Salon Success Secrets

You’ve Been Lied To: The Salon Beliefs That Aren’t Even Yours

• Lindsay Lowe & Jen Booth

Share episode

Send us a text

Challenging borrowed beliefs is the key to salon success. We expose how industry propaganda shapes reality and provide tools to flip the script, replacing limiting thoughts with powerful discernment.

• The history of propaganda through the "Torches of Freedom" campaign that transformed smoking for women
• How common salon industry phrases like "no one wants to work anymore" become limiting beliefs
• The difference between propaganda (pressure) and discernment (power)
• Why understanding the difference between borrowed beliefs and personal truth is transformational
• Practical examples of flipping negative industry narratives into empowering perspectives
• Marketing becomes more powerful when grounded in discernment rather than fear
• The timeless fundamentals of beauty services remain unchanged despite evolving tools and trends

You weren't called to echo what's wrong with the industry. You were called to lead what's next.


Do you have a question for Salon Success Secrets Podcast?

Send a text or leave a voicemail at (469) 283-5590 or send us an email to hello@salonbusinessschool.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 Salon Business School Events:

Upcoming Events | Salon Business School


Learn more about Salon Business School Coaching:

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


Learn more about Salon Business School for Salon & Spa Owners:

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


Are you ready to go all in? Join Salon Business School:

Apply to Join Us! | Salon Business School


Listen to all the Salon Success Secrets podcasts anytime, anywhere here:

Podcast | Salon Success Secrets

Speaker 1:

What if the biggest thing holding your salon back isn't your team, the economy or even your location? What if it's a belief you picked up that was never even yours to begin with?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So this episode is going to challenge some of the things we hear every day in the salon industry and expose how propaganda is shaping your reality without you even realizing it. But don't worry, by the end of this episode you'll know how to flip the script.

Speaker 1:

Yes. So let me take you back for a moment, not to a salon floor, but to a sidewalk in New York City in the 1920s. It was Easter Sunday and a group of women dressed in their finest clothes marched proudly in the city's annual parade. But this time something was different, that's right. They lit cigarettes right there, in public, something that until that moment was considered scandalous and unladylike. But the headlines the next day didn't shame them. They celebrated them, torches of freedom.

Speaker 1:

The papers read you know, it wasn't an accident, you guys. It was a campaign carefully crafted, masterfully executed, you know. And man behind it was a man named Edward Bernays. He was the father of modern public relations. You know, he was hired by a tobacco company to increase cigarette sales. The problem at the time it was taboo for women to smoke. So he didn't just sell cigarettes, he sold empowerment. He sold a belief. You know, he connected lighting a cigarette to liberation, independence and freedom. So it had nothing to do with tobacco and everything to do with positioning. And here's the kicker it worked, not because it was true, not because it was healthy, but because the message was repeated over and over until it became a belief.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, such a good story. I love that and that's actually propaganda. And you know Lindsay was talking about the 1920s. What is his name, is it?

Speaker 2:

I forgot, yeah, he later changed the word propaganda to public relations. But if you look at the word propaganda itself, it comes from the Latin propogare, which means to spread or grow. And while we often think of this word propaganda in the context of like politics or war, propaganda shows up everywhere, you guys. It's in media, it's in marketing and, yes, it's in the beauty industry too. You know, it's when a message is delivered so consistently, so emotionally and so repeatedly that people stop questioning whether it's true and they just start living as it is.

Speaker 1:

Man that is powerful when you, when you recognize that. You know, because in the salon world the pop, the propaganda doesn't sound like torches of freedom, like we just talked about it. It sounds like no one wants to work anymore or there's no one good left to hire, or stylists today don't have drive, or guests only care about price, or people won't pay that anymore. You know these ideas are being repeated in Facebook groups, on social media and conversations at the back bar until they start sounding like the truth.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but if you think about it, are they really? You know, are they really the truth? Because that's where discernment comes in, and it's the difference between running salon based on fear or leading one from power. You know, these are not truths. They're actually borrowed beliefs and if you're not using discernment, they actually, quickly and quietly, will be running your business. You know, I was coaching a service provider not too long ago and she said something we'll be running your business.

Speaker 2:

You know, I was coaching a service provider not too long ago and she said something. We were actually working on her timing and she said you know, jen, things are so much more complicated now than when you did hair. I was like what? Let me say what she said again, just so you guys are listening Things are so much more complicated now, jen, than when you did hair. Well, guys, I haven't been stopped doing hair, like maybe a year and a half, two years ago, so things haven't changed that much. And she said it several times, and it wasn't the first time I heard her saying this and we were working on her timer, so it just stuck with me in that moment and so I asked her hey, where did that belief come from? And it was like her whole body changed, like she stopped and she said, oh, my goodness, you know what? I know, someone said it to me, we were talking about it, someone said it to me not too long ago and I just believed it.

Speaker 2:

And see, that moment for her was the release. She had been carrying someone else's fear as her own and it was so beautiful, like you could tell. It just transformed her Um and, and you know, I just reminded her like the truth is. Things are not more complicated now. You know hair principles haven't changed, the color wheel hasn't changed. The guest desire to feel seen and beautiful is it hasn't changed either. I remember going back I'll take you back to 2002, when I did my senior project on the art of hairdressing, and even then I was fascinated by where it all began. You know where humans actually first started dressing the hair as a symbol of identities, status and self-expression, and even diving into that ancient history status and self-expression, and even diving into that ancient history, even my grandmother's salon stories. And you know, after looking at all that, I discovered this the tools might have changed some. No one's using a iron, an actual iron that you aren't close with to iron their hair now, which they might.

Speaker 2:

But you know, the trends may have evolved, but the fundamentals, the purpose, the transformation, the, they've always been the same.

Speaker 1:

I love those stories, jen, and I remember you sharing that, you know, with your teammate, and it's just incredible, you know how we do let beliefs run our life, and truly, this isn't just about hair, you know. It's about who we help the guests become when we stop letting propaganda distort the truth, you know. And when we do that, we lead differently, you know. And so let's talk about discernment, you know, first let's define it. Discernment is the ability to pause and ask is this belief true for me or did I just absorb it? You know, because discernment lets you question is my team underperforming or have I been operating under a limiting belief about what's possible? You know, we, we hear that all the time. Oh well, that might work in your town, but it doesn't work in mine.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm in a small town, jen's, you know, in a suburb of a big city, and so, uh, you know, a lot of times we, we, we cling onto some beliefs that aren't true, you know. And so another question to ask yourself is are there really no good people to hire, or have I stopped showing up like the kind of leader they want to work with? That's a powerful question to ask yourself, you know. Or another one. Is our clients not booking? Or am I projecting my scarcity onto my pricing and onto my messaging? You know, because discernment is power and propaganda is pressure. You know, one leads to burnout, the other one leads to freedom.

Speaker 2:

The other one leads to freedom Awesome. So, with all that being said, it's time to flip the narrative. So propaganda sounds like, hey, no one wants to work anymore. But discernment says you know the right people are looking for the right leader. Isn't that so freeing? Another flip the narrative example would be like clients propaganda. Clients are saying are there too price sensitive Probably seeing that on social media too price sensitive. But really, when you look at it from a place of discernment, it's really like a value driven guest will invest in the right experience.

Speaker 2:

So good, you know the another belief or propaganda that people might project onto you is that young stylists aren't loyal through you know. The another belief or propaganda that people might project onto you is that young stylists aren't loyal through you know, they're just not loyal, they don't want to work anymore. But really the discernment to that is loyalty is built through culture and leadership, and this is what we hear a lot. It's hard to grow now. It's harder to grow now. The discernment of that is like it's never been easier to stand out. When you have clarity and when you believe differently, you get to market differently.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that. It's like, you know, all of a sudden you stop leading with discounts and you start leading with value. You stop settling for survival and you start building sustainability. You know, because if you scroll through Instagram or TikTok, you'll see clients saying things like it's too expensive, I can do it myself, I found someone cheaper.

Speaker 1:

But the truth is, people will always look for reasons to justify what they already believe, you know, and if we're not careful, we'll start making business decisions based on their fears, not our truths. You know, because marketing becomes more powerful when you're grounded in discernment, because your confidence. It truly becomes contagious, you know. So the question isn't should we use propaganda? It's what belief are we choosing to spread? Because when you market from fear, you repel, but when you market from belief, you repel, belief you attract. You know, you remind your community that, yes, this is still sacred here. You know that getting your hair done isn't just self care, it's truly self-worth, you know, and that you, walking into a salon, should still feel like walking into your next chapter, you know. So let's spread that. Let's be the kind of propaganda you know, the kind of uplifts, the kind that's based in beauty and belief, not fear and noise.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So here's a final thought that we want to leave you with is like you weren't called to echo what's wrong with the industry. You were called to lead what's next? Let me say that again, cause it's so good. Like you weren't called to echo what's wrong with the industry. You were called to lead what's next? I mean, we even see salon coaches going at it um, you know, putting their beliefs on each other, saying their beliefs are crazy. It's just like wow. Like to have someone to know, like, hey, here is the beauty in the beauty industry. Or let's bring the beauty back to the beauty industry. Beauty means good. Like that's, what you get to do is like to lead what's next? So think about this what belief do you need to stop caring and what new truth are you ready?

Speaker 1:

to build on Awesome. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time.