American Experts with Celebrity Hairstylist, Sean James
Q: Sean, where were you born?
I was born in Sydney, Australia.
Q: You have celebrity clients. How many years of experience do you have?
Too many to name. I started in 1986.
Q: So, well over two decades?
Yes.
Q: How did you get to America?
I worked in Brisbane, where I did my apprenticeship. There, I had an amazing teacher there who worked for Vidal Sassoon. He taught me all about the Sassoon method and trained me. Then, he told me I should go to Los Angeles, so I set sights and came here.
Q: So, you arrive in the City of Angels. Where do you begin working?
I actually just did freelance at the time and worked for an agency called Zenobia. They are still around today, and it was really wonderful. It helped set me on the right track and I did a film in the first two weeks I was here. It was called “Sins and I”. It was about the apartheid in South Africa. It was nominated for an Oscar. I thought, “Wow, that was really easy. I move to America and do a film that was nominated for an Oscar. How cool.” All within two weeks of being here. I was doing lots of stuff though, I wasn’t just doing the film. I was working at Glassman doing an apprenticeship under this guy. I was really young and I didn’t know if I wanted to be a hairdresser my whole life.
Q: After that early experience, when do you begin your very serious work at building a clientele and becoming one of the best-known hairstylists in the city over time? Where does that journey begin?
I stayed here for a year and a half. I was still on my journey searching to see what I had done. I spent four years in college, working in a salon in Australia. Now, I finish my apprenticeship and in Australia we do a four-year apprenticeship. I was still on my journey of searching so I left LA and went to London. I lived in London and did freelance there. I did a bunch of films on the side. I never actually landed in a salon until I came back to Los Angeles in 1994.
Q: In 1994, you come back to Los Angeles. Which salon do you end up with?
I started within my own business at Fred SEGAL Salon,but now have my own business within Matthew Preece salon . He was fantastic. He had come from Sebastian, Florida. Sebastian was really hot, so hairspray was a really big thing. A couple of the other hair stylists had come from Sebastian. He was really good friends with Gene Shacove. The movie “Shampoo” was about him. Gene was friends with Fred SEGAL and recommended Paul Dearmus to start the salon at Fred SEGAL that I started working at. They changed the name to Fred SEGAL Beauty. Then of course, we were Fred SEGAL Hair. So, we changed names a couple of times and over that period I was working freelance the whole time. I had met a lot of people through Fred SEGAL. I did Matthew Perry’s hair, Courtney Cox, and Beverly Johnson, who was my first Black supermodel that did runway shows. Then I did this really big runway show called Todd Oldham. That was my real touch with supermodels. I did Naomi Campbell’s hair after that and a bunch of other supermodels. That was really cool and I got a really good pace with that. Then, up in my life Jamie Lee Curtis. I was doing a lot of TV commercials. I probably did two or three a month. I worked for this guy and he was a fantastic commercial director. He did TGI Friday’s and a bunch of stuff like that.
Q: Jamie Lee Curtis is your client today?
Yes. I just text her now actually.
Q: You sound like you believe a lot of your success was predicated on some good luck and being in the right place at the right time. Of course, you are enormously talented and have a winning personality. So, how do you explain your success? What is it that you think has really been the thing that has lifted you to such heights in the industry?
I truly believe in education and being qualified. Qualifications and certifications are a must. Confidence and security as well. I had to do my hair dressing license twice. I did it in Australian then I had to go to school in America to get my certification here. I was quite confident in my skill level. Having that education gives you confidence. If you know something you know something and if you don’t, you fake it but that isn’t the same confidence as to actually knowing something. I really put a lot of my success to my teachers who have shown me ways to pass different skill levels. My goals and certifications were crucial. On top of that, I am a big believer in positive thinking. My father was a real estate agent and he had himself in the trenches a couple of times. How he got through that was reading about how positive thinking is powerful. I know that helped him. He had no one else to turn to, he was a single father raising three kids. I know what positive thinking did for him through all of that. So, I listen to a lot of positive thinkers. I love Tony Robins and just did a meditation with Oprah. Most of all, I have hope. I have hope my future is going to be bright and always keep hope. I stay positive and write my goals down. I like to write what I want to achieve. Not only financially, but for my relationship, my family, and how I want to live.
Q: Your practice now is at this salon in Santa Monica and how long have you been there?
Three years now. Fred SEGAL closed and sold the building. We all had to move and I worked for Matthew Preece who was one of the fellows at SEGAL and actually bought it. He is another great, positive thinker. He was an employee then the owner. He is also an immigrant like myself. He is from England and worked his way up from the bottom. He’s also a believer in meditation and the power of positive thinking.
