Interview With Wendy McCown & Lensi White

Wendy’s path from stylist to salon owner

Rebekah: I have amazing friends here with me today, Wendy and Lensi from Louisiana. Lensi is an independent salon owner, and Wendy has owned a salon for over 25 years, and now she owns a studio space for independent salon owners. So welcome.

Wendy: Thank you. I’m so excited.

Rebekah: We’ll start with Wendy. Tell us a little bit about your journey as a salon owner, and how you went from behind the chair yourself to stepping away from the chair, then selling your salon, to now opening a space for individual salon owners.

Wendy: I graduated high school and then went straight to hair school. After hair school, I worked out of a commission salon for several years. Then when I was 22, I decided to open my own salon, and it was wonderful. I loved it. I had that for 27 years and just recently sold it.

Basically, it was just a lot of hard work, creating systems. We started from no systems, no nothing. We just had good work ethic and really were about the customer service, treating people well, really making people feel special. Over the years we were able to win awards, grow, and charge more than most people in our area. I loved it.

I retired my shears about 15 years before I sold the salon, because I wanted to spend more time working on the business than in the business. At that point we created a three-day work week, where the stylists would work just three days a week. A lot of them did very well financially. We had a W-2 employee salon, a commission salon, and it was wonderful. I loved it.

Then I was ready to sell the salon, so I did that and transitioned. Now we opened some studios where individual stylists, independents, can rent space from us, and I love that as well.

I would just say that much of it was just hard work and knowing how to treat people well. I always said 80% is the personality and 20% is talent. If we know how to treat people well, connect with them and make them feel special, you can charge. Good clients appreciate that. [inaudible]

The talent’s very important too, so we really trained our people. They would come in alongside me, and then gradually we had other people. Lensi was one of the stylists in the salon who helped train our stylists.

Lensi: And I was trained by her.

Wendy: It’s real important to have education, and the clients appreciate the education. They want to know that their stylist is trained and educated. What a fun industry to be in. It really is. I retired from being at the salon every day, and I love that now I get to work with just independents and teach them and show them. So much fun.

Lensi’s start, Fashion Week and opening her own studio

Rebekah: I do want to talk about the three-day work week, but let’s go ahead and I’ll introduce Lensi. Lensi, tell us a little bit about your journey. I know you have a pretty amazing background too. You’ve gotten to work on a lot of different things like New York Fashion Week, you got to do hair with Ted Gibson, and you did a lot with Bumble and bumble. There’s quite a lot on your resume. [inaudible] Talk a little bit about your journey as well.

Lensi: I guess I started at nine years old working for Wendy in the salon, starting with answering the phones. I remember I would check people in on her paper book. It was all paper back then.

Then eventually I went to hair school. I actually didn’t [inaudible] hair school, to be honest. I was going to college and doing that thing and really enjoying it. But Wendy and my mom kept saying, hey, you need to go to hair school. And I was like, I don’t want to do that, because Wendy does that, and I’m going to do something different. Plus, I was made to work in the salon when I was in high school, instead of hanging out with friends in between practice and school. I had to be in the salon. I liked it, but [inaudible] I was like, I want to do something different.

Then Mom and Wendy really encouraged me to go to hair school, and I ended up falling in love with it, because I always loved art, and that’s basically what we get to do every day. We get to create, and I love creating. I like being creative, and I feel like the hair industry was just that, which I didn’t realize. So I’m very grateful that Wendy and my mom talked me into that, and it opened up all kinds of doors since then.

It’s been really fun. A lot of hard work, learning a whole bunch, because when I started I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know how to talk to people and how to treat people. I’m the youngest of four girls. I was very shy. I didn’t really make eye contact. I didn’t really like talking to a lot of people. I was just shy. So Wendy being a salon owner really helped me with all of that.

For me, my journey was really just getting under her wing and learning how she treated her clients. That was really big for me. If I wouldn’t have had a mentor, I wouldn’t be where I’m at. Just getting with somebody that’s been there, done it, is what I think really helped me to bloom into the stylist that I am today. I’m very strong on that now that I have my own place. I’m all about people really learning and growing before they just spread their wings and fly. So that’s my journey.

I worked at Wendy’s salon for, I guess, 16 years, and did some education over there. Then when Wendy sold her salon and opened up the studios next door, it just made sense for me to go ahead and do my own studio.

That was really scary. I’ll say thank you also to Rebekah. She’s honestly the one that made me spread my wings, because the opportunities were there, but I was honestly very scared to do my own thing. It’s so comforting and comfortable to work in a commission salon where everything’s done for you, and you do really well. You do your work, you go home. It’s really easy. But you don’t grow in your comfort zone. So with Rebekah’s guidance and coaching, she really helped me spread my wings, like, hey, we’re moving tomorrow, you’re going into your studio tomorrow. So that’s how I got there. A year ago tomorrow is when I moved in. I always remember April 5th is when I moved in there.

I started in Wendy’s individual studios and loved it. It was really great. You’ve got [inaudible], you’ve got the two chairs, everything to organize all your color, everything in the room. So it was really nice to start there. Wendy also has a larger room, so now we have grown out of that one and went to the larger one.

And yes, like you said, I was able to have a lot of doors open along the way for me to do different things, and I just walked through them. Since they were there, I just went ahead and did it. I got to work Fashion Week a lot of different seasons. I worked as first assistant for Laurent Philippon, which has always been a huge blessing, because he’s really cool to learn from. I’ve had a lot of neat things. It’s been fun.

When you’re working on clients, doing all these other things helps bring the inspiration back to them. When you go and do all these other bigger things, you bring it back to your clients and they really value that. And I’m able to do, I feel like, more for them. I’m more creative because of it.

Rebekah: So you’re saying it’s opened up creativity. It’s given you influence that you didn’t have just from being in the salon, a different perspective, and it helped expand your creative vision.

Lensi: Absolutely.

The three-day work week and the Salon Today cover

Rebekah: I have here Salon Today, with Wendy on the cover, which was awesome. How did this come about, Wendy? Tell us a little bit about how this started.

Wendy: It was in 2012, so it’s been a while back. We had a meeting in the salon and we said, what can we do to make this a lot better? We were really thriving then, growing, with a lot of good employees. Some of our employees were having kids, and someone said, I’d like to work less, maybe three days a week. I was thinking, oh boy. But we did ask, and we had to explore the thoughts.

So a few of us took a little retreat. We took the weekend to look at it all, and we said, you know what, we could do a three-day work week. At the time we were working about four and a half days. So I said, we could gradually titrate down from four and a half to four, four to three and a half, three and a half to three, over maybe a six-month or even a year period. It was a while.

They gradually went up on their prices and started working less. We were pretty efficient before, but we worked on efficiency even more. Our little tagline was “make more, work less,” and “higher profits, happier staff.” The team just loved it.

Anyway, long story short, we won awards, and we’re very grateful for a lot of national things. With Salon Today magazine, we won the Top 200 for a bunch of years. I don’t remember exactly how many, but one year they chose to put us on the cover. In the middle of the magazine there’s Lensi, myself and [inaudible]. We had two managers then. [inaudible] the three-day work week.

We actually started consulting and helping people in their salons learn how to be real efficient and make money, and teaching the stylists to be very successful as well. I always said the salon doesn’t make money, the stylists make money.

Some people want to have their own business. Over the years I’ve seen that more and more, so we’re providing a place where people can have their own business. It’s a lot of work, I’ll say that. When you work in a commission salon, it’s all done for you and you can still make a lot of money. But not everybody likes that. Some people want the freedom to make their own hours and all that stuff.

I guess advice I would give to a newer stylist would be that it’s important to work in a place that’s got that structure, whether that’s working with an independent who’s already very successful so you get to learn from them, or an environment with a lot of employees where there’s good leadership and you can learn. There are so many facets. Again, it’s not about the hair so much. Clients want to know that you do a good job, but there are so many people skills and professionalism. You have to work in a place where all the bases are getting covered, as far as a professional environment.

So I would just encourage people to try to find a place like that to work in, or hire a coach, someone that can help you. It saves so much time. Over the years we’ve had a lot of coaches. Rebekah was a coach at Signatures for a season, and it was just so good. So I just encourage people to find a person that can help mentor them and help them see things they might not see, to help them get to that next level.

A stylist can do very well. They can make a lot of money. I remember when I first started, people were like, oh, when are you going to school? I had already graduated and was working at a salon, and they just didn’t see a salon professional as a real professional. It just took time for people to see that. But you can be very successful.

Rebekah: Well, to be one of the top 200 salons shows that you are, because there’s quite a lot you have to measure up to even to get that award. So congratulations for having it so many years. Your salon obviously brought in the right amount to even be qualified, because I know there’s a lot of criteria to be considered one of their top 200 salons.

I know after COVID there was a lot of change in the industry. A lot more people didn’t want to work as much, so I’ve heard these kinds of conversations coming up even more lately. When people came back from not having to go into the office or the space, they were hesitant to do it full time like they used to. But this was obviously way before COVID that you started the three-day work week. Were they able to actually make enough money just by working three days?

Wendy: Nobody made less. They all made more, and they worked less. But it was a titration of going down in that many days and charging more over time. So yeah, they all made more, and they loved it.

At COVID, the salon was so busy. We even had [inaudible] where people could buy a hair color and do a [inaudible]. Anyway, we did all kinds of things. You always have to think out of the box. Always having to be creative and do things that are out-of-the-box thinking.

Even working as an independent, you can work three days and be very successful. So the three-day work week doesn’t just work for a commission salon. It works for anybody, because hey, we all want to have balance and be able to do the things we truly enjoy. The more professional and better job you do for your clients, the more you can charge, the fewer clients you have to have, and the more you can be home.

The way that it worked at Signatures is the girls worked Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week, and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday the next week. So every other weekend they had a three-day weekend, and they just worked three days a week. They loved it. And we did coach it for a little bit. That was fun. I think it definitely works for anybody who wants to, but you have to be an organized person to work that way.

How to set up a three-day week

Rebekah: So if a salon owner is interested in bringing that in, what would you recommend they do to get started?

Wendy: I think it’s important to have a good structure in the salon. Everybody has to know their responsibilities and what needs to be done. You need to have a good front desk system, whether that’s you answering the phone or someone else. Basically, here’s where I work, I work these days, and I need to see the most amount of people in these days. So it’s a matter of double booking. I see a color, [inaudible]. So a lot of it is in how the booking works.

Then it’s in the conversations we have with our clients on why we’re charging more. We have to be able to have those conversations, not just [inaudible] on them. All the while, the girls were getting continued education. They were traveling to New York, doing online and all kinds of classes. We did a lot of in-salon classes on why we charge more. So we’re having those conversations. We’re going up on our prices, we’re charging more, we’re working less.

What we did at the salon: we only had at that time two, four, six, maybe eight stations, but we were able to hire 16 stylists. So the salon’s overhead didn’t go up much, but the profit increased. The salon doesn’t make a lot of profit, really. It’s like 10 percent or even less, and the average salon may make as little as five. So we were able to get our gross up. The gross went up, so the net, the 10 percent of the gross, was a lot more than what it was before. Again, the salon was happier, the employees were happier, and the profits were higher for everybody.

So I would just say there’s got to be a lot of order, whoever’s booking, whether you’re booking your own appointments or having someone help. There are a lot of things involved with it, but basically it’s that efficiency piece. You’ve got to learn to be real efficient.

Lensi: I will say, when you’re talking about the three-day work week, before that I was working five days a week. By that fifth day, my feet might be hurting or my back might be hurting a little bit. So maybe on that fifth day, if there’s a gap, I’d tell the front desk, it’s okay if that doesn’t get filled, you don’t have to squeeze something in right there, because I’ve already worked a whole week and I’m kind of tired. You don’t want to book as tightly as you would on Monday.

When I switched to three days, I didn’t want to have even one 10-minute spot. If there was even a 10-minute spot, I was at the front desk. [inaudible]

Wendy: So it’s like, okay, I’ve got to get it, I’ve got to get it. Because otherwise, like Lensi’s saying, they want to hang out in the break room and not see clients because they’re tired or whatever. So it was never any of that. You want to be super efficient. I guess you could be super efficient on five days, but no matter what, over time you get tired.

Rebekah: That’s interesting. So what you’re saying is that people would actually have more motivation, and they would probably do a better job, because they knew, I only have these three days to get everybody in. So you’re on top of it instead of wasting time in the break room, or the broke room. You’re having to be more disciplined and more efficient. It’s almost like their mindset was different. I’ve heard it said that however much time you allow for something is how much time it’ll take. So when they don’t have a lot of time to allow, they have more discipline and push it all into that.

Wendy: Yep. And if somebody wanted to work more, and some did, then we would allow them to work extra if we had a chair available. But most of them were happy with the three days that they worked. They all did very well.

Rebekah: So are you saying they made more in the three days than they did in the five days?

Wendy: Yeah.

Lensi: I was one of those stylists that did better with three days, because I had a different mindset. And they would teach us little ways to be more efficient, so we could do that.

Wendy: Yeah, so we did a lot of training on efficiency.

Lensi: I even got down to, right before I moved into my own place, two days a week, and I didn’t notice that much difference. So it was kind of cool.

Rebekah: That’s a mindset. Everybody’s working on that same energy. It kind of kicks laziness out the door, right?

Advice for opening a salon with employees

Rebekah: Wendy, what would you say is your advice for someone starting out opening a full service salon?

Wendy: Like a full service salon, their own studio, or with employees?

Rebekah: With employees. If there was one piece of advice that’s probably the most important thing you learned through having your own salon, what would that be?

Wendy: I would say you’ve got to want everybody to win more than you want to win yourself, if that makes sense. You’ve got to be willing to be selfless and pour into others, because really the salon owner doesn’t win until the employees win. It’s always like a ship rises together. You can’t have islands. Teamwork is very important, and the owner has to be a very selfless kind of person, because it is a lot of work.

It’s one thing to be a stylist and to be busy with your own clients. It’s a totally different thing to have employees who have their clients, and now you’re trying to oversee the whole shebang. There came a time, probably 10 or maybe 10 to 15 years into having the salon, that I retired my shears, because it needed so much work that I wasn’t able to do everything I needed to do for the business and see my clients. So I gradually titrated down to zero days a week.

So I would just say be willing to be selfless, because it’s a lot of work, and it’s not about you. It’s about the clients. You almost have to become the one making sure everything is always going smoothly. So really decide if that’s what you want to do, or if you want to be an independent.

In the studios we have some that are just independent. It’s them, [inaudible]. They go in, they do their thing. Very simple, very, very simple. Or you have some who want to have people who work with them, and then you have to start deciding, do I do payroll taxes, [inaudible], what do I have to do law-wise? There are a lot more things that come into play when you have people that work with you. You have to start thinking about them and their personalities and their clients. There’s a whole lot more to think about.

So you have to think about how you want to trade your time, because what we’re doing is trading time for dollars. Where do I want to spend my time? Do I want to spend my time with just clients, where I can charge and then go home and not worry about the other stuff? Or do I want to spend my time growing a group of people with me? That’s a whole other skill set. It’s a whole other hat to wear. Hats, multiple, plural. But some people want to do that. I did, I wanted to do it, and I loved it. But then I got tired, and I was like, okay, moving on to something different.

So I think you count all the costs and consider before you get into it, because you always want to be thinking about how you land the plane before you even get the plane off the ground. I was too young to think about that. I was 22 when I started my salon. I was just trying to think how to get it up as high as I could, and I got it up as high as I really wanted to get it. Then it was like, okay, how do I land, land, land? And I did. I was able to sell it and walk away, and it’s still going very successfully today. So I would just consider all those things.

Rebekah: You made some really great points. It is a different mindset when you’re an independent versus when you have a team. Even if you have a team, if you’re still behind the chair, you still have that mindset of an artist and your own work, versus stepping away from it and really thinking about the people you’re raising up. That’s really what you ended up doing. You said, okay, now it’s time for me to be more of a mentor and help raise up other people. I know you raised up Lensi to be the great stylist she is today, and now she’s independent. It does take that heart of serving others and really stepping into that place of wanting to be not just an artist, but a mentor.

Wendy: Yes, and wanting people to be even better than you.

Rebekah: Yeah, you can’t have any sort of jealousy or any sort of competition with them. I think that’s why, when someone does step away from the chair, sometimes it’s really hard for them. I’ve talked to a lot of salon owners who say, I can’t step away. They have too much of an artist mindset, or really a hairdresser mindset, where they want to continue with their own work as an artist versus stepping into that role. If you stay behind the chair, there’s that balance of your team versus your own work, and it’s probably hard to juggle. That’s probably why you came to that place where you said, okay, I have to lay these down and step into this new role, because it’s two sides of your brain working, right?

Wendy: And I always thought I couldn’t lay my shears down because the clients were so attached to me. But after I did it, I realized I could have done it five years prior. So really, whatever you put your mind to, you can do. You may have to have a coach to walk you through it and show you how to do it, but it can be done.

[inaudible] I could never sell the salon because it was so much a part of my identity. And Rebekah, you helped us with that part. But I did, I sold it, and now I’m doing other things, and I’m grateful that I did.

So I think you just have to, well, we’re big on prayer. Just pray, and [inaudible] show you what He wants you to do. Then there is a way to do it. You just have to decide and pray, and He’ll show you the steps.

Creating a client experience in Lensi’s studio

Rebekah: So Lensi, now that you’ve had your space for a year and it has upgraded, I love what I’ve been seeing online. The luxury of it. It’s such an amazing space. It’s gorgeous, it’s expensive looking, it’s something unique. I don’t see that in a lot of places. Tell us how that’s been going and what you’ve learned along the way so far.

Lensi: It’s been super fun. A lot of work, like you and Wendy explained it would be. But I think it’s so worth it, getting to create a space that reflects who you are, for your clients. That’s been really fun.

Rebekah: You went from being in a little room, and now it’s this experience. I’ve seen people sitting there watching a movie or something while they’re getting their hair done. You’ve created a space for an experience. Talk a little bit about that.

Lensi: I like that you said that, because that’s one of the things we love about having the space we have. Not only do we get to give them great haircuts, but we also get to give them an experience, and I feel like people will pay more for an experience than just a haircut. I know I would. I’m all about that in customer service. We love getting to serve our clients and make sure everything is the best for them.

Like we were talking about earlier, it’s getting to create that space for them to come and rest and relax and get away from the busyness of the world. It’s been really neat to have a space for our clients to just get away. Getting your hair done is a luxury. It’s not just a cut these days. People are so busy and their time is very valuable, so why not make the time they’re with us a little bit more than what they’re used to getting?

Rebekah: Walk us through what they experience now that’s different from when you were behind the chair in a full service salon. I know you used to talk about the smells, all the different sensations they’re going to experience.

Lensi: As soon as you walk in, even the lighting is a little bit softer, a little bit warmer. It’s not too harsh and bright. I feel like lighting is really important. So the second you walk in, it just feels a little bit softer because of that.

I love the smell thing. I think it’s important. There’s still a lot more research to be done, but different scents and smells matter. In our salon, I won’t allow [name unclear], or excuse me, I’ll say I won’t allow food in our salon, because it smells up the whole salon. If they walk in and smell pizza, that doesn’t give them that luxury experience. I remember Wendy and them went to a salon years ago that did the same thing. They wouldn’t allow their stylists to have food in there, because it smells up the whole salon. There’s another room she can go and eat in where it doesn’t get in the salon. I just think it’s better to always have a pleasant smell when you walk in, so every guest always has that same experience.

I learned that from Wendy too. You want your first client, your middle client, your last client, all the clients to have that same 10-star level experience.

So the lighting I think is really important. I love the really soft music. I think it starts the relaxation process for them. We also have a projector on the wall, and we do different things with it. Sometimes it might just be spring, whatever. There are all kinds of fun little things we do. So it’s the smell, it’s the light, it’s what you see. It’s all the things that make that experience. It’s not just the haircut. It’s peaceful, very, very peaceful. And the shampoo, of course, is an experience in itself.

What else makes the experience? Of course, serving them. And it’s not just serving them a cup of tea. I learned this from Rebekah: when you serve somebody something, put it on a little platter, put a little cookie there, put a little chocolate there. Something to make it a whole experience. It’s not just tea.

So it’s all those little things. You’re always looking at how you can add, but doing it where it’s achievable for you, because it’s busy in the salon. We’d like to serve people, but you’ve also got to make sure you’re staying on time and all those things. So it’s trying to figure out how to make the experience where you can actually deliver it every single time. You can’t have a good experience one time and not be able to replicate it the next time. That’s the thing I’ve had to learn. You’ve got to find something you can easily replicate each and every time. I’m continuing to learn that too.

Rebekah: I love that, because that’s actually how you create systems. Ryan actually taught me that: if we can’t repeat it, it’s not a system. I’ve done that with my clients, doing different things for them. It’s great to offer that customer service and be available any time, but if it’s not something that can scale, or something I would hire someone else to do, then I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to let them text me late at night, those kinds of standards. If it’s not something we can repeat, it’s not a system. And like you said, Wendy, if you don’t have those systems in place, you can’t grow. So you’re learning how to create systems.

Lensi: Exactly. Learning sometimes the hard way, and sometimes learning from what other people have done.

What surprised Lensi about running her own business

Rebekah: Lensi, how would you say it’s different from being behind the chair? What have you learned as a business owner so far? Anything that surprised you, or that was harder than you expected?

Lensi: [inaudible] Wendy, do you have anything? I guess I think having a good task sheet. We didn’t have that when we started. I feel like that is really good, especially when you have employees and people working with you, because you can be paying somebody per hour, but if they don’t know what’s before them, you’re paying them and they’re not going to get a lot done.

Rebekah: They might be sitting around or just chatting and things like that.

Lensi: Exactly. So I think having a really clear-cut vision of what the day and the task list look like is very valuable, and that should be done sooner rather than later, so you can get more done. That was really valuable for me. And it’s something you always tweak. It’s not one and done. It’s okay if you add something to it or take something off. Just get it up there and start doing it, so your day flows better. Then you’re not there an hour after close trying to figure out what you’re doing. You have a list. [inaudible] okay, let’s leave.

Rebekah: That’s something you had, Wendy, right, at Signatures?

Wendy: Yeah, and everybody had to make sure that list was done before they could leave. Because otherwise, you’d come back to dishes in the sink or laundry not done, or someone left the light on. There are different little details. In order to be efficient, all of that had to be done every day, consistently.

Social media and salon content

Rebekah: Any other advice you’d want to give to a salon owner?

Lensi: I think a huge one is what you were talking about, going back to social media. For salon owners, I think that’s really important. That’s a whole other world of possible ways to get new clients, and it’s very important to learn how to do all of that. I’m still in the process of learning how to do all that. I’ve been doing hair for 16 years, I guess, and it’s always been word of mouth. But nowadays it’s a different way to get clients. So I think just get with the times and be open to spending a little extra time creating content.

We recently had a class with a real photographer. He came and showed us cameras, lights and areas in the salon that would create the best pictures. We’ve been taking pictures with our phones, but I don’t post them because they’re not quality enough. So I was like, why spend all this time taking these pictures I’m not posting because I don’t like them? Let’s go to the best and get them to teach us how to do it. Otherwise it’s like we’re spinning a wheel and not getting what we need. So we got the photographer. We’re about to buy all the equipment, and then we’re going to get content and actually get to post it, so we’re not wasting our time. I think learning things like that is really good. Go to somebody that does it and get them teaching you.

Rebekah: Were you going to say something about that, Wendy?

Wendy: I would just say, you do social media for people. If they can get you organic content, because you can’t go to every salon, you’re too busy and not in their area sometimes. If they can get you good content, then you can post that along with the content you come up with. It just makes it more organic, and people like the in-salon pictures.

Rebekah: It makes all the difference. I have some clients who will send me tons of stuff, and it’s great. I have so much to work with, and I can be really creative with what they send me. Then I have some clients where it’s like pulling teeth, if I can get four videos from them. The more they can send me, and like you said Lensi, the more they can learn about how to take the right pictures, the better. They don’t have to put it together. They can just send me pieces and I can put it together. But having high quality content is really important.

Faith in the salon

Rebekah: Tell me a story. Lensi, one of the things you talked about one time was how somebody came and sat in your chair. I want you to tell the story of how you created that atmosphere, even giving room to the Holy Spirit, and how she had an encounter with God that took place. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Lensi: Yes, I’m trying to [inaudible] which one, because we’ve had so many.

Rebekah: Any of them that you want to share.

Lensi: The most recent one, I had a new client walk in, and as soon as she walked into the salon, she just started tearing up. I’m like, hey, are you [inaudible]? She’s like, [inaudible] great. She’s like, I just feel something different when I walk in here.

Just earlier that morning, we always pray before we get started, and one of the things we always say in the prayer is, Holy Spirit, You’re welcome here. Let people experience You, and speak through us to them whatever they need to hear. And I didn’t even say anything. She just walked in and felt it.

So I think that’s really big, going back to creating that space. You’re creating space for your clients, but you’re also in control and getting to create that space for the Holy Spirit, for Him to be there. It’s been really fun getting to do that.

The other day, this was really funny. Usually we just have music on, maybe a little bit of worship music. But this one went to a [inaudible], and I was like, oh gosh, I need to grab the remote. If it does it for five seconds, that’s fine, but this one went on for a little bit longer. So I went to get the remote, but as soon as I grabbed the remote, something told me not to change it. I’m like, that’s weird. Okay. So I set it down. And I kept round brushing.

I didn’t realize it until after work, when we started talking, but in the shampoo room at that same moment, [name unclear] said that client had heard something on the projector, and she started just speaking. So [name unclear] had the opportunity to pray with her because of what was said on that TV. And I was about to turn it off and put on normal music, and she wouldn’t have had that opportunity if that hadn’t happened like that. He works in little ways. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, but that was super cool.

And also be sensitive to hear. When you hear certain things, even if it doesn’t make sense, still listen to it, because that happens a lot. Sometimes you get so busy that you’re not listening. That’s important too. We’ve also been very guilty of that. We’re just busy in the salon [inaudible], so you don’t create that time. I think it’s all about whatever kind of experience you want to have in your space. You have to make sure that’s always before your eyes. If not, the busyness of the world will take that away from you and your vision. So it’s been really fun getting to create that space for the Holy Spirit and the clients.

Rebekah: That’s really cool. And I know you did that too, Wendy, at Signatures. That was really important.

Wendy: Yes. Just create a very positive environment. We played good, positive music, and we didn’t [inaudible] in the salon. We had a space that people felt safe in, and we could pray for people if that was what was needed. Just creating a relaxing, nice atmosphere for people.

Lensi: That’s where I learned all this, from Wendy. So I just wanted to take that and continue it on.

Rebekah: That’s awesome, Wendy, that you were able to impart that to Lensi, and she’s able to carry that on and create a different space. We call it [inaudible] space. Just having that, where you welcome the Holy Spirit and He has access, and you are listening. I love that you talked about that, Lensi, because it can seem so silly, like, oh wait, the remote, I’m going to change it. But if the Holy Spirit is telling you not to, being sensitive to Him is really awesome.

Lensi: And it’s creating a space for everybody. I had this comment from somebody [inaudible]. She said, you create a very inclusive environment. It doesn’t mean you have to be a certain belief to feel comfortable in there. I have a wide variety of beliefs in there, and I love that. Everybody feels comfortable and cozy in there. I have Hindu, I have just a lot of different faiths, and I love that. It’s just creating a safe place for anybody to feel included and to feel comfortable in that space. I think that’s what’s really cool and really valuable.

Rebekah: Absolutely. Where you plant a seed in their hearts. I think that’s amazing. I love how when you go into In-N-Out, on the cups there are Scripture references. I know John 3:16 is on one of them, and for the shakes I think it’s a different one. I think it may be Psalm 23, I don’t know. I didn’t realize that at first, and I like that it wasn’t in your face. It was more covert. Then you walk into Chick-fil-A and you’ll hear Christian music. Both of those businesses have done so amazing, and they have put God first in their business. Creating that space where the Holy Spirit is welcomed is amazing.

Be brave, and Lensi on training new stylists

Rebekah: Is there any other advice you want to give, anything you’d want to talk about before we end?

Rebekah: One other thing I wanted to talk about with you, Lensi. You mentioned education is something you want to do. You’ve done a little bit of education yourself, where you’ve taught, and education has obviously been a big part of your career. Now you’re starting to want to teach more. What are you getting ready to focus on?

Lensi: I don’t have any huge plans yet, but it’s something I’ve always enjoyed. I just need to figure out what it is I want to teach. I think what I’ll always go back to is customer service, because I’m just really passionate about that, and maybe not just for salons but for anybody, if it’s valuable. I feel like that is something pretty deep within me. So I think it would be something along those lines. It could be extensions, because I also love doing those. But I would say one of those two is what I probably see myself educating in.

That’s something I did at Signatures. I would always train the new stylists, and I always really enjoyed doing that, because when I’d see them learn one little thing I taught them, it’s like a light bulb goes off. I love the feeling that it gave me. So maybe it’s something with new stylists, helping train them, because that is very important.

Lensi: What we’ve been doing is [name unclear] has been working side by side with me. Literally, she’s shampooing, she’s now putting on colors, she’s styling, side by side with me. And yesterday we did a men’s haircut. I did this side and she did the other side, and it was really fun. We got it out faster, and it’s definitely an experience. So all that to say, it’s really important to train those new stylists.

Rebekah: Do you see yourself eventually going into a space where there’s a full team working with you, Lensi?

Lensi: A full team in the salon, you’re saying? Nothing too big. I don’t see that at this time, because I’m still all about the quiet, relaxing type of atmosphere. But I think adding on certain little things here and there would add to the experience of the guest, and I would like that. Head spas have been really big, and I’m still definitely into that. If we get somebody that’s trained really well to do the head spa, I think that would be really, really good.

Rebekah: You want to create that atmosphere where it’s almost like a boutique, where it’s an experience and there aren’t a lot of people around them at the time.

Lensi: Absolutely.

Rebekah: Some of the videos I get from some of my clients, they’re doing a consultation and someone right next to them is speaking so loud. It can be kind of chaotic in a salon. I think that’s one of the things that’s really different about what you’ve created. You won’t hear the noise of a lot of other team members around. It’s a very unique experience, and it’s worth paying extra because they’re getting that one-on-one time with you.

Lensi: Definitely more one-on-one. The client can sit there and talk if they want, but they also have the opportunity, if they just want to put their headphones on, to take care of work or relax. I have clients who do all of them. They feel comfortable doing whatever. It’s not like everybody has to do one thing. We tell the client, it’s your time. Do what you need to do, if you need to take a phone call, whatever. It’s your time to relax, and you choose how you spend it.

Wendy’s studios versus a booth rental

Rebekah: If you’re in Louisiana, you need to go visit Lensi’s salon. And if you’re an independent stylist out there, you need to go talk to Wendy about becoming a booth renter or a studio renter with her, because it’s an amazing location. Wendy, what’s different about getting a booth rental from one of the big chains, and I won’t mention names, versus your space?

Wendy: In our area we don’t have the big chains yet. Maybe eventually we’ll have those. We have a lot of booth rental. I guess the difference between booth rental and what we have in our community is that everything’s inclusive in one room. So there’s not the hustle and bustle of everybody sharing a shampoo area. Everybody has a private room with a glass door with a blind that closes. You have your own bowl. You have everything you need to run a salon. They serve their drinks and everything in their own little rooms. The clients have the common area of the restroom and the sitting area in the hall, and the stylists have a break room.

What sets us apart from other studios and suites in general would be that we’re locally owned. We have a lot of knowledge to share with the girls, so we coach them if they have questions or concerns. We’re able to coach them and help them. And then education. We’ll have classes. We’ll provide color classes, or our CPA will come in and teach them how to reconcile a bank account, how to keep track of blah, blah, blah. We’ll get them to tell us what kinds of things they would enjoy or appreciate, and then we’ll have a class every once in a while for them.

Rebekah: And they have access to you and your world of knowledge from what you’ve been through owning your own salon.

Wendy: That’s right. They can ask questions, and I’m happy to share.

Rebekah: Well, thank you both for letting me interview you.