SUMM IT UP: Recent Episodes
Summit Salon Business Center
SUMM IT UP is a podcast from Summit Salon Business Center that engages salon, school, barbershop and spa professionals on our shared path toward happiness in the beauty industry. Hosted by stylist, salon owner, educator, and “Top 30 Colorist Under 30” Blake Reed Evans, SUMM IT UP brings you frank conversations with changemakers from all corners of the beauty world, with a focus on business and interpersonal relationships. Listen every other Wednesday.
Based in Austin, Texas, Urban Betty Salon is one of Summit's longest running and most successful salon clients. In this episode we meet the woman behind the juggernaut, founder Chelle Neff. Chelle started hair school back in high school, and her first job was at Supercuts. She opened her first Urban Betty location in 2005 as a booth rental. Now Urban Betty is a 3-location commission salon company and they're trending to hit $6.7 million this year.
It wasn't easy, and Chelle is candid in this interview. You'll hear about:
- The importance of having a coach who doesn't handle you with kidgloves
- Overcoming self-worth issues around making and discussing money in a women-dominated industry
- Building Urban Betty's brand through early, aggressive social media adoption — collecting emails, engaging followers, and entering industry awards
- Growing pains from opening a third location and having to rebuild SEO/local presence from scratch
- Advice on scaling: delegate leadership contact points instead of being the sole point of contact; find a coach or mastermind group of like-minded owners
- Plus, Chelle spills the tea on getting through some of Urban Betty's toughest moments, including catching a team member embezzling, break-ins, and a walk out.
Where to find her: Instagram @urbanbetty and @urbanbettysalon, and chelleneff.com
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
If you own a salon company by yourself or even with a partner, it can be lonely at the top. Every major decision comes down to you, including how to exit the company when you're ready to retire or take a different path. Plus, you probably have valuable employees looking for ways to grow and considering striking out on their own. Shareholder programs can be a beautiful way to share risk and decision making, retain talent, and grow the next generation of salon owners. And while they're an established part of Summit systems, they're still relatively rare in the salon industry, and we get lots of questions about them.
Our own host Blake Reed Evans is a shareholder and service provider in a large group at Shear Art Salon in Tampa, Florida. Guest Lisa Lipani is the founder and CEO of Carl Michael Salon, with locations in Danvers and North Reading, Massachusetts, and a Summit Salon coach. Lisa opened the company in 2006, and now runs it as part of a shareholder group of six.
In this episode, Lisa and Blake answer questions including:
- Are shareholders owners?
- Why start a shareholder program and how do you know when it's the right time?
- What characteristics in a staff member make for a good potential shareholder?
- How do you train and oboard new shareholders?
- How do shareholders make difficult decisions in a salon company?
- What mistakes have other salon owners made along the way?
More questions? Get in touch with Lisa Lipani at llipani@summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
To be a salon owner requires ambition, commitment and hustle. But you're also human. So how do you balance responsibility with self care when difficult things happen -- and also in the every day?
When Sarah Hooper got diagnosed with late-stage cervical cancer it came as a shock, followed by a million questions and endless medical appointments. And on top of that, she had to come up with a plan for how her salon company would run while she was in treatment, and reassure her shareholders and team that it would be okay.
Sarah Hooper is the owner of Paradigm Salon & Company in Bel Air, Maryland, and a Summit salon coach, and is back at work 16 months after her diagnosis. In this highly personal interview, Sarah talks about what it was like to step back as a leader, and how that actually created space for her team members to grow. Blake and Sarah also discuss how to find the balance between hustle and rest, the value of a 32-hour workweek, and why Sarah decided not to go back behind the chair. Plus: Advice on how to advocate for yourself as a patient and take control of your health journey.
Follow Sarah Hooper on Instagram @sarah_paradigm. Interested in coaching? Book a discovery call with Sarah.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Does summer have you wishing for more vacation time or a bigger travel budget? What if you could travel and do hair at the same time? Trish Vereze is an independent stylists specializing in color correction who splits her time between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu. It was a rough road at the beginning, but now Trish stays booked and busy. Just five years into becoming a hairstylist, she bought her first condo.
In this episode, Trish and Blake discuss:
- How she got started as a travel stylist
- How she finds clients on social media
- Her killer work ethic
- How she avoids re-do's
- Her tricks of the trade when it comes to color correction
Whether you're interested in traveling for work or not, you're sure to learn something from Trish.
Find Trish Vereze on Instagram and TikTok @hairbytrishv.
Curious about in traveling internationally for stylist education? Check our our episode with the Hair Nerds!
This episode was originally released in March 2025.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Guest Ronan Perceval began his journey in the beaty industry as a receptionist at a busy salon in Dublin, Ireland. While he loved the salon culture and people, he found that constant "admin-y conversations" -- like explaining the parking situation or cancellation policy -- were sapping taking time away from more meaningful client interactions. Now founder & CEO of Phorest Salon Software, Ronan designs AI tools that handle the admin, so service providers can focus on what we do best -- making our guests look and feel great.
Phorest AI handles admin like booking, consultation forms and self check-in, but now there's so much more. Stylists can use mobile apps to track their tickets, tips and progress toward earling goals, with gamification features. Phorest even integrates with Instagram to help you micro-target ads to the perfect clients in your area. And once you have a returning client, Phorest will track their services and retail purchasing patterns so you can be ready with the next recommendation.
Listen for the human side of the story.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Success story time! Host Blake Reed Evans sits down with Heather Meredith and Maegan Moore of Ahead of Hair Salon in Midlothian, Virginia to unpack how a legacy Summit salon achieved 16.76% growth in 2025 — 23 years into ownership.
It wasn't easy: In their time working together, owner Heather and director of operations Maegan navigated a major walk-out, which led them to evaluate and build more flexibility into staff schedules. They also rennovated their space down the the studs, and revamped their associate program, all with a little help from Summit coach Deb McMahan.
Ahead of Hair is able to offer a matching 401(k) program and offer health insurance. With a 43-person team including ten mentors, the salon company has worked with Summit to expand their stylist level structure up to Level 10. Listen to learn how they pulled off all that, and more.
Follow Ahead of Hair on Instagram @aohsalon and on Facebook at Ahead of Hair.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
In an industry with high turnover and lots of workers fresh out of school, on-the-job education is par for the course. But even for experienced owners and managers, the skills needed to handle personal and performance issues that come up in the salon are often not fully developed. That's why were so lucky to have a conversation with today's guest, Araceli Castañeda. Araceli is a leadership trainer in Summit Salon Business Center's Leadership and Wellness Training division. She's also COO, General Manager and an owner at The Fixx Hair Studio in New Braunfels, Texas. Araceli has a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters in Marriage and Family Therapy.
As Araceli shares with host Blake Reed Evans, managers should go into conversations with employees with an attitude of curiosity. You'll get a lot from this conversation with two seasoned salon leaders including:
- What kind of questions to ask
- How to listen
- Understanding generational shifts in expections of reward and disapointment
- Advice for checking internal biases
- Self-regulation mini-skills for leaders
- Legal and ethical limitations of managment-employee conversations
RESOURCES
Learn more about Araceli and schedule a 30 minute discovery call. You can also email her at acastaneda@summitsalon.com.
Sign up for Araceli's Summit leadership subscription series.
Take the Summit Owner Burnout Diagnostic, a research-backed self-assessment to help salon owners identify burnout patterns and receive personalized recommendations for sustainable wellness. Find more information about burnout and the diagnostic tool here.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Did you know that salons in the United States and Canada generate about half a million pounds of waste every day?
Beauty shouldn't come at the planet's expense. Guest Shane Price founded Green Circle Salons in 2009, a company that parters with salon companies to recover up to 95% of salon waste. That includes hair clippings, foils, tubes, excess color and more. The program is supported through a small fee on guests' tickets at no cost to the salon. It can boost revenue by appealing to increasingly eco-conscious customers. And as Blake points out, Gen Z stylists place a high value on sustainability. Blake and Shane also address recycling skeptics!
Learn more at greencirclesalons.com and sign up by April 30 to take advantage of their Earth Month special offer with $650+ in added value.
Follow Green Circle on Instagram @greencirclesalons.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
What is a day in the life of a content creator like? How do you balance your responsibilities as a creator with your work as a stylist behind the chair? And what does it take to amass a significant following on social media in the hair salon industry?
Our guest this episode is Alejandro Lopez, an incredibly talented stylist based in Orlando, Florida, with over 870K followers on Tiktok and 670K on Instagram as of April 2026.
Alejandro chats with Blake about his background in braiding, how he transitioned to vivid color work, and what his daily life is like as both a stylist behind the chair and content creator.
LEARN MORE
Follow Alejandro on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @artistic.aestheticss.
This episode was produced by Erica Furgiuele. It was originally published in September 2024.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
SALON TODAY recently announced their 2026 SALON TODAY 200 honorees, one of the industry's most coveted awards. Does your salon company have spectacular customer service? Enviable growth numbers? An amazing culture? A kick-ass education program? Here's how you can get featured next year.
Stacey Soble is Editor in Chief of SALON TODAY, the only salon industry media outlet solely focused on business. She's also the organizer and a judge of the SALON TODAY 200, one of the industry's most coveted awards. She's been involved in the conversation of salon business for more than two decades—as a reporter, a consultant and as the editor in chief of SALON TODAY.
In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans chats with Stacey about the relationship between industry media and salon pros and some of the business innovations she's most excited about. Is your salon company newsworthy? Stacey explains how to get the judges' attention in your application for SALON TODAY 200, and more.
Learn more about the awards, Sign up for the Salon Today newsletter on their homepage to be notified as soon as applications are available. Follow Salon Today on IG @salontodayofficial, and follow Stacey @staceysoble.
This episode was originall published in July 2024.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Salon professionals have a unique ability to create a safe space for our clients, lend a friendly ear and build years-long relationships. For someone in a domestic violence situation, the salon may be the one of few or even the only place they can go without their abuser. So how do we identify the signs of domestic violence, and offer the right kind of support for clients and team members who may be in danger?
Our guest Liz McKeon is a salon business expert, author of the best-selling book, ’30 Days to Beauty Business Success’, and and UK & Irish Ambassador for Shear Haven Domestic Violence Training.
Access the training at shearhaventraining.org.
Learn more about Liz at lizmckeon.com.
Follow her on Instagram lizmckeonbizliz.
If you feel unsafe at home, find a hotline for your country or location here.
This episode does not contain descriptions of violent acts. It was originally recorded in June 2024.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
“He’s been with us for 13 years. He’s the new guy.” When host Blake Reed Evans heard those words on a visit to Three-13 Salon in Marietta, Georgia, he knew we had to talk about this business’ staying power on the show.
Our guest Lester Crowell is a managing partner at Three-13, a departmentalized salon and spa company that’s been running for 52 years. What’s their secret? The formula combines lots of structure, weekly service provider education, and schedule flexibility when it comes to guests.
Three-13 also gives back to the community. Lester is a two-time heart transplant recipient, and fifteen years ago Lester and Three-13 launched Angels of Life, a hair and fashion show benefiting the Georgia Transplant Foundation. Through the show and employee bake sales, Three-13 has raised over $1 million to help transplant recipients.
Learn more at
three-13.com
.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
For salon professionals transitioning to management and ownership, leading a salon company can be a steep learning curve. Don't be a passenger on your own business journey. Join Blake Reed Evans and Kevin Robinson, CFO of Summit Salon Business Center, for an essential conversation about financial literacy for salon owners. Learn how to shift from reactive to proactive financial management, identify common blind spots, and build sustainable business practices -- all while embracing an abundance mindset.
Learn more about Summit Financial Services and book a discovery call. Or email Nikke Salmon at nsalmon@summitsalon.com
Follow Kevin on Instagram: @kev_robin.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
It all began with Viola, who's salon did so well that she made more money than the doctor who delivered her son -- in the Great Depression, no less. That son went to hair school and joined the family business too. Fast forward to today, and a small family business has become large and legendary: Viola's great grandchildren own and operate a four-location salon company and a Summit Salon Academy.
Our guest this episode is Chris Huffstutter, owner of Summit Salon Academy Portland, shareholder at Anastasia Salon, and a Summit School Coach. Listen for a fun and frank conversation on the joys and pitfalls of working with your siblings, and learn how the Huffstutter brothers draw on their dad's wisdom and the latest tech to bring more happiness to their family and employees.
Reach out to Chris about cosmetology school coaching here. Follow Summit Salon Academy Portland on Instagram @summitsalonacademy_pdx.
You can catch Chris's brother Luke on a previous SUMM IT UP episode, Stop losing money on color ft. Vish's Tim Howard with Les McFadden and Luke Huffstutter.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
An entrepreneur, military spouse, mom and life-long high achiever, Laura Watkins thought mental illness was for the weak -- until it happened to her. Laura is the owner of Pure Salon Spa in Louisville, KY, and the author of Something Feels Off: Thriving in Life & Business Beyond a Mental Health Crisis. After coming out of the other end of her own crisis, Laura is working to end the stigma around mental health, and bring the same care and compassion to mental illness as any other illness.
In this frank conversation, Laura and Blake discuss the nuances of working with employees through mental health issues, and strategies for cultivating a culture that supports mental health in a salon company. Also, why owners should never tell their employees "we're a family here."
Follow Laura Watkins on Instagram @Mentalgirl_502, and learn more about Laura and her book at mentalgirl502.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
How do you go from seven employees to seven figures 11 years? Heather Piselli, Aliscia Martinelli and Monica Rivera did it together. They're co-owners of Privé Salon Co., with three comission salon locations and a suite rental facility in the Phildelphia metro area. The also co-host the GoHam podcast, featuring unfiltered conversations on business, leadership, and the beauty industry.
On this episode, Blake is joined by Healther, Alisica, and Monica; and their Summit salon coach, Kierstin Nemer, who's been at their side throughout the journey. Yes this is the most guests we've ever had on a single episode -- but the conversation really demonstrates how each team member plays to her strenghts! You'll hear about their strategies for hiring, taking risks, growing service providers, and why the phrase "Go Ham" describes their business ethos.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
At Summit, we believe salon professionals should be able to retire on their own terms. In this last episode in our Financials 101 series with CPA Chris Wittich from Boyum Associates, Chris explains why you should be saving for retirement now, even if you're working your very first job. Chris and Blake discuss retirment investment accounts for individuals like IRAs, Roth IRAs, and 401Ks. Also, did you know you can create an online account with the Social Security Administration and see how much you've been contributing in your working life so far? (We didn't!)
From the salon owner perspective, we have advice on providing retirement plans for employees, and how to encourage your staff members to contribute.
Find Chris Wittich and his team of salon accounting pros at salon.cpa.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Sometimes in the salon business we get so "busy being busy" in November in December that our relationships with clients suffer, and that can lead to a January and February that are slower than they have to be. Summit salon Coach Chad Faass is back to help you navigate the next few months.
For salon owners, Chad talks about the importance of showing up for your team consistently, without doing team members' work for them or micromanaging. (Don't go from hero to villian!) Boost morale and save money with an early holiday party, and boost sales by gamifying retail knowledge and other team engagement activities.
For stylists, Chad and Blake have advice on how to keep conversations with guests positive in difficult political times, and to offer packages, discounts and simpler services to incentivize them to rebook in January and February.
Plus, advice on how to bring in referrals, and make the best out of the slow times.
Chad Fass on Instagram -- DM him for team engagement exercises
Learn more about Chad Faass and schedule a discovery call.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Summit Unplugged is SSBC's signature salon leadership retreat in beautiful Cancun, Mexico, and it's back for a second time in January 2026. We're joined by Derek Reynolds, Summit's Associate Director of Training and an organizer of Summit Unplugged.
Derek and Blake get into the disctinctions between self-soothing and self-care and the importance of true self-care for leaders. Also: the gap between the values of many salon owners (Gen X) who often ignore self-care, and younger employees (Gen Z) who tend to prioritize it more.
Then it's on to what you can expect at Unplugged, including sessions with top Summit leaders like Heather Bagby, Dave Kirby and Peter Mahoney, all focused around the theme of joy. Derek reports back from his scouting trip to the gorgeous Breathless Riveria Cancun resort -- and you'll hear about some adjustments to the program incorporating feedback from the innaugural event. Plus the keynote speaker -- legendary stylist, educator and entrepreneur Sam Villa. Oh, and btw our host Blake Reed Evans will be bringing his energy and savoir-faire to the role of Master of Ceremonies once again.
Summit Unplugged takes place January 12-14, 2026. We still have spots available (as of Nov 5, 2025). For questions about registration check our FAQ, or reach out to Derek directly at dreynolds@summitsalon.com.
Watch Derek's Instagram reel from Breathless Riveria Cancun and follow him on IG.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
As a small business, your salon company has options when it comes to paying taxes. But are you chosing the right one? Whether you're in a parternship, an S corp or a C corp, the best entity for your business might not be the same as the salon across town, or even the same as it was a few years ago when you had four chairs instead of eight. For the second in our Financials 101 series, Boyum Associates accounting wiz Chris Wittich breaks down everything you need to know to make an informed decision.
You’ll hear:
- The differences between Schedule C, partnerships, S Corps, and C Corps
- Why S Corps are often the go-to for salons—and when it’s time to make the switch
- How state laws and the new FICA tip credit can impact your decision
- The importance of paying yourself a “reasonable salary” as a salon owner (and what that really means)
- Why setting up an LLC is a smart move, even if you’re just starting out
- Common mistakes salon owners make with their taxes
Get more tips and reach out to Chris Wittich at salon.cpa
Learn more about the FICA tax tip credit and tax-free tips!
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced and edited by Andrea Muraskin. The executive producer is Tim Fisk.
Whether you expect to sell your salon in 6 months or in 20 years, the time to start preparing is now, says Chris Wittich, a CPA who works with Summit and specializes in salons. Early planning leads to better outcomes, smoother transitions, and higher valuations. And unfotunately, many salon owners miss the mark then it comes to the true value of their salons.
In this episode you'll learn exactly what factors into a salon's value, and how to make your salon company attractive to buyers. Also: Where to look for a buyer, and tips for selling in "bite-sized pieces" to you own team members. And: Red and green flags to look out for if you're looking to purchase a salon,
This is the first in our three part Financials 101 series with Chris Wittich. Learn more about Chris' firm, Boyum Business Advisors.
ICYMI: Learn more about the changes to the FICA tax tip credit and new tax-free tips rules that benefit salon owners and stylists.
Stay tuned for the next episode in our series, where Blake and Chris will dive into tax structures and how to set up your business for financial success.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Stylists are increasingly seeing renting their own suite or booth as an appealing alternative to working in a commission salon. Guest Anne Chesbro is co-owner of a commission salon company, Platinum Salon, as well as a suite rental business in Rochester, NY. She and her husband Joe Chesbro founded Platinum Salon Suites to meet the needs of stylists who wanted to strike out on their own. Unlike most suite rental setups, Anne provides renters with benefits like laundry, business coaching, free access to stylist education, and more. She says the new business has been a great way to provide stylists the opportunity to be their own bosses, while retaining them within the greater salon family and culture. Tune in for a smart and savvy conversation about navigating changes in our industry.
Follow Anne on Instagram @anne_chesbro.
Follow Anne on TikTok at anne_chesbro.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
This episode we're amped to talk about taxes. That's because new U.S. laws benefit both salon owners and stylists. Blake brings in Chris Wittitch, a CPA and partner at Boyum Acounting, to break it all down. They chat about the exciting new FICA tax tip credit now available to the beauty industry and what salon owners need to know to take full advantage of it. They also touch on the new tax-free tips for service providers and discuss the impact of digital tipping platforms like Venmo and PayPal. Tune in to get all the insights straight from an expert and make sure you're maximizing these new tax benefits!
MORE RESOURCES
Complete guide to tax reporting for salons
No Tax on Tips guide for salon employees
Find more guides and learn how your salon company can work with Chris Wittitch at salon.cpa
00:00 Introduction
00:33 Meet the expert: Chris Whittich, Summit's right-hand accountant
01:10 Understanding the FICA tip credit
04:41 Salon owners: Maximizing the FICA tip Credit
13:58 Tax-Free Tips: What service-providers need to know
24:22 Impact of digital tipping and 1099-K reporting
28:38 Conclusion and what happiness means to Chris
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Is your salon company maximizing its potential? As a salon owner in the thick of things it can be challenging to step back and take a holisitc look at the business, including growth areas. In this episode, Summit Business Intelligence Developer Chris Mahoney introduces Salon IQ, a comprehensive business assessment tool. Chris built this assesment based on decades of Summit Salon Business Center's research and best practices. And it's free, whether your salon works with Summit or not. As Blake and Chris discuss, Salon IQ goes beyond dollars and cents to assess salon company culture, branding, and client relations.
Learn more and take the assessment at saloniq.summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
When guest Doug Smith and his wife, stylist Tara Summersett Smith opened The Studio + Co. in Florence SC in 2011, Doug was a corporate guy who was completely new to the salon world. Now he's a certified Summit Salon Coach who helps other salon owners figure out financials, marketing and management. In this episode, Doug and Blake discuss the joys and complexities of running a salon company when your life partner is your business partner. (We need to get Tara on the show to hear her side of the story!)
Doug also opens up about the process of selling The Studio + Co. to a former employee -- at topic he also coaches on.
Schedule a 30 minute discovery call with Doug Smith.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
A member of the beauty industry since 2011, Colissa Nole recently left the salon company where she worked as a stylist and struck out on her own -- first in a booth rental space, and most recently as part of the Soul Collective. in Columbia, Missouri. While it's an adjustment becoming your own boss, Colissa says the change has allowed her to offer the best service of her career, and "fall in love with hair all over again."
In this episode, Colissa Nole and host Blake Reed Evans discuss why she made the move, and the new challenges -- like having to schedule and reschedule all your own clients -- and joys -- like having old clients open up to you like never before. Also: Colissa is here to coach you through your own self-employment journey.
This episode was originally published in December 2023.
Contact Colissa to learn more about Summit's self-employed stylist subscription service:
Colissa's Instagram
Colissa's page on Summitsalon.com
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Something we love about working in the salon industry is that our careers are customizable. Want to work just one day a week? Specialize in blonding? Just do cuts? Split your time between two locations? Have back-to-back clients or work some down time into your schedule? All of these things are possible. Coming out of cosmetology school, Kacie Mundell knew she wanted the opportunity to grow and learn more advanced color techniques, and she wanted to have fun at work. First she got an entry-level job at a Summit salon company with a strong mentorship program that shared her values. Then the rest was up to her. Less than a year and two promotions later, Kacie's a level 2 stylist at her salon company. In this episode, Kacie chats with host Blake Reed Evans about the combination of guts, mentorship, relationship-building, and careful financial planning that got her where she is, and keeps her on the rise.
At the time of this recording in 2021, Kacie Mundell was a stylist and color and blonde specialist at Herdis the Salon in Northampton, Massachusetts, and at Parker on Main in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Now she's an indepedent stylist in West Springfield, MA, specializing blonding and vivids.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Kacie Mundell on Instagram @kaciedoeshair_
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Conflict is a natural part of human life, and your salon company is no exception. Our guest Nicholas Burns studies organizational behavior, and he says research demonstrates there are mant healthy ways of managing conflicts within a company. Hint: It starts with team goals, and a work environment where employees know where to turn with a problem, and have a chance to have their voices heard.
We explore concepts like super-ordinate goals, peer-to-peer learning, psychological safety, procedural justice and emotional labor. Also: team-building exercises - yes or no?! And how to handle a client who may be oversharing from the chair.
Nicholas Burns is a behavioral scientist who studies organizational behavior and questions of how companies can become more efficient and more ethical. He works as a research consultant in New York City. This episode is hosted by SUMM IT UP producer Andrea Muraskin, filling in for Blake Reed Evans.
Let us know what you think of this episode! You can leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Guillaume Duez has worked in marketing and management for L'Oréal for 14 years, rapidly ascending through the ranks. When recorded this interview in 2022 Guillaume was in charge of the prestige brands Kérastase and Shu Uemura Art of Hair. Now he's the General Manager for REDKEN USA.
Guillaume speaks with host Blake Reed Evans about the legacy and evolution of prestige salon brands, what sets Kérastase and Shu Uemuraapart, and the benefits they provide for salon companies and clients.
LEARN MORE
Kérastase
Shu Uemora Art of Hair
Guillaume Duez on LinkedIn
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Twylla Jane cuts hair for humans. That means whatever your gender identity or sexual orientation, you are welcome at Twylla’s Chicago area salon, and you’ll pay the same prices and be offered the same services as any other human who walks in the door. What’s more, the salon culture encourages self expression and has measures in place to make sure each individual’s personal pronouns are respected. And did we mention the salon is Harry Potter themed? Also in this episode: silent appointments, tips for dealing with burnout, and lots of laughs! Plus, find out what soap opera character host Blake Reed Evans is named after.
Twylla Jane is a global Redken Artist, a social media influencer, and the owner of Lumos Nox Salon in Naperville, IL. Follow Twylla on Instagram @twyllabroad and check out their salon page @lumosnoxsalon, or at lumosnoxsalon.com. You can also find Twylla’s videos on TikTok: twyllajane.
This episode was originally published in October 2021.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Gino Maggio is the owner and a barber behind the chair at The Barber Shop Tampa. But he’s not anyone’s boss: the other barbers rent chairs from him and contribute to decision-making for the business. In this episode, Gino chats with host Blake Reed Evans (who is also his loyal customer!) about barbershop culture including booth rentals, gender inclusivity, and maintaining an environment that’s welcoming to women and kids. Also style trends, online booking tech, and more.
This episode was originally published in April 2022.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Color services are fundimental to any salon business, but color is also ridldled with opportunites for loss. Are your stylists mixing too much color and ending up with waste and the end of a foil? Are you struggling to recall the formula your client loved the last time they were in your chair? Are you ever unsure what to quote a guest for a service, or make sure the front desk bills them appropriately? Are you overwhelmed by inventory?
Vish's color management software takes the guesswork out of color and integrates with your salon's point-of-sale system, so you can focus on creating an incredible guest experience every time. This episode, Vish co-founder Tim Howard steps into the host chair with Vish VP of product Les McFadden; and Luke Huffstutter, owner of three salons and a Summit Salon Academy in Portland, Oregon.
You'll learn about new innovations Vish has developed in partnership with salon companies and color manufacturers and distributors, like their new inventory module. Plus upcoming features like a service engagement tool that provides insight into how stylists are interacting with Vish's signature scale and measuring software, and a service that improves record keeping and quotes during consultations.
Learn more and book a discovery call at getvish.com. And please let Vish know you heard about them on SUMM IT UP!
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
All hail the Queen of Spa! Victoria Perry is the owner of Soto Signature Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio, a Summit Spa Consultant, and Spa Division Team Leader at Summit Salon Business Center. Victoria and host Blake Reed Evans discuss both tried-and-true and trending spa services, investing in machines, social media marketing, associate training, and more.
Connect with Victoria Perry on Instagram: @Victoria.beauty.expert, or email her at vperry@summitsalon.com.
Visit Summit’s Spa Division to explore the coaching services we offer.
Has the spa side of your business been dragging? Check out our episode “Spa Reboot” with Emily Richardson for advice on how to rev up your spa.
This episode was originally published in September 2022.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
If you're a newbie or baby stylist or a salon owner looking to grow and retain new stylists, this episode is for you.
Guest Lisa Giles is a digital creator and educator who specialiizes in working with stylists brand new to the industry, or as she likes to call them "guppies." She runs the education and mentoring platform Straight Out of Cosmo, where she teaches classes including "Make Box Color Your Bitch" and "The Bull Sh*t Behind the Business." She's a hair stylist and a Paul Mitchell Pro partner, based in Orange County, California.
In this episode, Lisa and Blake cover:
- Understanding market rates and charging a rate that's fair to yourself, even when you're new
- Creating customized incentives for new stylists, especially for retail sales
- Building a clientelle through guest education
- Goal and budget-setting
- Skills not always taught in cosmetology school, like client experience and working with box-dyed hair
And more.
Follow Lisa Giles on Instagram @LifeofLisaG.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Fashion, commercials, wig-making, on set: there’s a whole world of work out there beyond the salon. But in show business, success rarely comes overnight. Kauilani Goodwyn is a Mizani artist and educator, and co-founder of the Texpert Collective and the Global Artistry council. After working with hair for over sixteen years, she’s recently become a stylist for TV and film and a member of the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild. In this episode, Kauilani dishes out advice for hairstylists looking to break into entertainment, including how to network, and the importance of assisting and education along the way.
Follow Kauilani Goodwyn on IG: @kauigoodwyn.
This episode was originally published in October 2022.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Do you have clients who are sensitive to the chemicals used in salon products? Do you want to make your salon more sustainable and reduce waste? It can be daunting to know where to start when it comes to vetting products that claim to be "cleaner," or moving on from tried and true favorites. That's where Sophia James can help. Sophia James is an independent stylist specializing in vivids and razor cuts, and a green beauty educator (Green Artist) with the Green Beauty Community Foundation, based in Dallas Texas and Denver, Colorado.
In this episode, you'll learn how to get started with brands, packaging, recycling, working with sensitive clients, and more. Your salon can go green without sacrificing beauty.
Follow Sophia James on Instagram @indiehavenstudio
Learn more about salon recycling with Terracycle.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Guest Siobhan McCaffrey is Strategic Partnership Development Manager at salon tech powerhouse Phorest. A former salon owner, Siobhan understands all the classic salon pain points AND the latest tech innovations to help keep your salon running on schedule and in the black. Even if you know Phorest, you might be surprised at all their software can do, including integrations with Facebook and Instagram, and a suite of customizable booking features, and more. Listen for insights on:
- Customizing social media marketing to perspective clients, current clients, and "lost" clients who haven't booked in a while
- Customizing booking to client's unique needs
- How to make your cancellation policies crystal clear
- When and how much to charge for a deposit
- Banning unwanted repeat customers
- Phorest's integration with Vish for a seamless color experience from visit to visit
- Digitizing salon retail
Book a demo with Phorest
Follow Phorest on Instagram @phorestsalonsoftware
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Jennifer J. Boutwell is the owner of Salon Sanity in Gretna, Louisiana, and a Summit consultant, trainer, and shareholder. A few years ago, the end of her third marriage and the sudden death of her sister forced Jennifer to shift her focus from her successful career to confronting trauma and abuse that began in childhood.
Throughout the last three years, Jennifer has focused on the study of healing after abuse and trauma, drawing from her own experiences and professional journey to offer practical and emotional guidance. In her new book, I See You, A Guide to Finding Your Inner Strength, Confidence, and Voice after Trauma and Abuse, Jennifer shares her transformative journey of healing after molestation, grief, trauma, and abuse, focusing on self-love and acceptance.
In this refreshingly honest and moving discussion, Jennifer J. Boutwell and host Blake Reed Evans discuss sensitive topics including child molestation and partner abuse. They cover:
- Self-compassion and self-alignment
- How to support friends and coworkers experiencing grief or trauma
- Breaking generational cycles of abuse and trauma
- Tools for healing and self-regulation (Not one size fits all!)
- Friendship and community in difficult times
And much more.
Follow Jennifer J. Boutwell on Instagram @jenniferjboutwell.
Purchase the book on Amazon.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
If you are a listener to this podcast, it’s very likely that you went to cosmetology school. It’s also likely that those classes never added up to a degree. Right now, that is changing. L’Oreal has teamed up with Arizona’s Mesa Community College and Arizona State University to create The Lead Institute, a program where cosmetology school graduates can apply credits from beauty school towards an associates or bachelors degree.
In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans and Sherilynn Smart talk about going back to school, not an easy endeavor for any busy professional. But, even with a full schedule, doing hair and working in education, Sherilynn is finding time to get a degree in less than one year. From planning your schedule to getting a full scholarship, Sherilynn tells us how she did it, and how anyone who has been to cosmetology school can make this move for themselves.
This episode was originally published in January 2022.
Reach out to Sherilynn Smart SSmartt@Redken.com
Follow her on Instagram @Sherilynn_Redken
The Lead website is: www.leadinstitute.degree.
On Facebook it’s: Lead Rolfs Global Institute.
And on Instagram it’s @leadrolfsglobalinstitute.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk. This episode was edited by Amy Walters.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
As stylists, we want to be there for our clients, while also setting professional boundaries around our time. Online booking saves time and takes some of the emotion out of setting up hair appointments. But today's guest says combining tech with a human touch makes for the best customer experience, and makes business sense too.
Guest Missy Megginson is Director of Sales and Business Development at Schedulicity, a booking, payment and marketing software for salons and spas. She's a former salon owner and has been behind the chair for 20 years, most recently out of her own suite north of West Palm Beach, Florida.
IG: @schedulicity
Learn more: schedulicity.com/essentials
This episode was originally published in March 2024.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
For Bil Neal, being a salon sales consultant isn't about pushing product. It's about building relationships and growing small businesses. Bil Neal is a salon business partner (SBC) with SalonCentric, a division of L'Oréal USA, working with Summit salons and other salon companies in southern Ohio. Want to try out a new product without commiting? Call Bil. Want education for your stylists? Bil can set you up with an expert. Planning out your promotions for the year? Bil's your guy. And he's one of 400 SBCs working for SalonCentric across the United States who offer these services -- which often go underutilized in the industry.
Listen for a lively discussion with Bil and host Blake about all that, plus how to earn commissions on products beyond in-salon sales!
Follow Bil on Instagram @bil.neal.
This episode was originally published in January 2024
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Trish Vereze is a powerhouse. A specialist in color correction, she regularly travels between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu to do hair. And just five years into her career in the industry, Trish recently bought her first condo.
In this episode, Trish and Blake discuss:
- How she got started as a travel stylist
- Her work ethic
- Why she's only had one re-do
- Her tricks of the trade when it comes to color correction
Whether you're interested in traveling for work or not, you're sure to learn something from Trish.
Find Trish Vereze on Instagram and TikTok @hairbytrishv.
Curious about in traveling internationally for stylist education? Check our our episode with the Hair Nerds!
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
The front desk team is essential to the success of any salon company. And yet customer service and retention are pain points for many salon companies. "No one should feel like they're 'just' a front desk person," says Summit salon coach and front desk trainer Rose Coitrone. And if trained, respected and incentivized appropriately, the front desk can be a sales powerhouse.
In this conversation, Rose and Blake get into:
- Why a front desk staff person should be able to "play a stylist"
- Creating a bond between the front desk and stylists, and the front desk and guests
- Sales scripts that come across as authentic offerings
- Research-based incentives that boost retention including yearly pay raises and time off
- Expanding jobs of front desk staff with roles like social media and hospitality
Learn more about Rose and book a 30 minute discovery call.
Follow her on IG @rosecoitrone.
Email her at rcoitrone@summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Have you ever felt like that next level jump is never going to happen, or you'll lose your clientele if you start charging everyone full price -- even though the stylist in the chair next to you has achieved these goals? You might be stuck in what business pros call a fixed mindset. Summit VP Heather Bagby is back to help you recognize a fixed mindset, and transition to a mindset of growth. Heather wrote a masters thesis on mindsets -- and her advice is valuable whether you're looking to grow your own income, or coach someone else.
Heather Bagby is Vice President of Business Development at Summit Salon Business Center. She's a co-owner of Shear Art Salon in Tampa -- the same salon company where host Blake Reed Evans is a co-owner and stylist.
Follow Heather Bagby on Instagram @heatherbagby.
Check out our previous episodes with Heather Bagby on customer service and Summit's Happiness Project.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Hayley Jepson (@the.resilient.hairdresser on Instagram) has an amazing story. A top-earning colorist, she left the hair industry over a decade ago due to burnout, thinking she'd never come back. Hayley became a school counselor and a psychotherapist. Eventually, the knowledge she gained in that process brought her back to her first love -- hairdressing -- but this time with the tools to lead a healthy, happy life behind the chair. With her company The Resilient Hairdresser, Hayley provides online education and workshops for salons and stylists. She also developed a mental health training currently being rolled out by L'Oreal around the world. Hayley shares key insights in this interview on self-care and communication for stylists working both inside salons and independently, and salon owners managing employees.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. This episode was originally released in July 2023.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Stephanie Russell-Jacobs is a former hairstylist turned psychological safety facilitator and coach. This is Stephanie's third time on SUMM IT UP, and this episode we're focusing on leadership. Stephanie says just about anyone can be a leader, whether they know it or not, and that leadership is more about intention than power. In this insightful conversation, Stephanie and Blake discuss:
- The many forms leadership can take in a salon company
- Applying Mel Robbins' "Let Them" theory to the salon workplace
- Why leaders should aim for consistency, not perfection
- Strategies for managing conflict between salon company shareholders
And more.
Learn more about Stephanie and her coaching services at wavesociety.ca.
Follow her on Instagram @psychologicallysafesteph.
Check out her previous SUMM IT UP interviews on psychological safety and preventing burnout.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
LaShawnda Hall's salon journey began in an unconventional way. As a retail manager in a chain clothing store, she befriended a customer -- a hair stylist from across the mall. She became a regular guest of that stylist, Summit's own Jen Culverhouse. Years later, when Jen opened her own salon company, Jen invited LaShawnda to manage a boutique.
Fast forward to today, and LaShawnda has become the owner of that salon - Urban Eve in Pearland, Texas. A go-getter and multi-tasker extraordinaire, LaShawnda is an inspiration to anyone dreaming about owning a salon.
Looking to level up your boutique, or add one to your salon company? Listen to our previous episode, Boutique experience with LaShawnda Hall. We also have a very fun episode with LaShawnda's former employer and founder of Urban Eve Salon, Jen Culverhouse, where you can get to know your enneagram type .
Find LaShawnda on Instagram @lashawndahall_ssbc
Learn more about LaShawnda and schedule a 30 minute discovery call for front desk or boutique coaching services.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Jamie DiGrazia (she/they) is the owner of Logan Parlor Hair Salon and Barber Shop in Chicago, and a Level 6 cosmetologist and barber. DiGrazia is the founder of Hair Has No Gender, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting inclusive, gender-free, and gender-affirming practices within the hair world.
In this heartfelt episode, DiGrazia and host Blake Reed Evans discuss:
- Gender-neutral pricing -- It's the right thing to do and makes business sense too.
- Gender-inclusive consultations
- How to transition your salon to a gender-neutral pricing structure (it's easier than you might think)
- How to be an ally to young trans, non-binary or gender-nonconforming guests in your salon
Take Hair Has No Gender's inclusivity pledge and get your salon company listed on their Affirming Service Finder directory.
Learn about their professional team trainings.
Instagram: @jamiedigrazia / @hair_has_no_gender
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Hair stylists are in the business of people. You know how to take care of a guest when they're in your chair -- but how do you get people into your chair to begin with, and get them to keep coming back? In a post-2020 world where just about everyone does great hair, people skills are more important than ever.
Our guest is Kim Light Pearson, Marketing + Branding Team Leader for Summit Salon Business Center, and she's hear to show you how to put the "social" back in social media. In this episode, Kim and host/hair influencer Blake Reed Evans cover:
- The power of tutorial videos/ What to do when your guest says "I wish you could come home with me!"
- The tricky business of before and after photos
- How to optimize your use of photos and video on Instagram
- How to interact with clients and potential clients on social
- How Summit can level up your salon company's website and social, and empower you to make updates whenever you want
And more!
Learn more about Kim Light Pearson and book a 30 minute discovery call
Follow Kim on Instagram @theklp
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
On average, only about 30% of new salon clients book a second appointment. A few write negative reviews online, but many simply don't come back. Why is that?
Our guest this episode, Kati Witledge, says clients often don't return because they weren't matched with the best stylist to meet their unique needs at that first appointment. Her company, mya, provides a software that allows potential clients to find a stylist match before they even set foot in your salon. mya empowers the salon to market to those clients, and makes booking a breeze.
In this meaty conversation, Kati and host Blake Reed Evans also get into common pain points of client acquisition and retention, tools to grow your salon company's marketing reach, and how to prep your team to make a great first impression.
LEARN MORE
joinmya.com
IG: @join_mya
TikTok: join_mya
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty reigned in the salon industry. Questions like “When will I be allowed to open back up?” “Is it worth the risk to go to work?” and “Will my company survive this?” were on the minds of owners and staff. Leaders had a choice: put on a brave face for their workers, or be honest about their fears. Our guest Derek Reynolds says learning to be vulnerable helped him connect with employees on a deeper level.
Also during the pandemic, the motivations of salon pros shifted more towards flexibility and time with family. In this episode, Derek and host Blake Reed Evans discuss how to navigate this new landscape with compassion, and why it’s okay not to be okay.
Derek is the team leader for the Leadership Division and a salon consultant with Summit Salon Business Center, general manager of Cutler Salons in New York City, and a certified Enneagram practitioner.
To learn more about Summit’s leadership coaching and retreats, visit summitsalon.com/wellness-culture/summit-leadership-system
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast-new, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
This episode was originally published in July of 2022.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
Andrew Carruthers is a stylist educator and trainer and a Sam Villa culture ambassador. He also coaches private clients inside and outside the beauty industry through his company The Journeyist. Our conversation in this episode is about managing stress and controlling reactivity – skills essential to communication and leadership. You’ll learn simple breathing techniques from the Oxygen Advantage method and get an introduction to Multiple Brain Integration (mBIT), a holistic practice for processing thoughts and feelings. Andrew Carruthers joins us from his home in Olympia, Washington.
Connect with Andrew on Instagram
@andrew.carruthers or visit his website thejourneyist.life.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
This episode originally aired on December 20, 2023.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
The relationship between a stylist and their repeat guest is special. But if you build that special relationship with enough people over time, you might feel maxed out because your days are so busy. You have a waiting list. So you raise your prices, but that waiting list doesn’t get any shorter.
Though you may feel like you can’t handle one more thing, this could be the perfect time to bring on an associate - a recent hair school grad to work with you behind the chair. And if you’re worried that bringing on an associate might upset that relationship you’ve built with your guests, Paige Lowe is here to allay your fears.
Paige Lowe is a Summit Certified Associate Trainer and a stylist at Glam Street Salon in Grayslake, Illinois, where she currently works with three associates behind the chair! In this episode, Paige and host Blake Reed Evans dispel some misconceptions about working with associates and discuss how to develop a partnership where both stylist and associate can grow.
This episode was originally released in August 2022.
LEARN MORE
Find Paige on Instagram @paige_glamstreetsalon, or reach out to her at plowe@summitsalon.com.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
The way most salons manage their color results in a loss of profits - that's why Tim Howard co-founded Vish, software that is revolutionizing how salons manage their color so they can reduce waste and increase their profits. Tim has over 25 years of experience in the salon industry and is the former owner of two award-winning salons. He chats with Blake about how salons can charge clients correctly for their color, what needs to change in the industry, and how salons can best reinvest extra revenue back into their business.
LEARN MORE
Visit getvish.com.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
SUMM IT UP is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry.
What is a day in the life of a content creator like? How do you balance your responsibilities as a creator with your work as a stylist behind the chair? And what does it take to amass a significant following on social media in the hair salon industry?
Our guest this episode is Alejandro Lopez, an incredibly talented stylist based in Orlando, Florida, with nearly 700k followers on social media. Alejandro chats with Blake about his background in braiding, how he transitioned to vivid color work, and what his daily life is like as both a stylist behind the chair and content creator.
LEARN MORE
Follow Alejandro on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @artistic.aestheticss
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
What is going through students' minds when they go on salon tours? What gives them the sense that the vibes are right, and what is on their dreaded "ick list" when it comes to salon culture? This episode is all about supporting and welcoming the next generation of stylists who are ready to begin their careers.
Our guest this episode is Beonca Torres, Associate Trainer with the Summit Salon team and Director of Distance Learning and Placement Coordinator at Summit Salon Academy Tampa. Beonca chats with Blake about what student stylists are looking for when they go on a salon tour and then choose the salon where they will begin their career.
LEARN MORE
Learn more about Beonca on her Summit Salon profile page.
Follow Beonca on Instagram @beoncatorres
SUMM IT UP is produced by Erica Furgiuele.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
The enneagram is a powerful personality assessment tool that looks at the core motivations and fears behind our actions. Knowing your enneagram type can help you play to your strengths, and be more mindful of your weaknesses. In a salon company, an enneagram assessment can help build better leaders, and help close communication gaps within a team.
Our guest this episode is Jen Culverhouse, owner of Urban Eve Salon in Texas and Minnesota, Summit leadership trainer, and Certified Enneagram Coach. Jen chats with Blake about how to put the enneagram to use in salon companies, and offers a topline overview of the nine personality types. (We’ll have to have her back to go more in-depth!) Want to learn your type or book an enneagram assessment for your salon company? Get in touch with Jen below.
This episode was originally released in February 2023.
LEARN MORE
Download Summit’s Enneagram Overview
Email Jen: jculverhouse@summitsalon.com
Follow Jen on IG jennifer_enneagram_guide
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
In this episode, we switch things up and put host Blake Reed Evans in the hot seat. In conversation with Summit Director of Brand Development Tim Fisk, Blake spills the beans on how he became an influencer and super in-demand educator, while still working behind the chair and managing employees at Shear Art Salon in Tampa, Fl. Plus, how he balances family life and "time to do absolutely nothing" with the life of a entrepreneur.
Thinking of expanding your work in the industry beyond the salon? Blake's got tips on how to get noticed and how to financially prepare for a career transition. You won't want to miss this one.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Stacey Soble is Director of Brand Content Strategy at SALON TODAY, the only salon industry media solely focused on business. She's also the organizer and a judge of the SALON TODAY 200, one of the industry's most coveted awards. She's been involved in the conversation of salon business for more than two decades—as a reporter, a consultant and as the editor in chief of SALON TODAY.
In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans chats with Stacey about the relationship between industry media and salon pros and some of the business innovations she's most excited about. Is your salon company newsworthy? Stacey explains how to get the judges' attention in your application for SALON TODAY 200, and more.
Submissions for the 2025 SALON TODAY 200 start in August 2024. Learn more about the awards, Sign up for the Salon Today newsletter on their homepage to be notified as soon as applications are available. Follow Salon Today on IG @salontodayofficial, and follow Stacey @staceysoble.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Whether you have never worked with an associate before, or you've been a trainer for years and are looking to update your methods, this episode is for you! Not only do associates provide an extra pair of hands, but they provide the opportunity to book more guests, maximize productivity, and help your salon run like a well-oiled machine.
Our guest Molly Limes Getz is a Senior Educator and Partner at Soto Signature Salon and Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio. She's also a Redken Artist, a Sam Villa Ambassador, and co-host of Detangled Podcast.
Molly and host Blake Reed Evans both started as associates, and work with associates daily behind the chair. In this high-energy interview, they cover recruitment, onboarding, how to introduce new associates to guests, and so much more.
This episode was originally published in April 2023.
Learn about Summit's associate training programs.
Follow Molly Limes Getz on IG @mollygetz
Follow Molly on TikTok at mollylimesgetz
Find Detangled Podcast where-ever you listen.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Sam Villa is the founding partner of Sam Villa Professional Brand, the Redken Global Artistic Ambassador, and 2017 NAHA Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Famous across the salon industry for his line of tools and his educational videos, Sam is a master of change and adaptation, whether that be hair trends or the way education is delivered. Sam never stops learning, and you shouldn’t either.
In this high-energy interview, Sam Villa and host Blake Reed Evans talk about online vs. IRL education, career shifts, brand development, and collaboration. Also, all about trends: where they came from, where they’re going, and how to stay on top of them while making sure your guests love the way they look.
You can find Sam Villa all over the internet!
Youtube: youtube.com/c/samvillahair
Instagram: @samvillahair
Facebook: @samvillapros
Tiktok: @samvillahair
Website: samvilla.com
This episode originally dropped in August 2022.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
As salon professionals, we have a unique ability to create a safe space for our clients, and lend a friendly ear. For someone in a domestic violence situation, the salon may be the one of the few or even the only place they can go without their abuser. So how do we identify the signs of domestic violence, and offer the right kind of support for clients and team members who may be in danger?
Our guest Liz McKeon is a salon business expert, author of the best-selling book, ’30 Days to Beauty Business Success’, and and UK & Irish Ambassador for Shear Haven Anti Domestic Violence Industry Training.
If you feel unsafe at home, find a hotline for your country or location here.
This episode does not contain descriptions of violent acts.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
You might know Elizabeth Faye from her Instagram, or maybe you've watched her Tedx Talk about how hairstylists can change the world or attended one of her retreats with Hair Love University. Elizabeth just announced her latest venture, The Vitality Project, the first wellness program designed for salon companies, barbershops and beauty schools!
In this high-energy episode, Elizabeth and Blake discuss the proven benefits of wellness programs, such as better retention, reduced burnout, and higher profits; and how emotional regulation tools and mindfulness can help owners show up for their teams and stylists show up for their clients in the salon environment.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Faith Rivers contains multitudes. In the salon industry, she's worn many hats, including stylist, colorist, salon manager and manager of education and marketing for a major haircare brand. Faith also brings her experiences in theater, journalism, and gender studies, as well as her Buddhist practice to bear in her work and in this wisdom-packed interview.
Topics include:
- Setting and maintain boundaries with guests
- Stay grounded in a job where you're exchanging energy with guests and coworkers all day long
- Tapping into empathy as a stylist
- Creating a safe and welcoming salon company for guests with curls and coils
- Recruiting and retaining staff with expertise in curls and coils
Follow Faith Rivers on Instagram @thefaithrivers
Connect with Faith on LinkedIn
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Guest Bianca Rose is a stylist behind the chair, owner of Bianca Rose Salon in Fairfield, Ohio, and hair influencer known for vivid colors, including her own gorgeous pink hair. Bianca recently began working with a Summit coach and converting her salon company to Summit systems. She speaks with Blake Reed Evans about why she made the decision, and how to set expectations for your team and gracefully transition to a new - and more profitable - way of doing business.
Follow Bianca on TikTok @hairbybiancarose
Follow Bianca in IG @hairbybiancarose
Learn more about Summit's Custom Coaching program and schedule a free 30-minute discovery call.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
You’re an associate, and the stylist you’re assigned to isn’t letting you get hands-on with clients. You work the front desk, and one of the stylists is consistently rude to you. You’re a stylist, and the front desk has been under-booking you for weeks. You’re a co-owner, and your business partner is over-spending on spa equipment. Situations like these require communication - and in a business where emotions often run high, a tough conversation can be a powder keg. It can be tempting to grumble to yourself and avoid confronting the problem; but in the long run, your work relationships and your salon company will suffer. Fortunately, even the most conflict-adverse of us can learn to have tough conversations respectfully and effectively.
Guest Johnny Stellato coaches on personal development, leadership, team-building, and more for Redken and the L’Oreal Professional Products Division, and runs his own consultancy, Just Be Empowered Coaching. He’s also a stylist, and he’s held various leadership positions at Redken NYC, including Senior Director of Training. A master communicator who has taught around the world, Johnny brings his wisdom on how to confront tough subjects with others - and with ourselves - to this enlightening conversation with host Blake Reed Evans.
Connect with Johnny Stellato on Instagram @johnnyjustbe, or on Facebook. Email Johnny at jstellato@redken.com or Johnstellato@gmail.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Stylists are increasingly seeing renting their own suite or booth as an appealing alternative to working in a commission salon. Guest Anne Chesbro is co-owner of a commission salon company, Platinum Salon, as well as a suite rental business in Rochester, NY. She and her husband Joe Chesbro founded Platinum Salon Suites to meet the needs of stylists who wanted to strike out on their own. Unlike most suite rental setups, Anne provides renters with benefits like laundry, business coaching, free access to stylist education, and more. She says the new business has been a great way to provide stylists the opportunity to be their own bosses, while retaining them within the greater salon family and culture. Tune in for a smart and savvy conversation about navigating changes in our industry.
Follow Anne on Instagram @anne_chesbro.
Follow Anne on TikTok at anne_chesbro.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Korie Lance is the owner of The Mae Salon and Spa in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Mae took home two 2024 Summit Unplugged Awards: for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Sound Financial Practices. Out of all Summit salon companies, The Mae was recognized for highest year over year growth: 192%!
In this episode, Blake and Korie discuss how The Mae has built a salon culture that's inclusive of all sexual orientations, gender identities, races and hair textures. Also: how they've grown so rapidly since opening in 2016, and how embracing retail has allowed the Mae to offer benefits including paid time off, a retirement plan and an education fund.
IG: @themaesalon
@korielance
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
As stylists, we want to be there for our clients, while also setting professional boundaries around our time. Online booking saves time and takes some of the emotion out of setting up hair appointments. But today's guest says combining tech with a human touch makes for the best customer experience, and makes business sense too.
Guest Missy Megginson is Director of Sales and Business Development at Schedulicity, a booking, payment and marketing software for salons and spas. She's a former salon owner and has been behind the chair for 20 years, most recently out of her own suite north of West Palm Beach, Florida.
IG: @schedulicity
Learn more: schedulicity.com/essentials
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Erin Gray and Annie MacArthur are The Hair Nerds, an independent pro beauty media and education company. Their signature events, called Hairventures, allow salon professionals to learn from top stylists around the world, as well as experience foreign cultures and build lasting friendships, at an affordable price. In this episode, Erin and Annie tell Blake about their recent trips to London and Tokyo (their favorite), and discuss the upcoming trip to Milan in June 2023. You'll also hear about the Hair Nerd's podcast, Dear Cosmo Babies, which is geared towards helping cosmetology students find their footing in the beauty industry.
Follow the Hair Nerds on Instagram @thehairnerds, and book your next hairventure at thehairnerds.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
We're still riding the high of Summit Unplugged, our first ever salon leadership conference and a time to really focus on ourselves and our wellbeing in the industry. (Did we mention it was on the beach in Cancun?!) If you missed this year don't worry: we've got a recap on this episode and info on how to get in on the next one.
Blake also hosted our first ever live SUMM IT UP episode at the conference, which we're presenting to you here. Our guest is Chris Mahoney, a beauty industry business analyst and Summit's new AI Solutions Architect. Chris and Blake take the fear factor out of AI and explain how you can make tools like Chat GPT work for you, whether you want to improve your sales pitch, enhance your social posts, or make sense of your sales data. (And maybe even show your client how they'd look with a copper bob!)
Learn more about Chris Mahoney and book a discovery call.
Watch Blake's highlight reel from Summit Unplugged.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
As Blake says, hair stylists these days are in such high demand, they could set up shop in the middle of a field and people would still come to have their hair done! In addition, the new generation of incoming stylists care more than ever about company culture, including fair labor practices, flexibility and social and environmental values. So salon owners need to adapt to attract and retain talent.
Guest Jared Thompson is the co-owner of Deseo Salon and Blow Dry, a luxury salon company in Denver, Colorado. With a background in business, he brings important insights about how to recruit and interview stylists, how to cultivate a healthy and thriving salon culture, and what to do when someone is not a fit. Also, he makes a strong business case for offering higher compensation and greater flexibility with the aim of keeping stylists on board, rather than managing a high rate of churn.
Learn more about Deseo Salon and Blow Dry at deseosalondenver.com, or follow them on IG @deseodenver.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
The last four years have been a big reset for the salon industry. When we shut down in 2020 we learned that many of our clients see us as essential workers. We saw a surge in demand coming out of lockdown. But now, we once again need to raise our standards to keep our clients. The pandemic years also accelerated a trend towards employees asking for more flexibility in shaping their schedules.
Here at Summit we embrace these changes and want to grow salon companies that can support and retain stylists over the course of the life cycle. We've created new exclusive spaces online for the Summit community, and even redesigned our signature event -- the Summit -- to make it more accessible and closer to home. Cofounder Dave Kirby -- our Senior Director of Development, a shareholder and a board member at Summit Salon Business Center joins Blake this episode to discuss what's new for 2024.
Find Dave Kirby on Instagram @davekirbympls.
Learn more about Dave and schedule a 30 minute discovery call.
Explore Summit's program calendar for 2024.
Learn about Summit's online community for certified salons, barber shops and schools
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
For Bil Neal, being a salon sales consultant isn't about pushing product. It's about building relationships and growing small businesses. Bil Neal is a salon business partner (SBC) with SalonCentric, a division of L'Oréal USA, working with Summit salons and other salon companies in southern Ohio. Want to try out a new product without commiting? Call Bil. Want education for your stylists? Bil can set you up with an expert. Planning out your promotions for the year? Bil's your guy. And he's one of 400 SBCs working for SalonCentric across the United States who offer these services -- which often go underutilized in the industry.
Listen for a lively discussion with Bil and host Blake about all that, plus how to earn commissions on products beyond in-salon sales!
Follow Bil on Instagram @bil.neal.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Andrew Carruthers is a stylist educator and trainer and a Sam Villa culture ambassador, and coaches private clients inside and outside the beauty industry through his company The Journeyist. Our conversation this episode is about managing stress and controlling reactivity – skills essential to communication and leadership. You’ll learn simple breathing techniques from the Oxygen Advantage method, and get an introduction to Multiple Brain Integration (mBIT), a holistic practice for processing thoughts and feelings. Andrew Carruthers joins us from his home in Olympia Washington.
Connect with Andrew on Instagram
@andrew.carruthers or visit his website thejourneyist.life.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
A member of the beauty industry since 2011, Colissa Nole recently left the salon company where she worked as a stylist and struck out on her own -- first in a booth rental space, and most recently her own space with a co-owner. While it's an adjustment becoming your own boss, Colissa says the change has allowed her to offer the best service of her career, and "fall in love with hair all over again."
In this episode, Colissa Nole and host Blake Reed Evans discuss why she made the move, and the new challenges -- like having to schedule and reschedule all your own clients -- and joys -- like having old clients open up to you like never before. Also: Colissa is here to coach you through your own self-employment journey.
Contact Colissa to learn more about Summit's new self-employed stylist subscription service:
Colissa's Instagram
Colissa's page on Summitsalon.com
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
We’re living in a time of cultural transition. Individuals are openly expressing gender and sexuality with more freedom than before. At the same time, some still believe that expression outside of the traditional cisgender heterosexual frame is a bad thing. Others want to be supportive, but are unsure about the correct pronouns and terminology to use, or how to respectfully acknowledge queer identities.
As beauty professionals, we want all guests and staff to feel safe and welcome in the salon. So how do we normalize queer inclusivity in our lives and professional spaces?
Emily Holiday is an activist and humanitarian, owner of Emily Holiday Salon, and a stylist at Sola Salons in Charlotte, North Carolina. She’s a facilitator for queer inclusivity and identity workshops for salon companies and other organizations. Emily considers herself a “brave space”-- that means she’s here to answer questions that might be uncomfortable or inappropriate to bring up in everyday life.
Even if you’re new to talking about gender and sexuality, this episode is for you. Emily and Blake break down all of the letters in LGBTQIA+, talk about what it means to be non-binary, and get at the differences between gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction. Emily shares some simple yet brilliant practices that you can implement at your salon company. And so much more.
Get in touch with Emily Holiday on Instagram: @emilyholidaybeauty.
QUEER EDUCATION AND CULTURE RESOURCES RECOMMENDED BY EMILY AND BLAKE
Janet Mock, a trans author and activist
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading organization in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in the US
The Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color community organizing center, focusing on the NYC area
Time Out Youth, a queer youth center in Charlotte, NC
Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization
Jonathan Van Ness, a non-binary hair stylist, influencer, writer, podcaster, comedian, and entertainer
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Traditionally, the salon business in the United States has been a segregated one. And while stylists at salons in the Black community performed braids, twists, weaves, relaxers, and silk presses on a daily basis, most white stylists had little or no knowledge of textured hair. In the past few years this has been changing, with more beauty schools providing and requiring texture education. Textured hair is increasingly visible in the media, more women are choosing natural styles, and more children are being born with mixed heritage.
But our industry still has a long way to go. Want to learn about texture but don't know where to start? We've got you covered.
Today's guest, Jamal Edmonds, is the owner and creative director of Lamaj in the City, located in Washington D.C. He's a stylist behind the chair and an educator for Mizani and Redken, specializing in textured hair. Jamal has been nominated for NAHA awards in 2018, 2021, and 2022. In this episode Jamal and host Blake Reed Evans talk about how to learn textured hair, and dig into understanding the trauma your client may have experienced around getting their hair styled. Also: doing textured hair on set, and competing in the North American Hair Association (NAHA) Awards.
This episode was originally published in December 2021.
Follow Jamal Edmonds on Instagram @lamajbackwards.
Get texture education online with the Mizani Texpert Academy: thetexpertcollective.com/head-of-the-class.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
If you’re a business owner in a crowded space, you have to put your “why” front and center. That’s Tim Fisk’s philosophy, and it has paid off. As Director of Brand Development for Summit Salon Business Center, Tim helps salon and spa companies design or rethink their brand to attract both customers and new employees. He is the owner of Herdis, the Salon in Northampton, Massachusetts. Tim also opened Parker on Main Salon and Plum Boutique in Greenfield, Massachusetts, both during the COVID -19 pandemic. Tim sees the big picture, drawing a through-line from his own motivation to his companies, to the community impact of those main street businesses. We hope this conversation will inspire you to brand from the heart!
We recorded and originally published this episode in March 2022. To learn more about adding a boutique to your salon company, check out our episode with Summit boutique consultant LaShawnda Hall.
Follow Tim and get in touch on Instagram: @timfiskis. Email Tim at tfisk@summitsalon.com.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. (Yes, that Tim Fisk!) Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
The relationship between a stylist and their repeat guest is special. But if you build that special relationship with enough people over time, you might feel maxed out because your days are so busy. You have a waiting list. So you raise your prices, but that waiting list doesn’t get any shorter.
Though you may feel like you can’t handle one more thing, this could be the perfect time to bring on an associate - a recent hair school grad to work with you behind the chair. And if you’re worried that bringing on an associate might upset that relationship you’ve built with your guests, Paige Lowe is here to allay your fears.
Paige Lowe is a Summit Certified Associate Trainer, and an owner and stylist at Glam Street Salon in Libertyville, Illinois, where she works with multiple associates behind the chair. In this episode, Paige and host Blake Reed Evans dispel some misconceptions about working with associates, and discuss how to develop a partnership where both stylist and associate can grow.
This episode was originally published in August 2022.
Find Paige on Instagram @paige_glamstreetsalon, or reach out to her at plowe@summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
The once-disparate worlds of salon and barbershop are moving closer, with changing gender norms around hair, professionals graduating from school with both skill sets, and barbershops shifting their business models. But the expectations of barber and stylist clientele are different, and any salon owner looking to add barber services to their menu should understand that.
Enter Jessica Luppold, Barbershop Division Team Leader at Summit Salon Business Center. Also owner and master artist at Elayne James Salon & HairColor Studio in Middletown, Delaware. Jessica has a foot in both worlds and has done the research to prove it. As a Summit coach, she works with barbers to maximize their business potential through adopting tried-and-tested Summit systems like online booking, working on commission, and a leveled earning system. Jessica also works with salon owners to recruit and integrate barbers and barber-stylists into their companies.
Learn more, or schedule a 30-minute discovery call with Jessica Luppold.
Connect with Jessica Luppold on Instagram @Jessicaloveshairbusiness.
Connect with the Summit Barbershop Division on Instagram @barbershopdiv_by_ssbc
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com. We'd love to hear your personal finance tips!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Hayley Jepson (@the.resilient.hairdresser on Instagram) has an amazing story. A top-earning colorist, she left the hair industry over a decade ago due to burnout, thinking she'd never come back. Hayley became a school counselor and a psychotherapist. Eventually, the knowledge she gained in that process brought her back to her first love -- hairdressing -- but this time with the tools to lead a healthy, happy life behind the chair. With her company The Resilient Hairdresser, Hayley provides online education and workshops for salons and stylists. She also developed a mental health training currently being rolled out by L'Oreal around the world. Hayley shares key insights in this interview on self-care and communication for stylists working both inside salons and independently, and salon owners managing employees.
With the flexibility and opportunities for advancement that the salon industry offers, not to mention the tips, you can make a great living. But the other side of the coin is how you manage your money. After all, you can have a full book at the salon and still be deep in debt.
Peter Mahoney, President of Summit Salon Business Center, has a passion for educating salon professionals about personal finance. In this episode, Peter and Blake discuss practical advice for saving, investing, and getting out of debt. We promise, it’s not as scary or as complicated as it seems!
LEARN MORE
Summit’s online Financial Awareness course, with Peter Mahoney, Blake Reed Evans, Katie West, Jules Molina, and LaShawnda Hall
About Peter Mahoney
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com. We'd love to hear your personal finance tips!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
We’ve been wanting to speak with Sheri Doss for a while! Vice President of Brand Education, Events & Experiences at Redken, Sheri has helped inspire and change the lives of hair stylists around the world through programs like the Redken Exchange in NYC, the Redken Prolab in LA, and the Redken Symposium. Blake and Sheri discuss how Redken keeps education current with continuous reinvention, like creating smaller events around the country to keep up with stylists’ needs post-covid. Listen and learn about opportunities to level up your skills and the skills of your team.
Connect with Sheri Doss on Instagram @sheridoss_redken.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
If you work in a salon company you may be noticing a trend: the post-pandemic days when hungry guests were competing for your time, grateful for a return to professional haircare, are over. These days clients are a bit more picky about who does their hair, and the quality of service when they come to the salon. The always-current Heather Bagby, Vice President of Business Development at Summit Salon Business Center, has read the research. She returns to SUMM IT UP with a consumer trend update, and advice on how to build your customer service muscles and dial down negative messaging on social media. Also with the US election cycle ramping up, Heather and host Blake Reed Evans get into how to handle it when a guest brings up politics, or says something upsetting.
Heather is also a co-owner of Shear Art Salon in Tampa, Florida, alongside Blake.
Follow Heather Bagby on Instagram @heatherbagby
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
With brick-and-mortar retail on the rise again, now is the perfect time to turn your passion for fashion or unique gifts into a boutique at your salon company -- or give your existing boutique space a refresh. A boutique can be a great addition to a salon company, but there are a few things you should know before diving in. (For example, you can expect to see your repeat customers a lot more frequently!)
Guest LaShawnda Hall is a boutique consultant and a front desk trainer for Summit Salon Business Center, and a front desk coordinator and stylist behind the chair at UrbanEve Salon and Boutique in Pearland, Texas. In this episode, she answers questions including
- Do I need a separate space from my hair salon to start a boutique?
- Should I start online or in-store?
- What kind of items do I purchase and where do I find them?
- How do I get product off the shelves?
LaShawnda has worked her boutiquing magic at host Blake Reed Evans’ salon company (Shear Art in Tampa, Florida), and she can do it for yours too. Learn more about LaShawnda Hall and get in touch at lhall@summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and beauty schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Faith Rivers contains multitudes. In the salon industry, she's worn many hats, including stylist, colorist, salon manager and manager of education and marketing for a major haircare brand. Faith also brings her experiences in theater, journalism, and gender studies, as well as her Buddhist practice to bear in her work and in this wisdom-packed interview.
Topics include:
- Setting and maintain boundaries with guests
- Stay grounded in a job where you're exchanging energy with guests and coworkers all day long
- Tapping into empathy as a stylist
- Creating a safe and welcoming salon company for guests with curls and coils
- Recruiting and retaining staff with expertise in curls and coils
Follow Faith Rivers on Instagram @thefaithrivers
Connect with Faith on LinkedIn
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Music in this episode by Doyeq.
Owning a salon is great but sometimes your life changes. Your family grows or you find yourself having to move far away, and the best decision for everyone is to sell the salon. It can be a hard choice - but if you are prepared it can also be the right choice for you and your family. In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans talks to Summit Salon Consultant, Chad Faass about selling his salon. Sometimes owning a salon and living your best life don’t match up. From making the initial decision to finally letting go, Chad tells us how he and his wife made it work, and how anyone can do it with the right plan.
EPISODE NOTESReach out to Chad Faass cfaass@summitsalon.com
Follow him on Instagram @ChadFaass
The Summit Salon website is: https://summitsalon.com/
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk. This episode was edited by Amy Walters.
Whether you have never worked with an associate before, or you've been a trainer for years and are looking to update your methods, this episode is for you! Not only do associates provide an extra pair of hands, but they provide the opportunity to book more guests, maximize productivity, and help your salon run like a well-oiled machine.
Our guest Molly Limes Getz is a Senior Educator and Partner at Soto Signature Salon and Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio. She's also a Redken Artist, a Sam Villa Ambassador, and co-host of Detangled Podcast.
Molly and host Blake Reed Evans both started as associates, and work with associates daily behind the chair. In this high-energy interview, they cover recruitment, onboarding, how to introduce new associates to guests, and so much more.
Learn about Summit's associate training programs.
Follow Molly Limes Getz on IG @mollygetz
Follow Molly on TikTok at mollylimesgetz
Find Detangled Podcast where-ever you listen.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Last year, the wonderful Stephanie Russell visited SUMM IT UP to help us clarify our goals as individuals, maintain boundaries, and avoid burnout. In this episode, Stephanie is back with fresh insights and a new framework for helping leaders and organizations thrive: psychological safety.
Psychological safety is the ability to take risks in an organization. It's foundations are the reduction of harm, and the promotion of wellbeing. In a psychologically safe salon company, owners and team members can give and receive feedback without fear of fostering resentment or losing status. Benefits include lower turnover, higher productivity, and greater life satisfaction.
Stephanie is a certified confidence coach, a mindfulness coach, an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy coach, a stylist, and a Redken Artist, and the founder of Psychologically Safe Service.
LEARN MORE
Connect with Stephanie Russell on Instagram @psychologicallysafesteph
Listen to our first episode with Stephanie: Burn Bright, Don't Burn Out
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Guillaume Duez has worked in marketing and management for L'Oréal for 12 years, rapidly ascending through the ranks. He’s now General Manager at the iconic company, in charge of the prestige brands Kérastase and Shu Uemura Art of Hair. In this fast-paced interview, Guillaume speaks with host Blake Reed Evans about the legacy and evolution of prestige salon brands, what sets these two brands apart, and the benefits they provide for salon companies and clients.
LEARN MORE
Kérastase
Shu Uemora Art of Hair
Guillaume Duez on LinkedIn
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
The enneagram is a powerful personality assessment tool that looks at the core motivations and fears behind our actions. Knowing your enneagram type can help you play to your strengths, and be more mindful of your weaknesses. In a salon company, an enneagram assessment can help build better leaders, and help close communication gaps within a team.
Our guest this episode is Jen Culverhouse, owner of Urban Eve Salon in Texas and Minnesota, Summit leadership trainer, and Certified Enneagram Coach. Jen chats with Blake about how to put the enneagram to use in salon companies, and offers a topline overview of the nine personality types. (We’ll have to have her back to go more in-depth!) Want to learn your type or book an enneagram assessment for your salon company? Get in touch with Jen below.
LEARN MORE
Download Summit’s Enneagram Overview
Email Jen: jculverhouse@summitsalon.com
Follow Jen on IG jennifer_enneagram_guide
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Members of four generations are currently working in the salon industry: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Each generation has its own values and ideas about how to build clientele, how to run a company, and how to manage work-life balance. The beauty industry is constantly changing, and while experienced leadership is essential, we need fresh ideas and young voices at the table in order to thrive.
Today’s guest, Dave Kirby, was one of the founders of Summit Salon Business Center, today the largest salon and spa consulting company in the world. Dave is a shareholder, board member and serves as the Senior Director of Training for SSBC. Dave came up in a salon culture that valued top-down authority and long, grueling hours, but now that Dave is 38 years into his career, his point of view has shifted. And he says that’s thanks to listening to the younger generations. Host Blake Reed Evans, a Millennial salon owner, makes a perfect conversation partner.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from @Tim Fisk.
Visit summitsalon.com/calendar to sign up for Dave Kirby’s online business courses for stylists and salon owners.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
What makes you happy? Hiring an associate? Raising your prices? Spending time with family and friends? Opening a new location? Striking out on your own? In the beauty industry, decisions big and small often revolve around numbers: and that includes your personal finances, your business books, and market forces like supply, demand, and inflation. Numbers can be confusing, but understanding the big picture math is foundational to achieving our dreams, and achieving your own version of happiness. Heather Bagby, Vice President of Business Development at Summit Salon Business Center and a co-owner of Shear Art Salons in Tampa, is here to break down the Happiness Project. On this episode of SUMM IT UP, Heather explains fundamentals like Summit's levels system, which links stylists' rates to area income, and introduces concepts like wealth mindset versus poverty mindset. Plus, how having a handle on the numbers can help employers be more flexible and supportive to their staff, and tips for working with supply chain challenges and product price increases .
This episode originally aired in November 2021.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Heather Bagby on Instagram @heatherbagby.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
You can access Summit's Magic Day Calculator and other calculators for free at poweredbysummit.com/calcs.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Fashion, commercials, wig-making, on set: there’s a whole world of work out there beyond the salon. But in show business, success rarely comes overnight. Kauilani Goodwyn is a Mizani artist and educator, and co-founder of the Texpert Collective and the Global Artistry council. After working with hair for over sixteen years, she’s recently become a stylist for TV and film and a member of the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild. In this episode, Kauilani dishes out advice for hairstylists looking to break into entertainment, including how to network, and the importance of assisting and education along the way.
Follow Kauilani Goodwyn on IG: @kauigoodwyn.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
Kenneth Snyder is the owner of Evolution, a salon company with four locations and a staff of 89, in central New Jersey. With a background in fashion, he opened his first salon out of hair school with six chairs. In this episode, Kenneth walks us through how he grew Evolution through investing in education and growing people. We also learn how partnerships with Redken and Summit Salon Business Center helped shift Kenneth’s leadership style and business practices. Plus, how a reset forced by the COVID-19 pandemic led to an improved company culture.
Follow Kenneth on Instagram @HairbyKenneth. Learn more about his company at evolutionsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. We had production help on this episode from Andrew Brownlie.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
We’re living in a time of cultural transition. Individuals are openly expressing gender and sexuality in ways that are new to Western culture. At the same time, some members of our society still believe that expression outside of the traditional cisgender heterosexual frame is a bad thing. Others want to be supportive, but are unsure about the correct pronouns and terminology to use, or how to respectfully acknowledge queer identities.
As beauty professionals, we want all guests and staff to feel safe and welcome in the salon. So how do we normalize queer inclusivity in our lives and professional spaces?
Never fear, Emily Holiday is here! Emily Holiday is an activist and humanitarian, owner of Emily Holiday Salon, and a stylist at Sola Salons in Charlotte, North Carolina. She’s a facilitator for queer inclusivity and identity workshops for salon companies and other organizations. Emily considers herself a “brave space”-- that means she’s here to answer questions that might be uncomfortable or inappropriate to bring up in everyday life.
Even if you’re new to talking about gender and sexuality, this episode is for you. Emily and Blake break down all of the letters in LGBTQIA+, talk about what it means to be non-binary, and get at the differences between gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction. Emily shares some simple yet brilliant practices that you can implement at your salon company. And so much more.
Get in touch with Emily Holiday on Instagram: @emilyholidaybeauty.
QUEER EDUCATION AND CULTURE RESOURCES RECOMMENDED BY EMILY AND BLAKE
Janet Mock, a trans author and activist
The Human Rights Campaign, a leading organization in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in the US
The Audre Lorde Project, a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit, Trans and Gender Non-Conforming People of Color community organizing center, focusing on the NYC area
Time Out Youth, a queer youth center in Charlotte, NC
Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization
Jonathan Van Ness, a non-binary hair stylist, influencer, writer, podcaster, comedian, and entertainer
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
All hail the Queen of Spa! There’s a world of business in spa these days, with new technologies and younger clients booking preventive and wellness services. So how can your salon company tap in? Victoria Perry is the owner of Soto Signature Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio, a Summit Spa Consultant, and Spa Division Team Leader at Summit Salon Business Center. Victoria and host Blake Reed Evans discuss both tried-and-true and trending spa services, social media marketing, associate training, and more.
Connect with Victoria Perry on Instagram: @Victoria.beauty.expert, or email her at vperry@summitsalon.com.
Visit Summit’s Spa Division to explore the services we offer.
Has the spa side of your business been dragging? Check out our episode “Spa Reboot” with SSBC Spa Consultant Emily Richardson for advice on how to rev up your spa.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
Sam Villa is the founding partner of Sam Villa Professional Brand, the Redken Global Artistic Ambassador, and 2017 NAHA Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Famous across the salon industry for his line of tools and his educational videos, Sam is a master of change and adaptation, whether that be hair trends or the way education is delivered. Sam never stops learning, and you shouldn’t either.
In this high-energy interview, Sam Villa and host Blake Reed Evans talk about online vs. IRL education, career shifts, brand development, and collaboration. Also, all about trends: where they came from, where they’re going, and how to stay on top of them while making sure your guests love the way they look.
You can find Sam Villa all over the internet!
Youtube: youtube.com/c/samvillahair
Instagram: @samvillahair
Facebook: @samvillapros
Tiktok: @samvillahair
Website: samvilla.com
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter,
Your Weekly Game Plan , to stay on top of our events and trainings.
Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
The relationship between a stylist and their repeat guest is special. But if you build that special relationship with enough people over time, you might feel maxed out because your days are so busy. You have a waiting list. So you raise your prices, but that waiting list doesn’t get any shorter.
Though you may feel like you can’t handle one more thing, this could be the perfect time to bring on an associate - a recent hair school grad to work with you behind the chair. And if you’re worried that bringing on an associate might upset that relationship you’ve built with your guests, Paige Lowe is here to allay your fears.
Paige Lowe is a Summit Certified Associate Trainer and a stylist at Glam Street Salon in Grayslake, Illinois, where she currently works with three associates behind the chair! In this episode, Paige and host Blake Reed Evans dispel some misconceptions about working with associates, and discuss how to develop a partnership where both stylist and associate can grow.
Find Paige on Instagram @paige_glamstreetsalon, or reach out to her at plowe@summitsalon.com.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barber shops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
These days, more and more people are looking for stylists with a specialty: whether that’s blonding, balayage, natural curly cuts, extensions, or other services. Rae Stanton is a level four stylist and a vivid & platinum color specialist at Shear Art Salons in Tampa, Florida. (Yep, that’s our host Blake’s salon company, and it’s no accident that they’re coworkers...) A self-professed nerd and creative, Rae is drawn to both the art and science of color.
In this episode, Rae shares how she built her book and jumped levels, with a focus on specializing. And Blake and Rae discuss how to strike a balance between the specialty you’re passionate about, and a well-rounded skill set behind the chair. Rae is also a Summit Certified Associate Trainer, and she talks about her decision to start working with an associate, and how that’s changed her work life. If you’re a new stylist just starting out, or you’ve had a few years behind the chair and you’re looking for a refresh, this episode is for you.
Rae is on Instagram @raestantonhair and TikTok at raestantonhair. Book a training or appointment with Rae.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Find Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Join our new online community for certified Summit salons, spas, barbershops and schools.
Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next. Thanks for listening!
The front desk is the first place a guest goes when they walk into a salon, and their last stop on the way out. Yet front desk team members often don't get the respect and credit they deserve - and that's putting it mildly! Julie Molina is a Certified Front Desk Trainer and team leader with Summit Salon Business Center, and a shareholder and stylist at Soto Signature Salon & Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio. In this episode, Julie and Blake Reed Evans get real about retaining front desk talent, while preparing front desk staff- and management, for the guest drama that comes their way. Plus, how to turn a profit at the front desk.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Julie Molina on Instagram @molina.jules.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Download free resources and learn about Summit's front desk training at summitsalon.com/divisions/front-desk-division
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty reigned in the salon industry. Questions like “When will I be allowed to open back up?” “Is it worth the risk to go to work?” and “Will my company survive this?” were on the minds of owners and staff. Leaders had a choice: put on a brave face for their workers, or be honest about their fears. Our guest Derek Reynolds says learning to be vulnerable helped him connect with employees on a deeper level.
Also during the pandemic, the motivations of salon pros shifted more towards flexibility and time with family. In this episode, Derek and host Blake Reed Evans discuss how to navigate this new landscape with compassion, and why it’s okay not to be okay.
Derek is the team leader for the Leadership Division and a salon consultant with Summit Salon Business Center, general manager of Cutler Salons in New York City, and a certified Enneagram practitioner.
To learn more about Summit’s leadership coaching and retreats, visit summitsalon.com/divisions/leadership-division.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
As queer, Black women in the beauty industry dealing with discrimination from clients, Christin Brown and her wife made a business decision not to show their faces on their websites. But as their business grew, they decided to put their identities at the center of their business. Christin now exclusively styles natural, curly, unmanipulated hair at their Santa Barbara, California salon – and she couldn't be happier. Christin and Blake discuss the importance of pride in all aspects of your identity - including in your business as a stylist. Plus, a short history of Black hair that you won't want to miss.
Follow Christin on Instagram @curlfactor, and find her salon company @fullspiralsalon, and boutique @puralunaapothecary.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com to connect with others in the industry. Sign up for our newsletter, Your Weekly Game Plan to stay on top of our events and trainings. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Happy Pride!
.
With Father’s Day around the corner, this episode we profile a unique salon company that’s part of a family legacy: My Father’s Mustache in Cookeville Tennessee. The business is owned and operated by two sisters. And it’s named in honor of their father, Wayne Fletcher, a local pioneer in unisex salons and barbering education. Our guest Debbie Fletcher is a Level Four Master Barber, a master barber instructor, and co-owner of My Father’s Mustache. Blake and Debbie discuss the ins and outs of running a combined salon and barbering business, the challenges of retailing to men, and of course - mullet perms!
Follow My Father’s Mustache on Instagram @my_fathers_mustache, and on Facebook @myfathersmustache.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Dreaming of a bigger following, a shoutout from your favorite professional haircare brand…or even an official marketing deal? Should you focus on photos or videos? Does it matter what times of day you post? Should you actually DM that brand? Is there a right and a wrong way to talk about your guests on social? All will be revealed in this high-energy episode!
Guest Marie Shetterley, Influencer Marketing and Social Media Manager at SalonCentric, has up-to-the-minute advice for stylists on growing your personal brand - and forming relationships with the big ones. This episode is packed full of tips from both Marie and host Blake Reed Evans - who teaches social media for Summit, and is a member of Salon Centric’s "It Takes a Pro" team.
Find Marie Shetterley on Instagram @SalonCentric and on TikTok at SalonCentric.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Gino Maggio is the owner and a barber behind the chair at The Barber Shop Tampa. But he’s not anyone’s boss: the other barbers rent chairs from him and contribute to decision-making for the business. In this episode, Gino chats with host Blake Reed Evans (who is also his loyal customer!) about barbershop culture including booth rentals, gender inclusivity, and maintaining an environment that’s respectful to women and kids. Also get caught on the latest barbering hair trends, online booking tech, and more.
If you’re a business owner in a crowded space, you have to put your “why” front and center. That’s Tim Fisk’s philosophy, and it has paid off. As Director of Brand Development for Summit Salon Business Center, Tim helps salon and spa companies design or rethink their brand to attract both customers and new employees. He is the owner of Herdis, the Salon in Northampton, Massachusetts. Tim also opened Parker on Main Salon and Plum Boutique in Greenfield, Massachusetts, both during the pandemic. Tim sees the big picture, drawing a through-line from his own motivation to his companies, to the community impact of those main street businesses. We hope this conversation will inspire you to brand from the heart!
Follow Tim and get in touch on Instagram: @timfiskis. Email Tim at tfisk@summitsalon.com.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. (Yes, that Tim Fisk!) Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
You’re an associate, and the stylist you’re assigned to isn’t letting you get hands-on with clients. You work the front desk, and one of the stylists is consistently rude to you. You’re a stylist, and the front desk has been under-booking you for weeks. You’re a co-owner, and your business partner is over-spending on spa equipment. Situations like these require communication - and in a business where emotions often run high, a tough conversation can be a powder keg. It can be tempting to grumble to yourself and avoid confronting the problem; but in the long run, your work relationships and your salon company will suffer. Fortunately, even the most conflict-adverse of us can learn to have tough conversations respectfully and effectively.
Guest Johnny Stellato coaches on personal development, leadership, team-building, and more for Redken and the L’Oreal Professional Products Division, and runs his own consultancy, Just Be Empowered Coaching. He’s also a stylist, and he’s held various leadership positions at Redken NYC, including Senior Director of Training. A master communicator who has taught around the world, Johnny brings his wisdom on how to confront tough subjects with others - and with ourselves - to this enlightening conversation with host Blake Reed Evans.
Connect with Johnny Stellato on Instagram @johnnyjustbe, or on Facebook. Email Johnny at jstellato@redken.com or Johnstellato@gmail.com.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor. Find all of our past episodes at summitsalon.com/summ-it-up-podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open! You can email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Your coworker crosses a boundary, and you don't know how to talk to her about it. You’re thinking about opening your own salon, but not sure you have the confidence to pull it off. You want to correct your employee's mistakes, but will they resent you for it? Guest Stephanie Russell is a certified confidence coach, a mindfulness coach, an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy coach, a stylist, and a Redken Artist, based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. She came up with the title “Clarity Coach” to describe what she does for clients: helping them figure out their purpose and goals, and break the patterns that hold them back - both inside and outside the salon industry. In this episode, Stephanie and host Blake Reed Evans get into the roles we often take on without realizing it: the People Pleaser, the Hyper-achiever, the Victim, the Rescuer and more. Plus advice on how to build confidence and accept change. Whether you’re looking to make a shift, or you want to become a better mentor, this episode is for you.
Visit Stephanie’s website and contact Stephanie at wavesociety.ca. Mention SUMM IT UP for 20% off a coaching package, through December 2022.
Follow Stephanie Russell on Instagram @stephanieclaritycoach.
Listen to Stephanie’s podcast, Let Your Woo Woo Show, on Spotify
Take the quiz to learn your saboteurs from Positive Intelligence
Coaching is not a substitute for therapy. If you're looking for counseling for a mental health or substance abuse issue, and you live in the United States, call 1-800-662-H-E-L-P, visit findtreatment. samhsa.gov, search the website of your health insurance company for covered providers, or contact your primary care provider. If you're listening in Canada, search for mental health resources on the website of the province where you live.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin. Tim Fisk is the executive editor.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open! You can also email him at bevans@summitsalon.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Reach out to Chad Faass cfaass@summitsalon.com
Follow him on Instagram @ChadFaass
The Summit Salon website is: https://summitsalon.com/
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk. This episode was edited by Amy Walters.
Members of four generations are currently working in the salon industry: Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. Each generation has its own values and ideas about how to build clientele, how to run a company, and how to manage work-life balance. The beauty industry is constantly changing, and while experienced leadership is essential, we need fresh ideas and young voices at the table in order to thrive.
Today’s guest, Dave Kirby, was one of the founders of Summit Salon Business Center, today the largest salon and spa consulting company in the world. Dave is a shareholder, board member and serves as the Senior Director of Training for SSBC. Dave came up in a salon culture that valued top-down authority and long, grueling hours, but now that Dave is 38 years into his career, his point of view has shifted. And he says that’s thanks to listening to the younger generations. Host Blake Reed Evans, a Millennial salon owner, makes a perfect conversation partner.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from @Tim Fisk.
Visit summitsalon.com/calendar to sign up for Dave Kirby’s online business courses for stylists and salon owners.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Reach out to Sherilynn Smart SSmartt@Redken.com
Follow her on Instagram @Sherilynn_Redken
The Lead website is: www.leadinstitute.degree.
On Facebook it’s: Lead Rolfs Global Institute.
And on Instagram it’s @leadrolfsglobalinstitute.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk. This episode was edited by Amy Walters.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
If you owned a hair salon in the late 90’s or early 2000’s, chances are good you bought some machines, hired some estheticians, and added “and Spa” to your business name… or at least thought about it. Over the last two decades many of those “and spas” have gone neglected, or been renovated for more hair stations. But in today’s Instagram and Zoom-driven world, we’re seeing renewed consumer interest in services like skin care, waxing, and injectables - especially among people in their 20s and 30s.
In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans sits down with Emily Richardson for a 101 on how to recharge your salon’s spa division, or start one from scratch. Emily is an SSBC Spa Consultant, and General Manager/Co-Owner of Bella Trio Salon and Spa in Durham, North Carolina. From hiring service providers, to mastering social media, to investing in those costly machines, this conversation is packed full of practical advice aimed at helping you build and run the spa that’s right for your salon company.
On December 10th and 11th, 2021, at least 59 devastating tornadoes ripped through parts of six states in the South and Midwest. People who work in the salon and spa industries in affected areas have seen their homes and businesses destroyed. The Professional Beauty Association is collecting donations for immediate needs including clothing, food, bills, supplies & tool replacement. You can make a tax-deductible donation at www.probeauty.org/pba-charities/drf
Follow guest Emily Richardson on Instagram @emilyrichardsonssbc.
Learn more about Summit’s spa consulting and training services at summitsalon.com/divisions/spa-division.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or what topics you’d like us to cover next.
Traditionally, the salon business in the United States has been a segregated one. And while stylists at salons in the Black community performed braids, twists, weaves, relaxers, and silk presses on a daily basis, most white stylists had little or no knowledge of textured hair. In the past few years this has been changing, with more beauty schools providing and requiring texture education. Textured hair is increasingly visible in the media, more women are choosing natural styles, and more children are being born with mixed heritage.
But our industry still has a long way to go. Want to learn about texture but don't know where to start? We've got you covered.
Today's guest, Jamal Edmonds, is the owner and creative director of Lamaj in the City, located in Washington D.C. He's a stylist behind the chair and an educator for Mizani and Redken, specializing in textured hair. Jamal has been nominated for NAHA awards in 2018, 2021, and 2022. In this episode Jamal and host Blake Reed Evans talk about how to learn textured hair, and dig into understanding the trauma your client may have experienced around getting their hair styled. Also: doing textured hair on set, and competing in the North American Hair Association (NAHA) Awards.
On December 10th and 11th, 2021, at least 59 devastating tornadoes ripped through parts of six states in the South and Midwest. People who work in the salon and spa industries in affected areas have seen their homes and businesses destroyed. The Professional Beauty Association is collecting donations for immediate needs including clothing, food, bills, supplies & tool replacement. You can make a tax-deductible donation at www.probeauty.org/pba-charities/drf
Follow Jamal Edmonds on Instagram @lamajbackwards.
Get texture education online with the Mizani Texpert Academy: thetexpertcollective.com/head-of-the-class.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Something we love about working in the salon industry is that our careers are customizable. Want to work just one day a week? Specialize in blonding? Just do cuts? Split your time between two locations? Have back-to-back clients or work some down time into your schedule? All of these things are possible. Coming out of cosmetology school, Kacie Mundell knew she wanted the opportunity to grow and learn more advanced color techniques, and she wanted to have fun at work. First she got an entry-level job at a Summit salon company with a strong mentorship program that shared her values. Then the rest was up to her. Less than a year and two promotions later, Kacie's a level 2 stylist at her salon company. In this episode, Kacie chats with host Blake Reed Evans about the combination of guts, mentorship, relationship-building, and careful financial planning that got her where she is, and keeps her on the rise.
Kacie Mundell is a stylist and color and blonde specialist at Herdis the Salon in Northampton, Massachusetts, and at Parker on Main in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Kacie Mundell on Instagram @kaciedoeshair_
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Find free resources and learn more about Summit's Associate Program at summitsalon.com/divisions/associate-division
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
The front desk is the first place a guest goes when they walk into a salon, and their last stop on the way out. Yet front desk team members often don't get the respect and credit they deserve - and that's putting it mildly! Julie Molina is a Certified Front Desk Trainer and team leader with Summit Salon Business Center, and a shareholder and stylist at Soto Signature Salon & Spa in Perrysburg, Ohio. In this episode, Julie and Blake Reed Evans get real about retaining front desk talent, while preparing front desk staff- and management, for the guest drama that comes their way. Plus, how to turn a profit at the front desk.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Julie Molina on Instagram @molina.jules.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Download free resources and learn about Summit's front desk training at summitsalon.com/divisions/front-desk-division
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
What makes you happy? Hiring an associate? Raising your prices? Cutting back from full time to part time? Taking a day off? Opening a new location? Striking out on your own? In the beauty industry, decisions big and small often revolve around numbers: and that includes your personal finances, your business books, and market forces like supply, demand, and inflation. Numbers can be confusing, but understanding the big picture math is foundational to achieving our dreams, and achieving your own version of happiness. Heather Bagby, Vice President of Business Development at Summit Salon Business Center and a co-owner of Shear Art Salons in Tampa, is here to break down the Happiness Project. On this episode of SUMM IT UP, Heather explains fundamentals like Summit's levels system, which links stylists' rates to area income, and introduces concepts like wealth mindset versus poverty mindset. Plus, how having a handle on the numbers can help employers be more flexible and supportive to their staff, and tips for working with the supply chain challenges and product price increases we're currently experiencing.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow guest Heather Bagby on Instagram @heatherbagby.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
You can access Summit's Magic Day Calculator and other calculators for free at poweredbysummit.com/calcs.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Coming up as a young stylist, Tricia DiFranco heard it said that for hair stylists, "your retirement party is your funeral." As a salon owner since age 24, Tricia is determined to prove that's not true. In this episode of SUMM IT UP, host Blake Reed Evans chats with Tricia about how she's grown her employees and her business with Summit systems like the Associate Program, coaching, and level jumping. Plus, how Tricia teamed up with salon owners across New Jersey to get the state's beauty industry up and running after the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown.
Tricia DiFranco is a hair stylist, a Summit Salon Business Center coach, and the owner of Highlights Salon in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. Connect with Tricia on Instagram @triciahilights and find her salon companies @highlightssalon and @hausofhighlights.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk @timfiskis.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Twylla Jane cuts hair for humans. That means whatever your gender identity or sexual orientation, you are welcome at Twylla’s Chicago area salon, and you’ll pay the same prices and be offered the same services as any other human who walks in the door. What’s more, the salon culture encourages self expression and has measures in place to make sure each individual’s personal pronouns are respected. And did we mention the salon is Harry Potter themed? Also in this episode: silent appointments, tips for dealing with burnout, and lots of laughs! Plus, find out what TV drama character host Blake Reed Evans is named after.
Twylla Jane is a global Redken Artist, a social media influencer, and the owner of Lumos Nox Salon in Naperville, IL. Follow Twylla on Instagram @twyllajane and check out their salon page @lumosnoxsalon, or at lumosnoxsalon.com. You can also find Twylla’s videos on TikTok: twyllajane.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Though she had always lived in New Jersey, stylist Laura Frazier was, in her words, “not built for winter.” So when her husband suggested they decamp permanently for Charleston, South Carolina, Laura was all in. It was only when they got out of the U-Haul that she realized she was starting from zero: she knew no one and had no clients! But through Facebook groups and strategic posts, Laura built a book as an independent stylist, and later joined the team at a salon in Charleston utilizing Summit systems and strategies. These days she owns her own salon, brings in clients via Instagram, and is moving to double shifts. Laura says “the answer to social distancing is social media.” Listen for lots of tips to help your guests feel welcome and comfortable in the salon while Covid continues to be a concern, or any time.
Laura Frazier is a Redken and Summit certified stylist, the owner of The Hair Lab in Mount Pleasant, SC, and a Social Media Trainer for Summit Salon Business Center. Follow her on Instagram @hairzillaa, and find her salon page @hairlabchs.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.
Excuse the pun, but our inaugural guest Joanne Powers is a powerhouse in the beauty industry! Founder and CEO of Shear Art Salons, founder and CEO of Summit Salon Academy Tampa, and a stylist for many years behind the chair, Joanne brings the perfect combination of business and people skills to her work. In this episode, you'll also get to know host Blake Reed Evans, Joanne's business partner and protégé, and an educator in his own right.
SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk.
Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon.
Follow host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans. His DM's are always open!
Learn more about Joanne's cosmetology, esthetics, nail and barbering school, Summit Salon Academy Tampa, at summitsalonacademytampa.com.
Visit us at SummitSalon.com or join our Summit Salon Community on Facebook to connect with others in the industry. Get in touch with Summit and let us know what you think of the podcast or who you'd like us to interview next.