We believe hair is a practice of self-care that requires a great relationship with a hairstylist. It is an investment in your happiness, confidence and identity. And to achieve the results you want - you need to trust and connect with your stylist.
The search for the right hairdresser is all about finding someone who is willing to listen to you; who will understand you. It's about finding the stylist who "gets" you and your hair.
Our goal is to make that search a little easier by taking the best possible care of hairdressers that we can. By taking better care of hairstylists, we create an environment for them to flourish and build trust and connection with their clients.
We put the stylist first in an innovative way - its a change for the industry.
Taking care of hairdressers...
STYLIST FIRST
Building a salon culture for stylists to flourish.
We follow a very simple premise - stylists will flourish when you build the right world for them to work and connect with clients.
In our experience, clients receive the best service when we create an environment for the stylist to be their best self. Hairdressers love taking care of people - it is what draws them to the industry.
The obstacles they often to face in caring for their clients is the structure of their work : low pay, long hours, double booking, dictatorial time standards, obsessive concern for "upsells" and poor team environments.
We are committed to building a salon where the ethics of self-care can flourish - built on the foundation of kindness and generosity. It starts with putting connection first and the first step is taking better care of stylists for our clients.
We call it Stylist first because it starts with a simple promise we make to each of our stylists: we are on your side.
Stylist First
ON THEIR SIDE
A culture built on connection and generosity
Connection.
We prioritize connection over productivity. We do not want systems, policies, or the pursuit of revenue to get in the way of stylists's connecting with their clients. People over policies!
We only double book in special circumstances, and only if necessary. And when a stylist tells us they need extra time because of the client's needs - they get extra time.
We do not track staff productivity. We do not measure stylists by their service or retail sales and we do not push them to meet benchmarks for revenue.
A stylist is only expected to excel at serving client needs; helping their teammates; growing as a stylist. That is our focus at all times.
Commission.
We do not pay commission. Stylists are paid a professional salary with a guaranteed income for the year. We offer them stability, raises, paid sick days and a trusting environment.
We found that commission interfered with the client relationship. So we removed the impetus for a stylist to see a client as a source of personal revenue. Their salary is not directly tied to the revenue they create as a stylist. They are paid as a team.
This gives them the freedom to take their time, adjust services, recommend products and services and they do not feel like they are being self-serving. It also gives them the freedom to take sick days, personal days, attend classes and not lose income because their team is supporting them.
Being on their side
Our first priority is the stylist. By taking care of their needs we create the best possible way for them to take care of the clients.
LEADING THE WAY
LEADING THE WAY
Transforming the industry for our stylists and our clients.
Leaders speak up.
To us, leading means taking a stand for the client and for equality. At the beginning of 2019, we introduced Gender Neutral Pricing, removing the price differences between men and woman, and enabling those who do not recognize traditional categories to feel comfortable and welcome.
By the end of 2020, we want the introduction of health benefits for our hairdressers to represent a new standard for the industry.
Leaders innovate.
We believe we can lead by embracing new technology and using that technology to enhance access to our services. This is why we introduced online booking in 2015, we launched our Express Colour services in 2016. We recently launched our Stylers text line, allowing clients to text us rather than phone as an additional convenience.
Leaders add energy and remove barriers.
We believe we can enhance the stylist-client relationship by removing commissions. Our team is paid a salary. One of the reasons we do this is for the client. You can be confident your stylist is recommending product and services because of what is good for you and your needs.
Leading is about making a difference.
We believe every salon has an opportunity to impact the industry and create change for all salons.
OUR VALUES
Community
We aim to contribute to making our city and our industry a better place to live and work
Freedom
Every business must contribute to the creation, preservation and iteration of freedom.
Teamwork
We are better together. Collaborate to enhance what is possible for all.
Kindness
Kindness scales.
Transparency
We believe an open studio is better.
Joy
A salon should be a place of joy - it should captive and excite.