Starting Fresh

The week I spent at De Cielo Spa and Salon was one of the most frustrating weeks I have ever spent in a salon. Michael is not only not a hairdresser he knows nothing about the industry and was so full of excuses it was hard to get through to him. He wouldn't listen to anything. I was so mad at Michael when he came to the meeting late -- it was incredibly rude and proved that he wasn't taking anything seriously. His staff was really upset and kept apologizing for their boss. There was a lot of finger pointing and bitching at the meeting, which I needed to stop, because it wasn't solving anything.

The staff felt letdown and frustrated, because Michael doesn't listen to them and he doesn't give them any direction. At times they didn't even have the products that they needed to do their jobs. The staff at De Cielo was great. Their work is very good, and when I worked with them and taught them new techniques, they were happy and appreciative. I worked a lot with Michael on marketing and managing his salon. In fact, one of the things he said he needed was a computer so he could spend more time in the salon, so I bought him one. I was so disappointed when I took Michael to Vidal Sassoon. I really wanted him to see what hairdressers experience, because he didn't have respect for his staff or the industry. Sally and I worked with him on several different areas, but all Michael did was insult us.

The goal wasn't to make Michael a hairdresser - the goal was to open Michael's eyes to all the aspects and hard work that goes into the craft. Michael seemed to think that hairstyling was easy! When he made the wise crack to Sally about wearing black and then told her the guideline she cut was uneven, I lost it. (FYI: The reason stylists wear black is to not take away from the client.) Vidal Sassoon is the mecca of hairdressing, and Sally is not only a friend, she is a highly accomplished stylist and the Director of the VS Academy. I couldn't stand Michael's rude and disrespectful behavior. It may not have been my finest moment, but I was furious, and really felt like Michael was making a mockery of the whole thing. I was also mad because it didn't matter how I approached Michael or how I attempted to teach and help him. He always had a bad excuse for the poor management of De Cielo.

I was running out of time and was at a loss - I didn't know how to help him. I knew I had made the commitment to help the salon and I really like the hairdressers, so I had to figure out a way to reach out to Michael. I wanted to get him on board, especially for his staff's sake, because they worked really hard all week. Starting fresh with Michael helped and I was pleased he finally chose to step up. His change in attitude really helped to boost staff morale. I know he must have listened to some things I said, because he has been using some of the marketing strategies we discussed, De Cielo has launched a new website, and Michael is starting to look and track his numbers. Hopefully he will keep it up and spend more time in his salon. His staff deserves a good leader.