Episoder
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Have you ever felt like your salon is running you, instead of the other way around?
In this episode of Hair Life, we tackle the hot topic of burnout and the economic challenges facing salon owners today. Inspired by the eye-opening Creative Head article, "Is Your Business Keeping You Awake at Night?", we dive into the delicate dance between personal well-being and professional demands.
Cally shares her story of taking on extra work to keep her salon's reputation intact during staff changes, and the toll itâs taking on her mental health. With one stylist traveling and another on maternity leave, she's in overdriveâjuggling multiple clienteles and feeling the weight of it all. Is this sustainable, or is it time to rethink her approach?
I bring a broader perspective, discussing how rising costs, interest rates, and VAT are squeezing the industry. I share my fear of losing clients when raising prices and how Iâve found a way to encourage open dialogue and understanding with my customers.
Together, we explore how salon owners can navigate these financial pressures without losing our sanityâor loyal clients.
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Is social media running your life, or are you in control?
In this episode, we take a hard look at the grip that social media has on usâand how we can break free. From endless scrolling to social comparisons, we explore how social media seeps into our daily routines, impacts our attention spans, and shapes our relationshipsâespecially with our kids.
We ask the question, whatâs the cost of constant connectivity? We get real about the anxietysocial media creates and the boundaries we need to set, both for ourselves and for the next generation.
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Manglende episoder?
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What role does consistency play in shaping our lives?
In this episode of Hair Life, we explore the power of sticking to routines and habits, even when things get tough. We reflect on how showing up consistentlyâwhether itâs in the salon, in personal fitness, or within relationshipsâcan create lasting benefits.
We also explore how the challenges of maintaining health goals resonate with the feedback we receive from clients. Together, we discuss how small, consistent actions can lead to big rewards, both mentally and physically.
If youâve been struggling with sticking to goals, or youâre looking for that extra push to keep going, weâve got real talk, insights, and encouragement to help you stay on track.
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In this episode of Hair Life, Nathan and Callie sit down with PR powerhouse Sally Learmouth from Gloss Communications to uncover the secrets of successful marketing, branding, and public relations in the salon industry.
Together, we explore the ever-evolving role of social media in PR and Sally, and Callie discuss how platforms like Instagram have become essential tools for connecting with clients and building a loyal community.
Sally also shares what PR meansâgoing beyond press releases to create impactful communication strategies that resonate with clients and build strong internal teams and the critical balance between meeting rapid consumer expectations and traditional PR's slow, steady work, emphasising that patience and consistency are essential to long-term success.
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After facing a significant health scare, Cally discovered the transformative power of setting boundaries and valuing time with family over material wealth. This personal revelation echoed a broader societal shift we've noticed, especially in a post-COVID world, where people are now more inclined to seek a balanced lifestyle despite financial pressures.
In this episode, we share heartwarming stories and discuss how older generations are adapting. We'll also shine a light on the immense pressures that today's youth face regarding their financial futures. As parents make significant investments in private education and young adults navigate the rising costs of university, debt becomes a heavy burden.
Lastly, we tackle the VAT debate within the salon industry, an ongoing challenge that we believe needs immediate attention. Salon owners are struggling with high VAT rates, and freelancers are opting for independence to escape these financial constraints. We explore potential solutions such as lowering the VAT rate and creating a supportive salon culture to retain staff.
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We can expect to take a few punches in life and business, but the ability to get back up truly defines us. In this episode of Hair Life, I explore the often-unspoken challenges of mental health and stress that come with navigating difficult times.
I share my experiences with personal growth and how it positively impacts our teams and communities, emphasising the importance of leading by example.
This episode also marks a new chapter for HairLife as I introduce a new co-host who brings a wealth of creativity and entrepreneurial prowess to our upcoming episodes.
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In this episode Nathan Plumridge talks about being vulnerable, something that heâs had a lot of discussions about in the last few months, mainly due to an experience he had in early December which he shares with you. This is about learning from things both in business and from a health point of view.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Iâve started thinking about health not just from a physical point of view, but from a mental side as well. Opening up, being vulnerable and sharing has helped me mentally and has enabled me to have some incredible conversations and opened up some incredible relationships.One of my best friends recently opened up to me about his childhood and the impact that it had on him and the direction it had taken him in his life until now. He started finding demons that had been buried and I was really blown away with what he shared with me. It was highly emotional, highly charged and as a result I had something click inside me which enabled me to firstly, open up about my childhood and my experiences, and how I could now see how the impact of that childhood was having an impact on me as a 45-year-old male.I canât help but imagine how we all might feel if we opened up a little bit more and shared those things that we carry around with us, particularly men. Though I think itâs a generational thing, the younger generation seems to share everything â perhaps too much â but thatâs something we can definitely learn from.The impact of being truly listened to with no judgement, no bias, no advice â so many people want to give you their advice and I donât think thatâs a good thing because a lot of those people are giving you the wrong advice. My friend listened to me so intently, with 100% focus, it was one of the greatest experiences Iâve ever had. What an incredible thing that is. How much stronger would your relationships be if you listened 100% to the person sitting in front of you?BEST MOMENTS
âIt wasnât until someone had been vulnerable with me that it enabled me to be able to reciprocate the same thing. The impact of that was that I got very emotional. For two days I couldnât stop crying, even in the salon.â
âMy team was absolutely amazing. I think seeing their boss being vulnerable and truly open and showing them that you canât always be this superhero type was incredibly powerful. Itâs only done great things.â
âOpening yourself up and really showing your vulnerability gives you an incredible sense of relief, both emotionally and physically.â
âIâd like you to hear that voice that tells you not to do things to piss off!âABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.
CONTACT DETAILS
www.hairlifeshow.com
Instagram is
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In this episode Nathan Plumridge talks to entrepreneur, award winning stylist, and salon owner Cally Borg to talk about her background and journey through her career.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I wasnât very academic at school, I couldnât sit still in a classroom, thatâs just not my thing at all. However, when I got into hairdressing I was so focussed from day one because I just knew it was for me.My freelance career was really busy, I was in and out of London and Surrey taking any job that came to me. One minute Iâd be doing highlights and cut and blow-dry, the next Iâd be doing a photoshoot or at a show, it was really crazy but it was great. That worked until I had my daughter. I started doing local stuff and basically winged it for about three years while building up a regular clientele around looking after my daughter, in the day while she was at nursery and in the evenings while she was in bed.Lockdown offered a great opportunity to re-write the brand. I thought to myself, what do I really want from life and whatâs most important to me. My partner and my kids are the most important thing to me so I donât want to work evenings and weekends any more. So, do I cull 50% of my business or look at a new strategy and bring somebody in to look after those clients? And, thatâs what I did and I realised I really liked helping and mentoring people.Thereâs been a massive rise in home salons in the past few years. I think thatâs down to the lockdown, but also itâs to do with the freedom and flexibility that you get with working from home. Iâm not in salons any more, so I donât know the opportunities there any more, but I can only presume that the rules are stricter and thatâs why people are looking for freedom and flexibility.BEST MOMENTS
âI liked being in the salon, what I didnât like was being told when I could and couldnât go on holiday. Iâm a team player, but I donât like to be controlled in any way.â
âI did Amanda Holdenâs personal styling, Iâd go to her house, blow-dry her hair a couple of times a week and I started working at ITV, which was great.â
âPeople used to say: âyou really work a lot of hoursâ, but I love my job, I love talking to people, yes I was knackered and unhealthy. Then I had a health scare and life changed like that.â
âI learned by working for free when I started out, but itâs a lot easier now to be educated, thereâs a lot of free education, but people donât seem to tap into that. This is the best time to be a freelancer.âABOUT THE GUEST
Cally Borg is an Award-Winning Hairstylist, Educator and Business Mentor; sheâs been hairdressing for over 20 years, working for salons such as John Carne, Toni&Guy and Charles Worthington before going freelance and starting her own business.
She recently won 'Surrey Hair Stylist of the Year 2020' and the âMarketing Trailblazer 2021â at the Salon Awards. Cally is on the Art Team and an Educator for the brand 'We Love Salons.' and the UK brand ambassador for TUFT international.
Website: https://www.callyborg.com/
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.
CONTACT DETAILS
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In this episode Nathan Plumridge talks to Tom Johnson, Ex-England Rugby Player about his career and the transition to the second half of life as a coach now he no longer plays.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
My happiest times were when we were playing rugby for the craic, giving it a go. The reason we did it was to find out our boundaries and what we could do, then we started to bring it into focus on areas of risk and reward, where we can dominate games and where we can give ourselves the best chance of winning games rather than putting ourselves under the cosh needlessly.I have huge imposter syndrome, even when I played in the first test for England, and I saw these huge South Africans come running out the tunnel and Iâm sitting there cracking myself: What on Earth?! I used to run around at Oxford Brookes University drinking lots of booze having a great craic and now Iâm on this international field! Facing the Haka from New Zealand was a tick off the bucket list though, and then nearly beating them on my last game, it was an amazing thing to be part of.When I was in rugby I had my head in the sand a bit and thought it would never end. Coming out of it, thereâs a huge amount of anxiety â for professional sports people in general â and worry about what the future entails. In the last six months or so I started thinking about how much I wanted to be present and enjoy the now and look forward to the future rather than getting everything lined up and pushed away from the future, pretending it wasnât going to happen. I want to be fiercely independent and be able to look after myself, my family and those around me. What we decide to do now and tomorrow is going to have a direct impact on that future. By nailing down what that future looks like you can start to plan and really enjoy the now.You can link this thought to business, or homework, or whatever, if youâve got a big meeting and you havenât prepared youâre going to have to try and blame it. But if youâre prepped and up to speed you go in there confidently, exuding confidence, come across really well and nail the pitch/meeting. Itâs the same with getting enough sleep, you set yourself up for a great day ahead. If you wake up tired you start off on a negative path where everythingâs an effort. The link between mental health and sleep is undeniable, good quality and consistent sleep can put you in the right frame of mind to help you overcome.BEST MOMENTS
âYou really find out a lot about yourself when you play in a team.â
âCoaches have to give an awful lot of thought about their pre-match speech, their half-time speech and things need to adjust on the fly depending on how that first half has gone.â
âThe future is coming for everyone, can you be prepared for it and can you enjoy that journey all the way up to your deathbed? We can do something about how the last six months of your life is going to look like now.â
âEnjoyment comes in the here and the now, not achieving goals.âABOUT THE GUEST
After graduating from Oxford (Brookes!) With a degree in Sports Science, Tom was about to follow his familyâs traditional military path by joining the Parachute Regiment. By chance just before embarking upon his officer training, he was scouted by Coventry RFC whilst playing for Reading in the then National League 3 South. Two successful years at Coventry then led to a move to Exeter Chiefs, where he played professionally for 10 years, even earning a few England Caps along the way. Tom is a bit of a rarity in that he didnât follow the traditional academy route into professional rugby â up until the age of 18 he even played scrum half! A professional rugby career allowed Tom to experience some of the worldâs best training facilities and nutritional plans all whilst teaching him the...
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In this episode Nathan Plumridge talks to Colin McAndrew, MD of Medusa Hair â one of the fastest growing salons in Scotland, about his inspirations, his challenges and his passions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Growing up I had three central female figures in my life, my two older sisters and my Mum â Dad disappeared. I went to salons with my sisters when they were baby-sitting me, Mum worked two jobs. I loved the atmosphere in that space. After I left school I got an apprenticeship in a beautiful salon on Princeâs Street in Edinburgh where I learned how to make coffee and tea. Within nine months I was a hairdresser in their eyes. I had a real desire to not be in poverty so I worked two jobs, seven days a week.Mental health is a big concern and well being. I donât say that flippantly or cheaply. I think the onus is on us to have the right balance between targets, driving and moving forward without adding to anxiety and levels of stress. If youâre still running your business and your team in the same way as you were 15 years ago, youâre really outdated â 15 months ago is outdated. But on the back of that, as correct as it is to say it's OK not to be OK, itâs also OK to say Iâm going to try my hardest to change that feeling. I have a horrible feeling that resilient young people are becoming more alien than the norm. Everyone deserves the best life, but the reality is (unless you marry a footballer), youâre going to have to work really hard to get your best life. That message is missing at home and in schools.Iâve always been obsessed with personal security rather than wealth. Iâve always wanted to know that if, god forbid, something went wrong ÂŁ1000-ÂŁ5000 can probably cover it. When my Mumâs fridge broke down weâd have to wait two months without a fridge, so Iâve always wanted enough money to buy white goods whenever I need to. At 46 itâs still my attitude: âHave we got a fridge-freezer in the bank?â Without the team there is genuinely nothing. I want the team to have as many opportunities â always say when someone joins Medusa: âWeâre a company of opportunity, I donât care if youâve been here six days, six weeks or six years, if thereâs something coming up and youâre good, weâll help you, or if we think youâre the perfect fit for it then weâll do it.BEST MOMENTS
âWhen I went to Medusa I had two other jobs in the city that were much better paid, but I knew Medusa was my opportunity to grow in an artistic sense â I didnât imagine buying the company in the future, but I thought this is going to give me a platform.â
âEvery team member thinks weâre millionaires, and I know weâre remunerated better than anybody else in the company, but ultimately weâve got the bigger risk: If things go wrong we could lose our house. People donât see the risks that we put in, before we even talk about expenditure. But, everybodyâs human, not supermen or women, weâre all taking punches, especially in the last two years.â
âYou donât want to die the richest guy in the graveyard, I want my last cheque to bounce.â
âI want to create a clear reward for hard work and that people are paid what they deserve to be paid â a good salary with a decent bonus structure. Thereâs no limit from the top.âABOUT THE GUEST
Colin McAndrew is the managing director of Medusa Hair, an award-winning Edinburgh hairdressing salon consistently creating new styles at the vanguard of fashion, but all the while exuding a genuine warmth and welcome.
Website: https://www.medusahair.co.uk/
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @colin_medusa
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you...
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In this episode, Nathan is joined for the second of two episodes by Luke Doolan and Paddy Monahan, manager and head of product at Phorest Software respectively, as well as Nathanâs head of operations, Candice, to talk about Phorest Software (that Gavin has worked with for a long time) and what they do.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
In order for you to say your average ticket is ÂŁ120 or whatever, to look at that and say âwhy is that?â, at a business or a staff member level, within the new Phorest Reports you just click the number and it drills you in showing you day-by-day service rev, average retail ticket, total ticket, is it up or down and week-to-week comparison. We tell you straight away if itâs up or down and automatically run a drill report for you. Thatâs why we had to rebuild the reporting from the ground up because itâs no longer about running a report, itâs about whatever direction it takes you. We have to be able to have that data to you within seconds.From a staff member point of view, management canât be quarterly any more, you canât be sitting down with them at the end of the month going over what they should have done three weeks ago, thatâs useless. In the new reporting suite, on any number thereâs an alert bell, if you donât want a staff memberâs service level to drop below 12% you can set it to send you a message if it drops below 12% and it will check on it every hour. Even though youâre working with them in a coaching capacity, youâre able to address the issues at the time that they happen.The industry is amazing at building these long term relationships, at Phorest, what we try to do is cut out all the day-to-day things that salon owners need to do. If we can get better at that and free up the time for salon owners to go and do what they really enjoy doing, thatâs the part where weâll win. Weâve launched a new ecommerce store recently, the idea behind that was it can be set up to be click and collect only, you can set up one product on it, weâll host it for you, you donât even need to put it on your website, and you can run a campaign just off people whoâve bought that product in the past but havenât bought it in the last three months. When we get feedback on ecommerce, sometimes itâs logistics, sometimes they want to try it but arenât sure if it would take up too much time. The next piece of challenging feedback weâve had is that staff arenât all that enamoured with ecommerce because they want the commission. Weâre now working on bringing staff members into this so that they get the reward.BEST MOMENTS
âPhorest is there to make booking as convenient and not-time-consuming as possible, we donât want someone standing there rescheduling appointments on the phone, we want someone standing there having conversations and building relationships.â
âFor us, itâs about making the relationship last outside of the salon, thatâs where weâve been more successful in retaining clients. Our re-booking rate has improved since weâve had Phorest.â
âRetail conversations came across so sales-y, that was a problem we really wanted to fix. So, weâve enabled the software â through ecommerce â to actually do the selling for the stylist. Not to replace, but to be additional to what theyâre doing.â
âYouâre giving bad service if youâre not talking to your clients about retail, especially if theyâve said they want to talk about products.âABOUT THE GUESTS
Website: https://www.phorest.com/gb/
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the...
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In this episode, Nathan is joined for the first of two episodes by Luke Doolan and Paddy Monahan, manager and head of product at Phorest Software respectively, as well as Nathanâs head of operations, Candice, to talk about Phorest Software (that Gavin has worked with for a long time) and what they do.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Weâre not just an appointment system or diary, we take it in a slightly different way than most do. We're not a software company, we're a salon company, weâre aimed at the industry. Our whole existence is to understand how salons work and to build things that help them to grow their business, which is not all that common in the industry.We listen to salons and understand the problems that they have. We recently launched the Phorest Collections â we used to build a feature and ship it and maybe a month later weâd have something else from another team and we would ship that. Then weâd get feedback from salon owners saying they were really busy and couldnât keep track of all these updates dropping so we changed tact and started doing like the fashion industry with Autumn Collections where we gather a load of stuff together and launch it all at once with all the training programmes put together so, as a salon owner, you can simply take an hour out of your day to learn about all of them and thatâll be it for a couple of months.We asked salon owners what the pain points around card payments on readers were. Tips for staff was an issue but also at the end of the day, cashing up is an absolute pain, if someone accidentally overcharged a customer by tapping the wrong number or put it through as cash instead of card, you can waste 30-40 minutes trying to find that ÂŁ10 thatâs gone somewhere. We take that as the starting point to solve it. The only way to light up the terminal to take a payment in Phorest is to key in, tap âcredit cardâ and then it will light up, in doing that, at the end of the day it automatically reconciles between the two, so you can look at your cash (which is next to nothing these days) and just walk out.For me, creating, innovating and figuring out these things is about pairing together a problem â and deeply understanding what that problem actually is â and then matching that with what technology is possible. What weâve seen is our tech team really understands what technology is now possible. If you just start building things based on the tech youâve got a solution looking for a problem. Salon owners, the people on the ground, know the problem the best, but often if you say âwhat feature do you want? Or how would you like this feature to be better?â they might discuss it just in terms of their own understanding. Weâve taken a different approach, instead of asking that, I often say âif we were to send somebody out in a Phorest T-shirt and they were an expert in everything (finance, marketing, everything) and I sent them to work for you for a week, what would you have them do, what problems would you have to solve?â Itâs the magic question, it answers so much about the problems we have to solve.BEST MOMENTS
âOur goal is to help salons to grow.â
âI didnât come from the industry. But I know it now because Iâve gone and taken the hard steps of just standing in front of the house.â
âWhen the companyâs goals are completely aligned with the salonâs goals, you build the right products, and you serve in the right way. As soon as they grow, we grow as well.â
âWeâre motivated by the impact it has on salon owners.âABOUT THE GUESTS
Website: https://www.phorest.com/gb/
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30...
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In this episode, Nathan is joined by Adelle Martin, founder and creator of the Menopause Resilience Club â a private group where women can come together to build strong business and strong bodies through their hormonal change.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Iâve always been sporty, but when I got to 15 my Dad told me I had to get a proper job â things like Britainâs Got Talent didnât exist at the time, so I couldnât make money out of dancing and gymnastics. A proper job at the time meant a job for life in a bank, which I absolutely loved and enjoyed. But, my colleagues bought me the book âHow To Win Friends And Influence Peopleâ because I was a bit direct and rude. But that got me into people, psychology and leadership and everything else around that, so I took evening classes and became resilient and built my career on that.During the financial crash in 2008 work suddenly got really busy, but you also didnât tell people you worked for a bank â if was like being an estate agent! At the same time my daughter had grown up and was of an age and my parents were ageing and I was the one in the family were people asked me for time here and there to help with things. All of a sudden it all added up and I felt really tired and fatigued. After a while it got really difficult, flying between Edinburgh and London for work and we didnât have the time to check in on each other to make sure we were OK. I remember small things happening, like a speech impediment as a child, that Iâd got rid of, started to come back and my performance at work started to be affected. Eventually I collapsed and was taken to hospital and was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, which I know I didnât have. I made them do blood tests and the results cam back saying my hormones were so low Iâd suffered a very quick menopause. I had to take extended leave to understand it and how best to fight it. I went back into HR so I could change the way people talk about menopause. I couldnât let another woman go through what I did.Management donât always understand it, they often see a top level woman on a career path suddenly drop in performance. Itâs easy to say itâs this, this and this. I ask: how old are they? What are the clues? I didnât know what I didnât know, but the performance and confidence change due to hormones, we lose it for a moment. Rather than say âsheâs up and down with performance issueâ we got people to look for the clues and create a conversation around it.Iâm an action-orientated person. We can talk all we like about the issues but when are we going to move to solutions? As hard as it is, it is a process a woman goes through. When I was pregnant people would tell me what happened to them in their pregnancies and now weâve got the same with menopause, although weâre all different and our lifestyles are different. I can explain what happens with your hormones, but how you react to that is different. You wonât have your motherâs menopause if you donât want to.BEST MOMENTS
âI had to Google menopause. I can do this the easy way or the hard way, if you ignore the menopause, youâre going to get in a lot more trouble than if you face into it.â
âWomen leave work or reduce their hours due to menopause, not just to set up their own business for the flexibility. We set up menopause cafes and line-manager training around talking about menopause with women.â
âNot only do we have female advocates from all levels of the business who talk about their challenges, we also have men who talk about their experiences and perspectives with their wives or co-workers. The ripple-effect of that makes a huge, huge difference.â
âIf you canât see it, you canât be it.âABOUT THE GUEST
Adelle Martin is an accredited Menopause Strength Coach & Bodybuilder as well as Founder of The Menopause Resilience System. She started her...
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In this episode, Nathan is joined by Mary Centofanti, one of the owners and creators of the vegan brand, Davroe, which is maybe the best kept hairdressing secret.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
In 2006 we needed to make changes to the company that we purchased. I went to the formulating chemist and said: âI want this range to be sulphate-free and veganâ. To his credit he agreed and it took us two years to get the formulations and fragrances right because theyâre key to the product as well as performance. We launched in 2008 and a lot of people were asking why we were doing this because no other producers were doing this in Australia. It took another 5 years to get momentum going and convince hairdressers and salons that this was a good thing.Australia is the hub, itâs where we manufacture everything, weâve built the laboratory, we do our R&D, we do our compounding, our upscaling, we distribute everything from there, weâre very, very hands on. All the products in the range are products I wanted to bring to market, itâs about us looking at what we think the industry is moving into and what the consumer is looking for.When I started at 15 years of age, it was never in my wildest dreams that I entertained owning this company or doing what Iâve done with Davroe. But, I had really good bosses who were very open about a lot of things and gave clear parity between us and them. Theyâd have lunch with us in the lunchroom and theyâd talk business and I would listen in to their conversations and I learned so much. From the minute I walked into the office on my first day I felt like it was my second home. I felt part of something.There was a moment where John and I had to find a balance between our personal lives and work, because we live and work together with each other and our kids, we all want space at certain times. Finding the balance is really tricky. We all go to work and come home separately, even though itâs two to three minutes away. We all seem to gravitate towards each other at lunchtime and we have dinner together every night but then we all go our separate ways in the evening, the evening is our own time.BEST MOMENTS
âIt feels great to be away from home, we havenât travelled for up to three years, before that we travelled quite a bit overseas. Itâs amazing to see people face-to-face again and catch up.â
âThe consumer knew they wanted a change which was one of the driving forces for us as well.â
âWe watch what we eat and what we put on our faces, so why should hair be any different?â
âWe jumped in, it was full-on, we made some really major changes but Iâm so very happy that we did. Weâve met some wonderful people along the way and now my children are working with us, itâs a real family business.âABOUT THE GUEST
Mary Centofanti has a real passion for the brand and commitment to delivering premium quality hair care products and has been at the forefront of the business for over 35 years.
From humble beginnings, Mary Centofanti began her career with Dresslier as a fledgling receptionist in 1984. 23 years later, in 2007, Mary and her husband John acquired the then struggling business motivated to turn things around. Armed with a strong vision and a set of guiding principles that are steeped in passion, determination, integrity and community, they embarked on a decade long journey that has led them to where they are today, one of Australiaâs leading hair care manufacturers.Website: https://davroe.co.nz/
Instagram: @davroe.girl
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marycentofanti/?originalSubdomain=auABOUT THE...
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In this episode, Nathan is joined by Jessica Crane, author, entrepreneur, business coach, mother of two. And much more, to talk about her career and how salon owners can create generational wealth from their businesses.
Here is your affiliate link to the 2 Day Salon Summit 6th and 7th November â anyone who purchases a ticket through this link you will receive 50% of the ticket sales - all the details are on the page: https://siss.jessicacrane.co.uk/salon-summit?affiliate_id=3991444
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I realised from a young age â starting work at age 12 â that I was going to have to support myself, ainât nobody coming to help me, Iâm getting hand outs, no leg up, nothing. I need to decide what I want to do, get out there, create a plan, create an action plan and start these things in motion to be able to support myself.In business you always have to be looking for the problems: What is the problem with this current business model? Because the solutions are you next business evolution. We want to have the flexibility to do the things we need to do as business owners but do them around our families so we can be there for our families too.Just being good at your treatment/service/product is not enough. You could do that 10-15 years ago, but not anymore. Even if youâre talented, you will still be a best kept secret if you canât properly market what you do to your clients and youâre not making those decisions from your numbers to your ideal clients and your vision, these are the big three dominos where every single business decision should come from. You canât afford not to, itâs not an option anymore.Whatâs missing from getting from where you are now to where you want to be? Most of the time itâs a gap in your knowledge, itâs something that you donât know how to do. You can spend years trying to figure that out, or you can go and find somebody and ask them to teach you. When youâre looking for free information in Facebook groups and on Google, you donât even know if those strategies work, you donât know if that person is really able to help you or that the information and advice theyâre giving you is correct, youâ guess and winging it. For most businesses you donât have the luxury of that amount of time, cash flow and money to support you whilst you figure it out. Youâll likely run out of money first.BEST MOMENTS
âWe run a business so that it provides for us, not us feeling a slave to our business.â
âI have itchy feet. If Iâm not learning, I donât know what the next goal is or the next progression route, itâs almost like I feel trapped.â
âEvery year we set a budget aside to invest into coaches, itâs a first priority.â
âDo your due diligence when looking for a coach before jumping in feet first, make the right decisions.â
ABOUT THE GUEST
Jessica Crane is an internationally award-winning salon business coach. Since the age of 12 Jessica has worked at every level within the industry. Starting out as a Saturday girl, commercial stylist to managing multiple award-winning salons and chains, to assessor, centre manager and internal verifier for a top outstanding private training provider. Jessica holds a degree in consulting and has spoken on multiple global stages for well-known industry brands.
With over 20 years industry experience she has helped hundreds of salon owners across the globe run the business of their dreams living the life they dreamed of when they first opened their salon door.
Website: www.jessicacrane.co.uk
Online consultation booking link: https://calendly.com/jessica-ssc/free-50-minute
Instagram:
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In this episode, Nathan is joined by Jayne Lewis-Orr who is, quite simply, a hair industry icon. Her passion for the industry over the last 25 years as the executive director of the Hairdresserâs Journal is why Jayne is so well respected by every hairdresser.
I was set on becoming a journalist in the hair and beauty industry and I was really fortunate to land a role on hair and beauty and, frankly, Iâd have taken any role on that. I didnât have a background in hairdressing, mu Auntie was a hairdresser, but that was it really. When you work in a publisher with all different titles you could tell the people that were coming in to see the Hairdressers Journal team, they were vibrant and fun and enigmatic and I thought âthatâs going to be a cool place to hang outâ and Iâve never gone away! I started off in the sales team in an admin role and moved into an editorial role eventually becoming the editor-in-chief.The pandemic has changed the way people want to work and thatâs fine. But, one thing we have to do collectively and as a united front is make sure that people know that hairdressing is a fantastic place to work. The opportunities in the industry are second to none. You can travel the world, you can be self-made, you can be successful, the only thing that limits you is your own imagination, not age, sexual preference, anything. But it is hard, hard work.Hairdressers are with you through the best and worst times of your life. Theyâre there when you get married and have a family, theyâre there when your hair falls out because youâve had a baby, theyâre there when you lose a relative, theyâre a constant. I tell my hairdresser more than I tell anybody else. Hairdressers have amazing empathy and that skill can make people feel great.Weâre only as good as the last magazine we put out or the last event. Whilst we are the market leader, I never take that for granted. Itâs getting people to understand how passionate this industry is about their own craft. Like at this event, people are supportive of other people winning, even if theyâve lost themselves they are genuinely supportive of other people winning and thatâs a cool place to be.
Thereâs a slight audio issue on this one that we just couldnât work around, but Iâm sure after a few minutes youâll tune your ears to it.
KEY TAKEAWAYSBEST MOMENTS
âWhilst, obviously, you have to have a commercial aspect to the magazine, weâre recognised by our partners for writing for our readers, that makes it authoritative, independent and honest.â
âThe only good thing to come out of Covid was that hairdressing became recognised as a fourth emergency service.â
âI love this market, itâs my preferred child⊠my sons are actually here, so I probably shouldnât say that but it really is.â
âIâm hugely passionate about extolling the virtues of the craft and why itâs such a good place to be.â
ABOUT THE GUEST
Jayne Lewis-Orr started her career as a junior assistant in the Hair & Beauty Group at Reed Business Information and worked her way up, having qualified as a journalist, to become Editor-in-Chief of the portfolio. She is now Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Group that includes the Hairdressers Journal International, Salon International, Professional Beauty and Aesthetic Medicine brands. All of these have a multi-channel approach to their content with events, awards, print, online and social media channels.
Actively involved in the hair and beauty industry for 30+ years, Jayne is an effective member of industry associations and bodies and is a director of the industry charity.
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for -
In this episode, Nathan is joined by Angeline Hayden, a teacher, salon industry educator, award winning business coach, podcaster and outdoor challenge seeker, to talk about how to provide better service in the hair and beauty industry.
I was a salon owner for 12-13 years who ran the business. I always looked at things from the point of view of the client as well as the stylists, the team and running the business. I got to a point where I got as far as I could go for myself and I wasnât interested in training stylists and beauticians, I wanted to go into the education side of the salon while staying in the industry I love. I trained as a teacher, Iâm now an assessor, I did a body language specialist course as well as mystery shopping. Then I developed Midas Customer Service Training, with my husband Gary, and I now do one-to-one and group coaching and I love my job.Sometimes the only thing that separates you from the salon up the road is your level of customer service. Thatâs why itâs so important to give, not just to every client, but every single day theyâre in the salon to every single client.Youâve got to look at the customerâs journey through the salon. There are different touch points. When the client comes into the salon, the first thing I do is to teach them meet/greet body language and first impression. Especially with younger people, because our younger professionals donât always have the confidence to make really good eye contact with someone. When you make eye contact with somebody you begin to trust that person. We teach them to build and make trusting relationships in the salon because, as we know, if you trust someone youâre more likely to buy from them.Complacency is a big issue. Never assume what the client wants every single time because theyâll surprise you sometimes. You are the professional, you are the one who should be educating them and solving their problems. They come to you because theyâve got problems, whether itâs hair, nails, skin, lashes, whatever. What youâve got to do is use a bit of empathy skills, put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel if it was you? We get better at empathy as we get older, so coaching young people empathy skills is vital to their success with their clients.
KEY TAKEAWAYSBEST MOMENTS
âIf you stay in the industry that you know, youâll be able to use your own expertise to be able to service your own customers.â
âPeople will forget what you said and people will forget what you did, but people will never forget who you made them feel.â
âIf you make a bad impression it can take up to seven more times after that for someone to begin to change how they feel about you, get it wrong and youâve got lots of repairing to do.â
âIf you donât recognise bad customer service you canât make it great.â
ABOUT THE GUEST
Angeline Hayden has been in the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry, owning salons for over 10 years. Prior to this she was working in telecommunications with BT. She is also a body language specialist and qualified mystery shopper.
Angeline will be a great contact for you to discuss your customer service requirements. Her attention to detail will surpass all expectations ensuring that her clientsâ journey is exceptional,
Royal Marines Commando assault course is a firm favourite for a weekend pastime! But she also loves a Spa day!
Website: https://midascustomerservicetraining.co.uk/
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this... -
In this episode, Nathan is joined by Joe Hemmings, a multi-salon owner, multi-award winner, and part of the new generation of salon owners that are challenging the norms by giving his team and his guests truly something different.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I started on the 13th July 2010 and it naturally evolved from doing A-Levels at school to apprenticeships. I was talked out of becoming a hairdresser at school because it wasnât seen as a great career, and ever since then Iâve had a bit of a bugbear to prove people wrong, it can be a great career. I went self-employed at first to get a feel for accounts and paperwork. Then I opened my own salon and went from there. I learned a lot more lessons than I thought I was going to! For the first year I was on my own at the shop, working 12-hour days six days a week to pay off what Iâd spent setting the salon up. Then I started to employ.I feel like Iâve just about nailed balancing multiple salons, I didnât for years and years. Thankfully my partner is massively supportive. My working week is: Mondays is my day for personal development or pushing myself (two years ago I started doing public speaking workshops, for example), Tuesday is a management day where I spend it with the managers of the shops, Wednesday is clientele from 8am-8pm, Thursday is free so I can be with my team, Friday Iâm with my daughters, Saturday in the salon and Sunday is my day off. Though thatâs a recent thing. I took until Covid for me to pass on certain jobs to other people in the company so I can spend more time with my family.What is culture? Itâs so hard to put your finger on it, and every salon id different. But I think itâs what people do every day without even thinking about it. You donât need contracts written down every day to create culture, itâs just how people behave, what they believe in, and Iâm really passionate on that â I want a team where everyone is equal, the same as the owner. Iâll do the bins, sweep the floors and the apprentices can do a blow dry or a toner. I try to mix it up as much as I can to keep it a level playing field.Weâve all worked for bosses in the past where youâre terrified youâll make a mistake and youâll get an absolute rollicking on the shop floor or in front of everybody. You donât get the best out of people in that situation. You need to get people who want to be themselves and celebrate them being themselves and working how they want to work under the umbrella of a company where everyone is an individual, but they come together and work together.BEST MOMENTS
âThe first person I employed was an old boss of mine who had retired. I wanted someone I could trust and knew how to run their own business.â
âBe the bigger person and go with your gut feeling.â
âDelegation wasnât something I naturally wanted to do because from day one I always held all the strings and made the decisions, it was my business my way. But, in the last few years, Iâve realised thatâs the wrong attitude to have as a business owner. You should have people alongside you in the business who can make decisions that have an impact on the business.â
âRecently Iâve had a couple of members of staff go through really tough times, and everybody steps up, everyone helps them out, no one blames anyone. We move clients around, people on their day off comes in, people stay late. That, to me, means more than awards ever will.â
ABOUT THE GUEST
Joe Hemmings is the owner of Bloggs Salons:
My passion within hairdressing was to create something special that everyone involved could be proud of and that betters its peopleâs lives. The salon is such a creative and fun place to be and has been built on the incredible loyalty by the team and also our clients who over the years have become one big family. The community that we have built around us...
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In this episode, recorded after he got back from holiday and a day after the Queen passed away, Nathan talks about service, what it is and how you can deliver service that defines your business in its market.
We are now in a time where your business doesnât really have many things that can truly separate it from your competition. Pretty much everything can be copied, from your salon interior, software system, branding, marketing, apps, the croissants and coffee you give away for breakfast, these are all things that can be replicated. What will define your business is the service you deliver.Think about experiences youâve had somewhere where they went above and beyond and the journey and all of the things youâd like your guests to feel during that journey. What can you get your team to deliver? It has to come from the top, you have to eat and breathe the culture that you want your business to be and it has to start from outside your business; what does it look like from the outside and does the business represent great service? What does it mean to you?
KEY TAKEAWAYSBEST MOMENTS
âI donât think thereâs a greater example of anyone showing us what service is, our Queen gave service for over 70 years and that is and should be a true inspiration to anyone.â
âA huge amount of our reviews now focus on the experience they had with that stylist and how that stylist made them feel, the emotional element of that.â
ABOUT THE HOST
Welcome and thank you for reading this, Iâm Nathan Plumridge salon owner and Hair Stylist. Iâve been in the industry for nearly 30 years and have been a salon owner for 23 of them. I have been fortunate enough to work and learn with some of the biggest names in the industry and this has given me the experience and drive to now be here with you sharing my experiences.
CONTACT DETAILS
www.hairlifeshow.com
Instagram is @nathan.hairlife
Email me at [email protected]This show was brought to you by Progressive Media
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In this episode Nathan talks to British hairdressing icon, Errol Douglas, to talk about his career as a hairdresser and salon owner.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
My ex-wife, Jo, was frustrated with me always coming home unhappy from my job as an ambassador for other salons and companies. She said: âWhy donât you open a shop or start your own business?â I was fortunate enough to live in London and so I was always enthralled by fashion and I was earning a lot of money, my accountant â Kim â became my business partner who had a background in property law, so she was a great fit. That changed my life. But it was the most challenging thing ever, opening up in Knightsbridge where there was a lot of snobbery and the high rental charges. But we got in and are still there 24 years later.People think itâs materialism but itâs not, youâve got to take in the ambiance of your area; if itâs going to be trendy, Shoreditch, open floors, walls and concrete then do that, but if youâre attracting that person whoâs always travelling first class or getting a private jet and youâre getting recommendations from the best hotels in Knightsbridge, come on and do the maths!The lowest point in my life was getting divorced. Jo was my pillar of strength, we had four kids, though our first child passed away, and I thought marriage was for life and we were a team. So, when that broke up I thought someone had buried me, it took me ages to get right. Being a typical Capricorn, I threw myself completely into work and capped everything else off. It was tough. The light at the end of the tunnel was realising we were never getting back together and that I had too many other mouths to feed and I had to pull it together and be a leader, especially for my kids.If youâre trying to find where youâre going, you have to write a few things down that really motivate you. And you have to be realistic, if you live in Wales or Manchester you have to ask yourself if youâre going to stay in that area or come down south. You have to target people, write down who inspires you, what section of hairdressing inspires you, who you want to have an apprenticeship with â because people who flit around on apprenticeships tend not to finish.BEST MOMENTS
âBeing in business is not all about being creative, you have to understand your vehicle.â
âMy inspirations in this business were John Frida, but he was a bit of a gentleman, but Nicky Clarke was the first rock star. I was enthralled by them because they were British, I got to know them and work with them, they were iconic.â
âOur industry is synonymous with bringing everyone together and our events are copied by other industries. Itâs one of the best professions in terms of high points and endorphins in the world.â
âOpen small, have at least one person you can trust to share the load because you canât and shouldnât be doing everything. Also, donât over-spend on anything, stock, wages, extravagances. Put something aside if you can, try not to have an overdraft if you can, keep it realistic and small and if you can, donât sign your life away.â
ABOUT THE GUEST
Errol Douglas first started working in an East London salon aged 11. He gained his initial qualifications at Roger Heart's age 16. During this time, he met Paul Edmonds and moved to Neville Daniel. When Paul Edmonds opened his own salon in 1984, Errol became Edmonds' Artistic Director until he opened his own salon business in Belgravia in 1998.
Errolâs session styling and fashion work is regularly featured in magazines such as Vogue, Harpers & Queen, Tatler, Red, Cosmopolitan and Elle. He has worked with a number of notable clients, including Diana Ross, Brad Pitt, Barbra Streisand, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Melanie Griffith, Dawn French,...
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