Award-winning creative director, independent cutter, educator and all-round powerhouse Nicole Kae has had a massive year in 2026, taking home both the AHFA NSW/SA Hairdresser of the Year and AHFA Educator of the Year. Behind the accolades, however, is a career built on craft, curiosity, connection and, perhaps most importantly, kindness. 

Here, Jack Morton catches up with his longtime friend to talk winning without the ego, why Australian hairdressing deserves more credit, the clients who keep coming back, staying grounded and knowing when to simply put the work to bed.

Jack: Right, I’m gonna throw some questions at you.

Nicole: Hit me. It’s kind of a little bit fun not to know what’s coming.

Jack: How comfortable are you talking about yourself?

Nicole: Very.

Jack: Good to know. So, you’ve just been named Educator of the Year. What do you think makes you better than everybody else?

Nicole: Haha! I don’t think that I’m better than anyone else at all. I just think it was my year.

Jack: What was it about this year?

Nicole: I did a lot this year. I did a lot of in-salon education, lots of hands-on workshops. I think that I elevated my social a lot over the last 12 months. I was a bit more visible. I was posting a lot about what I was doing.

Jack: Did that come naturally to you, to do that?

Nicole: Not at all. My friend Belle Mills, who I just ran a course with and who is a social media extraordinaire, and I have been hanging out for the past six years. So I’ve been stealing little tips from her about posting. I’ve never been one to throw my life out on social media. But I’ve started posting more face-to-camera stuff and getting more comfortable with it. So I think having more visibility and getting more comfortable with filming myself, which is a weird thing because it sometimes doesn’t feel genuine, I think it just gave me a little bit more exposure. Which is obviously useful.

I’m teaching a lot, but I was also teaching a lot last year. I’m writing education as well, which is really good, and working closely on Train the Trainer, training our global education team. So I absolutely don’t think I’m better than anyone else, and in that pool of finalists, I would have been happy for any of them to win. You were one of them!

Jack: I was! I was runner-up actually winks. What a great lineup, eh? To look at everyone and think, I really like and respect all of you.

Nicole: Most people in that pool have been doing it for a very, very long time, and are very, very well-trained people. Most of those people, I’ve learnt from them, I’ve grown with them, and I just felt humbled to be a finalist. So, to be a winner, I was like, oomph.

Jack: When was the last time you were a student and attended a course?

Nicole: Hair The Movement. I attended a couple of small seminars, which was really great. But I do a lot of online stuff as well, so I subscribe to certain people’s channels, and it’s purely because I like their style and I like what they do. I learn a lot about how they teach because everyone has their little nuances, right? But I love being a student. It’s the best thing.

Jack: You travel a lot internationally for education. How would you say Australian hairdressing education differs?

Nicole: Do you know what? I can confidently say that we have a really good industry over here in Australia. We have not only great stylists, but we have great education happening. I travel a lot to North America and to Europe, and I would say that Australia is more aligned with the Euros, from an aesthetic perspective, than we are with the Americans.

But I feel like Australia doesn’t know how lucky they are to have the talent that they have within it. Like, you know, the people within our industry. We’ve got some really big, talented hairdressers and educators. So do they overseas, but we are so up there.

Jack: And do you reckon this is a fair comment – that we have this hangover maybe of Australians feeling like we’re behind because you wouldn’t get films and magazines until months later, and the smaller population. But then you go over there, like when I go to London, you think, oh my God, London, they’re so much better than us, and they’re so much more creative. And you go, oh, actually, we’re alright!

Nicole: Yeah, possibly. But I actually think, from a trend perspective and the way salons operate, we’re almost in front, and setting things up for Europe and the US. From a fashion perspective, some countries are more ahead, but there’s a lot of things that we’re ahead in. But I don’t think of it like a competition. Just do your thing the best way that you can, and see what happens.

Jack: Very encouraging! You’re still in the salon two days a week. Why do you think your clients keep coming back to you? How long have your longest clients been with you?

Nicole: Probably my longest-standing client is maybe 22-ish years. I love my clients. I have a really diverse clientele and it’s just how I like it to be. I feel like a lot of people can do really good hair. But I think clients come back to you for you, and for how you make them feel.

For a lot of people, it’s an hour of coming in and either relaxing, or having a vent, or having a catch-up, or saving up all of their stories for you. Of course, we do good hair, but that almost becomes a side note in a salon situation.

Jack: Are you quite personable with your clients, or do you have boundaries with how much of yourself you give?

Nicole: A little bit of both. There are certain people that I will really open up to, but never to 100%. I think I’m always very careful to keep the professionalism in there.

Jack: What do you quite like about yourself?

Nicole: Oh my God, mate, that’s the hardest question!

Jack: Come on…

Nicole: I think I’m a kind person.

Jack: You are…

Nicole: I think I am an honest person.

Jack: Good…

Nicole: I think I’m a good mum sometimes.

Jack: Very good…

Nicole: I feel like kindness is a really easy thing to do. Just be a nice person. It’s not hard to give someone basic respect and treat someone the way you want to be treated. It’s just not a hard thing to do.

Jack: I do think to be kind to other people, it helps to be kind to yourself. I think if we don’t like ourselves enough, then we can project and be… not so kind.

Nicole: 100% agree with you. Work on yourself first, then everything else just falls into place.

Jack: This is a very broad question, but what makes you feel like you? When you’re at your best? Which environments, outfits, music, people, etc.? Where are you? What’s happening around you?

Nicole: It’s probably a two-part answer. It’s going to be with my family. I feel like myself, but it’s almost a different version of myself with them. I feel good, and like me, when I’m at work, with a close crew of people that I really like to work with. I feel very much like myself, and I feel like I’m at home.

I’m a different person as a mother to who I am as a creative director. Obviously, they’re very different people, but they’re both the best versions of me.

Jack: We spoke earlier about staying humble. What do you reckon keeps you grounded, or is there anything you tell yourself to stay humble?

Nicole: There were a lot of instances that have happened earlier in my career where I’ve been made to feel like an absolute bag of shit. People who spoke to you in a certain way or treated you in a certain way which had an impact on me. I try not to be like those people. So I’m very, very cautious about how I treat others, particularly when they’re in their vulnerable, early learning years.

Jack: It’s of course disappointing that you had those challenging times, but I’m glad to hear you turned it into something useful.

Nicole: For sure. I don’t feel anything resentful about it. Obviously, it affected me back then. Yeah, but it probably was a good kick up the bum.

Jack: What’s one thing you’ve learnt today?

Nicole: That some things are just out of your control, and that’s okay. Because at the end of the day, you can only do so much in one day, and you just move on. Because you’re one person, you can’t do everything.

Jack: What a nice philosophy to carry with you.

Nicole: Yeah, I think we as professionals put a lot of pressure on ourselves and try and get it all done and stay up till stupid hours trying to get it all done and making it work. But there literally is only so much you can do in one day for your mental health and for your physical health. And sometimes you need to put it to bed. Go do something that is completely un-work related. Watch a stupid movie, or have a wine, or do something that is going to switch your brain off. I think that’s really healthy.

Jack: On movies, what’s the film that you’ve watched the most number of times?

Nicole: Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed to say it. Dirty Dancing. I love Dirty Dancing. I love Patrick Swayze.

That or there’s a movie called Satisfaction. It had Julia Roberts back in the day when she was very, very young, and she was travelling in a converted van with an all-girl band, and they travelled around doing gigs, making no money, and she blows on a bottle as an instrument, like a beer bottle. No one has heard of this movie!

Jack: What do you like about it?

Nicole: It stirs a nostalgic feeling. My teenage years were very similar to that. Not from a “I played in a band” perspective because I didn’t, but I was around a lot of musicians, and I just feel like the life that they lived in that moment of their late teens was very similar to mine. A beautiful time in my life.

Jack: If you could only play one album in the salon while you’re working, what would that be?

Nicole: Well, that’s a big question! Huge! My answer would change constantly, but for today, I’m going to go with Fleetwood Mac – Rumours. What’s yours? What would you play?

Jack: The first thing I think of is Back to Black. Amy Winehouse.

Nicole: I love Winey too.

Jack: Who doesn’t? Well, this is a nice point to wrap up.

Nicole: Yup. Love. That was fun!

Follow @jackmortoncreative and @nicolekae_creative.