What High Performers Actually Look For In A Salon

We admit how long we believed the fix for every salon problem was “better people,” then we explain why that belief keeps owners stuck in a hiring and disappointment loop. We lay out how systems, standards, and leadership turn coachable stylists into consistent high performers and create a guest experience people rave about. 
• why the “just hire better” mindset fails over time 
• how belief shapes your recruiting, culture, and results 
• coachability as the real hiring advantage 
• confidence versus ego and how to spot it early 
• what guests truly care about in the chair 
• the Disney lesson: teach what to do 
• why systems liberate artistry instead of restricting it 
• replacing force with power to build lasting performance 
• the owner identity shift from manager to developer 
if you want help building inside of your salon, that is exactly what we do inside of a Million Dollar Beauty Pro. 

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the Salon Success Podcast. I want to start today off with a confession. You know, years ago, I was the salon owner who thought the answer to every problem was just finding better people. You know, if the culture felt off, we need someone with more energy. You know, if the numbers were flat, we need someone more motivated. If the vibe felt still, we just needed more fresh talent to walk in the door. You know, and every time I hired based on that thinking, I got the same results.

The Hiring Myth Confession

0:33

You know, someone would walk in and I'd think, this is it. This is the one who's going to change everything. And then six months later, nothing had changed. It was because I was asking the wrong question. You know, I kept asking, how do I find a high performer? When truly the real question was like, how do I build the kind of place where high performers are created? You know, that shift changed everything for me. And today, Lindsay and I are going to break down exactly what that looks like in a real salon. Yeah, and you know, I want to add something to what Jen just said because I think it goes even deeper than most salon owners realize. You know, when you're stuck in, I just need better people mode, you're in a loop, you know. You hire, you hope, you're disappointed, and then you repeat. And here's the thing that nobody tells you the loop isn't caused by the people. The loop is caused by the belief. Because as long as you believe the

Build The Environment Not The Search

1:41

answer is out there, you know, somewhere waiting to be hired, you will never look at what's actually creating the problem, which is the environment, the systems, the leadership. You know, and when I look at some of our highest earners in my salon today, you know, many of them were not the ones other salon owners would have picked. You know, they weren't the loudest, they weren't the most polished, some were incredibly shy, some were carrying some serious self-doubt, but they were coachable. And when we put them inside our environment and our systems and our culture, they became extraordinary. Not because we found something hidden in them, but because we gave them something they didn't have before, a clear path, you know, a clear standard and a belief that excellence wasn't just possible for them. It was expected. So let's talk about what the myth actually looks like in real life. So let's say you walk into a cosmetology school and there's always that one student, you know, the one that everybody knows, you know, the one winning every competition, and the one with the biggest personality in the room. And you think, man, if I can get her, I've won. You know, I've felt that. I've I've done that actually. And here's what I've learned after years of watching this play out. Sometimes that person is incredible. I do have to say that. But sometimes

Coachability Beats Personality Every Time

3:14

what looks like confidence is actually something else entirely. You know, confidence and ego look almost identical on the surface, but they operate in completely opposite directions. You know, confidence says, how can I serve? Ego says, how can I be seen? You know, confidence asks, what can I learn here? Ego says, I already know everything I need to know. You know, confidence focuses entirely on the guest, but ego focuses on being the experience. And when you hire for personality instead of coachability, you are building on sand. I don't know if you've ever tried that. That's really not, it's hard, it's impossible, right? Because truly, talent without systems is just potential that never fully lands. I love that you said that. You know, and here's what the guest actually cares about. Not who won the most awards in cosmetology school, not who had the biggest following coming in. Although I always like to say you can uh take that number, divide it in half, and then throw the rest in trash because that's what's usually coming. You know, the guest actually cares about how they feel when they sit in the chair or on the table, you know, whether they are truly listened to, whether the beauty pro remembers their child's name, you know, or animal's name, you know, and whether they walked out of feeling like the most beautiful version of themselves. And those experiences are not accidents, they are systems, they are culture, they are the direct result of how a salon is led, you know, which brings me to one of my very favorite examples of this done right, which is Disney. You know, if you've ever been to a Disney park, uh Jen and I just got to go this spring, um, take her niece and my kids. We had a blast, you know, you know the feeling if you've been there. Everything is clean, everyone is smiling,

What Guests Actually Remember

5:19

every single inner action really feels intentional. And you think, how do they get all these mostly 19-year-olds to be this consistent, you know, because they're not hiring magical people. There's not like a magical people factory down there. They're hiring teenagers, they're hiring college students, ordinary humans working summer jobs, you know, and then they put extraordinary systems around them. You know, here's the piece that really got me. Most businesses tell their people what not to do. You know, don't run, don't stand there, don't climb on that. You know, that's what they would say, like when kids are misbehaving, for example. But Disney, they teach people what to do. So instead of saying, you know, don't stand on that beach, that that beach, I wish you were standing on a beach bench, don't stand on that bench, you know, they say, put your feet on the floor, you know, but it and here's the truth: you get the same outcome, but with completely different energy. One creates confusion and correction, and one creates clarity and confidence. And that is the philosophy that runs through every great salon, not a rule book, a version of what excellence looks like, made achievable through systems. Yeah. Because if you think about it, there's a belief in our industry that I want to completely dismantle, so tear it apart today. And the belief is that systems are restrictive, that if you over-structure the experience, that you strip the artistry out, you know, the personality out, that your team starts to feel like robots. You know, and I think I hear that constantly, Lindsay. I know you have too, but we want to flip it because here is the truth systems don't restrict your teams, they liberate them. Actually, liberate means to set free.

Systems Create Freedom Not Robots

7:20

So think about that. What it actually looks feels like to walk into a job with no real training. Like, let's say you do that, you don't know how to greet the guest, you don't know what a great consultation sounds like, you don't know the follow-up process, you don't know how to ask for a referral without feeling awkward. But what fills that gap is anxiety, guessing, and inconsistency. You guys, that is not freedom. That is a slow, invisible confidence killer. Now imagine your first week on the floor and someone hands you a system. Hey, here's how we welcome every guest with the wild check-in. Here's how we run a consultation that builds trust. You know, here's how we follow up so guests come back, and here's how we ask for referrals in a way that feels natural. You know, that new service provider walks in with confidence because they don't have to guess. They know what success looks like. And when people know what success looks like, they can actually achieve it. Yeah, you know, and that's truly why obviously the Million Dollar Beauty Pro exists, because when someone walks into a salon and learns our consultation system, our hospitality systems, our follow-up systems, our referral systems, they don't have to figure out success on their own, you know, because success leaves clues. We're just handing them the clues, you know. Think about it like a recipe. If someone follows a great recipe exactly, they can create an incredible meal on their very first try. You know, the same thing happens in a salon. Follow the system, create an incredible guest experience, you know, and incredible guest experiences create incredible incomes. And here's what changes when that happens: recruiting gets easier because people want to work in places where they actually win. Retention gets easier because people stay where they're growing. Leadership gets easier because you're not constantly managing chaos. Growth becomes inevitable, not because you got lucky with who walked in, but because you built something worth walking into. Force is what most leadership looks like in salons, honestly, you know, hit your numbers or else you need to be doing more. Go out there and sell some shampoo, you know? Why aren't you where I need you to be? Because force is pressure without context. And here's the thing about force it might get short-term compliance, but it never gets transformation. Because when you pressure someone into performing, you're not developing a high performer,

Force Versus Power In Leadership

10:23

you're developing someone who is performing to avoid getting in trouble. So the moment the pressure lifts, so does the performance. You know, you even see it in the language. Actually, you always see it, that's where it shows up in the language that people use to motivate stylists. Prove them wrong. Show everyone who doubted you. And listen, that might sound like it can light a fire, but a fire built on resentment burns out. We are not in just we're not interested at all in building careers on what someone has to prove. We're interested in building careers on who someone is becoming. You know, power is completely different. Power, the word power itself just means the ability to do something effortlessly. Wow. So power says, let me show you what's possible for you. Power says, I see something in you you might not see in yourself yet. Power says, here's the system, here's the support, here's the vision of who you're becoming. Power creates belief. And belief is what actually drives lasting behavior. Real high performers, they can feel the difference immediately. You know, they don't want to be managed, they want to be developed, they want an environment where growth is the standard, where their leader sees their ceiling before they do and holds them accountable in a loving way to it, you know, and that's what creates loyalty. That is where you create retention. That is what creates a culture where your best people bring their best friends to come work for them. So good. Yeah, I love that. And I think this is where the identity shift happens for salon owners because most of them, or most of us, you know, come up as service providers, myself included, Lindsay as well. And when you become an owner, uh, nobody hands you a leadership manual. I didn't get mine in the mail. I don't know, did you, Lindsay? I didn't get mine. This is you know, you just you're suddenly responsible for other people's growth and income and their confidence. And the instinct is to lean on force because that's what we saw modeled. But there is a different version of this role available

The Owner Identity Shift

12:54

to you, you know, and the version where you become the kind of leader whose team walks in every morning genuinely wanting to be there. Not because they're afraid of what happens if they're not, because they're becoming someone inside your walls that they couldn't become anywhere else. You know, that is the most powerful thing that you can build as a salon owner. You know, not a full schedule, not a beautiful space, but a culture where people grow. So if you've been waiting for the perfect hire to walk through your door and change everything, this is your permission to stop waiting. You know, stop looking out there for the answer and start building in there in here. You know, build the systems, build the culture, build the leadership. Because the greatest salons in the industry didn't get lucky with who they found. They got intentional, intentional about who they built. Yeah. And, you know, if you want help building inside of your salon, that is exactly what we do inside of a Million Dollar Beauty Pro. We hand you the systems, we hand you the frameworks, we even walk alongside you in live or on demand training, you know, as you become the kind of leader your team deserves. Because when you change the environment, you change the people. And when you change the people, you change everything. So thanks for being here for another episode of Salon Success Secrets Podcast. We'll see you next time.