The Aspiring Stylist with Tracey Franklin

Morgan Franklin: Welcome to the
Aspiring Stylists Podcast with

Tracey Franklin. Where to begin,
grow and aspire to become the

best stylist you can be. Whether
you're thinking about becoming a

stylist opening a salon, or
developing your skills as an

experienced stylist the next
step of your beauty career

starts here. Each week we'll
discuss strategic ways to

design, plan and execute on
becoming a stylist that excels

behind the chair and above the
bottom line. Here's your host,

Tracey Franklin.

Tracey Franklin: So today, we're
going to discuss five things

that I wish I would have known
at the beginning of my career.

So let me set the stage for you.

I'm 26 years old, I have two
kids, I'm a single mom, I just

got fired from a job that I had
had for seven years. And I

thought I would always have, it
was an early childhood

education. And I just really
loved teaching. I just loved

working with kids. And I thought
that's what I wanted to do with

the rest of my life. It wasn't
the best paying job. But it gave

me the flexibility that I needed
to be the kind of mom that I

wanted to be to my children.

Something like getting fired
feels like a huge setback. I

mean, it did for me, and I would
say that it does for most

people. But what I think it
makes you do is pivot. And I was

prepared to do just that. When I
came across my barber school, it

wasn't something I dreamed of
doing my whole life, it

definitely wasn't the kind of
career change and shift that I

thought I was going to have in
my late 20s. But looking back, I

can see this as one of the most
pivotal moments in my life. So

don't be afraid of those shifts,
don't be afraid to pivot with

life, because you never know
what's ahead. With that being

said, one of the first lessons
that I had to learn was that

clients would leave me and that
that would be okay. Clients

leave for various reasons, and
none of them feel good, some

feel better than others, but
none of them feel great. One of

those reasons is going to be
financial, perhaps you have

experienced quite a bit of
success. And now you are

charging more than you used to
charge and that is no longer in

your client's beauty budget. Or
maybe they're experiencing

something else financially, like
maybe they have had their hours

cut at work, or maybe their
husband has just lost their job.

There is a lot of reasons why a
client might leave you

financially. And that is just
something that you have to be

prepared for. Another one is
scheduled conflict, again, with

success creates less
accessibility to you, somebody

that requires a ton of
flexibility in their schedule,

or maybe they just want to be
able to call at the drop of a

hat and schedule a hair
appointment with you, the more

successful that you get, the
harder that is going to be to

do. And some people just don't
like that. Some people like to

live by the seat of their pants
and call on a Saturday and hope

to get in. And the more
successful you get, the less

possible that's going to be
clients move away. This one's

hard because not only are you
not going to see them in your

salon anymore, but there is zero
chance of you running into them

in public and giving them a hug
or saying hi or catching up,

you're going to make incredible
connections with your clients.

And when they move away, that
definitely feels like a loss. So

with all these reasons, just
make sure that it's not because

you stop showing up for them.

Clients will leave you if you
stop showing up for them. If you

stop with the little extras, if
you're no longer offering all

those little things that make
you you clients are going to

pick up on that. And they're
gonna think, Okay, this is a

level of inconsistency. I'm not
happy anymore. I used to really

like that neck massage that she
gave, she doesn't do that

anymore. Maybe she doesn't value
me anymore. I'm going to try

someone else. Make sure it's not
for that. Relationships are

formed. And it's hard to imagine
not seeing that person anymore.

I mean, I've been declined
weddings and baby showers. I've

been invited to their birthday
parties. And I've even made

appearances at their parents
funerals. When I say

relationships, I mean it, these
people become incredibly

important and become a very
valuable person in your circle.

But at some point, they will go
and it will be okay. This lesson

in particular took me a little
bit longer to learn. And that's

that I could charge what I'm
worth and that my clients would

still support me. I had a huge
issue with my belief system when

I first became a stylist.

Growing up in a house that
didn't offer a ton of support or

encouragement really created
this self persona of not having

a ton of value and not being
able to add a ton of value to

other people's lives and not
really affected me deeply when

it came to my worth as a
stylist. I was so afraid to

raise my prices. I just thought
Why would anyone come to me if I

charged more so no matter what I
did, no matter what I learned,

no matter how many years of
experience that I had, until I

actually learned the business
side of beauty, I would go years

without a price increase. Not
many people are willing to work

years without a raise. My
clients knew I stayed educated.

They knew I had had experience
because they had been coming to

me for years. Without a doubt,
they knew I was passionate about

my craft. But the fear of losing
them absolutely paralyzed me. I

could not imagine losing even
one of my clients. As I started

to incorporate the things I
learned about the business side

of beauty. I raised my prices.

And I hit my goals again, and
again and again, each time

raising my prices, and I
expected them to leave. But so

many of them stayed. I think we
can all agree that we are living

in this hustle mentality. We
throw around the word hustle

like it's a badge of honor. One
thing that I wish I would have

known early on in my career is
that being booked 10 hours a

day, six days a week is not the
definition of success. This one

really gets me in my fields.

Because as a mother, I missed a
lot. I missed a lot of games. I

missed a lot of dance practices.

And a lot of Sunday morning
cuddles and pancake breakfasts.

Because I was afraid of losing
clients. And because I was

afraid of making my personal
life, my most important job a

priority. Turning down clients
terrified me. What if they left?

What if I couldn't support my
kids? It never ever occurred to

me that it was okay to say no to
them, that it was okay to take a

Saturday off or leave early on a
Wednesday. If you're listening

to this and this hits home,
choose the game whenever you

can, you will never look back
and be glad that Susan had fresh

highlights for her cruise. But
you will be sad that you missed

your son's score the winning
goal. Clients respect

boundaries, so make sure that
you have some, they will

surprise you if you let them.

Something else that I wish I
would have known early in my

career is that I didn't have to
offer every service ever. In the

beginning I did it all I didn't
Manny's and Petty's and facials,

I did up dues for prom and
makeup for weddings. And I was

pretty good at it. But I wasn't
great. Turns out it wasn't near

as good looking back as I
thought I was. And that's

because I wasn't enjoying my
work. Those were not the

services that lit me up like a
Christmas tree. When I saw those

services on my book, I felt a
sense of dread in an industry

that I was promised would bring
me so much joy. And I couldn't

understand why. And it's because
I thought I had to offer

everything. I thought in order
to build a healthy clientele to

make the kind of money that I
wanted to make. I had to do it

all, but it's okay to
specialize. It's okay to find

your niche and lean into that
niche and get really, really

good at it and specialize in it.

What you enjoy, you will always
put more energy into, which

means you will get better at it.

And then once you get better at
it, you can be known for it and

then you can charge more for it.

You see what's trending here,
find your niche, get better at

it, get known for it and then
you are actually having the type

of career that sets your soul on
fire. At the end of the day you

are creating a more fulfilling
career and you're not turning

down subpar work. This may be
one of the most beautiful

lessons I've learned along the
way. And that's that community

is way better than competition.

Stylists empowering other
stylists is the norm now but it

hasn't always been that way. It
used to be really catty and

backbiting. Lots of competition
for clients and salons poaching

other stylists from other
salons. That doesn't happen so

much anymore. Hoarding knowledge
like we used to be so scared for

other people to know what we
knew. For some reason we had

this belief that only we knew
how to do things a certain way

where truth be told the stylist
down the road was doing the same

thing as you you just didn't
know it. Stylists putting down

other stylists work, it used to
feel so cringy when another

client would come in that had
been to another salon and got a

service they didn't like and all
they were doing while they were

with me is bashing the other
stylist I knew even back then

that that wasn't right. And it
wasn't who I wanted to be in

this industry. growing as an
educator fueled my decision to

do everything I could to be as
inclusive as possible. I

actually really enjoyed sharing
my knowledge with other stylists

and now that we have a social
media platform like I love

getting on there and showing how
I do something and hopes that it

will be something that another
stylist can use to better them.

I enjoy interacting with other
salon owners and supporting one

another, you know, maybe
somebody submits a resume for my

salon, but I don't need anybody
and I feel like they would be a

really good fit for the salon
down the road. This inter salon

networking is actually really,
really smart. I also enjoy

opening up my space for stylists
and salon owners for educational

purposes, bringing someone into
your salon is really expensive,

but it's really necessary, but
it's also really expensive. So

why not open that up for anyone
that can come and benefit from

it. I found this new lightness,
this new meaning of the word

community, and an elevating the
beauty industry is my mission

and I can't do it alone. I need
everyone that I can impact to be

on the same page. Now as a
school owner, my relationship

with other salons are non
negotiable. They're a must. I

have to have the community over
competition mindset. And I look

forward to deepening these
connections and helping my

students find the best salon for
them and the beginning of your

career. It's gonna be a really
uncertain time, filled with

excitement and anticipation. But
it's also going to be filled

with anxiety and fear. Choose
excitement. Every day, you will

know more and the path will
become clearer. Until then, just

enjoy the journey.

Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of

The Aspiring Stylist Podcast
with Tracey Franklin. If you

enjoyed listening and you want
to hear more, make sure you

subscribe on Apple Podcast,
Spotify or wherever you find

your podcasts. The Aspiring
Stylist Podcast with Tracey

Franklin is a Morgan Franklin
Production. Today's episode was

written and produced by Morgan
Franklin editing and post

production by Mike Franklin.

Want to find out more about
Tracey and the Aspiring Barber

and Beauty Academy go to
aspirebarberandbeauty.com