STORY TIME #SalonSmartLive
Our Salon Smart speakers have all made their mark on the industry, whether they’re a solo endeavour or a network of salons. We witnessed sharp marketing focus, advice on creating brand identities for a pair of chic colour salons, through to the importance of teamwork at multi-pronged business ventures and building awareness of mental health into business. There wasn’t a stone left unturned – settle in to hear these incredible stories from Salon Smart
Tom Chapman
“We are living in a changed world,” Salon Smart Live opener Tom Chapman, founder of The Lions Barber Collective told viewers. “As a result of coronavirus, we’ve collectively been through an experience that has impacted everyone’s mental wellbeing in some way, but it is hopefully making us realise that just like we all have physical health, we all have mental health to monitor. And importantly – just as physical health encompasses not just cancer, heart disease and life-threatening conditions, but headaches, colds and sprains – mental health goes hand in hand with the moods, emotions, peaks and troughs of life.”
…mental health goes hand in hand with the moods, emotions, peaks and troughs of life
Highlighting how the fundamentals at the heart of his MWIT-winning charity apply not only to looking out for clients, but taking care of ourselves, Tom outlined the benefits of listening without judgement and using mindfulness in supporting hairdressers’ general wellbeing. “Be aware of your team, and check in on each other regularly,” he said,” a problem shared is a problem halved [and] the secret is in the listening – you don’t have to ‘fix’ anything.” Individually, Tom reminded viewers that being present also means grounding your thoughts. “Remember that failure is an event, not a person,” he added, “and mindful appreciation will help you to gain more confidence in your own self and your abilities…Take a moment to identify five things at the end of each day that you appreciate and say a simple thank you in your head. It’s that easy.”
Gavin Mills
“Our plans may change, but our vision stays the same,” Gavin Mills, owner and manager of the Bad Apple Hair Group in the Midlands, explained in his session on growth and the importance of digital marketing. Having arrived in hairdressing from a marketing background, Gavin streamlined the group’s image and messaging, aligning all of the pieces on the board to allow for immense growth. “What do you want from your marketing?” he asked. “To change? To grow? Or just be seen?” He had a stark word of warning for anyone resisting the switch to digital – “lockdown showed that a lot of people didn’t have access to their business data remotely. You need to invest in technology. Data is king, and community is queen.”
Christel Barron-Hough and Katie Allan
Minimalist, Scandi-design salon STIL and the greenery-filled, cheerful interior of MAYFIVE may seem miles apart in aesthetics, but the two colour salons have a surprising amount in common. The two owners – Christel Barren-Hough and Katie Allan respectively – shared the stage for an insight into how these fledgling salons have achieved attention, acclaim and healthy columns in less than five years since opening.
Think about the next step, not the whole staircase. Develop gradually and take advice from everyone.
Katie urged viewers to reach out for help if there’s any aspect of business that they feel unsure about. “Running a business was something I didn’t have any idea about,” she admitted about taking the plunge. While her business skills took some sharpening, Katie knew from the off that the right team would make or break the endeavour. “You attract what you put out,” she insisted, referring both to her booming client base and even her staff, both of which she has bolstered through her Instagram page and social media outreach. “Think about the next step, not the whole staircase. Develop gradually and take advice from everyone.”
Christel similarly faced a steep learning curve, opening up Stil in west London without a column of her own having come from an educational background. Instead she played to her strengths, imbuing the salon with an inimitable minimalist style and focusing on the client experience. Before she knew it, she had a quickly growing team and inches of column coverage as ‘hygge’ and Scandinavian styling hit the big time. “Your image and profile is very important to build a brand and create a platform for staff,” she explained. “Hairdressing isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle, and it’s creativity that keeps us going.”
Team SliderCuts
The man – the brand! – Mark Maciver of SliderCuts Studios was joined on stage by his executive assistant Casey (and publicist, Shaffra Gray-Read via video) as he shared insight into building his business beyond the barbershop. Whether talking about creating and maintaining his community support projects, embarking on brand partnerships, booking public speaking engagements or writing his a book, the bottom line? It all took (and takes!) a lot of hard work. “You cannot negate hard work,” he explained, “you have to work hard, work smart and be consistent. Just like if you water a plant, provide it with sunlight and space for two months and then give up, it won’t continue to grow and may not even survive. Your business is the same.”
If you’re not honest about your weaknesses when you’re trying to build your business, you’ll be too prideful to admit why certain areas are failing, and will just keep shifting the blame for criticism or bad reviews elsewhere
“And if you don’t have the money at this stage, don’t give up,” he added. “Think of what you can give people back and think of it as currency – I traded services for haircuts at the start.” Next to hard work, brutal honesty (with yourself) comes a close second in the SliderCuts playbook. That honesty begins during the hiring process, where Mark admitted that he sought out people who had skillsets that filled gaps in his own. “You need to look at your weak areas and they should be the first areas you hire in,” he told viewers. “And if you’re not honest about your weaknesses when you’re trying to build your business, you’ll be too prideful to admit why certain areas are failing, and will just keep shifting the blame for criticism or bad reviews elsewhere.”
Underpinning everything in Marks ongoing strategy is valuing and cultivating his team. “The team have been vital in building the SliderCuts brand. You should affirm your team whenever possible – let them know when they are doing well, not just when something needs to change,” he added. “When your team know you appreciate them, they want to work better and harder for you.”
Phil Smith
Phil Smith has done it all. His career has spanned a sprawling salon franchise, multiple product lines, the highest of highs and crushing lows. He took to the Salon Smart stage to run through his business backstory with Creative HEAD’s Catherine Handcock, starting with his very early days at Raymond Bessone’s salon. While Mr Teasy-Weasy gave Phil his taste for the hair bug, his ambition soon kicked into high gear with an opportunity at Toni & Guy. “They were ruling the high street and ramping up education, while creating incredible photographic work. Toni really pioneered the franchise concept,” Phil recalled.
Skip over an almost-case of mistaken identity, and you find Phil heading up a rapidly sinking ship in Salisbury, his first salon and franchise opportunity. But his business smarts shone through even then, and he bounced back with an incredibly successful salon opening in Bath. “We had an incredible spate of growth – I was surfing the wave of that growth, of the brand’s success,” he recalls.
Fast-forward to the financial crisis of 2008 and it all comes crashing down in a single phone call-come-fax message. Now heading up a huge network of franchise salons, Phil experienced the clash of rising rents and business rates with the pressure of 600 people’s salaries and livelihoods.
His ambition wasn’t dimmed though. His quietly growing haircare line proved to be his pot of gold, as he fought for more control on how it was marketed and designed. Over the course of 18 months he sold off each of the Toni & Guy salons, and focussed on his product lines which have millions of units. “With Toni & Guy it was never about me, but this is. I’m in control of my own destiny.” His desire to replicate the household name recognition and careers of the like of Umberto Giannini and Charles Worthington turned out to be the driving force out of a bad situation.
That control spreads to his secondary product line, Smith England, as well as his sole remaining salon venture. His energy is spent formulating new formulas, running his multiple businesses with the help of his family. Any spare time is dedicated to campaigning for the wider industry on a government level, for initiatives such as evening the playing field for self-employed and employed stylists, as well as business rates and VAT cuts. “It’s in everyone’s interests,” he adds. It’s a different driver compared to 30 years ago, but Phil has plenty more gas in the tank.
