Each year, the Sassoon Academy provides a scholarship to one lucky member of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing. The successful stylist enjoys four week-long courses from Sassoon, providing them with a brilliant technical basis from which to grow their career. They also receive a toolkit from Denman, meaning they’re fully equipped to get started.

The Shortlist

This year, there was a shortlist of ten applicants, all of whom were invited to be interviewed by a panel of industry experts. Judging this year were Megan Danskine from Professional Hairdresser magazine, Charlotte Grant-West from Hairdressers Journal, Martyn Wady from Denman and Edward Darley for Sassoon.

Three Final Shortlists

Chloe Daniels from Heavenly Hair in Saxmundham, Portia McVinnie from KJM Salons in Fleet and Tanahya Nash from Tony Wood Hairdressing in Southsea were the final three shortlisted stylists, who the panel had to pick between with hours of interviewing and deliberating.

The Winner

Ultimately, Tanahya was named as the winner and will now go on to enjoy a year of education and support from the Fellowship.

A Platform For Her Career

Fellowship educator Michelle Griffin says: “Tanahya had an amazing bubbly personality, is passionate and self-motivated and we all agreed she would embrace the Sassoon education and use it as a platform for her career. Portia also had a great story and as it was such a tough decision, Edward made the decision to give her a free education video of the ABC Cutting Course as a compensation prize. Both of these two came from smaller salons who don’t have the funds for this occasion, which really is what this scholarship is all about.”

Best Year Yet

Tanahya says: “I want this year to be my best year yet. I’m planning to learn and develop as much as possible, so I can become a secure and steady stylist in the salon. I also want to make sure I pass on my education to upcoming apprentices, so I can pay the knowledge back.”

Future Plans

“In five years, I would like to be educating more myself, so this is the perfect start,” she adds. “The Fellowship provides incredible opportunities to educate hairdressers – it’s all about progression and self-development in an inspiring atmosphere.”

To find out more about the brand, visit Sasson here.