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: No one wants
bad things to happen. But they

do. And they will. And we need
to be ready for it. So today, I

want to talk to you about
becoming a stylist in a

recession, we have been hearing
that word hot and heavy since

2020. And I don't think it's
going anywhere, you know, the

media really wants you to stay
tuned in, they make a lot of

money off keeping your attention
on them and the possibilities of

bad things happening. So it's
important to keep your mindset

in a good place. You know, it's
important to make sure that

while you need to be aware of
current events, don't become

obsessed with them, don't let
them make you anxious. And

definitely don't let their
influence stop you from becoming

a stylist in a recession, if
that's what you want to do. The

US Bureau of Labor Statistics
projects growth in the beauty

industry by 11%. Over the next
decade, this is higher than the

average growth of most other
sectors. So this is a great

industry to enter into. Now,
even if a recession is around

the curve, you know, roughly
every decade we have a recession

in the US. So it's not about if
it's about when and we need to

have a plan. So in 2009, I was a
fairly new stylist and a salon

owner and I found myself in the
midst of a recession. And I'll

be honest with you, I was really
scary. You know, we have a heads

up right now that this is
possible, you know, we can kind

of see it coming. And 2009, we
had no idea. We had no idea that

people were going to be laid off
at the magnitude they were we

had no idea people were going to
be losing their houses and

trying to figure out how they
were going to be able to put

food on the table. So what
started to happen was, you know,

people stopped spending money on
the more extravagant services,

I'm sorry, but that's the
reality of it, people are going

to be more concerned with
covering their gray than they

are with getting a fresh set of
nails every two weeks, they'll

polish their nails at home, if
they have to, they'll tweeze

their own eyebrows, if they have
to. Being a business owner and

being someone that owns a salon
and a spa, and someone that

owned it during a recession.

That's what I find to be true.

And I hate to say it, but women
are far more dedicated to their

hairstylist than they are any
other service provider in their

life. So your clients spending
habits are definitely going to

change. That's something that
you can be certain of. And there

are some things that you can do
to minimize the loss behind

that. And I think one of them is
make sure that you're giving

them a friendly discount on the
products that they purchase. If

you have a client that's still
willing to purchase professional

products from you, then you
really have someone that's

loyal. And I feel like that kind
of loyalty during an uncertain

time like that should be
rewarded. Now, let me preface by

saying these are all things that
we don't want to ever have to

do. You know, we put a lot of
value in the products that we

use the colors that we use our
time behind the chair, and no

one ever wants to have to
discount that. But let me tell

you a discount is a lot better
than losing that client to

someone who is willing to do
whatever it takes during a

recession to make sure that that
client stays on their book.

Another thing that you can do is
focus on what's really working.

I mean, the evidence is going to
be there, you just need to be

looking for it. So yes, clients
are probably going to create

more distance between their
highlights and you know, if

they're getting perms or
extensions or Brazilian blowouts

or anything like that, you're
definitely going to see them

looking for ways to eliminate
some of those more expensive,

more time consuming services.

And so what you really need to
focus on is what are they

getting what is showing up every
single day. And for me, it was

my route touch ups and my
haircuts, you know, I found my

short haired clients, we're
definitely going to be there

every four to six weeks getting
their hair cut, because short

hair loses its shape the fastest
and they didn't like that and

they didn't want to see the hair
on their neck and things like

that. So I really made sure that
I took really good care of those

people. And those were the
people I was asking for

referrals. Like send me your
friends. I'm sure you have

friends with short hair. I love
cutting short hair, please give

them my card and send them my
way. I will be happy to reward

you with a discount for doing
that. And thank you so much.

Another thing was the route
touchups nobody is going to let

their gray hair start shining
through Do I don't care? I mean,

I'm just here to tell you once
you start that process, and the

gray shows out that hard line of
demarcation is showing up in

your face every three to four
weeks, there's not much you

won't do to make sure that that
goes away. So my base color

clients were my tried and true,
those were the people that were

showing up for their
appointments every four to six

weeks without fail. Can you
recession proof your business?

No, I don't think you can. But I
do think that you can show up

strong every single day and
still pour your heart and soul

into your craft and your
business. And your clients and

this thing that you built in
this thing that you're

passionate about show up for it
every single day strong, do not

give up, things will get better.

We're proof of that as a nation,
we get better every single time

and we learn from every economic
setback, we experience we grow

from it, what can you do for
your clients to add value, there

are so many things that you can
do behind the chair to show your

client that you so appreciate
the fact that they are still

choosing you that yes, they can
choose someone else. They can

choose someone cheaper, they can
choose someone faster, but they

are choosing you and that
deserves some recognition. There

are products out there that cost
less than $1. You can do a deep

conditioning treatment for your
client and five minutes for less

than $1. Why would you not make
that one of the special little

bonus things that they get to
come in and experience? Another

thing is a hand massage. What
does that cost you? A few

minutes and a squirt of lotion,
show up for your clients strong

and let them know that you are
going to get through this

together? How can you adjust as
a stylist and a salon owner to

not lose your business, there
are so many things that you can

do to target your ideal client
that doesn't cost a lot of

money. And social media is at
the top of that list. Social

media doesn't cost you a thing,
you should definitely be showing

up with elements of humor and
compassion in your social media

everyday along with the
marketing that is made wildly

available to you on any of these
platforms, it costs you a few

minutes and $0 to create some
really fun content that will

inspire someone that will make
someone laugh, that will keep

you on their mind, because
that's what we want, their

beauty needs are going to pop up
randomly. And when that happens,

you want it to be you that they
think of and you can do that on

social media for free 99 Honey.

So when you're searching for
your ideal client, you need to

stop and think about what that
really looks like, what does

your ideal client do for a
living? What does your ideal

clients personal life look like?

Are they someone that really
likes to take care of their

self, or are they a natural
beauty, whatever it is, make

sure that you're targeting that
client, it is unnecessary to

yell at everyone, when you can
whisper to the right person, be

intentional with the type of
client that you're marketing to.

Because those are the clients
that are gonna get you through

the tough times, their loyalty
to you and the time that they

spend with you is so important.

And you need that and you guys
are gonna get through it

together. When you're looking at
your ideal client is it better

to have a budget clientele or a
luxury clientele. In my

experience, the best clientele
to have is the clientele you

have, whatever that may be,
whether it's a combination of

both. But if I have to choose a
luxury client or a budget client

during a recession, this may
surprise you. But I'm gonna go

with a luxury client every
single time and you want to know

why. Because I have room there,
don't i i have a little cushion

there. They can take a few
things off the ticket, and that

is still in income that I can
live on that I can survive on.

So yes, I would rather do $100
haircut or one client that is

going to do $100 worth of
services that you'd have to take

10 clients to get the same $100
That's exhausting. So yes, I

feel like a luxury clientele
during a recession is definitely

going to give you a little bit
more of that comfort, a little

bit more of that cushion. So
what is your luxury clientele?

The biggest difference is that
your luxury client is probably

not going to be living paycheck
to paycheck and a recession

hitting is not going to affect
them in the same way that it

would your budget clientele.

When you think about your ideal
clientele Think about someone

whose budget is going to give
them the leeway to continue to

stay on your books during a
recession. If I could go back to

2009 as the stylist I am today
and speak to myself as the

stylist I was back then. I would
remind myself not to give up. I

would tell myself that the
future is so bright and so

exciting and you just have to
get through this. Showing up for

your clients and taking care of
those who have taken care of you

is My best advice to anyone.

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