For years Shawn Michael had been in the local rock n roll scene, a touring manager for bands and rubbing plaid with the grunge elite of the early '90s. He had the passion for music, the look too, with tattoos up and down his arms. But couldn't really sing or play an instrument so something had to give, especially as the grunge scene began its descent.He was good with his hands, though. And so entered the world of carpentry. Tiling in particular. He was good at it, made friends easily and kept in touch with friends from all walks-including those who happened to be in the salon industry, which unbeknownst to him at the time, he would find himself soon immersed.He befriended Intermezzo salon and spa owner Marnie Hendrix, while redoing her kitchen. He also befriended Cressa, the solo-monickered stylist from Seattle but who went to the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City to train with John Sahag, a renowned designer-stylist who bucked the system by cutting hair dry. All kinds of celebrities had been in his appointment book.Sahag, Tribeca, a chance for change, stuck in Michael's mind. So much so that while laying tile for the swimming pool room of a multi-million-dollar Maple Valley mansion owned by 23-year-old basketball star Jamal Crawford of the New York Knicks (formerly a star at Rainier Beach High School), it occurred to him that he hated what he was doing. He was not fulfilled.Michael called Cressa."What should I do?" he asked her.She told him to get some salon training at the Greenwood Academy of Hair then come to New York to train with Sahag. And that is exactly what Michael did-and more.He sold his house and used the money to pay for the training. Then, at the beginning of the year, set out for New York.Under Cressa's tutelage, Michael was like Edward Scissorhands."There were no distractions," he said while relaxing in the back room of Queen Anne's Intermezzo where he has been employed for just more than a week. "We crammed a good year of apprenticeship into six months. The trip was amazing. High pace, high intensity."Upon his return to Seattle, Michael was thumbing through salon listings trying to figure out where he would be a good fit. He'd kept in touch with Hendrix all the while and though a spot wasn't guaranteed, it was implied. So Hendrix had her office manager, Sally Traynor give him a test run. Traynor immediately had her husband be the guinea pig. The cut was a success, and Traynor brought Michael into Intermezzo. "Another thing about the dry cut, they get to see it happening," Michael said. "You can see where the weight is, where the blunt lines are. It's a very visual hair cut."One of his first appointments at Intermezzo was with Queen Anne resident, Debbie Matson, who had short, auburn hair to begin with but which Michael fastidiously reshaped and styled."I love it," she said.Michael appears to have found his passion with scissors."I've finally found it. It saved my life. It's my artform," he said of his career change. "Family and friends, everyone I know said, 'Wow, why didn't you think of that sooner?'"[[In-content Ad]]
