I've taken two maternity leaves, recovered from shingles, herniated two discs in my neck, and navigated extended time away for grief. None of those were things I saw coming except for one, and the difference between the leaves I was prepared for and the ones I wasn't was everything.

This is one of the most requested topics I get from stylists and salon owners, and today I'm finally bringing it to the podcast. Whether you're planning a maternity leave, staring down a medical situation, or just a human being who could face an unexpected leave at any point, the systems and strategies I'm sharing in this episode are what's going to protect your clientele and your income when life happens.

A 15% client loss during a leave is normal. Anything more than that is a systems problem, and that's exactly what we're solving today!

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/thriver! #squarepod #sponsored

All the episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

There is so much chatter in our industry about Gen Z stylists being lazy, unmotivated, and difficult to manage, and I've talked about this before on the podcast. I wanted to get to the actual root of that conversation though, so I did something I've never done before. I put out a survey exclusively to Gen Z stylists, screened every single respondent to make sure the data was real, and got over 300 responses back!

What came back completely surprised me in the best way. The stereotypes don't hold up. And more importantly, what this generation actually wants from a salon is not what most owners think it is.

In this episode I'm sharing everything: what they look for when choosing a salon, what would make them stay for ten or more years, how they feel about compensation, what their ideal schedule actually looks like, and some direct quotes that every salon owner needs to hear. If you want to attract and keep the next generation of stylists, this is one episode you can't afford to skip.

Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/thriver! #squarepod #sponsored

All the episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

I've spent a good chunk of 2026 on the road, and between filming After the Last Client, attending speaking engagements, and sitting across from some of the most successful stylists and salon owners in this industry, I started noticing something. There's a common thread running through every single one of these people and it has nothing to do with double booking or raising prices!

In this episode, I'm sharing the patterns I observed from the most successful stylists and salon owners I've been around this year: the ones living balanced, wealthy, family-first lives that most people in this industry don't even know exist.

If something feels off in your business and you can't put your finger on what it is, this one might be exactly what you need to hear.

The first eight episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

This one is a little different, and honestly, it's been a long time coming. Every time we post that we're looking for new coaches, the questions flood in: What does the hiring process look like? What are you actually looking for? How do you even become a Thrivers Society coach?

So today I'm sharing all of it. I'm going through how our coaching model has evolved over the years, the mistakes I made early on, why we moved away from contractors entirely, and what the hiring and training process looks like now.

If you've ever thought about applying, or you're just someone who loves a good behind-the-scenes look at how we run things, this one is going to give you a real, honest picture of what it takes and what to expect!

The first six episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

No frameworks, no metrics, no strategies today. This one is heart to heart.

If you're a salon owner who's exhausted, who feels like every decision backfires, who has given everything to this business and genuinely has nothing left, I want you to hear this. What you're feeling is real. The last five years have been brutal and I'm not going to minimize that for a second. I've been there too, in ways that might surprise you.

But here's what I need you to understand. What you're experiencing is not a capacity problem. It's a clarity problem. And those are two very different things. One means you're broken. The other means you're blindfolded. You are not broken.

In this episode, I'm getting honest about what's really behind the exhaustion so many salon owners are carrying right now, why the industry is in the state it's in, and what it actually takes to get back to feeling inspired, confident, and like a leader your team wants to follow.

The first six episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

Something interesting keeps coming up when I talk to salon owners about hiring. Half of them are telling me the quality of applicants has dropped, people aren't as driven, and it's harder than it's ever been to find great new talent. The other half are saying they can barely keep up with the volume of incredible applicants coming through their doors.

The only conclusion I can draw from hearing both sides of that story is that assistants have gotten pickier about where they'll go. And honestly, good for them! Because if you want to attract the most driven, talented new stylists in your market, your program has to give them a reason to choose you over everyone else.

In this episode, I'm breaking down what a modern, motivating assistant training program actually looks like, what's missing from most of the programs I see salons running today, and how to build something so irresistible that your best people never want to leave.

The first six episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

This episode is different from anything I've shared on salon marketing before, and that's intentional. The foundation of what I'm about to share isn't based on gut feelings or personal opinion. I analyzed the social media activity of salons I know for a fact are scaling financially, growing their teams effortlessly, and turning real profit margins. And then I looked at the salons where the following is big but the revenue isn't moving. The contrast is striking.

For the first time on this podcast, I'm speaking directly to salon owners about marketing, not just stylists. Because the strategy looks completely different when you're building a team, filling multiple chairs, and trying to attract the caliber of stylist who actually moves the needle. What's working in 2026 is not what worked three years ago, and the salons that haven't caught up yet are feeling it.

If you want to know what the fastest growing salons are actually doing on social media right now, this episode is your blueprint!

The first four episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

Last week we talked about why the systems still running most employee-based salons today are quietly failing, and how that failure is landing on owners as a people problem when it's really a structure problem. This week, we're getting into the actual framework.

The four levers I'm covering in this episode are the same ones I use when I walk into a salon, pull back the curtain, and start rebuilding from the ground up!

So, if you've been wondering what it actually looks like to run your salon like a real business, this episode is a great place to start.

The first four episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

A few weeks ago, my team posted something on Instagram that we could not have predicted would take off the way it did. The graphic said uncapped commissions will be the salon standard within three years, and the response was unlike anything we've seen. 260 shares, 461 comments, hundreds of DMs and emails from salon owners who were equal parts excited and scared.

So we made this bonus episode to answer your questions directly! This week you're not just hearing from me. You're hearing audio clips from real Thriving Leadership members who have implemented our profit priority compensation method and are sharing exactly what it's looked like for their businesses. You're also getting a clip from our bootcamp that breaks down the logic behind why we built this method in the first place.

If you still have questions after the uncapped commissions episode from a few weeks back, this one is going to fill in a lot of gaps.

The first four episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/podcast/

Picture two stylists. One is a money machine, hitting every metric, booked solid, making multiple 6-figures. The other is producing 30% of that revenue but mentoring newer team members, showing up on time, taking great photos, and supporting the salon's culture in every way possible.

Now ask yourself honestly: who is your current system set up to reward?

If your salon's promotional path is built primarily around revenue-based KPIs, chances are stylist number one wins every time, no matter how much damage they're doing to your culture. And that model, which worked just fine 10 and 20 years ago, is collapsing fast right now. In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly why the traditional salon promotion structure is broken, the specific flaws in the old model that are quietly costing you your best people, and what we do differently in Thriving Leadership to fix it for good.

Ready to see exactly how this works for your salon? I'm hosting a free 3-day training starting July 13th where we dig into all of it. Head to www.thrivingstylist.com/nextlevelsalon to register. Spots are not held, so make sure you sign up before the 13th to get access!

The first four episodes of After The Last Client are now available! Head over to www.afterthelastclient.com/ to watch the episodes, binge the series, and nominate the guests you want to see featured next season.

The beauty industry is changing faster than ever. What worked in 2022 or even 2024 won't cut it in 2026, so are you ready? Grab our FREE 2026 TREND REPORT, The 2026 Must-Know Business Realities, Strategies & Trends for Stylists and Salon Owners now at https://thrivingstylist.com/mustknow/.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered in a future episode like this one? A great way to do that is to head over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating and review with your question. I'm looking forward to answering your question on a future episode on the podcast!

If you're not already following us, @thethrivingstylist, what are you waiting for? This is where I share pro tips every single week, along with winning strategies, testimonials, and amazing breakthroughs from my audience. You're not going to want to miss out on this.

Learn more at: https://thrivingstylist.com/