Jaimee Smith

So, who am i?  This is never easy to answer.  In short, I'm a successful entrepreneur;  award-winning hairdresser; newly launched fashion designer; business mentor; friend; wife, and mother.  Right now I’m preparing to represent New Zealand in Barcelona at the International TrendVision Awards - Wella's biggest and best showcase for hairdressing talent. 

Hairdressing was accidental but it has transformed my career path.  I never planned on being a successful entrepreneur but I always knew I wanted to work for myself.  I’ve had Zaibatsu Hair Art for nearly 20 years, and created a salon and team that I am enormously proud of.

Working with independent business women to create and market my new line of ready-to-wear clothing has quickly shot to the top of the list of my most favourite projects.  In it's third season, i'm immensely proud of my newest collection released in September 2016.

I am by nature a highly creative thinker, and this of course means I tend to avoid habit or routine (although i think i want it), and i'm continually seeking out change and challenges .  I love surrounding myself with beautiful things, and am hugely responsive to artistic beauty wherever I might find it. 

I see possibilities for creative expression everywhere, and for me this has translated into beautiful award-winning portfolio of hairdressing photographic work, a church transformed into a house (by my amazingly talented husband) and since featured in NZ House and Garden, plus of course my gorgeous clothing line, and the most incredible family.  None of what i do is possible without the support of my husband, Ryan.  We're similar in a lot of ways.  Neither of us could work for anyone, and we're both very driven and motivated to succeed in everything we do both together and individually.  We make a great team.

But believe me, nothing has been easy!   My motivation is in being able to turn life’s obstacles around and see them as the catalyst for creating beautiful things.  I’ve learnt that there is a maturity in being able to take hardships(of which there has been many) and use them as fuel to drive a different perspective and try and see things in a new light.  I’ve never been afraid to fail, and I'll admit that I have and often!  I’ve learned not to take it personally and to understand its all part of life's creative journey.  Some of my best work has come out of a succession of brutal failures.

Directing my energy and time towards new and diverse experiences underpins my creative output.  With it comes risk.  But risk is important to me because being creative is all about defeating fear and turning nothing into something special. 

What comes next, I'm not sure but what i can tell you is that i can't wait to see what happens next.