May 7, 2024 • 25 mins
On this episode, we sit down with Michell Bartlein, owner of Savoye Salon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Certified Strategies Coach, and recent Salon Today Top 200 winner in the Culture category. Michelle shares her personal journey of transforming Savoye Salon into a thriving community where team members are valued as equals, fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation. From annual retreats that reinforce trust to a brand identity that unites rather than divides, get ready to learn how to cultivate a workspace where everyone plays a critical role in the game.
Conversation highlights:
0:27 Winning the Salon Today Top 200 for Culture
4:00 Running a salon like a championship basketball team
7:09 How communication feeds your culture
9:40 The Three C's of Culture
15:16 Addressing conflicts while maintaining harmony
19:12 Navigating tough conversations
21:12 Michell's one tip for strengthening your business culture
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Beauty Business Strategies Podcast.
I'm Christy Hardy here withMichael Yost, and today we are
joined by Michelle Bartlein, whois the owner of Savoy Salon out
in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and acertified strategies coach and
the newest Salon Today Top 200winner in the culture category.
(00:22):
Welcome, Michelle, we're gladto have you, hey.
Michelle Hello're glad to haveyou.
Hey, michelle.
Hello, congratulations on thataward before we get started.
It's a real honor to benominated and to be the true
award winner, in the culturecategory especially.
It's a really important one.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This was my favorite one.
This is the one I always wantto win, because I without
culture, there's nothing.
So this one really spoke to meand I was like, yay, it was a
celebration with our team.
Honestly, it was a, it's acelebration for our team and, um
, it just solidifies.
You know that we're we're oncourse.
It's not that we have a perfectwe're're on course, and when I
(01:03):
do these applications becausethey're pretty lengthy, kind of
like an, it's like a test to see, you know, a validation of,
like a check and balance process.
It's a check and balance likeokay, are we really doing what
we say we're doing?
So it is, it's very exciting.
Thank you, that's awesome, yeahthat's so cool.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I mean, the culture piece is an awesome thing, like
you just kind of had said, andI'm curious to know, like, what
is this?
Why is this the one that youkind of somewhat answered it,
but really, why is this the onethat you want to win?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I, you know, I have to go back in 2012, when I
started.
I took over Savoy.
I purchased Savoy it was a, itwas a young company and took it
over and I realized, okay, thisis not how I want to work, live
any of that.
So it was like okay, there's,there's something that I have to
change and, of course, you knowI can talk about, I mean,
(01:58):
strategies is a big part of it,but I am you're not going to see
me reading a lot of fictionalbooks.
I'm always reading theself-help books and whatnot, and
everything was very parallelwhen it came to business, and
leadership is number one.
But if your company culture isnot healthy, there's really not
much to it.
So it was like, ok, we got to,I got to figure out.
(02:21):
You notice, I always say theword we, because this is not
just me, am a, I play at thesame level as the rest of the
team and I think that is the.
That's something, as an owner,I find really important to get
down to earth with that.
You're not bigger, better, youdon't.
(02:42):
You don't walk on a pedestal,things of that nature.
It's get down to their level,because you're no different, you
just play a different role onthat team.
So as soon as then I learnedthat culture was going to make
the shift of what I didn't like,because it was just a country
club.
A good culture builds trust,yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think that's I was going to say.
I think you bring up the thekey word there.
You know that idea of trust,but I think you hit on it, which
is we all have to play the rolethe same way, like we're not.
I mean, our roles are alldifferent, but we're all playing
that same game is maybe thebetter way to say it.
Well, we each have differentroles in the game of our
(03:30):
business, it still is we're allplaying that same exact game,
and I think that's what you justwere sharing, michelle.
Which is so important is, youknow, your culture is one that's
built on this idea of hey,listen, this might be my title,
this might be my job description, but you know it takes all of
us playing this you know ourspecific roles to be able to
(03:52):
achieve what we want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Absolutely, I go back to.
I grew up playing basketballand I used to.
When I was in my salon and spa,I used to reference basketball
a lot, and we're right now inHusky season, but it's, you know
.
I think about the differentroles, as you were saying, like
there's a coach that is leadingthis team.
That is just as important asthat.
(04:15):
You know, the person who is thepoint guard, the person who is
the center.
There are so many pieces thatare so specific but so necessary
to all be involved.
You know, at the same level ofpassion, and it doesn't matter
if you're the owner, if you're astylist, if you're an
esthetician or front desk person.
It's, you know, it's truly isabout being on the same court,
(04:38):
on the same field together.
So that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You nailed it.
I too am a basketball person atheart.
Analogies, using a lot ofanalogies with your team to get
them to a place of understandingthat whole concept.
That it's not about what is theshow with the miracle.
It's not about the name on theback.
It's about the you know it'sthe team name.
(05:03):
It's not about you know Bartline on the back.
It's about the you know it'sthe team name.
It's not about you know Bartline on the back of my shirt.
It's about it's the voice lawnspa.
We're all in this together, yeah, and, and we really did, um, we
do retreats.
It kind of runs in the let'stry that again.
It runs me into cause.
I get really excited about aretreat.
Our retreats are, um, somethingthat we do every year.
Um, and we have a focus, andone year we did that.
(05:25):
It was focused all around that.
We even got shirts that hadtheir last names on the back and
then Savoy on the front andthey really started rallying
around it.
So what I'm getting to is it'sgetting analogies to get them to
understand.
It really isn't about, in fact,we don't have the word manager,
we don't have the word director, things of that nature.
(05:48):
We all know what our roles arein the company and we also let
it happen organically.
So I'm tapping into and findingwhat they're really good at and
letting them run with it,because they all bring fantastic
contributions to the culture.
And so, there again, it'sbringing that trust in.
(06:11):
It doesn't matter if you're twomonths into being at Savoy, if
you're new, it doesn't meanyou're going to sit down and do
nothing.
It's like what do you got tocontribute?
You have something which leadsinto personality of you.
You have something which leadsinto personality.
You know personality is a bigaspect into if you fit into our
culture.
(06:31):
That's how we hire.
You know, if you've got thatmentality, that you're motivated
, you're teachable, you'recoachable, you know it just
leads into the next piece.
So what I would say is you knowwe look at those fine details
that most don't look at insteadof looking at.
You know, here's our.
(06:52):
Okay, we've got our goals thatwe want to reach.
We don't look at the goals.
We break everything down, whichincludes culture.
We break everything down intoareas that will make the biggest
impact.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, and it always ties back.
I'm sorry to cut you off.
There Is communication, one ofthose key areas Like how do you
communicate with your teamaround culture?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
For sure.
So right out of the gate, whenwe're interviewing, we do kind
of have a process to it.
When we're interviewing, we dokind of have a process to it.
I meet with somebody first andthen it comes down to our team.
Our team does the interviewing.
So the communication pieceright there is, you know,
they're reading into thepersonality, like I said, and
(07:38):
then they'll do the assessmentsof their skills and whatnot.
But right there we're layingout communications really
important to us.
So more honest you can be withus all around, the more that
we're going to grow together.
And it goes back into that teamthing, like you were saying.
We're in it to win and we'retrying to find the team players
(08:01):
that are going to bring the bestpieces to the table.
So then, communication.
I was talking to you earlier.
I removed myself from havingreally formal sit downs.
Yes, we do performance reviewsregularly, but even those when I
do interviewing, I get reallydown to earth with them as well.
(08:24):
I don't want it to be stuffy, Iwant them to be in their
natural state.
I want them to feel that safetyand that connection with us
right out of the gate.
But then we have coffee talks,so our one-on-ones.
Just come sit in my office.
My door's always open.
I actually have sticky notes onmy door, so if my door is shut,
it might just be that you knowI'm recording something, I'm
(08:47):
listening, but otherwise there'sa sticky note.
Come on in.
My door's always open.
I want to know what's going onin their world.
I want them, you know, friendly, I want to be friends with them
, and the more that you can getto that concept of being on a
friendly level instead of it,I'm your boss, you're the
employee they're more open totelling you things I can read
(09:11):
into.
You know, if they seem down oneday it's like, hey, you all
right, but again, communication.
I want them to feel verycomfortable, being comfortable
talking to each other myself.
That again, that goes back toI'm not higher than them.
We're in this together.
So communication is absolutelyone of our key values.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I think one of the things that I love that you're
sharing that, and one of thethings that's kind of hitting my
brain is I'm almost hittingthese idea that there are like
three C's around culture,culture's three C's, cause you
mentioned a couple of thingsjust mentioned communication.
You know is is something, but Ilove that you talked about.
You know, prior to this too,you you talked about
(09:54):
contribution and you talkedabout and again, all this does
to us is connection.
So, we think about contribution, connection and communication
being the key to culture.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I like it.
There's a T-shirt in heresomewhere I know there's a.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
T-shirt in here.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I just got to figure it out.
It's coming to me as I'msitting, but I like the idea of
contribution.
You talked about that, you know, earlier, and it really kind of
hit me, as you were, the wayyou were talking and listening
to what you're sharing is, Ithink one of the keys is showing
people how they can contributeand giving them ways to give a
(10:33):
contribution, to be a part ofsomething that does make that
connection with something.
But you know, I think that is abig building block when we talk
about culture and how do yougrow a stronger culture?
People have to feel a part ofit and I think that's where a
contribution comes in.
What do you do, like, let's say,for example, I mean, you know
(10:53):
in your business now, michelle,you probably have brand new
people that are part of yourbusiness how does someone?
How can you get someone?
How do you show themcontribution or being able to
contribute there?
But also, how do you kind ofhold with that with someone that
may be now the opposite end ofthe spectrum, maybe someone
that's been with you for, youknow, 10 years, 15 years,
(11:14):
however, right, more longevitywhen is?
How does that play in bothsides of that?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
In contribution.
You're saying, like, how dothey contribute to the team in
general?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's.
How do they contribute to theteam, how do they contribute to
the culture, how do they justeven contribute to the business
on the day-to-day?
That makes them feel as thoughthey have a place in there,
which I think all of that leadsto, that that, to me, is at the
heart of that whole culturepiece that you have in your
company.
So, yeah, I mean, whichever wayyou want to look at it,
(11:47):
whatever lens I think is theright one, but I'm looking at it
like this.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So it's, it's so.
I'm looking at it like this soyou have to remove yourself
again as the owner.
That it's micromanaging.
Don't go away from themicromanaging and having things
be just so uber structured.
We have tons of systems.
I have a younger one where youknow I always ask them in a
(12:17):
review or even a one-on-one.
You know their coffee talks,you know what's speaking to you
right now.
What do you love to do?
What is what's you know comingat you?
What do you feel like you wantto tap into?
Because it changes as theircareer goes on and so, like I
have a younger one and she'slike I really want to take care
of, like the newsletter, I wantto do a newsletter and I want to
(12:37):
do, like, um, some imagery upin the front on this board and
she just runs with it.
I trust her enough.
I don't even look at thenewsletter anymore.
I don't because I trust her,but I let her and she's only
been with us three years, sowhat does that do to somebody
new that comes in?
They're like wow, I can expandon areas I want to grow in.
(13:00):
I don't push services if theydon't want to do a certain
service.
They're uncomfortable, it'swhatever it may be, but I want
them to prosper in areas thatthey love, and they come up with
new services all the time.
So then you flip on the otherend of the spectrum and so I
have some that are, you know,like me, about 30 years in the
(13:21):
industry.
Your body starts to say nope,can't do that too much anymore.
They go into differentleadership roles, like we do a
huge fundraiser it's going onright now For Earth Month.
We have a beanbag tournamentwe've done for many years and we
make money for the Great Lakesand she heads all that.
So if you think about theadvertising, the community
(13:43):
connection and there's another CMichael, we really like get
involved in our community andthey also allow me then on my
end I'm very involved in ourcommunity and it does bring, it
does contribute to that culturepiece.
Again, it contributes to thegrowth of our company because
customers love seeing that.
They love seeing our connectionwithin us.
(14:07):
So I mean just tying in fromevery moment you're in the
company.
It's really letting you pickand choose some areas that you
want to play into it.
So there's never like adefinitive like here's what you
do at the first year, and here'swhat you do at your 30th year.
It's what?
What makes you sing?
People hear me say this a lot.
(14:27):
It's what makes you sing, whatmakes your heart sing, because
if you're singing, we're allsinging.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, I love that.
You really are fosteringinnovation within your team.
It doesn't have to come fromyou as the owner.
As something new, let's trysomething.
I think that's awesome.
That's really great.
That's really great.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
What makes your heart sing, christy, oh my gosh right
.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Nothing like putting me on the spot right, connection
right.
I think we all get into thisbusiness because of it.
I want to be a part ofsomething that is making the
world a better place, whetherit's just in our small little
community or the greatercommunity.
I think that's it's probablysomething that is ingrained in
many of us that are in thisindustry for sure.
(15:10):
All right, so I'm going to flipthe switch on you.
I have a question for you,michelle Michael.
You pipe in on this one too.
What steps can salon ownerstake to address conflicts
constructively?
and maintain harmony.
So, like we are talking aboutthings that make it feel like
kumbaya, everything is alwaysperfect at Savoy or at
(15:32):
Strategies, or you know.
Insert name what happens whenit's not?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
How do you deal with that?
And I pridefully say at thispoint I mean, this is how many
years in the making.
We don't have that.
But I will tell you how it gotto this point.
We don't have that because wereally foster the concept of you
know, teaching in the moment,coaching in the moment, um, and
you know, of course not in frontof a customer or anything like
that.
But it doesn't make sense to meto come tell me something and
(16:07):
then it's, it's, you know, it'sjust regurgitated.
I may say a different go, takecare of it.
So we work at it like any otherrelationship.
If it's a marriage and I that'sthe analogy I use this is just
like a family.
We have to respect it as afamily.
There are going to be timesthat we grumble at each other,
but we have to, we have to takecare of it right in that moment.
(16:29):
We don't go to sleep mad, right?
Yeah, but how did it get tothat point?
It was in several meetings.
Our staff meetings are worksessions.
They're very organized.
We work on a topic.
The last one we've been doingis self-reflection.
(16:50):
That was one of our last topicswas self-reflection.
We got really deep into that.
But when you really foster thatkind of thinking it gets them
to be self-sufficient and I wantthem to be solutionists.
Yeah, so you know theconflict's not there.
But it took a long time to beable to get them to open up and
(17:11):
trust this whole idea.
To be really fair, when anyoneleaves Savoy, I pridefully go.
You know it hasn't been overconflict.
They leave because they havechildren.
They move out of the area.
They just, you know it hasn'tbeen over conflict.
They leave because they havechildren.
They move out of the area.
They just, you know, forwhatever reason, just they
choose not to be in the into theprofession anymore and usually,
(17:34):
again, it goes into children.
But you know, I feel reallyprideful that we're.
You know it's part of our, our,our vision and our mission is
to create a chain of good in thecommunity and beyond.
You know so we part of our, our, our vision and our mission is
to create a chain of good in thecommunity and beyond.
You know so we're, we're reallysetting that tone of.
I hope, no matter when they, ifthey leave, they still have
these skill sets, that they'redoing this out in their families
(17:55):
, they're doing this out in thecommunity.
So it goes a lot further thanjust in Savoy, but really that
if there were a conflict, okay,if we rewind, christy, yeah it.
This is the steps that I would.
I would coach somebody to do aswell.
Um, you know, don't do it whenyou're angry, like if you give
(18:16):
yourself the 24 hour rule.
Get the emotion out of it.
Second of all, write down thethings that you feel are
important you need to talk about.
That's a key, isn't?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
it.
I always thought that was ahuge key.
I wrote down stuff all the time, I didn't want to forget what
was important.
I also need to really reanalyzewhat I was going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Asking them.
Okay, so you have yourperception of what happened in
that conflict.
What is their perception?
Perception is it's different toeverybody.
Make sure you're you'relistening to hear their words
and be fair.
Don't interrupt them.
Let them talk, hear what theyhave to say and then work
together.
Ok, so clearly we have to getthrough this.
(19:02):
What do you see as a solution?
What do you see?
Let them answer, that's great.
And then come to a compromiseand a timeline and some steps.
So nobody loves toughconversations.
I don't know.
My husband laughs because hethinks I love tough
conversations.
I'm like, no, I love resolution, I love getting through them.
(19:24):
I think that's I don't likewhen things are, when people
aren't getting along.
I want to find peace.
So I think that's why maybe itlooks like I like tough
conversations, I like peace.
So it's how, how can you findpeace?
And it's listening and you knowfinding a solution and you know
working together.
Back to that collaboration yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, I was going to say I think that's you know, I
love what you shared and I thinkthat's part of the key is, I
think, when you think aboutconflict, I think conflict
happens because there is lack ofcommunication, and really
that's one part of it, sure, butstaying with even what we've
kind of used as our just kind ofstumbled upon theme in some
(20:07):
ways, but it's when people feeldisconnected.
That lack of connection I thinkthat's the heart of where
conflict probably starts is thefact that there wasn't a lot of
great communication around maybea certain area, a certain topic
, whatever, and I feeldisconnected from that.
(20:28):
And therefore, now, I thinkthat's where we get off on, you
know, different wavelengths,different opinions, different
thoughts on it.
So I love what you shared.
You know, michelle, with thatis just, you know it's like all
right, how do we recenterourselves sometimes?
You know what does that need tolook like?
Like I said, with that is justyou know it's like all right,
how do we recenter ourselvessometimes.
You know what does that need tolook like?
(20:53):
Like I said, if that means,like you just shared, that means
taking a 24 hour, just kind ofmoment, writing some things down
, getting clarity, and I lovethe fact it's like going for it.
Let's find, let's be solutionbased, resolution based around,
again, clearly, communicatingmakes all the difference in the
world.
Based around, again, clearlycommunicating makes all the
difference in the world.
So this is awesome.
As we kind of wind things uphere, michelle, I've got one
last thing just for mepersonally.
I've got one last question foryou is if you had to give just
(21:15):
one tip like what's the oneafter everything we talked about
today, maybe it's in that samevein or maybe it's something
kind of different that brings itall together.
But if you had to share onething that you say hey, listen,
new business owner comes to youand says I want to strengthen my
culture and boom, what's your?
What's your one tip, thebiggest thing you'd stress to
(21:35):
someone?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Oh, there's a lot of tips, ok.
So you all know I'm a bigbeliever in brain dumping, so I
think it's just getting down,brain dumping the things that
annoy you in your business andthen finding solutions to that
and then making a game plan.
But it all comes down to youhave to be really honest with
yourself as a leader.
(21:58):
There are things that we haveto work on, um, and it's always,
it's, it's continuing, um, anda lot of it ends up on our
plates of are we listening?
Am I being a good listener?
Am I paying attention?
So a lot of self-reflection onthat regard, but definitely just
brain dumping and just gettinggetting that all out of your
(22:22):
head, because it brings a lotmore clarity of what needs to
happen, and being honest, uh,honesty, honesty, honesty,
honesty.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah, I love it.
Again, culture starts with aleader.
I love how you, you know,dialed in on that and uh, that's
awesome, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Absolutely.
Do you have any words of wisdomon what you would feel?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Listen, I cannot follow that type of wisdom there
, because I think that I thinkthat really is.
I mean, I think that really isso true is.
I'm glad you said it, michelle,because I have to say when I
asked the question I didn't havemy immediate answer in my brain
.
Yeah, but you're exactly right,michelle.
It's, if you want a culture, ithas to start with leadership.
It's, if you want a culture, ithas to start with leadership.
(23:03):
And really, the only thing Iwould add to it and you were
saying it, I'll just kind ofmaybe express it differently is
what's important to you yourvalues, the vision that you have
for your company, the passionthat you have for your company.
That's where it all has tostart, that's the formation of a
culture.
People are attracted to yourpassion, your values, the things
(23:25):
that you feel strong about.
And so I would say, like I said, it's just building on what you
were really saying there,michelle, but it's just exactly
that it starts with you and thenit's just a matter of staying
with that and again allowingpeople then to kind of wrap it
all together.
That and again allowing peoplethen to kind of wrap it all
(23:45):
together, allowing people thento contribute to that clear
communication around that clearconnection with that.
Then suddenly, a culture boom,it's there.
There it is.
It's amazing and then you'rewinning awards.
Then you're winning, that'sright.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Then you're rolling in the awards there, michelle I
have to put one little pieceinto what you just said, michael
, because to me this was aneye-opener, one of those
self-reflection pieces.
Yes, your vision and yourvalues are all.
We start them, but as you growin your culture and it gets
deeper, it shifts a little bit.
Like I'll look at our valuesand go okay, that might not be
(24:18):
my personal value at home, butit's a value for us at Savoy.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And this is what we developed.
So this is now a collectivebehavior, right, it's a
collective, that's hugeawareness for owners too, I
think, because we had that samekind of scenario and
conversation that happened inour business and it truly was
wait, that's not my personalvalue, like that wouldn't be my
top five was wait, that's not mypersonal value, like that
wouldn't be my top five.
And then we discussed it as a,as a team, and it was number one
(24:48):
.
You know it was such a needwithin our business culture.
It was so.
It was super eyeopening.
So great, great.
To end on that point, michelle,it has been an absolute
pleasure diving into culturewith you.
We'll do it again and if youout there need any help with
your culture or your beautybusiness strategies, definitely
(25:09):
click on the link within thedescription below and we would
love to chat with you.
Michelle, thank you so much forjoining Michael and I today.
Thanks, michelle.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Thanks again for listening to the Beauty Business
Strategies podcast.
If you liked this episode, besure to hit follow To learn more
about how strategies can helpcreate more fun, profit and
growth potential for you, yourcompany and your team.
We invite you to schedule afree 60-minute strategy session
by clicking the direct link inthe description of this episode.
Welcome to the Beauty Business Strategies Podcast.
I'm Christy Hardy here withMichael Yost, and today we are
joined by Michelle Bartlein, whois the owner of Savoy Salon out
in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and acertified strategies coach and
the newest Salon Today Top 200winner in the culture category.
(00:22):
Welcome, Michelle, we're gladto have you, hey.
Michelle Hello're glad to haveyou.
Hey, michelle.
Hello, congratulations on thataward before we get started.
It's a real honor to benominated and to be the true
award winner, in the culturecategory especially.
It's a really important one.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
This was my favorite one.
This is the one I always wantto win, because I without
culture, there's nothing.
So this one really spoke to meand I was like, yay, it was a
celebration with our team.
Honestly, it was a, it's acelebration for our team and, um
, it just solidifies.
You know that we're we're oncourse.
It's not that we have a perfectwe're're on course, and when I
(01:03):
do these applications becausethey're pretty lengthy, kind of
like an, it's like a test to see, you know, a validation of,
like a check and balance process.
It's a check and balance likeokay, are we really doing what
we say we're doing?
So it is, it's very exciting.
Thank you, that's awesome, yeahthat's so cool.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I mean, the culture piece is an awesome thing, like
you just kind of had said, andI'm curious to know, like, what
is this?
Why is this the one that youkind of somewhat answered it,
but really, why is this the onethat you want to win?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
I, you know, I have to go back in 2012, when I
started.
I took over Savoy.
I purchased Savoy it was a, itwas a young company and took it
over and I realized, okay, thisis not how I want to work, live
any of that.
So it was like okay, there's,there's something that I have to
change and, of course, you knowI can talk about, I mean,
(01:58):
strategies is a big part of it,but I am you're not going to see
me reading a lot of fictionalbooks.
I'm always reading theself-help books and whatnot, and
everything was very parallelwhen it came to business, and
leadership is number one.
But if your company culture isnot healthy, there's really not
much to it.
So it was like, ok, we got to,I got to figure out.
(02:21):
You notice, I always say theword we, because this is not
just me, am a, I play at thesame level as the rest of the
team and I think that is the.
That's something, as an owner,I find really important to get
down to earth with that.
You're not bigger, better, youdon't.
(02:42):
You don't walk on a pedestal,things of that nature.
It's get down to their level,because you're no different, you
just play a different role onthat team.
So as soon as then I learnedthat culture was going to make
the shift of what I didn't like,because it was just a country
club.
A good culture builds trust,yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
I think that's I was going to say.
I think you bring up the thekey word there.
You know that idea of trust,but I think you hit on it, which
is we all have to play the rolethe same way, like we're not.
I mean, our roles are alldifferent, but we're all playing
that same game is maybe thebetter way to say it.
Well, we each have differentroles in the game of our
(03:30):
business, it still is we're allplaying that same exact game,
and I think that's what you justwere sharing, michelle.
Which is so important is, youknow, your culture is one that's
built on this idea of hey,listen, this might be my title,
this might be my job description, but you know it takes all of
us playing this you know ourspecific roles to be able to
(03:52):
achieve what we want to achieve.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Absolutely, I go back to.
I grew up playing basketballand I used to.
When I was in my salon and spa,I used to reference basketball
a lot, and we're right now inHusky season, but it's, you know
.
I think about the differentroles, as you were saying, like
there's a coach that is leadingthis team.
That is just as important asthat.
(04:15):
You know, the person who is thepoint guard, the person who is
the center.
There are so many pieces thatare so specific but so necessary
to all be involved.
You know, at the same level ofpassion, and it doesn't matter
if you're the owner, if you're astylist, if you're an
esthetician or front desk person.
It's, you know, it's truly isabout being on the same court,
(04:38):
on the same field together.
So that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You nailed it.
I too am a basketball person atheart.
Analogies, using a lot ofanalogies with your team to get
them to a place of understandingthat whole concept.
That it's not about what is theshow with the miracle.
It's not about the name on theback.
It's about the you know it'sthe team name.
(05:03):
It's not about you know Bartline on the back.
It's about the you know it'sthe team name.
It's not about you know Bartline on the back of my shirt.
It's about it's the voice lawnspa.
We're all in this together, yeah, and, and we really did, um, we
do retreats.
It kind of runs in the let'stry that again.
It runs me into cause.
I get really excited about aretreat.
Our retreats are, um, somethingthat we do every year.
Um, and we have a focus, andone year we did that.
(05:25):
It was focused all around that.
We even got shirts that hadtheir last names on the back and
then Savoy on the front andthey really started rallying
around it.
So what I'm getting to is it'sgetting analogies to get them to
understand.
It really isn't about, in fact,we don't have the word manager,
we don't have the word director, things of that nature.
(05:48):
We all know what our roles arein the company and we also let
it happen organically.
So I'm tapping into and findingwhat they're really good at and
letting them run with it,because they all bring fantastic
contributions to the culture.
And so, there again, it'sbringing that trust in.
(06:11):
It doesn't matter if you're twomonths into being at Savoy, if
you're new, it doesn't meanyou're going to sit down and do
nothing.
It's like what do you got tocontribute?
You have something which leadsinto personality of you.
You have something which leadsinto personality.
You know personality is a bigaspect into if you fit into our
culture.
(06:31):
That's how we hire.
You know, if you've got thatmentality, that you're motivated
, you're teachable, you'recoachable, you know it just
leads into the next piece.
So what I would say is you knowwe look at those fine details
that most don't look at insteadof looking at.
You know, here's our.
(06:52):
Okay, we've got our goals thatwe want to reach.
We don't look at the goals.
We break everything down, whichincludes culture.
We break everything down intoareas that will make the biggest
impact.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Yeah, and it always ties back.
I'm sorry to cut you off.
There Is communication, one ofthose key areas Like how do you
communicate with your teamaround culture?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
For sure.
So right out of the gate, whenwe're interviewing, we do kind
of have a process to it.
When we're interviewing, we dokind of have a process to it.
I meet with somebody first andthen it comes down to our team.
Our team does the interviewing.
So the communication pieceright there is, you know,
they're reading into thepersonality, like I said, and
(07:38):
then they'll do the assessmentsof their skills and whatnot.
But right there we're layingout communications really
important to us.
So more honest you can be withus all around, the more that
we're going to grow together.
And it goes back into that teamthing, like you were saying.
We're in it to win and we'retrying to find the team players
(08:01):
that are going to bring the bestpieces to the table.
So then, communication.
I was talking to you earlier.
I removed myself from havingreally formal sit downs.
Yes, we do performance reviewsregularly, but even those when I
do interviewing, I get reallydown to earth with them as well.
(08:24):
I don't want it to be stuffy, Iwant them to be in their
natural state.
I want them to feel that safetyand that connection with us
right out of the gate.
But then we have coffee talks,so our one-on-ones.
Just come sit in my office.
My door's always open.
I actually have sticky notes onmy door, so if my door is shut,
it might just be that you knowI'm recording something, I'm
(08:47):
listening, but otherwise there'sa sticky note.
Come on in.
My door's always open.
I want to know what's going onin their world.
I want them, you know, friendly, I want to be friends with them
, and the more that you can getto that concept of being on a
friendly level instead of it,I'm your boss, you're the
employee they're more open totelling you things I can read
(09:11):
into.
You know, if they seem down oneday it's like, hey, you all
right, but again, communication.
I want them to feel verycomfortable, being comfortable
talking to each other myself.
That again, that goes back toI'm not higher than them.
We're in this together.
So communication is absolutelyone of our key values.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
I think one of the things that I love that you're
sharing that, and one of thethings that's kind of hitting my
brain is I'm almost hittingthese idea that there are like
three C's around culture,culture's three C's, cause you
mentioned a couple of thingsjust mentioned communication.
You know is is something, but Ilove that you talked about.
You know, prior to this too,you you talked about
(09:54):
contribution and you talkedabout and again, all this does
to us is connection.
So, we think about contribution, connection and communication
being the key to culture.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I like it.
There's a T-shirt in heresomewhere I know there's a.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
T-shirt in here.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I just got to figure it out.
It's coming to me as I'msitting, but I like the idea of
contribution.
You talked about that, you know, earlier, and it really kind of
hit me, as you were, the wayyou were talking and listening
to what you're sharing is, Ithink one of the keys is showing
people how they can contributeand giving them ways to give a
(10:33):
contribution, to be a part ofsomething that does make that
connection with something.
But you know, I think that is abig building block when we talk
about culture and how do yougrow a stronger culture?
People have to feel a part ofit and I think that's where a
contribution comes in.
What do you do, like, let's say,for example, I mean, you know
(10:53):
in your business now, michelle,you probably have brand new
people that are part of yourbusiness how does someone?
How can you get someone?
How do you show themcontribution or being able to
contribute there?
But also, how do you kind ofhold with that with someone that
may be now the opposite end ofthe spectrum, maybe someone
that's been with you for, youknow, 10 years, 15 years,
(11:14):
however, right, more longevitywhen is?
How does that play in bothsides of that?
Speaker 3 (11:20):
In contribution.
You're saying, like, how dothey contribute to the team in
general?
Speaker 2 (11:24):
Yeah, I mean, I think there's.
How do they contribute to theteam, how do they contribute to
the culture, how do they justeven contribute to the business
on the day-to-day?
That makes them feel as thoughthey have a place in there,
which I think all of that leadsto, that that, to me, is at the
heart of that whole culturepiece that you have in your
company.
So, yeah, I mean, whichever wayyou want to look at it,
(11:47):
whatever lens I think is theright one, but I'm looking at it
like this.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
So it's, it's so.
I'm looking at it like this soyou have to remove yourself
again as the owner.
That it's micromanaging.
Don't go away from themicromanaging and having things
be just so uber structured.
We have tons of systems.
I have a younger one where youknow I always ask them in a
(12:17):
review or even a one-on-one.
You know their coffee talks,you know what's speaking to you
right now.
What do you love to do?
What is what's you know comingat you?
What do you feel like you wantto tap into?
Because it changes as theircareer goes on and so, like I
have a younger one and she'slike I really want to take care
of, like the newsletter, I wantto do a newsletter and I want to
(12:37):
do, like, um, some imagery upin the front on this board and
she just runs with it.
I trust her enough.
I don't even look at thenewsletter anymore.
I don't because I trust her,but I let her and she's only
been with us three years, sowhat does that do to somebody
new that comes in?
They're like wow, I can expandon areas I want to grow in.
(13:00):
I don't push services if theydon't want to do a certain
service.
They're uncomfortable, it'swhatever it may be, but I want
them to prosper in areas thatthey love, and they come up with
new services all the time.
So then you flip on the otherend of the spectrum and so I
have some that are, you know,like me, about 30 years in the
(13:21):
industry.
Your body starts to say nope,can't do that too much anymore.
They go into differentleadership roles, like we do a
huge fundraiser it's going onright now For Earth Month.
We have a beanbag tournamentwe've done for many years and we
make money for the Great Lakesand she heads all that.
So if you think about theadvertising, the community
(13:43):
connection and there's another CMichael, we really like get
involved in our community andthey also allow me then on my
end I'm very involved in ourcommunity and it does bring, it
does contribute to that culturepiece.
Again, it contributes to thegrowth of our company because
customers love seeing that.
They love seeing our connectionwithin us.
(14:07):
So I mean just tying in fromevery moment you're in the
company.
It's really letting you pickand choose some areas that you
want to play into it.
So there's never like adefinitive like here's what you
do at the first year, and here'swhat you do at your 30th year.
It's what?
What makes you sing?
People hear me say this a lot.
(14:27):
It's what makes you sing, whatmakes your heart sing, because
if you're singing, we're allsinging.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Yeah, I love that.
You really are fosteringinnovation within your team.
It doesn't have to come fromyou as the owner.
As something new, let's trysomething.
I think that's awesome.
That's really great.
That's really great.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
What makes your heart sing, christy, oh my gosh right
.
Speaker 1 (14:49):
Nothing like putting me on the spot right, connection
right.
I think we all get into thisbusiness because of it.
I want to be a part ofsomething that is making the
world a better place, whetherit's just in our small little
community or the greatercommunity.
I think that's it's probablysomething that is ingrained in
many of us that are in thisindustry for sure.
(15:10):
All right, so I'm going to flipthe switch on you.
I have a question for you,michelle Michael.
You pipe in on this one too.
What steps can salon ownerstake to address conflicts
constructively?
and maintain harmony.
So, like we are talking aboutthings that make it feel like
kumbaya, everything is alwaysperfect at Savoy or at
(15:32):
Strategies, or you know.
Insert name what happens whenit's not?
Speaker 3 (15:43):
How do you deal with that?
And I pridefully say at thispoint I mean, this is how many
years in the making.
We don't have that.
But I will tell you how it gotto this point.
We don't have that because wereally foster the concept of you
know, teaching in the moment,coaching in the moment, um, and
you know, of course not in frontof a customer or anything like
that.
But it doesn't make sense to meto come tell me something and
(16:07):
then it's, it's, you know, it'sjust regurgitated.
I may say a different go, takecare of it.
So we work at it like any otherrelationship.
If it's a marriage and I that'sthe analogy I use this is just
like a family.
We have to respect it as afamily.
There are going to be timesthat we grumble at each other,
but we have to, we have to takecare of it right in that moment.
(16:29):
We don't go to sleep mad, right?
Yeah, but how did it get tothat point?
It was in several meetings.
Our staff meetings are worksessions.
They're very organized.
We work on a topic.
The last one we've been doingis self-reflection.
(16:50):
That was one of our last topicswas self-reflection.
We got really deep into that.
But when you really foster thatkind of thinking it gets them
to be self-sufficient and I wantthem to be solutionists.
Yeah, so you know theconflict's not there.
But it took a long time to beable to get them to open up and
(17:11):
trust this whole idea.
To be really fair, when anyoneleaves Savoy, I pridefully go.
You know it hasn't been overconflict.
They leave because they havechildren.
They move out of the area.
They just, you know it hasn'tbeen over conflict.
They leave because they havechildren.
They move out of the area.
They just, you know, forwhatever reason, just they
choose not to be in the into theprofession anymore and usually,
(17:34):
again, it goes into children.
But you know, I feel reallyprideful that we're.
You know it's part of our, our,our vision and our mission is
to create a chain of good in thecommunity and beyond.
You know so we part of our, our, our vision and our mission is
to create a chain of good in thecommunity and beyond.
You know so we're, we're reallysetting that tone of.
I hope, no matter when they, ifthey leave, they still have
these skill sets, that they'redoing this out in their families
(17:55):
, they're doing this out in thecommunity.
So it goes a lot further thanjust in Savoy, but really that
if there were a conflict, okay,if we rewind, christy, yeah it.
This is the steps that I would.
I would coach somebody to do aswell.
Um, you know, don't do it whenyou're angry, like if you give
(18:16):
yourself the 24 hour rule.
Get the emotion out of it.
Second of all, write down thethings that you feel are
important you need to talk about.
That's a key, isn't?
Speaker 1 (18:29):
it.
I always thought that was ahuge key.
I wrote down stuff all the time, I didn't want to forget what
was important.
I also need to really reanalyzewhat I was going to talk about.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
Asking them.
Okay, so you have yourperception of what happened in
that conflict.
What is their perception?
Perception is it's different toeverybody.
Make sure you're you'relistening to hear their words
and be fair.
Don't interrupt them.
Let them talk, hear what theyhave to say and then work
together.
Ok, so clearly we have to getthrough this.
(19:02):
What do you see as a solution?
What do you see?
Let them answer, that's great.
And then come to a compromiseand a timeline and some steps.
So nobody loves toughconversations.
I don't know.
My husband laughs because hethinks I love tough
conversations.
I'm like, no, I love resolution, I love getting through them.
(19:24):
I think that's I don't likewhen things are, when people
aren't getting along.
I want to find peace.
So I think that's why maybe itlooks like I like tough
conversations, I like peace.
So it's how, how can you findpeace?
And it's listening and you knowfinding a solution and you know
working together.
Back to that collaboration yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Well, I was going to say I think that's you know, I
love what you shared and I thinkthat's part of the key is, I
think, when you think aboutconflict, I think conflict
happens because there is lack ofcommunication, and really
that's one part of it, sure, butstaying with even what we've
kind of used as our just kind ofstumbled upon theme in some
(20:07):
ways, but it's when people feeldisconnected.
That lack of connection I thinkthat's the heart of where
conflict probably starts is thefact that there wasn't a lot of
great communication around maybea certain area, a certain topic
, whatever, and I feeldisconnected from that.
(20:28):
And therefore, now, I thinkthat's where we get off on, you
know, different wavelengths,different opinions, different
thoughts on it.
So I love what you shared.
You know, michelle, with thatis just, you know it's like all
right, how do we recenterourselves sometimes?
You know what does that need tolook like?
Like I said, with that is justyou know it's like all right,
how do we recenter ourselvessometimes.
You know what does that need tolook like?
(20:53):
Like I said, if that means,like you just shared, that means
taking a 24 hour, just kind ofmoment, writing some things down
, getting clarity, and I lovethe fact it's like going for it.
Let's find, let's be solutionbased, resolution based around,
again, clearly, communicatingmakes all the difference in the
world.
Based around, again, clearlycommunicating makes all the
difference in the world.
So this is awesome.
As we kind of wind things uphere, michelle, I've got one
last thing just for mepersonally.
I've got one last question foryou is if you had to give just
(21:15):
one tip like what's the oneafter everything we talked about
today, maybe it's in that samevein or maybe it's something
kind of different that brings itall together.
But if you had to share onething that you say hey, listen,
new business owner comes to youand says I want to strengthen my
culture and boom, what's your?
What's your one tip, thebiggest thing you'd stress to
(21:35):
someone?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Oh, there's a lot of tips, ok.
So you all know I'm a bigbeliever in brain dumping, so I
think it's just getting down,brain dumping the things that
annoy you in your business andthen finding solutions to that
and then making a game plan.
But it all comes down to youhave to be really honest with
yourself as a leader.
(21:58):
There are things that we haveto work on, um, and it's always,
it's, it's continuing, um, anda lot of it ends up on our
plates of are we listening?
Am I being a good listener?
Am I paying attention?
So a lot of self-reflection onthat regard, but definitely just
brain dumping and just gettinggetting that all out of your
(22:22):
head, because it brings a lotmore clarity of what needs to
happen, and being honest, uh,honesty, honesty, honesty,
honesty.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Yeah, I love it.
Again, culture starts with aleader.
I love how you, you know,dialed in on that and uh, that's
awesome, great stuff.
Speaker 1 (22:39):
Absolutely.
Do you have any words of wisdomon what you would feel?
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Listen, I cannot follow that type of wisdom there
, because I think that I thinkthat really is.
I mean, I think that really isso true is.
I'm glad you said it, michelle,because I have to say when I
asked the question I didn't havemy immediate answer in my brain
.
Yeah, but you're exactly right,michelle.
It's, if you want a culture, ithas to start with leadership.
It's, if you want a culture, ithas to start with leadership.
(23:03):
And really, the only thing Iwould add to it and you were
saying it, I'll just kind ofmaybe express it differently is
what's important to you yourvalues, the vision that you have
for your company, the passionthat you have for your company.
That's where it all has tostart, that's the formation of a
culture.
People are attracted to yourpassion, your values, the things
(23:25):
that you feel strong about.
And so I would say, like I said, it's just building on what you
were really saying there,michelle, but it's just exactly
that it starts with you and thenit's just a matter of staying
with that and again allowingpeople then to kind of wrap it
all together.
That and again allowing peoplethen to kind of wrap it all
(23:45):
together, allowing people thento contribute to that clear
communication around that clearconnection with that.
Then suddenly, a culture boom,it's there.
There it is.
It's amazing and then you'rewinning awards.
Then you're winning, that'sright.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Then you're rolling in the awards there, michelle I
have to put one little pieceinto what you just said, michael
, because to me this was aneye-opener, one of those
self-reflection pieces.
Yes, your vision and yourvalues are all.
We start them, but as you growin your culture and it gets
deeper, it shifts a little bit.
Like I'll look at our valuesand go okay, that might not be
(24:18):
my personal value at home, butit's a value for us at Savoy.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
And this is what we developed.
So this is now a collectivebehavior, right, it's a
collective, that's hugeawareness for owners too, I
think, because we had that samekind of scenario and
conversation that happened inour business and it truly was
wait, that's not my personalvalue, like that wouldn't be my
top five was wait, that's not mypersonal value, like that
wouldn't be my top five.
And then we discussed it as a,as a team, and it was number one
(24:48):
.
You know it was such a needwithin our business culture.
It was so.
It was super eyeopening.
So great, great.
To end on that point, michelle,it has been an absolute
pleasure diving into culturewith you.
We'll do it again and if youout there need any help with
your culture or your beautybusiness strategies, definitely
(25:09):
click on the link within thedescription below and we would
love to chat with you.
Michelle, thank you so much forjoining Michael and I today.
Thanks, michelle.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Thanks again for listening to the Beauty Business
Strategies podcast.
If you liked this episode, besure to hit follow To learn more
about how strategies can helpcreate more fun, profit and
growth potential for you, yourcompany and your team.
We invite you to schedule afree 60-minute strategy session
by clicking the direct link inthe description of this episode.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.