‘I wanted to be a chef, not a hairstylist’
Weekend Magazine: What inspired you into hair-styling? Saris Ajaj: I’ve always had this thing in me, but sometimes you go through a lot in life and try to make out the best in you to meet your aspirations. I have always loved to play with creativity and I just found myself being drawn to this […]
Weekend Magazine: What inspired you into hair-styling?
Saris Ajaj: I’ve always had this thing in me, but sometimes you go through a lot in life and try to make out the best in you to meet your aspirations. I have always loved to play with creativity and I just found myself being drawn to this profession. I have always had a flair for hair-styling from a very young age.
WM: If you weren’t a hair-stylist, what would you have been?
Ajaj: I would’ve been a chef because I love cooking; it’s one of my hobbies. I loved cooking since I was a child. I went to an academy with my dad and saw the director. The first thing he asked me was what I liked to do. I told him I wanted to be a chef. The second question was what class I was in and the third was what languages I spoke. I answered ‘just Arabic’ and he said ‘chefs need three languages – French, English plus one another.’ I looked at my dad and said ‘dad, I left school for a reason.’ He grabbed a schedule from his desk and told me to choose something I thought I might be interested in. The first thing on the schedule was a make-up artist and hairdresser. I looked at it and I didn’t want to say it out loud because my dad might disapprove. It wasn’t ever in my mind to be a hairdresser. I just went with it because I thought it would be easy. Surprisingly, it turned out that my dad was my biggest supporter. He came with me to buy all my equipment and I enrolled in a beauty school. They were already in session and I opened the door, walked into the class and saw 25 girls in the class. I was ecstatic, thinking this was exactly what I was looking for. So being around women didn’t just start for me now but I have been used to it since my young years. Hairdressing was my calling so I stuck to it but if it hadn’t worked out I would have been a chef.
WM: Do you sometimes get discouraged?
Ajaj: I haven’t been discouraged in my business, never had doubts in what I do because I’ve always had good passion for it , it’s always in me and I love doing it. Eleven years ago I came to Nigeria from Lebanon for a quick visit to Nigeria. I saw the opportunity I had been looking for for years. Now I visit Lebanon at most for two weeks in a year. Having already worked as a hair-stylist in my home country, Lebanon for six years, I started getting offers and eventually worked in a salon for eight years her before setting up Sari Signature. Today I can boast of a clientele that includes some of Nigeria’s biggest celebrities. So, tell me how I can regret this. To tell you the truth regret has never really crossed my mind.
WM: What are the challenges you face in the business?
Ajaj: My challenge used to be speaking English language; it was a big challenge for me because I couldn’t speak a word of English when I first came to Nigeria. But along the line I have gotten used to the place and the people and I can communicate freely with my clients and they understand me. People come to me now and hear me speak and ask if I am not a Naija boy. I can also say I speak the language better now.
WM: As a male stylist, you are mostly surrounded by women, what price have you paid for this?
Ajaj: I have really not paid any price so far because I have been able to have good communication with the ladies on a strictly business platform. I find it easy to make a good relationship and I also find it easy to be able to understand them better. But I must say Nigerian ladies are the most respectable ladies I have had a chance to work with.
WM: What is the best part of being a male stylist?
Ajaj: The best part of being a male stylist is that it gives me the chance to express myself with colours and expressive hairstyles. The best part is that at the end of the day I always put a smile on the faces of my customers. Nothing beats that feeling.
WM: Where do you see yourself in next five years?
Ajaj: I see myself reaching greater heights, growing from strength to strength with the help of God. I’m working on opening branches across the country; we will be expanding within Lagos and opening branches in Abuja too and Port Harcourt as well. We are having meetings with a beauty company who are bringing a new hair product to Nigeria soon. Things are still pretty confidential right now but I’m very excited about developments. Port Harcourt is scheduled to open later this year and we are still finalising plans for an Abuja presence. I will be even busier than I am now when everything comes together but I have a great team around me; I can’t do it on my own. We aren’t standing still; we are looking forward.
WM: What kind of customers do your services attract? Are your customers just based in Abuja or from around the country?
Ajaj: I have customers from all over the globe and am happy they still keep in touch; this gives a good lasting communication. I have had celebrities and personalities mostly coming to me for their hair-styles. Once a client told me she was going to Big Brother Nigeria and she wanted me to be the hair dresser of the house. In the house I blew dry one of the ladies’ hair and transformed it from straight to curly. When I walked out, I saw 99 missed calls. That was the beginning and I started meeting celebrities from there and it has been raining celebrities and personalities around me ever since.
WM: Some of your customers come from outside Lagos to get your services. What is unique about your services?
Ajaj: What makes me unique is my good styling, curling and to add it all a professional touch. My clients come from outside Lagos, most come from Abuja; this is not to say I don’t have lots of customers in Lagos. I also have customers in Port Harcourt, it’s amazing and only tells me that customers are satisfied with my work and can come from any distance to get my magic touch. I always strive to be different in whatever I do, it differs from everyone else. Even if you go anywhere else, you’ll still be asked where you got your hair done.
WM: What is the least price of a hair-style in your salon?
Ajaj: The least price in my salon is N5,000 which is for styling and blow-dry.
WM: Which celebrities have you had the privilege of making their hair?
Ajaj: Genevieve Nnaji and Tiwa Savage and many others.
WM: What is your advice to women on their hair?
Ajaj: Hair is one of the most important things in a woman’s beauty armoury. Groomed hair completes her beauty; every woman should learn how to take care of her hair, it is her crowning beauty. Most times women tend to carry weaves for longer than usual, for Nigerian women, your natural hair can be better than a weave. Your hair determines how you are addressed sometimes as a woman.
WM: Having been in the beauty industry for some time in Nigeria what is your perception of the industry?
Ajaj: Nigerians are creative, full of artists. Sometimes, I see some hair and ask where it was done and they say right here in Nigeria; we have good hands. There are people who can do what I do even better than I can. The problem as I see it is a problem of work ethic; some people just don’t want to put in the work long term. There is also the problem of people working for just a year and then setting up a salon and then they mess up. I believe we need a regulatory board or institute which has a president and members who certifies, regulates and follows up on salons and stylists. That way, practices are policed and standardised. In Nigeria, our industry is not insured and this would be a way, not only to offer our clients a better service but to protect us from unreasonable demands or undue hardship.