Resume
My dilema
After my carefully researched and planned culinary and restaurant management internship fell through at the last minute, I scrambled to develop another project that would provide the same type of challenge. I found a mentor and an experience that I believed would further two of my interests, entrepreneurship and psychology. The fact that it happened to be at a hair salon was almost incidental but also great fun and a creative outlet.
My exceptional mentor, Janelle McCallum, is not just a talented artist, but she is an accomplished entrepreneur and has an established a thriving business. She stepped in to provide me with an understanding of how to build and manage a business giving me complete exposure to her clients as well as all of the intricacies of her business. She also taught me about the art of hair design and gave me an interesting styling project to try out my creative hand.
My exceptional mentor, Janelle McCallum, is not just a talented artist, but she is an accomplished entrepreneur and has an established a thriving business. She stepped in to provide me with an understanding of how to build and manage a business giving me complete exposure to her clients as well as all of the intricacies of her business. She also taught me about the art of hair design and gave me an interesting styling project to try out my creative hand.
Reflection
I chose this internship largely because of Janelle and my belief that she would be a great mentor in business and in life. I appreciated the opportunity that she gave me as well as the many insights that she offered.
What I learned
WHAT I LEARNED – ENTREPREURSHIP
Choosing an entrepreneurial path is far from easy and takes a broad set of talents. Not only does an entrepreneur have to be good at the business or service that he or she is providing, but also to be successful requires a series of business disciplines ranging from the creativity of marketing, the personal connection of sales to the attention to detail and analytic skills required for bookkeeping and budgeting. An entrepreneur is the proverbial “jack of all trades” many of which are learned by trial and error and mastered over time.
A key point that I learned from Janelle is how important it is to have a unique skill and a base of experience before going off on your own. Janelle started working in salons in her teens and honed her skills for a decade before co-founding her own salon. She had established herself and had a base of clients ready to follow her before she started her business. Her loyal customers were key to her initial success and allowed her to build her business.
I also discovered that achieving high levels of customer satisfaction and being open to feedback from customers is key to long-term business success. You can’t build a business if you need to constantly attract new customers, so it is important once you gain a customer to keep them. Janelle worked hard to ensure that her customers were satisfied and happy with their experience. She was also open to feedback if something wasn’t right and instead of getting defensive, she worked to make it acceptable to the customer.
How you communicate with customers, employees and colleagues is another aspect of business that I observed to be key. Janelle was careful in all of her interactions to make people feel accepted and comfortable. She was open but instructive when she needed to be, in a way that made people feel positive about themselves. Because hair styling is such a people oriented business, she has to be very strong at interpersonal communications.
Having a business entails being willing to dig into the details of business such as inventory, keeping books, taxes, and marketing. While hair styling is a creative and exciting endeavor, it is just a part of having your own salon. In other words, it isn’t all fun and games and having the independence of your own business requires some drudgery as well. Entrepreneurship requires mastering and enjoying diverse skills and in Janelle’s case blending creative as well as more analytical talents.
WHAT I LEARNED – PSYCHOLOGY
Like many businesses, the salon business depends upon satisfied, repeat customers. Part of the salon experience is delivering a gratifying experience much of which centers on the interaction of the client and the stylist. Whether or not this experience is satisfying seems to depend on two aspects, if the client is pleased with the styling and also the personal connection.
Both of these can be tricky waters psychologically. Often the client has an idea in mind as to what type of style she or he may want which may not actually be appropriate or pleasing. A stylist walks a thin line between giving a client what he or she wants and providing longer-term satisfaction. The ways in which the stylist probes desires and convinces a client of the correct direction requires some astute psychological skills because there is often a divergence between how people perceive themselves and how they are actually perceived by others. I found that Janelle leaned towards creating the best style and trying to convince the client of this direction. She often drew upon fact and science to cajole clients down the right path. For example, she would discuss the geometry of the face and how a style might or might not work. She would also draw on color theory to help determine color ideas for clients. Janelle found from her experience that this was the best way to retain customers despite any short-term misgivings.
Establishing and maintaining a personal connection was critically important but could also be difficult for a number of reasons. Clients often wanted to have intimate conversations about their lives and at times it seemed as if the stylist was placed in the role of counselor or psychologist. Given the age difference (often 20 years or more) between Janelle and her clients, part of the task was to bridge this gap and empathize with them.
I found the intimacy of clients and stylists somewhat surprising. Universally, there was an intimacy built up over time that seemed to be more appropriate with a close friend than someone clients saw once a month or less. One stylist who worked part-time at a luxury spa indicated that clients who she only saw once “used her as a therapist” and shared very intimate and inappropriate information. It was as “if they were trying to get things off their chests”. Any customer service business is steeped in the psychology of interactions, but I found that clients often have unique expectations of interactions with their hair stylists.
WHAT I LEARNED - HAIR
Styling and dyeing hair was more scientific and difficult than I expected. While I was very satisfied by my result, I also had a lot of oversight from Janelle and now realize why stylists attend school and workshops. Like any art form, I came to appreciate how difficult it is to move from the mental concept of what style I wanted to create to actually creating it.
Choosing an entrepreneurial path is far from easy and takes a broad set of talents. Not only does an entrepreneur have to be good at the business or service that he or she is providing, but also to be successful requires a series of business disciplines ranging from the creativity of marketing, the personal connection of sales to the attention to detail and analytic skills required for bookkeeping and budgeting. An entrepreneur is the proverbial “jack of all trades” many of which are learned by trial and error and mastered over time.
A key point that I learned from Janelle is how important it is to have a unique skill and a base of experience before going off on your own. Janelle started working in salons in her teens and honed her skills for a decade before co-founding her own salon. She had established herself and had a base of clients ready to follow her before she started her business. Her loyal customers were key to her initial success and allowed her to build her business.
I also discovered that achieving high levels of customer satisfaction and being open to feedback from customers is key to long-term business success. You can’t build a business if you need to constantly attract new customers, so it is important once you gain a customer to keep them. Janelle worked hard to ensure that her customers were satisfied and happy with their experience. She was also open to feedback if something wasn’t right and instead of getting defensive, she worked to make it acceptable to the customer.
How you communicate with customers, employees and colleagues is another aspect of business that I observed to be key. Janelle was careful in all of her interactions to make people feel accepted and comfortable. She was open but instructive when she needed to be, in a way that made people feel positive about themselves. Because hair styling is such a people oriented business, she has to be very strong at interpersonal communications.
Having a business entails being willing to dig into the details of business such as inventory, keeping books, taxes, and marketing. While hair styling is a creative and exciting endeavor, it is just a part of having your own salon. In other words, it isn’t all fun and games and having the independence of your own business requires some drudgery as well. Entrepreneurship requires mastering and enjoying diverse skills and in Janelle’s case blending creative as well as more analytical talents.
WHAT I LEARNED – PSYCHOLOGY
Like many businesses, the salon business depends upon satisfied, repeat customers. Part of the salon experience is delivering a gratifying experience much of which centers on the interaction of the client and the stylist. Whether or not this experience is satisfying seems to depend on two aspects, if the client is pleased with the styling and also the personal connection.
Both of these can be tricky waters psychologically. Often the client has an idea in mind as to what type of style she or he may want which may not actually be appropriate or pleasing. A stylist walks a thin line between giving a client what he or she wants and providing longer-term satisfaction. The ways in which the stylist probes desires and convinces a client of the correct direction requires some astute psychological skills because there is often a divergence between how people perceive themselves and how they are actually perceived by others. I found that Janelle leaned towards creating the best style and trying to convince the client of this direction. She often drew upon fact and science to cajole clients down the right path. For example, she would discuss the geometry of the face and how a style might or might not work. She would also draw on color theory to help determine color ideas for clients. Janelle found from her experience that this was the best way to retain customers despite any short-term misgivings.
Establishing and maintaining a personal connection was critically important but could also be difficult for a number of reasons. Clients often wanted to have intimate conversations about their lives and at times it seemed as if the stylist was placed in the role of counselor or psychologist. Given the age difference (often 20 years or more) between Janelle and her clients, part of the task was to bridge this gap and empathize with them.
I found the intimacy of clients and stylists somewhat surprising. Universally, there was an intimacy built up over time that seemed to be more appropriate with a close friend than someone clients saw once a month or less. One stylist who worked part-time at a luxury spa indicated that clients who she only saw once “used her as a therapist” and shared very intimate and inappropriate information. It was as “if they were trying to get things off their chests”. Any customer service business is steeped in the psychology of interactions, but I found that clients often have unique expectations of interactions with their hair stylists.
WHAT I LEARNED - HAIR
Styling and dyeing hair was more scientific and difficult than I expected. While I was very satisfied by my result, I also had a lot of oversight from Janelle and now realize why stylists attend school and workshops. Like any art form, I came to appreciate how difficult it is to move from the mental concept of what style I wanted to create to actually creating it.
Project proposal
For my LINK internship at, Beyond the Bridge salon, I will be focusing on business, marketing, cosmetology, and oddly enough psychology. Janelle McCallum who is the one of the top hair stylists in Durango will mentor me for a three week time period. Beyond the Bridge offers everything from styling, cut/dye, facials, and waxing. This internship will give me the opportunity to observe entrepreneurship first hand, learn about the various aspects of a business including how to market and sell services, observe the psychological aspects of client interactions as well a chance to cut and dye hair on manikins. Overall I feel this internship is giving me a chance to explore entrepreneurship as a possible career opportunity. And, it lets me let down my hair and develop my artistic and social side.
One of my projects will be to cut and dye three different mannequins heads (with human hair). The objective of this is to gain a full understanding of the geometry and techniques behind cutting hair, and having an opportunity to develop and practice hair styling skills. The mannequins each will get a different geometric haircut (round, triangular and square). To achieve different cuts I will have to learn three different techniques including different positioning of the sheers and my body while cutting the various styles. I will also be assigned three different styles for dyeing the mannequins’’ hair. This will require me to mathematically formulate and mix specific colors. I will also learn different dyeing techniques and how to dimensionally dye hair. By completing this and practicing on three mannequins I will improve my cosmotology skills and get a taste of what it is like to be a professional hair stylist.
One of my projects will be to cut and dye three different mannequins heads (with human hair). The objective of this is to gain a full understanding of the geometry and techniques behind cutting hair, and having an opportunity to develop and practice hair styling skills. The mannequins each will get a different geometric haircut (round, triangular and square). To achieve different cuts I will have to learn three different techniques including different positioning of the sheers and my body while cutting the various styles. I will also be assigned three different styles for dyeing the mannequins’’ hair. This will require me to mathematically formulate and mix specific colors. I will also learn different dyeing techniques and how to dimensionally dye hair. By completing this and practicing on three mannequins I will improve my cosmotology skills and get a taste of what it is like to be a professional hair stylist.
My Mentor
From a young age, Janelle recognized
that she wanted to “work for herself” and blend her creativity with
establishing a thriving business. She focused on hair design and styling as a
means to being an independent entrepreneur. While currently in her early 30s,
Janelle has been in the beauty industry for 15 years and is a co-owner of the
salon, Beyond the Bridge. She specializes in custom hair color
and precise cutting for various hair types and considers
hair design to be an art form, finding inspiration using
her creativity and artistic vision for every hair cut and style.
Before working at Beyond the Bridge Janelle gained a large
following at the Paul Mitchell Signature Salon as well as other
salons.
Janelle is always refining her craft and seeks to be on the leading edge of hair artistry. While attending numerous Paul Mitchell Signature gatherings and hair camps, and she has honed her skills in techniques such as Block Color, Color Cutting, and Teaching Artistry. Janelle has also studied under Redken master educators to become a certified Redken color and cutting specialist and has completed her training in Redken Creative Color techniques. Her continuing education has given her experience with many other products and methodologies as well, including Pureology, Kevin Murphy Session Styling, and Chi Precision Cutting.
Janelle’s goal as a hair designer is for all of her clients to be pleased with their hair upon leaving her salon. She passionately works with each client to find the look that is right for him or her, whatever the style. She customizes her styling for each customer and eschews cookie cutter approaches. Her open, compassionate personality will make you look forward to your next hair appointment!
Janelle is always refining her craft and seeks to be on the leading edge of hair artistry. While attending numerous Paul Mitchell Signature gatherings and hair camps, and she has honed her skills in techniques such as Block Color, Color Cutting, and Teaching Artistry. Janelle has also studied under Redken master educators to become a certified Redken color and cutting specialist and has completed her training in Redken Creative Color techniques. Her continuing education has given her experience with many other products and methodologies as well, including Pureology, Kevin Murphy Session Styling, and Chi Precision Cutting.
Janelle’s goal as a hair designer is for all of her clients to be pleased with their hair upon leaving her salon. She passionately works with each client to find the look that is right for him or her, whatever the style. She customizes her styling for each customer and eschews cookie cutter approaches. Her open, compassionate personality will make you look forward to your next hair appointment!