Laila Sergejeva-Kornaszewski began her hairdressing education at the Hairdressing School in Riga, Latvia 2000 , where she studied for 4 years.
In 2003 she showed early signs of her talent as a stylist, placing 4th in the junior category of a Londa Creative Styling competition in Riga. That same year, she spent three months studying Up-styling and Styling in the Creative Frizuri Hairdressing School in Moscow.
After gaining her L’Oréal Professionnel Colour Technician certification in 2004, she become an Ambassador for Kérastase and L’Oréal Professionnel and went on to work for L’Oréal Professionnel as a Colour Technician and part of their sales team. She also attended training for brands such as Schwarzkopf, Alfaparf, Keune and Revlon.
Laila first came to Ireland in 2004 after applying for a hairdressing job online. It was only supposed to be for a year at first, but its never one year! She soon fell in love with the country and peaple. It took her a few years to find her feet, create friendships and learn the industry here. But with the support of some amazing managers, she soon found her way, and by 2012 she opened her own salon in Carrick on Shannon.
Based in Carrick-on-Shannon, Laila loves the town and area for its beauty and peace. From the Latvian seasisde town of Liepaja, she has always loved to be near water, believing that it cleanses our souls and attracts creative people.
"I am so proud and honoured to call Carrick-on-Shannon my home now," she says. "It has given me everything I have: my family, my home, my dream job, the role I play in the community, satisfaction and joy in life. I have met some incredible people and have had amazing support from my community. The welcome and love people have in Leitrim is abundant!"
Throughout her time in Ireland, Laila has taken master classes with Dylan Bradshaw (Dublin) and trained in the UK and EU with master hairdressers like Ann Veck (Up-stlyling), Paul Falltrick (Master Cutting) and Ross Taylor, and earned certification from the Philip Kingsley Academy (Thinning Hair Education).
Since establishing herself in Ireland Laila has taken great interest in the Irish hairdressing industry and is an Executive Council Member of HABIC - the hair and beauty industry confederation of Ireland.
She has always been environmentally conscious - "I have the gut feeling we need to be mindful of our earth," she says. "I love searching for power in nature, from collecting herbs to growing my own food. I feel a responsibility to my family to show them the power of our own hands and the therapy that the earth can give us."
Her love of nature carries through to the ethics of her salon, where she stresses the importance of using a more natural, sustainable approach in everything she does.
"There's no better feeling than to know we are protecting our environment and leaving less of a footprint by our actions," she says. "We take a biodegradable approach in the salon and my team understands the power of nature. I try to teach the importance of using a more natural approach in every task we do. We use some organic haircare, sulfate-free and paraben-free colour care - no nasties! What could be better than knowing that you are kind to your body and skin and hair. It's time for change, and if we don't do it, who will?"
Laila has always loved learning and has most recently completed a 2 year online herbalist course. Remarkably, this is not her only qualification outside of hairdressing, as she also holds degrees in both Psychology (Liepaja, 2007) and Graphic Design (Latvija, Liepaja 2011) and QQI Level 6 Train the Trainer Certification.
As demanding as running her own business and educating herself can be on her time, Laila recognises the importance of taking a break a few times a year, - Laila loves to travel. She uses holidays to recharge her batteries, reflect and see things from a different perspective. When she returns, she always finds herself empowered, full of ideas to support her amazing team.
2019 was a landmark year for Laila as she went from renter to owner of her first premises. This change was a source of great inspiration and motivation towards bigger things for her, and she sees it as one of her biggest achievements to date.
A woman with a very strong environmental awareness, Laila feels driven to play her part in protecting our world and positively influencing those around her by the choices she makes. She believes her role as an influencer includes sharing this environmental consciousness, as well as her knowledge of how to nurture healthy hair using the best of natural products and also through her own natural, confident positivity.
Her mission is to awake this same confident power within women by encouraging and showing them how to look after themselves.
"I strongly belive that hair for women is a very big part of self confidence and selfexpression. Hair is not realy just a part of image photo but a self confidence feel. Its all about how we feel in our selfs. When we see confidence in our guests eyes walking away from our salon its the best feeling in the world, becouse we know we make them feel worthed, confident and inpowerd. Impowerd women brings to the family, comunity much more- a positive and happier lady. Its all about how we make them feel with they new hair not only how its makes them look. Best feeling is when they swing they hair and i can see the sparkle in they eyes! Natural beauty comes from within - it’s important to recognize it and enhance it natural way as we can.” - Laila xxx