Do you know in the U.S., most adults take less than 16 vacation days a year? Some of you might think that sounds amazing.
That’s nothing.
And my guess is that you as a stylist are taking less than seven days a year or maybe are on the no-vacay streak (aka, you haven’t taken a vacation in who knows how long).
You’re tired and a little bit burnt out. And rightfully so.
If you think you take plenty of vacation, let me tell you what’s not a vacation: a long weekend or traveling to see an educator.
Those are important, absolutely. But that’s not vacation.
A vacation is where you truly hit the pause button.
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You don’t do anything on social media cause you’ve pre-planned and organized for it.
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You’re not caught up taking appointments.
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You don’t worry about whether you can pay your bills when you get back because you’re financially stable.
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You’re not in a panic that guests will leave you if you take a vacay.
That’s a vacation.
Today I’m going to share exactly why taking time off is so important and how we can make sure it happens in a way that actually grows your business. Let’s dive into the five reasons you’ve got to start scheduling more time off for yourself without any guilt.
Your business will be better and will grow faster
If you take more time off, will your business really grow faster and make more? Yes.
Think about what your typical week looks like right now. You spend quite a bit of time behind that hydraulic chair, doing cuts and color, right? Even when you’re not behind the chair, there are millions of things your business needs: beauty supply store runs, social media captions written, appointments booked.
When you’re in the midst of it all, you can’t see the forest through the trees. You don’t have a big picture. You can’t make educated, inspired, informed decisions about your business when you’re so deep in it.
If you’re just scrolling social media and see these beautiful things other stylists are doing, you can’t see the forest through the trees. All you see is their videos look better than yours. How come they’re making so much more money? Why did they get picked to be an educator? What are they doing that I’m not?
They create time to focus on their business because business doesn’t grow by chance; it grows by choice and very specific, detailed efforts.
It’s difficult to wrap your head around what those efforts should be, what your blind spots are, and how to put new marketing techniques into place in your business when you’re so deep in it.
Take a step back and give yourself the freedom to let your mind wander a little bit. Finding this white space lets you create a marketing strategy that allows your business to grow fast without completely overwhelming you at stepping up your marketing game.
Your guests will enjoy a better experience and you will retain more guests
Some of you are working 10, 12, 14 hour days and say you like it. Others work a 10 hour day but only three days a week, so you get four days off.
I don’t know about you, but at hour eight or nine, I’m not my best. I’m starting to get a little haggard. My feet hurt, I’m hungry, I’m starting to get a headache, the kids have called 15 times.
When you allow guests to come in to see you at hour eight, nine, even 10, you’re not giving them the best you. They’re getting the worst of you. You will start to lose those clients and your sanity on top of it.
But if you take a vacation, the way you show up in your business is totally different when you come back. You’ve got that little pep in your step. You show up with new, fresh energy, and that comes across to the guests you serve and your coworkers. The energy is undeniable.
Nobody wants to see an overworked, tired hairstylist. Guests can feel that energy and misery, and they don’t want that.
If you want to show up as your best self, you need to be refreshed and renewed. That’s only going to happen if you’re not working yourself to the bone and taking the time you need to heal yourself.
Your body physically needs it
You’re not a robo-stylist. You are a human being, and our bodies can only take so much. Through evolution, there was no hack put into place so we could open and close shears 300 times a day, six days a week.
This industry can take a physical toll, leading to people in their twenties and early thirties with carpal tunnel syndrome, shoulder, ankle, and foot surgeries, and back problems.
What we put our bodies through is unbelievable. If you don’t start taking care of yourself and take active breaks, your body will not hold out. You don’t want to be forced into retirement at 45 because your body can’t do it anymore.
If you do not take care of your body, it will fail you. You need to take more time off and let your body heal and recover if you want it to last for the lifetime of your career.
Your family and friends need to come first
Most of us became stylists because we wanted a job with lots of freedom and flexibility, to be incredibly creative, and to make great money. The fact we get to make men and women feel beautiful is the icing on the cake.
A lot of people say they would be a stylist even if they didn’t get paid. Okay, but then you would be a homeless person doing haircuts… and people probably wouldn’t want to see that person.
Let’s be real. We need to be able to make money and have a beautiful life balance. Are you creating that?
Our partners, children, and friends get sick of us working around the clock. They get tired of you showing up late to the family dinner. It’s a bummer you never get to go to birthday parties or to the soccer game. You need to find a way to make this work.
Nobody looks back at 90 and thinks they are glad they worked so hard. Ask anybody at retirement age, and they’ll wish they slowed down more and enjoyed their life.
Slow down, take time. Enjoy the life you’re building. The clients will always be there. You don’t have to kill yourself to do well; all you do need to do is continue showing up for your family. If you don’t, you’ll lose them, and that would be the greatest loss you’d ever endure.
You’ll regain your sanity
Can you remember times in your career where you literally skipped into the salon because you have the best job ever? How about when you pull up into the lot and wonder if you seriously have to do this again?
As soon as you get into the “my job sucks” mindset, good luck building a clientele, friend. But we easily get into that mindset when we are burnt out.
Even though there’s nothing funny about it, there’s a running joke that being a stylist would be the best job ever if it weren’t for the clients. That is so twisted and crazy. But sometimes the biggest time drain is the physical demand of being “on”: smiling, entertaining, and doing the job, especially when you feel like you aren’t making enough money.
You need to create space to regain sanity and appreciation for the beautiful industry we’re in. Because being a hair stylist is an amazing life, but only if you choose it.
A lot of people think stylists are overworked and underpaid. But when you turn it into a big, incredible life for yourself, people wonder why they didn’t do that.
I want you to be that person. I want you to show up as the stylist that people wish they had your life. Don’t be the overworked, burnt out, exhausted stylist that nobody wants to be around. Be the one living a big, beautiful life.
Taking more time off is as key to living that big, beautiful life as always taking education, keeping your marketing funnel full, and prioritizing what’s important to you.