AHP Indie Stylist

Volume 1, Issue 1

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30 indie stylist Volume 1 Issue 1 We realized that, as leaders in our community, we had to step up. We have stylists, salons, and schools looking to us for guidance in an unprecedented time, and we can help. It turns out that we have been preparing for this moment for years. We've been producing high-value salon education for almost 15 years, and for the last four years we've also been hosting weekly live interactive training online for elite facilitators. We've gotten really good at it. In many ways it's more powerful than the conventional classroom setting. By necessity, it's better organized, more engaging, and highly efficient. Everybody's questions get answered, and nobody has to travel. Six weeks ago, we were hosting a live session once a week; now we're doing four a week. On top of that, we are producing live events for other companies. We appreciate being able to support them in supporting their own people. We take care of the entire production so they can focus on their message. Being a small and nimble company, we shifted on a dime, and now we're training educators to deliver in the new reality of online learning—and we're producing massive live events for manufacturers. IS: What are you doing to keep your business moving forward? CB: While I am and always will be a hairdresser at heart, I know I was put on this earth to teach. I believe in servant leadership. Our mission is to serve hairdressers and educators in becoming better at their craft. We believe in the ripple effect. Like a pebble dropped in a lake, our wave is felt on the other shore. By creating better educators, we elevate the entire industry. Fifteen years ago, we produced the best- selling Fuel for Design program, followed by Fuel for Finishing, and they now live online at TrainersPlaybook.com. Since then we have developed the Global Peak-Performance System and the Superstar Educator program, and our focus has been on really elevating the game for salon education. So much of what we do is based online to make it accessible to everyone, so this global health crisis has really been galvanizing for us to give everyone in our industry the ability and the motivation to keep learning. Now is not the time to get knocked down by the lockdown. When things open up again, you better be ready. Right now we are hosting weekly classes online for stylists (Stylist Toolbox LIVE) and educators (Facilitating Like a Boss). We just finished a sold-out, two- day intensive for educators, which we'll certainly be doing again soon as The Virtual Educator. The biggest change has been producing events for other companies. Our skills are suddenly in high demand. A week ago, we hosted a manufacturer event for over a thousand stylists, and we're now doing up to 10 events per week. We've developed scalable systems that allow us to work with up to 10,000 people in countries all over the world. And we don't have to travel. And I get to use my own coffee mug. And people are getting education that doesn't feel like a compromise. That's huge. Without exaggeration, we've never been busier and I love it. IS: What advice can you give independent hairstylists as they prepare to see clients? CB: The lesson we've learned is to evolve as fast as you can. The reality is that we will lose some salons, and it won't be from a lack of clients. It will be from a lack of planning on how to deal with a flood of them. Here are some things to think about: • Your time is everything. • Right now is not too soon to start executing your plan. • As a solo stylist, it's possible you will have to provide your own protective equipment to meet government safety requirements—masks, disposable towels and capes, plastic wrap for chairs. • We live in a litigious time. Have you met with an attorney to draw up a client release?

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