The Aspiring Stylist with Tracey 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.

So some of you may already know, but I am about to open my own barber and Beauty Academy. And I want to talk about how you can get the most out of that experience for yourself. For me, I really believe that mindset is everything, how you go into the program, what your mindset is, I mean, make sure it's positive.

Make sure you're excited every single day when you go in and stay open to whatever the day holds. Let that be your mindset.

And make sure that you're ready.

You know, sometimes people need just a little short season after a job or after high school or, or at whatever stage in life you're in. As you enter into your beauty education, make sure that you're ready for it because you need to be eager to learn and you need to be eager to grow. And that's going to take some readiness on your part. So who is the most important person besides you on your beauty school journey, it's definitely the instructor how the instructor perceives you and how you perceive the instructor is incredibly important. You know, it's very important that you guys communicate well with each other. They're going to be helping you every day with anything that you need. And they're also going to be helping you long term. Instructors cannot read your mind you cannot read there's open communication is going to be essential. Make sure that you're advocating for yourself, if you don't understand something, it is up to you to make sure that you show up for yourself and you raise your hand and you say, hey, teach, I didn't get it. Can you go over that again, for me, a good instructor is going to be totally on board with doing that for you. And they're going to be proud of you for speaking up for yourself. And they're going to know that they can count on you to show up and be an active part of your own education. My beauty school journey was really special, I was definitely ready, I was excited. I was I was a little bit older, I think I was 26 when I went in, you know, I didn't take high school super seriously, it just wasn't I don't know, just, it just wasn't that important to me. I hate to admit that. But it's true. But this I was really, really excited about. And I got in there and I studied and I got good grades. And it was so exciting for me to really meet this new version of myself. It was honestly one of the best experiences that I could have had. And I give a lot of credit to my instructor, she was extremely passionate about making sure that we were successful and learning all the things that we needed to and most of the things that we wanted to your relationship with your instructor is by far the most important relationship you're going to have in school.

How do you learn? Figuring out what type of learner you are and leaning into that is really important. Are you someone that can read it out of a book and then straight away put it to life, put it to action? Are you someone that kind of has to watch someone else do it and then go do it right away? That's me, my hand is raised. That is who I am. I am someone that can see someone do it, watch it on a video, watch it in real life.

And then if I can go straight to either a model or a mannequin head and try it. That is how I excel the best in my behind the chair work. Maybe you're someone that gets it the first time you try it, you nail it, you execute it, it feels amazing. Or maybe you're someone that it takes a couple tries to get, do not let that discourage you, it's so important that if you know that that is how you learn, and that learning from your mistakes is a substantial way for you to grow, then don't be afraid to make those mistakes. Whatever kind of learner you are, it's important to know so that you can really focus on that technique. There's going to be a lot of different things that you're learning in school, it's going to be everything from sanitation to anatomy to the actual skills and technical work of your coloring and your cutting. There's makeup, there's nails and skincare, it goes on and on and on. Like it's such a broad spectrum and some of it you're gonna love, you're gonna go in there and it is going to feel so natural for you. You're going to be excited to walk in the doors each day while you're on this topic. And it's going to feel so so right. And then there's going to be things that you don't care as much about and that's okay.

It's okay to be figuring out what your needs She is in school, but it is important that you are effective. And that you do figure out how to execute properly, all of the things that you're going to need to know.

Because of course, you're going to be tested on it, there's tests, this is real school. So it's important that you keep your chin up, and that you try to stay excited even when maybe you're not loving what you're on. For me it was perms never been a big fan of perms. But they are an essential part of our industry, and people still get them today. So that was something that I had to kind of like really lean into and figure out how to like, so you're going to have your theory work and you're going to have your technical work, you're going to be in the classroom for a few hours every day, you're going to be on the floor for a few hours every day. So if you're not a real big book learner, that's okay. Know that later on, you're going to be able to get out there and you're going to get your hands dirty, and you're going to have some fun doing hair. And vice versa. If you're someone that gives a little bit nervous for the technical work, like being around clients feels a little bit strange still, and you're not totally comfortable with it, don't worry, you're going to be in the classroom later. And you're going to get your chance to like nerd out on the theory portion of what you're learning. The beauty industry is so exciting. And there are so many aspects of it, it's really easy to get caught up in it, right. But you have to find a balance between what you must walk away with knowing to pass your state boards, and then all the additional stuff that you can add on that interest you that ignite excitement in you, you know, there's room for both.

But I want to talk about the importance of really making sure that you get your core curriculum down, there's going to be aspects of your curriculum that are going to be really interesting to you. For me, I really liked the chemistry and I liked learning, you know how important it is for the hair to be pH balanced and for the skin to be balanced. And I like knowing what the chemical reaction is when you highlight someone's hair versus when you color their hair, I found all of that to be like wildly interesting for me. And there were other areas that I didn't find so interesting. You know, like pedicures, I learned how to do them, but I didn't love them.

But it was important that I walked away with baseline knowledge that could get me where I needed to be. And the most important place for me to be was with a passing state board grade. I had a stylist actually not too long ago that, you know, had come in and had been with me for a while and a client came in and the hair got damaged through a lightening process, you know, the limits were pushed, it was clear to me that this particular student was just not maybe even awake during chemistry class, I don't know.

But you know, I say all this to let you know that this is not information to sleep on. This is stuff that you're going to use every single day behind the chair. So although it may not seem super interesting to you at the time, it is very important to take that information with you. Because you need to know how can I keep the hair healthy while giving the client the results that they want. And it's all in the chemistry. And that is all in the curriculum. So pay attention to all of it even when it may not be the most interesting topic for you. 1500 hours may seem like a long time, right? It may seem like forever, like there's time to learn everything and do everything before I get out of school. But it goes by a lot faster than you think it will. And so I think it's important to touch on the necessity of time management and talk about how important it is that you put the time and the energy into knowing what you have to have. And maybe not all of those extra things that you can't get enough of on YouTube or Tik Tok. You know, videos are everywhere. And they're so exciting, and I love watching them myself. But I think as a student, it's really important to make sure that you're getting what you absolutely have to have, and that maybe you reward yourself with some of those more additional more interesting topics for you. There's a lot of information out there. But in the end, it all boils down to the magical day when you take your state board examination. So even after you've got all your hours in your instructor is going to carve out time for you to come in and do your mock state board. There's an entire curriculum created just for state boards. It's a little study guide, like a little workbook that you'll fill out and you'll use it as a study guide. And that is going to be everything that you need to know to pass your state board and your instructor is 100% on board to help you with that. So even after you've left school, you get to go back. Your instructor is going to help you with that.

Don't feel like just because you're out of school, there's not still support for you because there is and I also want to add you know, don't be discouraged if you don't pass the first time. I know a lot of stylists that it took more than one time more than two times to pass the state board. I have found a prospective employee and been waiting for them to pass their state board and they don't and that does not sway my decision on whether or not I feel like they're a good candidate for the team because it's a high pressure situation.

You're throwing up, you're nervous. Some people just aren't great test takers and some are.

And so for me, I'm not going to hold it against somebody, if they don't pass the first time, I'm going to do anything and everything that I can to support them and be patient with them and let them know that it's going to be okay. So you've passed your state board and you're out there and you're looking for a job trying to find your salon home trying to find a tribe that you're going to work with. And you're wondering if you're ready, you know, I wasn't I wasn't ready for you know, knowing exactly what to say to clients knowing how to have a proper consultation, knowing if I could create enough conversation in the two hours it was going to take for me to get their color service done. So have you mastered your soft skills that's very important.

Knowing how to engage with a client or even a prospective client is a very important skill set to have. And a lot of times when you're coming out of beauty school, you're not ready. So in my opinion, that is where these salons with associate programs really come into play. A lot of salons offer these programs not only so that you could tighten up your technical skills, but so that you can shadow them and see how to have a proper consultation with your client how to recommend the appropriate add home regimen. These are all soft skills that you don't necessarily get a lot of exposure to in school and having a mentor and having a salon hire you into an apprenticeship is a really great way to transition from Beauty School to the salon floor. Whether you're thinking about going to beauty school, you're already part of the program or you're starting your career. I want to encourage you to join me on the aspiring stylist podcast Facebook group.

I know this journey can feel overwhelming, but you are not alone.

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