What happens when passion and purpose collide with each other? Your work becomes play, according to 72-year-old Zaidah Green, a hairstylist with a career spanning over five decades.
In the mid-sixties, Zaidah, a 14-year-old girl then, moved across Canada to Toronto fueled by her desire to become a hairstylist. Almost sixty years later, it is that same fire that ignites her as she prepares herself to teach a six-month hairstyling course in La Paz for the second year in a row. A course she created and taught for the first time last year to those looking to elevate their career and income potential.
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Like many of us, Zaidah found herself a resident of Mexico, unexpectedly. While attempting to return to Canada from the Philippines during COVID-19, she decided to make La Paz her permanent home. Zaidah is also the embodiment of a nurturing heart, and an avid contributor to the community. Artfully, she managed to combine her passion and her innate generous nature with the opening of her hairstyling school.
As she shared during her information session night with the new group of students, Zaidah’s career took her across different continents and industries, from opening the first Vidal Sassoon school in Ireland to working on movie sets styling actors, she effortlessly stretched out the possibilities of what it meant to be a hairstylist. As she entered her seventh decade in this world, she playfully redefined her identity as a hairstylist yet again by conjointly offering free education to those in need as well as providing free haircuts to some of society’s most vulnerable. A new role that brings tremendous fulfilment to her as it does purpose. She admits that these new additional responsibilities to her retired life do have some learning curves that she views more as learning opportunities instead, allowing her to continuously grow. A mindset that also keeps her active and sharp.
During the information session, future students got to hear from one of last year’s graduates, Greece, a single mother of 3 who is now happily employed as a hairstylist. The course’s impact on Greece’s life was monumental. She expressed her gratitude for what she learned during these six months, how it was taught and the value it provided to her and her family. As the single-income provider to her three kids, she had to juggle coming to classes daily from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday to Friday for six months while working night shifts on the cleaning at the grocery store. Six tough months that she definitely does not regret, as she was rewarded with an income upgrade she could never fathom earning previously.
This is a big win for Zaidah too.
Her goal is to empower and elevate as many students as she can with the resources available. This year her course started on October 1, 2024, and covers many technical aspects, including and not limited to, hair cutting, styling, coloring, perming and barbering. She intentionally designed the course to be holistic, with an emphasis on the importance of good posture, exercising and mindfulness.
This kind of dedication allows her to find that state of inner peace that many people look for after they retire.
A real sense of purpose, with real results that culminated in bringing different layers of the community together. Currently, the equipment used at the school comes from Zaidah’s friends in Canada who mailed her professional tools that got the school started initially. Additionally, in March of this year, the Club Cruceros in La Paz donated some new professional salon chairs, showcasing that her work is not going unnoticed. If you too would like to support or donate to her cause, Zaidah can be reached at +52 612 226 1470.
