June 25, 2025 • 33 mins
The beauty industry is experiencing a significant shift as stylists return to salon environments after the isolation of the pandemic years, seeking community, education, and structured career paths.
• COVID-19 caused salon teams to fracture with many stylists moving to solo suites or booth rental situations
• Post-pandemic salon experience revealed steep challenges with finding and training new stylists who missed proper hands-on education
• Beauty school enrollment is increasing (up 26% in New York state), with graduates seeking mentorship rather than immediate independence
• New stylists need systematic training to move from beauty school to behind-the-chair success within 3 months
• Structured education systems, employee handbooks, and clear career paths are essential for attracting today's salon professionals
• The industry-wide return to community represents a major opportunity for salon owners who are prepared with proper systems and culture
Check out my new course for salon owners at danisekeilitz.com that includes templates for education systems, employee handbooks, and training protocols to help you build the salon that today's stylists are seeking.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We didn't just lose business during the pandemic.
We lost connection, thelaughter on the salon floor, the
spontaneous education moments,the creative spark that came
from working side by side.
But something's shifting.
Stylists are returning not justto work but to the community
we've been missing.
(00:21):
Welcome to All About Hair,where we talk shop, share
stories and spill the secretsbehind great hair and a great
career.
I'm your host, denise Keilitz, aformer salon owner, educator
and a lifelong hair crusader.
Whether you're a new stylistbuilding your book or just
(00:41):
someone who loves learning aboutall things hair, you're in the
right place.
I don't know about you, but asa salon owner through the
pandemic, our best year wasright before the pandemic.
(01:01):
I mean, we were going full on.
I had 42 employees, we hadeducation systems set up in the
salons, we had a whole educationteam, we were going places.
The whole team went out toCalifornia.
There was like 35 of us thatall went out for a global
(01:21):
community education event and itwas fabulous.
We just had so much connectionuntil we didn't and we tried to
hold it together.
I mean when we were goingthrough the pandemic.
Oh, you know, you remember theZoom calls, the Zoom meetings,
the um, uh, uh, things on socialmedia that try to keep your
(01:44):
teams together.
We did it all and we didsurvive, but it was long, long
process, you know, and when itfirst started we all know this I
don't even know why I'mreplaying it but we know that
when it first started we didn'tknow what was going to, that it
was going to last months on end,you know, and we didn't know
(02:06):
that it was going to last monthson end, you know, and we didn't
know that everybody had to getunemployment and we didn't know
what we didn't know None of usdid.
But I'm excited to feel it inthe air.
I'm excited to share this withyou.
I feel like, well, not just me.
There's actually evidence outthere that people are returning
(02:30):
to the salons, and by people, Imean the stylists are turning
back to the salons.
See, after the pandemic, whenpeople came back to the salons
the stylist they all wanted awell, a lot of them were scared.
A lot of them were scared to bein the same room with other
people because we were all athome by ourselves, right, and we
(02:53):
didn't know if we were going tomake each other sick.
But so, if you're like me,after the pandemic.
We all came back and we had towork.
You know, five feet, six feetapart I don't remember the
parameters, but it was hard.
We actually worked with twodifferent teams.
We had a team B, team H.
(03:13):
A team worked one shift, the Bteam worked the other shift.
That way if somebody got sickon one team, the whole salon
didn't shut down.
We were had to get creative.
One team, the whole salondidn't shut down.
We had to get creative.
You know, you know how that is,but we did come through.
(03:35):
But I did lose a lot of teammembers after, after that,
because people wanted to beindependent, people wanted to
work in the solo suites, peoplethey wanted they had enough time
to sit at home which I don'tblame them and think about their
own goals and what they woulddo if they owned a salon
Fabulous.
But I don't think working in asuite by yourself is owning a
(04:01):
salon.
That is not the same thing.
Yes, do you have to know yourtaxes?
Yes, inventory systems?
Yes, marketing, yeah, butyou're only, you're only doing
it for yourself.
When you actually own a salon,you're actually taking care of
other people's livelihoods.
Whole other, whole other game.
That's a whole otherconversation.
(04:23):
Today we're going to starttalking about post-pandemic and
the shift in our beauty industry, and I love that.
Okay, first things first.
The problem COVID actuallyshifted how we worked.
We lost our connection with oneanother.
(04:45):
So before the pandemic, we hadcollaboration, we had
spontaneous education.
Well, we did in our salon hey,what are you doing?
Hey, guess what I just learnedfrom YouTube last night?
Let me show you this.
Let me do this.
You know, we had it all.
We had doll heads out on thefloor, we worked on one another,
(05:06):
we invited models in.
We had it all.
We had mentorship, we.
Our culture was thriving.
It was a fun place to be, a funplace to work, and everybody on
the team was rocking androlling and making money.
And then we had the pandemic.
(05:29):
We had isolation.
I felt it too.
I was actually afraid to comeback after the pandemic.
I was afraid to lead.
I didn't have that same spiritabout me.
I don't know what happened.
It was hard.
Same spirit about me.
I don't know what happened.
(05:49):
It was hard, come on, it washard and it was frustrating that
people were jumping ship leftand right.
I felt like I failed them andit had nothing to do with me.
It was a freaking pandemic.
This was a worldwide thing thatwas happening, but, as a leader
, we, we take this all on ourshoulders and it's super, super
hard not to Okay.
(06:10):
Then, because of the pandemic,guess what just blew up with
social media, and social mediabecame our new education.
It became our new educationplatform.
People were learning off ofInstagram and Facebook and um,
there was a couple of otherplatforms at the time that that
(06:31):
came up.
They're gone now.
I can't even remember the namesof them.
So, but the community took theback seat to the isolation and
to the um learning from adistance, and so that's what
people started gravitating to,and my team and the stylist
(07:11):
survived the pandemic.
We did, and we came out theother side.
However, people came backuninspired and they felt very
alone, and so what happened wasthere was a decline in our
culture and a decline in thestructure of our salon, because
(07:34):
it took a it took a minute toget back and we had all these
hoops we had to go through.
We had, you know, we had to getlicensed to say that we knew
how to disinfect chairs and thefloor and the mirrors, and you,
(07:54):
you remember this if you wentthrough it.
So we had to, we had to work onthat.
And so then our formaleducation and our haircutting
skills and all that stuff, ittook a back seat, and that's
what we thrived on was oureducation.
We were all so, so taken backby the sanitation and the
(08:21):
wearing the masks and all thatthat.
We struggled, and the wearingthe masks and all that that.
We struggled.
Okay, I struggled as a leader,our team struggled, and then
what happened is so we hadpeople jump in ship and then we
were hiring new stylists,because you always have to hire
new people and so we alwayshired from the schools.
(08:41):
Well, guess what?
What I hired?
People, believe it or not, whogot their license, never touched
a head of hair at beauty school.
Why?
Because it was all online, kidyou not.
Now, great people, they meanwell, but I hired this one girl.
(09:04):
She did.
She'd never shampooed anybody,let alone learn a haircut or
learn how to hold the shears orlearn how to hold a comb or
nothing.
So we had to teach them fromsquare one, and no fault of
their own.
This is what the world wasright.
(09:25):
But here's the exciting part.
Okay, that was tough, that wassuper tough and again, if you
got through that and you'restill rocking and rolling and
you're still standing.
Kudos to you.
I love that, because leading asalon in those couple of years
(09:51):
the hardest thing in the in theworld, leading any kind of
business in those couple ofyears and still standing
afterwards super, super hard,but keeping your team together.
I tell you I I failed, I failedI.
I I failed, I.
(10:14):
I I'm not afraid to admit that,but and it made me feel like a
failure, I have to say it I feltlike I couldn't, that I was
doing something wrong, becausethe team was was splitting apart
and what we had was no more.
What I failed to realize isthat, hey, denise, get back up
on your feet, because you'rehuman and the pandemic actually
(10:37):
happened to you as well, but getback on your feet and do it
again.
Do it again.
You don't have to stay downwhen you get knocked down.
You get back up and you do whatyou know how to do.
Well, I didn't do that, I.
I didn't.
In fact, I actually did theopposite again.
(11:00):
Um, probably a little bit toomuch information, but I kind of
hid.
I hid from my team cause Ididn't know what to do and so I
would make?
I don't know.
I would make excuses forstaying at my home office.
You know, marketing orrebranding or coming up with
something.
I could come up with a lot todo on a computer without facing
(11:26):
people, and what my team reallyneeded me to do is to be a
leader and show up, and I had alot going on.
I mean, we had two salons andtwo completely different
cultures and it was a weirddynamic.
I was rebranding one salon.
It was a lot.
It was a lot, um, and I didn'tfeel like I had any help and I
(11:49):
didn't feel like I had anybodythat I could go to that
understood what I was goingthrough.
Needless to say, there arepeople in our community, um, as
salon owners, that we can alwaysturn to.
I mean, if you're strugglingright now I mean seriously if
(12:10):
you're struggling for whateverreason, know that our salon
owner community really, reallyis a special thing, cause if you
, it takes a weird person towant to own a salon.
Weird in a good way, becauseit's not just business, it's
people skills, it's psychology,it's time management, it's
(12:31):
building a team, it's HR, it's aoh, it's so many things, and so
it takes a special human towant to open a hair salon.
Anyway, I'm getting way offtrack, sorry.
(12:53):
What I want this conversation tobe about is that there is a
shift, and I feel it in my core.
The shift is that stylists wantto come back to the salon after
being and trying it on theirown.
Now there are some successfulstylists out there doing the
thing in their own salon suitesGreat out there doing the thing
in their own salon suites Great.
But for the majority of people,they want to be part of
(13:21):
something bigger, and if youhave that culture and you have
that place for them to grow andto want to become a better
stylist and a better person,then you better be screaming it
from the rooftops, because thesestylists are looking for you,
just like you're looking forthem and you don't know where
they are because we keep saying,oh, nobody wants to work
anymore.
No, no, stylists are beingpicky because they want to go to
(13:43):
a place that offers themeducation, a growth path, a
career path, a career not justmoney, a career with a 401k,
with health insurance, withvacation pay, all the things.
And if you're a salon thatwants to offer those, or happens
to offer those, and you'restill struggling finding
(14:06):
stylists, you need to getyourself into the beauty schools
.
The reason for this is becauseI'm going to look at my numbers
here.
Beauty school enrollment in thestate of New York.
Okay, I'm not in New York, thisis just a just a stat that I
found.
Beauty school enrollment is up26% this year in New York state.
(14:29):
Now, you can look up your statewhere you are.
But students are seekingsomebody to show them the way
mentorship and they're seekingstructure because they're going
to school and most states nowonly offer a thousand hours.
They don't.
That's not a lot of training,okay.
(14:50):
So what are they seeking whenthey get out?
Some kind of path?
Help, what do I do?
Okay, I've got this, thiscertificate, I've got this
license, and I don't know whatto do.
Heck, I don't even know if Iknow how to cut hair.
They need somebody to show themthe way.
That would be you Salon ownerin the back.
(15:12):
That would be you.
Okay, you just need a systemthat they can get on board with.
Okay, okay, I have a system, Ihave a course.
I put together what I did in mysalons.
Okay, to grow into $2 millionsalon?
(15:35):
Okay, I'm excited about this.
I'm excited about this becausethis is the time that you need
it.
When stylists are coming out ofschool and they're looking for
a place and you happen to be aplace, you need to be ready for
them.
And how are you going to dothat If you're working full-time
behind the chair and trying toput together a system to train
(15:58):
new people?
It's hard.
I did it that way for a longtime.
I stood behind a chair, hiredbrand new stylists in, said hey,
you're going to um, watch whatI do.
You know, you're going toassist me.
You're going to wash my yeah,yeah, it's all great.
Okay, we've all been there andthat's.
(16:18):
That's a wonderful way to learn.
That's how I learned is I camein as an assistant and then you,
um, you just follow and you dowhen we, you know, you do some
education on the side and, um,when you can, but most of all,
you're just learning to workwith people.
You're learning to work withyour mentor.
You're learning what it is in asalon.
(16:40):
That's all wonderful.
Takes a long time, though,because it took me two years as
a an assistant.
People don't want to wait thatlong, nor can they afford to
wait that long.
They just spent over $20,000 inbeauty school.
They don't want to come out andwork for minimum wage for two
years.
Who can afford to do that?
(17:01):
No?
So you need some kind of systemin place to get them up and
running from beauty school, justlicensed, to behind the chair
making good money within threemonths.
That's the goal.
Okay, I have the solution.
(17:28):
I just released my course $97easy, you got a hundred bucks to
throw down.
Okay, what this course is goingto teach you is how to onboard
a brand new stylist day one,what they should be learning and
expecting and what you shouldbe telling them.
Um, everything from, um, whyyou started your salon to how
you're doing things, toexpectations, all the things,
okay, and you might have yourown.
But this course will give yousome great ideas on what to
(17:51):
include, and it actually has anoutline that you can print off
and say hey, I want to make sureI have this checklist.
First day, first week, firstmonth, first three months.
Okay, you're going to get that.
You're going to learn how todevelop a mentorship program in
(18:12):
your salon, meaning you're goingto give another stylist the
responsibility of taking thisbrand new stylist under their
wing.
So guess what?
Salon owner, you're not doingeverything, because we tend to
do that right.
We tend to take everything,shoulder it.
Nobody could do it like I can.
I mean because it's our vision,right, vision right.
(18:42):
I understand I did that for avery long time until I delegated
, until I asked for help from myteam who believes the same
thing I do, or they wouldn't beworking for me when I started
asking for help.
Not only did that empower them,gave them responsibility, but
it made them feel really proudto work there and it actually
(19:05):
attracts more stylists to workthere.
Weird, weird enough when youhave a mentorship.
So you'll learn about creating amentorship and then also you
will get ideas on how to bringresources to your salon to have
ongoing education that doesn'tcost an arm and a leg.
Not all of us can afford tohire one of these big name
people to come into our salonand teach for a day, nor can we
(19:29):
afford to shut the salon downfor a day.
I mean, it's expensive and it'sa commitment to have education
in your salon.
So part of this program givesyou ideas on how to do that
pretty inexpensively.
Okay.
That you maybe not wouldn'thave thought of.
Then it also wonderful when youfinish this course, you
(19:54):
actually unlock an exclusiveoffer.
That unlocks my employeehandbook template, which is all
your rules and regulations andyour expectations, and it lays
it all out there your, your, howyou get paid health insurance,
whatever it is that you havegoing on it.
It takes care of all the legalformalities.
(20:15):
It takes care of all what yourexpectations are your culture,
your vision, your missionstatement, all those things Okay
, but what it has in there, too,is actually verbiage that you
could put in there and you couldsteal it line by line.
I don't care um for commissionsalons If you're a commission
salon, if you're a booth rentalsalon or if you're a small
(20:39):
boutique salon that doesn't evenmaybe you don't even carry
retail in your salon.
Um, so there's differentscenarios and there's all kinds
of scripting in there.
So you can steal it.
You can make it your own, thetemplate, yours to put your
logos in, to uh print out as is,if you want.
Um, but it's exact.
(21:01):
It's pretty close to the exactsame handbook I had created for
my salons.
Pretty close, it's not exact,I'm not gonna lie.
Um, then my um, my uh educationnotebook.
Oh, my gosh Education notebook.
Total, total game changer forus Used to be when I would hire
(21:23):
stylists out of the um schools.
Yes, I would want to train them.
Yes, but I didn't have anysystem, I didn't have any kind
of way I was going to do it.
I didn't have a map, I didn'tsay a checklist, I didn't have
any of that until I did, until Isat down and said, okay, what
do we need?
And this, so this educationnotebook is a template again,
(21:45):
but it goes through and it hasyour classes laid out for you.
So how we used to do it is oneday a week, uh, we would select,
and it's usually our least busyday, and if you have a POS
system or a computer system,it'll tell you what's your least
busy day.
Ours was on a Tuesday, believeit or not.
So we would have education thefirst half of Tuesdays, but we
(22:07):
were open seven days a week.
So actually our Sundays andMondays were super busy because
other salons weren't open.
So we would do it Tuesdays andit um, and it might look
different for you.
Maybe you do it in the evening,on an evening, I don't know.
Uh, that's on you.
And then, um, once a week, allof our new stylists would come
in and they would take the class.
(22:29):
They would have a mannequinhead.
It has a list of supplies thatyou need as a new stylist and
what to bring to the class.
Each class would teach themsome people skills, like, maybe,
how to read body language,maybe how to read face shapes,
maybe how to do a consultation.
Um, anyway, each class hassomething that builds their
(22:54):
people skills, because you needthat and your communication
skills, and then uh, then youhave little activities around
that.
Then the the meat of the class,though, is their skillset.
So, whether that's afoundational haircut, whether
that's, uh, hair coloring, Ihave these classes laid out Like
I have.
(23:14):
I think I have five haircuts inthere, but you can add any
haircut you want in there justby following the same template.
Then I have basic hair coloringin there, with basic skillsets
like highlighting, uh, a touchup, uh, you know basic, okay, um
(23:37):
, men's, men's stuff in theretoo.
I you can add to this if youwanted to add balayage, if you
have something like a smoothingsystem or a perm system you want
to put in there.
You just follow the guidelineor the template of each class
and you can do it.
It's easy.
That is a game changer, becausethen it has checklists in there
(24:01):
.
So when your new stylist hasdone something, you could check
it off, that they know how to dothis, that you're comfortable
with them taking on a new clientand coming into your salon and
they're not going to lose thatnew client for the salon.
Because this is what used tohappen to us is who's not busy
(24:23):
is the brand new stylist.
So if you got a new clientcoming in the salon and you've
got I don't know two or threenew stylists who aren't doing
anything and a new, a new guest,comes in the salon hey, I've
heard about you, wonderfulreputation and they want to get
in and they want to get in rightthen, and there, and you're in,
(24:43):
your receptionist said we wouldlove to take you.
And then you hand them to a newstylist who doesn't know your
culture, doesn't know how to dowhatever it is this person wants
done and they want to impressthe owner or themselves or the
client.
They take it on anyway.
They're afraid to say no.
(25:04):
And then you end up with a well,a client that's probably not
happy, a stylist that just losta little bit of their confidence
because they didn't hit it outof the park and now they're
going to be afraid to takeanother new, new client, and
then you risk the reputation ofthe salon because that new
(25:25):
client probably isn't going tocome back in because they're not
happy.
Well, you, who should begetting the new clients are your
seasoned stylists.
But they're so freaking busythat they can't.
They don't have any time totake new clients.
So what this is going to do, youget these new stylists up and
(25:49):
running quickly, fast.
They can start taking the tenttouch-ups, the haircuts, simple
haircuts, until they get theirtheir, their confidence, and you
see that they can do more.
Um, the smoothing systems causethey can get certified in that
really, really quickly.
(26:10):
You give them, those clientstake them from your season
stylist a level six touch-up.
A new stylist can do Okay andexplain this to the team.
You're not just going to startrobbing everybody from from
their clients.
You know.
Explain how this works.
So that way it opens up the newclients.
(26:34):
The seasoned stylists get thoseand they get the bigger tickets
too, because maybe it's abalayage or something like that,
and then it gives them enoughtime to be able to take bigger
ticketed things.
You see where I'm going withthat anyway.
But you need a system, and sothe education notebook provides
that system and you don't haveto create it because it's
(26:56):
already done for you.
Plus, you also get some otherbonuses that I've thrown in
there, like um, um, but the, the, the experience for clients.
Um, it just gives you a really,really easy system for how to
have every client have the sameexperience in the salon.
It's kind of fun.
Then I have also thrown in um,oh, how to create your own
(27:20):
success plan as a salon owner,and that's that's kind of a game
changer, believe it or not?
And then I'm also going toinclude, of course, my 15 little
things that it takes to besuccessful.
That is just something that youcan take.
You can hang it up in yourbreak room, you can put it in
your handbook, you can.
It's wonderful, and I thinkI've thrown in like 30 more
(27:43):
little things that I've come upwith over the years.
So, anyway, I hope you takeadvantage of this course because
, like I said, stylists, beautyschool, beauty school people are
going to beauty school andthey're getting out of beauty
(28:03):
school needing a place to go.
They're not asking about boothrental anymore, they're not
asking about solo salons, theyare not asking to be by
themselves.
They are asking forcollaboration, mentorship,
education and a career, and youwant to be that place that they
come to to interview.
Okay, you want to.
(28:23):
You want to build a team.
Anyway, I'm excited about this,and if you sense that there is
this coming back to communityfeeling out there, let me know,
let me know your thoughts.
You know, if you're feelinglonely as a salon owner and you
(28:43):
feel like you can't find anybodythat wants to work in your
salon, and you got this biglease to pay and give me a shout
because I can give you someideas on how to get them, how to
get your salon even recognizedin the community, because that's
a huge thing too.
You want to be the salon thestylists want to work, right, so
(29:07):
, and you want to be ready forit when it happens, because it's
going to happen People don'twant to be in the salon suites
anymore.
I sense it.
I sense it.
Anyway, I hope this helps you,I hope you hope it gives you a
little bit of like hope, hope.
It gives you hope.
Um, because I gotta say we havethe best industry out there.
(29:33):
We are our industry, the beautyindustry.
Being a hairstylist is the bestcareer on the planet.
I really, really believe that Imean we change so many people's
confidence levels.
We get to touch people.
We get people trusting in us.
We get to create.
(29:53):
We get to listen to great musicall day long.
We get to touch people.
We get people trusting in us.
We get to create.
We get to listen to great musicall day long.
We get to wear fun clothes.
We get to be who we are andnobody really asks questions and
we don't have to sit at a deskall day.
So, look, you chose this careerbecause of all those reasons.
So you want to be ready forwhen the masses start coming
(30:14):
back into the salon.
I believe this is going tohappen.
I believe.
So, anyway, you go out, make ita great day and always remember
when you know better, you dobetter.
Thanks for tuning in to AllAbout Hair.
If you loved this episode, hit,subscribe, leave us a review
and share it with a fellowstylist or hair loving friend.
(30:36):
You want more tips, tools andbehind the scenes goodness,
follow me on YouTube or head tomy website at denisekeilitzcom.
Yes, I know it's hard to spell,so don't worry, the link is in
the show notes.
Until next time, keep learning,keep creating and keep loving
what you do.
We didn't just lose business during the pandemic.
We lost connection, thelaughter on the salon floor, the
spontaneous education moments,the creative spark that came
from working side by side.
But something's shifting.
Stylists are returning not justto work but to the community
we've been missing.
(00:21):
Welcome to All About Hair,where we talk shop, share
stories and spill the secretsbehind great hair and a great
career.
I'm your host, denise Keilitz, aformer salon owner, educator
and a lifelong hair crusader.
Whether you're a new stylistbuilding your book or just
(00:41):
someone who loves learning aboutall things hair, you're in the
right place.
I don't know about you, but asa salon owner through the
pandemic, our best year wasright before the pandemic.
(01:01):
I mean, we were going full on.
I had 42 employees, we hadeducation systems set up in the
salons, we had a whole educationteam, we were going places.
The whole team went out toCalifornia.
There was like 35 of us thatall went out for a global
(01:21):
community education event and itwas fabulous.
We just had so much connectionuntil we didn't and we tried to
hold it together.
I mean when we were goingthrough the pandemic.
Oh, you know, you remember theZoom calls, the Zoom meetings,
the um, uh, uh, things on socialmedia that try to keep your
(01:44):
teams together.
We did it all and we didsurvive, but it was long, long
process, you know, and when itfirst started we all know this I
don't even know why I'mreplaying it but we know that
when it first started we didn'tknow what was going to, that it
was going to last months on end,you know, and we didn't know
(02:06):
that it was going to last monthson end, you know, and we didn't
know that everybody had to getunemployment and we didn't know
what we didn't know None of usdid.
But I'm excited to feel it inthe air.
I'm excited to share this withyou.
I feel like, well, not just me.
There's actually evidence outthere that people are returning
(02:30):
to the salons, and by people, Imean the stylists are turning
back to the salons.
See, after the pandemic, whenpeople came back to the salons
the stylist they all wanted awell, a lot of them were scared.
A lot of them were scared to bein the same room with other
people because we were all athome by ourselves, right, and we
(02:53):
didn't know if we were going tomake each other sick.
But so, if you're like me,after the pandemic.
We all came back and we had towork.
You know, five feet, six feetapart I don't remember the
parameters, but it was hard.
We actually worked with twodifferent teams.
We had a team B, team H.
(03:13):
A team worked one shift, the Bteam worked the other shift.
That way if somebody got sickon one team, the whole salon
didn't shut down.
We were had to get creative.
One team, the whole salondidn't shut down.
We had to get creative.
You know, you know how that is,but we did come through.
(03:35):
But I did lose a lot of teammembers after, after that,
because people wanted to beindependent, people wanted to
work in the solo suites, peoplethey wanted they had enough time
to sit at home which I don'tblame them and think about their
own goals and what they woulddo if they owned a salon
Fabulous.
But I don't think working in asuite by yourself is owning a
(04:01):
salon.
That is not the same thing.
Yes, do you have to know yourtaxes?
Yes, inventory systems?
Yes, marketing, yeah, butyou're only, you're only doing
it for yourself.
When you actually own a salon,you're actually taking care of
other people's livelihoods.
Whole other, whole other game.
That's a whole otherconversation.
(04:23):
Today we're going to starttalking about post-pandemic and
the shift in our beauty industry, and I love that.
Okay, first things first.
The problem COVID actuallyshifted how we worked.
We lost our connection with oneanother.
(04:45):
So before the pandemic, we hadcollaboration, we had
spontaneous education.
Well, we did in our salon hey,what are you doing?
Hey, guess what I just learnedfrom YouTube last night?
Let me show you this.
Let me do this.
You know, we had it all.
We had doll heads out on thefloor, we worked on one another,
(05:06):
we invited models in.
We had it all.
We had mentorship, we.
Our culture was thriving.
It was a fun place to be, a funplace to work, and everybody on
the team was rocking androlling and making money.
And then we had the pandemic.
(05:29):
We had isolation.
I felt it too.
I was actually afraid to comeback after the pandemic.
I was afraid to lead.
I didn't have that same spiritabout me.
I don't know what happened.
It was hard.
Same spirit about me.
I don't know what happened.
(05:49):
It was hard, come on, it washard and it was frustrating that
people were jumping ship leftand right.
I felt like I failed them andit had nothing to do with me.
It was a freaking pandemic.
This was a worldwide thing thatwas happening, but, as a leader
, we, we take this all on ourshoulders and it's super, super
hard not to Okay.
(06:10):
Then, because of the pandemic,guess what just blew up with
social media, and social mediabecame our new education.
It became our new educationplatform.
People were learning off ofInstagram and Facebook and um,
there was a couple of otherplatforms at the time that that
(06:31):
came up.
They're gone now.
I can't even remember the namesof them.
So, but the community took theback seat to the isolation and
to the um learning from adistance, and so that's what
people started gravitating to,and my team and the stylist
(07:11):
survived the pandemic.
We did, and we came out theother side.
However, people came backuninspired and they felt very
alone, and so what happened wasthere was a decline in our
culture and a decline in thestructure of our salon, because
(07:34):
it took a it took a minute toget back and we had all these
hoops we had to go through.
We had, you know, we had to getlicensed to say that we knew
how to disinfect chairs and thefloor and the mirrors, and you,
(07:54):
you remember this if you wentthrough it.
So we had to, we had to work onthat.
And so then our formaleducation and our haircutting
skills and all that stuff, ittook a back seat, and that's
what we thrived on was oureducation.
We were all so, so taken backby the sanitation and the
(08:21):
wearing the masks and all thatthat.
We struggled, and the wearingthe masks and all that that.
We struggled.
Okay, I struggled as a leader,our team struggled, and then
what happened is so we hadpeople jump in ship and then we
were hiring new stylists,because you always have to hire
new people and so we alwayshired from the schools.
(08:41):
Well, guess what?
What I hired?
People, believe it or not, whogot their license, never touched
a head of hair at beauty school.
Why?
Because it was all online, kidyou not.
Now, great people, they meanwell, but I hired this one girl.
(09:04):
She did.
She'd never shampooed anybody,let alone learn a haircut or
learn how to hold the shears orlearn how to hold a comb or
nothing.
So we had to teach them fromsquare one, and no fault of
their own.
This is what the world wasright.
(09:25):
But here's the exciting part.
Okay, that was tough, that wassuper tough and again, if you
got through that and you'restill rocking and rolling and
you're still standing.
Kudos to you.
I love that, because leading asalon in those couple of years
(09:51):
the hardest thing in the in theworld, leading any kind of
business in those couple ofyears and still standing
afterwards super, super hard,but keeping your team together.
I tell you I I failed, I failedI.
I I failed, I.
(10:14):
I I'm not afraid to admit that,but and it made me feel like a
failure, I have to say it I feltlike I couldn't, that I was
doing something wrong, becausethe team was was splitting apart
and what we had was no more.
What I failed to realize isthat, hey, denise, get back up
on your feet, because you'rehuman and the pandemic actually
(10:37):
happened to you as well, but getback on your feet and do it
again.
Do it again.
You don't have to stay downwhen you get knocked down.
You get back up and you do whatyou know how to do.
Well, I didn't do that, I.
I didn't.
In fact, I actually did theopposite again.
(11:00):
Um, probably a little bit toomuch information, but I kind of
hid.
I hid from my team cause Ididn't know what to do and so I
would make?
I don't know.
I would make excuses forstaying at my home office.
You know, marketing orrebranding or coming up with
something.
I could come up with a lot todo on a computer without facing
(11:26):
people, and what my team reallyneeded me to do is to be a
leader and show up, and I had alot going on.
I mean, we had two salons andtwo completely different
cultures and it was a weirddynamic.
I was rebranding one salon.
It was a lot.
It was a lot, um, and I didn'tfeel like I had any help and I
(11:49):
didn't feel like I had anybodythat I could go to that
understood what I was goingthrough.
Needless to say, there arepeople in our community, um, as
salon owners, that we can alwaysturn to.
I mean, if you're strugglingright now I mean seriously if
(12:10):
you're struggling for whateverreason, know that our salon
owner community really, reallyis a special thing, cause if you
, it takes a weird person towant to own a salon.
Weird in a good way, becauseit's not just business, it's
people skills, it's psychology,it's time management, it's
(12:31):
building a team, it's HR, it's aoh, it's so many things, and so
it takes a special human towant to open a hair salon.
Anyway, I'm getting way offtrack, sorry.
(12:53):
What I want this conversation tobe about is that there is a
shift, and I feel it in my core.
The shift is that stylists wantto come back to the salon after
being and trying it on theirown.
Now there are some successfulstylists out there doing the
thing in their own salon suitesGreat out there doing the thing
in their own salon suites Great.
But for the majority of people,they want to be part of
(13:21):
something bigger, and if youhave that culture and you have
that place for them to grow andto want to become a better
stylist and a better person,then you better be screaming it
from the rooftops, because thesestylists are looking for you,
just like you're looking forthem and you don't know where
they are because we keep saying,oh, nobody wants to work
anymore.
No, no, stylists are beingpicky because they want to go to
(13:43):
a place that offers themeducation, a growth path, a
career path, a career not justmoney, a career with a 401k,
with health insurance, withvacation pay, all the things.
And if you're a salon thatwants to offer those, or happens
to offer those, and you'restill struggling finding
(14:06):
stylists, you need to getyourself into the beauty schools
.
The reason for this is becauseI'm going to look at my numbers
here.
Beauty school enrollment in thestate of New York.
Okay, I'm not in New York, thisis just a just a stat that I
found.
Beauty school enrollment is up26% this year in New York state.
(14:29):
Now, you can look up your statewhere you are.
But students are seekingsomebody to show them the way
mentorship and they're seekingstructure because they're going
to school and most states nowonly offer a thousand hours.
They don't.
That's not a lot of training,okay.
(14:50):
So what are they seeking whenthey get out?
Some kind of path?
Help, what do I do?
Okay, I've got this, thiscertificate, I've got this
license, and I don't know whatto do.
Heck, I don't even know if Iknow how to cut hair.
They need somebody to show themthe way.
That would be you Salon ownerin the back.
(15:12):
That would be you.
Okay, you just need a systemthat they can get on board with.
Okay, okay, I have a system, Ihave a course.
I put together what I did in mysalons.
Okay, to grow into $2 millionsalon?
(15:35):
Okay, I'm excited about this.
I'm excited about this becausethis is the time that you need
it.
When stylists are coming out ofschool and they're looking for
a place and you happen to be aplace, you need to be ready for
them.
And how are you going to dothat If you're working full-time
behind the chair and trying toput together a system to train
(15:58):
new people?
It's hard.
I did it that way for a longtime.
I stood behind a chair, hiredbrand new stylists in, said hey,
you're going to um, watch whatI do.
You know, you're going toassist me.
You're going to wash my yeah,yeah, it's all great.
Okay, we've all been there andthat's.
(16:18):
That's a wonderful way to learn.
That's how I learned is I camein as an assistant and then you,
um, you just follow and you dowhen we, you know, you do some
education on the side and, um,when you can, but most of all,
you're just learning to workwith people.
You're learning to work withyour mentor.
You're learning what it is in asalon.
(16:40):
That's all wonderful.
Takes a long time, though,because it took me two years as
a an assistant.
People don't want to wait thatlong, nor can they afford to
wait that long.
They just spent over $20,000 inbeauty school.
They don't want to come out andwork for minimum wage for two
years.
Who can afford to do that?
(17:01):
No?
So you need some kind of systemin place to get them up and
running from beauty school, justlicensed, to behind the chair
making good money within threemonths.
That's the goal.
Okay, I have the solution.
(17:28):
I just released my course $97easy, you got a hundred bucks to
throw down.
Okay, what this course is goingto teach you is how to onboard
a brand new stylist day one,what they should be learning and
expecting and what you shouldbe telling them.
Um, everything from, um, whyyou started your salon to how
you're doing things, toexpectations, all the things,
okay, and you might have yourown.
But this course will give yousome great ideas on what to
(17:51):
include, and it actually has anoutline that you can print off
and say hey, I want to make sureI have this checklist.
First day, first week, firstmonth, first three months.
Okay, you're going to get that.
You're going to learn how todevelop a mentorship program in
(18:12):
your salon, meaning you're goingto give another stylist the
responsibility of taking thisbrand new stylist under their
wing.
So guess what?
Salon owner, you're not doingeverything, because we tend to
do that right.
We tend to take everything,shoulder it.
Nobody could do it like I can.
I mean because it's our vision,right, vision right.
(18:42):
I understand I did that for avery long time until I delegated
, until I asked for help from myteam who believes the same
thing I do, or they wouldn't beworking for me when I started
asking for help.
Not only did that empower them,gave them responsibility, but
it made them feel really proudto work there and it actually
(19:05):
attracts more stylists to workthere.
Weird, weird enough when youhave a mentorship.
So you'll learn about creating amentorship and then also you
will get ideas on how to bringresources to your salon to have
ongoing education that doesn'tcost an arm and a leg.
Not all of us can afford tohire one of these big name
people to come into our salonand teach for a day, nor can we
(19:29):
afford to shut the salon downfor a day.
I mean, it's expensive and it'sa commitment to have education
in your salon.
So part of this program givesyou ideas on how to do that
pretty inexpensively.
Okay.
That you maybe not wouldn'thave thought of.
Then it also wonderful when youfinish this course, you
(19:54):
actually unlock an exclusiveoffer.
That unlocks my employeehandbook template, which is all
your rules and regulations andyour expectations, and it lays
it all out there your, your, howyou get paid health insurance,
whatever it is that you havegoing on it.
It takes care of all the legalformalities.
(20:15):
It takes care of all what yourexpectations are your culture,
your vision, your missionstatement, all those things Okay
, but what it has in there, too,is actually verbiage that you
could put in there and you couldsteal it line by line.
I don't care um for commissionsalons If you're a commission
salon, if you're a booth rentalsalon or if you're a small
(20:39):
boutique salon that doesn't evenmaybe you don't even carry
retail in your salon.
Um, so there's differentscenarios and there's all kinds
of scripting in there.
So you can steal it.
You can make it your own, thetemplate, yours to put your
logos in, to uh print out as is,if you want.
Um, but it's exact.
(21:01):
It's pretty close to the exactsame handbook I had created for
my salons.
Pretty close, it's not exact,I'm not gonna lie.
Um, then my um, my uh educationnotebook.
Oh, my gosh Education notebook.
Total, total game changer forus Used to be when I would hire
(21:23):
stylists out of the um schools.
Yes, I would want to train them.
Yes, but I didn't have anysystem, I didn't have any kind
of way I was going to do it.
I didn't have a map, I didn'tsay a checklist, I didn't have
any of that until I did, until Isat down and said, okay, what
do we need?
And this, so this educationnotebook is a template again,
(21:45):
but it goes through and it hasyour classes laid out for you.
So how we used to do it is oneday a week, uh, we would select,
and it's usually our least busyday, and if you have a POS
system or a computer system,it'll tell you what's your least
busy day.
Ours was on a Tuesday, believeit or not.
So we would have education thefirst half of Tuesdays, but we
(22:07):
were open seven days a week.
So actually our Sundays andMondays were super busy because
other salons weren't open.
So we would do it Tuesdays andit um, and it might look
different for you.
Maybe you do it in the evening,on an evening, I don't know.
Uh, that's on you.
And then, um, once a week, allof our new stylists would come
in and they would take the class.
(22:29):
They would have a mannequinhead.
It has a list of supplies thatyou need as a new stylist and
what to bring to the class.
Each class would teach themsome people skills, like, maybe,
how to read body language,maybe how to read face shapes,
maybe how to do a consultation.
Um, anyway, each class hassomething that builds their
(22:54):
people skills, because you needthat and your communication
skills, and then uh, then youhave little activities around
that.
Then the the meat of the class,though, is their skillset.
So, whether that's afoundational haircut, whether
that's, uh, hair coloring, Ihave these classes laid out Like
I have.
(23:14):
I think I have five haircuts inthere, but you can add any
haircut you want in there justby following the same template.
Then I have basic hair coloringin there, with basic skillsets
like highlighting, uh, a touchup, uh, you know basic, okay, um
(23:37):
, men's, men's stuff in theretoo.
I you can add to this if youwanted to add balayage, if you
have something like a smoothingsystem or a perm system you want
to put in there.
You just follow the guidelineor the template of each class
and you can do it.
It's easy.
That is a game changer, becausethen it has checklists in there
(24:01):
.
So when your new stylist hasdone something, you could check
it off, that they know how to dothis, that you're comfortable
with them taking on a new clientand coming into your salon and
they're not going to lose thatnew client for the salon.
Because this is what used tohappen to us is who's not busy
(24:23):
is the brand new stylist.
So if you got a new clientcoming in the salon and you've
got I don't know two or threenew stylists who aren't doing
anything and a new, a new guest,comes in the salon hey, I've
heard about you, wonderfulreputation and they want to get
in and they want to get in rightthen, and there, and you're in,
(24:43):
your receptionist said we wouldlove to take you.
And then you hand them to a newstylist who doesn't know your
culture, doesn't know how to dowhatever it is this person wants
done and they want to impressthe owner or themselves or the
client.
They take it on anyway.
They're afraid to say no.
(25:04):
And then you end up with a well,a client that's probably not
happy, a stylist that just losta little bit of their confidence
because they didn't hit it outof the park and now they're
going to be afraid to takeanother new, new client, and
then you risk the reputation ofthe salon because that new
(25:25):
client probably isn't going tocome back in because they're not
happy.
Well, you, who should begetting the new clients are your
seasoned stylists.
But they're so freaking busythat they can't.
They don't have any time totake new clients.
So what this is going to do, youget these new stylists up and
(25:49):
running quickly, fast.
They can start taking the tenttouch-ups, the haircuts, simple
haircuts, until they get theirtheir, their confidence, and you
see that they can do more.
Um, the smoothing systems causethey can get certified in that
really, really quickly.
(26:10):
You give them, those clientstake them from your season
stylist a level six touch-up.
A new stylist can do Okay andexplain this to the team.
You're not just going to startrobbing everybody from from
their clients.
You know.
Explain how this works.
So that way it opens up the newclients.
(26:34):
The seasoned stylists get thoseand they get the bigger tickets
too, because maybe it's abalayage or something like that,
and then it gives them enoughtime to be able to take bigger
ticketed things.
You see where I'm going withthat anyway.
But you need a system, and sothe education notebook provides
that system and you don't haveto create it because it's
(26:56):
already done for you.
Plus, you also get some otherbonuses that I've thrown in
there, like um, um, but the, the, the experience for clients.
Um, it just gives you a really,really easy system for how to
have every client have the sameexperience in the salon.
It's kind of fun.
Then I have also thrown in um,oh, how to create your own
(27:20):
success plan as a salon owner,and that's that's kind of a game
changer, believe it or not?
And then I'm also going toinclude, of course, my 15 little
things that it takes to besuccessful.
That is just something that youcan take.
You can hang it up in yourbreak room, you can put it in
your handbook, you can.
It's wonderful, and I thinkI've thrown in like 30 more
(27:43):
little things that I've come upwith over the years.
So, anyway, I hope you takeadvantage of this course because
, like I said, stylists, beautyschool, beauty school people are
going to beauty school andthey're getting out of beauty
(28:03):
school needing a place to go.
They're not asking about boothrental anymore, they're not
asking about solo salons, theyare not asking to be by
themselves.
They are asking forcollaboration, mentorship,
education and a career, and youwant to be that place that they
come to to interview.
Okay, you want to.
(28:23):
You want to build a team.
Anyway, I'm excited about this,and if you sense that there is
this coming back to communityfeeling out there, let me know,
let me know your thoughts.
You know, if you're feelinglonely as a salon owner and you
(28:43):
feel like you can't find anybodythat wants to work in your
salon, and you got this biglease to pay and give me a shout
because I can give you someideas on how to get them, how to
get your salon even recognizedin the community, because that's
a huge thing too.
You want to be the salon thestylists want to work, right, so
(29:07):
, and you want to be ready forit when it happens, because it's
going to happen People don'twant to be in the salon suites
anymore.
I sense it.
I sense it.
Anyway, I hope this helps you,I hope you hope it gives you a
little bit of like hope, hope.
It gives you hope.
Um, because I gotta say we havethe best industry out there.
(29:33):
We are our industry, the beautyindustry.
Being a hairstylist is the bestcareer on the planet.
I really, really believe that Imean we change so many people's
confidence levels.
We get to touch people.
We get people trusting in us.
We get to create.
(29:53):
We get to listen to great musicall day long.
We get to touch people.
We get people trusting in us.
We get to create.
We get to listen to great musicall day long.
We get to wear fun clothes.
We get to be who we are andnobody really asks questions and
we don't have to sit at a deskall day.
So, look, you chose this careerbecause of all those reasons.
So you want to be ready forwhen the masses start coming
(30:14):
back into the salon.
I believe this is going tohappen.
I believe.
So, anyway, you go out, make ita great day and always remember
when you know better, you dobetter.
Thanks for tuning in to AllAbout Hair.
If you loved this episode, hit,subscribe, leave us a review
and share it with a fellowstylist or hair loving friend.
(30:36):
You want more tips, tools andbehind the scenes goodness,
follow me on YouTube or head tomy website at denisekeilitzcom.
Yes, I know it's hard to spell,so don't worry, the link is in
the show notes.
Until next time, keep learning,keep creating and keep loving
what you do.
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