Salon with 'soul' a cut above the rest - November 2015

A CUT ABOVE: Protege Hairdressing's winning team, from left: Kate Watson, Robyn Collins, Angela Gray (former WHS student), Alice Hyland, Jessica Pettit (former WHS student), Brooke Caird (former WHS student), and Tiffiny Spencer. Absent Lia Wainhouse.

A Wanganui hair salon is celebrating after winning one of New Zealand's most prestigious industry awards.

Protege Hairdressing won the New Zealand Salon of the Year Supreme Award at the Kitomba/New Zealand Association of Registered Hairdressers Business Awards in Wellington at the weekend.

Protege also took out a clutch of other awards including Employer of Choice, Excellence in Marketing, and Boutique Salon of the Year. The salon was the runner-up in two other award categories.

For co-owners Tiffiny Spencer and Kate Watson, winning the Supreme Award was the realisation of a dream they have held for six years.

The pair, who trained together in Wanganui, opened Protege nearly six years ago and their goal was to one day win the New Zealand Salon of the Year award.

Last year, was the first time they entered the awards and they won the Best Newcomer award. To go straight from that to best salon was "pretty amazing".

"We're very excited," Tiffiny said.

Just entering the awards took four solid months of preparation. Salons are judged, not on their styling ability, but on business practices.

"It looked at systems and procedures, policies, communication, feedback from staff and from clients. It's very black and white - that's what we loved about the awards. You're either doing things right, or you're not," Tiffiny said.

Four judges from the industry assessed each entry. This year's judges were Charmaine Guest, Kristal Sargent, Kayla Juhasz and Belinda Robb.

In their report, the judges said Protege demonstrated "outstanding success" across all areas of the business.

"This is a highly productive salon that has strong leadership, sound business practices and, most importantly of all, soul. It was a pleasure judging this entry."

Tiffiny and Kate said their success comes down to one thing: hard work.

"We love what we do. We love hairdressing, and we really love our team. We are like a family and we look after each other," Kate said.

The salon employs a close-knit team of six, five of whom have been trained by Tiffiny and Kate.

So, where to next for Protege, now that they've achieved their big goal?

"Extending ourselves professionally and growth within our team is always a goal for us," Tiffiny said.

"That's going to be true for us whether we are winning awards or not."

Kate and Tiffiny said they plan to throw a celebratory party.

(Wanganui Chronicle 26/11/15)