Solace Spa's new nail technician is already booked five-days-a-week,
showing that demand for salon services remains high.
“We want to have that
really good energy for
our clients all the time,
so that they come here
and feel better when
they leave.”
— Ashley McCarthy, Director of Sales and
Customer Service, Pepper’s Salon and Spa
First, she suggests marketing spa specials within the
salon and vice versa, as well as encouraging your cosme-
tologists and nail technicians to emphasize that spa serv-
ices are offered. “I also work behind the chair,” says
McCarthy, “and I’ll have a customer who has been my
client for ten years and doesn’t know that we have a spa.”
Sharing that you offer spa services with every salon cus-
tomer—or sharing your salon services with every spa cus-
tomer—is paramount.
The workforce dynamics of managing salon staff can
be quite different from spa staff—a difference which
Pepper’s mitigates through its compensation structure.
Rather than having its stylists work as independent con-
tractors or receive commission, each stylist is paid hourly.
There’s a normal pay scale as well as a bonus program for
hitting sales and retail goals, but no commission. This en-
hances the “team” feel of Pepper’s salon, according to
McCarthy. “Some people don’t like that, so you have to
find the right fit to be a team player. Our number one
focus is that we’re a team service salon and spa.” Pepper’s
spa staff is compensated using the same structure, ensur-
ing that all personnel are on a level playing field and com-
mitted to an excellent experience for the customer above
all else. Amber Murphy, director of the salon at Pepper’s,
adds the following: “The entire staff is a team, so I don’t
feel there’s much of a difference managing the salon ver-
sus the spa.”
Much like Krystal Smith at Solace Spa at Big Sky Re-
sort, McCarthy feels that salon still fits into the modern
world of spa through a shared focus on creating positive
energy. Says McCarthy, “we want to have that really good
energy for our clients all the time, so that they come here
and feel better when they leave.”
Feel Beautiful, Look Beautiful
From broader industry trends, it seems as though main-
stream holistic wellness is eschewing traditional aspects
of beauty in favor of services—massage, yoga, meditation,
aromatherapy—that soothe the spirit more than they el-
evate one’s aesthetics. Yet traditional salon services—be it
blow-outs, hair coloring or manicures—are still a vital, vi-
brant and profitable part of the spa-goer’s experience. Al-
though traditional salon services emphasize beauty, a
salon is no different than a spa at its core: both are places
that you leave feeling better than when you went in.
n
F E AT U R E D S O U R C E S
KRYSTAL SMITH
Spa Director
SOLACE SPA AT BIG
SKY RESORT,
BIG SKY, MONTANA
ASHLEY
MCCARTHY
AMBER MURPHY
Director of the Salon
Director of Sales and
Customer Service AND SPA, PUYALLUP,
PEPPER’S SALON WASHINGTON
PEPPER’S SALON
AND SPA, PUYALLUP,
WASHINGTON
APRIL 2020
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