[00:00:00] Antony Whitaker: Hey, it's Antony Whitaker here from grow my salon business. Last week was the first time in five years that we didn't put a podcast episode out. And we've had a few emails and DMS asking us why. So, I sort of feel I need to start this episode with, um, A little bit of an explanation. We did have an episode recorded and ready to go with hairdresser Mikey Denton.
[00:00:24] Antony Whitaker: However, Mikey and his partner, Kendall, tragically lost their 16-year-old son Zeppelin after he was shot and killed outside their home in Nashville on Saturday. As a sign of respect for the family, we decided to hold that episode back, indefinitely as to whether it would ever be released. What makes it even more difficult though, is that the podcast episode with Mikey was about the financial challenges and lessons that he'd learned from having previously been through dealing with bankruptcy as a salon owner.
[00:00:56] Antony Whitaker: So, our thoughts and prayers go out to Mikey and Kendall and the rest of their family and friends during this dreadful time as they try and rebuild their lives. A GoFundMe campaign to help with funeral expenses and bereavement counselling has been set up I believe. By his sister-in-law to help support the family through this difficult time.
[00:01:20] Antony Whitaker: So please support them in any way that you are able. You can also reach them at Mikey Denton and at Kendall underscore P on Instagram. And I'll put both of those links in the show notes. So thank you. How do I segue from that opener into a normal podcast episode? Well, I have no idea, but I think that one minute of silence and inward reflection for how lucky we are would be a good place to start.
[00:02:02] Antony Whitaker: hello and welcome to today's episode of the grow my salon business podcast. I'm your host to Antony Whitaker and it is great. It's my honor to have you here with me today and whether you're watching on YouTube or listening as you walk the dog or drive the car or running on the treadmill or whatever it is that you're doing.
[00:02:18] Antony Whitaker: I do just want to start by saying thank you for being a listener. Our podcast is growing and we need your help to continue growing because we want to get to help as many people as possible. And you are our only marketing budget. So if you're on YouTube, give us a thumbs up, subscribe to our channel and share it with your friends.
[00:02:35] Antony Whitaker: And if you're listening on your favorite podcast app, then give us a five-star review and a follow that would be very kind of much appreciated. So with that said, on with today's episode. What does it take to really succeed? Well, every four years, the Olympics and the Paralympics comes along.
[00:03:00] Antony Whitaker: And even if you're not someone who is usually that fussed by the athletics, then the swimming, the gymnastics, et cetera, you just can't help but be exposed to it, whether it's on social media or the news or on TV, it's pretty much everywhere. And if you're like most people, you can't help but be impressed with what those incredible athletes are capable of, particularly for me when I look at the Paralympics. But what we see is the end results after years of commitment. We see the glory moments where the will of the human spirit, the talent, the courage, the discipline and the commitment to excellence is on display for all of us to marvel at.
[00:03:37] Antony Whitaker: And often, at the end of an event, you'll see the TV reporters thrusting a microphone in front of the participants and asking for a comment, and in most cases, they'll talk about the support. that they've had all their lives. And they'll often thank their parents for the huge sacrifices that they've made over the years to get them to this point in their lives.
[00:03:57] Antony Whitaker: They'll talk about the early mornings and the late night training sessions. They'll talk about all the things that they've missed, whether it's the parties or the weddings or the birthdays, et cetera. And they've missed them, whatever it is, because of their commitment that they have made to their training schedule.
[00:04:14] Antony Whitaker: Because regardless of the sport or the athlete, they've all made a massive commitment to be the best and they will sacrifice whatever it takes to give them the best possible chance of success. And I think it's that level of determination and a passion for what they do, which most of us find inspiring.
[00:04:35] Antony Whitaker: The athletes will often talk about when they were a kid and how they were watching their sporting heroes on TV at the Olympics and the impact that that had on them at the time. They'll talk about the fire that had lit inside their belly to be winners and how they can't believe that they are now at that point too.
[00:04:54] Antony Whitaker: So what's that got to do with hairdressing? Now, although the Olympics has got nothing to do with hairdressing essentially, I can't help thinking about the parallels that there are about being the best at whatever it is that you do. Whether that's running 100 meters, or a marathon, or some of the incredible gymnastics, or whatever the sport is.
[00:05:15] Antony Whitaker: The point is that to be good at anything requires training, it requires huge levels of commitment and determination, and it requires sacrifice in other areas of your life in order to achieve the goal, whatever the goal is. 
[00:05:31] Antony Whitaker: During my career, I have been, and I've certainly worked with people that have and still do have, that incredible level of passion and determination to succeed, to the point of it being an obsession. Whether it's at the creative level, or at the level of service they deliver, or by being driven to achieve unheard of levels of productivity.
[00:05:52] Antony Whitaker: And I find that inspiring too. There's a video on YouTube that I occasionally show during my seminars. It's from the Olympics when they were in Rio, and the video's titled, We're the Superhumans, Rio Paralympics 2016. Anyway, I'll put the link in the show notes so that you can watch it too. Because the point is that every time I play it, the audience always bursts into spontaneous applause at the end.
[00:06:18] Antony Whitaker: You have to watch it to get what it is that I'm really talking about. Because the overarching message is about having the will, the courage, and the determination to succeed, despite what other people might tell you. And I think that that is particularly true when you watch the Paralympics, where you watch people without limbs, without sight, and with all manner of disablements, and yet somehow, they just say, nothing is going to stop me.
[00:06:48] Antony Whitaker: At the end of the video, I often say something like, So what's your excuse? Because that's how I feel. What's my excuse for not doing or achieving more of whatever it is that I want to achieve in life? Because, I'm always left with this feeling of, no matter what your problem is, no matter what it is that's holding you back in life, that if you believe you can do something, and you're prepared to put in the work, and I mean really put in the work, that you will amaze yourself with what is possible to achieve.
[00:07:21] Antony Whitaker: I'm not saying it's easy, far from it. And I'm not saying that it doesn't require super human levels of courage and commitment because it does. And not everyone has that. But, I'll also say that most people give up too easily. Most people don't set high enough goals for themselves. Most people are too focused on why they can't do something.
[00:07:44] Antony Whitaker: Most people are too focused on the reasons why something won't work. They're too focused on the things and the people that are supposedly stopping them. But the reality is that what you are capable of in life and in business is amazing and if you don't try, you'll never know. Now, obviously, not everyone gets a gold medal, but if you ask any of those Olympians, even the ones that come in last, I'm sure that despite the sacrifices they've made, despite all the things that they may have missed out on in life, despite the commitment, the blood, the sweat and the tears, despite the years of hard work that they put into it, I'm sure that they wouldn't change it for the world.
[00:08:26] Antony Whitaker: I remember watching a documentary about a swimmer and he was talking about the minor distinctions that he had made that enabled him to keep on getting better and better and faster and faster over the years to the point where he won the gold medal by one five hundredth of a second. And it's that word distinctions that I want to talk about.
[00:08:50] Antony Whitaker: For example, if we make this hairdressing relevant, I'll use the analogy. of cutting a bob. So Let's assume that you've been a hairdresser for the last two or three years.
[00:09:02] Antony Whitaker: Let's assume that your dad isn't a hairdresser and didn't know anything about cutting hair. Now imagine that you showed him a one length bob and then gave him some scissors, a mannequin head, a comb, section clips, maybe a water spray and told him to cut a bob on the mannequin head. He would probably not use the water spray or section clips because he wouldn't know how or why he should.
[00:09:26] Antony Whitaker: He wouldn't hold the comb or the scissors properly, and he wouldn't know how to hold the hair. But, let's assume that he tried his best, and he'd get a result. I'm sure he would say that it's much harder than he thought it would be. Now, as a hairdresser, you'd look at his end result and see that it was probably longer on one side than the other, probably at least an inch.
[00:09:49] Antony Whitaker: You'd see that it was uneven and generally nowhere near to an acceptable salon standard. The point is that you can see all those things that are wrong with it because you've made lots of distinctions about what a bob should look like and how you need to cut it in order to get the result that you want.
[00:10:08] Antony Whitaker: And so you have a deeper understanding of what a one length bob is and how to cut it. Now imagine someone who is an amazing haircutter with 10 years of experience who has inevitably cut hundreds if not thousands of bobs. And he or she looks at a bob that you have cut and although it would obviously be a lot better than the one your dad has done, let's assume that this amazing haircutter with all this experience can look at it and point out things like this.
[00:10:36] Antony Whitaker: that are wrong with it and explain how to avoid that happening in future. So now, as a result, you have made yet more finer distinctions about how to cut it and what the end result should look like. You see, that principle of making distinctions about how to do something to perfection applies whether you're talking about multiple gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles or whether you're talking about cutting the perfect bob.
[00:11:06] Antony Whitaker: The principle about making finer distinctions applies to everything in hairdressing or any area in life that you want to master. For example, in your salon, there is someone who has the biggest clientele. Well, that person has made more distinctions about what it takes to build up a clientele. In your salon there is someone who has the highest pre booking percentage.
[00:11:30] Antony Whitaker: That person has made more distinctions about what it takes to get clients to pre book their next appointment. In your salon, someone has the highest average bill. That person has made more distinctions about how to do great consultations and how to educate clients about the range of products and services that they would benefit from.
[00:11:48] Antony Whitaker: I'm sure you get the idea. Mastery of any skill is about making finer distinctions and then putting them into practice. The repetition again and again and again until it becomes who you are and almost guarantees a result every time. One of my online courses is called Super Stylist. Now the Super Stylist course is all about teaching your team of hairdressers how to make more distinctions and what I call the soft skills or the communication skills of being a great hairdresser.
[00:12:25] Antony Whitaker: It's about driving productivity through doing better consultation. It's about increasing rebooking rates. It's about increasing the average bill, increasing client retention, increasing retail and frequency of visit rates. And it's about having the right mindset and making finer distinctions about what it really takes to succeed behind the chair.
[00:12:48] Antony Whitaker: It's about creating the gold medal performance behind the chair so that they maximize their productivity and earn a better living. If you want to find out more about the Super Stylist course, then visit my website, growmysalonbusiness.com forward slash courses forward slash Super Stylist. And I'll also put that link in the show notes for today's podcast.
[00:13:13] Antony Whitaker: So with that said, we need to start winding up this episode. Thanks for listening, and I'll look forward to seeing you next week.