Why Salon Owners Use Non-Compete Agreements

A salon’s most valuable asset is its client database. We spend years building it, investing both time and money into its growth. As salon owners, adding to this book is a huge part of our job. It’s one of our core responsibilities. The salon’s success (and everybody’s paychecks) depends on it.

As salon owners, we have a duty to our clients to protect their contact information.

In the past, many salon owners required employees to sign non-compete agreements, assuming that the agreements would not only protect their client information but would also prevent their employees from working for or becoming their competition. 

The vast majority of the contracts I’ve reviewed over the course of my consulting career were not professionally written and would never hold up in court. Most were signed by independent contractors who were not actual employees, so the contract served as nothing more than proof that the salon owner was misclassifying their workers and trying to exert control with the threat of legal action. In the overwhelming majority of cases I’ve been involved in, the salon owner who wrote their own non-compete obviously did not understand that the agreement needed to be specific and reasonable to stand a chance at being enforceable. 

A contract prohibiting a salon professional from working “at any beauty-related business anywhere in the state for a period of 10 years” isn’t reasonable.

In addition to being a poor strategy for securing client data, non-competes foster resentment. Professionals don’t trust employers whose first move is to prohibit them from working anywhere else. A good deal of professionals sign them anyway, knowing they aren’t likely to stand up in court. It’s past time for all of us to stop playing this game.

Taking Data Protection Seriously

In an era where personal information is valuable and people are scared to share their email or phone number with every business that asks for it, each name on your client list is a small victory of confidence and good faith. In general, people with any level of tech-savvy are worried that anything they sign up for will lead to spam texts and scam calls. When clients are willing to share their info with you, you must treat it as a sacred trust. To keep that trust, you need to make sure that you are following proper security protocols when it comes to protecting your client list.

Any information a client provides to the business belongs to the business, and as the business owner, it is your job to keep that information secure.

Data theft prohibitions provide a clear and enforceable solution. They align with existing confidentiality and intellectual property laws, making them much easier to defend.

You’ll need to find an attorney, preferably one who specializes in employment law. They will ensure your agreements are legally sound, enforceable, and tailored to comply with your state laws. Once you’ve found someone qualified, explain that you require both a data theft protection agreement and a non-solicitation agreement.

Prohibiting Data Theft

A data theft protection agreement (also known as a data security agreement, data protection agreement, or data security agreement) will prohibit employees from stealing confidential client information. Before meeting with your attorney, get your needs and preferences on paper. This will help them understand the purpose of the agreement and hopefully reduce the amount of consulting required before they begin composing the draft.

Define what constitutes data theft. Your agreement should explicitly prohibit the following actions regarding the salon’s client database:

• Downloading
• Copying
• Photographing
• Transferring
• Printing
• Accessing for Personal Use
• Sharing 
• Altering with Malicious Intent

Provide notice of intent to prosecute violators. Make the consequences clear up-front. Any violation of the policy will result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment and prosecution for data theft. 

Require a signature. The agreement requires its own separate acknowledgment (“By signing, employees agree to comply…” yada yada, you know how it goes) and its own date and signature fields. Don’t merely stuff it into your employee handbook. Make sure to get that separate acknowledgment of receipt. 

Prohibiting Solicitation

With the data theft prohibition, you’ve made it clear that you consider information theft a crime and that you’ll exercise your legal rights to the fullest—now go a tiny bit further. Ask your trusted attorney to also write a non-solicitation agreement.

IN ADDITION TO PROHIBITING DATA THEFT, PROHIBIT CLIENT AND EMPLOYEE SOLICITATION.

We’re running professional businesses. Again: clients have entrusted you with their contact information. Nothing looks more unprofessional than a disgruntled former employee emailing everyone on your list, or—god forbid—making phone call after phone call to “inform” clients that they no longer work for you. And nothing feels worse than an employee secretly convincing half of your employees that they’d be “better off” working at the new salon they’re opening right down the street. 

A non-solicitation agreement prohibits any employee from attempting to lure the salon’s clients and employees from your business.

Define what constitutes solicitation. Just as with the data theft prohibition, this agreement should first define solicitation. Generally, solicitation refers to “any attempt to encourage, entice, or request clients or employees to leave the salon or do business with a competitor.” (Make the attorney who writes this for you work for their money by ensuring that the terms are in alignment with any guidelines in your jurisdiction.) 

Prohibitive conduct should include:

• Using any confidential information, including client contact information, to solicit business, and
• Encouraging or inducing any employee to join a competing business.

Acknowledge the employee’s obligation to keep proprietary information confidential. By signing, the employee is affirming that they are obligated to keep client lists and all contact details confidential and to never use such information for the purpose of solicitation.

Outline the consequences. Have your attorney guide you here. Legal remedies vary based on state laws and judicial interpretations.

Protecting Your Assets

These two agreements secure your legitimate business assets without unnecessarily restricting a worker’s ability to participate in the workforce. So long as the professional has agreed not to steal client data or solicit clients, you shouldn’t care if they take a job at the salon across the street.

Ethical salon owners do not hold industry professionals or clients hostage.

If you want to know how to handle the clients without looking sloppy or petty after a popular, established professional leaves, read my article: Who Do the Clients Belong To?

How to Secure Your Salon’s Client Database

Your client database is your salon’s most critical asset—protect it like it’s your social security number.

Control access. The management software you’re using should come with some kind of usergroup permissions controls. Generally, these systems allow you to categorize users by access level, ensuring that employees have access only to the information they absolutely need to have access to. 

• Salon professionals only require access to their schedule, which should show the client’s name and the service they’re booked for. If the software allows you to control report access, you may allow them to access their personal performance reports (but not those of any other employee). Professionals should never have access to client contact information or the ability to access/download the client database.
• Receptionists only require access to the schedule and client phone numbers. They should not have access to client email or home addresses, nor should they have the ability to access/download the client database.
• Salon managers require access to the majority of the software’s features, particularly employee scheduling and reports. They may require access to the salon’s client database, but they should never have access to features that allow them to download databases or manipulate administrative settings.
• Only salon owners require full admin access. As the salon owner, you should be the only user capable of accessing everything. Nobody else should have your password. Every time you leave a device, you must ensure to log out, requiring the next user to log in.

Getting Serious About Tech

If you’re like many of the clients I consult for who are only now moving from cash boxes and huge desk calendars to digital card readers and sleek tablets, you might be feeling overwhelmed by the software options available and how to configure them. 

Don’t feel bad—you aren’t the only salon owner who can barely operate their own email, let alone a sophisticated salon management software program. 

As a career salon manager and a salon owner myself, I’m extremely informed about and experienced with the majority of the industry’s leading systems. Book a consulting appointment today and I’ll be happy to help you find the solution that’s best for your individual business. I am not affiliated with any of the salon software companies (despite how hard all of them have tried over the last fifteen years), so all of my opinions and endorsements are fully based on my personal experience.

Fake News

While attempting to research this article, I came upon far too many opinion-based libertarian lobbying blogs, so I’m anticipating some severely misinformed questions in the comments—and I don’t blame anyone for them. The fear-mongering is ridiculous; I saw one writer lamenting the fact that “the new law” disallows workers from determining or waiving their status, but that has always been the case.

Workers can’t choose exploitative work arrangements that violate federal law any more than people can sign contracts agreeing to unlawful arrangements. 

Several writers argued that this is a “major change” that will bring disaster to workers, business owners, and the economy, but what they’re really telling you is how little they understand the world we’re all living in, where misclassification and wage theft are the default business strategy, not rare exceptions, and where business owners are not receiving the education, guidance, or support required to be both compliant and profitable. 

If you’ve been pushed to the brink of panic by these clowns, take a deep breath: at no time has the definition of the word “independent contractor” changed in this country. The rules provide guidance to help workers and employers understand the law (that is literally their entire purpose for existing), but the actual law in this area is very well-established. Only people who want to lean on ignorance as a defense for their bad behavior consider clarity a threat to their freedom. 

The DOL’s rule change simplifies classification, making it more accessible and comprehensive. This should make violations far less likely, which is a win for everyone involved.

The “new” method is more illustrative; it explains itself fairly well. The way each factor is broken down and clarified—with two examples for each—should make it easier for employers to recognize improper use of the independent contractor classification and avoid the consequences associated with misclassification. 

The Difference Between Laws and Rules

The first thing you need to understand is that laws and rules are not the same thing, and anyone attempting to conflate the two deserves serious side-eye.

Laws are codified by legislative bodies (state or federal) and must be adhered to by everyone who falls under that legislature’s jurisdiction.

Rules are detailed frameworks developed by various government agencies to provide guidance. They clarify the law so the public understands how to comply and so the judges who must enforce the law understand how they are applied in practical scenarios. Various agencies are required by law to enforce these rules. (A judge can’t decide not to apply these six factors, for example.) 

The core legal definition of an independent contractor under the FLSA hasn’t fundamentally changed.

The rules help to clarify the DOL’s position and provide insight into how the law should be interpreted and applied; the rule change doesn’t change the law itself. The statutory law and underlying regulations here are very much the same—only the analytical lens through which worker classification is determined has been changed.

Brief History of Worker Classification Guidelines

In 2021, the DOL moved from a five-factor “economic reality” test to a system weighing two core factors: the nature and degree of control the employer had over the work, and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss. 

The DOL believes this approach didn’t “fully comport” with the text and purpose of the FLSA as interpreted by the courts because the rule included provisions that conflicted with longstanding case law and the established guidance provided by the DOL. Overall, the rule narrowed the test by excising factors the DOL considers relevant when making a determination about a worker’s status. Plus, it departed from decades of case law, which could confuse workers and business owners. 

For those who know a thing or two about US labor and employment laws, the real problem was the prohibition against examining whether the work performed was “central or important” to the employer’s business. It’s a pretty critical element to consider. 

Ultimately, the tests are similar in the following ways, per the DOL’s FAQs:

Both rules identify economic dependence as the “ultimate inquiry” of the analysis; both rules provide a non-exhaustive list of factors to assess economic dependence; and both rules caution that no single factor is determinative. Both rules also clarify that economic dependence does not focus on the amount of income the worker earns, or whether the worker has other sources of income.

The important thing to know is that none of this is likely to negatively impact anyone who was in compliance to begin with.

Per the WHD’s guidance regarding the 2024 Worker Classification Rule:

The Department emphasized that “because this final rule is aligned with longstanding case law, the Department does not anticipate that independent contractors (who sometimes also self-identify as freelancers or small/micro business owners) who are correctly classified as independent contractors under current circuit case law would be reclassified applying the guidance provided in this rule.” 89 Fed. Reg. 1659. 

If your practices currently align more closely with the looser 2021 Rule, it’s time to reevaluate to ensure you’re still in compliance.

The Six-Factor Test for Determining Worker Classification

Factor 1: Opportunity for Profit or Loss Depending on Managerial Skill

Does the worker exercise managerial skill that affects their economic success or failure? Can the worker negotiate the pay, determine whether they accept or decline jobs, and choose the order and/or time in which the jobs are performed? Does the worker engage in marketing, pay for advertising, or take efforts to expand their business or secure more work? Does the worker have the authority to hire others, purchase materials and equipment, or rent space?

• Interpretation: This factor evaluates whether the worker actually exercises independent effort and decisionmaking, without the employer’s influence or an expectation to comply with the employer’s requirements or limitations.
• The Focus: Does the worker call the shots when it comes to their business, or is their independence theoretical at best?

Factor 2: Investments by the Worker and Employer 

Are any of the worker’s investments capital or entrepreneurial in nature?

• Interpretation: Costs borne by a worker to perform their duties are not considered evidence of capital or entrepreneurial investment. This factor examines the degree to which the worker makes investments in their own business’s growth. 
• The Focus: Does the worker make similar types of investments as the employer or investments of the type that would allow the worker to operate independently in the worker’s industry or field?

Factor 3: Degree of Permanence of the Work Relationship 

Is the work relationship indefinite or continuous in duration?

• Interpretation: This factor examines the nature and length of the work relationship.
• The Focus: How independent is the worker, as a matter of economic reality?

Factor 4: Nature and Degree of Control 

Who sets the worker’s schedule? Does the employer supervise or monitor the worker’s performance? Is the worker limited or prohibited from working for others? Who sets the service prices? Who controls the marketing?

• Interpretation: This factor aims to determine whether the worker has sufficient autonomy to be considered an independent contractor.
• The Focus: How much control does the employer have over the performance of the work and the economic aspects of the working relationship?

Factor 5: Extent to Which the Work Performed is an Integral Part of the Employer’s Business 

Is the work critical, necessary, or central to the employer’s business? 

• Interpretation: This factor does not depend on whether any individual worker in particular is an integral part of the business. 
• The Focus: Is the work they perform an integral part of the business?

Factor 6: Skill and Initiative 

Does the worker use specialized skills to perform the work? Do those skills contribute to business-like initiative? Is the worker dependent on training from the employer to perform the work? If the worker brings specialized skills to the work relationship, it indicates that the worker is an independent contractor.

• Interpretation: Any worker can be skilled, so the fact that the worker is skilled doesn’t indicate one status or the other.
• The Focus: Does the worker use their skills in a manner that evidences business-like initiative? 

The Totality of Circumstances

None of these factors alone are considered definitive. Instead, the DOL looks over the totality-of-circumstances, analyzing the entire working relationship before making a determination.

The primary question the test seeks to answer is this: As a matter of economic reality, is the worker dependent on the employer for work, or are they truly in business for themselves? (See: Fact Sheet 13.)

According to the DOL’s announcement (which I recommend reading in full), the March 2024 Rule returns to “an analysis that is more consistent with judicial precedent and the Act’s text and purpose.” Once again, these are not “new laws,” they merely clarify the application of existing laws. 

Regardless of your situation or position in the salon, it’s worthwhile to read every bit of guidance provided, whether the law itself is changing or not. (I say it a lot, but know your rights.) Once you understand the factors, you’ll know misclassification when you see it. 

In case you missed it, back in June of 2023, Christine Geiger, a salon owner in Traverse City, Michigan, decided to drop the following “hot take” via her salon’s Facebook page:

“If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period. Should you request to have a particular pronoun used please note we may simply refer to you as ‘hey you.’”

One can assume she must have thought she was being very clever and very funny, but shortly after, three people filed certified complaints. Christine doubled-down, saying she “has no problems with the LGB. It’s the TQ+ that I’m not going to support,” she posted. “For those that don’t know what the + is for, it’s for MAP (Minor Attracted Person aka: pedophile).” 

The plus sign in the LGBTQ+ acronym is actually a placeholder for queer identities who don’t neatly fit into the acronym, but none of them are in any way holding space for child abusers. 

Christine defended her stance, saying small business owners should be able to serve whomever they wish. Given the timing, she was likely emboldened by the Supreme Court’s ruling involving 303 Creative, a web designer who refused to make wedding websites for same-sex couples, saying it would violate her sincerely held religious beliefs because, by doing so, she would be forced to express a message celebrating and promoting a conception of marriage that she believes is contrary to God’s design. 

The court held that a person’s First Amendment rights would be violated in situations where they are forced to express a message contrary to their religious beliefs. The court did not say that business owners may ignore state or federal anti-discrimination laws. The constitutional carveout applies only to expressive conduct: behavior designed to convey a message. (It’s also important to note that the case was based on a theoretical scenario; there were no actual aggrieved customers involved.)

As the news about Christine’s Facebook post spread—first in Traverse City community groups and then nationally—protesters stood outside the salon chanting and holding signs. The salon’s Google and Yelp pages were flooded with negative reviews. Christine’s distributor, Jack Winn Pro, revoked her authorization to represent their brand or sell their products. 

“Jack Winn Pro strongly believes in and supports LGBTQ+ rights. We are committed to creating an inclusive, respectful environment for all – regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristics that define who they are,” the company posted. 

Apparently this free speech Christine did not like very much. She attempted to sue Traverse City and the three people who filed complaints (whom she accused of being “state actors”). 

After a brief attempt at turning her salon’s Facebook page into a “political memes page,” Christine made her business’ social media accounts private. Phone calls to the salon went straight to a voicemail box that was not accepting new messages. 

A business that chooses to sell to the public assumes a duty to serve the public without unjust discrimination.

Justice Sonya Sotomayor

Christine’s case against Traverse City and the alleged “state actors” was dismissed last week.

Today, we’re going to talk about freedom of speech, gender diversity, and how to navigate social shifts that might be a bit hard to adjust to if the only information you’re receiving is from biased partisan sources. Ultimately, this post aims to correct any misinformation you may have been exposed to. 

This article provides a basic overview explaining how gender differs from sex, why you should care, and how you can ensure your salon is an inclusive place of public accommodation.

What Freedom of Speech Is (and Isn’t)

The first and most important thing to know is that freedom of speech doesn’t guarantee you immunity from consequences. The First Amendment is why you can complain about your government without fear of secret police pulling up in a windowless van and snatching you up off the street. It’s why Congress can’t mandate church attendance. It’s why people like me can post things on the internet without running them past a government censorship board for approval first. It’s why people were allowed to pick up signs and protest outside Christine’s salon. It’s why Christine and others like her can petition the government when they feel it’s not acting in their best interests.

The First Amendment does not shield all forms of expression unconditionally.

The US has a high threshold for restricting speech, but certain categories of speech—direct threats, incitement, obscenity, and defamation—are subject to regulation. Christine Giger’s dehumanizing FB post is hate speech (“abusive or threatening speech or writing that expresses prejudice on the basis of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or similar grounds”), which is not constitutionally protected.

As a private citizen, there’s nothing stopping Christine from expressing her views, but she operates a business—a place of public accommodation—and she conveyed a discriminatory message through its social media profiles. 

Places of public accommodation (which Studio 8 most certainly is) are not allowed to discriminate against protected classes, as outlined in Title II of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The Civil Rights Act is why you can’t ban Black or Hispanic clients. It’s why you can’t refuse services to Muslims, French people, or everyone presenting as male. Christine may not “want the woke dollar,” but if a business chooses to profit from the public market, which is established and maintained by the state, the state may require the business to abide by a legal norm of nondiscrimination.

Unfortunately, our federal government hasn’t yet included transgender people in these protections, but Christine’s state of Michigan sure has.

Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public services based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status. The Elliott-Larsen Act was amended in 2023 to add greater protections over sexual orientation and gender identity. Unfortunately, the legislation did not take effect until February 2024, long after Christine made a strong case for the amendment’s necessity.

Understanding Gender Identity

For the rest of this section, I’m going to assume that you (the reader) know almost nothing about the queer community. (If you already know these things, consider this a refresher.) Let’s get some foundational facts out of the way:

Biological sex and gender identity are not the same thing. 

Biological sex refers to chromosomes, hormones, and genitalia—features none of us chose but all of us are born with. Biological sex is typically binary—male (XY) or female (XX)—but exceptions do exist (we can leave that to the geneticists, all you need to know is that biological sex itself isn’t quite as binary as most people believe).

Gender identity is a complex and multifaceted concept relating to social roles and expectations surrounding the concepts of “masculine” and “feminine” within our culture. Over the years, society has come to recognize and acknowledge a spectrum of gender identities, each unique and valid in its own right. Regardless of your biological sex, your identity sits somewhere on this spectrum (masculine at one end, feminine on the other, and non-binary in the middle).

Many people are cisgender, meaning that they identify with the gender role associated with their biological sex, and they don’t feel caged by the expectations society imposes on people with their biological sex.

Transgender people, by contrast, do not feel their biological sex and gender roles are in alignment. (Yes, it really is that simple.) 

Traditional gender roles assert a heteronormative patriarchal system, where people must dress and behave a certain way based on their biological sex. These rules are messy, complicated, and constantly changing. However, we have been pushing against the borders of these restrictive boxes for decades. Katherine Hepburn offended and outraged the public by wearing pants (“the gateway drug to female perversion”) in the early 1930s. More recently, Billy Porter slayed in a tuxedo dress at the Oscars in 2019. We are no longer content to “push” these arbitrary and oppressive boundaries; we are dismantling them entirely.

Hepburn did a radical thing by refusing to wear dresses in the 1930s, when women were arrested for wearing pants in public and charged with “masquerading as men.” This fact—that women were arrested by police and sent to jail for wearing trousers—seems absolutely ludicrous to us now, as it should.

This is America, land of the free. 

If you genuinely believe in freedom of speech and freedom of expression (as Christine claims to), you should also believe that people should be free to wear whatever clothing they want, just as they should be free to use whatever pronouns they want. 

At no point, in any of this, are you required to endorse pedophiles: literally nobody is doing that, and if they are, they should be reported to law enforcement immediately.

The patriarchal gender role system was designed to reinforce male dominance and control over women. These structured gender roles placed men in positions of authority and control in both the public and private spheres. Until the 19th century, laws reflected and enforced male dominance. Women were denied the right to own property, enter contracts, or vote. Women were socialized into submissive and nurturing subservient roles, denied opportunity and education, creating conditions that, in addition to forcing heterosexuality, were designed to keep them dependent on men, be it their fathers or husbands. 

This is our history, but these beliefs have no place in our modern society, especially in a country that values equality and freedom of expression as much as ours. Countries that weaponize the law against their citizens based on their biological sex are not nations where any American who values freedom of expression and personal autonomy would want to live.

So, to recap:

• Forcing people to wear clothing based on their biological sex is silly.
• Forcing people to adopt attitudes, values, and sexual preferences based on their biological sex is silly.
• Forcing anyone to conform to a set of nebulous, arbitrary societal rules and expectations based on the biological sex they were assigned at the moment of conception is absolutely silly.

The problem we have as a country is that most people can clearly see the first two ideas as backward and archaic, but some—like Christine—are still struggling to grasp the third.

The Importance of Inclusivity in Salons

Beauty salons and barber shops have a long, rich history as inclusive community spaces where political discussion and grassroots organization happen. From the days of the Madam C. J. Walker Company, change has taken root in our chairs—the women’s liberation movement, the civil rights movement, and now, the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Beauty salons have played a huge but hidden role in shaping our society. 

Salon owners are community leaders, and we should not take that for granted.  

As beauty professionals, our entire business is about personal expression. People come to us because we can make their outer appearance consistent with their inner identity. This is the core of what we do. Personal expression is a fundamental aspect of individual autonomy, and infringing on that right of expression is at extreme odds with our core values of personal freedom and empowering individuality. 

Opposing anyone’s human right to be who they are runs counter to the fundamental ethos of our industry.

Salon owners have an ethical responsibility to create a welcoming environment for all. A discriminatory environment undermines public trust, but it’s also a betrayal. Christine and others like her reflect negatively on those of us who are working hard to ensure our profession is held in high esteem. (I hope I’m conveying exactly how disgusted I am—because I do take this personally, and so should you.)

Every human being who walks into your salon deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. This is what it means to be a professional. 

Salon owners who discriminate face a variety of very unpleasant legal consequences. For instance, Michigan salon owners who publicly share Christine’s sentiment would run afoul of the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Individuals who can prove they were discriminated against could file civil lawsuits, pulling the salon owner into lengthy and tremendously expensive proceedings that will certainly destroy the salon’s reputation and its budget. Federal agencies could step in and impose penalties or force the salon owner to take corrective actions.

Inclusivity Best Practices for Salon Owners

Alright, now we can talk about how you can create an inclusive salon that welcomes and supports everyone. 

Advertise inclusivity. When you’re part of a privileged class, it’s easy to overlook or underestimate the challenges and fears faced by those who routinely experience discrimination.  It can be incredibly difficult to fully grasp the depth and breadth of the obstacles and anxieties that individuals from discriminated-against groups endure daily. At this point in our nation’s development, it isn’t enough to silently consider your salon a safe space. 

Visible signage advertising inclusivity is a powerful statement of support and a commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all clients. 

Creating client-facing non-discrimination policies is a great start, but marginalized clients are more likely to notice overt invitations (a cute flag or a window cling, for instance). This signage significantly reduces the anxiety and hesitation a trans person might feel about entering a new space.

When possible, show inclusivity in your marketing materials too—and please don’t limit it to the performative song and dance every business does throughout the month of June.

Every month is Pride Month if you’re truly an inclusive business.

Eliminate sex-based pricing. If you haven’t done away with sex-based pricing ($15 for men, $50 for women), now is the time. 

While sex-based pricing isn’t universally illegal, in some states, general consumer protection or anti-discrimination statutes might be interpreted to cover gender-based pricing, particularly if such pricing can be demonstrated to be discriminatory without a basis in significant differences in the cost or delivery of the service. California passed the Gender Tax Repeal Act, which made it illegal to discriminate against customers based on their gender in terms of pricing. Businesses in California must provide a price list for services, and any price difference must be based on the amount of time, difficulty, or cost of providing the service, not the customer’s sex.

My colleague Jaime Schrabeck and I have advocated gender-neutral pricing for years. If you want to learn more about why, read this article Jaime wrote for Nailpro. (Both of our salons have gender-neutral pricing, so if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.)

Train your employees on LGBTQIA+ issues, terminology, and sensitivity. If you felt a twinge of discomfort at the thought of having to gather your employees to discuss how to treat queer people like human beings, that’s exactly why you need to do it.

In the US, a lot of trans people still feel uncomfortable coming out, for good reason. Transgender individuals face disproportionately high rates of violence compared to the cisgender population. In 2022, the U.S. Transgender Survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 47% of transgender people have thought about moving to another state because their state government considered or passed laws that target them for unequal treatment.

In Conclusion

Change is hard. I’m from a small town populated almost entirely by sweet, church-going snowbirds and retirees, so I know how strange and overwhelming this can seem to people who don’t often interface with “the gays.” The concept of gender is so ingrained that seeing anyone subvert our expectations can be alarming at first. Hateful and false rhetoric amplifies the fear and confusion, encouraging our worst impulses.

It’s up to us to do better; nobody said it would be easy.

I understand that this can be hard, but do you know what I would argue is harder? Being the parent of a trans kid, having to worry about the Christines in this world, who are quick to categorize them as subhuman perverts and sexual deviants.

It’s easy to stay silent while people make racist, sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, or transphobic remarks in our chairs or in the break room. It costs us nothing to be neutral, to save ourselves from ridicule or judgment, to protect our salons from becoming collateral damage in a perpetually aggrieved client’s quest to be Facebook Villain of the Day. As a salon owner, I get that. I truly do.

I’m asking you to do the hard thing anyway, because it’s the right thing to do, and now is the time to do it. Make an effort to learn. Maybe also take a second to recognize and respect your professional “ancestors,” who understood that our salons are sacred, intimate spaces where people from diverse backgrounds come together to share and exchange ideas. Catalyzing shifts in societal norms is an important part of our industry’s history and our role in American society. Our communities and our kids deserve nothing but the best from us.

Now is the time to start seeing other people as humans whose chromosomes don’t dictate who they are allowed to be. Appreciate the things that make us individuals. If your love for other people is conditional on them being the exact person you want them to be, figure out why that is. Genuinely try to understand your discomfort, preferably with help from some queer allies who are open to answering any questions you have. 

Additional Resources

If you want to learn more about the history of the trans community in the beauty industry and how you can be a better ally, here are several links to get you started: 

The Salon Professional Academy – Gender Equality in the Beauty Industry
PBL Magazine – Why The Beauty Industry Needs To Do More For Trans And Non-Binary Clients
Salon Services Pro – How Are Salons Creating Safe Spaces?
Boulevard – The Ongoing Legacy of Trans Women in Beauty 
Al.com – Jody Suzanne Ford, trans Birmingham hairdresser shot to death in 1977, paved way for others to live unafraid

In some ways, I sympathize. None of us should be forced to learn skills we don’t need. I get it. I really do.

But unlicensed people don’t get to argue that professional licensing shouldn’t exist. Without a license, Jasmine doesn’t have the training to understand all of the risks an unlicensed person in a salon poses to the general public or the massive liability they pose to the salon owner. 

It’s true that licensing requirements were heavily lobbied for and influenced by for-profit beauty academies looking to bloat their bottom line, but regulations requiring education and licensing were also created to attempt to solve problems and establish a shared value system around objectively good practices.

While each state has different regulations, most overlap in a few key areas. By and large, every regulated state agrees:

• Clients have the right to expect a clean and safe salon experience.
• Those seeking to enter the beauty industry have the right to an education sufficient to guarantee that they can competently perform their duties in the salon while protecting themselves and the public from communicable disorders.
• Professionals and clients have the right to a clean, compliant workplace.
• As an industry, professionals are obligated to ensure all of the above or face penalties including fines, license suspensions, and—in extreme cases—permanent license revocation.

Our state board regulations ensure that professionals and clients alike understand how and why we disinfect our tools between clients, what the standards for salon cleanliness are, what licensing documentation they should expect to see, and where that documentation should be posted in the salon. 

Our licensing requirements guarantee that professionals can—at a very minimum—respond to common first-aid situations (cuts, burns, falls) capably, mix and use state-approved disinfectants properly, and identify symptoms of communicable skin disorders. They also ensure that we understand and practice Universal Precautions. 

These regulations aren’t designed to necessarily serve us; they’re designed to protect the public, including the business owners who are legally liable for anything a service provider does in their facility.

I agree that experience isn’t worthless. However, just because you’ve been doing something for years doesn’t mean you’ve been doing it correctly or safely. Without professional training, you won’t learn that until you happen to make a very, very big mistake (like causing a pink-eye outbreak because you didn’t know not to reuse mascara wands). 

You don’t know what you don’t know.

State Board licensing standards and regulatory requirements are the methods by which our state legislators reassure the public and our employers that we should know what we’re doing—and that if we screw up, there are mechanisms in place to hold us professionally liable for it. The public shouldn’t have to rely on local courts to determine gross negligence when a framework can be provided that guarantees a professional who acts recklessly or carelessly will face professional consequences, like losing their ability to ever legally work in a salon again. These regulations provide protection against malpractice. They’re meant to strongly incentivize licensed professionals to play by the rules and take their obligations to their community seriously. You aren’t supposed to like them.

Instead of arguing that licenses shouldn’t exist, Jasmine should be fighting for the creation of smaller licenses for specialized professions. There’s no denying that makeup artistry is a separate profession from cosmetology. Makeup artists could go their entire careers without ever having to learn anything about mixing chemicals, using and disinfecting sharps, or applying hot wax to a client’s skin. These are things makeup artists don’t do.

Precedents for crafting smaller, more specific licenses already exist. Various states in the U.S. have introduced specialized licenses for services such as hair braiding and body wrapping, acknowledging that these professionals have different needs compared to full cosmetologists. This move towards specialized licenses recognizes the unique skills and training required for specific services, making it more accessible for professionals to enter the industry without undergoing extensive training irrelevant to their specialization.

Does a professional who plans to specialize in braiding need to spend 300 hours learning how to do manicures and pedicures? No. Because that isn’t part of their job. Why should a makeup artist be required to learn how to do hair and nails?

It’s tough being caught in the catch-22 of needing to work to pay for the licenses but needing the license to legally work. Instead of limiting herself to keeping her makeup business as a side-hustle, and risking legal repercussions if caught, she needs to think outside the box and find a legit way to get her needs met and her career on the best possible path.

If I were in Jasmine’s position, I would petition for alternative certification programs, advocate for specialized licensing, and collaborate with the board and other industry peers. It’s far past time for our industry to find innovative, accessible pathways to professional legitimacy that align with individual career goals and legal requirements. 

Take a deep breath. Now read this handy list.

Dress conservatively and professionally. No sandals. No jeans. No tank tops. No t-shirts. Dress like you’re going for an interview at a law firm or to a congressman’s funeral. This is not the time to make a fashion statement. Dressing sexy will win you no points here. If you chose to wear a skirt, make sure it’s no shorter than two inches above your knee.

Courts are weirdly formal places. Prepare yourself accordingly.

Keep your makeup minimal and natural. Don’t get crazy with that eye shadow. You want to be taken seriously, so don’t walk into the courtroom with you eyelids covered in rainbow glitter. Remember, you’re entering a place where people tend to care a whole lot about presentation and decorum. Some judges read a little too deeply into fashion choices and what they say about people.

Remove the metal from your face. If you normally wear facial piercings, take them out. They aren’t appropriate to wear to court. I cannot reiterate this enough times:

As stupid as it is, appearances matter. A lot.

Don’t wear a belt or complicated shoes. You will have to remove your shoes and walk through a metal detector before you can enter the courthouse. Make it easy on yourself by leaving your belts and metal accessories at home and wearing flats you can slip into and out of easily. Don’t create unnecessary stress. You’ll likely be a hot mess of nerves to begin with.

When it’s your turn to sit in front of the judge, follow these rules.

Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. Never show emotion during your opponent’s testimony. You can be nervous, sad, and scared. You cannot be angry, loud, or disrespectful. Judges have zero patience or tolerance for belligerence.

Don’t roll your eyes, sigh, or draw attention to yourself.

Even if the other party lies through their teeth, keep your mouth shut and your attitude in check. Write down your objections and bring them up when it’s your turn to speak. Put on your best poker face and be patient.

Always address the judge with “Your Honor” or “Sir” or “Ma’am,” and never use slang or profanity. When you’re asked a question that requires a yes or no answer, always say “yes ma’am/sir/Your Honor” or “no ma’am/sir/Your Honor.” Never say, “yeah,” “nope,” or “I dunno.”

Don’t go in demanding justice. Do not bark orders at a judge or demand anything from them. Sure, your tax dollars pay their salary, but they don’t work for you. 

You’re at court to reach a peaceful, reasonable resolution, not to fight with your opponent.

Both of you believe you’re right. You can’t come to an agreement, so you are in court to ask the judge to come up with a fair solution based on the information and evidence that each of you collected. Approach it from that perspective–it’s not about winning or losing but having a neutral party evaluate each of your positions and make a decision for you.

You can think that your opponent’s actions were wrong. You can feel your opponent’s action were wrong. You don’t know they were wrong or not. The judge determines that. (Even if you really do know and you have fistfuls of statutes and evidence to support that argument, never go in with the arrogance of assurance.)

In small claims court, don’t be afraid to tell the judge that you’ve never been in court before and you may have questions during the proceedings. Small claims courts are generally pretty mellow. Nobody has attorneys and judges don’t expect you to be competent in court procedure. If you don’t understand what a judge asks of you or what they mean, politely ask for an explanation.

Keep your testimony brief and only testify to what you can prove. This is so, SO important. Do not pop off with a bunch of irrelevant, unverifiable testimony. If you cannot prove a claim, the judge will likely disregard it.

Bring evidence in triplicate. One for you, one for the judge, and one for your opponent.

A lot of professionals panic at the thought of going to court. Don’t be scared. The majority of the time, you’re going to end up in small claims, where the stakes are low and the process is pretty informal. You don’t need an attorney, the rules are relaxed, and if you’re the plaintiff, generally, the worst that can happen is that your case gets dismissed and you lose your filing fee. No biggie. In other proceedings, you’ll have an attorney representing you and doing all the heavy lifting, so relax and focus on controlling the one thing you can control—yourself.

Have you ever been to court? What for? Were you scared? What happened? Tell us about it in the comments!

I love my tenants, and I think we cohabitate well, but my resentment is building towards them, and it’s starting to create some tension. I don’t want things to be this way! What do you recommend?

Every salon landlord faces this issue at some point. Welcome to the club!

I’d like for you to think of this as your first real leadership exercise, because how you behave and how you treat the renters who are behind on their payments matters a lot and could impact your business significantly.

If you don’t already, start thinking of your renters as your customers, because they are. Your job, as their landlord, is to provide them with suitable workspace and collect their checks, but those are bare minimum requirements. If you hope to be the kind of salon landlord everyone wants to rent from, you’ll have to do better. You have the opportunity to demonstrate that right now.

Start with the assumption that the renters in arrears likely have good reasons, but also with the understanding that the salon’s welfare comes first.

If you’re willing to work with renters who are going through a slow patch, figure out how you’re going to accommodate them. Are you going to drop a great tenant over a bad month? Probably not.

You likely know which tenants deserve a payment plan for their overdue rent. Do the math and get your offer straight. Have the plan typed out and ready to present. Here’s an example of what those plans could look like:

• Lisa owes $400. She’s been with you two years and seems happy, so you don’t think she’s likely to leave any time soon. For her, you are willing to accept $50 each week ($200 each month) for the next two months, or until she terminates her lease.
• Glenn owes $400. He’s been with the salon for a little under a year, and he complains a lot…about everything. He has a history of job-hopping, so you can’t trust that he’ll stick around. For him, you are willing to accept $100 each week for the next month, or until he terminates his lease.
• Laura owes $800. She’s had it rough the last few months. She and her kids have been sick almost constantly since school started. But Laura has never missed a payment in the last five years she’s been renting from you. She’s responsible, professional, and the kind of tenant you definitely don’t want to lose. For her, you are willing to accept $25 each week ($100 each month) for the next eight months, or until she terminates her lease.

I recommend having the tenants pay in a separate transaction, rather than adding it on to their rent. Use Excel or Google Sheets to record their payments, so both of you have documentation, and only take traceable payments—no cash. (This isn’t up for debate; both of you should cover your asses.)

Meet with each renter privately, starting with those who are furthest behind. 

Tell them exactly what you’ve said here: their non-payment is affecting the business. You’ve been very patient and understanding, but you cannot subsidize their salon.

These conversations probably won’t be easy. Especially if you’ve developed close personal friendships with some of your tenants.

Too many people depend on the facility’s continuation to allow a few renters to jeopardize the whole operation.

Establish a firm due date for payment, and don’t be surprised if the meeting goes poorly from there.

If you were operating under the assumption that these renters were your friends, you’re about to learn whether or not that’s true. Unfortunately, more often than not, these meetings don’t end well. Don’t be surprised (or upset) if the renter gets nasty with you. Don’t be shocked if they seem apologetic during the meeting, then secretly pack up and disappear overnight. 

Remember that you’re dealing with people who shirked their only obligation to you and their colleagues. In doing so—assuming they’re not drowning in an unexpected personal financial crisis—they’ve demonstrated irresponsibility, unprofessionalism, and a severe lack of consideration. Keep your expectations realistic.

If you prefer not to offer payment plans, you can provide renters with a simple formal written notice that states the balance owed, the payment due date, and the consequences of nonpayment (eviction and small claims court, usually). A written lease isn’t necessarily required to hold renters accountable. By paying you a fee in exchange for your space, they’re establishing a common-law lease agreement. In many states, common-law leases are considered valid.

You know your situation better than I do, but I generally recommend saving this measure for the renters you’re eager to get rid of or implementing it as a last-resort option. Attorneys may advise you otherwise, but as someone who has been on your side of the desk during these talks, I certainly would not, except in dire circumstances. (The last thing you want is Glenn complaining about how “heartless” you are to every professional in town.)

Require all renters to sign written lease agreements. This is non-optional. Common-law leases are much harder to enforce than written ones. Contracts are critical, so every renter needs to sign an agreement showing that they understand your expectations and their obligations. These documents don’t have to be long, and they shouldn’t be written in legalese.

If your lease exceeds two pages, you’re doing it wrong.

Get a local real estate attorney to review and approve your lease, someone who knows your state’s commercial rental laws and understands that you’re subletting co-working space to beauty professionals. (I routinely consult with attorneys who are unfamiliar with the industry, and I often collaborate with them on rental and employment contracts. If you need help, request an appointment with me here.)

Once those leases are signed, you’ll have a system for keeping this from happening in the future, a document that neatly outlines everything—the payment amount, the due date, and the consequences for failing to adhere to the lease terms.

Don’t mourn the tenants you lose. You will very likely lose a few renters, and some of them might say some cruel, unfair things to you before they depart, but don’t cry over it. Anyone who leaves is doing you a favor. 

Good people get run over sometimes. 

You were very kind to allow the past-due rent to pile up. People may have taken advantage of that kindness, which is unfortunate, but of all the crimes a salon landlord could commit, it’s certainly the least offensive. 

Enough of these experiences can harden people over time, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Learn from this, but don’t let it change who you are. 

Good luck!

She’s talented and the clients love her attitude, so I don’t want to fire her. Quarterly performance reviews are coming up and I’m not sure how to explain that she needs a lot of training without sounding like a total bitch.

I’m not good at these types of conversations. I don’t want the employees to hate me and I don’t want to cause drama. I like to keep my interactions with them positive because I know keeping them happy is really important. Plus, she’s pretty new to the business and I don’t want to discourage her. What do I do?”

NEW MANAGER ALERT! NEW MANAGER ALERT!

You’ve held your position for what? Four months? Maybe less? I’m willing to bet my left arm that this will be your first time conducting quarterly reviews. I can smell inexperienced management from miles away. You know how? It’s your soul—specifically, the fact that yours is still intact. (Enjoy your conscience while you have one. Eventually, it’ll start to deteriorate and you’ll be left a cold, hollow shell who lives and dies by the salon’s performance metrics.)

Effective communication skills are a manager’s most critical asset.

You’ll have to learn how to use language extremely well so you can have difficult conversations without flinching or destroying the morale of the employee you’re evaluating. Those conversations require confidence, tact, and a complete disregard for the employee’s personal opinion of you. You’re not at work to make friends, Madam Manager.

When conducting performance evaluations, a lot of managers use the “sandwich” method. They give good feedback, then bad, and then good, so the meeting ends on a positive note. I’ve never found the sandwich method very effective, mostly because it seems to trigger a condition I call “selective deafness.”

People tend to hear what they want to hear and not what they need to hear.

What this employee needs to hear is this: “We’re going to spend some more time refining your technique and helping you master the point-of-sale system.”

Notice the plural pronoun: We.
Not you.

What you need to hear is this: Your team’s shortcomings are an extension of your own.

As the manager, you are responsible for ensuring your team members are adequately trained. It’s your job to ensure they’re staying on task and that they’re confident in their product and service knowledge so they know how to upsell and retail.

In a perfect world, all of our graduates would come to us with these skills built-in, but the responsibility for providing critical job training often falls to us.

These issues sound as if they’ve been going on for a while, and you’ve been waiting until quarterly reviews to address them. That stops now.

To efficiently eliminate bad habits, address and correct them immediately.

From now on, you’re going to keep a clipboard. Clip some notebook paper on that bad boy—the college ruled stuff.

Do you have a daily agenda?

If not, you make one. If you’d like, you can download mine and adapt it to suit your needs.

Put that on top of your crisp notebook paper, then print out a fancy cover sheet like this one. Print it on decent card stock, though. (If you can see through it, that defeats the purpose.) Stick that cover sheet right on top of everything.

Now that your clipboard has been situated, grab a pen. Never again will you be seen at work without these two items in your hands.

Why do you need a clipboard as a constant companion?

Because you need to be writing things down when you see them—and walking around, typing notes on a phone or tablet looks unprofessional. Plus, it’s easy to forget the notes you’ve made on a device if they’re not physically where you can see them.

What kind of notes should you take?

All kinds. You will notate maintenance tasks (like paint chips and malfunctioning equipment), client and employee suggestions, and—most importantly—lapses in professionalism and performance that you will need to address before closing time.

Stop waiting until performance review periods.

If someone’s lagging behind, overusing product, not cleaning up after themselves, inciting riots, or otherwise stepping out of line, you’re going to be having a one-on-one with them that day.

Why is immediate correction so important?

• You want the behavior to stop before it becomes a habit. Bad habits are expensive.
• Negative behaviors poorly reflect on the business, equating to a loss in clients (and consequently, revenue).
• Product overuse can cost the salon a ton of money over time.
• Low productivity adversely affects profit margins.

If you don’t correct them fast, bad behaviors can infect the other employees like a virus.

You know the saying, “Not my circus; not my monkeys?” As the salon manager, you’re the ringleader. This absolutely is your circus, and those absolutely are your monkeys.

How does that other saying go? “Monkey see; monkey do.” If you think that doesn’t apply to grown adults, you’re wrong. Never let employees set precedents. Employees need to be told what your expectations of them are, and sometimes they need to be reminded.

The salon can’t afford for you to neglect your duties. Your job is to actively manage the employees. That’s what you’re getting paid for. Besides, by not addressing these issues in a timely manner, you’re only making your job more difficult. Don’t let undesirable behaviors slide. Always be swift and consistent with your discipline.

How do I address the problems with the employees?

You don’t get to go home until you’ve dealt with employee-related problems. Serious infractions (outbursts on the salon floor, for example) require emergency meetings on-the-spot, but if you’re routinely addressing problem behaviors on a same-day basis, those emergency situations will be few and far between.

When you have disciplinary discussions, place blame where it belongs.

A slow employee who fumbles through services and can’t work the POS has likely not been properly trained—and who’s in charge of training? You are. By not training this employee up to the salon’s standards, you’ve not only cost the salon money, you’ve tossed an inexperienced professional into the ocean without a life raft.

If you have set an employee up for failure, you owe them an apology.

Sometimes the most difficult conversations to have are the ones in which you have to admit fault. To learn how to apologize the right way, I recommend reading my article, “How to Admit Fault and Apologize.” You would think apologizing would be pretty simple and straightforward, but too few salon managers and owners know how to do so effectively. Communication isn’t always as easy as we’d like it to be, so do yourself the favor of developing the skills necessary to successfully navigate your relationships with everyone you interact with at work. Both the continued success of the salon and your management career very much depend on your commitment to continual improvement.

Should this be a recurring problem, evaluate the corrective measures you’ve taken.

• Why were they ineffective?
• Could you have done something differently?
• Could this problem have been avoided with better communication or more training?

If the answer to all of those questions is no, then you’ll have to straighten your spine, face the employee, and hold an accountability discussion. (If you feel like it might be time to have that discussion, my article, “How to Hold Others Accountable” will tell you exactly how to prepare for and conduct that meeting.)

You’re a manager, now. Tough discussions are going to be part of your weekly routine, so get used to them.

Don’t shoot for the moon.

Do you have any idea how far away the moon is? Or how expensive it will be to get there? Just thinking about the work required makes the task of getting there seem overwhelming and impossible. (Plus, “shooting” towards a natural satellite sounds like it has the potential to end pretty painfully.)

Instead of focusing intently on a major, long-term goal, devote your full attention to accomplishing a significant shorter-term goal.

What do you plan to achieve in the long-term? Do you want a twenty-location empire and a mansion on the beach? Write it out in detail on a piece of paper.

What part of that dream can you reasonably accomplish in the next three years? Maybe you can open your first location, or expand your existing business into a new area? Maybe you could also start renovating parts of your home to prepare it for sale? Write those things down on another piece of paper.

Now, you’re holding two pieces of paper, right? Tuck the major “short-term” goal page into your planner. (I don’t care what you do with your “long-term” goals written on it. Some recommend putting it in a visible place, where you can see it every day. I’d recommend keeping it at the back of a planner or journal and only looking at it when you need to reassess your short-term goals.)

Your short-term goals should only include tasks that are reasonable and attainable within the next 36 months.

Three years away seems like a lifetime (especially given the way some of us have had our perception of time thoroughly thrown off as of late), but it passes much quicker when you’re working in eager pursuit of something that matters deeply to you.

Create a timeline.

For each goal on your short-term page, list every step you’ll need to take to accomplish them. If you want to establish that empire, you’ll need to do some market research and scout locations. Then, you’ll need to negotiate a lease. Then, you’ll need to get started on the build. If you want to get that house ready to sell, you’ll need to deal with that green shag carpeting in your living room…for starters.

Now, estimate how much time each of those tasks will take. For example, how long will you take to scout locations and decide on a home for your new business? How many months will it take to get the rose tile replaced with something a little more modern in your dated ass bathroom? Be reasonable in your assessments, especially if you’re relying on third parties (like accountants, attorneys, state licensing departments, or contractors) for anything.

Keep your personal responsibilities in mind, too.

Think hard about how many hours per day you can realistically dedicate to your tasks. You may find that you have to make some sacrifices or delegate certain tasks to free up more time.

For me, that task was managing my social campaigns for this blog. By automating those tasks through the use of a social calendar software, I was able to free up five hours per week. I also sacrificed non-essential social interaction, for the most part.

You’ll also need to recognize and eliminate time-sucking distractions. For example, I had to severely limit my involvement in professional networking groups to an hour or less per day. In April of 2018, I left Facebook entirely. When I finished my taxes in January of this year, I found that my income had doubled. (I am positive that was not a coincidence.)

Now, you should have a rough outline of what your next 36 months will look like. Transfer all those dates and tasks to your calendar. Once you’re done, they won’t be goals any more; they’ll be plans.

Focus and Execute

Plan to make slow and steady progress. Don’t allow yourself to get distracted by other projects or opportunities. For many of you, this will mean learning how to say “no” more often. Anything that distracts from your goals, regardless of what it is, will push back your timeline.

Most of us are visual people, so maybe it’ll help you to think of these distractions this way:

You’re at the bottom of the ocean and you really want to get to the surface, take a deep breath of fresh air, and see the sun. So, you make a plan to get to the surface and you start executing that plan.

You start to swim upwards but an octopus stops you. He says, “Hey, can you help me with this thing? It’s a great opportunity for you and will only require a few days/weeks of your time.”

The octopus straps a weight to your ankle that’ll keep you at his depth until the task is done. Meanwhile, you can’t really do a lot of swimming, so your goal of reaching the surface is postponed.

You finish the octopus’s assignment, remove the weight, and start swimming again. You’ve made it another twenty feet closer to the surface when a dolphin approaches you. “Hello!” he says. “I have a great opportunity for you. It will only require a few days/weeks of your time…” He holds out another weight for you to strap to your ankle.

Always ask, “What’s in this for me?”

You’re allowed to be selfish, shrewd, and cynical. You’re allowed to expect a tangible return on your time and effort, especially when you’re being asked to put your goals on hold by someone else who’d rather you spend your time in pursuit of theirs. Many “opportunities” I’m presented with aren’t actually opportunities that would ever benefit me—at least not enough to make up for the loss of time I could have spent on my own goals. Be willing to say no to anything that doesn’t move you closer to your destination. Remember, you’re on a schedule.

Outside projects, in addition to robbing you of your valuable time, will tire you out. The longer you postpone your own goals, the easier it gets to postpone them further. Go long enough without working on your goals and they’ll eventually start to look like unattainable pipe dreams. You’ll get frustrated and resentful and will may never resume your work towards that goal again.

The only thing worse for your progress than the interference of others is your inability to commit to a singular focus.

Sometimes, we’re the ones strapping weights to our own ankles. We can set ourselves back when we start twenty different projects and never actually complete anything.

A few of my consulting clients are like this: eager, driven, motivated, but ultimately they’re too impulsive. They haven’t opened their first location before they’re asking to tour empty units in neighboring towns as part of a sudden expansion plan that materialized on a whim.

In this scenario, you’re swimming to the top, but you can only really use one arm (most of the time), because your other arm and your legs are preoccupied managing your other projects. Try not to think too hard about how that would work from a logistical standpoint—it’s a mediocre analogy, the point is…

Successful, productive people commit and follow through.

Don’t sabotage yourself by spreading yourself too thin or set yourself up for disappointment by taking on far too much. Your timeline serves as a guide but also a reminder that big goals sometimes require big time investments. You might get there sooner, but if not, you shouldn’t feel discouraged. Keep checking off tasks one day at a time. As long as you’re moving forward, it doesn’t matter how fast (or slow) you’re going.

Self-Assess

The lists, calendars, and detailed plans go a long way to curb those impulsive behaviors, but daily self-assessment is an absolute necessity.

When you start your day, do the following:

Check your calendar. Ask yourself:

• Am I on track to hit my deadlines?
• What do I need to be focusing on today to ensure that I will stay on schedule?

Check your to-do list. Ask yourself:

• What can I fully complete today?
• What extraneous tasks can I outsource or postpone?

Hold yourself accountable. If you can’t, have someone else hold you accountable.

Once you accomplish one of your short-term goals, revisit your long-term goal. Ask yourself:

• Do I still want this, or have I found a new long-term goal?
• Have new opportunities presented themselves that could get me closer to achieving this goal or help me progress more efficiently?
• Can I add a new short-term goal now or should I buckle down and clear the ones I’m working on first?

I hope you found this approach helpful. Personally, I had a hard time following most popular goal-setting techniques. This strategy works for me, but I encourage you to also be flexible. When something isn’t working, try something new until you find something that works, and don’t get too discouraged when you experience delays or setbacks.

Let’s start with the questions coming up most frequently in the comments and my inboxes:

Can my boss require us to rent space?

Nobody can “require” you to do anything. You are free to find another job elsewhere or even rent elsewhere. That said, your employer is not required to keep you on their payroll. Employment is “at-will” in all US states. This means your employment may be terminated for any reason, or for no reason at all. (There are unique exceptions to this, but generally, they tend not to apply to workers in our industry.) Should you refuse the offer to rent space in the facility, the owner would be within their rights to terminate your employment.

Is my salon owner trying to take advantage of me and my coworkers by suddenly switching us from employees to renters?

Unless your salon owner is proposing reclassifying you as an independent contractor while continuing to control you like an employee (read more about that here), I would consider it unlikely, given the situation.

The shutdowns caused by coronavirus outbreaks have severely impacted salon revenue. Many salon owners found themselves in a position where their only option was to accept a PPP loan, keep their fingers crossed that they’d qualify for forgiveness, and hope for things to improve before their payments came due. A good deal of them signed these loan agreements during the first round, before the terms were even finalized by the SBA. They found out after the fact that qualifying for forgiveness was going to be harder than they anticipated. Those who didn’t take loans have stretched their savings and their lines of credit to their absolute limits.

Until the widespread deployment of a vaccine, we cannot expect for things to go back to normal completely. Having employees during this time can be prohibitively expensive. Payroll, without question, constitutes our largest expense. While many of these salon owners would love nothing more than to keep their employees on payroll and retain control over their brand and their services, they understand that supporting their normal workforce may not be possible. Many of these salon owners are only turning to rental because they feel they have no choice.

If you were a salon owner, would you rather terminate your employees entirely or convert them to renters?

The salon owners I’ve consulted with who have had to make this choice have not done so without considerable trepidation. None of them had any desire to become landlords. None of them wanted to surrender control of the companies they had worked so hard to establish and grow. But when you find yourself between a rock and another rock, you do what you must.

So, let’s learn about what self employment is, how booth rental works, and what you need to do to lay the groundwork for success.

What does it mean to be a self-employed renter?

If you are a renter, you are self employed. That means you have full control over your business. This arrangement is no different than if you had rented your own storefront. The only thing separating you from a traditional salon owner is that you operate your business under the roof of another salon owner.

This means you:

• Set your own prices and schedule
• Create your own service protocols
• Select and purchase your own products
• Collect your own payments
• Manage your own appointments
• Pay your own taxes
• Have your own business entity, bank account, website, social profiles, booking software, and payment system
• Insure yourself with your own professional liability policy

The person you sign a lease with becomes your landlord, not your employer or manager.

There is no in-between here. You pay for a space to operate your business. The landlord does not get to tell you how to conduct business , what to charge, when to work, or what to wear. They can’t require you to use their branding in your promotional materials, attend mandatory meetings or training sessions, or use their booking or payment software. They also cannot require you to do salon chores or act as a “team player.” From this point forward, there is no team. You’re a business owner operating in direct competition with every professional you work alongside.

This also means that you no longer will be supplied by or managed by the salon owner. The owner does not have to provide you with product, clients, marketing, paid leave, free time for vacation, reception services, an assistant, or any of the other benefits that you may have become accustomed to as an employee.

You are a business owner in every sense of the word. I cannot stress that enough.

First, you may need to obtain a business license. Depending on your state laws you may be required to register either as a DBA, a sole proprietor, or LLC. In some situations, you may benefit from filing as a corporation, but that’s unusual for most booth renters. To learn which business structure is right for you, I recommend reading this article.

When it comes to taxes, you will pay quarterly estimated tax payments. This process is more straightforward than it sounds.

Estimated tax payments are due as follows:

• January 1 to March 31 – April 15
• April 1 to May 31 – June 15
• June 1 to August 31 – September 15
• September 1 to December 31 – January 15 of the following year

There are a few ways you can calculate the amount of each payment:

• Use IRS Form 1040-ES
• Divide the total taxes due for the prior year by four.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t see into the future (and despite loving tax law, I hate tax forms), so I take my prior year’s tax responsibility and divide it into quarterly payments. If you’re married filing jointly and really want to ensure that you won’t be stuck with a big tax bill, have your spouse increase their withholding. I also recommend saving aggressively. That way, no matter how unexpectedly well your business performed, you will always have enough money on hand to cover additional taxes.

As long as you pay at least 100% of what you owed the prior year in taxes (or 90% of what you will owe the current year), you will not be assigned any fines or penalties for underpayment.

You may send estimated tax payments with Form 1040-ES by mail, or you can pay online, by phone or from your mobile device using the IRS2Go app. (Corporations must deposit the payment using the EFTPS—the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.) 

At the end of the year, before January 31st, you will supply the salon owner you rent space from with a 1099 form if you have paid that salon owner in excess of $600 that year. This will allow the landlord to claim your rent as business income and you to deduct that rent as a business expense.

I highly recommend that every professional have a professional liability insurance policy, even if you aren’t required to. Professional liability insurance policies are incredibly affordable and provide a substantial deal of protection against lawsuits. You can get them from a variety of insurance companies or through one of the industry’s professional associations (usually at a discount).

How can I be successful as a new booth renter?

First, start treating your business like a business. You don’t need to put together a business plan, but it helps. Don’t be intimidated. Your business plan doesn’t need to conform to any special format.

Keep personal and professional separated in your dealings with your peers (who are now your competitors), your clients (who are now your customers), and your landlord (who is no longer your boss).

You can find more information in the following posts:

• Self-Employment: Pros and Cons
• Too Small to Fail
• Microsalon Math
• Know Your Rights
• What does booth rental cost?

Do not pull your prices out of thin air or you will doom your business to failure before it even starts.

You could follow the steps outlined in this post, but if you want a system that does all the math for you (and includes a wealth of information and tools for self-employed beauty professionals), I recommend checking out The Microsalon Owner’s Complete Business Toolkit.

The Microsalon Owner’s Success Toolkit includes:

• The Microsalon Owner’s Planning Checklist
• The Microsalon Owner’s Pricing Spreadsheet, a 7-page spreadsheet that calculates your service prices for you!
• The Microsalon Owner’s Pricing Guide, a 28-page instruction manual that will walk you through the process of using the Service Pricing Spreadsheet,
• The Microsalon Owner’s Business Plan Design Guide, a 2-page overview detailing the anatomy of a business plan. Simply answer the questions in each section and you’ll have a solid framework!
• The Microsalon Owner’s Lease Component Checklist, a 3-page document that simplifies lease terms to keep you from signing an incomplete (or unfair) rental agreement,
• The Microsalon Assessment Tool: Be Worth What You Charge, an 11-page checklist and salon evaluation resource
• The Microsalon Owner’s Website Design Guide, a practical 2-page reference detailing each page your site should have and what each page should contain.
• Employer Obligations for Microsalon Owners, a 9-page document that covers the basics of employment law for solo entrepreneurs. (If you plan to hire an assistant or receptionist at some point, you’re going to need to read this document.)
• Suggested Resources for Microsalon Owners, an 8-page reference guide where you can find every awesome thing I recommend—domain registrars, hosting companies, web designers and DIY website builders, mailing list management services, free fonts, free stock photos, salon management tools, accounting software for solo entrepreneurs, and so much more. Learn what each resource does, why they’re great, and why I recommend them.