Adeline Monier : Becoming Meilleur Ouvrier de France, it is a family affair !

Adeline Monier, 36 years old, is a hairdresser in Denain, near Valenciennes where she runs her own hairdressing salon with her mother Antoinette.  Laureate of the contest Meilleur Ouvrier de France, she follows the family path.  It is with pleasure that she tells us her MOF career.  

Sara Svati

Livecoiffure:  You run your own hairdressing salon Adeline et Antoinette with your mum, could you tell us more that family affair?  

Adeline Monier : We are hairdressers stylists, we do haircuts, hair colors, blow dries and even wedding hairstyles.  We have a small plus comparing to the other salons, we sell jewels, accessories, hair grip, Scarves and leather goods.  We like diversity.  Regarding the clients: we have a little bit of everything : Mixed, young active women, students, older persons, old persons... We offer services of quality with a personalized reception, we even propose a loyalty card !  We listen to our clients in a warm and family ambiance.

Livecoiffure:  During three long years, you’ve been training for the contest Meilleur Ouvrier de France category Hairdressing, could you tell us about your best and your worse memory ?

Adeline Monier : My best memory was the day of the final : At that moment, we realized that we haven't been training for nothing ! We then wondered if we could receive that title, this was the result of all that work.  This was a long and difficult period and during the day of the final, we finally had the opportunity to take the tests even if the trainings already gave us an idea of the situation.  In real conditions, there is a lot of pressure, stress and the trial takes place in front of a quite a big audience.  I was happy, one must give the best of oneself, always with a fighting spirit.  Fortunately, I was well surrounded, my mum, my husband…

I don’t really have a bad memory even if of course there were some moments of doubt.  For example, when you fail a test, when you don’t obtain what you want, this is very frightening !  We are always scared that one of our models give up and this is what happened to me  months before the contest ! It was a bit catastrophic but we finally did it !

Livecoiffure:  This year, the theme is the architecture of the future, for that occasion you were inspired by a bridge in Dubaï, where did that inspiration come from and how did you proceed ?

Adeline Monier : To be honest, I was inspired looking for futurist architectures on the internet.  The bridge of Dubaï seemed appropriate, its semi-aerial structure and its very impressive volumes.  The architecture is not a block, it has soft lines, not straight which reminded me the hair.  I worked with wigs, introducing many plants, colored and bleached, the whole thing integrated in a fence structure.   During my series in the Sorbonne, I was honored, my mum was very proud of me.  I following the family line.  I‘ve been working a lot to follow its footsteps.

Livecoiffure:  Why did you choose to participate to the MOF whereas the preparation is very long ?  

Adeline Monier : The contest Meilleur Ouvrier de France is an amazing experience because you enrich each other, humanely and professionally ! It is true that it was 3 years of our life but it made us grow up.  I didn’t want to do it sooner because it wasn’t the right moment, you must be mature mentally and in your work.  It still remains at a very high level !  If as a hairdresser, you don’t have good bases, you can’t arrive at the end of the contest.  I did everything I could to have new skills, the MOF spirit is acquired little by little because 3 years of preparation, it is very long !

Livecoiffure:  After that reward, what are your plans for that year ?

Adeline Monier : We first want to renovate the salon.  As a future project, I would like to retransmit the MOF knowledge to the next candidates who will register.  I would like to integrate the training part in my salon and to share my knowledge.  I don’t want to participate to contests anymore, for me the MOF is the best recompense I can have, I am now satisfied and fulfilled.