Three days. Our whole team. AHC Industry Day 2026. Daniel on stage. Olivia — a first-year apprentice — on the national apprentice panel. Here’s what happened, and what we’re bringing back.

There’s something that happens when you take your whole team out of the salon and put them in a room with the best people in the industry for three days.

They come back different.

Not dramatically. Not with some sudden revelation. But different — a bit sharper, a bit more sure of themselves, a bit more connected to why they got into this work in the first place.

That’s what this weekend did.

ON STAGE

I was asked to speak at AHC Industry Day about where I see hairdressing heading — and what it takes to build a team that’s ready for it.

What I said wasn’t complicated. The future of this craft belongs to the salons who invest in the person before they invest in the skill. Who understand that a great consultation is worth more than any technique. Who train the heart before they train the hands.

It’s what we’ve been building at DI IORIO for eleven years. But saying it on that stage, in front of that room — it confirmed something for me.

We’re on the right track.

A FEW SEATS AWAY

While I was on stage, one of our first-year apprentices was doing the same thing.

Olivia sat on the national apprentice panel — speaking about what it actually means to start out in hairdressing in 2026. Not a five-year veteran. Not someone who’s had time to collect their thoughts. A first-year, in that room, holding her own.

Watching her hold that room was one of the proudest moments of the weekend for me.

It says something about Olivia. But it also says something about the culture we’re trying to build — that a first-year can walk into a national forum and speak with that kind of presence.

THE REST OF THE TEAM

While we were on stage, Angie, Bela, Montana, Keira, Angelina, and the rest of the team were deep in keynotes, workshops, and conversations with some of the best hairdressers, educators, and business minds in the country.

Three days of that. Three days of being surrounded by people who care about this industry as much as we do.

They came back with ideas. With energy. With a clearer sense of where this industry is heading and why their place in it matters.

“It has to be seamless to get someone in the chair.
Once they’re there, it’s your job to make them feel
like the most important person in the world.”

WHAT WE BROUGHT HOME

Every conversation we had over those three days kept circling back to the same truth. We didn’t learn it at the conference. We’ve always known it. But the weekend gave us the language to talk about it more clearly — and naming something makes it teachable. And what’s teachable is repeatable.

Two principles came home with us that now anchor everything we do:

Connection over conversation.
Talking is the exchange of information. Connection is the exchange of understanding. We train for connection.

Compassion before process.
We train the heart before we train the hands. When the why is clear, the how takes care of itself.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

If you’re a client: this is what’s behind the chair when you come to DI IORIO. A team that spent three days in a room reminding themselves what great hairdressing looks like — and walked back in on Monday ready to do it.

If you’re reading this and thinking about a career in this industry, wondering what the right environment looks like: come and talk to us.

The weekend reminded us why this matters. Now we get to show you.

Ready to experience it?
Book your next appointment or call us on 02 9823 4143.