Adam Federico Can Do It All in the Beauty World: Salon Manager, Hair Stylist and Educator.
If you compare the beauty world to the theatre world, you'll realize that to achieve the highest of goals -- to perform on Broadway or on the London stages -- you must have more than one exceptional talent. Just acting or singing or dancing is not enough -- you must have a combination. As they say in the theatre business, to consistently win roles in the highly competitive world of live theatre, you need to be a Triple Threat - exceptional as an actor, a singer and a dancer.
Adam Federico is really a Triple Threat in the beauty world. He is the Artistic Director, Educator and Owner/ Manager of AJF Salon in Sacramento, California . Adam is the Creative Director for the family-owned Federico Beauty Institute. If he had gone to a traditional, 4-year college, Adam probably would have a Master's Degree, or two by now.
After he graduated from Federico Beauty Institute (of course!) and earned his cosmetology license, Adam moved to southern California. He stayed for three years to advance his skills and talents to a higher level by participating in several, year-long Assistant Programs. He learned first-rate cutting and coloring techniques from some of the top beauty professionals in Los Angeles. In addition to advanced technical skills, Adam learned how to develop a loyal client base and provide excellent customer service, the "real-world" tools and technique s critical to achieving success in the retail sector of the beauty industry.
Adam returned to Sacramento in the late 1990's and began teaching at the Institute. In 2000, the AJF Salon opened and Adam worked long hours, managing his new business and continuing to teach advanced hair coloring and haircutting techniques at the Institute. The special advanced courses, still taught by Adam, are extra-curricular and available to only eight (8) of the best students at the time. These students are picked based upon the following criteria: completion of freshman courses, good standing at the Institute, and a good attendance history and grades.
Even though his life was hectic, Adam found still time to take advantage of the Assistant Programs where he was so successful. From 2000-2005, he was a platform artist for Sebastian International, which just one of only 32 world artists who traveled to Japan and France during these years to represent Sebastian.
As part of his educator duties at the Institute, Adam works with instructor trainees for three months of to ensure that their skills are at the high level standards required by Federico Beauty Institute.
In the near future, Adam, as Creative Director at Federico Beauty Institute, will form a student artistic team. He will assist the team with conceptualizing seasonal collections, crafting hair shows and" trend casting " -- figuring out what's going to be hot in the future for hairstyles and beauty techniques.
When questioned about AJF Salon hiring Federico Beauty Institute graduates, Adam enthusiastically responds, "That's all we hire!" All AJF stylists come fresh out of the school and follow a very similar career path, one that Adam took as well -- they become Assistants, in this case, to Adam.
He estimates that over the past decade, about 98% of the stylists in AJF Salon have been graduates of Federico Beauty Institute. Reviewing his busy schedule, Adam estimates that he spends 80% of his time carrying out his management duties at the Salon and providing hairstyling services to his clients. He wears his educator's hat about 20% of the time working with instructor trainees and students to help them be successful.
Adam thinks about what kind of job he would have had if he wasn't born into a third generation , family owned beauty school business. (James Federico, Adam's grandfather, was the founder of the school in 1946.) Adam says "My passion was music, growing up. Beauty was my back up, in case music didn't work out. After I graduated from Federico, beauty became my number one passion over music. I would have done something creative like music or being a chef. I always knew that I wanted to do something that involved working with my hands."