Fashion Leaders Series: Inspire Your Staff, Community, and Clients with Celene Dupuis
Join Jacqueline for this installment of our SFA Fashion Leaders Series with our guest, and SFA Board Member, Celene Dupuis!
Celene Dupuis is the owner of Revamp Salon, as well as being a Redken International Educator. Celene also has a blog, Blonde Boss: Going Beyond the Hair. She focuses on helping hairstylists thrive, in things such as mental wellness and how to run a successful business.
In Celene’s interview, the topic “Ways to Inspire your Staff and Community through Tough Times” was explored.
Check out the interview video, as well as a summary of Celene’s key points below!
Key Points
Supporting the Hair and Beauty Industry
Celene’s blog Blonde Boss is dedicated to supporting other hair and beauty creatives to create profitable businesses.
The average wage for a hairstylist is $24,000 per year.
However, with business coaching and mentorship that picture can look very different, which is a major reason why Celene is a Redken Educator and has created her blog.
Invest in Your Education
Celene is constantly investing in her own development in her sector to maintain an edge, ensure she can provide the best possible experience for her clients, and charge according to her expanding skill set. She works with High Performance Salon Academy!
Her salon is education focused where Celene can support the development of her staff to always be growing in their craft.
She believes professionals in her industry can “Earn, learn, and live a better life!” A mantra she has adopted from Redken and believes can inform a great career in the hair and beauty industry.
Business in the time of a Pandemic
Show up for Your Clients
When the economy shutdown, Celene made quick pivots to stay connected to her clients by:
Setting up an online shop
Offering beauty boxes with products from the salon
Offering root retouching kits, so clients didn’t have roots showing
Offering virtual appointments to show clients how to use the kits
“Instead focusing on the fear of what’s happening, focus on what you can do. What are you going to do differently?”
Show up for your Staff Through a Shutdown
During the economic shutdown, she and her staff had daily meetings to stay connected and support each other.
It was far more than just, “Hey, how is everyone doing”. They had a financial advisor join their call to talk about how to create a budget for 3, 6, and 9 weeks of not having an income.
This ensured no felt like they were left on an island by themselves. It kept the salon connected as a team!
Show up for your Community
Celene worked with other salon owners to create procedures for reopening and sharing resources between salons to ease the stress and workload of reopening!
“We need to lean on each other!”
She offered training and mindset support for her staff to ensure they were comfortable with reopening and creating the best possible experience for their clients and guests.
When the pandemic started, Celene launched the EAT. DRINK. SHOP. YXE Facebook group.
Based upon the quote: “The antidote to loneliness is servitude” she was inspired to create the group to serve her community during the pandemic.
“How can I serve my community? Everything needs to start with kindness.”
She views the group as a way to connect consumers to local business owners.
It’s a positive space for consumers to share their experiences and for businesses to share what’s happening in their community. The group is helping people recognize how important shopping local really is.
Her best advice for new entrepreneurs and creative in the beauty industry is:
“As entrepreneurs we need to focus on creating a connection to our guests. Customer service is a lost art. Build connections at every turn through marketing and personal interactions.”
Check out the full interview to learn more about Celene’s key points!
For more information, visit the Revamp Salon website, check out Celene’s blog, or follow Celene on Instagram!