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: Overnight
success is a myth, no one

becomes wildly successful
overnight. Even when it appears

that way you have to remember,
you're only seeing a glimpse,

not the whole journey. I see a
lot of stylists come out of

school with some unrealistic
expectations, not saying it's

their fault, some things just
have to be learned. And I'm not

here to crush any dreams, you
can most certainly have an

incredible first year behind the
chair, and an even better second

year, but you're gonna have to
work for it. What your first

year behind the chair looks like
depends on a few things. All

start with the type of Salon you
go work at. Is it a well

established salon that markets
well and properly trains their

employees? If so great, you're
probably in the right place. A

salon like this sees a lot of
new faces every month. And as

the newbie with more
availability than everyone else

this is going to be great for
you is your salon and a high

traffic area with lots of
walking business, this could be

great too. But if you're in a
salon that most people have

never heard of on some side road
on the outskirts of town, you

could have problems. No matter
how many clients you think

you're going to have. I promise
you, you're going to need more.

So choose wisely when it comes
to your salon home.

Unfortunately, I don't think
enough schools properly set

their students up for success in
this ever evolving industry. As

much as this industry changes,
not enough schools are willing

to change with it. We can't
ignore the fact that this

industry has gained real
traction. It's more popular than

it's ever been. And I can
understand why the beauty

business is a blast. But it is
still a business. And things

like social media, attracting
your ideal clientele. And

tracking your income versus
expenses should always be part

of the curriculum. But often
it's not. And that's one of the

many reasons I knew I had to
open a spire. Being a successful

stylist for two decades gives me
a real advantage. As you can

imagine, I've seen it all
survived at all. And that kind

of real world experience has
given me invaluable Intel. And

my mission is to share it with
the world, with my students with

my team and with you. I
understand the importance of

honing in on my skills, skills
are important friends, you can

be an awesome person with the
best personality. But if you

can't cut hair for shit, people
are coming back. I'm sorry,

they're not. And on the other
hand, if you can foil like

nobody's business, but don't
connect with your clients or

recommend new products or
services, and actually treat

this like a business, you're
probably going to lose them

anyway. It all matters, clients
want it all. And we can give it

to them. But it requires
dedication and self discipline.

No matter what business model
you choose, you will never keep

100% of what you make. You won't
even keep 50% of what you make.

Most stylists have no idea what
it really costs to perform a

color service, or to get a new
client through the door. I've

had a lot of stylists lead to go
the independent route, I get it.

A lot of people want to be their
own boss, they want to call the

shots, I get it. But if you're
making this decision, because

you think you're going to make
more money, I urge you to do

your homework because most of
the time that isn't the case.

When you're considering leaving
a commission salon, I want you

to look back at the time that
you've spent there. And then I

want you to open your
appointment book. How many of

those clients came in just for
you? Half of them one in five?

Well, that's because the salon
markets to the public and has

built a reputation in their
community. new clients are

coming in every day because of
that and that makes building

your clientele a whole lot
easier. In a suite or chair

rental this will all be on you.

Every client who sits in your
chair is on you to recruit while

maybe when you leave most of
your clients come with you.

Okay, great. Statistically only
half do but anyway, at some

point they will drop off and
need to be replaced. So I want

you to be sure you understand
this and you have a marketing

plan in place for yourself. So
over time, you're not actually

losing money. Social media
serves such a strong purpose and

it really is so beneficial. But
again, it can be deceiving. Most

people are If and only play the
highlight reels of their life,

making it all look so easy, so
glamorous. But it's not easy. It

takes a lot of work. Becoming a
six figure stylist doesn't

happen overnight, but it can
happen. I think stylists are

shocked by how hard it is to
build a full book and how long

it takes how much commitment it
takes to actually be a

profitable stylist. Building a
full book can be up to a two

year process. And maintaining a
full book is a career long one.

Again, clients are going to drop
off for various reasons, the

more successful you become, the
less available you will be and

the more expensive your services
will become. And this is all

wonderful, this is what we want.

But we can't ignore the fact
that that is why some clients

found you in the first place,
because that's what they prefer,

affordable and available.

Eventually, they will seek that
out and you will be down a

client. And that's okay, this is
the natural progression. But now

you understand the importance of
marketing yourself even when

you're busy. So I've mentioned
Salon Marketing and the

importance of a strong social
media presence. But is that

enough? Probably not. So what
else is there? Well, I love my

community. I really love my
community and I try to be as

present as possible for the
people and the causes that

matter to me most. There is
immense value in just getting

out there and being seen and
your community. Some of the

things that I've done through
the years are going to pop up

markets, setting up booths doing
complementary services, like

hand massages, makeup, touch ups
and styling tutorials. This has

been such a win for me as a
stylist and as a salon owner. I

also love to go to charity
events and learn how to support

causes that I didn't even
realize were important to me. A

great idea is to find small
business groups to meet with for

lunch and attend after our
cocktail parties. All of these

have been super beneficial for
me. There is no shortage of ways

to be present if you choose to
be. Another thing we don't often

talk about in this industry is
this is hard emotional work,

mentally and physically. I don't
think stylists are properly

prepared for the emotional
pressure of working with clients

on services that are so
personal. I mean, I've shaved a

woman's head when she found out
she had cancer. I've done

countless brides on the most
important day of their life. And

I've met clients at the salon on
a Sunday afternoon to style

their hair for their dad's
funeral. We are there for the

highs and we are there for the
lows. And I really do find it

all so beautiful. But there's no
denying the weight of these

emotions, the pressure you feel
to get it right to say the right

thing to do the right thing. And
as far as our bodies go, we talk

about carpal tunnel, lower back
pain and all the other physical

evidence that comes with the
job. But we don't always talk

about this. We don't always talk
about the mental weight, the

emotional weight. Building a
clientele can be hard for new

stylists because the clients are
calling the salon with all these

expectations, right? being the
new kid on the block isn't

always easy. clients call the
salon and use words like

experienced stylist or seasoned
stylist. They probably had a bad

experience with a new stylist at
some point. So they think this

will give them better odds. But
a lot of times those stylists

are booked, they're booked out
and they decide they're going to

take a chance on you. I'm so
proud of the training program we

have in place in my salon. It
gives the newer stylist the

skills, and more importantly,
the competence to change the

guests mine to deliver a great
experience and a great service

no matter what experience level
they're at. I recommend a

training program for any stylist
who doesn't feel quite ready to

hit the salon floor running. I
know you just graduated and

you're excited to get started.

But a good apprenticeship is
well worth the investment of

your time. You know, stylists
get really discouraged and new

stylists get discouraged the
most, I think and it's because

they don't know what they don't
know. They don't know it's

normal to have cancellations. So
they take it really personally.

They don't know it's impossible
to make some people happy. So

they think they suck as a
stylist. They don't know it's

normal to have a second job
while they build their

clientele. So they think it's
always going to be this way.

They don't know it's harder some
days than others. So they don't

think they have what it takes.

Have I ever wanted to give up?

Hell yeah. I think at some
point, or for some of us at many

points in our career, we wanted
to give up. I certainly did. But

man, I am so glad I didn't. So
maybe you're listening to this

podcast right now and you're
thinking Tracy, that's me. I'm

ready to give up. Well, I don't
think you are. You're here,

aren't you? If you're here and
you're listening listening to

this podcast for little nuggets
grasping at Hope, then you still

have some fight left in you, you
are stronger than you're giving

yourself credit for. So keep
going. Do it for the dreamer who

signed up for beauty school. Do
it for the person who loves

making people feel good luck.

Good. Mostly do it for the
future version of you. The one

who's wildly successful, who
loves going to work every day,

that version of you is counting
on you to not give up. So maybe

you're just thinking about
becoming a stylist or maybe

you've recently enrolled in a
program. Well, if you're looking

at schools, remember the things
I mentioned earlier? Are they

offering all the important
things? Will you learn both the

technical and the business
skills you're going to need to

be successful. And if you're
already in school, be dedicated.

Start showing up as the stylist
you hope to be someday. style

your hair, fix your face. Ask
questions and demand that your

instructors give you the
education that you're paying for

the education that you deserve.

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