theREFINEnetwork Podcast

All right.

We are coming to you from Arizona,
which doesn't matter to you.

It doesn't matter where we are,
but I say we, because I have my

beautiful wife, Aaron with us,
but we only have one microphone

because we brought a bad mic cable.

So we're going to do
this with one microphone.

Stay tuned.

We're going to talk about.

2023 and things that we learned
in business, you're listening

to touch the line podcast.

My name is Evan silver.

And here we focused on leadership,
culture, and building a team.

This podcast was created to serve
you so you can serve others.

All right.

My voice sounds a little rough
because we are at an event.

And I've been talking and I've had
like this head cold for weeks now.

But Aaron, welcome to touch the line.

You've been here many times.

So welcome back.

Thank you for having me, Evan.

All right, let's get to it.

Let's let's don't bore us.

Get to the chorus.

That's what we say when we are in a band.

Like don't bore us.

Let's get to the chorus.

So 2023, talk to us about 2023.

What was like the overarching
thing for you in the business wise?

Man, that is a loaded question, . Well,
I guess when I think about 2023,

I think that is the year that I.

stepped away from behind the chair.

That is the year that we spent,
I don't know, eight months

building our new location.

That is the year that I
went back behind the chair.

And that is the year that I got certified
in extensions along with two others.

We started a skincare department.

We have three certified
hand tied extension artists.

And I don't know, we got really
clear on our vision this year.

So you stepped away from behind the
chair, which you did a lot of research.

And I had a lot of salon owners reach
out and say, Hey, how did you do it?

So talk about you stepping out
from behind the chair and you

stepping back behind the chair.

We read a book called profit
first by Mike McCallowix and.

He really just helped us clarify
how we did and ran our cash flow.

And so what I saw and what I found out
was that I was able to step away behind

from behind the chair and not depend
on my income from behind the chair.

So we did that for 18 months, proved
that it was true, and so that's what

I did, and I was out from behind the
chair from January to , end of June

.
I mean, that's just kind of long
story short, and now I'm back,

and I'm, I'm ready to party.

What got you back behind
the chair in June?

You just lose a passion.

I'm like, I don't know anything.

I mean, I know, I'm know these answers.

I'm just giving the people what they want.

Well, we had a very eventful summer
and we had three of our service

providers leave our company.

It kind of forced me back behind the
chair and I originally had thought that

I was going to just do it temporarily
just for the transition and whoever

wanted to stay could stay and just
really keep that, I don't know, I guess

that process pretty seamless for them.

As I was behind the chair,
I've really enjoyed it.

When I look back on that season.

Of not being behind the chair.

I definitely was like, okay, I
definitely was not as present because

we were building our new space.

And I definitely I'm appreciative
of that for sure because I

definitely, I mean, would you agree?

Like, we, we kind of needed that
freedom to design our space and

To be available for our contractor
and to make decisions on the fly.

I mean, that was pretty
important and that was one of

the reasons I stepped away, but.

Once we were in our building, that
wasn't a factor anymore, you know?

Yeah.

So give you a little update.

Aaron stepped away from behind the chair.

It was a great timing because she was
doing all the detailed, like this is

right when we started breaking ground.

So like the walls went up and she's
over there chain, you know, like, Hey,

we need to do this and X, Y, and Z.

And you went back behind the
chair, really, when we started

finishing on the backside of it.

So I was there for the last, what, two
or three months just making sure that

all the stuff's getting done, even
though I'm not a handyman, it's not

like I'm doing a lot, but we did have
a lot of Ikea cabinets, which fun fact,

Ikea sent us double of everything.

So we put Ikea cabinets all in our salon.

Mainly because we didn't want to
get color on my really nice cabinet.

So I will say these are pretty nice.

I mean, for Ikea, but anyway,
they sent us double of everything.

Like we ordered a microwave.

They sent us two microwaves.

They sent us two of everything.

It was over what 1400 boxes when
they're like 1400 pieces, whatnot.

You know, Ikea said.

Yeah, just keep it.

And I'm like, I don't want to keep this.

A lot of stuff.

So that was mainly what
I did for three months.

But when you came back behind the
chair, I feel like you came in

with a renewed passion of , you
weren't chained behind the chair.

You're like, you know what?

I can do this too.

This is just me talking to do what
I love to do what I'm created to do.

And I can use this to lead the way for
our staff and kind of use it as influence.

And now you're getting into extensions.

And can I talk about when you were
going through your extension training?

So my wife is awesome and Brenna and
Jordan and our company, they've been

there forever, over 10 years and they are
going through it and they were like, they.

Did the recording sitting in
like, Hey, this, cause it says

it was a trademark exclusive way
to do it through Harper Ellis.

Great company.

Check them out.

Tell them that Aaron and Evan sent
you and Aaron failed the first

time and they're like, do it again.

And so hang.

Well, this is okay.

Well, let me just clarify.

We had through our salon, we had
an application process with our

team and whoever wanted to maybe
get certified through Harper Ellis.

They just had to apply
and then we would choose.

Well, we ended up having Brennan Jordan.

They.

Went through the whole process.

We're like, let's go for it.

So, this is where Evan's talking.

When we do this Harper Ellis training, you
have to record, well, you don't record,

you actually just snap photos of all the
processes and then they approve you and

so this is where we failed multiple times
and had to do it over and over again.

But it was truly for our benefit
to really perfect the process.

So now you can after, after our third
failed attempt, you can pick up from,

well, I just, I just told her, I
said, look, Aaron, you haven't been

pushed like this in a very long time.

And when's the last time
you've done something?

And it was like, Nope, that's not it.

I was like, this is actually really good.

You're uncomfortable and you're growing.

So Harper Ellis is great.

I don't even know where I was going
with that story, but I thought

it was something really good.

So if you're in the middle of
something or you're scared to do

something, go freaking do it, study it.

Research it, get wise council,
and then go attack that.

In 2023, what strategies did we implement
to enhance the customer satisfaction and

loyalty, because something big happened
in August, which definitely enhanced the.

Guest loyalty.

Well, we opened up our new location and
we went from 1280 square feet to a little

over 3000, and we were able, like in our,
our, first location, it was one big room,

no waiting area, a tiny, tiny retail area.

We had, I mean, we were just on
top of each other, just bumping

honeys in the back, eating lunch
right next to where someone was

mixing up color and it was, it was.

very tight.

And so when we moved into our new
location, we now have a waiting area.

We now have a color bar that is solely
for color and not for your lunch.

You're not smelling a Lean Cuisine
Santa Fe chicken dish cooking and

also getting your color applied.

We also implemented or we
created a treatment room,

which is our, our shampoo room.

So it's fully insulated,
different music, different

sound, , different temp, everything.

So we definitely feel like those
things enhance the experience.

In addition to having just
a new, brighter, lighter

experience , for the guests.

But as far as the people
go, the people the.

The experience that our people give to
the guests, our front desk, our stylists.

Everything.

That was still just pure magic.

That's always been magic, right?

I mean, wouldn't you say?

Yeah people make the difference.

Like, you can go out and you
can purchase the nicest salon

chairs, which nobody cares about.

And they look nice, but
Well, we care about them.

Stylists care about them.

Yeah, I'm not saying go get
cheap stuff, but I've heard some

ridiculous pricing on salon chairs.

If you can afford it, go do it.

Go do you.

But you can go buy the nicest of
the nicest of the nicest stuff

and it's not going to move your
company as far as you want it to.

Wouldn't you agree that culture
is is a like the people are

what makes the difference.

In our, in our last Salon,
it was pretty basic.

We had Ikea mirrors, we had chairs
that we had for over a decade.

It wasn't anything fancy.

And now we go into this new building
and it definitely, I feel like

matches the experience we've been
giving because now, you know, people

walk in, they're like, oh my gosh.

But listen, This is one thing that
I want to let you know, you're

probably listening to this right now.

It's like, well, it must be
nice to, to have a new building.

First off, we got a lot of debt.

So don't think that they're like,
we're just like rolling in it.

But another thing is bloom where you're
planted, wherever you are, do that.

Really, really well.

A building is not going to
solve all your problems.

They might solve some of your
problems, but guess what?

When you move into a new building
and into a new place, you're going

to have a whole new set of problems.

Well, what's so interesting was
that we had all of this anticipation

leading up to our new building.

And we're like, Oh, this is so exciting.

And we had one of the most, the
craziest thing happened last summer

where we had staff leave, so a
new building, he's right, I mean.

It doesn't solve all your
problems, you know what I mean?

It's it's not this like magic
thing that everybody is so

excited about Not everybody's
excited about it, you know Yep.

Let's let's move on from the building
because If a salon owners listen to

this, we're like, Oh yeah, building
that solve all your problems.

There, there's a lot of things like
we changed out our coffee machine.

We used to have a was a Keurig, a Keurig.

My wife corrects me all the time.

We upgraded to a Tara cafe.

And now we do Americanos, we
do lattes, we do cappuccinos

that heightens the experience.

So when someone comes into your salon
and they're paying a premium price, the

environment and the way they're treated
needs to match that because they, they're

probably going to say, you guys are
expensive, but they're going to say,

they're going to tell their friends, Hey,
they're, they're more expensive, but.

and the experience is where it's at.

So you gotta go try that out.

What are some other things that
we did in 2023 looking back?

Well, I think about the self development
that I think we both kind of dived

into last year I mean, I thought about
well, I, I didn't think about it.

I met with a coach about just
looking at our finances differently

and she really challenged me to
look at it at a per hour basis.

So we really restructured how we looked
at our revenue and I've, I think in

our old place, we'd already, we'd,
we'd always use more of like a price.

or revenue per square foot.

And this coach, she really challenged
me to look at it from an hourly

rate versus a square footage rate.

So I just thought that
was really interesting.

And looking at like your breakeven
point based on all your expenses

throughout the year, how much do you
need to make per hour to break even?

How much do you need to profit?

All of those things.

So I definitely feel like from a business
owner side, that was definitely something.

That we really shifted, I mean, what,
what did you, well, the first thing I

thought about if you don't have someone
that I would call like an expert that

knows the industry, looking at your
business, like you are missing out

because when you're inside of those
four walls, that's all, you know.

Like when I worked at the church,
like the church told us like,

Hey, go visit other churches.

Cause you know what
you're going to find out?

You're going to find out that the
church that I worked at, we did some

things really well, but then there's
a lot of things that we're like, wait,

they're doing something different.

That's better.

You know, in church world, typically
they're there to help you and help

be like, yeah, we can implement this.

So same thing in the salon industry.

Like you need to get out to.

To workshops and look into
coaches , , I'm not saying I'm not

trying to plug myself, but I'm like,
get into someone who's reputable and

knows what they're talking about.

Well I totally agree with you.

Like basically get yourself
around people that are one, two,

three steps ahead, even further.

I mean, we're at a conference right
now surrounding ourselves with people

that are not even in our industry.

You know, it's just trying to develop a
community of people that are doing things.

I mean, every business is the
same, essentially, you know,

like we all have to make money.

We all have revenue.

We all have a P and L, like all
the things we all have, you know,

hiring issues and all the things.

And so just getting yourself in, in rooms
with like minded individuals when you were

talking, I was like, man, we thought like,
that was one thing I think that we really.

Strive to do last year.

And maybe we had that extra push to do,
but creating our salon owner meetup,

that was a, that was a huge thing.

So just developing that community.

We had our first meeting, I want to say in
like July and we had like three or four.

Salons.

I don't think you were at that first one.

You might've had a coaching call.

Well, tell people what
you're talking about.

Salon owner, meet up, go in a little bit.

Cause I've heard people say,
well, Oh, I want to start that.

How do you start that?

So, well, I was, so I.

Was inspired.

There's another salon owner in
Greenville that she did a stylist meetup

.
And I was just inspired by
that, but I wanted to do it

more on the salon owner side.

And it really kind of pushed
me out of my comfort zone.

After last summer, it really was
like, okay, I need a community.

And if I need a community, then certainly
other salon owners need a community of.

Salon owners to kind of bounce
ideas off of and that's really where

it was it was born So we created
that we had three salon owners.

We meet for coffee for one hour every
quarter and And it's truly just a

moment to like share ideas kind of
network with other salon owners and

just get to know each other and find
out what people are doing and We're

sharing ideas, they're sharing ideas.

There's just one salon in
Clemson Tiger Lily Salon.

They do a brand shoot every
quarter and I'm like, that

is an amazing, amazing idea.

So it's those kind of events that really
help to elevate everyone as a whole

because hopefully, like, Maybe one thing
that we do, somebody can take away.

And then one thing somebody else does, we
get to be like, Oh, that's a great idea.

We're totally doing that.

And so we just meet quarterly.

We had our second meeting in November.

We've got our next one in February.

I definitely think that was something
that was born out of 2023 for sure.

Yeah, and it's just so great just
to be around other people that are

like minded and then you realize
you all have like the same problem.

Like you all have the same issues and
going back to what you're talking about

at the beginning, hanging out with
people that a, you want to be around

and being around successful people.

right now we're at this event and
there's a guy in the room that I

know this because the guy on stage
said it, he does 125 million.

a year, a small business doing a hundred.

This is not a salon.

So don't be hitting me up on Instagram.

Like what in the world .....if they were
a salon owner, I'd be I'd probably go

live with them for a couple of years.

Be like, what are you doing?

Get yourself around successful people.

And that's what.

That's really kind of our focus for
2024 I want to get to the end of 20

cause we almost didn't come on this trip
and because we got two small children.

We were just like, let's just do it
because we don't want to look back

at 2024 at the end of it and be like.

We should have taken that opportunity.

If we don't grow in 2024, I
want to look at the end of 2024

and be like, you know what?

We freaking gave it our all.

And I know that's not gonna, I
know that's not gonna happen.

We're gonna have growth.

But yeah, get yourself around successful
people, nice, humble, successful people.

Cause I think a lot of people have this
picture of successful people are like.

arrogant and like snooty people,
but they're not all like that.

one other thing too, that I thought
about was we bought the Jesse

Itzler and his big ass calendar.

And I just thinking about 2024 and like
what we want to do, we want to take.

Advantage of every educational
opportunity that we have.

And a lot of times we do kind of
get in our head and we're like, Oh,

maybe we shouldn't do that event,
or maybe we shouldn't do this event.

Because we're going to be
gone away from our kids.

I mean, I'm very guilty of that.

I'm like 100 percent mom guilt.

I just got a text from my mom
and she's like, you know, your

daughter's expecting a call.

Let me know.

And I'm like, I know.

I'm like, we're in this conference.

I'll call in 30 minutes.

We got the big ass calendar and it's
this three foot by four foot calendar.

And it's your entire year.

And Evan and I, we sat
down on New Year's Day.

And we may have had a glass of wine.

I can't remember, but we planned
out our entire year and most

of us would say we are so busy.

Am I right?

Yes.

We would all say we're so busy
and then we put everything on our

calendar that we could think of as
far as, you know, big events and

like the Lanza event, the big event.

We put this trip on there.

We put you know, we're doing a
Harper Ellis training next weekend.

We put our family vacation.

And when you see it all from a yearly
standpoint, you're not that busy.

You sure aren't.

And so we just have so much room
and so much opportunity in 2024

and I'm ready to freaking kill it.

Yeah, the calendar was, the whole
premise of the calendar is work's

going to fill in your schedule.

Like work's going to come,
it's not going to stop.

But there, your personal life, our
personal life, you know, sometimes we're

like, Oh, we should have done that trip.

We should have done that.

So I asked the kids, I said, Hey.

I want to do a one on one
trip with each one of you.

What, what did, what did our daughter say?

She said she wanted to go to,
Oh, she wanted to go to the

big air, the trampoline park.

And I'm like, well, I was
thinking something like overnight,

like a little bit nicer.

So she wants to go camping.

So we put it on the calendar.

My son, we're doing the
overnight fishing trip, camping.

I'm not a camper, so
I've got a lot to learn.

And let's just preface this.

This is a.

A father, daughter, and
then a father, son trip.

I will not be going camping.

Yeah, you'll be enjoying your best life.

So we're going to wrap this up.

2023 was a blast.

We had some highs.

We had some lows 2024.

We are coming in hot.

We're ready to help our
team hit their goals.

That's one thing that we're
shifting our focus on is getting

our team to hit their goals.

Cause if our team hits their, like
their personal financial goals

and you know, things like that,
then everything will fall in line.

But I will say this the first time
I'm marketing this, we're doing a

salon leaders retreat next year.

We're doing.

This year.

It's 2024.

What did I say?

Next year.

Okay.

We're not editing that out.

Slon leaders retreat in 2024.

We'll be doing it later this year.

If you are in, you need to go on Instagram
or you can email me at evansilver.

co.

This is a retreat.

This is where we're going to, we're
going to max it out at 20 people.

And we are all going to be,
there's great minds out there.

I work with you guys.

Like I work with salon owners.

You're brilliant.

So what we're going to do is
we're all going to come together

and there's going to be teaching.

There's going to be presentations, but
most of all it's going to be networking

and community and doing a round table.

So, you know, when we talk about hiring,
we're going to go around the table

and hear other people's processes, and
we're all going to learn from this.

So it's very unique.

I'm very excited about it.

This is what.

the industry needs right now.

We have huge conferences, but
having something small and

intimate and building in community.

I'm very excited about one thing I'm
most excited about and that salon leader

retreat is the education that we're going
to be providing around how to educate

your team on different pay structures
and the lifestyle around rental versus.

Commission based that right now
is just a hot topic, especially if

you are in a heavy rental or heavy
commission area, it's just good so

that you can educate your team on it.

That's huge.

And then the artist Academy or how to
work with an associate or an assistant.

That's going to be like
just killer knowledge.

Yeah.

I'm talking about leadership, culture,
hiring, firing, holding people

accountable to the core values.

We're going to have it all.

So if you're interested
in that, let me know.

But we are we're, I'm, I'm, I'm
bringing some podcasts in 2024, 2023.

Fell by the wayside, but I've got
on my calendar, do some podcasts.

Thank you guys for listening.

I love getting texts from you guys or
DM saying, Hey, let's do the podcast.

I actually got one today and I
haven't put out a podcast in months.

So it really, I was just like,
well, that's really in line because

I'm about to record one today.

Hey, love you guys.

If you ever need anything, evansilver.

co.

You can email me at that address or you
can find me on Instagram there, but we

hope that You are starting 2024 off.

Great.

Aaron, thank you for being on the podcast.

Thank you.

Thank you for listening
to touch the line podcast.

Connect with me on social media and
my website by searching Evan silver.

co.

That's Evan silver.

co.

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