Michael: Let’s start at the beginning, was it always hairdressing?
Tracey: It was always hairdressing, my mum said when I was four all I did was brush hair and pretend I was in a salon.
Michael: Were there any hairdressers in the family?
Tracey: No, I was the first and there was never anything else I was ever going to do.
Gary: How old were you when you started in the industry?
Tracey: It was back in 1986, I was 15 and started on a YTS which back then it was £22.50 a week.
Michael: I started in 1990 so similar time and I was also on £22.50 per week, can’t imagine that now!
Gary: You don’t even want to know when I started!
Michael: Wasn’t that around the time of dinosaurs? Hahahahahaha
Gary: Not quite, it was 1979
Michael: What was the first salon you ever worked in?
Tracey: I come from a tiny little town in Scotland called Elgin, it’s on the north east tip between Aberdeen and Inverness.
At the time there was a really amazing salon called Clancy’s and it was where everybody wanted to work, so if you wanted a job in hairdressing that’s where you went.
So, I remember when I left school my mum said right go get a job and don’t come back till you’ve got one! So that’s exactly what I did. I went into all the salons but obviously Clancy’s was where I wanted to work.
When I called in luckily the girl on the desk said to me “are you Tracey McGilvery?” I went “yeah”and she said “I really fancy your cousin Brian” and I was like “alright, well if you put in a good word for me, I’ll put in a good word for you with Brian” and she did and I got the job!
Michael: So, cousin Brian got you the job?
Tracey: Basically yes! Hahahahahaha
Gary: You’ve started hairdressing, working in Clancy’s, at what stage did you decide to spread your wings and reach for bigger things?
Tracey: I was actually there for about three years – finished my apprenticeship and was there till I fell pregnant with Poppy.
Then I took a year out and did an HND at college in business management, I thought I’ll do this while I’m pregnant. I thought right where am I going with my career?
At this point I was on my own with Poppy and I wasn’t really sure what direction I wanted to go in, I just knew that I wanted to do a lot more within the industry. I’d had the privilege of being at Salon International just before she was born, and It really opened my eyes to everything out there.
I knew I needed to move away to a big city to push my career forward as I had aspirations to be one of these people on stage so I packed up everything daughter included, Mum and Dad crying – thinking I was crazy totally crazy, jumped in my old fiesta with loads of black bin bags and off I went to Aberdeen which to me was the big city.
Gary: That must have felt quite nerve racking especially with the responsibility of your young daughter too.
Tracey: To be honest I’ve always been a risk taker and back then never used to over think situations, that definitely changes with age! I over think everything now.
Michael: Where did you go when you got to Aberdeen?
Tracey: I’d done loads of research and the place to be was Ishoka with Mr Philip Bell, ‘the legend’, so I went to see them, had an interview and they took me on straight away.
I worked with there for two years and I’m going to be honest it was an amazing two years, I learnt so much from them and went straight on to open my own business in Aberdeen with all that knowledge that I’d gained.
Michael: Was that always the bigger picture? Did you have it in your sights to ultimately open your own business?
Tracey: No, not at all – the salon came along by chance. I always knew I wanted to get ahead in my career and be remembered for my work but was never quite sure how I was gonna do that. I went to the new salon as the manager and it ended up becoming my first lease and that’s where Angels was born, 21 years of Angels in Aberdeen – four salons and a team of 67 by the end.
Gary: It was during your time at Angels that you started entering the BHA’s? What was the driving force there?
Tracey: I was invited to big Fellowship event and I was amazed! I’d never seen anything like this in my life – I couldn’t believe I was in a room with guys like you two and all these amazing people, I was gobsmacked and thought “right – this is where I need to be”.
It was at this event that I met Julie Bellinger who took me under her wing and that’s really when I started to enter the BHA’s.
Gary: What was the first year you entered?
Tracey: My first year entering was 2004 which was an absolute flop! 2005 I finalised for Scottish Hairdresser Of The Year then went on to win 2006, 2007 and 2008 and then of course Men’s Hairdresser Of The Year in 2012.
Michael: You won three consecutive years, that’s impressive! So, riding on the quest of a wave and you decide to sell Angels, that must have been a tough decision! Why the change of direction?
Read the FULL interview in our January Issue here
