It is not often that students attend school and come home with salon-perfect hair styled by a social media hairdressing star.

During National Skills Week, 20 students from Sydney’s south-west picked up curlers, scissors and clippers to learn from Ultrafade’s Rich Tran.

The hairdressing and barbering workshop saw students learn how to style, layer, section, barber and curl hair, while also help them make informed decisions about vocational education and training pathways.

A former student of Birrong Boys High School, Rich began his hairdressing journey in the playground, where fellow classmates would often admire hist self-styled haircuts.

“My mum always gave me and my six siblings a bowl haircut, so one day in Year 8, I picked up some clippers to do my own hair, which led me to cutting my friends’ hair in school,” Rich said.

“With workshops like this, my mission is to be the mentor that I never had in high school and show students the mindsets they need so they can have fun and gain real success with a trade.”

In addition to teaching hair skills, Rich and his wife, Jenny Vo, also shared their entrepreneurial journey and how they leveraged social media to expand the salon.

When Ultrafade first opened in a hidden Sefton salon, Jenny noticed influencers were becoming more popular on social media.

“We had to use social media to promote the business because we didn’t have much money. I thought to myself, ‘if these influencers can do it, why can’t we do the same with hair?’. Social media was our way of bringing clients to us,” Jenny said.

Now with close to 300,000 followers on Instagram, the salon has expanded to two locations and Rich is booked out six months in advance.

Head Teacher Careers – Educational Pathways Program (EPP), Nicholas Chambour, said experiences such as the workshop with Ultrafade allows students to taste-test careers help broaden their post-school pathways.

“Everything starts with an interest, so it is important to give students opportunities to stretch out their comfort zone,” he said.

“The EPP gives students industry experiences and workplace skills to complement their learning in the classroom.

“The hairdressing and barbering workshop taught the students new skills that are transferrable and will help them get work ready.”

National Skills Week celebrates vocational education and training as a rewarding and successful career option that contributes to Australia’s strong and vibrant economy.