True Grit, by name and nature – Christchurch earthquakes 10 years on

We feel very privileged to have been interviewed by Stuff in honour of the 10 year anniversary of the Christchurch earthquakes.

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Article is re-published from Stuff.co.nz. Article by Liz McDonald. Photography by Joe Johnson.

True grit, by name and nature

Hairdressing salon True Grit has earned its name, its owner says.

Jacqui Victor says her busy Manchester St salon was “running perfectly” before the earthquakes, with 20 staff, fully kitted-out premises, and a colour studio upstairs above the cutting floor.

When the overnight September 2010 quake wrecked the building, Victor lost most of her “beautiful” furniture and fittings, equipment fell, hair products splattered across the floor, and the computer server was trapped inside.

After temporarily bunking in with her friend’s Woolston salon, True Grit was back in temporary central city premises when the February 2011 quake hit. That quake finished off Victor’s original building which had been awaiting repair, and the whole central city was shut down.

Thankfully no-one was hurt in the salon or by the collapse of their original building but “it was a pretty scary day”, Victor remembers.

Ten years later, True Grit is well established back in a replacement building on its original site and business is good, she says. The salon has won national awards, and Victor still has two thirds of her pre-quake clients.

But the decade has been hard. True Grit has been in nine locations as it bounced around other salons and rented premises in the city and suburbs. It went from 18 styling chairs at its peak to just five, and some of the stylists “just couldn’t cope” and left, Victor says.

“We were nomads for five years. It was really tough. Some of the girls couldn’t hack it.”

Some clients were terrified of being in an old building, or even being in the central city. Accommodation costs saw plans to establish a separate blow-dry bar scrapped.

“Lease costs were just too high – you’d have to do a hell of a lot of blow waves to cover the rent and there’s not enough of that sort of clientele in Christchurch.”

“The business didn’t make any profit in those five years. It was just survival. We were hand to mouth.”

Victor says she fought hard for her business and her staff. A comprehensive database meant clients could be kept updated of every move, and the business secured good quake insurance payouts thanks to her husband Shane, who “was like a dog with a bone” in chasing the claims.

“It was all about protecting my staff and keeping them in a job.”

Victor regards herself as determined and positive, but says she went through a bad patch about four years after the quakes. She was feeling the pressure of being a boss in a disaster-struck city.

“The only thing that really took its toll for me was how I felt.

“I got to the stage where I thought, ‘I just don’t want to be strong any more, getting up every morning to be the business owner with 16 staff and trying to maintain the jobs’.”

She says she learned that she had to care for herself if she was to look after her staff and her business. Yoga became essential, and the occasional holiday helped.

Once True Grit was back in its new, rebuilt salon in 2015 things looked up despite Christchurch still being in a state of disrepair around it.

Their bank loans are bigger now, but it’s worth it to have the new premises, she says.

The quake experience helped them survive the Covid lockdown because they knew to keep staff and clients in the loop every step of the way.

“It’s still tough doing business in Christchurch, things are taking a long time and parking is always an issue, but the central city is looking beautiful.

“As hairdressers, we hear about everything from our clients and they are much more positive about the central city, and that’s exciting. It’s just got such a vibrant feel.”

“All those dodgy old buildings are gone, we’re strong now and we’ve got a lovely, new city.”