Passing the torch of salon ownership
Owning Let Em Have It has been one of the most impactful chapters of my life to date. Even more than my brief time on Project Runway.
Opening and running the salon was like running uphill in quicksand. I never felt I was making any progress. I would take 2 steps forward and a giant leap backwards. Kyle was supportive of my vision to open Let Em Have It in 2013. We got a very small loan of 65k to build out the space, buy all the furniture and run it. We did a lot of the build out, building the retail shelves, installing wallpaper, building vertical gardens, planter boxes, tiling, painting, lots of painting!
It was literally blood sweat and tears before opening our doors. When we finally did open we started as a booth rental salon, where stylist paid to rent a chair. I worked behind the chair 11 hours a day Monday-Saturday, I was a one person shop for over a month in a 1937 square foot place. We finally got a few booth renters in and I operated it with renters for about 2 years until I realized I was slowly killing myself. Double booking clients, no breaks and working front desk while people processed their color. Every cent I made behind the chair went back into the salon.
I then decided to hire an assistant. I created a training curriculum and had my assistant test out on models. It helped me realize I had leadership potential and I could teach.
I slowly started to hire more stylist that would start on the floor as commission employees. Overtime we transitioned our team from independent booth renters to having commission stylist. Even with a team of employees, It didn’t fit my vision of what a great culture looked like. Often times I hated coming to work and wanted to call it quits many times. Lots of drama, gossip, it was toxic! I hit a turning point of yet another stylist leaving and feeling like a total failure.
I was at a fork in the road, close our doors or get some help with a different pay model yet again! 3rd times a charm right?! I invested money I didn’t have, into a week long business boot camp that kicked my butt and put me in a headspace of I got this! The company was called Strategies. They help you understand how to run a better business one that would create a growth plan for your team, project your sales and budget to grow your business. It took 18 months and bi monthly coaching sessions to recreate the culture before transitioning from commission to a team based hourly model. They helped me create the framework for a great culture and having more freedom as an owner. I honestly can’t say enough about Strategies, they helped me so much in becoming the leader I didn’t know I could be!
I was rebuilding the team for the 3rd time! Working with just one other stylist and trying to hire and train. I have always told Kyle figuring out your passion is understanding what you’re willing to suffer for. I thought I was a pro at navigating adversity and uncertainty. Little did I know I was building mental strength to withstand what’s to come, a global pandemic. I never knew the type of resilience I had in me. The ability to lead a team, train remotely, remodel the salon for Covid guidelines, create an e-commerce website come up with Covid training protocols, building an online apprenticeship curriculum to be able to onboard new talent remotely and efficiently, hire more stylist, update our service menu to be gender free and get rid of service names. I was proud to accomplish so much all while trying to be inspirational through my tears as we lost thousands every month. I had no idea how much all of this was permanently changing me. Making difficult decisions while working countless hours to make sure the salon was running as smooth as it could and customers were happy and felt safe. I learned to make gratitude my survival vice against the fear of losing it all.
When 2021 came I felt I was ready to move on from this chapter. I knew I could continue to handle it, but I also questioned if this was still the passion I was willing to suffer for. In 2017 I worked for two years towards moving away from doing hair so I could focus on running and growing the business.
2021 Kyle and I reevaluated on what now??
We thought about the things that we miss and what makes us happy. We were always concerned about the well-being of our teams and the needs of the businesses while neglecting ourselves and each other. We missed discovering new things and having a sense of adventure without all the responsibilities and being concerned for everyone else. Whether the team will stay or go, are they happy and engaged, are they making enough, are the customers happy, what can we do to be more consistent, are we going to make enough to cover everything this month. The list of worries and sleepless nights went on and on!
Being a salon owner was a fast track to personal development. You don’t realize that you’re a magnet and attract the energy you are feeling and your internal issues materialize into the employees you hire. When I was feeling more insecure and a victim of my life, I attracted people that were similar and I would continue attracting them until I changed that about myself.
That was a big take away, change yourself and you’ll attract the people and the opportunities you want in your life. I began looking at challenges with employees and customers differently, if there’s something about them I don’t like, it must be something in me that’s attracting it.
I started going to an isolation chamber, a float tank twice a month. The more I would go the better I got at observing my thoughts and knowing how to change them.
The people we have at our salon now are a reflection of that growth. They’re authentic, have integrity, a hunger to learn and improve, they’re centered, humble, loyal and appreciative. The more I improved and became clear on our values the more we attracted people that encompassed them. Our culture has finally become was I envisioned, because of the team we’ve created and allowing our values be our guide, it has never been better!
When Kelly came along in 2020 it was perfect timing, I had a gut feeling she would be a perfect fit for our culture that I could train to be a great leader. I created an 18 month training program that would train kelly on everything, so I could have more freedom down the road.
In 2021 when Kyle and I decided we wanted to exit our businesses and move to Spain to retire, I felt Kelly would be the perfect person to pass the torch of salon ownership. She has what it takes to lead a team. She’s patient, resilient, resourceful, and believes in our vision. With Kelly we had an opportunity to keep our legacy of this beautiful culture and business going.
The salon for me never was about making a lot of money, it was about creating a great place to work, but more importantly it taught me how to be humble, and put your energy into appreciating all that you have and not what you lack.
I’m grateful I had these years to understand what it means to run a business and I have more appreciation for small businesses because of it. I developed compassion for salon owners, it’s such a selfless position and can be an isolating, lonely experience. Often I felt I could never do enough. No matter how many light bulbs I add, the lighting would always suck. I learned anything you set your mind to you really can accomplish.
In those 9 years I built a successful business with an incredible team and beautiful culture. Everything I set out to do I did and I feel extremely proud and can walk away with my head held high.
You have to be your biggest cheerleader and believe in yourself, because you are the only one that really knows your struggle and all the hard work that went into it.
Sometimes when we see behind the curtain of the struggles people go through to create a business you realize you’re not alone.
Everything you do in your life prepares you for the next stage of growth. Let Em Have It has been an incredible journey for me and I’m so grateful for that experience. Now it’s time to pass the torch to Kelly and let her have it, as we start our next chapter of learning in Spain!
