Inspiring Salon Professionals

The conversation between Sue Davies and JM Chalayer offers a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities faced by solo beauty professionals working in the salon industry. With JENA as the podcast's first official sponsor, JM outlines the app's mission to simplify the day to day running of a beauty business. The discussion highlights the importance of a seamless client journey, from the initial...

What a conversation! I've known Wendy for a few years and have always found her insights into the business world helpful and thought provoking. In this episode we cover so much more than the title suggests, but there wasn't enough space. Wendy shares her views of the USP the salon industry has for clients from the client perspective and we discuss how that personal touch we provide to our clients....

Welcoming Stephanie Stevenson to the Inspiring Salon Professionals podcast. Steph joined me recently for a catch up and a conversation that's long overdue. Steph is a global business leader with over 30 years of experience in the hair, retail, and business sectors. Founder of the award-winning HNB Salon & Spa, she has collaborated with leading international brands and pioneered innovative stra...

In this episode of Inspiring Salon Professionals I talk with Mandie Holgate who is an international business coach and cheerleader. In this episode we continue on the client journey series discussing the ways the clients find you online and how you can promote your business in different ways. Mandie is an expert in blogging for business and a good blog can bring you so much new business and ground...

Joining me on this episode is Debbie Allen, a salon professional and education expert who has over 40 years served. We discuss how your professional boundaries advise your clients on how your business operates, what they can expect and also how they help you maintain your own sense of self, wellbeing and business management. We share our experiences of when boundaries flex too much and what an unp...

Welcome to the final part in the series on Customer Journey and in this episode I'm talking all things Reconnection. How to communicate and maintain relationships with clients once they've walked out of your venue. The methods are varied and cover areas like: Client goody bags with free gifts, merchandise, price lists - all tangible things to hold and commit their experience to memory and their su...

In this episode we continue the series on Customer Journey and look at departure and how that flows for your client. Checking in with them on their happy level at the end of their service Aftercare and homecare with professional recommendations Rebooking and payment with simplicity and ease Valuing their visit and asking for feedback These elements are major factors in the experience they take awa...

Welcome to the third part of my series on Customer Journey where we're exploring the variety of ways that you connect with your clients. The ethereal nature of ambience is that something that your client may not be able to exactly put their finger on until it’s not right. Ambience is that feeling of niceness, comfort, and Mmm. It’s things like your venue being clean, hygienic, tidy, the right ligh...

Welcome to Part 2 of the Customer Journey series I'm sharing over the next few weeks. The Welcome you provide for your clients is a fundamental part of why they revisit your business. If you get your welcome right, it tells the client that they've chosen well, that you align with them and that you are a pleasant and positive place to spend their money in return for the service you provide. Everyth...

Customer Journey is about the first moment of connection through to that long lasting bond that you have with regular clients who value you and what you do and you value them for continuing to be part of your business journey. In the coming episodes I'm going to be talking to you about the different elements that make up this part of your business - the UXP (User Experience) - and how you can make...

This week's episode is about how your perspective and outlook can impact your world and how sometimes things can get skewed as we literally can't see the wood for the trees. My woods cleared this week as the view I look out on while I work has been a run of 12ft high Leylandii conifer trees that blocked my view to the the world beyond my boundary. This week they were removed as we are replacing th...

Join myself and Ryan Power of Salonology as we take a deep dive into what makes you stand out in the marketplace to your clients, both potential and existing and how to use email to make the difference in your business. The conversation is over 2 episodes as we discussed a whole lot more than we first set out but wanted to share all the nuggets. Over the 2 parts we talk about how you talk to them...

Join myself and Ryan Power of Salonology as we take a deep dive into what makes you stand out in the marketplace to your clients, both potential and existing and how to use email to make the difference in your business. The conversation is over 2 episodes as we discussed a whole lot more than we first set out but wanted to share all the nuggets. Over the 2 parts we talk about how you talk to them...

Join me on this International Women's Day as I talk about collaboration amongst women and why we are more than "JUST'. In today's industry we experience unconcious bias regularly from the media, our families, teachers, careers advisors but worse is when we do it to ourselves. When was the last time you said, 'I just have a home salon', 'I just do nails' etc We are more than 'just'. The salon indus...

In this episode I have a deep dive with Helena Biggs on the Scratch Stars Awards, THE nail industry awards. Now in it's 12th year and one of the most integrity filled award systems in the salon industry. I'm a tad biased as I have been involved as an entrant, finalist, winner and judge since the first year and I've had the honour of winning Salon of the Year (Independent) in 2014 and Services to t...

This episode features the Career & Small Business Hub that I'm jointly hosting with Helen Ward. We know it's going to be an amazing weekend and will be kicked off by the Salon Education Journal and The Hair & Beauty Directory LAUNCH PARTY! The Career & Small Business Hub is the collaborative event created by Helen Ward (The Hair & Beauty Directory) & Sue Davies (Nabuno & Sa...

Joining me on this episode is salon cheerleader, Hollie Power from The Source & Salonology. Hollie has been a spa owner, recruitment specialist, salon coach and more over her career and joins me to talk about recruitment in the salon industry and her new baby Salon Source. Hollie shares her thoughts on recruitment and tells it like it is. Advising salon owners looking to recruit new employees to a...

Today is launch day for the all new salon industry publication, Salon Education Journal.  SEJ is the creation of myself and my business partner, Di Hughes, who has worked with me on Nabuno and many other salon related projects since 2014.  Here is a little background on Salon Education Journal. Salon Education Journal focusses on education in the salon industry. At SEJ, we believe that education i...

In this weeks episode I'm talking all things trade test and salon trials.  Inspired by a post on a SM forum where a young therapist was called back for 1 day trial but wasn't paid whilst the salon gave her a full list of paying clients.  How does this sit with you?   I'm discussing what to expect in a trade test from both perspectives.  Having an unpaid trial is not what most salon's require so as...

Adversity can strike at any time from many places.  It may be self doubt, loss of a loved one, a business issue, poverty, dealing with toxic people.  There are many causes but how you deal with the impact and move forward helps define you personally and as a professional.   I'm sharing some back history on this episode as, like many others, I've faced adversity personally and in my career and I wa...

In this week's episode we'll be taking a look at the images you use for your client facing world, whether that's your socials, your website or your print documents.  Professional images play a crucial role in establishing your credibility and in attracting clients to your business. When potential clients come across your website or social media profiles, the images they see create their first impr...

Marta Zaczkowska joins me to talk all things waxing standards and growing your waxing business the right way.  The waxing industry has been a growth market within the wider salon sector for many years and with this it brings more attention from outside the industry and from social media influencers and tik-tokers more recently.  We've all seen that there are unqualified people making these viral v...

In this episode we'll explore 10 Top Tips for recruiting an expert in website design and delve into the important things to look for in a collaborator to help you build a strong web presence.  We'll go through the value that can be added to your business when working with skilled web designers who can transform your online vision into a beautiful and client attracting reality. Join me as I talk ab...

In this episode we are taking a deep dive into the world of creating your own website and we delve into the crucial role that a strong web presence plays in today's digital landscape.  In a Top 10 guide I'll provide you with valuable insights and a few tips to empower you to design and develop your website from scratch, even if you have little to no technical background.  We'll look at design, hos...

With yet another employment tribunal finding in favour of the 'self employed' worker the salon industry needs to get a rein on how we are operating our businesses.   If you have self employed workers operating in your establishment and particularly if they have moved from employed by your to self employed without any major changes it's time to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee.   In this epi...