General News
16 January, 2026
Longtime hairdresser hangs up the scissors
THE end of an era fell on Lloyd Street on Friday with the final day of Kayls Hair Place, as owner Kaylene Pietsch ended its 26-year presence in town with her business shutting its doors.
With many regulars turning up to have their last cut or to wish her well, she said the last day was emotional.
However, after clearing “absolutely everything out of there” on Monday, the day after, she was still confident it was the right decision at the right time, having 20 years of hairdressing experience before setting up her own shop.
“I think my legs have had enough of standing for 46 years, so I think I deserve a break,” she laughed.
“I just felt it was time to have a little bit of time for myself now.
“But it's a bit surreal still. It hasn't sunk in, because I've only been out of there since yesterday.”
Kaylene started her career with a full-time course in Melbourne, but returned to her hometown of Murtoa, taking a string of “various short-term jobs” before being offered the salon in Rupunyap.
“That was my first full-time managing position, I think it was 1981,” she said.
“I worked there until I actually met Nick and got married and shifted to Dimboola. So that was 40 years ago. We had our 40th wedding anniversary last year.
“Most of my hairdressing years have been in Dimboola at a previous salon that happened to belong to the MacKenzie family, and that was in Dimboola itself, and that is now closed, and I took over the salon across the road. The previous owners were there for 12 years, and then I took it on, and I was there for 26 years.”
Asked by the Banner if working in a hair salon was a bit like working in the pub in terms of hearing all the town gossip, she agreed, “I could’ve written a book”.
“The people, the stories and they just ask for your support, or what I think of things and (have) a consultation, basically,” Kaylene said.
“It's not only just about the hair, it's a story for them as well – and they love that, especially the weekly regulars. Every week, they pick up where we left off the week before.”
“It's been very rewarding, just people in itself, and that's probably what I'll miss, is that social circle of friendship and the bonds that you make with your clients.”
Along the way, she had to deal with all kinds of challenges, not just requests for the latest styles, but also fixing homemade disasters.
“I had a little experience with my own family years ago,” Kaylene said.
“My daughter decided to play hairdresser with some of my equipment and then ended up cutting her brother's hair extremely short, and also two of her friends. One of them was supposed to be in a wedding as a little flower girl, and my daughter decided to cut her friend’s hair really, really short.
“Luckily, she was wearing a hat, because it covered up the damage.”
It’s not just young children who were able to make a mess with a pair of scissors, Kaylene said; football players were notorious for a dangerous combination of bad ideas and a lack of skills.
“They get a little bit of a trend happening if it starts from one of the AFL footballers,” she said.
“Like when Richmond won the grand final, everyone had a ‘Dusty Martin’, and they did it themselves.
“So I was the one that copped it (when) they came in to get it all fixed up.
“We had a few of them.
“And then a few lots of mullets came back into play, too. So when I did my training back in the 70s,
mullets were well and truly in.”
Of course, weddings were a big part of her career experience too, and she told of how she spent a lot of time in preparation – and dealing with the occasionally-stressed bridal parties.
“I allow myself a lot of practices pre-wedding, so on the day, you actually get it right without them saying, ‘Oh no, I don't want that anymore’,” Kaylene said.
“I can reflect on how many nights ... before weddings, I'd be sitting there and I'd recreate the whole thing in my head during the night, so I'd be right (and) spot-on the next morning.
“And it's not always about the hairdresser being late, sometimes the actual bridal party will be late to the hairdresser's, and it puts us under the pump to get them out on time.
“Each person that comes in has got a story to tell, and that's where you basically become a counsellor in itself.”
One of the highlights for Kaylene has been watching the children transform as they got used to trips to the hairdresser.
“It's getting their confidence to sit in the chair and not be scared of a pair of scissors or a pair of clippers, so you've got to have a lot of patience with little ones,” she said.
“I've had especially a lovely little boy who's non-verbal ... every time (his mother) took him to another hairdresser, he’d get very stressed and, of course, her stress levels were high as well.
“So she kept bringing him into the salon with me, and ... we got him from not wanting to sit in the chair to just running in that door and jumping up on that seat and getting his wrap on and fully putting his trust in me.
“They came in with a bunch of flowers and a card on the last day, and that was really, really moving, because they just were quite indebted to me for helping build the confidence of that little child.
“It was just beautiful. So that's where that journey just makes it all worthwhile.”
The elderly, too, were an important part of her clientele, with one in particular standing out, getting in on the last day.
“We were making an appointment for her on Friday, and I said, ‘We're just having a few little drinks and nibbles on the last day. Would you like to come along and share that with me?’
“And she said, ‘Kaylene, I was there on your first day in Dimboola, and I will definitely be there for your last’, and she came along, and I got very emotional in my little speech with her. She was a beautiful soul.
“I've had quite a few elderlies like that now that have ended up in nursing homes, and they still want me to go in and do their hair, but at the moment, I think I'll just sit back and then just decide whether I do a bit of mobile – I don't really want to set up a full time business on the farm.
“I'm just happy that I've had a successful run with Dimboola and the district, the people that have supported me.”
She said she was very grateful to her “very loyal clients” but was also looking forward to going down to Geelong and Torquay, where the kids are, and giving her ‘salon dog’, Mini, more runs on the beach.
“I've got a dog that is absolutely obsessed with walking and running … and she's very obsessed with me,” Kaylene said.
“The only time she's obsessed with Nick is when he starts a four-wheeler up.
“I took a photo yesterday when we got everything out of the salon, and Mini's just sitting in the middle of the floor of an empty shell, and she almost looked sad, as if to say, ‘What's going on here?’”
For now, Kaylene was looking forward to the pace of her life slowing down.
“I'm not going to go anywhere too fast, and I think I'll just enjoy walking around Dimboola and looking at the shops now, because I never had time otherwise.
“I just have time to sit and reflect a little bit.”