ChrisBaran.com

and the winner is…

February 17, 2009

First, Chris sends his deepest apologies for holding up the game here.  His schedule is pretty jammed and the delay just couldn’t be avoided.  His clones keep wandering off on their own.

Without further ado, this year’s Redken Symposium winner of the Chris Baran: Fuel for Education Suite is:

Jennifer Araujo of San Ramon, California

Congratulations on winning this prize pack worth over $700!  Jennifer, we will be in touch by email to confirm your details.  And yes, you read correctly — your humble web admin was mistaken when I said earlier that we were awarding only one or the other DVD volumes.  We are, in fact, awarding both to Jennifer.  They really do belong together, after all.

Congrats again and high fives to Jennifer.  Please let us know how the system works for you!

Fabulous Prizes for Fabulous People

February 15, 2009

Coming up later today –

Just as soon as we can get Chris off the set and in front of the computer he’ll be announcing the winner of Redken Symposium 09’s Chris Baran: Fuel for Design or Chris Baran: Fuel for Finishing DVD Education Systems.  Look forward to that announcement later this afternoon.  Fun!

_______

*Update*

Obviously Chris got away from us, but before he jumped on a plane he did swear that within minutes of landing he would let us know who the randomly drawn winner is.  Stay tuned.  I promise promise promise we will have the winner posted here asap!

Italy

January 6, 2009

Happy New Year!  I should catch you up on how we wrapped up 2008!  First: Itally, at the top-level Symposium where 400 of Italy’s top accounts came to grow and be inspired.  Oddly enough, the event was called GET INSPIRED ‘08.

We arrived four days early to select models and tackle the prep for the event.  And though this was my 8th trip to Italy in just four years – jet lag’s a drag.  The program consisted of a Sunday evening show plus a Monday & Tuesday show loosely based on the Redken Las Vegas Symposium.  With typical Italian style the show was devoted to top fashion inspiration and education.

I opened the event on Sunday with Justin Issac and Sam Villa, presenting a 45-minute multimedia extravaganza focusing on high fashion inspiration.  The venue was very cool – a reclaimed and remodeled ceramic tile factory that Redken turned into an Ibiza-esque lounge club.  We were competing with an open bar at 10pm, so we hit them hard with fast paced, energetic vignettes.

It takes an incredible amount of organization to keep all the models organized with hair, makeup, wardrobe and choreography.

The title of the opening segment was “Balleto”, opening with dancers depicting a bustling New York street scene, with two beautiful girls dressed as newsboys hawking newspapers sporting the headline “Redken Inspire 08”. We’d lucked out with the dancers, whom we’d borrowed from an Italian TV show.  They gracefully segued from the street scene to a powerful modern jazz/hip hop dance sequence and seamlessly back again.

A New York street scene video, produced by Lee Baran, complete with great music and street sounds was the perfect segue between live segments.

Next was an Haute Couture runway — five models with big editorial hair.  And when I say big, I mean BIG.  These looks are about the placement of volume in the shape.  They’re about drama — not something for the street but as the name implies – definitely for inspiration.

Then the American team came out individually for solo spots.  I cut a wig from long to short in 6 minutes – adding texture from the cut hair back onto the top to create a Nefertiti shape on steroids kind of thing.  Very avant garde.

Justin followed up with a presentation on inspirational color.  Man, that boy colors a mean head of hair.

Sam was next with his quick cut Changes routine, taking a model from long hair to a short bob with a fringe, while dancing her around the stage on a cutting stool.

The finale was amazing.  Imagine all 12 American and Italian stylists with 12 models jammed on stage with the audience ringed around us and everyone finishing a head of hair in 4 minutes flat.  A great way to wind up the opening show!

The Italian crowd loved the show and were full of compliments.  It made the days of intensive prep for a 45-minute show time well spent.  We had just enough time for a celebratory glass of wine before rushing off to bed for a couple hours’ sleep.  And by a couple I really do mean two.

Monday’s focus was individual breakout classes.  Sam and I ran our classes together with a focus on design, while Justin’s was on color.  This day was all education, with work done in front of the audience from start to finish.

Tuesday was hectic as the feel of the class had a more up-tempo vibe.  Each of us had a solo segment and one with a stage partner and then with presentation models — which meant dressing and cutting six heads of hair as well as organizing make up, wardrobe and choreography before the show.  Whew.  Well received and worth all the hard work.

Hey, if I’ve written anything that pushed the old Pity Button – hit cancel.  As soon as we wrapped, Rita and I enjoyed five days off with our friend Francesco Ferri, viewing the Italian country side of Parma – incredible cheese, red wine and Parma ham.  We stopped in to visit Francesco’s salon and got a taste of Italian Salon life with his team.

We left Parma and stopped at Borgo Casele, a beautiful centuries old inn, painstakingly restored and maintained to keep its charm and old world character.  It commands a gorgeous view over a valley, making it a great place to relax and share wine with friends.

Then we lit off to the Mediterranean side of Italy (Adriatic on the right, Mediterranean on the left), to La Spezia.  It was October and most of Europe goes on holidays in July and August, so we were in luck as the only crowds were weekenders and we had the town pretty much to ourselves – AAAHH!  Can you spell R-E-L-A-X.

Euro and Valentyna took Francesco, Rita and me to an incredible seafood restaurant.  No menu.  Just sit and they will bring you whatever they caught that day, and it was all fabulous.

The evenings were particularly spectacular, as we enjoyed walks on the promenade, more incredible food, sunsets and red wine.

We spent our last day on the Med touring Cinque Terra [Wikipedia link], a string of five villages (literally “Five Lands”) built into the cliffs along the Italian Riviera and originally known for exceptional wine, olives and seafood, and now enjoying a bustling tourist industry.  Can you imagine lugging all the grapes and wine up the sides of the hills?  No roads, either.  You can only get to the area by water or rail.

Our tour was capped off with an incredible lunch in a restaurant perched on a cliff hundreds of feet above the sea — great view, great seafood, and great company – did I mention great red wine.

Check out the view down to the sea from our table.

By the way, if you go, bring plenty of Euros as most of the restaurants accept only cash.  They say banking issues. I say, “Can you spell pocket accounting?”  Our Italian friends explained the Italian equivalent – loosely translated as short arm accounting.  They demonstrate it like a fistful of money shrinking up the sleeve.

On our way back to La Spezia, we stopped in at Portovenere [Wikipedia link], the fortifications of which last took a beating in 1494.  Believe me when I say that the sights were even more breathtaking and inspiring than the pictures show.

Our last Italian sunset was a particularly fantastic one.  Rita and I sat on the balcony of our hotel with our good friend Francesco, had an excellent glass of red, and watched the colors of the sunset on the water while preparing for our trip back to America.

Ultimate Image

December 7, 2008

I recently finished a great class at the Ultimate Image Salon in Exton, Pennsylvania. Lots of learning, sharing of ideas and plenty of laughs as well. Unusually, the salon owner invited along a few alumni team members who had since moved to different salons.

What’s so profound about that? I mean, so what. Well, this is a trait of a successful business owner, one who isn’t afraid to share information and who knows better than to listen to the little voices. Little voices? The ones that strike fear into our decision making process. They tell us, “You can’t share that – it’s yours, you paid for it.” They say, “If you give away your edge, someone else will know more than you – they’ll be more successful than you.” They say, “If you keep this all to yourself, your business will flourish and theirs will crash.”

You’ve probably had a few thoughts like that in your decision making process. It’s normal. It’s how you choose to react to them that make us successful, or not.

I’m sure ours isn’t the only industry where you can find decisions being made based on fear, but hairdressing is the industry I know, so this is where I notice it happening. You probably do, too.

So what do I mean by fear based decisions? It’s old school thinking and here’s how it relates to us: The manufacturer is afraid the distributor will favor other brands. The distributor is scared the salon will purchase from other distributors. Salons worry their customers will take their retail dollars elsewhere. They’re all afraid someone else will have the knowledge or skills to steal their clientele.

We can’t base our decisions on fear. It’s short-sighted.

Does this mean I’m professing that we all take the ostrich approach– bury our heads in the sand and say all is well because I can’t see the problems of the world? The financial crisis isn’t real. No one is having mortgage problems. NO! Ignoring a problem is even worse than fearing it.

There is an economic crunch right now and people are watching their dollars very closely. What I am saying is that we can’t hold back and not take control of our lives, our businesses and future. In difficult times people tend to turtle up, clutching everything close to the chest– looking out for number one. History has shown that all this does is slow recovery to a bare crawl.

A few decades back there was a similar crisis (Black Monday, 1987) which weeded out a lot of salons. There were a lot that needed weeding. The salons that survived — and flourished – did so by meeting the demand for better quality service and performance. They tightened their earning to learning curve by educating themselves and survived, leaving behind the salons who turtled up.

When times were tough, they stayed strong because of their attention to detail. Clients wanted more mileage for their precious dollar. Profitability was key, but it came through customer loyalty, retention and recommendations. And the most efficient way to maintain profitability AND loyalty is through a strong focus on education, developing technical and business building skills.

Only 20% of the industry seeks advanced education. People that try to squeeze by during tight times by neglecting education remind me of the freezing person that glared at his dying fire and said, “Give me some more heat and then I’ll give you some more wood.”

The Ultimate Image team decided not only to put some wood on the fire, they invited a friend to share in the light and invigorating heat of education with no fear of losing anything in the sharing. When we’re all winning, well, there you go.

Design on and prosper.

Attention: Ocean City Show Attendees

December 1, 2008

While at the Ocean City show in Maryland we collected a mass of email addresses from attendees who are interested in joining our community of stylists at ChrisBaran.com.  Somewhere along the way we lost track of that very important list.  It’s probably buried on one of the admin office desks, which means it could be next Christmas before we see it again.  Heavy sigh and mild expletives.

I figure they may be lost forever, and people have to be feeling neglected by now.  Probably they think I’m a big jerk.

Hope is not lost.  I had the genius idea to post a plea here on the blog!  In my best bad Bronx accent, “So, I’m bloggin’ here ahready.”

To everyone who attended the show: if you signed up, please get in touch with me!

Send me an email –> Chris [at] ChrisBaran.com <– with “Ocean City” in the subject line.  Give us your name, salon name, and email address, and we will get in touch as soon as we can check your name off against the master list of attendees.  Do it now!

How do we play the game?

October 26, 2008

Hey there – and a huge blog-ified welcome. We’ve got huge plans for this webspace but finding the time to write isn’t easy. I find the best time for taking notes is on the plane, and then I have to wait for a free moment so I can organize my thoughts into something readable. So, it’s been ages, but here I am. Thanks for tuning in. Let’s tackle these notes…

I came away from the Olympics feeling so inspired. The opening ceremonies blew us all away but I found myself thinking more about the spirit than the spectacle.

In ancient Greece, competitors used athletic skills developed in their long history of fighting for freedom, while in modern China, freedom is still suppressed. I found that irony fascinating. Inspiring, but that wasn’t quite what I took away with me.

Sure, I know what you’re thinking – Michael Phelps, right? Chris is going to go on about how one human being can excel, dedicating his life to swimming, eating, and not much else. OK, I saw all the Phelps profiles, too. An historic eight gold medals. Sixteen medals in two Olympic Games. It’s a feat no one has accomplished before. And we may not see it again in our lifetime. Of course I find that inspiring on the surface level (pun intended). And you can bet that I cheered him on just as you did. But that isn’t the inspiration that moved me either.

What I found truly inspirational were the athletes themselves. All of them. Not just the ones that won medals. Not just the ones from America, cranking our medal count higher. Every one of them, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

Someone once said something like, “No one remembers second place.” Pardon my paraphrasing. To prove the point, I can’t remember who came in one one-thousandth of a second behind Michael, allowing him to win his seventh gold and tying the previous record by Mark Spitz. I can’t remember that amazing athlete’s name. Does that make the race not worth running if you might not win the gold? Of course not. Second place at the Olympics is still a stunning achievement. In fact, just qualifying for the Olympics is not something the vast majority of us will ever be able to claim to have done.

I was inspired by each and every one, whether they came in first, second, or dead last. The medal-winning 40 year old swimmer. The 70 year old gentleman who persevered for 40 years to make his country’s sailing team. I was equally impressed by the 16 year old Chinese gymnasts. Even if they weren’t 16.

I will always be inspired by that kind of moxie – not everybody is willing to accept the guidance of a coach and work through the pain. Or willing to dedicate the time to practice, even at the expense of time they could spend with family and friends. Or the couch.

I will always be inspired by someone who tackles a lofty goal, willing to work through the mistakes while trying something different in an effort to become better at what they do. A person willing to work through the self-doubt when they aren’t performing like they wish they were. And when those negative thoughts cloud their mind, saying, “Is this still all worth while?” or, “Am I good enough?” — they respond, “Hells, yes!” They work through adversity to come out the other side, turning hesitation to confidence and doubt to esteem.

My heart was in my throat when that baton dropped during the women’s relay. The US women were favored to win and their families and fans were as devastated as they were. What inspired me — what floored me — was when she went back, picked up the baton, and continued the race — even though there was no possible hope in winning. That is a champion.

Some might speculate, ‘Why not just walk away? Save her strength to win the next race.” Why? Pride! In an ad that aired during the Olympics, James Earl Jones showed us athletes winning and losing. One in particular was a sprinter who tore his hamstring in a nasty fall, but still got up and limped across the finish line with the help of his father. Why continue when you’re injured and can’t possibly win? Pride.

If you’re of the mindset that games are a metaphor for life – and I do subscribe to that perspective – there’s a huge lesson there. Think about the person who says, “I’m going home and I’m taking my ball with me.” Watch how that one plays the game – chances are they react similarly in real life winning and losing situations. If they quit when they’re losing or frustrated, they will likely do the same in a tough real life situation as well.

I’m not saying that we must all hold hands and sing around the camp fire. Competition is healthy. Nor am I saying that we have to set up a game of volleyball just so we can get an impression of somebody.

What I am saying is that when you’re looking for people with whom to align yourself – whether personally or professionally – take a look at their game. Both sides of it.

It’s easy to look good when things are going smoothly, and I’ve learned to take that into consideration. When you want to truly measure someone’s mettle, watch how they handle themselves when things go south. The ones who hold it together are the people I want to have as friends, teammates, and colleagues. Those are the ones you want at your back!

Whether we’re talking about chess, the national tennis finals, or maneuvering for promotion at work, it’s How We Play The Game that is important. Because it’s how we represent ourselves while we play that reflects on us personally, our family and our teammates. Winning or losing, there are people that still inspire. They are champions. Heroes.

So. How does all this apply to us? Aren’t we just regular folk behind the chair, wheeling our comb, scissors and color brush all day long? How does this idea of inspiration apply to us?

Mentorship.

Someone is looking up to you. The person at the next chair, the young stylist who just started at the salon feeling completely wet behind the ears and looking for information to enable them to grow — that person needs you. Or maybe it’s your sister or your son. Or the girl who serves you coffee every morning.

I believe that every person is a leader. Now, I know that someone is reading this and saying, “No way! I don’t want to be a leader and you can’t make me!” Right or wrong, here’s my belief: we don’t have a choice. Leaders and mentors aren’t self-appointed; they’re chosen. The person at the next chair, the young apprentice, your big or little brother or sister, your daughter or your son will choose you to be their mentor. And it’s not something we should be afraid of. They already saw in you something worth believing in. We don’t have to be the best at what we do. What’s important is that they see us play honestly and fairly.

How do we play the game? With integrity and pride!

What do you want?

September 2, 2008

Unless you found your way here by accident purely through the magic of the interwebs, you’ve probably been in one of my classes, at one of my shows, or at the Redken Exchange in NYC.  You’re probably a hairdresser, or perhaps you’re interested in becoming a hairdresser.  Whatever it was that brought you here, I say – WELCOME.

When I asked that initial question, “What do you want?” – I didn’t mean, “Whaddaya want!” as in, it’s too much trouble to answer.  I meant, “What do YOU want?” – as in, how can I best serve you – give you what you need?

My whole life has been in the service business – first as a hairdresser looking after clients, then as an educator for 10 hairdressers or 12,000.  I have two loves besides my family – hairdressing and teaching.  I have more than 40 years of figuring out mistakes, making corrections and compiling the experiences.  So, back to that question – as a hairdresser and given the opportunity, what do you want from me?

If you think of this web space as an all request radio station — WBFM (What’s Best For Me) — what question would you ask?  If we could have a dialogue here, what would you want to chat about?  Of course, it’s a family station so the conversation has to be G-rated.  Not a lot of naked hairdressers out there.  Scissors are sharp.

Well, we can have a dialogue here.  Through the magic of the interwebs and a thing called a blog.  It’s only half a conversation if I’m talking to myself, so send your questions and comments to Chris@ChrisBaran.com and I will do my very best to respond to them in a timely fashion here on the blog.  So…

What do you want?

from the admin

August 6, 2008

Let there be… a website! This portion of ChrisBaran.com will focus on new developments in Chris’s world. This is also where you will come to share your thoughts with him personally, or with the Fuel Productions crew. From here you can go to the main site at ChrisBaran.com, which includes the storefront featuring the Fuel for Education interactive training system.

Thanks for visiting.  We look forward to building a real community here with you.