Growing Into Leadership: A Mother, A Daughter, A Legacy
International Women’s Day
A story of leadership, family and legacy
Joanna Hansford reflects on an unexpected journey into the family business, the realities of leadership and the responsibility of carrying a remarkable legacy forward.
International Women’s Day is more than a date in the calendar. It is a celebration of strength, resilience and ambition, and a moment to reflect on the paths we choose, resist and eventually grow into.
This year, Jo Hansford Managing Director Joanna Hansford shares the story of an unplanned career in hair that became a lasting passion and purpose.
“I never intended to follow in my mother’s footsteps. Yet that unexpected path has led me to the greatest privilege of my professional life: leading the very business she created.” Joanna Hansford
Falling into the family business
An unexpected beginning
Joanna never planned to join the salon. She hoped to become a beauty journalist and, after finishing her A-levels, intended to travel. Before leaving, her mother asked whether she would help on reception for a few months.
What was meant to be temporary changed everything. At the time, the salon had a team of just eight. Joanna stepped in without expectations, focused on helping, and quickly discovered that she loved the work.
After a year away travelling, she returned to a growing business and gradually moved from reception management into a PA role, then closer work with PR and product partners.
Stepping into leadership
Building trust through a defining chapter
Joanna became Managing Director after the death of her father, an exceptional businessman with deep relationships across the team.
Alongside the personal loss came the responsibility of filling enormous shoes. She had to reassure the team, establish trust and demonstrate that she could move the business forward while protecting the standards he had set.
It became a defining moment, both professionally and personally, and shaped the leader she would become.
The reality of running a salon
Leadership behind the glamour
Today, with more than 70 members of staff, the business requires constant energy, financial discipline and an unwavering focus on standards.
Staff and clients first
Without the team and its clients, there is no business. Every decision begins with their care, confidence and experience.
Consistency at every touchpoint
From the welcome at reception to the final result, every detail should feel seamless, considered and exceptional.
Curiosity without compromise
New systems, technology and ideas can improve the business, but never at the expense of the values on which it was built.
The misconceptions and the magic
A skilled profession deserving greater recognition
Joanna strongly rejects the outdated idea that hairdressing is an unskilled profession. The work demands technical knowledge, creativity, discipline and an exceptional understanding of shape, balance and colour.
What she values most is the passion and energy of the industry. There is a particular sense of momentum in a busy salon when every member of the team is working in sync.
Education and the next generation
Training is part of the responsibility
Education remains a major priority at Jo Hansford. Weekly in-house training supports the assistants’ external NVQ programme and helps every learner build confidence, skill and professional discipline.
Hairdressing can open doors to travel, session work, photoshoots, loyal clientele and a rewarding long-term career. Joanna believes schools and government should do more to communicate those opportunities.
Leadership, respect and balance
Strength is not the same as toughness
Joanna does not believe women must become tougher to be taken seriously. Leadership comes from how difficult decisions are handled, how clearly people are treated and the respect a leader earns over time.
Motherhood changed her perspective. An open-door policy remained important, but so did learning to protect family time and recognise that those moments cannot be recovered once they have passed.
The bigger picture
A business built on people
Running a salon demands business acumen, resilience and relentless attention to detail. At its heart, however, the industry is about confidence, trust, relationships and transformation.
Joanna may never have planned to take this path, but today she cannot imagine being anywhere else.
