Grow My Salon Business Podcast

Some of us have been on lockdown now for 4-5 weeks, and many of us have no date for when we will be able to reopen. Whereas other countries or states either didn’t have a compulsory close order from the government or if they did close, they are now getting ready to reopen. Regardless of what your current situation is I believe that it’s essential that you plan for the day that you do reopen because if you are going to get through this and come out the other end stronger and even better prepared, then you need to make sure you adopt a positive mindset and look for the new opportunities for when we do reopen. Obviously, It’s important that you also understand your legal obligations in the event that there are changes that you have to make and rules that you have to follow. But aside from that, it’s important that we look at the opportunities to re-invent our redefine, the client salon experience, and the team experience. On today’s podcast, I have chosen to interview two leaders in the industry to see how they

The only part of these podcasts that I script is the introduction. Sometimes they are easy to write; other times, you don’t know where to start, and that’s what it is like with my guest today. I think that the expression “wears his heart on his sleeve” was invented for this man. He is passionate and driven about everything he does. He leads with an open heart, a sense of honesty, and generosity, and humility that you don’t often come across. I have known him for the best part of thirty years through good times and bad, and I always enjoy talking with him. His name is Emiliano Vitale from e’Salon in Sydney, and I spoke with him briefly on an earlier podcast where we discussed the Coronavirus, but today I really want to get him to talk about his business and the journey he’s had and the lessons he’s learned along the way. I know you will enjoy his passion and enthusiasm for life, but there is also an awful lot of hard-earned business experience to benefit from as well. In today’s podcast, we will discuss: The

What does it really take to have a celebrity client base? My guest on today's Podcast is Nicola Clarke who is a salon partner and the creative colour director at John Frieda salons in London as well as being a major celebrity colourist. Nicola's success is not only due to her talent as a colourist but her personal qualities of grit, determination and persistence which are lessons that we all need to take on board as we work through the coming weeks. For many hairdressers, the opportunity to work 1-1 with some of the worlds top models, musicians, actors and celebrities is their dream job and definition of success. But obviously, it’s a definition of success that only a few can achieve and even less can maintain. It takes more than just technical and creative skills. You also have to be a certain type of person to be able to deal with celebrity clients, because it can be demanding, unpredictable and stressful to the extreme… But the upside is also pretty cool as well! Nicola has a client list that includes the

The beginning of the new normal! I think that we all agree that the last couple of weeks have been like an out of control rollercoaster ride, or perhaps like a being in a tumble dryer on full speed. There has been a lot of uncertainty, and we are all living in a state of constant change literally by the day, and in some cases by the hour … In times like this, we need leadership, and we need a sense of calm as we try and work through this. It affects pretty much the population of the entire planet and salon owners and hairdressers, in general, are as vulnerable and as exposed as anybody is… And I don’t just mean our own physical health but the health of our businesses… In today's podcast, I am interviewing salon owners Robert and Mary Cromeans and Sue Arens. All of whom are successful salon owners to see how they are dealing with the current situation and to start looking at what the future will be like, and how we can prepare for when we come out the other end of this… In This Episode: [01:31] Robert and Mary

Handling COVID-19 with Sean, Virginia, and Emiliano As salon owners, it is a challenging moment for many, and inevitably with the uncertainty comes fear and panic is near to the surface. So if we are going to get through this and come out the other end more robust and even better prepared, then we need to make sure we adopt a positive mindset not buy into the fear and the panic. Unfortunately, many small businesses survive on daily cash flow, and they have no fallback position as a buffer for difficult times like this. If salons remain closed for weeks, it will be an insurmountable problem for many of them. Governments are reacting in different ways with grants and loans to ensure that businesses do survive. Managing your money and finances will be the Achilles heel for many salon owners. But equally, getting control of the financial situation and hopefully being able to take advantage of the various government-backed initiatives will see you through the next few weeks or maybe even months. Your marketing and

There is a big change afoot, and none of us can afford to ignore it. It is being driven by generational changes, different values, and new way of thinking and working.    But most importantly, it is being driven by a sense of urgency about taking better care of our planet and the people in it.   Buzz words and phrases like, “Socially and environmentally responsible. Sustainable ingredients. Environmental performance. Balancing purpose and profit. And creating inclusive economies”. Are no longer just the language of a few, they are becoming the language of many.   My guest on today's Podcast is Fallene Wells owner of the “Let em have it” Salon which is situated in Denver Colorado and is one of only three B Corp salons in the world.   In today’s podcast we will discuss: What is a B Corp Business? ‘Sustainability’ and hairdressing salons. The impact that all of this has on salon business. From the salon culture and business model to the impact that it has on the local community and beyond.  

I have the pleasure of working with many salon owners all over the world. As a result, I am very fortunate to have inspiring and insightful conversations about the changes that are happening in the salon industry.   But, perhaps, more importantly, I get an insight into how forward-thinking salon owners are evolving their business approach to accommodate the never-ending changes to succeed in the salon business today.   Today’s guest on the podcast is Ben Jay co-owner of ‘The Hair Loft’ salons, a successful family business in Chicago that started in 1980 and continues to evolve with the times.   In today’s podcast, amongst many other things, we will discuss:   What are some of the changes that are impacting the traditional salon business model? The never-ending impact of new technologies. The increase in specialty salons. How the big product brand is evolving and what that means for the salon business.   In This Episode: [01:31] Welcome to the show, Ben! [01:56] Ben shares his background and how he ended up

One of the things I love about this industry is the opportunities that there are for people to evolve into different areas of hairdressing if they wish to. Don’t get me wrong; there is absolutely nothing wrong with being 100% focused behind the chair as a stylist or a colourist and building up a salon clientele. Or maybe even opening up your own salon. But for some people, their journey takes them in other directions as an educator, or to various other opportunities within product companies. My guest today is one of those people. His name is Colin Caruso, and he is the owner of Caru Salon in New Jersey and is now also Artistic Director of Professional Hair Color for John Paul Mitchell Systems. In today’s podcast, we will discuss: Color Consultations Sustainability Social Media ‘Style Trip’ and the importance of storytelling   In This Episode: [01:26] Welcome to the show, Colin! [01:48] Colin discusses his family, background, and what his priorities are. [02:49] Colin describes his job at John Paul Mitchell

I consciously go out of my way to interview a diverse range of people for the podcast. But, the one thing I know that they all have in common is that they are building successful, profitable businesses, regardless of where in the world they are.   My goal is to interview a range of people at all stages of their careers in various areas of the salon industry to bring you a mixture of inspiration, entertainment, and practical ideas and advice to help you grow your salon.   Today’s guest on the podcast is Maria Unali, a salon owner from Sydney Australia who opened Salon Kiin 4 years ago.   In today’s podcast we will discuss:   The challenge of juggling multiple roles in life from being a wife, mother, stylist, and business owner with all of the demands that come with it. How to attract, nurture, and build a salon team. And how to set guidelines around salon social media.   In This Episode: [01:35] Welcome to the show, Maria! [01:59] Maria shares her background, why she became a stylist and salon owner. [04:20]

I’m sure that like me, you get inspired by people for lots of different reasons. Sometimes it might be because of what they have achieved. Other times it may be the journey they have had to get there, or maybe how they’ve handled adversity and overcome challenges. Or maybe you get inspired by how they think. How they think about people, how they think about life, and how they think about hairdressing. My guest on today’s podcast is Traci Sakosits, North American Creative Director of the Sassoon Salons and Academies.  Traci has a passion and curiosity about people and the craft of hairdressing. She is someone who inspires me, not only by what she does with hair but with how ‘she thinks’ about hair and hairdressing and her commitment to the craft. So, on today’s podcast, amongst other things we are going to talk about: How people and businesses evolve. What do you need to do to lead a team effectively? What young people expect today, and how do you lead and motivate them. How you balance life as a leader, teac

Over the last few years, there have been many changes in the hairdressing industry. One of those changes has been the continual evolvement of ‘all things hair colour’, and inevitably hand in hand with that has been the rise of the ‘Hair Colourist'!  I would never say that colourists were the poor cousin to stylists, but stylists were more likely to be the rockstars of hairdressing. However these days there’s definitely a feeling that ‘Colourists’ have really come into a league of their own.   One such person is my guest today, Mr Jack Howard who is definitely one of the very best colourists out there. Jack has built a reputation around balayage and is often acknowledged as someone who is responsible for bringing balayage to the UK after returning from a number of years in the US. Jack works out of the prestigious Paul Edmonds salon in Londons Knightsbridge servicing a high profile clientele as well as spending a lot of time as an educator.   Amongst other things in today's podcast we will discuss: What's bee

Over the years I have seen many big-name salons in capital cities with high profile locations, expensive fit-outs and celebrity stylists. But sometimes those businesses don’t actually make any profit! They might generate a lot of revenue but the high overheads and often transient populations of both clients and staff create problems of their own.    Then I see other salons, all over the world, that are maybe not in the capital cities, and maybe don’t quite get the prestige of being in such high profile locations. But despite that, they are very successful profitable businesses and can compete with ‘any salon anywhere’, no matter where they are.    One such salon group in the UK is the Barrie Stephen salons in Leicester, which is a city with just over 300,000 people about 2½ hours north of London.    Today's guest on the Podcast is Barrie Stephen part-owner of the salon group who with his partner Joachim has created a great business.    In today's podcast we will discuss: What does it take to build a great te

“Can you imagine expanding your brand beyond your wildest dreams?” If that is something you think about, listen as Antony and his guest, Denis McFadden, founder of the Just Cuts group, chat about how he did just that. Denis shares with us how he went from having only a full-service salon to also opening up four Just Cuts salons in a matter of years, and the growth after that has been astounding.    Listen in as we discuss: The story behind the Just Cuts brand. The important steps in building a franchise for both the franchisee and the franchisor Some of the challenges involved in expansion on that scale. How do you find and keep good people?   Denis tells us about the early days as a salon owner and how that evolved to become the owner of 231 franchises. He shares why they don’t have chemical services, the cost of a haircut, and the fact that their clientele is about half and half women and men. Denis discusses training new stylists, the technology that allows them to manage salons from different countries,

“What is marketing?” If that question makes you stop a second and think you need to listen as Antony discusses all things marketing on this episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast. There are three significant areas he will focus on with many other ideas surfacing along the way.  Listen in as we discuss: What is marketing meant to do? Why it is essential to understand who your target market or client is. What is the concept of your salon business? Marketing is communication by connecting and engaging with people. Marketing used to be about advertising, but today if you advertise who you are and what you do, it isn’t enough. It is about making a promise to your clients and potential clients and then delivering on that promise. What message are you and your team communicating 24/7?  Antony discusses and explains the functions of marketing, the first being defining your vision, the second is the positioning of the brand, the third cohesive image, setting the experience, and advertising finishes it up. Bui

On today’s episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast, Antony speaks with Sam Villa. Sam is known in the industry for his passion, authenticity, humility, and for being a great educator because teaching is his passion.  Listen in as we discuss: The changes that are happening in education. The role of social media in continuing education. The personal skills of success. Sam talks about his background, why he never wanted to be a barber, and why he chose to be a stylist. He speaks about being in his dad’s barbershop shining shoes for customers when he was a young boy. His father took him to a hair show in 1976 put on by Vidal Sassoon, and that was the catalyst that made him decide to be a hairdresser. He worked at a salon for three years after beauty school and then opened his own salon.  After owning the salon for 20 years, he was offered a great opportunity with Redkin to be an educator. He closed his salon to pursue this new direction. He felt that in the salon, he could only help a handful of people, b

Welcome to the Grow My Salon Business podcast with host Antony Whitaker. In today’s episode, Antony is speaking with Martha Lynn Kale. Martha Lynn is the owner of the award-winning salon Mirror Mirror based in Austin, Texas.  Listen in as we discuss: The importance of finding balance in your life. What it takes to succeed as a woman in business today, especially while balancing a young family. The importance of blogging and social media. What exactly is a safer salon? What do the staff want today? Martha Lynn tells us about wanting to launch her own business and quitting her job in advertising and marketing to go to Cosmetology School at age 27. She started building her clientele in beauty school, took them with her to a small salon, then a larger salon, and two years later launched her salon Mirror Mirror.  They discuss how her salon has evolved over the last few years, how she balances her personal life with her work and the fact that Instagram is the number one way they bring new clients into the salon.

In this episode of Grow My Salon Business with host Antony Whitaker, Antony is talking with Eric Taylor. Eric is the founder of the Salon Republic, salon suite business in California. Salon Republic is booming with 21 locations and a total of over 2000 individual suites. On top of that, Eric is also a fantastic podcaster and has a podcast called The Hair Game.  Listen in as we discuss: Why the salon studio model started. Who started it and where.  What is driving the growth?  Things to consider when looking at leasing a suite. Who is a fit for the suite atmosphere? They compare the differences between a commission-based salon and the salon suite model. The pros and cons of both, and what that looks like from both an industry and a client perspective. Eric also talks about the average cost of having a salon suite, what that cost covers, and the new beauty supply store they have in house. Eric believes that what is driving the salon suite business model is the flexibility it offers,  you set the hours, you se

Welcome to this episode of Grow My Salon Business with host Antony Whitaker. Antony’s guest today is Vivienne Mackinder, she is a hairdresser, educator, innovator and industry leader. She talks to us about training, leadership, awards, and succeeding as a woman in business. Vivienne says she is still a student and still learning after all of these years, and she finds it delicious. Her most prominent teacher right now is her website, HairDesignerTV. It is regularly teaching her something new from things like communication skills, telling stories, and how to be more efficient.  Vivienne started the website to share the knowledge of hairdressers from different places. It’s a training platform with over 900 videos on cutting, dressing hair, color, leadership, and motivational videos. She had the vision years before it was technically possible, but that didn’t stop her from planning and waiting for the right time. Vivienne says that timing is everything in business, and if you are too far ahead, it is as dangerou

This year I've spent a lot of time in the United States with John Paul Mitchell Systems presenting one of my favourite seminars that I call ‘GROW MY COLOR BUSINESS' which is something we should all be focused on.   As hairdressers, it’s essential that we know how to consult and design and apply a colour. But it’s equally important that we know how to make money from it.   I'm currently sitting in a Hotel room in Las Vegas and for today's podcast, I'm online talking with Alicia Soulier in Saskatchewan Canada. Aleisha is a hairdresser, salon owner and founder of tech company SalonScale.com which is a hair colour app that amongst other things ensures that you know the exact cost of product in every colour service leaving the salon - Which means that you can, therefore, price your colour services accordingly.   I think that there are two stories here, one is the Salon Scale story and how the app can help salon owners and hairdressers. And the other is about a young woman who is a hairdresser who starts a tech com

I love it anytime I meet someone successful, and especially so, ‘when they are successful hairdressers’. I travel a lot and I meet many hairdressers who complain about the industry, the millennials, gen Z, the competition, Amazon and whatever else they can use as an excuse to blame and justify their lack of success. But then occasionally you meet someone who defies all the reasons as to why you can’t do something and they get on and do it anyway… and that is my guest today.   Her name is Jyl Craven from Jyl Craven Hair Design in Canton Georgia. Jyl is on track to achieve personal sales this year of 600,000 US dollars which many salons with half a dozen staff never achieve and what makes it all the more remarkable is that Canton is a small city with a population of 30,000.   In today's podcast we discuss:   What it takes to be a productive hairdresser How she achieves a personal retail result of around $3000 per week How to pay your team What motivates people today Why developing culture takes time but is wor