THE SECRET - THE RULE OF DISTRACTION By Gary Latham

My mother, God Bless has Dementia. She has recently gone into aged care. She has very little, short-term memory and gets very confused. When she was at home, she kept asking us “do I live here?”. It wasn’t easy to put her into a home and mum was not jumping out of her skin being there.

On top of everything there is Covid. To make matters worse they had some Covid cases last week and she was only allowed one person to visit her throughout the week. Sometimes its hard being the favourite, but I stepped up and donned the full PPE. As the week got longer her mood got lower. By the Thursday, my visit was an hour of being asked repeatedly when she could get out of there. I left with my heartbreaking, I had to turn this around.

So, on Friday on my way to visit I dropped into Kmart and picked up a $10 Quoits set. For those of the X-Box generation, Quoits, is a game where you throw a hoop of rope over wooden stakes for points. It was then that the magic happened. Mum and I had a great hour together playing quoits. The fact that she absolutely kicked my butt, only added to her enjoyment, I almost didn’t care. I returned the next day to receive an even bigger flogging, as the woman who could not usually remember when she had her last cup of tea, admitted to practicing yesterday. She even cheated when I had to take a loo break. What was most beautiful was that she didn’t ask about going home once during those visits.

It was a very timely reminder to me of the power of distraction. We all need it. I certainly do, your staff do, and most likely you do too. Hairdressing as much as you all love it, is a tough gig. Physically and emotionally. I have always said it’s like having to be the chef and the waiter at the same time. Skill and service all at one chair. How often have you had to do the final pay for a departing apprentice and realised they haven’t had a holiday since they started. Take regular holidays and book your next one when you return from your last. Not only is the holiday a break and a refresh it also gives staff something new

to chat to clients about. As a boss it is up to you to cultivate the other distractions. Photoshoots, fashion weeks, courses, lunches, dinners, etc, etc. If staff are thinking of these events, then chances are their brains are more switched on and their customer service is even better.

As a salon owner your salon can be an ever-present focus. When things are going well then great, but when all those bricks keep building up you might find yourself hitting the wall before you know it. Trouble is the more you need distractions the less you get them. The last month at Wild Life like many salons in the past year or two have been quite challenging. With ageing parents, kids with covid, broken bones, overseas weddings, the passing of a fur baby, a splash of gastro and a dash more covid we have found ourselves a tad short staffed. The last Saturday in March we had two thirds of the senior staff off. Living in the moment is fantastic when the moment is fantastic, but when it all turns to shit the moment isn’t so sweet.

And so, the wall was being built,How many clients are we turning away?Will they come back?How high are staff costs going to be this month?How will we ever survive?Here comes the wall, crash!

I didn’t feel like talking to anyone or doing anything. Then I remembered the power of distraction. Call a friend, walk the dog, plan something, do anything.

Write a blog…Now there’s a distraction.