Anne Russell has wanted to be a hairdresser for as long as she can remember. Inspired by her uncle Scott Sloan – an award-winning Sydney hairstylist – Anne successfully completed a Certificate III in Hairdressing at TAFE NSW Riverina – Wagga in her quest to carve out her own career in the industry.
Participating in hair competitions has long been one of Anne’s goals, which led her to enter a WorldSkills regional competition. There, her performance was earned her an invite to compete at the 2021 WorldSkills Australia National Championships, where she thrived in the competition environment and took walked away with some new skills, greater confidence and a silver medal. Anne competed at the 46th WorldSkills Competition 2022, Special Edition in Helsinki, Finland in Hairdressing against 19 countries. Anne placed 6th and achieved a Medallion for Excellence.
After the International Competition, she wants to continue competing in hairdressing competitions and build a name for herself. She also wants to take her newly-acquired knowledge back to her home town of Junee in the Riverina, and work with the TAFE in helping smaller communities gain access to education that can only normally be found in the cities.
When asked what she’s learned so far, Anne says, “I have learnt so much so far on this journey. One if my biggest takeaways from this experience is that if you believe in yourself and put in the hard work, your skills will get better. The more you train and put in the hard yards, you will see progress.”
Anne is a judge at the 2023 WorldSkills Australia National Championships.
