Episode 1: Building Resilient Businesses and Cultures
How to Build a Resilient and Respectful Salon Team Culture
In the ever-evolving beauty industry, running a successful salon is about far more than technical skill or creative talent. Today’s top-performing salons are built on a strong foundation of resilience, leadership, and a healthy team culture.
If you're a salon owner or manager struggling with turnover, burnout, or team tension, it’s time to focus on what matters most: building a respectful workplace culture and developing resilient leadership practices.
What Does Resilience Look Like in a Salon?
Salon resilience means more than just surviving challenges — it's about adapting, evolving, and leading your team through uncertainty. Whether you're navigating rising rent costs, client slowdowns, or the aftershocks of a global pandemic, your ability to pivot with confidence is what keeps your salon alive — and thriving.
But true resilience isn’t just about you as the owner. It’s about creating a salon team culture where employees feel supported, accountable, and united.
A resilient salon has:
Team buy-in around shared values
The ability to pivot service offerings to meet changing client needs
A strong, supportive workplace where stylists can grow
From "Salon Mom" to Resilient Salon Leader
One of the biggest challenges for many salon owners — especially in tight-knit teams — is maintaining boundaries. It’s easy to fall into the role of caretaker, solving personal problems, giving too much, and trying to keep the peace.
But being a good salon leader means setting clear expectations, offering mentorship, and building systems that support long-term success — for you and your staff.
Creating a Respectful Salon Workplace
Having a clear agreement between the team members can help build the respect within your salon.
For example, don’t just talk about your salon values — write them down. Commit to respectful communication, ongoing feedback, and accountability. That reset can be essential to rebuild a healthy salon culture that can thrive under pressure.
If you’re looking to build a respectful beauty business, start here:
Set team agreements and revisit them often
Encourage open communication and regular feedback
Hold stylists accountable — with compassion
Create structure for conflict resolution
Model the behaviour you want to see
Why Respect and Emotional Intelligence Matter
The salon environment is emotional — and that’s not a bad thing. Hairdressers and beauty professionals are passionate, creative, and deeply connected to their work. But unmanaged emotions can lead to tension, gossip, or resentment if there’s no structure.
That’s why emotional intelligence in the salon industry is key. A team that understands how to communicate, support one another, and self-regulate is a team that can weather anything.
Respect doesn’t mean avoiding hard conversations — it means creating a space where those conversations can happen constructively.
Resilient Salon Leadership in Tough Times
Post-pandemic, many salons are still in recovery mode — and that’s okay. What will define your success moving forward is not perfection, but adaptability.
Resilient salon owners:
Adjust pricing and services to meet client needs
Stay in tune with market shifts and financial realities
Lead their teams through change with transparency
Foster connection, not just compliance
Consider adjusting offerings to meet your clients where they are — introducing more accessible services without sacrificing quality. Part of resilience is knowing when to evolve.
Strong Salon Culture Is Your Superpower
Your salon’s culture is more than just a vibe — it’s your business infrastructure. A strong salon culture built on respect, trust, and shared values will carry you through staffing changes, economic shifts, and even personal burnout.
When you lead with resilience and build a respectful workplace, your stylists thrive, your clients stay loyal, and your business becomes truly sustainable.
Because in the beauty business, trends change — but a strong, connected team will always be in style.
00.00 - 00:52: → Episode Overview
Erika: Welcome to the Business Flow Formula Podcast. I'm Erika Dowell, the CEO at Signal Operations, where we help multiple businesses understand their processes, finances, and team a little bit better.
On today's episode, I talked to Renee all about building a resilient team and a resilient business. Renee's based in Vancouver where she's helped multiple stylists grow their businesses and have a successful, thriving salon.
Today, Renee and I are going to talk about leadership evolution from caretaker to coach, building resilience through structure, empathy, and communication, making sure to turn a personal crisis into more of an organizational renewal, embracing feedback even when it hurts (especially us as the business owner) and then using emotional intelligence as a business asset.
00:52- 04:55 → Renne’s Backstory
Renne: I ended up working at a salon called Axis Hair Salon and it was owned by this fellow named Foster Eastman. Entrepreneurial, big visionary, a good give back guy and he had an in-salon training program as well as his own hair care line and three locations.
So while I was going through my criminology, with intention of getting into UBC Law, I looked around and I saw this fella that was working his butt off and giving back to the community.
I noticed that he had managers, but they weren't in support of him. They were kind of like the toxic managers that thought more like employees rather than owners. So, I approached him at the age of like 21 or 22 for a partnership. I asked him whether or not he would ever take me on as a partner and what could that look like?
And at that point, he, you know, like I was working part time as a receptionist. He didn't really know who I was. I was a micromanager already, I didn't have a title, but I was micromanaging his business to a certain extent in my useful, like young whippersnapper days.
And then about a year later, he took me for a drive and he had scribbled out how this partnership agreement could work. And then through the years, what's happened is he's basically let me become his partner and he's 51% and I’m 49% – without buying in, but working in.
He was able to then step back and retire from the business and I have been the managing partner for the last 17 years at least. We did scale down to one location that we own - we found being a business with landlords, you know you're always going to be met with challenges with rent increases and sometimes they want to restructure the whole space etc. Like we were kind of the victims of being up on a street called Georgia St. here in Vancouver where the Trump Tower was coming in and then they started wanting to rip into our space that we had been in for 21 years.
And so we thankfully bought this location that we're in right now. And we just kind of merged everybody into one to keep it very, very manageable. So it's a big rockin' salon with 24 stations.
COVID kicked my butt big time and I lost more than half of my staff. I lost my confidence as an owner. My whole identity was gone because I was so proud of this machine that I had like, you know, maintained and had, you know, like a big following, etc. And then all of a sudden, it was just kind of all gone overnight.
And, you know, that met with who was left of my team. There was so much anxiety because of the pandemic and just so much emotion wrapped around it. It was really hard to even fathom trying to bring it back from where it was.
And so we had started seeing months or a year, like we'd seen a year where we just, that baby bit, thank God it wasn't a lot, but we lost money. And then, you know, in the following year, we broke even and we've been slowly slowly building back and that was not without a re-education for me. I had to re-educate myself on how to run this company and stop being such a mom and more of a career coach. So, yes, we have been able to bring it back to now 18 stylists. And we've just brought on two more junior talents that are going to grow onto our floor as well.
But yeah, that's kind of the coles notes of what has happened.
04:55
Erika: That's quite the journey and that highlights so many items that a lot of my clients have brought up to me in the last four or five years as well. Just hearing all of the team dynamics, taking over businesses, becoming a manager, becoming an owner, making sure they're not playing the mom role - where they're like, don't do this, do this, don't do this, do this - and really stepping into that owner role, really leading the business and that kind of thing.
05:41 - 08:01 → What Does a Resilient Business Mean to Renne?
Erika: That kind of leads me into the topic that I really love to talk about and that's building a resilient business and what do you think resilience means for you in the context of running a business, but especially in the beauty industry?
Renne: So resilience, obviously for me, it means the ability to pivot and to react to what is happening and coming at us. But also having a strong enough foundation with my team, my employees, where we actually have a culture that's not only healthy, but that culture is bought into so much so that they can pivot with me.
When I make a decision that says, okay, listen, now we're getting hit with mortgage rates. They've been on the rise. People are hurting financially. Are you guys all on board here now to come back and meet our community where they're at and acknowledge the fact that they don't have the disposable income to be seeking luxury services that are $400 and $500? What about coming up with ways where they can get hair services, you know, in the $200 to $300 zone and us getting creative and how we're going to offer those services - so they can do the self-care thing without breaking their bank.
And so, thankfully, you know, the classes that I took really established an opportunity for me to create a culture that was healthier because I didn't have that before because I was such a mom. I was doing nice things for them, you know, like I'm helping them find apartments and doing their hair and I'm doing all these nice personal things for them, but I wasn't coaching them. And so I did lose the plot as far as the culture went, because they just treated me like they were bratty teenagers at that point. And when I was able to reset and hold them accountable, have clear agreements and really set the tone on how we're going to communicate and that we're going to give each other feedback on a maintenance program rather than letting things build up and resentments happen – which is a big thing that happens in salons.
I'll say people like, you know, when you've got a big team, hairdressers, they're creatives and they're emotional (often), not all, but a lot of them are. And so it's important that, you know, as a leader, as a business owner, that I set the tone on how they're going to treat each other.
And so, yeah, the resilience really did come in the fact that, you know, we were a healthy enough team to pivot when stuff started hitting the fan – with the mortgage rates and rent rates and all of that increasing.
08:01 - 12:38 → Transitioning from the “mom” role to a mentorship role
Erika: Now, how did you navigate that dynamic from going from kind of the mom role (helping them find apartments, those kinds of things) to then accountability, mentorship, coaching? How did you make that shift? Because that can be a little bit stark and take the team a little bit by surprise, I'm sure.
Renne: I think that I got to... No, I know. I know what I did with the coaching, I had some notion on how to go about it. And the first thing that I needed to do is have a really hard reset and sit down and do a code of honor with my team. A full exercise and really look at our values and what's important to us and how we communicate and what we do as a brand. And so it was about them - not now me not going okay, well, I'm going to just find this one an apartment, right? And then everybody goes, oh, you know, Renee's favoring this person. So that's gone now.
So, now all I'm focused on is the company and the code of honor that we've now agreed upon and being able to hold people accountable to some agreements on that code of honor, like positive mindset, or say, you know, problem solving mindset. If they're staying in a problem, you know, you actually say “hey, I notice you're having a hard time adhering to the code of honor in the area of, you know, problem solving, is there something I can do to support you in that”, and using very holistic and supportive language, rather than “you're in trouble, you didn't do that nag nag nag nag nag.”
So now it's just an opportunity to have a conversation and a respectful one where we actually heal things rather than possibly breaking them further. And so it was that big meeting and me asking them for forgiveness and permission to change in front of their eyes, because I knew that there was going to be a lot of heavy lifting to do. It was over a good year and a half that I had to do that.
10:08
Erika: When it comes to those mindset shifts and those kinds of things or habits – where are some of the resources that you've leaned on: where did you find them and how did you start creating them? I know that you said it was a year and a half of creating and establishing some of these codes, discussions, those kinds of pieces but like it's a whole mindset shift not just for you but your team as well. Did you have any naysayers? Anyone that was like, nah I'm not going to change. How did you process all of that?
Renne: You know, I definitely do, even to this day, I do have some that are resistors of adhering full-time to the code. When I find it problematic enough, we do have just a gentle feedback moment. And, you know, I do one-on-one’s with them as well to check in on them and see how they're doing: what they would change about my style of leadership, if there was anything they would change about the way they're approaching their career too, right? Because ultimately this is about them earning a good living and having fun doing it. And so, you know, to step aside from that role where I'm telling them what they should achieve rather than them coming to me and saying, I need to achieve this to do well in life – that's that accountability that I really try to nurture. Because when you're the mom and you're nagging to say, “make sure you pull the product or make sure you book their next appointment “ and you're constantly on them for that - they don't internalize it. They have to want it.
So the key is, I mean, for me, is after all of those resets, to actually sit down with them and say, “Hey, what are your goals that you want to share with me?” And if they're financial, are you open to me laying some groundwork here with you? And then you holding yourself accountable to it because I'm not going to remind you to meet your goals.
You have to remind yourself that that's what you really want. Or you're never going to change it. Again, that's a very big shift. It's a total 180 from the way I used to manage things. But it's allowing me to kind of like work on the business, not in the business as much.
And I'm showing up at a level where they can't find holes in my game like they used to. They don't get to accuse me of favoritism or not showing up or whatever, because I bring it every day with a positive mindset and a mindset that is such that I want them to succeed and they know it.
12:38 - 18:14 → Team Mindset Accountability & Dynamics
Erika: And so over the last nearly three years, you've regrown the team and that kind of thing. Does the team start to hold each other accountable as well? Make sure, that positive mindset, that positive thinking, the problem solving, How can I help? Do they hold each other accountable or is it ultimately still falling on you?
Renne: I would say that we're definitely hitting probably like, I don't know if I would want to put it into percentages. There's still times where I have to step in to hold them accountable because they're not giving one another feedback. But if they do come to me, I encourage direct feedback with one another. So that it's more of a healing moment and not you're coming to me to tattle on them.
I'm like, just use the code of honor as your machine to give feedback. And if they've, you know, if they've said something in a snappy way to you that falls under probably three violations on the code of honor that you can kind of bring up to them and ask them if there's something that you could do to support them going forward and work as a team. So the language is definitely there. But yeah, you know, I always say when emotion is high, intelligence is low. And sometimes I do have some that are a little bit more hot headed, and their intelligence definitely drops in this state of anxiousness or fear.
14:12
Erika: I think it really just comes down to like seeking to understand your coworkers in moments where there's snappiness or maybe less kind words and then, “Hey, how can I understand what's going on here?” Is there something going on at home? A client maybe was upsetting something to that effect.
Renne: And also at the same time, holding them accountable to the way they've spoken to a team member. You know, and that's coaching them for the future and ensuring that they mend any bridges from the past. I had an incident just the other week with one of my stylists and they had asked for help and then the team player didn't team play on that and they, I guess maybe forgot. And then the stylist was very upset about it and so they came up with like, you know, frustration in their voice and even in their face and they called this person out and one was senior, one was junior, so it resulted in the junior crying. And the senior kind of, you know, like stomping off and looking mean like a bully.
And so, you know, I’ll sit down with them at a calmer time to say, "Hey, you know, would you agree that you spoke in frustration?” And if they do, then would you agree that going forward, you don't want to risk people losing respect for you because you will not gain power or respect from people if you're frustrated and angry. You'll gain it if you're calm. And so going forward, can we agree that you're not going to give feedback when you're in that state? And can we agree that you'll go to this new talent and maybe have a little moment and just say,” Hey, I'm sorry that the way I spoke to you made you upset.” Are you open to that? And it took them a while to come around to it because they still were in that state where they didn't feel like they had done anything wrong but again I’m not their mom. I'm not their principal, you know, I’m just truly here as an owner to help smooth waters and nobody's really in trouble. Let's just find holistic ways to keep this brand from, you know, being broken.
Erika: Whenever, when you win,( like not when you, Renee, win,) when you, the stylist, wins, everyone wins. And I think communicating that is so strong and so powerful.
Renne: I mean, again, and I keep asking them. I'm not perfect. I'm going to have days where maybe I say something wrong but I want their feedback too. Like, please know that if I snap back into my micromanaging on a Friday, because we're super busy and I'm over there and I'm fussing with towels and not being super positive – use the word mustard on me. Say mustard and I'll stop doing it. But I have to untrain some things that I was doing for so many years too, right?
Erika: Of course.
Renne: I think that's the other thing, I don't expect them to be perfect and I hope that they don't expect me to be perfect. I'm going to make mistakes. And I have, I've made a lot in the past, but I'm working on it and it is a much healthier, more fun place to be. And I'm not bleeding team. If I lose team now, it's because they're moving to Edmonton to buy a house or they're pregnant - they're not quitting me anymore.
Because at first I was like, Oh God, everybody's quitting, but I do this and this for them and this. And then, and I was crying, but really they were quitting me. They were, they weren't quitting my company - they were quitting me as an owner and a leader. And so, I kind of had to swallow that one.
18:14-23:43 → Changing Your Own Mindset
Erika: That's a lot of self reflection sitting through that uncomfortableness of, oh, they're quitting me. And that kind of comes back to that resiliency of like, in that moment, you could have just also quit. You could have just been like, you know what? This isn't for me anymore. I need a break. I'm out. Peace. How did you come up - because I'm sure there's habit building and habit breaking in some of those mindsets of not letting it get to you and I'm going to quit. I can't get through this. People hate me. Working through that mindset to get to more of a positive, sit in that uncomfortableness, be okay with that. And maybe the answer is just therapy.
Renne: I think it's honestly like in a change or die situation, change or close it. And that conversation was on the table with my business partner. Cause I was crying. I'm not kidding you, probably daily. I think I was actually having a little bit of a, like maybe a nervous breakdown of sorts. I don't know because I'm always like, be the change you need to see. And I've always been like, dig deep, Renee, you can find it, you'll fix it. I'm resilient.
I'm a leader by nature and I love people. And so, I was broken, but I managed to reach out for help enough that I felt supported so that I could reroute myself and come back.
Erika: Gotcha.
Renne: But I needed somebody to pump some breath into me because I had been saving so many things and putting out so many fires. And finally, I reached out for help. That changed everything for me. I wasn't alone anymore.
Erika: And did that help come from your business partner or a business coach?
Renne: No, it came from an actual salon coaching program and it came at the weirdest time. Like literally sleepless night. I've always been a great sleeper but of course, during this time, not sleeping at all and crying in bed. My poor husband had to put up with me for a long time like that. And then I don't know, maybe I was talking about it enough that the algorithm listened to it.
But then all of a sudden, this post comes up saying, “are you losing all your so stylist to chair rental?” maybe we can help and type this in and we'll give you a free download or something. I typed something into the Facebook post and next thing you know, I'm actually in a DM session at two o'clock in the morning with the owner of this coaching company (because he's got time difference and he's an early riser.) He sent me his book and I read the first chapter and I'm like, you wrote that for me. What do do? What do I do now that I know that I'm not alone.
I signed up for classes and I got support – I sat with coaches and other hair salon owners who were going through a similar thing that needed to change and daily calls and that was so helpful. To just really do an inventory on how am I doing as a business owner, what am I actually missing, what is the salon science that I need to now add to my business that I'm missing. I had a lot of this stuff, but I was also wearing too many hats and I called myself the Wizard of Oz of hair salon owners. Like here I am, bird voice, you know, like all the, everything. But when you open the curtain, it's just me. And I was doing too many things and not good enough at enough of them. And so I needed to change that too. And, and then I did.
22:17
Erika: And so out of that came processes, systems?
Renne: Systems, clear agreements, contracts with teams, setting up the code of honor, more regular one on ones - all of it. Transparency - even like giving them access to their apps and their bookings so they could also track their totals and see how they're doing from a service and a retail standpoint throughout the month versus me just updating them when they asked - allow them to really stay on top of what is important to them and that is their income.
And I didn't do that before because I didn't know any better. And so, you know, I just always said, here are your totals at the end of the month. But it's so important for them to see whether or not they're at $2,000 or $5,000 or $10,000, because that's ultimately going to make their paycheck.
So yeah, lots of new systems. A completely different mindset and coming in, no more crying. There was no more of that. And cause I was hiding upstairs in my desk - I actually got rid of my desk and I'm downstairs all the time now. And just come in with a highest energy wins mindset.
Erika: That's amazing.
Renne: Be a force to be reckoned with.
23:43 - 25:12 → Getting Out of Your Own Way/Advice for Others
Erika: As we wrap up today, is there one piece of advice that you would give that salon owner/ wellness space owner that like you, a few years ago, they're crying every day, they're stressing about what they should be doing. Is it give up, quit, close, or is it change, pivot, make a difference?
What is a piece of advice that you could give to them?
Renne: I would say if you're willing to be open minded, and really do some deep digging to see whether or not the problem is you. If you're really open to that, then I say get support, get an education, invest in it, because you might as well get your company built back up to a point where maybe you could sell it versus losing everything.
If you have it in you. I've seen salon owners and I've mentored other salon owners because I've been in the industry for 26 years, so I was doing something right. I just needed to do more things right and take out what I was doing wrong. And so I've mentored some, but I think some people, they're not willing to get out of their own way. So my question would be, are you willing to get out of your own way and really hear it, hear the truth and go, oh, that's me, and change it? And if you're not, then yeah, get out.
Because if you're not going to change it, your mindset, then you're not going to change a thing.
25:12- 27:58 → Energy Checks and Balances
Erika: That brings me back to such a great point that I've been thinking about lately is that just because you've been doing something for 20 some years or a decade or even just five years - it's really easy to get complacent in the work that we do and start to lose that energy. Do you have any checks and balances in place now through this pivot of energy, if you will?
Renne: I mean, my new checks and balances are, I guess it's like always reevaluating and seeing, okay, how do we take it to the next level now? How do we keep improving? Where's another hat? What's another hat that I'm wearing that I really want to remove so I can go and challenge myself in a different area. So I think that it's a matter of not getting complacent ever again because I think I always just thoughtIi was so successful
As like here I am - I've saved enough money, I've paid on the student loans, I bought my first condo, I can do this and I'm doing all the things right but I think there was definitely some comfort and complacency in that and in that time I could have been looking into health benefits for my team (like I have done now) and resetting culture and all of it. There were so many things I could have been doing back in the day that because we were so busy and successful and whatever I was doing was working for that time. I didn’t.
But I think it's always like give yourself new goals, always move forward. So you get to wear new hats and then you get challenged. Cause again, like 26 years in, I tell my staff, listen, I want leaders stepping up. I want to train you to be a leader because I don't want to be doing this in five years.
I want to be stepping into my dry shampoo company and taking that ship on a fun trip, you know, and growing that company and let other people be successful in running a salon - with me, for me, as an oversight. I want to be able to move over and let other people grow within.
Erika: I love that. That's great. Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today.
Renne: I didn't realize I could talk so much. I'm so sorry.
Erika: Once you get some questions going it's easy to chit chat
Renne: Well it's so nice to meet you
Erika: yeah likewise and hope that we can set up another time to go over the dry shampoo business i'm excited for that
Renne: yes absolutely clean dry shampoo now that there's so many toxic ones out there this clean dry shampoo of mine is like gonna take up – i want it to take over the world so
Erika: Yeah, I would love for that to happen too. I like clean beauty supplies.
Renne: Well, thanks for your time. Thanks for thinking of me and we'll chat again soon.
27:58 Wrap Up
Well, as we wrap up and thank you so much, Renee, for joining us. Let's recap what we talked about today. First, we talked about rebuilding and personal growth and how Renee needed to stop being a mom and start being a coach and a business leader. She invested in the business education and coaching and that transitioned her leadership approach from caretaking to a more structured approach. She also talked about shifting culture and leadership and letting go of personal favors to avoid perceptions of favoritism. From there, she also encouraged peer-to-peer accountability rather than top-down correction.
Part of that was also her team holding her accountable. And I think that that's really important as a business leader and having that open-door policy. She started doing one-on-ones, creating feedback loops, and ongoing communication built on mutual respect between all parties.
Then we shifted more into mindset and resilience, emphasizing the need for emotional regulation in leadership, understanding when emotion is high, intelligence is low and that can delay feedback in those moments from time to time. She really fosters a culture where mistakes can be acknowledged, amended, rather than punished.
Her leadership is rooted in accountability, without overpowering authority. Supporting autonomy and goal ownership in her team. Finally, we had a little bit of personal reflection that in the past team members weren't quitting the salon. They were quitting her leadership.
That's very vulnerable. I think as leaders, we want to make sure that we have the best businesses and providing the best leadership, but we also need to check our egos from time to time. She nearly quit, but after choosing the transformation over closure, she was able to regrow that salon to what it is today.
If you're sitting here wondering how you can make your salon better or your health and wellness business better, this is what we do at Signal. So make sure that you reach out and schedule a consult call so we can get you on the right path and start using the business flow formula to get you on track.