The Unspoken Rules of Salon Culture
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: Let's talk
about the unspoke rules of salon
culture, the does and don'ts of
communication in a salon
environment, how to handle
conflicts in difficult
situations, and how to provide
constructive feedback that is
professional, effective
communication is so important to
any salon culture on the floor.
I feel like you need to be kind
and you need to be generous with
your words, you need to be
celebrating each other, it's so
important that you are spending
your time with one another
building each other up and not
tearing each other down. I feel
like the guests really love to
see when stylists support each
other and celebrate each other.
Hey, great job high five, I feel
like that puts a smile on
clients face, they like to see
that community that sense of
togetherness. It's not always
going to be rainbows and
butterflies, there are difficult
conversations that are going to
need to be had. But those
conversations need to be in
private, there is literally
nothing more cringy than
watching two stylists go at it
on the salon floor in front of
the co workers and in front of
the clients. That is completely
unacceptable in my book. So if
you have something that you need
to address, please find time to
have a private moment with that
particular stylist. Your
professional demeanor is so
important that we at Aspire
address personal appearance on
day one. That's how important I
find it in this industry, the
beauty industry, it's going to
be incredibly important to show
up looking polished and ready
for the day. You cannot show up
in the beauty industry not
looking beautiful, not feeling
beautiful. So make sure that
you're putting the time into
your appearance that this
industry is going to require of
you. I see stylists coming in
and cut off shorts and T shirts.
And I think in some salons
that's acceptable in my opinion,
that is not professional attire.
And I would strongly encourage
you to put a little bit more
thought into how you present
yourself to your guests. Your
smile should be an accessory
that you never leave at home. It
welcomes people and it makes you
more relatable. I always tell my
salon coordinators answer the
phone smiling, because I really
feel like people can hear it
through the phone. That is how
important I feel your smile is
to your overall presentation and
your appearance. For me, a
positive attitude is non
negotiable, like leave the drama
at the door, save the drama for
your mama and come in ready to
greet the team and the clients
with a good attitude. There is
no space in a good salon culture
for you to come in and take your
personal problems out on each
other. Now that's not to say
that the break room is in a safe
space to lean into one another
and be there for each other
because I find that to be
equally important. You know,
your work family is going to be
just that they are going to be
an extension of your family. And
they are going to be people that
you spend more time with than
you get to spend with your own
family. So I encourage you to
grow these really beautiful
relationships with one another.
But sometimes when we do that,
we forget that there's another
side to it. And that it's really
important that we always
maintain professionalism. And
then we never take our personal
problems out on those that don't
deserve it. You have to do your
part and honestly do someone
else's part if it's necessary.
Bank that good juju, sweep up
someone's hair, rinse out
someone's color bowls, there's
going to be a time later on when
you are achieving the success
that you're more mature, more
advanced stylists are achieving.
And then you're going to really
hope that someone bails you out
of a tight situation, you're
running 15 minutes behind and
your clients sitting up on the
couch, tapping her foot waiting
and patiently for you and you've
still got to clean up your mess,
or you've still got to get those
towels folded. This is a really
good opportunity to just depend
on one another for that and be
there for each other and help
each other out. Because one of
these days you're going to need
help to building relationships
and networking and establishing
strong connections with clients
and co workers and other
industry professionals is the
fastest way to advance yourself
in this industry. connections
can shift your career into high
gear. So make some it will lead
to opportunities which lead to
referrals. Make sure you're
networking with other stylists
as well. They are going to offer
services that you don't and vice
versa. And the nicest thing you
can do is look a client in the
eyes and say, Hey, I'm not
really great at that or I don't
offer that but this stylist down
the street does. That's what
creating those connections does
for you. Putting that client
first right that's what we want
to do. We want to put that
client first even if they aren't
a potential fit for us. We want
to make sure that we're
equipping them for success. And
if that means referring them to
another stylist in the salon or
even another salon down the
street than that's what we need
to be prepared to do. Be active
in your community, volunteer and
support charities and
initiatives that you're
passionate about. Volunteering
with my team and co workers for
me is creating a bond that is
different than any other thing
that we do together. We have
lots of charities that we're
passionate about. We have lots
of things that we participate in
that I feel like grow our
personal character and also
create an even stronger bond
between us. volunteering your
time is definitely good for the
soul, and it's also good for any
salon culture.
Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
the aspiring stylist podcast
with Tracy 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 Tracy
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
Tracy and the aspiring barber
and Beauty Academy go to aspire
barber and beauty.com
