We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Breanne Miller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Breanne below.
Breanne , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Your ability to build a team is often a key determinant of your success as a business owner and so we’d love to get a conversation going with successful entrepreneurs like yourself around what your recruiting process was like -especially early on. How did you build your team?
I was hired at Kellie & Company Salon in 2012, by the previous owner and founder Kellie Hales. In 2016 I purchased the company from her. I was fortunate that all employees chose to stay when I took ownership. Looking back now, I appreciate just how big of a blessing that was! If even just a couple had chosen to go somewhere else during the ownership exchange that would have been detrimental. When I took ownership Kellie told me, “If I have one piece of advice, keep your chairs full!.” The first time an employee told me they were quitting I had a complete breakdown. I literally thought I was watching my company blow up in flames before my eyes. But for me, failure was not even an option. There was too much collateral wrapped up in financing that I had no other option, than to make it be successful. Thanks to my husband’s emotional support I got right back to work. I filled that spot with a very productive employee, and made my company even stronger.
The company sailed pretty smoothly the first couple years. Then I started to feel unrest among my employees. They wanted a cool, beautiful, and functional space to work and be creative in. The salon had been a gorgeous place to work for a time, but was becoming outdated. We were no longer attracting potential new employees, and even current employees were starting to consider other options. I knew that to stay relevant to the market some remodeling needed to be done. My husband, dad, and I worked every night from 6pm to almost 2am every night for a month to remodel the salon, and still stay open during regular business hours. It was so satisfying to stand back and admire our beautiful work when we were finished. I remember my first interview after remodeling. The candidate mentioned how cute the salon looked and felt, and that she would really like to work here! That was a huge payoff moment for me!
As with all companies, employees come and go. I was tired of feeling so beat down and anxious every time someone told me they were choosing another option. Also, cash flow projections were not looking like I wanted them to. So I hired a business coach. That was the best investment I have made yet. My coach helped me to see the blind spots I didn’t even realize were there, and they also helped me see the bigger picture of the market. The key component that has made the biggest difference for my company was their introduction of a salon level system and Associate Program.
The Associate Program can be thought of as a “Master’s of Hair Design.” Stylists that are new to the industry, or those who want to perfect their hair and business skills seek out my program. This program has helped to attract quality stylists that are eager to excel in the industry. Associates are partnered with an upper level stylist and they work alongside them. They do everything the upper level stylist does so they can learn the habits and skills that helped the upper level stylist become successful. It puts them on the fast track to success for more money and less frustration! The Associate program also helps with retention because new hires are not left to just figure things out by trial and error. That is frustrating not only for me, but for guests as well. And frustration leads to a quick burn out in the salon industry. Associates get to know a majority of our guests before they become a full fledged level 1 stylist, so guests are happy and comfortable with a “new” person performing services for them.
Having the Associate Program that feeds into our stylist level system has made all the difference in recruiting and retaining quality people. Cosmetology schools regularly ask to tour our salon and learn about our business model. I have a regular stream of applicants. I no longer get nightmares and have nervous breakdowns when an employee moves or needs to work less. I know that because of my hiring and training processes there will always be people that are excited to be a part of my company. The peace of mind that brings is really indescribable! I’m really proud of how far me and my company have come.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I started taking cosmetology courses at the old Jordan Applied Technology Center my senior year of high school. After high school graduation I moved to Cedar City to attend Southern Utah University. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from SUU. And I finished my Cosmetology and Master’s of Esthetics license from Salt Lake Community College. I always had the dream of own a salon one day. The perfect opportunity came when Kellie Hales offered to sell the salon to me after I had been working for her for 4 years. At Kellie & Company Salon we offer a full menu of hair services, waxing, and skin care. We feel honored that we get to be apart of the big and small moments in someone’s life. We love that we get to know our guests on a personal level from regular salon visits, to being apart of someone’s life when they get married, getting their hair done before vacations or having babies, or helping take care of their hair after surgery. If you think about it, people usually get their hair done before an important or exciting moment in their life. We love that we get to customize their experience to what is happening in our guests’ lives.
Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?
I was hired as a stylists in 2012. I purchased the salon I had been working at in 2016. It took about a year from the first beginning conversations to the final sale of the company. It was slow moving at first because neither I or the previous owner knew how to navigate the sale, especially when I needed financing. I remembered from one of my business courses at Southern Utah University the local Small Business Development Center in Cedar City did a presentation of how they can help all types of businesses. I thought that maybe the Salt Lake area might have a resource like this. Sure enough, I discovered there are several Small Business Development Centers in Utah. I thought this would be a helpful place to start to get some guidance on how to even start the acquisition process. Jim Herrin, the director of the Salt Lake SBDC, was extremely helpful. He and the SBDC gave me a list of all the documents I needed to ask for, helped to fine tune my business plan, helped create cash flow projections, put me in contact with several different financing options, offered pro bono legal advice, and was just a overall fantastic resource. I cannot give enough credit to the Salt Lake SBDC in helping to guide me and Kellie through the acquisition process. I chose to get an SBA loan through Zions Bank. Stephanie Sherell at Zions Bank was also extremely helpful in guiding me through the process of getting an SBA loan. The SBA loan application process was pretty tedious and complicated. But I had some really great people to guide me through.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
We have been in business since 1992, and I’m proud to say we are still relevant and desirable in our market! Hiring friendly and talented people is crucial. I first look for personality traits and how they present themselves. Then I look at their skills. You can help refine skills, personality is a lot hard to refine. Guests feel welcome and cared for at our salon company because our staff is so genuine and personable, and so they are more excited to share their experience with their friends and family. Part of sharing their experience are online reviews, particularly Google. Google reviews have been a huge lead source for us because we have great reviews. Even the not-so-great reviews are replied to online, and then contacted personally to make amends. Caring about the kind of experience our guests have from first contact to last contact has helped our reputation in our market.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kellieandcompany.com
- Instagram: @kellie_company
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kelliecompany
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk-78Wg0XZ1RsSeTx3luD5A
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kellie-and-company-west-jordan
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/kellieandcompanymedia/
Image Credits
Samantha Castleton