A small, highly selective group of ambassadors. That’s how many professionals represent BRAÉ across the entire United States. Not per city. Not per region. A tight circle for an entire country.
For a colorist, landing on that list means something specific. A brand known for rigorous selection looked at the American market and decided you belong in a select circle.
Leontii Hrabko found out he made the cut when he saw his photo on BRAÉ’s official American website. “That was the moment,” he says. “When I realized this was real recognition.”
Why BRAÉ Carries Weight
BRAÉ is a Brazilian professional haircare brand operating exclusively in the premium segment. Their products aren’t sold at retail – they’re formulated for salon professionals who prioritize hair health over shortcuts. The brand has built its reputation on a clearly defined philosophy: they focus on quality and lasting results rather than chasing trends or maximizing volume.
The ambassador program mirrors that selectivity. This isn’t an influencer roster or affiliate network. BRAÉ builds a small circle of professionals who fully embody their philosophy. A select group to represent the brand across an entire country. The structure of the program alone signals how seriously they take the selection.
“It’s not a rigid contract,” Hrabko explains. “It’s a partnership built on trust, shared values, and mutual understanding.”
BRAÉ isn’t buying visibility. They’re choosing professionals whose daily work already reflects what the brand stands for.
What BRAÉ Looks For
The selection process is observational. BRAÉ doesn’t run open applications. They watch the market, track professionals over time, assess fit before initiating contact.
In Leontii’s case, the brand monitored his work for months. They studied his content – not follower metrics, but consistency, aesthetic clarity, the visual language of his feed. They observed how he used BRAÉ products in actual client work.
There was a mutual evaluation period. “More like getting to know each other,” Hrabko says, “rather than a formal trial.”
What determines selection? Technical skill is assumed. Every colorist at this level can execute. The real question is alignment: does a colorist’s visual identity match the brand’s aesthetic? Does their content set a tone others want to follow? Can their presence strengthen BRAÉ’s position in a saturated market?
Leontii’s background gave BRAÉ plenty to assess. Thirteen years in the industry. A foundation as Paul Mitchell technologist in Ukraine, requiring deep knowledge of formulation and product chemistry. Experience representing international brands – Urban Tribe and NYCE, where he developed seasonal collections and led professional education programs. In Kyiv, he co-founded Hair Gloss, a salon whose client list included television hosts, musicians, and media personalities – the kind of clients who demand precision because their image is public. Recognition at the IBA Beauty Awards: Top Master and Young Talent of the Year in 2022, Top 10 Hairstylist in 2024. Speaking engagements at Beauty and Wellness Forum in New York. Backstage work at New York Fashion Week. Author of training programs for colorists at various skill levels.
And one detail that can’t be manufactured: he’d been using BRAÉ products for years before anyone offered him a title.
“BRAÉ was my favorite brand back in Ukraine,” he says. “I worked with their products because I genuinely loved them. When the opportunity came, it was a complete match.”
Brands recognize the difference between performed enthusiasm and genuine affinity. BRAÉ saw genuine.
Why America Is Different
Hrabko represented brands before – Urban Tribe and NYCE in Ukraine. The American market, he says, operates on another level.
“The competition here is much higher. The expectations around reputation and consistent results are very strict.”
There’s also the digital dimension. In the U.S., an ambassador’s Instagram presence isn’t supplementary – it’s central. The feed becomes a live extension of the brand’s aesthetic. One inconsistent post creates dissonance.
“There’s a huge emphasis on social media here,” Hrabko notes. “On the brand’s digital presence and the professional’s image online.”
BRAÉ wasn’t just evaluating his coloring. They were assessing his visual output – could it carry their identity in a content-saturated environment where thousands of colorists compete for attention daily?
What the Title Changes
Becoming one of BRAÉ’s highly selective ambassadors in America shifts how the industry sees you.
Clients who learn their colorist holds that position understand they’re in a validated chair. Other professionals register you differently. Opportunities arrive through channels that weren’t open before.
The reach is difficult to measure in numbers alone. It’s a professional audience: colorists studying his techniques, stylists following his content, salon clients seeing real results, an online community watching actual work rather than advertisements.
“I’m not involved in developing formulas,” Leontii clarifies. “My role is working with the products daily and representing them professionally in actual practice.”
Hrabko co-owns Institut de Beauté near Bryant Park in Manhattan – a 2,700-square-foot space focused exclusively on hair. Eight stations, private treatment rooms, and an education hall where professional training programs run regularly. The salon combines European service standards with New York scale. BRAÉ products are part of his daily practice there, visible in the work he does on clients.
That’s what brand ambassadorship looks like when it’s real. The product is in his hands every day. Clients see the results in the mirror. The philosophy transmits through work, not advertising.
The Meaning of Selectivity
There’s clarity in selectivity. A highly selective group of ambassadors for a country of over three hundred million people. A select group deemed worthy of representing a brand that defines itself through selectivity.
For Leontii, confirmation came not through a phone call but through an image – his face on a website, alongside the other ambassadors, on a page most colorists will never reach.
“Professionalism has no nationality,” he says. “The Ukrainian school of color work is one of the strongest in the world right now. International brands are recognizing that.”
BRAÉ recognized it. A small circle, and he’s in it
Leontii Hrabko is a hair colorist, educator, and co-founder of Institut de Beauté in Manhattan. He is a brand ambassador for BRAÉ USA.
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