Time to Stop Bashing Our Industry & Leverage New Opportunities (Salon Edition)

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Times have changed. The Salon Industry has changed beyond all recognition. I’ve been in the industry for over 20 years, and in that time it’s completely revolutionized but I’ve seen a lot of our industry struggling with the change and in a fear response taking it out on those who are growing and adapting with the changes.

And it has to stop. We need to stop bashing our industry and instead support our fellow industry members. Now is the time to pull together, to cheer each other on, and for us as a collective to seize back the power within our own hands. To build an industry we’re proud of.

Time stands still for no one

The beat of the drum goes on, and the industry has changed and keeps changing. From how our customers are reaching out to book appointments, all the way to how salon owners are marketing and leveraging their offerings online. Our bashing or being irritated by those who are using social media to go and get paid to be on the chair needs to stop. Multiple income streams ensure our stylists are being paid more regularly and consistently, allowing them to relax and be much less stressed.

How it works for a lot of stylists is that they become influencers and educators online, and use affiliate codes or links to share what’s working for them. Then when other stylists use those links,  those people get rewarded for it. You may ask, why should they get paid for that? But I want to ask in return, why would you not want to support them? Surely, if you’re money is going to be spent anyway, why not direct some of those funds towards a fellow industry member first. Keeping those precious few dollars in the industry itself before it goes on to the bigger conglomerates.

The Open Opportunity

What’s also great here is that there’s space for you too. So if you’re feeling, why should I? Maybe that’s something inside of you saying ‘I want a piece of that too’, and you can, especially, if you’re starting to build an online presence. You can and should be leveraging every opportunity to make money off of this as well. You’re truly just supporting each other if you’re going to buy the products anyway. Would you rather not support our own community and put it consistently back in the manufacturer's hands and/or people who are sometimes not even really from our industry?

Our job now as the industry changes is to represent each other in every move we make. Not just thinking about how is this helping me, but how is this helping my industry to grow? The more we do this, the more we create data and build a way to show just how valuable and influential we truly are. We are influential beyond hair products. We influence customers to attend events, movies to watch, clothing to buy, and makeup to try. There are so many more connecting points to our customers, so don’t stop at just the chair and the haircare, start branding. Start sharing yourself and what you care about, what you love, and expand from there.

Your customers already really value what you’re into, so make it easy because they’re already consumers. The only thing you really have to figure out is the technology side of things, but there are already women in our industry ready to help with that. So stop being afraid of putting yourself out there, someone’s always going to think you’re a try-hard, that you’re being greedy or annoying. Perhaps even you’re an MLM or a scam somehow, the people who know and trust you won’t believe that for a second. (Of course, I always recommend you ensure any company you work with is reputable. Seek reviews and ask experts).

Meeting the Customer's Need

When contemplating this, I want you to think about customer and convenience, how do you make things convenient for your people to consume? Is buying from you making their life easier? Also, think about when you last bought something you deserved or purchased something you’d wanted for a while, did you feel joy, gratitude, happiness, satisfaction, or just content? Remember, this is what you are helping your clients with. That’s how your customers will be feeling when they purchase from you.

Now when you live beyond your means, and you are constantly purchasing things that you might not be able to afford, or have an insecurity or fear around cash, finances, and money, this does not mean your customers are in the same financial situation. And it’s time to stop projecting. It’s common to have a range of clients, from those in high school to those who are closer to 50. Do you think these people have the same financial background or are in the same situation? Most likely not.

Let’s narrow it down though. Consider a 35 and a 43 year old. Two people with not much age difference, so we might assume they have the same finances but it is in those few years that financial independence is at its all-time high. At 43, those babies become kids. The need for formula and baby, diapers, and all those expenses go away and suddenly they may have some more money to use on themselves. Those oldermature customers also now starting to head into higher positions in their careers and have more free time. Their investments are also starting to add up, moving past just interest and starting to pay down the principal on a lot of the mortgages they took out in their earlier 30s. So there’s a great change that happens in that zone, and our job is to present opportunities and allow our customers to make their choices. To avoid attaching them to your own situation and internal beliefs.

Support Each Other to Support the Industry

So by finding multiple ways to get paid behind the chair, the salon industry can continue to grow and take back its power from others. In this, we must support one another, or else that money will always remain with those who manage it. The money will always remain in those who track it and seize the opportunities that lay in front of us.

The faster we support each other, the faster we support data collection to build information and insight to help others really see the real value in the economic drivers that we truly are. This is how we make a difference. This is how we make change and this is how we get the same acceptance and treatment as any other profession in our ecosystems environments and governments.

Alicia Soulier is the Founder and CEO of SalonScale, as well as an Award-Winning Stylist, Tech Innovator and Female Entrepreneur Advocate. She is dedicated to revolutionizing the salon industry and supporting female entrepreneurs to do the same in theirs. Her new book 'The Scale' comes out October 2024.