I’m Ivonna, 31 years old and from Latvia.  I grew up in Riga (the capital city of Latvia) where my father was a legendary international basketball player. From a young age, he wanted me to play professional basketball, however, I knew I was more of a creative person and had developed a huge interest in the hair industry. Naturally, I was drawn more to barbering as opposed to hairdressing having spent a lot of time in a competitive sports environment. My upbringing pushed me to focus on achieving the goals that I set. I’m very grateful for this mindset as it has allowed me to travel and showcase my skills on various different barbering stages like Baltic beauty.      

 

I was 19 years old when I first started to cut hair. Once I had completed college, I attended Wood Religion Barber Academy (Latvia’s most renowned barber school) It’s here that learned both basic and advanced barbering. One of my favourite modules was shaving. When I started shaving on the shop floor – I loved the expression on the gent’s face when they realized a lady could shave.  

 

The first barbershop I worked in was a small local business in Riga called House of Hair, it was a great experience because we had a variety of clients from workmen to professional football players.  I worked there for two years but wanted to expand my skills and decided to train as a hairdresser to learn new techniques but my passion always lay in barbering and so I returned to what I love best. 

 

I have loved my journey so far and am really proud and excited to be a part of the Chaps & Co team here in Dubai.