Who: Club Intrigue presents George Alderete, Educator & Colorist for Keune Academy, Douglas McCoy Owner of House of POp Salon, and Mike Karg, Dry-Cutting Stylist and Shear Master

Where: Intercontinental Hotel Buckhead (Atlanta) Georgia followed by Champaign reception at Keune Academy HQ

When: October 12, 2015

What: Well produced branding experience!

Great venue, celebrated artist, sexy lighting, and cocktails….Yet, something was missing and I just couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that missing thing was.   Its true, the tone went left when someone thought it would be a good idea to watch a bunch of rhythm-less stylist do the NaNa on stage as the opening act…..it wasn’t,  but I happen not to enjoy hood antics at ‘professional events’.

But I digress, ‘hood antics’ is another post for another day….

The show begins, the three artist took to the stage and tagged-teamed their presentations at a natural clip; when one had something to say he got the microphone, reluctantly lol, but eventually.

At the start I was slightly mortified watching Karg chew into his model’s hair with his extra-large texturizing shears but being the dry cut expert that he is, the finished product was a highly textured inverted bob on a head of thick wavy hair,  that hair type is hard to work with but it was flawless.

Mike Karg sells shears and educational paraphernalia on his website http://www.mikekarg.com check him out!

Some of the best color combinations I’ve ever seen were on display courtesy of George Alderete who was bubbling over with personality.  George made the profound statement that I can’t quote but went something like, no matter what color you do on a client it better be pretty.  Translation,  your client may ask for blue hair but it is your job to customize that blue to compliment her skin tone, eye color and his or her personal style..I agree!!  George encourages stylist to feel the color and not be afraid to add pink, peach or violet to your formulations…why not!

George Alderete is a trainer at Keune Academy and their North American Creative Ambassador @colorboygeo

Great hair aside, the realist moment of the night happened when a stylist proclaimed that he had to take a professional timeout to get his shit together.  The corporate disregard for stylist and the ‘noise in your head’ from being deep in the hair industry for twenty-years took a toll and Douglas McCoy decided to bow the hell out for a moment.  Of course when you take a minute and quiet those noises, inspiration takes hold and breathes new life into your career.  The owner of House of Pop Salon in Spokane is now one of the most requested editorial and fashion hairstylist in the game and his work defends the demand …..he cut the hell out of that red head’s hair!!!!

follow @Douglas_McCoy  on Twitter
The show was a great networking event for stylist who wish to  connect with fellow stylist from the newbies to the dinosaurs.  In that regard, Club Intrigue of Atlanta has created a great platform for stylist that enhances our industry in a new and refreshing way; stylist teaching stylist.

 

That thing that I mentioned earlier, that thing that I ‘thought’ was missing wasn’t actually missing.  Education in the hair industry now serves a different function than teaching for the sake of teaching; classes taught by celebrity, editorial, and/or runway stylist are at a premium and if you should ascend to this level you have hit the holy trinity of hair.  Behind-the-chair income, advanced-training income and branded tools, products, and media income.  Doing hair, teaching classes and selling branded products have all elevated the individual stylist to levels of prosperity not seen before without the support of a major corporation.  Social media outlets like Instagram, YouTube and now the live-streaming platform Periscope have opened the floodgates of opportunity with no end in site……and thats a great thing!

Club Intrigue is a unique educational community that unites stylist, owners and manufacturers at events such as this.  For upcoming events and additional information go to http://www.clubintrigue.com