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: I want to talk
about the fantasy, the fantasy

of being your own boss, I would
say most stylist, you know, they

want to be their own boss, like
who does it right? I do believe

that there is this facade built
around owning a salon. And I

just kind of want to go over
some of the common

misconceptions here. People
think they're going to have all

this freedom, that they're going
to make all this money, they're

going to be calling the shots
and leading the team to victory,

people are going to look up to
them, and people are going to

respect them. And there's some
truth to that, that's not always

not true. It's just not always
that way. And you have to really

be prepared for what things look
like when they're not going as

planned. One of the most
important things you can do as a

leader is to find how people
learn. Because not everybody

learns the same way, not
everybody likes to be led the

same way. Some people are going
to be really money driven, and

like you're going to sit down
with them with some goals and a

spreadsheet, and you're going to
show them how they can buy the

house and buy the car and take
the vacation, and they're going

to love that they're going to be
highly motivated by that. And

then you're going to find the
person that really just wants to

be happy. You know, they really
just want to love what they do.

They want to create beautiful
masterpieces behind the chair,

and they want to make a ton of
friends. Both are right, you

just have to teach the right
lesson to the right person. And

this also goes for people who
are ready to open their own

Salon Suite or rent a chair in a
salon, you are essentially a

small business owner when you do
that. And you have to take these

same principles and apply them
to yourself what motivates you?

Are you money motivated? Are you
joy motivated, which one of

those really check the boxes for
you because at the end of the

day, it is you that has to hold
yourself accountable, it is you

that has to put action steps to
these lofty goals that you have,

maybe now you're renting a
chair, and maybe now you own a

salon suite, but your dream is
much bigger, you cannot go to

the next level. If you're not
also minding the small details

of a small business, it's just
important to go ahead and start

those practices now. Because you
are a small business owner. So I

think these common
misconceptions start very early

on in the beauty schools, beauty
school owners want to get

students in right like that's
the goal. So I think you know,

there's a lot of over promising
and under delivering on what

you're going to be set up to do
after you graduate school.

Sometimes you come out of
school, barely knowing the

basics of how to deliver a
decent hair service, I can tell

you, you're not going to get any
business guidance or leadership

in a school that is just not
part of the curriculum. Now, if

you're a real go getter, and you
want to take some outside

courses, I mean, I don't see
anything wrong with that. But if

you think you're going to go
into beauty school and leave

prepared to open a salon, you're
going to be really disappointed.

I'm not gonna beat around the
bush. Owning a salon is hard.

It's hard work. And it's a ton
of responsibility. Now, I don't

say this to discourage you from
someday opening your own salon.

But I think it's important to
know what you're getting

yourself into, you are
responsible for everything. And

everyone, if you think you're
gonna have a ton of freedom in

your schedule, I want to set the
record straight right now you

won't, it's going to be long
days, and it's going to be late

nights, maybe not forever. But
initially, at the end of the

day, if something has to be
done, it doesn't matter what

time of the day or night it is,
it will fall in your lap and it

will be your responsibility.

You're going to have unsatisfied
clients, you're going to have

disgruntled employees. And
again, all of that is going to

fall on you. Now there are great
parts of it too. But I feel like

you need to know why it's hard.

And you need to have a really
strong why that's going to help

push you through the hard to get
to success. If you've listened

to my story, then you know, I
mean, I opened a salon and it

failed. And now I've opened
another one and I pray everyday

that it doesn't fail because you
never know what's gonna happen.

You know, there is just so much
to it. It can be so draining on

your heart and on your mind and
on your relationships, you know,

like, you have to have an
incredible support team, if

you're going to own a salon,
because of the late nights, like

we talked about in the demand on
your schedule, I mean, it's

everything from ordering
inventory to making sure that

people get paid on time, quality
control falls in your lap, if

someone calls and isn't happy
with their color service, and

they don't want to go back to
that stylist for whatever

reason, that's on you guess who
gets to come in on a Saturday

when they had plans with their
family and do that color

service, because God forbid, we
get a bad review, right? Like,

we just don't want to be seen
poorly, the reputation is ours

to defend. So it really is a lot
of stress. You know, until you

can hire someone to help you,
you're gonna wear a lot of hats,

and they're all going to be
equally important. And this goes

for my booth renters and My
Salon Suite owners as well, you

know, so many people leave a
salon, so many people have left

my salon to go and rent a chair
somewhere. And my thought always

is, I see your numbers, I see
what you've been able to achieve

in my care. And I'm taking care
of a lot of things for you,

who's going to mark it for you
who's going to hold you

accountable to your goals. And
to make sure that your numbers

are up to par there is so much
that you don't even know that

you don't know. And so when you
leave and you go out on your

own, those can be incredibly
hard lessons to learn. You know,

it is a lot of work. But it is
also extremely rewarding. And

there are a lot of really good
things about being your own

boss, like you are your own
culture creator, you get to

decide what the culture of your
salon is like, are you going to

be a really hip salon and
provide a lot of the current

trends and fashions? Are you
going to be edgy, you know,

listen to vinyl records and
dress freely? Are you going to

have a dress code are you going
to provide your clients with a

really elevated experience and
make sure that pampering and

making them feel special is the
most important thing. There are

so many different types of Salon
cultures. And as an owner, you

get to decide and that's very
rewarding. You know, helping

others achieve success in your
care is probably the best thing

ever. Like I can't think of
anything that I like more than

seeing one of my stylist crush
their goals. Take that trip to

Hawaii. Oh, you get to buy a new
house. I'm so excited that I got

to be a part of that. It is the
most magical and rewarding thing

about being a salon owner. It
brings you more joy than your

own success ever could. Yes,
it's really cool to pick out the

pictures on the walls and the
culture and things like that.

But nothing compares to the joy
of being able to help someone

create a sustainable career in
this industry. So yes, there is

a lot of fantasy around being
your own boss. But there's also

a lot of really great parts. And
I will say that it doesn't

matter what stage of your career
you're in whether you own a big

salon, whether you're about to
rent your first booth, maybe

you're about to go into a salon
setting, you need to find

somebody that can mentor you
find somebody that can tell you

about all the things that you
don't know, that can lead you

and guide you and can make sure
that you're putting the effort

into this career that it's going
to be required because I'm just

here to tell you, it doesn't
matter what business model

you're about to enter. It is a
lot of work, but it's also very

rewarding. Do yourself a favor,
get a mentor, get a coach, hold

yourself accountable.

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