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: Today we're
going to talk about maternity

leave having a baby that's under
a year old and being a mom

that's behind the chair. While I
already had my children when I

started my work as a stylist,
and as a salon owner. I've

worked with countless women as
they transition through this

season of their life. And I want
to help prepare you and share a

few tips on how to make this
process easier for you and for

your clients. One of the biggest
questions that I hear stylists

ask is, am I going to get paid?

Well, the truth is probably not.

I've not really seen this happen
in my local industry. Anyway,

I'm sure there's a salon or two
out there that does offer these

benefits. But it's really not
the norm. Working in an hourly

pay or commission structure
means if you're not performing

services, you're not making any
money, and neither am I. So

unfortunately, as a salon owner,
it doesn't really give me much

to work with as far as paying
you when you're off. In a

setting where paid time off is
one of the benefits, you're

still probably looking at a week
or two at the most depending on

how long you've been with that
company. maternity leave is

anywhere from six to 12 weeks.

And I'm not here to say you
shouldn't take that time off,

it's an incredibly important
time to heal your body and bond

with your new baby. You should
however, plan on putting some

money aside for your lead
because it's unlikely that

you're going to be paid for your
time off from the salon. So

what's it look like when you go
back? Well, most new moms are

gonna come back to a modified
schedule. I have not seen anyone

in a very long time just return
full time after maternity leave.

And I understand why this is a
very important season of your

life as a new family and missing
anything and missing any of the

firsts sounds like torture. But
this isn't a career that will

allow you to just disappear
completely without consequences.

Your clients are going to cycle
through every six to 12 weeks,

and they will probably need to
be seen while you're out. My

recommendation is to put them
with the stylist in your salon,

one that you know will offer a
similar experience for a similar

price, then your chances of them
coming back to your chair is

much higher. Don't get me wrong,
so many clients are wonderfully

loyal, but not all. And that's
okay. Considering that you're

probably coming back to limited
time and availability anyways,

you won't have time for them
all. I have never had a problem

modifying the schedule to suit a
stylist, especially if they are

a high value stylist, meaning
the two or three days that they

are at work are well spent, they
work hard and they give their

clients their all they also do
their part around the salon

helping their teammates out and
they fold their share of towels

to say the least. So the length
of maternity leave varies. You

know a lot of stylists used to
come back after four or five,

six weeks, but now stylists are
taking up to 12 weeks off and

how long you take off is a
decision that needs to be based

on what's good for you and
what's best for your family.

Some moms feel too guilty to go
back to work at all, while

others can't wait to get back at
it. Some can go back part time

while others don't really have
that luxury. Some will do it for

the creative edge while others
will do it to put food on the

table. No matter why or how many
days you decide to work. There's

no denying the amount of time
taken off for maternity leave

has increased and even doubled
in the last several years. The

only way to be prepared for not
making money for like six to 12

weeks is to prepare. You've got
several months of pregnancy

before the baby gets here, but
you've got a plan ahead and it

can be done. A savings account
is a simple but effective way to

put away some money. Or maybe
you commit to a certain

percentage of your income. Or
maybe you're like hey, I'm just

gonna save all my cash tips. I
find that to kind of be a fun

way to put even a little more
aside. I used to save all my

cash tips in an envelope and let
it accumulate over time. It

really opened my eyes to how
much money I was blowing by not

treating my cash like real
money. We do need to consider

how much less common cash tips
are now so maybe you include all

your Venmo tips as well whatever
works for you. So what if you're

all alone or you work in a salon
suite? Let's go back to placing

your clients while you're gone.

We know we need to set them up
with a similar stylist if we

work in that salon, but what if
we're all alone? What if we're

in a suite, I feel like most
suite stylists still get to know

their neighbors pretty good, and
hopefully a few of them would be

willing to help you out while
you're gone. If that's not an

option, hopefully you at least
know a few stylists that you

could reach out to on their
behalf. At the end of the day,

we need to help our clients the
best we can. We don't want them

fending for themselves and doing
something rash like coloring

their own hair. If for some
reason, you just aren't able to

find a replacement while you're
out, then at least write their

formulation down for them and
include any details or

preferences that could help a
fellow stylist out. Make sure

they're stocked up on all their
at home care all their must

haves things that your guests
swears by and can't live

without. Make sure it's in stock
when they come in for that last

appointment before you leave.

Don't forget to have them
already on the books for when

you plan to return. Be aware of
what they will need done in

610 12 weeks of not seeing you
and make sure it's properly

booked. What about the male
stylist? What about the daddies?

Do they get time off? What does
that normally look like? Well, I

can't personally speak on this.

But I imagine they take off a
week or two depending on their

family dynamics. I think time
off for dads is equally

important, but it's just
different. They need to bond

with their baby and help mom out
during this time. I'm all for

it. And hopefully they are
scheduling some time off. But

honestly, I've just never seen a
dad take the full amount of time

off. There are so many extra
responsibilities that you need

to prepare for for a newborn
stuff you've probably not even

thought about like taking time
off for their baby appointments

or your postpartum deployments.

Thinking about how often is this
kid gonna get sick if they're in

daycare, parenthood is a roller
coaster, and no two experiences

will be alike. But some things
are pretty common. And that's

that babies get sick. And
daycares have very strict

policies on getting them picked
up and when they can return. In

a perfect world. We all have
this backup plan, a grandma or

another family member that can
help out when needed, and when

possible, it's so helpful, but
that's not an option for

everyone. So work gets missed
and everyone has to be

rescheduled. It happens it's not
fun for anyone but it does

happen. I find that loyal
clients who wait out your

maternity leave and return to
your chair, they will be

understanding at first. But if
it becomes a common occurrence,

I urge you to try to make it up
to them some how to get them in

as soon as you can make sure
they know how much you

appreciate their understanding.

Even the most loyal client will
tire of the inconvenience,

especially if they don't feel
valued. So breastfeeding mamas,

breastfeeding is totally doable
as a working mom, even as a

working stylist, you can pump
during lunch or during

processing times, this is a
really good time to hit pause on

double booking, if that's
something that you do, you will

need this time for other things,
especially if you're a nursing

mom. Not to mention these
gadgets have come so far, the

pump I tried to use like 30
years ago is a dinosaur compared

to the technology we have now.

So being a breastfeeding stylist
is a lot more doable than it

used to be. So what does a
manageable schedule look like

for a new parent, I find two to
three days a week is the normal.

Sometimes it started out as two
when the child's really little

and then they can work back up
to three. I mean, it's really

hard leaving your snuggling new
angels for any amount of time.

So I always suggest having a day
off in between your work days. I

know sometimes you're at the
mercy of your babysitters. So if

that's not possible, it's okay.

And I know this sounds obvious,
but I always say the best work

schedule is a schedule that
works. Meaning pick your days

behind the chair and stick to
them have consistency. It's

better for your clients to know
ahead of time what your schedule

looks like. So they can plan as
well. Finding your routine is

going to help you out and it's
really going to be good for your

newborn as well. Some parents
are just going to come back at

it they're going to come back
full time and full swing. And

maybe that's what they need as a
creative. Not everyone's meant

to be a stay at home mom or even
a part time stay at home mom, or

maybe financially that's just
what's gonna happen. Having your

priorities in place is going to
look different depending on the

day. Some days your little
person is going to need you

they're going to be sick or the
babysitter cancelled and you

don't have a backup. Your child
is going to be your priority

that day. Then there's going to
be days when you'd really like

to be at home with your baby who
came home with a low grade fever

but it's not an emergency and
you've got a client on the boat

with the Big event that's coming
up. Or maybe it's a client that

you already had to reschedule
before. If you've got help, and

it's not an emergency, I think
you should stay and take care of

your client. My kids were six
and seven. When I started my

journey in this industry, I
passed all the baby stuff, but

there were still some challenges
and days where I had to make

hard decisions. I will say that
as a single mother, sometimes

life makes that decision for you
and you just have to miss stuff.

You miss appointments with
clients when the kids need you

most and you miss lacrosse,
games and dance practice when

you need to honor your
commitment to your clients. It's

not always easy, but it is
always worth it. My kids got to

enjoy a loving and present
mother and a really good example

of being successful and chasing
your dreams and actually

catching them.

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