Georgia Winchester never tires of talking about the weather, but she’s not a meteorologist or a weather reporter – she’s a hairdresser.
As well as learning the technical skills, she’s also mastered the art of small talk.
She knows talking about the weather is a way to make clients feel at ease.
“I pretty much talk to every client about the weather,” she said.
Earlier this month, Winchester scooped the Next Generation Award at the New Zealand Hair Awards held in Christchurch.
“I was very excited to have even been picked as a finalist,” she said.
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high about winning.
“But actually being named as the winner was a really cool feeling – a lot of shock and very happy, very proud.”
Winchester joined the team at True Grit after taking a six-month hairdressing course at Ara – following in the footsteps of her grandmother, who was also a hairdresser – and falling in love with the profession.
“I really liked hairdressing straight away. I like making people feel good about themselves and how they look in the mirror,” she said.
Four years on, Winchester will sit her final assessment in December.
She is now looking to the future and building on what she has already achieved.
“I’ll hopefully go up for the Professional Hairdresser of the Year in a year – it is open to hairdressers with more experience,” she said.
