Do you work with top-tier, high-earning people in the salon and wonder what sets them apart? Why are some people killing it and other people are just getting by? You will see some hairstylists that have their books so packed that they can’t take any more clients. They work all day long with assistants, make plenty of money and leave looking rejuvenated and ready to go tackle the rest of their life.
Of course, logically, we know that type of success didn’t happen to them overnight. It definitely wasn’t a gift that just fell in their lap. Even wealthy kids that have everything given to them eventually will lose it all and make a mess of their life if they don’t know how to set themselves up for success in the long run.
Living the good life is all about hard work, dedication, and organization. This successful stylist likely dedicated a lot of time to their ongoing education and totally worked hard and fine-tuned their personal development journey.
You know for a fact, these people have big lives, kids, projects or parents they take care of outside of salon life. Would you love to know their best practices, because they seem like they are thriving so much in life? Let’s dive into that!
Here are the 5 tips for kicking ass behind the chair and leveling up your salon career in this new decade!
Research suggests that consistency is the magic fairy dust that can make all of these financial, emotional and lifestyle dreams come true. Try putting these five things into practice over the next 30-60 days and see how life behind the chair can dramatically change for you!
1. Self-Care
A person who is pulling in a large clientele and being able to care for multiple personalities at a time, while still juggling clients, is definitely practicing some serious self-care.
This beauty pro is drinking plenty of water, and not overdoing it with caffeine. She is likely eating foods that power up her body because she knows she needs all of her strength and energy to get through the day. She knows the value of physically stretching throughout the day and definitely schedules in a yoga session, pilates class or some time at the gym several times weekly. Massage or chiropractic care is probably on speed dial. When the body is running at full function and getting all of the things it needs, it’s a superpower! Anyone who is taking on the day and bringing value to others needs to put themselves first and practice strong self-care!
2. Organizational Skills
A super stylists’ day is going to function much more smoothly and easily for her because she is an organized individual. There’s just no getting around how important having your “stuff” together can be for keeping your “stuff” together!
I mean we’ve all done it, something comes up and you walk in late to work, and then you didn’t finish cleaning up the night before as well as you should have… all of your tools are not ready to go. That throws you behind for the first client and generally will throw off your entire day.
There’s no way that this can be avoided altogether, life is life, and things come up. Generally, a high functioning individual is going to be demanding an organizational routine that sets her up for success. Our girl is showing up ahead of schedule so she can breathe and get mentally prepared by reviewing her schedule for the day. She’s planned out her snacks so she has plenty of healthy food fuel to get her through and doesn’t experience any unexpected physical lows. Because she values organization, she’ll be wanting all the necessary tools clean and ready to go, including all of the best products at hand.
Think of Gwen Stefani... Do you think that she shows up behind schedule looking the way she does to get on stage? Oh, heck no! Gwen and her team are preparing for months, prior to any performance, to get her into peak physical condition. She is very ready and mentally prepared to get on stage and kill it for the crowd of fans. The kind of performance that someone like Ms. Stefani gives isn’t because she just walks out and it magically happens. She is prepared, she is ready, and yes she is talented, but she is not relying on her talent. She’s relying on the preparation she’s done to be ready to deliver her best.
Beauty makers are no different! We place high expectations on ourselves and our clients demand a high level of performance as well. So, you might be thinking you’re not a rockstar like Gwen and don’t have thousands of eyes looking at you. I’ll give you that, however, you are the rockstar of YOUR career and life. Only you can bring your best to your show because you’re uniquely you! Queens, shouldn’t we be demanding the best out of ourselves?
3. Gratitude
People who are attracting a large clientele are generally folks who are positive and grateful. Have you ever heard of a gratitude practice?
Let me tell you when used properly this is one of the simplest and easiest things you can do to improve your day behind the chair. A gratitude practice is basically spending 5-10 minutes during the first part of your day thinking about the things you’re grateful for. This can be quick and easy, just list out three things that you’re grateful for that moment of the day.
It can be big things or small things. For example, you’re grateful that you get to work in a wonderful salon with a great community of people. Perhaps you’re grateful that your salon offers ongoing education. Or maybe you’re just grateful for a good cup of coffee in the morning and a few minutes to think by yourself. The gratitude practice will be different every single day, and it’s just for you - it’s private. It really can make a difference in shifting the control you have over your thoughts.
A highly successful person will collect these thoughts throughout the day and spend her time thinking about the things she’s grateful for, rather than focusing on the parts of her day that annoyed her.
There’s just no denying that a client will walk in late. Sometimes the client will walk in, every month, 10 minutes late to her appointment. That simply is just how that particular client runs her life. It would be silly for a high functioning individual to focus on being annoyed about someone else who is not functioning at a high-level. It’s better to focus on the fact that she’s a good tipper, or focus on the fact that you know she’s going to be late so you have an extra 10 minutes to focus on something else in the salon that needs attention.
A grateful person won’t spend a bunch of time focusing on something annoying. A gratitude practice can really help you get through the day in the salon because you’ll be focusing on all the positive things that are around you and letting some of that surface-level negativity go!
4. Control
You will notice a common thread with most folks that are doing well and being admired in life. They have control over their day, their week, their year. Having control is a huge aspect of a person’s life and will certainly determine the level of success that they will attain! The stylist behind the chair calling the shots should be making those choices to benefit themselves, their family, and their future. It’s one thing to be a team player, but there’s no way that someone with a high level of control would let themselves get walked over in the salon. They’re taking the clients that they enjoy working on and passing off the turds to the salon down the street!
Have you ever felt like even though you’ve tried, the circumstances in your life make it so that it’s difficult for you to say “no” when you really want to? Have you been in a hair color correction situation where you wish you weren’t involved? Of course, we all have. But a successful stylist will learn from past situations and realize what she wants to be involved in and what’s not going to be a benefit to her. A successful stylist has learned how to set boundaries and get involved with things that will benefit her financially, emotionally and set her up for future goal smashing!
I can personally tell you, something I did to get more control over my finances, my day, and my salon life was to pre-book my clients. I started this practice at the beginning of the year, years ago. I was able to forecast what kind of money I would make in the month of February because it was already pre-booked. I just simply ended the appointment by walking my client up to the desk, looking at the computer and helping her pick a date for her next appointment. Once we set the date, I let the front desk manager take over and get her appointment on the books. That control over my forecasted appointments and finances gave me peace. Peace at work is worth everything!
5. Momentum
When I say momentum, this applies to all of us in the beauty industry! I’m referring to anyone from the girl who just got out of beauty school, getting ready to spread her wings, to the guy who is preparing to turn his clientele over and retire. You always have to have momentum and positive forward motion in order to thrive in each stage of your career! Momentum is about growth and if you’re not growing you’re doing the opposite of that... which is dying.
Momentum in the hair industry is paramount because our industry is rapidly changing on a regular basis. If you are a stylist that feels the pressure to keep up, don’t fret, it’s not really about that. It’s not about you keeping up with every single little trend in the hair industry and every new feather that’s getting tied in the hair. Momentum is more about you deciding what works for you behind the chair in your bubble, what new things you want to leverage to serve your clients well and harnessing that so that your career is really about what serves YOU best.
Hairdressing momentum will, at a certain stage, encompass ongoing education. It might eventually morph into thinking about salon ownership. It could turn into you becoming an educator or working behind the scenes on a movie set. The beauty industry might take you on many beautiful twists and turns through its wonderland of a landscape. Having forward momentum and thinking about what your next month, year, and next five years are going to look like, it’s so important to harness because it keeps you in the driver seat of your career.
However, momentum can be about more than trying different things in the salon industry.
Perhaps being behind the chair daily makes you happy because you are serving clients and bringing happiness to those around you. That is harnessed forward momentum! You are bringing in a steady income that brings stability and peace to your family and that’s a beautiful thing! A plan for protecting that peace and comfort ultimately needs to include keeping yourself inspired and seeking out things that keep your creative train moving forward down the track. I’ll bet money that Gwen agrees. ;)
So, my dear beauty professional, I hope you’ll consider putting these five key points into the play of your beauty game. With a little time, effort, and thought it’ll be amazing the kind of life you can cultivate for yourself!
Cheers!