Brian

Hi everyone! Today I have the opportunity to talk about self-expression in the workplace, tolerance in the team, the hairdressing industry and stereotypes related to it, as well as non-binarity in the workplace with a well-known and respected Polish hair stylist, Brian!

What an announcement, I’m very pleased haha wonderful, hello to everyone and thank you for inviting me!

Could you tell us something about your education and career path so far?

Sure, well, as it was said, I am a hairstylist. I chose hairdressing because I didn’t know what to choose when I finished high school. I have always felt a passion for colors and art, so I decided to go hairdressing.

I spent two years in hairdressing school. I come from a small town in the south-east of Poland, where everyone who had big dreams tried to move out quickly. Yes, and I felt that I did not belong there. I wanted to gain experience and move to a larger city, e.g. Krakow. I quickly realized that the school could not offer me much. I have learned everything I can in training and in my daily work, during various internships and working in many hairdressing studios.

However, it is especially difficult at the beginning, hardly anyone wants to give respect to someone without experience. “Humility” is the key word. However, it worked and now I am fulfilling myself as a hairdresser. I mainly do alternative hairstyles, I do avant-garde, crazy colors, mullets, alternative cuts and solutions.

Have you ever encountered intolerance about your appearance or any other issue? If so, could you elaborate on what it was like?

I hear insulting epithets against myself every day. both in a small town in Sanok and in a large city like Krakow. it doesn’t depend on the place, it’s just the people the way they are. When I was 20 I was very concerned about the vulgar jokes I was hearing. Every day on the street for years, at least once a day I hear comments about my appearance, but over time, when I turned 30, I realized that what they say is only a reflection of their self-confidence, or rather lack of it. Now I still hear comments about myself but my attitude has changed dramatically. I feel immune. Sometimes people shout after me words like “f***t”, they also shout “It is not Halloween you f*****g weirdo”.

How do you deal with such situations on a daily basis? And do you think conforming to social norms is the way out?

I think you should ask yourself why someone who does not play any role in our lives should be important enough to care for his opinion. I think that a longer reflection on this issue can help a lot. People will always talk about us anyway, we have no influence on it, but we have influence on whether we are happy or not.

I do not intend to adapt to social norms, if someone is a woman, she has to wear a dress, if he is a man, he has to put on pants and a jacket – what is it? the so-called social sex, an invention of people that has become embedded in culture, but if we don’t want to follow this scheme we don’t have to! You can be yourself and dress as you like. It does not hurt. I don’t want to please other people all my life.

Do you have a person who inspires you?

I don’t have one person who would inspire me, there is no one style, one color, or even gender, because I’m not binary. I am fascinated by everything and everyone, because you can see beauty in everything. The more colorful and crazy the better.

Do you think your industry environment is tolerant?

In the hairdressing industry, there is 50/50 in terms of gender expression, and sometimes there are problems with tolerance. People think this is a fashion / beauty industry and there, stereotypically, every man is gay, so the environment is super gay friendly. Nothing could be more wrong. A classic and standard look is preferred in hairdressing studios. “Safe” and unobtrusive.

Nobody pays attention to what kind of people we are when talking to clients, whether we are smiling, whether we care about the atmosphere or not. I think that there should be a change here because unfortunately but- sooner will be hired someone who is rude and gets the label of “specific” or an artist who has a whim and you have to wait it out, than someone tattooed from head to toe and super nice. Something’s not right here? The values ​​of honesty, respect, class, refinement and neatness are forgotten.

Do you notice that in the twenty-first century still “serious appearance” is the criterion of someone’s professionalism?

The look goes first, unfortunately the second goes behavior and class and respect. The serious appearance suggests nothing. People who have it often fail to behave, not to mention that they are usually the ones who yell at me from across the street with homophobic profanity.

How many tattoos do you have in all?

I have over 60 tattoos. My feet and face are left, my whole body is in my plan.

How old were you when you did the first one and what it meant for you, was it an expression of your personality or an aesthetic treatment?

I knew I wanted tattoos all my life. When I was 26 I did my first tattoo and it was a mistake that I had to correct. They are not symbols for me, it’s just a way of expressing myself. I like fantasy, Harry Potter and Tim Burton’s art.

Do you get the impression that the self-expression of others has a positive effect on the working atmosphere or team performance?

Interfering with the life of another is the best way out. Respect is the main rule at work. I go in, I do my job, I am satisfied, I polish my passion and biggest hobby and I go out. I’m nice to everybody, it’s about being fair and not hurting others.

How does your freedom of expression in terms of appearance affect your performance at work? Do you have more creative freedom due to the fact that you look in line with your personality?

My appearance makes people treat me as a creative person, people who want interesting changes, mullets, colors, etc., see me and trust me right away. If someone wants an interesting hairstyle and sees my styling, they want me to take care of them.

Transgender and other LGBT+ people also come to me very often. I just think how sad it is that someone who does not identify with their physical gender cannot go to the first-person hairdresser without fear that they will be assessed and their hairstyle proposal mocked as outwardly suited to their gender. Such people come to me. I like the classics, but I always try to find interesting solutions, to give freedom, the client says- I listen and together we create a project that will be professional and fulfilling the client’s vision.

So you can say that you managed to find your place in the world and your work goal? To help this community by doing what you love?

Yes, absolutely, also the studio I currently work in is amazing. It respects me and I respect the studio. We live in harmony, appreciating our advantages and motivating us to correct our defects. Although I must admit that I was looking for a long time.

So it was difficult?

Unfortunately, yes, but I would like to clarify the issue of non-binary, because this is how I define myself and my professional mission is related to it.

Sure we’re listening!

So yeah, I am a non-binary transgender person. I would compare it to an umbrella, the whole spectrum. Transgender people can also be binary and then they are, for example, a transgender woman or a transgender man, but under this umbrella, there are all kinds of queer identity, agent, gender, etc.

As for the workplace it is such people who can safely come to me. I help in expressing their inner self so that they can feel good about themselves. Many hairdressers impose hairstyles, they do not understand that, for example, someone does not want to look masculine or masculine, and this fluidity that makes us real us is also a great value for me at work, so I do not judge and clients can ask for anything.

Since we are already talking about such topics, I would like to add something else if I can.

Yes, yes of course, feel free to share!

Thanks, I just think it is really important to acknowledge people in this topic.

I am sure we all agree, thank you and we are all ears!

Well, the community defined as LGBT + is for most people who do not explore this topic, they are just gays. Everything else is highly marginalized. Hate caused by belonging to this community immediately means you are gay. We should give ourselves space for inner freedom. We never know how our life will turn and who we will be in a few years.

At the moment I do not identify with any of the genders to a greater extent. I feel part of a spectrum and I think it’s beautiful. Maybe someday I will find that I have discovered my masculinity on a larger scale, maybe I will find myself wanting to change something. This is called freedom and choice.

We are not the same people for our whole lives. Various events, people around us, relationships and friendships make us change. For example, we like to swim but our friend is drowning in our eyes and we don’t want to do it anymore. We don’t like going to the dentist but we fall in love with one and suddenly we have a checkup 3 times a week haha So you never know and nothing is permanent.

Change is an integral part of life. It is the choice and the change is what I manifest by my appearance. Today I look like this, I can change but for now I don’t want to. I’m in harmony with myself. Lack of education in terms of the possibilities that we have, and we do not know how many options surround us, makes us close ourselves to what may happen to us and our life loses its color.

Wow, Brian thank you so much! Your story and way you have been through was rough, wish you a lot of success and happiness!

Thank you for having me here!