Time for Change

After 1992 I felt 5 years of competing had started to take effect on my life and business.....during this year, my husband and I had separated, which was coming for a long time. I had two children to singularly bring up, earn money and try not to appear distant or changeable from their former family life. I had great friends....Kate was only 7 and this worried me a great deal, as the guilt is always present.....Adelle was 16 and seem to understand that myself and her father were now two very different people. I had been approached by Tressemme to demonstrate their new colour creations tint range, Marcia and I discussed this at great length and realised that between us it would be an addition to our well-established business.....the money was great and the fact that we went in to other salons to educate stylists was quite a challenge, though often at times, tiring. The most tiring part of this was the fact that at our salon, we were so precise and educated, Marcia and I found it quite strange that other hairdressers were not as knowledgeable. Our work was greatly appreciated and that made all the difference.

We appeared in shows, seminars, at Wembley.....Earls Court.....the stage was our oyster....I loved it, I had the confidence to know I could perform, with great models, knowledge of colour and with Geoff, Chris and the TTT's behind the scenes supporting us, we moved onwards and upwards. The work was tiring, I know I was only 40...but I knew I could only do this for a couple of years or so.....which I did! The technical team from Tressemme were all over the country, it was a fabulous way to meet other stylists and learn the art of teaching colour and demonstrating. Marcia and I worked demonstrating on a Monday so as not to affect our Salon clientele and demand.

After the Paris Championships, I was invited by the NHF (National Hairdressers' Federation ) to train the youth team, I accepted as this was a real honour for me and I loved working with with juniors. My business partner, Marcia Clayton was a member of the team as well as two students from Halifax College (Calderdale College). So the training was 'Yorkshire Based' although we did travel to various towns and cities to train the youth team.

The youth team worked with mannequin heads and had to create their styles, shapes and re-styles on their head. Prior to competing, we had worked out the colours of the season, the style and the drap to be accross the shoulders. We trained hard, but follwed the ladies line of bad luck and failed to pick up any medals. Paris was not lucky for us.

At this time I was also a lecturer at Calderdale College, as well as running the Salon.......oh and giving private demonstrations / seminars to hairdressers at various wholesalers. My life was very full, which was a good job really as my marriage was on the brink of breaking. As the Queen said of that year 'Orrible Annus', and Prince Charles and Prince Andrew and I all split that year. So I kept myself very busy with Tresemme as they launched their new tint 'Colour Creations'.

I did a lot of soul-searching and decided that as it was now time to end the unhappy marriage we were both involved in, so I was facing a single life at 40. I deided to have a Black Tie Dance for my birthday, so I hired the local Town Hall, and invited 250 for a fun-packed evening.....details to follow soon