Leave Your Problems at the Door

By Liz Kline  

I’m sure you’ve heard it before: Leave your problems at the door. I’ve heard this phrase so many times in my hair career, and it still stands true to this day. The energry you bring with you from the outside can not only cause stress to anyone around you but can also hurt your overall business. It can bring the mood down and cause someone else to feel bad. Most of all, your clients don’t want to hear about how your friend said something to that friend and now this friend won’t be friends with that friend. That’s not the professionalism you want to project, is it?   

Having a bad day? Leave it at the door. Think about it: Does a frustrating morning with your kids have anything to do with your clients or the business you bring in? Probably not. Does the best friend drama that happened last night increase your ticket sales? Nope. And how about the issues with your significant you’ve been having. Does that help you build your books? Absolutely not. So, bringing those problems into the salon will only get you an eye roll from your client and give the other hairstylists you work with something to talk about.  

You may be having a rough time. Maybe things just aren’t going right, and you feel like your personal life may be crumbling. When talking with a client, things may be mentioned as a relatable topic, but that doesn’t mean you client is your therapist. They are paying you for an experience and they may not want to hear a rambling of problems that have no effect on them whatsoever. Bottom line is your clients don’t care.   

Bringing your personal life through that threshold can kill your productivity. You’ll have less focus, and need to be on your game to keep appointments on schedule. Plus, you need that laser focus to formulate color, fade lines, and wax brows. When you aren’t focused, you have the potential to make more mistakes and that can cost you your clients.  

Think about your productivity and what a negative outlook can have on your day to day. If you come into work being the Debbie Downer, that is what you are thinking about, talking about, and dwelling on. Ultimately, what you’ve got going on can consume your whole day. By bringing problems in, you’ll see your productivity backfire, leaving you with less tips, less rebooks, and the possibility of a lost client.  

Being a professional hairstylist or barber needs your full attention every day—110 percent of it. With every clip, snip, wax, and foil, it is your job to make your client feel confident and amazing when they walk out the door. So, leave your problems behind and be the amazing stylist you know you can be!  

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