Career Day Series - Salon Manager

Our School News Club interviewed Mrs.Chafin to find out about her new job.

What is your job?

My job is as a salon manager.

What do you do on a average day at work?

On an average day at work, I make sure that the employees are on time and
ready to work and make sure I’m on time too. I make sure that the salon is ready
for all the clients coming in and that might mean some kind of housekeeping stuff
like sweeping and wiping things down making sure towels for the stylists are clean
and ready for them to shampoo. I turn on all the lights, get all the computers ready for
the program so that I check people in and out. A really big job is a financial job. To
make sure that the money is all counted and it’s all there and nothing was taken
from the night before. So that’s a really big job to have. I kind of on a daily basis
need to make sure my attitude is right and positive because when people come in
to want to get their hair done or make up done, we want them to feel really comfortable
and make sure I’m always smiling and I’m dressed in a fun way and very professional
way so that everyone feels comfortable.

How did you learn to do your job?

I think being a school counselor really helped with customer service skills
- how to talk to people, to handle problem-solving because there is a lot of
that that goes on. How to work in a team but also work on my own. So that helped.
But then going into a salon I had never done that before - so the owners of the salon
really helped me out and they’ve been giving me some advice and I go to them with
suggestions that they had never thought of. I’ve learned a lot but I’m teaching some
too, so that’s really nice.

What inspired you to take part in this job?

For so many years I’ve been helping kids and people feel good from the inside out
- emotional help. Then I started looking on my computer at a site called Pinterest at
hair and clothes and make-up a lot and I was doing less looking for educational
things. I took the career survey that I did with the kids and Fashion Designer kept
coming up. It was a long process to make the decision but it was one of those loves
that I had always had.

Why do you like your job?

I like it because it’s doing something that I have always had a passion to do that I’ve
always been interested to do. I miss what I used to do, but it’s nice to build new
memories. If I move on to something else, having salon manager is really good
experience.

What is the best/worst part of your job?

Remember how I was saying that I was helping people feel good from the inside
out. This job is not about feeling pretty. My shirt says flawless but it’s not about
being perfect. We all have plenty of beautiful flaws. I really wanted to help people
feel good on the outside, because I know when I want to leave a place and someone
is giving me an opportunity with new shoes, a new top or a new hair do, I feel
refreshed.The best part is making people feel good. It felt really good doing that
here at the elementary school but now I get to do it in a new fashion way. People
walk out feeling good and feeling more confidence. The best part is seeing people
more confident and feeling good.

The worst part is having to fire people that don’t know how to work right! I’ve had
to do that a lot. These are people I didn’t even hire. They weren’t calling in to tell
us they weren’t coming in or coming on time and as a manager I had to make those
decisions about is this best for the salon. A lot of time’s it’s not. It’s very challenging
to do without hurting their feelings. But I know it’s for the better of the salon.