Interview with Rhonda Sharp
By Luis D. Cubero
Rhonda Sharp is a stylist and artistic director. She has been in the beauty salon business for over 40 years. She is also the owner of The Mane Thing Salon & Spa http://www.themanethingsalon.com/ and Headlines Tanning & Spa http://www.headlinescc.com/in Junction City, Kansas.
Tell me a little bit about yourself.
I have been in the salon business for a little over 40 years. I have owned The Mane Thing for 38 years and Headlines for 7 years. We now have about 38 employees between the two salons. Part of those are stylists, part do clerical work, part are massage therapists, and nails techs; but total that is about what we have. I went to beauty school in Manhattan, KS. After that, I work for another lady for a couple of years. She was going to move her salon and I decided to just stay where it was and put in one of my own. We started with two stations, myself and one other stylist. That is how we ended up here.
Are you originally from Junction City, KS?
I am from Manhattan, KS. I grew up there and married a Junction City boy and moved over here. I had worked in Manhattan and then moved over here.
How was the transition from being a stylist to becoming an entrepreneur?
It is a huge change. Many stylists that start out and they think “I am going to own my own business” they find out that you could be the very best stylist, you could have the best technique, the best attitude and you can still fall flat on your face in business because those are two entirely different types of knowledge you have to have. I was very lucky in the fact that my husband and father both had their own businesses. Because I have been around family owned businesses I kind of had an idea on how that works. But when you take a creative person in a stylist, who is all about people skills and technical skills, and you try to teach them how to read a P&L and do a balance sheet… that is a big transition.
What other tools besides the knowledge that your family shared with you did you use to learn about business?
Well, that was probably most of it. I had a good accountant that helped me. We are all computerized now. Of course at the beginning we worked out of a little cigar box where we kept our money in. Now we have five computers here [at The Mane Thing] and five computers at Headlines. All the accounting work is done on QuickBooks. I had to have somebody to teach me what I have to do to operate QuickBooks. You have a lot of forms you have to file and tax reports that needs to be done. Of course my accountant helped me with a lot of that. A lot of it is knowing people and I have worked with a company called Summit; which works exclusively with salon owners. They have budget guidelines as to where we should be and how much you are spending and certain ways to help your stylists build their business. That’s something we have been doing for about 7 or 8 years. We also attend a lot of educational seminars but probably Summit is what have help us take the business to the next level.
What challenges did you face in the early stages of the business?
Probably everything we just talked about. Learning how to come out from behind the chair and put on the owner hat. Learning about filling your taxes and keeping all of that straight. At the beginning I did all that by hand. We didn’t have the computer so I was figuring pay slips by hand and doing the math on a calculator. There was a lot of challenge in that, just learning the business end of it. Making sure, you do things a certain way when you handle other people’s money. You have to make sure you are getting it to the right person. Marketing is a big thing. We have gone through a lot of different ideas on marketing to find out what work and what doesn’t. That’s another area you need to know something about it if you want to be in business and that’s not something they teach you in beauty school.
Did you have any mentors?
I did have a woman by the name of Lucille Crum how owned the beauty school I attended in Manhattan. I had actually known her since I was a little girl. Through the years if I hit a hard spot I would call her and ask what I do or “how would you handle this?”. I would say she was the biggest mentor that I had. I lost her a couple of years ago, she passed away. She was quite a lady and was a woman in the business world before many women started doing it. She was very strong and helped me a lot.
What characteristics do you look for when selecting the members of your team?
Their attitude is very important. Their people’s skills are very important. They have to be good team players. When you have a spa atmosphere like this you have one department referring to the other. For example, someone may come in for nails and they refer them to get the hair done or refer them to get a massage. Appearance of course in our business is important. No necessarily, that you be beautiful but you need to be well put together, well groomed. That you are conscious about the way you look and the way you speak. We are not the cheapest place in town and if you expect people to pay a premium price you have to be sure you give them professional service and that you speak appropriately. Their technical skills are important but we can teach them how to do a haircut or how to apply color if they don’t know when they get here. I can’t teach the attitude and the people’s skills. We can help improve them but pretty much they either have that or they don’t. That is why is so important. You will notice that their technical skills was the last thing I mentioned because like I said those things I can teach but their attitude and work ethics I can’t.
What training do they receive when they join the company?
We have two different ways that they can join the business. They can come in as an entry level stylist, which means that they will work with some of the other stylist here to get them up to speed on certain haircutting or if they need help with coloring we will pair them up with one of our colorist. We do require that they have continuous education; that’s not state law to maintain license but it is in order to work here. There are a number of different shows and a since a little bit ago we have been going to Omaha, KS, because they have a really good program up there. In November we are having one of Matrix’s top educators. He’s going to come in since we are such a large group we have been able arrange for them to come in and do an all-day here with us. There’s a lot of different ways that we do it. If they come in as an associate, as oppose to an entry level stylist, then they work hand in hand with a specific stylist for about six months. They don’t really do their own guests. They assist the stylist in doing her guests, and by working with her and watching her and seeing how she does things help them to learn. If I have somebody that’s a little insecure or maybe doesn’t have quite as much confidence, then they might come in as an associate.
How do you motivate your team?
We do a lot of bonuses and incentives. We do just recognition. We have different clubs if they hit a certain amount in a pay period. If they get to the 2 thousand club or the 3 thousand or the 5 thousand club we have different awards that are given that way. We have other bonuses for retail sales giving them a higher percentage of pay for their work plus they can also get some cash bonuses to go along with their commission. We try to be very supportive and continuously trying to catch them doing something well and tell them that they have done a good job. Immediate reinforcement is very good if you catch them right at the time. That works exceptionally well.
Can you describe us how is a typical day for you.
I first go to headlines and pick up their money, and see how things are going, if they have any issues or equipment problems. Then run to the back and arrive to here [to The Mane Thing]. Next I go into QuickBooks and do my data entry. I don’t work too much behind the chair anymore. I spend most of my time working on advertising, promotional things, pay roll, marketing, etc. I work behind the chair about three or four hours a day, two days a week, and eight hours one day a week. I do monthlies one on ones with all of my employees. We take about 30 to 40 minutes and sit down with each of the stylist to see how they’re doing, if they’re hitting their numbers, are having any problems or challenges. Those are the kind of things we talk at the one on one. That’s pretty much how my day runs and I am usually here until 6 or 7 o’clock. And I get up the next morning and do it again.
How do you think you will find your company if you have to be out for a full year?
Actually, I think the business will run rather well because we do have systems in place. We have systems to help the girls grow their business and clientele. We have a handbook that lays out all the rules and how we handle things. We have systems to even know how to handle a non happy client, to deal with someone that wants to write a check that is not one we want to take. We have a set of guidelines as to how we’re going to handle most things. There is also a list with contact numbers in case we run into a technical problem they know who to go to. We have a number of long term employees. One have been with me for 29 years, one 20 years and half a dozen between 15 and 20. I have a good front desk staff. My husband is knowledgeable and knows the girls and knows how the business operates. So, if I had to be out between him and the girls they will keep it going pretty well.
What kind of education or training would you recommend to a person wanting to start his or her own business?
I would suggest they get some business training, at least an associate’s degree. I got by on the fact that things weren’t as strict about a lot of things when I first got into business. From tax laws to workmen compensation things weren’t nearly as strict as they are nowadays. I was lucky enough to have a husband that knew how to do a lot of these things but if I had to do it all over again I would like to have had maybe an associate’s degree in business. I think there’s a lot more to run a business… People think that “I am in business and that means I can do whatever I want”. Of course that’s not the way it works. It means that you are responsible for everybody and everything that goes on. It really gives you very little freedom. When people look at it and they think is going to be easy and they can come and go as I please. So, I would suggest some type of education in business or marketing.
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