This story is for grown up girls who want to make life happen for them, not to them

Everyone who knows me or indeed has ever seen me, knows I spend some considerable time and money at the hairdressers. I have been through many a hairdresser as to me it is of utmost importance that not only the cut and the colour are fabulous, but also that I have a good connection to the hairdresser her or-himself. So when I finally (!) found someone who was not only utterly brilliant with hair, but I also found out was a truly lovely human, I wanted to know more. Rest assured, this story is not about my hair, but about a girl, a very talented girl, who left her home country to start a new life with a new man and who got burnt, badly, but who rose once more to build her dream. So let´s start from the beginning.

At first glance, Michelle might strike you as “yet another pretty hairdresser”. She speaks at the speed of light, she smiles with her whole face and she has a sparkle in her eye that you just know has to lead many a male eye astray. But you will also notice that when she is in “the zone”, when she has her scissors in her hand she is a wizard. She is 100% focused on making sure she makes that client´s hair just perfect. I first met Michelle in the backseat of a car, on the way to Zurich. She scared me, just like most brilliant and beautiful women scare me. She wore purple lipstick like it was lipgloss and seemed so at ease with herself. However, I quickly realised she was a friend, not a foe. There were layers there. I instantly wanted to know more.
Her reputation had in fact preceded her, and I just knew I had to make the 30-minute drive to get my hair done with her. She immediately told me I had to “get that green sh$t out of my hair” and I instantly loved her.
What followed was a friendship born out of hair but one that encapsulates so much more. I tell her about my everyday life as a mum of two pretty crazy boys, and she has told me about her life as a single Australian girl in Switzerland.

She was worried her taking over the salon and simply living happily ever after with her then boyfriend, would simply be “too easy”.

Michelle grew up in Sydney. She quickly showed enormous talent as a hairdresser and was about to take over a very successful salon, when she decided to take a six-week holiday, before the big responsibility of owning her own salon started. She went to Paris and the Intercoiffure Mondial (the Hairdressing World Championship) as Australia´s representative, where, lo and behold, she found love. He was also a hairdresser, from Switzerland. There were of course the complications of “that” salon in Sydney and a heartbroken boyfriend. But if there is anything you notice when you talk to Michelle, it is that she talks about taking risks. She is adamant that her life must never be too easy. She was worried her taking over the salon and simply living happily ever after with her then-boyfriend, would simply be “too easy”. Perhaps it was all luck. Perhaps she wasn´t as good a hairdresser as people said. Perhaps with her taking over that salon, she would never find out what “could have been” on the other side of the world.
Said and done. Bags were packed and flights were booked.

She knew she was good, deep down she knew. But with her self esteem taking a daily beating in other areas, she still felt she had to challenge herself and take more risks.

She very quickly came to manage the Aveda hair and spa salon in Lucerne, but life outside of the salon was not quite as peachy as one would have hoped. Her homelife was strained and it quickly became apparent that if Michelle had any self-esteem it should be taken away from her. Nothing was ever right. She couldn´t even walk silently enough in her own home before it was picked on. This was not how things were meant to be, but if you know anything about Michelle it is that she is a grafter. So she did exactly that. She grafted away at her craft, she got more and more known in and around Lucerne. She now had a large ex-pat following and yet again she started to wonder if her life had perhaps become a little bit too easy once more. She was the “Top dog” at Aveda, yet she was ready to take on a fight with the big boys at one of the most renowned salons in Lucerne. One must also ask oneself if this is the fight she couldn´t have at home.
She knew she was good, deep down she knew. But with her self-esteem taking a daily beating in other areas, she still felt she had to challenge herself and take more risks. So the phoenix rose once more. She started at a new salon, this time at a salon where the Lingua Franca was Swiss German. Her clients from her old salon came with her and her reputation grew even more. She grafted to the top of the hierarchy through sheer talent, exquisite service and long hours. And now the poisonous relationship was over she started to seriously think about opening her own salon. A young Australian girl in the middle of Switzerland. Thanks to her unquestionable talent and marvelous persona many of her clients offered support for her idea and slowly but surely “The Place” came to fruition.

Apart from the actual workmen, all the auxiliary services such as financing, architecture, accounting support, financial advice, etc have come from her clients. It has again been the fruit of a lot (!) of hard graft, sometimes washing hair in her bathtub at home and many tears, but also the start of a new, very happy relationship, and of course, the opening of her very own dream salon called The Place. So next time you see your hairdresser and you think she is just smiles and sparkles, remember that you never know what ashes that phoenix has risen from.

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Michelle for letting us film our latest video at The Place 

More stories about women who dare to live making their own rules on Mums in Heels