Contessa 2016 BC Hairstylist of the Year winner, Freddy Sim, shares what inspires his creativity, and who he looks up to in the industry.
Salon Magazine: When do you first know you want to be a hairstylist?
Freddy Sim: I think I always kind of knew I wanted to be a hairstylist. From an early age back home in Brunei, I would always go with my mum to the salon. I was fascinated by the environment and the stylists working away on clients.
SM: Who are your styling influences?
FS: I’ve only really been in the industry for around three years, and a lot of how I currently work comes from my mentors Chad Taylor and Tania Becker of Moods Salon Vancouver, who are successful session stylists. Another person I look up to would be the amazing Laurent Philippon! His creativity and precision inspires me!
SM: Where do you draw your styling inspiration from?
FS: I find my inspiration from many different things: from my contemporaries in publications like Salon Magazine, Pinterest, fashion magazines and Instagram.
SM: What’s the next milestone you want to achieve in your career?
FS: Continuing to build my clientele and keeping them happy is my main concern, but I would love to start doing more editorial work as well as receiving education in different cities!
SM: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone entering the Contessas for the first time?
FS: Finding inspiration can be overwhelming because there is so much to see. Give yourself plenty of time ahead of shooting to refine your vision and don’t be to tough on yourself. At the end of the day what matters is that you are proud of your collection.
SM: What are your top tips for working with a team, both in and out of the salon?
FS: For me their are four key points to working in a team: sharing ideas, listening to those around you, communicating everything and helping each other out.
SM: What is the your process to plan your collection?
FS: Collecting inspiration, having physical copies of hair inspiration and grouping them into different looks I’m interested in creating, refining my ultimate look, casting models, testing ideas on the models to see what is suitable and what could work.
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