Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ben Ko. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ben, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

How did you learn to do what you do?

I was lucky to have come into my industry in a golden era where I was able to work under and with some of my personal hair heroes. I began my journey as an apprentice within Vidal Sassoon Salons & Academies and spent the first twelve years of my career there. All of the fundamental and foundational techniques were mandatory subjects and were required knowledge but it was the subjective shape, balance and design that I was able to learn from my mentors that truly allowed me to understand hair as an art form.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?

Ultimately I don’t think there are any shortcuts to the ten thousand hour rule. It truly takes some level of failure to create a deep understanding of anything one wishes to learn. I feel that if someone attempts anything for the first time and they are able to do it successfully, then one of two things have just happened, either they already knew how to do it or they got lucky. It’s trying and failing and taking something from that experience… that’s learning.

What skills do you think were most essential?

Persistence and having a goal. For me, the goal was understanding what shapes or designs I was trying to create and figuring out what technical skills needed to be learned to get it there.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

This connects to the previous question. The only obstacle is yourself and any negative self talk or emotions. Defeat, frustration, low motivation, etc.

Ben, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My hair journey began long ago when i began cutting friends hair as a hobby. I wanted to understand the dynamics of controlling hair, building shapes and grasp the how and the why of hair cutting.

After deciding to pursue the craft as a profession, I apprenticed with Vidal Sassoon Salon eventually taking on the successive roles of stylist, cutting educator, assistant creative director and eventually creative director. My time with the company was nothing short of a life changing experience where i had the opportunities to educate the up and coming apprentice staff as well as outside the salons at academies, hair shows and teaching events around the world.

As so many incredible journeys do, that one came to an end and i am now an independent artist and educator partnered with Hybrid education, Mizutani scissors and working alongside my career-long friend and mentor Stephen Lynch.

What sets me apart from a lot of stylists in my field is a craft-focused approach. I book ninety minute appointments for every client. I don’t look at any haircut as “easy” vs “hard” or “quick” vs “time consuming”. I approach every shape with absolute attention to detail and give myself the quality time I want to produce the highest level product for my client and also for myself.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It’s quite simple. Driven by a passion in anything defines a process that can’t be defined as “work”. It’s something with a higher purpose. Being so fortunate to be able to call this my job might be the most rewarding part from a pragmatic point of view.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Sharing on social media was pretty straightforward for me. I just used it as a channel to communicate with my peers in my industry. To share the craft in a way that wasn’t about selling anything or profiting from the content, but to show my approach to shape and design the way I do. It turned out there were people who wanted to see how it was done from a build perspective and that ended up being my follower base.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hellobenko.com
• Instagram: @hellobenjamin

Image Credits
Joseph Maddon