The Power of Personality in Social Media w/Peyton Lambert

The Hair Game (00: 00:00:10 00)

00:00:10 Hey, Peyton, how's it going? I'm doing great. So for those listeners who don't know you, you are a salon repubic Valencia hairstylist. We've known each other for many years now. How many years? Five? Six, my gosh, time flies. So it was just, I mean, it was maybe a couple months ago when I think it was either Donovan or Marissa were like,

Peyton Lambert (00: 00:00:11 01)

00:00:11 Good, how are you?

00:00:12 I've been a part of six, 2019, yeah.

The Hair Game (00: 00:00:13 26)

00:00:13 So you know the eighth anniversary of the podcast is coming up and I'm like, bullshit. But you know, thinking back, I mean we started this in 2017 and time just flies. I mean, of course there was that chunk of COVID that just, you know, was taken out of the calendar and we all kind of went into an alternate universe, but time flies. So it's been six years. You're a Santa Clarita Valley hairdresser who focuses on extensions.

Peyton Lambert (00: 00:00:14 41)

00:00:14 Yeah.

The Hair Game (00: 00:00:15 56)

00:00:15 And you've been very successful as an independent hairstylist. And that's why I wanted to get you on here to talk about the things that you've learned along the way and best practices and talking to the audience about things that they can do ⁓ behind the chair, things they can do with their business and their clients that are invaluable to building a good book of business.

Peyton Lambert (01: 00:00:16 23)

00:00:16 Yeah, I'm happy to be here and to dive into all of it. feel like it's been a learning lesson, still is. ⁓ You're never perfect at anything, but I feel like as long as you're okay not being perfect at anything, that's like the massive key to success in this business.

The Hair Game (01: 00:00:17 40)

00:00:17 Perfectionism is a tough one, isn't it? People who try to do everything perfect, it just rarely works. And I would say after doing 450 or so episodes of this podcast and talking to a lot of very well-known hairdressers, the one key is that the best people in this industry continue to learn. Even those people who are on stage, they have a thirst for education.

Peyton Lambert (01: 00:00:18 43)

00:00:18 Absolutely.

The Hair Game (02: 00:00:19 06)

00:00:19 You know, they're in the audience as well as being on stage. They're online learning from people and it's, so I'm glad you said that. I wanna start right out of the gate with where you're from and why did you even become a hairstylist in the first place?

Peyton Lambert (02: 00:00:20 19)

00:00:20 Yeah, it's kind of a funny story. ⁓ I'm from Santa Clarita, born and raised. I currently live about an hour away from LaSalle now in Palmdale. ⁓ I never wanted to be a hairstylist and I think anybody that knows me pre-hair, it's kind of funny that I dove into hair, you know, I…

00:00:21 was the horse girl growing up. I ride dirt bikes. I'm not super into my own hair. I'm not super into makeup, fashion, any of that. I live a very, very active lifestyle. And I was really, really good at school. ⁓ When it came to time to pick where I was going to go to college, I have two horses at home and I couldn't afford a

00:00:22 to go away and bring my horses with me. So I was looking at community college options and I just was not stoked. I was like, I feel like I'm further past this. I don't think that's gonna push me. And luckily I owe a lot to my parents and the fact that they were super supportive of me going to a trade school, which I feel like, especially when I was in that period of life.

00:00:23 It was such a, have to go to college. You have to get into the big university. You have to have a big name and a degree. And I feel very thankful that I didn't have that pressure at home. ⁓ I always joke cause they were like, you don't have to go to college, but you have to do something, figure it out and we'll support you through it. ⁓ And I always just say with hair, it was really the only trade that I thought a female could go into. So I was like, all right, let's go tour some beauty schools and see how it goes.

00:00:24 ⁓ I ended up touring Paul Mitchell Sherman Oaks and I was like, you know, I actually liked the idea of being my own boss. And you know what they hit me with? This is a recession proof career. And that kind of was like, huh, I like that. And honestly, like through COVID it has proven that. ⁓ but yeah, I decided to make the jump to hair school. had a little bit of a heart attack because all of my friends went away to college and I had about a month.

The Hair Game (04: 00:00:25 21)

00:00:25 Yeah.

Peyton Lambert (04: 00:00:26 30)

00:00:26 before I started school and I was like, shoot, I'm gonna hate this, I'm gonna be behind. But ⁓ day one hair school, I was like, yeah, this is where I'm supposed to be and I'm gonna make the most of it.

The Hair Game (04: 00:00:27 41)

00:00:27 Amazing. So, so different to so many people's origin stories. Did your friends be, were they like, what the hell are you doing? Why are you going to hair school?

Peyton Lambert (04: 00:00:28 52)

00:00:28 Kind of. I think it was a little bit of uncharted territory. Like I said, pretty much every single one of my friends went to a university or they did go to the community college but had the plans of going to the university. ⁓ But yeah, it was kind of a weird pivot and a little untalked about, you know? I don't feel like I got too many questions from the outside just because it was, I don't know, I felt like everybody was looking and just waiting to see what was going to happen.

The Hair Game (05: 00:00:29 19)

00:00:29 And yet part of what we talked about, I like to talk about it in the industry and now and then, you know, I see others talking about it, is that it is a real career. I'm using, you know, bunny ears here. And it's just, why is it that in the history of this industry going way back before you and me, people didn't consider it a real job?

00:00:30 You know, yet we have beauty professionals who make tremendous money, you know, well beyond the average income, you know, of, ⁓ in our society. ⁓ well, why is that? you think.

Peyton Lambert (05: 00:00:31 48)

00:00:31 Yeah.

00:00:32 You know, I have some opinions on this. I personally actually think it's our industry's fault in a little bit of a way is I feel like a lot of people that do hair don't take themselves serious as a business owner. And I'm at fault for that. went, I'm nine years into the career. And honestly, I didn't really treat my business like an actual business until a couple of years ago. And what I mean by that is like, we have to make ourselves uncomfortable and go learn.

00:00:33 the business aspect of this career. Because doing hair is honestly the easy part, in my opinion. It's all the other stuff that makes us uncomfortable, like the numbers, the data, the vocabulary that we don't understand. And I feel like that's a big part that is missing when it comes to hairstylist.

The Hair Game (06: 00:00:34 51)

00:00:34 Okay, well, I mean, so early in the podcast interview here, we're getting into the stuff that I wanted to get into. you know, the stuff that makes you different, the stuff that makes you successful versus somebody who struggles. And so when did you in that nine year, in your nine year career so far, when did you start realizing that you needed to learn more than just doing hair on your clients?

Peyton Lambert (07: 00:00:35 22)

00:00:35 I will say I kind of accidentally fell into it, to be honest. I was at a point in my career, it was after COVID, ⁓ I had a failed partnership through that. I was now running a business that I was pretty successful and I was booked out, but I was kind of bored. ⁓ And I feel like my story is a little bit different than the average, but I was diving into education. was like, you know what?

00:00:36 I feel like I need something that's going to push me. And I fell into some education with a hair extension company. And they also help business owners learn how to track their metrics and grow their metrics. And once I got a little taste of that and a little taste of the success that comes with that, I was addicted.

The Hair Game (08: 00:00:37 11)

00:00:37 Okay, so something that might have been uncomfortable for you became an addiction. And it's something that's obviously a healthy addiction for, know, it's one of the things that our industry notoriously, stereotypically hasn't been good at is the business aspect of what's going on. And so you were successful before.

00:00:38 ⁓ but it wasn't until you got together with, with this group, with this, probably a coaching program in there, ⁓ that you, you realized that there was, there was more in there for you to do and you actually liked it. I think that's probably the surprising part to most of our listeners, you know, as, as they're listening to your story is that you liked it because I think it scares most people. Right.

Peyton Lambert (09: 00:00:39 06)

00:00:39 Right? What scared me was the cap. Like I felt like I had hit a cap of my growth and I had a full clientele. I was working five days a week. Every day was full, but I was like, what's next? You know, I got to the point where I was like, holy cow, is this what it's like for the next 30 years? And that's what scared me. I needed room to grow.

The Hair Game (09: 00:00:40 08)

00:00:40 And I mean…

00:00:41 Okay, so I'm right with you. However, I do want to back up before we get into like, you know, the numbers and all that. I do want to back up and ask the question, how did you become fully booked? I mean, you know, and some of these things, the answer to that question might be, you know, natural to you.

00:00:42 You might just naturally be good at certain soft skills with people. You know, you're naturally good at the technical nature of doing hair. You might naturally be, you know, going back to beauty school, but ⁓ you've known lots of hairdressers as well. And I want to, I want you to kind of connect the dots between yourself or at least compare the dots between yourself and somebody that you've seen struggle behind the chair.

00:00:43 And what's the difference?

Peyton Lambert (10: 00:00:44 27)

00:00:44 I think it's the ability to pivot. ⁓ And again, it's probably going to be a theme throughout this whole podcast, but being able to be okay with being uncomfortable. I feel like people flee away from being uncomfortable, but really those are probably the constraints in your business. like for me personally, social media is not a fun thing. At least it used to not be. Now that I've like trained myself to get better at it, I do enjoy parts of it.

00:00:45 ⁓ but that's something that I feel like I dove into a little differently than the average hairstylist. media and example, and I feel like everybody that you get on here is going to tell you, need to be on social media to grow a clientele. Do I think you could grow a clientele without one? Yeah. But you're going to do it so much faster.

00:00:46 if you just commit to showing up every day. That's something you'll see from me is I am on social media every single day. ⁓ I show my face on social media. It's not just when you go to my profile, it's not just a hair wall. I have a lot of hair on there, but you also can see my face. You can see what I do outside of the salon. You can see a little bit of my personality. I think it's really important for clients to know who they're signing up to spend time with.

00:00:47 And especially in a sweet situation when you're walking into salon Republic and you're walking down the halls looking for your new hairstylist, it really helps when they know what color hair I have. They know what kind of style I have. So when they see me, they're like, that's Peyton. feel like I know her and they feel comfortable walking into my space.

The Hair Game (12: 00:00:48 05)

00:00:48 So important. know, when, so we've, our marketing team goes out to salons and they do one-on-ones with our beauty professionals everywhere. You've done one. Well, hopefully it was valuable. ⁓ Good. So there's, and then when I do ⁓ panels in front of people, I did one at the Vegaro event a couple of weeks ago. There are about,

Peyton Lambert (12: 00:00:49 16)

00:00:49 I've done one. Totally.

The Hair Game (12: 00:00:50 30)

00:00:50 68 hairdressers in the audience there and I had a panelist, I have some panelists of people who've done great in the industry with a lot of great advice. It was shocking to me when I opened it up for questions to the audience how basic the questions were. It was so shocking because I feel like as somebody who's been putting out content for all these years, I feel like

00:00:51 we need to kind of evolve the content and make sure it's like cutting edge and, you know, make sure it's like the latest and greatest advice. But then every time that I have conversations with, kind of like, you know, average people who were just trying to build a business or growing their business or, you know, they've been in the industry for a while. So they're trying to make a transition from kind of pre-digital to post-digital.

00:00:52 It really continues to come down to the basics of what's important. And yeah.

Peyton Lambert (13: 00:00:53 34)

00:00:53 Absolutely. I think, I

00:00:54 think that we are constantly trying to like chase another trend and re event, reinvent the wheel. But I don't think that's the, like the real key to success all the time. Like if something works, repeat it over and over and over again, maybe adjust it. But I really think it all comes down to solving a problem. When people come to your page, are you going to solve a problem for them?

The Hair Game (13: 00:00:55 51)

00:00:55 Keep doing it.

00:00:56 Right. That's right. How do you solve the problem? the we're actually so Marissa and I are going to do an episode on the podcast, which is simply us creating a Google business account. That's all we're going to do. Because and I was standing there in front of everyone and someone was asking about, you know, whether Google was important and why she needed to be on there.

00:00:57 And I'm sitting there listening to this. I'm like, oh my God, we're decades into this. And people are still not on Google. know? see, there you go. Was it us that convinced you to be on there or just common sense?

Peyton Lambert (14: 00:00:58 39)

00:00:58 I wasn't until two years ago. Yeah.

00:00:59 No, it's actually through the coaching with Harper Ellis that they run you through on how to do it. I had no clue. That's like rocket science to a hairstylist, I'm telling you.

The Hair Game (14: 00:01:00 51)

00:01:00 Okay, good.

00:01:01 Totally, no, I get it. And so that's why, yet at the same time, it is kind of the fundamental basics of what is necessary to kind of be out there, right? It should, it is the foundation. And the information is out there, but I totally get the discomfort of kind of going on there and reading and like trying to get through it. So that's why we're gonna do a podcast episode on it, because I realized still there's so many people who

Peyton Lambert (15: 00:01:02 08)

00:01:02 Totally, it should be the foundation. Yeah.

The Hair Game (15: 00:01:03 28)

00:01:03 ⁓ Either haven't done it or aren't doing it well enough and once once you like learn how to do it It's super easy, you know and with so much value. It's like Disproportion that the disproportionate nature of like easy and enormously valuable is ridiculous, you know

Peyton Lambert (15: 00:01:04 32)

00:01:04 Right.

00:01:05 Okay.

The Hair Game (15: 00:01:06 46)

00:01:06 Okay, so you mentioned that you purposefully put your face on your Instagram account. So many people still don't do this. And…

Peyton Lambert (15: 00:01:07 56)

00:01:07 It's

00:01:08 so hard to learn how to do, but you have to.

The Hair Game (16: 00:01:09 00)

00:01:09 It's so uncomfortable, I get it. Like I feel uncomfortable just like so many other people naturally feel uncomfortable. But the importance of it is so tremendous as a service provider, right?

Peyton Lambert (16: 00:01:10 10)

00:01:10 Absolutely. I think it's your responsibility to do it. If you're not doing that, you are not stepping up for your business and you're not stepping up for your people.

The Hair Game (16: 00:01:11 19)

00:01:11 Just think of how important it is for a new client to have an idea of what it's going to be like to come and sit in your chair for two hours. I mean, how basic is it, the kind of information of letting them know what you look like? know, giving them a sense of comfort.

00:01:12 that here's what I look like and you're gonna be with me for two hours and how much easier that's going to make it for somebody to book with you.

Peyton Lambert (16: 00:01:13 52)

00:01:13 Absolutely. I think it is a world of a difference. And I also think it's important for the people that are coming to sit in your chair to actually enjoy you as a human. I think that's how you build client retention and like that's how you end up with clients that have been with you for 10, 20 years is building those relationships. But you got to kind of like the person that you're going to go spend a couple hours with.

The Hair Game (17: 00:01:14 15)

00:01:14 Yeah, 100%. Those are the soft skills that we kind of mentioned before. And this is a tough one because I think that a lot of people who are good at this are naturally good at this. They're naturally likable.

00:01:15 However, I believe that it can also be learned. ⁓ We all know people who are not very likable naturally, you know, for whatever reason. ⁓ But I do believe that even if somebody is a little more confrontational and difficult or negative or, you know, some other qualities that make them

Peyton Lambert (17: 00:01:16 42)

00:01:16 Absolutely.

The Hair Game (18: 00:01:17 07)

00:01:17 generally less enjoyable to be around. I think, and I've actually seen ⁓ people who tend to want to act like that learn to not act like that so much if they wanna build a good business.

Peyton Lambert (18: 00:01:18 24)

00:01:18 Yeah, I think a lot of it's putting your ego aside and just doing what needs to get done. I even say this when it comes to being a little more soft spoken and not outward with your emotions, attitude, any of that. ⁓ I personally am not really a super outgoing type of human, but I think this career I signed up for that. Yes, you can be.

00:01:19 It's a scale, right? You're never going to be like, you have to be this specific box. And that's what makes you a good hairstylist. There is a range, but I do think you do need to have people skills if you are going to be working directly with the public. And this is actually a conversation I have a lot with my current co-stylist. She is so sweet. She's so quiet. And I have to coach her through these soft skills of saying, okay, you need to

00:01:20 ask my clients at least three questions. And if they're not giving you anything back, that's when it's okay to be quiet. But I think it's really important to read what your clients need from the appointment. I have a ton of clients that come and sit in my chair and it's being there and socializing that's recharging them. Yes, they're there for their hair and their maintenance and whatever. But it's also like what, do they want to spend their time? They're, they're taking, they're paying money.

00:01:21 to spend time away from their kids, their jobs, their families, all these things. Yeah, you're gonna get the couple clients that wanna sit in your chair and not say word and that's totally fine, let them have it. But the ones that sit there and they wanna chat, you have to let them have that too.

The Hair Game (20: 00:01:22 04)

00:01:22 Totally. I think, well, it kind of reminds me of my kids. I often make analogies to ⁓ use my kids as kind of comparisons to just general human behavior. That's one of the great things about kids is they come out and they, it's just 100 % human nature on display, right? For all of its good and all of its bad. And then of course you try to teach and coach into like the right kind of

00:01:23 social behavior, but So my wife and I gave to my kids two questions to ask adults when we're in any kind of environment because kids naturally are very insecure around adult strangers and they clam up and completely shut down and but kind of forcing them or at least guiding them and into a conversation

00:01:24 in interaction with an adult, ⁓ that's like interesting, teaches them how to be what I actually think is more natural, which is to converse with another human. So you get all that kind of anxiety and stuff out of the way so you can actually engage. And so we give them two questions to say, question number one is, what is your first job?

00:01:25 So if you imagine like some adult friends of ours might come over for dinner or whatever, and instead of letting our kids run upstairs and like be on their computers, we force them to interact with these adults. So one is, what is your first job? And it's perfect because regardless of who this adult is, everybody likes to talk about that. Nobody's asked them that probably in 30, 40 years. And…

Peyton Lambert (21: 00:01:26 44)

00:01:26 I love that.

The Hair Game (22: 00:01:27 00)

00:01:27 they really like engaging with a little kid on something like that. ⁓ it's ⁓ like a five minute plus conversation with follow up questions. And then the second question is, if you're stuck on a desert island, what book would you take? And so two things to kind of force the conversation. ⁓ So I like how you're kind of.

Peyton Lambert (22: 00:01:28 05)

00:01:28 Right.

The Hair Game (22: 00:01:29 27)

00:01:29 encouraging your co-stylist to come out of her shell.

Peyton Lambert (22: 00:01:30 32)

00:01:30 Yeah, I think it's necessary. And I try to stress to her, I'm not trying to change you. I love you who you are. That's perfect. But we need to show the best side of you to the business.

The Hair Game (22: 00:01:31 43)

00:01:31 And more often than not, that person who is shy, who is reluctant to engage in conversation, once that discomfort is removed and they get into a conversation where it's interesting, they enjoy it a lot more than standing there and being afraid to say anything.

Peyton Lambert (22: 00:01:32 59)

00:01:32 Totally.

00:01:33 Yeah,

00:01:34 I know it because I was her. I was so much of that when I was in hair school. Like I remember the first time I had to wash a client's hair and I was like, I have to touch somebody's ear. That's weird. You know, and now it's like, I'm moving people's ears all day long and I don't think about it. It's the same thing with conversation. I felt that same way when it came to connecting with a stranger that I know nothing about. And we probably don't have that much in common, but now

The Hair Game (23: 00:01:35 05)

00:01:35 Yeah, same.

00:01:36 Ha

Peyton Lambert (23: 00:01:37 28)

00:01:37 Those people have become clients that have been with me for almost a decade and I love them and I love their stories. So you're completely right. It does get easier as you go.

The Hair Game (23: 00:01:38 37)

00:01:38 and more enjoyable and more satisfying. And there's always points of connectivity from one human to an ex, even if there's disagreements. And of course, if you realize, like if there's a political conversation and you realize you're not on the same side, then you don't go in that direction. You talk about something else, but how's your dog? How about them rams or whatever?

Peyton Lambert (23: 00:01:39 38)

00:01:39 Totally. Yeah.

00:01:40 Absolutely.

00:01:41 Totally, how's your dog?

00:01:42 Right.

The Hair Game (24: 00:01:43 01)

00:01:43 What other things did you see in the way that you were doing things that were successful versus ⁓ other hairstylists in the environments you've been in ⁓ if they were struggling?

Peyton Lambert (24: 00:01:44 12)

00:01:44 I think something that I do differently in this industry is if you're focused on where you're going, it kind of the outside noise doesn't matter when you're looking next to you at like, ⁓ Susie over there is booked more than I am, or this person's doing this that way. There's a million ways to get to the same place. And I think if you're just focused on what you're doing and building your business, that's true to you. The success will come.

00:01:45 ⁓ I think the more you look outward, when it's not looking for support, when it's looking to compare, there's problems and struggles with that. And I definitely had a phase of my career where I did that, but I genuinely think you can go further focusing on where you're going and then also bringing people with you. I think having a support group in a community is really important.

The Hair Game (25: 00:01:46 03)

00:01:46 Yeah, 100%. And I'm sure there's all sorts of little quips and examples of this, yeah, some people just can't help themselves but distract themselves by watching everybody else.

Peyton Lambert (25: 00:01:47 21)

00:01:47 Totally. It's, and nowadays I feel like it's hard. It's you have to train your brain to not compare yourself. We're scrolling through social media all day long, but just because somebody's doing good doesn't mean you can't do good. And that's something that I've really, really learned is there is room for all of us. If you can just drop the competition, there are enough clients for everybody. There's enough space for everybody.

The Hair Game (25: 00:01:48 21)

00:01:48 versus focusing on their own stuff.

Peyton Lambert (25: 00:01:49 47)

00:01:49 everybody can go social media viral, which that's never really the goal for me. But if that's what you're worried about, people scroll through how many pieces of content a day like there's genuinely room for everybody to succeed.

The Hair Game (26: 00:01:50 01)

00:01:50 Yeah, 100%. And I mean, boiling it down to what all the listeners do for a living, it's really about filling your books. And there's plenty of clients out there to fill your books and the person's books next to you and the person's books next to you. And I'll go into something that I say now and then, and it's as true today as it was, I think, the first time I mentioned it, well, probably within the first couple episodes of the podcast, and that is,

00:01:51 I'm shocked still how many people I meet out in the world who don't have a stable relationship, a consistent relationship with a hairdresser.

Peyton Lambert (26: 00:01:52 47)

00:01:52 It's, and I feel like a little bit of that, won't put all of the blame on us. I'm kind of hard on the hairstylist, but I think a little bit of that is our fault. Like we have to nurture the people that are feeding our business. They, we owe them that, you know, they're spending a dollar's hard to get nowadays and they're choosing to spend it with us. I think it's important to take care of our people the way that you would want to be taken care of and kind of drop the ego, put it aside for a sec.

The Hair Game (27: 00:01:53 16)

00:01:53 Yeah, 100%. I used to do these, what did we call them? Well, I guess you can call them like man on the street interviews. You sometimes you see those like Jay Leno show, I had them or whatever. And I don't know if you've noticed, I mean, this is pre-COVID, so it's like ancient history really. But I used to go onto the streets of, I did Hollywood, I did Santa Monica a few times.

Peyton Lambert (27: 00:01:54 30)

00:01:54 Yeah.

The Hair Game (27: 00:01:55 44)

00:01:55 I probably did Beverly Hills and Donovan and I would go out there with a camera and a microphone and I would talk to people on the street and about their experiences with our industry, you know, about going to salons, how they interact with our industry, how they think about their hair and stuff like that. And it was like 75 % of the people I ran into, they don't have a consistent cadence that they go to the salon. They might not go to the same person.

00:01:56 Sometimes there'd be a lady who's, let's say 30 years old or whatever, and she hadn't been in the salon in eight months. And you know, I'm looking at her hair and I'm thinking to myself, my God, like she needs to go to the salon, right? Like, and this, as part of the same conversation, how many times are we like, you know, in a movie theater or in a show or in any kind of crowd and…

Peyton Lambert (28: 00:01:57 30)

00:01:57 Yeah.

The Hair Game (28: 00:01:58 41)

00:01:58 you look around and you're like, wow, I don't see anybody who has very good hair, you know, like

Peyton Lambert (28: 00:01:59 48)

00:01:59 It's crazy,

00:02:00 shopping malls when those were a thing are the hardest thing to walk through as a stylist.

The Hair Game (28: 00:02:01 50)

00:02:01 right?

00:02:02 Right, because everyone looks like shit and everyone needs color and even somebody who maybe, you know, got color, she's got eight inch roots and you're like, what the hell's going on here? Like there's so much ⁓ space for new clients to get new clients and to fill your books. And sometimes I hear that people have this sense of kind of scarcity.

Peyton Lambert (28: 00:02:03 57)

00:02:03 Yeah.

The Hair Game (29: 00:02:04 23)

00:02:04 you know, within the economy that, you know, all the clients are taken and, you know, everybody's already got somebody and all this stuff. I'm like, I think the exact opposite is true at scale to an extreme degree.

Peyton Lambert (29: 00:02:05 37)

00:02:05 I completely agree with you. feel like if there is space on your books, it's because you are not doing something to fill those books. feel like, especially going back to social media, like just giving free education to the general public about how to wash your hair, how to style your hair, how often you should be coming in for maintenance, how often you should be getting a haircut. Those little things turn into money, you know, revenue for a stylist so easily.

00:02:06 I was, I actually just hopped off a finance call and my retail sales are down. I haven't talked about what shampoo to buy on my Instagram in a couple of weeks. And it's a direct reflection. And it goes not just for retail, it goes for new clients. It goes for rebooking percentages, all that stuff. But I feel like just throw the general public a bone, teach them something. I did a video the other day of how to wash your hair. Cause I'm sure hairstylists listening to this can relate, but like how many grown adults.

The Hair Game (30: 00:02:07 28)

00:02:07 100%.

Peyton Lambert (30: 00:02:08 35)

00:02:08 don't know actually how to properly shampoo their hair to make it clean. You know, so just finding the going back to solving problems, finding the pain points of your clients and meeting them where they're at. I think everybody is at a different point in a funnel, you know, like some people are ready to book, they just need to see one last before and after other people need to just get into the intro of welcome being welcome into the salon world. And also, this industry can be kind of scary. So we need to

00:02:09 drop the front and again meet them where they're at and make sure that they feel taken care of.

The Hair Game (31: 00:02:10 12)

00:02:10 Sometimes I think of it like a forest through the trees sort of metaphor where, you know, as a hairdresser, you're in here all day, every day, all these things that seem basic to you don't seem worth mentioning to anybody because to you, they're so part of your every day. That is not the case for the general public. The general public doesn't know, to use your example, how to properly wash their hair.

Peyton Lambert (31: 00:02:11 42)

00:02:11 Totally.

The Hair Game (31: 00:02:12 42)

00:02:12 I think

00:02:13 about when I first went to a great barber, Sugar Skulls, Carlos, ⁓ Sugar Skulls. The listeners know Carlos very well. When I went to Carlos, he taught me how to blow dry my hair. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, my gosh, like I can blow dry my hair? I didn't even know that I could blow dry my hair. And how many hairdressers, barbers had I been to and not one of them.

Peyton Lambert (32: 00:02:14 04)

00:02:14 What's a blow dryer?

The Hair Game (32: 00:02:15 11)

00:02:15 gave me the most basic information. you know, it's just, so hopefully, and of course, Carlos has built a great career around this. So think about the things that are so natural and normal to you, the things that you know so well. Don't assume that everybody else knows them, assume everybody else doesn't know it, and go out there and just do a quick little thing and see how people react to it.

Peyton Lambert (32: 00:02:16 41)

00:02:16 Exactly. And I admire what Carlos has done because he's also now protecting you coming back because if you walk out of his shop and don't know how to style your hair, you're going to hate your haircut. But with him telling you how to blow dry it, you're going to love your haircut because it's a bad ass haircut and you're going to want to come back. So I think it helps get people in the door and it keeps them staying with you.

The Hair Game (33: 00:02:17 05)

00:02:17 100%. So, and to carry that a little further, and I think this is valuable for hairdressers to kind of hear how clients see things, because the client doesn't always tell you, you know, about the things they're worried about that you usually don't, right? So with Carlos, I remember explicitly, and it's been so many years now, I still remember going home, you know, he gave me a little bit of an alternative cut, and there was so much about it that I liked, but there were some things I didn't like about it.

Peyton Lambert (33: 00:02:18 17)

00:02:18 They usually don't.

The Hair Game (33: 00:02:19 34)

00:02:19 But I felt comfortable going back to him and saying, you know, this one part doesn't lay right, you know? And when I tried that blow drying, you know, when I tried adding tension with the brush that you recommended that I use, it didn't ⁓ react the right way. And I was excited to go back to him and say, hey, you know, that thing that you gave me, but what about this? And his eyes lit up.

00:02:20 And he's like, well then you could do this. And then of course he refined the cut because he didn't realize, you know, I was a new client. So it's like, there's a learning curve. And so he refined the cut to make sure that little thing didn't fly in that way. And then taught me something a little bit different about the blow dryer, a little tactic that I could use to avoid that problem. And what a tremendous value the client is getting from, that hair expert. And that's loyalty and that's filling your books.

Peyton Lambert (34: 00:02:21 33)

00:02:21 Absolutely. I feel like you have to take care of the people in your chair and they will respect that. Something that I actually have gotten around to saying to a lot of my clients recently is, Hey, you and I are on the same team. At the end of the day, like I want you to love your hair probably more than you want you to love your hair. So if you're feeling away, you need to feel comfortable coming to me. And I always tell like a new client, I'm like, Hey, I'm going to do my best today. But sometimes this takes a second to learn each other. takes a second to

00:02:22 Figure out how you take care of your hair at home versus how I style it in the salon. I should be better at styling my hair or your hair, you know, because I do it all day long every day. So if there's something that you're struggling with, I need you to tell me that so I can fix it for your next appointment.

The Hair Game (35: 00:02:23 18)

00:02:23 Totally, totally. And it boils down to you as a hairdresser showing your client that you care. And if you do that kind of basic thing, ⁓ few other people are doing it. So you're gonna set yourself apart right there and your retention is gonna be much higher.

Peyton Lambert (35: 00:02:24 25)

00:02:24 Totally.

00:02:25 And you can't assume that the client knows anything. You can't assume that the client feels comfortable. So even just telling them like, it is okay if you have criticism, please let me know that works wonders. And it takes one sentence. And most of the time people are like, no, I love it. I'm good. But at least the floor is open going forward, you know?

The Hair Game (35: 00:02:26 58)

00:02:26 Right,

00:02:27 right. Because most clients feel, I've heard this from many, clients over all the years that I ask, I'm kind of a nuisance when I get into a new situation, I'm meeting new people and I ask them because this is like my own little research for the podcast, for the benefit of our listeners, you know, as a client. So how often do you go? What is it like and what annoys you and stuff? And oftentimes the client

00:02:28 doesn't like ⁓ how their hairdresser goes on autopilot and they feel like once they're on autopilot, they're rushing through doing the same service that they've done the previous five times and they don't want to hear any feedback about it because they want to stay on autopilot. So that client is not going to say,

Peyton Lambert (36: 00:02:29 50)

00:02:29 Really.

The Hair Game (36: 00:02:30 54)

00:02:30 that her hair's flipping up in the wrong way, you know, a week after she leaves the salon, or that, you know, her hair gets too frizzy and she's not gonna ask how to fix it because she doesn't want to annoy the hairdresser who's standing behind her for the next hour and a half. Once it gets too uncomfortable enough times, she's gonna find another hairdresser.

Peyton Lambert (37: 00:02:31 20)

00:02:31 Yeah. And it's so unfortunate because that's completely preventable. You know, I feel like one, it's okay for your client to change their mind of what they want their hair to look like. That's normal. Humans do change. I also think hair changes. So what you were doing on your client, the last 10 times might not work the 11th time. So I really think it's important to have, I have a conversation, like a full consultation with every single client that sits in my chair, whether I've done their hair one time or a thousand times because

00:02:32 Who am I to assume that things aren't changing? Everything's changing all the time.

The Hair Game (37: 00:02:33 54)

00:02:33 Yeah, how long is your consultation usually?

Peyton Lambert (37: 00:02:34 58)

00:02:34 It depends if it's a new client or it's a current client that is completely changing their look. spend 10, 15 minutes on a consultation. I feel like that's something as a stylist, you have to dial in. I'm not going to spend more than that wasting time because time is money in this career. But I think you have to get really to the point and figure out what they want quickly. But that all comes with knowing the right questions to ask.

00:02:35 My favorite question to ask is when they show you an inspo photo, what do you not like about this photo? And that gets you to the result so much faster. It's incredible. Yeah.

The Hair Game (38: 00:02:36 33)

00:02:36 Hmm.

00:02:37 Interesting. So

00:02:38 an answer to that question might be what?

Peyton Lambert (38: 00:02:39 42)

00:02:39 I don't like the tone of the highlights. I like the placement of the highlights or I don't like how dark her base is, but I like the color of the blonde. Yeah.

The Hair Game (38: 00:02:40 48)

00:02:40 Right.

00:02:41 Right. Yeah,

00:02:42 exactly. So they show you a picture, but don't always tell you exactly what it is about the picture they like.

Peyton Lambert (39: 00:02:43 01)

00:02:43 Yeah, even if it's the photo they love, there's probably a part about it that they like, or they, I'm sorry, there's probably a part of it that they dislike. And it's your job to figure out what they dislike, so why don't we just ask them? Yeah.

The Hair Game (39: 00:02:44 04)

00:02:44 Right.

00:02:45 Right? No, that's

00:02:46 super smart. ⁓ Okay, so earlier in the conversation here, we were going towards you learning about business and numbers and how you said it's become almost an addiction you like so much. So let's talk about some of the, it gets you fired up, I love it. So let's talk about some of the details of that. ⁓ What exactly are we talking about? Which numbers like,

Peyton Lambert (39: 00:02:47 31)

00:02:47 gets me fired up.

00:02:48 gets me fired up.

The Hair Game (39: 00:02:49 43)

00:02:49 What do you use? Do you use QuickBooks? Like how often do you look? You know, give us some details.

Peyton Lambert (39: 00:02:50 47)

00:02:50 ⁓

00:02:51 I do use QuickBooks. ⁓ I used to run my QuickBooks completely by myself this last year. I did hire a financial team that helps me. ⁓ It's a great company. It's called True Profit Salons. They help you dial in your profitability, which is awesome. And I love working with them because it's salon based. The owner actually owns a salon, which I think is really cool. So they understand the industry. But my point in saying that is I feel like

The Hair Game (40: 00:02:52 15)

00:02:52 And really quick,

00:02:53 sorry to interrupt, but I know the listeners are thinking, well, I don't have enough money in my budget to hire somebody like this. Like, how much does it cost?

Peyton Lambert (40: 00:02:54 24)

00:02:54 ⁓ it depends. There's different levels. I'm at a level where they do run my payroll for me. Cause I got to the point where I realized that me taking the hours to run my payroll and organize my books was costing me more money by not being in the salon. Does that make sense? So like it actually made sense to pay someone and to go do the thing I'm good at. I'm not good at the numbers. love the numbers. That's not my strong suit. ⁓ I think I'm paying like

The Hair Game (40: 00:02:55 32)

00:02:55 Mmm.

00:02:56 yeah. Of course.

00:02:57 Yeah.

Peyton Lambert (40: 00:02:58 54)

00:02:58 1200 a month for that right

00:02:59 have coaching calls with them multiple times a month. I am still fully hands-on in my books, but I don't have the job of spending the hours behind my computer, figuring out the nitty gritty of it all.

The Hair Game (41: 00:03:00 09)

00:03:00 Right, so that's more than a bookkeeper. I mean, that is a full-on salon coach. Yeah.

Peyton Lambert (41: 00:03:01 15)

00:03:01 Totally. And

00:03:02 I have gotten to the point where I can afford that now. I will say I haven't even, I've been with them since May. So this is a newer thing for me. I was doing it totally alone and you can absolutely be successful doing it alone. I just got to a point where my time was better spent somewhere else. But when it comes down to the numbers, I feel like as a stylist, it's important to know your numbers every single day. So

00:03:03 When I finish a day at the salon, whether I do it the night when I'm leaving or I wake up and I do it first thing in the morning, I track my service revenue. I track my retail revenue. I track my, ⁓ hourly revenue, my average ticket price. I track my rebooking percentage and I track my social media posts. So stories and static posts. I.

The Hair Game (42: 00:03:04 08)

00:03:04 Okay, so you're

00:03:05 doing these things on different platforms. So is one of them like a booking app?

Peyton Lambert (42: 00:03:06 16)

00:03:06 So I have a spreadsheet for all of my metrics, my daily metrics, and then I use QuickBooks for my finances.

The Hair Game (42: 00:03:07 26)

00:03:07 Okay, so are you manually entering into a spreadsheet? my God, Peyton Lambert, look at that. You're a spreadsheet jockey.

Peyton Lambert (42: 00:03:08 31)

00:03:08 I am every single day. Yeah, it's not it's not as hard as it sounds. I'm not that's the funny part

00:03:09 is you have to find ways to make it easy for yourself. This sounds like daunting when I listed out but I use forest for a booking app and I can go to my performance stat of the day and it tells me these things. I find it important to transfer it myself.

00:03:10 because it makes you accountable for that. If I were to just pull up my performance review of the day, yeah, I'm looking at numbers, but whatever, clear it, I'll look at it again tomorrow. But like, ever since I started training somebody, I take this way more seriously because if you do not know your numbers, you cannot be accountable for your numbers. And if you're not accountable for your numbers, you can't grow your numbers. So I find it really, really important to know your numbers down to the day.

The Hair Game (43: 00:03:11 26)

00:03:11 Yeah, yeah, very interesting, very disciplined, highly disciplined you're talking about. And the ⁓ employee that you're running the payroll for is one of them you and then the other is your co-stylist. Got it, okay.

Peyton Lambert (43: 00:03:12 44)

00:03:12 My co-stylist. Yep, both of us.

The Hair Game (43: 00:03:13 46)

00:03:13 anything you're seeing behind the chair these days that are like different, your clients behaving differently in any way.

Peyton Lambert (43: 00:03:14 55)

00:03:14 I feel like people are embracing natural a little bit more. They're embracing natural with not being natural, if that makes sense, which is actually kind of a funky situation as a hairstylist, because as a stylist, we need to be needed. So trying to find a way to be needed with the trends that are happening is kind of a tricky thing to navigate.

The Hair Game (44: 00:03:15 17)

00:03:15 And so how do you navigate those? I mean, do you have a client that comes in she's like, I have gray roots, you know, I'm 52 and I have gray roots. I want to go natural. And like, how do you do that?

Peyton Lambert (44: 00:03:16 32)

00:03:16 I have had that. I am actually in the process of transitioning somebody from like a level three permanent color for I don't even know how many years to her natural color. I number one, hair health is number one to me. I will never sacrifice hair health for a desired result. I just think expectations are number one. So we're doing it slowly. We're starting to get her lighter and then.

00:03:17 As we've gotten her lighter, we're starting to let her natural root grow down. ⁓ I feel like at the end of the day, you just got to figure out what they're having trouble with at home. Is it the maintenance? Is it the styling? Is it, they don't like the way their hair looks and just be honest. I feel like there's a balance of like seeing a client as a dollar sign, but then also just trying to help them because I feel like the money will come as long as you're helping people.

00:03:18 So if just truly down to your core, you can fix a problem for somebody, you will find success in this industry.

The Hair Game (45: 00:03:19 36)

00:03:19 Yeah.

00:03:20 If you could wave a wand and change anything about the industry at all, what would it be?

Peyton Lambert (45: 00:03:21 42)

00:03:21 I would say if I could change anything about the industry, would be kind of what we touched on earlier about looking side to side rather than looking forward. I feel like this industry is so beautiful because we really don't have to have a cap. Our cap is our belief lid. And I feel like a lot of hairstylists, not everybody, but majority, the belief lid is really low because we've been told

00:03:22 hairstylist isn't a real career or it's a hobby or you can't make good money or it's a part time job. I feel like if we can get people past the idea of thinking that it's just a mediocre job, it is not a normal job. Like we can literally change lives, so many lives. And if we can just get people to think past what the public sees about us, I feel like this industry is completely unstoppable and the best industry to be a part of.

The Hair Game (46: 00:03:23 40)

00:03:23 How do we do that?

Peyton Lambert (46: 00:03:24 43)

00:03:24 I think it's training the next generation. I think it's important to pour what you were learning into somebody else. I look at, I have one co-stylist right now and plan on growing a team. And to me, the more I get a pour into them and have them kind of skip some of the mistakes that I've made and they're going to make plenty of their own. But if I can guide them and make success easy for them, I feel like I've really done my job.

The Hair Game (47: 00:03:25 13)

00:03:25 Yeah. Well, this is pretty amazing. It's been great knowing you for all these years and love having you at Salon Republic. And thank you so much for sharing all of your advice. You've done great.

Peyton Lambert (47: 00:03:26 28)

00:03:26 Thank you for having me. I'm super happy to be here.