6 minute read
Infinite Words of Wisdom.
By Kristie Kesic
Being a hairdresser in 2024 is probably the most demanding it’s ever been and seems to be that you need to be all the things all at once.
You need to be a hairdresser, a receptionist a psychologist, a scientist, an influencer, a mind reader and a magician. You need to be seen to remain relevant yet social media can cancel you at any moment.
As a boss, you need to be firm but chill and if you go too far either way you are a bully or a pushover. You need to be comfortable with silence in order to make some clients feel welcome yet you have to talk to others when all you may want to do is work in silence.
You work so hard to build up your column or your business yet live in fear of that one negative online review. You want work-life balance yet need to be available 24/7 because it's rude to leave a DM left on seen. It’s all of this when at the end of the day you just want to do hair. I’m here to tell you it’s ok to stop, to breathe, to not be all the things at once and to give you some infinite words of wisdom.
Just remember;
• It’s ok to not want to be an influencer.
• The number of followers you have doesn’t define how good you are as a hairdresser.
• Even the most confident hairdressers have self-doubt moments.
• Even the most extroverted hairdressers need to take a break and take some time away from socials and the spotlight.
• You’ve got to mess up to learn and you need to make mistakes and take risks to grow.
• Redo’s don’t make you a bad hairdresser. You are never going to please every single client in your career. Sometimes you will give them exactly what they want and make them look incredible but they still won’t be happy. That says more about them than you.
• Jealousy is an ugly trait. Rather than being jealous why don’t you look at it as motivation and think to yourself if they can have that then so can I.
• You can help hairdressers without the fear of losing your clientele. You can give other hairdressers your exact sectioning patterns and show them exactly what you do, but they still won’t be you and remember your clients come to you because you are you.
• Invest in yourself it’s the best ROI you’ll ever get.
• The only person you should be in competition with is yourself.
• It’s ok to lose and be extremely happy for the winner and really disappointed for yourself at the same time, just the same as it ok to win and be over the top excited and remain humble.
• Someone telling you, you are doing something wrong, with the intent of making you better is a mentor and someone who cares, not a bully.
• You are a creative you are not meant to fit into a box
• There is a salon for everyone. Just because you don’t fit into one salon doesn’t mean you don’t fit in our industry; it just means you haven’t found your right fit yet.
• Success never happens overnight and it’s never easy. Ask any successful human, they all have stories of failure before success.
• If anyone says it’s easy, they are lying and only trying to convince themselves.
• Every successful hairdresser started by sweeping floors.
• Don’t be in a rush to get to the top. Enjoy the journey and all its twist turns along the way.
• You are never too successful to learn new things or shampoo someone’s hair.
• The most successful salons are the salons where all the staff shine
• Do every task with intent. Whether it’s a massive transformation or sweeping the floors
• Your last client of the day deserves the exact same service as your first
• Clients are investing in you each and every appointment so make sure their ROI is well worth it.
• Don’t judge you or your business by someone else’s business. Every business is different and ever successful business is different, but some of the things they do have in common are a great leader and the drive to succeed.
• Respect and applaud success
• It cost nothing to be kind
• It’s ok to break up with a client if they aren’t treating you right. Respect goes both ways, just as a client wouldn’t accept you treating them badly you don’t have to accept them treating you badly.
• Do what ignites your passion and lights up your soul rather than doing the things other ppl think you should do.
• When you’re learning say yes to everything as long as it ignites your passion. It will open your eyes and open doors you may never have known existed.
• Change is inevitable, change with it or get left behind.
• Under promise over deliver
Reality is being able to do good hair isn’t good enough anymore but don’t look at that as a bad thing. As hairdressers, we are no longer limited to change our clients hair with our hands while in our chair, we have so much more reach through social media and conversation and sometimes the most impact we can have on someone is by literally not saying anything to them at all. It’s just as important to our clients the way in which we make them feel as much as it is about how we make them look.
There are so many roles a hairdresser can play but this doesn’t mean you have to play them all at once. If you get overwhelmed it’s ok to stop and be kind to yourself. Take a moment to remember why you got into doing hair in the first place, and in most cases, I hope it was because you wanted to make a difference and make people feel amazing about themselves and to me that sounds like the best job in the world. So, whatever making a difference and making someone feel amazing about themselves may look like to you now, focus on that, get back to that and stay focused on what makes you happy.
Kristie Kesic Cobelle Creative
