HE WALKS THE WALK

Brett McKinnon is a change-maker. Not content with watching the world go by as it is, Brett sees opportunity to build better outcomes in areas that most would simply gloss over.

A hairdresser of 32 years, Brett is a supremely successful salon owner together with his partner Brett Albury, and it’s the sense of community that filters though everything they do that gives The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community it’s unique edge. Even their salon advertising is a platform for social change! But perhaps Brett’s most recognised contribution is with local Sydney-based charity, Rough Threads, where supported by Sustainable Salons, he leads a volunteer team of hairdressers at each event’s pop-up salon.

For a peek into what makes the MG heart beat, we asked Brett to comment on just a few of his passions and projects.

THE MURPHY GOZZARD HAIR COMMUNITY

Inspired by heritage and tradition, the Murphy Gozzard Hair Community is a team of lifestyle artisans that offer a unique combination of artistic flair, technical expertise and community spirit, creating the ultimate hairdressing experience for their much-loved guests.

ADVERTISING WITH PURPOSE

Our first campaign was with our salon muse Penny Coombs who is in her seventies. Penny encapsulated everything we wanted to portray in our brand – she is incredibly community-minded, fashion forward, fun and she balances superbly her career and family. Then we shot myself and two of our team members with our mothers. Murphy is my mother’s maiden name and Gozzard was my partner Brett Albury’s mother’s maiden name – this is our tribute to our mothers and how much they have inspired us in who we are today. Last year we created Protégé; we used Penny again along with model and salon guest Emily Green. This was a way to highlight that not only do we learn from the older generation, but the older generation also learns from the youth. And this Valentine’s Day we released Love is Love – we captured three gay couples that are all guests of MG to highlight our stance on equality.

SUSTAINABILITY

Unless we look after what we have and practice sustainability in our business and at home, we won’t have a planet for our future generations. I want my son to have the same benefits and opportunities that I have been so lucky to have, and Sustainable Salons has helped us to realise our dreams of creating a sustainable business where we can recycle up to 95% of our salon waste while making a difference in our community. It’s everything that our brand stands for and it’s so easy to do.

“A huge part of our brand philosophy is passing things down from generation to generation.”

CHAMPIONING ROUGH THREADS

My friends Carrie Deane and Josh Howard are the founders of this community driven not-for-profit organisation that hosts free events where disadvantaged Australians can have access to goods and services that will provide them with a more hopeful future and a positive sense of self. They approached me one day to ask if we’d consider cutting hair at their events because they knew that we had done a similar thing at Sydney Homeless Connect. We loved the whole idea of a community ‘festival’ for people going through tough times.

From the first event I was hooked; just the simple act of giving someone a haircut and listening to them, touching them and giving them back some control in their life just for 30 minutes is the most powerful and wonderful gift.

Many of our salon guests also get involved – we recently had a call-out for backpacks to give out at a Rough Threads event, and so many guests bought them in for us to give away… many were even brand new; it was thoroughly heartwarming.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Hairdressing is a community-based career: we are dealing with people all day, every day and it’s not just about how they look, but how they feel. We see all the time what a great visit to a salon can do for someone’s self-esteem, so why not use that skill to help change the life of someone who is less fortunate than ourselves?

Are you interested in volunteering with Rough Threads? Simply fill in your details HERE!

ADVERTISING IMAGE CREDITS, L-R
Hair: The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community | Photography: Kylie Coutts | Make-up: Kimberly Forbes @oneninetynine | Styling: Britt McCamey
Hair: The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community | Photography: Kylie Coutts | Make-up: Kimberley Forbes @oneninetynine | Styling: Lydia-Jane Saunders
Hair: Brett Albury, The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community | Photography: Cybele Malinowski | Make-up: Kimberley Forbes @oneninetynine | Styling: Britt McCamey | Models: Penny Coombs and Emily Green, London MGT Group
Hair: Brett Albury, The Murphy Gozzard Hair Community | Photography: Cybele Malinowski | Make-up: Chereine Waddell | Styling: Gemma Harbe