From teaching the next generation of stylists to helping the disadvantaged and homeless here and abroad, Helen Dunne has gone far in hairdressing. She shares her journey with Luke Voogt.
Tell us about you…
I live in Ocean Grove with my husband John and we have three children and two grandchildren.
I grew up in South Geelong near Kardinia Park and I wanted to be a hairdresser ever since I was a little girl.
I started a four-year apprenticeship in 1983 travelling to Melbourne on the train.
In 1987 I purchased my first business, Head First Hairdressing in East Geelong, which is now owned and operated by an apprentice I trained.
I moved to Melbourne to work and eventually began teaching.
I moved back to Geelong to teach at the Centre of Excellence with the amazing Carol McDonald and I eventually became program manager of hairdressing, beauty therapy, makeup and modelling at The Gordon.
I started my own hairdressing school, Helen Dunne Hair Education, in 2015.
I enjoy instructing body balance at Bellarine Aquatic and Sports Centre, meditating and spending quality time with my family.
My daughter Grace is the sole proprietor of Style & Grace Geelong and joint proprietor of another salon in Barwon Heads.
What do you love about hairdressing?
Hairdressing is an awesome career and one that is extremely undervalued by the perception of the general public.
Like anything that is artistic, it looks easier than it is. You get a lot of satisfaction from helping people and making them feel good about themselves.
I was trained by a pretty strict employer who would get me to take a mannequin head home every night and bring it back to work the next day styled.
You won’t find many apprentices doing that these days.
Hairdressing has taken me many places during my career. I have competed in local and state competitions and been on two study tours to Europe.
I have worked on a movie set, in theatres, on catwalks and styled hair for photo shoots and bands.
Hairdressing has helped me through difficult times in my life where having a skill that is always needed has come in handy and kept me employable.
I love all aspects of hairdressing, particularly creative cutting and colouring.
I still work limited hours on the salon floor as a stylist but my books are closed for new clients as my main priority is my hairdressing school.
I have always been a teacher. When I was younger I was heavily involved in sport and would often coach the younger people coming in.
When I had my own salon I trained three apprentices and I would help out with education at the salons I worked at afterwards too, so becoming a teacher wasn’t a difficult decision.
When I teach I like to share with my students the passion I have for this amazing industry.
I want them to get that hairdressing isn’t just a ‘right now ‘job, it can be a lifelong career.
The average career of a hairdresser is five years and if I can encourage students to look at it as a long-term career and love it, I’ve done a service to my industry.
The industry is more exciting now than it was when I first started – with the internet the opportunity for hairstylists to expand their reputation is endless.
For a hairdresser, or any beauty worker for that matter, finding the balance between financial success and personal satisfaction can be difficult.
I coach and mentor salon owners and hairdressers, helping them become fulfilled financially and find happiness in the field of hairdressing.
What is your involvement with Hair Aid?
Hair Aid is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that sends self-funded hairdresser volunteers to third world countries to teach locals to cut hair for a living.
My involvement with Hair Aid began in 2017 when we went to Manilla in the Philippines for a week to teach cutting skills to the poor.
Last year, due to the ban on overseas travel, Hair Aid was unable to help the communities it had established links to, which was very devastating for those communities.
Hair Aid also coordinates a program called Community Cuts, where volunteer hairdressers cut hair for the homeless, which I have supported in Geelong since 2017.
Hair Aid does amazing work to give homeless people a lift and a new lease on life.
Often a homeless person would never consider going into a hairdressing salon, so coming to them is a way of looking after them on their own home turf. They are so appreciative.
A lady once came to us with her hair in a huge mat. She had been into salons and they wanted to just shave it off, which she didn’t want.
My team and I took nearly four hours to comb it out with a few of us working on her hair at a time!
I took her back to my salon, shampooed and treated her hair, and cut it into a style. I gave her some good products and a brush to care for her hair.
She was an amazing lady with an interesting story. People find themselves homeless for reasons we just cannot imagine.
What do you like to do locally?
I love where I live – we have awesome places to eat here in Ocean Grove. Zebra Bar is great for steaks and seafood and White Hart Café has the best coffee.
I also like to exercise at Bellarine Aquatic and Sports Centre.
The stretch of beach from Ocean Grove to Point Lonsdale is the best in Victoria – you only need to see it from a plane to see why.
We just went for a walk down at Otway Fly, which was amazing!
How are you coping with COVID-19?
COVID gave people a chance to recreate themselves. It gave businesses a chance to offer things online that were only talked about before, and see what worked and what didn’t.
It also taught me that my clients needed more when it came to education and gave me a chance to develop more programs.
My daughter said that I was the busiest person in COVID that she knew.
