Shayla Nelley is celebrating wrapping up her year studying the New Zealand Certificate in Hairdressing Level 3.
Hailing from Feilding and of Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Shayla originally wanted to be a dancer growing up, but changed her mind at the 11th hour.
“I grew up braiding my sisters’ hair all the time, and so every time I had a dance show, I was always the group hairdresser; it was just natural to me,” she says.
Shayla is the third youngest of seven siblings, so it’s no surprise that she describes herself as friendly but not extroverted—along with hardworking and creative. Her lecturers echoed both of these descriptions.
“I was working in full-time in hospitality after school, before I decided to take the dive back into higher education. I’m so glad I did though, the course has been really good.”
“In reflection, it’s been a jam-packed year of learning. They cover so much in the
course. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into but I also found some apsects much easier than expected and other aspects a little harder.”
“I was a bit nervous to learn to cut – you can’t really undo that, but I actually found that part of the course fairly easy; same with the styling too because of my background it was smooth sailing. I did however find the range and number of people and clients to work with a little more challenging because I’m not a super social butterfly,” Shayla explains.
“The tutors were so helpful, and really took the time to make sure we understood. My favourite part of the whole year would have been our final assignment as it was the most creative. We had to pick a theme and then use that to create a hairstyle on both a live model and a mannequin. I chose wearable hair as my theme, so think avant-garde style. For my live model, I created essentially a top braided with their hair, and on the mannequin, there were a lot of accessories.”
Looking to the future, Shayla has stepped back into full-time work while she keeps an eye out for salon apprentice roles. “I’d love to come back and complete the Level 4 Certificate when it’s available and eventually run my own business, but that’s the long-term goal,” she says.
Images of Shayla's work: