I’m so glad that you told them how you felt about everything. Don’t let that experience change your perception of the company overall. Like all franchised salons, there are great locations and there are crappy locations. JCPenney is the same way. I worked at a fantastic location and went on to interview at another that was terribly managed and a real shitty place to work. It doesn’t reflect on the company, just the management. Just like your experience with this particular location doesn’t say anything about your ability to do your job. It has everything to do with them not being able to recognize a quality staff member when they see one. Clients *always* come first. Obviously, keeping on schedule is important but client satisfaction and professional discretion are always more important.

Then Hurricane Charley wiped out the business. Flooded it waist-deep and forced the owner to demolish it. She decided to retire instead of rebuilding. Naturally, I went to another Aveda salon and had an entirely different experience. It was awful. The staff and management were rude, snobbish, immature, overbearing, controlling, bitchy, and manipulative. They offered me a management position at their second location but I turned them down and resigned. The atmosphere was so negative I literally couldn’t bear it another day.

The thing is, I *knew* going to work there was a mistake. I had a very similar experience. The owner was condescending and disrespectful. Until I owned my own place, I worked in management literally my entire career (from the day I became licensed, actually). I have *never* treated my staff like that. Just because you are their manager or the salon owner does not mean you are better than they are. I have no patience or tolerance for owners that treat staff that way and I’ve fired managers I’ve promoted for behaving like that.

If it doesn’t feel right, don’t bother with a second interview. It’ll be a waste of your time. If she’s treating you like that during the interview, you can bet she’ll make your life a living hell once you become her employee.

Don’t let this experience turn you off to Aveda salons though. Many of them are really well run. In my career, I’ve found the best ones to be the smaller ones (not the uppity ones found in high-end shopping malls). Go to an Aveda concept salon that is family owned, if you can find one around where you live. I met a lot of owners at the Aveda management courses and there is a very distinct difference between the “upscale” owners and the “mom & pop” owners. Both salons are beautiful and adhere to the same philosophies, but you’ll be treated much better in a small shop than you will a trendy shop.