Issue link: https://www.ahpindiestylist.com/i/1421270
40 indie stylist Volume 2 Issue 4 Industry Royalty. Industry Icon. The Hairdresser's Hairdresser. Each of these titles have been bestowed on Vivienne Mackinder over her 45-year career. But one of her favorite monikers is teacher. After all her experience, all her travels, and all the glamour, excitement, and accolades, Mackinder's biggest joy today—and for the past 17 years—is teaching. Her goal? To elevate the hairdresser's experience. We sat down with Mackinder to garner some of her favorite bits of wisdom. WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO BECOME A HAIRSTYLIST? It was an accident. My life was spent as a dancer, and I performed professionally until I was 19. Then I thought, "Gosh, this is not going to go any further. I can't continue my life on diets. I need to think about where else I am going to go." But I continued to be fascinated by performers and how, once in costume, makeup, wigs, facial hair— whatever it would be—they would morph into this totally different character. They became the part. I realized then the power of costume and the power of performance. That's when I thought, "I'm going to stay with theater and go into stage design or makeup." I thought makeup would be really cool. SO, HOW DID YOU GO FROM MAKEUP TO HAIR? A dear friend of mine said, "Viv, great beginnings last a lifetime. You have to go to the best to be the best." She told me to go to the London College of Fashion. They specialize in training people in hair and makeup for film, theater, and television. She also introduced me to a friend of hers who was head of the BBC, which at that time was doing more drama series, so there was a lot of costuming and wig work. I had a job lined up there if I wanted it. Instead, I went to two years of college, and during holiday—for some strange reason—I thought, "Why don't I go to Vidal Sassoon to really learn how to cut hair?" So, I went there, and they offered me a job. I thought I'd still go into the BBC world when I gained confidence, but something very profound happened. One day a teacher from that world said, "You know, marriages fail at the BBC." And so I