Meet Rebekah Leaman

We recently connected with Rebekah Leaman and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebekah, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I was raised in a family where failure wasn’t discussed. It did not exist. You kept trying until you found a way to work through the problem. It wasn’t only that we viewed things through a “glass half full ” lens, it was that failure was not viewed as negative. What others may have viewed as a failure, we were taught to view as just another learning point or obstacle to overcome. Viewing life as a continuous line of self improvement rather than a forward and backward of goals and failures help circumstances feel less overwhelming.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I worked in the cosmetology industry for 7 years before I opened my own salon. During those 7 years I worked in different environments with lots of different owners, managers, and coworkers. I became discouraged that there never seemed to be an owner who truly understood both business and also what it was like to work as a stylist. I began to believe that a hair salon could be best run by an owner who actually stood behind the chair and was in the “trenches” with their team every day rather than sitting in an office. As a women, I also really began to appreciate how flexible the career could be for when I decided to have children, but there was very little of that flexibility embraced by the owners that I worked for. I dreamed of working in a space where the owner was an active team member, communicated well with coworkers, was committed to creating an uplifting and honoring work environment, believed that family always came first, and treated staff as equals who deserved all the benefits the career can afford them.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1. Don’t be afraid to take chances. It sounds cliche, but we all have a dream inside that we keep reasoning and logic-ing our way out of. We all know what that “thing” is, but it’s too easy to come up with reasons not to do it. Stop thinking so far ahead and just do the next step. You never know what will change or what obstacles will be overcome just in that one first step.

2. Ask Questions. Be curious. If you encounter something you don’t understand, find the expert and ask them what they would do. Pay them for their time and thank them for their expertise. Having a network of people around you who you can go to because you’ve built an honoring relationship with them is invaluable.

3. Become a student of your own inner growth. Grow your problem solving skills. Push yourself to think outside the box and look at it from a new perspective. Sit on a problem until you have thought it through from every angle – don’t just jump on the first thing that comes to your mind, especially when you have a team of people around you who have different expectations and experiences.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

Last year at this time we were a few months shy of our 10 year business anniversary, but we were hemorrhaging money. A combination of multiple supplier price increases and expiring covid-era business incentives suddenly caught up with us. I had never been in that position as a business owner and was stressed every time payroll came around. I immediately reached out to 3 different business coaches and met with them. I dug into every podcast and webinar I could find on profitable salons. I took a hard look at our profit and loss charts and our expenses. And I took out a business line of credit to immediately alleviate some cash flow pressure. The following weeks were met with some of the hardest business decisions I’ve ever had to make, combined with having some hard talks with amazing staff members about what we needed to do to keep the doors open. But it was worth it – only 2 months later, after applying a series of strategic business strategies, I was putting a considerable amount of money towards paying down the line of credit each month and no longer sweating every time I needed to run payroll. A few months after that, I was able to do some renovations at the salon with cash and add an additional chair to my salon space which added another revenue stream to my business. There were many times in those first months where I wanted to give up, but pushing through, asking for help, and thinking creatively gave me more confidence to take my business to the next level.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.salonovationpa.com
• Instagram: @salonovation
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salonovation/
• Linkedin: n/a
• Twitter: n/a
• Youtube: n/a
• Yelp: salonovation
• Soundcloud: n/a