Julie Evans New CEO Rodney Wayne Group

New Zealand’s biggest and most trusted hair care brand has a new woman at the helm. The Rodney Wayne Group has created a new management position that will see Julie Evans appointed to CEO of the company. Julie’s appointment comes after a strong year for RWG where they have grown and bolstered their ranks, despite the down-turn in the economy. Julie’s new CEO role is the second major appointment made by Rodney Wayne in just over 12 months after he hand-picked internationally renowned hair stylist Richard Kavanagh to be Creative Director for the brand in 2010.

"We are determined to keep providing the best operating salons in Australasia” says Rodney. "It’s all about global hair fashion and instantly providing the latest trends to fashion savvy women. "There are over 500 people in the Rodney Wayne group, I am a very proud man” says Rodney. "I have a wonderful group of people around me and now with Julie being our CEO I can fully concentrate on planning for the future with my chairman Richard Smith.”

Julie has been with RWG for seven years now, building her way up from Christchurch Regional Manager to CEO. She first recognized the company’s potential when she was introduced to the brand at a conference in London. Impressed with the operating systems the company already had in place, Julie applied for a position and was successful. Since owning a Christchurch Rodney Wayne salon and doubling its profit, Julie was then appointed to General Manager of Operations for RWG and moved to Auckland in 2010.

Julie joined RWG after several years of success with several international brands. At 14, she had her first job part-time in a hair salon in Liverpool, but by her early 20’s Julie had received The Queen’s Award for Export, managed lifestyle and hospitality teams aboard some of the world’s biggest cruise liners (including the Queen Elizabeth II) and rubbed shoulders with the world’s elite business people.

Julie’s major turning point was as Regional Manager for Regis, the world’s largest hairdressing group with a multi-billion dollar annual turnover. In a highly-productive tenure with Regis, Julie managed 36 salons and changed the way the company sought growth and inspired its staff to lead from the front. Julie maintains that same philosophy of thinking in New Zealand’s hair care industry with Rodney Wayne. "We think globally and act locally, this is our competitive edge, but loving and caring for our clients is simply everything” says Julie.

Rodney Wayne Group – Planning for the future

"I had a dream, 40 years ago, and the dream was to make women feel beautiful by making them look stunning” says Rodney Wayne, the icon of New Zealand’s biggest and most successful hair salon chain. "Listening was my mantra - before we cut we listened. Today we have 40 salons and 16 shampoo ‘n’ things shops throughout New Zealand. We devised a fantastic operating system totally centred on caring and loving for our clients”. Said Rodney.

"The best client service, creatively enhanced by the best fashion hair trends all added up to a wonderful success. Our franchise system is considered to be one of the best in the world: we have nearly 5,000 client visits per week and an annual group turn over of $50,000,000 per annum.”

The economy’s recent down-turn has been a challenge for RWG but they have held their own. Despite losing some salons in the Christchurch earthquake the team have remained upbeat, always looking ahead and planning for the future. A global outlook on fashion and devising ways to bring the world to the New Zealand consumer’s doorstep has been paramount, with creativity and understanding being key dispositions:

"Keeping our fingers constantly close to the most influencing international fashion treads is the vital key and we never stop talking to the consumer, we listen and respond quickly as all successful marketing companies should” says RWG Chairman, Richard Smith.

Creative director of Rodney Wayne Richard Kavanagh (Part of the Redken styling team in New York) agrees " We bring the latest hair and fashion styles to New Zealand as they are happening in Milan, New York and Paris. "I am personally working with the most famous international brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Rag & Bone and Alexander McQueen in all of the key fashion centres in the world. It’s an exciting arena that allows me to bring back the latest and the best to New Zealand. This keeps our very talented Rodney Wayne stylists excited and in the forefront of international fashion treads.”