Newsletter Feb - April 2019

Lucinda's
LETTER

To the best clients in the world,

It’s been 10 weeks since Christmas, so I must begin with our grateful thanks for your AMAZING generosity for all the hundreds of gifts, cards and lovely thoughts expressed in them. We are truly blessed, grateful and want you to know how we all appreciate you very much indeed.

My goodness Spring will be upon us in a virtual minute and preparations will be underway to arrange our holidays for those lucky enough to have them. This is a great time to plan a change in hair colour or style ready for the summer look. For myself I rarely change my hair style, it is always a variation on the same theme, I do on rare occasions experiment with medium length or shoulder length and though lots of the clients express appreciation of the shorter look ...I am resigned to the fact I’ve always said I will die a mermaid. Here I am again with my locks cascading down my back full to the gunnels with skin wefts and an Intralace Minima clipped in to boost my crown and reduce my flat looking hair. It also saves me washing the crown daily which means it gets so much body and bounce. It never ceases to amaze me how much I love, love, love my hair and I admit it, I am truly obsessed with hair and unashamedly have piles of it.

On a separate note, I would like to share that from my research it would seem that love, kindness, generosity, being of service and giving are still the major forces in making changes in the world. These forces can raise our vibrations, keep us safe and take us forward out of these dark times and to that end I recommend watching a documentary by Steven Greer called UNACKNOWLEDGED.

On some level we know that in spite of all we have, we are living in disruptive times and that it will behove us to be more aware and take note that in each of us individually, we can affect the whole which is truly what we are, ALL ONE, and what we do to one another affects us all. Building our collective conscientious can bring us all to a better world in all our own little ways, which brings me full circle to why we love what we do here in our studios. Our work inspires love, happiness and joy that we bring to our clients and in return, they give it back to us. I feel the wonderful energy that surrounds our work which is expanded and magnified by our crystals. I am constantly thankful to everything that brought me to this work, to being of service and to reflect and bathe in the relief and pleasure that our clients express to us every day. I am grateful to the wonderful boys and girls each and every one of these magnificent beings and colleagues that make all this happen. Our staff come to work day after day, year after year, bringing their beautiful energy, smiles and laughter with them. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the clients leave us with happier hearts and take a bit of us away with them when they leave feeling more able to face their world and their own challenges with renewed confidence and the ability to get on with their daily lives. We thank you all so much for being with us for your love support and appreciation and the happiness and joy you bring with you.

Let's pray that we have a wonderful summer and if anyone wants to get together for a cocktail or coffee in the sitting room let me know, I will be there with bells on. Blessings and love to us all.

Lucinda xxx

 

Dear Lucinda Ellery Team – and in particular the lovely technicians and stylists who helped me: Dax, Marina, Kelsey, Ekene, Izzy, Diana, Maria, Joel and Niamh and of course, Lucinda and Miriam. I just want to thank you for the wonderful Intralace System that you provided me with through this last year until the end of August. After losing my hair from Chemotherapy, the Intralace system gave me a super solution while I patiently waited for my own hair to grow back, but more importantly, it gave me my confidence and self-esteem back which I needed to rebuild after my cancer treatment.

Every single administrative staff member and stylist was always so kind and made me feel wonderful when I was in your salon. I really looked forward to my visits and you gave me super advice on my hair (in particular, thanks to Marina on this).

Also, while in your salon it was a good opportunity to meet and speak to other clients who suffered hair loss and to share tips on styling at home. (I learned quite a few tips from other clients along the way.) I left your salon at the end of August (with the intralace system removed) with my grey frizzy hair underneath. I had a (non-chemical) relaxation treatment done on it and after so many compliments on my natural grey hair (which is very fashionable just now) I kept the grey for a few weeks – although I have now gone to my previous blonde colour. I didn’t get a chance to say thank you to each of you properly at the time so I wanted to say this in this card.

I cannot thank you all enough. I am truly indebted to you. You are a wonderful team and provide such an important service to those suffering from hair loss.

And huge thank you to you Lucinda for establishing LE. A pioneer and always so lovely when I met you at the salon.

With my warmed regards,

J x

PS: My own hair grew back fabulous under the Intralace system. It's back as thick as ever and my scalp is in great condition too. The Intralace System is an amazing invention.

 

 

KAREN HAYNS

Routines, Rituals and Adventure

These new favourite words became the subject of a fascinating and hilarious conversation I had with a great friend and coach after a morning of adventure. Quite literally. We’d both taken part in a live Christmas radio show – off the bat – to talk about life coaching. I’m a radio novice but I needn’t have worried. We were treated to the full works; great hospitality from our wonderful DJ host who opened up the topics of conversation effortlessly. This was topped off with getting to play some of our favourite tunes. It all felt very different and very creative.

Two hours later we emerged buzzing and headed off for a debrief which turned into the most amazing conversation.

What emerged goes something like this:

Routines

Life is about routines and of course routines have their place. They provide the quiet structure we need to go about our daily business. This show was in no way any part of my current routine, and with something new comes the inevitable question: Can I do this? What might be in store? This all smacks of surprise doesn’t it? However, surprises can be very good as I discovered. The show flew (we were on air for 90 minutes) – the vibe was good, we had great fun and all without a sniff of preparation. This tells me that going off-piste every now and again is good for you.

So, in the spirit of going off piste, ask yourself, what is it about my routines that I enjoy? How do they help me? And then, broaden it out a bit to include other aspects of your life. Is there something in the off which could present an opportunity? An event or something similar where you could try something new and go off-piste? Also have a think about which routines could do with a bit of a shake up? What have you become bogged down by? What are you bored of? You get the gist…

Rituals

This is where it got interesting. The topic of conversation we mulled over was weight-loss. Something I'm very passionate about having struggled with my own weight for decades until I asked for help. In a nutshell, what we discovered here was the power of rituals. This is especially true when you’re learning to adopt new habits. The distinction I would make between routines and rituals is routines are the things we do without thinking, so they’re habits in action. We're on autopilot. A ritual is something we are acutely aware of. However, a ritual may also initially feel out of character, or 'this isn't me'. A ritual feels deliberate and purposeful. We came to realise that if we practice a ritual enough, bingo, it becomes a habit. Rituals take some work, but with practice, it’s where the all-important change we seek takes place.

My thoughts are, what habits would you like to break or stop? What new rituals and actions would you need to put in place in order to create new routines?

Adventure

I love this one. In a nutshell, this is how to turn something you’re not looking forward to or maybe avoiding, into an adventure. The story here was taking a friend to hospital for an appointment. A situation where the fear of not knowing what might happen would typically make you anxious and fretful. So, what do you do? You take a picnic. You accompany your friend in the examination room, offer support and lots of light banter and make it an experience to remember.

Of course, this is not to make light of more serious situations, however, inviting adventure in where there would otherwise be fear, doubt, concern or worry, is a novel way to overcome situations we would rather avoid or prefer not to have to deal with.

Fancy giving the routines, rituals and adventure experiment a go? Works a treat, I promise.

Until next time

 

Karen is a business, lifestyle & health coach. To get in touch:

t: 07887 824209

w: www.fpc.company and www.itmretreat.co.uk

e: karen@fpc.company

 

Priya Vedhara

Regional Manager USA

After being a part of the Lucinda Ellery family for many years and having held positions from Operations Manager, Communications Manager to Business Development Manager, Priya has relocated to America, New York specifically, to oversee our American studios in LA and NYC as well as our future expansion there. Priya answers some questions regarding her move across the pond and LE USA:

So, the first question you must always get asked, which do you prefer? London or NYC?

It is always the question I get asked both by Londoners and New Yorkers, and my answer always is 'home is where the heart is'. My heart is in the UK due to all my friends and family being there and it will take time to replicate that in New York. Building a life here is starting to take shape but I do miss home some days. New York is an amazing city with lots for me to see and do yet so I am sure I will have some fun exploring this fabulous place. With regards to work, I always love coming to work in the UK, the familiar faces, the amazing clients and our beautiful locations never get old but equally watching the US grow and seeing the changes and developments in a place where we are still comparably new is very exciting indeed.

What are the expansion plans for USA?

Well the sky is the limit. We have an exceptional product and the Americans are very limited in their choices right now when it comes to hair management so it is a very exciting time to be here. We have our stunning Beverly Hills studio which is going from strength to strength and New York which is proving to be one of our fastest growing studios to date. They are headed up by dedicated managers and I look forward to furthering the achievements this year. Beyond this, we will expand further into America in 2020, nothing definite has been decided but we have huge interest from Texas, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta so let’s see what happens, either way, I feel very lucky to be watching and participating in the growth of LE USA.

What have been your biggest challenges personally and professionally in the move?

Personally I guess it has been the whole adjustment. Coming to a city like NYC in my mid 30s and doing it totally alone is harder than you would think, I mean how do you meet people in a city where the pace is as fast as lightning and no one seems to have time for anyone. It has been a challenge in the sense it has pushed me out of my comfort zone, having to meet new people again and re connect with my passions in order to do so. In this respect it has been a huge challenge but one I am enjoying. Professionally I think I am being challenged daily here, new legalities, new ways of describing things, new rules and regulations and a new studio on top of it all have provided me with enough challenge to last me a life time. But if you know me, you would know I thrive on challenge and so I really am in my element and watching the growth makes me happy that the challenges are being overcome one by one.

What do you love the most about NYC?

The intangible pulse of the city, it is almost like it has a heartbeat. It's a funny thing to experience, it's almost like the city has a character which is alive, and she’d be the most vibrant, hectic, eclectic, electric, sexy, noisy, annoying, frustrating, beautiful, interesting character in the world. You easily get hooked on a place like that.

What has been your funniest moment to date in the big apple?

Definitely the language and the differences between certain slang words and their meanings in UK v USA. Asking an Uber driver to help me with my bags into the boot and watching him look at my boots and my bags in the most confused manner until I realised I was meant to say trunk was funny…. God bless America.

Lucinda Ellery
in the Press