Crowning glory; Salon's Saturday girl wins contest

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Oct 2, 2008

Byline: By DAVID OLD

THIS little snipper is a cut above.

Fed up with sweeping up hair and making cups of coffee, Saturday girl Tayla Willis set her heights a little higher.

She had watched her mum, Leanne, win a host of hairdressing awards - including finishing fourth at a global tournament in the US last year.

And the 13-year-old decided she wanted to follow in her footsteps.

So the Bedlington High School pupil stayed behind at her mum's salon to practise crimping and creating different hairstyles before begging for a chance to prove her talent.

And while Leanne picked up a host of awards at a British Hairdressing Championship, Tayla definitely made her mark.

In fact, she struck gold in the under-18 category - despite being up against girls several years older and with a lot more experience - and can now claim to be the best young hairdresser in the country.

The schoolgirl even pipped colleague Amy Smith, 18, who grabbed a silver in the junior category to complete a great day for The Venue, in Ashington.

Tayla said: "When I saw my mam in Chicago, I decided that's what I wanted to do."

Leanne, who scooped six gold and two silver awards in the competition, said: "Tayla has only worked here for eight weeks on Saturdays. She washes hair and sweeps up.

But she was dying to get started and wanted to enter the competition."

The trio headed down to the National Hairdressing Federation championships, in Coventry, hoping to repeat their efforts in the regional finals. But even they were shocked at their success.

Leanne, 37, added: "I never ever go to the finals thinking 'I'm going to win' so it was great we all did so well.

"I was delighted Tayla's decided to take the route into hairdressing and even more that she's going to be very talented.

"I've never pushed her, it was entirely her choice to enter. I'll never be able to explain how proud I am of her. I will never forget how I felt that day.

"There's no holding her back now."

Tayla used a range of blow-drying techniques to create her styles in the competition.

She said: "It was great fun and I can't wait for the next competition."

Tayla has already put her name down for the North West Championships in Liverpool this month, and is dreaming of a career with her mum.

I was delighted Tayla's decided to take the route into hairdressing and even more that she's going to be very talented. I've never pushed her, it was entirely her choice to enter

CAPTION(S):

SHORT CUT TO SUCCESS: Tayla Willis is following in mum Leanne's footsteps as an award-winning crimper; BLOW ME: Leanne and Tayla are both hot stuff