A Partner in Business and in Life
At Janet St. Paul Studio for Hair and Beauty, Director of Operations Natasha McMillen helps bring her wife Janet St. Paul's vision to life, elevating every system from education to operations.
by Stacey Soble
2010 Vision: Engage Our Future
To ensure a bright future for professional beauty, it’s critical to engage top potential talent, convince them of the promising careers in cosmetology and provide them with solid educational opportunities. In the past several years, many salon owners have personally shouldered some of this burden by launching their own academies.
July 10, 2011
3 min to read
ENGAGE OUR FUTURE
To ensure a bright future for professional
beauty, it’s critical to engage top potential
talent, convince them of the promising careers in cosmetology and provide them
with solid educational opportunities. In the
past several years, many salon owners have
personally shouldered some of this burden
by launching their own academies.
For Sasha Rash, owner of La Jolie
Salon in Princeton, New Jersey, launching
The Lab Paul Mitchell Partner School
(paulmitchellthelab.com) was a tremendous
undertaking—financially, legally, professionally
and personally.
“Academies are not large hair salons, and
students are not salon guests,” Rash says.
“The business model is totally different
from a salon or manufacturing model and
obtaining the unique and specific school
expertise can be a lengthy process.”
Rash says the Paul Mitchell Franchise
was of great assistance in providing vision,
global concepts and experience—so it made
the process somewhat easier. However,
the specifics of opening and operating a
school in the state of New Jersey was a
whole new set of skills she had to learn.
Although it was difficult, the pay off has
been worthwhile. “My salon leadership
team has grown tremendously,” she says.
“Starting and growing a new business created
a real opportunity for the team to step
up and stretch their own leadership. My
focus shifted to the school and their focus
intensified on the salon. The fulfillment
you get when you participate in a student’s
success is without a doubt one of the most
rewarding things you will ever do.”
For Gary Howse, co-founder of Gary
Manuel Salon, Phase 3 and Gary Manuel
Aveda Institute (garymanuel.com), in
Seattle, Washington, the most significant
contribution the school has made to Gary
Manuel Salon aside from providing a new
source of future talent, is the advanced
training program.
“When we were developing the Instructor
Training Program at Gary Manuel Aveda
Institute, we worked with those who wanted
to teach at both locations,” Howse says.
“We had taught them to how to train others
technically for years. However, this was the
first time we taught them to teach. This has
improved how well and how quickly new
employees progress through the training as
well as making teaching a more impactful
career path for the instructors. It has had a
profound difference in the salon’s training
program and culture.”
Another great synergistic result of launching
the academy, Howse says, is the school
has become a new career path for some
designers. While building their business,
some have gone through the Instructor
Training Program to hone their customer
service and technical skills in a new way. “It
provides them with another revenue source
while providing the school with talented
teachers,” he says. “A few have even made
it their full-time career. This also helps us
ensure that the two cultures are tied to one
another and continue to be similar.”
Lastly, Howse says, the school’s presence
has enabled Gary Manuel to expand
the services provided to guests. With the
lower price point offered at the school,
they are able to service another sector of
the market. “And,” Howse says, “with a
spa, it allows our guests, and our team, to
enjoy services not offered at Gary Manuel
Salon.”
More articles in this series, 2010 Vision: The New Rules of
Engagement:
2010
Vision: Engage New Business
Engage
Your Employees
Engage
Your Conscience
Engage
Through Marketing
Engage
Your Social Media Networks
Engage
Your Budget
Engage
Through Accountability
Engage
Without Compromise
Engage
Our Future
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