Shaping the Future of Hairdressing: Inside Laura Leigh Kerr’s Educational Empire at RRI
We talk to Laura Leigh Kerr about her hair hairdressing journey, and she shares some pivotal moments that led to her current role as Academy Director.
Laura Leigh Kerr’s career at Rainbow Room International has seen remarkable progression – from a work experience student in the 90s to opening the first RRI Academy in 2003 before expanding a few years later to the 7,500 sqft Academy on Howard Street.
Can you walk us through this journey towards becoming Academy Director?
From the moment I walked into the salon at 15, I fell in love with the industry and the salon buzz. Alan and Riccardo were and have been my consistent Mentors, and their confidence in me has pushed me to where I am now. I’m a true Aries, so definitely a control freak with a bit of natural competition in me. I really wanted to be Manager of our flagship in Buchanan St (once Riccardo opened his franchise) and then open my own RRI franchise. However, Alan saw a great Educator in me and gave me the skills I needed to progress in that. I was like, OK if I’m not going for a franchise, I am going to run the best Training Academy in the UK. And here we are.
You’ve been inducted into the Hall of Fame and have won numerous industry accolades for your education work. How have these recognitions influenced your approach to education and mentorship in the industry?
The recognition has given me confidence, that what I am doing is valuable. It has taken me (in fact thrown me out) of my comfort bubble. I’ve always come up with ideas about how to change and progress our training of young people. Now I truly have the confidence and experience that these plans and ideas will work and it pushes me harder to do more for each trainee that comes though our door, regardless of level or background.
How do the exchange programmes you’ve implemented for Assistants contribute to their overall education and development?
We piloted an exchange in Sweden firstly, a baby step, as Sweden has high levels of English-speaking Educators and Students. We had sent two of our Students, plus myself and Nikki in 2019 to work and train in Malmo. We wanted to see if it was going to provide worthwhile experiences and opportunity for our Students, but also figure out if we could we do it with more students and more regularly. The last group of Swedish Students arrived to train here in March 2020, but within 4 days we had to rush them back home before we went into lockdown which was rather stressful!
Italy was next, we had already secured the funding pre Covid, so Brexit wasn’t yet an issue for Erasmus+ projects. We had 12 trainees go to Lanciano in Abruzzo for 2 weeks and 8 Students from my education team for a few days each to chaperone and see what the salons there were like. The Students all lived in a house together and went to work in different salons (that spoke little to no English… Thank goodness for Google Translate). The confidence that these young people came back with was incredible. Most had never travelled without parents, eaten food they didn’t know, had little work experience apart from the safety bubble of their RRI salon and my academy. They built new lifelong friendships, worked as a team, had empathy for each other when they were homesick. Most of them are now qualified, and still talk about it daily to their clients. It’s been amazing.
I’m currently working on my most ambitious project to date, I’m planning to take 20 Students and senior education team to Japan early next year. For a fully immersive training and cultural experience. These projects have helped recruitment to our MA programme. The Students that have taken part have had lifechanging experiences and have shared that knowledge with their peers. It’s really elevated everyone in the teams. The Clients have been fully invested and love what we do for our teams.
Your involvement with charity partnerships and work experience programs for schools, including those for Students with Additional Support Needs, is commendable. How do these initiatives contribute to making the hairdressing industry more inclusive and accessible?
It has certainly promoted the Modern Apprenticeship Programme as something for a lot of these young people to strive towards. The numbers of Students leaving school now have far fewer natural communications skills than they did even 5 years ago. But I can’t complain about it and then sit back and do nothing. These partnerships and access courses provide base skills of what is needed to progress into and complete the MA programme and equip them with employability skills.
Hairdressing is one of the original inclusive and diverse industries. It’s only natural that we evolve to include and support the ever-growing numbers of Students that are neurodivergent. 50% of my education team are neurodivergent, and we have open conversations daily.
As Scottish Ambassador and Chairperson for HABIA, you’ve helped develop new qualifications like the SVQ level 1. How did you first get involved with HABIA, and what drove you to take on this role?
My first taster of developing awards was in 2014, as part of a large working group of other Educators and Lecturers, and I really enjoyed the process. It certainly made me a more confident Assessor as I knew from the core how a qualification was made and how many people it took to get there.
In 2019/ 2020 I knew the Level 2 and 3 qualifications were due to expire, so I emailed HABIA and asked how do I become part of the working group to develop the new ones. I had to send my CV and do a small interview of why I thought I would be a good candidate. I didn’t want to be given a qualification that I hadn’t had a say in or an opportunity to shape for the future generations of hairdressers. I knew it was going to be a lot of work but it turned out we managed to do a lot of zooms during covid! The SVQ 1 is a current work in progress, as it all just kind of spiralled, being asked to be a Scottish Ambassador I am very proud and grateful, that my input is valuable to the industry. If we want change, we must make it happen, and that’s what I’m trying to help do.
Looking towards the future of hairdressing education, what key areas do you think need more focus or development to prepare the next generation of stylists for success?
Communication and resilience immediately spring to mind from an apprenticeship level. We have gone back to the roots, and developed a Graduate Stylist Programme that is target based, to ensure that our young Stylists understand the fundamentals of building a clientele and managing a column. You can’t go from being an assistant one day to a fully capable functioning Stylist the next.
‘Kaizen’ is a Japanese word meaning continual improvement and is our company philosophy which has been instilled in me since day one. I ask myself, ‘What can I do to make me better?’ so I can pass that on and make it better for everyone else.
Tell us about your most memorable moment in your career to date?
Only 1? I have nearly 30 years of memorable moments!
– Keys to my first academy in 2003 at 21 years old.
– Shaping futures in the Philippines in 2019 was completely lifechanging. It totally ignited a passion in me to do more for charity and I have been able to support and start courses for young people here.
– 3 consecutive Educator of the Years is monumental for me. I think I’m honestly still trying to process what that means and how big it is!
– Also finalising twice for Education Expert. Wow.
Be honest, how hard was the build-up of the empire?
Hard. But fun, so much fun. But yeah, it’s hard. We are constantly met with red tape and audits that take up so much time and energy, but we just have to get on with it. I have THE most incredible team beside me, that are just as passionate as I am. I’ve had my fair share of issues (recruitment etc) like everyone but having the team and all the other RRI Salon Directors always supporting and helping each other through with any struggles, we come back stronger. Linda and Alan are an absolute rock foundation and have been on hand for advice and mentorship whenever we need it. They push me to be better and do more, but without diluting anything I have built in the process. It has been all been incredibly worthwhile.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
Well next year I go into Hall of Fame for Educator of the Year, which will be nice to go and not be a bag of nerves!
– I would love to get some more judging opportunities at some point in the future.
– I 100% want to go back out with Shaping Futures and teach in the Philippines.
– More work with HABIA on future qualifications.
– Working in our Art Team and maybe even get me properly on a stage at some point, much to Suzie’s delight!
All of these ambitions will run alongside my ongoing commitment to running my Academy and supporting my team of 120 apprentices. It’s an exciting time, and I’m eager to embrace these opportunities for growth and contribution to our industry.
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