We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Neel Morley . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Neel below.

Hi Neel, thanks for joining us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

I’d been hairdressing 5 years and I wanted to travel the work and In 2004 I ended up in Sydney. I’d been back packing through Asia and on my second day I knocked on a local beach salon called THP looking for a job..I got some shifts as it was before Christmas but kept looking for full time work and was given a job in a swanky salon.

I told Regina * the owner of the beach salon that’ I’d been offered full time work and she said she’d sponsor me if I took her job.
I was conflicted and a friend said“ you really like her and it’s on the beach and the other salon is in a shopping mall and your won’t see daylight”. So that fateful meeting knocking on Regina’s salon door changed my life.
I ended up staying in Sydney by the beach. Regina made me think about it’s not just being good at my job /craft but appreciating that I have a talent and that I didn’t value it because I didn’t. She inadvertently made me into the business man that I am. I often use her quotes nearly 20 years later. I worked hard for her and she sent me on training courses. A random curly hair course in 2005 changed my life.
In hindsight it was pretty basic but it totally changed my view of curly hair and the experience for people of those will curly hair and not enjoying going to hair salons.
It was magical when I came back to the salon the next day and cut curly hair dry for the first time. It was like an epiphany!!!
Everything changed . All I wanted to do was cut curls! When I returned to England I let it be known that I enjoyed cutting curls in the salon I was in. In 2010 I heard about the Curly Girl Method and in 2012 I stopped cutting straight hair . In 2013 I went to America to learn how to cut and style curly hair properly . In 2014 I opened up Australia’s first curly hair only salon . We’ve been full every day since and I’ve turned my passion into a thriving business . I work with people I love and I never have that feeling that I don’t want to go work each day!
Knocking on that salon door in Sydney in 2004 changed the trajectory of my life!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was a late starter in the hair Industry and started at 23. I always knew I should do and that I’d be good at it. I worked in a few toxic salons in my time but I knew I had a plan. I am a people person and combining my hair art and making people feel good was always going to be my career. Next year I’ve been hairdressing 25 years.
My salon in Melbourne is a colourful slice of joy in the popular area of Fitzroy.
You can’t miss the salon . It has “curly hair only “ on the front window!
Even if you don’t have curly hair. Lots of people know about my salon called “Neel Loves Curls!” People fly in from interstate and over seas for appointments with us!
I always tell me team “you are only as good as your last haircut!“ I feel super proud watching happy curly haired people leaving my salon.
I think my branding is fun /curls/joy/hydration and great cuts for the individual. All social media isn’t slick but it’s honest and shows real people of all ages with no filters. People can tell when you pay a company to do your social media as it’s all the same as everyone else’s! I do a little bit of social media daily but the main photos uploaded our from our guests on their own social media!
I like that my salon feels like an event. We are so lucky that so many of our guests arrive excited about what’s to happen.
All of our salon gowns are custom made and feel like costumes
My 15 year old Neel would be very proud of combining my sense of silliness into my business!
It’s making your brand stand out!!!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was chronically ill waiting for a kidney transplant from 2015 to 2017z Even though I had 18 operations.
I still wanted to work. I received some negative reviews because I’d get thrown into hospital and have to cancel guests.
It was distressing reading awful reviews that I’m unreliable (even though I was very public with my condition)
It was a seriously hard time but work was my life raft.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

I love what I do. I don’t know what else I’d do because It doesn’t feel like work most days! I’m so grateful that I learnt about cutting curly hair because it is so different to straight hair cutting. I don’t ever want to retire. Cutting curls and spending my days making people feel happy looking their natural best is a total high!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Neel Loves Curls
• Facebook: Neel Loves Curls

Image Credits
It was a selfie that I took of myself.