The Trick to Growing Your Tribe
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.