Some stories stay with you for the rest of your life and this one is my favorite:
I have been a hairstylist since 2002 and every day behind the chair has given me an opportunity to learn and grow as a beauty professional, friend and your behind the chair therapist.
Years ago, I was having a very intense conversation about relationships and the intentions of significant others with a salon guest. She had been seeing me for a few years and I just adore her. I ran into a roadblock of what to say at a particular problem they were facing and my natural instinct was to ask, "Have you two considered talking to a therapist?"
Without skipping a beat, she looked at me through the mirror and said, "That's what I have you for, Jess!"
I was dumbstruck.
With that one sentence, she unlocked a whole door in my mind I never knew I had kept locked up. Up until this exchange, I recklessly doled out advice, with no thought to the consequence. I felt a dozen emotions in a span of that five seconds it took me to formulate a snarky response. I cocked my head to the side, nervously laughed and said, "You' right," and continued listening to her. This time with intention.
Hairstylists spend the most personal time with their salon guests, I'd venture to say that we know them better than their spouse, their kids. We go on auto-pilot as a lighthouse with our guests through any storm they may be facing and for the most part, we don't even recognize we are doing so. Family doctors often don't get as personal as a hairstylist with their client. Our breed of people are just built different.
We listen but we don't judge must have been written by a hairstylist.
Nothing my clients have ever said to me shocked me in the least. Amused or concerned, maybe; but never shocked. If I didn't understand it, you best believe I was asking discovery questions. Making sure the doctors were doing bloodwork or your school counselors were following those IEPs you were entitled to. Hairstylists are the connectors of society and you can't change my mind.
This industry loses over 60% of their new stylists within their first year and I attribute that to not educating on the client-stylist relationship and their dynamic. A large portion of those new graduates land in chain salons, many focusing on haircuts only and it becomes a bubble that young stylists can't seem to get out of. For their own fear, or out of financial necessity they can become a stagnant employee that misses the opportunity to connect with lifetime clientele.
Being an independent beauty salon, Bombshell Beauty is changing the dynamic to give stylists the upper hand in their career. We invite our stylists to create their own hours, realistically gauge and set their pricing based on value and always be serving the guest. Letting your hair down in a new salon is scary for both a new client and the new stylist but it's my goal to facilitate the safe space as a hairstylist.
Connection is literally our bread and butter.
Kommentare