Intuition: The Art of Hair wins Small Employer of the Year at Queensland Training awards night

Victoria Rushby wanted to maintain the high standards of training given to her employees when she expanded her business, and was recognised with a statewide award for her efforts.

Victoria Rushby’s family and friends told her expanding her business and doubling her staff in the middle of a pandemic was a mistake.

But the 27-year-old Mackay salon owner pushed forward with the expansion of Intuition: The Art of Hair, and a year later has been recognised in a Central Queensland awards night.

Intuition was named the Small Employer of the Year at the 2021 Queensland Training Awards night, and Mrs Rushby said it was a proud moment for all staff members.

“It is so fabulous to be recognised, we were nominated in 2019 when we were a smaller salon, so to then grow and be recognised for keeping our standards high is fantastic,” she said.

“I feel quite proud that we’ve been able to maintain that standard of work and it is showing, the feedback from our clients and the community has been fantastic.”

Mrs Rushby bought the business in 2017, with the then 23-year-old focused firmly on extensive training for her staff as the business grew.

“We have days where we don’t take clients and we just have training days,” Mrs Rushby said.

“In our industry everything needs to be right from the start.

“The standards you set creates an environment that nurtures them and supports them, as a business owner you’re responsible for the people you employ.”

She said the mutual respect between the business and her staff was evident within the salon.

“We were originally a salon of six when I bought the business,” she said.

“My biggest motivation was to grow the salon but to also train the staff properly.

“We’re now a salon of 11, soon to be 13, and we don’t have a high turnover of staff because there is a mutual respect there.

“I firmly believe that if you treat someone with care and loyalty there’s no reason for them to want to leave.”