The Portage College Hairstyling Salon will now be open year round instead of closing for the summer thanks to an agreement with Lac La Biche Journeyman hairstylist, Kendra Desmeules of Studio K. Portage has partnered with Miss Desmeules to mentor apprentices as they transition from students to journeyman hairstylist.

Miss Desmeules has been a part-time instructor at the college for the past 4 months and the college faculty have seen that she has a natural teaching ability.

Miss Desmeules will be operating as an independent contractor and will have three seats in the salon with two of those seats reserved for apprentices.

“The biggest reason we are offering this service is to increase foot traffic in our salon,” said Al Bertschi Associate Dean at Portage College. “Students must work on live models and in the past the salon has not been consistent in the operating hours and has lost models for the students.”

Post-secondary institutions are being asked to get creative on ways to generate money. Portage College sees this partnership between a contract stylist and students as a triple win. Having a stylist operate in the Portage College salon will stabilize the hours we are open, increase opportunity for students to be mentored while incubating their own businesses and Portage will see revenue generation to offset program delivery costs.

Studio K. will be closing its current location. Contact Miss Desmeules by phone for bookings with her at 780-614-7132.

“It’ll be nice to be involved in the program and help it grow,” said Miss Desmeules. “Being located at the campus will also involve the community more and help the students meet their apprenticeship requirements.”

The Portage College Hairstyling Program and Salon welcomes Miss Desmeules to the team. 

Media Inquiries:
Jaime Davies, Corporate Communications Manager 
780-623-5581 or email