Local hairdresser Pat Iorianni has achieved a major milestone this year, reaching 50 years in the hairstyling industry.
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He has travelled the world to style hair alongside some of the greatest names in hairdressing and now owns two popular salons in Echuca and Shepparton with business partner Tracey Vincent.
However when he was first starting out at the age of 17, he never thought it would become a career.
Mr Iorianni said his first job at a Melbourne salon came about by chance.
“It’s not something I wanted to do, it’s something I stumbled into,” he said.
“I got a telegram from unemployment saying there was an apprenticeship at a hairdressing salon, so I went to the interview.
“I remember he asked me ‘so you want to do hairdressing?’ and I said ‘no’.”
Unknown to Mr Iorianni at the time, that job would be the beginning of a 50-year career.
After six years at the same salon, he moved to London to work in Vidal Sassoon’s salon for a few years, where he refined his skills.
When he returned to Australia, he left Melbourne behind and set his sights on Shepparton, where he opened his own salon in 1975.
His business took off and he eventually expanded to other towns, including Deniliquin and Wangaratta.
After 30 years running his own salons, he shut up shop.
Mr Iorianni said that despite the success, he sold the salons in search of a change.
“I had that business for around 30 years... after a while, I was waning about what I was going to do next,” he said.
“Ski racing was a big part of my life back then and so I went to Spain for the ski racing world titles and when I came home to Shepp, I started weighing up my options.”
After much deliberation, he took up a job working with major international brand Alfaparf.
It was through Alfaparf that he met his business partner Mrs Vincent and they became fast friends.
At the time, Mrs Vincent had a salon in Pakenham St, Echuca and not long after they met, they decided to join hands to create ‘Trac Ioriannis’.
Over the past 20 years, Trac Ioriannis has become a staple in the Echuca community and has even branched out to Shepparton.
Through the ups and downs of owning a business, Mrs Vincent said their bond as business partners had strengthened.
“I think the thing with a partnership is you might not always agree on everything but it works because we respect each other and discuss everything and always try to meet each other in the middle,” she said.
In between running Trac Ioriannis, Mr Iorianni continued to take on international gigs.
He was a creative director for L'Oréal and Alfaparf, worked at Fashion Week in Milan and did shows in Brazil, Bangkok, New Zealand and Thailand, to name a few.
Despite his global achievements, Mr Iorianni said it was the people he had met who have made the job special for him.
“Without people we have nothing,” he said.
“We talk about clients but those clients — they may have been clients at the start but they have become friends.
“I have a saying that I believe we touch more hearts than we do hair.”
After five decades in the industry, Mr Iorianni said he had no intention of slowing down.
“People always say, ‘you must be getting ready to retire’ and I say ‘why?’” he said.
“I love to learn and pass on knowledge and in this industry you never stop learning.”