We were lucky to catch up with Tim Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
One of the biggest trends that I see in my industry is growth oils that are to be applied to the scalp for long periods of time.
My concern is that oils applied to the scalp and left to sit for long periods of time can cause a condition called seborrheic dermatitis, which is an inflammatory condition of the scalp that is characterized by extreme flaking, itchiness, and redness, which can ultimately lead to hair loss. This condition starts with a yeast that lives on our scalp and bodies naturally called ” Malassezia” which has an affinity for oil. So adding additional oils to the scalp will disrupt the scalp pH and only exacerbate the opportunity for the condition of seborrheic dermatitis to occur.
The placement of oils on the scalp comes from slavery times and ancient African customs. You see when the slaves were sleeping in barns, huts and being in the fields for long periods of time, oils applied to the skin were a way of keeping the insects from biting on them hence the phrase ” don’t let the bed bugs bite”. Also madam CJ Walker used oils and ointments as vehicles to deliver treatments that contained ingredients such as sulfur that would deter or kill the insects, and kill bacteria that would cause conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis, which is still widely used and very effective to date.
As a certified trichologist and licensed cosmetologist I primarily see this condition predominately in African Americans who still practice this custom tradition and that wear what is called “protective styles”, which I like to refer to as “convenient styles”, because I feel that these styles lends themselves to a situation of convenience rather than protection. Most stylist who perform this line of styling will actually instruct the practice of using oils on the scalp to their customers to alleviate itching and provide moisture, which oil doesn’t actually do. But what it is actually doing is creating an environment for infection that causes the itchiness that they’re trying to alleviate or avoid in the first place.
I’m not entirely against oils because they have their place. The opportunity I feel that the use of oils is if you’re going to use oils they need to be used responsibly like as a pre-treatment either the night before or a few hours prior to the shampoo & conditioning process or as a locking agent used to seal in moisture after it has been applied to the hair and or body, a method called “LCO”- liquid, cream, oil.
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 offer hair styling, and hair loss, hair shaft, and scalp conditions and disorders services in Pittsburgh Pa.
I first fell in love with my industry when I was a 7 year old little boy watching my mother get her hair done in our kitchen at home. There was guy that did all of the ladies hair in our neighborhood and he was really awesome at it too! I loved the way the women would respond once they’ve had their first look in the mirror after he would finish their hair. The way their smile would stretch across their faces and sometimes actually jump up and hug him with total happiness and excitement; it actually brought joy to my little heart too! I knew then that this was a feeling I wanted to reproduce for people over and over again as well. He would allow me to follow him from house to house and watch him work. I would learn different things from each style he would do and then I began to practice on my family and friends that would let me experiment and learn. With each style I got better and better.
Now I also thought that I wanted to be a doctor too while growing up. I was told by an older hair stylist that there wasn’t any money in being a hair stylist and that I should probably own the business if I wanted to go into that field, which kinda bummed me out and deterred me from hair for a while. So I focused my sights on the medical field researching and learning all I needed to do to be a doctor. I went through school getting good grades and maintaining an attractive reputation, which was something I was told to do by a doctor before; He said “son your reputation precedes you in this business so make sure you keep a good one”. Little did I know it’s the same concept for the hair industry as well. When it was time to go to college I received a 4 year scholarship to study biology pre-med and my mom was stoked! While in college I was the go to hair stylist on campus, I did everyone’s hair including some of the staff that worked there. So naturally becoming so popular as a hair stylist and making lots of money I began to miss my studies, which led to my grades dropping. I was put on academic probation and given one semester to bring up my grades. I now have to make a decision, do I bring up my grades to keep my scholarship and stay in college or do I actually follow my first passion and leave to attend beauty school. I chose beauty school.
While in beauty school I was introduced to something called trichology, which is the medical study of hair and scalp. This was soo intriguing to me. This was like the best of both worlds, hair and medical. I wanted to learn everything I could about trichology so in-between assignments in school I would watch all of the videos the school had on trichology, which were only like a handful. At the time there wasn’t much information or interest in trichology, and the only school I could find was in ATL( Atlanta Georgia ) and was a full two year program. I didn’t want to move to ATL to pursue this interest so I put it on the back burner for the time being…
I also met my first boss at the first professional salon I ever worked at. I helped her open up her salon and stayed there for about 6 years before I branched off and opened up my first salon.
It would be another 20 years of being in the hair industry before I would have the opportunity to actually study trichology, which the opportunity presented itself during the COVID shutdown. I came across an online school teaching trichology out of Australia, and since everything was online now due to COVID, I figured this might be my best opportunity to pursue trichology. I spent two years learning about the body systems, cellular functions and various hair loss and scalp conditions and disorders before becoming certified in trichology. I now have a budding trichology hair loss practice in addition to my hair salon services where I offer consultations, treatments, and treatment recommendations.
The problem I think I’m solving is partly debunking the stereotypical beliefs in hair and scalp health , specifically in the African American community. All of the customs and traditions that are practiced at large in the African American communities often lead to hair and scalp conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis, traction alopecia, CCCA- central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, just to name a few. . I talk to lots of doctors and collaborate in individual treatment plans for our shared clients. This work is extremely important to me. Having the tools, expertise, and experience to actually make a difference in an individuals life who is suffering from hair loss for various different reasons is honorable to me.
I spend time going to different beauty schools and vo-tech programs in high schools to teach and bring awareness to the different root causes of hair loss and scalp conditions and disorders. My hope is to create a training program for licensed cosmetologist specifically to help them identify the various hair loss and scalp conditions, learn how to treat them to increase their bottom lines and know when to refer them to a specialist such as myself or a dermatologist.
The thing I think I want most is to:
~Refresh the PERSPECTIVE on how people think and feel about hair loss and scalp conditions.
~Revive the PASSION for self-care and maintenance care for oneself.
~Renew the MINDSET when it comes to hair care and scalp care solutions.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
I started a referral program 20 years ago that took off like wild fire!
I started with a group of college students that were first year law students. I told them that if they would refer me 3 clients, and every 3 clients that was refereed, I would give them a free shampoo and style, but the client must mention their name when they came in, and the client would be responsible for keeping track of their 3 referrals. This was well before the magic of social media of course. Well I had one client that was referring students left and right! She had taken one of my business cards and placed it in the school bulletin with instructions stating that if you go to Tim let him know that I sent you please. She had so many people coming to me that I was beginning to be booked weeks out, and we had to set up a standing appointment for her because she now has so many referrals and free services that she didn’t have to reschedule anymore. She and I became good friends, and I didn’t mind giving her so many free services , because she was essentially building my clientele and business for me. I then extended that same referral concept to the new clients, which also did very well. The program had done so well that I had to increase the referral number from 3 to 5 clients. I was booked up to 3 months out by this point. I kept this program going for a few years, and even incorporated a punch card to help me keep track of all of the referrals. It eventually fizzled out over time, but I still have some of the same clients from back then to this day ask me when will I start the referral program back up? I just tell them that I don’t know lol, but get to work on it to see if it still works…
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
So the most recent moment that I can think of is COVID, which I’m sure everyone could agree on. For years I had ran my business on a call in and book with a receptionist process, which I was used to and very comfortable with. This would allow me and the client to be introduced to one another, and get a vibe or feel for one another. We would be able to screen out the bad apples so to speak and redirect them to another establishment more suitable to their needs if possible. This would also allow for questions to be answered on both ends to assist in scheduling. Well I had heard about , and even experienced a system called online booking for a while and it was suggested that I get onboard because it’s going to be the new way of life moving forward. It was about 2018 at this point with no sign of COVID in sight so it was hard to see that what I was being told was actually the truth and inevitable.
I looked into a few at the time and actually used style seat for about two years while working between Maryland and Pittsburgh, but never used it to it’s full potential. I asked a few people who were using them to get their review and got mixed reviews so I still wasn’t sold on the whole online booking thing. A new barber I was seeing at the time was using style seat at first and then switched over to acuity scheduling so I asked him why did he switch and what were the pro’s and con’s of each? He explained that he felt that style seat is exactly what the barber and stylist needed with all of the service features they offered you can tell style seat had them in mind during the creation, however they had too many hidden fees that weren’t clear upfront, which is the only reason he switched. He then explained that acuity was good ,but it wasn’t designed specifically for the stylist or barber, but rather it could be tailored to fit any user who wanted to book online and take payments. With this information in mind I looked at both systems in comparison in hopes that one of them would be the system for me if I had to use one in the future.
Fast forward to 2020 and we’re in the thick of the COVID pandemic. I was forced to shut down just as other non-essential businesses had to. I was told that upon reopening that we would be forced to take appointments and stare away from taking walk-in’s moving forward. So I figured this would be a perfect time to explore the online booking system. I decided to go with the acuity scheduling system, and spent the next 6 months building it out and preparing the clients that there will be a new scheduling system coming real soon. During this time of building out the system, I began to get a lot of no call no shows, and late cancellations. I thought to myself that the timing for the system was perfect, because for the first time in my career I’m going to be requiring deposits that will be non refundable, which should at least deter no call no shows and late cancellations, and give me some money on the appointment instead of me losing out completely.
It’s been 4 years now with using the system and I’m super glad that I made the decision to switch to online booking. I almost never get no call no shows or late cancellations since all deposits are non refundable. The systems frees me up from having to make confirmation calls, or having the need of hiring someone to make the calls for me. The system increased my bookings and visibility online. The system allows me to book clients on the spot while away from my computer,which is a game changer, because I could never do that before getting the system. I have people looking at the booking site and making appointments at 3am sometime, which I’m glad that they now have the ability to do so in their time. I’m constantly editing the system to keep up with the ever evolving industry, but I’m happy to do it since it allows me so much freedom and flexibility.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.salonbluellc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salon_blue/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-jones-86196884/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@salonblueshears
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@salonblueshears30?lang=en
