Millenial Nostalgia
Michael Beel shares how the spring season is bringing him a new lease on life: personally, professionally and creatively.
Spring is generally a time for new beginnings: lambs are born, daffodil bulbs are poking through the cold ground and the daylight hours are starting to get noticeably longer. We all take it as a time to refocus and realign. Gone are the slightly stodgier comfort foods, we start hitting the gym and eating a little healthier (well, we try anyway!), as we know summer is coming.
This spring I will definitely be refocusing and going through a bit of a metamorphosis. I’ve gone through some some major career changes and have a personal life milestone coming up that I need to put my heart and soul into.
A month or so ago I did something that shocked a lot of people. I sold my shares in the salon that I’ve been in for over half my life. I’m now no longer a salon owner, I’m an employee.
This was a massive step but something I needed to do for my mental health. I’m not a business-minded person, I’m a creative. I’ve been very lucky to have business partners do the heavy lifting and I’ve just sat there and nodded my head in the meetings with the accountants and such. It was like they were speaking a different language. I really just want to do great hair, not be bogged down with KPI’s, budgets, stock control and HR within a massive salon of 29 staff, especially with what the last few years have thrown at us.
I’m 45 and I’ve always said I don’t want to be behind the chair at 50 cutting hair five days a week. In 5 years’ time I didn’t see myself sitting in the salon office doing the business stuff, so I thought I better get out while I can to explore what else I can do within this amazing industry I love and adore.
I’m still there cutting hair, I’ve got a mortgage to pay, but I’m excited about exploring creative opportunities within the hair industry to help grow, inspire and mentor people to be the best versions of themselves, in whatever form that takes. It will be my reawakening, almost like a rebirth - Michael Beel 2.0 - god help the world!
I’m also getting married to my partner of 22 years in February. We were supposed to marry last February but like so many others, Covid changed our plans. We’ve been through all the ups and downs that life throws at you, so it was never about the actual ‘marriage’ part. Don’t get me wrong, that’s very important, but we’ve been together so long and a piece of paper isn’t going to change anything for us on a day-to-day basis. It’s really about having our nearest and dearest in one room and having a bloody good party. Champagne, glitter and drag queens…you know it’s going to be next level.
I feel like 2022, the latter part anyway, will definitely have me being more aware, with my senses firing again, allowing my creativity to come through without being weighed down by the mundane and seeing where this crazy journey called life will take me.
@michaelbeelhair
Image credits
Hair: Michael Beel
Photography: Jessica Sim
Makeup: Kiekie Stanners
Stylist: Dan Ahwa
Model: Clyne Model Management