The competition was intense but she had dealt with the stress of high level competition before, so Kaylyn Mack didn't really feel the pressure until she was well into the four-day World Skills competition in England.
The 21-year-old Estevan hairstylist, who got her start in the Estevan Comprehensive School's cosmetology program, which just happens to be taught by her mother Joyce, said that she had been training for years to reach these highest standards, so when the moment arrived, she was able to cope with the chaos that surrounded the competition in a huge stadium setting in London.
To get to the world finals, Mack had to capture the Canadian title first, which she did. In fact she had competed in the Canadian finals on three separate occasions, in Prince Edward Island, Waterloo, Ontario and Calgary. A gold medal finish there, gave her the opportunity to represent the province and the country on the world stage where she finished ninth in a final field of 25 international competitors. The two top entries were former junior international winners from France and Â鶹´«Ã½AV Korea, she said.
"Because I had trained for so long, about seven years, to get to this level, I just took what I had learned and applied it. The intensity level was very high because there are no weak entries at the worlds, only a few marks separate you," she said.
Mack added that it is generally accepted that European hairstyles are usually the trendsetters. Canada, she said, has a definite styling community hierarchy that must be accommodated and some stylists can get trained in Europe and therefore develop some extraordinary talents.
At the world level, all competitors are post-secondary school entrants and being in the top 10, she said, was pretty special. Mack said when she learned later that all of the top 10 finishers had been on junior international teams, except her, she felt a lot better about her final placement.
"Everyone else in that group had been on the international stage before, but it was a first time adventure for me," she said in a voice that was still enthusiastic and brimming with the excitement that had enveloped the event.
"It was held in a massive, impeccable facility, two and a half football fields long and it was organized chaos, because it was a competition for all the technical and vocational skills. There was welding, information technology, video technology, carpentry, auto technicians and so on, they had over 200,000 people pass through there during the events."
Mack said she was there with her mom and they arrived on Sept. 30 with the first four days dedicated to media opportunities, promotions and pre-competition events. The opening ceremonies were held Oct. 4 and the competition was held from Oct. 5 through 8.
"In our competition, we had eight separate tests, two a day for the full four days and we had to work with hairstyles that varied from trendy to classical. In one competition we had to use a different variety of colours. On two separate occasions we had a photo competition. We had no idea what we'd get, but we'd take our stations and they'd flip a photo of a hairstyle at us and we'd have to try to duplicate it. We were also given an opportunity to provide creativity. Hairstyling was one of the longest competitions. It filled up the four full days," Mack said.
The intensity level would increase at times, especially when language translators had to intervene to explain an expected outcome or rule interpretation for the competitors who were non-English speaking.
"We just had French and English to consider in Canada. At the worlds, you have everything," she said with a laugh, noting that 58 countries were represented at the World Skills finals.
"Each country had their own experts and any infringement of the rules, you were out," she said, noting how important the translators were in relaying the information and messages.
"There were board members there, everything was very strict and that was definitely different," she added.
Her mother noted there was just one other Saskatchewan-based competitor at the Worlds, a young man from Prince Albert, who was challenging others in the information technology field. She said he finished seventh.
"Yes, there was stress, but I believe some of these young people also forged out some new friendships and there were doors of opportunity that opened to them," said Joyce, who said she felt it would have been an exhausting experience for anyone who wasn't totally prepared and extensively trained for the experience.
"I was there as a former coach, a mother and official observer as well as a Team Canada supporter, of course," she added. The Canadian team consisted of 30 men and four women.
"I think Kaylyn's skill level peaked at the right time. As a mom, a coach and an ECS teacher, I'm pretty proud of her and what she did," said Joyce, noting who she has been very proud of all the ECS candidates who have advanced to provincial and national levels of competition, thus proving their dedication and total interest in the subject at hand, just as the other teachers are in the technical/vocational arts such as the culinary skills, auto repair, carpentry, welding, machining and video production that are a few of the technical skill training programs offered at ECS.
"Kaylyn learned stress management long ago and she learned time management too, which served her well. The world competition just emphasized the importance of the training and getting over the huge learning curve," her mother added.
Mack is back into her more typical working mode now, having landed a great styling position at Pur Indulgence on Rochdale Boulevard in Regina, with a growing list of clients in the newly opened salon.
"One woman got into my chair just the other day and made a joke about having her hair styled by a champion or something like that," Mack said with a laugh. "She was pretty funny."
She was asked whether she intended to capitalize on her Canadian gold medal and world finalist status on the worksite or in advertising campaigns and so on, which evoked another laugh.
"Oh I don't know about that. But I did get my Medal of Excellence shipped to me just yesterday. Those of us who finished in the top 10 got one of those."
It was suggested that she could perhaps wear her medals while working with clients, sort of clanking them around.
"That would be pretty funny and awkward wouldn't it. I don't think that's gonna happen," she added with another big laugh.
So none of her clients will have to get slapped in the nose by a loose hanging gold medal of achievement, or ward off some metal medal of excellence while getting a new colour streak in their locks.
"Some of my clients already know I got something from somewhere. I'm not sure where they found out, but that's good enough for me. I have a nice growing client base. We have a nice new shop with five chairs. It's fun working here and I'm happy," Mack said in conclusion.
