It was kind of by chance how we met. Gary is 12 years older than me, and he was already very established in the industry. We were both working for Saks, and they used to send young stylists to other salons within the group to experience working with another team. The weekend before, I was going to the Newcastle salon, and I had gone out to this nightclub with friends. I remember my eyes kept locking with this guy; every time I looked at him, he was staring at me. I didn’t know at the time, but it was Gary! When I walked into the staff room on the Monday, there was Gary with his back to me. The team were asking him what he’d been up to at the weekend, and he’s gone, “Oh, there was a gorgeous new lad out on Saturday night.” And then somebody (I swear to God, this is true!) said, “Hi Michael” and he turned around and looked at me!
The first night we went out, we drove to Durham River, and we sat and chatted and watched the sun come up. I knew in that moment that I had met the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with, and here we are, 34 years later.
We like the same things, we have the same eye and we have the same aesthetic. I think what we offer together creatively in that capacity is quite unique. I’ve got a lot of patience, so if I have an idea, I’ll immerse myself in it. Gary is a great ideas person, but he doesn’t enjoy seeing it through to the end as much as I do. With the business, I naturally gravitated towards the development of people, and I love training and mentoring.The financial side of the business has always been very much Gary, but in terms of us working together creatively, if Gary and I are doing a show or a shoot, it’s 50/50. We’re not precious about our own ideas – we both compromise. I mean, you naturally want to be right, but neither one of us would shut an idea down just for the sake of having the final say.
Gary is a natural leader and, because of that, he always wants to be front and centre and he always wants to be right. Although, he will admit when he isn’t! He’s a motivator and he’s one of those people who everybody gravitates to. He has the ability to make people feel really good. Gary breeds and shows dogs. He’s the most successful Great Dane breeder in the world. He’s done it for the entirety of our relationship, and he’s just as passionate about that as he is about hairdressing. He never wants to settle for second best, and I love that about him. It’s no surprise that he has achieved what he has because he’s like a dog with a bone (excuse the pun!). I’d say what makes us work so well as apartnership is being able to compromise. Understanding and respect for one another is also so important, and we’ve got that in shedloads. No matter what we do or where we are, I think we always try to bring a bit of happiness and fun into things. You want to be as professional as you can, but that doesn’t mean you’ve got to be completely serious – you can still wrap that all up in a happy, fun environment!
The first day that Michael had to shadow me, I couldn’t speak to him or look at him. I was quite rude! I ignored him most of the day and after he left, I rang up my friend who ran Michael’s salon to find out more about him. She invited me out with them all that Thursday night. I turned up and Michael was there, and that’s how we eventually got together. Literally from that night, that was it.
We’d been together around two years when we went on holiday to Africa. We each had our individual salons and Michael asked me how I would feel if we opened a salon together with his name above the door too. I’ve got to be honest, I thought, ‘God, you’re forward!’ At first, we thought the name Hooker & Young sounded like solicitors, but then we stuck with it. It came to a point where we just said, right, everything we do is going to be us together – Hooker & Young. We became like the Ant & Dec of hairdressing! We’re both very much integrated in every aspect of the business, and as the years have gone on, we’ve naturally fallen into certain areas that we each deal with. I’m the one paying the bills and Michael took on the majority role of training and the development of people. We both get involved with the artistic side.
Michael is very much a doer. He takes control of a situation and he’s very good with the team. If I had to name one thing we’re most likely to disagree on or fall out over, it would be staff. Sometimes, if there’s an issue with the salon, Michael’s way of dealing with it might be different to mine. I hate confrontation. I’m absolutely hopeless at it, while Michael’s more forthright. We also have a rule (which doesn’t always work!) that once we get home on an evening, we can talk about work up to a point, then after that, it stops. I’m so proud of Michael, seeing how he’s taken his creativity and turned it into something really special. When he decided to move into hair photography, it just felt so him.
Honestly, I had no doubt he’d make something amazing of it. Seeing how far he’s come, how passionate he is and how much his work has inspired our team and so many other hairdressers is just incredible. He’s built something that truly reflects who he is.
We’re so proud of the Hooker & Young brand, and when we do naturally step back, we don’t want the salon to fizzle away into obscurity. We started putting plans in place last summer to future proof, so that the brand can continue for another 30 years with or without us. I would say the secret to longevity in this business is to stay positive, never stand still and always be open to change!
Who’s the bigger perfectionist?
Michael.
Who’s the chattiest?
Gary.
Who takes longer to get ready for a night out?
Michael.
Describe your partnership in three words…
Gary: Funny, loving, trusting.
Michael: Strong, unbreakable, happy.
Are there any other hairdressing partnerships you admire?
Michael: We’ve always been massive fans of Jason and India Miller as a duo, and we’ve become such great friends with them. We love Sally and Jamie Brooks too, and Alan and Linda Stewart – they’ve got an amazing business and an incredible team.
Gary: My heroes when I first started hairdressing were Irvine and Rita Rusk. If you two weren’t in the hair industry,
What’s another job you could imagine doing together?
Maybe running a little boutique hotel or bed and breakfast in Spain. Or, what would be a great concept would be a weekend retreat for people who live in flats and can’t have dogs. They would get to come and live in our house and look after the dogs for the weekend!
