A Day in the Life of a Successful Hairstylist

Want a behind the scenes look into the day in the life of a successful stylist?

In this episode we're taking you behind the chair and beyond. 

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Transcript

Morgan Franklin: 0:02

Welcome to the Aspiring Stylists Podcast with Tracey Franklin. Where to begin, grow and aspire to become the best stylist you can be. Whether you're thinking about becoming a stylist opening a salon, or developing your skills as an experienced stylist the next step of your beauty career starts here. Each week we'll discuss strategic ways to design, plan and execute on becoming a stylist that excels behind the chair and above the bottom line. Here's your host, Tracey Franklin.

Tracey Franklin: 0:34

A day in the life of a successful hair stylists. Let's talk a little bit about my morning routine. I've always been a morning person, I absolutely love the morning time, I'm gonna be passing out on the couch at 8pm. But I love the mornings. And I love having a little time just to myself in the morning before my husband gets up before the dog start eating things. I just like that little bit of calm in the morning. I honestly feel like I need a little bit of everything to feel ready for the day. My first step is go to the coffee pot, make my coffee and then I do a little bit of a sip and scroll. I give myself like you know, 2030 minutes to just relax, drink my coffee and catch up on social media. So weather dependent, I really like to walk my dog and then I try to get in a little bit of strength training afterwards. And I'm a big, big fan of journaling. I don't have to do it every day. But when I'm feeling really anxious, I like to journal. I also give myself plenty of time to get glammed up, I get my hair done, I get my makeup on. So for me a perfect morning for me is a little bit of mind, body and soul. I'm not really a big breakfast person. But I do understand that I need to fuel my day. So I'll usually make myself a smoothie, it varies, it's usually got some kind of frozen fruit, some green leafy stuff, and then some protein powder. I'm also a big fan of water. I think hydration is big. I mean, I feel it immediately when I'm not hydrated enough, an exercise, although I don't do it as often as I like exercise is not only important for your body, but when I'm out there in nature, and I'm walking my dog and the sun's hitting my face. I'm really enjoying myself, I'm really getting the clarity that I need. I'm setting my intentions for the day. And it also makes me feel really proud of myself, which I think is important. In our industry. It's so important to prepare mentally for our day. Some days, I just need to free my mind and I like to listen to music, I like to dance, it's very high energy, that's what I need. And then some days I need to feed my mind. And I always have an audiobook or a podcast ready to listen to. I really like this option for multitasking especially when I'm getting ready or doing something in the kitchen. There's no shortage of apps and resources available if you don't know where to get started, or you just really like structure. I've been part of the 5am Club what that was you wake up at 5am You start straight away with 20 minutes of cardio moving into 20 minutes of meditation and then 20 minutes of learning. I liked it for a while but I will say it was extremely hard to stick to. I've also used apps like mind, body and neum to help me plan out my nutrition. And I also use this for guided meditation, I find it super helpful. So social media in the mornings. It has its ups it has its downs for me, I have to be really strategic about this because it can be a huge time suck for me and an hour can go by in the blink of an eye. I give myself 20 to 30 minutes on my phone first thing, like I said while I drink my coffee, I respond to any messages, check my schedule for the day, scroll a little and plan out my post. And then I have to set my phone down and walk away from it. And I also have to have the discipline not to pick it back up again until I'm ready to leave. The days I'm behind the chair. I like to look at my schedule a few days in advance and again the morning I have to make sure nothing's changed. I like to find additional opportunities. What can I add on? How can I make a service better? Will I have time for lunch? Can I fit anyone else in being prepared is really important for success. And assessing your schedule before the day even begins really helps with that. So time management throughout the day is as important as stylists we can be a bit chatty, it's super important that we stay on schedule. And most days I don't really have a lot of time between clients, but I do have processing times and I try to use those to my advantage. During that time. I can do things like prep hair extensions, or get set up for my next client. I can use this time to go to the bathroom or scarf down lunch, check towels, whatever I need to do. It's also a great time to respond. onto emails or DMS, while my client processes this is a great time to talk about at home care and get that next appointment on the book so that I can cut time at checkout down by half. So as the day goes on, you're obviously going to lose energy, right. But I still firmly believe that that last client of the day still deserves that same special treatment that you gave your first client of the day. And I personally am committed to being fully present for each and every one of my clients for whatever services they need performed, and for being a good listening ear for whatever they want to talk about. Sometimes it's a lot of fun, and sometimes it can feel really heavy. I like to do an energy cleanse when I noticed myself carrying around other people's burdens. That's something I'm really bad about. I believe in energy transfers. And I think when you are holding space for someone, they can be talking about things that affect you throughout the day, that can look different for everybody. For me, it can be as simple as going outside, letting the sunshine hit my face and saying out loud, a few things that I'm grateful for. Changing my state of mind helps as well. So if time permits, I'll go run errands or do something I enjoy a change of scenery and some high energy music is super helpful to me. So when I feel myself getting rundown, these are a few things I like to do. There's an ongoing joke about stylist and lunch breaks, do we get them? Do we not? For me, some days, it's a protein shake and an apple and other days it's yummy leftovers from the night before Sunday's lunch gets skipped altogether. Tomorrow, I'm having lunch with a good friend. So I'm really excited about that. There's really no rhyme or reason for me and I actually function well in the irregularity. Some don't though, they need the structure, they need to actually sit down and eat a meal to feel balanced, you have to do whatever works for you. Most days, I don't take an actual lunch break. A lot of times, eating a full meal in the middle of the day makes me tired and sluggish in the afternoon, and ain't nobody got time for that. The truth is, I could totally take a regular lunch break every single day. But I don't really want to, I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the salon and the Academy. So I let my body decide. And if and when I get hungry, I go take a short break and nourish myself. Otherwise, I'm on the job and I just prefer it that way. You're gonna need to pay attention, you're going to need to stay aware, stay intuitive with what you need, and what makes you show up the strongest if that means an hour long lunch break and two breaks throughout the day claim that for yourself. I have a couple quick healthy things that I tried to keep around. I'm a big fan of protein shakes, and some are better than others. I'm currently trying to lose weight. So these are feeling quick and support my goals so I really like them. Some days I just need to chew on something and my favorite oh my gosh, my favorite snack right now are these little yogurt parfaits I make little Greek yogurt, pomegranate seeds, chia seeds, some kind of granola for me that spilling satisfying and tastes really good. But I also keep a stash of dried fruit nuts. These are packed with protein and have a lot of healthy fat in them. I noticed a lot of students and stylists lately, having DoorDash delivered like a lot. I'm thinking to myself, this is gonna get really expensive. And unless you're having a salad or something healthy delivered every day, it's probably not the healthiest option either. So how do you maintain good energy? How do you stay enthusiastic all day long. It's not terribly hard for me, I love the work I do. And I love my clients. I'm actually genuinely happy to see each of them. But it hasn't always been this way. It's taken me a while to craft the clientele I serve today. You're gonna have clients on the book and you're going to see their name and you're going to cringe and how you handle that is up to you. I've never kicked anyone off my book just for being a pain in the ass. But I have kicked them off for being disrespectful, rude complaining all the time. It can be really difficult to maintain enthusiasm if you just don't enjoy the people on your book. Having a good salon culture hugely relies on everyone doing their part. And this can be really hard during peak hours. You know, the laundry is piling up people are running behind. I think this is the very best time to focus on teamwork. It's rare, and I'm sure you'll agree that every single stylist will be busy at the same time. So if you have downtime or a cancellation instead of bolting out the door, look around who needs your help, because the next time you're booked back to back running behind and stressed out you're going to be really glad to have this favor returned. There's always going to be end of the day tasks that need to be completed. You need to make sure your station is clean, sanitized. You're going to want to make sure you've processed all your tickets. and pre booked all your appointments, you're gonna want to restock your station and make a list of things that you're running low on. And then oh, this laundry caught up. Finally, make sure you're set up for the next day do you have everything you need, if not, you're going to need to run by the supply house on your way. And that's a good thing to know before you get there. So setting yourself up for success for the next day, you're gonna want to make sure that all of your appointments for that day are confirmed. If not, you're going to want to reach out to someone on your waitlist, right, we want to fill that spot, we don't want big holes in our schedule. If nobody takes the bait, then you're gonna want to make an availability post. And the sooner the better, it's really hard to fill a spot the day of so knowing in advance and getting that post made the day before it's going to increase your chances of filling that appointment. We are definitely due for some relaxation after we leave the salon. Right. It's been a long day, we're ready to chill. And some days you're going to need more relaxing than others. Depending on what time of year it is, I have a few things I really enjoy. Like in the winter, I'd love to come home and put on something cozy, light the candles and get the fireplace going. It helps me unwind. In the warmer months, I like to go to the tanning bed. Don't be hating on me, I know the risks. And I also like to take a walk outside in the sunshine, I get off work everyday at five. So this time a year, it's possible to take a walk after work and it really helps me unwind. This may seem insignificant. But recently, I've changed my routine and I'm showering at night instead of the morning, I can't tell you how beneficial this small shift has been for me, I typically run a five minutes behind for everything. I'm not proud of it, but I have accepted it. This gives me more time in the morning to focus on other things and lessen the likelihood of being late. I also feel like I'm sort of washing away the day it helps me relax. And then I get to crawl into a clean bed with a clean body and get a good night's sleep. It's the little things for me. So if you're responsible for booking all of your appointments, it's going to be important to have some boundaries or you're after our client communications are going to get out of hand. This is not a huge deal. For me, I don't mind communicating with clients after hours as long as I'm available. But if I'm busy, if I'm having dinner with my family, or I'm just not in the mood to focus on work, then I make him wait and I respond the next day during normal business hours. It's not that hard. I know stylists who won't respond at all after hours. And I can respect that you just have to trust your gut. If it's feeling burdensome, it can wait. How often should you be looking at your performance and setting goals for your improvement? Well, as a full time stylist, I did this all the time, I always looked at my numbers every single day when I left, I checked to make sure if my goals matched the outcome, I'm always looking for opportunities looking for ways to grow. For the last year, I've been in a constant state of pivot. It's been a year, I can't believe this since we opened a spire and I created a split schedule, it's been incredibly challenging. And that's just the truth. And I'm still assessing, and I'm still changing things all the time. If working behind the chair is your full time gig, you should be checking your numbers every single night. And you should be looking at your book every single morning searching for opportunities and every day. Don't just set a goal to be better, right? You can't just say my goal is to be better. You need to set an actual goal that you can measure and track, you have to treat this like a business because it is one. We've talked about burnout, we've talked about staying passionate and motivated. And you know, I feel like staying passionate is the main ingredient. And in order to do that, you have to know what fuels your passion, you have to pay attention to the emotional and physical response to the people and the services on your book. And what I mean by that is, when you see something on your book, does it set your soul on fire? Maybe it's lived in color. Maybe being really good at one or two things is your sweet spot and you're totally okay with that. Maybe learning something new is what does it for you. That's me, I'm her. The best way to stay passionate and motivated is to pay attention. Become very self aware and stay tuned in. Now not every moment or every client is going to be a dream situation. But if you get to sprinkle them in, if you have a nice mix of what you do to pay the bills and what really ignites your passion, you're going to be in pretty good shape. So we've got this big self care movement right everyone's talking about self care everyone's penciling in downtime and making sure they're balanced. And I wish I so wish I could say that I have it all figured out. And then I'm a perfect example of all the things that I've shared with you today. But I don't always get it right, and neither will you. I do know that something is always better than nothing. And if I want to show up as my highest self, I can't remove myself from the equation. I have to take care of myself, the person as well as I take care of myself, the professional.

Morgan Franklin: 15:29

Thank you for joining us on this episode of anytime soon. The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin. If you enjoyed listening and you want to hear more, make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. The Aspiring Stylist Podcast with Tracey Franklin is a Morgan Franklin Production. Today's episode was written and produced by Morgan Franklin editing and post-production by Mike Franklin. Want to find out more about Tracey and the Aspiring Barber and Beauty Academy go to aspirebarberandbeauty.com