Success Stories

Joanne Brown, Certified Trichologist.

‘Wellness is my passion’. So says hairdresser Joanne Brown, who recently completed TrichoCare Education’s Level 4 Certificate in Trichology.

Joanne is a highly experienced hairdresser and trainer, and she owns and runs her own salon In Wigan, Lancashire. In fact, she’s just rebranded the salon in line with her commitment to wellness and a holistic approach to the health and wellbeing of her clients.

“I’ve chosen to call the salon ‘From the Root’”, says Joanne, “because that makes it crystal clear that we like to take care of the whole person – from the tips of their toes to the top of their head!”

Joanne had been interested in trichology for a long time, but whenever she looked into taking her interest further, there seemed to be too many obstacles. “It was going to take too long. It was too expensive. It was too much of a time commitment when I was juggling running the business and family life too. So I just decided to put that interest to one side,” she says.

So how did Joanne come to make the commitment to studying trichology with TrichoCare? “Like many hairdressers, after Covid we started to see an increase in hair loss among our clients. And we obviously wanted to be able to help them, but weren’t sure what was best. That’s when the idea of looking at trichology again came to me.”

At the same time, Joanne made contact with a former TrichoCare student. “One of the people I like to follow is Anneliese Hesse, who has her own colour education business – Humankind Hair – and is a hairdresser too. I’d been in touch with her about hair products and I asked her where she’d done her trichology training. She said TrichoCare!”

Joanne got in touch with us at TrichoCare and decided to start by taking our Introduction to Trichology Course. “To be honest, I surprised myself by completing it quite quickly. You forget just how much you know after so many years of practising. So I decided to dive in deeper and take on the Level 4 Certificate course.”

Here again Anneliese’s experience was helpful. She’s written a blog about studying with TrichoCare and Joanne got back in touch with her to ask her advice on studying. “She was very positive about the Level 4 course. She said it would be hard work but well worth the effort. So that inspired me to carry on. She was very helpful!”

So how did going to the next level work out for Joanne? “I really enjoyed it. I knew the Level 4 would be quite a challenge. So I reorganised my on the floor schedule so I could devote the time to my studies. It was a bit of a roller coaster at times, I admit. But when I needed some advice, I would contact Course Director Keith Barker-Jones. He was a great support and was always on hand to get me back on track.”

And the best bit? “When they told me I’d passed my final assessment. That was a real fist-pumping moment! All that work and effort totally justified.”

So what will Joanne be doing with her new qualification? “I now have a room above the salon where I can carry out trichology consultations. And that fits very well with our overall commitment to wellness. We’re advising our clients on stress management and nutrition too. We believe the salon is the perfect place for us to have those important conversations with our clients about total health and wellbeing.”

And what about Joanne’s advice to anyone thinking of following the same route as her and studying trichology? “Go for it! You may think twice about the commitment and the cost, but I’d say it’s a great investment in your skills and the service you can give your clients. In this day and age, when everything’s happening so quickly and people have less and less time to take care of themselves, we hairdressers are in a great place to provide the expert help and advice that’s very much needed.”