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 you want to
get hired in a luxury salon?

Don't we all. So, I own a luxury
salon. And I to be very honest

with you have only worked in
luxury salons my entire career

that was a decision that I made.

While I was in beauty school, I
had the fortunate opportunity to

have some really pretty ladies
successful stylists behind the

chair come in and give us a
little pep talk at the school

that I went to. And I just knew
right then in there that they

were exactly what I wanted to
emulate as a stylist, I knew

that I wanted to be a luxury
stylist. And so when I got out

of school, I applied at a luxury
salon, and I have been a part of

either my own or other luxury
salons my entire career. So what

a highlight the importance of
understanding what salon owners

are looking for, so that you can
position yourself as an

attractive candidate in a luxury
salon. In my opinion, you need

to go into your interview well
prepared, you need to have done

your homework on that salon, do
your research, I mean stock the

salon on social media, if you
have to stock the stylists that

work there, if you have to go in
there sounding like you know

what that salon is all about.

And you can't wait to be a part
of it. Learn as much as you can

about the owner, nothing is more
flattering to me than when a

candidate walks in. And no some
personal details about my life,

like the fact that I have a
beautiful granddaughter or that

I have a podcast like all of
these little details about my

life, I find super flattering
when a candidate comes in and

knows those. Another important
thing to know is the salon

culture, that's going to
definitely help you know how to

dress for the interview and how
to show up and what's the vibe

of the place like is this even a
place that you would like to be

a part of just because it's a
luxury salon doesn't mean it's

the right salon for you. So it's
up to you to do the research.

What I'm looking for in a
candidate in my luxury salon is

kind of different depending on
the candidate that I'm looking

for. So if I'm looking for an
apprentice, because we do have a

really successful apprenticeship
program at my salon, and we hire

a lot of people fresh out of
school. So what I'm looking for

an apprentice is obviously
vastly different than what I'm

looking for in an established
stylist. So as an apprentice, I

want to know that I can trust
them to show up to work every

day, looking like the stylist,
they want to be not the

apprentice that they are, I want
them to have a really big smile

on their face. This should be
the most exciting time of their

career, finding their salon
home. And sitting in the office

of a successful salon owner
should be very exciting. Yes,

possibly a little intimidating,
but also very exciting. So show

up with a big smile on your face
the smile to me, more important

than the outfit every single
day. And I want to know that

they're eager to learn. Those
are the kinds of things I want

to hear coming out of their
mouth, oh my gosh, I can't wait

to learn from you. I can't wait
to be a part of this salon. I

can't wait to learn more about
this wonderful industry like

things like that just really
light me up. And I feel really

drawn to someone that already
comes in with an attitude of

growth and learning and
excitement. So if I'm sitting

down with a more experienced
candidate, then I'm going to

expect them to have some
successes under their belt. I'm

hoping that they've got some
additional certifications. And

I'm hoping that they have you
know what it takes to build a

clientele maybe I can even learn
something from them. Because

that's the beauty of this
business is that when we come

together, we get to exchange
ideas and solutions and things

that have worked for us and then
we get to help each other. So

I'm really hoping when I'm
hiring someone that's been

through the things that I've
been through, that they can help

me as well. So I have had the
opportunity to hire some really

amazing young women to come work
for me in my salon. And one of

my favorite stories is I was
actually in a boutique shopping

and I'm looking through the
racks. And this really cute

young girl comes up to me and
she goes, Do you work at locks?

And I was like, Yes, I Hi, I'm
Tracy, I'm the owner and she

goes oh my gosh, I'm about to
graduate cosmetology school and

I was going to call you next
week and set up an interview. I

just love your salon and I can't
wait to come in there and see

what you think about Setting up
an interview with me. And I was

just floored. Not only was this
girl super adorable, but she was

also really, really excited. So
those things that we talked

about the smile, the appearance,
the eagerness to learn, she

encompassed all of those things.

And I just couldn't wait to
actually sit down with her and

get to know her better. Usually,
in my salon, we will interview

someone two times, if we really
can't make a decision, sometimes

a third interview is necessary.

But most of the time, we can
extract what we need out of two

interviews. But I had this
adorable girl come in for an

interview, she had just
graduated barber school. And she

came in and had the most
charisma that I've ever seen in

a candidate before, she answered
all the questions like exactly

like I would want her to, she
had all the enthusiasm, she was

very excited and very eager to
take this next step. And I

literally hired her on the spot
that has never happened before.

But sometimes someone will come
in and just blow you away, and

they're gonna hire you on the
spot, you know, or you're gonna

hire them on the spot, like,
it's just gonna feel right. So

that's why I say show up big for
your interview, because you

never know when you're going to
be exactly what a salon is

looking for. So you're getting
close to the big day, you've got

your interview scheduled, and
it's time to start doing your

homework, again, do your
research on the services and the

products that the salon uses. Do
they have any accolades that you

might want to be familiar with,
I'm one of the top 200 salons in

North America. And when somebody
comes in knowing that I'm super

flattered, and that lets me know
that they have done their

homework, get to know their
salon values. For me,

sustainable beauty is at the top
of my list when it comes to my

salon values. So when someone
comes in with that knowledge,

I'm excited, you should go in
prepared, you should be dressed

professionally, and you know,
professionally has changed a

little through the years. But
for me, jeans are not the vibe

for an interview. I think jeans
are great for almost any other

occasion, honestly, other than
the interview itself. So I would

make sure that you dress really
professionally, and your hair

needs to be on point. Okay, like
I'm talking about, you should be

spending more time on your hair
than anything else. This is a

interview at a luxury hair
salon. And if you wear makeup, I

think your makeup should be on
point as well. Really show up

and be prepared to let your
light shine, show up as the

absolute best version of
yourself and try to stand out

what is your unique
characteristic? What do you

bring to the table? And he pack
that, put that in your purse and

bring it with you to the
interview? Because that is very,

very important. That salon owner
may have upwards of 10 people

applying for that position. Why
are they going to choose you

make sure you walk away from
that interview with them knowing

why I want to really emphasize
the importance of being

passionate and enthusiastic
about this industry and having a

positive attitude toward
learning and growth. I mean, I

can't say enough about this.

Before I opened Aspire my barber
and Beauty Academy, I would go

into the surrounding area into
the schools and I would teach

classes. I knew way back in the
day that I absolutely loved

spending my time with students.

And I still do to this day,
obviously, now I would go into

the schools and I would teach a
class and the students would

reach out to me afterwards on
Instagram or Facebook, they

would follow me they would ask
me questions about the industry

or go into the subject that I
taught and more detail. And I

just thought that was a really
good way to plant that, I guess

second seed of communication.

The first one would be in class.

If I'm at a school and I'm
teaching a class and someone's

got their hand up and they're
interacting really well that

person is really going to stand
out to me. And then if they

follow that up with a message
that's like that second

impression that is also super
important. And I'm just very

flattered by that. And it
usually always ends with when

I'm done with school can I come
talk to you about a job and and

that's an automatic yes for me.

If you've taken the time to
interact with me during class

and you followed up with a
message I can tell you're eager,

I can tell you're passionate and
I most certainly will carve out

time in my schedule to give you
an interview. You should be

creating social media content
from in my opinion, day one or

week one or whatever. But
honestly, in school, you should

be creating your social media
platform and you should be

posting pictures of your work
and you should be really proud

of that work and you're gonna
look back on that work and five

years and you're gonna go oh my
gosh, look at the growth. That's

just like a side benefit. But as
a salon owner, if you are

invisible in the media world,
I'm not going to be very

impressed. I just got to be
really, really honest. with you.

Another thing that you can do is
request shadow days. I've talked

about this before, I think
shadow days are a huge

opportunity. And if you're not
taking that opportunity you're

missing out, you should be
spending time in the potential

salons that you may want to work
in someday so that you can make

sure they're a fit for you. also
submit your resume early on,

like three months after you've
graduated because you needed

some quote, unquote time off is
not impressive to me, that to me

does not scream passion. I like
someone who's coming in with a

resume. About three months
before they graduate, that lets

me know that they're thinking
about their future seriously. I

also really like it when people
volunteer in the community, at

my salon, we do a lot of
volunteering, we do a lot of

giving, that's just as a group,
heavy on our hearts. We love

doing that kind of thing. And so
if that's you, and you like

doing that kind of thing, too,
that also lets me know you're

going to be a really good fit in
my salon, and not you're

probably just a really good
person. Being a luxury stylist

doesn't just happen overnight.

It requires additional
education, not just in your

basic skills, but in more high
end services. You know, when you

think of the word luxury don't
just think pricey, don't just

think expensive. I mean, you
actually need to have a really

solid skill set and high end
services to back that word up

some of the services that are
associated with a luxury salon

or hair extensions or Permanent
Cosmetics. I mean, these are

those more pricey more high end
services that a luxury client is

going to be looking for their
high dollar services that really

provide a life changing result
for your guest. I mean, if you

have a guest that has always had
thin hair, and you have just

delivered to them on a silver
platter in two hours or less the

hair of their dreams. That's
luxury baby, and they're going

to remember you for the rest of
their lives. Same thing with

cosmetics. Like for me, I've
never had eyebrows when I got my

eyebrows microbladed y'all, I
was on top of the world for the

first time in my life. I felt
like I could go somewhere

without drawing on eyebrows.

That is luxury. These are high
dollar services that are going

to provide life changing results
for your guests and a very good

income for you. Beyond the
service itself. When I think of

luxury, I think about really
caring for my client really

pampering my client going the
extra mile warm eyemask our

massages, a nice chilled glass
of wine or a hot cappuccino.

These are all things that to me
scream luxury, and it's a level

of service that your clients are
really going to appreciate and

tell all their friends about.

Morgan Franklin: 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