Who's Behind the Chair? Flora (formerly Laura) Williams!

The Chapel News

Who's Behind the Chair? Flora (formerly Laura) Williams!

22 Oct 2018

Image credit: James French Photography

“Life won’t sparkle unless you do”. This is the slogan our quotation enthusiast Laura swears by. And it is 100% true as she can be seen rocking sandals adorned in silver sequins, with sparkly nail polish to match! A long-serving member of The Chapel team, Laura made her debut at our original Tunbridge Wells salon and is now making her mark in our new Horsham salon. We sat down with Laura to get a closer look at her and her story.

Hi Laura, how did you get into hairdressing?

I have been a hairdresser for 17 years, and I originally trained in Brighton. Before The Chapel, I went on the Redken ‘Inspired Through Colour’ course which is where I met Amanda, and I just knew I needed to work with her. I joined at the time of The Chapel’s expansion in 2006 and was one of six stylists that started at that time. I then went to Sevenoaks and worked there for a while, but I was commuting quite a long way so I left The Chapel to be closer to home. So when I heard about The Chapel opening at Horsham, I cried and felt I needed to come back!

What do you think makes The Chapel different?

At The Chapel, you are encouraged to be yourself as a stylist and be as creative as you like. You aren’t a robot here. Although it is good to learn techniques, it's good to approach cuts, styles and colours in your own way. Working in other salons is sometimes difficult because you are often pushed for time. The time you get in The Chapel allows you to 100% listen to your guests, instead of being pressured to focus on how much money you are bringing in. We can focus on making our guests happy and ensuring they have the best experience possible.

So, the ‘time’ ethos is a big one for you?

Charging by time makes such a difference for me. In previous salons, I was worrying about the next guest before I had even finished with my last one. I worry about timings in general - I am not a late person, so this works so well for me! It is hard to explain to other stylists outside of The Chapel why charging by time works so well, I think it creates a better atmosphere all round.

Where do you find hair inspiration?

For me, I get my inspiration from each of my guests. Getting to know them as individuals reveals their inner quirkiness and personality which fuels my creativity. Fashion is important but I’ve never followed it religiously. Social media is another huge area of inspiration, but as a hairdresser, you have to have the confidence to say to your guests, “yes that is lovely, but what about this?”. This way we can adjust it to suit them fully.

When Laura isn’t cutting and colouring hair and making the salon smile with her inspirational quotations, she spends her time painting, travelling and spending time with her husband. To come and visit Laura in our new salon in Horsham, get in touch with our guest relations team.

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