Despite both of Dwight Hodge’s parents being in hairdressing, he never imagined a career in the same industry.
After university, he studied sculpture, travelled around Australia and in his own words, “avoided hairdressing because it’s what the family did”.
Despite his initial resistance to the industry, Dwight completed a hairdressing apprenticeship and once he got started, he was hooked immediately.
“I love to make people feel really good and make their world a happier place,” he said. “When people get their hair done, they feel more confident and self-assured, and walk out with a little pep in their step.”
Strategic success for salon owner
For the past 20 years, Dwight has been running his own salons and quickly became a leader in the industry. He was increasingly being asked to present at seminars about leadership and realised it could become his own business.
That’s how The Creative Leader was born, a consultancy focused on supporting small businesses to develop their leadership skills and overarching strategy.
“As a small business owner, you’re really good at your particular skill, for instance hairdressing. But a lot of people struggle with learning how to lead people, communicating effectively, and running their day-to-day business.”
Simple steps to ensure cyber security
Between his two salons and consultancy, Dwight understands having to wear many hats and the various challenges you can face as a small business owner.
“It’s so easy to fall into the rhythm of what you do every day, but it’s the important things you don’t do day-to-day that can fall to the wayside,” he said.
One of the emerging challenges he’s been taking on is cyber safety and ensuring customer data is protected from online threats.
“We’ve been aware of cyber safety and worked with a great IT company to support our salons, however the Cyber Wardens course highlighted the fundamentals of cyber safety and areas where we should have more structure in cyber security,” he said.
“After doing the course, I’m building in a rhythm where at certain points in time we can check our software is up-to-date and multi-factor authentication is turned on. That little bit of time to check every month is a small investment in time and energy compared to being a victim of a cyber crime.”
You can visit one of Dwight’s salons at Agent Hue, Druthers Collective, or read his book, Feedback: Seek it, give it, connect with it.
Help protect your small business from scams and hackers with free and simple cyber security training
