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A Word About Professionalism

© Marlin Bressi

I am going to write about something that has bothered me ever since my days as a beauty school student. I am going to write about the lack of professionalism in the haircare industry.

I have always felt that hairstylists are not given the respect they deserve. Show me another profession where you have to be able to stand for eight hours with your arms extended horizontally, all the while knowing the various chemicals involved in haircare services, dealing with the pressure of irritable customers, and often working around the heads of fidgety childen with scissors so sharp that they can easily take an ear off with a wayward snip. And you think your job has pressure? Try doing this all day long while trying to listen to clients spill out secrets so dark and deep that they wouldn't even share with their therapist. To be a hairdresser, one must be an artist, teacher, customer service expert, marriage counselor and psychologist all at once. And did I mention that we do all of this for often ridiculously low pay? We are licensed by the state, yet we are often treated like third world sweatshop workers by both our clients and salon owners. But then I realized why we have not earned the respect given to the likes of doctors or teachers or carpenters or other "professionals". The reason, quite simply, is the often blatant lack of professional behavior exhibited in most salons.

To prove this point, I must point out that there are hairstylists out there making tons of money. The average annual salary for hairstylists in some American cities can easily reach 50,000 dollars, and that is the average salary, mind you. There are those out there easily pulling in 100,000 dollars a year or more. So why are you lucky to be making 10,000 a year doing hair? Let's see. I bet there are numerous reasons, and I bet every single one of them has to do with professionalism.

The first part of being a professional is having a professional image. Go into any trendy, modern, successful salon and you will find stylists who embody fashion and style. Go into your local strip-mall chain salon or small-town beauty parlor and you'll find stylists wearing sweatpants, t-shirts, stretch pants, and sometimes even shorts. If one of these gals came to work wearing a pair of khaki pants, the other girls will look up and ask, "Why are you all dressed up?". Now if one of the stylists at a highly successful salon came to work wearing a pair of khaki pants, inevitably someone will ask, "Why aren't you dressed for work?".

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