Corrina and her current and past staff and clients this month celebrated the 50th anniversary of La Petite.

Having started in hairdressing after deciding she no longer wanted to go to school, Corrina has guided La Petite through five decades of successfully serving its clientele and keeping up to date with trends, fashions and techniques.

“I got up one day and decided I didn’t want to go to school any more,” Corrina said. “I had been doing Mum’s hair at home and I said I was going into town to get a job as a hairdresser.

“I went into every single salon and they all said no.”

However, that night she received a phone call telling her to show up for work on Monday morning, when Corrina started at Hollywood Hair Stylists, owned by Marj Condon.

“I started in November and a few months after that, a girl from New Zealand, Heather, started and she was a great hairdresser,” Corrina said.

“She pushed me along. She convinced my parents to send me to the (hairdressing) academy in Melbourne.

Having graduated in 1965, Corrina opened her own salon on February 1, 1966 in Kelly Avenue.

“I had come back and worked for Marj, it was flat out through Christmas, it was so busy,” she said.

“Then it went quiet and she said she would call when she needed me. I had had jobs lined up in Melbourne, but my parents wouldn’t let me go.”

Put on the spot when she had to register the business, Corrina took the name from a salon in Melbourne a friend of hers worked at.

“I didn’t want to call it Corrina’s and I didn’t have time to think,” she said.

La Petite moved to Banna Avenue in 1969, on the second floor of the Lido supermarket and milk bar, before moving to 350 Banna Avenue in 1978.

Given all the changes she has seen over her career, Corrina said she wouldn’t change a thing.

“It has been quite a journey, but I don’t think I’d do anything different; I’ve enjoyed it all,” she said.

“The greatest challenge is employing the right people … your staff can either make or break you.”