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Episode 6 Summary:

On this episode of Hair Biz Radio Mikey and Zakiyrah speak with Jewels Jones, a natural hair expert with over eight years of experience in the hair industry. Jewels talk about all the information you need to know as a new stylist. Jewels is also a freelance writer for Private Label Extensions.

Show Notes:

• Be sure to go back to episode 5 to get details about the Hair Biz Radio giveaway.
• Jewels’ background:
  • She got her start senior year of college doing other students hair.
  • Graduated and immediately enrolled in beauty school.
  • Started working in the salon environment in 2010.
  • Fell in love with natural hair and now works with curl definition.
  • Her specialty is curl training.
  • Her brand is Embrace Me Naturally.
• Vegan products catered to natural hair.
• The difference between natural hair extension types
  • People think about 4C as a tight unmanageable hair type.
• People tend to do more weaves on this type of hair.
  • When it comes to textures and extensions, they need to find the kind that’s the most like their hair in its natural curly state.
  • 4C clip-ins are a good choice to add volume.
• Why clip-ins instead of a sew-in?
  • Because people with natural hair need to wash it more often and can take clip-ins out.
  • Clip-ins are a great way to take care of your hair and not forget about it.
• What is hair porosity?
  • The ability that your hair has to bring in water and then retain it.
  • If your hair doesn’t bring in water easily, you have low porosity. If your hair brings in water easily, you have high porosity hair.
  • One way to check your porosity is to spray hair with a water bottle. If the water sits on your hair, then you have low porosity.
• How to maintain healthy hair if you wear hair extensions?
  • The main thing is cleaning your hair, shampooing every two weeks.
  • Make sure your braids and scalp are dry after shampooing.
  • If you allow your braids to air dry over 8 hours or longer, bacteria can be introduced.
• Booth rent is not ideal when you’re starting off because you don’t know where your next money is coming from.
  • Jewels have always been a commission based stylest when working for someone else.
  • She began at an all Caucasian salon.
  • She learned a lot about cuts, coloring and customer service.
• Customer service downfalls in salons:
  • Double or triple booking is not a good idea.
  • Not providing education – a better way is to consult for the first 10-15 minutes.
  • Not having the right intentions – don’t just do it for the money.
• If you don’t do it for the right reason, you’ll always have a revolving door of clients.
• Jewels wanted to take the leap into getting into her own space because she realized she was overworked and she couldn’t be a salon manager and stylist.
• Speaking and teaching about curl training and natural hair theory is her passion.
• Tying attention to detail and her self-doubt together caused her to spend countless hours on her business plan.
  • It took her more than a month to create a business plan.
  • She pays weekly rent to be in salon suites.
  • You get the space and some equipment already inside.
• What do you need to bring into salon suite?
  • Products you want to use
  • Decorations – personalize your space according to your brand.
  • A scheduling system, checkout system, etc.
  • Cleaning supplies and other stock.
• Jewels had one stylist who she trusts and brought her in after she was at the salon for a year.
• Point of Sale (POS) system she recommends:
  • She uses Chase Bank to do transactions.
  • She likes all of her money to be in one place.
  • When you do transactions with your scheduling company, they take a large percentage of money.
• How did Jewels brand herself, her salon and her product?
  • She just said she wanted her clients to be natural and embrace it.
  • She went to someone to get her logo done.
  • Things kind of fell in her lap, that’s how she knows this is her calling.
• The struggle of starting a product line is:
  • Trust and money.
  • She started with one company and wanted to change some ingredients.
• She didn’t trust the customer service and went with another company that gave her the full run-down.
  • Search product private labels, but disclose that you’re using a private label.
  • The vegan products Jewels uses are vegan and from a private label.
• Why vegan products?
  • She loves vegetable proteins.
  • She’s trying to define what’s already there.
  • She wants to stick with a light, lasting product.
• Why did Jewels have to move to bigger spaces?
  • She couldn’t take new clients anymore, so she knew she needed to have a bigger space so she could continue to take new clients and bring in help.
• All of Jewels’ booking is done online.
  • She chooses to book online because a lot gets lost over the phone.
  • She needs people to read her policy, pricing, and duration of the service.
• Jewels believe in referrals; she doesn’t just want anybody as her client.
  • She likes to know who her clients are and for them to know who she is.
• Jewels use Vegaro for salon and spa booking.
  • Vegaro Costs $25 per month and another $10 per each additional stylist.
• When people copy your branding, they have to wait for you to make a move. So you’re always going to be ahead.
• Jewels use Wix for her website.
  • Mikey says to use WordPress for anything e-commerce.
• Jewels’ Marketing Plan
  • Email marketing is a big focus.
  • Jewels uses YouTube and wants to start doing regular videos.
• People want to see your vlog.
• Next years priority will shift more to keeping up with social media and being the face of her brand.
• Look at a low-cost CRM system to take care of customer service. Use a ticketing and support system.
• Tips for new stylists:
  • Education.
• The industry is evolving daily, keep taking classes.
• Be intentional with and treat your clients well.
• Brand your business.
• Even if you’re an employee at a business, treat your job like you’re the owner.
  • You will bring value to the business.
  • It will open up a lot of doors.

Tweetable Quotes:

“When you walk into a salon, the experience is very important.”

“When people copy your branding, they have to wait for you to make a move. So you’re always going to be ahead.”

Resources Mentioned:

Hairbizradio.com – Podcast website
Dropship Bundles– Private Label Extensions sister site
Private Label Extensions – Wholesale Hair Extension supplier
Embrace Me Naturally – Jewels’ product line
Chase Bank – Bank you can choose to do your POS through
Vagaro – The booking service Jewels uses
Wordpress – Great platform to build your website on
Mailchimp – Email automation provider
GrooveHQ.com– Customer Relationship Management System

Find Jewels on Instagram: @embracemenaturally