[322] For Wafaya Abdallah, owner of Oasis Curl Salon (@curlyoasis), real growth happens when we let go of control, release the need for perfection, and create a safe space for others to rise.

In this episode, we explore the salon as a space for transformation and how her journey into energy medicine, holistic beauty, and cultivating trust has shaped her approach to leadership. Now dedicated to integrative education and developing a curriculum that blends the art of curly and texture hairdressing, the science of natural hair care, and the power of energy healing, she is driven by a desire to ensure hairstylists are equipped not just with technical skills but with the tools to uplift and empower themselves and others.

Connect with Wafaya Abdallah on Instagram @yinrizingofficial or by email

Listen to her podcast, The Curl Code (in process of rebranding): https://podcast.ausha.co/curl-code

Secure your Salon Owners Summit tickets here: https://www.salonownersummit.com/tickets

Want to share your love or gratitude for the industry on PhorestFM's Season 9 finale? Fill out this form before November 30, 2025!

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Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[321] Every now and again, there’s an episode that asks us to slow down, sit with what’s real, and see what it has to teach us. This is one of those episodes. Becoming who we are — as people, friends, as community and team members, leaders — is a lifelong, multifaceted journey. Growth is tender, vulnerable, messy, and profoundly human.

Ten years into salon ownership, the founder, owner, and artistic director of Stylists at North in Alexandria, Virginia, Luis Miguel Bujia, shares:

Connect with Luis Miguel Bujia on Instagram: @stylistsatnorth

Secure your Salon Owners Summit tickets here: https://www.salonownersummit.com/tickets

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[320] When approached with intention, leaning into happiness can become a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. In this episode, Heather Bagby (@heatherbagby on Instagram) — the visionary behind the Summit Salon Business Centre’s Happiness Project and the recently announced keynote speaker for the Salon Owners Summit 2026 — reframes happiness as hard work with high rewards.

Known to inspire audiences and organizations to embrace the journey toward a more joyful and successful workplace, Heather joins the PhorestFM podcast for a conversation blending personal stories, actionable strategies, and bold ideas that connect happiness with leadership, resilience and personal growth.

Find out more about the Summit Salon Business Centre here: https://www.summitsalon.com

Secure your Salon Owners Summit tickets here: https://www.salonownersummit.com/tickets

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

Get a glimpse of the energy and people at the 18th Annual Aesthetic Extender Symposium in Boca Raton, Florida! Hosted by Shauna O'Halloran (Head of Brand & Communications at Phorest), this short episode has it all: her on-the-ground observations, short clips from some of the conference’s live education, a conversation with Dr. George Baxter-Holder (VP of Talent Development at Skin Spirit) and some vox pops!

You can learn more about the Aesthetic Extender Symposium here, and about Skin Spirit here. Follow Dr. George Baxter-Holder, DNP, MBA, APRN, CANS on Instagram here.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[319] If you’ve ever sat down for a chat with Dave Evans and Debbie Halls-Evans, founders of and. coaching (@andcoachme), you know you’re in for a bold and disarmingly honest one. High off a year so far defined by intentionality, bravery, and play, Dave and Debbie share:

Deeply practical, rich with anecdotes and offering 10 powerful language reframes, this conversation is an essential no-BS starter toolkit for any salon owner or leader looking to reimagine how they show up for themselves, their businesses, their teams, and their clients.

Find out more about and. coaching here: https://www.andcoachme.com/

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[318] At Phorest, we know that the magic happens when you get the team right. Clients feel it. Reviews show it. Your bottom line reflects it. Building a strong team is an advantage, but great teams don’t just “happen.”

In this unearthed conversation from late 2023, Stefanie Fox (@stef_fox), Founder of Talent Match and Matchable, shares timeless leadership insights, why recruitment can’t be treated as a quick fix, and why lasting teams aren’t discovered by chance, but intentionally built through trust, purpose, and process.

From her philosophy of leadership as an oath to the data-backed insights of the Beauty Workforce Survey, Stefanie challenges salon owners to rethink leadership, recruitment, culture, and retention.

Learn more about Talent Match, and discover The Matchable™ Salon Owner Hub, here.

Read "How to Build a Salon Culture Stylists Want to Stay For" by Stefanie Fox

Read "Building a Salon, Spa, or Clinic Team That Performs Better and Stays Longer" by Steph Fernandez

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[317] It’s one thing to say your business stands for something, and it’s another to prove it. Certified B Corporations around the world are doing just that.

Featuring Anne Butterly, Founder of Easydry, along with Kelly Swann, the driving force behind Denver’s Let Em Have It Salon — both Certified B Corps—  this episode shines a light on the systems, leadership, and values behind their purpose-led businesses and traces their journey from values to action, and from action to measurable change.

Co-hosted in partnership with Daniel Johnson, Founder and Executive Director of The Green Beauty Community. Download the FREE Pivot Point x Green Beauty Community Guidebook here.

Follow Daniel Johnson, Anne Butterly and Kelly Swann on Instagram: @greenbeautycommunityfoundation, @loveeasydry, @lehisalon

To take the B Impact Assessment, click here.

To learn more about BLab's Theory of Change, click here.

To learn more about the Berkana Institute's Two Loops Model of Change, click here.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[316] CPA and co-founder of Morem & Waller CPAs, med spa co-owner, and now steward of Austin, Minnesota’s 87-year-old beloved Tendermaid burger joint, Betsy Morem (@heavenstobetsss) wears many hats. And her unique ability to balance big-picture strategy with daily operational insight makes her a trusted advisor to fellow entrepreneurs.

In this episode, Betsy joins Alex and Joe DiFalco, Senior Partnerships Manager at Phorest, for a candid conversation driven by stories about what it means to run community-rooted businesses, lead with care, serve with integrity, and how success can also be about the culture we create, the lives we touch along the way. Insightful, humble, and full of timeless lessons —like why the little things often leave the most significant mark— the conversation also covers rich, practical ground, including:

🤯 Key differences between salon and medspa models, from regulations to team dynamics

💡 Tips for salon owners looking to thoughtfully add medspa services

🫂 How to honour a business’s legacy while making space for new

🌱 The importance and power local businesses hold in their communities

To find out more about The MOD Medspa, click here.

To learn more about the Tendermaid, click here.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[315] When David Popham first opened his salon in 1981, he didn't set out to build a legacy business. And Shirley certainly didn’t set out to work in or manage a salon—she grew up intimidated by them.

In this episode, Shirley and David Popham of Popham Hairdressing (@popham.salons) reflect on decades of hair and life stories. Stories of long, imperfect journeys, humble and unlikely beginnings, chance encounters, love, bold decisions, closing chapters, starting over and everything in between.

Most of this year’s PhorestFM conversations and stories have, in one way or another, connected to leadership, and in that way, this episode is no different. But here, leadership isn’t loud or perfect. It’s people-centered, creative, humble, built by curiosity and carried by integrity.

To find out more about Popham Hairdressing, click here.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.

[314] In Part 2 of this conversation, co-hosted by Luke Doolin (UKI Managing Director at Phorest), we pick up where we left off with Sarah Abel — CEO of TNB Skills Training (@tnbskillstraining) and proudly known in the industry as the Funding Godmother.

The topic of mindset as a strategic tool for growth remains a constant throughout, but in this episode, we spend more time exploring how salon owners can access funding, develop their teams, and build businesses that aren’t just bigger, but stronger and more resilient in the face of change.

We get into:

💷 The importance of having a strong brand positioning

To learn more about Sarah and TNB Skills Training, click here. To watch her podcast interview on Susan Routledge's podcast Beauty Business Matters, click here, and to order her book The Power of Funding, click here. You can also find Sarah on Instagram @sarahabelfundinggodmother @sarahhairbeautyfunding.

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts!

Click here to subscribe to the PhorestFM email newsletter or here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments.