It’s a common old adage ‘Never mix business with pleasure,’ but these two high-end hair practitioners are good friends who have worked together for more than five years and still find plenty of time to share a drink and a laugh. Linda and Justin even spent a holiday in Thailand together, along with their respective partners.
They’ve known each other for years. More than twenty years, in fact. They met back in 1991 when they worked together at South Yarra salon PDF and Justin sported long black hair. (Which he’d rather not discuss…) After a couple of years they went their separate ways.
Then five years ago, Linda was working at a boutique in Prahran where she wasn’t happy. When a client told her that Justin had opened up his own salon just around the corner in Greville Street, Linda was ecstatic and bolted there as soon as she could to see if they could work together. He happily agreed and asked when she could start.
‘Tomorrow!’ replied Linda. The timing couldn’t have been better.
For both, it meant working with an old friend they adored. As well, they have enormous admiration for each other’s respective careers – Justin as a leading hairdresser and Linda being renowned in Melbourne as a brilliant hair colourist. That’s her specialty and means she’s always well booked up in advance. As is the very talented Justin.
Most of all they’re happy to have found a new home in St Kilda, where they opened Salon Golightly last month – conveniently situated just opposite the George Hotel.
‘We’re back amongst our people,’ says Linda. ‘There’s more of a cultural mix here. You get a bit of everything in St Kilda. It feels more comfortable.’
‘It feels like home, ‘says Justin.
Both agree that the hair industry can be a tough business to survive in. It’s highly competitive and egos abound. ‘It’s full of lunatics,’ declares Linda.
So how do they make it work? Being friends and working together? ‘Well I think that’s just it,’ said Linda. ‘That we ARE friends makes it viable. It’s easy. There’s none of that hoo-hah that generally goes on.’
‘So you must have a lot in common?’ I suggest.
‘Our birthdays are on the same day,’ said Linda. ‘The sixth of the sixth.’ Ah, so that explains it!
‘She’s to the point and there’s no bullshit so you always now where you stand,’ said Justin. ‘As much as I love her, she annoys the hell out of me sometimes, but we work in similar ways. We’re hard workers and like to get on with the job.’
And they do work hard. But I also hear them laugh together often. I’ve been seeing Linda to have my hair coloured for nearly twenty years and can vouch for the fact that she’s never been happier.
For Linda, there’s another bonus that comes with working with Justin. ‘He loves cleaning!’
So you don’t have to do any at all?’ I ask.
‘It’s not that I don’t try. He always does it before I get a chance.’
Justin disagrees. ‘It’s just that she knows what I don’t like doing so she is aware of that and gets in first with those jobs. For instance, I’m happy to clean up wine glasses because if I don’t she’ll break them and leave the lipstick marks on them, but I don’t like cleaning up the tint bowls so she’ll get on and do that.’
Yes, he said ‘wine glasses’. That’s the other lovely service provided at Salon Golightly. There’s a bar at the end of the long room, where Justin will happily double as a bar tender for his loyal clients who fancy a glass of wine toward the end of the day.
Linda also loves the fact that Justin has a wonderful eye for interior design. ‘He always likes to have things looking nice,’ she said. ‘I know when I come to work in the morning, it will all be sorted and look polished.’
‘I try not to involve myself in all that because I know I won’t do as good a job. If I ever suggest something, he just looks at me as if to say, “Don’t bother”.’ Not that Linda’s offended. She loves it.
Would Justin like to turn his hand to interior design? ‘No, I love experimenting but I’d hate doing a job for someone else and not having complete control. Say I did a room then someone wanted to put little knick knacks everywhere…’ He made a face.
‘That would do his head in,’ said Linda. ‘At the same time, I have to say he’s much better at doing something for a hair client that might not suit them than I am. If I have to do something I hate, it’s written all over my face.’
Not that either of them often have difficult clients. If someone’s TOO obnoxious, they won’t take the booking. I know this because when I asked them if they’d ever had to refuse a client, they looked at each other and started laughing.
Justin says he’s always polite. ‘I’ve had clients who come to an appointment, sit in the chair and say, “Last time you cut my hair I hated it and everyone else hated it.” So I ask them why they’re back? Then I suggest that clearly they’re not happy with my work and that they should go somewhere else. Then they generally burst into tears and go to the toilet, come back and apologise and we get on with it. But a few have left and that’s fine. It’s very rare.’
‘I’ve never had that. I just don’t take the calls from those ones,’ said Linda. ‘I don’t want to be tortured. I’m just not interested.’
As for future plans, Justin says they’re looking for one more person to work alongside them in their new salon.
Sounds appealing. A new salon set in the heart of eclectic, beachside St Kilda, opposite the George with two friends who work together like a dream. Now, where is my resume?
If you’re interested in a job or having a wonderful new ‘look’, here’s the details for Salon Golightly:
Don’t you just love the first of the month? A fresh start, a new beginning, new resolutions and in my case, a new diet. It’s also the month that has thousands of Australians taking up the FEB FAST Challenge. Which usually means giving up alcohol. (although you can choose to give up coffee, sugar, caffeine or even digital screens as alternatives.)
Fletch and a few of his Neighbours mates are taking up the alcohol option. He’s already had some generous donations pledged from some lovely friends. If you’d also like to show your support, here’s the link.
I’m not quite so brave. I am doing a pathetic half-arsed version of the challenge by ‘saying’ I’m doing Feb Fast without signing up… There’s a good reason for this but I don’t want to go into details. Suffice to say I might have to head overseas soon and if that happens, well, yes OF COURSE I’d be drinking! And I want a practice run before fully committing next year.
I’m curious to see how I’ll go. And Fletch. I’ve heard lots of good things, so I’m actually looking forward to it.
Apparently you lose weight (YES!) and generally achieve a bucket load more in life, so I’ll keep you posted and let you know.
God knows I need to kick start the diet thing again after falling off the wagon MASSIVELY over the Christmas break. Getting on the scales right now is downright scary.
Some of you might remember me banging on last year about a diet I put together myself because I wanted something that was realistic to manage, simple to implement and easy to stick to. I called it the FIT FIX Diet, and yep, it really worked. If you’d like an overview, you can refer back to this blog to see the food plan for the first three weeks.
This time I’m still going to stick to the FIT FIX Diet Plan rules with the extra kicker – NO ALCOHOL. Plus some strategies from a book I mentioned in the last Blog, called Willpower.
It’s worth a read. Although I do think there are some contradictions in the chapter about dieting. Basically, the authors say there’s no point attempting to take up special diets because they never work. But at the same time, they say certain ‘rules’ can be effective. Like no sugar. If sugar isn’t an option at all, then you don’t waste time and energy deciding whether to eat the stuff, you just say ‘no’ and be done with it.
But if you implement a new ‘rule’, then you are in effect, creating a new diet anyway, aren’t you? Hmmm…
The best tip though, is the ‘not now, but later’ theory. The idea is that you never say to yourself, ‘I can’t eat that yummy chocolate ice-cream tempting me from the freezer.’ What you are meant to say to yourself is, ‘I won’t eat that yummy chocolate ice-cream now, but I will have it in two hours.’ Or tomorrow.
And you probably never will eat it, but psychologically, you feel less deprived. Those who do this lose more weight and keep it off.
There are lots of fascinating stories about case studies and psychological tests on groups of people to support this theory, so I’m going to give it a go.
So there you have it. The new diet means no alcohol, sticking to the FIT FIX Diet Plan and using tips from the Willpower book. All sounds good, doesn’t it? But damn, I’m going to miss my chardonnay…
Are you giving up anything for February? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments section too.
Okay, okay, I know it’s a bit late for Happy New Year greetings etc… but I’ve only just landed back in Australia and it feels like I’m starting my New Year for real, today.
So HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you’ve started off the year with a huge bang and have a brilliant twelve months ahead.
Last year I made a big fuss about New Year’s resolutions but this year, I’m going to be a bit more low key. And a bit more ‘general’. By this, I mean I’m going to focus on HOW to achieve my resolutions, rather than talking about what they actually are. I reckon if I get that bit RIGHT, the rest will follow.
You see, I’m easily distracted. Always chasing the next best thing to keep my mind occupied and the spirit motivated. As I passed through Bangkok airport looking for some plane reading material, one title jumped out at me – WILLPOWER. Now that’s something I definitely need more of.
I’d like to discuss this in more detail, but one crucial piece of advice in the book is about creating a less stressful life, which means better planning strategies and time management. So I need to get ready for a function right now and rather than run late and stress about not being ready on time because I spent too much time blogging, I’m going to head to the shower RIGHT NOW. Because I have new-found will-power!
You should read this book. It really makes you look at your life and long-term goals and has some very valid theories backed up by far-reaching research about WHY certain methods will help you get where you want to be.
As a writer, I am no longer going to procrastinate and wait for inspiration. I am going to plan regular daily writing sessions – and treat this like a REAL job – so I can finally achieve my goals. Well, that’s just one of my resolutions.
But more on that later. Right now I have a shower deadline.
Happy New Year!
By this, I mean I’ve made a few resolutions but keeping them seems to be the tricky bit, so it’s the ‘how to keep them’ bit that I’m going to focus on.
I can’t believe it’s a year since I last wrote about taking a Christmas break from Blogging – surely that was only a month ago? Wasn’t it?
But then I look back at the calendar and see how many Blogs I’ve written, the places I’ve travelled to and the path life has taken me and realise that yes, indeed, a whole year has just whizzed on by yet again…
Right now, there’s other demands on my time that mean I might be posting less Blogs than usual at the start of 2014. There’s several creative writing projects that need my attention and I have learnt in the past few months that I just can’t do both.
To write creatively is a different matter altogether to writing a Blog and requires me to enter what I call ‘The Zone’. That means no other mental distractions – no matter how trivial – so I can be fully immersed in the world I’m conjuring.
As we come to the end of 2013, I’ll re-post a few of the most popular stories from throughout the year, and no doubt, there’ll be some adventures and embarrassing tales that I’ll need to share, but for now, I’m taking a break!
So I wish you all a VERY Happy Christmas and holiday season, and a multitude of blessings for the New Year.
Thanks for your support throughout 2013 and I’ll be back when I’ve conquered those creative dragons battling for my attention. Until then, take care, Christmas kisses and good luck.
It’s an impossible task – sitting down at one’s computer trying to write about Tim Winton’s latest novel, Eyrie. I’ve been staring at the blank page for hours, contemplating how to do such a book justice. Much has been said already and far more eloquently that I could ever hope to express. But persist I will, because as we hurtle into the holiday period, I know many of you will be looking for something new to read at the beach or on a plane. Time is of essence, so you need to choose wisely. Read something entertaining but also worthwhile. Something that will resonate and stir the soul, take you away from trashy tabloid mags and cheap reality TV. Tim Winton’s latest novel, Eyrie, would be my Number One pick. So where do I begin in explaining why? It’s an epic task. I have to remind myself that Tim Winton himself will not read this. So I shall remove the fear of disappointing so great a mind with my trivial ramblings and chat away. Because a BLOG is not a ‘serious’ book review. It’s more of a friendly natter between pals about something I think you’ll like. For starters, Eyrie is a real page-turner. Not since Winton’s Cloudstreet, have I enjoyed one of his novels as much. Well, hang on, I was fond of Breath, but Cloudstreet was always my favourite. And I think that was because of the characters. Flawed individuals struggling to find a place in the world. It’s a very Australian ‘thing’, isn’t it? Backing the underdog and rooting for any small victories they win along the way.
That’s also how I felt about Eyrie’s main protagonist, Tom Keely. He’s down and out, divorced and unemployed and the first time we meet, he’s trying to face the world, suffering a killer hangover. I liked him straight away. There’s also a sense of injustice about his grimy circumstances – how this former environmental activist ended up in a wasteland high-rise. We want to know more about how he got there and if he’ll turn the corner. Keely discovers a neighbour living in his apartment block is an old childhood friend, Gemma Buck. She’s a coarse, flinty former beauty who smokes like a chimney and speaks her mind. Her grandson, Kai, catches Keely’s attention and slowly, he starts to re-engage with the world. When a sinister threat emerges and puts Kai at risk, the action steps up. Keely starts making plans.
‘Saving’ others is a central theme of the book… Spoiler alert, page 289
But I’m not going to give you the whole plot or any real spoilers here. Although I should also mention, as far as one of the central themes goes, it’s Keely’s mother who provides the clues. Doris, is a strong and endearing character who knows her son better than he knows himself. As she tells him two-thirds into the book, ‘To save a drowner, you need to be a swimmer.’ Yes, there’s many characters in this book trying to save others. Doris and Keely’s sister, Faith, are trying to save him from himself, while he tries to save Gemma and Kai. Swimming, surfing, the great Aussie ocean, floating and all things aquatic have always featured heavily in Winton’s writing, and are again present in Eyrie. Although like the title suggests, from living up high in his lofty nest, his ‘eyrie’, Keely has a keen sense of a propensity to fall, a feeling of vertigo that may pull him down to a point where getting up is a questionable possibility. And that is what keeps us, the reader, turning the page, anxious to learn of Keely’s fate. It’s as if Winton is trying to draw his own focus away from the water for a change. So birdlife, flying and falling themes pull us away from the water to a more ‘airy’ level in this novel.
Every time I finish a Tim Winton book I marvel at the mind behind the words. It makes you want to know more about the man himself, but in real life, he gives very little away. He leads a private existence and rarely attends public events. Which probably explains how he’s been able to write and publish 25 books. The inside of Eyrie’s cover gives just a brief resume of his vast achievements. Yes, completely overwhelming. He’s won the Miles Franklin Award FOUR times.
Enough from me. Read Eyrie instead. If you’d like a copy of your own, order through Bookworld at Bookworld.com.au and by quoting this code – BW-SEO14 – you’ll receive a FIVE PER CENT discount.
This offer is valid until January 31st. It mightn’t sound like much, but that brings the price down to about $32, which is much less than the $45 being charged by Penguin books. (And that includes postage!!)
It’s an annual event and an invitation much sought after by Melbourne’s media girls – the Women in Media Lunch at Crown. That’s not just because Crown’s Ann Peacock always puts on such a wonderful day with superb food and champagne, it’s the company invited AND the incredible goody bag you stumble home with after a day of indulgence…
Last Friday we gathered at SILKS restaurant where the staff prepared a stunning feast of delicate dishes that blew my diet out of the water… not that I cared one bit!
In this case, the photos I took will best tell the story of how the day panned out so let’s take a look:
Never too old to sit on Santa’s knee – me with Herald Sun columnist Wendy Tuohy and Santa!
A highlight of the day was the entertainment – songs performed by a young man with one of the most beautiful voices I’ve heard – 11-year-old Beau Woodbridge. You’ll get the chance to hear him too when he performs at Carols By Candelight with David Hobson on Christmas Eve. And yes, you may have recognised his surname. His father is none other than tennis great Todd Woodbridge.
Whitening cream and skin evaluation voucher from Liberty Belle
Plus there were movie passes from Roadshow and Palace cinemas, all adding up to possibly the best-ever goody bag I’ve seen. Huge thanks to Ann Peacock, Crown and all the sponsors for such a wonderful day.
Every day brings with it a fresh start and for me, today is about clearing out old stories from the Blog (delete, Kaput, good-bye!!) and re-starting the FIT FIX Diet Plan. Yep, it’s back to a JUICE FAST day for me.
I’m well aware it’s not particularly interesting reading material to keep banging on about this diet, but I do know it’s the only way to make myself stick to the straight and narrow. So I’m just going to keep plugging away and this time, try to keep the updates regular, confess to all my sins and add in any new recipes or diet tips as they come to hand.
It’s also fair reason to add in a few funny life stories for amusement.
Take last night for instance. Of course I couldn’t have an AFD when taking part in a Trivia night with friends at the local pub! And after a few chardys, it seemed only fair to buy a shared dessert plate for the table to keep our brain cells active. So the diet went out the window.
But I think the sugar did the trick. While we didn’t win, we were only a few points away from victory. There were some stellar moments from the group – such as recognising the theme music from TV show Water Rats and knowing the name of the U.S. military decoration given to those wounded in battle. (It’s a Purple Heart)
I didn’t know many answers, but had one fine brain flash when we were asked what was the only anagram in the English language for the word ‘exclaims’. And I got it in a second!! Shall I give you a minute to think about it?
The thing I love about breaking my diet is that I can always find someone or something else to take the blame. In this case, I blame Mal Walden. It all started last week on Wednesday night when there were drinks at a pub after he finished reading his final Ten News bulletin. The next day I posted a picture of an empty ice-cream bucket found in the sink that morning…
I call it emotional eating. Mal’s leaving Ten is indeed the end of an era and I’m not immune to the emotions that go along with all of that.
As well, It’s obviously NOT a good time of year to begin a new health mission, what with the plethora of festive occasions that make eating and drinking mandatory. To be quite frank, in the last week I have been nothing short of appalling.
And you can see the results in the tummy bulge, popping out in this photo where I was snapped having a drink and a laugh with Mal at Parliament House last night. If you’ve been following my blogging updates with the FIT FIX Diet Plan, you will have noticed there haven’t been many instalments in the last week. Basically, that’s because there’s too many sins to be recounted. It’s just too plain embarrassing…
So now I really do have to start being ‘good’ again. At least I’m still weighing in at a couple of kilos LESS than when I started the campaign. But that dress really does look too tight. BAD.
Yep, there it is again – THAT tummy – in a reunion snap taken of the old Ten News team from back in the year 2000. And NO, I’m not pregnant… I really would like to get back to the 66kg mark I touched on for just one day at the end of week two. Now I’m up to 68.5 again. Boo.
The boys are all holding up pretty well, aren’t they? Congratulations to Stephen Quartermain who will now be filling the chair as main news anchor for Ten News. I know he’ll do a fine job.
But I have another food update for you. As you may know, I’m a lover of yoghurt but do try to find products with less than five per cent sugar. Recently, my nephew who works at JALNA, gave me a range of their products to try. At first I scrunched up my nose, saying, ‘Nah, most of that yoghurt is about TEN per cent sugar!’
‘But no,’, said Nathan, ‘Jalna doesn’t use any sugar in its yoghurt. They use pear juice instead.’
Now technically fruit juice is still high in sugar, but at least it’s not the processed kind! And given the sugar content is still less than TEN per cent in most varieties, I am now going to include JALNA yoghurt in the FIT FIX Diet Plan. I really think the company should promote the ‘no sugar’ fact on their packaging as I would have considered buying it before now if I’d known.
The new Citrus flavour is great, and I’ve always loved the Honey-Vanilla. But there’s one new variety I’m especially keen on – the new Greek ‘Sweet and Creamy’ yoghurt. Hmmmm – heavenly! And only 9.6% sugar. A much better alternative to ice-cream!!
Things are always changing in the Blogosphere, and it seems there’s a growing philosophy among those more knowledgable than I, that Blogs should be deleted after a certain period of time.
That way your website doesn’t look outdated, plus it’s a good excuse to ditch the pieces you just don’t like anymore.
Just ask Web expert Gerry McGovern, whose client list includes corporate giants such as Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, IBM, Atlas Copco and Tetra Pak.
‘Bringing customers to a page with wrong content is like bringing customers into a car salesroom to show them your cars that won’t start and have scratches all over the paintwork.’ ~ Gerry McGovern
There are others who dispute this; who claim the more Blogs that are up and available for readers to access, the better. That it’s like owning real estate. i.e. The more Blogs available to consumers – like properties for rent – the more ‘hits’, or rent payments you get.
I reckon there’s something to be said for both arguments, but am leaning toward the former. Another marketing expert has advised me to become more savvy about how I earn money from the Blog – something I’ve been loathe to take into account because it clashes with my traditional journalistic ethics. Her opinion is that I’m giving too much free publicity to businesses who give nothing in return.
The world is changing and journalists and writers are earning less while the costs of everything around us goes up. So yes, I am going to have to reconsider the way I run my business. This means I will still maintain the absolute essentials – that I will maintain absolute independence and never recommend anything I don’t like, regardless of inducements. I will always give an honest opinion whether money or gifts are involved or not. (And in most cases, they aren’t.) Examples in the past include NOT writing about venues, restaurants, products or books I don’t like, even after being offered incentives to do so.
As a result, this Blog – now nearly two years old – is about to get a very minor facelift. Meaning I’m going to go back to the beginning to review all content – deleting items I consider out-dated and considering whether to approach relevant businesses who have benefitted from free publicity about whether to leave those Blogs in place or not.
Personally, I like the simplest of transactions – being sent something I like, telling you about it and then being able to give you a discount option to sample the same product or book. Here’s a case in point. I’ve been sent a copy of Eyrie, the wonderful new book by Tim Winton. I’m in the middle of writing a review which I’ll be posting shortly, but can already tell you it’s brilliant and well worth reading.
So if you’d like a copy of your own, order through Bookworld at Bookworld.com.au and by quoting this code – BW-SEO14 – you’ll receive a FIVE PER CENT discount. This offer is valid until January 31st. It mightn’t sound like much, but that brings the price down to about $32, which is much less than the $45 being charged by Penguin books. (And that includes postage!!)
And don’t forget – if there’s something you may have seen on Facebook or Twitter from this Blog and not had time to read yet – get on to it. Some Blogs may get a quick re-run before deletion – others will just vanish into the stratosphere.
Former Channel Ten colleague and news librarian John Fife – a man famous for his wicked sense of humour and dry wit – just sent through a wonderful collection of old and now completely politically INCORRECT ads from yesteryear that I just had to share with you. It’s the end of the week after all and time for a few Friday funnies to give us all a laugh.
More slavery disguised as presents… Yes, I AM crying.
Of course, such sexist advertising now seems hilarious. Or frightening. Perhaps both. At least we can sigh with relief that those days are now well and truly gone and we can look at how far we’ve come.
Then there are ads which show how much our use of language and medication has changed…
Read the fine print. We’re being told that the EARLIER babies drink sugar-laden chemically filled soft drinks, like COLA, the more likely they are to find social acceptance among their peers… This, from the SODA POP BOARD OF AMERICA!!! It’s a wonder babies from that era survived.
And speaking of survival, it’s this kind of advertising that leaves me speechless…
Makes you wonder what the next generation will think of our ads today. No doubt there’ll be a MAD MEN TV series from the year 2000, documenting our frightful, Neanderthal ways. For now, I like looking back and feeling smug that society is a little more tolerant, a little less sexist and a whole lot healthier than way back then. Phew.
