HAY RIVER - Lindsay Robertson says having people skills is one of the keys to being a hairstylist.

Lindsay Robertson is a hairstylist at Elle Salon in Hay River. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"The fun part about it, I'd have to say, is the people," said the hairstylist at Elle Salon in Hay River. "I really like talking with people. I really enjoy interacting with people. I mean you're not just a hairstylist. You're a psychologist, you help people with their problems, and you make people feel better."

That is all part of the job, she added. "If you have no people skills, then you should not be in this business."

Robertson, 25, said she always tries to make her clients feel better, and puts a smile on her face, no matter how she's feeling. "I do it, because I know that they'll appreciate it."

She also enjoys the work.

"When I decided on what I wanted to do, I wanted to make sure that when I woke up every morning I enjoyed what I did and I liked going into work," she said, adding being a hairstylist is fun. "I get paid to have fun."

Robertson, who was born and raised in Hay River, graduated from a nine-month hairstyling course at Marvel College in Edmonton in 2005.

"I actually wanted to do fashion design, but, to come back to the North, what would I do with it?" she said.

She almost seemed destined to become a hairstylist.

"I was the girl before the dances doing everybody's hair and then I'd have five minutes to do my own," she recalled with a laugh. "I've always like hair. So I figured, yeah, I'm going to go and give it a shot."

In fact, the day she got her hair done for high school graduation was the day she was offered a job as shampoo girl at a salon.

Robertson has been a hairstylist at Elle Salon for almost two years.

It is located in a section of Forward Skateboard Shop, where Robertson and another hairstylist have their own chairs.

"I rent my little space and that kind of leaves me as my own boss," she explained.

Robertson believes a hairstylist must be artistic.

"Hair is like canvas," she said. "So you sculpt, you create. You really put yourself in the hair. That's what I do. I always try to personalize everything that I do to make it unique so that no one can copy it."

Her clients include both women and men, but she finds females are more difficult to please when it comes to their appearance.

However, there are others who tell her to cut their hair any way she thinks will look good.

"I'm always up for a challenge," she said, noting she takes into account facial shape, skin colour and hair texture when styling a person's hair.

Robertson said a person can make a good living as a hairstylist. "But if you're just in it for the money, well, you might as well quit."

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