There’s an exclusive club of hairdressers who have won British Hairdresser of the Year – in fact, there’s only been 17 since the awards started in 1984. So what would you do if you won? Launch your own products? Travel the world to showcase British hairdressing? For Sally Brooks, British Hairdresser of the Year 2017 and 2018, it was about giving something back to the industry that has given her so much. She wanted to shout about what an amazing career hairdressing can be – and in a time when the industry is struggling with recruitment, it couldn’t be more apt.

Sally Brooks and film-maker Gabriel Maciuca

I originally sat down with Sally in February last year, when, as 2017 British Hairdresser of he Year, she wanted to create a 3-minute You Tube video to promote hairdressing and what it has to offer. Her storyboard was incredible – she knew exactly who she wanted to talk to, where she wanted to film and how she wanted to be portrayed. So throughout the summer she travelled the country interviewing hairdressers and barbers, talking to stylists and rising stars. She discovered and worked with barber and incredible filmmaker Gabriel Maciuca, all while working in her salon and winning British Hairdresser of the Year for a second time!

And so, with hours and hours of footage, the 3-min film became a 60-minute documentary. The Journey To My Destination is a story of ambtition, passion and dreams, designed to inspire teachers, students and parents that a creative career is a viable option over university or a desk job.

Hairdressing is still regarded as something you do if you can’t do anything else, but this film proves that this industry can not only offer a great career, but can enrich your life and bring unexpected people into your world. Inspiring the next generation was Sally’s aim – and as British Hairdresser of the Year she has done just that!