Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

If only Polo Grill knew how much they taught me....

I really believe that thought it true. If you are prepared to start your day, then everything really just seems to go that much smoother. (Note: This is something I feel I need to work on. Starting.)

Often times at night, no, my apologies, every night before I leave the salon, I look at my books for the upcoming day. Glance over, hopefully it's full and no mistakes are made. I do have to say that usually my upcoming guests are people I've seen before, which makes me extremely happy. Obviously/hopefully that means that you liked previously what we had accomplished and/or are working towards a known goal. And seeing a familiar face is just awesome too. I definitely welcome new people into my chair, by all means, let me help you look even MORE fabulous! Love to!

So the evening before, I kind of mentally prepare myself if it's a busy day ahead and if not, then sometimes I'll pack a book or my laptop, or see if I can get a service done myself. I definitely prefer to stay busier, but those little times that a color glaze or a hair spa is snuck in for me or maybe even a little pedicure, the time sure flies by then!

I do have to admit something though. I'm a little OCD about my station. Jaclyn, my station buddy is pretty awesome at keeping it clean and helping me restock, that sort of thing. But I'm really fussy about WHERE the products are. And I prefer them to all be facing front and center. Preference, not absolutely necessary in busy times.

Another thing - I'm a perfectionist. And a people pleaser. Perhaps this is why this type of work is a good thing for me, but I want to help make people look as wonderful as they possibly can. And in timed situations, that is periodically more difficult to achieve. And the perfectionism kicks in, I want every little thing that may possibly be wrong, fixed. Then, not later. Then, even it takes 5 minutes over the appointment.

I've spoken with some stylists and I suppose learning is different for everyone. When I was in school, of course, technique was definitely emphasized over time. When I worked in my first salon, technique still. And at Marilyn's, I think it's a personal choice of the stylist.
I've known of certain stylists that won't take a guest if they're more than 15 minutes late because they won't be able to 'customize' the haircut. At Ihloff, that's actually the company's policy. We usually do the basic cut wet and then personalize it after we blow it dry (some, not all). Sometimes it takes longer than others, cowlicks, whirls, growth pattern, texture, it can all be a little tricky sometimes, so achieving perfection....sometimes takes just that extra minute.

Hair Refashionista!

If you did not make it to this last night, you missed out! Some of us from Ihloff were invited to the Openarms Youth Project center's latest gig: Hair Refashionista! We arrived around 5PM and started in with doing hair and makeup for the big show. The participants were between 14 and 22 and members of OYP group.



Some of the young adults had taken clothing from their closet and 'refashioned' it. There was one adorable guy that had cut out hearts from his jean's legs and then put them on the back of a vest. Perhaps for street style, it would have been a little risque for most men, maybe showing too much leg (*wink*) but creativity was definitely flowing here.

There was a few performers during the show that had previously won some awards. One girl was for singing and another was more towards lip syncing and dancing while in drag. It was a very fun evening and it was nice to see kids being able to feel confident and walk the runway!

Humidity Protection For Straight Hair!!!!

Yeah, no more pairing 3 and 4 products together for thick, curly/wavy hair this summer!!!

We JUST got in the Smooth Infusion Straightening Gloss on Friday!!! Yay! Aveda IS discontinuing Hang Straight, unfortunately, but replacing it with this awesome product instead. We still have Style Prep Smoother of course:



Style Prep is better for finer hair ( as far as I can tell so far), but if you have curly/wavy thicker hair that's coarser, come in and get our new product, the Gloss!

Met My Goals!

http://www.ihloffspa.com

Oh, my lovely salon; love it! A little background...

When I first moved to Oklahoma, I really didn't know if I wanted to continue to do hair. I had been working in Iowa at a salon and in a restaurant. I made really good money in the restaurant and it was easy and I've been doing it forever. The salon...it was fun, but...I made more money in the restaurant. Instant gratification I suppose, right?

Well, when I moved here, I started to work at The Polo Grill and all the clients there were constantly asking me if I was going to school or what I was doing. I just told them that I hadn't had a chance to get my license transferred yet from Iowa to Oklahoma, and I wasn't quite sure yet. Everyone told me about Ihloff and how great it was and how I should definitely go there.

So, I applied and was intent on getting the job. I had only been to the salon at Utica, so I didn't realize how large of a company it was, now having 4 different locations! I went through quite the interview process, 3 different times, so I could understand what I was getting myself into and them making sure I would fit with the company.

At our salon, every stylist has to go through an Assistant Training program. In Oklahoma, you have to go to school for 1500 hours I think, so about 9 months. In Iowa we had to go a little longer, so I was in school for about 18 months. But the Assistant program teaches you how to work in a salon and perfect the skills that you've previously learned and how to deal with clients in a one-on-one circumstances. Color with Aveda is extremely complicated as well, because you make everything; there is no "golden light brown" to pick, you have to mix it up from scratch.

40 classes and Advanced Masters sitting on your jury, will pass you through to being a stylist. It usually takes 8-12 months depending on how serious you are about the program and if you do any volunteer opportunities. After that, you start as a Protege 1 and we have 8 different levels at the salon.
To be able to advance to the next level, there are different goals that you have to meet and then you advance to Protege 2 (where I'm at).

The other levels are: Designer 1 & 2, Senior 1 & 2, Master & Advanced Master.

I was up for promotion at the beginning of May and today my manager let me know that I reached all my goals to be able to move up into a Designer 1 spot. But...I decided to not, not yet. I requested that I start to 'double book', which means when I have a color/foil, cut someone else's hair. I hopefully will be much busier and I prefer that. I don't like sitting and color seems to take forever sometimes. This way, I'll be able to see more people and keep busier overall. Yeah!