Make your self a coffee and get comfy a pretty interesting read is on the cards and a late night,…………….Its a long one.

 

Hi readers, my name is Jack Robinson Pullen, I’m 24, born and I was raised in Milton Keynes.

I have been in the hairdressing industry for just over 10 years now!

 

So where to start? Well, before I go ahead, I can talk for England & anyone that knows me personally or who has watched me on stage would know I’m never short for words.

So Jack, how and why did you become a barber?

 

– Well, the how sort of came before the why, but have both been as important stepping stones on my journey.

 

I started off at 13 in a Unisex salon, I never consciously wanted to be a hairdresser although looking back now having two aunties and a nan who were hairdressers, the fact that i used to do my own hair in all sorts of crazy styles and colours and the fact that I always wanted to do my families and friends hair I guess it was always bound to happen.

 

The moment i picked up my first pair of scissors, i fell in love with the industry & you just could not stop m so much so that i once cut my mates hair in the toilets at school and had my clippers confiscated.

 

I was lucky though, my mum worked at the school i went to and as a result i was cutting my teachers hair at home. At first my cuts were free and then 5 pound then 10 and i would cut anywhere kitchen, garden, bedroom, I didn’t care! When i was 16, I also had a little moped and it had a box on the back of it and id keep my tools in it as i went to my friends houses to cut their hair.

 

At 16 i moved into a barbers and started to find my passion in pattern work. Coming from an artistic family I could never draw with a pencil, that was my sisters speciality. But instantly found it ‘easy’ to do it with a set of clippers. Of course it takes practice but it quickly became my forte.

 

Over the years I’ve been able to create a fusion of softer hairdressing techniques and theoretical understanding and more clinical barbering to create images and looks that my customers and followers seem to adore and just as importantly I am proud of. Of course i have many great barbers and hairdressers to thank for their guidance.

 

Who do you look up to in the industry?

 

– Ok, so being in the position I am nowadays where I have a lot of people who look up to what I do, I must say that despite what people may think I am still looking at EVERYONE to constantly learn and improve and the younger (albeit I’m only 24) generation are providing me with a great inspiration and constantly reminds me that there are some amazing barbers coming into this industry and I always have to be on top of my game not just for my customers but on a national scale. I’d have to say that if there were a particular set of people who I look up to they would include;

 

• KEVIN LUCHMAN, a friend of mine who has been a great mentor and help as I have made a path in this industry. He constantly pushes boundaries and creates flawless images, the former BHA Men’s hairdresser of the year, is simply one of the ELITE! and I feel a connection to him in a sense of creativity due to a similar back ground of ladies and men’s hairdressing.

 

• CHRIS FOSTER, my fellow BBA educator again has given me advice and been a massive help in my career and moulding my stage presence and his enthusiasm and energy is incomparable. He has produced some of the best editorial work I’ve seen and inspires me massively.

 

•JOSH LAMONACA. Me and the lad are made of the same bread. I’ve studied his work closely and watched the way he educates and the in depth theoretical understanding he has is unchallenged by ANYONE else I’ve seen. He is at the top of his game right now and id LOVE to collaborate with him!

 

But the list goes on… people like Alan and Reece Beak, Jamie and Tony Roberts, Greg Mcerlane, Jamie Stevens, John Vial, Michael Damiano, Danny Robinson, I could go on!

Whats a typical day for you?

 

On a day to day basis I work in a unisex salon in Milton Keynes 3 days a week. I’ve dropped down to 3 days due to my commitments to my academy, (Mobilebarberingacademy)Scissorhands and the BBA as well as personal projects such a photo shoots, video shoots and also trying to fit in a LIFE, which becomes hard. I wake up and deal with the boring stuff, invoices, emails, lesson planning (I teach at a college), booking courses, flights and travel, and dealing with other paper work. Currently in the process of adding a store onto my website and putting together advertising material deal with staff, of which i have a great team! Running your own business isn’t easy but is very rewarding!

 

Can you explain to us a little about your MobileBarberingAcademy and what makes your courses different to all the others out there?

 

– Ok, so I set up the academy with the intention to help improve the quality of education nationwide.

 

We travel out to salons and colleges all over the UK and now Europe to deliver all levels of men’s hairdressing and barbering training.

 

All education delivered runs in line with the current NVQ level 2 and 3 and the new Level 4 curriculum. However we found that a lot of this education isn’t practical in a barbershop environment. We also found that hairdressing courses missed out fundamental men’s hairdressing and techniques such and clipper over comb and scissor over comb. We know that over 60 percent of barbers are trained in shop meaning they miss out on the fundamental theory work required to understand hair such as basic hair science and understanding internal structure.

 

So this is what we did:

• We designed courses for all levels of stylist and all type of background.

• We come to you meaning, you have no expensive travel or accommodation costs.

•This also enable stylists to feel comfortable in their own environments.

•We provide our students with over 30 pages of educational material for the students to keep once we leave to help develop their skills over time.

•We work closely with some of the best industry related companies to provide our students with the best tools to use.

•And finally, the pricing structure is ‘Salon based’ this means that we charge the same price for 1 student and we do for up to 8. This makes thetraining cost effective for everyone.

 

When doing our research we found that a lot of courses charged excessive amount of money for education, normally a figure of between £200-£300 per person and we wanted to address this.

 

This year alone we have taught over 20 salons and over 200 students. With an average review rating of 9/10 something i’m very proud of.

 

What particular type of courses do you offer and what can people expect from them?

We also offer a range of course which include:

 

•Basic mens hairdressing and barbering

•Advanced fade master

•Advanced hairdressing and barbering

•Artistic pattern course

•Hot towel shave facial course

•Bespoke course

 

Our most popular course this year has been the fade master course. Fades have been a popular trend now for a few years and everyone wants to learn how to get that perfect fade.

 

Our shaving course is also very popular.

 

We have also had a lot of returning custom and with course always improving 2016 will see the introduction of new courses, seminars and of course new educators. Our courses are very in depth but most of all fun and I like to think inspiring.

 

I saw you at the Barber bash in Liverpool and was impressed with your stage presence. Is that confidence something you’ve had to work on?

 

– Of course, the first time I went on stage I was terrible, petrified and shaking. Anyone who knows me will tell you I don’t lack confidence, but this is different. Just like anything, over time it becomes easier and now i get a massive buzz off of getting on stage. You have to learn how to present, punctuate, explain things in a clear way and be able to engage an audience as well as learning how to advertise and promote a brand. All of which I have learnt a lot from my Scissorhands mentor, Ashley Howard. This man is an absolute genius!!

 

Ok lets talk ‘FADES’. At the barber bash you did a fade in around 10 mins, which was pretty impressive. What’s the biggest mistake people make when doing skin fades and what advice would you give to someone who is finding it difficult to get them spot on?

 

– Thank you, personally it was tough for me that day and I wasn’t actually supposed to be cutting on stage that day. I went to enjoy the show and ended up getting dragged on stage, but nevertheless I enjoyed it as I always do. I wanted to show something different, not a type of hair cut but a technique and show they don’t have to take forever however to get them perfect I would advise spending a bit of time to get it right.

 

Everyone does things differently and thats one of the biggest things I’ve had to learn. There is not one way to do things there are hundreds and in the end as long as the end product is good thats all that matters.

 

Personally my top tips for people wanting to improve their fades would be these:

 

•Take your time, don’t ever rush a haircut or a fade. It better to do things right once then have to go over it 2 or 3 times.

•Consistency is key and this starts with your method. Open up your mind and try new things but when you find a way your comfortable with stick to it!

•Use a range of tools and utilise them correctly. For example I use 6 different sets of clippers every day and I use 4 of them and a cut throat to achieve my fades.

• Patience and practice. Its not going to happen over night. When learning a new technique or style it takes times to adapt but with patience and practice you will get there

 

How do you see gents styles changing over the next few years?

 

– With all that being said about Fades I actually see styles becoming looser, less groomed and longer. People are coming away from these groomed smooth modern pompadours and skin fades and leaving it slightly longer, textured and with a lot more movement nowadays.

But trends go in circles so whats next? Curtains? DA? I don’t know

 

How do you think coming from a unisex background has shaped the way you work or do you consider them two separate things?

 

– I think that generally there is this divide of ‘hairdressers’ and ‘barbers’. I think the line is starting to become blurred and in MY opinion its rubbish. We all cut hair, we all hold scissors and all use clippers nowadays, we all style hair and barbershops now perm and also some colour hair. We are all artists in our own right and i believe that an understanding in both sides of this industry can allow and aid your growth as a stylist. It definitely has myself, I’ve also studied, make up and photography, does that make me a make up artist? No, but being able to understand this helped me when I produce images for shoots and my own advertising. So I would advise everyone to open their mind to learn new skills. Whether they use them on a day to day basis is up to them however being able to have a range of skills in your arsenal will help you produce better work. FACT!

 

Which is most important, passion or artistic ability?

 

– Simply put both are massive factors but for me passion out-weighs artistic ability. If you don’t have passion for this industry give up and become a banker. Because you’ll earn a damn sight more doing that. But for me it’s never been about money.

 

Passion gives you the ability to want to learn, grow, ask questions, seek answers and push yourself. You CAN learn how to cut hair its not always natural. But if you’ve got passion for something you’ll jump any hurdle to get to where you wanna be. My passion is teaching, I love seeing a student grow and transform and being able to apply this to hairdressing is amazing for me.

 

What drives you is it the money, the fame or the women?

 

Haha, I’m not famous by any stretch I just do the job I love and try and help other people. I must admit that it is strange when people ask for a photo with you at trade shows, I’ve had people call me a guru, their inspiration and it is so humbling but I got to say I’m no different to anyone else. I love cutting hair! Like I said previously its never been about money for me but I’ve learnt to value my skill more nowadays and don’t give discounts or freebies away as I think this devalues what I do. And as for women I have recently met someone very special and I’m just seeing how it goes. She’s crazy!

 

Can you tell us about the set up you use on a daily basis?

 

– Ok, so I’m the lead platform artist and an educator for Scissorhandsuk so i have a range of Scissorhands tools. I use 4 scissors everyday. My ideal line up consists of a longer scissor (The new Sceptre) a shorter scissor (The dragon XD) my lumen soft cut (30 tooth) and my lumen EVO (15 tooth)

 

The Scissorhands lumen Evo literally changed my life. Off the back of purchasing an Evo from Ashley i reached the Finals of the BBA masters 2 years running, which gave me the opportunity to become a BBA educator, became a Scissorhands Rep, reached finals of over 13 competitions and won a bundle of awards and accolades. I can also truly say that it is like the swiss army knife of hairdressing scissors i do everything with it.

 

I have over 36 pairs of scissors and over 20 pairs of clippers i use Wahl and Andis and my daily line up consists of 6 clippers.

 

•Wahl wireless super tapers -general cutting

•Wahl Legend- fading

•Wahl Bellina- bulk removal

•Wahl balding- for tight cutting

•Wahl detailers- line outs and patterns

•Andis D-8 – line out and patterns

 

But I like to switch it up every now and then. I’ve also got Andis fades, us pros, Wahl shaver shaper, magic clips, academy’s, beretto’s and many more.

I’m an equipment junkie!!

 

It also helps when teaching to have multiple clippers so everyone has quality tools to use on our courses.

 

You don’t seem to have a lot of stuff on Youtube? Is this something you may do in future?

 

– We do have Instagram, Youtube and Twitter pages, just search for Mobilebarberingacademy or JackRobinsonPullen

We are currently in the process of filming a series and this will be up on YouTube by the beginning of 2016 as we launch our new curriculum. This will be an interactive series to cater for people wants and needs. The full videos will be available to purchase from our website!

Favourite moment in the industry so far?

– Wow, well this tough, performing on massive stages? Meeting my hairdressing idols? Setting up my own business? Winning competitions? One of the biggest things for me is definitely having the opportunity to take the MBA international, I’m flying to Germany to represent a massive company and launch a new product. It’s all still a bit of a whirlwind and never seems to stop but I LOVE every second.

Amongst all this, do you get to enjoy any hobbies?

ERM…. Well I love football and many other sports, good food, spending time with my family and the Mrs. Love a good old sing song, enjoy art and have a massive love for photography. My mind never stops ticking and sometimes it’s hard to switch off but I keep telling myself it will all be worth it in the end

FINALLY… what does 2016 hold for you?

– 2016 is going to be a big year for me! With the launch of the website shop, educational videos, new curriculum, the re-launch of Scissorhandsuk, I’m now running a blog on the new BBA website, International education, employing new educators and training. The aim is to open my first salon and training centre so we can actually deliver NVQ’s and i will be producing a collection of around 8 images for advertising and editorial purposes. And of course competitions and trade shows.

 

In the life of Jack Robinson Pullen its non-stop and I would like to say a massive thank you to all who have contributed to helping me grow and achieve my dreams and who have supported me and pushed to break my own personal goals.