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02.16.2021
NAHA Haircutting Finalist: Stephen Moody
Our very own, Stephen Moody, has been selected as a NAHA finalist while celebrating 40 years in the industry.
We caught up with Stephen to ask a few questions about his entry, advice, and what made this year…. different.
Why did you want to enter NAHA this year?
I was intrigued by the competition rule changes brought about by covid-19. Historically images have to be exclusive to NAHA. Due to the pandemic, I and many others, could not shoot in order to make a “collection”. NAHA, British Hairdressing Awards, and other competitions allowed the use of previously published work to enter.
The three images I finally settled on to enter NAHA 2021 “Cutting”, spanned from 2013 – 2018, all were cut in front of an audience and none with competition in mind. By coincidence, they were all shot by the amazing Nick Berardi. His talented post-work enabled them to look like they were from one photoshoot.
I am exceedingly proud to be nominated a Finalist in Educator of the year (new for NAHA 2021) alongside Chris Baran, Vivienne MacKinder, Sam Villa, & Tabatha Coffey. These peeps are legends.
The other reason…..there is a song that goes “do something every day that scares you”…..
Entering NAHA SCARED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!~Stephen Moody @hairmoody
How long did it take for your NAHA vision to come to life?
“Real, relatable but still aspirational” was my goal for entering NAHA 2021 Haircutter of the Year, that and a passion for cutting Black hair.
To be truthful I didn’t think I would make “Finalist” with the hair I entered. My goal was hair that was “perfectly un-perfect”.
The hair lines are intact, the silhouettes untouched, & the finishes are diffuse dried not bullied chemically or thermally into position, this reflects how I feel about hair today.
I was told that my entries belonged in the “texture category”, but I wanted them in “cutting”, illustrating the skillset for cutting textured hair that has been a passion of mine since the early 1980’s.
The challenge was that, although I have a plethora of hair work in my global photographic collections, tracking down model signatures from Brazil, makeup artists releases in South Africa, and photographers in Russia…proved very challenging during these times, it took me two months before I was happy and had everything in place.
Have you entered NAHA before? If so, how many times?
No, during my 32 years at Sassoon we were not allowed to enter competitions. I had (and still have) enormous respect for hairdressers who do. The commitment, dedication, and talent of people who enter any competition is admirable. In my 40 year career, I gravitated toward teaching, preparing, & mentoring hairdressers for competition. Indeed the most recent winner of Wella ITVA is just such a person.
When I joined Wella (nine years ago), I was asked to work with an International team to change the direction and look of ITVA, making it more “real, relatable but still aspirational” while there is still more work to do, we are heading in the right direction.
A legend (Fabio Sementilli) said “Enter or Mentor”.
Well, I had done 35+ years of mentoring, it was time to enter.
Where were you when you found out that you were a finalist?
Sitting at my computer with my family, watching live 😊
Do you have any advice for young stylists interested in National competitions?
To begin with, enter to compete, stretch yourself, and build a peer-to-peer/model/MUA/photographer relationship. Find a mentor. I am offering 1:1 coaching that many people have decided to focus the session on “entering competition”. Be accepting of the fact that like everything in our craft “it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Do you have any advice for stylists established in their career that are interested in National competitions?
Enter with something that you believe in and will directly come back to building your business. Look at what’s won a certain category in previous years but don’t let that influence you too much.
Follow your heart!