WE CAN DO BETTER!
One of the most admirable and beautiful things about beauty industry professionals is their multi-cultural diversity. If you look at the professional beauty landscape from a front-line, performing the services perspective, the stylists, colorists and salon management is incredibly diverse in terms of their cultural backgrounds and ethnicity. When you dive into individual salons, however, the diversity is often times more limited. For instance, salons that service primarily Caucasian clients tend to employ stylists that specialize in working with this type of hair. In salons servicing African American clients, stylists are most often African American themselves, because they were specifically trained to work with this type of hair.
It would be ideal to live in a world where all stylists are trained to service all types of clients with all types of hair textures. This way there would be more interaction between stylists and clients with different cultural backgrounds, and we would become more harmonious in terms of our acceptance and understanding of people’s differences. As an artist, I personally find it fun to learn about different cultures, especially with regards to different hair types and textures. I get bored dealing with the same hair texture all the time in my chair. Diversity is what makes our job so interesting.
As hairstylists and salon owners, we need to stay open from BOTH an artistic and business perspective. Artistically, we should attend classes where we learn about all hair textures, and the many hair service options we can offer a diverse clientele.
An example of a skill set that I feel all stylists should master, is texturizing. Today, texturizing services represent a huge chunk of our industry dollars. Getting proper training to offer multi-cultural texturizing services means more revenue for us all! Chemical services of any kind are big money makers. They create and instill client loyalty and retention. It may be easier for a client to venture out elsewhere for a trim, but if you can deliver a satisfactory texturing service, you’ll have a client for life.
Business-wise, we can make certain we are inclusive of other cultures in our workplaces. As an owner, it’s smart to have staff who have different skill sets that can meet the needs of all cultures. Each stylist will benefit from learning different skill sets from their colleagues, which inevitably leads to a wider and more diverse client base for everyone. Frankly, it’s a real joy for me to work alongside professionals who differ culturally from me.
From a product perspective, I think it’s imperative to carry a diverse array of products appropriate for a variety of culturally diverse hair types. It’s also important to partner with a manufacturing company that values diversity in both their product assortment and advertising. Do a bit of research to make sure your values with regards to diversity align with those of your business partners. Marco Collagen Color Guard HairCare can be used on all hair types (marcopelusi.com).
The more diverse your business, in terms of stylists hired, services provided, clients serviced, and products offered, the more inclusive your salon will become. Diversity will create a more culturally well-rounded workplace where everyone feels more represented, included and important.
In such challenging times, with regards to racial tension and diversity, it’s our responsibility as professionals to do our part to create a more harmonious industry and more inclusive world.
Editor’s Note: Attend my Signature Highlight Strategy virtual master class with Coastline Education! I will share my secret techniques I use on my celebrity clientele on Monday, September 21st @ 12:30pm (Eastern) / 9:30am (Pacific). Go to https://coastlineedu.com/marco to register for this LIVE ZOOM CLASS. See you there!
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