Letter from Ardita Rakovica
HITO Apprentice of the Year Winner 2008

Bettjemans - Auckland

Things are going amazing. I am very busy as usual. I got beautiful balloons and I have my two beautiful trophies right in front of the desk with the rest of the other trophies but mine are right in the front. Clients are amazingly happy for me. Its incredible and even I have to stop and just think again that I actually did win it. I am so proud of myself and my family is so excited about my future. My dad asked me if I would be able to open my own salon now. They're very supportive and Grant and Phil called my family and told them about our weekend away. Friends are blown away and neighbours all came to visit me after the win to congratulate me.

I arrived in NZ with my family from Kosova 9 years ago in 1999 just straight after the war. We couldn't get out earlier during the war out so my dad decided to stay at home and pray that everyone will be safe so we did too. After the war, we had the offer to come here and we took the opportunity in both hands. We decided to come and left everything there and came with nothing just us as a family. My mum was pregnant and when we arrived she had a beautiful son after 6 girls. We were so happy to have him here in NZ and he's our little Kiwi.

When we arrived, the New Zealand people really looked after us and signed us up for schools. We came with no English at all, all I knew was "Hi" and "Bye" - the simplest words. It did take a while until I picked it up and started feeling comfortable with people around me speaking the language. It was difficult but I was willing to learn, so slowly I made lots of friends and we had special ESOL English classes.

At the age of 18 I started working at Bettjemans and I couldn't speak English very well. I could but had a very funny accent, I couldn't understand properly and didn't know what I wanted to do. I always knew that I had a passion for styles and beautiful hair and was always inspired by magazines. So I started working as a salon assistant. I started on a Wednesday and I worked all day then at the end of the day. Grant said to me "Ardita you belong here, we would love to hire you and we want you here". I was so excited.

During this time I signed up for a dance course at Unitec and I quit that straight away because I knew that in dancing in NZ there was no future with it so I took the opportunity to work in the salon even though I didn't know how to approach Grant about how to start doing hairdressing. Then one beautiful day, I was putting the towels outside and he called me into his office. I was like "Oh my god, I hope I'm not in trouble". I knew deep down I wasn't but I didn't understand. So here I am in the office and Grant smiles and asked me if I wanted to do hairdressing because he could see potential in the way and me I treated clients and people. All I said straight away was "yes" even though I didn't understand half of his conversation because English was still a problem. But I am so glad that an opportunity like this came to me out of nowhere and especially in one of the top salons in NZ. I feel privileged to be working with them and i know that so many other people would die for my place and I really appreciate the way they looked after me and always helped me with English, pushed me to do more and get more involved.

My Albanian background made me ideal for a high service job because we are a very close culture and we help each other; especially after the war. Experiencing what I did at the age of 13, I really am a very strong person. It taught me amazing stuff. At the end of the day the most important things is to hope for everyone to be healthy and happy and just treat each other like you want to be treated. Respect with a nice smile on your face and that way you will achieve so much - but it has to come from the heart.

I know that everything I do for family, friends and work clients comes from the heart and I feel great giving something or helping someone especially the elderly clients that come to the salon. You can help them with bags or just take them through because everybody in this world needs a hand.

At Bettjemans there is a strict training schedule and very high expectations of quality in everything we do; from our own personal presentation to how we serve a coffee and all the things in between. This philosophy is the same as mine so I blossomed in the environment and the expectation to succeed made me work extra hard at off job training. I always finished my tasks and units on time and made sure that I was always organised with my models.

The team at Bettjemans have encouraged me and sometimes pushed me to achieve things I didn't know I would do. I work in a very competitive environment and I am encouraged and willing to enter as many competitions as are available. I am grateful for that.

Another thing I get to do is work in fashion shows, NZ Fashion Week. This year I worked backstage with the judges for LOREAL COLOUR TROPHY 2008. Just to be helping them behind the stage prepping the models and just seeing their work was the most amazing experience. I also got to work for the opening of the Gucci shop here in Auckland and that has always been my dream; to get involved and style with the top fashion designers.

Now that I have won I have a new felt confidence in my work. I think winning HITO Apprentice of the Year 2008 has added credibility to my work with both staff and clients. I have loved the congratulations from everybody and basked in the glow of doing amazing in the future.

I feel so proud of myself and it's a wonderful feeling knowing that I've done both my family and work proud.

Warm Regards
Ardita Rakovica