inFOCUS
UK:
ROSS-ON-WYE
We feature two hair and
beauty tutors in this
issue – Linzi Weare,
from Hereford, and
Dr Blossom Kochhar,
from New Delhi.
Although they are
thousands of miles apart
and at different stages
in their careers, both
women share a passion
for training and are
surprisingly closely linked
through WorldSkills.
LINZI WEARE IS SALON DIRECTOR AT
REDS HAIR COMPANY
Former hairdressing apprentice Linzi works 45 hours a
week in the company that was started by her mother, Claire
Winnall. She is responsible for training and mentoring all the
Reds apprentices, and spends five hours a week training apprentices
directly, broadly similar to the time Blossom spends teaching.
Competing in hairdressing competitions since she was 12, it’s perhaps
no surprise Linzi became involved with WorldSkills. She is a UK expert for
hairdressing, off ering training and mentoring to the UK WorldSkills team
in the global 2017 finals in Abu Dhabi in October. Linzi says being
involved in competitions, including WorldSkills, helps keep her up to date
with developments in her industry and has helped her reflect on her own
professional practice, which she says makes her a more eff ective trainer.
All Reds apprentices continue with their employment at the
company, Linzi being a perfect example. Like Blossom, she favours a
mixed approach to teaching, blending direction (especially at the start
of an apprenticeship) with more self-directed learning. Feedback in a
salon is normally verbal and the apprentices are instructed to review
every task they complete. Linzi welcomes the new apprenticeship
standards in hairdressing. They require all apprentices to take a
six-hour practical test covering a range of tasks that
fully-trained stylists undertake. These tasks
are assessed by an Independent
Apprenticeship Examiner.
INDIA:
NEW DELHI
DR BLOSSOM KOCHHAR IS CHAIR OF THE BLOSSOM
KOCHHAR COLLEGE OF CREATIVE ART AND DESIGN
As well as running her own hair and beauty college in
New Delhi, Blossom chairs the Blossom Kochhar Group, which
includes her aromatherapy product business, Aroma Magic,
and she sits on the governing body of the Beauty and Wellness
Sector Council of the Government of India.
Having started her career in the beauty industry, Blossom has been a
teacher for nearly 40 years, and still finds time to teach two classes in a
week, training trainers in beauty and aromatherapy. Both she and Linzi
describe their teaching style as a mix of teacher-led and student
self-directed. Feedback also tends to be verbal and written, although
the college is working on online feedback systems.
Blossom never misses the chance for professional upgrading
and, most recently, she returned as a student to her own college
to complete a make-up course. Blossom is also India President for the
Organisation Mondiale Coiff ure and Intercoiff ure Mondial. Her duties
involve delivering seminars and workshops at home and abroad. She is a
strong supporter of WorldSkills and her daughter, Samantha, is the
WorldSkills India expert for hairdressing, helping to train the team
that will compete against Linzi’s UK team in the 2017 finals.
Having been a teacher for so long means that many of
the industry’s leading lights are former students, and
regularly return to the college for professional
updating. Blossom’s clients have included
many Bollywood stars.
8 ISSUE 28 • SUMMER 2017 INTUITION
REDS HAIR COMPANY
was started in 1999 in
Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire,
and trains apprentices, to
NVQ levels 2 and 3.
THE BLOSSOM KOCHHAR COLLEGE OF
CREATIVE ART AND DESIGN
is an Indian technical institute
based in New Delhi. It
specialises in intermediate
and advanced courses in
beauty, hair and make-up,
as well as short courses for
industry practitioners.