meet the
team
Hair Festival is brought to you by the talented teams at The Intermedia Group, publisher of INSTYLE magazine and styleicons.com.au, and BHA Media.
Get to know the talented team behind your favourite weekend on the hairdressing calendar.

Renita Collins
Festival Director
Renita Collins has an intrinsic passion for events and immersive experiences from small to large scale across a dynamic array of industries.
This passion for uncovering the new has provided her with a career portfolio spanning 24 years where she has produced over 1,000 events across a multitude of industries. There isn’t too much Renita hasn’t uncovered when it comes to meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions and special events, in both Australia and abroad. Now at the helm of the Hair Festival marketing and events team, Renita’s experience, vision and enthusiasm will be invaluable in producing this unmissable weekend for the hairdressing industry.
“It’s a pivotal time for the industry, a lot has changed over the last few years and I’m looking forward to collaborating with our partners and the Hair Festival community to produce a meaningful, stimulating and fun event that further builds on the incredible success of the last two years.” Renita firmly stands by the sentiment that ‘if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life’, a statement that adequately quantifies her newfound love of hairdressing.

Cameron Pine
Editorial and Creative Director, INSTYLE & Styleicons
With a Journalism and publishing background, Cameron Pine has been in the hairdressing industry for over 20 years. At the helm of INSTYLE magazine and Styleicons.com.au for the best part of two decades, his current role as Editorial and Creative Director has transferred a plethora of business and creative strengths across to the Hair Festival events and artist programs, including the popular Hair Festival Wonderland party and Real Talk Business program.
Cameron has worked across Marketing and Creative Direction for some of the world’s most known hairdressing salon brands during his long-standing tenure as an employee of The Intermedia Group, a subsidiary of Hair Festival, since 2001.
Cameron brings key creative synergies to the brand across its various touchpoints and the expansion of his remit in 2022 reflects the increased dynamism needed to stand out in the hairdressing industry as a whole. Holding a Diploma in Journalism and Bachelor of Arts, Cameron continues to develop relationships that help to pioneer creativity in a dynamic and forever evolving industry.
Cameron’s passion is to continue to innovate creative and branded content, while bringing editorial and authentic content solutions to the full range of partners and advertisers within the hairdressing business.

Jo Cowan
National Sales Director
Jo Cowan has been at the helm for an admirable 25 years with INSTYLE and Styleicons and now heads up all sales and commercial opportunities as the National Sales Director for each of Hair Festival’s four main pillars; Shop, Learn, Compete and Connect.
A native hairdresser with an intense passion for the craft, Jo also held prior roles across Sales and Marketing for large multinational corporations including Wella, Redken and De Lorenzo, to name a few. Jo also holds a Masters in Marketing, lectures students on marketing part-time, and brings an unmatched array of experience to the Hair Festival family.
A die-hard lover of the hairdressing industry, passionate about education and creating a community for hairdressers, Jo continues to stay close to the industry that drives her.

Shannon Guss
EDITOR,
Instyle & Styleicons
Shannon Guss is a journalist, editor, podcaster and TV panellist with over ten years of experience in the hair industry. Shannon started with INSTYLE in 2013, assuming the roles of Editor and Online Editor during her tenure, through which she oversees editorial content and operations for INSTYLE and Styleicons. From this vantage point, Shannon has reported on key news, event, launches and profiles through the hair industry every week for a decade, shining a spotlight on emerging and established hairdressers, analysing trends and detailing the ever-shifting marketplace and landscape of hair. Armed with a Master of Media Practice and experience across multiple media disciplines, Shannon is also a sought-after panellist with Network Ten and podcast host for global entertainment networks. She is passionate about content creation in all forms.

Samantha-Jo Ewart
Hair Festival
Sales Manager
Sam brings 20 years of sales, media and event experience to Hair Festival, and a passion for developing leading engagement strategies for clients.
Sam delivers high level experiences across a board range of industries, including AHICE South East Asia and Design Inn trade events across the APAC region. Sam is now working closely with Jo to provide sales and commercial opportunities for each of Hair Festival’s four main pillars; Shop, Learn, Compete and Connect and broader print and digital campaigns in INSTYLE and styleicons.