Welcoming Stephanie Stevenson to the Inspiring Salon Professionals podcast. Steph joined me recently for a catch up and a conversation that's long overdue. Steph is a global business leader with over 30 years of experience in the hair, retail, and business sectors. Founder of the award-winning HNB Salon & Spa, she has collaborated with leading international brands and pioneered innovative strategies, blending AI and human dynamics to shape the future of business. A previous board member...

In this episode of Inspiring Salon Professionals I talk with Mandie Holgate who is an international business coach and cheerleader. In this episode we continue on the client journey series discussing the ways the clients find you online and how you can promote your business in different ways. Mandie is an expert in blogging for business and a good blog can bring you so much new business and ground you as THE expert in your area. Mandie is the coach that makes dreams reality. When others...

Joining me on this episode is Debbie Allen, a salon professional and education expert who has over 40 years served. We discuss how your professional boundaries advise your clients on how your business operates, what they can expect and also how they help you maintain your own sense of self, wellbeing and business management. We share our experiences of when boundaries flex too much and what an unprofessional service can do for your client perception. Debbie is a mindset and hypnotherapy...

Welcome to the final part in the series on Customer Journey and in this episode I'm talking all things Reconnection. How to communicate and maintain relationships with clients once they've walked out of your venue. The methods are varied and cover areas like: Client goody bags with free gifts, merchandise, price lists - all tangible things to hold and commit their experience to memory and their sub-conscious mindLoyalty schemes - they'll want the next stamp and the incentive Recommend a...

In this episode we continue the series on Customer Journey and look at departure and how that flows for your client. Checking in with them on their happy level at the end of their serviceAftercare and homecare with professional recommendationsRebooking and payment with simplicity and easeValuing their visit and asking for feedback These elements are major factors in the experience they take away with them and will be part of what makes them want to reconnect. Hosted on Acast. See...

Welcome to the third part of my series on Customer Journey where we're exploring the variety of ways that you connect with your clients. The ethereal nature of ambience is that something that your client may not be able to exactly put their finger on until it’s not right. Ambience is that feeling of niceness, comfort, and Mmm. It’s things like your venue being clean, hygienic, tidy, the right lighting, good brand colours, a clean toilet (yes, that’s part of it too, believe me as a someone...

Welcome to Part 2 of the Customer Journey series I'm sharing over the next few weeks. The Welcome you provide for your clients is a fundamental part of why they revisit your business. If you get your welcome right, it tells the client that they've chosen well, that you align with them and that you are a pleasant and positive place to spend their money in return for the service you provide. Everything we do within the salon industry is about providing service and that service needs to be...

Customer Journey is about the first moment of connection through to that long lasting bond that you have with regular clients who value you and what you do and you value them for continuing to be part of your business journey. In the coming episodes I'm going to be talking to you about the different elements that make up this part of your business - the UXP (User Experience) - and how you can make that connection stronger and more appealing to a potential client. In this episode we'll cover...

This week's episode is about how your perspective and outlook can impact your world and how sometimes things can get skewed as we literally can't see the wood for the trees. My woods cleared this week as the view I look out on while I work has been a run of 12ft high Leylandii conifer trees that blocked my view to the the world beyond my boundary. This week they were removed as we are replacing them with a 4ft fence so we can have a clear view, less maintenance and actually see a horizon...

Join myself and Ryan Power of Salonology as we take a deep dive into what makes you stand out in the marketplace to your clients, both potential and existing and how to use email to make the difference in your business. The conversation is over 2 episodes as we discussed a whole lot more than we first set out but wanted to share all the nuggets. Over the 2 parts we talk about how you talk to them about you, your business and the services you offer is a vital part of building your clientele....

Join myself and Ryan Power of Salonology as we take a deep dive into what makes you stand out in the marketplace to your clients, both potential and existing and how to use email to make the difference in your business. The conversation is over 2 episodes as we discussed a whole lot more than we first set out but wanted to share all the nuggets. Over the 2 parts we talk about how you talk to them about you, your business and the services you offer is a vital part of building your clientele. ...

Join me on this International Women's Day as I talk about collaboration amongst women and why we are more than "JUST'. In today's industry we experience unconcious bias regularly from the media, our families, teachers, careers advisors but worse is when we do it to ourselves. When was the last time you said, 'I just have a home salon', 'I just do nails' etc We are more than 'just'. The salon industry is full of intelligent, academic, skilled, experienced, dedicated professionals who excel...

In this episode I have a deep dive with Helena Biggs on the Scratch Stars Awards, THE nail industry awards. Now in it's 12th year and one of the most integrity filled award systems in the salon industry. I'm a tad biased as I have been involved as an entrant, finalist, winner and judge since the first year and I've had the honour of winning Salon of the Year (Independent) in 2014 and Services to the Nail Industry in 2017. Both times the process was challenging and hard earned and those two...

This episode features the Career & Small Business Hub that I'm jointly hosting with Helen Ward. We know it's going to be an amazing weekend and will be kicked off by the Salon Education Journal and The Hair & Beauty Directory LAUNCH PARTY! The Career & Small Business Hub is the collaborative event created by Helen Ward (The Hair & Beauty Directory) & Sue Davies (Nabuno & Salon Education Journal in association with Professional Beauty. We are aware that over the last...

Joining me on this episode is salon cheerleader, Hollie Power from The Source & Salonology. Hollie has been a spa owner, recruitment specialist, salon coach and more over her career and joins me to talk about recruitment in the salon industry and her new baby Salon Source. Hollie shares her thoughts on recruitment and tells it like it is. Advising salon owners looking to recruit new employees to advertise their roles as if they were advertising treatments to attract new clients. A great...

Today is launch day for the all new salon industry publication, Salon Education Journal.  SEJ is the creation of myself and my business partner, Di Hughes, who has worked with me on Nabuno and many other salon related projects since 2014.  Here is a little background on Salon Education Journal. Salon Education Journal focusses on education in the salon industry. At SEJ, we believe that education is the Keystone of the whole industry. without education we would have no industry. We are a...

In this weeks episode I'm talking all things trade test and salon trials.  Inspired by a post on a SM forum where a young therapist was called back for 1 day trial but wasn't paid whilst the salon gave her a full list of paying clients.  How does this sit with you?   I'm discussing what to expect in a trade test from both perspectives.  Having an unpaid trial is not what most salon's require so as a prospective employee should you have to do this to win that dream role?   There are H&S...

Adversity can strike at any time from many places.  It may be self doubt, loss of a loved one, a business issue, poverty, dealing with toxic people.  There are many causes but how you deal with the impact and move forward helps define you personally and as a professional.   I'm sharing some back history on this episode as, like many others, I've faced adversity personally and in my career and I wanted to let you know it's ok to feel like the world's falling away under you and that you will...

In this week's episode we'll be taking a look at the images you use for your client facing world, whether that's your socials, your website or your print documents.  Professional images play a crucial role in establishing your credibility and in attracting clients to your business. When potential clients come across your website or social media profiles, the images they see create their first impression. High-quality and professional images set you apart from the competition and build trust...

Marta Zaczkowska joins me to talk all things waxing standards and growing your waxing business the right way.  The waxing industry has been a growth market within the wider salon sector for many years and with this it brings more attention from outside the industry and from social media influencers and tik-tokers more recently.  We've all seen that there are unqualified people making these viral videos and Marta has seen and heard from enough of her followers to know it's time for there to be...

In this episode we'll explore 10 Top Tips for recruiting an expert in website design and delve into the important things to look for in a collaborator to help you build a strong web presence.  We'll go through the value that can be added to your business when working with skilled web designers who can transform your online vision into a beautiful and client attracting reality. Join me as I talk about the the sometimes challenging world of web design and look at how you can unlock the power...

In this episode we are taking a deep dive into the world of creating your own website and we delve into the crucial role that a strong web presence plays in today's digital landscape.  In a Top 10 guide I'll provide you with valuable insights and a few tips to empower you to design and develop your website from scratch, even if you have little to no technical background.  We'll look at design, hosts & providers, page types, what information you want to share, what you do and don't need...

With yet another employment tribunal finding in favour of the 'self employed' worker the salon industry needs to get a rein on how we are operating our businesses.   If you have self employed workers operating in your establishment and particularly if they have moved from employed by your to self employed without any major changes it's time to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee.   In this episode we look at what makes a self employed business and how it should be operating in your...

I ran out of time last week to record and so was a last minute Larry today and knew I needed to just get something down and was procrastinating over which subject I was going to cover today as had a few.  Then I started receiving messages in response to my first post in my local village group about my new home salon which was great, but 2 of them didn't read my information and started pushing my people pleaser buttons.  It took a lot of control and effort to say NO!  The first one hadn't...