Rodney Wayne has styled a salon dynasty
But it may surprise you to know that the service ethos that drives the Rodney Wayne success story was born in a butchers shop. Yes… Rodney Wayne started out helping design dinner menus rather than styling tresses. a 15 year old apprentice butcher in Nelson, he learn’t the value of customer service. And it’s become a trait that now defines the Rodney Wayne salon experience.
Now as the man himself turns 60, and with the Rodney Wayne salon franchise turning 40, the boy who grew up at Kina Beach and went to Motueka High, sits royally atop a franchise chain of 41 salons and 17 retail haircare product stores. Rodney Wayne practically started franchising in this country. But then, if you check out the background story, it’s not really that surprising.
Rodney always wanted to run his own business. One of four kids, his dad was a logger and he saw how hard his parents worked. There had to be an easier way, he thought. He found it at hairdressing school in Melbourne. "I decided to be a big comb in a small basin, and it’s worked very well,” he says modestly. "I was always good at art and fashion seemed attractive. I’d wanted to open pie carts in Melbourne but the council wouldn’t let me so I decided to enrol instead at hair dressing school.”
It was 1968 and in a group of many hundreds of students, Rodney found himself just one of six men on the course! " Men who were good, got a lot of attention,” says Rodney. Back then you had your hair cut with shears… yes, big old industrial looking monsters that could cut through a prison fence. Then along came Vidal Sassoon who had ditched the shears for smaller scissors and invented the geometric cut. It turned the industry on its head and from then on hairdressing would never be the same.
Rodney had both the innate sense for cutting hair that you just can’t teach and the desire to learn everything you could and although he didn’t recognise it, the fact he was the student cutting the teacher’s hair at school, it was a clear sign Rodney Wayne was on to something of his own. He travelled to London once a year to train with Sassoon and the likes of Jean Louis-David, renowned as a designer who revolutionised hairdressing. Rodney brought his skills back down under and soon had four salons in Australia’s rural Victoria but then thought ‘bugger it in the country’ and decided to head back to New Zealand.
"Back in those days the suburbs weren’t cool, suburban salons all had see-through net curtains and dead blowflies on the windowsill. I did beautiful, lush interiors and backed it up with service. Our first salon was in Victoria Street, in Auckland city, but the plan was to take city fashion out into the suburbs. People didn’t think it would work because we were charging too much but I had studied Auckland and people were coming to us into the city from the suburbs so why wouldn’t they appreciate the convenience of having a salon of their own close by in the suburbs? Taking the business to where the people lived was the key.” Says Rodney.
Like an ‘80’s perm, Rodney Wayne quickly expanded. Soon there were salons in Mt Eden, Takapuna, Howick and Henderson. In eight years he had eight salons. It was around this time that one of his icons, Jean Louis-David, suggested that he take on the name as a brand in New Zealand. Rodney did some research of his own and discovered that his name was a brand already! It was time to franchise. "Like everything, there is luck and timing involved,” he says.
It’s almost inconceivable to think now, but 20-odd years ago, shopping malls were just starting to appear. Rodney Wayne jumped on board. "The franchises took off very well. I just sat there and took the calls mate!” he says. Rodney always wanted to be big but he never lost sight of the lessons he learned as a butcher’s apprentice. He wrote a manual of ‘how to do things, a standard of service’ and although it’s been tarted up and cut and coloured since, the bones remain the same today.
Although he put down the scissors some time ago, Rodney is still very much involved in the business. He travels frequently to keep abreast of current trends and employs four support staff who liaise with salons. The success of the business, he says, has been in offering on-going support and training to the franchisees. "My job is not just to excite customers but also young people who want to work for us, because if our staff aren’t happy then your customers won’t be either. One of the best things you can do is to praise people and I try to do that as much as possible,” He says.
While having cut many a famous head of hair, he has never really been interested in the celebrity of it all. "For me, the most satisfaction was to see a client look in the mirror and say ‘I love it’. To arrive at that was always a partnership, it requires input from both client and hairdresser,” he says.
He says the best promotion you could ever get was just cutting good hair. So often, when the advent of ‘stylised hair’ was just beginning to take off, a lot of hair stylists loved cutting hair off, wanting to make a statement and perhaps a name for themselves, but this was never Rodney Wayne’s style. "The Bob was always a classic style but I preferred a softer version. I wanted to make hair natural and free and able to move. I have never liked to spray and hold and I’m still like that today,” he says.
"Hair has to be shiny and in good condition and the great thing about hair today is that it’s not dictated to by fashion. Everything is open, everything is in fashion; - and thank God too, because it’s a nonsense!” Rodney Wayne has made himself synonymous with good style and great hair through a measure of innate and savvy talent and a sheer determination to win.
So today, having hit 60 and after 40 years in the game, you’re just as likely to find Rodney out and about boating on the Hauraki Gulf, drinking good wine or at home ‘busy with grandchildren’. Which is not to say he isn’t heavily involved in the business of Rodney Wayne… he’s just able to do what he wants, when he wants.
Standing still isn’t his style though, and men are about to get the royal treatment with a soon-to-open Rodney Wayne men’s grooming salon. The future looks stylish for the man, and the brand.
Now as the man himself turns 60, and with the Rodney Wayne salon franchise turning 40, the boy who grew up at Kina Beach and went to Motueka High, sits royally atop a franchise chain of 41 salons and 17 retail haircare product stores. Rodney Wayne practically started franchising in this country. But then, if you check out the background story, it’s not really that surprising.
Rodney always wanted to run his own business. One of four kids, his dad was a logger and he saw how hard his parents worked. There had to be an easier way, he thought. He found it at hairdressing school in Melbourne. "I decided to be a big comb in a small basin, and it’s worked very well,” he says modestly. "I was always good at art and fashion seemed attractive. I’d wanted to open pie carts in Melbourne but the council wouldn’t let me so I decided to enrol instead at hair dressing school.”
It was 1968 and in a group of many hundreds of students, Rodney found himself just one of six men on the course! " Men who were good, got a lot of attention,” says Rodney. Back then you had your hair cut with shears… yes, big old industrial looking monsters that could cut through a prison fence. Then along came Vidal Sassoon who had ditched the shears for smaller scissors and invented the geometric cut. It turned the industry on its head and from then on hairdressing would never be the same.
Rodney had both the innate sense for cutting hair that you just can’t teach and the desire to learn everything you could and although he didn’t recognise it, the fact he was the student cutting the teacher’s hair at school, it was a clear sign Rodney Wayne was on to something of his own. He travelled to London once a year to train with Sassoon and the likes of Jean Louis-David, renowned as a designer who revolutionised hairdressing. Rodney brought his skills back down under and soon had four salons in Australia’s rural Victoria but then thought ‘bugger it in the country’ and decided to head back to New Zealand.
"Back in those days the suburbs weren’t cool, suburban salons all had see-through net curtains and dead blowflies on the windowsill. I did beautiful, lush interiors and backed it up with service. Our first salon was in Victoria Street, in Auckland city, but the plan was to take city fashion out into the suburbs. People didn’t think it would work because we were charging too much but I had studied Auckland and people were coming to us into the city from the suburbs so why wouldn’t they appreciate the convenience of having a salon of their own close by in the suburbs? Taking the business to where the people lived was the key.” Says Rodney.
Like an ‘80’s perm, Rodney Wayne quickly expanded. Soon there were salons in Mt Eden, Takapuna, Howick and Henderson. In eight years he had eight salons. It was around this time that one of his icons, Jean Louis-David, suggested that he take on the name as a brand in New Zealand. Rodney did some research of his own and discovered that his name was a brand already! It was time to franchise. "Like everything, there is luck and timing involved,” he says.
It’s almost inconceivable to think now, but 20-odd years ago, shopping malls were just starting to appear. Rodney Wayne jumped on board. "The franchises took off very well. I just sat there and took the calls mate!” he says. Rodney always wanted to be big but he never lost sight of the lessons he learned as a butcher’s apprentice. He wrote a manual of ‘how to do things, a standard of service’ and although it’s been tarted up and cut and coloured since, the bones remain the same today.
Although he put down the scissors some time ago, Rodney is still very much involved in the business. He travels frequently to keep abreast of current trends and employs four support staff who liaise with salons. The success of the business, he says, has been in offering on-going support and training to the franchisees. "My job is not just to excite customers but also young people who want to work for us, because if our staff aren’t happy then your customers won’t be either. One of the best things you can do is to praise people and I try to do that as much as possible,” He says.
While having cut many a famous head of hair, he has never really been interested in the celebrity of it all. "For me, the most satisfaction was to see a client look in the mirror and say ‘I love it’. To arrive at that was always a partnership, it requires input from both client and hairdresser,” he says.
He says the best promotion you could ever get was just cutting good hair. So often, when the advent of ‘stylised hair’ was just beginning to take off, a lot of hair stylists loved cutting hair off, wanting to make a statement and perhaps a name for themselves, but this was never Rodney Wayne’s style. "The Bob was always a classic style but I preferred a softer version. I wanted to make hair natural and free and able to move. I have never liked to spray and hold and I’m still like that today,” he says.
"Hair has to be shiny and in good condition and the great thing about hair today is that it’s not dictated to by fashion. Everything is open, everything is in fashion; - and thank God too, because it’s a nonsense!” Rodney Wayne has made himself synonymous with good style and great hair through a measure of innate and savvy talent and a sheer determination to win.
So today, having hit 60 and after 40 years in the game, you’re just as likely to find Rodney out and about boating on the Hauraki Gulf, drinking good wine or at home ‘busy with grandchildren’. Which is not to say he isn’t heavily involved in the business of Rodney Wayne… he’s just able to do what he wants, when he wants.
Standing still isn’t his style though, and men are about to get the royal treatment with a soon-to-open Rodney Wayne men’s grooming salon. The future looks stylish for the man, and the brand.
Best New Salon Design Of The Year - Finalists
One of the more interesting categories at the Hair Expo Awards each year is the Best New Salon Design, providing fresh ideas, decors, themes and inspiration for other salon owners. By keeping abreast of current trends and updating, the look and feel of a salon not only attracts new clientele but also encourages the very best stylists. As always the standard of finalists this year is simply outstanding! Two entries are from Perth, Toni & Guy Subiaco, owner Tracey Laing and Head Studio
Hairdressing Icon Vidal Sassoon dies aged 84 in Los Angeles
Hairdressing icon Vidal Sassoon has died aged 84 after a long illness. Although not confirmed various media organisations have reported that he had been battling leukemia.
Sassoon died at his Mulholland Drive estate, in Los Angeles.
A highly influential figure in the hairdressing and fashion world, in 2010 he starred in a
documentary about his life simply titled: ‘Vidal Sassoon:The Movie’. After opening his first salon in London in 1954 he went on to change the face of hairdressing forever.
Romance Was Born - Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Sydney
One of the most talked about shows from MBAFW was ‘Romance Was Born’ their Berserkergang collection from the design duo of Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales, who count amongst their devotees Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Aussie superstars the Veronicas, was inspired by the almighty spectral power of colour. Alan White, ghd Hair Director had this to say about the show; “Striking, vibrant, florescent orange hair
colour - inspired by the formidable Annie Lennox - really accentuates the toughness
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