I went from zero clients in a new city to three months booked solid in my own salon suite, and I was miserable. What got me out was systems, automations and boundaries. Now I teach independent stylists to do the same, so I hear the same question every week: who should I actually pay to help me with the business side?
If you rent a booth, own a suite, or work for yourself any other way, here's how I'd pick.
Short version: pick someone who works with stylists like you, who will look at your real numbers, and whose kind of help matches what you're missing.
1. Make sure they work with stylists like you
A lot of salon business coaching is built for owners with a team. That's payroll, commission splits, hiring, keeping staff. Useful if that's you. If you're on your own, your problems are different: what to charge, how to fill your book with the right clients, how to stop answering DMs at 10pm, and how to take a day off without losing money.
Ask them straight out: how many of the people you work with are booth renters or suite owners? If they have to think about it, keep looking.
2. Know which kind of help you're buying
Coaching and education get used like they mean the same thing. They don't, and the price difference is big.
Education
You need the steps
Lessons, templates and calculators you work through on your own time. This is the least expensive option and the right one when you don't know what to do yet: how to set prices, how to write policies, how to set up your booking and your marketing.
Group coaching
You need answers and someone keeping you on track
Live calls, a community, a place to ask questions. Good when you know roughly what to do but you get stuck, or you start strong and drop off.
One-on-one or a small group
You need someone working on your business with you
Someone who looks at your numbers, your calendar and your prices and tells you what to change next. This costs the most, and it pays off most when you're already busy and the next move depends on your business specifically.
3. Ask these before you pay anyone
- Who do you mostly work with? Solo stylists, or salon owners with teams?
- Will you look at my actual numbers? My prices, my services, my calendar.
- Who answers my questions? You, another coach on your team, or the group?
- What would we work on first? And how will I know it's working?
- What's the full cost? And how long do I commit?
- Can I talk to someone at my level who's done it?
4. Walk away if you see these
- Lots of income screenshots and no clear plan for how you'd get there.
- Everything is mindset, and nothing is something you can change in your business on Monday.
- The program was built for salon owners, with a line added that it works for renters too.
- They can't tell you who their program is for, or what you'd work on first.
- They've never done hair or run a book of their own.
Where my programs fit
Here's how my own programs line up with the list above.
Modern Stylist Movement (MSM): business education
The step-by-step program for independent hairstylists: 89 lesson videos, 30+ masterclasses, calculators and templates. It also comes with monthly group coaching calls, a free 12-minute one-on-one call with me every month, and a Marketing Review and SEO Review of your own business 1 to 2 times a month. From $97 a month, or $597 for the year. See MSM
MSM+: a year of coaching
Everything in MSM, plus a year of coaching with me. I check in on your progress all year, so the work actually gets finished. $2,000 paid in full, $550 a quarter, or $200 a month. See MSM+
Mastermind: for stylists already at six figures
An application-only, six-month cohort for stylists doing $100K+ in gross revenue, around 20 people at your level. I work on your business with you, not just teach. Cohorts start January 1 and July 1. See the Mastermind
Not sure which one fits where you are? Answer 6 questions and I'll point you to the right one.
Questions I get all the time
Do I need a business coach as an independent hairstylist?
Not always. If you're missing the steps (how to price, how to get the right clients, how to set up booking and policies), business education will get you further for less money. A coach makes sense when you know what to do and it still isn't getting done, or when you're already booked and the next move is specific to your business.
What's the difference between hairstylist business education and business coaching?
Education teaches you the steps: lessons, templates, calculators, at your own pace. Coaching is someone working on your actual business with you and checking that the work gets done. My Modern Stylist Movement (MSM) is education with group coaching built in. MSM+ and the Mastermind are coaching.
How much does business coaching for hairstylists cost?
It depends on how much of the coach's time you get. Self-paced education costs the least, group coaching sits in the middle, and one-on-one or small-group coaching costs the most. For my programs: MSM starts at $97 a month or $597 a year, MSM+ (a year of coaching) is $2,000 paid in full or $200 a month, and the Mastermind is application-only.
Is coaching for salon owners the same as coaching for booth renters?
No. Salon owner coaching is mostly about running a team: payroll, commission, hiring and keeping people. As a booth renter or suite owner, you set your own prices, fill your own book and answer your own DMs. Ask any coach how many of their clients work the way you do.
What should I ask a hairstylist business coach before I pay?
Who they mostly work with, whether they'll look at your actual prices and calendar, who answers your questions, what you'd work on first, and the full cost and how long you commit. Ask to talk to someone at your level who has been through it.