The Beauty Biz Breakdown | For Salon & Spa Owners

Salon owner guilt is real, but what if the feeling you keep calling guilt is actually shame, pressure, fear, sadness, over-responsibility, or old expectations you were taught to live under? So many salon owners and beauty business owners feel pulled in every direction — trying to be a good mom, a good wife, a strong leader, a present business owner, a supportive boss, and still somehow keep the sa...

If you have employees in your salon, there is a very good chance you have either heard bad payroll advice or know someone who has. One of the most misunderstood rules in the beauty industry is that employees must generally be paid hourly or commission, whichever is greater. Yet salon owners everywhere are still being taught outdated information, copying what other salons are doing, or assuming tha...

There’s this idea in the beauty industry that there’s some shortcut… some system, hire, or strategy that’s going to come in and suddenly make everything easier. Like once you “figure it out,” the pressure goes away, the chaos settles down, and the business just runs. But that’s not actually how this works. In this episode, Brie and Chandra walk through the reality that most salon and spa owners ev...

There is a huge conversation happening in the beauty industry right now around cosmetology schools, federal funding, student loans, and what all of this could eventually mean for salon owners across the country. The federal government is now putting pressure on beauty schools to prove their graduates are making enough money after graduation — and if programs fail those measurements, they could los...

Most salon owners don’t talk about this openly—but the truth is, a lot of beauty businesses never fully recovered after COVID and the shutdowns. The lost revenue. The debt. The team members who never came back. The clients who started stretching appointments further apart or stopped coming altogether. The stress of trying to hold everything together while acting like everything was “back to normal...

This week on The Beauty Biz Breakdown, we are diving into one of the biggest conversations happening in the beauty industry right now — cosmetology schools, federal funding, reduced licensing hours, apprenticeships, specialty licenses, and what all of these changes could mean for the future of salon and spa ownership. There is a lot of noise online right now about beauty schools potentially losing...

Having a salon manager is supposed to make things easier—but for a lot of salon and spa owners, it actually doesn’t. It just shifts the pressure. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what the salon manager role really looks like when it’s built the right way versus what most salons are doing right now that quietly keeps them stuck.  We walk through one of the biggest mistakes owners make—p...

Running a loyalty program in your salon or spa can absolutely help with client retention, increase average ticket, and strengthen client loyalty—but only if it’s set up the right way. The problem is, a lot of salon owners have loyalty programs in place that are quietly costing them money, creating discount leakage, or rewarding the wrong behaviors without even realizing it. In this episode, Brie a...

Once a situation in your salon or spa goes beyond a normal client conversation, everything changes—and most owners aren’t prepared for that shift. You go from talking things through and trying to fix it, to having other people involved, a process happening behind the scenes, and less control over how things are handled. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what actually happens after a sit...

Running a salon or spa comes with a lot of moving parts—and most owners don’t think about insurance until something actually happens. You have a policy, you assume you’re covered, and you keep moving… but a lot of owners don’t really understand what their insurance actually covers or how situations inside the salon can turn into claims. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down how business ins...

Getting more clients into your salon can feel like a constant chase. You post more, run ads, throw out promotions… and for a minute it works, but it never really lasts. But what most salon owners don’t realize is that growth doesn’t come from doing more marketing—it comes from what your clients experience once they’re in your chair. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down how to get more clie...

Buying an existing salon can look like the shortcut. The space is built out, the chairs are full, there’s a team in place, and on the surface it can feel like you’re stepping into something that already works. But what most salon owners don’t realize is that you’re not buying a “successful business”… you’re buying the result of how that business has been run. In this episode, Brie and Chandra brea...

(What Salon Owners Need to Know About Gift Cards) Selling gift cards can feel like a win in the moment. Money comes in, the day feels more profitable, and it’s easy to assume that cash is yours to use. But what most salon owners don’t realize is that gift cards are not extra income—they’re money you still owe in services. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down how gift cards actually impact...

(What Salon Owners Need to Know About POS Loans) Getting one of those funding offers inside your POS system can feel exciting at first. It looks easy, fast, and honestly… kind of like a no-brainer when you’re trying to grow or just catch up. Most salon owners don’t fully understand what they’re actually agreeing to when they click into those offers—and that’s where things can get risky. In this ep...

(What Salon Owners Need to Know About Unemployment Claims) Getting an unemployment notice as a salon owner can feel frustrating, confusing, and sometimes personal. Most owners are unsure what actually matters in those situations and what does not. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down how unemployment claims work in commission salons, what states typically review when a former employee file...

Most salon owners do exit interviews when a stylist leaves. Almost none of them ever turn that lens on themselves. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what it looks like to conduct a real exit interview on yourself as the owner. We talk about the uncomfortable questions that expose leadership gaps, unclear expectations, inconsistent systems, and habits that may be slowing down team growth...

Negative reviews and online complaints are part of owning a salon or spa, but how you handle them can either protect your reputation or quietly damage trust with future clients. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what really happens when a bad review hits your phone and why so many salon and spa owners unintentionally make these situations worse in the moment. We talk about the emotional...

Owning a salon or spa can feel profitable on paper, but many beauty business owners are still far more owner-dependent than they realize. The 90-Day Test is one of the fastest ways to see whether your business could actually hold up without you behind the chair every day. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what the 90-Day Test really reveals about your salon, why so many owners unintenti...

Hiring stylists today is one of the biggest challenges salon and spa owners are facing, and it’s quietly impacting salon profitability, scheduling stability, and long-term business growth more than most owners realize. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down what’s really happening with newer stylists, why stylist expectations around flexibility, work hours, and work-life balance have changed...

Functional freeze is one of the biggest hidden reasons salon and spa owners feel exhausted, disconnected, and on edge even when nothing is technically “wrong” in the business. In this episode, Brie and Chandra break down the difference between traditional burnout and functional freeze, why so many owners are mislabeling what they’re experiencing, and how long-term responsibility, pressure, and alw...

Pay structure problems are one of the biggest hidden reasons salons struggle with profit, team trust, and long-term stability. In this episode, Brie breaks down the difference between commission and 1099, why paying commission while issuing 1099s is misclassification, and how these mistakes put both owners and stylists at risk. We also talk about the growing trend of deducting backbar, color, or e...

Most salon and spa owners think of their lease as just another monthly bill — but very few realize how deeply that decision affects pricing, payroll, staffing, stress levels, and long-term profitability. In this episode, Brie & Chandra break down how salon leases quietly shape your entire business model, why signing a space before building the right financial structure creates pressure, and wh...

Most salon and spa owners start the year with big goals, strong motivation, and a long list of things they want to accomplish — and by February or March, many already feel behind, discouraged, or unsure why nothing is sticking. In this episode, Brie & Chandra break down why traditional New Year resolutions don’t work for most beauty business owners, and why a reset is far more powerful than se...

Salon retail has changed more in the last few years than most owners realize. In this episode, we sit down with a leading beauty distributor to break down the real retail trends happening inside the salon industry right now — from shifting client buying habits, to supply chain changes, to how salon retail sales are being affected by Amazon, online shopping, and new product education models. We tal...

Most salon owners think going deskless will automatically save money, streamline operations, and fix their front-of-house problems — but that’s not always true. In this episode, we break down the real differences between a deskless salon system and a traditional front desk , and how each one impacts profitability, client experience, retention, rebooking, and overall salon operations . We walk thro...