FREE GUIDE FOR SALON OWNERS
The 2026 Salon Assistant Guide
You already know you need great people. What nobody told you is that hiring great people in 2026 looks completely different than it did even three years ago.
The stylists graduating right now aren’t lazy. They’re not entitled. They’re just wired differently — and if your hiring process, your training program, and your compensation structure haven’t caught up to that reality, you’re going to keep losing the best ones before they ever fully arrive.
This free guide gives you the full picture: how to hire the most driven new stylists, how to pay them in a way that motivates performance, how to train them in a way that makes them want to stay, and how to build the kind of culture that turns your best hires into long-term team members.
FREE PLANNING GUIDE!
8 Steps to Creating Your 2026 Business Success Plan
Be honest—how many times have you started a new year with no real plan, just hoping things would fall into place? It’s easy to get caught up in “keep on keeping on,” but 2026 is not the year to wing it. The beauty industry and consumer behavior are changing fast, and without a strategy you risk falling behind. That’s why we created this step-by-step planning guide for stylists and salon owners. Inside, you’ll learn how to reflect on what’s working (and what’s not), set meaningful goals, track your progress, and design a business plan that fuels both your income and your lifestyle.
With this guide, you’ll finally have:
Clarity on What Today's Best Stylists Are Actually Looking For
Before a driven stylist ever applies, they're evaluating your website, your social media, your culture, and your compensation model — often for months. This guide breaks down exactly what they're seeking and what's sending them straight to your competitor instead.
A Hiring and Interview Framework That Finds the Right People
Posting a job and hoping isn't a strategy. This guide walks you through the full process — from what a compelling careers page looks like, to the interview questions that reveal who's truly motivated and who's just looking for somewhere to land.
A Training Program Built for 2026's Workforce
The assistant programs that retain talent today look nothing like the ones that worked a decade ago. This guide outlines what a desirable mentee program includes, what turns driven stylists off immediately, and how to design a program that keeps your best people growing — and staying.
A Note from Britt
Hey friend,
I was an assistant in 2007. What worked then? It would never fly in a salon today. And honestly? I’m watching things that worked in 2021 fall apart fast.
Here’s the mindset shift that changes everything: the most driven stylists graduating right now are not the problem. If the people applying to work for you don’t seem motivated or dedicated, it almost certainly means your salon isn’t currently attracting top talent — not that top talent doesn’t exist.
That’s uncomfortable to hear. I know. But it’s also the most empowering thing I can tell you, because it means there’s something you can actually change.
This guide is going to make some of you uncomfortable. Good. Nothing is more uncomfortable than struggling to fill your team, losing stylists right after you finish training them, or watching your best people walk out the door because you didn’t know what they needed from you.
You’ve got two choices: change or stay stuck.
I believe in you enough to tell you the truth. Let’s build something they’re proud to be part of.
XOXO, Britt.
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