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The Aspiring Stylist Podcast is 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 skill 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.
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.
Beauty standards have changed and the industry is changing with it.
More is expected from Beauty professionals than ever before.
And part of that is because of how many options people have.
The amount of people choosing trade over University has skyrocketed, and the beauty profession is among the most desired ones. When I started my work behind the chair, the assignment was simple, be dependable and do good hair show up and don't suck. But oh my gosh has that change. Now we need to connect with our clients, we need to make them feel special and make them feel valued, we need to throw in extras we need to stand out, we need to take pics, we need to take videos, we need to offer them a tutorial and sell them some products. And gosh, the list goes on and on. Most of this is because of social media.
And because with more people going into the beauty industry than ever before, the options for a potential client is endless. So just because our market is a little more saturated Now it doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Almost everyone walking the planet is going to need a haircut. And those who don't need a haircut, neither eyebrows waxed or their makeup done or they need hair extensions or something everybody needs something. Every person alive needs something. We are a populated planet. So there is not now nor will there ever be a shortage of people that will require your services. And there are a lot of stylists out there that do it all. Then there are some of you who specialize on just one or two things. One my advice, find a happy medium.
Find an array of services that you enjoy doing, get really good at them and let that be how you attract your guests. Becoming specialized is a really great thing but more for seasoned professionals. In the beginning make sure you're fishing with a wide enough net to pay the bills. You're gonna be tempted to do at all and who am I to say that's wrong? As someone who did that in the beginning I will say it's exhausting. I opened a three chair salon with Manny's petits facials, waxing and makeup services. I had one other stylists working with me who wanted to focus primarily on hair. So who do you think did the rest me and I do mean the rest. I also answered the phone and took the money. I was earning a really good living, but I wasn't having the rewarding career that I envisioned I was too dang tired.
I also invested in such a vast array of products, I had a little bit of everything on my shelves. What I didn't really have was vision. I wasn't creating a brand for myself or for my salon. And I wrote that train for about two years when I knew something had to change. So I hired an L tech and I hired an esthetician and I started to focus on hair. I also chose a product and color line that I felt good about and dove into the brand loyalty. I chose red skin. The color was easy to use, and the brand was highly recognized. And they had a point system that I was able to use for education and for free products. I think social media does play into the standard of beauty. I think it plays a big role in the growth of our industry. And I'm honestly really thankful for it. It saves so much money on marketing and it makes the stylist or the technician a lot more responsible for their own self promotion. But it can be a double edged sword if you don't have the right mindset. If you're constantly comparing yourself to every other stylist or if you're afraid to post anything because you don't think it's good enough, then you're in for a rough go of it. But please just look at it as one facet of your job, understanding it's necessary and that it's not going to go anywhere. Also remember at the end of the day, this is just a tool, a way to convert your content and the money. Who cares about the stylist in Montana and what she thinks about your work? Yeah, it may feel good in the moment. Or it could feel bad if someone's throwing shade. Either way, it's not the purpose. Set your intentions on creating a pipeline from your local community to your chair by creating good content of your work, inviting messages to potential guests and a little bit about why you stand out some new product or Service is hitting the market every single day and you should be paying attention because your clients are. But that doesn't mean you should get sucked into every offering out there. Case in point me an exhausted, stylish trying to do it all while these products collected dust on my shelf. Some things are revolutionary and can greatly benefit you. And some are just going to be fads that come and go, your job will be to know the difference and pick and choose what will help you grow and you evolve. I will say if you're too scared or too stuck in your ways to try new things, your clients are going to get bored, do some real research and maybe even pull your clients on social media, see what they think about a service you're thinking about bringing in and see what they're interested in. And I think that's what's going to be the most beneficial. So this saturation, has it changed? I mean, do we need to be worried about going into the beauty profession, I think how far you go in this industry has a lot more to do with you than your clientele. Once I got my bearings as a stylist and focus solely on hair, I got super clear about my vision and what kind of stylist I wanted to be.
That has of course evolved throughout my career as it should. But I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to be a high end stylist offering luxury services. So that started off by offering modern and trendy hair colors and cutting services.
Then it evolved into extensions and more extensions and more extensions. The services I offered continued to change but my vision never did. So with this saturation and the competition and all the opportunity. Do I think stylists are taking it more seriously?
Well, I think everyone's taking this industry more seriously, and I'm here for it. I think the growth in our industry and the growing expectations from our clients can serve us if we let it if we use it to push us if we rise to increasing expectations, then we are better for it. As a beauty school owner, I can see how seriously the students take this. They invest their time and their money into this and I can tell very early on who is going to thrive in this industry. As a member of my community, I can see how much more serious the leaders of my community are taking the beauty and other trades offering grants and all kinds of other pathways. We are no longer the underdogs We are showing up stronger and we are being recognized for it and it's freaking beautiful. You can stand out in this industry by being someone people want to do business with. I was a woman empowerment kind of girl before it was even cool to be one.
Before it was a hashtag. I have always felt comfortable walking into a salon and handing out education flyers. I would host classes in my salons and buy other stylists from other salons to join. And that was kind of unheard of at that time. I would also walk up to stylists at local classes and introduce myself I swear to you people thought I was so weird, but I'll tell you something, my clients would hear about this and they would commend me for it. This is long before social media back when you would do shit like this for real, not just for recognition. I became known as someone who chose community over competition. I was also going to shows and classes so people knew I was educated. There were a lot of stylists out there doing good hair. But even back then that wasn't enough. I knew I had to do something else to stand out.
So I became a well educated cheerleader for my industry and for other stylists. And I will say this reputation still holds true. And it still serves me to this day. So how will you stand out in this industry as a new stylist all these years later?
Put yourself in the consumer shoes. What do you look for when you're looking for a specific service or product? How do you do your research? Well, maybe you go to a community page or a forum in the town you work in asking for recommendations. So as a service provider, you should show up regularly on these pages. Introduce yourself and show them some of your work.
You could go old school and pin some of your business cards to that community board at your local coffee shop or join some small networking groups. I cannot say enough about these.
You meet for lunch once a week or you meet for cocktail hour once a month and you just network. This was a big one for me pre social media. People are driving by salons on every street in your town. Give them a reason to give yours a second look. When they are in the market for a new stylist.
They're going to remember you they're going to remember meeting you and sometimes it's about planting seeds. Maybe they don't come in right away. But when they can't get into their other stylist or maybe when they're ready for a change. A year later they're going to remember the stylist that they met it, the one that's out there, the one that's doing something different. And that stylist is showing up for themselves and people are going to start showing up for you too.
I find that when given the choice, a client will still prefer to stay loyal to their stylist. What we must remember is that we are the ones that give them that choice when we remain dependable when we make that personal connection, and we deliver exceptional results.
When we stay educated. When we're doing the things differently, we give them reasons to stay. But if we begin to fall short, if they stop feeling inspired, they don't feel valued anymore, then we give them reasons to leave. And in a saturated market leaving is easier than it's ever been.
There are so many opportunities for innovation, especially in these more saturated markets.
And I see opportunities in a few different ways. The first one is offering services that not everyone offers, which I know is getting harder, but there are a few that aren't overly saturated and one of those that comes to mind is texture services.
Becoming a Brazilian blowout certified stylist opened up the door to so many new clients for me and my stylist. I don't currently offer perms but maybe they are back and people want them. Almost any stylists can lighten someone's hair and put a tube of vibrant color on it. But now we've got all this fantasy here which is so artistic and a really beautiful way to create these vibrant colored patterns and designs. Since not everyone does it or does it well, this could be a really great way to stand out. Lastly, I want to mention hair enhancements. I can't not mention here enhancements, the hair extension market has exploded in the last 10 years and the amount of stylist out there offering them has exploded as well. But not all extension artists are equally skilled. So this is a great way to excel if you're willing to put in the work. The hair extension world is still evolving. And now we have taping wefts and hair that can be placed where impossible before extensions are your jam keep evolving. Because this industry, this hair extension industry keeps evolving. Lastly, men's hair solutions are making a comeback, and an amazing new spin is being put on the old school to pay. These things are literally undetectable. Like it blows my mind every single time.
And so few people are offering this service, maybe something to look into. So let's talk about sustainability and how it affects the industry. Well, thankfully everyone is becoming more aware of the effect we are having on our planet. stylists that are conscious of this are going to choose products and services that align with their vision. I'm proud to be partnered with Aveda industry champions and leaders for sustainable beauty. But there are a lot of options out there.
And I encourage you to find the one that makes the most sense for you. No matter what road you take on your sustainable beauty journey, share it shout it from the rooftop, like minded people are looking for you. They want to do business with you. So it shouldn't be too hard to find.
Your clients have the whole world at their fingertips via Google. But not all of the info that's available is going to serve your client. I mean, companies are on there to sell products, they will say what they need to say to sell these products. It's so important as professionals to be prepared to answer questions and give them the most honest and reliable feedback we can. Now I'm not here to say that you need to know every detail and every ingredient, every product, but you should know everything about your products. And you should be consistent about offering solutions at every visit. So they don't feel like they have to go to Google for what they need. When I reflect on the changes and challenges, I'm still really optimistic about the future of the beauty industry. Because people still desire the connection, the intimacy that they have with their stylists. In a world where AI and robotics can do so much we are still relevant guys. And I don't see that going anywhere anytime soon. So if you're sitting there and you're trying to decide if the market is too saturated for you, I'm here to tell you it's not at this industry is all you can think about and you can't imagine doing anything else then you need to go for it. There is no use in trying to do anything else. Or you're going to be sitting in a cubicle somewhere daydreaming about all the what ifs. So stay strong. Your future self and the future of our industry needs you.
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