Colorful Dotty

 

In the theatre world, if you want to achieve the highest of accolades – performing on the Broadway or London stages --it’s no longer good enough to have one exceptional talent – either acting or singing or dancing.  In theatrical jargon, to consistently win roles in the highly competitive world of live theatre, you need to be a Triple Threat – an exceptional actor and singer and dancer.

 

Adam Federico is truly a Triple Threat in the beauty industry.  He’s the owner/manager, Artistic Director, and head educator at the venerable AJF Salon in Sacramento. Adam also serves as the Creative Director at the third-generation, family-owned Federico Beauty Institute.

 

If Adam’s education track had been at a traditional, four-year college, he would certainly have earned his Master’s Degree – perhaps a double Master’s -- by now. 

 

After graduating from beauty school – Federico Beauty Institute, of course!  –  and earning his cosmetology license, Adam re-located to southern California for about three years to further advance the talents and skills needed to become a “world-class” stylist in a high-end salon. Through a few, year-long Assistant Programs , Adam worked alongside first-rate beauty professionals learning creative and advanced techniques of cutting and coloring.  He also gained “real-world” experience in the retail aspect of the business, such as building a loyal client base and providing excellent customer service.

 

Adam returned to Sacramento from southern California in the late 90s and started teaching at the Institute.  AJF Salon soon opened in 2000, and despite the huge responsibility and time demands of starting a business, Adam continued to teach advanced haircutting and coloring techniques at the Institute.  These special advanced classes are not part of the Cosmetology curriculum, but extra-curricular and only open to the top eight (8) students at the time.  These students, who have completed their freshman classes, are selected for being in good standing at the Institute, as well as having good attendance and grades.

 

During this hectic period Adam found time to “reap the rewards” of the Assistant Programs where he clearly excelled.  From 2000-2005, he was a platform artist for Sebastian International, one of only 32 world artists, who traveled to Japan and France to represent Sebastian.

 

Another important aspect of Adam’s educator role is working with instructor trainees for a three-month period to ensure their skills meet the high standards required of educators hired by Federico Beauty Institute.

 

In his role as Creative Director at Federico Beauty Institute, Adam will soon form a student artistic team where he will help the team with conceptualizing seasonal collections, crafting hair shows and trend casting  --  “what’s in the future” for hairstyles and beauty techniques.  

 

When asked if AJF Salon hires Federico Beauty Institute graduates, Adam enthusiastically responds, “That’s all we hire!”  All AJF stylists come fresh out of the school and follow a career path similar to Adam’s – they become Assistants – to Adam.  He estimates that “in the past 10 years, about 98% of my stylists have been Federico Beauty Institute graduates.”

 

Reviewing his busy schedule, Adam estimates that he spends 80% of his time managing the Salon and providing hairstyling services to his clientele.  He wears his “educator hat” 20% of the time working with instructor trainees and students to ensure they are the best that they can be.

 

Adam reflects on what type of career he might have pursued if he hadn’t been born into

the third generation of a beauty industry family.  (Adam’s grandfather,  James Federico, founded the school in 1946). 

 

“Growing up”, he says, “my passion was music. I went to beauty school as a back-up career in case the music career didn’t work out.  After graduating from Federico, the beauty profession replaced music as my number one passion.   I know I would have done something in the creative arts – perhaps as a musician or a chef.  Definitely something that involved working with my hands.”