Some of us had an amazing 2020 and some of us went through the toughest year in business. I fell on the latter side of that. It was a very painful season. I felt like I was putting out fires left and right and reacting to team member exits every few weeks. My adrenals were fatigued, I was emotionally depleted, lost, fearful, and living in fight or flight mode. Could anyone relate?

Hello, my name is Kati Whitledge, and I survived the crisis covid brought on my salon business. The real question is, were we a ticking time bomb to begin with? Were we bound to go through this upheaval regardless of a covid-crisis? I believe we were, and we would have.  

Take Time & Think

In the midst of losing team members, losing faith, and losing courage, I realized I needed time to step away from everything and just think. Do we ever just take time to think? I needed to think about who I am, who I wanted to be, what do I believe in, and what will be the new vision for my company when all of this subsides.

I had to take a hard look at myself and ask the tough questions. Am I failing as a leader? Have I done anything dishonorable in my words or action that justify the choices many of my former team members were making? Why are people leaving me? What have I done wrong? Am I a bad person? Am I a bad leader? Am I really cut out for this?

If you’ve felt like this at any time, it’s an emotional cluster. But you’re not alone. You’re not a terrible person. In fact, if you’re reading this article, I assume you care deeply about your call to this industry, your team, and your business. Yet, we’re so often told that people quit leaders, not jobs. So, what do we take accountability for and what do we chalk up to it being the covid crisis?

Take Ownership

To answer my own question—what do we need to take accountability for—the answer is, all of it. As leaders and owners, we have to take full responsibility for all outcomes of our company success or lack thereof. When I sat back to think about things, I realized some tough but honest things that I wasn’t doing well.

I wasn’t showing up for my team the way they really needed a leader to. Though I was very responsible in doing all the things we were supposed to do in the new normal of a safe salon environment, I wasn’t emotionally available for my team. I wasn’t physically present for them. I was relying on my managers to be the sole culture keepers of my salon—I had no idea how the culture was evolving. Serious no-no for CEOs! It pains me to share this but only when we’re open, honest, and aware—will things change. And absolutely things had to change!

Take Heart

It wasn’t until I chose to take my first social media sabbatical ever, whereby removing many distractions, was I able to sit back and make decisions. What will we do now? What will we do next?

Having more time and less distractions, I realized that I had overcome hard things before, and I could do it again. I also went back to the basic things I used to do when I was in growth mode—I started reading. I was and am reading a lot! I came across a book, Leadership Pain, by Samuel L. Chand. He educates us that growth equals change, change equals loss, and thus, growth equals pain. He takes us through a leaders’ journey sharing,

              It’s inevitable, inescapable. By it’s very nature, leadership produces change, and change—even wonderful growth and progress—always involves at least a measure of confusion, loss, and resistance. To put it another way, leadership that doesn’t product pain is either in a short season of unusual blessing or isn’t really making a difference.

              When leaders in any field take the risk of moving from one stage to another—from stagnation to effectiveness or from success to significance—they inevitably encounter confusion, passivity, and outright resistance from those they’re trying to lead. It’s entirely predictable.

              In fact, leadership—all leadership—is a magnet for pain, which comes in many forms. We catch flack for bad decisions because people blame us, and we get criticism even for good decisions because we’ve changed the beloved status quo. But pain isn’t the enemy. The inability or unwillingness to face pain is a far greater danger.

              We need a fresh perspective. We need to make friends with our pain. Making friends with our pain is part of leadership. Our pain tells us when we’re moving in the right direction. New pains will always be a part of your life as you continue climbing the ladder of your destiny. Do you want to be a better leader? Raise the threshold of your pain.

Take Hold

I certainly didn’t intend for this article to seem like a journal entry, but it’s hard not to face the topic of leadership without sharing my own experiences—especially the experiences and lessons of leadership we will never forget!

I believe this crisis has created an opportunity for us to reimagine our lives personally and professionally. Let us go forward in doing the scary things we’ve being dreaming about. And become the human we know deep down we were created to be. I hope we all embrace the painful periods of our lives and see the silver lining that lies within.

May you have a blessed year filled with great health, great joy, and great peace.

Until next time,

Stay Strong!

Kati

Do you ever feel ashamed or embarrassed to talk about your profession? I’m sure I’m not the first to tell you that you shouldn’t be, but unfortunately, the reality is that many of us are. Especially when conversing with someone from outside of the beauty industry.

This is exactly why we’re sharing Karen Cunningham’s mission with you all today. Karen’s goal is to reverse the negativity associated with our industry so that every stylist, barber, makeup artist and nail technician can have the courage to feel overwhelmingly proud of what they do.

Karen Cunningham is the co-owner of Hair Junkie Salon in Williston Park, NY. Karen is also an educator for KMS. Her mantra is “education is the key to artistic freedom”, and she travels the world with their national artistic team teaching live from the stage. She has been in the beauty industry for over 30 years and her work has been published in Modern Salon, Beauty Launchpad, Hairbrained and Estetica Magazine. 

She has won a number of accolades and has been the lead stylist on some incredible projects, from productions and photo shoots to New York Fashion Week runway looks along with the incredible journey of working behind the chair while running her own successful salon. Karen is always working to perfect her craft. She’s always on the hunt for new and diverse experiences to add to her repertoire from within and outside of our incredible industry.

Karen’s Beginnings in Beauty

Like many of us, Karen didn’t always know that she would end up in beauty, but after being introduced to the industry by a friend who was attending cosmetology school she decided to look into it herself and quickly fell in love. 

While Karen’s family and friends were, for the most part, approving of her decision to follow her dreams, Karen knows that for many, that isn’t the case.

Karen got her first taste of the general disapproval and disdain aspiring beauty industry professionals are met with when her partner’s niece expressed interest in cosmetology back in high school. She wanted to become a hairstylist and she was incredibly passionate about joining the industry but her parents weren’t for it.

They expressed concerns over income, job stability and even told her outright that she would never be happy working in such a field. Karen was beside herself. She couldn’t understand why there was such a negative energy associated with her beloved industry.

The Weight of This Negative Energy is Real

While Karen admits that she had it pretty easy in comparison, she too can reflect on times when her own career choices were put into question. She can recall the “bad vibe” associated with becoming a hairdresser and the shame she felt when everyone else began going off to college and she was just starting her career in the salon. Even though she was technically getting a head start and earning a living doing something she loved, Karen remembers feeling like her decisions were generally frowned upon.

Karen’s passion for this topic continues to grow tremendously as she bares witness to the weight this negativity has had on the industry as a whole. From her own visits to various cosmetology schools, Karen has noticed that the attendance is very, very low compared to what it used to be.

Not only that, but the young people that are joining the industry aren’t necessarily fueled by the passion to produce results. Instead, they’re settling for this career path because they think it’s the easy way out. They’re not educated and they don’t take their jobs very seriously--why should they? Nobody else does.

What It Really Means to Be in Beauty

Karen has made it her goal to breathe new meaning and life into joining the beauty industry for all of the young creatives out there considering cosmetology. She says that as hair professionals, it starts with us. 

It’s up to us to be the role models and spread forth our passion, creativity and artistry. Karen says we should be claiming our profession and proudly sharing it with the world. We should be educating people, especially young people, on the power of perfecting a craft and working in trade so that they feel compelled to join us, and so that those who don’t still respect us.

How Salon Owners Can Help

Then, there’s the other side of this issue. Ask any salon owner--one of the biggest struggles we’re facing in our industry right now is recruiting. One of the major reasons being that there’s such a small pool of qualified candidates to choose from, and the promising candidates are mostly millennials, a term that comes with its own set of negative connotations.

So, Karen believes this begs the question: What do we need to do to get in front of people? Where do we need to go? What needs to change?

For Karen, first thing’s first. She says we need to get rid of the mindset that hiring millennials is bad for business. Karen knows many salon owners who are so set in their ways, and remarks that the real issue starts there.

Sure, the younger generations might have a completely different mindset than many of today’s salon owners, but they’re the future of our industry so if we don’t shift our thinking, the business of beauty will move on without us.

The future of the salon business is all in the culture. The next generation of beauty professionals aren’t out looking for a chair of their own, they’re looking to change the world one client at a time. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, something that matters, and they want to work in a salon that lives up to their values. So, it’s up to us to create that environment for them.

And honestly, we could all benefit from getting into a millennial mindset. We are changing the world, and many of us are even earning six figures and having quite a bit of fun doing it. The beauty industry is the place to be, let’s not forget it.

Want to learn more about Karen and her passion for the future of our industry? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 198. And if you want more insight on recruiting, I also encourage you to check out our mini-series, “Build Your Best Team This Year!” Episodes 220, 221 and 222 -- we just know that you’re going to love it!

If anybody knows a thing or two about winning hair competitions, it’s Maggie Mulhern. 

You probably know Maggie as Modern Media’s beauty and fashion director. Maggie joined the Modern team in the 1980s and has spent more than three decades covering the professional beauty industry internationally. 

In addition to writing for both print and the Modern Salon website, Maggie travels globally as a journalist to report on the latest trends, products and techniques in the professional beauty world. She's known for her keen eye and has judged hundreds of national competitions such as NAHA, and international competitions such as Wella International Trend Vision and of course, Goldwell Color Zoom among others.

Maggie is an amazing advocate for hair professionals. She even put together her own two-day workshop called Artist Session, focused around helping others learn how to shoot hair, and today she’s going to speak into exactly what it takes to snap that perfect photo and win a hair competition.

Why Enter a Hair Competition, You Ask?

Hair competitions are nothing new. If you think back to early hair shows there was always a competitive element, whether they were measuring barbering skills, cutting techniques or the size and volume of the perm, hairdressers have always been competing.

Of course, now there are so many different kinds of hair competitions that it can be hard to keep count. There are live competitions like NAHA, print and photo competitions like the #Oneshot Hair Awards, and so much more. 

So, why enter into a hair competition? Maggie says not only does it help you work better as an artist, but it also helps you define your skills and make a name for yourself in this industry.

Not to mention, the level of exposure you’ll receive if you win is unmatched, and honestly, the odds are in your favor. Maggie has judged so many of these competitions and the truth is, the percentage of people who actually enter is really quite small. 

So, you just might take home the gold, and these steps will help you get there.

STEP 1: Come Up With a Concept for Your Contest Submission

Hair competitions usually have themes and sometimes there are even multiple categories that you can choose to enter into. So, it’s important to hone in on exactly the kind of look you want to create and come up with a well-rounded concept that is unique to your category but still within the parameters of the theme.

Maggie emphasizes the importance of thinking head to toe. Although the hair is the focal point, the judges will take everything into account when picking a winner. If the hair is big and the accessories scream 80s, the outfit should match. If the hair is avant-garde but the makeup is bland or boring, you might be siphoned out. If the look is super put together but the model’s nails are chipped, they’re knocking points off for sure.

So, when coming up with a concept for your photo or for your session on stage, remember to look at the whole picture in order to really elevate your look.

STEP 2: Assemble Your Team and Find a Model

First thing’s first, you need a model.

Regardless of whether you’re participating in a live competition or something more editorial, you’re going to need someone who’s willing to be your head of hair. Maggie says that no matter what, it’s best to find a model with a long neck to really show off your work.

Of course, if you’re doing an editorial shoot, you’ll need a few more helping hands. If you’re the stylist, you’re in charge of the hair and that’s about it, but there are so many other components to creating the perfect shot, so the next step is assembling a kick-ass team.

Like we mentioned earlier, no details should be spared. At the bare minimum, you’re likely going to need a makeup artist, wardrobe stylist and a photographer. Maggie says that it’s super important to bring in a photographer who knows how to highlight hair. In her experience, fashion photographers will take photos that tend to put the focus on the clothes because that’s what they’re used to, but you want to make sure that the hair remains the focal point of your shot.

Quick Tip: Maggie says it’s all in the lighting. She recommends against any shadows, because as a judge, she would assume that the photographer is trying to hide something. If you want to draw the viewer’s eye to the hair, it needs to be well-lit.

Maggie emphasizes the importance of putting together a solid team of people that you trust and know how to have fun with. Afterall, you’re the one driving this vision, so you get to choose who you want along for the ride.

STEP 3: Bring Your Look to Life

Once you’ve gotten your A-players to agree to the job, it’s time to get to work.

Maggie suggests creating a mood board with ideas and iterations of every aspect of the look that you’d like to recreate so that everyone has something to refer to. From the particular lip color to the model’s pose, it’s important to have a plan.

Then, you need to schedule a time and place for everyone to come together and bring this look to life. It’s important to map out the timing accordingly, so that everybody has ample time to complete their portion of the look. 

That being said, Maggie says you absolutely must be honest and upfront with your team about how long it’s going to take to do the hair. You don’t want the makeup to wear while you’re still styling. You also don’t want the hair to fall while you’re putting on the finishing touches. And of course, you need plenty of time to get the perfect shot. Timing is everything!

A Few Extra Tips and Tricks That Will Help You Bring Home the Gold

It really is as easy as one, two, three! 

There are no barriers to entry, so never let yourself believe that you’re not good enough to participate in a hair competition. Some stylists spend tons of time and money assembling a well-known team and curating an expensive, high-end look, and others won’t spend a dime and they’ll wrap the whole thing up in a matter of hours.

There’s no right way to go about entering a competition like this. But Maggie leaves us with a few extra tips and tricks that will help you no matter your budget or time constraints. 

Always enter the right category and plan accordingly. If there are multiple categories to choose from, figure out which one lights your fire and get to work.

Follow the rules. It might sound obvious, but sometimes participants get so wrapped up in their own concepts that they forget all about the theme. If there needs to be glitter in the shot, add some freaking glitter.

Know the judges. Of course, this information isn’t always disclosed to the participants, but if you are privy to who’s going to be judging the competition or your particular category, take it and run with it. Do your research and play to the judges favor, it absolutely never hurts.

Want to learn more about Maggie, Modern Media, and what it takes to win a hair competition? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 197. And if you want more insight on industry trends and forecasting, we think you’ll love episode 243, “Creating Trends with Charles Ifergan!”

It’s time to talk about firing a stylist.

When a guest calls back for a correction service, we typically find that the fail in the service can be traced all the way back to the consultation. In some way, we were misaligned in our communications and expectations.

Similarly, when we find that a team member is no longer working out, we can almost always trace it back to when we hired them and see that there was a misalignment between who they are, and who we hoped they would be.

And honestly, this goes two ways, right? That stylist likely also feels that we aren’t meeting their expectations for who they thought we would be as a salon.

Well today, Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kati Whitledge, is here to walk you through exactly how to know when it’s time to fire a stylist on your salon team.

In addition to hosting the beloved Beyond The Technique podcast, Kati is the owner of the award-winning Be Inspired Salon located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the creative brain behind Meet Your Stylist, an innovative salon software system that matches potential clients with salon professionals based on services, lifestyle preferences, and personality metrics.

Firing a stylist is never easy, but Kati knows first-hand that it’s better to cut ties sooner rather than later and set both parties free.

Clients choose to do business with your salon because, as Simon Sinek would say, “They believe you value what they value”.  It’s no different with building your salon team! You have to recruit and hire people that value what you value. If you are hiring people based on their technical capabilities or client following, versus hiring based on who they are and how they’ll fit into your salon—you’re going to have a problem. You can help build a stylist’s clientele and work with them on their craft, but you cannot change their mentality or beliefs.

Is Your Stylist Living Up to Your Salon’s Values?

The first and most important sign that an employee should be terminated is when they display behavior that is not in line with your salon values. It is imperative to have company values established that everyone is aware of and knows are the standards for the salon. Examples of salon values are education, guest experience, integrity, loyalty, mentoring and a great attitude. 

The next step is defining what each value means to your salon. Take integrity for example. For Kati’s salon, integrity means you do what you say you are going to do and you make honest and ethical decisions when no one is watching. If someone is behaving in a way that goes against your salon values, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are a bad person, nor does it mean they should not behave that way—it just means they don’t belong in your salon. Do you see that distinction?

How to Know It’s Time to Let a Stylist Go

When a stylist or team member behaves in a way that goes against your salon values, you are faced with two questions. Can you coach them to change and guide them to fit your salon standards? Or, has this crossed the boundaries and become cause for immediate termination?

Kati takes us through an example. Let’s say a stylist is very rude to a client and the client calls to talk to the manager about it. You find out the details of the event and realize that the stylist was out of line. They didn’t live up to your salon value of “guest experience”. You talk with your stylist right away and make sure they acknowledge that they were in the wrong. You document the talk and create an agreement that if, and when, the stylist is in a similar situation with a client in the future, they will choose to behave in a new way. Ultimately, this is a win because it was a one-time offense and your stylist took ownership in their behavior. 

If the stylist had argued about the occurrence, or shifted blame onto someone else, or it just so happened to be the third complaint with this stylist—this might be cause for termination.

Another scenario could be that one of your stylists builds great relationships with their clients. They have massive growth because their soft skills are amazing and as a result, they end up producing the most revenue for your salon. Most salon owners would consider them a star stylist or an “A” player. 

As time passes the stylist becomes proud and at times arrogant. The salon chalks it up as confidence that is admittedly borderline cockiness, but they let it go because the stylist is a total rock star behind the chair. The stylist is given massive perks such as weekends off and they’ve been given the right to no longer provide certain services that they don’t want to do. 

All of a sudden the owner catches wind that the stylist has made a deal with their client to provide services for them outside of the salon at a lesser price point. What do you do? Is this coachable or has this crossed a boundary and become immediate cause for termination? The answer is, they have to go.

Kati says you can’t keep your rock star stylist if they don’t live up to the values of your salon because it sends the wrong message to those who do. You let them go because they are compromising the overall well-being of every single team member.

Sometimes It’s Best to Simply Move On

In Dr. Henry Cloud’s book, Necessary Endings, he shares two profound thoughts, “Without the ability to end things, people stay stuck, never becoming who they are meant to be, never accomplishing all that their talents and abilities should afford them.”

And the second thought that we cannot afford to ignore is, “Your business and your life will change when you really, really get it that some people are not going to change, no matter what you do, and that still others have a vested interest in being destructive.” 

Firing a stylist, manager, assistant or guest service representative is never easy. But the truth of the matter is, even though there are legitimate fears attached to someone leaving, we have to recognize there are greater risks in keeping someone who is not meant to be on the team.

To listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, check out episode 196, and if you’d like to learn a little bit more about our host, Kati, check out her website and don’t forget to subscribe to the Beyond The Technique podcast for more incredible industry insight.

As the world continues to speed up and we grow more disconnected from one another--there’s one thing that will always slow us down--kindness. 

David Wagner, the king of kindness, lives to slow things down. In fact, David wouldn’t be the salon industry success that he is today if it weren’t for his mission to care for and connect with each and every one of his clients.

David, the owner of Juut Salon Spas, coined the term “daymaker” and it has been both his passion and his profession ever since. He even wrote a book on how you change the world by simply making someone’s day. Today, David shares his secret to a successful career behind the chair, and it all starts with intentional acts of kindness.

How “Daymaker” Was Born

David was participating in a hair show in Dallas, Texas, watching the hairdresser before him when the crowd went wild. The artist had begun a drastic transformation, cutting off most of his model’s hair, the audience was loving it until the model started to cry right there on stage.

It was clear that this haircut wasn’t something that she had agreed to and the crowd was left stunned. As David and his model took the stage bearing the weight of the last performance, he said, 

“What if it was more about her than it was about me? I'm here to make her day, not mine.”

David got a standing ovation for a mediocre haircut because the audience saw the beauty in that small act of kindness.

After the show, David took his seat on his first class flight back to Minneapolis. With his rock’n’roll hair and leather pants, he stood out from the other businessmen around him, and one man leaned over and asked what he did for a living. 

“I’m a daymaker.” David said. The man, confused, asked him, “Well, what in the world is a daymaker?” And David responded, “I make people’s day.” 

And the businessman sat back and said, “Well, you must do it really well, you’re sitting in first class.” 

Why It Matters

David returned home, switched all of his business cards from “stylist” to “daymaker” set out on a mission to center every appointment around the client.

Flashing his business card, he would always get a chuckle out of his clients, a smile from friends, family or colleagues when attending parties or networking events, but it wasn’t until one of David’s usual clients came in unexpectedly that he really understood his own impact.

One of David’s regulars dropped by the salon in between her usual cut and color for a last minute blow out. He asked if she had anything special going on and she said no, that she just really wanted to look and feel good.

David knew something was up, but he didn’t know what, so he gave her a nice stress-relieving treatment, scalp massage and took his time with the shampoo. They had a blast for that brief half hour and on her way out she gave him a big hug and he knew something had changed.

A few days later, David received a note from the same client thanking him for being there. She admitted that she had plans to commit suicide later that night and wanted to look good for her funeral, but over the course of their short shampoo, his kindness touched her in a way neither of them were expecting.

You Have the Power to Change Lives

What if David hadn’t been there? Not just physically, but what if he hadn’t been present for that guest mentally or emotionally? He would never have had such an impact on her life.

So, David decided to start treating every single one of his guests as if they were the one. And he found that by connecting with each client on that level, he was able to keep his own energy up without feeling depleted as the day went on. 

His team started to see the difference he was making and it wasn’t long before everyone had their business cards changed to “daymaker”.

You Have to Make Your Own Day First

Now, as the owner of Juut Salon Spas, David centers his salon culture around day-making. His staff know that it’s not just about being a great hairdresser, it’s about being that kind, caring and compassionate person for each client when behind the chair.

David’s one rule of thumb? You have to make your own day first. You can’t give away what you don’t have. Eat well, sleep well, and take care of yourself first so that each morning you wake up excited about the opportunity to take care of others, even if it’s just for thirty minutes.

Want to learn more about David and how he made a career out of kindness?Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 195. And don’t forget to check out his book, “Life as a Daymaker”.

We all know the saying, “It’s the little things.”--right? But how many of us actually live in that mindset?

Salon owner and industry expert Laura Boton certainly does. For Laura, it was absolutely the little things that got her to where she is today and she hasn’t taken a single one for granted. 

Laura was on track to become a classical vocalist before she became fed up with waiting tables in order to pay for her schooling. She quit cold turkey, enrolled in beauty school and now owns one of the most successful multi-location salons in the city of Chicago, Sine Qua Non.  

That one little decision lead to a monumental change of course. Since then, Laura’s been stacking one small win on top of another in order to climb her way to the top and she’s never looking back.

Little Moments Can Have Monumental Impact

Laura’s initial experiences in the industry weren’t exactly glamourous. She had her own #metoo moment early on in her career and really struggled to find a salon that felt like home. 

Fresh out of beauty school with a new career on her horizon, Laura accepted an assistant position at a local salon. She was assisting the salon’s art director and after a year and a half, she was even taking her own clients two days a week in the midst of attempting to finish music school and performing with her rock band on her occasional night off.

Unfortunately, Laura’s leaders at this first salon truly let her down. The owner of the salon criticized Laura for pursuing anything other than hair after finding her working on homework for school in the break room in between clients.

Later, the art director Laura had been assisting also put her in an incredibly awkward position after showing up at local club where she and her band were performing one night. He had obviously been partying and insisted that she go home with him post performance. Laura refused his inappropriate advance--and the next day at work she was completely shunned by everyone on the salon team--including him.

After a few days of nothing but side eyes at the shampoo bowls, Laura recognized that she was being squeezed out and she decided to quit. She worked her way through a few other salons before growing tired of the lack of solid leadership throughout the industry.

Laura’s battles with bosses and her frustration with the lack of flexibility she was finding at these salons made her question her decision to join the industry at all, but they also pushed her. 

Her frustrations and limitations pushed her to overcome these adversities, to open her own salon where she could offer that level of flexibility and support, and to become the kind of leader she is today.

And thus, Sine Qua Non Salon was born.

Small Spaces With the Most Memorable Feel

Laura’s path to salon ownership wasn’t exactly an easy one, but she made sure to enjoy the ride. Her first Sine Qua Non was a super small, six chair, boutique salon. Laura and her small team of stylists all worked in a row, laughed with each other’s clients, it was such a communal space.

Laura reflects on those first five years and credits that initial experience in creating the foundation for her salons going forward. For Laura, her salon team is family. Even though they might not always get along, they always support and respect one another.

It was that strong, supportive salon culture that Laura worked hard to recreate in each new space, even in her larger locations. She is now the proud owner of three Sine Qua Non salon locations and they’re doing better than ever. 

Laura’s team continues to grow, the level of flexibility she gives her stylists is paramount but never taken for granted, and the entire Sine Qua Non family has made some incredible memories along the way.

Want to learn more about Laura’s leadership style or her renown Sine Qua Non salons? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 194. Want more on becoming a solid leader for your salon team? Check out our blog featuring leadership expert, Jay Williams, Becoming a Strong Leader: It’s Not What You Say, It’s What You Ask.

You’ve heard the name, and today we want you to get to know the man behind the impressive legacy.

Frank Gambuzza is the owner of The Visage Group in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Visage Group encompasses Salon Visage, Studio Visage, Frank’s Barbershop, and Paul Mitchell The School Knoxville, which Frank and his wife Belinda recently took ownership of. Frank is the president of Intercoiffure, a group comprised of the most successful salon owners and industry professionals in North america. He employs well over 170 beauty industry professionals and serves upwards of 700 clients per day in the Knoxville area.

No wonder he’s made such a name for himself--right?! Today, we’re tearing down the curtain to reveal the man behind this incredible legacy and get the inside scoop on what’s next for one of the industry’s best, Frank Gambuzza.

How One Shoe-Shiner Turned Hairstylist by the Age of 13

To say Frank started his beauty industry career early is to say the least. Frank was doing hair by the age of 13 and actually started working in a barbershop shining shoes when he was just 10 years old. 

Frank didn’t work at just any barbershop, he was shining shoes at Joe Vito Lupo’s upscale, old school shop in New Jersey where all of the cool cats came to get their razor cuts. Frank loved the barbershop atmosphere, and the tips weren’t bad either.

Of course, Frank wound up paying more attention to the hairdressers than he did the shoes he was shining, and eventually Lupo caught on, took him under his wing, and taught him how to cut hair.

The Unisex Boom and Vidal Sassoon

As Frank grew into the industry barbershops were on their way out and unisex salons were becoming the new big thing. There was one name that everyone in the industry was uttering, and that was Vidal Sassoon.

Frank was absolutely smitten with the work coming out of the Sassoon salons and decided to pool his money together and fly out to the Vidal Sasson Academy in London where he took a two week course at the new Davies Mews School, their academy for advanced work.

With the combination of training in men’s haircutting and the English hairdressing techniques Frank learned at Vidal Sassoon, Frank had every tool he needed in his toolbox to take on the “unisex boom”.

In fact, a few years later Frank marched right into Vidal Sassoon for an interview. He brought a model in with him with hair down to her waist and was instructed to give her a box bob. Frank produced an amazing cut but without a New York State cosmetology license Vidal Sassoon couldn’t take him. Frank left with an offer on the table, if he were able to acquire New York licensure, he’d have a job waiting for him at the salon.

From New Jersey to Knoxville, Tennessee

Where one door closes, another one opens, and instead of heading back to school for his New York State cosmetology license, Frank decided to head home and figure out a plan B.

There was a fellow in New Jersey doing the Vidal Sassoon thing on a much smaller scale. Vinnie Romano, the owner of The Grasshopper salon, had an unthinkable 35 hairdressers working for him. The Grasshopper was the joint in Jersey and Frank wanted in. 

He applied, got the job, and slowly started working his way up to become their educational director before he decided to leave it all behind to follow a girl to Knoxville, Tennessee. 

The demand for the “New York Guy” in Knoxville was actually quite asstounding, and Frank was excited about the opportunity to become a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Celebrity Stylist Turned Salon Owner

Of course, it didn’t take long for Frank to miss that salon atmosphere, and with such a high demand he decided to open his first salon, and thus Salon Visage was born. 

Frank opened his first location on a shoe-string budget with furniture and equipment that he acquired from friends and fellow salon owners who were re-doing their space down in Memphis.

With education as the backbone of his career, Frank wasn’t particularly worried about recruiting or training new talent. He hired and trained incredibly talented staff, quickly filled his books and eventually they outgrew their space and their overall vibe. 

In fact, it was Frank’s wife, Belinda, one of his stylists, that suggested the change of scenery. She knew that if Salon Visage was going to take over the town, they needed to be in a space that emulated the level of work their stylists were producing and well--the rest is history. 

What’s Next For Frank?

While Frank is incredibly grateful for all of the opportunities he’s been given throughout his career thus far, he doesn’t think of himself as somebody in “success mode” because he’d rather be in “sustainability mode.” The industry is changing, and Frank refuses to be reactive to all of the twists and turns heading our way.

Instead, Frank and The Visage Group strive to be proactive, and for Frank that means getting back to the basics. With the major shift in the beauty industry being that the Amazon’s of the world have taken over salon retail and big business is booming, Frank believes it’s time to think small again.

Frank is committed to keeping it simple by becoming more loving, more accepting, less judgemental and incredibly grateful for all of his employees, partners, friends and family, because a happy staff leads to happy clients. It’s all about surviving within, and shining throughout.

Want to learn more about the ever-so-inspirational Frank Gambuzza? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 193. And speaking of Intercoiffure, will we be seeing you there? Shoot us an email at info@beyondthetechnique.com to let us know that you’ll be there!

Have you heard of digital sales funnels? For many of us, this is new terminology, and for those of us that have heard of digital sales funnels, it’s likely been outside of the context of the beauty industry.

Well today, Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kati Whitledge, is here to share with you exactly what a digital sales funnel is and why they should become a regular part of our salon marketing strategy.

In addition to hosting the beloved Beyond The Technique podcast, Kati is the owner of the award-winning Be Inspired Salon located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the creative brain behind Meet Your Stylist, an innovative salon software system that matches potential clients with salon professionals based on services, lifestyle preferences, and personality metrics.

Kati is incredibly passionate about helping others in the industry develop their own success stories, and today she’s sharing how she incorporates digital sales funnels in her own salon marketing and giving you some examples of how to implement these techniques in your beauty business in order to help you capture those leads.

So, What Exactly Is a Digital Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is basically how a business or brand generates and captures leads. A digital sales funnel is how businesses generate and capture leads online, most often on social media.

Imagine an actual funnel, and at the top of that funnel, the rim if you will, is “awareness”. This is the first step in even creating a lead because people have to know that your brand exists, they have to be aware of your beauty business before anything else.

Once you’ve established some awareness, you’re able to direct your leads through the actual funnel and this is when it becomes kind of a slippery slope (in a good way!). It’s the progression from knowing about your business or your brand, to becoming a client of your business, to becoming a repeat client with established loyalty to your brand.

So, the precursor is getting your brand out there, then you have to create interest. You need to generate some hype around your brand and get people interested in the products and services you offer. If you’re successful, your leads will slide right down said slippery slope without even realizing it.

First they’ll measure whether or not your brand aligns with their values. If the answer is yes, they’ll make the decision to do business with you. Afterwards, they’ll weigh their experience and decide how likely they are to come back. A digital sales funnel basically goes from that initial awareness to ultimately becoming a long-term client. 

Where Do You Start?

First thing’s first, you need to measure your level of awareness. This is especially important for new salons, because if your target market doesn’t even know you exist, they’re not going to fall into your funnel. 

If you’re looking to build awareness online quickly, Kati suggests putting a few dollars behind a paid ad. More established salon businesses can even have massive success with organic sales funnels because they already have a strong presence in the marketplace, but new salons can seriously benefit from putting out these kinds of social promotions. She promises that the return on your investment will be huge as long as you know your demographics.

If you’re already pretty established within your community, you might be able to skip the “awareness” step. Of course, a little refresher never hurts, but if you’re satisfied with your level of brand awareness, you can jump right in to the “generating interest” phase.

Find Your Niche and Market the Crap Out of It

The best way to create some hype around your brand is to figure out what makes you unique. Kati encourages all salon owners to ask themselves, “What sets my beauty business apart from the rest?”

For example, Be Inspired Salon is known for being one of the only curly concept salons in the greater Madison area. If any of you have naturally textured hair, you know that when you find that one stylist that can manage your curls, you stick with them! So, Kati and her salon team use this to their advantage with posts that include verbiage like: 

“Hey gorgeous, have you struggled to find a stylist who understands your curls? We totally understand, and we’re here to help…” 

So, you’re creating this interest around the fact that you have something special, and this could be the determining factor for somebody coming in. 

Next, You’ve Got to Get People to Engage

Now, the whole point of a sales funnel is to engage, attract and convert people into first-time buyers who become lifelong clients. So, how can you get them to engage with your brand?

Sales funnels play perfectly in the sandbox with value ladders, which is it’s own topic that we’ll have to dive into another day, but basically, a great way to get your potential clients to engage with your brand for the first time is to offer them something totally complementary. 

This is why social posts that promote contests and giveaways are so successful, because you’ve generated enough interest to be able to capture a client’s information but at little to no cost to them. Even if they don’t win the giveaway, they’re now following your brand on social and maybe they even had to enter their email address so you’re able to continue to market to them across platforms and increase their level of brand awareness. 

Now, the Decision is In Their Hands 

Once you’ve taken your leads through that portion of the funnel, the rest is riding on their shoulders. But as previously mentioned, it’s a slippery slope. If you were able to snag their attention once, they just might decide to do business with you anyway, even though they didn’t win the complimentary service.

Pretty cool--right?!

To listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, check out Phorest Salon Software’s interview with our very own Host and CEO Kati Whitledge. 

P.S. If you’re hungry for more information on digital sales funnels, boy do we have a treat for you! You can go back and watch our webinar, “Mastering Sales Through Human Instinct” on Youtube for free! Kati gives real life examples of how you can implement digital sales funnels directly into the marketing you’re already doing--you can’t miss it!

Well, are you? 

Bangstyle is your ultimate destination for hair inspiration. This digital platform brings the “art” back into our industry. Bangstyle provides professional stylists and the beauty obsessed with a place to feel at home. Follow trends, techniques and tutorials while sharing your passions and connecting with fellow artists--all in one place. 

Want to learn how? Whether you’re a professional beauty brand looking to get in front of industry professionals, or a stylist looking to showcase your work and grow your network, Bangstyle’s President, Ashlee Levitch, is here to give you the lowdown on how you can get involved.

Ashlee began her career in marketing and fashion only to make the switch into the beauty industry in 2008 when she first accepted the position as the President of Bangstyle’s House of Hair Inspiration. Since then, Ashlee has developed a space where beauty truly meets technology. She has developed this online platform to promote hair artist’s hard work, innovation and compassion and now she’s giving you the opportunity to get involved. 

What Is Bangstyle, You Ask?

Bangstyle was initially created so that stylists could share pictures of their work and basically build these amazing lookbooks where they could have all of their hair photos in one beautifully curated place.

Bangstyle was started just a few years before Instagram blew up--and it’s still the only photo-sharing platform dedicated to hairstylists--but boy has it blossomed into so much more.

Today, Bangstyle is a resource for hairstylists and beauty industry brands everywhere. In fact, it even has a large consumer base, who use it to sift through photos for their own hair-inspo before heading to the salon. 

Bangstyle produces all kinds of content, from blogs and articles, to specific brand features, to curated collections and beyond. It’s a one-stop-shop for all beauty industry professionals--so, what are you waiting for?

Want to Show Off Your Work? Stylists Welcome!

Are you a stylist or beauty guru? Do you want to show off your work and spread the love? You’ve come to the right place. 

Bangstyle was brought to life by a few incredible individuals who wanted to bring “art” back into this amazing industry. Ashlee reflects on their original mission centered around showcasing a stylists passion for their craft, which for many goes beyond the tradition cuts and colors being done in the salon. 

While babylights and balayages are artful in their own way, stylists and hair show artists are always creating these amazing avant-garde looks behind the scenes. While these might not be your run-of-the-mill salon styles, these artistic updos often grace runways and editorial shoots and absolutely deserve to have their praises sung--and thus, Bangstyle was born.

Today, Bangstyle is not only the perfect platform to post your own hair photos, but it’s an essential resource for connecting with other beauty industry professionals, brand ambassadors, hair educators--you name it. And, Bangstyle is always looking for content creators! If you’ve got an idea for a blog post, article or web series, submit away!

Creating a Bangstyle account is totally free and incredibly easy. All you have to do is sign-up and start sharing!

Have You Got Something Our Stylists Should See? Beauty Brands All Aboard!

Bangstyle is home to thousands of the industry’s best beauty brands, including cult favorites like Redken, Sam Villa and Keune, and they’re always looking to add more. Brands can create their own profiles on this digital platform, where they can share photos, product knowledge, post articles and even introduce team members and brand ambassadors. 

Ashlee attributes much of Bangstyle’s success to the level of investment from beauty industry brands everywhere. Without their support, consumers and stylists wouldn’t be quite as connected on the platform, these brands really bring everything full circle.

Ashlee is so proud of how far Bangstyle has come as far as brand promotion goes. Today, brands can create their own channels where they can publish content, post photos, articles and even upload videos to share with both stylists and general consumers alike.

If you’re looking for a unique way to showcase your brand and get in front of your ideal target audience, it’s time to create a Bangstyle account!

Want to learn more about the ever-so-inspirational Ashlee and Bangstyle’s roots? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 191. And don’t forget to create your Bangstyle account today! Happy surfing!

Are you still running a commission-based salon?

You’re not alone—but know that you’re also not the only one considering making the switch to team-based pay.

Mark Gonzales, owner of Mark Pardo Salonspas, is all for team-based pay. Aside from being a five-location salon owner, Mark is also the CEO of the Aveda Institute in New Mexico, a member of Intercoiffure and the 2 to 10 Project and a certified business strategy coach.

Mark is so proud of the team he’s built at Mark Pardo. With five locations, their bond has never been stronger, and Mark says that camaraderie is due largely in part to his team-based compensation system.

There’s No “I” In Team

Mark Pardo salons started as commission-based salons, which is still perceived as the standard operating compensation in our industry. 

Mark ran his salons this way for years until he stumbled across an article that explained that any challenges you’re facing based on your operational systems often stem from the conditions within your salon. Commission-based compensation leads to an “all-about-me” mentality instead of fostering teamwork and a shared sense of creativity and support. 

Mark decided to do more research on team-based pay. He learned all about financial literacy and how team-based pay makes your employees more aware of how they can make a difference in their business--how they can contribute.

It’s All About Changing Your Mindset

People tend to perceive change as a negative experience. They view it as loss, something that comes with losing a perk or privilege they once had. 

Mark, on the other hand, has always seen change as an opportunity, and it was his leadership and influence that enabled him to convince his stylists of the positives that came with the switch to team-based pay.

As a stylist, choosing to work in a salon environment instead of renting your own booth already says something about how much you value having that community, that support system. Mark decided that it was time to remind his stylists of the bigger picture--that they belong to something bigger than themselves, they’re a part of a team of people dedicated to serving others and growing in their individual careers. 

Time to Level Up

Mark and his team incorporate tips as income. His new employees usually start out around $10 or $15 an hour depending on how well they’re performing within the salon and the system evolves from there.

There are five levels of stylists and your ability to move up depends entirely on your performance and your ability to hit or even exceed your benchmarks. These include stats like client retention rates, average product per service ticket, pre-booking rates, the cut-to-color ratio, etc. All of which contribute to a stylists ability to advance and earn more compensation.

In addition to this system, Mark instituted a bonus system within each individual level that allows them to make anywhere from $150 to $300 more every two weeks in order to keep the momentum going. 

Hourly All the Way

Although commission-based compensation was controllable, Mark never saw it as a motivator. With commission, there is a certain limit that salon owners simply can’t surpass while still maintaining a profitable business. So, your staff settles because they’re under the impression that they’ve reached the top and there’s no way for them to make more in the same number of hours.

Of course, payroll is the biggest cost in any business, so it still has to be controlled and maintained in a healthy way. But for Mark, this came easily with team-based pay. 

With this new compensation structure, Mark is able to make sure that his stylists are making a living, his salon business is, in fact, profitable, and he’s able to provide his team with the luxuries that make such a system sustainable, like health insurance, dental care, paid time off--you name it.

Three Is Easier Than Two

Mark can’t help but chuckle when he thinks about the old saying his mentor, Juut Salon Spas’ David Wagner, used to mutter. “Three is easier than two,” he would to say, suggesting that owning and operating three salon locations was actually easier than two, or even one for that matter.

For years Mark shrugged off this suggestion with a laugh, believing that in no way that more could ever be easier. Of course, eventually Mark opened location number three and realized he couldn’t have his hands in all of the action anymore. 

Instead, Mark found that he had to learn to let go and trust that his leaders could carry his brand without him just fine. Then, Mark was able to step into his larger responsibility, which was to coach and support leaders who would ultimately take care of his legacy and proudly begin to make their own. 

Now, Mark is the proud owner of five Mark Pardo Salonspas and he’ll tell you that it is, in fact, much easier to manage all five locations now than it was when he first opened location number one. Why? Because his employees truly care about the longevity of their brand and the success of their teammates--they’re all in it together. 

Want to learn more about Mark and his incredible group of Salonspas? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 190. Will you be at Intercoiffure this year? Direct Message us on social or shoot us an email and let us know, we’d love to meet you!

Are your guests excited to spread the great news about your salon to everyone they know? When they do, are they being thanked? 

If your goal is to begin a program that is easy to manage, you’re in luck! 

Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kati Whitledge, shares how her staff at Be Inspired Salon works to capture guest referrals and how they thank them for their advocacy when those referrals come through.

In addition to hosting the beloved Beyond The Technique podcast, Kati is the owner of the award-winning Be Inspired Salon located in Madison, Wisconsin, and the creative brain behind Meet Your Stylist, an innovative salon software system that matches potential clients with salon professionals based on services, lifestyle preferences, and personality metrics. 

Kati is incredibly passionate about helping others in the industry develop their own success stories, and today she’s sharing her secrets for building an easy-to-manage referral program in order to help you capture those leads.

Capture Data with Client Intake Forms

An easy way to catch wind of a word-of-mouth referral is to ask every new guest how they heard about your salon. You can do this with your client intake form. 

At Be Inspired Salon, the client intake forms are digital. They made a non-public webpage that they have saved as an app on their iPads in the salon. When a guest visits for the first time, they give them the iPad and have them fill out their information. They include the question, “How did you hear about us?” Which prompts each guest to check all that apply.

The reasons they add the disclaimer, “please check all that apply”, is so that they can track their return on investment for all advertising platforms. This could include Google, Facebook, Instagram, Meet Your Stylist, a local magazine, radio, a partnering business, a friend, or other. When a guest selects “friend”, there is a drop down box which prompts them to fill in their friend’s name. 

Even if you’re not ready to go digital with your client intake forms, you can effectively apply these same principles in print.

Give the Gift of Added-Value

After you have an easy way to capture the names of guests who have referred you new guests, it’s so important to show your appreciation. 

That being said, Kati also stresses how important it is to make sure that how you choose to show your appreciation in turn adds value to their experiences at your salon. What she means by that is, you always want to give more, not offer them a lesser price. 

Many salons will promote offers such as, “Refer a friend and you’ll both receive 20% off your next visit”. But did you know that this devalues your services and products and in the mind of the buyer? It tells them that your services and products are actually worth less. 

Instead, Kati suggests that you use value-based propositions such as, “Every time you refer us a new guest, we will gift you with a $10 shopping pass to use at our salon!” In the verbiage alone, there is a huge difference in the value you’re offering.

Show Your Appreciation with a Hand-Written Thank You

Regardless of what value-added gift you give, consider a thank-you note as a touch point in your relationship. 

For example, at Be Inspired Salon Kati and her team sit down once per week with their list of guests who have given referrals. They write each guest a handwritten thank-you note and mail them out later that day. 

“Thank you” letters are a lost art and people love the special feeling of receiving a personal card in the mail. In the note, Kati and her team leave a simple message, such as, “Mary, thank you so much for referring Connie to us! We appreciate your advocacy and we appreciate you. Please enjoy this $10 shopping pass at your next visit!”

The lesson for today is if you employ a referral program, make sure it’s easy to manage so you never have to worry about dropping the ball. Add valuable gifts to show your appreciation, and think of a personalized way to thank each guest who is going out of their way to spread their love for your brand.

To listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, check out episode 189, and if you’d like to learn a little bit more about our host, Kati, check out her website and don’t forget to subscribe to the Beyond The Technique podcast for more incredible industry insight.

The beauty industry is changing at a rapid pace. The question is, can you keep up?

Michael Cole, of Summit Salon Business Center, has been in the industry for over 30 years. He’s witnessed the many eras of our industry from the precision-cutting of the 70s, the rise of hair color in the 80s to the glamour shots of the 90s. However, nothing tops the digital-social era we’re living in today.

Our industry has become about so much more than cutting and coloring. Our stylists are providing new services, learning new techniques and perfecting their customer service skills. Our marketing and branding is out of this world. Our receptionists are out on the floor, engaging with clients, selling retail and building relationships along the way. Our salon owners and managers are learning all of the ins and outs of operating a business and as a whole we’re reaching new and incredible heights--and the view is great.

Michael refers to the revolution taking place as “disruption”. We’re being taken for a ride and we’re fighting to hold on, but to Michael, that’s part of the fun. Michael shares his secrets for keeping up with today’s technically savvy world and also how SSBC can help you reclaim your power. 

How to Handle Change as a High “S”

Are you familiar with the four DISC personality profiles?

Did you know that 80% of beauty industry professionals score a high “S”? This means that the majority of stylists, estheticians, massage therapists and make-up gurus are the steady, calm, supportive personality type. It also means that one of their biggest obstacles is typically change. 

So, with all of the changes currently sweeping our industry, how can all of these High S’s not only survive, but turly thrive in their careers?

Get on Your Instagram Game

Social media is one of the most powerful tools we have in our digital toolbox, and for the beauty industry, Instagram is at the top of the food chain. Michael says that he can tell how technically on-trend someone is by doing a five second driveby on their Instagram page. It doesn’t take long to see if you’re with it!

As a stylist, your Instagram serves as your digital lookbook. It’s the perfect place to showcase your latest cuts and colors and you can even pull up your own Instagram during consultations with new clients when communicating about what they’re looking to have done. Michael says you should always be photographing your highest ticket hairdos in order to draw in others who want the same services. 

That being said, not only is it important to have a trendy Instagram as a stylist in order to showcase your work, but Michael says you should also be taking advantage of your Instagram-savvy clients. 

You probably won’t have time to take pictures of all of your clients while you have them in the salon, so you should be strategic about the ones who do get that before and after photo-shoot. Michael suggests taking a peek at your client’s Instagram pages in order to see who has the most followers. Anyone with upwards of 200 followers is the perfect client influencer. You definitely want to be tagging them in the hopes that they might share their new do on their own pages too.

Salon Owners, It’s Time for Your Social-Digital Bootcamp

Okay, let’s go back to those DISC personality profiles. While most of our stylists are high S’s, our salon owners and managers tend to be high D’s. They’re controlling, competitive and they’re used to being in charge. All of which are characteristics of great leaders, but they also mean that salon owners and managers are more likely to struggle with today’s power structure because they no longer have full control. 

Once upon a time, the beauty industry power structure started with the manufacturer, moved down to the distributor, trickled down to the salon owner, then the stylist until it found its way into the hands of the client, but alas, that is no longer the case. 

Today, it’s often the younger stylists that are the most digitally savvy, and they also tend to have younger clientele which means more client influencers to do the marketing for them. Michael has salon owners come to him all of the time with complaints of feeling disempowered due to this new system and he says that it’s all about how you view your situation. 

You have to learn to channel that power in a new way. You have to learn social and digital skills in order to catch up to your most technically-savvy team members and then you can set guidelines for the way that your team is allowed to live and breathe your brand on social and take back some control. 

Things are changing in our industry whether you like it or not, Michael says you might as well embrace it or you’ll wind up chasing it later on. 

If you’d like to learn more about Michael and the new era we face, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 187. And don’t forget to check out Summit Salon Business Center, where you can find the best coaches and mentors around to help you tackle these changing times.

There’s a strong sense of responsibility that comes with being a leader but you also have to be open to learning new things and facing new challenges. Sometimes that means admitting that you aren’t always the most knowledgeable person in the room. 

Salon Owner and Industry Expert, Kellie Johnson, is no stranger to the struggle that comes with finding your place as a leader. Today, she’s here to share her advice on becoming the kind of leader you want to be.

We introduced you to Kellie in our Beyond The Technique Podcast, but if you missed her previous interviews we’ll give you a quick recap: Kellie is the owner of the renown Elan Studio and a council member of The EmpowHERment Project. Aside from her career in the beauty industry, Kellie is also a certified Hypnotherapist and Professional Coach. With expert industry insight, she offers her best advice for becoming a strong leader within your salon. 

Salon Owners, You’ve Got to Stay True to Yourself

Kellie has always been passionate about learning new things and building on her experiences in order to grow. She believes that being a good leader is about becoming the best version of yourself--somebody that you would look up to--and that takes time. 

For Kellie, her first three years in business were her most challenging. She struggled to find structure, she wanted to please everybody, and at the end of the day, she simply wasn’t putting her own needs first.

Now, Kellie looks back on those times and she’ll tell you that learned a lot along the way, but the most important lesson she took away from those early years is that you absolutely have to lead with love and you can never compromise on your own values. 

A True Leader Invests in Their Team

Kellie is a strong believer in the idea that salon ownership isn’t about making money, it’s about growing people. She makes it her mission to create as many opportunities for her team as she can with the hopes of building their confidence one step at a time.

At Elan, they do focus on technical skill training, but Kellie also brings in speakers and industry experts who can educate her team on personal development and build on the intrapersonal skills that are truly a testament to a stylist’s strength behind the chair.

Kellie believes that education and opportunities for growth are crucial in creating a positive salon culture. Kellie works hard to empower her team to take their career into their own hands, by building their confidence both in and outside of the salon.

You Can’t Go Getting Your Feelings Hurt

Kellie reflects on one of the hardest lessons she had to learn as a new salon owner, which was that you can’t take anything personally. Letting your emotions get in the way of your leadership is disruptive for the entire team.

Of course, in a creative industry like ours, we’re constantly surrounded by incredibly sensitive, emotionally intelligent individuals who sometimes let their feelings get the best of them, salon owners and leaders included. 

Kellie believes that as a salon owner, you have to remember that it isn’t about you. You have to be able to see past your own emotions and reactions in order to help your team grow, both personally and professionally. 

How to Stay on Top of It All

Being a leader comes with quite a bit of responsibility and responsibility requires discipline. Kellie manages her stress by practicing meditation. As a salon owner, it can be quite easy to get overwhelmed with all of the little things you need to get done during the week, the month, even the year. 

Kellie recommends starting your day with a solid 20 minutes of meditation to simply check in with yourself. Prep for your day and what you hope to accomplish in those 24 hours. Don’t get ahead of yourself, don’t start thinking about the next day or the week ahead, just focus on what you want to get done that day. 

Then, check in with yourself again in the evening. Reward yourself for your hard work and give yourself a pat on the back for everything you were able to check off of your list! 

Meditation is one of the healthiest forms of stress management out there and anybody can do it. For Kellie, it has completely changed the way she looks at her to-do list.

If you’d like to learn more about Kellie and her incredible journey in the beauty industry, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 186. Be sure to also check out our other Beyond The Technique blog featuring Kellie’s incredible industry insight, “Five Ways to “Wow” Your Clients and Improve Your Salon Experience.”

Have you ever considered including an employee stock ownership plan in your salon’s business model? Well, it’s time to start!

Doug Cole, owner and founder of Cole’s Salon and self-proclaimed life-long learner, is here to teach you a thing or two about growing your business and giving back to the people who have helped you along the way. 

How to Know It’s Time to Grow

Doug is the proud owner of five beautiful salon locations with prospects of a sixth on the way, but he’ll tell you that he grew into each new location for exactly the same reason, it was simply time. 

He admits that he may have handled things differently than other entrepreneurs, because as soon as Doug ran out of space in one location, he eagerly opened another. After five years in his first salon, his team had outgrown their space and he quickly grew tired of turning down incredible talent. So, along came location number two, and well, you know the rest. 

Doug has such a heart for the people of Cole’s Salon, and he said it simply broke his heart not to bring people into their incredible community, especially as their reputation grew and so many young stylists were showing interest in his brand. 

Not Just Bigger, but Better

Of course, there are other areas you must grow in in order to have five successful salon locations. Doug and his team always focus on getting better before getting bigger. 

Doug struggles with dyslexia, and for years he avoided any kind of learning that would pose a challenge for him due to his disability. He worked hard, and he was an incredible kinesthetic learner, but for several years of his life he was afraid of putting in the extra effort required to tackle the things that challenged him the most, like reading and writing. 

At 26, Doug decided he had had enough and he wasn’t willing to let his disability hold him back any further. He found a mentor who challenged him to do an hour of learning per day, a habit that he’s carried into his 70s because it fills his mind with different ideas and possibilities for the future.

Doug’s commitment to learning is built into the culture at Cole’s Salon. His entire 375 person team is comprised of passionate individuals who are excited to climb their way to the tops of their careers—and the view just keeps getting better. 

Giving Back and Building Loyalty

After 15 years in business, Doug realized that so many of his best people had been with him since the beginning. His stylists grew with him and his brand, his managers had taken over their own salon locations, his front desk employees grew into leadership positions and for the most part, his best people stuck around. 

Doug’s employee retention rates were practically unheard of and he wanted to find a way to give back to everyone who helped shape his brand. Doug sat down with his tax attorney and they came up with the idea of implementing an employee stock ownership plan for all of the people of Cole’s Salon.

Another 30 years later, Doug proudly maintains 70% ownership of Cole’s Salon, and the other 30% is in the hands of his trusted team of employees. The tax breaks are pretty sweet and the Cole’s Salon brand has never been stronger. Doug’s employees are so proud to have part ownership of their company. Their loyalty runs deep and the brand continues to grow even bigger every day. 

Of course, with such a big appetite for education, Doug believes that the best is yet to come. He’s got so much more to learn, and he can’t wait to share in the abundance, there’s always enough to go around!

Want to learn more about Doug and his inspiring salon business model? Listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 185. And be sure to check out Cole’s Salon for more details on their incredible salon culture.

Starting your own salon isn’t easy, and growing your team is no small task either, but it’s perhaps the most important step in expanding. Besides, as a new salon owner, you’ve got nowhere to go but up.

Adam Broderick is no stranger to the struggles of starting your own salon. We introduced you to Adam on the Beyond The Technique podcast, but if you missed his previous interviews, we’ll give you a quick recap: Adam is the owner of the renowned Adam Broderick Salon and Spa with two locations in Connecticut.

Adam took a unique route into the industry. He actually started his career as an animal groomer and eventually decided to take on the challenge of human clients. Amongst other things, Adam is also a motivational speaker and business consultant to other salon owners. He is quite the entrepreneur and he’s one of the industry’s most respected figures.  

Adam walks us through how he started his own pet grooming business before the age of twenty, how this incredibly unique career choice ultimately led him to the beauty industry, and how he eventually opened his own salon and built up his business in order to become one of the great successes of our time.

Growth Doesn’t Happen Overnight

Like all good things, growing your tribe takes time. Sometimes it takes a long time, but when you find those people who just fit, you’ll know it was worth the wait.

With two salon locations, Adam employs over 200 people. You might be wondering how he found so many people who fit his brand so perfectly, he says he simply took it one coworker at a time.

How Do Your Hire That Many People?

The next question you might be asking is how does Adam have enough hours for his 200 some employees? Well, for Adam, this is kind of his secret sauce. Before starting his own salon he worked on 5th Avenue with what he says were some of the greatest stylists he’s ever known, and he recalls how difficult it was to get in with them. 

Sometimes clients would have to wait two or three weeks before they were able to get an appointment and Adam decided that he wanted to give his clients more availability and access. Adam believes that level of accessibility is the new luxury. So, over the years he built up a team with more stylists than he had chairs and moved his team into split shifts. 

With his employees only working half of the day each day, he was able to extend his hours. He opens his salon up at 7:30am sharp and keeps his doors open until 10:00pm so that everyone can get in no matter their schedule.

Hiring New Talent Is One Thing, Keeping Them Is Another

Adam is proud to say that he has many stylists on his team who have been with him for 10, 15, even 20 years. While Adam believes that the longevity of a stylist is variable based on work environment and lifestyle preferences, he says that when he does experience turnover, it usually happens within the first six months to a year of their start date. 

Adam and his team always aim to create a really strong culture. He says that although they’re always growing and changing, his team strives to maintain a safe and accepting work environment. He wants Adam Broderick Salon to be a safe and dynamic place to work, and he works hard to give all of his stylists the career path they’re looking for. 

Adam loves this industry and he’s so proud of his team and how far they’ve come. Adam says the key to becoming a successful salon owner and growing your team is ultimately to give yourself permission to work differently. Don’t be afraid to change the industry for the better.

If you’d like to learn more about Adam and his incredible journey in the beauty industry including how he has managed to grow his salon, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 184. And don’t forget to check out his salon website to follow his movement on his own industry blog,Insights from Adam.

With the rise of the internet and ease of online shopping it can feel like retailers and manufacturers are losing interest in the salon world. But there’s still one thing that these industrial e-commerce businesses simply can’t offer—and that’s the in-store shopping experience.

Salon owners Scott and Helen Miller of Scott Miller Salons aren’t afraid of the internet. They don’t even flinch when you mention any of the major e-commerce giants like Amazon because they know how to leverage that incredibly special in-person experience—something the Amazons of the world will simply never be able to replicate.

In fact, the Scott Miller Flagship Salon in Rochester, New York is one of the most impressive modern brick and mortar retailers across all industries. Their salon spa is spread across 15,000 square feet with an entire section dedicated to retail alone. Their fully-stocked retail store features some big-name brands including Bobbi Brown, NARS, L’Oreal, and MAC. For many of these brands, Scott Miller is the first and only salon retailer selling their products.

Scott and Helen are here to walk you through their incredible business model and hopefully encourage you to get back on your retail game.

Let’s Go Back to the Beginning

Scott and Helen were destined to be together from the beginning. Two of Helen’s best friends moved to Florida where they met Scott and well, the rest is history!

Scott and Helen did the long-distance thing for about a year before he decided to move to Brooklyn. Scott had actually grown up in Rochester, and after working behind the chair in a couple of salons throughout New York City while Helen finished up her economics degree, the pair decided to get married and move back to Rochester to start a family.

A year later, the newlyweds decided it was time to open their own salon and thus, the Scott Miller brand was born.

So, Why the Major Focus on Retail?

Scott and Helen had been chasing major beauty brands since they first opened with the hopes of nailing down the big names like MAC and Estee Lauder. These brands weren’t being sold in the salon environment yet, and the Millers saw this as an opportunity to elevate their in-salon experience.

These reputable brands had such a palpable strength and power behind them and Scott and Helen really wanted to bring that same energy to their salons. Having this amazing retail experience was simply another point of difference for the Scott Miller salons.

How Many Service Providers Does It Take to Run a Scott Miller Salon and Spa?

With both locations combined, the Scott Miller brand is made up of 140 amazing industry professionals, from hairstylists to massage therapists, estheticians, make-up artists and retail sales associates.

Scott and Helen really wanted the retail experience to feel like its own component within their salon and spa. Instead of having their service providers walk their clients through the store with the hopes of adding a lipstick to their shopping cart before check-out, they decided to bring on reputable make-up artists that work exclusively within the retail sector.

The Millers have always been passionate about education and their attention to details doesn’t waver when it comes to their in-salon beauty shop. They’re always hosting educational events with nationally known artists and inviting their brand reps to come and speak about their latest product releases.

Scott believes this level of education is not only important for perfecting their artistry, but it also helps his staff become better salespeople. The more you know about the products that you’re working with, the more you’re going to sell.

You’ve Got to Leverage Your Relationships to Land the Big-Name Brands

Scott and Helen are so humble when it comes to their success in the salon world. They credit their incredible business model to the many wonderful relationships they’ve been able to leverage throughout the years, starting with Michael Gordon of Bumble and Bumble.

Michael was incredibly connected, he introduced Scott and Helen to just about everybody they’re doing business with today. Scott says you really just have to land that one big brand before all of the others grow eager to sit on your shelves.

Of course, persistence is key. It took Scott and Helen ten years to land the MAC account. They were very tenacious with that relationship, and now they’re the only salon with a fully-stocked MAC store. You just have to take it one brand at a time.

What’s Next for the Millers?

Scott and Helen are always looking for ways to take their retail experience to the next level. The next major project they’re bringing to the table is the addition of their very own “glambassadors,” beauty brand ambassadors that work exclusively under the Scott Miller umbrella.

This idea actually came from one of Scott Miller’s senior make-up artists, Corey, who was inspired by the other social media influencers out there with impressively large followings. Although the Millers want to focus more on micro-influencers, for the Scott Miller brand, this is an opportunity to have a foothold in the local beauty community and they couldn’t be more excited for the future of the program.

Scott and Helen admit that it can be intimidating to face an industry that is changing so rapidly, especially with regard to retail and how consumers are choosing to shop. But instead of falling victim to these changing times, the Millers were determined to look toward the future of the industry and not only find a way to fit into the equation but to thrive.

If you’d like to learn more about the Millers and her incredibly impressive business model, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 183. And if you haven’t already, check out their salon website to get a feel for their powerful branding.

Everyone needs feedback in order to learn and grow, both personally and professionally, but sometimes it can be hard to ask for feedback. Perhaps it’s that we’re not asking the right questions. Maybe it’s that we’re really not as open to receiving feedback as we make ourselves out to be. 

There are so many factors at play when it comes to getting the feedback that you’re looking for, or maybe the problem is that you’re not actually looking. 

Whatever the case may be, it can be difficult to pinpoint what’s standing in the way. Business Coach and Keynote Speaker Jay Williams is here today to share his favorite tips and tricks for getting the feedback that you deserve. 

If you aren’t already familiar, Jay is the author of the book, Leave Your Mark, which focuses on leadership and influence in the salon industry. Jay works directly with salon owners and beauty industry professionals to help them see the connection between emotional intelligence and the technical skills needed in order for them to thrive in their field.

Jay is passionate about the power of feedback, both positive and constructive, and today he shares his advice for both giving and getting the feedback you’ve been waiting for.

Why Is Getting Solid Feedback Such a Struggle?

While there could be many things standing in the way of your growth, getting the right feedback is crucial to your success. It’s called constructive criticism for a reason--it’s supposed to push you to be better, not keep you from chasing your dreams. 

So, why is getting the right feedback so tricky? Jay shares the top three things keeping us from asking for and embracing the feedback that we so desperately need to succeed. 

Receiving Feedback Can Be Scary

The first reason some people struggle to get solid feedback is that they’re afraid of what they might hear. This fear stems from anxiety around whether or not the feedback will be positive. Of course, we always hope it will be, but we also know that we have certain areas of improvement--are we ready to talk about them?

Sometimes We Don’t Think We Need It

The second reason people aren’t seeking out solid feedback is because they don’t think they need it. 

It can be difficult for some people to see past their own parameters and find room to grow. We are inherently narcissistic and we often have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that we might actually benefit from a little constructive criticism once in a while.

Other Times, It Simply Doesn’t Cross Our Minds

The third reason someone might not be getting the feedback they really want is because they simply don’t know what they’re looking for. 

Sometimes we can chalk it up to the fact that the need for feedback hasn’t exactly crossed our minds. We don’t know what we don’t know, and so we haven’t thought to ask.

How Often Should You Be Offering Feedback?

As salon owners and managers, we often schedule out the times and dates we plan to deliver feedback to our teams--yes, I’m talking about reviews. But is this the only time we should be offering advice or praising our people?

It’s human nature to want to know where you stand at all times. That basic need feeds into emotional intelligence and the need to feel grounded. So, essentially, you should be sharing feedback every time the opportunity presents itself.

If we go back to those reviews, whether you choose to sit down with your team weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, the review should ultimately be a confirmation of what you’ve been sharing with your team all year long.

Jay says that if you’re able to share feedback with your team members on a daily basis, whether that be positive, negative, or constructive, nothing is going to come as a surprise come review day and thus there’s nothing to be anxious about. That’s how you tackle that initial fear.

It’s also important to remember that while “reviews” are often tied to monetary goals or incremental values, feedback can take many forms and shouldn’t always be tied directly to profit performance. Instead, “feedback” should simply be a part of your daily communication. Keep it constructive and don’t forget to sprinkle in a little positive affirmation once in a while. 

As Leaders, What Should We Be Giving Feedback On?

Do we only want to be offering advice specific to the technical aspects of things? Should we take our feedback beyond the technique? 

According to Jay, there are opportunities in both areas. The biggest benefit to giving feedback more frequently, whether it be related to those technical components or more in line with your general business values, is that it allows for real-time course correction. 

You can solicit feedback without following a specific format, but remember that the goal is always to improve performance. So, it’s important that no matter the tone of your feedback or the subject of your solicitation, you always make your intentions known. Not only does this help build trust between both parties, but it also eases the tension around accepting feedback in the first place.

What Are the Most Basic Dos and Don’ts of Soliciting Feedback?

Do say: “I want you to be successful.”

Don’t say: “You’re not meeting my expectations.”

Do say: “I want to give you some constructive feedback.” 

Don’t say: “Let me tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

Do say: “I want to help you.”

Don’t say: “Don’t be defensive.”

Giving feedback is a skill, and much like cutting or coloring hair, the more you practice, the better you’ll become. Ultimately, if you want to improve someone’s performance, you’ve got to improve their thinking. 

And remember, when you praise, do it publicly. When you go about perfecting your communication and the experience with your people, do so in private. 

If you’d like to learn more about giving and getting feedback, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 182. Want to learn more about emotional intelligence? Check out our blog on why our EQ matters more than our IQ! 

Are you ready to leave your mark on the industry? It’s time to grab Jay’s book and get down to business!

It requires both incredible discipline and dedication to create and continuously build a brand. 

We’re going to learn a thing or two about building your own brand from the ground up from Daniel Kaner, the President and Co-Founder of the incredibly successful luxury hair brand, Oribe. 

Daniel graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. It was his wife, Sonia Kashuk, a recognized name in beauty with her own makeup line sold in Target, who introduced Daniel to Aveda’s founder, Horst Rechelbacher, and drew him into the industry. Years later, after working with Aveda and moving into a leadership position with Bumble and Bumble, Daniel saw an opportunity in the prestige segment of professional haircare and seized the opening by creating a brand that offers a unique, best in class perspective. 

As a brand leader, Daniel is Involved in every aspect of the brand from product development to package design to sales and marketing. He’s a passionate brand builder who maintains close relationships with his top clients and suppliers. He acts as a mentor to his team and he is the culture keeper at the Oribe offices. Learn more about how Daniel started his own beauty brand and took luxury haircare to the next level. 

It’s All About Who You Know

Like most industries, your connections shape your success. In beauty, it’s all about who you know. And while Daniel had certainly built his own valuable network throughout his years at Aveda and Bumble and Bumble, his wife, Sonia, was always introducing him to the biggest names in the industry, including the infamous Oribe Cannales. 

Sonia and Oribe had worked on many editorial styling projects together over the years. She would do the makeup and Oribe would be in charge of styling the hair. Sonia always believed that Oribe was a brand waiting to happen. 

Oribe was a big name in fashion, he styled hair in such a way that it became just as much of a talking point as the clothing itself. His creative timeline is really quite impressive. He’s responsible for many firsts in the fashion industry. He is credited with introducing the wig to American fashion and he was the first American session artist to work on European editorial shoots. 

Daniel and his business partner, Tevya Finger, found the perfect collaborator in Oribe. Back in 2008, all beauty categories had good, better, and best categories with the exception of haircare. Daniel and Tevya wanted to fill the void by creating something luxury, quality and boutique, and who better to partner with than the top editorial stylist, Oribe Canales. 

As A Leader, How Do You Decide What to Focus On?

Daniel is so involved in every aspect of his brand and the business that each day looks very different from the next. We’re often taught that as entrepreneurs, we have to have this sort of laser focus in order to grow our businesses or develop our leadership skills, but for Daniel, it’s more important to be a part of the fun.

At Oribe, Daniel and his team have such a collaborative management style that regardless of “official” title, everyone is involved in just about everything. Daniel sits in on meetings with his product development team, his marketing team, you name it. Daniel is always trying to listen more and allow other voices on his team to grow. Sometimes he can’t help but share his own insights, of course, this simply speaks to his passion for his brand at every level of business. 

There’s a delicate balance between practicing, managing, coaching and developing and Daniel often finds himself right in the thick of it all, but honestly—that’s how he likes it. 

Always Be Thinking About How to Attract Your Dream Client

As a brand owner and ambassador, you should always keep your dream clients top of mind. Oribe is sold in salons, select pharmacies and in upscale department stores out on the beauty floor (think Neiman Marcus). Oribe is very selective about which associates they have selling their products because they want the in-store experience to speak to their brand.

Of course, Oribe’s focus is ultimately in the salon world. For Daniel and his partners, the perfect Oribe salon would be one that has a strong culture made up of the most passionate people. They’re always looking to get into salons with good leadership that really value education, growth and development in much the same way as Oribe. 

Oribe does gravitate toward high end salons with a craftsman-like cutting and coloring style. They work with some of the best salons throughout the U.S. and abroad, and Daniel could tell you a number of the salon owners names because that’s how tied to his brand he really is.

Daniel is a true visionary. With the help of his team, Daniel has grown his brand from the ground up without ever losing sight of it’s true potential. As Daniel says, you don’t have to be famous to set a standard for the people that you work with or the customers that you care for. It’s in your heart and in your head--it’s your brand. 

If you’d like to learn more about Daniel’s incredible journey in the beauty industry, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 181. Don’t forget to check out the Oribe website to see what all the hype is about!

The queens of business consulting, Keri Davis and Karla Lopez-Martinez from Beauty Backbone, are here to share their secrets for setting up systems that will allow you to lead a more profitable salon. 

We introduced you to Keri and Karla on the Beyond The Technique podcast, but if you missed their previous interviews, we’ll give you a quick recap: Keri is the owner and founder of the repute Gila Rut Salon group in Southern California where Karla actually began her journey as an assistant. Karla quickly moved up the ranks at Gila Rut to eventually become the co-owner of their second location. 

With the help of Gila Rut’s educational director, Jonatan Rizo, Keri and Karla founded Beauty Backbone, a digital education platform for owners by owners. Beauty Backbone teaches salon owners the secrets to educating, directing operations, managing finances, and instilling leadership skills in your team. Keri and Karla have had years of experience in perfecting their profitability, and now they’re here to help you do the same. 

First Thing’s First: Why Is Being Profitable Important?

Did you know that the industry average is as low as 3%? We can do so much better if we just aim higher and really crunch our numbers.

At Gila Rut, Keri and Karla are always chasing 10% profitability. For them, it starts with having systems in place that can support that profitable goal. You have to budget and actually stick to your plan. How? Accountability.

Educate your team. Make sure everyone understands why you make the decisions you do when it comes to expenses. The transparency will help your entire team stay on track.

Why Is It So Hard for Salons to Earn a Solid Profit?

When Keri opened her first salon, she realized that she had no idea how to read a P and L, or profit and loss statement. Of course, she was swept away by all of the other tasks that come with managing a team while still doing hair behind the chair and it was difficult for her to find the time to go back to teach herself something new.

To this day Keri wishes that she had been better about planning ahead and really understood the value in knowing what was coming in as revenue and what’s going out as an expense. That’s what helps you make decisions and run a good business.

Want to Earn a Higher Profitability? Look at the Whole Picture.

Keri and Karla have been serving as consultants for other salon owners all over and the first thing they do when starting a session with a new salon owner is dive into their P and L from start to finish because every number tells a story.

Once you’ve pulled the numbers, it’s time to dive in. Where are you with your retail per client ticket? How are your retention rates? How about pre-booking?

Work to understand what’s driving sales and figure out where you stand in relation to the industry’s benchmarks for success.

You’ve Got to Keep Your Payroll in Check

Payroll is the biggest expense that salon owners have. Keri believes that payroll, not including taxes, should not exceed 45% of service sales.

It’s the biggest expense and it takes the longest to adjust because you can’t just go in and kill off your front line or decrease everybody’s pay. Like any adjustment, there is a process to lowering these numbers and achieving a higher profitability. You have to take that number down while maintaining the people that you have and brining new people on at a lower rate.

Right off the bat, you want to be looking at your front desk payroll. If you have a manager on duty it should exceed no more than 8% of your total sales. If there’s no manager on duty it shouldn’t go above 6%.

Keri and Karla give their managers a spreadsheet that lists the specific number of hours allocated for front desk payroll, for assistants, and so on.

A Great Way to Raise Profitability Is to Focus on Add-ons

At first, raising your total dollars per day sounds pretty difficult. You’re still working with the same number of hours. You can’t fit in any additional clients, especially if your schedule is already consistently double-booked. How much more can you do?

The trick is to think about the additional services you can provide without adding any extra time. Have a client in the shampoo bowls? Add a glaze and give them a brow wax. Doing a men’s cut? Tack on a beard trim.

As Keri says, you don’t always have control over how many clients come in, but you do have control over your offerings, so ramp up the add-ons!

What Happens After You Reach Your Profitability Goal?

Keri reminds us that there are two components to your profitability percentage. One being your actual profit and the other being cash flow. It can’t go all in your pocket because you need a kind of safety net, a buffer.

How you pay yourself as a salon owner should also depend on your role at the salon. If you’re still behind the chair it’s going to look much different than if you’re strictly serving as the owner and handling operations. Regardless, you basically have to build yourself a realistic salary based on your breakeven number. If you wait to pay yourself, you’ll never see the money.

At the end of the day, if you want to reach your business goals, you have to write down where you want to go and how you plan to get there.

If you’d like to learn more about increasing your profitability, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 178, and don’t forget to check out Keri and Karla’s digital platform, Beauty Backbone, for the ultimate in-depth guide to taking your business to the next level.

As colorists, we’re always experimenting, and sometimes our tests don’t produce the results we were expecting. Of course, every canvas is different, but knowing your boundaries is a great place to start.

Goldwell Colorist and Salon Owner Robert Brown takes us through some of the most common hair color myths, separating the truth from the lies in order to empower us to become the best colorists we can be. Robert is the founder of Hairobért Salons in Memphis, Tennessee and he has been using Goldwell since the 1980s. Robert is passionate about sharing his knowledge with colorists all over the world in order to help them produce even better results. So, who better to speak about the many myths of coloring than the man himself, Robert Brown!

Myth: You’ll Get Better Results When Coloring Dirty Hair

Robert takes us back to the days of those incredibly bright blondes of the 50s and 60s—think Marilyn Monroe and Kim Novak—to educate us on just how this myth came about. Although applying color to dirty hair has never been better in terms of results, back then it probably did subdue the irritation from the harsh chemicals they were using to achieve those infamous blondes. 

Robert says that the color treatments they were using were so high in pH that having a little oil and sebum built up before your appointment was probably the only thing keeping your scalp from legitimately suffering from first-degree burns during treatment.  

Nowadays, nobody is using those unorthodox methods and everything is carefully crafted with such gentle ingredients that few people ever experience irritation. In fact, today we have to be mindful of how much oil we’re adding to the hair when we use pomades or other oily products prior to coloring because they can actually act like a blocking agent and the color can have a hard time penetrating that greasy barrier.

Myth: You Shouldn’t Shampoo So Soon

Robert reminds us that hair color can either be on the hair or in the hair. If you haven’t the color in the hair so that it could really anchor itself to each strand and develop as it’s supposed to, there’s a chance that what you’re seeing prior to the shampoo is really just existing superfluously on the surface and it will wash out.

Peroxides and developers tend to stay active in the hair for anywhere from 24 to 48 hours after removal unless we use another agent to shut them down entirely. If the processing is done correctly and you’ve followed through to the finish, really locking the color in with a serum, shampooing later that day or waiting a week shouldn’t make much of a difference.

Myth: You Need to Use Heat When Processing Hair Color

Sure, heat speeds up all chemical reactions, but with chemistry, everything is a trade. Robert says that if you speed something up on one end of the equation, you sacrifice something on the other side, which in this case could be damage to the hair or irritation of the skin.  

During his time with Goldwell, Robert has never endorsed using external heat for color applications with the exception of Lumen hair color, which is totally non-oxidative. If he really thinks the hair structure is too healthy to take to the color he reaches for a more aggressive product with more alkalinity over the hood dryer.

Myth: Semi and Demi-Permanent Hair Dye Doesn’t Last As Long

Years ago, someone must have decided that “permanent” hair dye sounded so negative that everybody just started doing semi and demi-permanent hair color, but do you our clients really know the difference?

The difference is what the hair has to endure. Permanent hair color doesn’t mean that the shade is going to last forever. It means that the structure of the hair has been permanently changed or altered in such a way that it will never return to its natural state. With permanent hair color, you’re disturbing the core color. You have diffused the natural pigments in order to make room for the synthetic, they trade places.  

Semi and demi-permanent hair color typically insinuate that they don’t mess with the core color, they sit on top of it. Essentially, semi and demi-permanent hair color treatments just add another layer on top of the existing color. They tint the hair, or stain it, basically, conditioning the hair into a color direction without actually disturbing the core.

The word “permanent” doesn’t refer to how long the color lasts whatsoever, so when discussing the two stylists can get kind of trapped. Robert’s favorite example is the teenage client going through a “goth” phase. You don’t want to die their hair permanently black—their mom will kill you! So instead you reach for a semi-permanent black dye, which winds up being much harder to remove. The chains of oxidative chemicals in the permanent black die would have been much easier to break up. Robert says that the word “permanent” in this context is really a misnomer.

Myth: Ammonia Based Products Are Bad for the Hair

Robert acknowledges that today’s modern millennial clients are really looking for the ultimate healthy haircare which lends itself to the idea that ammonia based dyes are bad for the health of the hair.

The truth is, ammonia occurs quite naturally, and today most products contain very little ammonia anyway, so it’s not necessarily the ammonia causing the alkaline environment to begin with. You’ll notice that ammonia-free products don’t say alkaline-free. It’s the level of alkalinity that makes the hair angry, ammonia’s not the bad guy.

At the end of the day, whether you’re using ammonia based products or not, you’re going to damage the hair, but it’s all about balance. You should always be restoring the cuticle with nourishing products and oils after you’ve done your business.

Myth: If a Client Brings in a Photo You Should Be Able to Replicate It

Every canvas is different. So, while it’s nice to have a photo as a physical example of what the client is looking to have done, it’s okay to be frank with them about whether or not the look is actually achievable.

Robert explains that on top of all of the filters and Photoshop edits, a client’s perception of the actual color story within the look is also often skewed. Heck, sometimes the client is even bringing in a photo of a lace-front wig!

Robert’s favorite thing to do in these scenarios is to pull the shades he sees in the photo and then take his own pictures, one using flash and one without, just to show the client the difference that lighting makes before carrying on. It’s not their job to be an expert on hair color, it’s yours, so you’ve got to give it to them straight.   

Oh, and when in doubt—test strand!

Myth: Developers Are for Speeding Up the Process

We’re always trying to get as many clients in as we can and we’re trying to do these more extensive, more laborious techniques on the hair so we try to make up the difference by getting a higher developer in play, thinking it will speed up the process.

Robert says the better way to think of developer when concocting a formula is to think of it as the heat source. 10 Volume is like a simmer, 20 is cook, 30 is roast and 40 Volume is broil. You rarely need to use the broiler, right?  

Robert compares using 10 or 40 Volume developer to the rabbit and the hare—slow and steady wins the race. 10 can actually get you a brighter blonde if you have the time because it does a more thorough job.

Robert’s Favorite Myth: Metallics Are Easy to Achieve

Those metallic silver and gray tones are still some of our most popular requests, but they’re some of the most difficult color services to perform. At the end of the day, the trick to achieving those ultra-cool tones is adding stress to the hair to really make it stick.

Robert will tell you that what you really need to achieve these silvers and grays and still give the hair some durability is to come in with a permanent hair color that lives inside of the core of the hair to establish that initial gray or silver hue from within. Then, you can use those beautiful semi and demi-permanent hair dyes on the outside to give it that metallic finish.  

Of course, there are so many other hair color myths that we could dive into, but these are just a few of the prevailing myths of the times and we’re so grateful to have Robert to help us separate the truth from the lies. 

In Roberts words, knowing what you can and can't do is what gives you wings for what you could see in your mind—and that’s the fun part.

If you’d like to learn more about Robert and his passion for mixing formula and adding those finishing touches, listen to the podcast that inspired this blog, episode 179. And don’t forget to check out her incredible Hairobért in Memphis, where the magic happens.