The Most Common Misconceptions About What Should Determine Your Prices

Y'all, I'm a little nervous to record this one, 'cause I know, 'cause I know there's gonna be people who are gonna be pissed at me, and I know there's gonna be other educators who don't agree with me. So, we about to ruffle some feathers here on the Modern Hairstylers podcast, as Hunty does, okay? I ain't new to this. And I'm not afraid, but I am afraid at the same time.

So, hopefully you're down for the roller coaster ride with me today. Jodi Brown, and the person who's listening to this, hello, my friend. Thanks for tuning into the Modern Hairstylers podcast. So, here's what I'm gonna be talking about today.

Some things that a lot of stylists think matters when it comes to how they price their services, and then one thing that every educator will tell you doesn't matter that I think actually does matter. And it might be shocking to you. And I'm gonna tell you all the tea and why I think it's that and give you my strong case, and you get to decide whether or not you're down for that or not. Cool?

Are we ready? We're gonna be going a- against a lot of inspirational quote posts on Instagram today- Yes. so I'm excited. You know what?

I think that's my favorite thing to do. Like, every single time I see, like, a common, like, inspirational post or, like, saying or, like, theme going around in the industry, a lot of the time I'm, like, rolling my eyes. I'm like, "Girl, like-" "... there's nuance to this."

Like, so, and I get them, right? Like, I get where they come from, but a lot of the time I'm just like, is this, like, really necessary, or actually, could this be doing more harm than good? Mm-hmm. So, I'm excited to get into it.

The last thing I'm gonna share with you at the end of this episode is the one thing that really does matter that every educator tells you that that doesn't. But first, we're gonna start with the things that you may think matter that actually doesn't, in my opinion. So, the first thing is how much experience you have as a stylist. Now, here's my, my preface to this.

All of the things that I'm about to share with you are absolutely, from a other hairstylist perspective, things that I respect. Right? They're things that I, as a hairstylist who's been doing this for 12 years, I consider myself very humble, I consider myself somebody who wants to learn a lot more as a hairstylist, right? And I get inspired by my, by people who have been doing this longer than me, people who have more experience, people who have, are more educated than me.

Like, I love learning as a hairstylist, and so all of the things that I'm about to share with you, they are things that I respect from hairstylist to hairstylist. As an educator consultant, when you talk to me about these things and we're talking about price or just how healthy your business is, that's when I say, I respect them, but we need to slow down when it comes to the decisions that we're making and how we take these things into consideration. So, the first thing is gonna be how much experience you have as a hairstylist. Here's the tea.

20 years ago, it was really impactful and crazy to say, "I've been doing this for 20 years. I've been doing this for 30 years. I've been doing this for 40 years." And then every client wanted to see you, right?

Every client wanted to see the senior stylist at the salon who has the most experience, right, and they're willing to pay higher prices for that. The world has changed so drastically at this point, in which, in today's day and age, you see people a year or two out of beauty school completely exploding their clientele, making a ton of money, and delivering excellent results. And the reason why is because, honestly, social media and the increase in accessibility to education, independent education, a lot of hairstylists can very quickly gain a lot of skillsets in, in today's day and age, right out of beauty school. They can advertise themselves faster and free, more than ever before, and people are building very quickly.

So, when we're looking at experience, I don't care how much experience you have when it comes to how high your prices should be. I only care about, does that experience then reflect in the numbers and the way that your business is performing, right? Are you performing in a healthy bus- Because you can look at businesses who are 20 years old who have completely gone downhill, because they haven't pivoted, they haven't understood how they have to continue forward, to adapt to how things have changed. And so, if you look at any other business, I'm thinking, like, even just malls, right, like, malls, like, ma- Yeah.

So, like, malls have been around forever, right, and they're all going downhill and they look like scary ghost towns. I don't know if you guys have seen, like, TikTok compilations of that, but, like, they look like a horror movie inside of them. Like, for real. And so, like, a perfect example of something that has a lot of experience and a huge, a huge impact in culture of society and consumer behavior, right, but is now completely like, it doesn't matter, you know?

But maybe if malls did things that kept them ahead of the curve, that were attractive to a general consumer, even in today's market, then that thing should be taken into consideration as far as maybe how much rent they charge for the stores that occupy them, right? Regardless, trying to draw a metaphor here. Hopefully it's hitting and landing for you. But if we're talking about how much your price should be and if we should increase by X amount, then a lot of the time if you say, I, or if I even recognize that you, uh, have X amount of experience, it shouldn't necessarily matter.

Sometimes, from the inspirational point, to encourage you to do so through the fear, I will say, "Bitch, you've been doing this for 20 years. You've been working your ass off, and for what?" Right? And for what?

You deserve this price increase because not only have you been working up and to this point, but you've also done the work to stay ahead, and the numbers on paper, your demand on your time-... your retention, and your average ticket. All of these things lead to me understanding that that 20 years of experience is not just standing alone, it's actually talking and meaning something, right? So, that's one big thing that we have to be careful about when deciding what our price is going to be, and it shouldn't take over the conversation, I guess.

100%. I think it used to be, like, I, to age myself, started working in salons 19 years ago, um, and it was, like, back then it was kind of the only way- Right. to be really educated, right? Was to have all that experience and, like, I started out as, as an apprentice and I al- like, the goal was to get paired with a senior stylist so that you could learn everything from them.

Which was incredible. Now, it is definitely not the only way to get, like, experience, education and all of those things. So, I love this one 'cause I always see, like, particularly in the hairstylist Facebook groups, like, "Stylists these days don't have to, like, you know, earn their chops," and blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, just 'cause it was hard for us at the beginning doesn't mean it has to be hard for everyone now.

The world has changed. Absolutely. I mean, I get trolled, comments on my ******* all the time saying, "I've been doing hair for 30 years, like, what can you tell me?" I'm like, "Well, let's look at our paychecks."

Like, "Let's look at our-" Yeah. Like, "Let's, like, let's compare revenue," right? Because I can guarantee you- ... as somebody who's been doing hair less than you, less, how many less years than you, I made more money doing hair than you, right?

So, at the end of the day, like, what actually matters, right? Yup. The next thing is what brand or technique you're using. Now, there is a caveat to this, and I'll share with you what that is in just a moment.

But sometimes people will say, "Well, I have this super specialized certification and technique, and I spent a lot of money on it and it's super specific." And here's the thing. These brands, oh, their job is to do a very good job at helping you see the value in this brand, right? Like, their job is to sell you this technique and tell you why it's a cut above the rest, and why you deserve to charge more just because you're certified in this technique, right?

That's the brand's job. And you may spend a lot of money getting that training, getting that certification, practicing it, and now you have this certification that sits on your wall, hanging in the salon, right? And you can call yourself this X certified whatever else, sir. Your clients, a lot of the time, don't give a .

You know what? Mm-hmm. We were ... Okay, full transparency with you listening to this, my friend.

We were trying to figure out, like, what are the things that do matter and don't matter for this episode, right? And I was, like, talking about some of them and, and I was like, "We need to add one more in here." And we were really struggling. But this also goes alongside the conversation of, I don't give a what BTC one-shot award you got.

I'm sorry, . So true. I'm so sorry, y'all. I'm, okay, here's my team.

Again, from another hairstylist's perspective, so badass. Like, I think that is so cool. I respect the fact that you got featured in this place, right? I respect the fact that you have this award.

Like, what a honor to be recognized by your peers. The difference is that you're being recognized by your peers. Your peers- Mm-hmm. don't pay you money.

Clients pay you money, and clients have no idea what those awards are, what being featured even means, and they don't really care at the end of the day, right? So, again, please don't get it twisted here. And I'm, of course, being a little direct for shock factor and value, right? I want you to know that I think it's really badass that you have those recognitions.

I have plenty of recognitions myself, right? Modern Salon Top 100 Stylists, 30 Under 30 Youngest Up And Coming Hair Colorist in Beauty Launch Pad, Face of Sola. Like, I've done it and I'm very proud of those accomplishments, and I think it's really cool that those things happened to me and I'm very grateful for them. But, did they do anything for me growing my clientele?

No. Right. Did they do anything for me making more money behind the chair? No.

And that's why I'm saying, similar to the how much experience you have situation, there are these things that we look at as other as hairstylists, and we respect on our level. But when we think about the client's perspective and how it affects their perspective and their perceived value, it doesn't really make that big of a dent. Versus, can you do good hair? Can you make this person feel understood?

And, do you have a great client experience where it matters? Which brings me to our next situation. A lot of the time people will come on a coaching call with me and will be talking about how much we should increase, and they're trying to convince themselves, like, you know, like, to muster up the courage to do the increase and they're like, "Well, I have all these fancy snacks and I give people lattes and I, I give a extra long scalp massage with a 24 karat gold eye mask and a foot massager and a whatever else, sir." Which is all awesome.

Like, it's all great. And, like, the client experience absolutely matters as far as how much we increase, right? But, I need to see the numbers for how your client experience is actually affecting you in a positive way to then talk about what kind of increase is justified. Because you could have all the fanciest amenities in the world, but if they're all just kind of surface level, all just kind of sexy stuff, and they're not the things that actually move the needle the most, then therefore, they're not going to actually change the numbers.

And the numbers and the data at the end of the day is what we're looking at when it comes to how we should increase, if we earned an increase, what kind of increase that looks like, et cetera, et cetera. So, it's awesome that you have a beautiful location, it's awesome that you have the fanciest shampoo bowl ever. Do you have demand in your time? Do you have a high retention rate?

And are we seeing strong numbers and data that will share with us that you are ready for an increase, right? That's what I care about at the end of the day, and a lot of the time-We get really distracted by the sexy stuff that has immediate return and we can tangibly see when it comes to improving our client experience. So, that's why, like, the in-the-chair stuff, with those fancy amenities and all these things like that, we, a lot of the time, really focus on building into those things because we want to justify an increase. But a lot of the time, it misses the mark as far as, like, the things that make the biggest impact, such as, like, human connection with people, making people feel like they are actually cared for and taken care of, that you're not just a number, that you're not just going to a hair factory, that they are experiencing something new, fresh, and different every single time they come to see you, that you're filling in gaps where other salons and stylists aren't doing.

And that's exactly what we teach you how to do in our client experience module in Modern Stylist Movement and what we're going to be covering in our workshop, Raise Your Prices Without Losing Clients. You can go to hunterdonohue.com/prices, or you can check out the link in the show notes if you want to check out this workshop, because we're going to be talking about the things in your client experience that actually make the difference. And we're going to be talking about the factors that actually should be taken into consideration, because there's many of them when it comes to if you deserve a price increase, what kind of increase that you do, and all of those things.

Now- Right. Go ahead, Jodi. I'll pause for a second. No, I think this is such an important conversation because we can, like, so easily get caught up in all of these things we think we have to do.

And I think it's just really refreshing to be able to narrow in on what actually matters when it comes to making more money and increasing your prices. Yeah, and I'm sorry, guys, if I was direct about your BTC One Shot award. Like, I promise you, I think it's cool. I promise you, I do.

It's just, when we're talking about business, business is business, you know? It is what it is. Okay. I promised you guys at the beginning of this episode that I would be sharing with you the factor that I do think that matters that every educator will tell you doesn't, which is competition.

I think this originated, this, this conversation about, "Don't look at your neighbor and what they're charging, or ask your other stylists what they're charging and then base your prices off them," I think that this came from people going into, let's say, like, a hairstylist advice Facebook group where there's, like, 100,000 other hairstylists. Somebody goes in and they're like, "How much are you guys charging for a ha- for a haircut these days?" Hundreds of comments, all different prices, ranging from, like, $15 to, like, $100, right? Like, and it's completely unhelpful, right?

Like, that is so, like, that is not how you should be looking at your competition, per se, and then making your price decisions. That's not what I'm saying here. What I am saying is that what the people in your area, particularly similar to your structure and your specialty, if that's the case, what they are charging is absolutely important to take into consideration. If you take any pricing class, any economic pricing class, all right, they will tell you, the number one thing to look at is competition.

So, we need to also take that into consideration when it comes to our own industry, and we can't pretend that it doesn't matter, right? It does matter. Does it matter as much as other factors? Absolutely not.

But it also depends on the factors that we're looking at, and it depends on what part of, what level of business that you're in. So, let's say that you are moving to a brand new area, right? And you have to decide what your prices are going to be when you're building your clientele from scratch. You absolutely should be taking competition into consideration.

You have no preexisting information or data to go off of from your own performance within this particular location. The competition, the standard, the perceived value of what is worth to get their hai- your hair done in that location is already set, and you have to match that standard. Or, you can be competitive by ana- analyzing your competition and then come into this new market ablazing with all this experience and charge less for it, right? So, that's why competition should be very much taken into consideration in that case scenario, of course, always, and probably the po- om- it's probably, I mean, the biggest factor when you're setting your prices.

Otherwise, even as an experienced stylist, even as somebody who has been in this location for a while, when we get to the point where we are at a high ceiling, right, or when we are making scarier decisions, absolutely we should take competition into consideration. It may affect our decision a little bit, right? It may, we may want to look at, "Do I have a lot of crossover with this other salon or hairstylist when it comes to my audience," right? And what is stopping me from paying less at this hairstylist if they're doing the same exact thing that you're doing, right?

Right. So, those things may affect how we go about the price increase and how much we increase, and it 100% should be taken into consideration. But to the point of what a lot of other educators will tell you, what this rhetoric has been for the past couple years with everybody saying, like, "Don't look at your neighbor," or whatever it may be, it absolutely is not the most important thing when it comes to when you're an established stylist within an area. It is, is very low on the list.

It's just another piece of data that can help you make smart decisions. Whenever I get on a coaching call with somebody and we're talking about pricing, I'm like, "Give me all the numbers. Like, give me as much information as possible." Because as we're talking things out, right, we're able to make better data-driven decisions instead of guesses, and that allows us to make smart decisions that are probable to be more successful at the end of the day.

So, that's my two cents. I love this, and I feel like you're really coming at it from a market research perspective, right, which is super, super important in figuring out what's going on in your area. And I think the original intention was, like, you know, for stylists who were coming from, like, a salon that based their prices off nothing, and then just copying the whole pricing structure, and it's gotten misconstrued along the way to nobody else's prices matter. And so, I think that's a really, like, important distinction and something that- Yeah.

you know, we got to ground things, 'cause people do look. Your clients are looking. Yeah. And, you know, I'm even gonna go as far as to say, like, like you said, like, the example of maybe where this also could have been curated from is just, like, copying the salon that you came from.

Like-I think that there are absolutely circumstances where you probably should do that. Like, if you're going independent, right? If you're leaving a team salon and you want to retain as many clients as possible, you should probably keep your price where the f- it is right now, right? But three, six months, evaluate your demand, evaluate how many people came over with you, how impressed and blown away they are, right?

And see the retention, predict the retention. Then maybe we can start to make changes, right? And we can ma- we can analyze wh- how your prices right now that you may have copied are affecting you, and then make smart decisions to then balance those things out to be more conducive to having a profitable pricing strategy, right? So, hopefully y'all understand where I'm coming from today, okay?

I know I might ruffle some feath- feathers with this one, but if you're not standing up for something, then you're not standing up for nothing. So... That's why... Uh, y'all know I like to keep it real.

It's all in the r- i- if you look at our podcast reviews, it's all like, "I love how real Hunter keeps it." And I'm like, "I don't know a- any other way to be." So, hopefully you enjoyed this episode of the Modern Hair Stylist podcast. Oh my God, come to our workshop, Raise Your Prices Without Losing Clients.

We're gonna be diving into all the pricing things. We're going to make it so you are confident, you stand your ground, you unapologetically roll out your increase to the people that you're so scared of. We're gonna calm you the f- down, all right? And we're gonna make it happen.

We're also gonna make sure that you know what number is actually safe for you considering your unique u- nuances and circumstances, talk about the factors that actually do really matter, and last but not least, exactly how to say it to those clients in the best proven way so that way you get the least amount of pushback and you don't lose as many of them as possible. So, hunterdonnaghi.com/prices or check out the link in the show notes, and I cannot wait to see you there. It's gonna be cool.

We're gonna raise that price and you're gonna make more money and it's gonna be great. Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2025 Hunter Donia LLC.