We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sloane Wormser a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sloane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
What an incredible question! There is SO much I wish I could have taught myself many years ago. I’ve now been in the industry for 11 years. And was only truly successful 6/11. It took me moving multiple times, assisting multiple owners, dips in income, and working at 5 different salons, in 3 different cities, to really get a grasp on being successful in this industry. These are my Top 3 picks for advice to give the emerging stylist.
1. I didn’t take school seriously enough. I went to Paul Mitchell Costa Mesa and learned under educators Fernie Andong, Heather Kaanoi, and Taylor Wynn to name a few. I should have asked them a million more questions. 2. I was a commission stylist for the first 6 years, I should have switched to booth rent much sooner. 3. I only started learning about my finances halfway through my career. I should have asked the salon owners I worked as a commission stylist for to really break down my numbers. And as a booth renter, it was important to keep better track of money coming in vs. going out.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a San Diego hair stylist specializing in blondes! My career started 11 years ago in Orange County. Since then I have worked in Los Angeles, D.C., and now San Diego. I am currently at the cutest little boutique salon, Luna Leon. The owner, Jessica Tyransky, is a long time friend of mine. The space is my exact vibe. High ceilings, big windows, only 4 chairs, and soooo many plants!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pandemic!! Too obvious? Well for me, I refused to sit still in 2020. So I tried all sorts of things with my down-time. I hired a business coach Jessica Burgio, started a YouTube, learned how to edits videos, did hair in locations I couldn’t have imagined.
But at the end of the day, going back to the basics is my calling. Behind the chair with a balayage brush in my hand. So my pivot lead me back around. But I needed that to reassure myself that with my blondes was where I belonged.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe my reputation for the first few years of building was, 1. social skills 2. talent 3. low prices 4. wide open schedule. Now, I’m not saying everyone needs to work crazy hours for not a lot of money. But I can guarantee it helped me. Now all of my clients have been with me for years at this point. And I am so grateful that they’ve stuck around and referred literally everyone else they know to me!!
Contact Info:
- Website: sloanestylistsd.com
- Instagram: sloanestylist
Image Credits
Becca Batista