“When the time is right, you will win”

Dafydd Rhys Thomas, Global Director of Education, ghd, in conversation with Kanishka Ramchandani, about the launch of the brand in India, educating hairdressers and inspiring excellence.

Good hair day (ghd) made its much- anticipated debut in India exclusively with Nykaa. As ghd experts took masterclasses at Nykaaland 2.0, we got Dafydd Rhys Thomas, Global Director of Education, to talk about hair trends, the British Hairdressing Awards and the opportunities in the Indian market. Here’s an excerpt from his interview:

TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE IN GHD?

I am a professional stylist, and I have been working behind the chair for over 15 years before joining ghd. My role is to keep the professional credentials of the brand going. ghd is a professional brand, which has been present in salons for over 23 years. It is used by over 250,000 hairdressers in more than 50,000 salons around the world. My responsibility is to make sure that the professional stylist remains the beating heart of ghd. I also work with the R&D team to test and develop new products. I have quite a varied role at ghd.

In the development process, it’s really important for us to make sure that we develop tools, which work for professionals. The products should have the reliability to be behind the chair, to give results as per professional standards, and to be userfriendly, from an ergonomics point of view, on a day-to-day basis.

Moving onto marketing, we always strive to make the hair professional our hero. The hair professional is the beating heart, the DNA of our brand.

Next is education. We have professional education, both for the stylists to help them improve their styling, as well as for the consumers. We are trying to link the professional to educate the consumer on how to style their hair at home. We love going to the salons and nobody will ever replace the salon stylist. But when we educate the consumer to style their hair at home, it allows them to enjoy the hair colour for a longer time. And I promise you, if you educate your consumer how to style her hair, she will love you forever and you’ll have a client for life.

How do you work on product development?

We brainstorm new ideas, and look at current trends and emerging technologies. We think about ways to make styling better and easier for the professional and the consumer. There are days, when a ghd engineer or scientist says, “Hey, I’ve worked out how to do this.”

That’s where my role in the development process comes in. When the new technology is put into a tool, I understand how a hairdresser or a consumer will use it. As we develop that product, I and the team are the ones who will pass it on to the next stage. We also ensure that it is working like a ghd product should. That’s how we progress with product development.

Is this the right time for ghd to come to India? How do you plan to create brand awareness amongst Indian hairdressers?

This is absolutely the right time. While ghd could have been here many years ago, what we have as a brand now is the diversity in the portfolio to be able to offer a tool for every hair type.

Indian hair is very different to European hair. But I think in the last 23 years, we have not only been developing our products, but also as a company we have developed our knowledge about different hair types.

Today, we give you the confidence that we understand Indian hair. We understand the challenges that Indian hair can provide to the hairdresser and the consumer. But we can confidently say that our tools have been developed keeping this in mind. We are ready to give every Indian a ‘good hair day’.

As soon as I landed here, I was eager to go to salons and talk to the Indian hairdressers. Every single stylist I spoke to knew the brand and was excited to have the brand here. So, brand awareness is already there. Indian hairdressers know about ghd and know the transformative benefits our products can give.

What do you think of Indian hairdressers?

The skill of an Indian hairdresser is great. I think there are certain things that we as a brand can educate the Indian hairdresser on.

We have over 23 years of knowledge of working with stylers. Looking at the way that the Indian hairdressers style and curl hair, it’s very much a tong-wand dominated market. You think curling, you think curling tong. However, what we’ve demonstrated on the stage at Nykaaland is that a ghd styler can not only straighten the hair, it can also create waves, curls, bends and all sorts of texture. So, although we have a portfolio that includes tongs and wands, I think there’s a lot of education and a lot of inspiration that we can offer to the Indian hairdresser.

If you are doing a haircut, you want to straighten the hair first to make sure that your haircut is looking sharp and balanced. But then you can use the same tool to add bends, flicks and waves, to add shape and movement to the hair as well. So instead of having to pick up multiple tools, you now have that one product available in your market that can do it all.

Since you have won the British Hairdressing Award, what word of advice would you like to give to Indian hairdressers to encourage them to participate in BHAs? 

Absolutely! We’ve got an amazing international category in the BHAs.

Entering a competition like the British Hairdressing Awards is a huge moment for a hairdresser. It’s an amazing accolade that’s known worldwide. And like you said, having won one, I know it’s an amazing thing.

It travels the world amazingly. It’s an expensive process to put together a photoshoot - the models, the makeup artist, the works.

So, it’s really important for you to stay true to yourself. Don’t think too much about the competition. Don’t think what do I need to do to win? What kind of hairstyles are going to win? No, do the hairstyle that feels right for you. Because the day will come that you might not win. And if you don’t win, you will have a very expensive shoot to look at afterwards. Put in your passion and make the photoshoot about what you love, what you are happy to display in your salon and to use on your social media. If you don’t win the award, you still have a collection that you’re very proud of.

But if you do win the award, you then have the award and a collection that you’re proud of. So, stay true to who you are, don’t change yourself. When the time is right, you will win.