When to start hairdressing
5 tips for starting out in the hairdressing industry.
if you're one of those people just
starting out on a career and the
hairdressing industry congratulations
and welcome to what can be an exciting
fun worthwhile and potentially very
well-paid career now I say can be
because for some people that doesn't
become an exciting and well-paid career
but I do want it to be that for you so
I've got five bits of advice that will
help you on your way now the first one
is never stop learning if you're just
starting out on this career then there's
a very real possibility that you've not
long finish school and perhaps this
could even be your first job but perhaps
unlike school you're learning about
something that you're excited and
passionate about in fact if you are to
succeed you need to be passionate about
it because as well as a lot of fun and
hard work there's also a lot of
sacrifice in the years ahead
if you are to succeed so my number one
piece of advice is to be the best
hairdresser that you possibly can be and
for that to happen you must soak up
every opportunity that comes your way
and look for every opportunity to learn
from everyone that you possibly can
remember learning is an attitude so
don't wait for someone else to organize
it or pay for it for you remember that
it's no one else's job to make you
successful ultimately that's going to be
down to you there's a great little quote
made up of ten two letter words if it is
to be it is up to me
so my second piece of advice is to
remember that productivity matters you
see you are now part of a business
someone else owns it and as well as
doing great haircuts and colors etc you
have to balance that with the
recognition that the purpose of a
business is that it makes a profit in
fact if a business doesn't make a profit
the business won't survive therefore you
won't have a job so just like in school
results matter then when you're at
school is the results in the form of
your exams etc that matter in business
it's not so much results based on exams
that your performance is measured on its
results based on your productivity now
in hairdressing that's things like the
amount of clients that you have each day
how many of them come back to you and
how much they spend on products and
services these things are often referred
to as key performance indicators or KPIs
for short and the results that you get
will ultimately determine how much you
are going to earn so my third piece of
advice is to remember that you can't do
this alone you are now an important part
of a team and you need to remember that
other people are relying on you because
if someone on the team is not doing
their job properly then it affects
everyone else on the team now you might
feel like you're at the bottom at the
moment and that you're just not that
important well that's just not true
everyone on the team matters and
everyone has a contribution to make to
the success of the team the only
difference is that other people on the
team have different roles and
responsibilities to what you perhaps do
but trust me when I say that you are
definitely an important part of that
team it's my fourth piece of advice is
to have fun
you see working in a salon is a great
job and it can be a lot of fun and I
absolutely loved it in fact in surveys
where they measure career happiness
hairdressing often comes up as being at
but one now I know we're not usually
saving lives or changing the world but
we do have a huge impact on how people
feel about themselves so it's important
that we are professional at work but
it's also important that we have fun but
remember having fun doesn't mean being
unprofessional if you have fun people
want to be around you if you have fun
the day goes quicker if you have fun
it's more conducive to creativity and
happiness for yourself and for all those
other people that you come into contact
with so make work fun
so my fifth and final piece of advice is
when I term sweep to perfection now what
I mean by that is that if you just
started off in a salon you will probably
begin with jobs like sweeping up and
shampooing and making coffee etc but
make a commitment to yourself that
whatever you do that you will do to the
very best of your ability don't be one
of those people that say when I'm a
stylist I'll become a perfectionist
perfection is a habit it's an attitude
and there's a saying that goes as you do
anything is how you will do everything
so if you sweep the floor be a
perfectionist if you're shampooing make
it the best shampoo that that client has
ever had and if you make a coffee then
present it like you work at the Ritz
remember as you do anything is how you
do everything now years ago I wrote a
book it was called grow one super
stylist I started using the term super
stylist to define those hairdressers
that take ownership of their
productivity and therefore ultimately
how much they earn hairdressing can be a
very well paid very well rewarding
career both emotionally and financially
but it doesn't just happen without you
putting in the work so good luck with
your career and until next time have a
great week
you
