Salon Success Secrets

The Power of Curiosity: A Salon Owner’s Secret Weapon

• Lindsay Lowe & Jen Booth

Share episode

Send us a text

Curiosity might just be the secret ingredient you never knew your business needed. Imagine transforming your approach to leadership and customer relationships by simply embracing a curious mindset. This episode promises to unlock the potential of curiosity, particularly in the salon industry, by illustrating how it can fuel growth, ignite creativity, and fortify relationships. Through intriguing stories, such as the journey of Hans and Margaret Rey, creators of Curious George, we reveal how this mindset isn't just about asking questions but about survival, connection, and even thriving in adversity.

Peel back the layers on how curiosity reshapes leadership and team dynamics. Discover how leaders can leverage curiosity to unearth hidden talents, improve recruitment, and connect more deeply with clients. We offer insights into how probing questions can lead to breakthroughs, whether in resolving team hesitations or helping a client rediscover her identity post-chemotherapy. By highlighting the nuances of curiosity in professional settings, we illuminate its power to create meaningful connections and drive success across diverse contexts. Tune in to explore how curiosity can be your most transformative tool, both personally and professionally.

Do you have a question for Blondes in Business: Luxury Beauty Business Podcast? Send a text or leave a voicemail at 855.650.3445 or send us an email to hello@thephdprogram.com. We would love to hear from you.
Start growing in business and leadership with powerful tools, advice and resources in your inbox every week:
Learn more about The PHD Program Events:


Upcoming Events | Phd Program


Learn more about The PHD Program Coaching:

https://keap.app/contact-us/4732115411329800

Learn more about The PHD Program Business School for Salon & Spa Owners:

https://keap.app/contact-us/8468267787462617

Are you ready to go all in? Join The PHD Program:


Apply to Join Us! | Phd Program


Listen to all the Blondes in Business: Luxury Beauty Business podcasts anytime, anywhere here:


Podcast | Phd Program

Speaker 1:

Welcome to today's podcast. We've got a secret weapon If you're a salon owner, that you're not going to want to miss this, and this secret weapon will help you take your salon to new heights. Imagine this it's the power of curiosity. You know there's a quote that says curiosity is the spark that lights the fire of growth and creativity. You know curiosity is a is a transformative tool in business and in life, but especially in the salon industry. So if you're ready to learn more about the power of curiosity, this is going to be the perfect podcast for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you know, the one thing that we know is like two of the most powerful tools in the whole world are, first, gratitude. Gratitude is a powerful tool, but another one is curiosity. And when you're curious, the definition of curious is, curious is an adjective and it means eager to learn. You know, and, and what we know is that curiosity opens the door, um, and truly, gratitude sustains the relationship. And so, like, when we're looking at building relationships or building more of anything that we want in life, when we, when we pair these two things together, um, it really makes a huge difference.

Speaker 2:

Because I think, you know, the one thing that's so interesting is like we are so triggered all the time as human beings. You know, if somebody comes in and they're like, hey, I want to go from black to blonde and you're a service provider, you're like wait, what? I don't have 20 hours to be doing this, you know. But the truth is, if you just remain curious and neutral neutral is another good little ingredient to add in there as well but if you just remain curious, you can uncover so much, and they might not actually even want that, you know. They might just be seeking some sort of transformation or they want to feel a certain way, or whatever it is, and so curiosity is one of the most powerful tools you can use inside of your business, inside of your life, all the time.

Speaker 1:

Yes, all right. Well, if you know the childhood story of Curious George, you know that is a great example of you know exactly curiosity, how curiosity can really be key when it comes to really creating something amazing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so what's cool about the story of curious George is that, you know, hans and Margaret Ray, uh, were Jewish, german, jewish artists, um, who actually escaped um Nazi occupied Europe with the manuscript for curious George, and so what's really cool about their story is that they were actually stopped several times when they were trying to escape, and one of the things that was found on them every time was their manuscripts and their drawings and their stuff for Curious George. And so they like to say that Curious George kind of saved them because of other people's curiosity about what it was that they had. And so I think that's what's so cool about curiosity is like when it exists people want to know more, they're eager to learn more that's the definition. They're eager to learn more, and so, um, actually curious George started out as um, a monkey named Fifi, if I remember correctly, um, and was then later changed when they made it to the U S? Um to be curious George, um, but.

Speaker 2:

But there's so many lessons if you've ever watched it or read any of the curious George books that um, you know, even in the toughest circumstances, curiosity can be a lifesaver, can also be a motivator, or it can be a connector, and so, you know, anytime, like, um, you know, I think that I even see this inside of parenting Um, you know, when my kids, you know, think that they've reached the end of the road with something you know, just remaining curious, or asking them like, how could you be curious to learn more about that, you know? And and or even if, like hey, um, you know, you might have a friend that you know isn't reacting to a situation in the way that you want, and just say, like, how can you dive into their reality so that you can understand them a little bit more, to see what can come on the other side? So there's just so many ways that we can use curiosity, from parenting to inside the salon. But, but you know, it really is one of the most powerful tools on earth.

Speaker 1:

It is. It makes me want to read Curious George tonight to myself. You should, yeah, like, even if you don't know the backstory like it's really inspiring. I love that.

Speaker 1:

And so another opportunity when it comes to curiosity is in leadership, and there's so many different verticals that this can show up in. You know, one can be remaining curious when it comes to finding new team members. You know, I know we've done this as human beings, it's really easy to judge someone, a potential new hire, but just by their resume alone. But you know, to bring someone in or to talk to someone over the phone or Zoom and get curious about their why really helps you understand. And so you know I like I believe in assessment If the assessment needs to be done, not judgment. And so you know I like I believe in assessment If the assessment needs to be done, not judgment. And so when you're assessing someone, you're just being with someone to see, you know, see how they behave, how do they respond.

Speaker 1:

And you know I remember there's a girl on our team now. Um, when she first started, um, I had another leader at the time. That's the one here. She's like I don't know, I don't know if, let's, I want to ask her some more questions. And I started asking her more questions and, like she became part of our team and she's like one of the most successful service providers we know, and so you know, sometimes you just got to get to know people more before you make that judgment.

Speaker 1:

Remain curious, learn more about them so that you can really see the entire picture. You know asking great questions in the interview, such as like what it's like to you about helping others feel confident to cover those hidden gems that they may have. You know, and I think when you do that it helps to untap passion, um, and tap their passion, what they have passion for, and to really see if there'll be a great fit. And if they're not, that's okay too. But at least you've got to learn a little bit more about that person and understand their why, and then you can see if it gets connected to your why. So remaining curious actually will create great impact for you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so good, you know. I think another way that curiosity shows up inside of leadership is when you're thinking about growing current team members. You know, I think a traditional approach to management would be you gotta sell more retail, or you know all this. You know just like, get out there and sell, we've got this retail special, don't forget about this. Blah, blah, blah. But when you take a curious approach to that, you know, like in and you really dive in because the truth is like, if their retail numbers are low, what you know is that they're not even offering retail, or maybe they're not discovering what the client's problems are, you know, so you might just ask them. You know, like, why isn't retail being offered? What kind of questions are you asking during your consultation? You know what barriers is it basically? You know that are is preventing them from making this happen? Because it could be a fear of rejection, it could be a lack of education.

Speaker 2:

A lot of times it's that people have a negative, like a reactive definition around the word selling or sales. They don't want to be a sleazy salesman, um, but the truth is like, when the intention is good, uh, selling is the best thing that you can do because you're helping solve people's problems, so selling is actually serving. But when you don't remain curious and you just say go sell more retail and you don't uncover why it is that they have barriers, you'll never get the results that you want to see. They won't get the results that they want to see and you won't get the results that you want to see and you'll just be frustrated in your leadership Cause you'll be like I keep telling them to sell more retail and they don't do it. You know, but the truth is like when you are curious and you uncover why they're not doing this man, what you unlock on the other side, like that's what makes you realize what a powerful weapon curiosity is.

Speaker 1:

So good. Another opportunity where curiosity shows up is, like Lindsay was saying earlier, in client interactions. And this is a beautiful gift that you can work continuously with on your team through role playing, through using examples and when you think about curiosity in client interactions I know Lindsay was was using the example of platinum to uh, or black to platinum or vice versa is like it's as service providers, always I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't have enough time for this, this is crazy. Why would she ever want this? And but to stop sometimes and say, hey, why is that important to you?

Speaker 1:

And I'll never forget I had this conversation with a team member one time and I said just ask her why this is important to you. And she said you know. And she asked the client and the client said well, you know, I want to go back to blonde. It's really dark now, but I had chemo and when I chemo and all my hair fell out, it used to be blonde and it grew back really dark, and so my goal is to get back to where you are, and so do you feel the power and the freedom that creates for someone to be able to give someone what they're searching for is going to make your life better and their life better, and so like really asking clients why that's important to them or why, uh, you know that would set them up for success is going to help you collect more data to understand how to create the perfect plan for a client.

Speaker 2:

Love that, and we know data equals dollars, and you know, because you're solving all those problems, and you know, I think that this can show up in every area with that client interaction. You know, even, like when somebody is asking you know what shampoo and conditioner do you use at home, when they get to that portion, or tell me about your at-home skincare routine, remaining curious and neutral is like the most powerful tool. Because, um, you know, somebody might say, like I use suave. Okay, um, you know, why did you choose that? Or like, what made you decide to go with that? A lot of times they're like I don't know, I didn't know what else to use. Or they might say, well, it said it was for fine hair. Or it said, you know, whatever. So, just remaining curious and neutral, like the worst thing that you can do is say, suave, that is terrible for your hair. You know, and and we've all heard this at some point in time whether it was like in cosmetology school that the, that the instructor shared that with you, or whatever it was like, if you just remain neutral and curious, like that's what gets you to the other side, like and that's truly what a beautiful salesperson does, is that a salesperson is trying to solve somebody's problems, and you know, if you've hung around our podcast for much time, you know everything that you do in life is selling Um and so why not use your, your knowledge for good? You know, and so when you're curious, in those moments you can uncover why they're choosing that, why they're using this.

Speaker 2:

You know, I know a lot of estheticians can get triggered by someone saying they use apricot scrub. But if you just ask, you know, what was, what was your goal, like when you purchased that, what was your goal with that product? And they're like well, I wanted to, you know, uh, resurface my skin, or I wanted to remove dead skin cells. And then if you say, you know, I would love to show you a product that will actually do that. That's not what you know apricot scrub is designed to do, like there are different molecule sizes or whatever it might be, and so you didn't make a wrong choice, but I have something that could help you reach your goals even better. You know, because the last thing that we ever want to do is make somebody wrong about their choices, but the best thing that we can do is just remain curious and neutral.

Speaker 1:

All right. So another opportunity to use in curiosity is cultivating a curious culture in your salon, and so I love this because it's like building a culture of questions to create an environment where questions are actually celebrated and not fear. Like that you unite as one to ask questions to make every guest experience or every client experience even better, and so like having those regular team check-ins that focus on that curiosity. You know, asking questions such as like what's one thing you've been curious about this week, or you know what's a challenge that you face and how did you explore it? Because when you ask those kinds of questions, it gives you the data, like we talked about before as a salon owner, so that you can make decisions quicker. And when you can make decisions quicker, it makes you more confident as a salon owner too.

Speaker 1:

And we know confidence comes from the root word confidere, which means to trust, and so when you trust yourself as a salon owner, it's going to grow. Your salon's going to grow faster because your team's going to fill that, and when you transfer that energy onto your team, like, their income is going to grow exponentially as well. So you know, another beautiful part of that is actually when you pair curiosity with gratitude. You know gratitude helps to solidify um relationships and being thankful or grateful for someone. So if someone, someone on your team, does something for you, you know to write a thank you note to them to let them know about their great idea and that you appreciated, and you could even spark include a question to spark even more interest. So I think you know pairing questions and then being grateful and showing that gratitude really helps to create a space that is unimaginable and unimaginable in a great way.

Speaker 2:

I love that, you know. And another thing that can be super impactful inside of your salon business is just really looking at more questions that you could ask to, to remain more curious, you know. So you could start your team conversations, maybe at your next huddle, um, with, like, what are you looking to achieve today? Um, and and so having them open up about what they want to achieve, and then just diving in a little bit deeper what do you think your guests are looking to achieve today? Or your clients are looking to achieve today, you know, and really just replacing all the assumptions that you have all the time with open-ended questions, I think is so powerful. So asking them like, what does success look like for you? Or you know, in any situation that they're going into, especially if someone starts spiraling into, like this person has, you know they want to go from black to blonde, or they want this. Or you know it's something that feels like a mountain that they're about to climb.

Speaker 2:

Um, just even saying like, hey, you know, just curious, what would success look like for you? And you know when you can bring them back, a lot of times they'll. They'll come to a place like, hey, I want the guests to feel beautiful. Awesome, okay, we can definitely do that. Let's come up with a plan, you know.

Speaker 2:

And so when you encourage that curiosity in your team, you know that that makes them more open to do workshops and role-playing and and just be more interactive and more authentic and natural their natural selves. And so, you know, just never forget how curiosity really paved the way for Hans and Margaret Ray. You know, because it really is a really cool story. When you think and you know, and it can truly save you, like when you embody that same curiosity in your daily interactions, people are just going to view you in a totally different light. In a world full of people reacting to every single situation, all the times, our reactive minds are just popping off, going crazy. All the time. People are used to reactions. What they're not used to is curiosity, and what they're drawn to is that deeper connection with another, and curiosity is that secret weapon and tool to get you there.

Speaker 1:

Love that. So we have a great gift for you today. If you'd love to get access and remain curious to what are the most powerful questions to ask during a consultation, just text curious to 469-283-5590. I'll say that again Text curious to 469-283-5590. 4, 6, 9, 2, 8, 3, 5, 5, 9, 0. And we'll send you that free download. Download over so that you can unlock money inside of your salon today. And so we're going to encourage you to stay curious, stay grateful and watch your salon and your life transform. Thanks for tuning in.