Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Kleeman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Sarah, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.
I haven’t always been a risk-taker. In fact, for a large part of my career, I was mostly stagnant and full of fear. I would always admire from afar and wonder what it would be like to be someone who had so much confidence that they could own a salon and lead a team of people, or be CEO of a product company, or do hair at fashion week in NYC. Until I was fully fed up with living the same life every single day. Until I realized that if I didn’t do something drastic, I would probably never be able to retire because I wasn’t making enough money to support myself let alone save anything. I knew my body would give out by the age of 45 because I was working 60+ hours behind the chair. I had my first child at 32 and at around 34 I knew I wanted to make some serious changes for myself and my family. I needed to scale my business. This involved taking BIG risks. I did this through developed career coaching over several years. It started small; raising my prices to create some attrition, changing my pricing model to go hourly, and removing tipping. This was all such a shock to my system and uncomfortable for myself and many of my clients. I had several hard conversations with clients, friends, and even family members. My muscle for risk-taking has become stronger now that I’m 4 years into this. I know that if something seems uncomfortable, I should probably try to do it (if it’s safe!). I know that I can do hard things and that it will only increase my capacity to do even harder things. It’s such a magical sauce!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I have been in the salon industry for almost 20 years and I can say that it is rather… traditional. Most salons operate like each other and don’t do anything differently. I have worked for those traditional salons in my career and about 10 years into it I went on my own to work for myself because something wasn’t right – it wasn’t for me. I didn’t fit in because I didn’t want to conform to so many archaic rules and systems.
So when I finally took the risk to open my own multi-chair commission salon, I knew it was so important for it to operate differently than most. Where it could benefit and support stylists and clients the best it could. We strive to care for our staff and ensure that they can be paid a living wage. They are in charge of their pricing and can raise it whenever they want. We also do not believe in tipping culture as it is rooted in sexism and racism and have eliminated it as an option at check out, Instead, staff have chosen what their rate is to ensure that they will not lose out on money lost from tips. We charge by the hour, creating a genderless service menu (ex. 1 hr session, 2 hr session vs. women’s haircut or men’s haircut, etc). We offer freedom of schedule, encourage mental health days, and not over working. Boo hustle culture! We also want to offer an incredible, inclusive, and memorable experience for our clients. We one of the only salons that regularly educates our staff on gender inclusivity and also strives to educate all staff on how to perform services on all hair textures. We really strive to be an ALL-INCLUSIVE salon.
All year long we raise funds for our Free Haircut Fund through donations and raffles. From this fund, we will choose a marginalized and/or underserved group and give them free haircuts. Our staff who give the haircuts will get paid from this fund so it is a win win. Our last Free Haircut Fund was given to Teachers here in Alachua County and it was a huge success. Each year we also donate 2% of our gross profits to a local charity organization of our choice. Giving back to our community is part of our core ethos.
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?
Three skills that I think were crucial for me were critical thinking skills, strong emotional intelligence, and financial IQ. I really believe the first two are imperative to being able to develop any business or relationships in life. If you struggle with either of those, I suggest doing some heavy reading on the subjects, getting a good therapist, and investing in a business coach (a very good one – not a weird one you found on IG). Gaining a better understanding of your finances and what scaling a business looks like and even what all the financial terms are will help so much when trying to get a loan or an investor involved. I especially think women have a handicap when it comes to this (not because we don’t know what we are talking about, but because we are not taken seriously), so come to the table over-prepared. It’s not fair at all, but it’s our reality most of the time.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I think we use the phrase ‘overwhelmed’ so loosely when it’s actually a cover for the real feeling that we are experiencing. When I think I am feeling overwhelmed, I try to pause and stop everything I am doing and check in with myself. What am I actually feeling? Am I frustrated? Am I tired? Am I angry? Am I upset? Am I over-extended? Sometimes if I can narrow what the actual issue is, and sometimes it’s more than one, I can then hone in on how I can either remedy it, or, I can just sit with that feeling until it passes. If I am feeling frustrated, I know that I need to go for a walk. If I am feeling upset, I know that I need to listen to some music. If I am feeling tired, I need a nap. This is how I deal with ‘overwhelm’!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://goldenrodgnv.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahattherod/
Image Credits
Jordan Zdon Melissa Thurston
