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Louise Bailey
Interview & Words Phadria Prendergast
WOTC caught up with the inspirational A-list Hair Extensions London expert Louise Bailey, to talk about opening a salon during COVID, the future of the industry and creating opportunities for others.
“It’s quite a funny story actually, my dad used to drop me to the gates at school and I used to run to the hairdressers back down the road. I was just desperate to be a hairdresser,” Bailey told WOTC. She always knew what she wanted to do so she began working at her local hairdresser on Saturdays which progressed into working after school which eventually resulted in Bailey not attending school much. “I always kind of knew what I wanted to do,” she continued. Of course, her father - just any would be, was not happy about this choice and desperately tried to change Bailey’s mind. She was told that she had to find a real job and after much back and forth, she found herself working for one of her father’s friends as a marketing junior.
Bailey, who had always been entrepreneurial explained that she was always doing different things to earn money, but hair was her passion. “It was just like a burning fire inside me. I ended up meeting someone who had founded a hair product for extensions and he literally showed me one day how to put one piece of hair on someone’s head. From there, we built a company.” Bailey’s business knowledge that she had acquired over the years assisted her in building her own company. “I just met some really amazing people along the way who helped me. Sarah Curran from My-Wardrobe, she really helped me along the way.” The same help that Bailey has received during her career, is the very same help that she extends to those who want and need it. “I know if it wasn’t for these prominent people in my life, I wouldn’t be where I am today”.
“I just met some really amazing people along the way who helped me…I know if it wasn’t for these prominent people in my life, I wouldn’t be where I am today”.
“I have had a very varied past but it always came back to my hairdressing and I was just so passionate about it but I think along the way, because I’ve done so many different things, it gave me experience in companies, opening companies and running companies. For someone that literally had no education, it’s nice for people to know that.”
For Bailey, although it may not have been evident at the time, as we spoke, it was clear she was always going to be a success. “I had a drinks business before. I supplied alcohol to all the clubs, bars and restaurants in Essex, and a lot in London as well. It’s just so random, when I think back to the journey that I've gone on it's just very random.I started meditating a lot as well. I was just asking myself ‘how am I going to get from drink to hair?’ she explained.
In the beginning, Bailey offered her hair services free of charge simply because she wanted to market herself. She needed everyone to see what she was doing. She just wanted to show her work. “Anyone and everyone whose hair I could get my hands on, I would say 'let me do it, you don't have to pay me!' I built some amazing relationships with amazing people. Now, all my clients are coming to me and they are amazing businesswomen. If I needed a solicitor or if I needed someone to do my Botox, I feel like I've got everything. We all sort of come together and help each other.”
Despite having an extensive client base, Bailey ensures that she keeps a personal relationship with many of her clients. Where she cannot, she has enlisted the help of someone that she knew would show her clients the same level of care that she would. “I still like to have that interaction with clients because people fell in love with me as a person”. Bailey knows that for some clients, it's more than just doing their hair.
Hair extensions are a profitable part of any hairdressing business when it’s done correctly. Many hairdressers only do it as an add-on service. Bailey was approached by Harrods for her expertise in the niche market. She was tasked with locating a hair extensions brand that they could sell in their department store. Bailey did not put forward her own product, explaining that she also worked with many other hair brands who she thought were more suited for the opportunity. She believes it’s very important in business to help one another – which is something she did in this instance. “If someone has something that I need or I have something they need, we work together. I found a suitable product (for Harrods,” she went on. “I was involved in setting that up in the UK and I placed that in Harrods. Then we trained up all the staff in there and we chose ten hair extensionists. We put a hair extension area in there which was through the other brand.”
Although many businesses shut their doors during the global pandemic, Bailey was part of the few that opened new ones. The extension expert who is part of the high-end market wanted to target a new customer. The customer who wanted hair extensions but didn’t want to pay the prices that she would usually charge.“So, we set up something called the ‘Hair Extension Lab, which was away from my brand name, but it was close to my creation. I didn't want everyone to just rely on me. It's a more dynamic brand. It's more attainable.”
When asked where she had adapted the mindset that she was just going to keep going, despite her father not agreeing with her career choice, she laughed and responded that she thinks she was just a rebel. “Anyone that told me what to do, I thought I knew better,” she stated. “I never wanted to be in a 9 to 5 job. I hated being in one space. When my dad sent me to work for the company with his friend, I was stuck behind a desk all day. Like anybody that knows me now, I don’t stop. I work all the time. Bailey told WOTC that all her dad really wanted was for her to do well, he just didn’t think she could do so doing hair. “Some parents, they just don’t get it,” she finished.
Bailey is an advocate for pushing others into becoming successful. “A true leader creates more leaders. They don’t keep it all for themselves. You have to help; you’ve been given knowledge. I'm happy to give that knowledge because I know what'll happen. I'm so far ahead, by the time they get to me, I'll be doing something else that’s more ahead of that, so you never have to worry about competition.” She builds her team by pinpointing those around her that are trustworthy. Many of Bailey’s employees were connections she had made through someone she trusted. “I like to recruit from the perspective of somebody that knows somebody or somebody I know.”
For Bailey, she believes that hair extensions are now like a luxury bag for women. The future of the industry is one that she views as thriving. “It gives women such confidence.”
