How did you get into hair design?
I fell into it. I wasn’t sure what to do with my career and I went to Rifmik, a hair salon in Melbourne, Australia, to get a hair cut and I loved the energy, the smell of the products and the vibe. So I decided to give it a shot.

What was your biggest break as a professional hair stylist?
I don’t think there was one particular big break, although working at Bumble & Bumble exposed me to the highest level of hair dressing. That part has been incremental. One opportunity has opened the door to the next.

How was the idea for Cutler/Redken and Cutler SOHO Salons born?
A big part of our success was partnering with like-minded people. Redken’s commitment to fashion has opened up incredible opportunities for our brand and our staff and had always been known as a downtown salon so it only made sense to open a salon in SoHo.

What is your role at Cutler Salons?
My role at Cutler has always been a bit of everything from salon hair dresser to overseeing the brand image to running the financial side of the company. We’ve reached the level that we have specific people that can focus on specialized areas allowing me to focus on the things I do well, whether it’s media, marketing or finance.

How would you describe the Cutler Salon experience?
We have one of the friendliest staffs in the industry. It is an unpretentious environment that is high fashion but allows attainable hair that’s wearable.

What have been some of Cutler Salons fashion and celebrity collaborations?
We’ve been very fortunate to lend our expertise into many areas in the fashion industry. From the twenty five fashion shows we do every season to the Redken/Cutler pod cast with Allure and Vogue. We’ve even been featured in Disney’s movie Enchanted. We are very fortunate to do many events in our industry like the Grammy’s Style Studio and Alternative Hair Shows.

What is the idea behind the Cutler SOHO Redken Lab?
The idea behind it was to involve our clients in their color process. Most color mistakes are made in the lost translation between “what I’m getting” and “what I thought I was getting.” Involving our clients breaks down those barriers allowing us to get better results.

What is Cutler Education and who is qualified to participate?
The majority of the Cutler education is for our assistants and staff. We have four Cutting and Color classes along with Theory and Editorial classes. We also have Soiress, which are in-house presentations. We are starting to do outside education within the industry for example the New York Beauty Show.

What is different about Cutler hair care products and where can we buy them?
Our products were designed from our expertise on the runways, but ultimately they serve the purpose of everyday maintenance for women who want sexy healthy hair. Our products have botanical extracts such as, Avocado Oil, Hawaiian White Ginger, and Sweet Almond Proteins, giving high performance hair that is left moveable, but not oversaturated so you get the results you desire. Additionally, all of our products feature multi-level UV protection to shields hair from the harmful and color-depleting effects of the sun’s rays. Cutler products are available at Ulta, ulta.com, beautyintuition, Zitomer and cutlersalon.com

What are some of your must-have hair care tools and products?
The Cutler Fly-Away Control Stick is definitely a must-have. It’s easy to travel with and great to pull out to add shine and bring down fly-aways. Another great product is Redken’s Workforce 09 hairspray it’s lightweight and adds shine.

What are some of your favorite hair styles of all time?
Some of my favorite hairstyles are the graduated bob, as seen on Louise Brookes in the 20s, which is timeless. Linda Evangelista’s short hair cut at the height of her career that set the turn for what was hot in hair fashion. And Gisele Bünchen’s sexy waves are just so versatile and consumer friendly that they reintroduced curls in a friendly way that was really sexy.

How can a hairdresser working in a salon take their job to the next level of a successful career?
The best way to get your career to the next level as a hair dresser is to put yourself in work environments that take you out of your area of expertise, whether it’s photo shoots or runway shows. Another way is through education, education, education and continually exposing yourself to fresh ideas.

When you are not busy with your salons where can we find you?
When I’m not busy with the salons you can find me with my family or participating in triathlons.

What’s next for Rodney Cutler?
We are constantly working on new developments for our brand, whether it’s a new show, like the Redken Symposium, a new salon in Vegas with the Gansevoort Hotel, or adding new products to our line. Our newest venture is the new Miami salon in the Gansevoort South, which opens in June. There’s always something in the works. It’s impossible to stay still. We’re either going up or going down and we’re obsessed with moving the brand in the right direction.

It was a pleasure to interview Rodney you can find out more about him and his salon and products by visting the official Cutler Redken Salon website: www.cutlersalon.com