37 Year Salon Owner and PBA Counsel Member…

Gayle Fulbright

Headlines The Salon

Encinitas, California

Instagram - Headlines The Salon

Gayle Fulbright was inspired to enter into the beauty industry in her teens back in her home State of Michigan. A Few years after working she decided to move out to California to start over. Things were not easy as she literally ran out of money before she even took her California state boards. Lucky for Gayle, her first boss helped her out, gave her a job and 4 years later, in 1987 Gayle ended up purchasing the salon from her, and named it Headlines for Hair.

After owning the salon for 25 years she partnered up with her life partner David Linde, and they moved the current salon to a much bigger space, renaming it to Headlines The Salon, and decided to take the opportunity to re-brand. Their intentions were to create a space that would not only function as a wide-open work area, but also be a great educational venue to attract guest artists. Headlines The Salon is celebrating its 37th year in business and has remained a commission/employee-based salon with 34 Stylists, 6 assistants and a strong management team of 6.

Gayle is currently serving on The Professional Beauty Association, the PBA advisory council, for her second term.

1. The commission salon model has changed over the years. What changes have you made to stay current and keep your business at the forefront of stylists’ minds so they WANT to work with you?

Being a Commission/employee-based salon in California is challenging with approximately 90% of licensed stylists in our State being independent.

What we decided to do was to be as opposite as we could be from them "working on the working on their own model".

Freedom was one thing we heard about being independent that was attractive. So, after the COVID shutdown, we came back differently by being a split shift salon, we have 18 chairs and 34 stylists and giving them what they wanted, a 4-day work week. We also knew what was missing for many independent stylists was health insurance, retirement and time off. So we implemented this for them.

We know education is important to them to grow and we have always been known in our area for it. We make it a priority to host great outside educators/influencers like Jacob Kahn, Sonna Brado, Jay Williams and Sydney Lopez, as well as HTS also has our own amazing team members who teach weekly. We not only focus on technical skills but all around better business skills.

2. Finding new hairstylists is a constant struggle in our industry. What are some ways you attract new team members?

Our relationships with our local Beauty Schools are deliberate and strong. I have worked with the schools on an Externship program, that in the State of California, allows students to extern up to 120 hours in any qualified salon. This has been great as it allows them to "interview us and us to interview them" for a future permanent assistant position.

We also "on purpose" require our team to work diligently on their Instagram/TikTok accounts, this alone has been a great attraction for new hires. To get creative, we have also placed "help wanted" ads by promoting our social media and offering our team a BONUS if they were the reason we hired a new team member.

3. With the rental climate at it’s peak. What do you do to keep your stylists long-term? Tell us a bit about your salon culture.

We are aware of the rental situation in our area. To say we keep all stylists long-term is not always the case, however, we do have stylists who have been with HTS for over 10 years. To ask them, "Why do you stay,” they would answer that they care about their future, and it goes beyond just making money.

We do monthly coaching sessions, not only focusing on benchmarks but much more. We coach them about their saving for the future and offer them a 401K and long-term goals. We put family first and know that time off is so important, hence the 3-4 Day work week. I think one of our big things is we are FUN. We do lots of things together like bowling, sip and paint nights, and celebrations outside of the salon like taking a boat on the harbor. FUN is Family.

4. What are the top 3 things salon owners need to focus on in 2024 and beyond in order to build a successful business.

I'd say the top 3 things a salon owner should focus on are:

• Your Employees. Our Employees are our #1 priority, they are our #1 clients. If you take care of them they will take care of the business as if it is their business. Love your Team and show them respect.

• Own your Vision and your Culture. All decisions should be based upon "is this in aligned with our vision, values and reflect our culture?

• Know your numbers. If this is not your strong suit then hire a Coach. Having a team to support the business side of your salon can be the best investment.

5. What is one piece of financial advice you would give to stylists thinking of going out on their own?

1. Find and work with a Mentor/Coach.

2. Know your numbers. (I know, that's two!)

Psst! Free resources are a click away!

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