Recently, I listened to a podcast featuring financial advisors talking about a move to “human-first advice” and encouraging financial advisors to become more deeply human.  I thought—of course—about beauty professionals.

One advisor even said something like, “We need to go from being order takers, from having the client saying, ‘I want this, this and this’ to being on a journey with our clients, educating our clients, and explaining how we’re going to get them where they want to go.” What I heard were so many similarities to that stylist/client relationship.

Our industry—professional beauty—has always been an early adopter of trends with social media being one of the best examples. Now, we’re seeing beauty professionals finding ways to make Artificial Intelligence work for them.  We’ve been seeing beauty pros using ChatGPT, for instance, to write not just captions for social posts but also whole programs, podcasts, and website text. And have you seen the audits of Instagram grids that ChatGPT is offering up, and that so many are then sharing on their grid? 

It made me want to look at what AI capabilities might mean with financial management, and to interview an expert who understands both worlds--that of beauty and of finance. 

FINANCE AND THE BEAUTY PRO

Anna Manukyan brings a wealth of beauty industry experience and a balanced hybrid of hands-on creative, business and leadership skills to her  role as Ulta Beauty Senior Director of Education & Creative. She is leading a strong education and industry relations teams to support and inspire beauty professionals working at or considering career options at more than 1,300 Ulta Beauty salon locations across every state in the U.S. 

She holds a bachelor's degree in business and is also a certified Financial Educator and certified empathy champion, the co-founder of Beauty Finance Group, which provides financial guidance to beauty professionals, and a registered professional with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

When we wanted to bring all these worlds together--beauty professionals, Artificial Intelligence, and financial management--we turned to Manukyan to answer these questions. 

AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNA MANUKYAN

MODERN SALON:Can we connect this discussion--that of early adoption of AI--to our own industry, knowing that it’s often that ‘emotional intelligence’ that the beauty professional possesses that will help them attract and retain clients? 

ANNA MANUKYAN:  While a small portion of our industry moved quickly and adopted social media, there is still a big gap between those who are really fluent with social and those who haven’t fully embraced it.

Then think about the movement of social media compared to the speed at which Artificial Intelligence is moving—it’s growing so much quicker, with more and more programs available every day.

Because so much of what we do as beauty professionals is hands-on, requiring our technical expertise and tapping into our Emotional Intelligence (EQ), we definitely have heard complaints from stylists feeling overwhelmed with the expectations of social media—“I’m a hairdresser, but now I also have to be a photographer, a production person, and write clever captions?” 

And here, I think, is where we see AI helping, and becoming an assistant for generating social media content. You can know enough to help you without knowing everything—AI can help to audit your social page, or script some promotional content. Knowing some very basic AI prompts can save them hours a week.

MS: In the age of AI, what is the value proposition of working with a financial manager? 

AM: When it comes to working with AI to manage your finances, you just remember that AI is data in and data out. If you ask the right questions, you could get the answers you need…but how do you ask the right questions?  This is where working with a financial educator or advisor might be valuable to have that support.

Now, do you have to work with someone?  If you’re educated enough as a consumer to know if you’re asking questions—the power lives within your ability be an educated consumer—then ‘no’ but that is why I’m so passionate about becoming educated to help you be informed.

Without having done some homework and learned some basic terms, you can get someone selling you a product you don’t actually need or that isn’t appropriate for you. But that stops when you know what to ask for.

Ultimately, the common thread behind all of this is that we’re often afraid to ask questions; fear prevents us from revealing what we might not know.

MS:  Are there some tools or software you recommend for getting a handle on personal finances?

AM: There are programs and apps that can help with budgeting. There are AI tools that allow you to download your monthly statement and have it do an audit, using a prompt: “Act like a CEO and look at my personal expenses.”  But it’s always taking that first step and being willing to change some decisions you’ve been making around finances that might not serve you, anymore. 

MS: And do you have any watchouts? Things to avoid? 

AM: I always talk about the fact that most financial professionals don’t have a fiduciary duty or a legal obligation to act in your best interests, except for Certified Financial Advisors.  You want to work with someone you can trust to act on your behalf, because someone could sell you something that pays them the most commission even if it doesn’t give you the best growth.

But if you know someone is a fiduciary, they have to recommend what is going to be best for you.  Again, this comes back to knowing what to ask for, knowing how to identify red flags. It’s an extreme example but think of the people victimized by Bernie Madoff; they maybe didn’t know enough to recognize those warnings.

The number one mistake I see is people open up a brokerage account, where you buy securities, stock, bonds, etc.—and they will fund that account and it sits there, waiting to be told where to go…but it’s just in that waiting room unless you tell it what to do from that point.

Which all comes back to having a baseline of knowledge, of being an educated consumer, so you can navigate these conversations.  You want to know the fundamentals.

You can leverage AI as a personal assistant and have AI navigate some of those questions. You can be self-sufficient and plan for long-term success with a robo-advisor if you know what prompts to give it. And AI has no judgement, it’s not pressuring you to do anything. Anytime there is a human involved, you will get charged.

MS: Final words?

AM:  The biggest piece of connecting with a financial advisor is the ability to feel comfortable enough to ask questions.  Looking at this through the lens of our industry, there is so much shame and fear because we aren’t taught a lot of this in school, and many people are operating completely blind. There is a lack of basic understanding.

If someone has been in this industry for 20 years, let’s say, there is a lot of shame and guilt around not having had these conversations around finances sooner.  It can feel so overwhelming.  That is when emotional support of working with someone can come in-- to have those conversations without being talked down to or being criticized. 

At the end of the day, there is no magic to financial wellness and literacy. You have to do some research. You have to know what to ask--and not be afraid to ask.