Matrix's New Momentum

Colin Walsh, vice president and general manager of Matrix, welcomes stylists to Imagination 2010. CLICK HERE to listen to my podcast interview with Walsh.

There’s a buzz in the industry about a new philosophy or movement going on at Matrix. Can you give us a glimpse as to what’s going on?

Walsh: "I’m grateful to hear that you’re hearing a buzz, because I absolutely assure you, I can feel it here each and every day working with all of the amazing people I get to work with. That new energy is really driven out of our fundamental belief and mission to help inspire every single hairdresser in this country to dream and imagine all they can be. When you start with a promise that big and inspirational, you show up to work every day with a passion to create positive change for every stylist who stands behind a chair."

Through Matrix's Spread the Love program, these six recent beauty school grads are traveling the country, salon to salon and event to event, connecting with stylists and learning the ins and outs of the industry. CLICK HERE to follow their progress.

There seems to be a lot of social media behind many of your new programs, such as Chairs of Change, Spread the Love and MyMatrixFamily.com. Can you talk a little about these programs, and share how stylists can get involved?

Walsh: "Because this is such a vast and immense country with nearly a million stylists, the most effective way to really reach out and connect with support and information is online. While we do our best to be physically present in shows, in salons and in the backrooms of salons who are educating, we also want to be able to reach out and connect to stylists and help them connect to each other online.

"MyMatrixFamily.com is really the home or hub of who we are. On it, you can connect to thousands of different stylists, you can find free education, you can find inspiration, and gain the support of people who are doing remarkable things. You can track recently graduated Spread the Love students who are touring all over the country, or you can connect to Chairs of Change which is a really amazing community to support the change that hairdressers create every day. All these programs help people connect both to their own personal passion and to other stylists and salons who are connected to those same passions, and that’s where we really feel we can create amazing change in their communities and in the world at large."