Michelle O'Connor poses with her 2018 NAHA awards, won in the categories of Texture and Avant Garde 
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Michelle O'Connor poses with her 2018 NAHA awards, won in the categories of Texture and Avant Garde

Michelle O'Connor poses with her NAHA awards in January 2019 after winning in the Texture and Avant Garde Categories.

NAHA (North American Hairstyling Awards), the competition considered by many to be the most important beauty competition in the United States, is right around the corner. Submissions are due by August 8, 9 pm EST.  Soon after that, selections will be sent to judges who will then pour over the entries. Finalists will be announced on Nov. 14, 2019 who are then invited to attend the awards ceremony which will be held on January 25, 2020 during the ISSE show in Long Beach, California. 

There has been quite a bit of buzz about the judging panel for the 2020 NAHA. Several months ago an invite was sent out to the industry at large and potential judges submitted their credentials. Hundreds volunteered their expertise and the PBA (Professional Beauty Association - the producers of NAHA) narrowed it down 121 qualified members of the salon and spa worlds that according to the press release, "continue a legacy of fairness, diversity and elevation of the beauty industry."

So who made the cut? Included among the judges for this NAHA are former winners, influencers, top artists and MODERN's own Alison Alhamed and Maggie Mulhern (see the full list below.)

MODERN checked in with PBA to learn more about the new judging concept, and received answers to the following questions:

How has the judging changed this year? We are always looking for the best in the industry to be involved with NAHA. This year, we decided to do a call for judges to get more of the industry involved. Also, since NAHA is produced by the Professional Beauty Association, we wanted to make sure judges were members.

How are judges selected? A small committee of industry experts reviewed all of the applications and selected the most qualified. 

How many judges are there? The final selection was around 130.

Please share an overview/breakdown of the judges (for example: 10 former winners, 10 editors, 15 international…anything like that): Our final list of judges includes previous winners, finalists, editors, photographers, top salon owners, industry icons, renowned stylists, nail artists, and makeup artists. 

Who does the initial judging before sending the top 5 out to the final judges? A small committee of top industry pros conducts the first round of judging. These NAHA experts are verifying all competition and category rules were followed, and the work is NAHA quality. Then, those selections are expanded out to the larger second round, who choose the finalists. The final third round group selects the winners in each category.

JUDGES (in alphabetical order):

  1. Tara Acosta                                                    
  2. Liza Adams
  3. Renee Africa
  4. George Alderete
  5. Alison Alhamed
  6. Dedra Allen
  7. Misael Aponte
  8. Carolyn Aronson
  9. Chris Baran
  10. Snooky Bellomo
  11. Tish Bellomo
  12. Katie Bennett
  13. Chrystofer Benson
  14. David Berglass
  15. Charlie Brackney Love
  16. Amy Burness
  17. Dr. Tye Caldwell
  18. Tara Carrano Mcvety
  19. Andrew Carruthers
  20.  Ammon Carver
  21. Dustin Cash
  22. Eveline Charles
  23. Michelle Cicora
  24. Lauren Conway
  25. Michael Shaun Corby
  26. Angel Del Solar
  27. Lindsey DeMith
  28. Michael Devellis
  29. Jamie DiGrazia
  30. Christopher Dove
  31. Shantel Dye
  32. Jamal Edmonds
  33. Larreta Exson Stevenson
  34. Tammy Felice
  35. Eric Fisher
  36. Chaune’ Nicole Fitzgerald
  37. Lupe Flores
  38. Amy Foreman
  39. Amy Freudenberg
  40. Sean Godard
  41. Jeffrey Grissler
  42. Martin Gugliotti
  43. Cheryl Gushue
  44. Andrea Hans
  45. Pat Helmandollar
  46. Franco Hernandez
  47. Timothy Howard
  48. Patsy Howser
  49. Shawna Indahl
  50. Christian James
  51. Sherri Jessee
  52. Linda Jordan
  53. Danielle Keasling
  54. Coral Lahiani
  55. Liz Lee
  56. Ann Leibman
  57. Peter Leuzzi
  58. Ashlee Levitch
  59. Mia Liguori McHugh
  60. Morgan Longford
  61. Liza Macawili
  62. Hali McCord
  63. Missy Megginson
  64. Rudy Miles
  65. Andrea Miller
  66. Beth Minardi
  67. Tracy Mueller
  68. Maggie Mulhern
  69. Katie Nielsen
  70. Patricia Nikole
  71. Tamara Obregon
  72. Joe Oliveri
  73. Kendall Ong
  74. Colleen Paiva
  75. Lilliam Penaloza
  76. Carrie Perkins
  77. Cherry Petenbrink
  78. Jalia Pettis
  79. Galyna Poczciwinski
  80. Stephanie Polansky
  81. Wanza Poole
  82. Steven Porter
  83. Joanne Powers
  84. Susie Powers
  85. Charlie Price
  86. AnneMichelle Radcliffe
  87. Robert Reed
  88. Alexis Rivera
  89. Steven Robertson
  90. Lynn Saden
  91. Maria Sandoval
  92. Valerie Schaubroeck
  93. Dorothy Seitz
  94. Candy Shaw
  95. Annie Shell
  96. Tonja Shingu
  97. John Simpson
  98. Stacey Smoker
  99. Mio Sota
  100. David Stanko
  101. Nick Stenson
  102. Kelly Taggart
  103. Florencia Taylor
  104. Tina Thomas
  105. Jessica Tiddes
  106. Starlette Tolver
  107. Chloe Tran
  108. Jill Turnbull
  109. Anna Vaul-Holaday
  110. Sam Villa
  111. Lisa Von Kurvink
  112. Jeff Wacker
  113. Steven Waldman
  114. J-Travis Walters
  115. Kenneth Washburn
  116. Jamie Wiley
  117. David Winterhalter
  118. Lisa Yamaskai
  119. Lori Zabel
  120. Victoria Zegarelli
  121. Ivan Zoot

 

 

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