We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rebecca Greenlee a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok, to name a few, offer pretty much any video to teach you how to do whatever you want to learn, including hair and makeup! Just a guess, but I’d say at least half of the influencers on these networks aren’t even licensed or formally trained in this industry at all. They have brands giving them products and paychecks for the videos they post that don’t even have to be accurate information or trained techniques. Those of us who did attend the proper schools and took our state board testing to be licensed struggle to provide quality services in our salons for a fair and profitable price because people don’t see the value in it when they can do it themselves, or better yet “their friend or family” can do it for them after watching it online.

20 years ago beauty school was 1800 hours for a managing cosmetology license. This included hours of studying sanitation and management to allow stylists to work alone in the salon. Out of school we were all eager, yet very intimidated as brand new stylists. Larger salons offered programs for interns to work in the salon building their clientele and taking continuous training to fine tune their skills and grow as an artist. Year after year we put in extra time and money to keep learning and building on what we do to provide the best services to our guests as trends and fashion change. The internet and apps make it hard to have a profitable business in this industry, so we go above and beyond to offer what they can’t get from videos in a guest’s personal experience.

Rebecca, 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?

I have been a hairstylist for 20 years, a professional makeup artist for over 15 years, a licensed massage therapist for 12 years and certified in hair extensions for the last 3 years. I love my career so much. Having the gift to transform someone from the inside out and make them feel incredible about themselves is the best feeling ever! Being in an industry that most people don’t consider an actual career is hard to constantly explain why you do it, but the passion behind the amazing stylists I get to work with makes it such a priority to get exposure on the importance of what we do.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I built a clientele for over 11 years in the same town. During a 2 year transition out of the salon I was in I decided to only do bridal hair and makeup on the weekends and be a stay at home mom while my kids were little. It was hard to step away from the salon and my clients. who I had created relationships with and felt like I was leaving so much of myself behind. We moved over an hour away and once my kids were old enough I made the choice to get back in to a salon. Fate stepped in with the perfect scenario and a local newer business was looking for stylists. I messaged the company after a friend had received services there and told me about all of the positions the owner was looking to fill. Without knowing it apparently my resume impressed her so much that she was eager to meet me. She hadn’t responded yet and I couldn’t stop the anxiety I felt about the fact that I didn’t have a single client to follow me. So of course I sent another message to say I have no clientele and I might not be what they are looking for if they need someone with full books. Just like those of us with anxiety to naturally almost ruin an opportunity for ourselves. Thankfully during a 90 minute interview she saw the spark and determination in me that she knew I wouldn’t have any problems building a strong clientele. As an independent contractor, booth rent stylist, I own my business within her salon and I have the control over my hours and my clientele. I rebuilt a full time clientele within 6 months from absolutely nothing because I brought skills and passion to an area who didn’t have what I can provide and word of mouth is the biggest source of my new clients. Giving my clients an experience they love and results anyone can see has brought me the best people I’ve ever met and made me feel like I found my purpose again. I’m lucky to call this my job every day!!!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Reputation will get you farther than talent alone any day! I have built my reputation on giving my clients efficiency, consistency and quality every single time they are with me. I’m not a stylist who gossips and talks about others. I’m not a stylist who doesn’t listen to what my clients want or give them those results because I don’t know those techniques and I’m not a stylist who cancels on my clients. I have shown up every day and give them beautiful styles because I choose to keep up with trends and fashion. I choose to make my career and my clients an importance in my life because I am gifted with the ability to do this.

Image Credits
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