Pivot Point announces worldskills finalist

Pivot Point International announces that Elisa Graybill of Freeburg, PA, has been selected as the finalist for the WorldSkills competitions, who will travel to Shizuoka, Japan in November for the hair designing championship finals.

Earlier this year Graybill participated in a series of competition training sessions provided by Pivot Point International at the World Headquarters in Evanston, IL, in preparation for the finals. She was accompanied by Crystal Gutshall, trainer and cosmetology instructor at SUN (Snyder, Union and Northumberland Area Career & Technology Center) in New Berlin, PA.

Elisa is the 2005 National SkillsUSA winner making her eligible for the WorldSkills competitions. She is a 2005 graduate of SUN.

WorldSkills competitor Elisa Graybill (L) with Pivot Point International Educator and Trainer Manuel Rodriguez (C) and Crystal Gutshall (R), SUN Cosmetology Instructor at a recent training session in Evanston, IL.

Students Prepare for WorldSkills

competition in Japan

In preparation for the WorldSkills Competition in Shizuoka, Japan in November, 10 students from several states trained recently at the Pivot Point International World Headquarters in Evanston, IL. Under the direction of the highly talented Manuel Rodriguez, the students were trained in the Technical Day and Hair by Night categories. The next training session in Gents training will take place March 5-6 with Crystal Pruskowski. Following this training session, one candidate will be chosen by photo finish to represent the U.S. at WorldSkills in Japan.

All participating students were first-, second- or third-place winners in the SkillsUSA National Competition in Cosmetology in 2004, 2005 or 2006 in Kansas City, MO.

The participating students were Stephanie Lijewski, Kelly Edwards, Hannah Mathis, Jennifer Judd, Elisa Graybill, Shannyn Sievert, Natalie Martin, Nicole Stanish, Katie Bilovol and Sarah Anderson. Student advisors who also attended and participated in the training included Wayne White, Glennis Black, Clare Scott, Crystal Gutshall, Grace Birch, Janeen Hackney, Carol Slagle, Lynn Nicholoff and Patricia Boulding-Wade.

Manuel Rodriguez (center) demonstrates techniques for creating a medal-winning design.

SkillsUSA participants watch the expert techniques demonstrated by Manuel Rodriguez (center).

Joakim Roos Receives OMC
Educator-of-the-Year Award

Joakim Roos, Pivot Point Sweden, distinguished team trainer and winner of numerous competitions, received the OMC Educator-of-the-Year Award at HairWorld Moscow. Shown from left to right: Salvatore Fodera, OMC World President; Carmelo Gugliotti, Global Director of Competition; Giorgio Arcaleni, OMC Treasurer; Joakim Roos, Award Recipient; Valeri Gorelik, OMC Vice President; Joachim Wolf, Germany.

At age 23 Joakim received his Master’s Degree in Hair Design in Sweden, and was distinguished as the youngest person to have received this degree – a title he still holds. Next he became the Artistic Director of Asia in charge of the Pivot Point Schools in China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

In 1998, he was the coach for the Chinese Hair Design Team at the Asian Championship and an assistant coach at the World Championship in Seoul.

In 2000, he captured the Supreme Champion title of the Swedish Championship and moved on to the International Competition in Germany. Subsequent competitions included the America’s Cup in Argentina, the Grand Prix International in Milan, and the Mondial Coiffure Beauty in Paris.

In 2002, Joakim took a grand slam in the Northern Lights 2002 in Finland, where he captured both the Hair by Night and Consumer winnings, making him the overall supreme winner.

In 2003, he won the Grand Prix victory at the Scandinavian Championship/Norwegian Cup. In April, he won the Europe Championship at the Coupe de Zone Europe in Strasbourg, France.

Pivot Point Top Competition Trainers
Featured at OMC – Darmstadt, Germany

Joakim Roos (right), Pivot Point Sweden, and Manuel Rodriguez (left), Pivot Point International, presented a far-reaching collection of technical, fashion and long-hair looks at the recent OMC (Organisation Mondiale Coiffure) meeting in Darmstadt, Germany.

With OMC members of approximately 50 countries attending, Roos and Rodriguez presented to jury members, trainers, delegates and the national OMC president of each country.

Roos, gold-medal European Champion, and Rodriguez, gold-medal World Champion, offered their design collections with ideas and forecasts for color, geometrics, sculpting, long hair and texture within established competition categories.

During the several days of meetings presided by OMC officials, other topics addressed included training the trainers, how to make collections, updates, thought processes, structured and unstructured looks, how to critique, rules and regulations, technical work with a range of color and more.

The OMC World President is Salvatore Fodera (USA) and Vice President is Carmelo Gugliotti (USA). The World Board of Director Members of Zone Presidents includes: Europe Zone: John Jenkins, Great Britain; Eastern Europe Zone: Dolorès Kondrashova, Russia; Asia Zone: Kuniharu Iwasaki, Japan; Americas Zone: Peter Cardon, Puerto Rico; and Africa Zone: Anthony Missiden, South Africa.

Pivot Point Educator Raquel Garcia
Aims for More Gold and More Wins

With a gold medal in her pocket for Color from CMBS 2006 (Chicago Midwest Beauty Show), Pivot Point Educator Raquel Garcia is sharpening her focus on her next big target: HairWorld 2008 in Chicago. There she will be trying out for the U.S. Team. If the past is any predictor of the future, the odds are in her favor that she’ll score big. Besides, it’s a great lead-in to her long-term goal—to be a competition world judge.

Raquel moved to Chicago in 2001 to be a Pivot Point Educator. Since then, her progress has been steady and successful. She became a Master Educator two years ago and continues to teach, educate and train students and competition hopefuls.

She entered a state competition in 1988 as a student and placed second place with her Long Hair design. Later as a salon professional, she competed in regional competitions and captured six gold medals in six competitions and walked away with $5,000. At last year’s Premiere Orlando, she won three gold medals: Long Hair Updo, Long Hair Color and Men’s Color.

Admired by her fellow colleagues and respected by her students, Raquel believes in staying the course and having a good time with it. She especially loves working with Phase I students, who are eager to learn and stretch their wings. Their sense of accomplishment is something she waits to see, because her students can hardly believe what they can do in such a short period of time.

Her philosophy is found in a quote by James Corbett: “You become a champion by fighting one more round.”