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, you guys Britt Seva here! I’m so beyond excited for this week’s podcast episode. You’ve asked and I have the answer. I am interviewing one of my favorite Thrivers Society members of all time, Lauren Mechanic.
Lauren is a licensed cosmetologist, barber, and makeup artist with over 16 years of experience in the industry. She’s owned her own salon, been a Matrix educator, involved in extensive volunteer activities, and, most recently, decided to open a mobile hair salon.
You guys, over the last two years, this mobile salon has completely transformed her life in business. Her story is completely inspirational, and I know you’re going to love her just as much as I do. So buckle up, get ready. Here’s my interview with Lauren.
Britt: Lauren, I want to thank you so much for being here with me today. You have been on my podcast guest wishlist for quite some time, and I’m really, really excited to connect and be with you here. Thank you for being my guest.
Lauren Mechanic: Oh, thank you so much for having me. I have been like a huge fan of yours since—oh my gosh, when did I start? Like four years ago. So this is incredible.
Britt: I love it. I love it. I love looking back on our journey and just to see how far you in particular have come. I think everybody is going to just gush over this interview for months and years to come. So I’m really, really excited to dive in.
I want to start by having you take us back in time. Let’s talk about why you got into the industry when you made the decision to do so and those early, early years building clientele.
Lauren: Yeah, for sure. So it’s funny ‘cause I’m actually not one of those stylists who had always known they were going to be a stylist. I had my child young. I was in high school and I was like, “What can I do to get me through supporting my kid and going to college?” ‘Cause in my life with my family college is what you did. I went to cosmetology school, absolutely fell in love. I loved connecting with the people and just watching people leave my chair feeling like a new person. I was like, “This is it. This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” That’s kinda how I started.
And shortly after entering the industry, I actually opened my first salon. There were renters, there’s five stylists and that went incredibly well. I loved it so much. We all worked so well as a team together. That was back 18 years ago, so before Facebook and Instagram, where I just had to pass out business cards and really market myself in a different way.
That’s how it all started with me and where I started out.
Britt: Wow. Okay. So you went from being a cosmetology school student to owning your own salon?
Lauren: So I had worked in a salon for a few years before and the first salon that I worked in, they were probably the best people I could have worked for. They showed me how much work it was. It was a husband and wife. They were nonstop working around the clock. The husband would often be in the salon until four in the morning, fixing things, restocking shelves. They were the hardest workers and I think because of them, they set me up to succeed in my own business.
Britt: I love that. And just out of curiosity, were they both licensed? Were they both stylists as well?
Lauren: No. The two bosses, the husband and wife, the wife was a cosmetologist. She’d been doing hair for a very long time and her husband was a contractor and electrician. So he did a lot of stuff.
Britt: Wow. I will say that I think that for those of us who did have to build or were in the industry in the days before social media, there was no misconception as to how hard it is to run a salon because it never looked beautiful or glamorous. It always looked like work. So I do think that was an advantage of having joined the industry prior to 2012-ish or something is you saw it was very labor intensive. It was very hard and it was about putting in all of that effort to reap the rewards.
Lauren: Absolutely. Yeah.
Britt: So you said that you built your initial clientele doing the old-school, gritty, pound-the-pavement. Did you say mostly handing out business cards or what did marketing look like?
Lauren: I would pass out three business cards every place I went. Anytime I would go into a restaurant, I’d pass out three business cards. I would leave flyers on car windshields, which I don’t even think would be okay today to do. Just a lot of just networking and meeting people and putting myself out there. A lot of people back then I feel like didn’t really do that so it was pretty easy. I think I built up really fast. At three in the morning, once a month, I would go through and put flyers in everybody’s newspaper box slot of their house in that area I was working.
So it was around-the-clock marketing. It was hard to reach people like today. We can just put on an ad and reach a huge market, but back then it was 24/7, but I did find I grew very fast because nobody else was doing what I was doing.
Britt: Oh, I love that. And it really is, that is when people are like, “What is the secret to marketing?” It’s that it’s finding the gap and doing what nobody else is willing to do, waking up at 3 am and stuffing mailboxes if that’s what it takes to get it done. You did it right.
Lauren: Yeah.
Britt: I think there’s something to be said for that. I know social media is hard, I don’t mean to minimize how challenging it is. It is difficult. But when you look at that Lauren was stuffing mailboxes at 3 am and putting flyers on windshields, I don’t think any of us would choose to go back to that either. It’s just that the game has changed.
Lauren: I agree. It was hard for me. I’m so blessed to be in Thrivers because it’s simple, I guess, once you have the tools and you have the knowledge to know what to do and how to build. Prior to Thrivers, I was still stuck in that same mindset, like pass out business cards, put flyers on cars and I’m like, “This is not getting me any business.” I was so clueless even just where to start or even how to do the ideas that I had correctly.
Britt: So then what was that transformation like you joined Thrivers and you learned the methodology? Was it like, “Oh, poof, I’ll just do this,” or was there a learning curve? Like what was that experience like for you and how long do you think it took for social media and more modern marketing to feel second nature?
Lauren: Consistency is key and I have to say, we learn a lot in Thrivers. It’s monthly it’s as fast as you want to go. But I think when we start, we’re so excited that we just dive in really fast, so I took on a lot.
I did have to take a step back and do it slowly until it just became every Monday I work on this, every Tuesday I work on that, but it took a lot of trial and error and also talking to other Thrivers and realizing what was working for them and how to implement that.
It’s incredible, I looked back—I was cleaning some stuff out and I came across old business cards and flyers and I’m embarrassed of what they look like. I thought they looked great. Now due to Thrivers, everything’s so branded where—my workspace is set up in my house. It’s all like a branding board so I never forget who my brand is, ‘cause I’m not my target market.
Yeah, just consistency and staying on track and just have specific days to do specific things and networking with the other girls and boys in the Thrivers group has been incredible.
Britt: Oh my gosh. I wish you could see my face. I’m just beaming like a proud mom to hear all of that. I mean, I’ve done the same thing where you go back and look at your old cards or your old marketing, and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, what was I thinking?” But you really thought it was good at the time. You really thought it was good. And the more you learn and the more you become aware, you just see how much more you can do to build and grow.
Lauren: So it’s funny. It’s amazing, like I found that because the steps that I’ve taken became slow. So it’s like when you lose weight, you don’t see it right away. It takes a long time before you see the results. With Thrivers, I feel like I was doing things consistently and slowly that I hadn’t realized how far I’d actually come. Until I found that stuff and I was like, “Wow, I’m at a whole new level. I’m with a whole new group of people. Like this is incredible.”
Britt: I love that you did that and that’s a step we all often skip is the reflection. To what you said, we’re so caught up in the grind and the looking forward and the doing more and the effort, but when you take that moment to pause and look back, you really can appreciate how far you’ve come.
So you leave the salon that was co-owned by the husband and wife team and then what happened next?
Lauren: After that, I went off and I opened up my own salon and my own brick-and-mortar and I had renters there. We worked as a team. It was really cool ‘cause when I first set it up, I told them that I wanted people when they came in to think that we were just one unit, one salon. I didn’t want us all to have different prices. They could’ve, but I just felt like it needed to be more cohesive. ‘Cause when people call and they’re like, “What’s your price?” And you’re like, “Well, if you go with Janice, it’s this, and with her, it’s that.” I just think it gets confusing.
So it was just incredible that the girls I had were amazing and it just worked so well.
Britt: I love that. You said that and to what you said, I think what made you so successful as a salon owner is you really had a set vision from the start. Whether you knew you were creating a vision or not, you have the intention of what you wanted the guest experience to be like and who you wanted working with you. I do believe that is why you found so much success.
Lauren: Yeah, I agree. I did set my standards at a certain level and never changed anything. I’ve made sure everybody’s cabinets were locked. Now I trusted everybody, I didn’t think anybody was going to steal, but I didn’t want to one day feel like I needed to put the locks on the cabinets. I just felt like, “Let me put everything in place and just keep everything the same.”
Britt: This is what we call a proactive salon owner, everyone. It’s so easy as a leader or an entrepreneur to be reactive where it’s like, “Okay, well, if somebody stole something, I guess we’re putting locks on.” But Lauren really thought all the way through and troubleshot, what is the worst case scenario and how do we make sure we’re set up for success from the start?
Can I ask you this? How did you find your salon team? How did stylists find you or how did you find the team to work together?
Lauren: Oh gosh. I believe I might’ve found some people on Craigslist and then I think it was just word of mouth from the hair stores that I went to. One of the girls was a massage therapist looking for a new place to go. Just having those community connections and networking I think helped a ton.You’re always on the forefront of people’s minds when somebody is looking for a place to go, a place to work, a place to get their hair done.
Britt: I think you hit the nail on the head. There’s a lot of leaders who were like, “How do I market my salon? How do I get more people to find out about me?” And yes, to what you said, you can do things like run Craigslist ads or posts on social these days that you’re hiring, but you built a strong reputation and you networked and there’s so much power in that.
Lauren: Yeah and I was picky. I was really picky. I didn’t just take on the first couple of girls that came in. I was like, “No, this is going to be like a family. We’re going to spend a lot of time together.” I needed to make sure that everything fits just right.
Britt: I just absolutely loved that. Okay, so you do not own that spot any longer, correct?
Lauren: I don’t. I actually moved out of the state that I was in, which was Connecticut, and I moved to Virginia and started working at a small salon there where I met some of the most incredible people I’ve ever known in my life. That was a ton of fun. I learned a bunch of stuff and then I ended up coming back to Connecticut to be closer to family.
Britt: What happened after you moved back to Connecticut?
Lauren: I actually went back to the first salon that I ever worked in with the husband and wife team. I started there and it was great and they were still major go getters, incredible people in the industry. I didn’t have a vision to do anything else.
They ended up closing down. They were getting older, they decided to retire, so I had to go on and figure something out. I decided I didn’t want to work for anybody else again and so I opened up a little salon suite inside of a med spa. That’s where I found you. That’s where I found Britt Seva and that was life changing.
My small salon suite goals became bigger and my ideas got bigger and I didn’t have enough room for all the clients that I was getting in the little salon suite. The owner of that med spa, incredible as well—I’ve been so blessed to come across incredible people in my journey of doing hair. It’s been incredible,
Britt: So amazing. Okay, so you moved into this studio suite, found Thrivers, built this booming business. Now, when did the idea of maybe I need a non-traditional salon concept start to be a little noise in your ear? When did you start thinking that maybe you would evolve from the studio?
Lauren: I think the woman that I was renting the space from was thinking about maybe relocating and I realized that this time I really enjoyed when I owned my own salon, and working for other people or renting space from other people makes me rely on other people. I felt like that wasn’t going to work anymore.
Most of my clients—I think we all hear clients say, “Oh, I just wish you could come to my house in the morning and do my hair. I wish if you come to my house, I can get more services done, but I’m too busy juggling my kids at work.” I just heard that over and over and over again, and I was like, “You know what? It’s not just one or two people saying it. It’s probably 90% of my clients.” So I was like, “How can I make this work? Seeing that we have Amazon that comes to our house, there’s the vets now come to your house, and I was like, “You know, this might just be the time to put myself out there and do something unheard of in this area, but I just feel like the market is ready for it.”
Britt: So genius. When I hear your story, to me, it’s like, “Oh my gosh, the universe was pushing Lauren to really step outside the box and think and do differently,” because, to what you said you realize that I’m working for somebody else. There’s always the chance that they’re going to make a shift and a change and it is going to affect you and you knew you wanted to be in the driver’s seat, I mean, literally and figuratively. But you also knew you didn’t necessarily want to manage a team any longer.
I think that was a very impactful decision for you because a lot of people feel like, “Well, the only way to go up is to hire a bunch of people,” and I don’t believe that to be true.
So you decided to research and open up a mobile salon and to what you said, nobody in your area had done that. So how did you even start? Did you know this was possible? How did you research, what did the initial setup look like?
Lauren: Oh, it was so much work. So there aren’t many of them in the United States at all. So getting ideas, researching things, it just wasn’t there, so I had to figure it out on my own.
I found a lovely woman in Texas who actually already had a mobile salon so I flew out from Connecticut to check out her mobile salon and talked to her. I was going to buy it from her. Unfortunately it had too much water damage and it just didn’t make sense to buy, but it gave me an idea of what it should have, how much room I need, about what it should cost me.
That’s kind of how I got started, but it was hard. It was really hard ‘cause it’s like trying to envision something that you haven’t really seen before. It was hard.
Britt: I love this. About how long did it take you? Like from the inception of, “You know, what, maybe I’ll do this mobile salon thing,” to flying out to Texas, to actually building your mobile salon. About how long do you think that process took?
Lauren: It took four years.
Britt: I love that and I love that you shared you literally flew halfway across the country to do your research. We’re not trying to tell people, “You can do this in eight weeks.” You too can have a mobile salon, but, Lauren has done all of the grunt work and all of the research, and it was a four year project that led you to where you are today.
Lauren: Yes, and I’m not going to lie, there were a lot of ups and downs, some moments I was like, “This isn’t gonna work. It just not gonna happen.” And then other moments, I was like, “I’m a genius. I’m on top of the world.” Then there were a lot of roadblocks, a lot of meetings with different towns. It was a lot, but it paid off.
Britt: Oh my God. So paid off. So you now how long have you had your mobile salon up and running?
Lauren: Two years.
Britt: Wow. What was the perception from clients when you were like, “Okay, you guys I’m doing this?”
Lauren: Oh man. So people had a hard time envisioning what I was talking about. Most people aren’t that excited about it. And I was like,” Oh man, like why aren’t my clients on board with me?” Nobody was really that excited, but in my heart of hearts, I was like, “I feel like this is right and I feel like this is gonna work.”
So I went with it and I honestly had a few clients who said, “You know, when you do this, I’m not going to follow you.” And once I did it and they saw it, they’re so excited, and they’re like, “I never envisioned this to be like this. This is incredible. It’s really like a salon in my driveway.”
So people are excited. I didn’t end up losing anybody. That’s great.
Britt: I love that you shared that. Not everyone was like, “Oh my gosh, it’s the best idea ever. We can’t wait to support you.” Because often we see people launch these big, beautiful dreams and ideas like you did so successfully and we tell ourselves, “Well, that was easy enough for her. Her clients wanted it,” but you’re here to say, “No, I went through the same challenges as everybody else.” But you knew that doing this innovative thing was the right thing for you.
Lauren: Yeah. It definitely felt right. But yeah, nobody was on board, except for surprisingly my father. He was like, “Yeah, this is great,” and he usually doesn’t like things that are a little different.
Britt: Change is scary. All of us get nervous with new ideas. There’s no doubts.
So how did you start? How did you start marketing the mobile salon? What were the first few steps you first started doing?
Lauren: I did some Facebook marketing and I reached out to local TV stations, new stations, radio stations to help get it out there. I had a few news interviews which helped a ton andthe Facebook ads helped. My clients’ word-of-mouth has honestly been huge. If it wasn’t for word-of-mouth, I don’t think I would be where I was or where I am.
Britt: Okay. This is fascinating to me. Can you tell me who your target market is?
Lauren: My target market is women 35 to 50, busy stay-at-home moms with kids, soccer moms, upper-class, shop at Starbucks, yoga on the weekends.
Britt: So first of all, this is perfect. I’m your target market, please move to California. Second, I think a lot of people’s ears just perked up because so often people want to come on and just share Instagram strategy. Like Instagram is the big sexy app for our industry. I totally get it. I understand it can be very powerful, but here’s Lauren who has a successful mobile salon catering to a demographic that has high hair needs like gray coverage, very consistent. They want to be loyal to somebody and she marketed on Facebook and called local news media.
So when we look at somebody like Lauren who does things in an innovative way and finds the gap and doubles down on it, this is what we’re talking about. I think that’s so incredibly genius.
You started working in the mobile salon and it sounds like referrals ended up being the name of the game. Of course there’s buzz because this is an innovative thing and nobody else is doing it. Did you run a referral program? Do people just start talking about it? Would people see you driving around? What did that look like?
Lauren: Yeah, a lot of people saw me driving around. Every time I went to a gas station, people would stop, they’d want to look inside. And of course this was pre-COVID, so it was a lot easier to let people come on, take a look.
I would park on during breaks or on my weekends at local malls, at stores. I made sure that the outside wrap was exactly what I wanted it to be ‘cause I knew that was going to be the first thing that people were going to see. Driving around, yeah, is definitely huge.
Back to what you said. So Instagram wasn’t the first thing that I did. Surprisingly, Instagram has turned out to be where a lot of my target market lives and I didn’t think they would. I didn’t think that’s what it would be, but a lot of them—when they come in, I ask them what their social media of choice is, and a lot of them do say Instagram. So I’ve been working on making that shift over to Instagram since that is where they happen to live.
Britt: Oh my gosh. Another golden nugget. So what Lauren did is she asked her market, like, “Where do you like to show up? Where do you want to be?” and then listens to their feedback and adjusts her marketing strategy accordingly.
When you’re posting on Instagram, let’s say, do you show off I’m a mobile salon first and foremost? Or is that just part of the conversation? What does the positioning look like?
Lauren: Definitely. I’m a mobile salon first and foremost, because I do think that is my niche. That’s something that I have to offer that’s different. Like you’ve said a lot, a lot of people do good hair, but it’s what sets you apart and I think that’s what sets me apart.
Britt: So good. So genius. What would you say has been your favorite part of owning a mobile salon overall?
Lauren: I think my favorite part is probably the shift in my guests. Like the guests that I was doing prior that I’m still doing now. Like just when they step into the salon—I call it a mobile oasis—everybody’s so calm and relaxed and at ease. It’s just a totally different experience.
I don’t feel rushed because I cannot double book, which was something I was also a little nervous about, but it has worked out so well. A lot of times people do have their husbands wives, kids get their hair done while they’re processing, so I am able to double book, but the time that I have for them is their time. There’s nobody walking into the salon, interrupting, getting frustrated. It’s all very personable and personal,
Britt: So good. Okay and do you mind if I ask a broad income based question? Has your income increased or decreased since owning the mobile salon?
Lauren: Oh my goodness. It has actually increased.
My mom happens to be an accountant. So she does all of the money management projections. I have tripled what I was doing prior to the mobile salon. Like it’s off the charts. Her projected income where I should be right now is like where I should be in three years.
Britt: My jaw is on the floor. Excuse me while I pick it up. I’m just so incredibly, incredibly proud of you. The money is important, I know we’re all in this industry to make money, but for me, lifestyle is number one. So how has the mobile salon impacted your day to day life?
Lauren: Oh my goodness. It’s amazing in so many ways, like I have an 18-year-old who sometimes has to get picked up or has to go to work. I can pick him up in the salon and bring him to work so I can take a little time off, and during the time I still feel like I’m working because people are still seeing my mobile salon.
It’s just so fun, like I have more time to be with my son because I’ve learned in Thrivers a bunch of different ways you got to figure out where you want to be and figure out how to get there.
So I’m done working at two o’clock on Saturdays. I’m shifting my schedule to work more for what I want. I definitely have more time at home and it’s s nice. Life is nice right now.
Britt: So good. This is just like music to my ears.
Can we talk about what did it look like being a mobile salon owner during the pandemic? How did that affect your business?
Lauren: First, I was like this is perfect because most states were saying you just can’t have more than five people in a business. And I was like, “Cool, I’m a mobile salon. I only have one person, maybe two people in at a time. It’s not going to apply to me.”
Connecticut made people shut down. All salons had to shut down. I don’t know what it ended up being everywhere else, but we had to shut down because they didn’t want people within six feet of each other and you can’t do that.
So I had to shut down and I was pretty disappointed, but I worked really hard on Thrivers, networked with my fellow Thrivees, and just spent that time really focusing, honing in on things, working on my marketing material, setting up virtual packets, everything I needed to do.
And once we opened up, that’s actually where I saw the big boom because people were too scared to go into the traditional salons. A lot of people still weren’t back at work and I just blew up.
I do neighborhood haircut days where I’ll do 22 people in a neighborhood’s haircut. I just spent a whole day in one driveway and do haircuts.
Britt: I mean, I’d love to say I was surprised, but if you pulled into my driveway 100% that is absolutely what would go down. And it’s like you’ve got a built in clientele and doing that.
Lauren: Absolutely. Yeah.
Britt: So smart. Now you may or may not know this question: do you know if mobile salons are legal in every single state or do you feel like it varies and there’s nuances depending on where a person would live?
Lauren: I have no idea. I have found in Connecticut that it’s actually town by town. So every town has their own rules and regulations.
Britt: Wow. And again, I’d love to say I was surprised, but people ask me all the time, “Britt, can you just tell us how do we get the retail resale permit?” And I’m like, “No, I can’t because it literally varies county to county and cities. Sometimes it’s a license and sometimes it’s a permit. Sometimes you don’t need one.”
So to what you’re saying, the nuances of doing something like this, probably one of the early steps is to research in your own local area what is even feasible?
Lauren: Yeah, it was a lot, like I worked with planning and zoning in some towns. I called every town in the state just to see what I needed.
I built my standards to the strictest town that I don’t even go to, but I was like in case other towns hop on board and change what I need, I need to make sure that I have the most.
Yeah, it was hard. In a lot of towns didn’t know how to answer me ‘cause it doesn’t exist. So sometimes they’re just like, “Well, we don’t do it,” so I had to dig deeper, talk to more people. It was very time consuming.
Britt: Oh my gosh, Lauren. I just absolutely love this. I love your innovation.
And a little birdie told me that a lot of stylists have been reaching out to you asking about how they can create their own incredible mobile salon like you have. Is it true that you may be having a training that is going to be available for them very soon?
Lauren: Yes. It’s incredible. I’ve had people from Denmark, Ireland, Australia, Mexico, and all over the U.S. asking how to get started. It’s amazing how many people have been drawn to this idea. So I’m working on putting something together.
Britt: I love this and it’s really truly a gift because it’s four-plus years of your research, figuring out what it would take to open this mobile salon, your trip to Texas, your experience over the last two years working in one, your experience working through a pandemic in a mobile salon, how you did the marketing for you to offer that to our industry. I just think is such a tremendous gift. So I’ve given you the biggest virtual hug and the fact that you’re doing that because I think it’s such a beautiful thing.
Where can we follow you to learn more about you, your business, your program, everything, where’s the best place to follow?
Lauren: The blessed, the best place would be Facebook or Instagram, and on both it’s Laurenandco.salon
Britt: Awesome, and we will link to all of that on the Thriving Stylist website as well. I’ll be following Lauren, so if you follow me, you can look at who I follow and she will be there and you can connect there as well.
Lauren, you have inspired me. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s been an honor to be a part of your journey and I’m just so thankful that you allowed me to share your journey with our listeners today. You’re just such a joy.
Lauren: Yes, and thank you, like Thrivers, like I mentioned before, I can’t say it enough. It has been absolutely life-changing, not even just in the business aspect, but I have met some of the most incredible friends. Like I never thought I’d be friends with hair stylists ‘cause I just didn’t think they were like my cup of tea. The best, best, best people I have met and I love it. I have new best friends because of Thrivers.
Britt: I wish you could see my face. I’m smiling so big. That for me, in creating Thrivers Society, has been the greatest joy and blessing. The piece that I could not have predicted is how tremendous our community and the connection is. It’s what I am most proud of too, so to hear that it’s been impactful for you just makes my heart sing.
Thanks so much, Lauren.
Lauren: Thank you.
Britt: Okay. We’ll talk soon.
Britt: You guys, what did I tell you? Isn’t she absolutely amazing? Lauren, again, thank you so much for giving me so much of your valuable time today. I so appreciate it.
If you want to learn more about Lauren and everything she has to offer, you can check out her website at www.Laurenandcosalon.com.
You guys so much love, happy business building, and I’ll see you on the next one.
