Tom Darling, Brendon Rice and Ólavur Davidsen showcased their work at Professional Beauty India in Delhi this June. Months before, all three were working on local chairs.
Earlier this year, Tom was running an award-winning barbershop in Northamptonshire. Brendon was behind the chair in Malta, to a market of under 600,000 people. Ólavur Davidsen was 20-years-old and working in the Faroe Islands. All were technically strong, but nobody outside their own postcode knew their name.
After training under hair stylist JJ Savani's mentoring programme, The Global Stylist Blueprint, all three barbers have sky rocketed to success. We find out more about their journeys and the challenges along the way.
Brendon Rice
Brendon had spent 20 years behind the chair at B&S Hair & Beauty Studio. He secured a brand partnership inside his first month with The Global Stylist Blueprint, and is now the exclusive brand ambassador for Malta for the booking platform, Goldie. In Delhi, he became the first Maltese hairstylist to demonstrate and educate on the Platform Stage.
"Locking in the Goldie partnership within my first month of structured mentorship still doesn’t feel real, but standing on that stage in Delhi as the first Maltese hairstylist to demonstrate and educate internationally, that’s the moment that hit different!" says Brendon.
"I wasn’t just representing myself, I was putting Malta on a map most people in this industry have never even looked at. ‘Greetings from the Rock’ isn’t just a tagline for me anymore, it’s proof that where you’re from doesn’t limit where you can stand."
Tom Darling
Tom had three stores and a decade behind the chair, and no route beyond his local market. Two weeks into mentorship, sportswear brand Sergio Tacchini approached him directly, to be lead stylist for its Spring/Summer 2026 collection.
Tom's mentor, JJ, is careful about who takes the credit. “Tom targeted them (Sergio Tacchini) himself...they approached him. My part was coaching that message into a proposal and sitting in on the first call. He has run the relationship since.”
"I want to take over the industry, but in my own way, staying true to myself, my style and who i am about and i also make this a part of my clients a attract and the community feeling i bring with my team and my shops," says Tom. "So it was only right whilst being inspired by all this, the hair, style, music and films, it was only right for me to try and attract my number one brand of choice Sergio first!"
Ólavur Davidsen
Ólavur had spent over a year cold-approaching distributors without a single reply. Within his first week of changing the approach, he secured master distribution rights for the Faroe Islands and surrounding territories, and is now the region’s leading supplier of professional hair and barbering tools.
Ólavur was subsequently selected as the first Faroese hairstylist for the main stage at Professional Beauty Delhi. "A year of silence, then one week. The difference wasn't me working harder - it was JJ opening doors I had no way of reaching. Holding those distribution rights at twenty is still hard to describe," he explains.
Training Gaps in the Barbering Industry
JJ argues that British hair education has a structural hole in it, which has nothing to do with technical ability. “The industry teaches craft brilliantly and teaches career mechanics almost nowhere. We produce world-class technicians and then leave them to work out positioning, portfolio and network by accident," he says. "Some do. Most don’t - and it has nothing to do with how well they cut.”
Technical skill gets you into the conversation, he continues: “Positioning, portfolio and relationships decide whether you get the booking.”
The Commercial Question for Salon Owners
For salon owners, JJ shows how they can accelerate a business internationally without having to choose between the chair and stage. "That’s the part people get wrong, they think it’s an exit. It’s a second income stream that makes the first one worth more.”
About the Global Stylist Blueprint
Six students have completed the mentorship to date, a number Savani says is small deliberately: he screens every applicant personally. JJ, who trained through Vidal Sassoon and the London School of Barbering, worked as a stylist for Zegna at Dubai Fashion Week and was named one of the Top 5 Educators at the Modern Barber Awards 2024.
Image credits: JJ Savani
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