Nalini Naegamvala has been in the beauty business for close to 40 years and is one of the most well-known hairstylists in Mumbai. She has worked with Bollywood stars such as Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini, Dimple Kapadia, Madhuri Dixit and Shilpa Shetty among many others. She set up the 'Nalini & Yasmin' hair salon in 1972 and also a Hair Academy that trains young stylists.
In an email interview with rediff.com's Shifra Menezes, Nalini shares the story of how she made it in the hairstyling business and shares some tips on how aspiring stylists should go about establishing themselves.
When did you first decide you wanted to pursue hairstyling as a career?
In 1970 I decided to pursue my career in hairstyling when I was in England for 3 years.
Tell us a bit about your background.
My husband was a Director with Air India and he was posted in England at the time when I started my career in hairdressing. Over the years, I have trained under global masters at Vidal Sassoon, Toni & Guy, Morris School, Rever School and Wella School.
Today, my two daughters are also hairstylists and are my partners in the salon and academy.
When you started out, what were the first few years like?
I started the salon in 1972 when there was no professional hairdressing in India. In order for the business to grow we had to train hairstylists and there were no institutes in India. It was challenging but great fun and the salon was very popular from the beginning.
Over the years, I felt a need to bring professionalism in this industry, which translated into the setting up of our Hair Academy in 2005. This Academy in technical collaboration with Wella, the leading suppliers of hair cosmetics worldwide, has already trained over 300 students.
What were the obstacles you faced when you started out? Have things changed for people getting into the industry now?
There were many obstacles, buying a property for the business was difficult, as we had just managed to buy our house. Yasmin and I somehow even managed that. Then again one more obstacle, there were no professional hairstylists in India and we had to start training straight away in order to have a couple of hairstylists besides Yasmin and I.
Lastly, there were no product companies such as Wella and L'Oreal so we had to depend on the grey market for our products. All this was a great challenge and yet great fun to me.
You've worked with film stars and celebrities from all walks of life. What is your most memorable experience so far?
We were very fortunate, we had very interesting clientele from the beginning and we became a very popular salon with clients such as Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini, Dimple Kapadia, Shri Devi, Madhuri Dixit, Karishma Kapoor and the young Kareena Kapoor and Shilpa
Most parents would not think of hairstyling as a "real" career. What would you say to them?
Today, hairdressing has become an extremely popular and lucrative career. Parents are looking at it as an option for their youngsters who are inclined towards creative careers and not normal desk jobs.
Youngsters who have good people skills do very well in this career and they can choose to work in salons, films, television and advertising among others. Earlier, during my time, people did not look too kindly towards this career, but it is very well accepted nowadays. In fact a stylist with two years work experience can earn upto Rs 40,000 per month nowadays!
How do you go about hiring stylists for your salon?
We have no problem with getting stylists as we take the top students from our academy from every batch and I am glad to say that the placement from my academy has been 100 per cent.
Our Academy is one of a kind and offers a range of courses such as Basic Hairdressing in both Hindi and English for beginners, Hair Refresher Course with advanced hair-cutting and colouring techniques for experienced hairdressers, Barbering, Technical Courses on Colouring, Perming and Straightening, Professional Make-up and Hairstyling, Personal Grooming, Beauty Basis as well as Courses on Body Treatment and Massages such as Deep Tissue Massage Therapy, Body Massages and SPA.
We are in fact the only academy to provide Basic Hairdressing and Beauty Basic courses in Hindi. This is yet another 'first' in the hairdressing industry and enables a large number on Hindi speaking students to have access to a viable career option. The durations of courses at the academy range from day-long courses that cost about Rs 3000 to attend to more advanced 16-week courses that can go up to Rs 1 lakh.
What kind of opportunity exists for someone looking to make a successful career in this industry?
This career has been extremely rewarding for me and my children and many stylists, who learnt and worked with us and today have successful businesses of their own.
What advice would you have for youngsters starting out in the profession? How should they go about it?
I think it is important to join a reputed institute where you can learn the nuances of hair both in theory as well as practicals. Dedication, sincerity and an ability to work hard are essential qualities required to succeed.
What is a typical day like for you?
A typical day in my life is still hectic. I start the day at 7 am reading the papers and pranayama and then lots of business calls. I then head to the salon at 11:30 up to 5 pm. I then do exercise or yoga and then thankfully call it a day by 8 pm watching TV or spending time with my friends.
Lastly, a big thank you to God who has given me the strength and ability to do much with my life and made it meaningful.
