Diary of a Non-Wimpy HairdresserThere's a whole lot more than 2,800 miles that separate Venice Beach, California, and New York City—there's culture, weather, political views and most of all, fashion. But none of that intimidated Mary Tran, a stylist at the trendy Sit Still salon in Venice Beach, who won the trip of a lifetime to travel to Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and be part of Rodney Cutler's team. Tran won the trip after posting the best video in Shortcuts' Most Wanted competition and sharing the fact that she's guilty of being in constant search of inspiration. 

When her competition video was showcased with the other finalists on the Most Wanted website, it garnered her almost 50 percent of the 4,230 votes. Shortcust now hopes those who voted and others will give Tran support online during the week by posting message of support and advice.

All this week, Tran will be offering other stylists an intimate and detailed insight into what it feels like to be a hairdresser backstage at Fashion Week for the first time through her daily video blog for the Most Wanted site. (CLICK HERE to visit site.) She'll give the lowdwon on what's she's doing, where's she's been and whose hair she's been styling, as well as all the insider fashion scoop. There'll also be real-time updates from the team on Twitter, Flickr ad Facebook during and between shows, giving follower a unique and first-hand glimpse of what goes on behind the runway.

"I still can't believe I won the Shortcuts Most Wanted competition. I thought it was just a prank when I was told, but I'm so excited. I've been practicing my dressing skills furiously for months," she said. "I've done my best, and I'm hoping that's good enough for Rodney and his team."

The Cutler team will be doing 40-plus shows througouth MBFW, with as many as eight or nine in one day, some of which overlap. It's a frantic time for everyone, even the most seasoned of sessionists, and mary will be in there with everyone else, an acti ve member of the team on shows such as Carols Miele, Rebecca Taylor and Tadashi. She may even be called on to assist at DKNY and Levi.

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