Pretty much from when I learnt how to talk I wanted to be a hairdresser.

I used to love going to the barber with my dad and brothers and seeing the whole process and the business. I always wanted him to just cut my hair then and there but because he was a barber, he obviously never cut female hair. From then I always wanted to be a hairdresser.

I went through school here in Lismore and then when I started year 11 began attending TAFE and began my Cert II course in hairdressing. Eventually after that, I decided to leave school and then get an apprenticeship here in town at an old hair salon in Lismore Central. 

After I completed my apprenticeship there, I began working at a hair retail store in the Lismore Square. It was a great taste for me working in haircare with cutting, dying and the retail aspect of it as well. I was able to understand how different products worked with each hair type and I got an understanding of the process which did eventually help me with opening Cut Loose later on in 2019. They never reopened after the flood, despite it being one of the only places in Lismore that easily sold hair products for all different kinds of hair. 

From there, I went to Stephanie Hair Design in the Warina Walk Arcade around the corner from where we are now. I was there for nine years, then I moved to Cannes for 12 months. It wasn’t a change that I viewed as permanent at all, I just wanted a change of scenery and to do something different, cause I always knew I wanted to come back and fulfil my dreams of opening my own salon here in Lismore. After that period of time, I came back and bought Cut Loose at 125 Keen Street in 2019.

Just under a year after I opened I was forced by the government to shut up during COVID. 

They brought in a lot of restrictions and regulations at the beginning of the lockdowns to ensure that people still had access to essential things like haircuts. However, we were only allowed one person in here for half an hour at a time. Now, with lady's hair it obviously takes longer than half an hour with colouring and other processes. So, therefore, I was pretty much forced to shut up shop.

With all the lockdowns and things I closed but I opened up an online store where I was still selling products. That way, my clients were still able to access the essential products they needed for their hair and other things I was delivering locally to people’s houses. I also set up a day initially where people could come into the store in town and send me a message and I’d happily package it up and pass it out to them very carefully.

I ensured that there was minimal contact and even some people that didn't want to come in contact, I'd set it out the door when I could see them coming I’d place it out the door and then they’d come and pick it up, we managed that way.

I was able to get myself through the pandemic through that, but I was patiently waiting for the restrictions to end so I could have all of my clients back in the salon and back to business as usual. 

I think we had two or three lockdowns in Lismore during COVID, so in my first three years of owning the business since 2019, I hadn't even done a full 12 months of trade. After the lockdowns, then came the flood. 

The flood was devastating. I actually had to walk through flood water to get back here in the store to assess the damage, considering we are right on Keen Street. I can't remember if it was the Tuesday or the Wednesday after the flood, but I was ankle-deep in the water trying to get my way in here.

The initial opening of the door and seeing that everything was trashed and covered in mud was absolutely devastating for me. All of my hard work of my new business, especially after COVID, just gone in an instant. I said to myself at the start of the process, I can't do this. Probably for a good couple of weeks after February 28th, I had it in my mind that I was done and that I wasn't coming back, I couldn’t. There was no coming back from it. 

After that, I thought about it. I opened a temporary salon just at my house so that I could continue to do people's hair and to make them feel better after something so traumatic. I had a lot of clients reaching out to me who went through the flood themselves and lost their home wanting to come and get their hair done so then they could still feel nice about something.

I decided to open up from home until I rebuilt the salon downtown. Initially, I had the thought that I was going to move away, like a lot of people thought in those first few weeks from the shock, and do a lot of things that went through my head. The main thing that truly kept me here in town and in the CBD was that without Lismore I don't have a business. My entire career has been here, and this town helped me go from a small store with just myself doing hair, to what it is today. Coming back after the flood was a no brainer really.



My main reason for branching out into the products was to definitely give back to the Lismore community. Everybody lost so much in the flood and there was a predominant hole in the market for hair care here after the closing of the other retail suppliers after the flood. I had a lot of people coming in not wanting to go to supermarkets and things like that to buy their hair care because it tends not to be the best quality compared to the high-end products that we sell here in stores from our suppliers. After the flood I was ordering things individually based on recommendations from people, but then decided why not just get everything in and people have a one-stop shop? 

I did a lot of research on a lot of the brands before I added them in-store. I want to highlight the industry here in Australia and remain local, so a lot of my brands are Australian owned and I wanted to stick with more of that. I do have a few overseas companies that I use, but I was pretty much just getting what I thought would help people in this hot and humid climate with different products. I cater for all different types of hair, colours, lengths and textures and all things like that.

From there I just started contacting different companies and organising meetings so I could hopefully begin selling their products. We still have reps come in monthly from each brand. So it's pretty full on but Deb, that works here with me, she handles a lot of it for me too which is amazing.

I just want to thank the community for all of their support with the initial business, the rebuild and now with the current Cut Loose. Like I said, without Lismore I really wouldn't have a business. I'm just really grateful for everyone and hope that I’m able to give back in a small way to the greater community by offering these new services and having a one-stop shop for all your hair care needs.