Mentors help on the road to future success

The goal of the mentorship programme is to help young people who have achieved success in an international competition to consider the next steps of their careers. Should they start a business? How can they make important contacts for their careers? A mentor can demonstrate different opportunities through example and offer suggestions on the direction that a young person should choose.

Minna Ala-Penttilä competed in the Taitaja competition’s Hairdressing skill category in 2018 and 2019. The first time she competed, she finished in second place. The second time, she won the gold medal. Since 2019, she has been a member of Skills Finland’s coaching team for Hairdressing and has actively travelled to Helsinki to prepare for the European and World Championships for professional skills. The Covid-19 pandemic cancelled her participation in the WorldSkills competition, but in autumn 2023, Minna represented Finland at the EuroSkills competition in Poland. Training hard produced results: she came home after finishing in seventh place and receiving a Medallion for Excellence for a performance that was above the skill category's average.

After Minna signed up for the mentorship programme, Pirjo Honkanen, who has over 47 years of experience in the industry, became her mentor. Pirjo started her business, Hiusmuotoilu Point, in 1988. She has been actively involved in developing her own industry and also competed in the early years of her career.

Activity-filled mentoring days

When planning the mentoring process, Pirjo used Minna’s stated interests as a starting point.
“Minna mentioned being interested in industry competitions, additional training and working in education and training. I used that as a starting point for brainstorming and tried to think of who among my own contacts would fit Minna’s interests,” Pirjo says.

Because Minna lives in Vaasa and Pirjo's contacts operate in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, it was decided to arrange the mentoring session as a two-day meeting. They have one more meeting scheduled, where they can revisit experiences after having some time to digest them.

During the two-day meeting, Minna and Pirjo met Wella’s Education Manager Milla Partonen, who told them about her own career path and work in Wella. They were also able to see how the company prepared for a training event for 50 vocational college teachers.

Harri Åkerberg, founder of the Atmos Helsinki hair salon, is Pirjo's former apprentice. Harri has participated in many competitions, also achieving international success in competitions that are judged based on a photograph. Harri gave tips on participating in photo competitions and promised to give advice in the future, if Minna decides to participate in a photo competition.

“In the WorldSkills and EuroSkills competitions, the competitor's methods and the finished work are evaluated from every angle. Points are detracted, for example, if hair is not swept off the floor. In photo competitions, one photograph from a specific direction is selected. The hair, model, photographer, angle of view, position of the model, make-up, clothing and accessories must all be carefully considered, so that your work can stand out positively among many others,” Minna describes differences between different competitions.

Minna was also able to meet Piatu Puhakka, who provides makeovers to clients seeking a new style all over Finland. Piatu has previously appeared on television on the Finnish version of 10 Years Younger. Because he has a popular social media account, he was able to advise Minna on issues related to social media and told her about how to deal with situations where not everything goes according to plan.

Finally, the pair visited the Frameda import company to learn about its products and operations. The visit gave Minna a perspective on importing, which she had wanted to learn about.

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Returning home satisfied and with many new experiences and ideas

Both the mentor and the mentee were satisfied with the mentoring programme’s content. The mentor was also able to learn new things from the activity-filled days.

"For me, the day was an amazing experience. Being able to follow Minna was great. My job primarily involves running a business, so this programme also gave me more information on the current state of the industry when it comes to, for example, photo shoots and importing,” Pirjo says.

"As a person, Minna was enthusiastic and excited about learning new things and being able to improve. She had the humility to receive information and appreciate long-term knowledge and experience. It was wonderful to see, and spending time with her was very nice. This increased my hope for our industry and my faith in the fact that there are people looking to move the industry forward,” Pirjo praises the programme.

Minna was satisfied with the mentorship programme and thanks her mentor profusely:
"The programme that Pirjo organised for me was excellent. It was also extremely inspiring to learn about her own history and the growth of her company!”

Always heading in new directions

Both women agree that the best part of their industry is that it is continuously evolving. The industry is constantly developing, which means that there is always something new to learn about products, techniques and customer service. Pirjo has also witnessed how social media has transformed the industry. In addition to doing the actual work well, visibility on social media also needs to be managed.

"At this point of my life and career I have seen and done pretty much everything, so I think I can already allow myself to step back a little. My passion for my work and my desire to provide good customer service has not disappeared. I knew already at 7 years old that I would become a hairdresser, and I would still make the same choice," Pirjo says.

Minna is only starting her career, but she is keen to learn new things. She graduated as a hairdresser in 2019 and a master hairdresser in 2024. In the autumn, she is continuing her studies towards a Bachelor of Beauty and Cosmetics degree at Tikkurila campus of the Laurea University of Applied Sciences. Her plan is to keep working in her industry during her studies.

About the mentorship programme

The mentorship programme has been organised for two years with the support of the Yksityisyrittäjäin Säätiö foundation. The option to participate has been offered to all young people who took part in the WorldSkills 2022 and EuroSkills 2023 competitions. 12 of them have accepted the offer and were paired up with an entrepreneur mentor through Skills Finland. When signing up, competitors have been asked for more information, specific interests related to the industry or the establishment of a potential company, so that suitable mentors could be found for them.

The programme includes meetings either face-to-face or online. The meetings and their content depend on the needs of the young person being mentored. At the beginning of the programme, the mentor and the mentee consider together what the young person’s concerns are and what possible goals the young person has for mentoring. Mentors are not paid – all participating mentors are volunteering for the programme.

In addition to Minna and Pirjo, the other participants in the 2023-2024 mentorship programme were Web Development competitor Heikki Miinalainen, mentored by Joni Aaltonen (Inscripta), Painting and Decorating competitor Eleonoora Lehvonen, mentored by Johanna Oras (Taidekartano Johanna Oras), Entrepreneurship competitor Axel Asplund, mentored by Monika Ahlskog (Nooga) and Beauty Therapy competitor Mirva Alasjärvi, mentored by Marjo Fischer (Kauneuskeskus Fenix).