Learn more about Jo's pathway to becoming a hair stylist and director.
Video transcript
[Aerial view of Mt Roskill, Tamaki Makaurau with voice over]
When I was young, I was a tomboy, so I've always gone to the barbershop with my grandfather in Samoa, that was me and his outing every Saturday.
I sit there and just listen to the stories and how they communicate to each other, how it was more of a hang out, and the way they communicate with laughter and just really sound really fun.
[Video shows the interior of a hair salon]
So I think that's where the inspiration as to become a hairdresser or a hair-cutter.
I suppose I was very lucky that I knew what I wanted to do compared to most kids that didn't know what they wanted to do.
[Video shows Jo sitting in her salon and speaking]
And reflecting that back to school, I was never a sit-still student, I was always on the go. So I knew that I wasn't going to be a university student.
[Laughs]
I was going to be a hairdresser.
[Music plays]
My name is Jo Rose Salota Kerrison, [unknown] is the maiden name. I was born in Samoa, Apia in village of [unknown]. We moved to New Zealand with my grandparents.
I remember I wanted to get into hairdressing when I was fourteen, but that's when the apprenticeship was fading out.
So it was the training college started coming through, and it was really hard for me as a Pacific person to get into.
But my mother-in-law was Māori, and she had a daughter that went through, she was just finishing her apprenticeship.
And, yeah, she was the one that sort of pushed me through and said: look, it's never too late to actually do what you want to do.
So and I thought, well, what else can I do? I don't want to be working for someone and doing something that I didn't like. So hair dressing, it's a mixture.
[Video shows Jo working in her salon and shots of her mixing colours]
It's not about cutting hair. It's about mixing colors, so you need maths, to be able to add and mix colors, science is colours, you know, you've got a mix chemicals.
Technology, which is your social media, which is what we're moving into at the moment. I'm not very good at that department. That's where the young ones come along.
[Video shows Jo sitting in her salon and speaking]
English, of course, you need to be able to communicate to your clients. So you get an understanding on both sides, you and the client. So all of the above.
[Video shows Jo working in her salon and shots of her washing a client’s hair]
I know hair dressing is a haircut, but it's more in a haircut. It's about people's well-being, being looked after and being listened to.
I think it's a really important skill, which is, I think, it comes down to communication and knowing what they want and delivering it as best as possible as you can.
[Video shows Jo sitting in her salon and speaking]
People underestimate hair dressing as just a hair cutting. It's not just a hair cut.
It's about connecting with people, connecting with people that are sitting, we're all human, connecting with that person that sitting there and making them the best human as you can with your skills, and sending them out and making them smile when they leave.
They just turn into a whole different soul.
And I think when that smile and that hug when they leave, you know you've done your job.
Talofa, my name is Jo Rose Kerrison, I live in Auckland. I'm from Apia, Samoa.
I went to Auckland Girls’ Grammar. I'm a mum, a hairdresser, part of Mt Roskill community, and this is how I became a hairdresser.
[Music plays]