As seasoned stylists are evolving, we can’t help but remember and miss the “good old days”. Truth is, evolution isn’t a bad thing. It’s just different than before.
There was a time when women didn’t do their own hair at home…EVER! I mean, they didn’t even own shampoo. In the salon, a shampoo style was booked every 15 minutes. There was no relaxing massage at the shampoo bowl. It was scrub a dub dub, get the rollers in & under that hood dryer with a cig, coffee & the inquirer as everyone gossiped with one another. It was putting on a color while the perms processed and throwing in a few foils for a hi-light. Now it’s 5-hour appointments where a few hi-lights are unheard, it’s full head foils, with a root tap, a toner, and smudging, which takes WAAYYYY LONGER, which costs WAYYYY MORE due to time and products. Clients are saying we’re too expensive, as stylists are screaming “charge your worth”.
Now it’s “quiet” appointments because clients don’t want to talk because they’re overworked too! We’ve become introverted in some ways. The “salon buzz” is no longer there.
So what’s changed? Well, first, hairdressers got sick of working their tails off for a low wage. Unless you’re an owner, the reality of costs isn’t realized. Once the cost of living went up, stylists decided they wanted to make a livable wage. Price increases started. Followed by “I’m charging my worth” and “no one’s going to tell me how to do my job” and let’s top it off with “I’m not working nights or weekends”. It’s really changed. I remember when Christmas Eve was so busy, I could have worked until 8/9 pm. Now, coming to the salon on Christmas Eve is not an option in most salons. I closed my salon on Christmas Eve a few years ago. Clients honestly don’t want to get their hair done on a holiday, anndddd…. I’d actually like to have off on a holiday.
As an older stylist, I watch the younger generation, and I definitely have changed to match their energy. This generation has a “life balance”, where we used to have a work/life balance that included working your ass off, or you were lazy. The new stylists are coming out of college with higher prices, less hours, and are less stressed. It’s hard to see to be honest. It’s like “You didn’t pay your dues,” which is now a thing of the past.
I used to teach at the beauty college. I had a student tell me, “I watched my grandma (baby boomer) bust her butt. She’s sore, her body’s in rough shape, and she has no retirement, nothing to show for it except being able to say she worked hard. All the baby boomers did was show us … you work hard, don’t call in sick, don’t take a day off & end up with very little. In other words, ‘Don’t live’. It’s not worth it!” THAT, was an eye opener for me. Especially because I’m in between these generations.
Because of all these things, salons do have less clients. I also think this is why some stylists feel the crunch of not being as busy, and having the no-shows and the last-minute cancellations. Clients are not feeling as appreciated themselves and they’re not being noticed that their time is also as important as ours, as ours is to them. I see stylists call clients to reschedule but charge fees when the client does it! WHAT???!! I do feel that a lot of stylists no longer feel “the clients always right”, or “clients come first”. I feel like we need to get back to the mentality of “without clients, we don’t have a job!”. Yes of course, boundaries boundaries!!! Yes there’s always the one exception to the rule. I seriously feel like if we as stylists get back to professionalism, some of these undesirable clients would fall off of our schedules and fill in with clients we attract where there’s a mutual respect.
Bottom line… stylists deserve to live life! We deserve to take vacations, have sick days, have a day off, go to our kids’ sports games, attend our family functions, all while being able to afford it! We NEED to put ourselves first because we can’t take care of others if we’re off balance. We need to get our chiropractic appointments in and hit the gym,,,,
AND NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR IT!!!