We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mhairi Loeb a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mhairi, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Hair Aid is an organization that provides a unique form of support to underserved communities by offering free hair cutting training to individuals living in poverty, particularly in developing countries. This training empowers these individuals with a skill set that allows them to start their own micro-business and earn an income, improving their life circumstances.

Here’s a story that illustrates the importance of Hair Aid’s work: and one that I was personally involved with:

Last September I headed off to Bali to join my 2nd Hair Aid project, We had 3 locations for this project and I was asked to be the lead hair stylist at one of the locations. With my group of 3/4 more volunteers we headed off to meet our students. We had a group of 24 all mixed ages from young girls to older women still struggling to be able to make ends meet, we also had a group of 5 men, 3 of them already worked as barbers and did a scissor over comb cut way better and faster than I can after 17 years as a stylist. For the 3 barbers they were looking to get the certificate that we give during graduation as they had heard about hair aid and they knew if they could get the certificate it meant they could get work in a barber shop. It still amazes me that we were able to teach a group of students in 5 days what we take over a year to learn here in the states, now our trains includes a lot more than just 5 haircuts, but I remember being quite scared to make that first cut on my first model. My first model was also a mannequin that couldn’t complain about how good or bad the hair cut was. In Bali our students are cutting each others hair, friends and even their Childrens hair the first day we give them scissors. They are so eager to learn that they put so much effort in because they know that this training can be life changing for them, and to so many of our students it is. They go on to have their own Micro businesses or hopefully work in a Salon.

It is also life changing for me, it is a very humbling experience to see where these students live and how much they struggle working long hours to make just $1, we change their live around, instead of raking through the trash piles at the dump to find the plastic water bottles to recycle they can now stay close to home, set up a chair outside and charge $1 for a haircut, or barter for what they need. I come home a changed person, I wish I could do more than one trip a year and maybe when I retire that is what I will be able to do.

Hair Aid’s mission is significant because it addresses poverty not just as an economic issue, but also as a social one. By teaching people in poverty a useful skill, Hair Aid gives them a chance to earn a living, boost their self-confidence, and improve their social status. Hair Aid not only gives them fish but also teaches them how to fish, and in doing so, creates a lasting positive impact on underserved communities.

This story underlines the work Hair Aid is doing. It doesn’t stop with this story. There are hundreds more who have been given an opportunity to uplift themselves economically and socially. Hair Aid’s initiative is a testament to the power of vocational training and how it can transform lives, communities, and eventually, the world.

Mhairi, 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?

I grew up in Scotland where the rest of my family still lives. I came out to Colorado In December 1998 for a fun winter of skiing. After having a great winter I came and went for 3 years. I then met my husband in January 2001 and the rest is all his fault. After teaching skiing for 4 years I decided it was time to pursue my other dream of being a hairstylist. I enrolled in Beauty school 45 minutes away and fell in love. Color was my thing and still is. I just fell in love and in clicked, I love being able to look at my client and make art with their hair. I now also specialize in Hair Extensions. I love having the ability to help my clients with fine hair feel more confident about themselves, or the client that wants long hair and their hair just won’t grow past a certain point. The other thing I love with extensions is creative color with out the damage to the clients own hair, it’s also a lot easier to switch colors with hair extensions.
I worked in a few a salons before opening and running my own salon Mi Hair ( pronounced My Hair – it came from the spelling of my name M-hair-i) for 10 years before taking a step back and returning to booth rental. I now have more time to specialize in color, Hair extensions and Volunteering for Hair Aid.
One thing I am very proud of is my volunteer work that I do with Hair Aid, I love teaching and always have but to teach women who live in extreme poverty the skill of cutting hair and see their live change is so amazing. It makes all the long hours in the salon so worth it. To be able to share the same skill that feeds my family with someone struggling to feed theirs makes my day.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

My best source of new clients are my already very happy clients. Word of mouth is really the best form of advertising that I have found. When my clients love their hair and the experience they have had in my chair they tell their friends. I have had 4 new clients in the past month from one client, she was out hiking so hair not even at its best and was stoped on the hiking trail by 4 strangers all asking where she gets her color done. If that doesn’t say it all I don’t know what does.

I am very grateful to have a fantastic loyal clientele that is happy with what I can offer them. I alway do a color consult make sure they are happy with what we are doing or suggest a change here and there. I find that the clients that don’t stick around are the clients that feel that they walk in, you say Hi and same as last time? Now don’t get me wrong I have a lot of clients that do want same as last time, but if you just take the time to talk to them and ask they feel heard and not just a number in your busy day.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I work in a small ski town, so we have a lot of people coming and going and then we have our valley locals. I worked in a couple of different high end salons at the start of my career and I came to realize that the visitors to our town were not the clientele that I wanted to focus on building. Most of them have a lot of money and I just did not click with that audience. I didn’t enjoy being made to feel like the help. So when I had the chance to open my own salon I moved out of the down town core and opened in the business center which is much more locally run. We have parking and great salon and great clients. I build my business and my reputation on word of mouth and let my work speak for itself. I love eduction, both teach others and learning myself. I take the time to go and do eduction classes which I feel sets me apart from other stylists in my town who thing that are too good to learn something new. You are never too good to earn something new, our industry is always changing and if you don’t change with it you will be left behind and your clients will also start leaving for other stylists. That stylist might not be any better than you are but they have fresh ideas and the is what clients want. Also since I moved out of the down town core my rent is much more reasonable making it easier for me to have more affordable pricing, which I find really helps me stay busy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hairaid.org.au
• Instagram: HairAidInc. Mhairi.l
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HairAidAustralia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKg0c8uT4HU