Grow My Salon Business Podcast

“I have been in business now for ten years, and as a salon owner, I seem to work harder now than I ever have, but by the time I pay my team and the business overhead, there is never the profit left in the business that I had imagined!”   Does this sound familiar? Just because you are talented with a tint brush, a pair of scissors, and a blow dryer doesn’t mean you are automatically going to be abl...

“The emotional response is what makes hairdressing so joyful.”     Artificial intelligence is changing the world we live in right in front of our eyes. The impact of it can’t be overestimated, and whether you like it or not, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle.     So we need to learn about it, understand it, and, more importantly, figure out how to use it to improve our lives and our busin...

 At one end of the salon spectrum, you have budget or value salons. At the other end, you have premium or luxury brands. They all serve a purpose, and they all attract a clientele and a team that represents what the business offers.     In a city like London, the luxury end of the market is very competitive, and brands regularly come and go. But occasionally, you come across a business that stands...

 As every salon owner knows, the employee costs in any salon are always the single biggest overhead. Over the past few years, the cost of living has been consistently rising in all parts of the world, and this is putting pressure on salon owners to increase their wages.     Balancing combined employee costs so that your business can retain talent while still making a profit is a challenging task!...

Despite the changes in the social media landscape, using Instagram effectively is still one of the most important tools to help you grow your salon business!     My guest on today's podcast is Vivienne Johns, a UK-based Instagram expert. At this point in time, being competent (at least) in using this social media channel (alongside the others) is a skill that you can’t afford to ignore.      On he...

The words' icon' and 'legend' are totally overused in the hairdressing industry, and the problem that it creates is that when you really do meet someone regarded as a genuine icon or legend in the hairdressing industry, there are no superlatives left to aptly describe their status.  Having said that, today's guest would never call himself an 'icon' or a 'legend,' and it's that humility combined wi...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been with us for a while, but this year it has exploded into the general consciousness. Regardless of country or industry, it seems like everyone is talking about all the ways that AI will revolutionise the hairdressing business.    But what impact will it have on the creative side of the industry? How will it change how we communicate, how we do consultations, and...

I’ve always endeavoured to feature a wide range of guests from different countries, but more importantly I also try to cover a range of topics that reflect not just hairdressing and business, but life, and the highs and lows that come with being human because that is what makes us who we are. And who we are at a personal level impacts who we are at a professional level…   I know, that like me, a l...

 Today is the third in a series of episodes where I am talking to hairstylists who are extraordinarily productive in the salon. The average American hairstylist probably generates between $80-$100k a year behind the chair in total sales, so when you meet someone doing three to five times that, they are obviously doing something special.     Brandon Darragh, who has worked at Van Michael Salon sinc...

This year will be remembered for many things, including as being the time when Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) exploded into the mainstream of society.      A.I. has been with us for a number of years in a supporting role through things like social media algorithms, dating apps, Siri, Alexa, Google Maps, and Netflix.     But it’s ChatGPT that has really got everyone talking, and people are experien...

If you’re ambitious and hardworking, the salon industry is full of incredible career opportunities. For some people, opening an independent salon is the ultimate goal, while others may prefer the supportive structure that comes with being part of a bigger business and opt to go the franchise route.     Being part of a franchise business definitely offers many advantages that a smaller independent...

As Daniel Di Iorio has learned through the process of opening a new salon, life doesn’t always play out exactly the way we expect it to!    In my last conversation with Daniel, which took place in February 2023 (Episode 179), he shared his plans to relocate. In this episode, we do a deep dive into the aspects of the relocation that haven’t gone to plan and the valuable lessons that he has learned...

Which of the five business stages are you and your salon business currently in? What is the vision that you have for your business? And what is currently holding you back from making it a reality?   Building and running a business is a journey, and like all journeys, it will be filled with challenges (and hopefully triumphs). Unfortunately, many businesses fail before they even really get going; d...

There is no doubt that the salon industry (and the world as a whole) has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s guest, Virginia Meyer, has demonstrated that as scary as change can be, it can also be the best thing for your business!   Virginia is the co-founder, along with David Adams, of the Fourteen Jay salon in downtown New York. She has more than 40 years of experience in the product and...

 Jen LeBlanc is the Operations Manager and Director of Marketing at Salon Rootz (a commission-based salon) and Endz Salon Studios (a salon suite space), both based in the same plaza in Medina, Ohio.   The ‘Rootz to Endz’ business model is proof that salon owners can embrace the salon suite trend while still holding onto more traditional ideas of what a salon is. Some people are going to always wan...

A universal challenge experienced by salon owners is recruiting and retaining talented team members. And because hiring great people is the most effective way to drive revenue, this is a challenge that deserves attention.    My guest on today's podcast is Stefanie Fox, hair colourist, MBA graduate, and the founder of Talent Match, a team-building agency focused specifically on helping beauty indus...

 As many of you may know, my hairdressing background started with a 10-year stint at the Vidal Sassoon salons and schools in London before I went off to do my own thing.     Whether you worked at Sassoon or not, most hairdressers are interested in how the brand has evolved during its 65-year journey (which is a major feat in itself!).     Vidal Sassoon changed the way the world looks at and works...

As a hairdresser, you will be familiar with the numbers on a tube of colour or a bottle of peroxide, but if you don’t understand key performance indicators or profit margin percentages, you are doing yourself and your business a major disservice!   Hairdressers are known to be good at building relationships and thinking creatively, but within the industry, there is recognition that when it comes t...

Any career path has a beginning, a middle and an end. For some people, that entire journey is a brief couple of years, and for almost everyone, there is a peak and then a gradual decline in passion, creativity and relevance.    But every so often, someone comes along whose career continues to evolve on an upward trajectory that spans a lifetime and influences many generations of hairdressers. Toda...

I am often asked how salons should go about removing the front desk and what the potential challenges are that might come with it. Without a doubt, the idea of a desk-less salon appeals to a lot of people and to varying degrees, they implement it.  Salons that remove the front desk are creating a different client experience. Removing the front desk automates and streamlines the salon operations, a...

When you buy an existing salon business, there will inevitably be things you want to (and possibly need to) change.  Sometimes everything goes well, and the transition is a huge success for the new owner, the employees, and the clients. However, just because the salon business model is simple doesn’t mean a salon is a simple business to run, and taking over an existing salon can also end in tears,...

When Nicole Kidman describes you as the best hairdresser in the world, it is safe to say you’ve mastered your craft! Kerry Warn is the man behind the iconic hairstyles seen in movies like Eyes Wide Shut, The Stepford Wives, The Great Gatsby, Bewitched, Mrs America, Grace of Monaco, and Bladerunner…(to name a few)   And you would have seen his work on the world's biggest fashion catwalks…    And on...

It turns out that producing over half a million dollars behind the chair annually is not about being a celebrity stylist, a fashion week backstage superstar, or having a huge social media following.    Today is the first in a series of three episodes over the coming weeks where I will be talking to hairstylists who make extraordinarily high revenue figures behind the chair about what it does take!...

Change is a theme that has been coming through strongly in the interviews that I have been having on the show.    Even though we are in the ‘business of change’ (i.e. we change the appearance of those who sit in our chairs), the salon industry is often slow to embrace things like changing attitudes, technology, or business models.   In business and life, I firmly believe that change is not only go...

My guest on today’s Podcast is Toronto-based hairdresser Kristin Rankin, a salon owner at Fox & Jane and the founder of the Dresscode Project.    The salon industry is traditionally very gendered, and the Dresscode Project aims to create gender-affirming spaces through training and educating people working in the industry to give people haircuts that make them look the way they feel!    In tod...