Adelaide’s SJ Establishment, led by director Sam James, has a myriad of recement finalist nominations to its name, with Sam and team members Amelia Winen, Tina Belham, Summah Tiley and Bella Portaro nominated across the Matrix All Stars competition and the Australian Hair Industry Awards.
We spoke to Sam about her and her team’s top tips to award-winning hair and team success.
What’s your secret to team success?
Your team have to love your brand and your salon like you do. For this, you need to find out what motivates and inspires them the most. What do they love? What’s important to them in life and work? Is it time, money, work life balance or something else? Once you figure that out, it should be your goal to help them achieve that in a way that works with your salon. When your team are happy, they want to aim higher and achieve bigger both for themselves and their team.
What makes your salon and team unique?
How we work alongside and support each other in the salon consistently. One of the ways we do this is by looking after each other’s clients, which is probably quite unique now in comparison to a lot of business models. There is an increasing trend in salons towards a single stylist approach but I still believe that to grow exceptional stylists as apprentices, they need to be involved in the client process. I think it is the best way to create team culture and consistency in a salon business. Because of this, most of our clients will see an apprentice and Senior or Director Stylist during their appointment, and our strategic tiered pricing allows clients to choose their Stylist/Colourist to ensure both the business and the client benefits.
How do you support the team to push themselves?
I’m a huge fan of the competitive arena and think it is the best way to challenge us creatively, so I encourage all of my team to take part wherever possible and however possible. Not all team members are motivated by creating collections and that is fine, but for those who are interested I will back them all the way. All team members are able to assist me on my shoots to learn, grow and to watch as I pull everything together. Then for those who choose to have a go and do a shoot themselves, I love to mentor them on their journey. We have just had Amelia Winen announced as a finalist for Hot Shots and New Creative Talent 2024 at the AHIAs, and four of my girls Tina Belham, Summah Tiley and Bella Portaro, named as finalists for the Matrix All-Stars Competition. I’m so proud!
What’s your proudest achievement in hair?
Overall, it would definitely be having my personal loyal clientele. Easily over 70 per cent of my clients today have followed me and been a part of my journey for over 17 years.
Most recently though it has been taking on my new role as Matrix Global Ambassador. I’m excited to really step up on the global stage and represent what I am all about. I am also pretty proud of my latest AHIA Creative Hairdresser of the Year Finalist collection, Future54!
Can you tell us more about your Matrix role?
I will be joining forces with 13 extraordinary artists from various corners of the globe to help shape fashion forecasting, global education, product R&D, photo shoots and hair shows. It all officially kicks off in June when I head to New York. I’m so excited!
What are your top editorial tips?
Be over prepared. Get your brief early, work through it and take everything you could possibly need for lots of different ideas as the direction could change quickly and you don’t want to get caught out.
Never over product. This is especially true if you need to create numerous looks throughout the shoot, plus also only use products you’re extremely confident with.
Create hair with a feeling. You want whoever sees the image to stop and acknowledge the impact and how it made them feel. Try to visualise it.
What tips do you have for other salon owners?
As a busy salon owner and mum, I am juggling it all like so many of us and always have a ton of balls in the air! My top tips would be to set achievable goals – it gives the team such a sense of pride and confidence to be able to deliver on their KPI’s, and I feel the same, and to be organised. This goes without saying but if you need help in this department, hire someone! You will get a huge ROI in saved time and increased productivity. Also, surround yourself with great people – if you create an environment that amazing people will want to work in, you will have this one covered. Lastly, know your business inside out – this one can be tough as there are often elements of our businesses that we ignore, but if you don’t understand something, please be sure to ask for help.
For more information visit www.sjestablishment.com.au
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