Liverpool hairdresser goes back to college to help students

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One of Liverpool's top hairdressers headed back to is own lecture theatre this week as part of a college marketing campaign in North Wales.

Dion Padan, MD of Hooka, was invited back to Llandrillo College, where he studied in 1996, for two years, to feature in their annual marketing campaign to promote students who had succeeded in their chosen careers.

He has also featured in "What do you want to be?", an advertising campaign that was distributed throughout local news titles in the North Wales area and will now feature on posters around the college and within the college prospectus for 2013.

Dion said: "I was delighted when I was asked to go back to the college as they helped me so much, early on in my career.

"After being chosen for the campaign, I was approached my the Head of the Hairdressing Department Rhiannon Thew to go into the college and speak to the students and it was something I really enjoyed.

"The students were so keen to learn and you could tell they had a real passion for hairdressing – just like I did."

Dion, 33, performed a live demonstration in front of more than 50 students, showing them new techniques in cutting and styling, before answering questions from the class.

"I gave them a brief history about myself and my career followed by a couple of gents' haircuts and I really loved it", he said. "I was a bit nervous, speaking initially, but really got into the swing of it by the time I did my models. Later on, I got a couple of tweets off the students who said they loved my presentation, which made my day!"

The following day, Dion received an email from the team at the college thanking him and asking if he would like to make it an annual event.

Hooka first opened its doors to the public in Wood Street five years ago and Dion has since opened another salon in Button Street. Originally from Cerrigydrudion, Dion qualified as a hairdresser in 1996 before moving to Liverpool in 2001.

Dion added: "It made me feel very proud of what I have achieved and it was really nice to share my story with the other students."

Rhiannon Thew added: "The talk and demonstrations inspired the students, so much so that they requested that Dion should return next year.

"Two staff members have also requested work placements at the Liverpool salons. It was an excellent example of links between education and industry."