If You Can Count to Five, You Change Your Life – Aveda Dare To Dream Makes Artists’ Dreams A Reality

This past June, dreams were identified and powerful tools were provided to unlock these dreams at the second annual Dare to Dream conference held at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida produced by Aveda distributor and partner The Salon People.

More than 1,000 Aveda Artists attended the two-day event consisting of powerful presentations designed to help make dreams a reality.

This year, Tom and Karen Petrillo, co-owners of The Salon People, asked attendees to focus on how to make their dreams a reality by using the “5-Second Rule,” created by Mel Robbins based on her book of the same name. The theory is simple, but life changing—, count down from five, make a decision, and act on it.

“This event is like no other,” Tom says. “It focuses on the personal and professional development of our Artists, spa therapists, and guest care teams and is supported by owners, managers, The Salon People, our guest speakers and Aveda.”

Leading the event with humor and inspiration were Virginia Meyer, co-owner of Aveda salon FOURTEENJAY, and Creative Strategist Christopher Hermann. Presentations were presented by salon owners, artists, educators and recent North American Hairstyling Award (NAHA) winners and nominees— with talks designed to present their own steps to how they have achieved their dreams.

Aveda Global General Manager Barbara De Laere was on hand, presenting a passionate and exciting talk about research and information on the beauty industry as a whole and how stylists are in a unique position to cater to changing consumer needs. “You can’t digitalize a haircut or hair color,” she said. “Consumers are so informed now, and they want a consultation—a diagnosis. You give guests an experience, a personalized consultation, expertise and curation, connection and transparency, and an authentic, natural brand,” she said.

The first evening concluded with the Best New Aveda Artist Awards ceremony and an inspirational hair show presentation by Pyure Salon of Coconut Creek, Florida.

The following morning, Pyure Salon owners Elan Levy and Luca Boccia shared details with the audience of how they designed and rehearsed for the previous night’s performance, and how their dream of performing at Congress will be coming true this fall. “We spent six months rehearsing this show, but it really started 12 years ago for us,” Levy said. “It was always part of our mission to go onstage and push ourselves.”

More Highlights of Dare to Dream:

Cyndi DeSoto, former chief beauty officer at Caruh Salon Spa in Seattle, author and creator of The Significance Movement and Live Like You Matter (livelikeyoumatter.org) took the audience through several exercises to better understand themselves, how to improve their communities, and how to make a difference in the world.

NAHA winners Aisling Campbell (2017 Student Hairstylist of the Year), Heggy Gonzalez (2017 Editorial Artist of the Year) and Robert Grimes (multiple NAHA finalist and award winner, including 2015 Hair Stylist of the Year) shared not just the secrets of their success, but also how they overcame failures.

Ray Civello, president and CEO of Civello and Aveda Canada, giving practical advice on finding happiness in your career. “Create deep connections versus transactions,” he said. “When we care, we bring the moment of connection to life.”

Tatum Neill, creative director at Paris Parker Salons and co-founder of Elevate Hair, brought his social media savviness to the stage to teach stylists how to use Instagram to leverage their careers.

Brittany Adamson Hall, owner of Quattra Via Aveda Salon and Spa in Carlsbad, California, inspired the audience with her personal success story of changing things from a low point to achieving her dreams. “Impossibility is an ugly word that will prevent you from getting where you need to go,” Brittany said. “So I changed it to I’mpossibility. The apostrophe transforms the word and the perception. Believing ‘I’mpossibility’ means celebrating the unique expression you’re meant to bring to the world. Your soul and wisdom have a special purpose here.”

Other Aveda Artists shared their stories, from first starting out to where they are today, and included Janell Geason, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Makeup; Ricardo Dinis, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Hair Cutting; Ian Michael Black, Aveda Global Artistic Director, Hair Color; Van Council, owner of Van Michael Salons in Atlanta, Georgia and Brandon Darragh, a six-figure hairdresser, platform artist and educator from Van Michael.