Ankita

Stylist/Beauty Therapist

Hi, I’m Ankita,

I have been at V for Hair and Beauty Merivale for some time now. I originate from the west of India - Gujrat. My husband Gokul is the Head Barber at Vj Barbers, so I was really happy to join the team at V for Hair and Beauty and to be working in an industry I love, in a family orientated business.

In New Zealand my husband is my only family, but back home in India, I have a brother, sister, mum and dad. I miss them but we skype regularly. I love New Zealand as it is one of the best places in the world to live in. Everyone is so friendly and I love the open spaces and all the places I have yet to explore.

I am very passionate about hair and beauty and I come from a family of hairdressers and beauty therapists, we have a large hair and beauty salon back in India. I specialise in Keratin smoothing, permanent hair straightening, hair colouring, threading and facials.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Sara

SALON APPRENTICE

Hi I’m Maddy,

I am a Beauty Therapist at V for Hair and Beauty Merivale.
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I have 15 years’ experience in the Beauty Industry and am specialized in advanced skin treatments, waxing, facials and threading and henna brows.

I am originally from Western part of India Gujarat, which is known for historical temples, bandhini dresses, sarees and famous for street food.

I have been in New Zealand for 13 years and have done a Diploma in beauty therapy, skin therapy and laser therapy. I am also a nail technician and make up artist.I like do Nail art and nail enhancements and am looking to bring that into V for Hair and Beauty as there is a gap in the services here.

I love working with my clients and working through any skin issues or just improving on what they have which will help them be more confident in themselves.

Beauty comes from inside……….. Inside the Beauty Salon. Don't forget to pamper yourself I look forward to meeting you soon.

Georgina

Salon Manager / Ecommerce co-ordinator

My name is Georgina, I am the Salon Manager at V for Hair and Beauty and Vj Barbers Merivale.

I worked with the company as an Executive Stylist for 5 years, then moved into a management position for the last 5 years. I’m born and raised in Christchurch.

My favourite past time is to travel and I’ve been lucky enough to visit many beautiful countries around the world……. Christchurch will always be home for me though.
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I am a real home body when I’m not at work and love to create beautiful spaces and rooms with all the interesting bits I have collected from my joy of shopping, an eclectic look but everything has its space. We are currently busy planning some big renovation work on our home also, very exciting.
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I enjoy gardening, swimming and lately have taken up aqua jogging with my mum…whom I love dearly. My Partner is Jabz, he is British and introduced me to travelling, we also enjoy going to the pictures and soaking in the hot pools at New Brighton. We can catch up chat and right all the wrongs of the World while sitting in those pools.

My job at V for Hair and Beauty suits my natural need to organize people and things and my desire to keep everyone happy and the wheels running smoothly.

Luckily I have an awesome Boss, an amazing team to work with and a great clientele thatkeeps bringing in new challenges for us to tackle and achieve daily.

Pam

BEAUTY MANAGER

Hi, I’m Gunja,
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I am from Agra North India, the city where the famous Taj Mahal is, the symbol of love. I got married and came to Christchurch New Zealand in 2010 and moved to Wellington in 2011 after we experienced the Christchurch Earthquakes.

After enjoying a successful beauty career in Wellington we moved back to Christchurch in February2022 and is when I joined V for Hair & Beauty as Beauty Manager.
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I am passionate, highly professional, friendly, and dependable and enjoy building relationships with my clients. I have 9+ years New Zealand experience in Beauty therapy and love threading, waxing, facials and Micro needling. All those great Beauty services that make women look and feel fantastic. 

I love and respect my customers and always enjoy exceeding expectations with delivering the absolute best service.

My family living here with me are my loving husband and my beautiful daughter but I have a huge family back home in India that I miss. My family is everything for me... spending some quality time with my Chef hubby and hurricane daughter is my stressbuster. Apart from my work I love reading, shopping and going for long drives.

Somewhere in my childhood I read.... Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder but I do believe Beauty Therapists like me... can enhance it more !!

Fiko

Executive Stylist / Barber

Hi I’m Fiko,

I come from Istanbul, Turkey, a very busy, huge international city. My family still lives in Istanbul.

In my spare time I love to travel, play my guitar, and listen to music. I also have an interest in photography and hiking outdoors. I enjoy visiting many different places and meeting new people from different cultures.
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I have been in the hair industry for over 15 years, and at V for Hair and Beauty for a few years now. I have done a variety of things within the hair and fashion industry, including wedding hair work on photo shoots for magazines such as Marie Claire and Xoxo. I have also worked in the luxury Hotel Ciragan Palace Kempinski and alongside Toni and Guy. I really enjoy my chosen career and creating great looks for clients on a daily basis.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Vicki Ogden-O’Fee

Owner and Master Stylist

Hi, I’m Vicki, Owner and Master Stylist at V for Hair and Beauty and Vj Barbers Merivale.

I’m truly passionate about the hair, beauty and barbering industry, which I started some 30+ years ago. I’ve had many salons over the years and have been in Merivale for over ten years. During this time I have trained and qualified over 50 apprentice hairdressers and barbers.
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Family is a big part of my day to day life. I have two great boys Jackson and Harrison, who have now left school and grown up. Jackson is a qualified Greenkeeper and passionate golfer, while Harrison is a real estate agent and a qualified builder. I also have three lovely stepdaughters, three grandchildren, a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law. My husband Mike and I lead a busy life, but in our spare time we both love gardening, working on house renovations, entertaining with family and friends, dinners out, a wine or two and discovering new places on holidays.

I also belong to a few networking groups where I’ve met many inspiring people, some of whom have become close friends.

To keep everything running smoothly in the business I split my time 7 am to 12 pm Monday through Friday on the floor doing clients and afternoons doing admin, marketing and staff training.

I feel very fortunate to have a really great team I work with on a daily basis, everyone gets on really well and has great respect for one another. Having been in the industry a while now I’ve seen a lot of changes and I love learning new things. As a Master stylist, I’m really passionate about giving clients fabulous hair colours and styles that suit their look and lifestyle.

We don’t just do hair “We do beautiful”

Angel

barber apprentice

Hi I am Jeff,
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‍I was born in the North Islands of the Philippines and came to live in New Zealand in 2008 as a student, I love Christchurch and was happy to grow up here as a teenager and move into my career as an adult.
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I’ve done a variety of jobs, construction and automotive work but recently I wanted to try a new career in Barbering so I completed a 1 year course at Ara Institute of Canterbury and then worked in a Barber shop for a year as an apprentice.
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I've just recently started with Vj Barbers and Wow! what a great team that I am privileged to be working alongside. As an Apprentice I will really be able to hone my skills and I am driven to learn as much as I can from the Vj Barbers team.
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In my spare time I love to get about town with my friends, I am a foodie so we are always trying out new restaurants and I also have a passion for cars so enjoy a car show too.
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I'm really enjoying the entrance into Barbering and enjoy the feeling of building a client’s confidence in me and themselves with a great haircut while listening to a good story.

I feel blessed to be at Vj Barbers and I really am looking forward to meeting you and my skills growing with each and every one of you that comes in to meet me.
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Very excited to see you soon.

Tyler

Front Desk & Ecommerce

Hi, I’m Tyler,

I’m currently a student at Canterbury University studying Law and Commerce. I was born in Christchurch and live with my Mum, Dad, Twin Brothers and my German Shepherd dog. In my free time, you’ll mostly find me at my sport of choice - rowing - or hanging out with friends.  

I’ve worked at V for Hair and Beauty since 2016 and love my job. I have managed both the Salon and Barber’s Instagram accounts, and enjoy sharing our clients transformations that happen in store, as well as updating you all with any upcoming product launches. I also work on the back end of our website, updating products and our special deals pages. I love working at V for Hair and Beauty/ Vj Barbers as it has provided me with a range of new skills to develop, as well as meeting a variety of new people. I love seeing how happy clients are when leaving the salon!

Gokul

Specialist Barber

Hi I’m Gokul,

I’m originally from Gujarat, in the West of India near Baroda, which is known as the cultural capital of India. I originally trained in a family Barbering business, going back four generations which has seen me learn some amazing barbering techniques.

I have nine members in my family, all of whom are working in the hairdressing industry. Some of my hobbies include cricket and volleyball.

My wife Ankita and I are both in the hairdressing/barbering industry and we are passionate about our craft. I have been working at Vj Barbers Merivale for over five years now, and am qualified as a barber in both India and New Zealand. I perform various services for all men, from young lads to old boys and everyone in between, such as Hot steam cut throat shaves, trendy haircuts, blading, men’s facials and men’s de-greying camo service.
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I’m fluent in Gujarati, Hindi and English and have a lot of Indian clients that come to me to converse in Gujarati, Hindi. These clients have been to other NZ Barbers who do not understand their hairstyle and grooming needs. I will certainly look after you and communicate to get a great result with your cut and shave services.
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It’s important to me to work with a team of people who give fantastic service in men’s grooming. Through years of perfecting my craft, I have become exceptional at my cut-throat shaving skills, it is my speciality.

I feel I have a wealth of expertise and men’s grooming knowledge and I am a bit of an extroverted man. I like to talk to and meet different people who come from various parts of the world as well as being creative and always looking for new and latest trends to keep myself at the top of my game.