As the SALON TODAY team started planning the content for Data-Driven Salon Summit 2022, which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, May 15-16, we really tapped into our salon owner audience to assess their needs right now. One of the biggest ways we did that was through the SALON TODAY 200 applications, where owners wrote passionately about rebuilding their businesses in 2021.

But we also did it through a series of conversations with salon leaders, and one of the first people we reached out to was Frank Gambuzza, the owner of Salon Visage Group and Gambuzza’s Barbershops, based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Gambuzza told us that more than any time in his storied history, he’s evolving himself as a leader to meet the needs of his team and his clients. We invited him to shape a keynote around that topic, which he entitled, “Pivot or Plummet: 5 Key Adjustments to Position Your Salon for the Future.”

Recently, we revisited the topic with Gambuzza in a video interview about his plans for his presentation.

“You hear the phrase ‘It’s a New Day’ and I’ve done a seminar around that for years, but it’s a new industry right now,” Gambuzza says. “The dynamics have definitely flipped upside down and I certainly think there’s room for market leader salons to make the adjustments to go forward, but it’s definitely different and if we don’t do things differently as leaders, we’re not going to reach the same results.”

The number one area Gambuzza says he’s changing is in the area of attracting new staff members. “I’ve been coined saying it’s Guerilla Warfare right now and it literally is that—that’s the one area we’re putting the most focus on right now because if we don’t, we won’t have a staff,” he says.

Gambuzza’s presentation will focus on five key areas he’s pivoting in his business—recruiting, compensation, training, ongoing education and client expectations.

To learn more about Data-Driven Salon Summit 2022, view the schedule, and purchase tickets for Data-Driven and the SALON TODAY 200 Celebratory Dinner, visit datadrivensalon.com.

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