Greetings from my living room! Today, let’s talk about finding our new normal.
This is Elizabeth (Leize) Bella, founder of Phia Concepts and co-founder of Phia Salon, Philosophi Salon, and Sophi Salon!
While I am so sad not to be supporting our staff while they create your new cut or skillfully apply the retouch you were dying for, or formulate that incredible Phantasy color you’ve been dreaming about, I am thrilled to have a few moments to connect directly with you, our clients about our “new normal.”
First off, I want to reassure you that the staff is doing amazingly well, at least for now.
There are lots of ups and downs, but we’re all in regular communication, and we are confident that we will come through this new normal as a stronger, tighter-knit team. The staff is reporting feeling supported, stable, safe, and excited to get back to work.
Second, I want to talk about our ever-evolving attempts to meet your needs. It would seem that there is a wide range of responses by salons to this pandemic.
–>On one end of the spectrum, some stylists are doing in-home services which puts their clients at risk, violates State Board of Cosmetology regulations, and flies in the face of Governor DeWine’s stay-at-home order. No, we won’t come to visit you at your home or “make an exception” so please don’t ask!
–>On the other end of the spectrum, one of our stylists recently came across a perplexing Facebook post that got a great deal of traction over the last few days. It appears to be directed to stylists and reads: “PLEASE STOP ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO DO THEIR OWN HAIR. THIS WILL DESTROY OUR INDUSTRY.” It is followed by dozens of shares and comments full of fury and anger from stylists who perceived that other stylists were “stealing business” by helping clients through at-home services.
While we understand the fear the poster must be experiencing and even understand the panic in some of the frenzied comments, the salons in the Phia Concepts Family see the matter a little differently.
Of course, we would love for you to wait for us. And for those who can, it will be so fun for you to proudly return to the salon with two inches of roots and we can laugh together about how much we missed each other! For those who choose the wait-it-out option, it could be an incredible opportunity to develop a new relationship with your appearance, get even more comfortable in your own skin, and experiment with what your natural color (greys and all) feel like on you! We may come back together with a completely new vision and trajectory for your look. And if that happens, don’t worry. Helping you with a new plan will be just as exciting to us as getting you back-on-track with your old one!
But not everyone feels like they can wait.
Many of our clients are public figures and professionals. We serve several people who are on the front line of the battle against COVID-19…on the local AND the national level. Most of our clients still have jobs. Some are going ahead with weddings. And nearly everyone is socializing online. We understand. That is why Phia Concepts (who will not be providing their service, systems, and support to our salon for some time), retooled to provide you with the product and guidance you need in this new normal.
From our standpoint, to simply expect you to sit around and wait for us is, frankly, a bit selfish!
So this is our message to our clients.
We have always taught our staff to not sell a product or service unless it is truly needed or desired. The other half of that approach is obviously to make sure our clients have everything they DO need, and right now, that may mean at-home support.
At-home support may mean finding new products to help extend the life of your color and style.
Right now that might mean root cover-up like our Color Wow:
Or color conditioner like Davines Alchemic Silver for platinum or cool blonde tones:
Maybe you should check out our blog to find some new tips. Or maybe you just need some video guidance through an at-home bang trim or color service!
Above all, what we don’t want you to do is retouch your roots with a sharpie (and possibly wind up with a reverse mohawk like Kimberly), or cut your bangs based on some online tutorial that has no awareness of your hair texture, face shape or growth patterns!
We want to help you avoid this!
Beauty services will continue to evolve, and we will adapt right alongside those changes! We are not frightened that our industry will be “destroyed” just because we provide you with at-home options and support. We know you value our guidance, our vision, our skill, our formulating genius, and our artistry. Fundamentally, our commitment to making sure your needs are met is far greater than any fear we have for the future of our industry.
We look forward to seeing you again as soon as we are able and, until then, we’re glad that our educators at Phia Concepts can help you through whatever you need!
Sincerely,
Leize