When someone finds a hairstylist that they like, they usually stay with them forever. Typically, that forever lasts a lot longer than most marriages these days.
The relationship between the hairdresser and the client is similar to the bartender and patron or the therapist and client. Usually there are laughs but sometimes there are tears and there are almost always secrets shared. The hairdresser knows when a client's kids are acting out, when the husband isn't doing his 50% and even when the husband isn't going to be a husband anymore...before he does!
When my boss came to me with the idea of taking over her clientele of over 16 years, I didn't think about the secrets and the harapist side of things. I thought about how much I don't already know about doing hair. These clients are used to coming to her for 30 minutes for a haircut and style. They get what she tells them they are getting and they look damn good because she knows them. She knows the styles they have had that haven't worked, she knows their face shapes, she knows everything about them. I was presented this idea fresh out of school and it scared the living begeezus out of me, but it also got me super excited! Think about it....a FULL book fresh out of school. That was unheard of. How to build a clientele was an entire class in school. I knew it would be a challenge, but I thought it was a challenge that I could for sure take on. At the time that I accepted the position, I had no idea how the clients would respond to the change and I certainly didn't think about how mine and my bosses relationship could change during the training.
We decided that I would do a full 7 weeks of training, sort of like an apprentice would. I complete all of the work on the clients but my boss stands breathing down my neck telling me every, single thing to do and not to do.
Stay tuned to find out how the apprenticeship is going....or isn't going...
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