Female hairdressers starting to get ahead

Bai Yaxin cuts a customer's hair at the InStyle Hair Salon in the Sanlitun area in Beijing in October. WANG JING/CHINA DAILY

Persistence and dedication drive the personal growth of leading hairstylist

Editor's Note: To highlight the role of women in Chinese society, China Daily is publishing a series of stories detailing their work and achievements in different parts of the country.

Nobody who knows Bai Yaxin well was surprised by her decision to become a hairdresser, or the fact that she has stuck with the job irrespective of changes in her life.

In fact, little could derail the determined 28-year-old, who has always been fond of the trade and has developed a hobby into a career through her own endeavors.

Bai set out to work as a stylist's assistant at the age of 15 when she left her hometown in Yuncheng, Shanxi province, in 2010. She moved to Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, to study hairdressing at a vocational school, practicing her cutting skills through daily assessments.

"There were thousands of times when I thought of giving up hairstyling back in Hangzhou, but I persisted," she said.

"It's been a difficult path, growing from a hair color technician into a stylist's assistant and eventually a stylist. It was so exhausting that I even thought about quitting, but instead, I persisted and am still working," she added.

After working in Hangzhou for seven years, Bai felt less motivated because of the competition and great stress caused by the customer rotation system in the barbershop, which was designed to reduce waiting times but meant stylists seldom got to choose the clients they served.