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I had great dreams myself when I got out of hairdressing school back in 83. I did very well cutting and such on the floor at school-I was often asked for. Got out into a chain and spent 12 hours a day doing laundry and shampooing heads-I got a whopping 10cents for each conditioner treatment I sold to a client. Go me. I'd interviewed with this one place and she said she'd never hire me because of the clothes I wore. At 19 I was washed up. At 21 I started driving a school bus. Said the heck with it , went back to doing nails at the age of 30, worked for a great small shop near a local college-did fairly well as I was only working Saturdays. I was there over a year when she had to close because she had Lyme disease and so ill. So who do I go back to again? The whack job day spa owner that turned me down years before-she didn't even remember me and hired me on the spot. I busted tail there on Saturdays and Thurs nights. All for a whopping $5.75hr (94 job rates). The clients all thought we were making more-they bought packages and we never saw tips. I lasted 3 months and said good bye to that. Ended up doing it out of my home for 4 years-I had 35 clients I rotated over a 2 week period. Good pocket money. I stopped doing it altogether in 98 when I had my 3rd child. I had enough by then. I've never looked back. It's a tough business and like others have said-find a smaller owned shop(see if you have any near local colleges) and ask if you can work there to train. Find out if they offer education classes or send you to them at local supply houses. I used to love to go to the show in NYC(being upstate it was a treat). Take classes on your own. I worked for Star Nail back in the day as a educator to teach people how to use their products. Make your own opportunities, there are a lot of things out there to try!
This is interesting to read, self employment is diffficult, because really, to make money in this business you need someone to support you for a few years. Because, you need to invest time and money into yourself to get your "niche", building a clientele takes time. One thing I have noticed, is that I have money to have my hair done, and spend it for color and a cut, but what is annoying to me is that many hair stylists want to work 10-5, not work on Sundays, or after 5pm...Hello, I WORK 60-70 hours a week! I need to make an appointment for hair that is at 7 pm. I have finally found a place that caters to career women, the salon is open from 2pm to 10 pm...perfect. Just my take on self employment...cater to those women who work...so, expect to work after 5pm.
You are so right it would be nice to have a continue education program to better our skills once we get our license. I was told when I was in beauty school that it was really bad oout there once you get your license they were right. If you want to be really good at it you will have to continue to educate yourself by investing in books, videos and anything you can find in what ever interest you. Good luck, I myself am doing just that
The thing is, in cosmetology, to make the bucks you have to do more than cut hair. And you need to be up on the latest techniques. Laser hair removal, permanent makeup, microdermbrasion, chemical peels. To try to make good money just cutting hair is not going to happen...at $14.95 a whack. Maybe you should go back to school for more training to give yourself the edge you need to find work. Also, another thing to consider is where you are living. Do you live in a small town? If so, you might have to think about moving someplace bigger where the help is needed more.
The thing is, in cosmetology, to make the bucks you have to do more than cut hair. And you need to be up on the latest techniques. Laser hair removal, permanent makeup, microdermbrasion, chemical peels. To try to make good money just cutting hair is not going to happen...at $14.95 a whack. Maybe you should go back to school for more training to give yourself the edge you need to find work. Also, another thing to consider is where you are living. Do you live in a small town? If so, you might have to think about moving someplace bigger where the help is needed more.
To make the big bucks you have to be a good sales person. There isn't much difference between a $30 style and a $300 style except the person who sold someone the $300 style is a better sales person.
Being a hair stylist is a joke. Your treated like nothing important. They aka " salon owners" treat there stylist like worthless hoes even though your the only reason people come back. Pimps treat there talent better. Lowest pay. A few more dollars than min wage. Never any raises. High turn around because in under 5 years you discover the whole industry is just set up to make money for the salon owners. Every year a fresh group of girls graduates hair school dreaming of working for real money. LIES !!! Unless you have hundreds of friends that would gladly come to you. DONT ever waste your time and money on being a hair stylist. My wife has been in the industry for 10 years. She makes 2 dollars more than when she first started and that's with a being a salon manager. My advice. Stick to nursing or something in sales. You'll make more money in the long run.
Being a hair stylist is a joke. Your treated like nothing important. They aka " salon owners" treat there stylist like worthless hoes even though your the only reason people come back. Pimps treat there talent better. Lowest pay. A few more dollars than min wage. Never any raises. High turn around because in under 5 years you discover the whole industry is just set up to make money for the salon owners. Every year a fresh group of girls graduates hair school dreaming of working for real money. LIES !!! Unless you have hundreds of friends that would gladly come to you. DONT ever waste your time and money on being a hair stylist. My wife has been in the industry for 10 years. She makes 2 dollars more than when she first started and that's with a being a salon manager. My advice. Stick to nursing or something in sales. You'll make more money in the long run.
What's keeping her from becoming a salon owner? She has the experience and the education. Can she create a business plan/proposal to present to the bank?
This is an old thread, but since someone else resurrected it, I guess I will give my two cents.
I went to massage school, but the school I went to didn't qualify me for national certification. I moved to a state with no licensing laws, so I could still practice. However, no employer would hire you without national certification. So I jumped in on my own, with only 500 hours of education and not really knowing what I was doing. Just using myspace (yeah, it was that long ago! haha) and craigslist, I was able to build a steady clientele in two months by offering rates lower than anything else in the area. I went to people's houses, so no overhead. Yeah, I realize the safety considerations with this, but it worked out okay.
Anyway, I see no reason why someone couldn't do the same thing with cosmetology, except for the extra cost of supplies. You may need to get another part time job to pay for things for a while, then offer services really cheap in people's homes or out of your own home (unless this is against the law) to build your skills. Once you are really competent PLUS have a steady clientele that will follow you, you would be a good candidate for a job in a salon. Who is going to turn away someone who can prove that they will bring in clients?
If you're not a business minded person, this kind of field is really not for you.
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to be successful
