I am very excited to re-introduce, William Collier: Synopsis of a Memoir - a series, written by William Collier, in which he will be sharing his stories and experiences in the hair industry over the past 50+ years. Our staff, many clients, friends and family are truly looking forward to re-reading about William's journey, and we hope that you will enjoy them as well.
Enjoy! Judi
My desire to share an abundance of information accumulated over the past 50+ years of experience in the hair design industry has come to life; inspired by our co-owner, business manager, Judi Wygant-Collier, during a company meeting, who has witnessed this information being shared for many years. As I searched for that nugget of inspiration that might be considered “the beginning", I realized it started with a story I have shared many times when asked, “How did you get into the hair business?
As a teenager in the 1950’s one of my “chores” was mowing the lawn. This was a task that could easily be completed, at least the front lawn, in twenty minutes. The front lawn consisted of two postage stamp-shaped squares on either side of a cement walkway that led to the front steps and the front door. This task was generally intended to be completed before two o’clock to avoid any conflict with plans for Sunday dinner either at home or out, on those days when my father would take the family out to dinner.
Mowing the lawn was very boring until I realized that I could create diamond shapes through the lawn by starting in one corner and mowing to the opposing corner, which required mowing from two opposing corners to create the desired diamond shape. Of course, this took twice as long and more gas for the mower, all of which seemed to concern my father. As I dutifully performed this responsibility, I noticed my father, through the front window, walking back and forth. He seemed to be kind of shaking his head and mumbling something. One Sunday, after completing my masterpiece, I went inside the house to the kitchen, where my mother was preparing Sunday dinner. I mentioned my observation of my Dad walking back and forth in front of the window, and that he appeared to be shaking his head and muttering something. I, of course, was curious about what he had been saying. Upon asking my mother, she replied, “Do you really want to know?” My mother was a true sweetheart with a great sense of humor. I did want to know, and she said he is saying, “There is something wrong with that damn kid.” We both cracked up laughing!
How the lawn mowing task changed, upon discovering the energy that occurred out of simple creativity, remains with me to this day.