Attitude is Everything and Yours Sucks

Today, I finally am going to use your wonderful blog to “Say what I really want to say but can’t”  Why can’t I say what I really want to say?  Because the truth hurts and people will have bruised egos and just up and quit on me.  However, these things need to be said.  Who knows, maybe they are readers of this blog and will see this and think, “Hey, I am being a jerk too” and straighten up.

DO YOUR JOB.  It’s that simple.  You were hired to do a job.  Nothing that is required of you are things that I, as your boss/salon owner, would not do and do not do.  Everything I expect of you, I do myself, and then some.  Why must you all be so lazy?

Why must I feel like a parent, reminding a child to do their chores?  You are adults.  You see me doing it, setting the example, why can’t you do it?  I have the answer for you.  You are lazy.

It is very important to keep accurate client record cards, especially when we all do services on the same person from time to time.  Why are you too lazy to pull the client’s card from the file and instead you make a new card.  So, one person has six cards in all different places.  How is this efficient?  You’ve been told over and over to not do this, yet your laziness wins out every time.

Why must you spell the client’s name in the computer or on their card using your “Hooked on Phonics” method?  I mean I know some people spell their names differently, but come on, not every Linda is Lynda,  not every Kylie is kaileigh, not every Molly is Mollee, etc.  People love their name and it is an insult to them when you misspell their name.  How hard is it to say “Is that Carol with a C or K” or “How do you spell your name?”  Over and over again we go through this.  So in our computer, we have one client in there no less than six different ways.  How hard is it to figure out that one of the five already there that is spelled funky is HER and you don’t need to add another entry.

All of this laziness on your part is just creating more work for me and I am personally sick to death of it.  I don’t know what else to do.  I’ve asked over and over again for you to comply.  We are doing our client’s a disservice due to your laziness and lack of focus.

Quit acting like children and do you mother loving job.  I am tired of doing your job for you, however, I have no choice but to do it.  Keep it up, you will burn me out and I will close, then what will you do?  I am betting your next boss will not be as nice.

--Tired of Working With Inconsiderate Assholes

What is going on with our schools???

Reader Submission (Keep them coming!)

I just have to ask, "What the hell is going on in our schools?"  The students that they are putting out are PATHETIC.  As a salon owner, I realize that I need to train technicians that work in my salon, but OMG, these girls are pitiful even after doing 20 plus hours of one on one training with me.  They can't even polish a fingernail. Seriously.  I have proof.

Here is tech number one, who was let go after six months.  She never progressed.  These photos are from three months into her employment and after over 20 hours of training, constant communication on what she needs to do to be better and demonstrations on how to do things better.

Look at this lovely French polish.  Look at the wonderful shape of the nails.  Look at the ragged free edges and are you BLIND from the lack of cuticle care???

How would she even think that that was acceptable to let walk out the door?  So, we worked AGAIN on her French polish.  Still not better.

Finally, this photo was near the six month mark, right before she was let go.

So we take another new one on, because we all know that it's slim pickings out there.  My other two options were one girl with experience but that was 8 months pregnant and one that was 8 months pregnant with her FOURTH child.  I went with the new graduate because I needed someone now, not after maternity leave and I thought, once again, that I could mold this newbie.  Wrong.

I at least learned from past mistakes.  I was giving her 90 days.  Well 30 is all I needed.  I spent HOURS and  I mean HOURS working one on one with her.  I didn't have a day off in three weeks because my days off were spent working with this girl.  This is what I got.

No shape to the toenails, no trimming.  Polish isn't even to the cuticle.  When I showed her the pictures she said that the client wanted her nails that shape and didn't want them cut.  REALLY?  I explained to her that it is her job to advise the client that she needs her toe nails trimmed and shaped.

Now, over the past month I have preached over and over again, "If you get anything on the skin, remove it"  This is one of the last set of nails she did before she was let go.  HOLY product in the sidewalls and cuticle.  How can you even think this looks good?????

What the hell are they teaching them in school.  Obviously nothing.  This is pitiful.  These girls are LICENSED to do nails and hair too.  OMG I can't imagine what these two would do with hair!  I shudder to think.

I have taken it upon myself to contact the school and let them know how they are failing horribly in the nail department.  They just recently had a staff change and an "Old School" teacher finally retired.  I have been asked to sit on their advisory board and I have jumped at the chance.

Now I know that it's all about attitude too and that these two just weren't meant for the industry, however, they should NOT have been passed and shame on the state board for having such a lame test that these two actually hold a license!  Why should "I" have to be the one who suffers because I expect someone who graduated with a Cosmetology degree and passed our state board exam can actually polish nails.  I can't even imagine what the outcome would be when we tried enhancements.

So for now, I am going to continue to turn business away.  I am not going to subject myself to this torture again.  I will tell you one thing, the next person that applies for a job will have to go through a "try out" so to speak.  I am going to make them polish someone's nails and have them polish someone's toes and have them trim the nails.  If you can't do that, get the hell out of my salon.

--Signed - Why Can't I Clone Myself?

So, the rules don’t apply to you, huh?

So may salons think that rules don’t apply to them.  I just love that way of thinking.  They want to bitch and moan about the Non Standard Salons not following the rules, but then it is okay for them.

Case in point.  Feather Extensions.  This is a hair service, plain and simple.  In our state, it can only be done in a Cosmetology Salon.  A Nail Salon is for the beautification of the nails of the hands and feet.

Problem is, there are so many stupid salon owners out there that think that just because you are taking a feather, threading it through a crimping bead, threading hair through it and crimping the bead closed, that this is not a hair service. Um, think again.

Sorry, but your state board disagrees.  Consider yourself reported.  Expect to see an inspector at your door soon.  Better get that pedicure log up to date as well. 

Thieves

In this industry we deal with all kinds of thieves.  It depends on the level that you are in your career, which determines what level of thieves you experience.

If you are a salon owner, you probably experience the most common thief.  Every salon has good employees and every salon has a thief.  Every. Single. Salon.  Sometimes the thieves are found out and fired, other times, the thievery isn’t found out until the thief leaves.

Techs steal product all of the time.  A busy salon owner will pull their hair out when they go to the really large jug of monomer that they just got a week ago and there are a few drops left in the jug.  “But we have been really busy”, the staff will explain.  Not THAT busy!  That’s a lot of monomer to use in a week.

Brushes that are supplied to staff members will be missing when the tech isn’t at work, along with other products.  They are obviously doing nails on their off days, most likely their own, more than likely others, being paid on the sly.  Most salons allow you to do your own nails in the salon for no charge and family members for a small supply fee.  There is no reason to take salon supplies home with you unless you are stealing them.  It is never a good idea to travel back and forth with supplies, if you live in a warm climate, you can really mess up the quality of the product if you allow them in a hot car for a period of time.  So, even if the thief didn’t steal these products, most likely they will be ruined and will cost the salon money in the end anyways. 

Techs within the salon will try to steal other techs clients.  You see it all of the time, another tech goes on vacation or is sick and the shady tech will try to make the other tech look bad and try to get the client to rebook with her instead.

All of these examples above, are written from a Salon Owner’s point of view.  There are a number of instances that a Salon Owner has stolen from their staff.  If this has happened to you, I would love for you to write to me and share your experiences, anonymously, of course.

Moving on, you have techs that use photos of other technician’s work that they have found on the Internet and use them as examples of their work.  They use those photos in ads for their business.  How flipping lazy or untalented are you that you can’t use a photo of your own work?  I can understand using a company photo with the brand of the product that you use, that’s what they are provided for, and everyone knows you did not do the nails.   I can’t tell you how many shady people I have seen over the years use OBVIOUS photos of work that they didn’t do.  What happens when someone sees one of those photos and asks them to recreate the nails.  I would LOVE to see a photo of THOSE nails!

My favorite kind of thief is the one that steals all of your ideas.  One that has a salon and tries so hard to be exactly like your salon.  Right now I know of at least six Salon Owners going through this.  Yes, the idea thief may have worked in your salon at one time and learned a lot from you and your salon.  Instead of coming up with their own style or signature, so to say, they just copy what you do.  The joke is on them, though, because people see this and realize this.  How sad to be so unimaginative that you have to use Other People’s Ideas to better yourself or your business.  (How many people just got that?  Gold star if you do!)

It’s time for the thievery to stop.  Stop stealing from your Salon Owner.  Stop stealing from your Staff.  Stop stealing from each other.  Theft is still a crime and it is just plain wrong and it makes you nothing more than a See You Next Tuesday (Platinum star if you get that one!)

--Nancy

Striking a Nerve - The Truth Hurts

So, it looks like our last post struck a nerve with a few people.  I guess the truth does hurt when you read it.  The difference is, what do you do with it.  Do you get mad and lash out?  Do you try to get even?  Or, do you take a good, hard look in the mirror and try to learn from it?

Looks to me as though those who are offended will not learn from it.  We get comments like "who is the miserable bish who started this blog anyway?" and passive aggressive postings on Facebook.  This is the perfect example of WHY this blog is written and contributed to anonymously.  We even let you comment anonymously.

I have been around the block in the past 18 years.  I have seen a lot and I have spoken up a few times too.  When I did, I was scolded and ridiculed.  I've been told a few times that "I will never work in this industry "I" will make sure of it" just because I called someone out on their bullshit.  This happens every day.  These too big for their britches people will try to black ball you from the industry.  I have seen it happen over and over.  Some of these top guns are the biggest bullies there are.

So, this is why this blog is here.  It's a way for you to say what you want with no fear of people trying to black ball you from the industry.  It's a way to tell your client they are acting like a jackass without them taking offense that you are telling them that, they can read it and see that they are being a jackass.  It's a way to tell your salon owner that she is being unfair.  It's a way to tell your staff that they need to shape up without having them take offense and all walk out on you at once.  This blog is all about making peopler THINK about their actions.  It's about making our lives a better place.

By holding all of our frustrations in, we are not moving forward.  We are not progressing.  Some of these things NEED to be said.  These things NEED to be read.  We NEED a place to say these things without the fear of being blackballed, ridiculed, singled out or bullied.

So, I repeat, if anything in this blog offends you.......please march back the hallway, go into the bathroom and look in the mirror.  Does the truth hurt you?  If it does, what are you going to do about it?

Things I Have Learned as a Salon Owner

Yesterday, was the first day I actually considered throwing in the towel.  Closing the doors to my salon.  This was not because business is bad or we are losing money.  It is quite the opposite.  We are booming.  The reason for my feeling of defeat is due to employee problems.  A lack of good employees problem.

I have since shook it off, but I am not the same salon owner any more.  I have become one of “THOSE” salon owners now.  I am now not willing to want to give a chance to a new nail tech.  I am sick and tired of training them for months, only to have everything go in one ear and out the other.  I am sick and tired of them doing a crappy job, having to redo their work, having to give refunds, having to compensate clients for services they are unhappy with.

I have just experienced having a young tech in my salon for nearly six months.  We tried to mold her into a nail professional like the rest of our awesome staff.  We took her to classes, spent countless hours mentoring her, teaching her.  Still, she wasn’t getting it, applying product and polish with the hand flat on the table.

After six months, numerous complaints and requests from clients to not ever be rebooked with her again, a line was drawn with her.  Shape up or ship out.  The choice is yours.  YOU are in charge of your destiny.

Well, long story short, she decided to ship out.  She saw the writing on the wall.  She gave some lame excuse about school being so demanding this semester.  She is a collage student.  It was okay, I had my out.  I didn’t have to fire her and she could leave with some dignity.  She gave a two week notice.  It was very easy to reschedule the few appointments in her column after those two weeks.  We didn’t really schedule anything new for her.

Week one came and you could tell she was doing an even crappier job than normal.  She just didn’t care.   She works two days a week.   Final week comes and she is on day one of her final two days and announces to me that she can’t work the following day, her last day, due to school.  We have no where to put her few people.  She has left me high and dry.

I will now alter how I do things as a salon owner.  I will no longer employ someone who is going to college.  Period.  You are either in this profession or you are not.  You are not going to work for me while you go to college.  I want committed nail techs that want to make a career out of this.

I will never again honor a two week notice.  I am going to be one of those salon owners,  who tell you to get your things and go when you give two weeks notice.  A lot of people diss salon owners for this, but I NOW understand.  I will not allow you to do a crappy, bang up job for two weeks because you just don’t care any longer and you will never see these clients again.  I will not allow you to leave me high and dry at the last minute.

It is a sad state of affairs when a really good, compassionate salon owner is turned into a cold hearted bitch.  Future techs can thank the sins of irresponsible techs of times past.  As a salon owner, I have lived and I have learned. 

Signed – Live and Learn, Crash and Burn

Marketing Mistakes

As a Marketing Consultant, former salon owner and current, part-time Nail Professional, I cringe at some salons marketing strategies.  One of the biggest things that make me cringe is the misuse of Facebook.

If you are a salon owner and you have a salon profile for your salon, you make me cringe the most.  Profiles are for people, that’s why you add them as a friend.  Businesses are to have pages, and people click Like because they like the business.   If you do have a profile (where people add you as a friend and you approve them) you are in violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service.

First of all, if you are doing this, you are coming off as someone who has no clue how to run a business.  Second, your profile, which you have spent time approving people, promoting and marketing, uploading photos, etc., will eventually, be deleted by Facebook.  Sure, it may take awhile since there are so many uneducated business owners out there with profiles instead of pages, but trust me; it will catch up with you.

You will then cry and boo-hoo that Facebook deleted your account and all of your hard work is down the drain.  You were the one that was either too stupid to understand the TOS or you just flat out thumbed your nose at it.

I’ve heard the different reasons why salon owners choose a profile, the most common is that the salon owner wants to control who sees their salon information and photos.  Well I guess you don’t want new business because if you never approve anyone you don’t know, you will never get any new clients.  I mean the number one reason for marketing is to market yourself to your market.  Facebook is the perfect venue for this.

If you do want to keep things private then create a closed group, where you control who is allowed in.  You are then in compliance and will not run the risk of having all your hard work deleted some day.

So, if you have a Facebook profile for your business, get rid of it.  You look like a fool.  Get a page or if you don’t want new customers, form a group.  I would rather see you have NOTHING, than have a profile.

Signed – The Marketing Maven