The Today Show's "Ambush Makeover" segment is the dream job that I have been working towards my entire career. I am probably hands down the luckiest guy in the business. It is exhilarating to pick people from the crowds at the show and completely transform them within a few hours. I am thrilled this is a weekly segment. It is a total rush. I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my body every Friday morning before my cup of coffee!

I have a couple hours to color, cut, and make two people up, over and happy. This is a beauty race to the finish and the clock never stops ticking. I am totally on the line and I love it! I want to take you behind the scenes of last Friday’s "Ambush Makeover" so you can understand how and what we do to make this happen:

The car picks me up at 6:15 in the morning. I like to be there as the crowds gather to look for potential makeovers. I am on the look out for women who don't take full advantage of their good looks. This is the first rule of any makeover: Emphasize your assets. If you have good hair texture, hair color or face shape, show it off. When things are less then perfect, you camouflage the imperfection. The biggest advantage of having a makeover is that a professional is going to look at you with a fresh eye. The professional will notice any changes that need to be made. The hardest person to see is yourself.

At 6:45 I am out in the plaza doing quick interviews with potential makeovers. I am looking for people who are interested in change. There is nothing more boring than a makeover who is not ready to make a change. The makeover ends up looking basically the same and the audience walks away without seeing or learning any beauty tips. This, in fact, is the second rule of being a makeover. You must be willing and ready to make changes if you want to update your look.

As the segment starts I am literally making my final decision on who would be the best makeovers. Then I ask the big question of the day: "Are you ready to be made over?" When I get the "thumbs up," we run back to the green room that is set up like a makeshift hair salon.

I was lucky to find two great makeover candidates, Patricia from Strawberry Plains, Tennessee and Kathy from Bismarck, North Dakota. Patricia's hair was long and its natural color. She desperately needed a hair cut that would compliment her face shape. Pat had plenty of hair, but it was overwhelming her face. Her brown hair color was good, but I knew that making her lighter would soften her appearance.

Kathy had fine hair that was begging to be colored. Hair color plus a good hair cut would create the illusion of thicker hair. Kathy's hair needed to be darker and shorter.

I am the front man, but many people are involved to achieve extraordinary makeovers in this short of a time period. The group includes the hairdresser, Arsen Gurgov, the make-up artist, Enid O, and several assistants. Arsen starts with a quick chop that he will fine tune after I color the hair. The assistants are mixing the hair color formulas while Arsen is doing his initial cut. The cut and color consultation happens while we are running back to the green room.

Makeover Rule 3: The makeover candidate must always understand and agree to the transformation. You always want a happy ending. A makeover in tears is my worst nightmare! I always pick a color brighter than I want the hair to turn out. This allows me to leave the formula on for a shorter period of time to achieve the desired hair color.

As I am applying the color, Enid O has already started the make-up. Leigh, the woman behind the man (me), is always present, making sure we keep everything moving along. I guess the process is just multi-tasking to the max. I don't think it's much different from doing your hair, applying your make-up, having your morning cup of coffee, and making it to work on time. We just have more help!

As soon as the color is finished, the makeovers are shampooed. Arsen finishes the haircuts that will most flatter their face shapes, Enid does her final touch-ups on the makeup, and I watch the end results to be sure both makeovers look beautiful. The fashion stylist dresses the women in moments and we run back to the plaza.

Makeover Rule 4: If the hair doesn't look good while dressing, running, and blowing in the wind, it's not a practical makeover.

A good makeover should look good and be relatively easy to maintain in real life. Hair and make-up have final touch-ups during the commercial before we are ready to show the reveals. I can't tell you how rewarding it is to see the women beaming with confidence as they see their before and after. I am excited for them and beaming with pride for my team. This is what it's all about.

Showing women that re-evaluating your look and then making changes can make big differences in the way you look and feel about yourself. Watch for "Ambush Makeovers" every Friday, or better yet, come on down to the show. I want YOU to be my next makeover!

• Try on hairstyles by Louis Licari on Makeover-O-Matic!