The year in review (sorta)

My friend over at Wayfarer Journal did a yearly assessment, so I thought I'd try the same... It's official! I've been a working, paid hairdresser for a year!! WOO HOO!!! Genuinely, I've learned so much in this past year, both positive and negative, so I've tried to list them... The best things I've learned: 1) Always listen to the client and do what it takes to give them what they're asking for, 2) Don't tell them you can't do something or that it will be a production to get it done. These are not the things they want to hear, and, eventually, it will drive them out of your chair and into another, possibly in another salon! 3) Do NOT argue with the client. Find a way to compromise with them. Make sure they understand that the haircut/style they've chosen is NOT for their type of hair (if that's the case) and figure out something that will work... They'll keep coming back if you work with them and won't (again, eventually) if you don't. 4) Never do this job just for the money. I do this because it's what I absolutely LOVE to do. The fact that I receive a monetary tip (most of the time) is a privilege, not a right. I never expect a tip, even from the ones that I get from all the time. 5)Because of #4, budget your money so you don't have to rely on your tips!! 6) Trust my own instincts. If my gut says "Do X", that's what I do. I talk it over with my client, get their opinion/consent and make it happen. 7) When I need help, I ask. Period. If I'm drawing a blank, I just ask for help. 8) I do not waste time defending my actions. I spend a LOT of time educating myself, reading at various professional websites regarding everything and anything that interests me regarding my career (and sometimes not!). 9) Document my conversations with my clients. That way, when one of them calls and insists I've told them something (and they're not talking to me), the proof is in the pudding. Or in their file, whichever... 10) Never take the client for granted. They're here today and gone tomorrow. Of course, you want to keep them, but sometimes, stuff happens. Just roll with it. It's much better than obsessing over why Mrs. So and So is seeing someone else now.

Same ol' song & dance, my friend...

So, this week has been a quiet week...there's a whole money cycle where I work, as to when people have money and when they don't. Don't is just as obvious as when they do! Consequently, not only do Chrissy & I have empty books, so does Evelyn. Who happens to be a cutthroat individual. There were two walk-ins yesterday, one of which is one of her clients, the other, I'm not sure. The greedy witch took both of them for herself, instead of offering them to me. This is because, yet again, we have no policies in place to cover these issues when they crop up. However, the third walk-in actually requested me, just before I was getting ready to leave. A non-tipper, and a relatively non-talker, but, still, a client who requested me!! This is the part of the industry that I hate...the cutthroat crap. I will say, I wasn't overly adult about the way I handled it, either. I swept up after Ginger, swept the rest of the floor (as I was mopping certain areas), and blatantly walked around Evelyn's area, picking up the broom as I walked by. Was that the mature way to handle things?? Nope. Did it get my point across?? You betcha. Will it change anything?? Nope. Did I feel a snotty sense of satisfaction doing it>> YOU BETCHA!! Also found out the booking stupidity on Saturdays is Evelyn's doing, as well. Because there are 5 stylists and 4 stations on Saturdays, the clients between myself and Chrissy need to be done creatively...meaning you had better pay attention to what is in each column before you book either of us. One of my clients, we'll call her "Mary" called & booked an appointment with me for today, yesterday. (does that make sense??) Anyway, Mary and I are friends away from the salon, so she called me to ask me if I was booked up for today. "Not that I'm aware of...just two clients" because Evelyn made it sound like she was having difficulty booking her appointment. When I went in and looked at it...WHAT AN IDIOT. She gave me too much time with Mary, for both haircut & wax (if it takes me 1/2 hour to wax some one's blond eyebrows, shoot me!) and, better yet, it completely overlapped with Chrissy's appointment, which starts at 10am. How hard is it to actually LOOK at the book??? Our columns are actually right next to each other. It's not rocket science, FOLKS!! Last weekend we had a complete mess going on, because of booking errors. Chrissy still needs a ton of time to get things done. She works using a lot of caution, due to lack of confidence. So, when she had a client in for both a perm and a semi permanent color after, she wasn't booked with enough time, nor was she booked at the right time, because it ran into my client at 9am. Especially when her client was 10 minutes late. Yet again, booked by Evelyn without thinking!! If we were both marketed correctly, this wouldn't be happening. Chrissy needs to use Saturdays as her skin care days, pedi's & mani's...that way, we don't bump into one another. One would think this would be common sense to someone in the business, but, when the whole world evolves around ourselves instead of others, we tend to not notice these things. Thanks for listening to me complain!!

Let's do what the client wants, shall we???

Today was a BLAST!! We were all busy, Chrissy and I had to be creatively booked because we are a 4 station salon with 5 hairdressers...Poor Chrissy doesn't actually have a station, so she winds up sharing with whomever isn't there that day. In the case of Saturdays, she usually winds up sharing with me, and we just switch off. Well, today, that wasn't an option. Evelyn managed to over book herself and had a client who screwed up when she was supposed to appear. She was scheduled for 8 am and didn't actually leave her HOME until 8am (she lives almost 45 minutes away...). so that threw EVERYTHING off in Evelyn's schedule. This is where I come in to play: Evelyn has a client, we'll call her "Gloria". For Evie, Gloria is a screaming pain in the ass. Gloria's complaint has been, all along (this is years, mind you) that her hair color isn't right. Lately it's been waaaaay too dark. Evie was so backed up she actually asked me to throw on Gloria's color. Gloria made sure to make the comment that her hair is too dark, can we go back to the color I had a couple of months ago?? Evie was a bit disgusted with her, but agreed. Didn't actually show her emotions, which is a refreshing change, but they'll come out later. So, we confer on the color, figure out what to do, I mix the color, and apply it to Gloria's head. Now, Gloria is a nice lady. She's polite, fairly well spoken, and knows what she DOESN'T like about her color. What I can see, upon applying her color, is that the color closest to her regrowth isn't a super dark color like her ends are (which happen to be thisclose to being BLACK). I suggested to her, while applying her color, that if I was the one to rinse her color when it's done, I wouldn't run the color through the ends. (all this does is deposit more color where it isn't needed) Well, as luck would have it, I didn't get to rinse her color out. Evie did it. After I applied her color, I got with Evie to let her know what was discussed. She shot down my idea IMMEDIATELY (God forbid I know what I'm talking about), and proceeded to complain about how her client always changes her hair color, every time she comes in. Obviously, Gloria likes Evie, but isn't happy with her color. (due to, in large part, with the fact that Evie isn't listening to Gloria's concerns). After the color was rinsed, there was an interesting "discussion" between Evie & Gloria about the color. We'll call it an interesting discussion. I was busy enough with my own clients that I didn't get a chance to find out what the resolution was nor what Evie wrote in Gloria's color card (in computer). I got the impression Gloria wasn't terribly happy with her end results. I had even suggested (in the form of a question, mind you) to Evie that maybe a color wash was in order, to lift out some of that dark color. "No. Her hair will turn orange". Gloria, God love her, is 95% white underneath all that color, which means there is a lot of warmth under there. Which is tough to deal with and get the color to come out right. However, to my way of thinking, something needed to be done about those black ends. If it were mine to do, I'd continue to color JUST her regrowth. and let that old, black stuff just grow out. If I were Gloria, I'd seriously consider whether or not to continue the relationship with Evie or, perhaps, try someone different. Too bad I couldn't be sneaky & underhanded (and get away with it) and invade that space!! :)

An interesting evening...

So, Chrissy came over last night for me to color her hair...came out B-E-A-utiful!! She wanted her highlights covered up...too many...so I took her to 5G & 6G with a little 6N for balance. A beautiful chocolaty brown! The rest of the evening was very therapeutic...a lot of the things I've been experiencing is also what Chrissy has been experiencing. Sad, but also good to know it's not just me... I've also started taking better care of me. I stepped on the lie detector last week, and it said exactly what I knew it would...too much. So, I reigned it in this week, managed to eat waaay better than I have in a while, and didn't give in to my desire for chips. Down 5 pounds! Now, for those of us who watch "The Biggest Loser" we all know week 2 SUCKS. I didn't exercise last week, due to sinus infection. Could I have exercised?? Yes. Absolutely. Did I?? No. However, this week, no sinus infection, so I can breathe freely. What I have discovered?? I still hate aerobic exercise. I am currently NOT coordinated enough, nor fast enough, to keep up with that cheery, peppy instructor whose eyes I'd like to stab with a sharp object. Didn't even do 10 minutes worth of exercise before I gave up. However, tomorrow is another day, and I do feel a bit more energetic. Which is going to be TROUBLE for those closest to me, as I have a lot of energy in the first place...Sorry, everybody!!

A "cock & bull" story...

When I left work on Wednesday, I had one of Evelyn's clients in my book...he's someone I went to high school with, I cut his hair before, not a big deal. I knew once Evelyn saw his name in my book, she would do whatever it took to get him OUT of my book, it was just a matter of time. I walked into work today, and Ginger pulls me aside to tell me a story that was a bit "smellie"...stunk like 3 day old fish, actually, about how Evelyn ran into this client and he "talked" to her about how if she had an opening he'd like to be switched to her, he's been going to her a long time, she's faster...all these excuses. (notice how she managed to get the comment in about being faster...), so, when Evelyn magically had an opening, they moved the client over. I told Ginger I had no problem with that, that it sounded like the client didn't really want to be with me when he called, but was willing to take what he could get, blah blah blah. Ginger also made a point of telling me that Evelyn had even called her to verify that she didn't have a client this morning at 8am, so she could come in a tad later. Here's the rest of the story....Evelyn called just after 8am to verify that she didn't have a client first thing, and didn't call Ginger at home about it. And, the whole thing with the other client was a BIG FAT LIE. Evelyn's client base has dropped off soooo much she is desperate to hang onto every one she has. If you pull up this client's history , he will go to whoever has the time when Evie isn't available and doesn't usually pull the "if you have an opening, please call me" card. I don't believe he knows that's an option, quite frankly! I don't quite understand the need to lie to people. I want sooo badly to say something because I know they were both lying. However, I also know that it's not worth the effort it takes to stir up that lovely pot of smelly mess. So, as always, it is my focus to take care of the clients I have and make sure they stay mine. It is kind of fun, I have to admit, to give Evelyn a dose of her own medicine, however...