Salon Owners: Stop Delaying Your Revenue Potential

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. I've had the privilege of working with some beautiful, amazing, and very powerful and successful salon owners, um, over the past, uh, I mean, for a long time now, but particularly in Mastermind more intimately for the past, like, two years. And it's been such a beautiful experience to work with salon owners on a much more, uh, close basis because I just love leadership.

Um, it is, like, one of my favorite topics ever. It's, uh, th- the most challenging business thing, truly. Um, and especially in our industry, we have a very unique situation in which we are facilitating the livelihood of people who are basically running their own little businesses within yours, and I think it's just a very unique and fun and exciting and challenging and very hard, uh, topic that I love to help, uh, salon owners attack. And I've been able to learn a ton from the salon owners, and we've been able to do so much work together to make some really beautiful things happen.

And, uh, as I've onboarded a fair bit of salon owners, and I've had some experience in seeing what's working and what's not, one of the biggest things that I think is holding salon owners back from making a lot of money a lot faster and actually being able to take home a paycheck is your assistant program. Mm. I think this is a pretty hot topic in the industry for salon owners already. Um, I think that a lot of people approach their-- this conversation from the perspective of this new generation doesn't wanna spend a year being an assistant, right?

So it's very much focused on what the assistant wants and needs, what this younger generation wants and needs, and that-- And it's tr- trying to strike fear and scarcity into you to, like, make it so you do what you need to do. That's not my approach at all because I just don't think it's very helpful. Y- although it is true, okay, it's just not really... I, I, I think that the more powerful conversation is the fact that you could be making so much more money, so much faster if you get these assistants onto the floor as soon as fucking possible.

The longer that you are keeping this person stuck in this little space, it-- you are holding yourba- yourself back from so much income potential. I under... And may- I'm definitely jumping ahead of myself with this topic, but, like, I think that maybe the exception here is, like, a personal assistant, right? Like, I know that it takes a while for a personal assistant to really get acquainted with their stylist and for them to, uh, uh, uh, for you to be able to replace that and things like that.

So if we're talking about a much larger salon operation where there's personal assistants, general assistants, all that stuff, this becomes a little bit harder to shorten the runway. But I do believe that we need to do everything that we possibly can, whether it's a personal assistant or not, or you're relying on them to be in that assistant position or not, to shorten that runway as much as we possibly can. We have a salon owner in our program, I'm not gonna name their name 'cause I don't want people to, like, hound her, but she's a fucking badass, um, and I love working with her. I've been working with her for years and years and years, and I have just seen her throw these girls to the fucking wolves, okay?

She goes, like, "You are on the floor, girl." Like, "Pop off, sister." Like, they just, like, w- they would just watch her for a little bit, like watch her do some hair, and then she's like, "Boom, go on the floor." Right.

And it is so inspiring, and it's definitely inspired a lot of the salon owners in our group as well too, and I've just been able to see her rapid growth and, and, and revenue overall. And the fact that these girls are making a shit ton of money right out of beauty school, it is genuinely mind-blowing, and she's running a super successful operation. And it's been really, really cool to see and work with her on the whole situation, and it has proven to me that shortening that runway is so fucking powerful and important, and that's why I wanted to bring that to the table today as a topic. It's almost like the antithesis of micromanaging.

Exactly. Very much so. I mean, and that's obviously gonna be, like, you as a leader, this business is your baby. You have this brand and reputation.

Like, you wanna protect it in all aspects. And of course, like, the number one concern with hiring is how can I trust them to do all this stuff and not mess it up, right? Right. The matter of fact is you need to allow them to go and fuck shit up in order for them to learn and do it better later.

I mean, we are all here. A very common trope, we all fucking know this is the truth, that you are not gonna learn by getting yakked at. You're gonna learn by actually doing. And I'm even going to go as far as to say you doing a model with oversight of the owner over your shoulder or whoever over your shoulder is still not the same experience as actually taking on a real fucking client where the real money is on the line.

Got thrown onto the floor. I really did not feel equipped to be on the floor at all, and guess the fuck what? I was an assistant for, like, three and a half years. Wow.

Okay? Because I was in vocational school. I started-- My, my, literally my first day in a salon was my 16th birthday, okay? Mm.

I went on the floor maybe when I was, like, 19, okay? Mm. And, and even after all that time, all that training, all that education, personal assisting with multiple master stylists, all that stuff, I got thrown on the floor. I did not know how to do shit.

Right. I was making it up as I went along. And that is because, again, you can yap and train all you want. You can have models all you want, but if you don't allow somebody to actually get real hands-on experience, they are not going to be able to learn, and you will never be able to trust them, and you're just going to elongate a painful process.

Because the longer you wait to throw them on the floor, the longer you're just delaying that they are inevitably going to fuck up and have to learn the hard way either way. So you might as well just get that done faster. And it's been a beautiful, beautiful, cool thing to see because it's so rare. We don't fucking see this at all.

We don't see salon owners just throwing the assistants onto the floor and seeing what happens so early in the career. Right. And so we didn't have proof up until this point, but there's proof that it works very well. Now- There are caveats to this conversation.

I know it's not as easy as it's said. Okay? Mm-hmm. Um, I will say with this particular example, the salon is very specialized.

All right? Uh, you know what? No, I'm gonna back up that statement. They're not very specialized.

They have a particular brand and a particular demographic that they're targeting, which then attracts similar-ish services to each other. So- Right ... it's a lot of highlighting, it's a lot of low maintenance stuff, it's still root touches and extensions. Okay?

So it's not like they're all getting, like, random weird a, a variation or diverse services every single day, and I think obviously that makes things a little bit easier, right? Like, when you have a very diverse range of services that you're doing and types of people who are walking into the door, of course that's going to require a lot more experience in those different things and more training upfront so that people actually know what they're doing- Right ... for so many different things. So that's where I will kind of, like, caveat things and give you a little bit more credit.

And, like, I'm, I'm like, okay, maybe an extra three months, right? But even then some. It's like, again, same concept applies. They're not gonna be able to figure it out unless they have a real-life experience doing it.

So Jodi, you look like you wanna say something. Okay. So I just wanna, 'cause I'm thinking, like, what are salon owners who are listening to this potentially thinking right now? And three things are coming up.

Number one is, okay, so what is that, you know, if we're, we're expediting this, we're shortening this, like, what is that training process looking like? Number two, how do you balance, you know, giving the, like, your new stylist an opportunity to mess up, to get their hands dirty, all those things, with salon reputation? Because I think that's gonna be what's coming up for a lot of salon owners as they're- Dude, yes. So we- you build in systems to reduce that, uh, that risk of, of damaging reputation first off, foremost.

Okay? So for example, like, we have, you know, we have pre- pre-visit forms and things like that, and the salon owner had brought that into salon ownership, and it really sets expectations and even legally protects shit really well upfront- Right ... prior to the new stylist possibly risking some crazy shit happening or something. Right.

Let's say a new stylist, like, melts someone's hair off and the person wants to sue, we know that we are legally covered, you know? Which is really helpful and great. So at least from a very serious aspect of things, we know we're covered. The second thing is, and I've been talking to a lot of my salon owners about this, I think that it's very important that, again, this is still a system, that you are building systems into your client experience that ensure the, that ensure retention and client satisfaction from the very beginning throughout the end, and it's consistent across every single stylist and how they behave.

Right. So for example, how can you make it so each stylist is asking three specific questions that the salon asks every single client every single time that is going to make it more likely to guarantee a successful and happy result and happy client? Right? So you wanna build systems that make it so there's almost, like, the bowling alley bumpers up- Right ...

so that way it's almost very hard almost for the client to not be happy. The other thing is, of course, empowering your team to be able to handle those situations in the way that they w- feel like is best in the moment, and sharing with them that it's okay to offer a refund. It's okay to, uh, stay a little bit later. I'll st- keep the salon open to do what we need to do.

It's okay to give a free redo. And also making sure that there's always a post-style consultation as well. So, you know, I'm say, naming these little examples with, like, not much detail, but the point is, is that you can build a lot of these, like, bumpers- Right ... that will ensure, whether it's a new stylist or a master stylist, that there will be consistency across the salon, and that your brand will be protected as much as possible.

Now, here's the caveat. This salon owner gets mad clients. This salon owner gets shitty reviews, okay? Like, it happens.

And guess what? Still super successful, still making great fucking money, still an amazing salon with a great reputation in the area. Yeah. So it's like you're risking a very small thing that seems like a very big deal- Mm-hmm ...

in exchange for the opportunity cost of you could be making so much more money so much faster, and making your team much happier- Right ... by minimizing this runway. Stop having such a death grip on everything, and allowing people to actually learn much faster and get the experience much faster. 'Cause it's just not, what you're scared of is not as actually detrimental as what, uh, what it may be, as long as you're a, a good business owner.

I mean, if you know how to manage people, communicate well with people, there are so many ways you can mitigate damage to your brand just from a unhappy client. I mean, it's literally, do I really need to... I mean, maybe I fucking do, but, like, do I really need to lecture you guys on how you can make an angry client feel good and how you can respond to a Google review and make your reputation still look good in the way that you respond? Like, do I really have to at this point?

You know? Like, it really, there's, it's just not that big of a deal as, as, as many people fear, I guess. Well, I think the reality is you can be the literal best hairstylist in the world, and you're still gonna have someone who's unhappy. Um- Period.

Going back to my caveat with the fact that this is a specialized salon, okay? I'm just gonna, I just kind of wanna highlight that. I wanna, I didn't, I didn't give this the moment that I should have. Whereas think about the fact that when you have a specialty, even as a bigger brand- It makes everything a lot easier.

So whether that be for an independent stylist or for a larger brand, whenever you are specialized, it makes this a lot easier, it makes growing a lot easier, it makes marketing... It make- literally everything becomes so much easier when you are niched down. So, you know, if you're not so deep into your salon owner journey and you still have time to be able to start to specialize or you can specialize even more, or even just get a tighter brand together, it can make things a lot easier, and that's a big lesson that we, we've learned from this salon owner. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Then you have less, like, training to do even in that, like, specific area. So okay, my nosy, like, if I were a salon owner, I would wanna know this questions are, when a client is booking, so when you are putting your, like, assistants out onto the floor quickly, is it front and center? Like, are they selecting to see a new talent stylist, or is this just they're booking an appointment and they're matched with who they're matched with? Um, I'm not sure if that's the case for this particular...

I don't know what the case is for this particular person. I can't remember off the top of my head. Right. And I honestly don't feel like I have a really strong pull towards, like, one or the other.

Okay. There's a part of me that feels like, you know, I would love to figure out what her situation is. But I feel like there's a part of me that looks at, okay, you are just saying, you know, this is a level one stylist and that's it. Right.

Not, like, giving this weird, like, caveat, you know, or, like, this disclaimer up front. Saying this is a level one stylist, they're at a lower price point, and allowing somebody to just choose whoever, you know? Yeah. Um, I think that allows for a, a, a client to be confident in that person, and it also gives the person the pressure to actually learn low-key.

Yeah. For sure. You know? I mean, like, like, when things are on the...

When, again, this is where I say, like, I think that taking a hair model is a little bit different than actually getting a- Yeah ... getting a client in your chair where there's real stakes, you know? For sure. There's a part of me that sees what that may entail, where it's like- Yeah ...

you are just saying level one stylist, lower price point, and that just is what it is. Then of course, there's also the benefits to being like, uh, this is a newer stylist, and being upfront about that, and maybe giving a discount on the service because of that. I know that something that, um, my salon did for me when I was transitioning from assistant to on the floor, was they gave me an opportunity day. And so basically they gave me one day where I had to fill up the day with clients.

So I was fully responsible for filling up the day. So it challenged me to market myself and build up my own clientele. Yeah. And once that...

And all of my services were 50% off, uh, of the salon services on that day. The rest of my work week, I was still an assistant. Right. Once I maxed out that day at 80% utilization and everything seemed to be good, and I, uh, then they would open up a second day.

It would go down to, like, 40% off. Opened up a third day, 30% off, and then went on from there on, and I, I liked that. I- Right ... still like that model.

I think it's cool, and it was still kind of transparent that, like, you're seeing a newer stylist and you're gonna have, so you're gonna get this discount, you know? Um, but I don't think that there's really a right or wrong. I think you test it and see what happens. Yeah, I mean, I've worked at big salons that had, like, a junior stylist or a level stylist or level one stylist, however you wanna say it.

Um, and lots of clients did choose that option. So- Yeah ... you know, it's like sometimes it is, you know, someone's like, "Okay, I would rather, you know, pay a little bit less than have that opportunity to see someone who's newer." Um, okay, my second nosy question is, is there a, like, either the salon owner or another stylist who's more experienced, like, going in and consulting with this person during, like, color mixing or at the end of the consultation?

Or is it, like, they are fully responsible for their client, and that's it? The salon owner is very much present, and the, a- and is oftentimes asked for advice. Right. So the stylist is, you know, doing their thing.

Salon owner is not breathing over their shoulder. Right. Salon owner is just there for when they have questions and will absolutely support them, and of course, the rest of the team will support them as well too, you know? Right.

And I would s- I mean, to this day, mind you, I'm a fucking, I was a color educator for years. Right. I love asking for advice from my peers, okay? Yeah.

Even my peers who aren't even as experienced as me. Yeah. So that d- that never ends, you know? No.

Like, it's like you're always trying to collaborate with your peers to be able to... And this is very good practice for doing that and having those conversations, and learning so much from your peers as well, too. Um, so to answer the question, no, it's not like a systematized thing where it's like, "Okay, before you start to mix up the color, I'm gonna make sure that everything's good." Uh, it's the, it's, "I'm here for you, uh, when you need me."

I love that. Yeah, it sounds like a very supportive kind of option. I would imagine that, you know, I think a lot of salon owners that I've worked with and, you know, spoken to over the years, like, love bringing someone in who is newer, because they are so much a part of, like, the culture- Yeah ... and they get really trained within that salon.

So I love this. Yeah. A lot more adaptable- Mm-hmm ... and, uh, you're instilling all of the brand and the culture from the very beginning.

Uh, there's a lot of power to that, but then the fear becomes, you know, "Well, it's so new, it's gonna take me, take me so long to train." It's like, again, like, there, you're, there's so much opportunity expense in that waiting too long- Right ... that's just not worth it. It's j- it's just not worth it.

Like- Yeah ... the sooner you get somebody up and running, the faster they'll learn, and they're g- again, they're gonna, you're just delaying that gap anyway the majority of the time. Yeah. You, uh, uh, this goes for everything.

Uh, this goes for fucking everything in your business, decision-making, everything. I, I, I talk about it all the time recently it seems, like, the longer you take to actually take action, you are just delaying the same lessons you would learn if you just took the action faster. So true It's coming either way. You're gonna get the upset.

If a fucking, if, if, if, if, again, I assisted for three years. I literally got into being a color educator, like, the next year- Right ... off of being off the floor, okay? I had, I fucked up people's hair when I got onto the floor after three years.

Right. I could have fucked up those people within my first three mo- uh, being, being a hairdresser for three months, okay? Hmm. In my first three months.

And guess what? I would've learned those lessons a lot faster. So I'm gonna learn it either way- For real ... whether it happens a year after you're yapping at them and you're testing them out, or now, you know?

So it's like, pick one. Pick- So true ... choose your hard. Do you want delayed shit, or do you want it right now?

'Cause it's happening either way. I love that. It's r- I- it's just a very smart idea to get that shit streamlined, okay? To get it as short as possible, to get these people tested out as quickly as possible.

And, you know, if you don't, if you're a salon owner who doesn't really have the time to be able to actually give that training, that's a- an issue within itself. So then we need to solve for that issue. You need a little bit of time to be able to train this person faster. Right.

Um, and you're actively holding yourself back from being able to grow the, grow the space. So, you know, with salon owners especially, there's so many nuances to this conversation. The lesson here is get new talent on the floor faster, period. You'll make so much mar- money faster, and you'll create a better, uh, experience for these new, newer stylists coming in.

And I assume, as a salon owner, you have an impact-driven mission. A lot of the time that's why people actually open up a salon. If you wanna start making an impact in people's lives, get them to be able to pay off their beauty school loans as soon as possible in today's economy, and that's how you fucking do it. So much love to you salon owners.

I, you know, you don't have to listen to anything I have to say. I've never been a salon owner. I'm very experienced in all this stuff, but I, I've never been a salon owner myself, so you can just say, "Fuck you, Hunter. I don't care what you have to listen to," and I completely respect that.

But I have people in our, in my program that I'm working with directly every single day, and I see the difference and the change by doing it and working this way, and it is very powerful. So hopefully this was helpful for you. So much love to you. Peace out, girl scout.

Bye bye.

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