Toni & Guy Academy

Our place is on the ground floor of the Lajwad society in Vile Parle West. If you see the Jain Mandir across the road, you are in the right spot. This isn't just a place where you get a haircut, it’s where people come to learn how to do it properly. We’ve got students around most of the time, practicing on mannequins or sometimes on real people if they are brave enough. The academy stays pretty busy from morning until we close up at night. There is a lot of talking because of the teaching, so it’s never really a silent environment. You walk in and you’ll see rows of stations and mirrors that we have to clean every single morning. The South Pond Road area gets its fair share of foot traffic, which keeps things interesting. We go through a lot of shampoo and towels in a week. It’s hard work standing on your feet all day, but that’s just how this business is. The floor gets covered in clippings almost as soon as we sweep. We don't have any big corporate slogans or anything like that. It’s just a school and a salon where the focus is on getting the hands-on work done. Sometimes the coffee machine breaks or the water heater takes a bit too long, but we manage. It’s a practical space for practical skills. We just try to keep everyone moving and learning as much as we can every day.