She’s a Scottish celebrity hairdresser used to jetting into five-star resorts for glitzy award ceremonies. So what led Charlie Taylor to teach hairdressing to orphaned children in a remote village in India?
As a mother of three and a successful businesswoman, it’s no surprise Charlie Taylor doesn’t have a huge amount of spare time.
“I’m struggling to think of many hobbies I have,” she says. “Work and family keep me busy almost non-stop. I would say the only hobby I’m really committed to is keeping fit. I was a founder member of British Military Fitness in Perth.”
Run by former army instructors, British Military Fitness is a nationwide organisation whose classes take place outdoors, generally in parks. The punishing classes are run in drill instructor style and take place in all weathers.
“I’m an addict,” Charlie says. “I go three times a week in rain, hail or shine no excuses. You just muck in and get wet and muddy, and it’s great fun.”
And her carefully looked-after hair?
“I just get on with the class and worry about that afterwards. It’s more important to be fit. In addition to the British Military Fitness stuff I do a lot of personal training and get along to the gym as much as I can.”
Proof Charlie isn’t afraid of getting stuck in came last month when she spent over three weeks in rural India teaching orphans the basics of her profession.
“I’m a representative of Schwarzkopf and their chosen charity is SoS, which works with orphans and abandoned children all over the world.”
Charlie flew to India at the start of December.
“I was in a remote village called Cochin in the state of Kerala, in the south of the country, visiting the orphanage there. Children live in families of 12, with a mother figure for each house. The boys are moved out at 14 for obvious reasons to another care facility, but the girls stay until they’re 18.
“In a typical house you might have a couple of four or five-year-olds, some eight and nine-year-olds, a few that are 11 and 12, and a couple of older ones. They’ve all been orphaned and have all led pretty hard lives.”
Charlie’s used to jetting all over the world and being put up in five-star accommodation she recently returned from judging the Russian Hairdressing Awards but she’s happy to slum it when she has to.
“We stayed in the orphanage with the kids and the conditions were grim and I mean grim. I was hospitalised twice with spider bites and mosquito bites, and I got pretty sick of banana and rice being the only food. And I don’t even want to talk about what the toilets were like…”
She laughs, then adds, “But I’m a tough old bird and I’m happy to roll up my sleeves and muck in when I have to.”
Charlie is meticulous about maintaining her exercise regime when she’s away from home, and India was no exception.
“I’m an early riser, so I’d get up before everyone else and go outside to do my exercises in the yard. The kids would wake up and pour outside to watch me and join in. It was great fun.”
She spent her three-and-a-half-week visit teaching teenagers and young adults the basics of hairdressing.
“They were just the same as any other group I’ve taught in any other country. You get the ones you just know are going to make it, the ones who need to pay attention a bit more, the ones who are shy, and the ones with a temper who throw the rattle out of the pram.
“Just because they’re poor and don’t have anything doesn’t mean they aren’t just the same as anyone else. The one thing I noticed was that, overall, they were a bit more appreciative than I’ve found elsewhere.”
Teaching hairdressing skills may seem a slightly off-the-wall form of aid most people tend to think of inoculations, food and medicine when it comes to that sort of thing but despite the huge number of people who live below the poverty line India has a large middle class and people who have the skills and the drive can work their way out of trouble.”
“It’s only been a couple of weeks since I got back, but already we’ve had feedback saying that some of the youngsters we taught have found work,” Charlie smiles. “Some of them walked into salons and said they’d had this bit of experience, and were taken on. It’s great to hear that. We also taught a few adults and a lot of them, I thought, had the wherewithal to go on and set up their own business.”
It seems like Charlie has fallen in love with the country and the people.
“Three-and-a-half weeks just flew by but we formed some tremendously strong bonds. I can say pretty much for certain that it won’t be my first and last visit.”
Although she grew up a long, long way from India, Charlie knows what it’s like to work your way to success.
Born in Newport, she went to Madras College and left school at 15 to work in her local hairdressers.
“I always wanted to be a hairdresser from when I was a little girl. In a career of more than 30 years, I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else.”
She spent eight years working at her local hairdressers in Fife before decamping south.
“I went to work for Trevor Sorbie in London. It’s not the case now, but at that time there were no hairdressers of that standard in Scotland, so if you wanted to learn you had no choice but to go down south.
“To get experience doing shows and learning about the photographical side of it, you had to go to London.”
She spent three years in the capital learning her trade before returning to Scotland and opened her first salon, Charlie Taylor Hair and Beauty, in Perth at the age of 26.
Over the years, she’s expanded her business, and now owns five salons in Perth, Dundee, St Andrews and Bridge of Allan. Her stock has risen within the industry, and Charlie has been Scottish Hairdresser of the Year three times, and has been inducted into the British Hairdressing Hall of Fame.
She is married to Alastair and the couple have three children, aged 17, 16 and 13. Her elder daughter looks set to follow her into the industry.
“She’s worked in the salon every summer holiday since she was a wee girl,” Charlie says. “She loves mucking in and helping out, and it’s a lot of fun getting to work with my daughter.”
Although she’s become a successful businesswoman, Charlie still keeps her hand in.
“I still do my fair share of hairdressing it’s why I got into this in the first place but my job these days is mainly education of other hairdressers within the industry.”
Over her 30 years in the business Charlie has noticed a number of changes, not least the way 21st century men take more care of themselves.
“A lot of men get their hair cut in our salons and are now willing to pay a bit more for a salon haircut. I’ve worked in almost every corner of the industry, including with a company called Advanced Hairdressing, who do the sort of hair replacement work Gordon Ramsay had.
“It’s becoming a lot more popular.”
But men taking a greater interest in their hair isn’t the only development Charlie’s noticed over the years.
“The biggest change is in the products that salons offer. The stuff you can get these days is incredible. It means there really isn’t anything we can’t do with hair now.”