Camille Friend: Black Hair is Always in Style
Episode Description:
"When I design a movie, I think about -- how is this going to stand the test of time?"
Camille Friend, known as the hair guru, has been a hair department head for films like Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Tenet, The Hateful 8, Us, Detroit and The Hunger Games. She's also the co-founder of Hair Scholars, an organization that provides hands-on workshops and seminars for aspiring professional hairstylists. She's an Emmy Award nominee and member of the Television Academy of Art and Sciences, and has worked with stars like Elizabeth Banks, Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, and Don Cheadle. Listen as she talks with Fanshen and Anya about on being prepared when opportunity strikes, dealing with haters, focusing on process instead of outcome, and the importance of being versatile as an artist.
TRANSCRIPT:
Fanshen Cox (00:12):
Hey. Welcome back to Sista Brunch with me, Fanshen Cox.
Anya Adams (00:15):
And me, Anya Adams. We're continuing to talk to black women plus kicking ass and taking names in the entertainment industry. Today's guest is Camille Friend. Camille was the hair department head for films like Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Tenet, The Hateful 8, Us, Detroit and The Hunger Games. She's also the co-founder of Hair Scholars, an organization that provides hands-on workshops and seminars for aspiring professional hairstylist. She's an Emmy Award nominee and member of the Television Academy of Art and Sciences, and has worked with stars like Elizabeth Banks, Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, and Don Cheadle.
(00:56):
Camille's the first hairstylist on the show, and we're so excited to talk to her today because she's really more than just a department head of hair, so we're going to explore that.
Fanshen Cox (01:04):
This is going to be a good one. We always love to start the show by sharing your journey. How did you get to where you are today? Start as early back as you'd like to.
Camille Friend (01:13):
I'm a girl from a small town. I'm from Tempe, Arizona. I'm a third generation hairstylist, so I feel like I was born with the comb in my hand, literally. So it's something that I always knew that I wanted to do. So I thought I was in love. So I came to LA and literally I fell in-
Fanshen Cox (01:33):
Chasing a boy? Wait. You were chasing a boy?
Camille Friend (01:35):
Now, you know.
Fanshen Cox (01:36):
Okay.
Camille Friend (01:36):
Chasing a boy. And honestly, the film game, I can't even say I planned it. I say it was God's plan. I had no idea what I was doing. I fell into it. A girlfriend of mine called me to go help her on a movie. And next thing I know, they kept whispering about, they were like, "This film is going to go union." I was like, "What's the union?" and I didn't even know what it was. So literally the film went union. I met a young lady on there named Simbi Khali. Simbi Khali was basically a day player. She was working for a couple of days on the film and I did her. And she was like, "I did this pilot and they said that I could bring a black hairstylist." I said, "Okay." It was 3rd Rock From the Sun.
(02:19):
I went and did third row. What really I'm being serious. That's how it happened. Just boom, boom, boom. And I met her and went to work on 3rd Rock, had a beautiful six years of working on television, got nominated for an Emmy, bought my first house. John Lithgow became such a mentor to me, helped me so much in my life; just mentoring me and guiding me, and Jane Curtin and all those great people on that show. I have very, very fond memories of that. So fell into that and then took off to the races and started doing movies, and here I am.
Fanshen Cox (02:56):
Oh, my goodness.
Camille Friend (02:58):
Something like that.
Anya Adams (02:59):
So, let's be clear.
Fanshen Cox (03:02):
It's not that way for everybody. I feel like it does speak to what our guests have said before, right? Do the preparation, have the skills so that people can notice you.
Camille Friend (03:11):
Absolutely. That is absolutely it. Absolutely. You have to love it. You have to eat it. You have to sleep it. You have to drink it. It is blood, sweat, and tears, and lots of tears some days. I've been on horrible locations. I've had things happen to me. I've had everything good, bad, and different, but that's part of the journey. But no matter what, I knew that I had to be excellent at what I did, especially being a black woman and what I wanted to do. And even in the beginning, not even knowing exactly where I wanted to go with it.
(03:50):
I think the epiphany happened for me, and this is really when I did Dream Girls. When I did Dream Girls, I didn't even have the resume to do Dream Girls. So long story short, I met a makeup artist at a pool party and his name is Tym Buacharern. And he said, "Oh, I want to do Dream Girls." I said, "Me too." I said, "I didn't have the resume." He said, "I don't either." I said, "Well, if you hear about something, you tell me." So we went back and forth. So as we were going along the process, we would hear things he would tell me, and then we knew the costume designer.
(04:20):
Over all these people in LA, I saw all these resumes on the desk of the producer. I got that job. I'll tell you what I found out. After that job, I had a crew of people who didn't support me and didn't support my dream and the level, the level that I wanted to live my dream. And I knew, and at that point, I got rid of that crew.
(04:42):
And they were friends and that was really hard for me. It was painful. I cried. But I realized that was the moment where I had to change. And if I wanted to be on a certain level, I had to have a certain crew to take me along and represent me.
Fanshen Cox (04:57):
Okay. So were they haters? [crosstalk 00:05:00].
Camille Friend (05:03):
People who just didn't want to do it at that level and just wanted to do it in between. And that wasn't what I wanted to do.
(05:11):
I remember there was something that happened on set and this is something that I'm kind of famous, but it ain't the best thing to be famous for, but I'll just say it. So there was a group of hairstylists down at the end of the street and I was closer to the set. And I told them, I said, "What are you doing?" They were all in the coffee clutch. And I said, "Let me tell you something. When my ass moves, your ass needs to move. So when I'm moving, you need to move. There's no time to be sitting around and talking and he, he, see, see. That's not what it's about." I knew that Dream Girls was my opportunity and I'm not going to miss my opportunity. So you just, you just got to, you just got to be ready for your opportunity.
(05:47):
And I work with people who are on the same level as me. I want people who want to do it in excellence, who are awesome people, who are awesome, talented hairstylist and who are great people. Nobody likes a talented asshole. I don't.
Anya Adams (06:03):
Hi, it's Anya. And you're listening to Sista Brunch. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.
Fanshen Cox (06:28):
We're back to our conversation with hairstylist and Hair Scholars co-founder, Camille Friend.
Anya Adams (06:36):
Let me just underscore this, because I feel like we kind of went over it, but Camille, you did not have the credentials to be the department head hair for Dream Girls. Let's all think back to Dream Girls. That is a period piece, all black women, various different styles that you had to manage, and then nevermind the background. I mean, that's all of the hair of everyone. So how did you go in and get that job?
Camille Friend (07:04):
Basically, one of the things that we did is every, not every week, but they were testing different girls. I have to tell you, did the Dream Girls process the most incredible talented black women from East coast to West coast came in and auditioned. So we would come in and we would do the auditions for them. And this is the crazy part too. I was doing The Pursuit of Happiness. So I was flying myself in, they weren't paying me. I was flying myself back and forth between LA and San Francisco, because I wanted that job.
(07:32):
So we were doing the auditions and so we were working it; me and Tim, we were working it; talking to people, being there, getting the job done and doing it for not a lot of money. But that's the thing, and I always tell people, "Don't focus on the money. Stop focusing on the money. The money will come. The money will really come. So, it's just being in that process and staying in the process, just taking one foot in front of the other, being in the process.
Fanshen Cox (07:59):
What I love is that you've taken all of your experience and of course, even that quick trajectory that you had, but you know what you did in order to be ready and you have created Hair Scholars to actually bring others along with you. So this is not just Camille being like, "Y'all need to do better. Y'all need to do better." Camille has a school for folks to understand. So tell us about Hair Scholars.
Camille Friend (08:24):
Hair Scholars is my baby. It's really my love of love, of love. I love Hair Scholars. And the reason I love Hair Scholars is, it allows me to not only share what I do and share my passion, it helps me literally take that hand of people and pull them up. And that's what we need.
(08:44):
And this is the thing. I meet so many people from so many different backgrounds. And if they're like, "Well, they can't do this or they can't do that." I said, "Don't tell me what they can't do." I said, "Give me a week with you, give me a week. We're going to work on everything from your hair skills, to your behavior skills, what baggage you're bringing to work. It's, leave that bag over there. We don't need that in the trailer." All of those things that sometimes people don't know or they don't learn, that's what I get to teach people and from the mistakes that I did.
(09:16):
I have to tell you, I used to be like a hard core sergeant. I'm still a sergeant. I'm a mini sergeant now. And a lot of people in the past don't like me for that, and that's okay and I've gotten past that. But I was hardcore on people because I wanted the best out of them. But I had to learn how to align myself and align my energy with the people who would see that.
(09:39):
So in Hair Scholars, it's something that I get to do with people and get to really hone their skills and get them up to excellence. Where a lot of time, I'm just going to say, people of color, we don't get the opportunities to work on certain kind of movies and get exposed to what that kind of machine is. You're not going to get to be exposed on how to do visual effects. [crosstalk 00:10:01] You're not going to get exposed to all the little components that happen, and I've been exposed to it. So I get to help you learn how to, do you want to do this? Do you want to do that, and how to do it at that level.
(10:16):
So I think that's what's most important with Hair Scholars. And truly it's my baby and we're growing. We're getting ready to do our mentorship. I'm very excited about that, because the mentorship is something that's, it makes me choke up. I'm so excited about it, because that's what's going to change the game.
(10:35):
And COVID's been hard. I've lost family members. We've lost friends. And even more than ever, I know that this is my mission, to get out there and get the word out and be able to mentor [inaudible 00:10:48] people and guide people into this business. Because that's the only way people of color are going to get in this business and rise to that level of excellence.
Anya Adams (10:57):
It's so true and it's so important for people to hear this now, that there are ways for them to find mentors, especially in that environment. Because I think we hear a lot about it from directing and stuff like that. But the hair makeup world, you don't necessarily hear about how do I connect myself and learn? Because it's not just about wanting to be pretty.
Fanshen Cox (11:17):
Exactly.
Anya Adams (11:19):
Let me ask you this question. When you're the department head of hair on a show, on a movie like Tenet or like Dream Girls, you are an integral part of creating the look. It's not like the director says, "Oh, it's period go." I mean, there's a huge amount of crafting and creativity that comes about it. So there's different levels of being in the hair department. There's the people that execute and the people that create and manage the execution. And the department had really does that creation, right? Do you want to talk a little bit about that?
Camille Friend (11:49):
Creating is the thing that I'm probably best at, and that's how my mind works. So that's something, I love the research and I love the creating. I love that. Sometimes the day-to-day, dealing with hair and makeup is like herding cats. That's not my favorite part. But honestly, the creating and seeing it come to fruition, some days when we have camera tests and camera tests are the first day when you bring in your actor and you're showing the looks to the studio and you're putting it on camera. Camera tests are days like I can't sleep three days before. And as soon as it's over, I get home and I'm crying my eyes out. Because if it went well, I'm so excited, I'm dancing around my house. My boyfriend, he cracks up at me cause I'm like, "We did it. We did it.
(12:33):
I'm so excited because the creative process is something that you're putting your signature on that movie that's going to live forever. That's what the exciting part is. And when I design a movie, I do think about how was this going to stand up the test of time? I don't want to look at my movie and you look at it and sometime I see my movies and I'm like, "Hmm, that ain't so good." I do. I mean, I'm the toughest critic on myself.
(12:58):
But when I watched Ray, I was watching Ray and I called my girlfriend, Sharon Davis, who's the costume designer. She'd won an Emmy for Watchman; one of my best friends. And she was watching it too. I said, "This Ray looks good." She goes, "I know. That's how I got it." And so to still know that that movie stands the test of time. That's what we're building. We're building movies and we're building cinematic icons. So that's part of what you're building in when you're building characters and you're designing looks and developing, a whole movie. That's what it's about. It's the big picture.
Fanshen Cox (13:36):
This is Sista Brunch with Fanshen Cox and Anya Adams. Stay tuned for more of our conversation with head film and TV hairstylist, Camille Friend.
Anya Adams (13:57):
Welcome back to Sista Brunch. I'm Anya and we're jumping right back into the comvo with Camille Friend.
Fanshen Cox (14:03):
Could you take us through a day in the life of different people in the department?
Camille Friend (14:08):
Okay. So let's start, in the morning we would get to the trailer. Usually, we're greeted by usually a PA. So a PA is somebody who's there, who's just learning and getting trained. And a lot of times, we have a hair and makeup PA. So that's something that we can introduce people into the business. And then your second AD is there in the morning. And your second AD is kind of like the person who does all you deal with the most. They do all the paperwork. They do all the scheduling. So as the hair and makeup team, that's who you deal with.
(14:38):
Then you have me, then you have my key. My key is my second in command. They do a lot of the paperwork. Then you have your third and your fourth. And usually nowadays, we have a barber. I always got the hot barber with me. They know I always got the barber who can tear it up. [crosstalk 00:14:53]. Oh no, I got a new one. Wait y'all, Black Panther 2 starts in July. So don't worry, my new barber, y'all better get ready, because he's bad. Anyway. So-
Fanshen Cox (15:03):
Oh, I can't wait.
Camille Friend (15:04):
When you get to set, you're usually greeted again by another PA. You have all kinds of different PAs. And the top of the PA chain is what you would call a set PA. So that's a person who's worked on set for awhile and they run the set and they're usually about to be an AD. So then you get on set and then you're talking to the first AD, the guy who's running the set. You have your-
Fanshen Cox (15:25):
Or the woman.
Camille Friend (15:26):
Or the woman. [crosstalk 00:15:27].
Anya Adams (15:26):
And usually, what time do you roll up in the morning?
Camille Friend (15:33):
Anywhere from 3:30. Yeah.
Fanshen Cox (15:34):
What?
Camille Friend (15:35):
Oh no. They start really early. When we were on Tenet, just think we were on a boat at 3:15 in the morning. And I was like, "Why am I a 50 year old black woman on a boat in the middle of the night in the cold?" But you're in the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
Fanshen Cox (15:56):
Right. So, you're not really complaining. You like, "I'll be up all night, because I'm on the Amalfi Coast."
Camille Friend (16:01):
Right. So, afterwards my boyfriend met me with the gelato, so how bad can it be?
Fanshen Cox (16:08):
Come on now. Right. We'll take it. We'll take it.
Anya Adams (16:11):
So you got there at 3:15, the PA's greet you. But then they bring all the cast in, right?
Camille Friend (16:16):
Then the cast starts coming in. I'll just tell, and this is something I recently told somebody and they never had heard this. Personally, I'd like to do stunts first. So I actually have stunts come in first in the morning and we get the stunt players done.
(16:29):
So usually on these big movies, people have to realize you could have 10 to 15 stunts to do in the morning before you even get to your cast. So we do our stunts first and then we bring our cast in. Yeah.
Anya Adams (16:41):
And then for on Tenet, when there's 20 actors, if you're the department head, you're managing multiple trailers that are actively getting actors ready, right?
Camille Friend (16:52):
Right. But usually what I do, actually Tenet was a whole different movie. It's the smallest cast that I've worked with in a really long time. And believe it or not, because we went to six countries, so we were constantly moving. So a lot of times, we were doing hair on a boat, on a yacht. Actually, it's very interesting. I usually carry about 40 trunks with me. I got myself down to five trunks, because I was like, "This is not going to work, going to six. It's not going to work. And usually, so I do whoever my actor is and their stunt double. I like to do both of them.
Fanshen Cox (17:29):
Okay. Y'all are talking about Tenet, which is fine, but I want to talk about Black Panther. I'm like, how are we not-
Camille Friend (17:34):
We can talk about Black Panther.
Fanshen Cox (17:36):
I mean just tell us everything. We just want to know everything.
Anya Adams (17:39):
Well, but that's another thing. You had to get all of those, I mean, well, thank God, a lot of the women were bald unless you gave them bald caps. But I think you shaved their head, no?
Camille Friend (17:47):
Oh no. They were shaved. We really got it into a rhythm. So with all the Doras, the Doras again, came in first. And so, I think it was about four of us that shaved all the girls' head. All the girls had their own clippers, their own bags. So every, every day they were cleaned, they were put in the back. In the morning, sometimes the girls grabbed their own bag and sit in the chair. They hand us the bag. We had a whole system of how we did it every day.
Fanshen Cox (18:13):
Oh my goodness.
Anya Adams (18:15):
So you get all the actors ready. You grab a little breakfast hopefully. And then you wander to set, and what happens?
Camille Friend (18:21):
You go to set. And then a lot of times nowadays, I'll be honest, I don't stay on set. But I always go to set to check and see what's going on and I like to talk to my director and see what entails in the day, because there's a lot of moving parts. And I also like to have a bike, because if I'm on the lot or something's going on, if there's a second unit, a third unit, just know, Camille's going to pop up on you.
Fanshen Cox (18:45):
Get around? I live it.
Camille Friend (18:49):
Camille's that girl.
Fanshen Cox (18:50):
Surprise.
Camille Friend (18:51):
Yeah. So, I ride my bike around and I check on everything because that's part of my function is to just to check on everything. And then also then at the same time you could be having fittings. So usually what I'd like to do for fittings is we put them on a photo stream on the phone. So when they're doing fittings, they can send me pictures of what they're doing so I can yay and nay it right there.
Fanshen Cox (19:12):
Hey, it's Fanshen and you are listening to Sista Brunch. Stay tuned, we will be right back.
Anya Adams (19:33):
We're back to our conversation with hairstylist and Hair Scholars co-founder, Camille Friend.
Fanshen Cox (19:40):
Okay. So let's talk about being a black woman in the industry. And how do you both, embrace your strengths as a black woman who knows how to do black hair, and at the same time, not get pigeonholed into only doing black hair?
Camille Friend (19:56):
Right. That's a really good question. I think it's a very fine line. For me, I've just been fortunate that I got on projects where there's a little bit of both. It's a little bit of everybody. And I mean, I've always been known as I'm a really good hair cutter and I've always known that I'm good at wigs. So that's always helped me with the men, and that's always helped me, especially too with the stunts. Because if you're going to do stunts, you got to know how to cut.
Fanshen Cox (20:25):
Oh, cause you've got to match the cut, because you have to match the actor. [crosstalk 00:20:28]
Camille Friend (20:28):
You have to match the actor. Exactly. You got to match the actors. So that's something I tell a lot of stylists and I'll be honest, a lot of black stylists, especially I tell them, "If you can't cut Caucasian men's hair, you're going to have a problem in this business," because that's the bulk of what's in the movies. If you're going to do big movies, if you're going to do action movies, if you're going to do war pictures, you got to know how to do that. So it's something that is a must have skill.
(20:54):
So that's something that over the years and I was really fortunate, I've taken myself, I've been to Vidal Sassoon. I worked for John Atchison in LA. I worked at John Atchison for him and he's known for his haircutting. So everything adds up, everything lines up the way it should.
Anya Adams (21:10):
I feel like there's been a shift in the industry as a woman of color too, working as a director, just seeing people really recognizing we as an industry need to step up, and I think you're facilitating that with your Hair Scholars. But it also sounds like the studio that you're working for, at least, is taking a big step to right the ship, as it were, and create more balance. Can you tell us about your new job?
Camille Friend (21:35):
Yay. So like everybody else, I was just hanging out and I got a call from a girlfriend. She was like, "There's a woman who I met, but I cut her husband's hair, and she works at Warner Brothers and they want somebody to teach classes to people in Canada." And so I teach classes. I was like, "Okay."
(21:53):
So I called them up. And then after talking to them a couple of times, I was like, "Oh, I could do this, and I could do this for you, and I could do this and you guys need this." And they were like, "Camille, we're going to give you a job." I was like, "Great." So here I am.
(22:07):
So basically what I'm doing for Warner Brothers, is I'm their hair and makeup projection executive. So I'm here in Canada and I'm working with the Canadian hair and makeup to diversify and teach people about not just only black hair, but all types of hair; raising the standard of the industry. And also, I'm here for the black actors here.
(22:28):
So before I even came, I started talking to the black actors and seeing what their needs were. I talked to every single one of them and I built something which we call it a Beauty Box. So in the Beauty Box was everything that you needed, you wanted, you thought of, helping you develop your look, if you needed a weave, if you needed extensions. I went to a show when I got to go and help cut and style some wigs for an actress. So, just helping them facilitate all the things for the needs of our people of color and along with all the other actresses. I get to help everybody and just raise and just raise the level of excellence here in Canada for television.
(23:09):
Warner Brothers has been wonderful. They have been so generous and they really understand about the diversity in this industry and how we have to change. Peter Roth said that the business has to change. Diversity is our business. And the shows are changing. There's so many shows that have so many different black casts. So we have to have people who can do the hair and makeup.
(23:34):
Absolutely, in this business, you have to, as a professional, be responsible for whoever sits in your chair. You should know how to do their hair and their skin, no matter what their color, creed or ethnicity is. It is your job to know.
Anya Adams (23:48):
I'm sure you've heard horror stories from black actors coming through your chair of doing their own hair. I mean, there is a real known behavior that a lot of, especially black female actresses do, where they're just like, "I wake up earlier than my call time of 5:30 to do my hair, to come to work.
Camille Friend (24:08):
Absolutely. And I mean, absolutely, absolutely. I've heard horror stories. I've seen horror stories. It pains me. It makes me cry, because it doesn't have to be that way. And all I'm going to say is, if you don't understand, and I say this to stylists, I see this to makeup artists, if you don't understand the skin tones, if you don't understand the textures, there's so many opportunities, especially now. Every product company in the world is offering classes right now.
(24:37):
I mean, [crosstalk 00:24:39] there is so much information out there right now. Get out there and learn it. And it's something that it's just going to make you better as a stylist, as a makeup artist. It's just something you have to learn. And it's nothing to be scared of. It's nothing to be in fear. And that's the one thing, we have to leave the fear at the door. Just leave it. It doesn't serve us at all.
Anya Adams (25:08):
You came in through hair and that's your thing, but how does the makeup component play in now? You're kind of managing both of that with Warner Brothers. So how did that happen?
Camille Friend (25:19):
Well, actually, we always used to do both. When you come up and you're doing non-union, you always did both. And I mean, I was a girl, I did weddings. I did all that kind of stuff. I did bridal, so you always did both. So it's something now that is easy for me to manage.
(25:35):
Plus, the thing about it is, as an artist, I love color. I love playing with color. I love hair color. So when I see people, I think about the color wheel. So if you think about the color wheel, I was like, "Oh, I got this." So it's just something that's really fallen in naturally. It's just a natural progression.
Anya Adams (25:56):
Okay. [crosstalk 00:25:57] So it's something that if you want to be a hairstylist, is something you definitely should pay attention to.
Camille Friend (26:01):
You have to pay attention to it. We have editorial hairstylists that come to us, who they do hair and makeup. People who do bridal, they do hair and makeup. People who do red carpet, they do hair and makeup. So very much so in the business, there's a lot of people that do both.
Anya Adams (26:16):
Say, I just want to break into the industry. I feel like I'm pretty good at hair, but I have no contacts whatsoever. What would you suggest?
Camille Friend (26:24):
First thing, I suggest you come to Hair Scholars, Scholar One to our mentorship. And basically it's going to give you an overview of definitely what the business is, what the union is, how to do your portfolios, how to do your resumes. I call it the starter kit to you started. And honestly, it's like, when you're starting from the beginning, it's a tough. You're going to have to get in there and you have to meet people. You have to network. It's something you really have to like, you have to meet people and it's not easy.
(26:56):
I just spoke to a girl who's in a very small town. And I told her, I said, "Hey, it's not going to be easy. You're in, I call it a, B or C market." So I said, "The best thing for you is to work that area as much as you can." And then I said, "Then sweetie pie, you probably want to move." I'm just being honest. If you want to do it to that level, then you need to move to LA, New York, even Canada or Atlanta. You're going to have to move to a place where the film and the television is active, if you want to do it at that level.
(27:32):
And don't get me wrong. There's people that live in smaller markets that are more established. You can move to a smaller market when you're more established. I have a girlfriend now who's moving, she moved to Austin, but she does Johnny Depp.
Fanshen Cox (27:46):
Right.
Camille Friend (27:46):
Right, that's different.
Fanshen Cox (27:48):
She can do that.
Camille Friend (27:48):
But when you're establishing yourself, you got to be in a market that's active where you're meeting people and you can go places and you can pick up jobs and you can meet other hairstylists who are in, who are moving in that same energy and that flow as you.
Anya Adams (28:01):
You did talk about the fact that, and I think this is really important because you, as a makeup and hair department, when you guys are working together, you're in this small little trailer for hours on end. You all have to be on the same energy levels, so the network is important because you want to be able to find your team, your family, that you kind of talked about earlier.
Camille Friend (28:22):
Right.
Anya Adams (28:22):
And that might change as you grow as well.
Camille Friend (28:25):
No, and it does, but as you're starting out, if you're non-union, start hanging out with girls who do non-union, because they're going to know the jobs, they're going to know the jobs and help you guys can all help each other. I always tell those girls, "Hang out together, be a Pat. You guys can move forward together."
Fanshen Cox (28:44):
Because if one of you can't do the job, you can refer the other person to do that job.
Camille Friend (28:49):
Exactly. So move like that. And of course, there's a lot of different websites. There's a lot of groups on Facebook and you can get work that way also. But the best thing, honestly, it's word of mouth and helping each other out. I have a clique of people who we help each other out. I give jobs away every week. I give jobs away. Every single week I give jobs to people, because I can't do every job, I can't.
Fanshen Cox (29:13):
Back to what you said in the very beginning, don't be an asshole.
Camille Friend (29:16):
Exactly.
Fanshen Cox (29:18):
And I hate to say that it is an important reminder, but it is. You have to have the skills, but also you got to be someone that is enjoyable to work with.
Camille Friend (29:27):
Yes.
Fanshen Cox (29:28):
That's just the truth. Especially at 3:00 in the morning, even on the Amalfi Coast with gelato. You still-
Camille Friend (29:33):
I mean, I talked to directors and one thing they say, at a certain point, at a certain place, everybody's resume going to be great. But they want to meet you because they want to know if they want to spend six months with you. What is your personality? Who are you? Because the resumes are all at a certain level. Yes, you're working with great people.
Fanshen Cox (29:54):
Right.
Camille Friend (29:55):
I'm working right now also, I'm doing consulting, I'm working on Little Mermaid. I designed the look for Little Mermaid also. So yes. So that's just something else that I'll throw out there to you ladies. So in doing that, it's such a great group of people. The people are so awesome on that job, because you're working with the A-team.
Fanshen Cox (30:16):
Yeah, right.
Camille Friend (30:16):
So you're working with people who are just so creative and so beautiful and so kind. I said, "This is the dream job," because you get to work on that level. And Rob Marshall, as a director, you can't work with somebody who is nicer, professional and just a lovely human being, and who is a master of his craft. I love working with people who are masters of their craft.
Fanshen Cox (30:42):
How can we support every amazing thing that you're doing?
Camille Friend (30:45):
Well, again, Hairscholars.com. Like I said, we're getting ready to launch our mentorship programs, which I'm so excited about. We have four mentorship programs that we're doing. So we have a basic mentorship program for people who want to know, what is this business? So we're going to teach you what it is, how, what, why. Then we have for the veterans, you want to be a Camille Friend? I'm going to let you know what it takes to be a Camille Friend. And then we're doing a department head class and a key class.
(31:15):
So, in this business, people don't teach you how to be a department head. So breaking down what it takes to be a department head. But to be a good department head, you need to be a good key. One thing I learned, I was key for many great people for, Oscar, for Emmy winning stylists. So that's what really got me to where I was. So breaking down how to be a good key and those components, along with all my lace front wig classes and natural texture classes and period classes and all my other classes. But that's the thing that we're really focusing on now.
(31:47):
So Hairscholars.com and also, we're on Instagram, Camille Friend and Hair Scholars on Instagram and Facebook, we're all there.
Fanshen Cox (31:55):
Well thank you, thank you, thank you so much for coming on.
Camille Friend (32:01):
Thank you, ladies. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Fanshen Cox (32:01):
This has been incredible.
Anya Adams (32:02):
Yes, you're such an inspiration and it's so amazing to know that a woman of color has been on all of these shows and is really endeavoring to lift up all of these people to her heights. It's just like, I'm so excited for it, because I feel like you are changing our environment, our world here.
Fanshen Cox (32:20):
100%.
Camille Friend (32:21):
We have to change. We can't keep going the way we are. You're not going to be able to change everybody, but it's the people that I can change, that's the people that I have to focus on. And the people I can't change, they're to me, in the rear view mirror. See you later, I'm looking ahead and that's all I can do.
Anya Adams (32:40):
Yeah.
Fanshen Cox (32:41):
Words of wisdom. So many words of wisdom.
Camille Friend (32:44):
But that's all we do.
Fanshen Cox (32:45):
I know. It's too perfect.
Camille Friend (32:46):
That's all we can do.
Fanshen Cox (32:47):
Yes.
(32:55):
That was our conversation with Camille Friend. Go to sisterbrunch.com to learn more about her work and where to follow her on her social channels. You will not regret this new follow with Camille. And thank you so much, so much for listening to Sista Brunch with Anya Adams and me Fanshen Cox.
(33:19):
Are you following us, because you can. You can follow us on Instagram at Sista Brunch Podcasts. You can follow us on Twitter at Sista Brunch and just catch up with us, interact with us, see what we're watching, support all these amazing guests that we have. We will be keeping up with what they're up to and posting it on all of our socials. You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/sistabrunchpodcast. Please, please importantly, don't forget to subscribe and rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts.
(33:55):
Our show producer is Brittany Turner. Our executive producer is Christabel Nsiah-Buadi. And we acknowledged that the land we record our podcast on is the original land of the Tongva people for those of us in Los Angeles and the Coast Salish for Anya in Vancouver. Tune in next time.