Cicione, John 

Hairdressing Barbering Teacher

“It was a pure random decision for me to become a hairdresser, but it was the best decision I ever made. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else now. I love anything and everything related to hair and especially hair education. Truly the things I love the most are the learning and the teaching. I’m very equally passionate about mens and womens cuts, colour, styling; all of it.”

Going on 15 years in the industry and 5 years teaching. I am passionate about everything hair and the transfer of knowledge about it. I am still a very active student of anything related to hair and constantly seek out the best teachers and workshops.

My passion and mission are to save my students the time, money and pain.

Time: by consolidating all of the different knowledge which took him 15 years to acquire. And they will immediately hit the career on a high note. “I’m trying to turn what took me 15 years into 3-5 years for them.

Money: by giving them this knowledge (at the cost of tuition) they can save literally tens of thousands of dollars that I paid.

Pain: by giving them an extremely strong foundational expert knowledge it will make them extremely competent and confident and will minimize painful experiences behind the chair which can ultimately make people quit the career entirely. Even from one very bad experience. By saving them this pain and having this knowledge and also the vocabulary , they will be able to attract mentors within the industry.

I also want school to be an amazing experience for the students. I love creating a positive group environment and watching students bond quickly with each other. Hair never came naturally for me. It was incredibly hard for me and did not come quick or easy. It was very difficult and painful and I’ve made every mistake. This is actually a blessing because now I can pinpoint students’ difficulties and problems immediately.

Advice for students: Perseverance beats natural ability everyday all day. So work hard and don’t give up.