How I mastered a service I was afraid of!

 If you are like me, you go all in when it comes time to learn something new.

I'm old school, I've been a stylist for over 30 years so when the whole Balayage came to surface I was like "ya right, no thank you"

But at the end of the day I was missing out on the money and getting fresh new clients who want to do fun stuff with their hair. 

Plus, as a salon owner I didn't want to turn away the business because many of the stylist were booked and didn't want to do them either lol

So in order to crush this fear I decided to teach a Balayage class and charge for the tickets! 

Yes, you heard me correctly. I taught a class and charge for something I had no business teaching at the time. (I think I actually offended one of my stylists for doing this too)

I created a flyer and sent them to the surrounding salons and beauty schools.

I'm happy to say...I sold 9 tickets and the class was a total success.

And to you salon owners, this turned out to be a good way to find new stylists. I ended up hiring two of the stylist that attended the class. One ended up my assistant, the other a part time stylist.

So how did I pull this off you ask?

First: what I didn't do, was just announce a class, sell tickets and then teach it.

What I did do was:

• I picked the date for the class. I chose a date weeks out so that I could prepare.
• The weeks before the class I offered free Balayages. I was picky about who they where. I screened them to make sure they were not color corrections or wanted vivid color. I was strictly looking for straight forward Balayages.
• I practiced the different application processes, different partings and sectioning from videos I watched on Youtube or saw different stylists doing in the salon.
• I played with different brushes to apply the bleach. I found the perfect brush at the hardware stores. (As a thank you for coming to the class I passed out these brushes to the students)
• And I found the perfect bleach (Blonde Me by Schwarzkopf)! I tried the clay Balayage bleaches and I didn't care for them as they didn't lift enough. 
• And I practiced on my mannequin head.

I found a friend who had very long hair to be our model. Her hair was straight and the length was in our favor as we got to be creative with our applications. 

I drew out some simple diagrams of different parting and applications on a large sticky paper and stuck them up on the mirrors.

I went over each one and why you would choose them. I did a quick theory and demonstration with my favorite tools and bleach.

Then I asked the class if they'd like a try at it?  Most students did, and the class became a practice hands on class. Everyone learned something new! 

I also invited my friend who is a videographer so that I could get some footage of the class for social proof.

 So here is my recommendation if something is holding you back and stunting your growth

• Do what it takes to gain the confidence 
• Work on a mannequin or create a post for a "model call" 
• Take an online class or hands on, in person if available
• Offer the service at a low price letting clients know you are just learning.

You have to just get in there and do it. 

The next service I want to master is the hand tied extensions. I may or may not offer the service, but I think as a seasoned stylists, it is important to learn new skills. You never know if you'll ever need to do them. 

We have a stylist who specializes in them. I am going to ask her to train a few of us at the salon. I have one other stylist who is very interested in learning ,them too.

Do you have anyone in your salon that would be willing to teach their expertise? This is also a great way to help and motivate each other.  

Now get out there and crush it?

Stacy Monroe