That’s cool, that’s fine. I don’t expect any person who sits in my chair to know a THING about my schooling, my education, the amount of money I paid, or the time I invested into it. However, I do severely have a problem with anyone who is willing to sit down and act like they know anything about the industry as it is for most individuals working in it if they have not.
When this comment was left on my good friend Kelsi’s blog (specifically in response to this article), I took it upon myself to respond publicly on mine in order to provide a little bit of insight for everyone.
This article seems to be written solely from the stylist point of view. Here’s what I think. I pay $165.00 for a foil highlight and a cut. The hairdresser spends about 1 hour and 35 minutes on me. That is an equivalent pay rate of about $150,000 per year…then I left a tip of $20.00. Not bad money considering you only have to go to school for six months to be a hairdresser.
Well yes, this is salon etiquette for clients. Obviously, it is written from a stylist’s point of view in how it pertains to their day, and how to make your life as a client easier, as well as theirs as a stylist. $165 for a foil highlight and a cut, okay…. Now you do realize…. The stylist does not take home all (if any) of this money? Many stylists are paid an hourly wage, and they are LUCKY if it is more than minimum wage. The rest of us pay a rental fee — which is a few HUNDRED dollars a month, or a percentage of our income. If we rent, we pay for our own products and tools we use with no help from the salon. That color? We pay for it. It is not included in the rental fee (at least in most cases).
We also have to account for the amount of product used, the cost of the product (more expensive than you probably think), the fact we have to have our shears sharpened regularly (also not free), our license upkeep (we have to pay for continuing education which varies state to state as far as requirements go — the classes for continuing education are not free, and neither is the cost of our license that has to be renewed. If we rent a chair or own a salon, we also need a personal salon license on top of our cosmetology license).
Sure, the tip is all ours, but unfortunately at the end of the year we have to pay taxes on it since it is income. Not to mention, I don’t know how you figure $150,000 a year especially factoring in all of those additional costs. That would mean that we would need a full booked clientelle — this doesn’t happen every day, especially right out of school. There are times during the day we have no clients and spend our time cleaning.
Speaking of school, six months my ass. My program was 15 months, 37 hours a week (after half an hour for five days was taken out every day). It was costly, time-consuming (making it very hard to care for everything I need to after I had to also work a job to pay for my bills). It is pretty much a full time job WE PAY FOR. Let’s also not forget we have to learn anatomy, physiology, nail diseases, hair disorders, electricity, and chemistry. Yes, all those courses are required for a cosmetology license. We have more training than the EMT picking you up in the ambulance (at least in most states).
You people are not Lawyers, Doctors or Rocket Scientists…!!!!! Get over yourself! You need to build a little cushion into your day for clients that take a little longer or are a little late. At those prices you should go to the clients house…never mind wining if someone is ten minutes late or shows up too early you have got to be kidding!!! Wa wa cry me a river and welcome to the real world where actual professionals don’t get breaks! Then on top of all your attitude when I have noticed the industry standard on a full foil is to do lots around the face, hardly any in back and mostly nothing in the under layers..so later if you want to put your hair up you have a nice dark spot where they didn’t bother to highlight. What a scam.
Hold up a second. LOL. Okay.
None of us ever said we were doctors, lawyers, or rocket scientists (none of which need to be capitalized, by the way), so there is no necessary reason to “get over ourselves.” There is absolutely NO reason we need to make a cushion for clients who are late — that is infringing on time we could have spent doing other clients, and we have possibly turned away OTHER CLIENTS TO MAKE TIME FOR YOU. Don’t forget about the other client coming in after you who wants to have a full salon experience, and we don’t want to make them wait on account of your tardiness. How that is fair to our other clients is beyond me.
For the record, those of us with full clientelle rarely get breaks. Smoke? That sucks. Low blood sugar? Hope you brought a granola bar to take a bite of between clients. I’ve only been doing hair for a couple of years and have this problem on the weekends due to walk-ins. Not that I’m complaining, I like being busy — we all do. But if we are taking a break (and some businesses will simply take out a half hour lunch if you didn’t take it, then the stylist isn’t getting paid for work they ARE doing) we need to make sure we have the time to do it. I’m sure you understand that much — especially if the stylist is getting paid hourly.
As for that being the “industry standard.”…. Hardly. If that is what you are getting at the salon you are going to, and you are dissatisfied, I have a suggestion for you — find another stylist. If you are not happy with the service you receive, you can take it up with your stylist or simply find someone else. And if you take it up with your stylist and they do not change the way they’re doing your service to be more suitable for you, then dammit find someone who will listen to you. There are different foil techniques (tons, tons, tons, tons, tons) that suit different face shapes and personal styles. Your stylist (if a good and caring stylist) will make sure to get something that suits your personal style and face shape.
Those of us who take this job seriously listen very closely to our clients to try to give them the best service that we are capable of. YOU are our walking billboards, the way we get more clients in our chair, and can bring in more money. If you aren’t happy, surely you are not going to recommend us to your friends and family — this is hardly what we want, and definitely isn’t what you want. Find someone who will listen. There are stylists few and far between that won’t pay attention to what you want, and won’t ask questions, and won’t make sure you’re happy. If you encounter one, don’t give them repeat business, go to someone who cares and deserves that small addition to their income!
If you continuously see the same stylist and are never happy with the results, it is your fault for not finding someone who will give you what you need, there is no way that is the only stylist in your county!
This is lengthy, I know, but I took great offense to this comment. This person knows nothing of the industry.
Most of us take home less than $20,000 a year. That is considered below poverty level. For something we went to school for. If we’ve been doing it for years, I promise you it is because we love it.
This comment was obviously left by someone who has very little (if any) knowledge of the industry, and I know that isn’t everyone, if even most people. I get more praise for doing what I do than anything, but I felt it necessary to do some educating to everyone in regards to this matter. If this commenter thinks it, they can’t be the only one, right?
I love hair, I love sales, I love make up, I love being able to talk to a variety of different people every day and learn new things not only about this industry, but about people in general. I have so many wonderful conversations that I have only ever had the opportunity doing working a salon and touring. This is why these are the industries I will work in until I retire (if I ever do that!).
You want us to get over ourselves, we feel like we’re no better than you. Don’t treat us with such disrespect when you know nothing about our industry. An educated opinion is ignorant, irrelevant, and insulting.
LIVE&LOVE
