We recently connected with Abby Jane and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Abby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

There are so many things that I’ve done in my career that I would consider innovative, but the biggest one of them all was taking a risk and completely gutting how I run my business. Most hairstylists/salons do the traditional al a carte price menu. In years past, this antiquated way created a lot of difficulty with my clients to figure out how much they were going to end up paying due to add-ons, such as extra color or treatments they would need during the service. There was always sticker shock at the end of their appointment. I switched to becoming an all inclusive hourly rate that is genderless and gratuity free. Since its inclusive, my guests no longer have to worry about these add-ons or doing math for the tip. They know exactly how much they’re paying when they book their appointment. That transparency is appreciated so much more versus the latter.

Not only has it improved my guests’ experience when booking and seeing me, it has also increased my profits as well. I no longer stress out about undercharging for my sweat equity. I’m charging what I’m worth and everyone should too.

Abby, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My origin story starts with 12 year old Abby discovering MySpace.com. During that time, emo/scene kids were becoming a thing. I was so infatuated with their look. so one day, I decided to do my own hair. I thought to myself, “Hey! This is pretty fun. Maybe I should do this when I grow up.” That feeling of wanting to do hair stuck with me when I was growing up. After two years of college, I decided to drop out and enroll into cosmetology school.

Nine years later, here we are. I have a private hair studio in Phoenix, where I specialize in razor cutting, where everyone is welcome. The cuts that I primarily do are shags, mullets, and bobs. The cuts I do are for the low maintenance folks that want to go against the in-crowd. With my new and existing guests, I always touch base with them, address whatever needs/changes they want, and really tend to their questions about their hair, but with a bunch of laughs and jokes along the way. I want my guests to feel confident after they see me. After all, I’m their biggest hype man!

tl;dr – If you get a one length haircut, then I may not be the service provider for you. LOL, jk.

Somethings about me that I want my future guests to know is that I am a big goofball at heart. I love to joke around, talk in memes/vines, and being just dumb. I don’t take life too seriously because it’s too short. Also, if you’re into astrology, I have a Aqua Sun, Leo Moon, and Aries Rising, so it makes sense.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

AUTHENTICITY. Seriously. Showing up as my unapologetic self created trust within my market. I swear. I’m in the business of people and people want to connect, especially if they’re like minded. Hiding my personality would hurt my business because I would be attracting people that wouldn’t jive well with me. I know with showing who I am, it allows my future guests to think to themselves, “Yeah, I can hang out with her for three hours while she does my hair.”

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

What really impacted everything in my business is when I hired a business coach. I hired someone that is in my industry to coach me on what I need to do to elevate myself. It taught me more than just business topics, like marketing and money, but understanding our emotional intelligence, reactivity, and mindset. So like deep, DEEP stuff. My coach made me take risks that I never thought of doing, but with the guidance of her and others in the coaching company that I hired, it really transformed my thinking.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.abbyjanedoeshair.com
• Instagram: abbyjanedoeshair