One thing can be said of a Philip Pelusi® Event; you will leave the better for it. There were so many points of valid relevance no matter where you are in your life as a stylist, owner, front desk, and manager, or operations person such as my self.
Philip spoke (Are You Working In Your Business or On Your Business, A Guru’s Point of View) about his early experiences and his first salons and all the craziness associated with being an entrepreneur and knowing next to nothing about business or management back thirty years ago. He spoke of the machinations of stylists who he taught and welcomed and opened his knowledge base too, whom then went down the street to lure business away; Resulting in the birth of the first ever in the industry no compete clause. He talked of the evil of drugs running rampant through a salon and offered the advice of, “If they’re doing drugs, loose them. Have no patience or tolerance for it.” He explained the reasons for developing Volumetrics® and why it is still valid twenty-five years later. He talked of the foresight of making ‘A Cut Above The Rest®’ legal so that every lawnmower and meatpacker wanting to be a ‘Cut Above The Rest®’ would have to pay him to say so. Philip shared personal things that as an entrepreneur made him learn fast and served him well. He spoke of things that would and do leave lessers in the dust. Many come to Philip because they see what is possible. They see someone who has been to the top of the mountain and has come back down to see who would like to start back up again. Many raise their hands and say I want to go, but many make it not more than a few miles. Is this harsh? Perhaps. Is this lonely? Of course. Reality is rarely pretty. Philip spoke of harsh realities and facts — of diversion set too destroy the small salon and half savvy consumers convinced of what they want by clever marketeers rather than a professional stylist. It is the reality of doing business yesterday today and tomorrow. Few make it and even fewer make it again.
Jeffrey Reitz, Philip Pelusi® Creative Director is one such person who has hung on and gone to the top of the mountain with Philip and is set and ready to do it once again with P2 and the Philip Pelusi® Partner Salons. Enough can’t be said about Jeff’s real talents both hard and soft. Like Philip, he is still behind the chair half the week and is one of the best hairdressers one will ever experience. That experience, coupled with his non-existent ego makes him an exceptional educator and executive. Jeff has the ability to sniff quality out like a hound dog in not only product but people also. He has introduced me to some of the most exceptional personalities and his advice is always right on the money. We were glad to have Jeff as our Master of Ceremonies for this Entrepreneur Forum and introducing us to new friends in the persons of Ginny Pribanic and Dr. Andy Mahoney.
Henry Pelusi, CEO Pelusi Group our gave a great presentation on what I would consider the arc of our company and how some of the basic visions or tenets that we have embodied came to be. Henry deals with so many minute day-to-day details that hearing him open up on the broader grander scale was really very inspiring. Personally, I got to see a side of our vice-president that I don’t normally get to see. He spoke at some length on the, Learn it, Do it, Teach it aspect of our operations and his commitment to seeing that happen at all levels.
Art Deconciliis, Pelusi® Salon Group General Manager, who has spoken before and whom I have written about in the past oversees all of guest services. Art is an accomplished actor, and in relaying moments of particular guest services do’s and don’ts in his presentation, he is par none. His presentation is always riveting and precise. He explains how we can tend to forget how important Front Desk is in the quest to perfect the stylist’s skills and what goes on behind the front desk. The Front Desk must be detail oriented, calm under pressure, appear polished and flawless yet approachable and not intimidating. The Front Desk is the beginning and the end of all client interactions. There is no room for wiggle. This is most important when dealing with guests who are women in that we know that women take in the whole realm of retail experience from the dirty door mat to the last good bye and handing over of bagged purchases. Have you ever not been handed your purchase? It feels strange doesn’t it? I was a waitress at one point in my life and I remember a new manager came to us and said we would greet and have water on the tables within forty-five seconds of a guest sitting down. I thought not possible. He said it is how it is done and we would not settle for less. How often do you get water in forty-five seconds?
Of course one of the most important aspects of building a business is the art of self-promotion and advertising. Advertising can be so expensive that a small business can hardly afford any major media attention and especially during the morning or evening newscasts; however there are ways. Pam Nystrom is the owner of Seasons Salon and Spa in Lexington Kentucky and a powerhouse of energy kindness talent and open-minded enthusiasm. They came to Philip last year with a desire to go further than the status quo with their salon and are doing so with some real achievements. Pam teamed up with Philip and the Susan G. Koman Foundation for a whirlwind week of Fox TV interviews, hair donations, and In Salon Events. Pam spoke to our group about all the work that went into putting this together and how much PR she received because of it. She actually had people see her and Philip on TV and call and come in. It was phenomenal the benefit from doing charity that came through as real dollars. Pam stated that she couldn’t have afforded that sort of prime time coverage if she had to pay for it her self. I actually outlined a piece of her itinerary from that week in one of my recent posts.
We were also fortunate to have Jack Roseman talk to us. Jack has been an author, columnist, CEO and adviser to many boards and entities. He has met some of the greats and has recently written a book called, Outrageous Optimism [Wisdom for the Entrepreneurial Journey] and his group is called, The Roseman Institute. Jack travels with his wife of forty-eight years, Judy. The group really warmed to them and everyone got copies of his book that he signed to each individual.
Nikki Blahusch, P2 Marketing and Education Director gave a presentation on/called, What Lies Beneath. It was the lowdown on all the most recent consumer trends with the conclusion that salons are the best places for that trend to realize itself. Some of the topics included: Purchasing Experiences of Product and Baby Vroomers; people are living longer, looking better and not going down with out a fight.
Jeryl Spear is the editor of Launchpad Magazine and unfortunately the airline completely ruined all her fight arrangements so we had to do her as a conference call to the group, which I think only slightly lost some luster. I was eager to meet her for I love Launchpad and she is such a big fan of Philip and his way of doing things. Launchpad is also so very supportive of the salon owner and entrepreneur.
Ginny Pribanic is the CEO of a start-up called MedRespond, a healthcare technology company specializing in online conversations via licensed technology from Carnegie Mellon University. She is very active in entrepreneurial education and gave a talk on the state of our industry and our possible place at the top of it. One of her key points was, ‘do not be a cost cutter,’ if anything, raise your price and your validation. Through Ginny we met the Psychologist, Dr. Andy Mahoney M.S., L.P.C., L.M.F.T.
Andy Mahoney is rare in that he councils mostly gifted individuals who are far up on the intelligence curve and far out on the artistic limb. He is an accomplished artist himself and becoming rather famous for his views on how to approach and care for extremely gifted people. He was bright, exciting, rather good looking and right on pitch when it comes to salon industry people who must possess the whole ball of wax to be successful and stay in our business. It was quite affirming to see so many of our selves illuminated in his presentation. Philip often speaks of how extremely bright his staff is, but in so many different ways from each other. We are lucky here at Philip Pelusi® in that these differences have always been celebrated and used efficiently. We have always been ahead of the norm and progressive and we are glad that Andy Mahoney is bringing this to the masses. Andy will set you straight I am sure of it. Seek him out. He also works with younger people too that for lack of a better word, seem too bright for their own good.
So it was a great weekend but really they all are in some way. Sometimes they are small groups that get us so excited to be on their new entrepreneurial journey and sometimes they are big whopper events with big names that inspire us. Whatever style a Philip Pelusi® event might be, something special does happen here at S. P. A. C. E., and you know it because you have found like-goaled people. One of the things that Dr. Mahoney stated was that the old belief that you ‘go it alone’ is not true and never really was. It is only now he said that we as a culture are allowed to say that, ‘I didn’t do it on my own’ and that we all need each other. It is imperative that we surround ourselves with people that are like ourselves: gifted, intelligent, different and perhaps outside of the norm - because to be a true success, a true entrepreneur with real achievements - is to be truly different.
Thank You Philip Pelusi and P2 for hosting such a powerful and enlightening event.
Your Entrepreneurially-Spirited Secretary