If you're a newbie or baby stylist or a salon owner looking to grow and retain new stylists, this episode is for you. 

Guest Lisa Giles is a  digital creator and educator who specialiizes in working with stylists brand new to the industry, or as she likes to call them "guppies." She runs the education and mentoring platform Straight Out of Cosmo, where she teaches classes including "Make Box Color Your Bitch" and "The Bull Sh*t Behind the Business." She's a hair stylist and a Paul Mitchell Pro partner, based in Orange County, California. 

In this episode, Lisa and Blake cover:

• Understanding market rates and charging a rate that's fair to yourself, even when you're new
• Creating customized incentives for new stylists, especially for retail sales
• Building a clientelle through guest education
• Goal and budget-setting 
• Skills not always taught in cosmetology school, like client experience and working with box-dyed hair 

And more.

Follow Lisa Giles on Instagram @LifeofLisaG.

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

Fashion, commercials, wig-making, on set: there’s a whole world of work out there beyond the salon. But in show business, success rarely comes overnight. Kauilani Goodwyn is a Mizani artist and educator, and co-founder of the Texpert Collective and the Global Artistry council. After working with hair for over sixteen years, she’s recently become a stylist for TV and film and a member of the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild. In this episode, Kauilani dishes out advice for hairstylists looking to break into entertainment, including how to network, and the importance of assisting and education along the way. 

Follow Kauilani Goodwyn on IG: @kauigoodwyn.

This episode was originally published in October 2022. 

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

Do you have clients who are sensitive to the chemicals used in salon products? Do you want to make your salon more sustainable and reduce waste? It can be daunting to know where to start when it comes to vetting products that claim to be "cleaner," or moving on from tried and true favorites. That's where Sophia James can help. Sophia James is an independent stylist specializing in vivids and razor cuts, and a green beauty educator (Green Artist) with the Green Beauty Community Foundation, based in Dallas Texas and Denver, Colorado. 

In this episode, you'll learn how to get started with brands, packaging, recycling, working with sensitive clients, and more. Your salon can go green without sacrificing beauty. 

Follow Sophia James on Instagram @indiehavenstudio

Learn more about salon recycling with Terracycle. 

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

Guest Siobhan McCaffrey is Strategic Partnership Development Manager at salon tech powerhouse Phorest. A former salon owner, Siobhan understands all the classic salon pain points AND the latest tech innovations to help keep your salon running on schedule and in the black. Even if you know Phorest, you might be surprised at all their software can do, including integrations with Facebook and Instagram, and a suite of customizable booking features, and more. Listen for insights on:

• Customizing social media marketing to perspective clients, current clients, and "lost" clients who haven't booked in a while
• Customizing booking to client's unique needs
• How to make your cancellation policies crystal clear
• When and how much to charge for a deposit
• Banning unwanted repeat customers 
• Phorest's integration with Vish for a seamless color experience from visit to visit 
• Digitizing salon retail 

Book a demo with Phorest

Follow Phorest on Instagram @phorestsalonsoftware

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

Jennifer J. Boutwell is the owner of Salon Sanity in Gretna, Louisiana, and a Summit consultant, trainer, and shareholder. A few years ago, the end of her third marriage and the sudden death of her sister forced Jennifer to shift her focus from her successful career to confronting trauma and abuse that began in childhood. 

Throughout the last three years, Jennifer has focused on the study of healing after abuse and trauma, drawing from her own experiences and professional journey to offer practical and emotional guidance. In her new book, I See You, A Guide to Finding Your Inner Strength, Confidence, and Voice after Trauma and Abuse, Jennifer shares her transformative journey of healing after molestation, grief, trauma, and abuse, focusing on self-love and acceptance. 

In this refreshingly honest and moving discussion, Jennifer J. Boutwell and host Blake Reed Evans discuss sensitive topics including child molestation and partner abuse. They cover:

• Self-compassion and self-alignment
• How to support friends and coworkers experiencing grief or trauma
• Breaking generational cycles of abuse and trauma
• Tools for healing and self-regulation (Not one size fits all!)
• Friendship and community in difficult times

And much more. 

Follow Jennifer J. Boutwell on Instagram @jenniferjboutwell.

Purchase the book on Amazon. 

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

If you are a listener to this podcast, it’s very likely that you went to cosmetology school. It’s also likely that those classes never added up to a degree. Right now, that is changing. L’Oreal has teamed up with Arizona’s Mesa Community College and Arizona State University to create The Lead Institute, a program where cosmetology school graduates can apply credits from beauty school towards an associates or bachelors degree.  

In this episode, host Blake Reed Evans and Sherilynn Smart talk about going back to school, not an easy endeavor for any busy professional. But, even with a full schedule, doing hair and working in education, Sherilynn is finding time to get a degree in less than one year.  From planning your schedule to getting a full scholarship, Sherilynn tells us how she did it, and how anyone who has been to cosmetology school can make this move for themselves.

This episode was originally published in January 2022. 

Reach out to Sherilynn Smart [email protected]

Follow her on Instagram @Sherilynn_Redken

The Lead website is: www.leadinstitute.degree.  

On Facebook it’s: Lead Rolfs Global Institute.  

And on Instagram it’s @leadrolfsglobalinstitute.

SUMM IT UP is produced by Andrea Muraskin, with editorial support from Tim Fisk. This episode was edited by Amy Walters.

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

As stylists, we want to be there for our clients, while also setting professional boundaries around our time. Online booking saves time and takes some of the emotion out of setting up hair appointments. But today's guest says combining tech with a human touch makes for the best customer experience, and makes business sense too. 

Guest Missy Megginson is Director of Sales and Business Development at Schedulicity, a booking, payment and marketing software for salons and spas. She's a former salon owner and has been behind the chair for 20 years, most recently out of her own suite north of West Palm Beach, Florida. 

IG: @schedulicity

Learn more: schedulicity.com/essentials

This episode was originally published in March 2024.

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

For Bil Neal, being a salon sales consultant isn't about pushing product. It's about building relationships and growing small businesses. Bil Neal is a salon business partner (SBC) with SalonCentric, a division of L'Oréal USA, working with Summit salons and other salon companies in southern Ohio.  Want to try out a new product without commiting? Call Bil. Want education for your stylists? Bil can set you up with an expert. Planning out your promotions for the year? Bil's your guy. And he's one of 400 SBCs working for SalonCentric across the United States who offer these services -- which often go underutilized in the industry.

Listen for a lively discussion with Bil and host Blake about all that, plus how to earn commissions on products beyond in-salon sales! 

Follow Bil on Instagram @bil.neal.

This episode was originally published in January 2024

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

Trish Vereze is a powerhouse. A specialist in color correction, she regularly travels between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu to do hair. And just five years into her career in the industry, Trish recently bought her first condo.

 In this episode, Trish and Blake discuss:

• How she got started as a travel stylist
• Her work ethic
• Why she's only had one re-do
• Her tricks of the trade when it comes to color correction

Whether you're interested in traveling for work or not, you're sure to learn something from Trish. 

Find Trish Vereze on Instagram and TikTok @hairbytrishv.

Curious about in traveling internationally for stylist education? Check our our episode with the Hair Nerds!

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry. 

The front desk team is essential to the success of any salon company. And yet customer service and retention are pain points for many salon companies. "No one should feel like they're 'just' a front desk person," says Summit salon coach and front desk trainer Rose Coitrone. And if trained, respected and incentivized appropriately, the front desk can be a sales powerhouse. 

 In this conversation, Rose and Blake get into:

• Why a front desk staff person should be able to "play a stylist" 
• Creating a bond between the front desk and stylists, and the front desk and guests
• Sales scripts that come across as authentic offerings 
• Research-based incentives that boost retention including yearly pay raises and time off 
• Expanding jobs of front desk staff with roles like social media and hospitality

Learn more about Rose and book a 30 minute discovery call. 

Follow her on IG @rosecoitrone.

Email her at [email protected]. 

Follow Summit Salon Business Center on Instagram @SummitSalon, and on TikTok at SummitSalon. 

SUMM IT UP  is now on YouTube! Watch extended cuts of our interviews at www.youtube.com/@summitunlocked

Find host Blake Reed Evans on Instagram @BlakeReedEvans and on TikTok at blakereedevans. His DM's are always open! You can email Blake at [email protected]. 

Visit us at SummitSalon.com  to connect with others in the industry.