E3 - Tony Morra

For a lot of Lorne Park residents, Tony Morra is their go-to hair stylist when wanting to look and feel great.  This owner of Tony Morra's Hair & Spa has recently played out his lifelong dream of owning a pizzeria.  In today’s episode, I get to learn about his training under some of the greats, some of his favourite memories of travelling the world for hair competitions, and his love for all things food.

  This episode's Lorne Park Local Legends - The Staff and Volunteers at the Compass Food Bank and Outreach Centre

  Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show?  Send your suggestion to lorneparkliving@gmail.com.

  Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

  Information from the Episode:

 Tony Morra Hair Salon - https://www.facebook.com/Tony-Morras-Hair-Salon-175927219214766/
 1107 Lorne Park Rd, Mississauga, ON L5H 3A1
 (905) 278-2355

Tony's Panini and Pizza
 1150 Lorne Park Rd, Mississauga, ON L5H 3A5
 (905) 891-8181

Do you know someone from South Mississauga who would make a great guest on the show? Send your suggestion to anuja@anujapereira.com

Also, make sure to subscribe, rate and review!

Follow me at www.instagram.com/anujapereira.homes

Transcript

0:01  
Tony Mora was trained under some of the country's most renowned hair stylists, and has been a business owner and Lauren parks since the early 1980s. In today's episode, I sit down with Tony to learn more about his start in hairstyling, his success at shows and competitions all over the world, and his passion for making and serving amazing food. Welcome to Lauren Park living. Tony, thanks for being here.

0:25  
Thank you for inviting me.

0:27  
Yeah, I'm so excited to talk to you. And you have been a business owner in Lauren park for so many years, with your longest running business being the salon, which you opened in 1982, I believe. So tell me what it is about hairstyling that you love so much.

0:47  
As I mentioned before, I wasn't supposed to be one that then got into it, because my family was all in the hairdressing. And that just got me into it. So now I realize that actually, I could do it too. So. And I was very fortunate to have a great teacher that I worked for for over a year and a half. And that's when I actually got into it when I realized it was just not another job. But it was actually very rewarding. When a client actually came out of the salon smiling, happy What a beautiful year do so making a woman look better, or feel better. That was very rewarding to me. So yeah, I made a career out of it.

1:44  
It sounds like it was quite the it is still quite the great career, I should say. What was so you told me a little bit when the mics were off? What was your real passion other than hairstyling.

1:56  
My original passion was engineering. I went to high school for engineering. But then I then finished high school of course, I came to Canada. And when I came to Canada, well actually before given to Canada, I got into cooking, or helping out cooking in a small cafe in Italy. And then I realized that I actually was I was a cool thing to do, especially if the if everything tastes really good. You ask for more. So I developed a passion for food. And I wanted to be actually I want to be in the food business after high school or when I first came to Canada but the net been the biggest. Nobody had a restaurant. Nobody had a pizzeria nobody or a cafe. All my relatives and good friends were all hair dresses. So I joined I joined them. That's it. This would happen.

3:07  
Yeah. Which Oh, sorry. Go ahead.

3:10  
My my passion for food that didn't go away and actually got got better. It got stronger. Exactly. Yeah. So and then a few years ago, I started getting into the food business. And I'm in there as of now and hoping to be there for the next few years before I'm totally retired.

3:41  
Yeah. Well, I'm wondering, I know that you opened Tony's Panini and pizza in November 2020. So Happy anniversary. I think it's just been a year. Yeah. And I really have to know what made you open a restaurant in the middle or at the height of the COVID pandemic.

4:05  
Well, everybody thinks that I'm crazy, but that's largely what happened. That after the first lockdown. Everybody thought me included of course that the virus was going to be around. It was going to go away slowly. And I figured that by the time that I'm ready with restaurant to open, most of it will be gone. And then have a high school nearby me and I would enjoy feeding to the high school kids and the neighborhood the really needed another good pizzeria. And because I already had open a couple of other place in the neighborhood, so I knew that this will do well will succeed and I will enjoy it. But unfortunately by the time I got the restaurant Ready, the virus got worse and much worse. And then at a point the restaurant was ready to open. I had to open I had no choice. So I opened, actually two days after the lockdown. The good thing was that I got myself a job. He said a big lockdown.

5:25  
Yeah, well, I guess the salon was closed, but the restaurant could be open,

5:28  
the restaurant could be open. And I really struggled through the winter and everything, but then I knew that sooner or later, it was going to be okay. So now is much better. And looks like the virus is somewhat under control. But then we don't know the future. So but as is right now, we're okay.

5:51  
What good it's it's exciting that you've been able to live out that that dream that you had even as a young as a young person, and and can do it right here in Lorne Park, which is great. So, I'm curious. Well, you talked about some other family members who are in the business. So I know there's there are also some other business owners in the Clarkson Lauren Park area in your family. Is there a history of business ownership in your family that goes way back?

6:22  
It goes largely way back in generations. That is because back home, we actually We're farmers, and we own our own land. And being a farmer, it's just another business. And we are employees in the busy times. And we all own our own business. And in fact, out of 24 first cousins, that all came to Canada, not even one of us went to work for somebody else. Sooner or later, we all end up on our business. So I guess you might say it's in the DNA or the jeans are? That's that's the way it is.

7:12  
Yeah, well, that's wonderful. I know, they're all very successful, important businesses to this area. And the one that I do want to ask you about is around this salon. And so I'm curious, you've been open for so long. How have you kept such a loyal customer base for so many years?

7:31  
Well, for one thing, the the population Laurel Park are very loyal people. And one condition that you treat them well. And the human feel good. And dedicate yourself to service them properly. So and that actually applies to any business, any small business that is. So that's that's the secret to keep loyal clients. Yeah. In fact, I've clients from the first day that I came to Mississauga. So

8:14  
that's wonderful. You have had your hand and a couple of other small businesses besides the salon and pizzeria in Lauren Park. What do you want? Tell me a little bit about those.

8:24  
Well, my first encounter with the food business, it was a sweet one. Because I actually opened up a pastry shop was a place they came up for sale, just two doors away from my restaurant and I just wanted to do some Italian nice takeout, you know, some pizza or pasta. But unfortunately, I couldn't do that. It was only allowed to do bakery products or pastries. So I ended up doing pastries again, myself a very young, very capable young man. Beautiful pastry chef, and that was at 1988 which is 43 years ago.

9:24  
Wow. Wow. And what's that pastry shop called? Now sir?

9:28  
ladele is released from day one. legalese. Yes.

9:33  
Well, it's a beautiful there.

9:35  
That's it's it's even got better since so.

9:39  
That's wonderful. I want to talk a little bit about your hairstyling career. Like I said at the beginning, you have trained under some of the country's most renowned and popular hairstylist at the time when you were training, how did that impact your work and your approach to styling?

9:59  
Was certain was quite different from the, the rest of the hairstylist in in Toronto or in Ontario or even in Canada for that matter. I was very fortunate to, to work in a salon downtown called the Kuru souls. That's a place where every young man, they want to really be good at it, that's where they would go. Because of his his famous skills is he his avant garde kind of a styling, in fact, he was like, only few years above, like five or six years ahead of everybody else. Because he was he was in contact with some of his best stylists in the world, like Alexandra from Paris, or Vidal Sassoon from England. Paul Mitchell, these are all very iconic names in the industries. And I was very fortunate to actually spend some time with their that really made me made me enjoy it and can be into it more and more. So.

11:23  
Did you ever have the chance to meet any celebrity clients or work on them?

11:28  
I couldn't work on them because I was still an assistant. But I I watched the Jada Fonda zero a couple of times. She could mean a couple times. And sure share. She could mean a few times. I could never go near her but I saw her come in and go out. And some of the top models in in Toronto. So that was the whole time that I was there. I I couldn't do anybody's here yet. I was still immature for that kind of this this people say?

12:07  
Fair enough. So when you left Toronto, where did you go to start working on your hairstyling career?

12:16  
Well, I went from downtown Toronto to downtown St. Catharines, Ontario I was about 70,000 people in the whole the whole Niagara Peninsula that you know, and they were slightly behind anywhere else in Toronto, a little bit of a culture shock but I managed to to already see like

12:50  
fit and yes

12:52  
sell sell my skills that I acquired from, from a very top stylist to do probably the bottom. And, you know very short time, I could start using the techniques that I learned and the the new styles, you know, and in a very short time I became actually quite popular. And then after a couple years there I got a little bit my had the start swelling a bed, and I decided that I was too good for San gathering. So I came closer to Toronto, that side that billboard Park, which is actually quite different from St. Catharines.

13:40  
Yeah, I bet. You also did a lot of competitions in here shows. Is there one that sticks out in your mind as most memorable?

13:50  
Yeah, there is one. There was the Western Hemisphere competition. And it was held in Detroit. What year was that? Tony? 1984 Oh, wow. Yeah. I had 15 years of experience by that time. And it was a combination of 147 hair cutters. Quite that quite a competition. But so I was chosen by my my captain in my my mentor for competition. We actually had a team like Team Canada and he chose me to go and compete. And I thought that I didn't have a chance but somehow I I figured out a way not to win and then expect to win by release to see and doubt or to get some attention. So I, I kind of a young growth they're very short. And I colored three different crazy colors from Orange, orange, purple, some blonde here and there. And the judges decided that there was an only different one in the in the hall on the floor says they gave me first prize. Oh, wow. And everybody else went crazy on me. All the the Japanese photographers in the newspapers and everybody in the whole 3000 people. Wow, that was totally unexpected. But somehow just I don't know if it was luck of what it was. But it was different.

15:54  
Yeah. Well, you stood out from the crowd. It sounds like

15:57  
I stood out there no choice there was nobody else they looked like me. So yeah, that no choice to pick me.

16:06  
Did you? Did you enjoy competitions and chose? Is that something that you did well in or in general? Or is it mostly? Like something that you're actually I'm gonna start that again? So did you? So let me start. So did you enjoy hair shows was that part of the industry that you enjoyed?

16:27  
Well, air shows, back in those days were actually very educational. So when he went to hair show, he just went to learn more and to meet hairstylist from around the world and draw on this quite well known serious forest fashions and everything. So we we get to see different styles from from Italy, from France from anywhere in the world. So it was enjoyable to inspire you and to make try new things all the time.

17:04  
And what about the competitions, the competitions?

17:07  
It's I'm very competitive by nature. So if there was any competition that I could go in, I will go. So. And I was very comfortable on stage, always. So that's why I did well too. Because usually, if you're not if you're never strong nerves and confidence on stage, you start sweating. And you fall apart and the you don't know what you're doing anymore. I've witnessed a lot of that some, some people that that just cannot handle the, the pressure of the stage. Yeah. And believe me, it's roryd you know, diaries, you know, if, if you're the kind of person that can handle that kind of pressure. You can do well if not, not for you. So fair enough. That's what I enjoyed. I enjoyed that. Be being being on stage?

18:12  
Yeah. Well, you're a performer, I guess.

18:15  
While we, when you work with women, all your life, you have to be an actor, you have to be a psychiatrist, you have to be all these things. So you learn how to actually take all that pressure and, and you become good at it.

18:33  
Yeah. Well, I am thinking that you also are quite good when you have just one person in the chair because I have learned that you met your wife, and she was first a client of yours. Can you tell me about what happened that day?

18:48  
Well, I would call her a client about it was because of her sister the leg her hair, she brought her along. She ended up liking her hair too. And the rest is history. Then she i i made her laugh and she thought that a good sense of humor too. So she liked my chin and my sense of humor. My hairstyling too. Yeah.

19:15  
Did you like your chin? Did you do you like your chin?

19:18  
I don't know why, but that's it.

19:20  
All right, well, so you have your nose and chin and my chin, and a good and a good conversation and a sense of humor.

19:29  
Why she's got frizzy hair. So I stood her out and everything. She says Hi, I'm gonna keep her like this as well. When you go outside in the heat to put a hair condition machine over your head, then you'll be fine.

19:44  
Only or that easy? Yeah, so in all your time here in Lauren Park. Tony, you and some of your family members have been involved in some community fundraising and supporting Some causes what have been those events?

20:05  
Usually golf tournaments or I also done a couple of haircutting charity functions for for the neighborhood the like, whatever the style is there and just career for half of the price and have all the money to donate either to the the women's shelter was the usually the one we did it for. And then there is a hospice Anderson House that we did it for. So we're always we used to do fashion shows, many years ago now these little more fashion shows, but we still do a golf tournament every year for the for the Anderson House. And yet, we've done a lot of those over the years.

21:03  
Yeah. Why do you think that's important?

21:06  
What it's a need, it's very needed specially for the the women's shelter as well. It's much needed money as well for the Hospice of the Anderson House. And it's, I feel good gesture to give some back to the the community wherever you live in since we are being supported constantly, by our neighborhood by our clients. So we must give something back.

21:42  
That's wonderful. I'm wondering, having been here for so long in the Lauren Park and Clarkson communities. What do you think is special about the people here?

21:56  
They're very loyal, very understanding. They're just good, good people. They're all very good people. This one here, they're they're no good, but it's normal. But I would say 99 999 out of 1000 are very good people to work with into service. And to add two things for us is to visit customers. Yes, right.

22:32  
Yeah, that's lovely. I'm wondering, my final question that I always ask if you were building a home and money were no issue. What is one feature that you would include in that home?

22:50  
It would be probably nervous kitchen. We told the gadgets with an indoor wood oven, pizza on an outdoor wood oven pizza as well. Yeah. And all kinds of facilities to make good food. And that would be number one. Choice. And then the fired a lot more money. Probably put in a mini soccer field.

23:29  
Do you still play soccer Tony?

23:32  
Not much. But I did play and coach with my kids for 2530 years. So.

23:39  
Oh, wow. Well, that sounds like a pretty great thing, some soccer and then some great woodfired pizza sounds pretty good to me. living the good life, Tony. Yeah. Well, when when and if you ever retire, that can be your next step.

23:56  
So what will be my next step

24:00  
is to get that soccer field and that and that woodfired pizza for when you retire.

24:06  
For when I retire. I'll be nice. I hope that I can retire soon and reasonably healthy so I can enjoy cooking and kicking few balls around. Yeah. Oh, that

24:19  
sounds good. Well, Tony, I want to thank you so much for being with us today and spending some time here.

24:26  
I enjoy every minute of it.

24:28  
That's wonderful. Well, that's it. Thank you again to Tony Mora for being with us today. That's it for our interview, but stick around for a special shout out to this week's Lauren Park local legends