0:00

Welcome to All About Hair , the

0:02

go-to podcast for stylists , salon

0:05

owners and anyone passionate about

0:07

hairstyling . Whether you're a seasoned

0:09

stylist refining your skills or

0:11

a curious listener looking to enhance your

0:13

hair knowledge , we've got you covered . I'm

0:16

your host , denise Kylitz , a former

0:18

stylist and salon owner with four

0:20

award-winning salons under my belt

0:22

, with over 30 years of experience

0:24

, I've dedicated myself to helping stylists

0:26

excel in foundational haircutting , color

0:29

theory , client communication and more

0:31

, enabling them to build six-figure

0:34

careers they can be proud of . My

0:36

mission is to uplift our industry

0:38

by sharing valuable insights gathered

0:40

along my journey . Get ready for enlightening

0:43

discussions , captivating interviews

0:45

and practical advice on marketing

0:47

, sales and technical skills

0:50

. This is the podcast

0:52

all about hair . Welcome

0:55

back to the podcast . Today we have

0:57

a special guest , april Cox . She

1:00

is a stylist in

1:02

where are we ? San Marcos , san Marcos

1:04

, california . She's a suite

1:07

owner and she's an educator

1:09

for Euphora , so we're going to have a great

1:11

conversation . Welcome , april .

1:13

Hi , thanks for being our guest .

1:14

Thanks for coming . We are

1:17

actually sitting in her suite , so

1:19

maybe we'll do a little tour of that in a little bit

1:21

. It's very , very cute . It's

1:23

got great lighting too .

1:27

So she's very lucky . Oh yeah , real estate yes .

1:29

So so , april , tell us a little bit

1:31

about how you became a hairstylist

1:33

. Why hair ? You know what's your

1:35

passion . Just a little bit of history

1:37

. We like to start that way .

1:39

You know , like most of us that are in

1:41

the hair industry , I always loved hair . I

1:49

was the one who would cut all my friends bangs off and talk them into

1:51

anything . My poor Barbies looked like their hair was shredded and colored

1:53

and sharpie markers . So I'd always had that passion and love

1:55

. But somewhere in my own

1:57

mindset I got the idea that it wasn't

2:00

a professional career , even though

2:02

it was flexible , and so I

2:04

chose to go to education , to be an

2:06

educator , because I was a young mom

2:08

. I actually have five boys

2:10

.

2:12

She doesn't look like she would have five kids , so

2:14

thank you . You , you hold

2:16

it together very well , jesus

2:19

so .

2:19

I thought for a long time raising kids

2:22

going to school being an educator that

2:24

was the path that was definitely going

2:26

to work , mostly because of the flexibility , and

2:28

I love sharing information

2:30

.

2:30

So were you going to be like a teacher , like

2:32

primary , middle school , high school ? What

2:34

?

2:35

This is where it fits well into this industry

2:37

performing arts . Oh , oh

2:39

what kind ?

2:40

Because that was my passion Like on stage

2:42

, like theater .

2:43

On stage performing arts . So I taught . Actually

2:45

, when I did teach , it was third , fourth and fifth grade

2:48

and it was dance performing

2:50

arts , and so they did learn music

2:52

appreciation , but it was more about how

2:54

do I rewrite music , how do I do these dance

2:57

steps and how do I write a script , and

2:59

so it was a lot of fun .

3:01

That's cool . That's a whole . Other conversation

3:03

we need to have was

3:05

a lot of fun , that's cool .

3:06

That's a whole other conversation we need to have . I love that . I didn't know that about you . So

3:08

yeah , because it helps them with public speaking . Absolutely . It's a fun things . Well

3:11

, that last year that I was teaching

3:13

I just moved back from a foreign country

3:15

. My first husband was marine

3:17

, lived there for six years and

3:20

I was kind of new into what

3:22

was going on and a year into

3:24

it I was being paid by the PTA because

3:27

really honored that they wanted

3:29

me to do that . And I got pink slipped , which

3:31

? is very common as a new instructor

3:34

.

3:34

Sure .

3:35

And so I thought well , I'm getting

3:38

divorced , I'm a mom of four

3:40

kids , I've always loved hair

3:42

and I have all these other changes in my life

3:44

, why not one more ? Why not ? And

3:46

went to beauty school . Uh

3:49

, and I I quickly was

3:51

searching for something

3:54

that was matching

3:56

my internal of how do I not

3:58

just do hair , but

4:00

be professional at it and

4:02

show the face I wanted to , and

4:05

I was really lucky enough to have

4:07

found that fairly early

4:09

on , actually , with meeting Don

4:11

Buley and seeing that professional

4:13

side to our industry , and I dove

4:15

in , not just feet first

4:18

, head first , whole body like cannonball

4:20

right into it , because I

4:22

knew that this industry is magical and

4:24

I just needed to be guided in how to

4:26

create it . So I

4:28

chose hair , partly because

4:30

of the flexibility , partly because of

4:32

the creativity , but also

4:35

because I wanted to show that you can be a

4:37

dynamic professional behind the

4:39

chair .

4:41

You , you unpacked so much in that

4:43

, just in that . First

4:45

of all , I think most of us kind

4:48

of got into the industry , or um

4:50

, because we wanted to kind of prove

4:52

that it is a profession , right

4:54

, I mean , there's a little bit of that in

4:57

all of us , I think , because I don't not

4:59

very many people raise their kids to go out

5:01

into the world , be hairstylist , you

5:04

know . So , um , it takes courage

5:06

to say that's what , what , that's

5:08

what we want to do . But I think I

5:11

know you think that too , that it is the most

5:13

incredible industry to be in and

5:16

, uh , just rising above the stigma

5:18

of what a hairstylist really is . I

5:20

mean , it takes all of us to do that , prove it

5:22

every day . Yeah , so , don Buley , where

5:24

did you meet him ? Don

5:30

Bewley is the founder of Euphora .

5:32

Just in case people didn't know that , how did you

5:34

meet Don ? It was really quite cool . I was a student

5:36

at school still , and they had an opportunity for us

5:38

to be the top 10% to work

5:41

in a mock salon . Oh

5:43

, that's cool and

5:46

that was kind of neat , Cause you got to learn what that was like . Yeah Well , Don Buley had come

5:48

into the school to help

5:50

create that , because that's who he was .

5:52

He's super dynamic , incredibly magical

5:54

and uh so was

5:56

, was you for it in the school , Like

5:59

oh , okay .

5:59

It's a brand new program , so

6:02

he offered to help sponsor it for

6:04

the master stylist .

6:06

Oh , that's smart . He's a smart dude .

6:08

And did a class . Oh , okay . Which was

6:10

really kind of neat yeah . And so my first

6:12

dive to that was actually working with the product in

6:14

the master stylist program and

6:16

taught by Don Bewley to say

6:19

this is how we want you to use the product

6:21

. He did our initial intake product class

6:23

. Oh my gosh . This was back

6:26

in the days when we had eight SKUs

6:28

.

6:29

Yes , yes , little beige bottles

6:31

, yeah , yeah

6:33

, oh gosh , I wish I had kept those , but

6:35

a hundred percent , so , and

6:38

he's , he was incredibly dynamic . Oh , oh

6:41

, to say the least Right .

6:42

And thought I want to be like that

6:44

yeah , yeah , yeah

6:47

.

6:48

He was a dynamic human being . I

7:00

think that's why most of us are in euphoria , because we met him and he was such a character

7:02

and such a guiding light and fresh . So you went to beauty school here

7:04

in Southern California yes , at Palomar

7:07

Palomar , that

7:10

used to be Oceanside no , there was

7:12

two campuses , oceanside and Palomar

7:14

. Okay , Because I went to Oceanside . Yeah

7:16

, and it is no longer . It's a coffee shop

7:19

now . Correct but I heard that one

7:21

of the instructors that

7:23

was there when I was there 30

7:26

years ago Miss

7:28

Anita , Is that her name . She's at Palomar

7:31

. Yeah , oh my gosh , oh

7:33

my gosh , was Miss Kathy there too ? Oh

7:35

my gosh , I

7:39

need to go into that school and say , hey , you don't

7:41

know me , but I probably wouldn't know them

7:43

either . Some

7:47

of this we can cut

7:49

, um , okay , so

7:51

Euphora was not in the schools

7:53

, but yet .

7:55

Correct . It came in when I was a student

7:57

for that opportunity to work in the program

8:00

. Wow , so it was a Euphora

8:03

beauty school , just in the master

8:05

stylist . So it really was the elite of the elite

8:07

. Huh , to learn these other programs

8:10

, you got to play with this elite product

8:12

.

8:13

Yeah , because we were redken school at the time oh

8:15

okay , because I was like wow , now

8:18

they don't do , still do that , though , uh

8:20

you actually still have the master stylist

8:22

at palomar .

8:23

That's all Euphora .

8:24

Oh , I didn't know that , so

8:27

it's been there for 18 years . Wow

8:29

, that's interesting . Okay

8:31

, and so , right out of beauty

8:34

school , what did you

8:36

do ? Did you go work in a salon

8:38

? I did .

8:39

Okay . So this is why I've

8:41

always encouraged salon owners to go to

8:43

the school and kind of pick

8:46

out who would match their team .

8:48

Sure .

8:48

Because Gail Fulbright , the owner of

8:51

Headlines the Salon , would

8:53

come in , you know , about every couple

8:55

of months and do a small business class

8:57

.

8:57

She's a smart cookie , of course she does .

8:59

She's amazing and I was attracted to that .

9:01

Yes .

9:02

And I guess she was also euphora , so that fit

9:04

two pegs of what I really

9:06

wanted . Um , and so I

9:08

applied at her space to be

9:10

part of her assistant program , to learn under

9:12

her , to learn under Connie Keskus

9:16

and now salon owner too .

9:18

Wow yeah .

9:19

And I was lucky enough to be mentored by them

9:21

.

9:22

Wow , wow , you

9:24

need to do my hair . No

9:28

, no , that's amazing . Not very many

9:30

people can say that that's how they started

9:33

, and if you don't know who Gail

9:35

and Connie are , we'll

9:37

make sure we include their links so that people

9:39

can find them , because they are exceptional leaders

9:42

in our industry Exceptional

9:44

. So you started as an assistant , correct

9:46

? How long did that last ?

9:48

So I assisted , for I moved

9:50

up quickly .

9:52

I'm sure you did .

9:53

And in the last three months of that I was

9:55

already doing models and hair . Okay

9:58

.

9:58

Okay , so what did the assistant program

10:00

look like ? Were you um washing

10:04

hair ? Were you going to weekly education

10:06

classes ? How , what did that look ?

10:08

like . So I was um

10:10

, shampooing at first and blow

10:12

drying , so they would teach me how to blow dry and

10:14

then , uh , shortly after that I

10:16

would . I was able to start

10:19

applying touch-ups with my

10:21

master stylist and then I was applying

10:23

them by myself for that master stylist

10:25

. Okay , or in between foils , a

10:27

base color . Sure , and then toning right

10:29

, they say , okay , now we can have you start toning , and

10:32

so it was a good graduation

10:34

into things , right To learn the technical

10:37

skills . Eventually , down the road

10:39

, they learned how to teach more business

10:41

skills . I just kind of learned

10:43

it through osmosis because it was at the beginning

10:45

, but Gail Fulbright

10:48

, being the person that she is , wanted

10:50

it to grow and still continues to

10:53

oh yeah , oh yeah .

10:55

Well , that's good . Then

10:59

you became a stylist at Headlines . Yeah

11:01

, I'm assuming you built your

11:03

whole clientele there . Yeah

11:06

, and I worked there for 12 years Wow

11:08

girl Okay , all

11:11

right , and it's a commissioned salon , correct

11:13

. Okay

11:15

, so you've been an assistant . Yep , you've been a

11:17

commissioned stylist , correct ? And then

11:20

what did you do ?

11:22

I took six months off my career

11:24

behind the chair and I taught at

11:26

the beauty school where I started , because I

11:28

knew that having that influence for

11:30

myself at the beginning of my career

11:33

was huge

11:35

and I wanted to implement

11:37

that with systems and programs

11:39

at the beauty school . And for about

11:41

six months months it was a hundred percent euphora

11:44

, oh wow , which was really

11:46

kind of amazing and

11:48

that's pretty cool . So

11:50

they used the color and everything at

11:52

that at that time in the school , the whole

11:54

school yeah , and I got to train

11:57

the educators that were

11:59

there the beauty educators and

12:01

then rewrite some of their curriculum to

12:03

match that , which was really , really

12:06

fun , and I learned an incredible

12:08

amount , because the amount of color that you

12:10

have to have for a school , the amount of product

12:13

, the inventories , I can't even imagine

12:15

so

12:18

, but it's no longer a for a school

12:20

. Just in the master stylist room which

12:22

is the mock salon that's in there .

12:24

Interesting Okay .

12:27

It's sort of like you have to be present with that

12:29

excitement in order

12:31

for it to maintain , just like a salon owner

12:34

needs to be present in order

12:36

for their culture to maintain . Once

12:38

that goes away , then it's not

12:40

quite the same . I thought that six months would have been enough

12:42

to maintain it , and I learned then it's not quite the same . Yeah , I thought that six months would have been enough to

12:44

maintain it , and I learned that it's not . If you

12:46

want your culture to stay , you have to be there yeah

12:48

so um , I had left because

12:51

I loved hair , so much yes

12:53

and I couldn't not do it right

12:55

, and so I went back behind the

12:57

chair yeah , I don't know if you know

13:00

I was an instructor for a hot

13:02

minute I say that at

13:04

our local beauty school in Virginia

13:06

. And same thing , same

13:08

thing . You know , you find out pretty . You

13:11

know like man , let

13:14

me get them after . They're just learning how to hold

13:16

their shears and hold a round brush , how

13:29

to section , and you know everything in . You wants to jump in there and do it

13:31

for them because you see them struggling . Yeah , being

13:34

an instructor at a beauty school takes

13:36

someone very special .

13:38

It comes down to all the instructors .

13:39

Oh my gosh yeah . It's probably the hardest job in

13:41

our industry . I think so , and to stay

13:43

passionate about it . You know , um

13:45

. So yeah , kudos , though that you

13:47

know that Avenue then , and then

13:49

you left there . Yeah

13:52

, so you're building up all these skills

13:54

and all these lessons and all these

13:57

gathering , yeah , and then what did

13:59

you do ?

14:00

So for a short time I worked at Salon

14:02

Paradigm , which

14:04

was only wedding , and

14:07

I quickly discovered that I

14:09

wanted more , and maybe it was because

14:12

of my experience at the school with

14:14

running so much I wanted more

14:16

, and so

14:18

I started with booth renting , and

14:20

that was at Hair Haven and Escondido . And so I started with booth

14:22

renting and that was at Hair , Haven and Escondido , and

14:24

learning that environment and

14:26

again , maybe I like collecting knowledge

14:28

was

14:31

eye-opening in several

14:33

ways Because

14:46

it ran like a team as best it could be , but each person is their own individual boss , so to speak , or

14:48

their chair , and so that coexistence of team environment wasn't the same and I always knew

14:50

going into it , this is my stepping stone into owning

14:52

a salon .

14:53

Sure you just collecting information

14:55

on how does this work ?

14:56

How does this kind of salon work ? How does this ? And

14:58

I'm still amazing friends with the owner .

15:00

That's awesome . Yeah , I don't like burning bridges

15:02

and I'm still amazing friends

15:05

with the owner . That's awesome . Yeah , I don't like

15:07

burning bridges . That's good , um , so when you went into salon Haven

15:09

is that um , hair Haven ? Um , how

15:16

many stylists were in there ? Three , oh , okay . So it was a smaller , four , okay , and everybody was booth rent

15:18

and so did everybody use their own product lines . Everybody use their own color lines

15:20

. So that worked .

15:21

We each had our own color . Two of us , of course

15:23

, were 100 euphora okay and

15:25

that I loved how

15:28

it was set up to where back bar

15:30

and style product was provided

15:32

by the salon um and to

15:34

encourage uh retail

15:37

and to keep the consistency

15:40

of all euphora on the face I see

15:42

yeah the color was not by

15:44

everyone that was in there , because

15:47

you purchased your own color .

15:49

Oh yeah , Right , Right , and so that was

15:51

a different thing for you . So how did that

15:53

did you find ? I

15:55

guess let's compare commission stylists

15:58

with booth renting . So

16:00

what are some of the , the

16:02

things that maybe you didn't really think about when

16:05

you went into booth rent ? I mean , were there

16:07

surprises ? Did you kind of know what to expect ?

16:10

I . I am one of the lucky ones that I was

16:12

given a lot of education at each of my spaces

16:14

was had the chance to have leadership positions

16:17

and ordering color .

16:19

Yeah , that's good Doing inventory .

16:20

Not every hairdresser has that advantage

16:23

, and so , um , it

16:25

wasn't shocking to me to have to purchase

16:27

my own color , um , but

16:30

I could see how it would be to

16:33

a lot of hairdressers and even the couple

16:35

others that we had in there . There was one that would only

16:37

buy color for the day , ah

16:40

, and I don't know if it

16:42

was because of cost but that wasn't

16:44

the way , I always bought the whole line

16:46

. So I'd never be without what I needed

16:48

.

16:48

Right , I guess I have heard of people doing

16:51

that . They run to the beauty supply before their day

16:53

gets started . Based on who they're doing

16:55

, correct .

16:56

Through consultation , but we run

16:58

into stuff all the time behind the chair , absolutely

17:00

.

17:01

Oops , that didn't work , so fix

17:03

. Wow , that

17:06

would cause me a lot of anxiety if

17:08

I was doing it that way . So you had to do

17:11

ordering your supplies and

17:14

, of course , all your supplies to

17:16

do hair foils , gloves

17:18

, all that stuff cleaning supplies In a commission

17:20

salon .

17:21

right , you would have your own hair dryer

17:23

tools , scissors , combs , brushes , things

17:25

like that . Yeah , everything else was

17:27

provided by the salon .

17:28

Yeah , towels .

17:29

Everything .

17:30

Mm-hmm .

17:31

Assistance to help .

17:32

Right Towels to use .

17:37

Education on a regular basis

17:39

.

17:39

Yeah , that's true , right Right .

17:43

Even when it comes down to medical benefits , if you need it , which

17:45

is huge .

17:45

Okay , so did you guys have a retirement like 401k

17:48

or anything like that ? Pay time off

17:51

? I mean it was starting to go .

17:52

Benefits like that , all kinds of benefits when

17:54

you go into our cab booth renting . The owner

17:57

of the booth renter salon does not have to provide

17:59

any of that for you . And

18:01

so , essentially , you

18:03

make about the same Okay when it comes

18:05

down to apples and apples , okay , right . And

18:07

if you don't have a strong business mindset

18:09

, you might fall through some hoops

18:12

that don't work out .

18:13

Right Like what about taxes ? What

18:17

about taxes ?

18:18

So , uh , for taxes

18:21

, uh , you then become a sole proprietor

18:24

. Instead of a employee

18:27

right , getting a w-2 right , do

18:29

you pay quarterly do you yes

18:32

? Is that what you're ? Supposed to

18:35

do well . A lot of people don't

18:37

know that making over a thousand dollars

18:39

yeah , which .

18:41

So what happens if you don't pay quarterly ? I ?

18:42

mean , I actually fined .

18:44

Okay , Cause I know what happens to corporations

18:46

. It's just the okay . So

18:48

how do you know that ? Do you have to

18:50

have an accountant to tell you that ? I do have

18:52

an accountant that does my taxes .

18:54

So if they're doing their own taxes , they may not be aware

18:56

until the first year , and then , all of a sudden , they owe

18:58

more money than they thought they did , and then they get

19:00

fined because they weren't paying in and

19:03

so it's a lot of , a lot of things

19:05

.

19:05

And sales tax too . So all the products . If

19:07

you carry a retail line , which most

19:10

people should , um , you have

19:13

to pay sales tax on that too . I mean

19:16

, there's a lot of things right . Yeah , and

19:18

so you learned all of that when you

19:20

were booth rental . Now you did mention

19:22

education . You were

19:24

on your own for education .

19:26

Yeah , you paid for it . Sometimes the salon

19:28

would bring in education , but not always

19:30

. I didn't have to have a retail

19:32

license , but I also had to have . But I

19:34

did have to have a business license .

19:36

Oh , oh yeah , so the

19:38

salon did the retail for you . Did you

19:40

get commission ?

19:41

on that , yes , okay .

19:43

Yeah , how did she pay you commission

19:45

on that ? Did she take it out of your rent

19:48

?

19:48

No , it's separate from rent , and you

19:50

know , and in California there's some iffy laws

19:52

on how that works , yeah .

19:54

Well , everywhere . Yeah , because

19:57

you can't pay somebody commission

19:59

if the yeah it's a whole thing thing .

20:01

I know some do it where they just credit towards education

20:03

and some actually pay you right like

20:06

a bonus .

20:06

Yeah , a bonus , because I

20:08

hear that word floating around a

20:11

lot in california you get a bonus .

20:13

Good well , good job , well done .

20:15

Yeah , we'll just leave it there , okay

20:18

, so you were um booth renting and

20:21

then now you're at a suite . So I'm , I'm , I'm

20:24

assuming that that was the next step of your

20:26

journey , right ? So how

20:28

has that been ? So you're in a

20:30

solo suite , a solo salons

20:32

, and you're in a pretty

20:35

big what is it ? A space and a half .

20:37

you said , yeah , um and

20:39

I initially wanted to do that before booth

20:41

rent , but I'm glad I didn't . Okay . Um , and I initially wanted to do that

20:43

before Boothrent , but I'm glad I didn't . Okay , uh , because it was like that next

20:46

baby step into oh wait , you have

20:48

to have a business license . Oh wait , I

20:50

have to buy my own color . Oh . So

20:52

then , when I went into finally

20:55

getting a suite , because lot became available in 2020

20:59

yeah , yeah . Um , I had some things

21:01

, but I didn't have everything .

21:02

I then realized oh my gosh .

21:03

I have to buy so many towels . Oh

21:05

yeah , oh my gosh , I have to get a retail license so I

21:07

can sell retail . Yeah or I don't even have it

21:09

in my space , right . And then

21:11

I also had to get you know the licensing

21:14

for my name , everything through the state , and I didn't realize

21:16

all of those things that all

21:18

the amazing salon owners already know that

21:21

you have to do .

21:22

Right .

21:23

It just kept tumbling on .

21:24

Right , cause you are a business

21:26

owner . I mean you are an official business

21:29

owner of your space

21:31

. Um

21:37

, once you get your business license and once you get you know , go to the state and get your name Correct

21:39

, you researched and make sure nobody else is named

21:41

bad and all that . I mean it's done .

21:44

I mean you do that once , right

21:46

Right .

21:47

Yes , you , but you jump through that hoop and it's

21:49

done . I mean , it's not like you have to do that every month

21:51

, but , um , but it's those people

21:53

who don't do that because they don't know

21:55

to do that they get in trouble

21:57

, right , correct ? Hmm

21:59

, yeah , um . So

22:07

what are some of the other like lessons learned ? I mean , do you enjoy being a

22:09

suite owner ? Love it ? Okay ? Now I've heard people

22:11

say that it can . You know you don't have

22:13

the , you know the team

22:16

energy around you . Is that

22:18

? Do you find that kind of hard to get used to ?

22:21

So that could be taken . However

22:24

, the individual only wants it to be right

22:26

. They can stay in their suite , come and go

22:28

and leave and never meet any of their cohorts

22:30

that are in the suite building . Not

22:33

my personality . I

22:36

still know 90%

22:39

of the suite owners in here and

22:41

like having a relationship with

22:43

them because it's nice , Like I've run out of stuff

22:45

or they've run out of stuff and we know that . Oh

22:48

my God , I ran out of cotton .

22:50

I can go down the hall and get it , so that's nice

22:52

.

22:52

One of my coworkers in the building

22:54

. Right Things like that , okay

22:57

, and just having that camaraderie if you needed it

22:59

.

22:59

Right , no , that's good , that's

23:08

good to know , I have to admit . I mean I told you that when I walked in

23:10

here this is actually the very first time I've even been in a Sola salon Not that

23:12

I'm biased or anything , because I own a commission

23:14

salon with a full on team

23:16

, but I don't know , I've

23:18

never had the opportunity

23:21

or the need to walk into one

23:23

. So it's been a learning

23:25

experience and it's quite , quite nice

23:27

actually . Thank you , um , I really

23:29

love your space . I , um , I

23:31

love that . It's kind of quiet , but it's yeah

23:34

, you know . Um , yeah

23:37

, I like it too . So , um , what other

23:39

? What other lessons ? I mean you have a full-on

23:42

retail . I mean

23:44

this girl can sell . I'm

23:47

looking at her retail going this might

23:49

be more than what . No , it's not more than what we

23:51

carry , but it's quite a bit for one person

23:53

.

23:55

I keep a full stock of retail . Again

23:57

that mentality I never want to feel like I

23:59

don't have something to provide to my guest

24:01

needs . Isn't that the worst idea ? Oh , I don't have something to provide to

24:03

my guest needs . Isn't that the worst idea ? Oh , I know it was funny

24:05

about that . I bought the initial intro which

24:08

wasn't too big , right , it was

24:10

, you know , a couple of each thing . And

24:13

then I thought , well , I need more retail

24:15

for that mentality that I have . And every

24:17

time I brought in more , I would sell more Of course

24:20

.

24:25

I mean , the stuff works . You know , and

24:27

here's your prescription , and you need

24:29

to take this home and you walk the walk

24:31

. You don't just talk the talk , you walk the walk

24:33

and you guide them through the experience . So

24:36

, no , I love that .

24:38

Well , all the fears were gone . Then I was like I can recommend it . Oh , absolutely

24:41

.

24:41

Absolutely , and you don't have to stop

24:43

by the beauty supply to pick it up . But you couldn't

24:45

pick this up at a beauty supply , so you

24:48

have to order it . Um , cause she's a full

24:50

on euphora . I mean , you guys can't see

24:52

that , but you might see it in the background

24:55

with the color . Um . So

24:58

what else ? I mean our , our audience

25:01

, most of our audience , are brand

25:03

new hairstylists coming straight out of beauty

25:05

school . You've done everything

25:07

. You've been an assistant , Um

25:09

. You've been a commission stylist . You've been a booth runner everything you've been an assistant . You've been a commission stylist

25:11

, you've been a booth runner , you've been an instructor

25:14

at a school , and now you're in a

25:16

solo suite . So what's

25:19

next for you ?

25:20

for first thing , I'm actually looking

25:23

for a space to grow into

25:25

. When the right one comes

25:27

to me , I know it'll'll be there

25:29

, but I was taught a long time ago put

25:31

it into the universe see what comes

25:33

to you , because you're not going to be open

25:35

to it or see it unless you already are actively

25:37

thinking . This is what I want , this is how I want it , and

25:40

I would love to find a four or five chair salon

25:42

that I could be an owner

25:44

in .

25:45

Oh , and you would kick ass too , I know it .

25:47

I mean because you've already you already know and you would kick ass too

25:49

.

25:49

I know it . I mean because you already know , you know what it

25:51

takes . You've already , you

25:53

know , done all the hard stuff .

25:56

And experience is huge

25:58

. Yeah , including to somebody new , because I

26:00

sought that out .

26:01

Yeah .

26:02

When I was looking for a space . I

26:14

cannot express more the importance of assisting a talent first . I think so

26:16

too , and just even if it's like you've said to me before , learning through osmosis , whatever it is

26:18

, take that time to learn , to grow , to

26:20

build , to figure

26:23

out what you want , what you don't want .

26:24

Yeah .

26:25

Use what I call the shopping cart method . Take it what

26:27

you want , leave on the shelf

26:29

what you don't .

26:30

Everybody does things differently and

26:32

it might not suit your method

26:34

or your ideas , but you can still

26:36

take something from that , you can still learn

26:38

from that . So your advice would be assist

26:40

.

26:41

First , Correct and stay in a place

26:43

longer than five years . The

26:45

grass is not greener on the other side

26:47

. Right , you know you're

26:49

going to have things that you need to work through

26:51

working with people .

26:53

Oh , everywhere and learn from

26:55

it Right .

26:56

It's great .

26:57

And don't you think most salon owners they're

26:59

, first of all , they're people too , yeah , and

27:02

they make mistakes , just like regular people

27:04

. I've made a few , and

27:06

but they're open to communication . Yeah

27:09

, you know , yeah , and , but they're open to communication . You

27:11

know , I , as a salon owner , that's , you

27:14

know , that's . That's a message

27:16

that needs to be said is that communicate

27:18

. Every relationship , communication

27:20

is key , you know , whether it's

27:22

your spouse , your

27:25

kids , your , you know , boss

27:27

, whatever

27:37

. If you don't know how to communicate or if you don't feel comfortable communicating , there's a

27:40

problem there . That's unhealthy . So so , assisting first . And now what if somebody , um , maybe somebody's

27:42

listening , and they're in a commission salon and they're , they

27:44

just feel a little stagnant for whatever reason

27:46

. Maybe they're not getting the education , or maybe

27:48

they got into a salon and they were promised big

27:50

things and they're sweeping hair or

27:52

whatever , because there's all kinds of things

27:55

out there , um , and

27:57

maybe they're looking at these solo suites

27:59

because they're everywhere

28:01

. Yeah , you know , that's where I want

28:03

to go first . Yeah , yeah , what

28:06

would you ? What kind of advice would that ? Would

28:08

you give somebody for that ?

28:10

You're successful in a suite not

28:13

just because of some business skills , but

28:15

because you have the clientele

28:17

to build off of . And if

28:19

I wasn't 80%

28:22

full , I no way would have made

28:24

it in a suite . And

28:27

the main reason is because guerrilla

28:29

marketing still works Go

28:33

out there , put your card out , talk to your guests . But if you have no base

28:35

to build off and you're starting , where

28:37

do you start with that ?

28:38

Right .

28:39

Instagram only brings me so much , Facebook

28:41

only brings me so much . And

28:43

I actually have met a new

28:45

stylist to the area in the

28:47

suites and she was trying to do

28:49

, you know , um fairs

28:52

. She was putting ads

28:54

out and trying to get clientele , but still it was

28:56

slow . It's like one or two a week trying

28:59

to build and there's nobody

29:01

to help you ?

29:02

Yeah , I never thought of that . If you knew

29:04

, to the area that

29:06

you're trying to build

29:08

.

29:09

I mean , it's not necessarily right , you might have the experience . Right , you might

29:11

have .

29:12

And you might have done this in a different town

29:14

, but you've moved to a new city

29:16

and you don't have a clientele . You do have to

29:19

start over Right from scratch , and

29:22

it's not like people walk in here . The door is locked

29:24

right , correct , main door

29:26

? Yeah , of course .

29:27

So it is by appointment only , and I know a lot of salons

29:29

still run their businesses that way , even

29:31

by appointment .

29:32

Right .

29:33

So how do they get that appointment ? Yeah

29:42

, and I mean Solo's great in that it has a online system that will send out your referrals from your

29:44

own profile . That's great , which is fabulous , but again if you're

29:46

not getting more than four new guests a week

29:48

. It takes a while to build it . So if they

29:50

want to go that route and they have the experience , have

29:53

some invested money , at least three months worth

29:55

Wow yeah . To pay

29:57

for everything you need before

29:59

the clientele will be coming in to pay you

30:01

to do hair .

30:03

Wow , that's great advice . I mean because

30:05

you don't think of that . I don't think of that .

30:08

And it's not wrong , it's just it'll be a while before you make the money

30:10

.

30:11

Right .

30:11

And then you have to again like boot running , seek

30:13

out your own education , keep

30:15

up to date on everything , make sure all , all

30:18

of your licenses are up to date , everything

30:20

.

30:20

Yeah , of course you

30:23

know um . Something

30:25

I haven't thought of is , um , do you

30:27

have , uh , you have your

30:30

beauty supply reps ? Come

30:32

in here , I mean , how does that work ?

30:34

Yes , so they can set up appointments . Okay , even

30:36

my scissor rep came in last week and

30:38

I set up a time for him to come in and check

30:40

my scissors , so yes , they can come

30:42

in and amazingly , you know

30:44

, both Ross and Ben have both been in

30:46

here . That's awesome . To help me with

30:49

my displays and how to do that .

30:50

Oh , that's great .

30:51

Wow , okay , we just set up times

30:53

, just like they would for the salons .

30:55

Yeah , yeah , I'm just trying to . I'm

30:57

trying to like compare and contrast

30:59

what happens in my salon versus maybe

31:02

what would happen in here , and

31:05

I'm just trying to think of the little things , the only hurdle

31:07

really is building your chair

31:09

.

31:12

Yeah , to think of the little things really is building your chair . Yeah , and you got to be really great

31:14

at that .

31:14

Yeah , have some clientele and then , and always ask for referrals

31:16

, always , always , always , always , right

31:20

please send me friends that have

31:22

hair just like you , or are just like

31:24

you , because people are gonna move , die go

31:27

someplace else , get bored , bored , whatever . You're going

31:29

to lose clients . I joke and say nobody left

31:31

me .

31:31

They just all died .

31:34

I believe it . Um

31:36

no , um right

31:38

. Right Things happen Right

31:41

. And if you're not , building .

31:42

I was told once it's like a funnel , and

31:44

I know you've heard this too . If you're not constantly

31:47

feeling the top of the funnel . Eventually the bottom is

31:49

going to drop out .

31:49

Absolutely , too . If you're not constantly feeling the top of the funnel

31:51

, eventually the bottom's going to drop out . Absolutely . I hate it when I hear um and you see it

31:53

on social media . I don't know anybody personally that my

31:56

books are closed . Who

31:58

does that ? Who does that

32:00

?

32:00

Closed . I love new guests , I

32:03

know actually new , new

32:05

guests energize me .

32:06

You know it's almost like challenge on

32:09

. You know it's just like tell me how'd you hear about

32:11

me and all that , Right , and

32:13

then let me solve your problems , Cause

32:15

they don't know what you know , and

32:17

I love new guests . Some people I've heard

32:19

that new guests just are exhausting

32:21

, and they are , I guess , if

32:24

you want to call that energy exhausting

32:26

, to me that's excitement .

32:27

It is excitement .

32:29

Same energy , different , different

32:31

title to it . I love new clients . I

32:33

would do new clients all day long , you

32:36

know , and then just shift them over to another chair

32:41

. I guess that is true . That's how I used

32:44

to do it , um , and then just say

32:46

, oh , by the way , next

32:48

time you might need you'll have to see somebody

32:50

else , and then they'd be like what , yeah

32:52

, but I fell in love with you

32:54

, you'll fall in love with them too . So

32:57

, um , well , I love this

32:59

. I've I've learned so much just from um

33:01

coming in here and seeing and experiencing

33:04

. Like I said , I've never experienced this before

33:06

. Um , um , and

33:08

we will film a little bit and put

33:10

it in um , just kind of looking

33:12

at your space , um , so a couple

33:16

other questions about sola suites . So

33:18

, um , what's all included

33:20

they do ? Is it the sink

33:22

?

33:22

and the chair and the . Usually it's just

33:25

now it's just the . You have the plumbing

33:27

right and the chair . Uh , it used

33:29

to be when suites first came out . The idea

33:31

was to have everything prefabricated

33:33

your cabinetry

33:35

, your chair , your . You know everything you need

33:38

to kind of get started as far as what a salon

33:40

needs to build in . Now

33:42

it's like an empty box right

33:45

, and so you have to also , then , owning

33:48

a suite , provide the construction

33:50

, the paint , the furniture . Oh , really

33:53

but it's your own design .

33:54

So you have to buy all your own cabinetry

33:57

. And Now , yes , oh , and chairs

33:59

, and Really

34:01

.

34:01

So it truly is Okay

34:03

, like the spaces you go into for salon .

34:04

It's a baby little salon , it's just a smaller

34:07

version .

34:08

Some are one chair , some are two chair .

34:10

Yeah , so you can design it however you want , however you want

34:12

Color . All that Because

34:14

you did give me a little tour of the

34:17

suites around here . Some of them were closed up , but

34:19

I saw somebody that had , you know , wallpaper

34:23

up , correct , and that was cool yeah

34:26

.

34:26

It's your own design , however you want it , which

34:28

is neat , because

34:31

then you have your signature .

34:32

Look for your sure . Yeah , no , and that's exciting and I

34:34

could see how that could . People

34:36

would like that , of course , because I remember

34:38

when we designed our salon space . It's

34:40

a big empty box and you're just like , ah

34:42

, that's the fun part , exactly

34:45

, that is really the fun part

34:47

.

34:47

That's all the uh , you know and

34:49

I had a lot of fun doing that .

34:51

Yeah , oh , yes , yeah

34:53

, that's fun . And then all of a sudden reality

34:55

hits . It's like , ah , it's

34:57

not fun anymore . I'm

35:00

writing a check for this , right ? So

35:02

you said yours . This was already set up

35:04

when you came in , right ? The ?

35:05

cabinetry was already set up , so I

35:07

bought a extra cabinet and

35:10

shelves to hold

35:12

my retail and display it nicely

35:14

.

35:14

Yeah , yeah , that's interesting

35:16

, though , because you showed me just

35:19

an empty one .

35:22

Yes , I just didn't think there was enough

35:24

retail space .

35:25

Right , right , no

35:29

, this is a great space with this big window here that I

35:31

wonder how much it costs

35:33

initially to get set up then .

35:35

Well , for me , which was actually good

35:37

because of the size of the salon , it

35:40

was about 10 grand total , which

35:42

and that's including product , that's including

35:44

color- that's including all the tools

35:46

I would need , my licenses , everything . Okay . So

35:49

considering how much it costs to open

35:51

a salon , that's relatively inexpensive .

35:53

Yeah , it is .

35:53

The plumbing's there , the electric's there . We don't pay

35:55

water or electric , that's all .

35:57

Oh , okay .

35:58

That's good to know . So that's a nice you know , as

36:00

you're getting started into paying rent . Because

36:02

I will tell you , at first I was like , oh

36:04

, that seems , or a lot of money

36:07

, Right . But then once you get into it , you're like oh

36:09

, okay , it evens out yeah

36:11

, all right , so it's not

36:14

.

36:14

You're not just renting a chair , it's not

36:16

booth rent , it is a salon

36:18

and all the bills are in that

36:21

surround that . So , okay , well

36:24

, this has been enlightening . I've

36:27

learned so much from this , so

36:29

hopefully , um , our

36:31

listeners um have learned a

36:34

little bit too , especially if they're pondering

36:36

, you know what direction they're going to go

36:38

out of school or maybe they're at a salon that they're

36:41

not really a hundred percent happy with

36:43

. Um , kind of give them choices . You've done

36:45

everything . So , uh , you

36:47

know , uh , if people

36:50

have questions , where can they get

36:52

in contact with you , or if I'm assuming

36:54

that's okay my favorite actually is

36:57

instagram messenger .

36:58

Okay , um , I'm the fastest at

37:00

that one yeah , yeah , which is in our face

37:02

. Five , that's my education

37:04

page , and then I have my salon page which

37:06

is splitting hairs , sd we'll

37:09

make sure we include all those

37:11

links .

37:11

So , yeah , if you have any questions

37:14

that maybe April can assist

37:16

with , I'm sure she would be glad to help

37:18

, and if there's anything

37:20

that I can answer , I'm here

37:22

too . So , um , thank you

37:24

, april . Thanks for being part of this . You're

37:26

welcome .

37:27

I always admire you . You're pretty brilliant .

37:29

Oh no , you are All

37:32

right . Thanks so much . You're welcome . Thanks

37:34

so much for tuning in to this episode

37:36

of All About Hair . Here's what I'd love

37:38

for you to do next Take a screenshot

37:40

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37:45

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37:54

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37:56

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38:02

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it easier for others to find . All right

38:09

, let's wrap this up . I'm Denise Kylitz

38:11

and until next week . Remember when

38:13

you know better , you do better .