Divine intervention is how Ozzie Hinds describes his move from the police service to the beauty industry.

He made the decision “overnight”, after flicking through the pages of a magazine.

It wasn’t an entirely unfamiliar career; his wife Janet is a beauty professional. Mr Hinds said the work just clicked with him and the further along he progressed the more it made sense.

“It happened by accident,” he said. “I was seeking a new career. I stumbled across the industry having met my wife and business partner.

“It was meant to be. The interest was immediate.”

Mr Hinds did his initial training at Dudley Cosmetology in North Carolina and graduated top of his class. The hairstylist completed his advanced training at Vidal Sassoon and Redken. “I believe that it was divinely inspired,” he said. “The fact that after 24 years in the industry my enthusiasm has not waned, it speaks of a predestined direction for me.

“I like to call myself a passionate industry professional.”

The Barbados native has been in Bermuda for 29 years and opened The Salon Store in 2009.

He also owns Ja’Nauzi’s, a two-location salon on King and Front Streets. “The Salon Store, at its inception, wanted to provide the local industry with more than just products,” he said.

“I wanted a resource on the island to further enhance the beauty industry [but] the main mission was to ensure that what we were not getting here in Bermuda, and what I was receiving abroad, [was] present here — professional, ongoing educational programmes.”

As such, he’s made educational programmes a priority for himself and his staff and the public. Classes offered through The Salon Store focus on hair, nails, eyebrows, eyelashes and skincare.

“The beauty industry has a bit more time on their hands and a bit of time for reflection,” he said. “In a way, the recession has provided the perfect opportunity for the industry to look at their skill sets, their business, to look at their overall professional market and recognise that education has to be at the forefront of our progress.

“A pharmacy provides products, but nobody tells you this does that. What Salon Store brought to the market was an information-based establishment that supported both our professional industry and consumers alike.

“I’m inspired by the rapid change and transformation of our industry and would like to do my part in sharing that in Bermuda.”

Mr Hinds has focused particularly on the care of natural afro and multi-textural hair.

“It is one of the biggest challenges we have at the moment — the care and maintenance of natural hair,” he said. “Natural hair is a trend and it’s a very welcome trend because for too long people with natural textures were uncomfortable. I think that’s a barrier that we’ve overcome now. Now that it is one of the preferred options, the industry is catching up in terms of providing the best solutions.”

His store stocks Mizani, a division of L’Oreal that “has a pre-eminent brand of natural hair care products”.

“They’ve done more research in identifying solutions and products for natural hair than any other company,” he said. “There’s a lot more to hair and understanding it and maintaining it than meets the eye.

“I was overwhelmed by the intricate nature of hair and how you should work with it.”