10 Minutes with Linda Fenech By Louise May

Skin Fitness Hair & Beauty owner Linda Fenech, is one fierce woman running a salon of 21 employees as well as being a mum to her amazing 8-year-old daughter Lucy, who has Cerebral Palsy.

Essentially, Linda is just an everyday woman who does amazing things daily and has her heart set out to help others. She is also the founder of the Facebook group Beauty Therapists Sharing - Learn And Grow, which is a wonderful community of over 11,000 people.

Our Beauty Biz Editor Louise May spent 10 minutes with Linda to find out more!

Can you please tell us a little about yourself?

I come across strong and direct… but I love and care, and just want everyone to feel accepted and valued. I entered this industry at the age of just 15 and I have met so many kind an inspiring women. I will be forever grateful for the lessons they have taught me. Owning the salon, and as an ADHD and OCD sufferer myself, (self-diagnosis then confirmed by a therapist) I also saw a need for inclusiveness in salon life. Lobbying industry associations to include diverse education in the curriculum, particularly haircutting for special needs children i.e., sensory disorders.

Tell us how you got started in the industry?

I loved school and always wanted to be a schoolteacher. In year ten I saw an advertisement for a beauty apprenticeship, and I thought I’d go for it, for interview practice. I was asked to come back for a trial and was offered the job. I never realised how much my passion was people and caring for them, and connecting with them.

What drew you to Beauty Therapy and Hair in the first place?

After my initial job trial, it was the people. The ability to make someone feel better about themselves. Yes physically, but also emotionally.

How did your business come to be?

During my apprenticeship my employer decided to sell, I still had a year before completion, but I went to my parents and with the money I had saved and a loan from them, I was able to buy the salon.

What do you consider your own top 3 pillars of success to be?

1. Education and gaining proficiency 2. Know your numbers 3. Love what you do

What are your top 3 tips for managing a large team of people?

1. Speak to them as if it was you in their position. 2. Make sure that they are aware of their responsibilities so that they are not caught out by surprise if they’re not doing something to your level. 3. Have a salon policy and procedures manual so that you can refer back to the standards when speaking to them.

How do you juggle work and personal life balance?

I listen to, and read a lot of Mark Bouris and Gary V. And something that Gary said, always resonates with me ‘If you live for weekends and vacations, your shit is broken’. I agree with this a lot, however, I also believe and I’m grateful that my salon is closed on Sundays and public holidays, and this is something I need, and is definite ‘me time’. We also shut our salon between Christmas and New Year, so we can get that time off with our family and friends.

What’s given your business strength over the years?

My family’s strong work ethic, being strategic and common sense. I have a very good loyal clientele who even when shut during Covid, would send me messages checking in on me and ask how they could support us. This is what life is to me, connection, and care!

How do you stay strong but agile during these unprecedented times?

Strong mental health is essential, and very very hard. For me I need to go to the gym and use up my nervous energy. Walking barefoot on the grass also helps me. I also look for positive reaffirming quotes each day. I refuse to watch shows like Married at First Sight because I believe they affect mental health, yes laugh at me everybody… but how could we be so cruel to other humans and laugh about it. I also think the same politically, when I watch different leaders pick on each other, and then the next breath they’re talking about mental health… I don’t like it from either side.

Any tips to staying motivated when pivoting takes its toll?

Another quote that I live by is: ‘Get up an hour earlier to get more done’! Also plan! and plan another map if a plan fails.

What is your big “why”?

Cultivated habit, strong need to be liked in my personality, and a strong will to succeed. I also support many women and clients and I do it for them.

Do you have a motto or signature life philosophy?

Do and be what you value. Really think about this, as we live too much in the subconscious, rather than the conscious. I have two short stories written on my daughters and stepsons wall. One is the starfish story; the other is the Cherokee legend of two wolves. Google and look them up. I find them very powerful.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Never think you are better than anyone, and the harder I work the luckier I get. (From my father).

If you could leave this industry having achieved just one thing, what would that legacy be?

That each one of us in the industry can be of value, share your knowledge, help each other, and make this industry strong. We are not competing against each other, there is enough room and love for each of us.

What is on your agenda for the future?

Currently in business I have been what I classed as the treading water phase, and I’m hoping after soon that we will start to be able to get into the growth investment stage. I am also committed in helping other parents who have special needs children. I suppose my agenda is inclusion no matter who or what your needs are.