• The Be Nice (Or Else!) Team from The Temple – A Paul Mitchell Partner School in Frederick, Maryland, braved the pouring rain to participate in a cancer awareness fun run, where they provided raffle prizes, VIP cards, and Paul Mitchell product samples to all of the walkers and runners. They also raised $500 with October Casual for a Cause days and donated the money to their local health department to provide mammograms for women who can’t afford them.
  
• Paul Mitchell The School – Indianapolis sponsored an ovarian cancer walk for over 5,000 participants, held a show for breast cancer survivors, and held a “Beat It” fashion and hair show at their school.
  
• The Be Nice (Or Else!) Team from Paul Mitchell The School – Las Vegas made pink ribbons for the entire school to wear in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Future Professionals also paid a one-time fee of $5 to wear pink accessories throughout the month, with all funds going to the local Susan G. Komen chapter.
  
• At “Dig Pink,” a local high school girls’ volleyball match, Paul Mitchell The School – Overland Park provided temporary pink highlights in exchange for donations to the Side-Out Foundation.
  
• The Academy at Austin – A Paul Mitchell Partner School’s skin department sold a special Pink Spa Package, including a back treatment, facial, and body therapy travel kit. Proceeds sponsored four walkers for a Susan G. Komen walkathon.
  
• Many schools held Casual for a Cause days, where Future Professionals paid to dress in pink and jeans, then donated the money to various cancer foundations.
  

• Paul Mitchell The Schools in Michigan and Great Lakes raised $500 for the Strides Metro Detroit walk by holding a bake sale and Casual for a Cause days, selling pink hair extensions and pink ribbons, and raffling off a pink Paul Mitchell flat iron, among other activities.
  
• The Ohio Academy – A Paul Mitchell Partner School held weekly events to raise money for Right Action for Women, Christina Applegate’s foundation that provides aid to those who are at increased risk for breast cancer but do not have insurance to cover the costs. Events included Lee National Denim Day, breakfast cafes, smoothie day, bake sales, and a pink theme day. They also held a Survivor Celebration Week, with all breast cancer survivors receiving a free shampoo, style, and manicure.
  
• California Academy – A Paul Mitchell Partner School donated a fabulous basket with the Paul Mitchell limited-edition pink flat iron, a body loofa, Tea Tree Lemon Sage body wash, and samples of Platinum Blond Shampoo and Hot Off The Press, to be auctioned at a local breast cancer fundraiser.
  
• Paul Mitchell The School – Jacksonville held a hair fashion show to raise money for Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer Movement, which received $100,000 from last year’s Paul Mitchell Schools FUNraising campaign.
  
• Cactus Academy – A Paul Mitchell Partner School raised money by selling pink hair extensions at LI 2 Day, a Long Island festival benefiting local breast cancer patients.
  
• Paul Mitchell The School – Louisville sold pink color stamps and joined the local “Making Strides for Breast Cancer” 5K walk/run to raise awareness and funds.
  
• The Maverick Business Adventures group, whose members run $1-million-plus-companies, let Future Professionals from Paul Mitchell The Schools in Sherman Oaks and Costa Mesa dye their hair pink. John Paul DeJoria joined the group and their pink coifs the next day for an entrepreneurial business seminar and an exotic car road rally up the California coast.
  
• On the first Tuesday of December, many Paul Mitchell Schools participated in Cancer Survivor Beauty and Support Day, opening their doors to local cancer survivors for a day of pampering, visiting local oncology units and cancer centers, or offering in-school education about caring for cancer survivors.
  

Dean of Paul Mitchell Schools Winn Claybaugh urged all Paul Mitchell School leaders to be aware and sensitive to the needs of our 10,000 Future Professionals and thousands of staff members during their holiday and New Year celebrations. “Although for most people the holidays and new year are a time to celebrate and reflect on making positive changes in their lives, for others they can be a time of pain, desperation, and loneliness,” Winn said.

Paul Mitchell The School – Orlando Director Tara Dowdal took Winn’s message to heart as she planned year-end activities at her school. “In the process of collecting toys for needy children, I was approached by a Future Professional. She was so excited because her four children would receive some of the toys. The night before the drop-off to the toy-distributing organizations, I received a message from one of her classmates telling me about a challenge with the paperwork: our Future Professional was not getting toys for her kids. I knew we had to do something, so while I was at the drop-off location I chased down the event organizers to let them know we needed their help. They arranged for our Future Professional to get toys and clothes for all four kids. I also learned that our Future Professional had already spent her food stamps for the month, and that meant no holiday dinner for her family. I took her shopping and bought the turkey, stuffing, yams, and all the trimmings, as well as a gingerbread tree for the kids to assemble. Winn’s message about taking care of our Future Professionals and staff meant more than ever before.”

Here are a few more ways that John Paul Mitchell Systems and Paul Mitchell Schools spread the giving spirit as 2009 drew to a close:

John Paul Mitchell Systems IT Support Specialist Dan Olewiler collected blankets from coworkers at the Santa Clarita and Beverly Hills offices. Teresa Calver, who works in the purchasing department, and her children helped deliver the blankets and hot chocolate to homeless individuals in the streets of downtown Los Angeles.

The Be Nice (Or Else!) Team from The Lab – A Paul Mitchell Partner School arranged a visit to a nearby senior living center, where Future Professionals and staff members sang Christmas carols and gave mini-manicures to the residents.

Shawn Trujillo and Angie Katsanevas welcomed 23 long-time guests to Paul Mitchell The School – Salt Lake City for their annual Ladies Christmas Luncheon. One of the women was Shawn’s first guest when he was a student 16 years ago. “We want to show our gratitude for their long-time loyalty.” Shawn says. “For most of these ladies, this is the only holiday party they get to attend.”

1. Fake it. By choosing a career in the beauty industry, you have automatically given up the right to come to school or work in a bad mood. You have chosen a career that is people focused, and your mood affects others around you. Will you be in a fantastic mood every day? Of course not. There may be days when you’re not excited about going to work or school and times when you don’t feel like being nice. On those days, you fake it! Sit in your car for an extra five minutes, crank up some fun music, and talk yourself out of that bad mood. Then walk in to start your day as if it were show time and you were on stage.
   
   
2. Find nice mentors. Nice people are all around you! Perhaps you will find nice mentors in your family, your school, or your circle of friends. Look for famous nice people or celebrities to inspire you. Watch what nice people do and copy it.
   
   
3. Collect nice stories. Nice people don’t spend their days talking about the latest ugly antics from the reality TV show they watched the night before. Nice people look for stories that combat the negative ones people tend to share. The next time someone starts rambling out negative drama, start reciting your nice stories: “Did you hear about the wonderful people who all volunteered their time?”
   
   
4. Practice. Sing songs at full volume in your car. Show gratitude for what you have. Send love notes and thank-you cards. Practice feeling and showing appreciation.
   
   
5. Perform random acts of kindness. Do nice things for friends, loved ones, teammates, and even total strangers, just because it’s the right thing to do.
   
   
6. Develop the language of a nice person. Nice people are polite. They use kind and considerate words. Acknowledge people when you see them, thank them, and compliment them. Most of all, go out of your way to be nice.
   

In an industry where you have to be technically competent and knowledgeable, it’s important to also be nice. You can be artistically brilliant, but you’d better be nice. You can be a gifted salesperson, but you’d better be nice. Choosing to be nice has many benefits, including the satisfaction of knowing that you make a difference in other people’s lives.

Josh Dresser, Class of 2010
Paul Mitchell The School – Columbia

In 2000, Josh Dresser was a month and a half into beauty school and working nights as a bartender. One night after work, he stopped at another bar where he helped his bouncer friends remove some underage, out-of-town kids. Later that night, as Josh and his roommate headed for the parking lot, two trucks pulled up and nine guys jumped out. “I quickly realized they were the same guys we threw out of the bar earlier that night, plus six of their buddies and a couple of metal bars,” Josh recalls. “I got jumped by five of them. I was hit about nine times in the head and neck area before the guys fled and left us for dead.”

Josh underwent surgery to repair his shattered skull and was left with no short-term memory for the next six months. “Obviously, I had to drop out of school,” he says, “and never planned on going back because I could not afford it.”

Fast forward to August 2008, when construction began on a business next to Josh’s workplace. “When I saw they were building a Paul Mitchell School, I began to think about trying hair school again,” he says. “I thought that dream died years ago. I was already working two jobs, but my girlfriend told me that if I really wanted to go back to school, I should quit my day job and go to school. I applied in December and started in March 2009. Nine years later, with a titanium plate in my head, I’m back in school! I guess karma has a funny way of working out.”

Josh graduates in January 2010 and has already accepted a position at a Columbia salon. He had several offers to choose from, noting that salons looked favorably on his extensive school and community involvement: he was student council president and actively involved with the Design Team, Take Home Team, Be Nice (Or Else!) Team, Green Team, and “basically everything there was to be involved in!”

Josh’s advice for Future Professionals:

• Get out there in the public eye. Get out there with the Design Team, give back to the community, make yourself noticed. Don’t be the person sitting behind someone, be the one everyone’s looking at.
  
• Whatever you decide to do, go all the way and you’ll see results. It’s never too late. Stay focused and stay with your dreams.
  

“Josh has been a real inspiration to many of us at our school. His willingness to say yes, his desire to learn every day, and the way he is always prepared despite what most would consider an insane work schedule shows that anything is possible when you put your mind to it. I have no doubt that Josh will quickly establish himself as one of this area’s top stylists.” — Scott Bills Director of Paul Mitchell The School – Columbia