Consultations prove valuable when choosing new hairstylist
Inspired by Head Hair-nista, V. Woods
Roni recently broke up with her hairdresser and took a sabbatical from hair salons. After a string of bad hairstylist relationships, she opted to manage her own hair for awhile.
Learning all she could about her regularly used products was Roni's first step on her solo hair journey. She read the labels on every shampoo, conditioner and oil bottle and jar in her closet. Her friends called her hair obsessed because she actually knew the Ph balances of all the popular relaxers on the market. Roni even sent articles to her friends asking, "Did you know that no-lye relaxers can be harsher on your hair than lye relaxers?"
Finally, she felt ready to find a new salon. As an educated consumer, she felt fully empowered to decide the who, what, when, where and how about her hair.
She called five friends and created a list of four salons to schedule consultations. Rushing into a new hair tylist relationship was not an option. The first three appointments with potential hairstylists did not inspire Roni. She left the interviews puzzled. Simple services she deemed important to her hair health, she discovered, weren't regularly offered.
"You mean you don't do roller sets at all," Roni asked one stylist.
"No," she answered unapologetically.
Roni politely thanked the woman for her time. As she walked toward the door, Roni looked over her shoulder, "I'll get back to you." The stylist nodded. Roni, however, slipped into her car, pulled out her list of salons and scratched that place off her list.
"Perhaps salon number four will be better," Roni thought as she walked up to the establishment's door. She was tired, but hopeful that this might be good match.
When Roni entered, she told the woman, Carla, at the front desk that she had an appointment with Yvonne. Carla motioned for her to take a seat in the waiting area.
After waiting for about 30 minutes, Roni became a little restless. She had tried to schedule this consultation on her lunch break. As she looked up from her watch, Carla stood in front of her.
"I am sooo sorry, but Yvonne got the days confused," Carla said. "She thought you said Thursday."
Ready to call it a wrap, Roni stood to her feet. Carla stopped her gently. "Wait, I am actually the owner. Perhaps, I can help you?"
"Well, you didn't really leave a great first impression letting me just sit here like this," Roni said with frustration.
"Again, I apologize," Carla said. "I am also a hairstylist. I can do your hair today," Carla said.
"Actually, I just wanted a consultation," Roni said.
Really hoping this would be a good fit especially because of its convenient location, Roni took a deep breath and explained her needs including her preferred relaxer.
"We don't use that product, but we do use one that is similar," Carla said.
"I've researched several products—including studying the ingredients—and I've learned that the products actually aren't similar at all," Roni said standing her ground.
Carla tried again, this time reiterating that "all relaxers are really the same."
"Okay," Roni said. "Do you know the specific chemical makeup for the 'similar product?'"
After about a minute of awkward silence, Carla asked, "So, do you want to make an appointment?"
"Thank you for your time," Roni said, "but I don't think that your salon will be quite a salon sweeet salon for me."
Back at her car, Roni began the search for salon No. 5 by calling a sixth friend, Deirdre. Trying to help Deirdre brainstorm some new options, Roni said, "Can you ask the woman that you brought to our spa day for a referral." Afraid that Deirdre would not act immediately, Roni said, "I will hold while you call her."
While she waited on hold, she thought that it should not be this hard to find a new hairstylist. She prayed that Deirdre would come back to the phone with the name of the healthy hair guru of her dreams.
One week later at Salon No. 5...
"Yes, I use the relaxer you want," said Tia, the stylist at the fifth salon. "In fact, I am a salon educator who trains other stylists about how to use the product."
Roni exhaled. The time that she invested visiting the five salons paid off. She became inspired to help others take control of their salon experience. And then My Salon Scoop was born.
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