Overachievers love them some extra credit to fuel their success—and that includes hair stylists, barbers and any type of motivated business owner. That’s why Vagaro added some extra credit to the Vagaro Master Class series lineup! In this segment, Paula Peralta, salon owner, celebrity hair stylist & Creative Director at Paul Mitchell enlists her friend, John Mosley, to impart some wisdom on business owners. John is a celebrity barber, educator for Andis Global & CEO of the Popular Nobody brand. These two industry leaders distill some of the most important lessons they’ve learned while building their businesses and brands in this bonus course.
CH1: Make Your Mark by Making Mistakes
Many people are afraid to make mistakes—according to Paula and John, it’s why so many great ideas are destined to just stay ideas.
Paula and John discuss all the traps that business owners must avoid that can halt their momentum and success, from being perfectionists to stressing out over every negative client review. Forward motion, they stress, is what’s most important.
You cannot please everybody. Celebrate the victories and what’s working, focus on your growth and keep moving. –John Mosley
CH2: The Power of Hello
When running a successful business, we sometimes become so wrapped up in beefing up our technical skillset that we forget the importance of our soft skills.
Paula and John remind hair stylists, barbers and others how important a simple “Hello!” is, and how far creating a warm, personable environment can take your business. In the end, elevating the customer experience relies as much on interaction & shared humanity as it does on providing top-tier service.
Regardless of whether you’re in the beauty, wellness or fitness businesses, we are all in the business of people. –Paula Peralta
CH3: Crafting Your Team
When building a team, it’s easy for the blinders to go up. We think solely about the "empire” we want to build, but what about our vision & goals?
Paula and John share how to go beyond simple onboarding to being mentors to new employees to get the best out of them. They share how they help new employees clarify their vision, and then, most importantly, help them align their goals with it.
Those new to the game must learn to make financial and professional decisions that bring them closer to short- and long-term goals, not farther away from them.
It’s important for them to have a circle of friends and influencers who can tell them the truth of their situation—and make it comfortable enough for them to hear it. –John Mosley
CH4: The Sacrifice Season & Taking Breaks
It’s hard not to be on social media and notice how much farther along another person—or their business—is than us. It makes us think we must double our pace, or at least keep pace with them.
Rather than comparing ourselves to others, Paula and John insist we must make our own benchmarks. We must look at ourselves in the mirror, ask where we want to go and state how we plan to get there.
They describe the importance of our “Sacrifice Season” in reaching our early goals, learning how to run a business and learning a lot about ourselves. However, we must not forget to come up for air now and again and resist the temptation to fast-track our success at the expense of our wellbeing.
Don’t love the end result more than the process, because it's during the process that you’re learning. –John Mosley
CH5: Set Up Your Systems
Would you consider yourself to be “bad at business,” or “good at business”? What does this mean, exactly? Paula draws on experiences from earlier in her career that taught her that being “good at business” often simply means having the right systems in place that can support the business you’re trying to build.
Paula and John know that to enjoy all the space we need to be creative, to build our brands and engage in the professions that we love, we must first embrace technology as a partner in our endeavors.
Paula illustrates this point by describing her earliest experiences with the Vagaro software, particularly using Forms as her first touchpoint with a new client. It enables her to prepare the kind of environment her clients are most comfortable in.
That, for me, was such a gamechanger in reducing a lot of anxiety, that, even after all these years, I still get sometimes. –Paula Peralta
Paula and John’s extra credit course continues where Paula’s previous class, Creating Your Financial Reality, leaves off and is an excellent companion piece to the other Vagaro Master Classes. Check out this and others in the Vagaro Master Class series lineup! With the right knowledge and mindset, all you need are the proper tools at your disposal. From unmatched booking & scheduling to credit card processing, marketing features and payroll management, Vagaro has everything you need to run a profitable business and help you fulfill your goals. Sign up for your FREE 30-day trial to see for yourself!