There’s only two years between us in age and we’ve always been really close. We grew up around ‘work’ and whether we liked it or not, hair has just been a way of life. Dad was always so passionate about the creative side of the industry, and we got the chance to go to lots of events – they always seemed like such glamorous, prestigious things to be at!
Obviously, we also saw how much hard work went into it as well, and how stressful it can be running a business. Isobel’s background in art and fashion means she has a slightly different outlook to me. She’s got great taste and a really good eye, and she was always the more rebellious sibling when we were growing up. As we’ve got older though, I think that’s changed and it’s the opposite now. I’d say she’s a quietly confident person. Izzy gets involved in the creative side and will come along to photoshoots, but she also loves salon life.
She’s very understated in the way that she conducts herself. She’s an amazing hairdresser, and she’s brilliant with all the clients and the team. We often talk about how much of an influence Dad and Mum are. Mum does all the book work and we always say she’s the most important Eaton because she’s the person that keeps it all going! We do the hair and we’re in front of clients, but she does all the stuff behind the scenes. They’ve both worked so hard over the years.
I think the knack to running a family business is probably consistency and everyone understanding their own roles within the business. You can’t have one person trying to be everything; you’ve got to respect what each other brings. The thing with a family business is that you always end up talking about work. Being able to separate things can be a challenge, but Isobel is quite good at that. She’s much better than me at saying, “let’s leave work and focus on the family”. I think we’re both really proud of what we’ve got here. The main thing is making sure that Dad’s ethics on business and standards remain. Hopefully, his involvement will continue, and he’ll still be around for many more years to come, but obviously the business will evolve and change over time, and we are mindful of that as well.
Rob and I would always go back to the salon in Doncaster after school and spend time there in the holidays helping out. It’s the way it’s always been. I remember one time when we were quite young, I cut Rob’s hair. We were in the office, and I got hold of some clippers and just had a go. I did some on Rob’s and then shaved a bit off the front of mine! I remember Dad going absolutely berserk because at the time I had really nice, long hair!
Mum and Dad always worked really hard, and Dad has always been so passionate about the industry. It’s a massive part of his life and that’s naturally filtered down to us. Even so, I wasn’t sure about going into hairdressing to start with. I carried on to A-levels and then I did an Art Foundation course. I was going to go down the fashion route, but then I changed my mind and came back to the family business.
Rob and I have different personalities, but we just sort of complement each other. Because we’ve grown up with hairdressing, we’re both on the same page. We both understand the strong work ethic that you need and we both have a lot of respect for Dad. He’s always had really high standards and it’s important to us that we carry that on. Rob is so creative, but equally he manages to run the salon and he’s very calm. I don’t ever see that he gets stressed; he’s very easy-going. Rob is more so the face of the creative side of the business, while I’m happy to stay a bit more behind the scenes. Our dynamic just works.
I work alongside my Dad in the Barnsley salon. Rob is in Leeds, but one day a week he’ll come and work in Barnsley. Mum and Dad will go through to Leeds when Rob is here, so we always try to have a family member in the salon at some point. Dad still likes to get involved with the trainees, and I think they’re quite inspired by him as well.
Rob and I probably don’t see as much of each other outside of work as we should, but we do try and meet up as a family. We’ve just completed a half marathon together, which was fun. Our children bring us together too – Rob has two girls and I have a daughter. They’re very close and, who knows, maybe one day they’ll be carrying on the family name!
Who’s the bigger perfectionist?
Rob is definitely not so good on timekeeping, but creatively he’s a perfectionist.
If you had to describe your partnership in three words, what would they be?
Respect, trust, loyalty.
Who’s the chattiest?
Rob.
Who has the better dress sense?
Isobel.
If you two weren’t in the hair industry, what’s another job you could imagine doing together?
Isobel: I would have liked to do interior design.
Rob: For me, it would be working with animals or being outdoors. Not sure how we’d combine those two together!
Are there any other hairdressing partnerships you admire?
Rob: We’re very inspired by like-minded people who understand the challenges you face as a family business. We admire longevity and people that have stuck it out for so long, so we both have a lot of respect for the Collinge Family. Rob was really lucky to work with Josh Goldsworthy recently as well, he has very similar values too.
