What Emad refers to as ‘fulfilling all our promises that we made last year’ is proven by the results that the group has achieved over the last three years.

“Michael O’Connell, you’re an outstanding leader and human and our team is a reflection of your leadership to the franchisees. To my favourite people – the team, the staff, the hairdressers, the pierces, the juniors – you do the hardest work of all of us, you collect the stock, you put it away, you deal with customers, some are good, some are grumpy. You make the sales, you put money in our tills, that money that you put in our tills, those sales, they pay all of us, the suppliers, your bosses and us at the office so I want to make it very, very clear that without you we actually can’t exist. You probably could exist without us, but we can’t,” Emad said.

This humble disposition and inclusivity within a close family unit is and will continue to be the focus of a continually growing and evolving group of salons and stores that make up a significant piece of our industry. To thank every piece of the puzzle and to continue to grow each department together while investing in education and its artists, Hairhouse has continued to buck the trend and grow year on year.

Before heading straight into the awards to try and keep the night contained and the focus on connection, Emad welcomed National Operations Manager Nathalie Becker to the stage to prelude a celebration of the brand’s top performers.

“To recognise our top performers, it must come down to the benchmarks and criteria that best support our business strategy and the highest ranking of their KPIs, but it’s also all about the team members and businesses that achieved strong results and have amazing work ethic across retail, salon and piercing,” Nathalie said.

On top of all the winners across salon, retail, services and more there were also multiple franchisees recognised for Outstanding Sales Performance across store and individual, Retail Excellence, Salon Excellence and Body Piercing Excellence.

Congratulations to all the winners.

BUSINESS RECOGNITION AWARDS
RETAIL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Rockhampton
Finalist: Browns Plains
Finalist: Chatswood
Finalist: North Lakes
Finalist: Cairns Central
Finalist: Helensvale
Finalist: Wendouree
Winner: Ipswich
Winner: Blacktown

SALON BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Mt Druitt
Finalist: Northlakes
Winner: Blacktown

BODY PIERCING BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
Finalist : Burwood
Winner: Chatswood
Winner : Chadstone

INDIVIDUAL CREATIVE AWARDS
APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Bridget Hindle – Eastland
Finalist: Becky Lloyd – Williamstown
Finalist: Jordan Wong – Cranbourne Park
Finalist: Tahlee Van Schalm – Eastland
Finalist: Nathanial Lepau – Browns Plains
Finalist: Pheobe Bowatte -Southland
Finalist: Paige Cotterill – Browns Plains
Winner: Lynka Kohn – Ipswich

HAIRDRESSER OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Maleena Diaz -Cairns Central
Finalist: Kym Gutzke – Browns Plains
Finalist: Ellie Crothers – Ipswich
Finalist: Lynka Kohn – Ipswich
Finalist: Gina Sotto – Victoria Gardens
Finalist: Jonathan Nansen – Mt Druitt
Finalist: Natalie Johns – Rouse Hill
Finalist: Linda Elkheir – Blacktown
Finalist: Megan Wowk – Blacktown
Finalist: Monica Wood – Northlakes
Winner: Savannah Bignell – Rockhampton

CREATIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Kym Gutzke – Browns Plains
Finalist: Gina Sotto – Victoria Gardens
Finalist: Kaysie Farrugia – Albury
Finalist: Usha Rana – Highpoint
Finalist: Carlie Harwood – Midland Gate
Finalist: Vicki Nicholls – Westlakes
Finalist: Ritika Luthra – Northand
Finalist: Sara Halteh – Mt Druitt
Finalist: Jonathan Nansen – Mt Druitt
Finalist: Linda Elkheir – Blacktown
Finalist: Megan Wowk – Blacktown
Finalist: Aami Howe – Elizabeth
Winner: Mat Ralston – Albury

INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS CATEGORY AWARDS
STORE MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Finalist: Aleasha Puiki – Browns Plains
Finalist: Brittney Booth – Cairns Central
Finalist: Daniel Smith – Chatswood
Finalist: Christina Hana – Epping
Finalist: Savannah Bignell – Rockhampton
Winner: Batin Germian – Blacktown

FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR – SINGLE
Finalist: Tony and Sophie Margaritis – Cranbourne Park
Finalist: Richard Maddison – Albury
Finalist: Steve Ely and Connie Bellino – Fountain Gate
Finalist: Jessica Ruedin and Mark O’Connell – Wendouree
Finalist: Nisha and Tarun Kumar – Elizabeth
Winner: Adam Jones – Northlakes

FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR – MULTI
Finalist: Dee and Lucas Bryant – Rockhampton, Cairns Central
Winner: Nikki Robson – Helensvale, Ipswich

TENURE AWARDS
10 Years – Raj Rao & Sarit Rao
10 Years – Lynne & Arshad Ali
15 Years – Gerhard Herzig and Duane Merchant
15 Years – Wayne and Cathy Coppen
20 Years – Mandy Myer
20 Years – Edin & Lana Bektas
20 Years – Nic Nayef

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