Making a Good Impression Counts

Have you noticed? The busier you get, the more challenging personalities flock to your chair? The price of fame comes with clients who don’t appear to care how they look. You wonder, why bother? Theirs is a maintenance call to get the hair out of the eyes and stop bumping into things. "Looks don't matter — it's all about inner beauty,” they respond to any trendy improvement. On the tip of your tongue is, "Wanna bet?” but you correctly didn’t go there and had that cookie instead.

Then, there was that day that was not a good day. The day you round brushed her limp, mid-shoulder length hair toward the end of your shift? You casually nodded toward the super-hot guy she’d been eying across the way and jokingly asked, "Alright, dear, what was the first thing you noticed about that across the way?" As I said, it wasn't a good day.

On the bright side, fame also brings savvy salon shoppers who know creating inner beauty is a process that takes patience and time. By comparison, the magic of outer beauty can be conjured up in under an hour by your favorite stylist. The struggling inner beauty newbie can undoubtedly jump-start their journey to their best self with a little M.A.G. I. C. — Making A Good Impression Counts dispensed from a motivated salon pro.

Not convinced yet? How about this: a good first impression moves you up whether you are in line for a job, a table, or a kiss. As a hairdresser, I lived for that moment when the kitten finally stood up like a cougar, looked in the mirror, and almost heard her thinking, "I got this.”

But what about that elusive stuff called happiness, you ask? The jury continues out on what pulls that all together. Some say inner beauty, and others warn never to underestimate brains, preparation, and performance. I remind myself constantly about persistence, which is said to be more powerful than knowledge. But one thing for sure is this: making a good impression makes all these efforts shine their brightest. Never underestimate the value of your efforts to look and feel the best you can.

Remind your clients that in life, you must have an excellent doctor to keep you running, a mean attorney to keep you out of trouble, a fabulous lover to make it all worthwhile, and a great salon professional who knows M.A.G.I.C.

About the Author

Carlos Valenzuela is a veteran salon professional of forty-five plus years recently named to the Honor 41 List of Latinx LGBTQ role models and selected for The Faces of Tucson 2022. An educator of thousands of salon professionals worldwide, he is also the author of the award-winning novella Letters to Young Carlos. Visit his writings at carlos-valenzuela.com. Read Carlos’ salon career tips on Modern Salon. Plus, find him on Gay Tuscon.