The No BS way to motivate your salon team

Ever wish you could hold your team to higher standards without being the bad cop? This episode shares a leadership playbook that turns confrontation into curiosity and guesswork into actionable data. Build confidence, lift rebooking and retail, and keep your team aligned — all while staying approachable.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to start tough conversations with curiosity: “I’ve noticed a pattern…”
• The five‑minute Tuesday debrief to track weekly targets, services, rebooking, retail, and wins
• Using transparency and recognition to build trust and buy‑in
• Micro‑coaching: catch small moments, offer guidance, and keep tone light but clear
• Boundaries that protect authority while staying warm and approachable
• Three practical moves for new or hesitant leaders: lead with curiosity, track numbers weekly, and follow up with a plan

Turn small coaching moments into consistent habits that make your salon calmer, predictable, and more productive.

If this episode helps you lead with ease, follow, share it with a teammate, and leave a quick review with the one metric you’ll “plug in” this week.

To follow our journey:
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@the_conscious_salon

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Guys, welcome back.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

It's a little bit more casual because we've got I actually just said I was considering wearing my pajamas today. I was like, Am I look pretty doled up to my pajamas as the next option?

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Yeah, well I wasn't sure about that. I was like, oh nah, nah.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

You look incredible. I've come as a highlighter. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

I've come as a high-site myself, absolutely not. It's a very good t-shirt. Just another one that I'm gonna do. Oh gosh. I got this hat. Tell me, I actually got this one of my best mates. Hang on. Who's currently and just for the weekend?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

You can't leave no one can hear you when you move that far away from the microphone. Like Aiden's like about to have a buddy. Fellas. Heart attack.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

This is not for anyone. This isn't directed at anyone in here, but it's very funny. And I bought it for my best mate who's currently going through this. But it's also to a PSA for any women that might be looking for a sign. Have you ever seen a more me hat? No, I'm not. I'm gonna be out there doing God's work because there'll be women that'll be walking around going, that's my sign. Should I, shouldn't I?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Your father.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

It's for the divorce party. Oh yeah, okay. Not mine. Yours.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Like what's going on? I'm not sure if we have like any husbands that watch this podcast. Probably not. Probably not.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Definitely not now. They're all either producer Maiden. That's the only husband. But um, yeah, no, so have we got it? Is that not gonna I really want I want to clock a woman going thank you. Write that down, leave your husband.

Why Team Mentoring Speeds Results

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Um, do pop that on your to-do list for today. But Tay, we have you back in the studio for another episode of the Conscious Salon podcast. And this is so important because obviously Tay is a huge part of the Conscious Salon, which this the next few months I really want to highlight this because people don't understand the work that you do at Conscious because you work so much with the salon's teams to help them to move forward. Because the one thing I've learned about mentoring is if we came in and just mentored the salon owners, slow progress. If we mentor the salon owners and you mentor the teams and get the most out of the teams, everyone is moving forward and it's a completely different pace. Yeah. So you work with our clients in becoming a conscious salon and all of their teams, and you also work directly with our salon owners, giving them numbers feedback. Yeah. And one thing I know to be true about you, having known you for a hundred years, is that you have a phenomenal gift for helping people to see their potential and for also raising the standard in a salon in a team. So you can take people who have blocks around rebooking, blocks around retail sales, blocks around servicing clients 100%, and you can elevate their results while also helping them to believe in themselves. And it's a phenomenal gift. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Wow. So because I'm just here for good looks. You with your heart.

Turning Blocks Into Performance Wins

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Um, but Tay Tay, we want to do an episode today. Yeah, yeah. And this episode is designed for salon owners to hear and also for their team leaders to hear, or anyone who's gunning for leadership, someone who's like, I want to shoot my shot, I want to go into leadership, I want leadership opportunities. A person who's hungry for more, we're going to give them your brain and some tips around helping to motivate and hold the team accountable. So it's gonna be a little bit rogue.

Curiosity Over Confrontation

SPEAKER_00 3:47

What are your thoughts on that? Um, I think it's definitely been something that I have developed over the last eight, nine years of working with you guys. Um, I think definitely motivating a team, it's all like you need to come from a place of like love, compassion, and like softness. I think a lot of time people think like when you have to have disciplinary, like obviously depending on what it is, but like, you know, performance reviews and that sort of thing, depending on where they're at, sometimes it's just getting curious around why they're experiencing what they're experiencing, or like what where they feel like they're missing the mark. I think that for me, whenever I come up to the team about that sort of thing, whenever I come from that point, I think it just opens the conversations. It's not um accusatory, it's not, you know, they don't get the defenses up, and it's just us having a conversation of like, hey, I've noticed that this, you know, your rebooking hasn't been sitting where it normally is. Like, has something happened? Um, you know, where do you feel like your block is? Why do you feel like you're not reaching that anymore? And I feel like a lot of the time, to be completely honest, it's like, you know, people get complacent and you know, you get into the like the day by day. So often that's all it is, and it's kind of reframing your brain into being like, okay, I need to have this at the forefront of my mind and bring this to my attention um rather than anything else. But then if it is something that they're like, oh, you know, I had four clients that didn't re-book, um, and it really shot my confidence. Like, all right, well, let's work through this together, let's have a conversation, let's, you know, do role plays. How can we then support you into feeling really, really comfortable in and confident in this again?

SPEAKER_01 5:14

What are the aspects of your role, Tay, that you find to be more challenging?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Ooh. Um, I think definitely having hard conversations. I tend to be a bit of a people pleaser. So I think having conversations with people, like if they're, you know, not meeting the mark or not meeting the standard or like disciplinary conversations, um, or yeah, just like yeah, getting that um if they're yeah, not meeting where they normally are, like kind of having that conversation and like opening it up. And for me, I think coming from that place of curiosity and like being inquisitive really removes that block from me rather than having to feel like I have to sit down this week and be like, why aren't you performing? Because really, if I were to s were to sit down and do that with most people, that's not gonna be land well with them. They're gonna get defensive and it's not gonna the conversation isn't gonna be constructive. Um, and for me, going into something like that, I would I don't even know what I would do. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like as soon as I kind of get the defenses, I would be like, Oh, I don't know what to do here.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

I feel like that's been one of the biggest transitions for you is that you have gotten really comfortable with having those conversations. But also having the curiosity because I feel most people think that leadership looks like bossing people around, telling people what to do, and like kind of that like mean boss thing. And then if it's not that it will flip really hard into the like, I really want to be light, so I'm not gonna have any like tough conversations or any accountability or anything like that. What I've seen you do with really embracing curiosity is really like going with data, like so things you've got evidence there to support whatever it is that you need to talk about. So if it is a low rebooking rate, okay, let's look at week to week to week. This week you did, you know, you rebooked nine out of ten clients. The week after you only booked three out of ten.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Yeah.

Data-Led Leadership And Hard Talks

SPEAKER_02 6:58

This is where we can see, let's let's look at this week. Let's see what's going on. What can you tell? Was there things happening for this person personally where they weren't focused on it? Did they have clients that weren't aligned? Were there like extenuating factors that we can look at and be like, okay, cool, that makes sense? Or is it just a thing of like, I had a block, I'm not thinking about this, I'm not prioritizing it. And even in the car on the way here, Tay and I travelled in here this morning, you've had to have some um tougher conversations this past month. And having a couple, you know, you've had to have some of those conversations within our own team. And our team having that realization, you know, even we were talking about how a team member had kind of received that and had been quite taken aback and quite emotional. Not about your delivery, about her performance because she was so unaware of how this had been playing out, because she had extenuating circumstances, she was distracted. And when you had that curiosity, you were able to support her but also show her here it is, and I'm here to help you and support you with it. And we create a plan from there. When you uh think about that evolution as we're talking about in the car, talk me through how you feel with that shift up with how you're now leading and supporting, but also holding them accountable. How do you feel that that's happened for you?

SPEAKER_00 8:16

Yeah, I feel like I feel I think I voice noted the girls after um I'd had to have a few hard just to update them with what was going on, because obviously we work together. Um, but I think in the past I would have messaged them before and be like, hey, this has happened, like I want to approach it like this. Like, what do you think? Like kind of trying to solve it. Whereas now I feel like I don't have to have that buffer. It's just like this is what I've done, this is how I handled it. If there's anything else like I need to do to follow up, let me know. Um, and I think, yeah, just coming from a that way has been really, really helpful. And I think I'm not as stressed going into those situations because I have gone in, like done a few now. And I think um coming like I before these conversations in the um last month, I before going into them, I just remind myself, like, if I don't make these moves, then nothing's gonna change. And I think for me, in my mindset of like, because I don't like having confrontational conversations or telling anyone, you know, doing that role for me, because I think about that, like that boss is like that bossy person. And I I hate saying that I'm selling manager or sell-on coordinator because I don't want to be perceived like that. So that's how my view personally is on it. Um, but I think going into it and thinking, okay, if I don't do this, impact isn't gonna change, no one's gonna change what they're doing, and everyone's gonna keep struggling, or you know, resentment's gonna build, or whatever it is. So I have to remember, like, I'm coming for a place of curiosity, it's always gonna be a place of care and love. And you know, how they take it is up to them. But uh hopefully by the end of the conversation, we come out with like a better result and they feel good and I feel good and we move forward together.

Managing Reactions And Follow-Through

SPEAKER_02 9:43

And even with that, there's been moments where you've had that thing of like, I'm pretty sure it was okay, like I'm gonna check in tomorrow. Even realizing if in that moment it doesn't feel, you know, super like positive and amazing, if there is that reaction, that processing time, that that's okay and safe as well. Yeah, it's not overanalyzing or freaking out with it, it's going cool, I've done what I needed to do, they've understood. I'll check in tomorrow and see how everything's feeling with that.

Friendly Vs Leader: Drawing Lines

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah. Tay, I want to talk about the I think this is a really important part of being a team leader. I want to talk about the being friendly, but also holding people accountable and that transition and the boundaries that you have in between that.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah, I think um, yeah, with the girls I can always have a joke, but there's always a line. And I think I always try to keep that line of like we're friends, but like we're not I think for me, like you know, going out and you know, not that I ever would, but like go out and party with them or like do that, like that is a line for me. I'm like, I need to keep that in there, but I think definitely, um I don't know. I think when I can't because we do have that relationship where we are friends, but when we have those conversations, like there's a respect there, and I don't think and it's not just a respect of them respecting me, I also respect them. And I think that's where like it becomes really easy because then when I do kind of have to switch into that, okay, we need to kind of have a chat. It's not coming out of nowhere because I don't ever hold them accountable, but it's also in a way of like, okay, now like not like it's not playtime now, we need to like really talk about this.

Three Practical Accountability Tips

SPEAKER_01 11:10

Playtime is over. Playtime is over. Um, Tay, I want to give some really practical things today because I wish I had had access to this years ago. I would love you to give three tips on what salon owners or team leaders can do to hold their team more accountable. So whether it's like phrases that you love to use, something practical that they can implement straight away.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Yeah. Um, I think, yeah, phrasing-wise, I really love like I've noticed a pattern or I've noticed, you know, that you haven't been performing the way that you normally are. Like, please tell like tell me a little bit more about like what you've been experiencing or tell me, you know, what's been happening for you. Um, always coming from that inquisitive, like questioning kind of place rather than your numbers are up to up to scratch, what are you doing? Like just really like coming at it from a soft place because you also don't know what someone's going through. You know, they're they might be holding something in and not talking about that. So I think definitely starting off in that way.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Um I love that. So get curious and like really see like I've noticed this rather than why are you not? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Um, what was your question again?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

I want three practical.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

So first once get curious. Get curious.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

And then we've got asking that that phrase that I love of I've noticed a pattern here. Yeah. Tell me about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

Yeah. Um, and if you're someone who like isn't great at giving feedback, I think for me, especially at the start, is like, yeah, drawing on your numbers. So like numbers never lie. And this is also something when you're sitting with them saying, like, numbers don't lie. This is what I can see um, you know, of over the past three months. Tell me about what you know, you have you have you felt a shift? Have you got a block on that sort of thing? And I think kind of removing the emotion from it and being like, these are the facts, this is what's have like happening. How can we push forward and always working with them? I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

This is why I think it's so important for team members to see their numbers and for salon owners or for team leaders to actually debrief numbers. So many salon owners want to withhold that, which I'm like, but the person could go home or like go to their iPhone and add up on a calculator and know what they're turning over anyway for the salon. But people can be so hesitant to share numbers. Can you talk through the way that you debrief numbers, like our Tuesday morning debrief? Yeah. And then the one-on-one numbers debrief as well.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

So on Tuesday morning, um, after our pump up, we go through our total, like so. We have a goal each week, so we go through that. Our total, our services, retail, rebooking, new clients, treatments, and reviews. So Google reviews. And all of these parts are so important, and we just added the total to the to our boards as well. Um, but just going through and say, like highlighting where they're doing really, really well, and I think this is something that gets missed so much in every single workplace, not just in our industry, it's like celebrate your team. Like they know that they're doing well, they may know they're doing well, but hearing it from you and saying, like, you guys did incredible, you smashed it, you were plugged in, I could hear all the conversations, like that just gives them that little motivation of like, okay, I'm doing the right thing. And even though they may know that, hearing that is a really, really big difference. Um, but even with rebooking or like retail, just say, you know, it was slower than the week before. Um, highlighting, guys, this is where we're seeing last week. We saw a little bit of a dip this week. Did anyone have anything kind of come up for them this week that stopped them from retailing or stop them from educating their clients? Um, and just say, cool, this week I want us to all really, really plug in, finding problems, offering solutions, and you know, really making sure that we're having those conversations, putting the products back in the in front of the clients. So just reiterating the things that you already know. And sometimes it's just that little refresher that people get that little bit of motivation of going, Oh yeah, I like I need to do that.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Or I need to stop talking about my breakup or my new relationship or whatever it is, my need to bring it back to the client. That's fair.

Celebrate Wins To Lift Culture

SPEAKER_01 14:52

And every Tuesday, Tay does this with the team, it takes what five minutes. Yeah. And she just sets the energy, so she it's always a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement. Yeah, we debrief numbers, it's not about shame. And when we have a dip in something, okay, I've noticed this, and your phrase is always I want us to plug in and watch this number this week.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah, but it's it's it's it creates, I think, really good transparency, motivation, people know what they're working towards. You can celebrate, creates collaboration, like it's plus plus plus. Yeah, stop withholding your numbers, guys. Share your shit because if your team know what they're working towards, they're gonna start hitting it.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Absolutely. And I think a really big thing that we started doing that is our shout-outs too, which is massive. Like, you know, just say someone had a really big week in retail the week before, it's like celebrating incredible week this week, Jazzy. Like, you did X amount in retail, we are so incredibly proud of you. Like, and that's the thing, like, that's it. And like, who doesn't want their whole team to be like, fuck yeah, you're doing amazing? So it just gives that a little bit more of a push and like keeping everyone stuck together.

Final Advice For Scared Leaders

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Do you know what's really beautiful? I was talking to someone the other day, and I was editing, I'd taken a video of um our morning pump up, and I was like listening back to the video, and in it, someone had done an incredible retail that week, and and you said, you know, yay, like this person's done amazing retail, blah blah blah, and everyone starts clapping in the team. And I thought about it and I was like, wow, we really do have this beautiful support where it's literally a feather in everyone's cap when someone does well. It's not competitive, everyone's genuinely really happy for each other, which is amazing, and it's such a testament to the culture that you've said. How good, Tay, I would love to, I would love you to give one piece of advice to team leaders, people who are ones that want to shoot their shot, I reckon. Well, no, we did shoot their shot last time for the last episode with Tay. Yeah, I want to know what would you say, well it's very persistent, what would you say to team leaders who want to hold their team more accountable but they feel scared to?

SPEAKER_00 16:47

I think like take the emotion out of it. Like, I think they're just and I always try to remember myself, like it's like a job interview, like they're as nervous as what you are to have these conversations, keep it at curiosity, keep it really light, and also just like take your emotion out of it. Like at the end of the day, you're trying to make your business better and like your team better, because when everyone's thriving, everyone does really, really well and everyone's more connected. So the more that you can then motivate them and find out the root of the problem and work with them, and also not just having one conversation with them. Like if it is something and then it keeps happening, it's like, hey, like you know, I noticed that you said to that client, do you want to rebook online? So it's just like catching those little things as well throughout the day and saying them, like, do you I'm gonna hold you accountable, I'm going to do these things. And you know, I think that also adds a little bit of a fun element to it where it's not just like, what are you doing? It's you know, hey, like I noticed that you did that, or what's going on? Yeah, it just kind of like reminds them throughout the day without you feeling like you're going like berating them.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Yeah, or the mean boss.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yeah, absolutely. I don't know if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

I think the biggest thing to stress here is that we as salon owners, you need to understand that if you get your numbers up, it will create regulated feelings for you in your business. It is consistent, sustainable, regulated business. Yeah, you have to be numbers focused, and to be numbers focused, you have to hold your team accountable.

Numbers Create Calm And Consistency

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Guys killed it. Yeah, nice little hot bite size episode. Great job, Tay. Thank you, Tay Tay. Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the Conscious Talent Podcast. Love you guys. Stay conscious. Stay conscious. Stay conscious.