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Vishnu – the original single-name hairstylist
By Aryana Chelsea
Vishnu. His is a name synonymous with hairdressing in Chaguanas. It’ s the name that says it all and his name has been saying it for a long time. He’ s the unconventional talent armed with a comb and a scissors. The word“ fabulous” comes to mind, a word he aspires to with each haircut and the word that he hopes to inspire each client to be from the moment they walk through his doors.
“ I just try to bring out the true beauty in you,” he says during a rare interview recently.
He’ s past the phase of the fads and the“ perfect product” and is on his way to practicality. Or as he puts it,“ Making them( i. e. the customers) look as good as possible with the least amount of maintenance to get the most amount of compliments.”
Vishnu, a hairstylist who has accumulated over 30 years of training and experience in the business with“ a passion for a very good haircut”, discovered thay passion as a young boy while visiting hairstylist, Anthony“ Brownie” Mac- Farlane in Couva. His interest in hairdressing was stirred by Brownie’ s ability to manipulate Afro-Trinidadian hair as well as his creative styling while working on beauty queen pageants.
“ He became a mentor to me with this style of work that he produced,” reminisces Vishnu.
But it was Vishnu’ s vacation to Toronto that cemented his passion. He recounts his first visit as a client to Vidal Sassoon,“ This senior stylist at the desk at that time, he said,‘ You don’ t have to make an appointment, you’ re here already. I’ m free, I’ ll do it for you.’ And just being in that space and looking at the production, it was such a difference from black hair to caucasian hair.”
Of the haircut he received, he gushes,“ He just went to work. And it was such an amazing joy because at the end of it, it was just what I requested. It was so precisely done.”
Naturally friendly, Vishnu got to talking with the stylist who began educating him on the foundations of Sassoon.
“ They really produced five basic haircuts which are all still up-to-date. You could twist and turn and re-create different versions of it that adds to the trend or the upcoming fashion for the year ahead because that’ s what fashion is all about. It’ s not what’ s wearing now, it’ s what’ s coming in. Either you’ re ahead of the game or you just kinda mass produce what people want.”
Upon his return, he was sent by Brownie to deliver something to a woman named Joan Seudat, a veteran hairstylist who would eventually be awarded the Humming Bird Medal( Bronze) for her contribution to the field of cosmetology. While in the process of explaining to his mother who he had made the delivery to, she revealed that the location of Joan’ s salon was where his parents lived before they moved( he was born in San Fernando but his parents moved to Chaguanas after his birth). It was a sign.
“ I just felt, this is it. This is what I want to do, what I want to be.”
Joan offered to train him and he took the opportunity, denoting the start of a long-lasting friendship.
“ This lady was just a next mother. She was just so selfless. She shared everything she knew.”
It wasn’ t long before Vishnu crossed the waters to be trained by international professionals.
“ Of course I went to Sassoon to be trained,” he states matter-offactly.
But he refused to limit himself
Vishnu during travels abroad.
to one school of thought, and decided to dip his fingers into Toni and Guy and Trevor Sorbie as well. Every year for a two-month period he would go to London to brush up on his training. He also started attending shows abroad and although it was inspiring to him for a time, he eventually felt the need to be trained by artistic directors. It was back to school in London yet again and even though he didn’ t have the experience that his other classmates brought to the table, he somehow managed to get his foot in the door.
“ The edge that I have is coming from a very cosmopolitan island and the mixtures of hair, from black to Indian to white. No hair or head was a challenge. I think this is what makes Trinidadian hairstylists so very good at what they do because they have that capability.”
Soon Vishnu started offering his services in Chaguanas on a Sunday and then on a Wednesday and then on a Monday, until he set up shop in his mother’ s back porch“ next to the washing machine and‘ juking’ board”.
“ I realized I was working my way out of a salon that was under the umbrella of another personality.”
Vishnu’ s ability to make clients surrender to his styling wisdom using his bold personality coupled with his friendliness and spunk, built strong interpersonal bonds with his clients.
“ You have to know your client, the one who works at the bank, the corporate woman, the one who sells in the market.
“ When you can capture somebody’ s needs, I think that’ s the secret of it. As years go by, you start understanding the needs, the maintenance, the upkeep, the expense and you try to simplify it and on their request, if they want to do certain things then you go ahead and do it.”
As his business expanded, changing location to create ambiance and even opening another location in Port of Spain, he began hiring specialists with years of experience to execute his vision. He shied away from the cut and dry Trinidadian set up of one hairdresser doing every job in order“ to create a busy salon”.
However he still takes pride in being the master of cutting at his shop, continuing to personally see to it that his clients are satisfied, splitting his working days between the two locations, proof that this profession is commercially viable.
To those stuck in the mindset that hairdressing is“ what you do if you drop out of high school”, he says,“ This is a multi-billion dollar industry.”
“ Respect is earned, not bought. Know how to market yourself. Some people sell themselves short and don’ t get the respect they think they deserve. People come to your shop to be listened to, people come to your shop to be inspired,
May 2017
people come to your shop to lift them.”
And his connection to Chaguanas has inevitably moulded his personality and channelled his aura.
“ It’ s a very strong, sort of spiritual place and for me, being there from walking where there were no pavements to pavements and for every house that stood on six pillars now transformed into a parlour, a shop, a grocery, a boutique. I love the whole birth of Chaguanas and what it has become, it’ s almost like the core. You have to go there to take a taxi to go to Flanagin Town, to Charlieville, to anywhere. It’ s just such a hub. When you’ re in Chaguanas you see the nuts man, the snow cone man, it’ s what keeps you grounded.”
At this point Vishnu is living and letting life with the goal to make the most of it.
“ Life is a subtraction, it changes. Life is about leaving people empowered.”
On that note, he acknowledges the government’ s efforts in offering courses for people to pursue trade to enable them to serve in their community or discover an untapped talent with the power to take them beyond. However his grievances lie in the current business economy noting that high rental prices“ try to create a business of survival and convenience, not growth”, especially for upcoming hairdressers trying to make ends meet. His advice?“ Education is the most important tool. Just invest in yourself. It’ s not the space that you’ re around but the knowledge that you can acquire in the field because when you can share that with a client, you realize you’ re a lot more than what people judge you by. Whatever you choose to do in life, become the leader of it.”
To make an appointment, call: Chaguanas: 665-4373; Port-of- Spain: 622-8518.