Gary France hairdresser rock star : Global Adventures & Behind-the-Scenes Chaos

[00:00:00] Jason, how many countries have you poo-pooed in? Oh man, I've shit on like at least 22 different countries. How about you? 23. However, Iceland was the last one and it wasn't worth shitting on. I'm Jason and that's Jack. He stutters, I don't, but I'm massively dyslexic. Both of us are hairdressers with years of stories to tell and this is Shit I Told My Hairdresser.

[00:00:29] All right guys, so welcome back to another new episode of Shit. We have a special guest today, Mr. Gary France. We tried recording this one time and the whole thing blew up and my recording went away. So Gary's been very nice to come back and record with us again with me and Jack.

[00:00:58] And thank you so much, Gary, for being here. How are you? How are you? I'm great and thanks for having me, guys. When I heard about this podcast, what you scoundrels are up to, I thought, right, I'm going to... We reached out, didn't we, Jason? We got in touch and then just having a brief chat with you and Jack. I was hooked. I needed to come on and share some shit with you guys. There you go. Yeah. Thanks, man. Again, it's going to be kind of hard to go through and kind of recreate what we did the last time.

[00:01:27] But again, that's when I say it, I'm so glad and so happy to have you here because I'm your biggest fangirl over here. I totally fangirled out on you. I used to wait for the collections to come out just to see your work. If you guys don't know, Gary, we're for Tony and Guy. He was a massive part of the collections that would come out. It would always be like Anthony Moscow, other than Gary France's collection and stuff would come out. And we always...

[00:01:54] Sorry, but I would always kind of skip over and get to Gary's stuff. So thank you for being such an inspiration to me as a hairdresser and being a friend. But if you could, just tell us a little bit about yourself so everyone can get to know who you are. First of all, thank you, Jason. When you said that the last time, I was very embarrassed. But it's a lovely compliment. And thank you so much.

[00:02:17] So yeah, so for me, hairdressing was, I guess, like a lot of hairdressers, particularly in the UK. And I'm not sure if it's the same in the States. But many people that I've met in the hairdressing world on my travels over the last, God, 43 years, I've been doing this. 35 of those years within Tony and Guy. I'm doing various different job roles.

[00:02:40] But I guess for me, school and college and stuff like that, all the education, the normal education platforms were interesting in terms of I was there for the social scene. Yeah. The sport, the girls, the fun, you know. Anyway, I wasn't particularly academic, but I was very sociable and very creative. So it kind of, you know, I didn't wake up as a five-year-old boy and think, oh, I want to be a hairdresser. That really wasn't the case.

[00:03:07] But I guess as I got into my teens, I decided, hey, this could be really fun, you know. And you didn't need too many qualifications to do it. You could just try it out. And anyway, I did it for eight years. And then in a really small village in the south of England where about an hour outside London. And then after eight years, I kind of thought, right, there's something more to this. There's something bigger than what I'm doing now. And then Tony and Guy opened up kind of 20 minutes away from where I lived.

[00:03:36] And at that point in the UK, it was the fourth salon, I think. So this was the early 90s, like 1990, 1991 kind of vibe. And that's when my whole blinkers came off and the whole world opened up to me because we then accelerated through a massive franchise program, an education, art team, structural program. And I just fell in love with hairdressing and particularly education. So that was really the start of it for me.

[00:04:05] And, you know, I guess getting involved, once you get into sort of the London vibe and you're working with, as you said, people like Anthony, who was the boss. And there was many other interesting people. Trevor Sharp was there. If you ever met Trevor, he was the generation before me. And it was very international. We had a French guy, an Italian guy. And I said, all of a sudden, from this little village that I was working into this huge international, felt like global brand, suddenly it really opened my eyes. Yeah, it was an incredible experience.

[00:04:34] And I was so grateful to be on that, be part of the team at that time because it just exploded. And it was phenomenal, you know, which obviously led me into meeting guys like you and working with teams from all over the world. And I just fell in love with the whole idea of education and sharing knowledge, really. And those were some really fun times. When you started off with the company, how big was it? Well, it felt big coming from a smaller place.

[00:05:02] But actually, when I look back, it was relatively small, you know. But to watch it grow, I mean, Tony's vision for opening salons and creating a London haircut in a different part of the UK or a different part of the world even. I mean, you guys were part of the American expansion. But then seeing it in Japan and all over Europe, I mean, Italy, you know, everywhere. I mean, Scandinavia, China, you know, all these amazing countries that we got to go to. And we'll tell you some of those stories a bit later on.

[00:05:32] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But no, for me, it was like a drug, you know, just the adrenaline of getting on stage or challenging yourself to not only be good technically, but I think when you get very creative, there's a pressure to deliver. Suddenly you're working in front of an audience. You've got an audience that are paying to see you cut hair or do hair rather than a client that's just paying for you to provide a service.

[00:06:00] And obviously they want a great haircut or color or whatever they're booked in for. But when you educate and it becomes and there's a difference here between being an educator and then what I went on to do was become an art director. And the difference with that is, is education could be talking about a bottle of shampoo to one individual. It could be an audience of 10,000. It's art directing is when you get trusted to go represent a brand. In this case, Tony Guy, Label and Essentials we've been involved with.

[00:06:29] And that trust is here's a suitcase full of clothes. Here's a box of videos or whatever. You're now going to go and promote that show in wherever, Taiwan, wherever you've been booked to go. And that's a real responsibility. And if you're lucky, you might get a choreographer. You might get a makeup artist. Yeah. Usually, depending on budget, we all know the more budget you got, the more you get. You know, so.

[00:06:54] But that was the real challenge for me was becoming a great salon hairdresser and building a great column. That's one thing. And there's nothing wrong with even if you just want to stick to that, because that's without the salons, without all the soldiers doing that, the bread and butter. And I still did that, even when I was art directing and traveling. I still went and did my clients. And I loved them. And I love them. You know. And it was important. But then educating was, I loved it. You know.

[00:07:21] And we started off in the UK just doing lots and lots of small in-salon seminars as the Tony Guy Group, the salon expansion. We needed to go and educate their staff. We went to them. And then they'd come to us a couple of times here in the academy. But then, obviously, private students that were paying for to be inspired and to be motivated. And as you said, we'd create collections year after year. We'd develop products. We'd be developing all sorts of different things, you know, business tools and that.

[00:07:49] And it was incredible to be part of that. You were almost, we were growing so fast, you're almost learning on the job half the time. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you are basically the interpreter of fashion and how it worked into hair. You know what I mean? So, it was like that was the forefront of what was happening. And we were with a company that really went through and changed the way people did their hair. Guys wouldn't have these short, messy haircuts if it wasn't for bedhead. You know. So, it was like definitely like that.

[00:08:17] So, one of the other questions that I did have for you as well, the two that we just talked about were some of the people that you worked with ahead of time. And I think people are like really interested in that. And one of the things you mentioned to me a while back was working with Kate Moss. Yeah. And some of the people that you worked with. And I think some of the people who are the most influential in fashion are going to be people like her. And then also the music, the bands that you worked with as well, too. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah. I mean, I worked in a place called Kensington.

[00:08:45] So, we had a salon there. Eventually, we took it over. My ex-wife and I, Kirsten, you met. We eventually franchised it. You know, we got into business with Tony. But, yeah. So, in that salon, that area, for those of you that don't know, it's kind of where a lot of the music industries, all the record labels are there. So, you've got all the big labels. So, on the back of that, you'd be doing all the execs and all the PR people. So, you get quite connected, right?

[00:09:13] I know you guys, when you were in L.A. and places like that, you'd be doing the same thing with all the celebrity circuit there. So, we got really into bands and a lot of the Brit pop culture that was around in the 90s that was really good fun. So, actually, a funny story. I didn't tell you this last time, but I just remembered it because we've got a label called Atlantic Records. Yeah. And a guy that was really one of the top guys there, this guy called Damien. He was a client of mine. And I used to run art team meetings on a Tuesday night.

[00:09:42] So, I'd go to the race over to the academy or if I was teaching there. We'd set up for the evening, get everybody in and we'd start training, you know, doing the art team training. And I guess this call, it must have been quarter to seven in the evening. And it's Damien. He's going, Gary, I need you. I need you. I've got a new artist over. He's from America. I've got a new artist. Mate, I'm just, I'm working. I'm going in to teach. I can't. I'm running this show tonight, you know. It's all of our internal teams. They've come from all over the country. We've got to educate them. No, I need you. I need you. I said, I can't do it.

[00:10:11] Literally, if you'd have told me four hours ago, but I'm literally starting into. Anyway, turns out it was Bruno Mars. And his first time kind of in London kind of doing like a. That's great. Post-lucket for him, you know, like wheeling him out. And they wanted a quick makeover for him. So I think he turned up a bit wild. So, yeah, that was an opportunity missed. But there we go. Yeah, Kate Moss.

[00:10:38] I mean, so, yeah, I mean, London was really had some great, cool models, you know. And Kate Moss was, we, I was working with a guy called Guido that I'm sure many of you have heard of and know. Incredible. Oh, yeah. He's a client of mine. So he was great. He used to come in the salon and do his hair. And then I got on his team. And we would do, so the first time she got the Calvin Klein gig, I think she was about 15. And she really didn't look like a model, you know.

[00:11:06] She was shorter than most models that we were used to working with. She wasn't classically beautiful, but she was incredibly interesting. It was almost like this new generation of quite geeky model. And that became a thing at the time, you know, the model, the look of what became more interesting rather than. So anyway, Kate Moss was great. And I followed her career and bumped into her a few times.

[00:11:33] I mean, I wouldn't say she was a friend or even an acquaintance, but definitely someone I enjoyed working with on a few occasions, you know. Now, when you say bump, do you just kind of run into her? Or was that like, you know, with some of the world, a little powder bump or was this like. I had another amazing friend actually called Phoebe Philo. And she was at fashion college. She was at this incredible famous school in London with Stella McCartney, Paul McCartney's daughter. Oh, yeah.

[00:12:01] And they were really good friends with the likes of Kate Moss. So she was. So what Phoebe was my client and was my friend. And we were clubbing buddies. We'd always go clubbing together. And then so she would network with those people. We met with Paul McCartney's daughter and you got Kate Moss. So they were very much in the fashion world. And then you had the modeling world. And we were sort of threading a bit of the hair stuff together with Guido and a guy called Eugene Solomon. And we ended up having in Kensington, actually, we had some great session workers.

[00:12:31] Another guy, Malcolm, Alampy, Sean. So it was a real hub for creating great session workers, you know. So, yeah, fun times, you know, crossing over into fashion. I mean, education and salons were always our main focus, but it did allow us to branch out. And of course, now we sponsored London Fashion Week for many, many years now, 20 years now. So that in itself gives you lots of great connections and opportunities, you know, to work in many different things. Absolutely.

[00:13:00] So now let's go through and kind of switch gears here. You know what I mean? So now we want to go through and bring you in for the fun stuff. So I kind of poked the bear a little bit with you. But we got to get into some of the stuff behind the scenes, which I know that we've all experienced. Jack and I have been talking about this for a while. As far as like hairdressing goes and podcasts and all this information, it's great to have education out there. But we need to get down to the funny shit that kind of happens behind the scenes.

[00:13:31] And with you traveling globally doing hair, I know you've seen some stuff because I've seen a fraction of what you've seen. So let's have some fun, Gary. What do you say? What do you know? What stories you got, my friend? Well, most of it's good, clean fun. Just funny stories. I mean, there's been a few times that I think, God, we could have got arrested or could have, you know, really got into trouble. Yeah, we want to hear about that. That's what I want to hear about. Exactly.

[00:14:00] But I guess, I mean, just a few tame ones to start off with. When we, I guess, you know, once we cracked London, we started distributing, as you know, in America, it really took off. And so with distribution of the product and developing academies brings in shows and seminars, you know, so the stages were bigger and getting more. And we thought, I'm not going to lie. The ego took over. I thought I was a freaking rock star, you know. Fuck yeah. Jumping on planes every weekend.

[00:14:28] So you get a bit carried away. The ego starts running away with you. But also, it led to a lot of fun. So one of the guys I used to travel with us a lot was a guy called Edmund Dobney, who won't mind me telling you a few stories. He was a little bit further ahead in the art team pecking order than me. Sure. And he was a riot. He was an absolute riot. So one story was we ended up, I'll give you two stories about Edmund. One was in Italy. And we're doing a shoot. And Anthony's there.

[00:14:57] And our distributor's there. And we've got all of our Italian best clients there. And we're showing them how to do a shoot. Anthony's there. You know, we've got these great models. And we'd been out the night before. We got there, I think. We left like early hours in the morning. Left London. Got there. Straight into a big lunch. Because when you were with Anthony, everything was amplified. You know, the real box was in town. So you got treated a little bit better. You got taken to a slightly nicer restaurant and, you know, fed and watered a bit. So we were on the lash straight from when we landed.

[00:15:25] In fact, probably before we landed at the airport. And anyway, this went on all day, pretty much all night. We turned up at the shoot, casting this. Right? Models, hair, lighting. You know, we're getting ready. We're educating the guys, the Italian guys. This is how we do this. We start with hair, with the makeup. We get the hair going over there. And now we're in. I go, where the fuck's Edmund? Where is he? Just nowhere to be seen. And there's this kind of little room just over the, you know, tucked away there.

[00:15:53] And it's kind of like a changing room, bathroom type vibe. And there he is, fully clothed in an empty bath. Just like asleep. Like completely crushed out. Having a little dribble up in the corner. Oh. We, you know, hilarious stuff. Whatever. I've been on shoots with Anthony. And it's like the budgets are tripled. You know what I mean? And so it's like there's a lot of money being spent. And I've been there to where one of the guys was actually like, remember Anthony had like the, you know, his earphones on. He's listening.

[00:16:22] He was like, what the fuck is that sound? And we figured out it was one of the art teams sleeping. And you could hear him snoring. The boom was picking it up. The microphone was picking it up. And it was like, he's like, I am spending like, you know, a thousand pounds an hour and this fucker snoring. And I'm like, yep. So that's the thing. It's like some guy sleeping in the corner. I love it. I was traveling with Finland as well up in Scandinavia. And we were very famous for vodka. And so we got treated to finish finest vodka.

[00:16:51] And anyway, we got carried away as usual. And they were making us drink, not making us, encouraging us to drink this drink called Reindeer's Tears, which is neat Finlandia vodka with two, just two cranberries. So it's pretty, and we must have had, I lost count of how many we had. But consequently, we got completely smashed, missed our flight. I think I threw up in the hotel everywhere in the room. And so that didn't go down too well with our distributor.

[00:17:20] But, you know, obviously the hotel went mad at him. They went mad at me. And it was like, oh, my God. So, yeah, we often used to overdo it for sure. Oh, God, yeah. Yeah, some great times in Europe and some real messy stuff as well. But, you know, I kept it professional. Always turned up, you know. Well, that's the thing. But I know of hotels. Like, I know, like, the Adams Mark in Texas, when we did that really big show that you came out to.

[00:17:47] We're not invited back because we destroyed the hotel. You know, it was like, I think it was like 10,000 hairdressers turned up. Everyone had a drink by like 9 in the morning. You know, where everyone's doing hair. Then the audience comes in and they're fucked up. Right? And so it was between the cigarettes being put out on the carpet, people vomiting in planters. This one guy got caught peeing in one of the planters. You know, they were like, we spent a ton of money there. So they kind of put up with us.

[00:18:14] But when the show was done, they're like, get the fuck out and don't come back. We're like, all right. Sorry. Yeah. That's fun. We had it on. We used to do a big. Well, one thing I will say, actually, you know, and I know this is predominantly maybe an American audience that are listening. But this is the honest truth. The warmth, the energy and the fun that we used to get from doing shows in America. And I mean, all over.

[00:18:41] We like to see with Texas, Vegas, everywhere was off the chart. I mean, if you're on stage in front of an American audience, and especially if you had a few drinks, the enthusiasm, the energy. So I'm always thankful and grateful for my time in America. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart. And obviously, you guys would come to us once a year or twice a year, whatever. We would come to you. So the rapport and the camaraderie was incredible as well.

[00:19:10] But when that extended, and I think the audience bought into it, they could see it. So, yeah, it was amazing times. I love the trips to America. Absolutely. Oh, they were exciting. You know what I mean? And then we tore it up. You know, so it was like we make sure that not only did we go through and do the show, but we literally took a torch to the house and burnt it fucking down when we were done. So we did it right. That's for sure. That's America. Yeah, America. Burn the fucker down. And we did. The problem is that we actually did.

[00:19:40] They're absolutely insane. We've covered some of the Christmas parties that we've had. You know what I mean? People destroying bars, throwing glasses at people's heads. And I know the Brits like to have a good fight. But we take it to the next level. That's what we're fucking sure when it comes to a party. Audible präsentiert. Sie sind nach dem Einschlag und dem Feuersturm gekommen. Eine Vampirjägerin führt einen unerbittlichen Kampf. Wenn du meiner Schwester was antust, stirbst du ein grausam Tod.

[00:20:09] Sie sterben nur, wenn man ihnen den Kopf abschlägt. Hör das Audible Original Hörspiel Impact Winter. Jetzt nur bei Audible. And we're back. Yeah, I guess so. And do you know what was really interesting? I mean, because I guess when we were working in London, you'd really bounce off each other. And I said that pressure to create was really exciting.

[00:20:39] But then working with you guys, I mean, I loved Thomas's work. You know, really. It was really refreshing. I mean, I love people that can just manipulate hair. Because you can teach technique, right? Anyone can learn technique. But why you're doing it and how you're doing it and how you then put that onto hair. I always found there was a few people that could do it. I had natural ability. I guess you can teach technique. You can't teach taste and shape and form.

[00:21:07] So I really, really used to enjoy working with you guys. I really did. Yeah. So America was amazing. Very grateful for all my time there. And then, I guess, sort of Asia was, you know, that really opened up, you know, in Australasia. And so Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, you know, so interesting to go in Singapore, go and do shows there because different climate, different hair texture,

[00:21:36] totally different audience, different language. So the whole thing, again, changed again. And, I mean, I think I told you this last time. It's a funny story about in Australia. By the way, we did the best show I think we've ever done sort of creatively in Sydney. And it was the first time I met Nick Irwin. I'm sure you guys know Nick or have heard of Nick. Oh, yeah. He's now doing great. Yeah, again, brilliant guy. I never, we just laughed for two weeks solid. We just connected.

[00:22:05] And we, again, got into all sorts of trouble, sleepless nights. He was DJing as well because he was a little bit of a hair celeb out there that put on parties as well. So he was a brilliant ticket. And then, so we're playing pool one day. We're just having a bit more of a chilled afternoon. And, you know, in his travel, sometimes you get a bit of a dicky tummy or you get a little bit upset, you know, in your usual rhythm. You're not sleeping properly, jet lag, particularly when it's the other side of the world for us, right?

[00:22:32] So anyway, let's just say, yeah, let's just call him the boss. He's wearing all white tracksuit. I remember this beautiful white Adidas tracksuit, orange stripes. So proud of it for the first time. And as he played with Paul Shaw himself. Totally shit himself. Now, how do you recover from that? Did he make the shot, though? Did he actually or did he miss?

[00:23:02] I can't remember, but I don't think he made the shot. I think as he bent over and was in the middle of making the shot, he followed through, should we say. The shot wasn't executed as well as he would have liked. But the shot was. Did he just act like it didn't happen or did he go, oops? Oh, no. No, he acknowledged it.

[00:23:28] He sort of, yeah, he did, yeah, absolutely acknowledged it and quietly made his apologies and exited. And then I caught up with him later in the new outfit. Oh, nice. That's nice of him. It was too bad the brand new outfit was completely trashed. Yeah, throw that in the bin. Yeah. Throw that right in the trash. No, so, you know, Australia was amazing.

[00:23:55] And I mean, I remember we did a South American tour as well, like Mexico, Argentina. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, Venezuela. Again, they were eye-opening. They were such interesting places to go and see. You know, I'm sure all you guys go to Mexico for holidays and things like that. But to go and see it on a different level, you know, Mexico City and, you know, Venezuela, you go past all these shantytown things, you know. So I've never seen anything like that. So it was very interesting.

[00:24:24] And a whole different mindset, a whole different hair type, a whole different kind of – so you're just learning constantly, you know. And I love traveling. And even the food and the, you know, different way of – different culture was incredible for me. And, you know, we had some amazing experiences. It really did. Yeah, Latin America was a lot of fun for me. But let me tell you, those are some of the biggest party spots as well, though, too. Because they would treat like royalty down there. But my God, the amount of cocaine I saw down there as well, though, too, was insane.

[00:24:54] And some of those distributors are still in jail because some of them were bringing in shampoo and kind of washing their earnings, you know what I mean? I guess you could say with the shampoo, which is kind of funny. But, yeah, some of the – I think a distributor from Puerto Rico, I think he's sitting in a prison. So I think he got like 50, 60 years for distribution but different types. So that was a lot of fun. Well, exactly. The shampoo and conditioner is just a side hustle, right? Is it just the – Exactly.

[00:25:23] But you guys would know more about that part of the world than me because I guess it's sort of naturally some of you guys were going holiday and frequent. You're just closer to it, aren't you? Mexico, et cetera. I do remember – speaking of like, you know, too much cocaine, I remember one time you were telling me a story about getting – finding a little bag somewhere while you were with one of the VPs. Yeah. So I think this was in the States. So, yeah, we used to get well looked after, should we say.

[00:25:53] And we were at a sort of guest reception. It was a little bit of a drinks party. I think we'd either done the show and it was a really nice kind of thank you, you know, to everybody who had been involved and some VIP clients came along. So it was just a really relaxed drinks reception. Everyone was dressed up. It was a champagne kind of thing with a few canapes or desks and stuff like that. So very pleasant, very nice. And everyone's socialising and networking.

[00:26:19] And I had to be talking to this woman who was married to somebody very high up in the Tony and Guy America world. And anyway, so as we're chatting, I look down and there's this little bag of trouble on the floor. And we both look at each other. We both look down at the same time. And nothing said. And I just gently put my foot over it and just scraped it towards me. And then very elegantly did a slump drop and picked it up.

[00:26:47] I'm not sure whose it was, but finders keepers, eh? Yeah. Right. Yeah. Well, if she was married to one of the VPs, it could have well been hers. You know what I mean? So you never know. I'm not mentioning any names. And I don't even know if it was hers. Who knows? You know, it's still a mystery. But I could have asked her. It's like, hey, is this yours? And see how well that goes over. Sure, it's just some baby formula. You know what I mean? You have a child, right? Just a little baby formula.

[00:27:15] Oh, I'm doing laundry later. You know. It was a bit of vanish just in case I got a little stain from the food or something. This had some vanish on me just in case. Well, that's the thing. People don't really realize, like, hairdressers are rock stars without the money. Well, some hairdressers have the money. You know what I mean? But we are definitely rock stars without the money. And we fucking act like it. And so that's the thing. You know what I mean?

[00:27:41] From, like, you know, dropping a bag of Coke to, you know, shit yourself because you probably had way too much to drink. We know how that happens. You know, I think the shitting yourself is two things. It's either having too much of the fun stuff and quickly passing through. Sometimes that can happen, I'm told. Or, yeah, just maybe drinking water in a foreign country that can even icing your drinks can upset your rhythm, you know.

[00:28:12] Sure. Or just maybe some dodgy food, you know. The amount of hairdressers that get food poisoning is unbelievable, isn't it? Oh, no. It is true, though, especially in different countries. Because I got the whole Latin America tour. And let me tell you, there's been some people who have been kind of shut into hotel rooms. And we're like, stay the fuck away from us. But you never know. You never know what the outcome is from whatever happened, you know. But that's what makes it all the fun. Exactly. Exactly.

[00:28:39] But some of the other stuff, I guess, you know, for me, once I became very confident in my own ability and very creative in sort of mastering my craft and putting collections together and being a huge part of the team and traveling with that, I really wanted to put something back into, you know, inspiring younger people. Sort of what's that next generation. So that organic growth within the business, which is what that was our business model, really. And I love that.

[00:29:09] And I got involved in so many different projects. And then I guess as I got older and older and older and I started to wanting to make us travel to countries that you'd actually make a bit more of a difference. So almost like two of the most interesting ones I'll tell you about was Pakistan and Israel. We all know the troubles and the stuff that goes on there. It's well documented, obviously. So Israel was a funny one because I had an Israeli guy working for me and he said, come over.

[00:29:38] I've got to, you know, my mother and father got a great hairdressing business. We'd love to have you come and share your knowledge and, you know, do some stuff with us. So I did. And I went over there as a kind of holiday and just to check it out. And Tel Aviv was amazing. I really loved it. And I sort of thought, wow, this is quite different. It's a beautiful city, an interesting country. And so I spent a few days there and just did a very small seminar with him and his team. And anyway, we eventually got a distributor there that this guy needs to. Anyway, Yannick is our distributor today there.

[00:30:08] And so no one else, everyone else in the team was nervous. You know, we can't, we can't, we can't. You know, and I said, don't believe all the hype. It's great. Come on, let's go. And anyway, I managed to get a couple of people to go. And one of the girls was a great technician, Australian technician called Jane Stacey. I know you've met. Oh, I love Jane. Yeah, absolutely. And, and a guy from London, a guy from Manchester called John. He's a fabulous educator, a brilliant speaker and a great share of knowledge. So me, Jane and John.

[00:30:37] Jane and I are flying from London. He's flying from Manchester. So Jane and I get there and been friends for a long time and worked together on so many different things. And, and the security's really ramped up now because it's been a bit hot, a bit tasty and political the last couple of years. So sure. They're much more sensitive as you can imagine. I never experienced this the first time I went. So anyway, we get into the airport, we get checked in. We've got all of the showcases and our own luggage and stuff. And they separate us and they go, right, just come in.

[00:31:07] And all of a sudden it's quite, almost aggressive. And I thought, shit, what's going on here? And they said, why are you traveling to Israel? And I went, well, we're going to do some hair, some show. You know, we've got a distributor taking our product. We're going to inspire all his clients and that, blah, blah, blah. Said, okay, who are you traveling with? I said, well, Jane over there. And I said, what color eyes does she have? I went, oh, shit, man. I don't know. I have no idea. You know, just threw me completely. Absolutely.

[00:31:35] So, yeah, I mean, I felt like it wasn't being interrogated, but, well, questioned. But it felt like real interrogation. I got really nervous. The sun was pouring off. Luckily, I had, obviously we had all of our documentation and that, but we had a collection book. Now it's all digital. But in those days, we used to print these fabulous coffee table style books. And luckily, I had all our work in there with our names on it. And, you know, they kind of realized that we were quite innocent, really, just fluffy hairdressers that wanted to go and spread some love in Israel. So they led us through. But that was quite scary, actually.

[00:32:05] When you got, and there's just guns everywhere that we weren't used to seeing, you know. I had that in Ireland, actually, as well. Like, yeah, a lot of guns in Ireland. We used to go over there and do stuff. And that's really on our own shores, you know. So, yeah, I've been into some quite intimidating places. But once you get behind that, the Irish people, the Israeli people are wonderful. You know, the hairdressing community was incredible. I had some amazing experiences, you know. Skip past the big guns. Skip past the big guns. I'm big deal. Yeah. Exactly.

[00:32:34] And the other one, which was, I've been to Pakistan. Interesting enough, I just watched a documentary of Bin Laden without getting too political. The first time I was supposed to go there, we got stopped from going because they caught Bin Laden two weeks later. I'm watching this whole documentary on that, which is quite interesting. But, again, I'm not going to get political. But eventually I got there. We opened up. We had a distributor. We opened up loads of salons there.

[00:33:03] And we had a master franchisee in Karachi and one in Lahore, two completely different families, but equally brilliant people. And I was so impressed with their setup. And I didn't know what to expect, to be honest. You know, sort of third world country. You hear about all the crap, you know. And actually, these were like five-star hotels, the beautiful salons. And I was really proud to be. About the biggest one, I think. Because it used to be James' James Morrison's salon used to be the biggest one, I believe. Yeah.

[00:33:32] That was the Newport Beach Salon where I used to work at. Yeah. 47 chairs. Exactly. You boys were part of that big, fantastic. And I never got to go there, which was a disappointment. But so anyway, the second biggest one, or maybe the biggest one now, is in Pakistan. You know, and it's an incredible place. Yeah. So if you've got money there, if you've got wealth, you can really live like kings. So we got there again. Max, my old Argentinian buddy. Oh, yeah. And we went there. Yeah.

[00:33:59] Francesco, my Italian friend as well, who's a colour, still working in the art team today. So we'd go to there, and we had like armed bodyguards. I mean, literally, you know, it was a surreal experience. Yeah. We would have some incredible experiences out there of, you know, being frightened to death one minute and, you know, and then sort of living like kings the next, you know. It was really, really interesting.

[00:34:28] It's kind of weird when the guy bringing in your luggage has an AK-47 hanging off of his arm. Oh, God, yeah. You know, because I've done that in Colombia where the guy was taking the luggage out, and he literally had an AK strapped to his back. Yeah. You know, and I'm like, holy shit. I'm like, what kind of a hotel is this? And then you walk in. It's fucking gorgeous. But yeah, it's really weird. Yeah. I mean, it ended up, I mean, I've got two stories about that, actually.

[00:34:55] One in Russia and one in South Africa with gun-related stories that are quite funny. But the one in Pakistan, because I'm super proud of being part of this, and it's a little bit more serious. So we did great shows. I mean, we actually started working with the embassies and the consulate, and it all got very invitational and quite fun that we were taking a brand to their country. They were super proud that, you know, they had this UK brand that was, you know, really investing in Pakistan. They loved it.

[00:35:23] So that was really interesting as well. You know, you got invited to drinks, reception, stuff. But we, so one of the things that they put back into, you know, that our Pakistani friends put back into a charity was called the Smile Again Foundation. And it was for acid burn victims. So sometimes the culture there, young women get acid thrown in their faces. And so, and they become deemed as being useless.

[00:35:53] And what Shamal and his family did, and his mother-in-law owns multiple beauty salons and academies. And so they're very connected. The whole family distribute the product. They work with the salons. They build academies. They're really aligned. And it's a whole 360 approach. So this charity was all about rehabilitating these women that were seen couldn't work, you know, because they had literally the skin of melted through this. And I got to meet them, two of them.

[00:36:20] And I got to, we brought them on stage and we gave all the proceedings of that event to their charity. So to just be a little tiny part of that was really humbling, really beautiful and very different. I didn't even know we were going to do that before we got there. You know, so that was, that was a really special moment, a little bit more of a serious moment. That is crazy though. I mean, you know, people that... You have no idea. I mean, how that would affect your whole life. Obviously your face melting kind of thing.

[00:36:48] So it was sad, but incredibly, incredibly beautiful at the same time, the way that they were giving back to that. I was very proud to be part of that. And then a couple of stories, one in Russia. I think I told you this last time, but I was scared to dare in Moscow could be, I mean, forget what's happening now again. I went there before the war with Ukraine was on and it was safe to travel there.

[00:37:13] And again, we had an academy there and we had the usual setup, distributor salons, et cetera. So Russia was a very different place then. But they're all lunatics. Again, a bit similar to Finland. They have this incredible vodka culture and a very different food culture. Oh, I've been out with the Russians in London before. And let me tell you, as soon as the barriers come down, the partying starts, you're in fucking trouble because those motherfuckers will take you down. They are awesome.

[00:37:41] Oh, I've been skiing with them and they're like on the vodka at like eight, nine with breakfast. You know, it's incredible. And there's a vodka, you know, it's a strawberry vodka with dessert, a nutty one with coffee, another one. Oh, we're having goulash or whatever. So you have this. And it was, so it was constant. And actually it was so clean. But anyway, they've taken us out for dinner. We've done a great show. I don't know. It was an academy day. Actually, we were doing three days in our academy. Taking us for dinner. And it was the end of the night. I'm in the hotel bar thinking, I'll just have one. Just two.

[00:38:10] And I meet this guy. And this guy, he's literally just got a leather jacket on. Gene, nothing underneath. No top. And he's got a nice and hairy. Nice and hairy. Hopefully. Big old bear. Very sweaty. Very sweaty. Oh, unwaxed. Exactly. So he was over friendly and obviously complete. He was on something or drunk or whatever. But he was very animated, should we say. Very loud. And I thought, oh, God, I've got to entertain this guy now. He's got me.

[00:38:39] And anyway, I forget his name. But he kept running off. He said, oh, my woman, she's upstairs. I'm going to go. And he kept going off. And God knows what he was doing to this woman. And then anyway, we must have been there about an hour. And he said to me, Gary, do you like music? And I said, yeah, yeah. I mean, you like rock music? And I went, yeah, ACDC. And they said, come to my car. So I thought, here we go. So I willingly leave with him.

[00:39:09] He's got this incredible, great truck. When you guys are used to these huge, powerful trucks in America, we're not. So obviously for the ice and the snow and the cold climate out there. So he's got this truck that's like on steroids. And you have to sort of a little ladder to get up into it. And I thought, this is it. I'm kidnapped now. He's going to take me away. And I'm going to be like tied up. And there's a hostage. All sorts of shit going through my head. And he just blasted his stereo. I think he had ACDC on it or something like that.

[00:39:38] And he just wanted to show me how brilliant his truck and his stereo were. And, you know, he was just showing off. But, oh, that was another moment. And I just thought, here we go. Bag over the head. People waiting in the truck behind. I'm going to be. But, you know, it all worked out okay. And I gave him the famous cheesy line. Anyway, Moscow. Yeah. Oh, I love it. That was a lot of fun. A lot of fun. Cool.

[00:40:03] Well, Gary, it was a lot of fun talking to you and hearing your experiences and letting people know what it's like to kind of be a hairdresser. And then also on the other side of it, you know, maybe being an educator and traveling the world. So thank you so much for taking the time out. And again, because of our fuck-ups with the system. But I apologize. But thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it. It's been a pleasure, guys. Thanks, Gary. Thanks for having me on. And good luck with it to you, Jack and Jason. Good luck with everything you're doing. I love it.

[00:40:33] It takes balls to do what you're doing. And, you know, best of luck and great to hang with you guys for a bit. Thanks, brother. See you later, guys. See ya. And now it's time for Shitology with some of Gary's travel tips.

[00:40:55] If you are traveling somewhere well-known for parasites and life-changing Tikka Masala with a side of Deli Belly, by all means, wear that brand new white tracksuit. Now you'll get that chance to swim in the Ganges and wash off that mud butt.

[00:41:12] When visiting Israel, not only is it a good idea to know your traveling companion's eye color, you should probably know if they're trimmed, waxed, or got a big old stinking bush going on down there. Which one are you, Jason? Oh, man. I got Papa Smurf in a leg lock. Hmm. That is going to check. I'm sure he will. And with that, stay shitty. Hey, listener persons.

[00:41:42] Thanks for listening. And if you like our show, please help us grow the podcast by giving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Prime, or wherever you get your favorite shit. It definitely helps our algorithm, and it's free to do. If you'd like to get your story on our podcast, go to our website at shititoldmyhairdresser.com, where you can get your voicemail on our show by using the green mic icon. Or you can send us an email at info at shititoldmyhairdresser.com.

[00:42:10] And if you like us, tell 10 of your friends. And if you hate us, tell 20. And remember, stay shitty, listener persons.