If you read my last post, you know I found a salon home. A super small salon home. Three chairs and two shampoo bowls, that's it. When you first start out as a stylist, or are still in school, you think you'll have all the clients. People will just come see you because you are now a stylist. Wrong! Y'all know how picky people are about who does their hair. It's right up there with choosing a doctor. Soooo, this salon is in the middle of an industrial area. There's no reason anyone would walk into this salon for an appointment. Someone would have to refer you for you to even know it exists. I sat A Lot. I watched A Lot. And believe it or not, this was before Wi-Fi was everywhere. So I learned from watching. Watching color applications, haircuts, how different angles and shears would do different things. The ladies who worked next to me were my mentors and they didn't even know. Little by little, I started building up some clientele. Some on my own and some were given to me. It took forever. Years. Some weeks I wasn't sure how I was going to pay my booth rent, but I did. After working there three years, I got married. Now I had to pay for a house. Not any house but a brand spankin' new house. We had our first house built. It was amazing. The house was so cute and just the right size for us. I had to make sure I could make enough money each week to pay my half of all the bills. Yikes.
So, I read all the books and took some classes on how to build your clientele. I started gaining some momentum. WooHoo! I was gaining several new clients a month. Man, I'm feeling good. I had to teach myself how to foil. Oh yeah, they didn't teach that in 1999 beauty school. My friend and I did the first one. BOOM! I think that helped me gain some traction too. In 2009 we welcomed our first child. I was able to cut my schedule to just three days a week. I loved having those extra days with her. In 2010, my friend and mentor, decided to leave me. Me, the salon. She decided to take her business closer to home. I was so sad. She had all the clients and was the one who funneled me the most clients. I think I rode on her coat tails for 10 years. I don't think it hit me until she left. That I'd really have to get all the clients by myself now. But I did. That's the year I became a Redken Specialist. Started my business Facebook page. Hosted an open house. Trying to attract more clients. It did work. if you work it, it works. How about that?! In June of 2011 we were able to build our second house. It's double the size of our first house. What?!
If you read my last post, you know I found a salon home. A super small salon home. Three chairs and two shampoo bowls, that's it. When you first start out as a stylist or are still in school, you think you'll have all the clients. People will just come see you because you are now a stylist. Wrong! Y'all know how picky people are about who does their hair. It's right up there with choosing a doctor. So, this salon is in the middle of an industrial area. There's no reason anyone would walk into this salon for an appointment. Someone would have to refer you for you to even know it exists. I sat A Lot. I watched A Lot. And believe it or not, this was before Wi-Fi was everywhere. So I learned from watching. Watching color applications, haircuts, how different angles and shears would do different things. The ladies who worked next to me were my mentors and they didn't even know. Little by little, I started building up some clientele. Some on my own and some were given to me. It took forever. Years. Some weeks I wasn't sure how I was going to pay my booth rent, but I did. After working there three years, I got married. Now I had to pay for a house. Not any house but a brand spankin' new house. We had our first house built. It was amazing. The house was so cute and just the right size for us. I had to make sure I could make enough money each week to pay my half of all the bills. Yikes.
