Advanced education in the salon is nothing new. Many salons offer excellent programs to further their stylists’ skills in coloring, cutting and styling. Salons with spas often offer advanced classes for estheticians as well. But for some salon professionals, that’s not enough—many stylists want to develop their personal skills as well. And in the beauty industry, personal development can be instrumental in making or breaking a career.

The Studio owner Lisa Cochran

Karlie Carter, a stylist at The Studio Hattiesburg in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is a perfect example of someone who has benefited from personal development programs. The Studio owner, Lisa Cochran, says Carter blossomed so much under the salon’s curriculum that she recently sent her to an Aveda Boot Camp with Ric Wilson.“Karlie came to me and said she wanted to be a cutting coach,” says Cochran.” So she took a class for six months, and worked her tail off.

“It changed her life. She was a little insecure before and she transformed. It was a huge confidence booster for her—she is so poised now.”

Carter agrees the boot camp changed her for the better.“It was huge,” she says. “There were 17 of us at the boot camp, and it was so interesting to see what everyone discovered about themselves. Mine was letting loose a little bit—going with the flow and letting life happen—including the bad things, and learning from them.” Beyond learning new cutting skills, even just traveling by herself to the boot camp (a six-hour drive) was a whole new experience for Carter that she found empowering.

Making a Lifelong Impact

As an employee of The Studio Hattiesburg, Carter is no stranger to personal development. Cochran has found one of the keys to keeping her employees happy and loyal to her salon is to develop them personally as well as professionally. In the past three years, she has seen more than 20 percent growth in her business and 100 percent staff retention (she has 19 employees). One of the biggest development programs Cochran does is her yearly retreat.

This annual event takes place in October in a remote spot with cabins and no cellular reception—the whole staff attends. Cochran brings in guests who dive right into difficult topics and get her employees really thinking about themselves, their relationships and how it relates to their work. One year they brought in John Hickey from Neill Corporation and The Salon People who helped them work on their communication style. They have also brought in Michael Yost from Strategies to work on their core values.

Most recently, they spent two days going through the “Fierce Conversations” program with Candice Hoz. Cochran says it was uncomfortable, but pushed her and her staff in ways they would never push themselves. But that’s nothing new for a Studio retreat. The retreats are often eye-opening to the whole staff and bring them closer together in unexpected ways. For example, when they went through a program where they learned more about the different personalities on their team, they began to appreciate each other’s differences—especially when it came to the front desk.

Beyond the retreat, Cochran has several other practices in place to keep her employees motivated and driven to be their best selves. During daily morning huddles, she spends 10 minutes communicating the goals of the day to her staff, and every Wednesday is staff development. On these days, from 9am to 10:30am the phones are turned off, the salon is closed and everyone from the whole company is present. “In these weekly meetings we talk about goals—re-evaluate them if needed, and come together to work on our company. Once a month an Aveda advisor joins the meetings and the team goes over Aveda-related business.”

Another aspect of personal development at The Studio is financial. After realizing many of her employees had long-term goals like buying a home, but didn’t know how to achieve them, Cochran decided to do something about it. “We were also inspired to help because of our own financial problems in 2004-2006 and our recovery,” says Cochran of creating a financial program to teach her staff how to manage their money. “I saw a lot of young stylists start to make money and just blow it,” she says. “It’s the first time they’ve left home and they just get into debt right away. So we teach them to live within their means.”

Cochran follows her own advice and is working to make The Studio a debt-free company. “As debt disappears, we add benefits for our employees,” she says. In the second half of 2015, a 401k plan is the latest benefit her staff will enjoy.  

An Investment in People As a salon owner, it’s pretty easy to remain status quo, let your stylists grow their technical skills and just deal with the drama as it comes. Developing your staff personally by exploring communication styles, having “fierce conversations” and defining core values is hard work. So is it worth it? For her company, Cochran feels personal development is a must. “I felt we were growing and needed to understand all the personalities, gifts and strengths of everyone,” she says.

“We wanted a diverse culture,” she adds. “There are so many people my age who are fearful of the next generation, but I’m a big fan of them because of how unique and creative they are. They’re so resourceful and talented, but I needed to understand them and how to communicate with them, which is how we developed the theme of some of our retreats.

Cochran also acknowledges the absence of the type of drama other salons have. She attributes it directly to developing her staff personally. “The ‘Fierce Conversations’ class was hands-down the hardest we’ve ever done,” she says. “ It changed us—a class like this can take your culture up a notch. We learned to speak more honestly.”

Through one of their other retreats, Cochran also learned she has a staff who thrives on structure—so they have tons of it. “I realized I needed more guidelines, which pushed me in a direction to dig deeper and make foundations stronger as we grow so we all speak the same language, whether you’re a 15-year veteran or a brand-new stylist.”  Cochran also takes employees to Serious Business every year—this year she’s taking eight. “That’s another huge part of development,” she says. Deciding who gets to go can be tough, but Cochran has a system. “I really believe in developing your front desk, as they are responsible for retention, productivity, etc, so I always take them in addition to others who I feel will benefit from it.  For some who may be struggling, this event can be life changing,” she adds.

The time, energy and money Cochran has put into her employees’ personal development is paying off in a lot of ways. In addition to a big remodel, she’s opening a second location, which has allowed her to expand hours of operation. “We know our culture and values,” she says. “We learned through our retreat that family is our number-one value.”

The new hours allow stylists to work the hours that fit in with their lifestyle, which is a huge benefit. Another benefit that goes hand in hand with family values is the six-weeks-paid maternity leave Cochran recently began offering. But ultimately, the personal development that stylists find most beneficial at The Studio comes from Cochran herself. Whether it’s sending an employee like Carter to Aveda Boot Camp, getting a stylist certified in extensions, or simply recommending a book to a stylist who needs to soften her edges, Cochran is always tuned into each of her employees’ specific needs.

“I like to look individually at goals and dreams, see where they need to grow, and help them map it out,” she says. And for her employees, the future is always bright.