In the video below I introduce the three area that I looked at first to jump start our success:

Three ways you can make an immediate impact when going “green beauty” is to look at:

Your recycling plans -

Do you recycle? If not….could you? it’s a really easy activity and easy to get everyone involved in.  My guests and staff alike love to see and use the recycle bins we put throughout the salon.

Your water source

How do you provide drinking water for your guests and staff?

Do you offer bottled water for your guests? If so…could you recycle the bottles?   If not, could you consider providing water in glasses that can be washed and reused?

For your staff – could you offer reusable water bottles?  I offer filtered water for my staff and many of them love to use the stylish water containers that have become so popular in the stores today.

Your business systems

How do you remind guests of their appointments? We used to use business cards and now we make personal phone calls instead.

How do you announce specials or upcoming events? We now use Constant Contact to deliver electronic newsletters and are slowly phasing out our printed materials.  the response has been phenomenal.

As always, if you have any additional tips or things that you’d like to add to the discussion, we would love to hear from you.

~Lorrene

As my green beauty salon journey continues the more the enthusiasm from my staff, guest, friends and family grows!

I am pleased to introduce to you my first video series:

10 Top Secret Keys To Starting Your Green Beauty Salon Journey

These are keys that I have introduced at my salon with great results.  Watch the video below for a Sneak Peek of what to expect…

I will reveal all 10 of these secret keys here on the blog, one by one over the next couple of weeks.

In each video I go over my tips and tricks for successfully  implementing these keys in your salon.

So, please be sure to check back in.

And, as always, if you have any additional tips or things that you’d like to add to the list please share them with all of us here.  We’re thrilled to hear from you!

Enjoy,

~Lorrene

The sustainability of your company is equally important. Resources spent re-hiring, re-training and re-introducing are just as valuable as those you are trying to save.

I believe in “sustaining” my business through the growth and development of my human “resources”.  A key factor for me has always been believing in those I hire upfront, and the providing the tools and education necessary for them to grow with our business.

On of the best assets I have for my team is a Coach.  This partnership has proved to be invaluable to me. I don’t know about you and your team but…if you’re anything like we are, we get so entrenched in the day to day dealings, that sometimes it is not easy to notice solutions.

Coaching provides that neutral third-party eye that can identify efficiencies that may improve your work day, and provide inspiration to not just sustain the business but get you over the thresholds of achievement that you set for your business.

The coaching role in sustaining the business is about sharing the value in showing up and being your personal best each and every day.   Regardless of your role, if you are a manager, boss or employee; how you present yourself for the day creates the atmosphere and motivation to your team and all those around you.

A coach is a great listener and really tries to pull out themes while formulating and developing solutions from where you are at any given point. My business has gone from problem solving to strategic planning on a journey to creating a wonderful place for both clients and staff.

Once you establish your culture, you can then grow your culture. Coaching is NOT about fixing “them”, it is about awareness of you, your strengths, your style, your support team and so much more. Coaching is an objective approach to analyzing where you or you business is at any given moment.

Having a fabulous working environment creates an atmosphere for growth and prosperity. I thought coaching would be a short “counseling” and my business would be fixed. What I have learned, working with a coach for my fifth year, is that as I grow, my coach is always seeing how much farther I can grow. I am evolving not only as a business person, but am growing in such a positive way, that I am attracting other positive people who are moving forward as well.

Sustainability is in all parts of your life. I am very passionate about personal growth for my employees as well as myself. It touches all aspects of life.

Partnering with a coach is an investment in our future that has been worth every penny and every single minute of our time.

I would love a discussion about this! If you are practicing any of this, or have questions about how a coach could help sustain and grow your business please share with us your experiences.

Lorrene

I have spent months looking for organic beauty product lines. However, there are many varieties of what is organic, and as we all know, the labels are tough to figure out!

There are three levels of organic as defined by the USDA:

1. 100% organic – Products containing 100% organically produced ingredients, not including added water or salt.
2. Organic – Products that are at least 95% organic.
3. Made with organic ingredients – These products contain at least 70% organic ingredients. The organic seal cannot be used on these packages.

Hair products especially are not always clearly labeled. There seems to be a lot of organic based products, but nothing says what percent of the ingredients are organic.

I’d love to know what you are doing in your salon or business to identify the best organic beauty products.

• Where are you finding your products?
• What are you using and how well do they work?

The Salon Industry is in the wonderful  position of being able to connect the green movement to our industry and the personal lives of our guests.

It is a unique industry because:

• We interact one on one with our guests all day long.
• And…because we have the ability to find out what is happening in the industry
  • Manufacturers rely on us to inform and get clients excited about their products,
  • and guests expect for us to educate them on new products, new techniques and the current trends in the industry

Right now, no matter what your industry, we are all moving toward a greener community. This movement is all about Your personal footprint.  The green movement is a great opportunity for the salon industry to educate and inform our guests and bring this movement to the forefront.

More and more, our guests want to learn about organic beauty products and what they can do to reduce their footprint. At the same time, more and more of our vendors are taking steps on their own journey to sustainability providing more quality organic beauty product options for our industry.

For us it’s a win-win-win situation – with education, our retail sales in the salon increase, the vendors increase their sales and the guests then continue to have a greater variety of great organic beauty product options and finally  we all feel fantastic about protecting our environment – that’s a global win!

This is a great time to ask…What am I sending off to the landfill each week? What is my personal footprint? If you watch your waste for even one week I think it will truly open your eyes – most especially if you are a small business owner or a salon owner.

When I looked at my personal footprint I realized that it multiplied by 30 employees when I looked at my business. That was part of my inspiration to begin the journey to sustainability.

You have the power to get the conversation moving to reduce your personal footprint (as well as that of your business).

Why not start your own GREEN WEEK! You don’t have to wait for a national event.

For those of you who can relate, keeping employees engaged takes a lot of repeating and reminding. If you have children, you have to always remind them as well until it becomes a habit.  On thing that I have found works remarkably well for my team is to have a contest.  The same would work in your own home.  It’s a fun and friendly competitive reminder to reduce our footprint.

We constantly remind and take recyclables out of the trash and move them to the recycle bin.  I want to encourage you to get the conversation going this week! Try a contest to reduce your trash by HALF.

Then…   share with our readers what you are doing and how you rewarded the efforts!

Check out National Green Week’s Website for some really great ideas.

All the best to you in your green journey!

~Lorrene

I think she did a great job outlining the important things to look for!

Enjoy!
Lorrene

I was very disappointed when the plumber told me it was financially impossible. My Salon is in a strip mall, far from the water meters. I would have had to re-pipe the entire length of the mall. This means breaking through ten store’s to get to mine. One strike on my journey to sustainability.

I do think technology has really come a long way. Who would have thought water on demand would ever be possible? Not to mention the space saving benefits! I had the entire space re-designed and user friendly in my mind. I guess it will have to wait till the next time.

Lorrene

What sites are you using to verify what is organic or natural? Please share with us your guidelines.

- Lorrene

In my most recent post, I shared with you some of what is going on in the salon industry around this issue and the wonderful resource I found in the Horst site.  What is clear to me is that we need a bit more clarity and definition around organic products if we are to be savvy consumers!

In addition, as distributors ourselves of some wonderful organic beauty products I believe it is incumbent upon us to be able to educate our guests as best we can on the organic beautysolutions we offer.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this confusing issue.

~Lorrene