Salon Talk with Nancy

Nancy: 00:01

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Salon Talk with Nancy. I'm your host, Nancy, and I'm so excited to have Daniel Mason Jones again with me. This time, we're gonna be talking about, something that a lot of salon owners are actually, like, very confused about. I happen to have 3 daughters that fall into this category, so I understand them. Although, I didn't get them when they were teenagers, I do understand them now.

Nancy: 00:24

So we're gonna be talking about Gen z and the millennials, and really what how can we, you know, how we can basically, how awesome they are and how to understand them, and, we're gonna talk a little bit about how Daniel really has grown his business with them. So thank you for joining me, Daniel. Again, anybody that has doesn't know who you are, which I doubt that, can you just tell us a little bit? You're on about the salons and stuff like that. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Daniel: 00:54

So I'm your friend. That's what you need to know. I'm Daniel,

Nancy: 00:59

and I'm your friend.

Daniel: 00:59

No. Daniel Mason Jones, and I've been a stylist now for over 25 years. It's been an amazing thing. Amazing. Right?

Daniel: 01:05

I love what I get to do. We just opened our 2nd location. We have over 80 employees inside the company. Literally, we opened in January our 2nd location, and we've already maxed out, which is a bit stressful. And I tell you, people are really seeking something different and especially when it comes to Gen z.

Daniel: 01:22

So I love talking about the different generation gaps. We have every generation working inside of our company right now, and we feel like we might have a little magic when it comes to how to bridge all the generations together for maximum profitability and maximum happiness inside of culture.

Nancy: 01:38

So I, went to your event, couple months ago in Atlanta, Georgia, and, again, told my husband, maybe that's where we'll move to. And I was so impressed with how you had really incorporated them into your, you know, created a culture that was just so inclusive. And you, you know, and really empower the next generation. And, you know, I'm a big believer that, you know again, working with a huge diversity of salon owners in the many years that I've been in the industry. You know, there are some that are just like they're like, I don't understand them and they just like, you know, they have this negative vibe.

Nancy: 02:15

But before we start, I'm gonna I want to let the audience get to know you a little bit better. So I'm gonna ask you 2 random questions because this is what I do. Alright. And, the first one is, what is something interesting that nobody knows about you?

Daniel: 02:34

So maybe somebody knows, but not many people know.

Nancy: 02:37

Okay.

Daniel: 02:38

No? I'm like, I don't need to know this. Did you know that I was in the ROTC? ROTC? The Navy ROTC?

Nancy: 02:45

No. I did not.

Daniel: 02:46

Voila. There you go.

Nancy: 02:48

No way.

Daniel: 02:49

So, yeah, I did junior ROTC. I did it for 3 years. It was amazing. I did it the whole time I was in high school and could have gone into the Navy, as an e 2.

Nancy: 02:58

Wow. Yeah.

Daniel: 02:59

I loved it. It was awesome. It gave me so much discipline. Yep. Because the religious background that I come from, we were not allowed to play sports.

Daniel: 03:07

And so in school, in high school, my elective had to be something else. So I went into ROTC. It was really cool, and it taught me a lot about teamwork. And, know, it's funny because everything that we've taken from our past really goes into the future. So learning to work with team better, learning how to lead team.

Daniel: 03:25

And so, yeah, that's something you made.

Nancy: 03:27

That is so interesting. So I'm the baby of 5, so I did not have any team mindset whatsoever. And, actually, I catch myself really spent doing, like I love my role because it's very independent, but I have to remind myself that I'm greater when I when I'm with a team. And it's so it's it is it is really interesting those past experiences can make or break you. So, like, you know, it's like, okay.

Nancy: 03:53

I always believe you're well, at least I've identified my greatest weakness being my greatest potential, like, my greatest area. Wait. No. I take that back. My greatest strength is actually my greatest area of opportunity also.

Nancy: 04:05

Right? So well, that's another podcast. Okay. So second question. This is a good one.

Nancy: 04:11

This is a good one. If you had to pick a celebrity to be your hairdresser, who would it be and why?

Daniel: 04:21

Oh my gosh.

Nancy: 04:23

That's a good one. Just imagine you had a lot of hair and you're like

Daniel: 04:26

I know. Like because

Nancy: 04:26

you always joke about your hair.

Daniel: 04:28

I know. Like, a actual celebrity?

Nancy: 04:32

Yeah. Yep.

Daniel: 04:33

Oh gosh. I'm terrible. You know, because I don't really listen to music or watch TV, I don't really know. I feel terrible. I have have no idea.

Nancy: 04:42

Didn't you have, like, curly curly hair when

Daniel: 04:45

you were Yeah. Yeah. My genetic my genetic, I'll take his curly hair for sure. I have no idea who I would want to do my hair. Like, oh, you stop me.

Daniel: 04:56

I'll have to take

Nancy: 04:57

a picture

Daniel: 04:57

and answer that at the end of the podcast.

Nancy: 04:59

Interesting. Okay. I still, to this day, love Jennifer Anderson's hair. It's like so

Daniel: 05:06

Oh, yeah.

Nancy: 05:06

Beautiful and thick and shiny and healthy, and I would want her to do a blowout on me. That's who I would pick.

Daniel: 05:12

Oh, and you know what? She'll be great at it too.

Nancy: 05:15

Yeah. I bet she would be. She's all about her hair. I love it. I was thinking, like, Donna Summers for you because she's got, like, she has such

Daniel: 05:21

Oh my god.

Nancy: 05:22

Beautiful curly hair.

Daniel: 05:24

Fabulous.

Nancy: 05:24

Beautiful. Right? Yeah. That was my first one. I'm like, who knows, like, curly hair?

Nancy: 05:29

So I just want you to be like, well, if I still had a lot of hair in my head and it was curly, who would I want it to be? And she'd be so fun, and she would sing to us while she's doing your hair. Right?

Daniel: 05:39

We'd move right now.

Nancy: 05:40

We'd be into it.

Daniel: 05:41

I could not sit still during the haircut. True that.

Nancy: 05:45

Okay. So today, we're gonna talk about Gen z and the millennials. And so during your last during that fabulous class that I attended, you really showcased and how you empower that next generation. And I know my clients that were there, including myself, were very impressed how you, like, really elevate them because most people think, again, I I always say to people, the farther we get away from that gen next generation, the more we don't understand them and it's a very common threat. We It's

Daniel: 06:12

not good.

Nancy: 06:12

They think they they're lazy. We think that they have no work ethic. It goes on and on and on and I'm probably and I'm like, you know, I'm sure my parents thought about me and now I'm, you know, it's it's about finding your passion. So tell us about first off, for anyone that really doesn't know the difference of the ages because a lot of people still do not understand it. Tell us the ages.

Daniel: 06:33

Okay.

Nancy: 06:33

And and then start telling us how you, like what do you love about them? That's always a good start to the ages and what do you love about them.

Daniel: 06:41

So Gen z right now in 2024 are 18 to 26 years old. So Gen z is 18 to 26. Millennials are 27 to 42. So now you know. And that's that's today in 2024.

Daniel: 06:56

Alright.

Nancy: 06:56

Yeah.

Daniel: 06:56

So I love them all. Millennials, I have a a good friend, Chris Tuff. He he spoke at our conference. He was amazing. He actually wrote an incredible book that everybody should check out.

Daniel: 07:07

It's called the millennial whisperer. I'm gonna reach out to him. You know what? After this, I'm gonna be like, hey. Do you wanna collaborate on a book?

Daniel: 07:14

Let's write this

Nancy: 07:15

together for

Daniel: 07:16

Gen z. Yeah. Because I love Chris so much. What an amazing guy. But Gen z, when you look at Gen z versus Millennial versus Boomer or or even x like myself, Gen z, they're really amazing.

Daniel: 07:29

There's so many great things about Gen z that we're overlooking. And I say we, not myself, but we as a human.

Nancy: 07:35

Yeah. Yeah. Society as a whole.

Daniel: 07:38

Yeah. We're overlooking them, and they're smart. They're incredible. They're creative. They're not lazy.

Daniel: 07:45

Contrary to what you might think, they are not lazy.

Nancy: 07:48

Yeah.

Daniel: 07:48

They are inspired differently. And once we, the older generation, learn to communicate effectively, then we can learn what motivates them and inspires them. And my salon is packed full of them. I can't get enough of them. I wish I could hang out with them on the daily.

Nancy: 08:05

Yeah.

Daniel: 08:06

They're just amazing human beings. They're all about sustainability. They're about a better environment. They're about a better future. They're about inclusivity.

Daniel: 08:15

And my gosh. I I know a lot of people are turned off by the word inclusivity, but I'm like, who wants to be

Nancy: 08:20

I don't understand why.

Daniel: 08:22

So weird to me. Like, why

Nancy: 08:23

Me too.

Daniel: 08:25

Really Well,

Nancy: 08:25

I think being in our industry, we're around such a diversity of humans. I don't understand it either. I'm like

Daniel: 08:31

It's weird. It is weird. I wanna be around as many people that are different from me as I can. That way, I'm not boring. I don't wanna be boring.

Daniel: 08:38

That's so funny. Or if Gen z was that's so cringe. But, anyway, Gen z is amazing. And when you look at Gen z, like, we could do it. We could do another podcast of this because there's Gen z stats that you wanna attract into your business as far as customers and spenders.

Daniel: 08:54

Gen z is spending a lot of money inside of brick and brick and mortar. They're not looking for the online experience. They want the feel of taking it with them at the time, which is really amazing. I've got a couple of notes here that I just I have in my phone. So if you see me

Nancy: 09:08

That's okay. Yeah. And I'm taking notes if I look way. I actually have my notepad right there.

Daniel: 09:12

That's fine. Yeah. So gen z, they're all about inclusivity. They're about authenticity.

Nancy: 09:17

And Yeah.

Daniel: 09:18

Something that I crave also at my age, 46. I crave authenticity because it's so rare. Yeah. I feel that everybody's trying to be something that they're not because they wanna be accepted. I'm like, you'd be more accepted if you would just be who you are, then you're gonna find true friends.

Daniel: 09:33

Right. That's like the secret to all success.

Nancy: 09:36

I agree.

Daniel: 09:37

But gen z, you know, everything has been stacked against them their whole life. The time that they were born was around 9:11, and then we have economic downturn of 2007 to 2009. And that Yep. There was something that happened. There was a shift that happened in their mindset during that time because they would see their parents work all the time.

Daniel: 09:54

Yeah. Maybe their parents weren't available. They were maybe they were shoving them off with a sitter, And then they lost half their portfolio. So the kids, there was like this mental imprint that happened that says, you know what? I'm not gonna work like this because they lost everything they had.

Nancy: 10:07

Yeah.

Daniel: 10:08

I find it very fair for them to feel the way that they feel. And then when it came time for them to graduate, look at what happened. They graduated on a computer screen. And so everything was stacked against them. All meanwhile, the older generations were telling them how terrible and lazy and weak that they were.

Daniel: 10:23

So if you wanna inspire someone, we have to treat them differently.

Nancy: 10:27

And,

Daniel: 10:30

you know, and and also let's also take a moment to remind ourselves that we raised that generation. So if there's something let me say this as a salon owner. If there's something that I don't like in my team, I have to take the step and look in the mirror because I created that. I Yeah. And I permitted that.

Nancy: 10:45

Yep. But we permit we promote.

Daniel: 10:47

Yeah. All day long.

Nancy: 10:48

So I have a couple comments. One, I have my 3 daughters are all the we're talking Gen z's. Gen z. And, couple things I'm gonna add to it. That was a big generation of getting divorced.

Nancy: 11:03

So, like, my parents' generation, everyone stayed together. And I remember, and I'm glad they did, you know, but then, you know, I am a divorced parent, and so a lot of their parents. So they also if if if, you know, we spoiled them because it was like this this play of, like, who wants to be the best parent, the the favorite, and so we spoil them. So if they have this this, feeling or or this attitude about, you know, that they want what they want, it's because we did it. We have to we have to take ownership in that.

Nancy: 11:38

And, so and then I have another comment. So you know how much I love what I do. I remember my kids being in, like, middle school or maybe sophomore freshman year, and we would start talking about their interests and what they wanna do. And I remember one of my daughters sitting across from the island from me and going, well, I go, what about the hair? And so you're both, like, so good at makeup.

Nancy: 12:01

I had twins first. Makeup and hair and blah blah. And they're like, we do not wanna do what you do. I go, what? Because here I am, like, I'm Christ.

Nancy: 12:10

Ministry. I'm like, I was like, could you rip my heart out anymore? And they said, you work all the time, mom. So, like, as a single mom, they always I had to have a nanny traveling for work, you know, being on the education side. So you hit the nail on the head with a couple of those things for sure, and the sense, you know, people think, oh, well, they the sense of entitlement, we did it to them.

Nancy: 12:31

We did it to them. We wanted them to have more than we had when we were born.

Daniel: 12:35

And we continue to do it.

Nancy: 12:36

Yeah. We do. We do. So that's interesting. I I was like, I my own personal experience with them, I'm like, we totally did it.

Nancy: 12:44

We we've spoiled them. Yes. But they're beautiful. They are beautiful.

Daniel: 12:48

They are.

Nancy: 12:48

They're our next generation, and they are so much smarter than us because they want us they want I my husband and I went into this brewery in Rhode Island. It's, Whalers. If you've never been I'm not a beer person, which tells you I'm about to say I liked their beer, which was like, I do not like beer. We walk in and it's like, the owners now are probably, like, late twenties.

Daniel: 13:13

Yeah.

Nancy: 13:13

But so they teeter on that side. And they we walk in and they everything was solar lights. Oh. They had for chairs, they had, like, the big barrels for the tables, and they had, like, tree stumps. And it was so fun, and I thought we looked at each other.

Nancy: 13:31

We're like, what did they spend? Like, $12,000 to get this thing up and running?

Daniel: 13:36

Exactly.

Nancy: 13:36

And here we are spending we're doing an Airbnb, and we are $80,000 over budget. I'm like, these people, these are smart these people are way smarter than us.

Daniel: 13:46

They're brilliant.

Nancy: 13:47

And it was such a cool vibe. So they are so smart. So yeah. You're right. Love it.

Nancy: 13:51

So tell me more. Tell me What is

Daniel: 13:53

really cool about them is they actually crave being around other people where the millennials were a little bit more loners. So when

Nancy: 14:00

you look at your,

Daniel: 14:01

you know, from where you where you live in the Yeah. The sales side of things, the people that are independent contractors, the majority of them are millennials.

Nancy: 14:14

Hey. You're right. You are absolutely right about that. Yeah.

Daniel: 14:17

Yeah. And And so they like to be alone. And, you know, for whatever reason, it's just a psychological thing. But Gen z, they do not crave that. They want to be a part of something bigger, and it's really fun to watch them.

Daniel: 14:33

They thrive being around each other, and all you have to do is just let them know they're doing a good job. They don't care about the money. Now our salon, we pay way too much money. But I do that because I wanna give them a better

Nancy: 14:46

life. Yeah. I agree with that.

Daniel: 14:47

You to do so. They just wanna be recognized though. They wanna feel that they're a part of something, and they wanna feel that their life is of value. They wanna know that they matter. They wanna know that their talents are recognized.

Daniel: 14:59

And speaking of gen z, when these kids are coming out of beauty school, they're insane. They're doing colors and cuts that I was doing 15 years into my career after 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 of dollars of investment classes. They're gifted beyond words. And so, if you happen to be a gen z and you're listening, remember, uncle Daniel loves you.

Nancy: 15:23

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And mama Nancy loves you. Mom, I actually after, when I leave mass tonight, at the end of my day, my one of my Gen Z twins literally was, like, called me last night to make sure I was still coming over.

Nancy: 15:38

They wanna play pool with my partner and boyfriend. And I'm just like, I love hanging out with my daughters. I love it. It's my favorite thing. I love them.

Daniel: 15:45

Beautiful is that that you have that sort of relationship? I know. It's very special. So yeah. But, you know, we saw a lot of things kinda go off the grid with the other generation.

Daniel: 15:58

And it's okay because there's wonderful things in every generation. Millennials, online shopping, let's do everything was literally, like, I'm gonna sit in my house if I can and just be by myself and order things. And then 2020 happened and everybody lost their minds because we were forced to be alone. And what we saw was, as humans, we are social creatures. We're social beings.

Daniel: 16:20

We needed to be safe. So as so many people found the negatives of COVID, I found the positives of COVID. I'm like, well, number 1, it taught us that we were working way too, like, way too much.

Nancy: 16:31

Way too much. Yeah.

Daniel: 16:32

We rewrote the whole structure of our company. Thank god for it. It's amazing. We have people on Fridays Saturdays. They work 5 hour shifts, and they're out.

Daniel: 16:42

They're done. Go home. They can enjoy their weekend. If it's if it's a young kid, imagine this, Nancy. So we we literally pulled someone that had just turned 21 years old in our company into the back office.

Daniel: 16:54

And when they get into our office, it's not it's never like you're getting in trouble. Like, it was something fun. So we brought them in. We're like, hey. Happy birthday.

Daniel: 17:02

21 is such an amazing time. Just looking at your schedule right now, you always come in at 8 o'clock on Saturday mornings. What if, what if we change your schedule? Totally up to you. But what if we change your schedule that you can work 8 o'clock on Friday morning and then get off 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon and go about your business?

Daniel: 17:24

And then why don't you come in on Saturday at 2 o'clock? That way, if you wanna go out with your friends on Friday night and have fun, as long as you're responsible, don't get hurt, of course. Go out and have fun. You're 21 years old. This is what you're supposed to do.

Daniel: 17:37

I don't expect you to roll into this lawn at 8 o'clock in the morning and be looking like a movie star and on your best behavior. You're 21. So, we gave them the option. Do you know what the facial reactions were? Like, what?

Daniel: 17:53

You're telling me to go out and be social and have fun at 21? Yes.

Nancy: 17:56

Yes. We are. Yeah.

Daniel: 17:58

We once were 21 also. I did not have fun. I was always so serious and focused on work. Yeah. And, so we want them to understand that we really do want you to get out and have fun.

Daniel: 18:08

This is good for you. Socialization is great for you. It's how you're gonna build your clientele.

Nancy: 18:13

Yeah. You're

Daniel: 18:13

gonna keep yourself sane. Go do the thing. Just be responsible. So, you know, having those kind of conversations for us has been something that's completely unorthodox. It's like, what are you talking about?

Nancy: 18:25

Yeah.

Daniel: 18:25

Change the game, and the numbers speak for themselves when you see how many people work and are wanting to work inside of the company.

Nancy: 18:32

Yeah. No. So you embrace them. You embrace the evolution of change, and they are the future of our industry. And for any salon owners that are listening that, really haven't embraced the next generation, I encourage you to because just their ideas, they are your next generation of clients.

Nancy: 18:51

They are your next salon owners. And either you're going to grow with them and allow them to be a part of the evolution. Right? Like, really smart own like, not just owners, but like CEOs of companies surround themselves with young new ideas, and then they mentor them because they're the ones that have the experience on budgeting maybe. But the idea aspect is what moves a company forward and, I love it.

Nancy: 19:20

I I keep saying crystal so crystal Russo and I, when she worked for Redken, sat down and we she decided to rent an electric car. And in our industry, it will not work. I'm sorry. But she rented one. And, so we had to go pull over for 2 hours.

Nancy: 19:36

So she Oh gosh. The car. Right? So we're like, well, let's just have lunch. And we were talking.

Nancy: 19:41

She we're talking, talking, talking. Now I've known her forever since she was, like, 28 years old, baby. And so she she we were she's we're talking about it because the owner was kinda complaining about the millennials and the next generation doing the typical. They're lazy, they're this or that. And I, you know, having daughters that age, I'm like, no.

Nancy: 20:01

My daughters work really hard. They just demand to have balance. They wanna have a life. They want to know, you know, no. They're not gonna work for us.

Nancy: 20:10

So if they're really passionate about, like, and they should be saving our world, I'm a recycle girl. So, like, it makes me crazy, like, when I see people not recycle. I'm just like, do you not understand what's happening? So they wanna save the world the planet. And and so, anyway, short well, I'll make it short.

Nancy: 20:28

At one point, we just stopped. She stopped talking because we're doing a recap. And I look at her and go, I think they're just so much smarter than us. She looks at me and she goes, you know what? Whatever age I am, I'm still not she goes, I'm still not married.

Nancy: 20:44

She's like, I work, like, 90 hours a week. I haven't been to the gym in 3 months. And she goes, I think you're right. I was like, I think I am too. Like, why do we work so hard?

Nancy: 20:54

These people these this next generation, they demand to be able to experience life. And you know that they've been I know they've inspired me to actually want to travel and do stuff. And that was part of, like, you know, what you know, being more open. And the world is beautiful. Don't you wanna go explore it?

Nancy: 21:16

And these people do. I love them.

Daniel: 21:18

That's it's the most special thing ever. I love it. And they're just a breath of fresh air. If you just sit down and talk to them Yeah. They're really amazing.

Nancy: 21:28

Alright. So tell me, what are some things you do to empower them to really because I was so impressed with how you had the lineup. So you you've got, we've got the Gen z's, we've got the millennials. They're different, but there's sim similarities, which I'm kinda laughing. I wasn't even thinking the millennials like to be by themselves.

Nancy: 21:47

And, yeah, that's really interesting because I had 2 of them in my head because I have 3 stepdaughters too, and 2 of them are millennials and then one's a Gen z. So I'm like, you're right. They're way more like Independent. They're very independent, but, like, small groups. Yes.

Nancy: 22:06

Like, they don't like big things. And and, my husband's may we have a very big family, and, I love the social aspect of it. But they don't often come to things when it's a lot of the family there because I it's now it makes sense. I'm just like, wow. You're right.

Nancy: 22:25

And they do their they just online shop. That's what they do.

Daniel: 22:28

Yeah.

Nancy: 22:29

Tell me how just some of the the things that you do to empower them in your salon. So if salon owners speaking to salon owners

Daniel: 22:37

Yeah.

Nancy: 22:37

Give them some pointers on what they can do, like, something to help them to really place and empower these generations. Because they're confused. They don't know what to do.

Daniel: 22:48

Of course. Of course. Because we've always done what we've always done. And and what I say is, like, if we don't change, you will be changed. And

Nancy: 22:56

so it will

Daniel: 22:57

be forced upon you. So Mhmm. I think the biggest thing is get the engagement inside the salon. What are you asking your gen z stylist or even the people that are in the training programs? What are you asking?

Daniel: 23:09

What are you asking for their advice on? Are you even asking them how they feel about the company? Hey. I know we're doing this 13 week training program on x y z. You just completed it.

Daniel: 23:20

You did an amazing job. Is there anything that you would change about it? Do surveys with your teams. Ask them. Find out what they want because I tell you, they've already had the conversation among their gen z peers.

Daniel: 23:32

I probably

Nancy: 23:33

In the bathroom.

Daniel: 23:34

Yeah. Not in a bad way necessarily, but they have so many ideas. They understand how to get your your social media to appeal to their generation. So you need to ask you need to sit down and just create a form of questions like, if you were looking for your dream salon, what are you looking for? If if this could be your dream salon, what would it feel like?

Daniel: 23:53

What would it sound like? What would it smell like? And and they may tell you, you know, we joked about this at the engage and elevate event. They may tell you that they wanna have, ficus trees everywhere, and they they wanna bring the pet dog to work and, you know, whatever. But you need to hear them out, you know, in reality.

Daniel: 24:11

So our salinity the plants everywhere. We do have the flexible schedules. We do have an open door policy where they can talk about how they feel. We do have our shampoo room is dedicated to be a quiet space, so they don't have to talk or listen to somebody for 10 minutes. We do have a beautiful outdoor area that they can go outside and relax and breathe and just catch up on life between a client.

Daniel: 24:32

We do let them eat food during the day. You know, some of the old school salons like, oh, my my my keep going going going.

Nancy: 24:38

Yeah.

Daniel: 24:39

And if Like the assembly line. Yeah. And if you are a salon owner and you're listening to me right now, and you don't know who I am, I will also tell you our salon is very successful, by all standards of numbers and quota and everything that we're hitting. And so it works. And so, again having this many people trying to come to work inside the company, our retail is is hitting just at 20 21 percent retail to service inside the company Yeah.

Daniel: 25:08

In both locations. Everything is going as we've always needed it to go. It's just going a lot easier because we stopped being so sterile and adhering to what we have been taught, what had to be back in the day. You know, some of the things that don't matter to a gen z is they don't wanna be in an all black dress code. Our salon this is funny.

Daniel: 25:28

And, Nancy, you saw this in In motion because you were with our team and you heard this on stage in a panel. We don't really have a dress code in our company. However, everybody shows up wearing black. Isn't that funny? Like, we don't have a dress code.

Daniel: 25:40

They're like, hey. You need to show up looking like this. However, people realize the luxury brand that we are, and they dress according to how they they wanna earn. Now we have people that will come in sometimes. Maybe they're wearing like a a sage green or a cream color blouse or whatever or maybe even like a a a pant that's lighter.

Daniel: 25:59

They get color all over at day 1. They're like, oh my god. This is ridiculous. They automatically go right back into all black.

Nancy: 26:05

Yeah.

Daniel: 26:06

So we don't we don't try to, like, do that, the whole micromanager thing. We did when we first opened. Let's keep it real. We've been opened. It'll be 20 years in June this upcoming year.

Daniel: 26:17

We thought that that's how we had to do it because all of us

Nancy: 26:19

everyone did it.

Daniel: 26:20

Everybody else did it. And we thought we had to run our business like everybody else. And what we realized is everybody else lost their business and we were growing. So the more we change, the more we listen to what our team needs and what they want. It doesn't mean that there's many voices inside the company.

Daniel: 26:35

We still are the visionary of the company. They know the guidelines and and, like, how we run things. But it is like a well oiled machine because there is systems in place. We don't man we've always said this. We don't manage people.

Daniel: 26:46

We manage systems. And, we lead the people.

Nancy: 26:50

Yeah. But the more That's awesome.

Daniel: 26:52

The more input you get from your team, the better it's gonna be, and that's for any company out there. You know? Stop trying to be the dictator of the company and let your team have input. And when when they build you've heard this before. They have input to help build something.

Daniel: 27:07

If they help build it, they will support it.

Nancy: 27:09

Yep. No. I agree. So, when yeah. I I you just said that so well because people in general do not wanna be told what to do.

Nancy: 27:21

They want to be a part of something bigger, like a big picture, and, even a family dynamic, you know, no there's no rules when you have kids. There's you know, it's not like there's, like, this directions when they come. And I remember when they were younger, I wanted them to dress and be the way I wanted them because of my own insecurities within myself. And I need people to realize this. When we're judging other people, we're actually judging ourself because it is the insecurity within us that that is, like, we're seeing and we're almost envious of the other person.

Nancy: 27:56

And, you know, it could be because we're envious because that person is is being themselves and and owning it, and here we are judging somebody. Right? This is just an example. So, I remember being totally guilty of doing that, trying to get my you know, being upset if my kids, you know, I'd want I'd want them to dress the way I want them to dress, and it was whatever. And then I went to college, took psychology classes to be a communication major, and I learned so much about people.

Nancy: 28:26

And so I started to empower them, and it's funny because even so, you know, like, the family dynamic, especially when you get married, like, my husband's kids are complete opposite of mine. I was the crazed I'm on I was the wild child in high school, so the nut doesn't fall apart from the tree. I wanted to know.

Daniel: 28:47

Love it.

Nancy: 28:48

But and they're and my kids are the creative ones, like, artistic, so they dress differently. They have tattoos. I have tattoos. You just don't see them. They're all down my back.

Nancy: 28:56

You know? Like, I just chose to put them where I wanted to put them so I would show you if I wanted. So, anyway, once I really started to empower them, our family dynamic, like, it we laugh and we have so much fun. And I think of how, like, what you had just talked about, like, in a business as a business owner, don't you want it to be an enjoyable place? I mean, it's exhausting multi

Daniel: 29:21

sense.

Nancy: 29:21

Like, dictating every little move to people. You know, it's there was a sense of relief of just allowing my kids to be them and to elevate them and to see only the beauty in them.

Daniel: 29:32

Do you

Nancy: 29:33

know what I'm saying? Like, there's this sense of peace that goes along with it. So I'm sure especially seeing you have such a big team and you have 2 locations, they're doing a lot of the work for you. You're just you know? And then you empower them to implement things.

Nancy: 29:47

You have leadership amongst each thing. So tell me how those how does that how does these leadership roles make them feel? Because

Daniel: 29:56

Given them just empowering them. Everybody wants to be a part of something. Right? Like

Nancy: 30:01

Yeah.

Daniel: 30:02

Everybody wants to feel like they have a voice.

Nancy: 30:05

Yeah.

Daniel: 30:05

But he wants to be seen, and most of us wanna be heard. And so when you bring people in and you give them those freedoms, it's where the magic happens. And if there's not any, like, secret Harry Potter sorcery, whatever that goes on there, it's just we just love people, and we lead with love inside the company. And we also believe in a system called leading up.

Nancy: 30:27

Leading up. Okay. What's that?

Daniel: 30:28

Leading up. So that means if you just came to work inside our company, you've been there maybe 2 months. Maybe we just hired our youngest employee ever. Oh my gosh. She's 16 years old.

Daniel: 30:37

She's working our front desk. She's in high school, and her dream is to become a hairstylist. And so she's our youngest. Before that, we had a 17 year old, and now she's she just turned 20. She is an amazing hairdresser inside the company.

Daniel: 30:51

But these kids, they don't care how old they are. When they come to work in the company, if there's something they see that could be tweaked or changed for the better of everyone inside the company, and we do have a system, if they see that it's gonna tweak and better the whole entire company, they have the authority to lead up. So their voice is heard all the way up the ranks, and then whatever idea they have, if it sounds great for the company, we lead back down with their leadership. And the credits always pinned on them like, hey. This idea came from so and so, and we feel this is gonna be better for the company.

Daniel: 31:23

And everyone's like, oh my god. That's amazing. And, you know, so we have, like, a moment of celebration. We're all about celebrating everything. Yeah.

Daniel: 31:30

Yeah. So it's just it's really cool. And, like I said, we, if you could look in the room that I'm in right now, there's a 1,000,000 books in here. All of them are around leadership. All of them are around connection.

Daniel: 31:43

All of them are around, like, networking because the better we become at all of those things, the better we become at relationships. Once you're awesome at relationships, you're gonna be an incredible, incredible leader in every area of your life.

Nancy: 31:56

I love it. So, any so this is awesome. We're gonna be wrapping this up. So I wanna talk about, just not talk about I want you to tell us, the listener, maybe 2 leadership books that you highly recommend.

Daniel: 32:12

Oh, gosh. Okay.

Nancy: 32:16

Or at least what's your one favorite that just pops into your head?

Daniel: 32:19

One favorite one is by a gentleman named John Maxwell, and it is good leaders ask great questions.

Nancy: 32:28

I think I read it. Yeah.

Daniel: 32:31

It's really, really good. And it just it really helps you understand, like, the answers are always there in front of you. But Yeah. Just learn to ask the right questions. Your team will tell you everything they need.

Daniel: 32:41

There's also another great book called The Dream Manager. It's a smaller book, and it's really good. And it it's about a sanitation company, so a garbage company.

Nancy: 32:51

Yeah.

Daniel: 32:51

And a young kid goes to work inside this company. In this company, they cannot retain employees to save their life. And they have, like, 90%. Like, they're losing 90% of their staff. Yeah.

Daniel: 33:02

So much to retrain them. And so finally, a younger person came in, and they said, hey. I'm gonna send out a survey to find out why these people are leaving. Well, it came down to transportation because the people that are working in in sanitation were people that didn't have cars. They were people that didn't have disposable income.

Nancy: 33:18

Yeah.

Daniel: 33:18

So he says, you know what? I, I'm gonna buy bus tickets. We're gonna supply bus tickets to get transportation and get the people to work. So they only saw about a 30% increase, and now it's, like, 60% retention. So it really wasn't enough to to maximize profits for the company.

Daniel: 33:33

The company was bleeding out money. So here come another young kid from college and they hired this guy to come in and he says community is the answer. Community is the answer. It would save us more money if we would buy school buses. And so they had a driver.

Daniel: 33:49

They hired a driver to go around to the communities to pick up the workers, and they kept their employees. So you have to be creative. You have to be innovative, and you have to listen to the needs and desires. We've listened to the needs and desires of our customers forever, but our number one customer is the one that works inside the doors with us.

Nancy: 34:06

I love that. I love that. I keep in Rhode Island, there's where I live, they have like, a transportation issue. In Westerly, where, you know, like, small town like Westerly, which, for example, really, they don't even have Ubers or taxis. And I'm like and then I hear people complain about not being able to hire people and they again, they peg them that they're lazy.

Nancy: 34:30

And I'm like, do any of you realize that it's a transportation issue? It's actually a transportation issue. Because you wanna hire them at this minimum wage and you want these young people, but depending on the town that you live in, like, not everyone's parents can afford to buy you a car. Correct. You know, like, fortunately, you know

Daniel: 34:53

That's why it's really important when you talk about, gosh. I could do, like, a whole entire day on inclusivity.

Nancy: 34:59

Yeah.

Daniel: 34:59

Why it's important to open your mind and be inclusive of other people because, Yeah. Nancy, it's easy for me to look. I you've been to my home. We live in a nice neighborhood.

Nancy: 35:08

Yeah.

Daniel: 35:09

It'd be easy for me to put on my blinders and think that everyone lives the way that I live. And then drives cars that have heated steering wheels or that my dogs can drive home. It'd be easy for me to think that everybody is as you

Nancy: 35:20

and I are. Yeah.

Daniel: 35:21

It's not the reality.

Nancy: 35:22

That's true.

Daniel: 35:23

It's not the reality. People are struggling. People are hungry. People are dying. People are sick.

Daniel: 35:27

People are Yeah. Doing a lot of things. So Lee lead with empathy and lean into soul. And my gosh, the world is yours. But also lean into people that look, act, and speak differently than you because you'll love so much more.

Nancy: 35:42

So much. I love it. Okay. And then the book is, The Millennial Whispers.

Daniel: 35:47

The Millennial Whisper by Chris.

Nancy: 35:49

Totally getting that. It comes in audio, I'm assuming, because I'm an audio girl as I drive all

Daniel: 35:52

day long. I don't know, but I'm sure he's so innovative. I don't know. I'm gonna be a tech person.

Nancy: 35:57

I think he said it did because I wrote that down with 1. There was a couple books that I wrote notes Yeah. That I wanted to get, and they they did say they came in, like, audio. So Yeah. Thank you so much again.

Nancy: 36:08

If everybody's enjoying my podcast, please subscribe. You know, I definitely need, this a new podcast, and I my intention is to always to, you know, to elevate, inspire, and empower the beauty professionals. So Can I give

Daniel: 36:19

them a call to action? So if you were to this pod podcast episode or any of the other episodes with Nancy, I'm just gonna ask you right now to screenshot that wherever you are. Take a picture if you're listening to your car. Tag that on social media and share it with your friends.

Nancy: 36:33

Oh, I love it. Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate you. I'll see you later. Thank you.

Daniel: 36:38

Have a beautiful day.

Nancy: 36:39

You too. Bye bye.