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 in most
jobs, how you get a raise is

really, really clear, you're
working for someone else,

they've already got the
benchmarks in place for you.

They're leading you, they're
guiding you, many commission

salons, they also function this
way they function on a level

system, and there are metrics
that have to be met in order to

receive a raise, you should
absolutely be expecting a raise

in this industry, there is no
reason for you to sit still

financially or otherwise in an
industry that holds limitless

potential. So when an entry
level stylists hits their

benchmarks, six weeks straight,
or over a 12 week average in my

salon, they qualify for a raise
a level jump, if you will. And

that's approximately a 10%
increase on all of their

services. So when is it time? Is
there even a time? How do you

know? Well, this is completely
based on a motivated stylist who

puts their share of the work in,
you know, you can't expect the

salon that you work out to do
all the work all the recruiting

of clients, you have to show up
strong and motivated every

single day or none of it works.

Your first raise should and can
usually happen in the first six

months to a year with another
one following again, usually

eight to 12 months later. So
what do you measure? And how do

you measure it? Well, one of the
metrics that you should be

measuring is the percentage of
time that you're booked, supply

and demand honey still the same.

So if you're booked 85% of the
time that you are scheduled than

you are in high demand. Now
let's talk about retail sales.

Retail sales is important to the
overall experience for a guest

not being set up for a win with
their take home product is

detrimental to their success and
yours. So many times I hear

stylists say, Well, why do I
really have to sell retail?

Doesn't it just help the salon?

Why wouldn't you want to help
the salon? They're the one

paying for your continued
education. They're the one

making sure that the shelves are
stocked and the marketing is

happening. So why wouldn't you
want to do your part to

contribute to a process and a
team that overall works? Well,

when everyone does their part?

Absolutely do your part. The
goal for retail sales in my

salon is 15% retail to service
and it is also the industry

standard. So simply put, that's
$15 and retail products for

every $100 worth of services
that you perform. Another metric

that your eyes should be wide
open to is pre booking. This is

like a guest planning for the
future. This is like you looking

ahead at your schedule for six,
eight weeks, and having a

similar day to the day you had
that day. That's the success of

pre booking, pre booking is a
clear indication that your

client is satisfied with the
services that you perform or

that a strong connection has
been made, they are making a

decision to come back to you 75%
of all of your guests should be

pre booking. And this is an
industry minimum. So this will

give your schedule some
regularity while leaving room

for those new guests as well. So
maybe you don't know what your

responsibility is and what the
owners responsibility is, should

you be responsible for promoting
yourself on social media and

creating your own content? I
mean, if you're not willing to

promote yourself, why should I
why as a salon owner, should I

go out of my way and take time
out of my schedule to create

content that promotes you, when
you're not doing it for

yourself? It's your
responsibility to create your

content that you want to be
known for the services that you

want to do more of and that will
help a potential client find

you. salon owners and content
creators should be sharing your

content on their salon page. Now
again, this is going to be easy

if you are creating the content
and all they have to do is share

it and now with the Collaborate
feature on Instagram you can

kill two birds with one stone.

As a stylist you should be
holding yourself accountable for

the potential clients that you
bring through the door. How are

people finding you and how many
people are coming to that salon

and mentioning your name? It is
not the salon owners

responsibility to build your
book. Now it is obviously a huge

benefit for them to put clients
in Your chair and I find that

most successful salon owners are
perfectly willing to do their

part. But it is hard to invest
in building a book for someone

that's doing the bare minimum
when it comes to their own self

promotion. Creating your own
content allows you to build your

own brand and your own image and
how you present yourself to the

world. You know what's funny, I
get asked at least once a day,

if I'm a hairstylist, and that's
because I look the part I always

have. And it's a big part of how
I built my business. I gave them

something to talk about, you
know, looking nice having your

hair done having your makeup on,
it opens up the door to talk

about what I do and give them a
business card because they asked

questions. So honey, fix your
hair, put on some makeup, maybe

put on a salon T and see if
opportunity doesn't knock. We

all get stuck. We all find
ourselves asking what's missing?

Why can I accomplish this goal?

If I were you, I would ask the
season stylist and your salon

for tips. I mean, most of them
are happy to share. If you're

really transparent about why
you're asking. I'm struggling, I

see that you're a successful
stylist and I could really use a

few pointers, there isn't a
stylist out there with a heart,

that's gonna have a hard time
helping you. Maybe you need to

download a new podcast, do a
search for episodes on raises

specifically, you do not need to
reinvent the wheel lean into

what others have already figured
out. There are tons of podcasts

out there that will help you and
I'm sure many, many episodes

specifically on raises, learn
something new, it doesn't have

to be expensive. There is free
and almost free education at

your fingertips 24 hours a day.

And after you practice this new
skill runner promotion on this

cool new technique that you
learned and get your clients

interested through social media.

Spend some time doing something
that ignites your creativity.

Get outside in nature, or do
something artsy book a class

with your friends where you guys
go and paint and drink wine

together, do something that
fulfills your soul and ignites

your artistry. Maybe you just
need to clear your head. So much

of what holds us back is in our
mindset. What can you do to get

out of your own way? Maybe
journal about it. So as a salon

owner with stylists that have
gone a year, maybe two years

without a raise, it's very
disheartening, it's

disheartening for me that I'm
not able to help them grow. It's

disheartening for them, they
feel like they're putting in the

work, whether or not they are
they feel like they're putting

in the work, and they don't feel
like they're getting anywhere.

The problem is simple.

Consistency, consistency, they
don't show up consistently good

days are followed by average or
below average days. I mean, you

have to create a process, a way
that you do things that is the

same every single time so that
it becomes so ingrained in you.

So a part of who you are, that
you always do it, instead of

sometimes do it. You can
overcome this challenge with

daily reflection. How did I show
up today? How do I need to show

up tomorrow to make up for the
lack that today had. If you're

only reflecting on your progress
once or twice a month, it's too

late. It's too late, you cannot
go back, you cannot change the

past. But if you are reflecting
on a daily basis, yeah, you

can't go back and change the
past, but you can learn from it

and show up stronger tomorrow.

So what's the norm? I mean, as a
salon owner, how often do I see

stylists receiving a raise? A
stylist even in an entry level

position can get a raise one to
two times in the first 12 months

of their employment, again,
assuming they're showing up

strong every single day, and
then once a year for the next

five years. And to be honest, at
that point, a lot of them will

move on to independence. And
that's okay. I'm thankful to be

part of their journey. And I
appreciate all they've done to

help me and help me grow my
business. So what's something

that I do every single day as a
stylist to ensure that I'm

constantly leveling up and
working toward growth? Well, one

is planned my day. I drink my
coffee and I strategize. I look

at my schedule and I look for
opportunities. And I map out

those processes in my head ahead
of time, the conversations that

I'll have with my clients so I'm
not fumbling for my words when

they get there. I'm prepared.

Success does not happen by
accident, guys, it happens by

creating an effective process
and showing up consistently

every single day. If you enjoy
today's episode and would like a

PDF of the processes that I use
for growth, and you can find it

in the show notes.

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

anytime soon. 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