Seven Key Takeaways From The 2025 Phorest Salon Owners Summit

The 2025 Phorest Salon Owners Summit in Dublin brought together salon professionals from around the world for a refreshing event designed to help them elevate their businesses and prepare for the year ahead. Creative HEAD was there – these are the insights you need to know!

by AMANDA | INFORM

1. Customer Intimacy Is Key To Brand Success

Ken Hughes, a consumer and cyber behaviouralist, emphasised the importance of human connection, exploring how salons can foster intimacy by going beyond expectations. His example? Taylor Swift and her success at building customer relationships! His advice including using their spaces as community hubs and recognising the employee experience as equally valuable to the customer experience.

2. Empower Staff For A Thriving Culture

Hairstylist Daniel Mason-Jones focused on creating a healthy workplace culture by addressing mental health and setting boundaries. Provide clear communication and training, and use tools like Phorest Tips to empower staff with transparent compensation structures.

Ronan Harrington

3. Break Barriers In Beauty

A live panel tackled diversity and inclusion in beauty, featuring trailblazers such as Carra’s Winnie Awa, Texture vs Race’s Keya Neal, Ruka Hair’s Tendai Moyo and beauty writer DijaAyodele. The discussion explored expanding circles of trust, product innovation (including Tendai’s biodegradable synthetic hair) and the need for truly diverse industry panels and leadership. There were lessons from the US beauty market, which was seen as “eight to 10 years ahead” of the UK in inclusivity terms.

4. Prioritise Resilience And Wellbeing

Resilience teacher Ronan Harrington offered tools to navigate challenges with intention and grace. Begin each day with purpose and focus on meaningful connections. He advised shifting from a “victim mindset” to a “creator mindset”, while also taking care of personal wellness to avoid burnout. Spa innovator Peigin Crowley also highlighted the importance of mental health, encouraging salon owners to recognise and manage burnout effectively.

5. Leverage AI To Transform Salon Operations

AI and its potential to revolutionise salons were a recurring theme. Phorest’s John Doran discussed how AI can boost average bills through upselling and cross-selling, provide actionable insights from data, help staff achieve goals with forecasting tools, enhance marketing with AI-generated content and improve client communication through an AI receptionist.

6. Master The Client Lifecycle

Marketing guru Kati Whitledge shared strategies for winning and retaining clients, stressingthe importance of continuous exposure, creating a desire for your services through visibility. You’ve got to be proactive in pursuing clients and prioritise making a lasting impression at every client touchpoint.

Peigin Crowley

7. Unlock Hidden Gems In Phorest Tools

Phorest’s own Patrick Monaghan and Rich Cullen unveiled five “hidden gems” within its software that every salon should be using – advanced online booking settings, reporting tools, digital loyalty programmes, marketing magic features and Phorest’s Benchmark Report, which tracks industry trends and performance metrics.