.png)
The Modern Hairstylist ™ Podcast
Teaching you how to grow your beauty business as a hairstylist or salon owner without the overwhelm by implementing modern strategies so you can reclaim time, freedom and energy from working behind the chair.
The Modern Hairstylist ™ Podcast
Increasing Profitability And Managing Your Finances As An Entrepreneur
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode of The Modern Hairstylist Podcast, host Hunter Donia and guest Jodie Brown get into the money conversation most stylists either avoid entirely or stress about at the wrong time. If you are an independent hairstylist or salon suite owner who has crossed or is approaching the six-figure mark and you want to actually understand what is happening with your money, this episode is for you.
Hunter and Jodie walk through what financial management as a stylist entrepreneur actually looks like at different income levels, why the advice to cut expenses is not always the right move, and what it really means to increase your profitability. Hunter is candid about the limits of his own expertise while sharing the real frameworks he uses with Mastermind clients to help them take home more money without working more hours.
Key Takeaways:
💰 Your revenue level determines your financial priority: Hunter makes a case that stylists earning under $75K should be less focused on financial management and more focused on making money in the first place. Once you cross the $100K threshold, the way you understand, organize, and move your money starts to actually matter and creates real opportunity.
📈 Increasing profit is about making more, not just spending less: At a certain revenue level, most necessary business expenses are what got you there in the first place. Hunter explains why the smarter move is learning to outpace your expenses through higher-profit services and strategic pricing rather than cutting the investments that are working.
📂 A bookkeeper is not a luxury, it is a baseline: Hunter breaks down the difference between a bookkeeper, an accountant, and a financial advisor, and why most stylists are expecting one person to do all three. Hiring a dedicated bookkeeper, often for as little as $150 to $200 a month, gives you clean, accessible numbers and takes a significant mental load off of you as the business owner.
🧾 You cannot make good decisions without knowing your numbers: Whether it is understanding how much to pay yourself, evaluating which expenses are worth keeping, or knowing when you qualify for an S-corp election, none of it is possible without a clear profit and loss picture. Hunter shares why facing your numbers, even when it feels uncomfortable, is one of the most empowering things you can do for your business.
😌 Financial clarity is a form of self care: Jodie speaks to the shift that happens when you stop avoiding your finances and start having someone help you manage them well. Moving from reactive to informed decision making changes not just your business outcomes but your day-to-day sense of stability and control.
Why You Should Listen: If money feels like a stressful, confusing, or shameful topic in your business, this episode normalizes that feeling and then gives you a clear and practical starting point for changing it. You will leave understanding what financial tools are actually worth your attention at your income level, why knowledge is the fastest way to remove fear around money, and how to start making decisions from clarity rather than chaos.
