
How to Build a Sustainable Beauty Career Without Burning Out
LifeSpa leader Ali Yanez explains why strong mentorship, predictable income, meaningful recognition and the right work environment help beauty professionals build careers that last.
The salon where you work should be working for you! Learn about a great salon brand that will help you grow your skills with plenty of opportunities for advancement.


Does this sound familiar? You are a stylist with ambition. You want to grow your skills with industry-leading training and plenty of room for advancement. You dream of working with a team that feels like family and supports you every step of the way. You’d like a schedule that fits your life and, as hard as you work, you’d love to have great customers waiting for you.
If that sounds like you - great news! There are thousands of stylists who have found a great brand where they can grow their career—one that checks all the boxes stylists like you deserve in a salon.
Meet some of these great, like-minded professionals now. They explain, stylist to stylist, why it’s time to make the salon where you work, work for you.
Are you a new (or about to be new) stylist who wants to work in a salon where you get to do what you love with the support of a great team and brand? Are you an experienced stylist looking for your next career move? Or are you ready to take the step into salon management? Check out these 8 great reasons why working at a franchised Great Clips® salon could be the right choice for you.
No matter where you are in your career, when you’re ready to step up, franchise owners of Great Clips salons can help. With over 4,400 salons and more than 30,000 stylists across the U.S. and Canada, there's greatness all around!
“I can grow here,” says Austin, a stylist at a Great Clips franchised salon in Kentucky since 2021. If I want to learn something new, we have classes. If I want to help someone else, everyone is open to learning. If I want to grow into management, there is help every step of the way.”
Dee, a stylist with 17 years’ experience based in Canada, discovered this step-by-step help when she joined a Great Clips franchised salon ten years ago.
“My journey has been incredible,” Dee says. “Coming from a full-service salon, I was shocked when I came to Great Clips and saw that there was so much opportunity here for me.”
In addition to growing creatively, Dee was promoted to salon manager. “There is a whole team of people behind you,” she says. “It's so supportive, you don’t feel you're on your own.”
The best stylists never stop learning. Great Clips offers its franchisees and their salon teams access to best-in-class industry education and training, which can help you stay inspired and prepared to take great care of the customers.
“The continued education, even with me being in the industry for 15 years, is very important,” says Ray, who joined a Great Clips franchised salon team in Florida in 2022. “It's a benefit a lot of salons don't offer.”
Great Clips knows how to put customers in chairs and has a great marketing strategy, an active social media presence, and a fun walk-in app to make it easy for people to find their way to you. No stress, no pressure. And that’s just the way Amber, a stylist at a Great Clips franchised salon since 2012, likes it.
“I show up and there are customers waiting every single day, she says. “I never have to worry about what my paycheck's going to look like.”
That security and confidence builds in every direction. “The Great Clips brand is everywhere,” says Emma, a salon stylist for a Great Clips franchise based in Minnesota since 2017. “If I ever have to move, Great Clips is there, with a customer base built in.”
Being able to make a good living is high on most stylists’ lists of must-haves. Easier said than done, you say? Great Clips salon owners can offer stylists a great edge.
“I worked at a few barber shops, tried chair renting and even owned my own shop at one time,” says Ray. “Working at a Great Clips franchised salon has been one of my best moves since starting this career.”
Bonus? Ray says having great pay and benefits he could count on and working for a Great Clips franchise owner meant he could relax and that he “fell in love with cutting hair again.”
The flexibility and support have been everything,” says Ari, a Minnesota-based salon stylist since 2014 and National Design Team member. “There are no appointments taken at the salon, so you get that work-life balance. Great Clips offers the training and the customers are already there. It's a guaranteed way to start making money right away.”
Stylists say they are most happy when cutting hair, so at a Great Clips salon, that's exactly what they get to do.
“I was working in a full-service salon and didn't want to do color anymore,” says Emma. “I needed a change and needed to grow.”
Stylist Bri knew from day one that cutting hair was her passion. “When I was in school, I knew that I didn't want to do color. I asked one of my instructors what he thought about the Great Clips brand, and he said, ‘Yes, it's great!’”
With this strong vote of confidence, Bri has grown her talent and career with a Great Clips salon since 2011. “Flexibility and having the freedom to live life around work is important to me. I have that with Great Clips.”
Most stylists tend to be creative and caring. Giving back and making a difference for others through their talent and passion are big character traits in the beauty industry. Great Clips franchise owners help stylists develop both areas.
“I like the connections that I make,” notes Bobby, who joined a Kentucky Great Clips franchised salon in 2022. “I see all kinds of different people every single day, and I like making people feel good about themselves.”
Stylists love getting involved in their community through Great Deeds®. Great Deeds is how the Great Clips brand supports local communities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Each Great Deeds cause has a unique mission, and together those causes represent Great Clips’ commitment to help those in need when it matters most.
As stylists prioritize what matters when searching for a salon home that “fits” them, salon culture keeps climbing in importance. Great Clips’ brand values reflect and meet stylists’ needs beautifully.
“Two words that describe Great Clips are family and growth,” says Astoria, a Texas-based stylist and National Design Team member. “You can choose the path you take and grow the way you want to grow.”
“Everyone who comes into the salon is welcomed like family,” adds Olivia, a General Manager in North Carolina who joined the Great Clips brand in 2012. “Working at Great Clips has been a great experience for me. I'd recommend it to anybody.”
Once you’ve gone through your checklist, there’s only one thing left to do: Make the salon where you work, work for you. Visit jobs.greatclips.comto learn more and apply to join a Great Clips franchise salon team today!
All Great Clips® salons are owned and operated by independent franchisees. Franchisees, not Great Clips, Inc., are solely responsible for all hiring and personnel matters at their individual salons.
We're proud to show off the Great Clips salon life! Join in on the fun by using #greatclips and #greatclipslife so we can easily view and share your photos and videos. Be sure to stay connected with us by following Great Clips Careers on social media:



Great Clips believes in the future of the hair industry and is proud to offer over $100,000 total in cosmetology or barber scholarships to students each year! Future stylists and barbers across the United States and Canada are invited to apply to receive a cosmetology or barber school tuition scholarship valued at up to $5,000 each to help launch their dreams.

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