Real Talk Update
Hi friends!
I know there’s a lot of people who got our recent email update from the salon and thought... “what gives?”
Let’s have a little Real Talk story time.
So far, 2021 has started off much like 2020 for me.
January was a great/hopeful month full of plans and promise of moving closer to that bigger goal I’ve been striving for these past 5 years. I’d just started a new stylist, our other newer stylist was building, growing and doing great. I thought I had a team I could trust and truly begin to build with. I was stoked.
How serendipitous that on the anniversary of last year’s COVID closures, my salon world went rapidly south again. The universe was really trying to tell me something which I hadn’t been listening to, it seems. In two days time, I received notice that two of our teammates were leaving the team.
I won’t say it was a total blindside, because early on in February I started to notice that something was off with a couple of my employees. We’d had a few talks in my attempts to get to the bottom of what was happening, but honest feedback was not forthcoming at that point. I get it, no one wants to hurt feelings or step on toes when it comes to communicating about their peers, especially when that peer is close friends with the boss.
It’s always been incredibly difficult for me to be “the boss” amongst my peers. I started Maxwell Salon to create a space for passionate beauty professionals to learn, thrive and grow with the support of a team. What I learned this time in exit interviews, after losing half of my team was...well, it was jarring to say the least and it didn’t support the environment I aim to create within Maxwell Salon.
In March I was faced with an incredibly difficult decision in which I ultimately decided to ask someone who’s been a dear friend to me since grade school to leave my employment. It was the hardest right decision I’ve ever made.
It wasn’t an easy call to make from an emotional or financial standpoint and it put me in a position that required that I either fully re-organize the business or close the doors permanently. In retrospect, I think that was exactly what I needed.
The struggle I’m up against now, real-talk, is that I’m the boss right? So, our clients want to know what’s going on. Rightfully so! I had to cancel a couple hundred appointments for the months of March and April to work through this unexpected plan-pivot; But I’m also a human. I don’t want to make in-depth public comment about our interpersonal relations and I don’t feel that it would be helpful or professional for me to do so.
This was a big blow, it’s taking some time to work through my personal feelings about the situation, while simultaneously orchestrating the biggest swerve in Maxwell Salon history. I still remain hopeful that the friendship can eventually be mended so for now, I hesitate to say too much before certain conversations can be had.
I will say, it’s tough to know that while I’m privately working through things, there’s a few hundred people who don’t really know me all that well, making assumptions about “why I can’t keep a team” or wondering what kind of terrible thing I’ve done to drive them away. It’s tough to see such a huge chorus of public praise and support for someone who has very recently caused a lot of hard times, and bad feelings for me. The truth is- I didn’t drive them away, I’m just the person who has always taken the heat and done everything I can to create a safe space for stylists to be employed. Anyone who knows me, knows that.
Sadly, this is not the first time I’ve dealt with a situation like this but for right now, it’s the last. I’m all about empowering people behind the chair (and beyond) but it’s been heartbreaking to consistently find myself empowering and educating people only to watch them go be successful elsewhere. I’m happy for them, truly but I’m also sad for me because the thing I want to build is so important to me and I can only make that thing happen with a team.
For now, we’re coming back on a limited schedule because hiring new stylists to fill up the chairs is not at top of my priority list right now. I’ve had goals and plans for myself on hold for so long and running a salon, especially in the current social/economic/political climate sucks, truth be told. That’s a whooole conversation for another day.
For right now, welcome to StylistAlicia Studios.
✌🏻❤️
Alicia