This issue, Phil talks to Robert Masciave. Known for being one of hairdressing’s most creative and visionary artists, robert continues to push boundaries in his commercial, editorial and avant-garde work. Not to be underestimated as purely a business-minded hairdresser, he has proven that creativity and commerciality can co-exist. Here, Robert tells Phil how his proudest innovation came from a freak accident and why courage has defined his career…
ROBERT, IT’S GREAT TO TALK TO YOU. I’M GOING TO BEGIN AS I ALWAYS DO AND ASK YOU WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CAREER CHALLENGE OR ‘FAILURE’ SO FAR… IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST MISTAKE?
Hi Phil. So, I guess my mistake was to mix friendship and business. I’m not saying you can’t do business with a friend, but when you cross the boundary into work, you have to redefine your relationship and that friend has to be a business partner, not a friend anymore. I think the thing I’ve learned is that no matter what set up you have, get the contracts, paperwork, rules in place so that if things do go in another way – let’s say you want to sell up or redirect the business – then you don’t feel like you’re putting your friendship at risk.
IF YOU COULD START ALL OVER AGAIN IN YOUR CAREER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
I’m not sure I would do much differently because one thing I can say is that I have pursued my career with a lot of courage. You know, I left my country at 19 to come to the UK alone. I remember looking back on it, I said to myself that I would work as hard as I could and give it what I thought was my best. It’s in my nature to be quite humble and that’s a good trait to have, but business sometimes requires you to sell yourself. Looking back, maybe I should have learned to sell myself a bit more or a bit better, because what I’ve learned today is that it can all be done without arrogance.
YOU FACED A REAL LOW POINT WHEN YOU HAD AN ACCIDENT A FEW YEARS AGO. YOU CAME OFF YOUR BIKE AND HAD TO GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS OF REHABILITATION. THAT MUST HAVE BEEN TOUGH, COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT?
Okay. Yeah. So over five years ago, I came off my bicycle and broke both wrists as well as dislocating and breaking my elbow. When I had the accident – and this is the truth – I remember being on the floor waiting for an hour for the ambulance to come. During that time, I was in extreme pain and thinking, ‘Right? Is this it? Is this the end of my hair career?’ As I laid on the operating table, I pleaded with the surgeons, “I’m a hairdresser, please fix me up!” For eight months after, I couldn’t use my hands. It was every hairdresser’s worst nightmare. While I was doing my rehabilitation, I realised that I’d have to rethink the way I was working, and this was when I touched on something that could help others. I used my convalescence to work on a prototype for a brand-new kind of scissors. I taught myself 3D drawing and found manufacturers to help me develop what has now become my trademark eBlade scissors. I saw the evidence for myself that there is always something good that can come from bad.
IT’S IMPRESSIVE THAT YOU USED THAT TIME IN A REALLY POSITIVE WAY, IT SAYS A LOT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER.
Well, I am a problem solver. I will always find a way to fix things. When I teach, I try to eliminate the word failure, instead I say, ‘let’s talk about discovery’. As I see it, failure is doing nothing. When you’re doing something – anything – you’re on a journey of discovery. Sometimes you discover things you want and sometimes you discover things you don’t want. People often call the things you don’t want failure, but I disagree. Even if you discover that the outcome of what you’ve done is something you don’t want, you’ve still learned from it.
WHAT CHARACTER TRAITS WOULD YOU SAY HARD TIMES HAVE TAUGHT YOU?
The unknown is always scary, but with a little bit of time and planning, adversity can help you gain courage. Today, whatever I am doing, I carry it out with commitment and courage. Courage has been the one trait in my career that has pushed me to explore new possibilities. When you are creative and come up with new concepts, you have to be brave enough to face criticism and challenge perceptions. For instance, you know, showing your work to the public takes courage. That’s why I think a lot of people copy, because they find it easier. If you show something experimental that the public has never seen before, the risk is high. Many people prefer to stay in their comfort zones, but if you’re in your comfort zone, you’re not evolving. You’re not building courage at all.
HOW DOES SOMEONE CREATE SUCCESS IN THEIR CAREER – IS IT TALENT, EFFORT, MOTIVATION, LUCK? HOW MUCH OF SUCCESS IS ABOUT BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME?
Success is a personal thing, so the first thing someone has to do is define what success means to them. Somebody else’s success is different from your success. I don’t believe in luck. Once you set your goal, you reach it by constantly challenging yourself. The key is consistency. Learning new techniques is all very well, but being the best isn’t enough. Being the best is actually worthless if you’re not consistent in your timekeeping. Being too ‘up and down’ would be the biggest reason why people won’t succeed. To me, consistency is the key to all successes.
YOU SAY THAT SUCCESS IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE, BUT WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
For me, success varies because I’m constantly setting myself different goals. My first goal was to open a salon and then it was to create a good environment for my team to work in. I’d say a lot of hairdressers learn to be ‘good’, but they don’t know how to make money with it. To be financially successful, you have to find the thresholds between quality and speed, as well as looking at how you bring value and sell yourself. My day-to-day goal is creating a place for my team where they can truly enjoy coming to work and fulfil whatever they want, artistically or financially.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DOUBTED YOURSELF AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THOSE FEELINGS?
Doubts. It’s funny because I would say to people, ‘if you have doubts, you’d better learn to live with them, because they’re never gonna leave you. They’re gonna be there until you die’ (laughs). Unless you stop your journey of evolving, you’ll always have doubts. For me, a doubt is almost a driver. I’ve learned to work with doubts and unlock their value. When there’s doubts, there’s questions, and when there’s questions, there’s answers. Before you know it, you have a plan that has all been generated from doubt.
ARE YOU A PERSON WHO TAKES RISKS?
When I was younger, every time I was asked to push myself my head would say no, but I’ve made a deal now that I will always say yes. That’s how I’ve managed to keep challenging myself. Like I say, my career has been defined by courage, so yes, I’d say I’m a risk-taker.
WHO IS A SUCCESSFUL PERSON YOU ADMIRE AND WHAT LESSONS HAVE THEY TAUGHT YOU?
Oh, lots of people. Within the industry, it would be Anthony Mascolo, Robert Lobetta and Vidal Sassoon. Anthony for his business skills and showing the world that you can make a lot of money with hairdressing if you want to and Robert for showing that you can be a great artist. Then, of course, Vidal changed the whole course of the industry.
TOTALLY AGREE. DO YOU HAVE ANY DAILY HABITS OR A PARTICULAR MINDSET THAT YOU THINK MAKES YOU SUCCESSFUL?
I tend to hyperfocus – if you give me something I’m curious about, I will have found out every single thing about it before you know it. That’s my thing and that happens pretty much on a daily basis. I will find myself going on YouTube and wanting to watch every single thing to learn about it as much as possible. I’m curious, a bit of a nerd really. I like learning and I like discovering new things.
FINALLY, WHAT THREE PIECES OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE AT THE START OF THEIR CAREER?
1. Be patient.
2. Be consistent.
3. Be resilient.
(Honestly though, don’t underestimate hard work. It’s the only way to succeed!)
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