I love seeing clients smile: What it's like to be a hairdresser

She relishes the opportunity to make a customer’s day by giving them a haircut they really love.

“If I can make someone feel confident and really good about themselves then I’ve done my job.

“I love seeing the smiles on my clients’ faces and seeing it boost their confidence. It really gives me joy,” the 20-year-old tells us.

As soon as a customer walks through the door, she will sit them down and talk to them about their wishes.

“We will talk about what they like, what look they might be wanting and we might look at photographs. But it’s important to be realistic and think about their lifestyle too.

“If they’re a mum of three with a full-time job they are not going to want a high-maintenance cut and colour.

“They will want a style that they can wash, dry and brush before getting on with their day,” says Rukshana, who sees an average of five customers a day.

It’s also important to bear in mind a customer’s face shape as not every cut will suit us all and so a style may need to be altered to suit our individuality, she tells us.

“I can do the same cut many times but it will look different on every customer because I try to make sure it goes with the shape of their face,” explains Rukshana, who lives in Penn, Wolverhampton.

As we all know, when we have an appointment with a stylist who hasn’t cut our hair before, it can be a little daunting to say the least.

But Rukshana says this makes her work extra hard to ensure a customer is put at ease and gets exactly the look they want.

“I do feel nervous with new clients because I have to earn their trust. I want them to be happy and I want them to come back,” she explains.

Every day she is developing her skills and learning from her senior colleagues at the City of Wolverhampton College’s Academy Hair Salon.

The Highfields School pupil had already set her heart on hairdressing by the time she was 14 but her parents felt it was important for her to complete her A-levels before starting on the path to her chosen career.

After leaving school she enrolled on a Level 2 diploma course in hairdressing at the college’s Metro One campus.

This enabled her to spend two days a week working in the college’s fully operational, commercially-run salon, which is open to the public.

But she wasn’t content with just this and, eager to learn more, she would also volunteer to work on her days off.

This impressed salon manager Graham Thompson so much that he offered her a one-year apprenticeship at the salon as she studied for a Level 3 diploma in hairdressing

Now she is about to take the next step on her hairdressing journey after securing a job as a graduate stylist.

It’s a one-year position allowing Rukshana, who was a finalist for the ‘Apprentice or Trainee of the Year Award’ at the WIRE Awards 2017 in Wolverhampton, to continue gaining industry experience as she runs her own column.

“It has really boosted my confidence and made me want to continue building on my experience. I learned a lot during my apprenticeship especially time management.

“I might have back to back appointments so I need to be able to work quickly but not let it affect the quality of the cut.

I’ve got a good customer base now and a lot of clients come back regularly,” says Rukshana.

One of her biggest achievements in recent weeks is being able to successfully recreate the hottest new hair trend – Balayage.

This is a technique for highlighting hair to create a graduated, natural-looking effect going from dark to light.

“There is quite a lot involved and I wasn’t sure how to do it at first. But I’m pleased with how it turned out and that the client was very happy,” she tells us.

Earlier this year, she also made it through to the regional final of the Wella Xposure 2017 contest held in Worcester.

“I was super happy to make it through to the regional final. It was a great experience and I would love to take part in more competitions like this in the future.

“I also want to get my Master Colour qualification because I love colouring. You can do so many different things from highlights to having a completely new colour,” says Rukshana.

Now the tables have turned and she is able to advise students if they turn to her for help.

“If they ask me a question and I know I can help, I will because I had people who helped me and I learned a lot from them,” she tells us.

For Rukshana hairdressing is definitely her dream job. “I love the fact that outside the salon a client might have so many problems but I can help them forget about them for a bit and make their day special.”

*Follow Rukshana on Instagram @hairbyrukshana