The Wall Street
Journal
recently published a post on the most
& least stressful jobs in 2014, based on rankings from careercast.com.
The report places hair stylist as #2 on the least stressful list.
Let me clear my throat for a second…actually give me 10 minutes.
WSJ, I generally enjoy
your articles but your research team must have spoken to a hairdresser on a
beach in Hawaii who had just taken a puff of "the good stuff."
Now don't get me wrong, I love my job. However, as an
established stylist, it's still stressful. Allow me to provide some insight on
how “easy” it was to get to where I am today.
The minute you finish beauty school and start assisting at a salon,
the stress begins. No one can prepare you for this, not even the hair gods. Some
hair dressers tend to be diva-ish, they think it's their birthright. (I crack
myself up.)
As an assistant you are at the bottom of the food chain and have
to eat mucho humble pie. You see everyone doing hair and making major money,
but because you have not put in your 2 years (at least) you have to be patient.
It’s common practice to assist a busy hairstylist till midnight and get a $1 as
a token of appreciation.... (Tears!!!)
The training process of "actually doing hair" on humans
is extremely difficult. You think you are talented only to realize you have two
left hands and eight fingers. Although training on actual clients is an amazing
learning experience, you can ruin a client’s hair and still have to pretend it
looks fabulous. "It's hair, it grows!" Well tell that to the person
who is missing a piece of hair that's now on the floor...(Constipation!!!)
After the trial period is over, you finally get on the floor to
start working with clients and the next level of pressure is on. You realize
you have no more tips from shampooing and/or a basic assistant salary. Now
you're sitting, waiting for clients, with your mouth wide open catching flies,
with no money to pay your rent. Sounds little stressful right? This can go on
for a full year depending on how much walk-in traffic the salon has.
Seeing another hairstylist being super-friendly with the front
desk and getting all the new clients, can be very distressing. But it happens
all the time.
Now for most, building up a clientele is rewarding. At this
point you realize you're not only a creative being, you're a sales person.
In many salons (not all) your creative skills are also measured
by how you can convince women to get services "they don't need" and
selling a certain amount of products per client (3-6 items.) Some may believe
this is perfectly normal (I once did.) However it is possible to build a
clientele by being honest; the problem is the salon may not think so. Major upselling
as opposed to being creative can be incredibly stressful when the security of
your job depends on it.
Upselling is a term used in the industry to sell products or
services to clients that they don't need. If they need one product, you have to
sell them three or more. That way they will at least buy one. Years ago during a
coloring class an educator said, "If you get every client to want
highlights, you'll be a rich man." Translation - offer it to as many
people as you can, even if their hair is at risk. (This part is so sad and
stressful....)
Now here's the really hard part. Cultivating people-pleasing skills.
When you're new on "the floor" it’s frustrating when you don't have
the knowledge that comes with time. If you're a plastic surgeon, I'm assuming
you will not operate on someone till the government, your supervisors and peers
think you're ready. With hair it's not so strict, even after getting your
license.
Then there's the myth that as a hairstylist, I'm a therapist. I
have a therapist, so I always recommend to clients that they find their own.
In today's world with the media, press and the beauty industry
putting pressure on women to look like anyone but themselves; it all adds more stress
to your chair. You have to talk clients off the cliff of "I'm not
beautiful," or "I want to look like her." (Generally a
celebrity)
You must possess the gift of "being honest" while
being respectful and encouraging. Not as easy as it sounds, especially if you
work in a salon where you need to sell, sell, sell. Getting a client to
see her own individual beauty takes time and patience.
Then you have the client whose happiness depends on their hair
and overall appearance. They want their hair to remove all of life's
insecurities, solve all of life's problems and save them from the inevitable. (Pressure!)
They may be genuinely nice people, but their dependence on their
appearance makes it impossible to make them happy. I get it though. Once upon a
time, I too was racked with major insecurities and a lack of self-love.
Then you have the clients that are a breeze. They are realistic,
daring and confident. This generally covers a large group.
Keep in mind that you are as good as your last hair cut. So you
need to always be on point, ahead of the game and anticipate your clients’
needs.
To wrap things up I want to remind everyone that there is no
advertising on my blog, so I can be very honest. Also I'm here to support my
co-workers and clients equally.
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Labels: culture, happiest jobs, stress free jobs, wall street journal happiest job, WSJ, WSJ blog. best jobs
