Kat Moss, owner of Expat Hair Salon, talks to us about how she juggles life as a mother with her flourishing hair salon business...
We love meeting all the cool parents of Singapore, and having inspiring mums and dads in our interview hot seat! This week we caught up with hair-genius and hair-colouring extraordinaire, Kat Moss, owner and creative director at Expat Hair Studio. Don’t be fooled by the name… this friendly salon is a hive of talented stylists and colourists who happily tame local, tourist and expat manes alike: these guys laugh in the face of Singapore’s humidity and slam the door on bad roots on a daily basis, all while giving out the best shampoo head massages EVER. HoneyKids’ Ed, Tracy, has been trusting the Expat Hair team for five years with her own blonde (sometimes unicorn) tresses, so she caught up with Kat in between a round of mumming, highlighting and opening a SECOND Expat Hair Studio (more on that later).
Hi, Kat! Tell us about your children and family life…
I have two kids, my daughter Molli is 10 years old and my son Findlay is 9 years old. Family life is quite hectic as both of my kids swim three times a week at The Singapore Swim Club, and also keep busy with extra tuition. When I’m not working you’ll find me ferrying the kids from one place to another in true taxi uncle style. At the weekend we love to wakeboard as a family, and also go for runs together – we’re a pretty active bunch and we all love sport!
Tell us about Expat Hair Studio and the exciting second salon about to open
Five years ago I was having my own hair tamed by Jaclyn Douglas (it’s hard for hairdressers to do their own hair: not enough hands!), and after becoming friends and realising we were both passionate about the same dream, we decided to open a salon here. There was clearly a big gap in the market at that time, and between us we were highlighting half of the East Coast anyway, so it made sense to take our talents out of our living rooms and into a salon. Sadly Jacky left Singapore to return to Australia last December (we miss you Jacky!), but I decided to continue running the business along with our lovely studio manager, Lyn.
The new salon came about really rather by fate: on National Day I was looking at commercial space to rent and the first link I clicked took me to a property on Boat Quay that I knew would be ideal. We are currently housed on the East Coast, and having a central location was definitely something I was keen to explore. This place fit the bill so perfectly that it took me less than 24 hours to decide to go for it! Not a whole lot of forward planning, but that’s me in a nutshell. We’re really excited about the second salon and can’t wait to meet even more wonderful clients and rescue lots more men, women and children from their hairdressing woes.
What does a typical day in the life of Kat look like?
My alarm goes off at 5.30am and I set straight off for a run as I’m currently training for a half marathon. Once I get back the kids are tipped out of bed (not literally I hasten to add) and I get them ready for the school run. By 7.30am I am on the bus to the salon to open up at 8am. My working hours are different every day, but sometimes I will be in the salon for 14 hours! I have to give a shout out to my amazing husband, Kit, as on my long salon days he will head home from work early to hang out with Molli and Findlay. We share the parenting duties equally, and it really would be impossible for me to juggle everything without us being such a solid team. I’m a lucky girl, although of course we do have our moments: ha!
How easy do you find it to juggle the work/mum balance?
It can be a tough gig to juggle parenting and working successfully, and there are definitely ups and downs. Some days I feel like I can take on the world as supermum, and then there are times where I struggle and feel terrible. We all lead such busy lives, and yes I do drop the ball on occasion by forgetting to pop their PE kits in their school bags, or not remembering to put in an order for their lunch. They always forgive me thankfully. My personal highs are being able to go to the toilet on my own without any small people hollering my name and banging on the door. The lows are the days when I miss them terribly, especially when they have something on at school that I can’t get to.
Do your kids want to be hairdresers when they grow up?
Molli wants to be a stay-at-home-mum, which I think is amazing. I don’t think she realises how hard that job is. Kudos to all the stay-at-home mums! Findlay loves hairdressing, and he already shaves my husbands hair for him, so maybe I can hand the salon mantle to him one day.
What does being a mum mean to you?
I love being a mum, My daughter is a little mini me! She has the same personality as me so we laugh a LOT. My son is more serious but oh-so-cute. If he doesn’t take over Expat Hair Studio, he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. I love watching these awesome kids growing up and becoming really kind little humans. When the four of us are together as a family, we have a lot of fun which makes me feel very lucky.
And finally, tell us a sweet story about your children
One of the sweetest things Findlay did recently was when he got hold of one of my rings, went down on one knee and asked me to marry him, while also telling me I am the most beautiful mum in the world. I feel very chuffed that I am raising a boy with no fear of commitment! I will be reminding him of this memory when he is being a stroppy teenager… There are lots of proud moments I have with my kids, but one of my favourite ones was when Molli was in a huge swimming competition and came first. The pride did turn to laughter when she started ‘dabbing’ on the board just before the whistle! I did worry for a moment that she would end up getting disqualified!
Thanks, Kat!
Don’t forget to check out Expat Hair Studio at its current location for everything from colour to hair extensions, keratin to Olaplex, and keep your eyes peeled for the official opening of the Boat Quay branch on October 8th 2018!
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