There's More Than One Way to Get Paid Behind the Chair w/ Sarah Cabral
@sarahzstylz never imagined being an educator, but after teaching her first class she was so fullfilled she made it a permanent part of her career.
@sarahzstylz never imagined being an educator, but after teaching her first class she was so fullfilled she made it a permanent part of her career. Through the BTC team, she has also been able to create additional revenue opportunites behind the chair.
We discuss the evolution of hair education and how she navigates multiple income streams. Sarah also opens up about living with multiple sclerosis and how it has shaped her career.
The Hair Game (00: 00)
Hey, Sarah, how's it going? I'm doing great, thanks. So I'll introduce you to the listeners who don't know you yet. You're a Bolliage specialist and educator from Franklin, Massachusetts.
Sarah Cabral (00: 02)
Good, how are you?
The Hair Game (00: 12)
and you're on the BTC team. Awesome, well let's get into it. How did you get into this business in the first place? Why aren't you like an insurance salesman? Why are you a hairstylist?
Sarah Cabral (00: 13)
Yes. Yes, I am.
Thank
I've wanted to do hair since I was like five years old. I started doing all my Barbie's hair. I cut all the hair off. I literally has been, I went to vocational high school. So I've been doing it. I got my license at 18 years old. ⁓
The Hair Game (00: 30)
classic story.
Wow. Okay. So hold
on. So I've heard vocational high school before, but I just, so is it, do you learn hair only or is it like half normal stuff like general ed and then half hair.
Sarah Cabral (00: 50)
Yep, so it's actually a half and half. Like freshman year, you got to like do exploratory and like do a bunch of different shops. And then halfway through you decide. And then from sophomore to senior, every other week was like academics and then the hair part. So for like four full years I was in hair school.
The Hair Game (01: 06)
every other week.
Wow. I mean, that's like the way to do it, isn't it? I mean, so many kids, they go through high school and then they go to college, they have no idea what the hell they want to do. And they've learned everything about, you know, a Truskin history and they get out and they can't find a job.
Sarah Cabral (01: 18)
Exactly.
I know, it's crazy, because I always know I'm so blessed that I always knew what I wanted to do. And I didn't pay for hair school. It was completely free. So that's even more amazing.
The Hair Game (01: 35)
That's a great point. Yeah,
it is. So your parents, did they have anything to do with the salon industry?
Sarah Cabral (01: 43)
No, literally I have no idea why I woke up one day and was like, I want to do hair. I just, yeah. ⁓
The Hair Game (01: 48)
just right out of the gate. Wow, that's amazing. And I
don't know if you're, you might not be old enough, but was this pre-YouTube?
Sarah Cabral (01: 59)
At least it's funny, you guys didn't guess my age. I don't know. No, but I don't mind. I'm 41 everyone. So I've been doing hair 23 years and it was way before Facebook, social media. had to like our classes were in salon training. We didn't have all this amazing online education that everyone has nowadays.
The Hair Game (02: 01)
I'm not, I don't dare to play that game. Especially not with all the listeners listening. You're 41. Okay, ⁓ so that's amazing.
YouTube.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (02: 29)
It's a lot different.
The Hair Game (02: 30)
I have a daughter who's 14 and probably at least the last five years, she'll go onto YouTube and then she'll disappear into her bathroom and she'll emerge with the most amazing beach waves or tight curls or stick straight hair, her creed, wherever her interest is in the moment, she emerges with the most amazing thing.
Sarah Cabral (02: 46)
yeah. ⁓
Mm-hmm.
The Hair Game (02: 59)
and she just sits there on YouTube and does it. And it's just a different world, isn't it? Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (03: 05)
It is amazing. It's so
like education is like at your right there in front of you. Nothing like it was when I was in here school. So.
The Hair Game (03: 11)
Yeah.
Yeah. And I've never said anything about her hair. I've never, I never told her to go to YouTube to learn how to do it. And my wife doesn't either. She has, she, just has done it. And then she goes to school with this spectacular hair every day. And she's kind of known for having really good hair at school. Maybe, maybe it's in the cards. Okay. So, so you get out of ⁓ high school with a cosmetology license or at least
Sarah Cabral (03: 30)
Maybe she's gonna be hairstylist.
Thanks, ever.
The Hair Game (03: 42)
with the education and then you went to go get the license. You went to take the test and everything. Okay.
Sarah Cabral (03: 46)
Yeah,
so in Massachusetts you have to have a thousand hours and you can actually even be like halfway through senior year. As soon as you get your thousand hours, which don't count until you're 16, you can go take your state board. So I think I got my license probably a week before I graduated. So you don't even have to wait till you graduate.
The Hair Game (04: 06)
amazing.
And where else can you make that kind of money at 16, 17, 18 years old? It's crazy. All right, so you graduate, you get your license, and where'd you go?
Sarah Cabral (04: 12)
I
So from there, went to like my journey at the beginning. It took a while to find like the right fit. I worked at like so many different salons. I was a shampoo girl since I was like 14. I can't even, it's been so long, 20 years later. I just remember it, I struggled at first. I didn't like talking to the clients. I was kind of like an introvert. It's scary. It's like we didn't have like a ton of people really looking to invest in you personally. They just wanted you to put their.
The Hair Game (04: 34)
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (04: 48)
the color on the client for them and shampoo for you. So I really had to like find my way through the industry and find the right salon, the right fits. I think I was like 20 when I found a salon that I was at for like seven years. And that was like my longest term salon before I started working for myself. And that's where I really like grew. We had a lot of like Paul Mitchell in salon education at the time. I really blossomed in that salon. And then I broke off and decided I wanted to go rent a chair.
I was there for 15 years, my last salon. And then me and my best friends, Steph and Taylor, all just opened a salon last year,
The Hair Game (05: 19)
Amazing.
Interesting. Okay, so it took you about two years after getting your license to find the right place and then once you found the right place you were there for seven years and and that was the right place you learned things and you I'm sure you grew and matured and stuff
Sarah Cabral (05: 31)
Yeah, took a couple of years.
Yeah.
I built my clientele.
I built enough clients to bring with me when I decided to go work for myself.
The Hair Game (05: 47)
Yep. So then you went independent and for 15 years you're independent and you probably your income skyrocketed and you did great. And, and now you own your own salon with a couple of your girlfriends.
Sarah Cabral (06: 00)
Yeah, well, my best friend owns it, but it's just three of us. So me and Steph rent from Taylor. So it's basically our salon.
The Hair Game (06: 05)
Got it.
Got it.
Got it. So you're, you're still independent at the salon and it's going well.
Sarah Cabral (06: 12)
Yeah.
Yeah, it's going amazing.
The Hair Game (06: 17)
Okay. And so you split your time between, ⁓ being behind the chair with your clients. And by now I'm sure you've got a fantastic clientele. You've probably got all your, know, your favorite clients you've been doing for maybe, maybe a decade or more at this point. Yeah. Which is amazing. And they keep coming back to you and you're also educating. Why did you start educating?
Sarah Cabral (06: 29)
I do have some that are still with me.
That's another funny thing because academically I was not a good student. The only thing that kept me in from dropping out of high school was my love for doing hair. I struggled in high school. I didn't like school. Me as a teacher, I'm like, is this crazy I came full circle? Somebody asked me to go to my old school and teach a balayage class. I was like, okay, I'll go with you, but I have no idea what I'm doing. I do not know how to teach.
So I was so nervous. I'm only teaching to students who don't even, they don't even know if I'm teaching wrong, basically. So I went there and offered my time, taught a balayage class, and I was like, I think this is like, I love teaching. And I went back again, taught another free balayage class to the students. And that was like when I just really knew this was for me. So then I just started, I just felt like the calling to teach and I don't even have a brand that was backing me up. I wasn't on the BTC team yet.
I just knew I wanted to teach. So I just like put it out there, put myself out there, ⁓ offered a class and my first class I had 15 people. I was like, wow, people actually want to learn from me? So then like, I think a year later is when I actually got on BTC team. And that's obviously helped my career. just like, it helps to be on the team basically to like fill your classes. But it was just like something I knew inside me that I meant to do. And I just did it on my own.
The Hair Game (08: 05)
It's so interesting because I want to connect the dots between when you're like, why would I be a teacher when I was so bad at school? Why would anybody listen to me? I don't know if I'm going to say the right things or be effective in communicating to the students to, wow, this is what I want to do. What was it in that first one or two experiences in front of the students that really made it click for you?
Sarah Cabral (08: 13)
I I was.
think it's just like the feedback. Just like when you're doing something you know is meant for you, you just can like feel it in your soul. And I think it's just like feedback from people being like, Sarah, the feedback is what really gives me the courage to continue to teach till this day. Like every time you doubt yourself and every time I walk out of a class, I'm like, I feel so fulfilled. Like this is my calling. And then all these people like tell me, Sarah, I'm still using your technique and it still blows my mind like every time.
The Hair Game (09: 02)
Right. Highly.
Sarah Cabral (09: 03)
I just can't explain
how fulfilling it is to know that you like helping stylists behind the chair. Does that make sense? Yeah, this is so satisfying.
The Hair Game (09: 09)
extremely satisfying of course of course it it does
and Then I guess I would assume that from the first time that you were teaching in your your former beauty school high school trade school To now you've probably even gotten better, right? I mean you like you deliver the information with better words and better ways and how practice makes perfect and have you had any kind of mentor or ⁓
Sarah Cabral (09: 30)
definitely. It's just practice makes perfect.
The Hair Game (09: 39)
How do you learn how to do that?
Sarah Cabral (09: 41)
I don't. didn't. No, I literally haven't had a mentor. I just figured it out. I can't give anyone else credit. Yeah, like say a prayer.
The Hair Game (09: 42)
You just figured out. I love that. This is zero mentor. I don't need a mentor.
I figured it out on my own, which is totally cool. ⁓ I can, I can see that. Okay. So how often are you educating now? You're on the BTC team. Why don't we start there? ⁓ with this next question, what is the BTC team for those listeners who don't know?
Sarah Cabral (09: 57)
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So for the BTC team, are like on their, it's part of it is their influencer team. So we actually like, you actually get paid campaigns to work with different brands to post for them, like on Instagram. So most of like my experience with BTC team is they give me campaigns. So they have actually connected me to different brands like Joyco, which is a brand that I like end up really like loving and having a partnership, a more of a longer term relationship.
So like their goal is to help us connect to different brands, figure out like where we belong in the industry. Everyone has a different like experience with BTC team, but mine is mostly for like the influencing part is where I get actually paid campaigns with them. So that's like amazing. It's another income. And that's been another, like I can like give you another little fun fact. I have MS, so I know nobody knows that really.
The Hair Game (11: 05)
⁓
my god.
Sarah Cabral (11: 08)
I'm
still standing every day doing hair, but I was trying, besides teaching and doing all this influencing on Instagram, which you get paid for, I wanted to really find another way, a source of income that wasn't always just standing 10 hours behind the chair every day. I still do work full time, but it's nice to have that little bit of cushion of, people don't understand that as hairstylists, there's so many more ways to make money besides just standing behind the chair.
The Hair Game (11: 37)
yeah.
Sarah Cabral (11: 37)
So BTC team's been a huge like impact on me because it's actually another income. Like I have campaigns that last me through the whole year. So it's amazing. Like influencing is just another part of my job that I've got another form of income with. So it's like so cool. Like how the industry has changed. Like I couldn't do this when I first, nobody even had Instagram when I became a hairstylist. So now I can get paid to like post for brands.
The Hair Game (11: 52)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (12: 04)
So I'm getting paid by the client, right? But then you're also getting paid for the video you're making while you're doing the client. So you're really like, you can just really grow your income in different ways now, which is incredible. yeah. Sorry, I have a lot.
The Hair Game (12: 16)
Huh? It is incredible. So, so much that you just said right there and I'll try to unpack it as people like to say,
no, it great. So, first of all, you have MS and I, for whatever reason, my tongue always gets in the way when I try to say the whole word. Isn't it multiple sclerosis? Or if it's muscular, that's really funny. I don't even know.
Sarah Cabral (12: 32)
like muscular sclerosis, I can't even say it. Multiple sclerosis, yeah, I don't know.
Maybe just multiple, I don't even know what I have,
MS. Exactly. ⁓
The Hair Game (12: 43)
Everyone just calls it MS. But immediately when
you said MS, I thought of multiple sclerosis and nobody listens to this podcast for medical information. So it doesn't matter if we get it right or wrong. ⁓ So you have this and that's incredible because I know that there are people who have this who can't walk. So tell us what the hell, how did this happen?
Sarah Cabral (12: 50)
Yeah, I think it is.
Exactly.
Yeah.
in a wheelchair? Exactly.
So
one day, 27 years old, I thought I had a pinched nerve. They did an MRI. Like, you have lesions on your brain. It looks like it could be MS. So then like through a long time, like a long time, had to like keep like, it's not like a blood test. You just have to like watch the symptoms and see if it looks like it could be that. It's not immune disease. So long story short, I'm on preventative medication, obviously that I'm able to do my job every day.
The Hair Game (13: 40)
Okay.
Sarah Cabral (13: 40)
But I do, in the back of my mind, wanted another source of income, so I didn't have to kill myself 40 hours a week behind the chair. So I'm so blessed that there's so much at our disposal as hairstylists now because of Instagram and TikTok and the internet. It's amazing. That's kind of how I got into it.
The Hair Game (13: 45)
Hell yeah.
Totally.
So I'm not done
at a hundred percent, which makes so much sense and is so inspirational for everybody listening, because that is kind of the dream of everybody is that they have, you know, a second or third, you know, an additional way to make money. ⁓ not just being behind the chair. And I hate to say just, you know, because so many people have an amazing career being behind the chair only, but, wouldn't it be great to, have more, right?
Sarah Cabral (14: 22)
Yeah, exactly. Wouldn't it be great?
The Hair Game (14: 27)
So,
Sarah Cabral (14: 27)
Exactly.
The Hair Game (14: 28)
so you've done it well and, but hold on, I still have more MS questions. Okay. So as long as you're taking, so there's medication that helps mitigate the symptoms of MS. Is that what I'm hearing? Okay.
Sarah Cabral (14: 33)
Ha
Yeah,
it's kind of like stunts your immune. MS is like an overactive immune system. It's like your body attacks itself. It attacks like the covering that's supposed to be protecting your nerves. So when it attacks you, can have like weird random neural… I've had like burning, numbness, tingling. My head went numb one time. Weird things. I've literally missed one week of work my whole time of ever having this disease.
The Hair Game (14: 59)
Just a sensation of burning.
Unbelievable. Weird things.
Sarah Cabral (15: 10)
Like I've worked with my leg tingling. Like nothing really stops me unless I can't walk. One time I couldn't really walk straight. I was like walking like crooked for like a week. So anyways, like the medication slows the progression of the disease and like kind of stunts your immune system so it's not attacking itself. So I should get sick all the time because my immune system's stunted, but I really don't. I'm blessed in that way too.
The Hair Game (15: 16)
Wow.
Right, right.
I'm sure it's a balance. The medication tries to balance. Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (15: 38)
Exactly. So they have to like test
your blood to make sure they're not killing too many white blood cells, obviously. But so far, so good.
The Hair Game (15: 45)
That's amazing.
Well, I mean, how inspirational is that? As I ⁓ run a business and I have children and ⁓ family and everything, I am constantly getting excuses from people. I find myself, one of my tasks, one of my duties is ⁓ getting rid of…
Sarah Cabral (15: 50)
then
The Hair Game (16: 12)
people's excuses because people love taking excuses. And so you listen to your story and it's like, how do you have an excuse? Like, you know, because you're tired, you don't want to show up to work. mean, listen to, listen to Sarah's story. And that's a coffee. She held up a 14 foot glass of coffee. Yeah. Cup of coffee. So big it covered her.
Sarah Cabral (16: 12)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm
Yeah, I'm tired a lot. That's why I drink this.
This is giant iced coffee. Everyone knows I love coffee.
The Hair Game (16: 39)
Yeah, so you're like the image of grit and tenacity. So good for you. That's amazing. know, qualities that we need to continue to have in our culture and society. amazing for you. Sarah, thanks for sharing that. Sarah was amazing. And hopefully you continue to manage it well so you can continue to excel. Because you're excelling, you know, even though you've got this big adversity, you know, that you have to deal with.
Sarah Cabral (16: 43)
Thank you.
Once.
Exactly.
Yeah.
The Hair Game (17: 08)
that just pops up. It's like you didn't do anything, you know, it just pops up out of the blue. could happen to anybody, right? ⁓
Sarah Cabral (17: 10)
You have no control over it.
Exactly. So I try to be
very grateful for what I do because I know it's not promised. Who knows what tomorrow's going to bring, but I'm just blessed that can do what I love every day. Still 20 years later, I still love what I do. So that's amazing.
The Hair Game (17: 24)
Exactly.
It is amazing. So that brings us to one of the things you're doing to kind of insulate yourself from the possibility that you might not be able to walk next week. And that is that you've been able to get an additional source of income ⁓ with your kind of influencer work through BTC. And that's basically what the BTC team is.
Sarah Cabral (17: 41)
Yeah.
and
The Hair Game (17: 55)
BTC obviously has a lot of brand relationships because that's how they they support their themselves as a business and they have a lot of beauty professional relationships and so they act as a kind of a matchmaker for brand brand to beauty professional and so you described how you ⁓ got with Joyco and that's been a good partnership a good relationship and
Sarah Cabral (17: 58)
Yes.
Exactly.
The Hair Game (18: 21)
has allowed you to make some additional money on the side as you're doing your normal behind the chair work. And that's so amazing. Okay, so how does one become a BTC team member?
Sarah Cabral (18: 32)
Okay, so I teach this at my social media classes. they have, ⁓ if you go on the BTC team, like Instagram, you can fill out a survey to receive the boxes. And they want to, they love to find like hairstylists, don't have a lot of followers. They're not like looking for like these big following. They love working with smaller, like newer people. And you have to fill out for these BTC boxes. And then they want to see that you're serious about
creating content with the box that they send you. So they're gonna send you products and they wanna see that you're gonna make educational videos. They're really looking for education. They're all about like, they wanna see you educate with the product that they send you. So you really have to fill out for the boxes. If they pick you, take that box very seriously because that's how they're gonna like, they're gonna be looking on the hashtags and see who's posting for them. It took me a few years to actually get on the team.
of getting these boxes. They're not paid at first. It's just you're just doing it for like the product and you want it to be seen by them. And then eventually keeping persistent, they're going to recognize you and they're always adding to the team.
The Hair Game (19: 43)
Makes a lot of sense and it makes a lot of sense. And I'm glad you mentioned that the smaller followings, you know, are valuable too. And I, we used to have conversations maybe a year or two ago when kind of some of the engagement levels of some of the bigger followings seem to be kind of waning a little bit as the content just went nuts on Instagram. There's so much. Um, it kind of made the micro influencer
Sarah Cabral (19: 44)
I don't know.
AR
The Hair Game (20: 10)
thing a little bit more valuable as Instagram was trying to, let's say somebody has a thousand followers and of those thousand followers, 50 are hairstylist friends, right? And those tend to pop up in your feed, you know, pretty often. So you have a tremendous amount of value as a, let's say a thousand follower beauty professional as well, because you have real relationships with those 50 people.
Sarah Cabral (20: 22)
Yeah.
Exactly.
The Hair Game (20: 39)
And brands really want those 50 people to know about their new product
⁓ from somebody that they have a relationship with, you know, very closely versus kind of one of these mega influencers with 800,000 followers who maybe the hairstylist doesn't know personally. So there's a lot of value in that.
Sarah Cabral (20: 59)
Yeah, that actually makes so much
sense. Yeah, that makes so much sense. We explain it.
The Hair Game (21: 03)
Exactly. So, ⁓ also there's kind of a local element to it. You know, oftentimes those 50 people are kind of within, you know, the same five salons and the same city or something. And, and, ⁓ it can be, it could be highly influential on a person to person basis, kind of more like quality over quantity. So, okay. So that happens. You do the boxes, you try your hand at making content, using the products in the boxes.
Sarah Cabral (21: 20)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, definitely.
The Hair Game (21: 33)
You know, you're given a little free advertising to the brands, but that's the way it goes. And if, if you do a good job at it, then, you might be worth paying. Right. And that's the way the brand sees it. That's the way the brands is it worth paying this person, you know, to, ⁓ to be an influencer or an ambassador for us. Okay. And then.
Sarah Cabral (21: 35)
Mm The brands. Yeah.
Exactly, and they'll reach out to you. ⁓
Exactly.
The Hair Game (22: 00)
Are there, ⁓ give us some details, as many as you can share, obviously nothing, you don't have to say sensitive things, but if you have a deal with a brand, what are you required to do, for example?
Sarah Cabral (22: 14)
So depending on like who I've worked for like brands directly or BTC teams a little different. ⁓ If a brand reaches out to you, you should have ⁓ you should already have something like set up that has like your pricing. So you can they'll say like, send me your media kit. It's called a media kit. I was trying to think of the word have a media kit prepared, which is like
who you are, your Instagram, like how many followers you have, maybe like, who's like different kind of like engagement statistics and the pricing that you want for a video. Like right now, for my videos, 1500 is my pricing. Took me a while to get there, but I have brands that have paid me $1500 for one video, which is crazy. One video. You guys hear this? They have money out there.
The Hair Game (22: 55)
Wow.
Amazing. All the listeners on their way to their salons in the morning,
Sarah Cabral (23: 08)
I mean, they may start with like,
The Hair Game (23: 08)
there's money on the…
Sarah Cabral (23: 10)
like when I first started, maybe it was like $200 a video, but still like, that's still crazy. You know what I mean? So now with like, like certain like, sometimes they want to do like a long, like say it's a three month campaign. They'll say, give me four videos a month for three months for like a thousand dollars a month. Okay. That's still $3,000. Maybe you're doing a little pushing out more content, but then now you have a three month promise.
The Hair Game (23: 16)
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (23: 37)
that you're getting $3,000. Do you know what mean? That's like paying my mortgage, so pretty cool.
The Hair Game (23: 42)
Yeah,
and by the way, it's kind of forcing you to do the thing that you know you should be doing anyway, which is posting on your social media, you know, for the benefit of making sure that new clients are finding you and all those other things.
Sarah Cabral (23: 48)
Exactly.
Yes, I'm posting every day consistently no matter what. So obviously it's my goal for that post to be a paid post. I mean, it's not, but like another thing we teach in our social media, what me and the girls teach is like how important, like you said, consistency is. If you're not posting every day, then your page, you get lost in all the millions of posts a day. Like you have to be consistent or your page is not going to grow these days.
The Hair Game (24: 06)
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (24: 27)
So consistency is ⁓
The Hair Game (24: 29)
Consistency is key.
All right, that's pretty awesome. So hopefully we've inspired some listeners to go out there and try that. All right, so let's talk about, ⁓ we kind of segued for a moment a little bit right there. Let's talk about the best way to find new clients now that it's 2025. How do you find new clients in 2025?
Sarah Cabral (24: 56)
Well, I've been actually, I mean, I got I got all my clients from Instagram, basically. That's like social media is like a huge way. You have to have your portfolio out there because clients don't really they want to see who you are before they sit in your chair. It's like a trust thing. They want to see your face. They want to see your work and they want to know if you're worth sitting in there in your chair. So I definitely think social media is like the most important way. And if you're a salon that's not on
Social media, you're probably gonna get passed by by all the other salons next door, they're on social media. There's also another AI company I've worked with a little bit, it's called Zoka. It's like an AI marketing company you can hire and they'll help you get to the top of a Google search. You pay them to make you pop up on Google. So that's another modern way people are finding people online.
The Hair Game (25: 47)
Okay. So,
right. So the, I break it down this way. ⁓ Instagram can be a discovery tool, but, but it can, but I think Google has proven itself to be a better discovery tool these days. ⁓ but even if somebody discovers you on Google, the, that
Sarah Cabral (26: 00)
Absolutely.
The Hair Game (26: 15)
potential client will likely go to your Instagram to then make that decision that you just described. Is it worth going to Sarah and sitting in Sarah's chair and paying money for the service that I'm gonna get from Sarah? Or am I gonna feel more comfortable going to somebody else? And oftentimes that decision is based off of what you see on Instagram from a portfolio standpoint.
Sarah Cabral (26: 18)
Exactly.
Exactly.
The Hair Game (26: 41)
So there's the discovery and then there's the process of attracting the client, which is kind of a, it's a multi-step thing. ⁓ That's kind of how I see it ⁓ happening. Google seems to be number one for discovery and clients are searching on Google still. It's number one. It's always been, I mean, it's been number one for 20 years for search and it still is.
Sarah Cabral (27: 03)
Mm-hmm.
The Hair Game (27: 10)
⁓ so you mentioned Zoka. don't know Zoka. So Zoka is a company that, helps.
Sarah Cabral (27: 16)
They're like a new
marketing company that ⁓ helps hairstylists be like pop up on Google number one. You have to like pay them but.
The Hair Game (27: 24)
Okay, so
it's SEO, search engine optimization. so Zoka is a third party that you pay, like what do you pay, give or take? A couple hundred bucks a month, a hundred bucks a month? Okay, and then they help you, know, Jane Hairstylist with, you know, let's say Jane Hairstylist has a website, she's renting a station and a salon, and she has a
Sarah Cabral (27: 29)
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like a couple hundred bucks, I think, yeah.
The Hair Game (27: 54)
Instagram account and she of course wants to have a new influx of clients every month. She's not a, an SEO expert on Google because that's a highly technical thing. And by the way, Google changes. ⁓ Yeah, exactly. So you know, Google changes things. So we, we do a lot of SEO work and stuff like that here at salon Republic. They change the game.
Sarah Cabral (28: 07)
I don't know what that means.
The Hair Game (28: 24)
All the time, because they don't want anyone gaming, you know, the, the, system that they want to make sure that they're giving the most valuable responses. Whenever somebody types in a search, hairstylist near me, ⁓ they don't just want to put to the, to the top of search, somebody who kind of figured out some hacks.
Sarah Cabral (28: 25)
That's annoying.
Mm-hmm.
Thanks for listening.
Thank
The Hair Game (28: 51)
⁓ you know, they want the most relevant searches to be up there. So that you have this whole science called SEO and it sounds like Zoka is an SEO, ⁓ kind of expert company who does it. ⁓ so, so that, so you use Zoka. I guess.
Sarah Cabral (29: 01)
Company, yeah.
I'm
helping them get the word out for newer stylists. I don't really need clients. I'm not really looking for new clients except for maybe referrals because I'm pretty full. It's definitely something that's helping newer stylists. Not everyone can build their brand on Instagram ⁓ to 100,000. It took forever to get here. I feel ⁓ like it's an easier way than having to post every single day on Instagram to try to reach people.
So yeah, when I heard about this company, I'm like, that's actually pretty amazing. Because they help you with keywords searches too, like you said, Massachusetts balayage. It's supposed to make your name pop up first. I don't exactly know the science behind it because I'm not an expert in this.
The Hair Game (29: 52)
Okay, so you.
As we've already fleshed
out, we're not SEO experts. That's what companies like Zocor for. yeah, yes. So you hit on something which I think is very important these days. And that is, it's a lot of work to post on Instagram. It's important, but it is a tremendous amount of time and effort.
Sarah Cabral (30: 00)
No, but sounds like it's like very helpful, so.
The Hair Game (30: 20)
⁓ I think the return on the amount of time and effort and in some cases money that people are putting into putting content on Instagram. I think the return on that is probably the lowest that it's been in a few years. And that's why I think it's important to talk about where people actually find you when they're searching, know, searchability. And Google seems to be by far ⁓
Sarah Cabral (30: 38)
Yeah, there is. Google. Yeah.
The Hair Game (30: 50)
the most popular way, the most effective way to be found when somebody is searching on Instagram. Not to discount Instagram because again, people are gonna find you on Google, then they're gonna go to your Instagram and they're gonna see if you're worth going to. But the first thing, the searchability, the being found is the first step. And I love the idea of looking for a company like Zoka. There's others out there. This is not a Zoka ad, but
Sarah Cabral (30: 55)
next.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Thank
No.
The Hair Game (31: 20)
But if Zoka's doing a good job, certainly go see if you can benefit from it. ⁓
Sarah Cabral (31: 22)
No. Exactly.
The Hair Game (31: 28)
Okay. ⁓ Do you do anything on Google yourself or do you have Zoka do it all?
Sarah Cabral (31: 38)
No, you have to have your own like, you have to create your own business page first. We have a salon page. I don't have my own personal page because I wasn't really looking for my own clients, but we have our, I feel like you have, you have to have a salon page or like your own business page for this to work.
The Hair Game (31: 42)
Yes, so, okay.
Got it.
Right.
So Jane Doe hairstylist who has a station or has a studio or has a salon with other people in it should create, should have a website, janedoehairstylist.com. And of course all the information is on that website. It's still very important to have a website because you control it a hundred percent. And Google is gonna essentially require you to have a website just because
Sarah Cabral (32: 02)
has to create the account. Mm-hmm. Yes.
The Hair Game (32: 21)
That's what legitimate businesses do. And Google is very, ⁓ they care a lot about giving search results that are legitimate versus not legitimate. So every beauty professional and frankly, every beauty professional, whether they're a commissioned stylist, they work on a team, should have their own website. I think this has been discussed by, I'm not the only one who said that just so you can control what's going on with your career.
Sarah Cabral (32: 23)
Yeah.
Good job.
The Hair Game (32: 50)
And then from there, you can create a Google Business account. I think it's called Google My Business. But they keep changing the name. It might be Google Business Now, it's no longer Google My Business, whatever. It's a Google Business account.
Sarah Cabral (32: 54)
Okay.
The Hair Game (33: 06)
And then this thing ⁓ allows you to put your information that's very important. So when somebody's searching on Google, Google can very easily… ⁓
take the information from your Google Business account and then decide to deliver it in the search results or not. It also populates the results when somebody is on Google Maps searching. And this is a very important thing because Google Maps is increasingly becoming, if not has already become, one of the main ways that people search for goods and services that are geographically important.
Sarah Cabral (33: 23)
Mm hmm.
Sure. Thank you.
The Hair Game (33: 48)
geographically important, meaning you live in Franklin, Massachusetts, and when you search for a hairstylist, it's meaningless if you get a hairstylist who works in New York City. You you need geographically specific hairstylists because you want it to be convenient. So this is very important. A lot of
people go to Google Maps to search for things like hairstylists near me.
And so having a Google Business account is super important. then beyond that, imagine Zoka does all these things that are very important, like, you know, are you keeping up with putting photographs on your Google Business account? Are you keeping up with making sure the contact information is accurate? ⁓ There are questions and comments and reviews
Sarah Cabral (34: 31)
Okay. Okay.
The Hair Game (34: 42)
that happen on Google Business account.
and it can be kind of annoying as somebody who works behind the chair all day to have to worry about their Google business account. ⁓ Am I on the right page? Does Zoka do those things for you?
Sarah Cabral (34: 56)
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they do like they have so many different services that they can do for you.
The Hair Game (34: 59)
Yeah. Okay. So all of these
things are extremely important for any beauty professional. Not just an independent, but you know, commission as well. Another question for you. Do you have Yelp experience?
Sarah Cabral (35: 15)
⁓ I think I'm on Yelp. I know I'm like the worst at asking clients to give me a review. I have to admit, I hate asking people to review me, but I'm pretty sure I do have some five stars on Yelp. I didn't ask for it, but some couple people threw it out there. I know that's important, obviously.
The Hair Game (35: 29)
That's good.
⁓ Okay,
we're not going to talk about Yelp. I think Yelp is important. I don't think it's as important as Google would be my personal ⁓ perspective on the way that things are. I actually, as a consumer, I've been moving away from Yelp and towards Google Maps when it comes to finding a place to eat or finding a chiropractor or something like that, because I find that Yelp is so
Sarah Cabral (35: 40)
As important? Okay.
The Hair Game (36: 02)
bought and paid for. It's so pay me and I'll put the business up there. I think it's gotten worse in that regard. And I've noticed that they've been suppressing. For example, there's this amazing Mediterranean restaurant down the street from where I live. I can't find it on Yelp. It's on Google Maps, but it's not on Yelp. I don't know what they did to be what shadow ban, whatever the term is on Yelp.
Sarah Cabral (36: 08)
Okay.
That's weird. ⁓
The Hair Game (36: 32)
But Yelp is more of like a pay us and we'll put you on it kind of directory versus Google, which is more of a ⁓ directory, more like the yellow pages, like back in the day. That's been my impression.
Sarah Cabral (36: 36)
Yeah, that's interesting. ⁓
The Hair Game (36: 49)
All right, so what are you seeing behind the chair these days? Any change in client behavior?
Sarah Cabral (36: 55)
Yeah, people want to go long. I've got a lot of people maybe just because it's a fall change of seasons But everybody wants to go like more lived in like all my highlight foil clients like I want to balayage and I want to come back in three months instead of six weeks. I'm like, okay, I Guess I'll do that for you a lot of like Exactly. So I have a lot of people right now like going very lived in which is good because then I have
The Hair Game (37: 11)
Yeah. Right. I don't want to do that for you, but I will.
Sarah Cabral (37: 22)
then I can open my books up to like new clients. If you have great coverage and just like regular highlighting clients, they're filling up your book every three to six weeks. So it's harder to have like openings. So when I transfer people more into like a lived in color, it's actually fine because it opens up my books for like newer clients, which I like to obviously take new clients still, but for a little while I was getting freaked out. like, I don't think I can take any more clients.
Cause then your regular clients get mad if they can't get in when they want to. So yeah, I'd say lived in color is huge right now.
The Hair Game (38: 01)
And as you're supplementing the few holes in your schedule, are you changing your prices for the new clients? How do you work that?
Sarah Cabral (38: 06)
Mm-hmm.
I try to like go up a little bit every year. ⁓ yeah. So sometimes I'm not necessarily like dischanging it just for the new client, but like come January, I try to reassess and figure out what my pricing should be. I some people, some of my long, long-term clients, obviously they have their own price and they're going to mess with that. But yeah, definitely for anyone new or
The Hair Game (38: 15)
for everyone.
Okay. ⁓
Sarah Cabral (38: 38)
newly since I moved to the new salon a year ago is gonna have the same pricing.
The Hair Game (38: 44)
What is something that you did in your career that you wish you hadn't done?
Sarah Cabral (38: 51)
I did. Wore really bad shoes. When I was like terrible shoes when I was 20 and like crawled to my car after work so I couldn't walk. But I looked good but my feet hurt. ⁓ Yeah like didn't really take care of my body honestly. ⁓
The Hair Game (38: 56)
where shoes that look good and. ⁓
But they looked so good.
Mm-mm.
And how do you
do that now? I mean, maybe you wear more, obviously you have the MS to be concerned about, but what's your advice to behind the chair?
Sarah Cabral (39: 17)
Yeah.
⁓ like have…
Stand on a mat, because like some salons don't have mats. I think my mat's very… I'm the only one in my salon that has a mat, which is fine, but like I need my mat. It really helps on the lower back. I think that just like your stretching and like exercise is really important. ⁓ drinking enough water, because I… Hairstylists, we don't take care of ourselves because we have no time. So like we don't eat, we drink too much coffee, and we don't drink enough water. So probably not taking care of myself.
The Hair Game (39: 48)
And coffee,
coffee is a, what is it called? A diuretic or it's a, it's a dehydrator, yeah. So if you're drinking coffee, you gotta drink water.
Sarah Cabral (39: 54)
Yeah, and it dehydrates you. Yeah, it dehydrates you.
Yeah, but then you don't have time to drink water because you can't go to the bathroom 50 times a day. So I feel like balance of like literally self-care balance. I feared that clients would leave me if I didn't please them in every single way, or form. So I didn't put myself first. I feel like nowadays you should put your health first instead of bending over backwards for people that you might not see again next year.
The Hair Game (40: 05)
Right, exactly.
And so what did that look like for you before? Did that mean fitting somebody in?
Sarah Cabral (40: 32)
Yes,
like fitting people in because, ⁓ need my graze done because what so and so. So you'd walk, you'd work till 10 o'clock at night just trying to like make everybody happy. And sometimes you just have to make boundaries and like take care of yourself. I feel like boundaries is a big thing.
The Hair Game (40: 50)
Boundaries is a big thing and how long into your career before you learned that and were able to put in some healthy boundaries?
Sarah Cabral (41: 00)
I'm probably like halfway into my career. So I didn't really have any. Yeah, like I didn't have anybody really like coaching me into doing that. But once I finally figured it out, I'm like, all right, I need to like make little boundaries here. The more you feel like valued, I feel like if you feel valued by your clients and you know that people want to get into you, then you don't necessarily have to worry about those few people that you can't please all the time. So it's like, all right, you're going to leave me because I couldn't.
The Hair Game (41: 03)
So 10 years.
Sarah Cabral (41: 29)
reschedule your appointment next Tuesday. That's fine. I have somebody on my waiting list, like waiting to get in. So I feel like the more I had more self value, then the more I like didn't fear losing clients. It was a big fear, like a huge anxiety. If you got sick, I was afraid to like get sick and have to cancel on somebody, cause I might lose them. I don't think that's healthy.
The Hair Game (41: 42)
Yeah.
Yeah. Especially
when you're building your clientele, right? Yeah, absolutely.
Sarah Cabral (41: 56)
Yeah, exactly.
The Hair Game (42: 00)
and you know, one of the reasons why we do this podcast is to, ⁓ to really bring all this information to the listeners who also don't have mentors. You you said you didn't have a mentor. You figured it out on your own and it took you 10 years to get to the point where you felt confident.
having boundaries, you probably didn't even think about what a boundary was for the first 10 years. And then you're like, Rutt-Roe, you know, my back hurts or my knees hurt or whatever. And I need to figure out this thing called boundaries. One of the reasons we did this podcast is so the listeners can hear things like this and, and, ⁓ recognize that the important things to start thinking about as early as possible in their career. So thank you for sharing all this, by the way.
Sarah Cabral (42: 31)
Yeah.
yeah, it makes me so happy that I can help somebody.
The Hair Game (42: 55)
What's the most difficult conversation you've ever had with somebody in your chair?
Sarah Cabral (43: 00)
Most difficult conversation. I mean, probably, I mean, if people tell me a lot of personal things, but I wouldn't say that was like difficult, probably just telling somebody no. So I've like learned consultation is key. It's like the most important part of your service. And it took me like my core. So to this day, I'm very like, I don't wanna say brutal, but like honest in a consultation.
And I will tell somebody like, no, like you can't have this or this won't work for you. And sometimes people think I'm like being mean, but I'm not being mean. I'm just saying like, no, like you can't, this isn't practical for your hair. So I feel like being honest, like I don't think you're the client for me or you can't have what you're asking for is difficult, but necessary. So that's probably like telling a client no is scary, but like very necessary.
The Hair Game (43: 47)
Yeah.
Yes, truth is kind. Being honest with somebody is kind. Even though they might not feel like it in the moment because it's all about the emotions of the information that you're giving, the disappointment. But it's being kind to be honest. What's not kind is not being honest, then trying something and then ruining their look.
Sarah Cabral (43: 55)
Yeah, exactly.
Mm-hmm.
Exactly. Yes.
So I've learned that the hard way. You try to people please. You say yes to something that you knew you weren't sure about and then like they're disappointed in the end. So it's definitely better to like, I always say like under promise over deliver. And that's like what I live by under promise and over deliver. And clients appreciate that. It just takes maturity and year like experience to get comfortable to do that. But I feel like learn that now.
The Hair Game (44: 35)
Yeah, absolutely.
Sarah Cabral (44: 44)
young stylist because you'll have more peace about it.
The Hair Game (44: 48)
Absolutely. If you could wave a wand and change anything about the industry at all right now, what would it be?
Sarah Cabral (44: 55)
sometimes as the hairstylist, I feel like the brands need us, right? Cause we're the ones using their products. But sometimes I feel like we're undervalued and like they'd rather just like post a celebrity holding their product. But it's like, wait, the little people, the ones that like are actually purchasing their color at the hair store every week. So I feel like I would like.
the hairstylist to be more appreciated
Kind of. Yeah.
The Hair Game (45: 19)
Yeah, I think it's a great answer.
Do you have any horror stories?
Sarah Cabral (45: 26)
Probably.
The Hair Game (45: 28)
Let's hear one. Think about your most horrific hair experience in the salon. Or it could be somebody else, like you were in a salon and the stylist next to you did something horrible.
Sarah Cabral (45: 35)
Lord. I feel like we're definitely up. ⁓
I've seen some crazy things with like, I've definitely fried some people's hair off. This girl, when I was, I don't even remember how old I was, but she was like super, super like, her natural color was like black and she was like platinum and she had like a few inches of roots and swore this was like the color she wanted. like we did like on the scalp bleach to her and literally I was shampooing her in the sink and like the hair is just falling out in clumps. I was like, oh God.
The Hair Game (45: 49)
Yep.
Sarah Cabral (46: 13)
I guess we shouldn't have bleached her hair, but you don't really, like, whatever. My boss has had me do like conditioning treatments for a couple of months. But her hair was already over processed, so we just should have left it alone. So like I was kind of forced into doing that, because I like didn't work for myself. ⁓ We've had like some chemical reactions with, if people have like hard water or chlorine or like weird things in their hair, I've seen foils smoke.
The Hair Game (46: 16)
Hahaha.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sarah Cabral (46: 44)
which is scary, because you can have like a chemical reaction and the bleach and the chemical in their hair start smoking. So then I learned how to like do ⁓ like K18, like ⁓ L'Oreal metal detox, like pre-treatments, because you don't know what's in people's hair and it's very scary when a chemical reaction happens. That's pretty scary.
The Hair Game (46: 44)
my god.
Yep.
Yeah, and oftentimes, and
I know in the industry, you're like, the educators are like, you know, ask your client, but we all know that the client may not even know what's in their hair, right? Yeah. So, yeah, very, very wise words. Do you have any last words for the community?
Sarah Cabral (47: 11)
Exactly, exactly.
Well, this was just like so much fun sharing my story. I just hope I like encourage people to like put themselves out there, be consistent on Instagram, ⁓ value yourself, take care of yourself. Know that the hairstylist is, we're the ones that drive the industry. So just know that like we're important and just, know, like value each other. ⁓ Just help out your fellow stylist. So we should all be giving back to each other and supporting each other instead of like, what the word.
The Hair Game (47: 46)
Absolutely.
Sarah Cabral (47: 55)
Like it used to be like very competitive when I was first a stylist. Like you wouldn't help the person down the street. And I'm just saying like, like help each other. all in this together.
The Hair Game (47: 56)
it
Yeah, totally agree. Maybe less criticism. You know, some people like to jump on there. It's not a majority, but you know, if there's 30 comments about something on somebody's post, you know, there might be one or two negative ones. And of course, the bigger the account, the more anonymous people think that they are. The almost the less human the commenter thinks the poster is, you know, the bigger their account is.
Sarah Cabral (48: 23)
hate. ⁓
It's so true.
The Hair Game (48: 35)
And these are humans too, you You guys, you might have a lot of followers and you might get a lot of comments, but you're still human and you're still as sensitive and real as the next person. And I know it's very hurtful when people write, you know, comments, but they think that, you know, they can, kind of the trolls think that it's a good thing to bring down somebody who seems like they're.
Sarah Cabral (48: 37)
Exactly.
people.
The Hair Game (49: 03)
they're on the tippy top of the mountain. That's really an unfair and ⁓ inhumane way to look at it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you. This is amazing. You're very inspirational. You know, thank you for the MS story and all of your challenges related to that. And thank you for, you know, the grit and tenacity that you show on a daily basis to go to the salon, stand up, your clients, and even when you don't feel like it. So.
Sarah Cabral (49: 10)
Exactly, think we should support each other.
Mm-hmm.
The Hair Game (49: 32)
Thank you very much for that.
Sarah Cabral (49: 34)
Thank you for having me.
