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I had the most amazing time this past weekend hanging out with my mentee, Natalie Fox - one of the 6 Matrix Spread the Love Graduates traveling throughout the U.S.A. touching a million lives and experiencing all this industry has to offer. It was funny, we were supposed to have our time together in March, but a travel mishap created a new opportunity that expanded our original 22 hours together to 50, and what a great time for my family.
Natalie arrived Friday, landing around 4:00pm, we stopped by home to drop bags quickly and ran off to the softball field where my girls were practicing. There, she met my mom, sister from California, her two kids, our daughter Claire, and Leah my wife (and secret to our success)…that's a lot. I had to run back to the car quickly, and when I returned, Natalie was deep in conversation with my sister and I knew this was going to be good.
Saturday we went to the studio, Leah was working at the desk, so we all went in, Emma and Claire helped work the desk and served the guests beverages while Natalie and I got to work. Natalie was serving as our surprise guest stylist and cut two ColorPlay winners (ColorPlay was a haircolor and technology experience Matrix Artistic Educators had at our Irvine and Tampa Trainings in January) and colored one additional winner. While Natalie was creating, I was too, making hair fabric for this weekends Emiliani 4D Experience. It was fun watching Natalie create as she took the colored mannequins and used the inspiration pictures provided by the teams via Dropbox to create the cuts and styles before finishing the cuts based on the inspirations from the teams. Her technique was good and Natalie finished the mannequins with great attention to detail, truly honoring the winning team’s effort and ideas. As Natalie worked, I did too on my model "Z," creating a very avant garde style using synthetic hair that I laid out in fine layers on wax paper, sprayed with spray adhesive and then pressed between wax paper. I then practiced what I had first created on a mannequin, taking the hair fabric and gathering it at the center, collapsing it, creating flower like shapes that had gradated colors from the hair fabric. It’s funny, my 30 sec elevator test is beautiful, sexy, believable hair and this style was beautiful - yes, sexy -yes, believable? ah NO, but too cool not to do.
Sunday was Easter, and Natalie, my girls and our two dogs went for a walk at Jacobsburg Park, and while we were there we even worked in a haircolor lesson while on our walk before we went off to my other sister’s house where Natalie meet everyone at Easter Dinner. We are so lucky to be in this industry, for the people it brings into our lives, and for me, the amazing experiences coloring hair has allowed me to have. My life Celebrates Color in some way every day!
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After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
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Sponsored by Millennium Systems International
AI is transforming the beauty and wellness industry, and the future is about empowering people, not replacing them. Discover how Phorest AI helps salons, spas, and med spas across North America respond faster, personalize every visit, and keep human connection at the heart of the client experience.
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Owner Michaella Blissett-Williams credits her General Manager Gloria Hortua with [salon] 718's year-over-year, double-digit growth and says she's been able to scale the company to eight locations because she can rely on Hortua to manage daily operations.
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Sponsored by Aluram
Elyse Rogers is an uplifting presence at The Headroom who makes the team feel heard even in stressful situations. Owner Danielle Cherewyk sings her praises in this installment of Meet the Manager.
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Same-store revenue grew just 2% for the second straight year—and new guest visits declined across every segment of the industry. The 2026 Benchmark Report reveals where growth is actually happening, which verticals are pulling ahead, and what the data says about where your business stands right now.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Hair restoration is entering a new era driven by regenerative science. This paper explores how Exosome technology is transforming treatment outcomes by targeting hair loss at a cellular level. Discover why EXOGROW is leading this shift.
Sponsored by Dermapenworld
A salon brand is much more than a logo. In this thought-provoking blog, Leon Alexander, Ph.D., walks you through the difference. SALON TODAY suggests sharing this article with your team and leading a discussion at your next huddle, asking the team to define your business's brand.
