Richard on Mark
We met in a local nightclub on New Year’s Eve. Mark was there looking cool in his Destroy outfit and beanie hat. The first thing I said to him was, “Have you got any hair underneath that hat?” And the rest is history.
I think what makes us work well together professionally is that we’ve got different looks on creativity; I can break things down and analyse them a bit more. In terms of our working relationship, we are also different in how we manage the team and how we deal with day-to-day stuff. It works well because we complement each other, but we are disparate in our strategies and theories. I’ve always said Mark is a creative genius, and the years have proven this right. He has got magic fingers.
Our biggest standout moment was Mark winning British Hairdresser of the Year. I had a real goal and passion to make sure that he got there, and obviously he did. Creating this monster 3000-square-foot salon has been another incredible achievement. It was a massive, massive change for us in terms of investment and our life. We’ve been 24/7 since June 1996, which is a hell of a long time! With that, comes frustrations, arguments and disagreements about different things. It obviously has an effect on home life as well as business life, and it’s a challenge to keep it all as smooth as possible, but we make it work.
Mark’s lucky really because he loves what he does, and I suppose that makes it a lot easier. He’s been doing hair for 40 years, and never, ever faltered from it. His passion for the industry, even after 40 years, is still as strong as it was back then. Running a business, looking after a team and all the creative stuff that goes with it means there’s always something to do. We never really switch off, but, you know, I don’t necessarily mind. It’s just got to be done.
I think the secret to a good partnership is identifying each other’s strengths so that they are being utilised to the maximum and you’re not having crossovers. Definitely being patient and being able to listen are important too. When we have successes or celebrations, we’ll have a glass of champagne, but then we’re in bed – we’re not rock and roll like we used to be years ago!
We’re at the stage now that we have created a legacy. We always say to people, when you do a photoshoot, you are creating a bit of history, because that collection will always be around. Neither of us are getting any younger though – Mark will soon be 57, so who knows how long he will remain behind the chair – but we’ve both still got things that we want to do without question. And the creativity won’t stop. We’re still as excited about anything as we have always been, whether it’s education, a show or a shoot. The passion is still there, and we still put 120% into everything we do.
Mark on Richard
That night we first met, he knew I had hair because he’d seen me around town. For some reason, he just finally got the nerve to talk to me. My first impression of him was, ‘cheeky!’
After working for 12 years in the salon I was with, I was offered to take over as a franchise. That’s when we got our heads together and decided that we’d be great as a duo – with Richard doing the business and me doing the creative side. Sometimes, all he does is say, “no, no, no”, and I’ll say to him, “don’t just tell me no, tell me what is not right, or what you don’t like, and then I can work on it.” But it does work well in the way that his eye is different to mine, and Richard is good at unpicking things.
Richard’s strength is leadership, but he leads with care at the same time. He takes people under his wing, and he likes to guide them on a career path and help them get wherever they want to be. We like to work together as a team, like a family, I suppose.
We saved up for 10 years to be able to achieve the salon that we’re in, and we put work first in front of our personal life. You know, we’re not in a big house or whatever, everything we’ve worked for has been planted back into the business.
Our biggest challenge was when I was ill. I couldn’t really do anything – usually, we work together on solving problems, but it was all out of my hands. Being out of practice for a year was tough. And of course, not knowing the outcome. Watching Richard have to do the work, run the business with the team and take on all my customers, then he had to come home and look after me – yeah, that was tough.
Day to day, the thing we’re most likely to disagree on is what to have for dinner! Richard would have the same thing over and over again. Food shopping together does not work.
We don’t really fall out much over work, but I will admit, I sometimes have a ‘creative strop’ where I feel a lot of the creative pressure is on my shoulders. So I will have moments where I have a breakdown, and Richard will say to me, “just take yourself over to the mirror and have a word with yourself.”
The thing that most drives me crazy about Richard is his office. It looks like a grenade has gone off in there! I have to close the door on it, but he swears he knows where everything is. He doesn’t delegate that well either, he likes to do it himself. I say, “you know, nobody’s going to do it 100% like you do it, but you have got to let go sometimes.”
There’s always something new that we’re looking at or something new that we’re creating. We’ve recently moved back to Goldwell, so we’ve got lots of ideas to give back to the industry, especially with our education. We’ve got to start planning the future, as in, what the next chapter is for us, personally. It’s quite exciting, but one day we will press the pause button.
Who’s the bigger perfectionist?
Richard.
Who’s the chattiest?
Mark in the morning, Richard at night.
Who takes longer to get ready for a night out?
Richard.
Who is the hairdressing duo you most admire?
Anthony and Pat Mascolo – everybody wanted to emulate the hair that they created at that moment in time.
If you two weren’t in the hair industry, what’s another job you could imagine doing together?
We’d be running a restaurant, boutique hotel or florist. Or we’d be interior designers.
If you had to describe your partnership in three words, what would they be?
Strong, committed, exciting.
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