In the beauty industry, winning a NAHA award is very similar to winning an Oscar Award or a Grammy Award…
NAHA is celebrating 25 astonishing years this Summer, and we had the pleasure of speaking with Stormie Roberts who won the most coveted title for any newcomer, 2013 Student Hairstylist of the Year!
1. What did it mean for you to win, what changed in your career?
“It is the most prestigious honor a hairdresser can receive. After I won NAHA, everything in my career changed. People were noticing me, I was asked to go to different hair schools and talk about my experience, and even clients were coming into the salon asking about the award I won. A ton of job opportunities opened up also. At different events I would be told that I could go to any salon in the country and have a job handed to me. It’s awesome!”
2. How did you feel the moment you found out you won?
“Well, the few moments that John Simpson took to open the envelope, my heart was pounding in my ears. So when he announced my name my mouth dropped and I was thinking “did he really just say my name?” When I realized that he actually did say my name, all of the anxieties, fears and stresses of the past few months were lifted off of my shoulders. It was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
3. What inspired your winning collection?
“My NAHA collection was inspired by a number of tear sheets with classical and elegant styles, but I added a touch of edge to make the overall looks more contemporary.”
4. What was the most nerve wracking moment you had at NAHA?
“The most nerve-wrecking moment that I had at NAHA was right after John Simpson said my name. I was so excited, and then I had a mini panic attack when I realized that I had to walk up to the stage, walk up some stairs, walk on a stage in front of a live audience and all of the people watching online, and give a speech. Walking isn’t my strongest point, so the whole time I was walking I had to tell myself not to trip. So when I finally got to the podium I was relieved that I didn’t trip in front of North America’s hairdresser community, but then I had to make a speech. Of course I didn’t practice a speech because I told myself that I wasn’t going to win. So I had to whip that out of thin air and hope that I didn’t sound silly!”
5. From your experience, what do you think you have to do to win a NAHA?
“From my experience, to win a NAHA you have to have a collection that flows together, yet sets you apart from other people. You have to have perfect models doing a perfect pose, the right background, makeu p that enhances the photos, a great photographer, the correct lighting, and hair that is on-point that ties the photos together to make them great photos by themselves, but also a work of art when they are all put together.”
6. Which artists do inspire you in your work?
“The artists who inspire me are of course the amazing Eric Fisher, Luis Alvarez, Nicholas French, Dimitrios Tsioumas, John Simpson, Shawna Parvin, and Shelly Devlin. There are so many more, but we would be here for days if I named all of them!”
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
“In five years, I see myself as a well-known hairdresser. I see myself being in magazines, people talking about me, my name in movie credits, and people coming from all around the world to see me do hair. Whether it is a platform artist, movie hairdresser, salon owner, magazine stylist, or anything else that gets my name out there, I want people to know my name. I want little girls who want to do hair say “I want to be just like Stormie Roberts.” I want people to say wow, Stormie was just a girl from the middle of Kansas and she made it. I want people to know the name, Stormie Roberts.”
