Kell & Co Collective

04/16/2020

Be honest- does this pic have you saying, what in the world is she talking about? Doesn’t she know we’re all in quarantine and have no choice BUT to slow down?⠀
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Let’s take a walk down memory lane. Go back in time before all this madness began and visualize your client interactions. Now call to mind your typical day. While we’re at it, think about the way you began and ended each day.⠀
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Were you present and engaged with your clients? ⠀
Did you whip through the service as quickly as possible because your next client was due any minute, or worse, you were double-booked?⠀
Did you begin each day with a quick shower, a messy bun, and a rushed cup of coffee that always got cold before you finished it?⠀
And how about the end of the day- did you scarf down the fastest thing you could get into your stomach because you didn’t even have the time for a real meal?⠀
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Providing an exceptional guest experience was paramount before the pandemic. But going forward, it’ll be absolutely mandatory!⠀
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No one knows how the service provider industry is going to look in a post-pandemic world. Most likely, it will include some measure of distance restrictions, new sanitation guidelines, and a level of PPE. So how will we financially fare in that climate?⠀
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By slowing down. By creating mind-blowing experiences. By being fully present and mindful. By providing unparalleled consultations. By being a true beauty partner with your clients. And to be honest, some of you are going to need to raise your rates (probably needed to pre-virus). But the value you’ll add to your guest will make it all balance nicely. ⠀
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It’s time to get creative and brainstorm with your team about ways to enhance your offerings. Don’t wait until we re-open to get a game-plan in place because it’ll only be a matter of time and you’ll be in over your head once again.⠀
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On a personal note, create your morning routine to set your day up properly. Build in a real lunch break to nourish your body and prioritize your own self-care because now more than ever, we understand what it is we were missing all along.⠀
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Slow down to speed up.

04/16/2020

The health, safety and peace of mind for our clients when we are finally going forward again will be crucial! Consider getting this certification now while we're preparing for our re-launch.

Demonstrate your dedication to providing safe services in the salon, spa or barbershop by becoming BARBICIDE® Certified.

04/16/2020

It cannot rain forever. Stay in faith, keep your courage. ❤️

03/27/2020

Do you know what your dream client’s “LOVE LANGUAGE” is?

In the popular 1995 book, “The 5 Love Languages,” author Gary Chapman explains there are 5 different love languages that describe what makes us feel loved and appreciated. While the book may have initially been intended to help couples understand what makes each other tic, I believe the book has uses that can extend into the workplace, but especially into the beauty salon/spa space.

The 5 types of love languages are: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Quality Time, Physical Touch, and Receiving Gifts. So how does this transfer in the workplace?

If you read my post on how to determine your dream client, you already know by now WHO she is; now it’s time to narrow down HOW to speak and act to not only attract her, but to make her feel how she wants to feel with every interaction of you and your business. In other words, you need to speak her love language!

Many times, a trip to a salon or spa once a month are a woman’s only act of self-care. Whether she spends 1 hour with us or 4, it’s important we recognize the value in her choice to spend such a precious commodity with us- her time. What we do with that time, is how we position ourselves as professionals, brand ourselves as the expert, and carve out our unique place in the industry.

So how do we use the big 5 to do this?

1. Speak to her in a way that affirms her value to you.
2. Give her the gift of understanding her core needs by mirroring back what she says in a consult.
3. Serve her powerfully when she’s with you.
4. Take your time throughout the service by refusing to over-book.
5. Don’t underestimate your ability to heal and transform through physical touch. Yes, we are providing a physical service; however, there is so much intimacy and connection shared during the service, and you never know what you’re “healing” besides the hair, the face, and the body.

Know a beauty professional that would love this post? Feel free to tag or share with them!

03/26/2020

Something inspirational for our beauty industry while we’re all home!

Self Made is the story of Madam CJ Walker, a black businesswoman but also a woman, a complicated person, and an icon to the African American community.

03/26/2020

Is your milkshake really bringing all the clients to the yard? Better question- is it bringing ANY clients to the yard?⠀
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If your book isn’t full of your dream beauty clients, you likely skipped the ideal customer avatar process. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard that the riches are in the niches. When we first start out, however, we think we want everyone with a pulse and a credit card.⠀
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But this is not the way to build a sustainable, profitable beauty business, because if you’re trying to attract everyone, you end up attracting no one! So, if your beauty theater isn’t full of your dream clients, grab a pen & paper and answer the following questions:⠀
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1. Is your dream client female? Male? How old? Where does she live? Is she married? Kids? Is she a college grad? What does she do for a living?⠀
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2. Where does she shop? Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts? Does she wear Nike or Lulu? What does she binge watch? What kind of car does she drive? What is her style profile? What books is she reading? What seminars would she pay money for? Does she wear bold jewelry or favor a minimalist approach? What social media platform is she hanging out on? Get as deep in the weeds as you can with who this person is and then give her a name.⠀
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3. What are her beauty goals? When you’re thinking about what she is after, it’s important to think like she would. For instance, she most likely isn’t thinking she needs balayage; rather, she just wants a fresher, brighter look.⠀
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4. What are her beauty challenges? Is she losing her hair? Is her skin and hair dry? Is she battling gray? How is this problem making her feel? How can you solve this for her?⠀
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These are questions to get the ball rolling and its actually fun once you get started! Spend some time while you’re homebound to think through this a little deeper & how to speak to your dream client and create specific content for her that will be so clear, she’ll KNOW you’re speaking to her.

After you’ve done this exercise, tell me in the comments who your dream client is!

03/24/2020

If you can't look over your shoulder and see people behind you, you are not a leader!

It takes more than a title to effectively lead people. Key word is effectively. Leadership involves being able to inspire people to think for themselves, think bigger and to think more strategically.

It requires strength and courage. The courage to admit when you're wrong and when someone else may have a better idea. A level of emotional intelligence you could say.

A leader can often spot hidden or underutilized talent in members of their team and work to bring those talents into being. They are someone bold enough to ask a better question and to be innovative to get different answers and results. They have vision and communicate that vision for the greater good of the organization.

While there is some overlap between leadership and management, managers are often more focused on ex*****on of pre-determined systems and rules. Their role is to enforce said systems and administer corrective action when appropriately warranted.

Often, within an organization, the managers role is to solve problems in live time which leaves very little space for innovation and creativity.

Whether in a hair salon, a Fortune 500, or a med spa, leadership is crucial if you are to make a profit, retain quality team and customers/clients, and brand your business in the marketplace!

This is a key area of focus I directly work with clients on through my unique coaching framework I've developed. The goal of every beauty industry entrepreneur is at least one of the following if not all three: make more profit, hire quality staff, & get and retain more clients.

It begins with leadership. Have a question related to this post? Let's have a conversation today!

03/24/2020

Dropping some truth today babe: It’s not about the hair. The face. The body. It’s not about your amazing work. It’s not about your beautiful space. Ouch! Wait, hear me out.

Clients ARE seeking us out based on what we bring to the table in terms of talent. But in that great big Bering Sea of sameness where all you see when you scroll through your feed are the same full set of volume lashes, the same ombre brows, and the 1000th photo of balayage, for the LOVE, how and WHY on earth should she choose YOU???

Clients want to feel something emotionally when they look at your pictures and read your content. They want to picture themselves in the scene. And they want to see themselves in your content. They want to feel understood, valued, and really spoken with.

So how do you do this? By knowing your gal (or guy), inside and out! I’m not suggesting you go full vo**ur here, but to market what you do and who it’s for, you have to get inside her head. You have to know what she does on the daily, what she binge-watches on Netflix, how she takes her coffee, what type of workout she likes to do, what her ideal weekend looks like, her style aesthetic, etc. And then, using that info, you speak her lingo. Here’s an example:

Let’s suppose your dream client is a high-level exec. We’ll call her Kate. Kate’s job is stressful, she has two small kids, & her husband travels for work. Kate is crazy busy and overwhelmed. She fantasizes about her life before s**t got crazy. The days when she could just sleep in, hit a Pilates class around noon, & meet her girlfriends for lunch after. These days, she can’t remember the last time she slept past 7:30- and a Pilates class? Yeah, right! Kate wants to know she isn’t alone. She wants to feel like her pre-kid, pre-career self. She wants to re-connect to herself.
And she needs YOU to help her do it. Speak to her pain. Speak to her chaos. Create a break from her world. Be her medicine today. Need some ideas on writing content? Message me for help!

03/24/2020

“Say what your soul needs to say.”
This was the message of the motivational card I pulled this morning. So, I want to give that a shot right now.

My soul wants to say that I see your fears & anxieties in this serious and frightening situation we’re all facing. The beauty industry (as well as other service providers) are really getting hit hard and I feel it so personally for all of you!

There are so many conflicting opinions today about the timeline of the restrictions, the threat to health if we re-open businesses and remove “shelter-in-place” orders, and the very real threat to our economic landscape if we don’t. In the face of all the noise, what do we do and how do we know the correct decision to make?

I don’t have an answer because I’m not an economic strategist nor am I a doctor or scientist. But I am a person of faith, a person of optimism with a healthy side of realism thrown in, and I have one hell of a fighting spirit that I’ve relied on to get me through some of the s**ttiest experiences one can go through!

While it’s only natural to be scared, we have to see that it really can’t rain forever. We have to rely on historical data and take solace in how our world has always righted itself after incredible struggle. And we’ll do it again. This pandemic that is sweeping the globe is paving the way for an entire new landscape: a landscape of greater solidarity, love, compassion, and a new understanding of the interconnectedness of humanity. It’s not “other people’s” problem; this is happening to ALL of us!

While we wait for a return to normalcy, use the time to plan for the next iteration of your business, take an online class, get your email marketing game set up, take care of your business books/taxes, and prioritize your self-care. Get things ready for the come-back.

We will emerge from this and I believe we will be stronger for it. The beauty industry has always recovered very well from a setback. So keep your immunity strong while we’re all homebound, because our books will be over-run with beauty-starved clients in no time!

PS- as a certified coach, I'm setting aside time for free phone consults for beauty pros in need of support through these challenging economic times. Call/message for details.

03/24/2020

Welcome; so glad you're here! If you're just dropping by, let me know in the comments what you do in the beauty industry!