Intro: Do you feel like you were meant to have a kick-ass career as a hair stylist? Like you got into this industry to make big things happen?
Maybe you’re struggling to build a solid base and want some stability. Maybe you know social media is important, but it feels like a waste of time because you aren’t seeing any results. Maybe you’ve already had some amazing success, but are craving more. Maybe you’re ready to truly enjoy the freedom and flexibility this industry has to offer.
Cutting and coloring skills will only get you so far, but to build a lifelong career as a wealthy stylist, it takes business skills and a serious marketing strategy. When you’re ready to quit, just working in your business and start working on it, join us here, where we share real success stories from real stylists.
I’m Britt Seva, social media and marketing strategist just for hair stylists, and this is the Thriving Stylist Podcast.
Britt Seva: What is up, my loves? and welcome back to the Thriving Stylist Podcast. I’m your host, Britt Seva here to talk about the elephant in the room: What to do if you’re thinking about leaving the industry. (We have to talk about it.)
Or maybe you’re not thinking about leaving the industry, but you’re thinking about making a change. You’re considering not being a stylist anymore, not being a salon owner anymore.
I know some of you were thinking this because you were hitting me up in the DMs. I see you in my Facebook groups.
There was a chat that broke out in one of my Thriver Society Facebook groups a couple of weeks back. A salon owner I’m very familiar with asked “If you weren’t doing hair, what do you think you would do?”
There were a ton of different top responses. Some people were like, “This is so funny because I had actually talked to my husband about this and this is what I think I might do.” Like they’re seriously considering it.
Then there were some people who were more like, “I don’t even know, but it’s crossed my mind.” And then there were some people who were like, “I would never leave the industry. I’m so in love with it.”
I chimed in with my two cents. It’s just some things to consider as these thoughts run through your mind, right? Well, somebody responded to my comment and said, “Britt, I don’t think anybody who’s coming on this feed is actually being serious. I think we’re just having a good time with it. Don’t take it so seriously.”
While I understand the sentiment, like I understand where that person who commented was coming from, I disagree completely. I think that feed broke out because this is a thought.
How could this not be a thought right now when our industry is going through this tremendous revolution? I know some of you are on the verge of throwing in the towel and these things have crossed your mind, so I think it’s worth talking about from the 10,000 foot view so you can have all of the information and make a really great decision for yourself.
Please know even though I’m a hair stylist business coach, happiness comes before everything for me. So if you don’t wake up madly in love with your life, something has to change.
Sometimes it’s career. Sometimes it’s the partner you’re with. Sometimes it’s your dynamic with your family. Sometimes it’s where you live. There’s all these different factors, right?
But I truly believe everybody should wake up loving the life they’re in. And if not, it’s time to make changes to head that direction, right? It’s with that in mind that I want to share some information with you today.
Let’s start with some facts. There are over 1 million active hairstylists working in the United States. Active. That means there’s more than 1 million licensed, but only a million are active. That includes salon owners.
Let’s assume that 70% of the industry is self-employed, meaning booth renters or salon owners. I tend to think that’s a vast underestimate. I think there’s way more than 70% of the industry that is self-employed. I think 30% of stylists working commission is a huge exaggeration, but we’re going to roll with it because I want to over exaggerate in that way rather than under exaggerate.
Let’s assume there are at least 700,000 booth renters or salon owners in the U S right now. (I think there’s more, but let’s go with the number of 700,000.) In 2009, self-employment decreased by 4%.
4% of 700,000 is 28,000. That means that in the next year, 28,000 salon owners or stylists will likely stop working if history repeats itself. What’s interesting is in 2008 – 2009 — which was our most recent US economic recession — stylists and salon owners were able to stay open. All that changed was the financial confidence of consumers.
That is what changed this time around; we’ve experienced shutdowns for weeks, months, still shut down, endlessly, hopelessly. That’s a new factor.
So 28,000 stylists or salon owners leaving the industry to me is an underestimation. I think it will unfortunately be higher and I want to take a look at all of the possibilities, why somebody might leave and where they might choose to go.
Maybe you’re one of the salon owners who has been working hard to continue to pay your lease even when you couldn’t take clients, and you’re getting to the point where enough is enough.
Maybe you were a struggling stylist before this pandemic hit, and now you’re like, “Man, I feel like I don’t even stand a chance.” It was like two steps forward, 10 steps back, right? Some of you were in that boat.
Some of you didn’t navigate the pandemic correctly. Let’s just call a spade a spade. You ghosted your clients a little bit. You abandoned them by accident. I know you didn’t do it on purpose, but if you listen to my episode a couple of weeks back, I talked about how abandonment was the #1 complaint of clients through the pandemic. If you did not stay active — and by active, I mean reaching out to your clients weekly, posting on social media daily — those were the kinds of things clients expected. We didn’t know this, but that was their expectation.
If you didn’t do those things and you’ve reopened and you’re like, “Gosh, darn it. I’ve lost a lot of my clientele cause they’ve gone elsewhere,” you might be considering making a move.
Here’s a fact: in some cities, it is estimated that 40% of small businesses won’t survive through the pandemic. Whoa. 40%. When I say that, it’s shocking, right? When I first heard that statistic, it was shocking. This came out of a state in the Midwest. Shocking.
And I know in my small community, we’re looking about the same. You can look at that as glass half empty. I choose to look at it as 60% of businesses are gonna survive this thing, and there will be opportunity for somebody else to step into 40% of those leases. To me, that is a tremendous opportunity.
If you’ve been dreaming about being a salon owner, this is your chance. If you wanted to open up an amazing storefront selling your hair care line or your makeup line, or open or expand your spa, this is a really great opportunity for you.
If you’re an owner who doesn’t want the pressure of owning your salon anymore, let somebody else take a stab at it. You can choose to rent.
I believe commission will become extremely popular on the flip side of this. How many of you were like, “I would have loved to have a consistent paycheck through this.” “I would have loved to not go through that unemployment nightmare.” “I would have loved to have been better set up heading into this experience.”
These are some of the things I’m hearing, and I think we’re going to see a real shift in the industry as far as how people choose to work and what they’re looking for.
I think we’re going to see a revolution in salon ownership, so let’s talk about it.
The reality is opportunities are in abundance. I just want to take a look at all of the opportunities that are standing in front of you today so you can make the best possible choice.
Obvious opportunity number one is going to be stay where you’re at, ride the wave, and find success, which we’ll talk about in a minute. I’ve talked about it previously on past podcast episodes that I believe this industry is going to come back stronger than ever. People are going to continue to not want to walk around with gray hair. We can say that Madison Reed is stealing our business. I don’t agree. I think that from the clients I’ve talked to are really frustrated doing their hair at home. They can’t wait to get back in the salon.
I don’t see the industry as a whole failing. I think it’s a patience game. So it’s up to you if you’re willing to be patient.
That’s option number one, stay where you’re at, ride the wave, stay where you’re at and make the most of this come back stronger on the flip side. That’s what I think a lot of you are choosing and I’m here to support you in that option.
Number two is to change your position in the industry: sell your salon, open a salon, go commission, go booth rental, go studio suite, leave your suite leaders. We can go commission leaders. We can go booth rental, leave your suite and open a bigger salon, right?
The opportunities for you to pivot around the industry are massive and I know a lot of you are already making those choices. What I would say is when you’re considering those options, think about what is most important to you.
Now listen closely to what I’m about to say, this part right here: What is most important to you? Financial control, schedule freedom, or stability? What if I told you you could only choose two of the three? What would you choose?
Because if you choose financial control and schedule freedom, you likely need to be a salon owner or a booth renter, but you may lose the stability, right? Because if you’re an employee, that stability is built in. If you’re being paid legally, you get that minimum wage. There’s a lot of unemployment benefits. You could take a paid maternity leave, right? There’s all of these different factors.
If you choose schedule freedom and stability, you might have to give up financial control. You might find a commission salon that allows you to create your own schedule, gives you that stable paycheck, but you’re going to be paid on commission — whatever theirs is — or you’re going to be paid hourly, right? You’re going to have to give up that financial control.
If you choose financial control and stability, you might have to lose the schedule freedom, which if you were working for me in my salon back in the day, I would do things differently today. But in the commission salon I was a part of, we had no schedule freedom. We were told where to be and when to be there, but we got a collection of benefits for showing up. I mean, we had 401k, paid vacations, insurance, education benefits, really generous commission splits, all kinds of bonuses, right? So we ended up with the stability and the financial control, but not a lot of schedule freedom.
Think about what is most important to you. And if you say, “I want to have my cake and eat it too,” you need to be independent. 100%.
If you are choosing to go into a commission environment, you have to make the conscious choice that you are choosing stability and losing the pressure of being the business owner in exchange for allowing somebody else to control your schedule and to control part of your finances.
That is the biggest hurdle for salon owners who choose to go back to booth rental or salon owners who choose to go back to commission. Are you willing to give up control? Are you willing to let somebody else make the rules without you saying, “Well, I’ve been an owner before…”
You can’t say that you’re not an owner anymore. You’re living for somebody else. So you have to decide what is most important to get clear on your priorities before you make a change. Because I know there are a lot of you saying, “Forget it. I don’t want all this pressure. I’m just going to go back a step.”
If you choose to do that, I’m here to support you. We can navigate that but just know what you’re giving up. Remember why you made that leap in the first place and if you’re truly ready to let all of those things go or if you just need a better plan to survive the storm. Get really clear on why you’re making a change.
Now, if you’re the stylist who’s like, “I am going to seize the day. Britt said 40% of small businesses are closing. I’m going to be first in line to buy the salon that’s closing down the street,” beautiful.
However, I always like to tell my future salon owners, when you choose to buy a salon, you’re choosing to put your own business and clientele behind the business of those who work for you. It’s almost like choosing to be a mother or a father. You have to put the needs of the children ahead of your own. That’s how I see salon ownership. I see you needing to put the responsibility and the leadership of those who choose to work in your building ahead of your own. You’re choosing to be a leader. Lead. You’re not just a rent collector. You need to show up.
Are you really ready to make that commitment? I know some that tremendous salon owners who have and I know some who haven’t been able to make that leap all the way. It makes all the difference, so just be sure that you’re ready.
Option number two, which I know is one that a lot of you are considering: educating or working for a haircare brand.
I mean, there’s tons of benefits to doing that, right? Stable benefits, education, build a strong resume and network.
If you’re going to consider independent education, which we’ll talk about in a minute, I strongly suggest being an educator for a hair care brand first. I couldn’t suggest it enough. I think for the networking opportunities and the exposure that you get, it’s the way to go.
There are some things to consider. Generally speaking, if you educate for our company, travel will be expected. I know a lot of people are like, “Oh, I’m excited about travel.” I was that lady. Talk to an educator who’s been traveling for a few years who has a family. It starts to take a toll.
So it doesn’t work for your family for you to be on the road. And if you’re like, “Well, everything’s closed down right now. I wouldn’t be traveling right now,” think beyond right now. That’s the point of doing this exercise.
In two years, three years, four years, five years, are you down to be on the road 25, 30% of the year? Because if not, just know that that’s a huge part of education and you’d have to be down to make that commitment.
Educators work most Sundays and Mondays. So you gotta be set up for that.
Profits are down right now for hair care companies and major corporations around the world, so opportunities might be more limited. So just stay strong in your quest to find a more corporate role. They are out there and they are actively looking for great candidates; just be patient with the process and know we’re not in a time when opportunities are in abundance, but they still exist.
Just make sure you’re really down to put in the time and effort to build yourself up with a brand.
The cool thing about working with brands is there’s not just education. You can work behind the scenes in the corporate office. Maybe you have accounting experience or sales experience, or you want to be somebody who’s executive assistant with a hair care brand. Those are opportunities that used to appeal to me too, so I get it.
Those things are available for you. Just look with eyes wide open, and apply frequently and often. If you’re considering going that direction, then we have opportunity.
Number three, independent education.
Benefits would be that you get to continue to be your own boss. You can carve your own path and create your own future and you can be a part of elevating the industry. I know a lot of people are thinking about becoming independent educators right now and trust me, I get it because it was my passion too. It’s a hundred percent what appeals to me.
Here are some things to think about.
It takes time to create a truly scalable business. I’ve been independently educating for eight years. It took a really long time and the first years were brutal, really hard. I had to work two jobs to make it work. It does take time to build your reputation. It takes time to understand your specialty in-depth and I always say — you can look back at previous podcasts about becoming an educator. I have a couple — you can’t be a one-trick pony. You need to have depth in what you educate.
Think about all the one-trick ponies who blew up on Periscope back in 2016. I was of that Periscope era. Luckily for me, I had depth to my education, but there’s a lot of people who were mega stars in 2016 that don’t even hit the radar now because they didn’t have enough depth.
Do you have enough to go beyond one or two techniques? Do you have enough to share that you can really build an empire on this for 10, 15, 20 years? Because you just want to make sure that this is really the step you want to take that is going to provide the security for you.
It takes time to build out a program that serves deep needs that clients have, that they’re willing to pay for, right?
Clients today are more particular about how and where they spend their money. You are too. I understand that. So your education has to be super solid and has to serve a pain point. If it doesn’t solve a pain, if it doesn’t heal an issue, clients won’t be willing to pay for it. So just make sure that what you’re looking to educated on is painful enough that you can really start to build a strong business foundation on it.
I strongly, strongly, strongly, strongly times, 100 suggest starting with one-on-one coaching and learning what you love and what the stylists or those outside the industry choose to work with you for.
When I started coaching, I wasn’t coaching to what I coached to now. I coached to a whole other smattering of things and then I really refined what I was good at, what I enjoyed, what I had a strong depth of knowledge on and what people respected me coaching them for.
There’s stuff that I could teach to but I don’t enjoy it or I could teach to but I don’t feel confident in my knowledge of the subject. So I just turn those opportunities down.
That takes time to learn what you are really solid in and what you should probably take a pass on. And for me — and if you talk to a lot of other established educators, if they’re listening, they’re nodding their head right now — you learn that through one-on-one coaching.
I know it’s not scalable and that’s why a lot of people want to skip that step. You will not find a successful long-time industry educator, who hasn’t done one-on-one. Especially now starting in that place in space with more private consulting and doing the deep work is absolutely the place in space to start. Then you can create digital programs and do big workshops and all of these other things.
Trust when I say you’ll build longevity, if you start smaller, one-on-one and you’ll build that foundation.
Now, maybe for some of you, you’re thinking about options for leaving the industry altogether, like the feed I saw on my Facebook group, I know this is a real thing. Maybe you’re tired of being your own boss. I know a lot of people who, when the industry shut down, they were like, “Wait, what do you mean? We don’t get unemployment?”
Yeah. Self-employed people don’t get things like unemployment and maternity leave and a lot of benefits that employees get. Sick pay, right? There’s all of these things that we aren’t entitled to. That’s scary.
For a lot of you, it was all gravy until our hand was forced and all of us didn’t have a way to make money and then it was a slap in the face of like, “Oh shoot, I guess this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t want to have to pay my rent anymore. I don’t know how I’m gonna pay my bills.” It was scary. It was super scary.
So maybe some of you were like, “I don’t ever want to have to do this again.” Maybe you want a solid paycheck without the stress of building your own business. You want someone to do it for you. Listen, I worked in a cubicle for many years. I know what it’s like to show up, do my time, get my paycheck every two weeks and bounce.
For some people, that’s appealing. For me, it was painful. But for some people I do understand the draw of that showing up, doing what you gotta do and getting out. I truly get it.
If you decide it’s time for you to just walk away from being a stylist or an owner and be somewhere where you can get a paycheck, whether it be in the industry or outside of the industry, know that you’re going to be the new guy.
Even if you worked in sales and marketing 10 years ago, you’ve been out of that game for 10 years. And because unemployment is very high right now, businesses get to cherry pick who they want. Major corporations are laying off power players right now and those people are looking for opportunities. So just know competition to work as an employee is high.
Remember when entrepreneurship was sexy, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. Everybody wanted to be their own boss. I’m going to be an entrepreneur. Now it’s scary. Suddenly it doesn’t seem so appealing. So a lot of these people are going back to becoming employees and just know that they are now your competition.
Airbnb just laid off 25% of their staff, right? Major companies are going to continue doing these major layoffs and you’ll be competing with all of those employees so just make sure that you’re ready for that level of competition.
I know that was a lot of information, but here’s what we need to remember. The grass is always greener on the other side, right? It always looks better for the other guy cause they don’t show you the dirty stuff. And the grass is also always greener where you water it. So wherever you put your love, time, attention and efforts, that’s where the fruits of your labor will grow.
So my ask is, are you giving your current business lots of love, and time, and attention, and fertilizing the soil, and watering it, and giving it love? Or if you turned your back to it and said, “Screw the government and screw the governor and I’m being put down and this is so annoying and I’m over it.”
Because if you’re putting that energy into it, I’m not surprised when you’re not getting much out of it.
And listen, this is hard. Nobody ever said business was easy. If being a independent business owner — which is what you are as a stylist, right? Nobody’s going to build your clientele for you. This is you, babe. You’re on it. Nobody ever said that was supposed to be easy. What they said was it could be rewarding and opened up a world of possibilities and it still could. So when you’re weighing your choices, here’s what I want you to consider: What lifestyle will make you happy? (Lifestyle, not job. Lifestyle.) Do you want to travel? Do you want to stay home? Do you want to work weekends? Do you want weekends off? Do you want to work nights? Do you want nights off? Do you want to make a paycheck? Do you want to be fully in control of your financial freedom?
For me, that’s why I stopped being an employee. I want it to be fully in control of my financial freedom, even if it meant working 15 hours a day, but that works for me. Doesn’t work for everybody. You have to decide what works for you and what kind of lifestyle would make you happy.
Are you craving schedule freedom, financial freedom, or stability? What is most important of those three? Ask yourself what could you do every day that could bring you joy?
I know for some of you, you’ve never experienced that. I spent a lot of my time, a lot of my lifetime, not experiencing daily joy and as somebody who experiences it now, there’s nothing else like it.
You need to quest. I need to make finding joy a daily quest. Without excuse it has to happen. So whatever you need to do professionally, if you’re like, “I want to make this business as a hair stylist fricking work, I’m tired of wasting time,” I’m here for you. I’m happy to support you in doing that.
If you’re like, “I’m done, I’ve been fighting this fight for 25 years and I need to get out,” do it, but you need to find what brings you joy and not make a long term decision for short term gain.
Because some of you who were thinking about bouncing are going to have regrets in five years and that makes me nervous for you. Are you making a long term decision or a short term decision to avoid pain? Ask yourself that. Is this a matter of being patient or is this your time to truly make a leap?
The industry will come back around. It always has and it always will. Think about what the industry looked like from 2010 to 2019. Booming. It will boom like that again.
You can have a piece of that or you can have a piece of something else that is totally your prerogative. I just ask that you think long term. Don’t look at just how green the grass is on the other side. Look at your own patch of grass. Really consider all of the possibilities and make the best choice for you and your family.
You guys so much love, happy business building. I’ll see you on the next one.
