Scruples Artistic Director Trent Day About giving, listening, leading and… loving

by Trent Day

Trent Day has been a hairdresser for 14 years, 9 of which has been with Scruples.
He leads a team of 160 educators throughout the US and Canada, 5 design team members and 20 artists. As the Artistic Director for Scruples his responsibility is to carry out and set stan.
dards for the company — defining them through the visual presentations of the shows, publications and education sessions performed in salons throughout the country.

What do you feel are the important qualities that you possess that enable you to lead such a large and diverse staff?
Leading a team of very talented and creative individuals is not always easy. It is tough to stay in communication with everyone on a regular basis. I enjoy it the most when we are doing shows in their area and we get that time to share thoughts and ideas, but it is never long enough. My biggest quality that allows me to lead is that it's about them, not me. I truly care about them. I get to know them on a personal and professional level. I want to know what their goals are. My reward is helping them achieve their goals.

You have been described as having a “vibrant spirit” and “imaginative motivation.” How do you use these qualities to keep you and your staff interested and inspired?
Having a vibrant spirit means to love what you do, when the passion naturally happens and that allows you to motivate without pushing. I believe that everyone in this industry is pas. sionate about what they do, and if I can motivate people to use their imagination to try something different or to look at some. thing different, they begin to motivate themselves.

It is your responsibility to “set the standard” for the com. pany. How do you accomplish this?
Setting a standard first starts with Scruples. They have set a stan. dard as a Professional and Ethical company with incredible styling ranges and innovative coloring and highlighting systems. This allows me the freedom to create. Everyone has standards to follow; I just like to leave our audience thinking. Paint half the picture and let them finish it. The standard I set with our team is to be themselves, love what they do and show why Scruples is different.

What do you feel are the qualities a good educator should possess?
The motto I personally try to live by is this:
— Give without Want
— Listen without Judgment
— Lead without Exception
— Love without Reason
To be a good educator you must possess the ability to put all these together, and believe in whom you represent. I am proud to say that all of our Artists, Associate Artists, Advisors and Technical Educators possess these qualities and live up to them every day.

You believe in the principle of “Dream.Envision.Create.” Can you give us an example of a product or project where you used this principle?
You use this principle every day. If you can dream it, you have to be able to envision it. At this point they are only your thoughts and images. The creation makes it real. It is the start to every innovative concept. Whether it is in automotive, architecture, culinary or the professional beauty industry. The more you create the more innovative you become, but you have to be able to dream and envision first.

You also believe fashion contains three essential princi. ples: Shape, Color, & Texture. How do you apply these principles in everyday life?
Everything has a shape, it has color and it has texture. It is all in how you look at things. What makes a tree a tree? From the color to its texture to its shape. These qualities define what kind of tree it is and what time of year it may be and what part of the world you are in. I love cars and motorcycles. The shapes are incredi. ble, molding steel, chrome and aluminum to create fluid lines. Colors accent those shapes and they all possess different tex. tures you want to feel. All of these things inspire me in different ways, every day.

Who most influenced you in your choice of career?
My Mom is my biggest influence. She taught me that doing hair is making people feel beautiful on the inside. My Mom and Dad are both hairdressers. So growing up in the salon makes it a very comfortable place for me.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I enjoy being able to help others achieve their goals. There is no better feeling than to watch someone you have helped achieve and exceed their personal and professional goals.

What do you think of when you hear the word “art?”
When I hear the word “art”, I see some very strong images that stand out in my mind. From Vidal Sassoon, to Trevor Sorbie. I see paintings, landscapes and of course motorcy. cles! I believe art means something different to everyone. Art is for inspiration that works for everyone differently. Everyone sees something different in everything. A great example is when you look at clouds, the shapes they make, you may see a rabbit and I see a dragon. When you can cre. ate with confidence, that is art.

What is one thing that you have not done in your career that you would like to do?
I have been very fortunate in my career; I have had a lot of dreams come true. I am a perfectionist; I want to do the perfect production. I want to be a rockstar, and of course win a NAHA.

What do you see as the future for your industry?
I see the future of our industry growing to a whole new level. There has been multiple changes going on in the area of manufacturing and distribution, but the salon and hair. dressing industry has remained unchanged. The number and caliber of schools have increased. I see more hairdressers and talented hairdressers than ever before. It will make our industry stronger and looked at in more of a professional spot light.

What brings you the most satisfaction in your career?
Being surrounded by talented and successful people gives me the most satisfaction in my career. Not only with Scruples. I have many friends that are affiliated with other manufactur. ers throughout the world. We all share the same passion: to do more, to give more, and be the best.

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