Did you ever have a week where everything you did to further your career and abilities as a hairdresser fell flat?

The photo shoot you scheduled was cancelled at the last minute; the new client who got the total transformation (and was thrilled with her new look) called back in tears, your boss tells you that you don't seem to fit into the salon "culture" and you just cut your knuckle?

We have all had such weeks or even months. We think about getting out of the business and going on to peddle hammers at the hardware store, but we don't.

We never give up and we just go forward, even though we sometimes don't know why.

Capelli d'Oro spent Sunday , July 13th with two gentlemen who never quit, never lie down nor give up the fight.

Tony and Riccardo Altieri were in Washington this past week and stormed the state in a compressed schedule of trainings for their successful Advocate and Educator Training.

They should have been exhausted from their recent hair show schedule and Tony had a nasty cut over his left eye that - though stitched up properly - left him in pain.

Riccardo and Tony talked about how to overcome negatives and adversity in such a direct and personal way that we in attendance were inspired to forge on towards our own goals.

Once, the brothers had it all: thousands of shows for Matrix and hundreds of honors. Then a giant soap company bought Matrix and had no further use for education.

What do you think they did? The Altieri Brothers saw this as an opportunity to fulfill a long term dream and started their own product company.

They aligned themselves with the dream chemist, Henri Mastey, and created a salon collection that is so superior to what everyone else offers that success should be automatic.

Well, the second big challenge came right about there. The economy tanked since they created their Power Hair line three years ago.

Big salon product companies were cutting back on everything from office supplies to staff and small companies were disappearing.

What was their response to the economic downturn? Launch a new line: Tuscan Oil Collection. The Tuscan Oil is an immediate success.

The company has grown so large this past year; the brothers are embarking on a whirlwind schedule of Advocate trainings that are somehow squeezed into a full schedule of shows and management duties.

The Advocates are critical: no company that is growing as fast as theirs can sustain this growth without people that manage the growth from the distributor level.

We at Capelli d'Oro attended the training as the consummate professionals: detached and critical. Our purpose was to discern the mechanics of a one-day educator training.

The Altieri Brothers conducted such an intense and inspirational training that we from Capelli - writer I and photographer Daniel Lassman - were swept up in the excitement.

We learned more about our business in this one day than in months of other trainings. We are, proudly, now certified Altieri Brothers Advocates.

Speaking as a journalist, this may be a tiny breach of journalist code, but I can attest this is one of the most important days in my career.

The Altieri Brothers answered every question about the art of education.

The attendees were concerned about their abilities to get in front of an audience, demonstrate effectively cutting styling and deliver product knowledge.

They were concerned that they would not be perceived as authoritative nor be accepted by the larger body of industry trainers.

The Altieri Brothers laid all these concerns to rest. They gave the attendees tools to work comfortably on platform and to demonstrate diamond cut work.

They also answered the most important question of all: did we make the right choice by becoming hairdressers? The answer is a resounding "yes".

We at Capelli d'Oro thank the brothers for inviting us to this event. Now we all hold more power over creeping doubt in a world that sometimes goes sour.

We, like the Altieri Brothers, will never give up.