The Constant
Starting at Impressions front desk in 2006 when he was 19 years old, General Manager Paul Petrowsky is a seasoned professional who owner Sarah Taylor says is responsible for much of her own success.
by Stacey Soble
The People-Focused Leader
FOR FOUR YEARS, Wendy White-McCown ran her salon on gut feelings. She listened to others, “read” their needs and frequently struggled with ways to avoid hurting others’ feelings. Through intuition and force of personality, she grew her staff to 15 members. Then she realized, everything had changed.
July 11, 2011
3 min to read
4MAT
Case Study
Type 1: The People-Focused
Leader
Creates a sense of
community; can't say no.
Wendy White-McCown
Owner of Signatures Salon, Lake Charles, Louisiana
FOR FOUR YEARS, Wendy White-McCown ran her salon on gut
feelings. She listened to others, "read" their needs and frequently
struggled with ways to avoid hurting others' feelings. Through
intuition and force of personality, she grew her staff to 15 members.
Then she realized, everything had changed.
"I saw that I had to be a different kind of leader, who could help
others develop their performance capacity," says White-McCown. "I
realized that the business was never going to grow if everything came
from me, and, that I didn't have to be the go-to person for everything."
Wendy White-McCown (holding the hat) and her Signatures Salon staff are celebrating 14 years in business.
After attending inyu training and unsurprisingly testing as a
Type 1, she began seeing her managers in terms of their different
strengths and tailoring their jobs accordingly. For instance, her
creative service manager now handles all outside events and her
more analytical salon manager deals day-to-day with the staff to
build revenue, profit and productivity.
"The stylists were resistant to retail before she showed them
how to set an attainable goal, such as adding just $2 to tickets each
hour," says White-McCown.
But she had a bigger problem than lackluster retailing. Like many
owners who can't say no, she was paying too-high commissions and
was reluctant to take anything away from her staff. Working with her
managers on the why, what, how and ifs, she arrived at this solution:
Commissions are now dependent on retailing a minimum average
of 75-cents ppc or "piece per client" in the Bumble and bumble
terminology the salon uses. What this means is that the average
price for each item a client buys is $21, so stylists must reach 75
percent of that goal to keep their higher commissions.
"They have six months to reach the average and are given every
opportunity and many tools to get there," says White-McCown.
"Sometimes, keeping their commission means retailing just 50-cents
more per client, which is something they understand."
As a result, from July 2009 to July 2010, the salon's monthly
retail figure grew from $14,882 to $16,878.
"Now, my staff understands that we need a healthy business if
they want to keep working long term in this great atmosphere,"
adds White-McCown.
In the same series:
What's Your Leadership Style?
The People-Focused Leader
The Process-Focused Leader
The Productivity-Focused Leader
The Possibility-Focused Leader
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