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Tracy Pitts, founder of Art Hair Studio, is an award-winning veteran of the hairdressing industry. She has 30 years of hairdressing experience, 10 of which were spent as an educator for Redken. Under her leadership, the salon’s stylists have been selected for the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week backstage team for five years running.
Tracy shared with us how she manages her team of stylists, making sure that different personalities and skill sets are in play to have a well-rounded business. She also discussed having open conversations with her employees and how to resolve workplace issues effectively and efficiently.
Tracy also gave some advice on how to run a service-based business to ensure the best level of quality for the client, and to prevent employees or the owner themselves from feeling overwhelmed. She included tips about understanding customers, implementing procedures, and retraining.
In this episode we cover:
Needing different personality types in the workplace
How to get the best out of everyone’s strengths and make everyone shine with their own skillset
Maintaining open conversation with employees
How to address frustrations publicly without chastising
Training and marketing for the future; being proactive and ahead of the game
Employ someone to handle the bookkeeping
Be aware of how much money comes in and goes out of your business
Understanding the perspective of the consumer to provide the best service
Setting policies and procedures in a service-based business
Upskilling and retraining to keep up to date with current trends
QUESTIONS:
What is one thing you wish someone would have told you earlier on in the business that would’ve made the journey easier?
One is repeat, repeat, repeat. I just didn’t realise how often you have to repeat yourself. You just have to constantly repeat your values or your teaching or your learning.
And that it’s not personal. All of the stuff that happens, it’s not personal, it’s just people. Everyone’s just doing the best they can with the skillset they have at the time. And it’s very much learning that they weren’t intentionally trying to piss me off, so just letting that go and not taking that on board, being able to sort of just park it at work.
QUOTES
“Surround yourself with people who are better than you and build a team with people who have skills that are different to what you have.” Tracy Pitts, Founder of Art Hair Studio
“Business is two things: it’s being able to see ahead of the game and push forward, and always be three months in advance.” Tracy Pitts, Founder of Art Hair Studio
“If you do your job properly and you look after each client to the best of your ability, then the dollars will look after themselves. Whenever you have a transaction that becomes money-transactional, then it becomes insincere and clients see through that really quickly and you lose your integrity and your honesty.” Tracy Pitts, Founder of Art Hair Studio
Connect with Tracy here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/airhairstudio/
Website: https://www.airhairstudio.com.au/