Ever wondered why you’re still doing what you’re doing? I have. I have asked myself that question many times and often it’s come with many different answers depending on where I was in my life.
The first time I asked myself this question was at the very beginning of my career. I started assisting a Master Stylist in a well-known salon. I watched, mostly, but was allowed to shampoo and style her clients so that she could book as many clients in a day as possible.
I quickly became aware that this was not how I wanted to work my days when I became able and confident to work on clients of my own. What I really wanted was to get to know my clients as real people, not numbers.
So, when I asked myself for the first time, why am I still doing what I’m doing? The answer was because I’m here to provide people with the best possible hair care and to give them the confidence they deserve when they look in the mirror. That’s why.
I wasn’t there to pull in the big bucks. I wasn’t there to cattle call my clients in and out of my chair. They trust me to do a job well done for them and I’m going to be there for them.
The second time I asked myself this question was out of fear. The salon I had been working in for the last few years had just turned over to new owners. I was renting my space part-time during my startup. The new owners were business-oriented but had never worked in a salon before. They had no knowledge of the salon biz AT ALL! This caused extreme uneasiness for me.
I was asked to double my weekly rent or kindly leave. For my plight as a startup stylist, there would be no sympathetic how can we make this work? I decided to stay at the salon, keep my rent the same, and took a chance on sharing a station with a total stranger. She paid half and so did I. Funny how things work out because we later became friends.
Fast forward to two more salon turnovers, yes, four in total! I began to have doubts and again I asked myself, Why am I doing what I’m doing?. This time, I answered back I don’t know.
I was no longer comfortable working in my environment. It extended to the personal aspect of my business—my clients. I hated that. I hated that the environment played such a huge roll in me wanting or not wanting to do what I loved it every day.
So, I heard through the grapevine that Backstage Hair Design had come available. And while I always said I would never own a salon, I started to backtrack and review the potential that this particular salon offered.
Would I be able to make it a success? How long would it take for me to make it successful? Would my clients welcome the idea? Could I manage the salon well enough that people would want to stay and make this salon their work home? Would they like me as an owner? Would the benefit outweigh the risks?
All of these new questions swarmed my thoughts. Can I do it?
Though the answer came much later in the process, because you never know until you try, it inevitably was, yes!
It’s been one year and six months since I became the owner. Not a day goes by that I still question some things, but I’ve yet to ask myself why am I still doing what I’m doing? Because I have so many positive reasons why I do.
With a little bit of elbow grease, some minor mishaps, and a few tears thrown into the mix, Backstage Hair Design has become a warm, charming salon where I love to come and do what I love to do every day, with people I love to work with.
