
Rodrick Samuels on The Silent Work, Modern Beauty Education and Why Empathy Wins
MODERN SALON sat down with Samuels to discuss the book, beauty education, mentorship and the habits that help beauty professionals thrive.
THE EVENT: “The Masters of Hairdressing: Legacy Sessions”, the 2 day program, combining the talents of three master educators from the L’Oreal Professional Products Division (Matrix, Redken, Pureology, Mizani, L'Oreal ...















THE EVENT: “The Masters of Hairdressing: Legacy Sessions”, the 2 day program, combining the talents of three master educators from the L’Oreal Professional Products Division (Matrix, Redken, Pureology, Mizani, L'Oreal Professionnel, Kerastase and Shu Uemura), held October 23 - 24 in NYC at the Redken Exchange.
THE DETAILS: 60 salon professionals from North America attended this intense training and workshop designed to share information gathered over the years from some of the top artists in the world. “I like to think of it as a jam-session,” says Chris Baran who was representing Redken as a master. “We are passing down our tips, tricks, tools and secrets to the next generation.” Baran was joined by fellow masters Nicholas French (Matrix) and Ruth Roche (Pureology); and lead facilitators Evie Peterson (Mizani), Lauren Sill (Kerastase/Shu Uemura) and Travis Parker (L’Oreal Professionnel). (Kris Sorbie, who has been instrumental in the planning, was unable to attend.) After learning the tricks and tips, the attendees, masters and facilitators moved from the auditorium to the floor of the exhange to practice their craft and newfound techniques on mannequin heads. It WAS a jam session!
A WHO’S WHO: Obviously there were the big name talents leading the sessions, but what was most shocking were the super star colorists and stylists in attendance including Amit Abraham, Wendy Belanger, Danielle Keasling, Ellen Lawlor, Isabella Vasquez, Brent Borreson, Gay Dering, Evie Johnson, Jennifer MacDougall, Michael Albor, Todd Kane, Daniel Roldan, M-Kat…it just goes on and on. 60 in all, all master educators themselves learning from the super masters.
THE LAST WORD: Christine Schuster, Senior Vice President, Education Professional Products Division at L'Oreal, shares why the Legacy training was so important: “We are bringing together the masters of this industry under one roof to look at, focus and dive deep into the legacy and the lineage of this industry…what is important about our craft. We spend so much time in the now, the modern and the future, we really must understand where we come from. It’s important that we know it, understand it and that we pass it on. ”
THE NEXT ONE?: Schuster says there are no plans for a second session, but if/when announced, it's a guarantee sell out. This program was something else.

MODERN SALON sat down with Samuels to discuss the book, beauty education, mentorship and the habits that help beauty professionals thrive.

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