Lammy, as Lamuel Raj is known professionally and by his friends, is watching his dreams turn real with as much gratitude as with anticipation. A drop out from Fashion tech, Lammy found himself gravitating towards hair and makeup. Then makeup took a backseat, while Lammy stepped into the world of hair dressing. Today, he is not living out just his dream, but helping others make their careers out of hairstyling too.
From fashion to make up to hairdressing
Lammy began as a student of fashion technology but found that his heart wasn’t in it. He was more interested in helping women get ready for special occasions. Hair and makeup were more engaging than textile and fashion to him. So, taking up an offer that came out of the blue, Lammy moved to Coimbatore and took up his first job as a make-up artist. The boss gave him the run of the parlor, but didn’t think to compensate him well enough. But for Lammy, the pampered and youngest brother to three older sisters, this was a new adventure. He lived in a tiny room on the terrace of a house, and had his meals delivered by the cleaning lady. He soldiered on, not letting his parents and loving family know the reality of his new life. Lammy remembers those with a laugh, “I had to move for personal reasons and sometimes wondered what I was doing there, but I didn’t want to give up. Every day I learnt something new. My boss gave me full freedom to handle the clients. Only thing, he would keep putting off pay day!” Soon there came a day when he decided it was time to move.
Lammy’s opportunity to move into hair styling came when he was offered jobs at Aurain Botanicals and later SSIZ International, a reputed name in hair products. But it wasn’t to work on hair styles – instead it was a sales job, where he had to sell a variety of Keratin products to salons and beauty clinics. Not the one to give up, Lammy plunged heart and soul into it. He sold the products and met his targets, but he also watched and learned. He began to devour YouTube videos and combed the Internet and kept up with the latest trends in hair styling. During his stint at these companies, he met his now life partner, Yadharth. They dated, faced opposition, and overcame challenges to become a couple.
“I liked doing makeup for my clients, learnt a lot, and did very well in the first couple years. But I soon figured hair was my passion,” he smiles. “I wanted to work with hair and experiment with new styles and products. So, I decided to move completely into hair styling. I rented my first salon and set up a shop in Valasaravakkam in Chennai. I had already made a lot of friends and loyal customers, who believed in me. So, it was a good transition.” In fact, Lammy’s first salon was a room he rented from his partner’s house owned by his mother. Lammy felt he had the chops to make his salon great but lacked marketing expertise. Yadharth promised to pitch in but would only give up his job once Lammy proved that the business could run without the support of his salary.
Lammy’s Salon took off in its new location. Soon walk-in customers became regulars, who are now loyalists. So much so that Lammy has people even traveling from Canada and Sri Lanka for hair extensions, and from across the country for special-occasion hair and makeup. Lammy has taught his team more than the expertise of hair styling. It is to treat every customer like a queen, or king. His customers know they’re in great hands when they walk into Lammy’s tastefully done Salon. And so, began the next chapter.
Hair now, what next?
Lammy loved hair styling and now he had enough knowledge about hair extensions as well. That’s when he took a step back and decided to do a slight segue. What was more interesting than styling hair? For Lammy, it was teaching and training like-minded people in the art. He felt he had so much to share and wanted to pass on his learnings and help others like him build careers in this very demanding field. And that was the beginning of Lammy Academy.
Lammy Academy opens
How did it feel going from stylist to teacher? “I had no second thoughts and haven’t looked back since I graduated my first batch,” says Lammy. He set up his academy and soon students began flocking in. “We have a structured course, and train aspiring hair stylists in every aspect. Our fees are nominal and complete value for money. Our students are job ready, and in many cases, set to start off their own salons too,” he says proudly.
Lammy Academy has a comprehensive curriculum: from basic hair cutting and styling to advanced skills in hair extensions; from beautician training to specialized styling courses, apart from nail artistry and make up mastery. The students get to practice hands on, rather than just learn theory. The Academy absorbs some of the graduates and for the others, with certificates and know-how from here, jobs are not difficult to find either.
What began as a tiny 280 sft salon is today a 2800 sft proud establishment run by Lammy and Yadharth. A salon that offers world-class services and an academy that produces top quality graduates. A place of equal opportunity for all. And a place that says, challenges are meant to be overcome and to live life on your terms.
Pride in business
Lammy and his partner Yadharth run the business together. Lammy’s experience and expertise in hair extensions has earned him quite a following on social media. The team has now plans to start their own hair manufacturing unit and is in the process of ironing out the details.
Yadharth handles the marketing and their social media presence, while Lammy runs the academy and attends to special clients, time permitting. Having faced more than their share of homophobia and hate, Lammy and his partner are extremely sensitive to the status of the LGBTQ+ community. They offer training, jobs and placements, and solace through their Academy, Salon, and social media. Lammy is an influencer, and though hateful comments don’t affect him as much anymore, he is well aware that acceptance is a long way off. For now, it’s baby steps, expand his business, graduate more and more skilled stylists, and open up another world of opportunities.
