Getting Ahead: In The Hair And Now

WHEN A FRIEND of Timo Nguyen's wanted to check out Graham Webb International Academy of Hair in Rosslyn, Ngyuen tagged along. An administrator, thinking he was interested, too, gave him an application.

"I thought about it for a month," he says.

The Vietnamese immigrant consulted his family around the dining table: Mom was concerned, his father and sisters supportive. The tipping point: Nguyen was miserable as a computer programmer at an Arlington database company.

"I went to school for computers because everyone went to school for computers," Nguyen says of his bachelor's degree, which he received from George Mason University in 2000. "But it just wasn't me; it wasn't fun. I was working to support myself only."

In January 2002, he - but not his friend - started classes at Graham Webb (1621 N. Kent St., Arlington; 703-243-9322; Grahamwebbacademyonline.com), one of several schools in the Washington area that teaches cut, color and styling techniques to students of all ages. This work was fun; by taking classes full time Tuesday through Saturday and helping at classes Sunday and Monday, he racked up enough credits to finish the yearlong program in 10 months.

He also earned accolades. Five months in, the school hosted its annual competition: As family and friends cheered in a Rosslyn theater, about 20 students worked on two models each, from cutting to blowouts. Nguyen won the award for color.

That award - along with a 4.0 GPA and stellar attendance and recommendations - helped win him a staff stylist job at George, the Four Seasons Spa Salon in Georgetown, where he's been ever since.

Several area salons, including George, conducted interviews at Graham Webb. A classmate and George client told Nguyen about the opening and suggested he go for it.

Christine Gordon, owner of the Rosslyn Graham Webb, isn't surprised. "He's such a nice guy," and smart, she says. "You'd explain it once, and he got it. It's wonderful to be able to rescue him from a cubicle."

Hairstyling is thriving in the current economy, and, she says, "we are seeing quite a few career changers. This is a job that's not going to go overseas."

Plus, generally, two years out of school, after you've built some clientele, you can make $50,000 to $60,000 plus 15 to 20 percent in tips. At the quick chains, you make $20,000 to $25,000; at the top salons, you can have a multimillion-dollar home in Potomac. And work ethic makes a big difference in income." At a prestigious salon like George, Gordon estimates, a motivated young hairstylist "is probably making six figures easily."

Other upsides: a flexible schedule and "you'll always have an income." On the downside are fussy clients, the smell of chemicals and being on your feet all day.

Nguyen professes little problems with those downsides. Being on his feet: "It helps that I work out and stretch. I learned from colleagues that stretching is good." Chemicals: "I use gloves always. [Chemicals] are better than they used to be, and the air circulation in here is good."

As for clients, the young woman whose hair he'd been highlighting pops back with a tip and gushes, "You're the best!"

Nguyen likes the creativity - you can try different things and always change it later - and the rewards of pleasing clients. "I can now bring out my thoughts and feelings with people," he says, as opposed to programming, which he calls "pretty much a one-person job."

Nguyen sees about 10 clients a day, some of them well-known. News anchors and pundits often study their notes or laptops while in his chair. Without naming names, he says he once turned on a news show at the gym "to check how a client's hair looked on TV. It looked good! And the client came back happy."

The 33-year-old has kept up his skills and contacts by taking advanced classes, observing longtime stylists and acting as a judge at the same competition he won six years ago. Students "see me as an example of what they can do when they get out of school," he says.

Having been asked, he's toyed with the idea of teaching part time at Graham Webb, but the time commitment is a problem. It's tough enough to find time to get his own hair cut. "It can be hard to get an appointment for yourself," he notes, "because we do each other's, and the other person has to be free, too!"

Written by Ellen Ryan for Express
Photos by Lawrence Luk for Express