It’s All About the Hair
In 1969, the brutally honest reality TV star, Tabatha Coffey, was born in Queensland, Australia, where her passion for the beauty industry blossomed. As a child she styled wigs for the drag queens at the local strip club her parents owned. “They really showed me how authentic they were.”
Tabatha went on to apprentice for four years in her hometown to become a hair stylist. At the time in Australia, you were required to study cosmetology for four years before you could get your license. And, you weren’t allowed to touch hair until your senior year.
Shortly after her training as an apprentice, she moved to London, where she first studied under Vidal Sassoon and Toni & Guy. Over the years, Vidal Sassoon has been one of her biggest mentors because of his relentless work ethic.
Actually, It’s Not Really About the Hair
In January, 2011, Tabatha published her memoirs – It’s Not Really About the Hair: The Honest Truth About Life, Love, and the Business of Beauty. In it, she tells us her life story and answers to her reputation as a “BITCH.”
Tabatha’s Life as a Stylist
After working in London for a number of years, Tabatha visited her mother in the United States, where she had moved after re-marrying. Tabatha was so bored by New Jersey that she started working and ended up staying.
Tabatha still considers New Jersey her home, where her and her partner live happily. She has been a salon owner there for over 10 years.
Her salon, Industrie Hair Gurus, is located in Ridgewood, New Jersey. How her guests are treated in her own salon is a large part of her philosophy as a hair dresser, which is something that’s evident through the work she does on her own reality show, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover.
She believes that continuing education, treating your guest with respect the second they walk in the door, giving them the experience they deserve, and being authentic are all integral parts of being a successful hair stylist.
When she’s not on the road, she’s in her salon every day, and even when she is on the road, she keeps in constant contact with her staff. And, in addition, she maintains a clientele in Los Angeles at Warren Tricomi. She travels there every five weeks and works for a week to maintain and build her clientele there.
“Hand me your keys, I’m taking over!”
In 2007, Tabatha read a random email sent to her about a reality show about hair dressing, inviting her to audition for the upcoming show. She had no interest in reality television and really didn’t watch it.
She told nobody about the audition until minutes before she went to stand in line in New York City to audition.
Not long after she stood in line, she was pulled to interview for the show. She felt as if they had no interest in her ability to do hair and didn’t get an opportunity to show them her portfolio until she made them look at it.
A month later, they offered her a spot on the show. She declined initially because she didn’t want to be away from her family, her partner, and her salon for an entire month with absolutely no contact. However, the producers talked her back into it and a reality tv star was born!
After the show was finished, she figured that was the end of that experience and went about her business until executives at Bravo wanted to meet with her. She still figured they just wanted to wish her well in her career and send her on her way, but they wanted to offer her own reality show, and she got to pick the focus.
I think because she is such a great coach and believes in her philosophy 100%, her tv show represents her career as well as anything else could.
She gets called out all of the time for being a “bitch,” but she defends herself all the time by saying she really is nice, she is just brutally honest and believes in tough love. She has redefined the term in her memoirs to be something positive.
A B.I.T.C.H. is – Brave, Intelligent, Tenacious, Creative, and Honest. She feels as though women should embrace the abrasive word as a culture to make themselves stronger.
“It’s very empowering. It means that you’re being very strong and honest with yourself and those around you, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Tabatha feels like her demeanor on her show is a good representation of how she is in real life. She’s not just putting on an act for ratings. But, her staff feels differently – they feel like she’s much nicer on the show than she is to her own staff.
In addition to the work Tabatha has done as a published writer, behind the chair, and as a coach for dysfunctional salons on television, she also has experience as an editorial stylist, worked behind the scenes at fashion shows, and as a platform artist.
She has work published in top fashion magazines, such as Seventeen, Marie Claire, and Mademoiselle.
For over 10 years, she traveled several times every year and performed as a platform artist for Joico, educating stylists and representing their brand. She was also an Artistic Director for the company.
Tabatha even plans on launching her own product line within the next few years.
She’s always stood out to me as a strong role model for those that are passionate about being an integral part of the industry. Even though her strength is perceived in a negative way, her demeanor is a positive representation of her philosophy and her career path.
Tabatha feels that good and bad things happen in your life, but it’s how you perceive and react to them that really shape who you are.
She wholeheartedly believes in being authentic, which is something that takes a lot of strength and courage. I think in the beauty industry it’s more important to know who you are, because we are in the business of accentuating images. If you don’t understand who you are, then it becomes more difficult for you to understand what another individual wants to express.
Be confident and fearless, educate yourself, treat your guests well and respectfully, work, and always further your career. Without embracing these qualities, you are doomed to have a lifeless career in the industry.
This is the same work ethic she attributes to her lifelong mentor, Vidal Sassoon. He worked hard well into his old age. He’s in his eighties now and is still going strong.
In a Masters’ CD Interview she did with Winn Claybaugh, she said she believes that no one in the industry got to where they are without any support. You can’t start and sustain a career on your own.
“I can’t do what I do without the support of other people.”
And, she also offers advice to those of us in beauty school who are either frustrated by the system or think they know everything.
There is hope after beauty school,” Tabatha said, and wants students and recent graduates to understand that you don’t come out of school knowing everything. Once you’re working, you will constantly educate yourself and learn from the work that you do, as long as you’re willing to work.
