In response to “A Team Effort,” the Healthy Hairdresser Challenge throughout June, we’re excited about the responses detailing salon-wide efforts to get the whole team healthy! These efforts range from informal support to casual track-and-compare habits to spirited competitions. There’s a team of six doing the 21-Day Fix by Beach Body, a team of nine participating in an original life affirmation game and another team taking a boot camp class and attending church together.

It’s not too late to enter and be eligible for a drawing to win a sterling Luci Ring from sponsor Sports Clips for yourself or potentially for your entire team. For inspiration, read through more of the great entries we’ve received so far, responding to our question about what their teams are doing toward improving body/spirit/business:

Erica H.—As a team we do an exercises during our down time—squats, lunges, wall sits. We are all working toward weight loss and healthy eating. We share healthy meals and snacks in family style and take turns cooking healthy meals. We have been using exercise challenge apps and before-and-after pics to stay motivated with “nights out” to reward hard work.
Jacklyn B.— Feed the positivity, and starve our negativity. Encourage, lift, and build up one another instead of bringing each other down. Create one big goal, and as a team strive to hit and exceed! Also be there for one another. Our team has struggled with some mental health issues so for this year, so just overall being supportive and loving one another. I have a positivity board hung up in my back room. We all put positive quotes or motivational words up to encourage each other. Also kind words and lots of laughter. By watching the relationships continue to grow. Celebrating every day to remain positive.
Kimberly B.—Eating right. Stretching, drinking a lot of water. Team challenge on the most steps per day with FitBits. Providing healthy options while in the salon for snacking. Celebrate daily with praise.
Brittney H.—Our team effort will be to each contribute to healthier snacking habits (such as getting fruit instead of donuts and the like). Since two on our team have undergone gastric surgery in the past year, it has made the whole team reflect on our eating habits. We try to encourage each other by sharing tips and being positive. The main motivation will be: the healthier the mind and attitude to see, the goal of  a healthier body will be. We’re already on the right track but we will have a pep rally to share recipes and tips on how to stay motivated. I follow a group called “Fit Girls Guide” that has an online Ebook with grocery lists and workouts, and I plan on sharing that with the team. Results will be by weight and/or overall attitude and wellbeing. We’ll track every two weeks of progress; if someone seems to be struggling, we can help with motivation to stay on track.
Jenny E.—Our salon owner pays for our gym membership, and we are all trying to get healthier by sharing healthy food ideas, exercising together and supporting each other’s goals. We give each other healthy challenges and congratulate anyone who reaches a goal.
Kimberly N.—We always discuss healthy eating plans with clients and staff. We have healthy snacks and offer clients water. Our new healthy tip is to use our TRX (suspension trainer) to stretch your back any time during the service. It’s located at the back of the salon. We have a motivational trainer come weekly to help staff with personal goals. Also, we are currently  reading Think and Grow Rich and are trying to apply this way of thinking to our daily lives. Our goal is to live healthy and have balance in our careers and home life. And to be HAPPY! We measure our results by checking things off our list of goals that our motivational trainer has in place for us. We are also planning a retreat or outing to do more team building. I will be treating my staff to a massage or mani and pedi at the end of the summer.
Gabie V.—We are fortunate to live in Hawaii and have beautiful hikes available! I would like to set up a few sign-up sheets for our team to go on hikes together and bond outside of the salon. I will let them know about the hikes during one of our Sunday huddles, where we communicate changes, updates and celebrations of our stylists. The hikes on the island are usually celebrated once you reach the top!
Melissa H.—To promise to do the 5-point play with every client every time, break bad habits and do our job consistently with all clients! This will benefit the salon and the stylists—more clients, more tips and more bonuses!    Hold stylists and the entire team accountable! Pair off in groups of two (strong stylist with one who needs a little help/improvement) and do a team game requiring them to work together to win. If everyone hits our goals for the whole month of June, we will go to a paint night/wine class!
Valerie W.—To love and embrace oneself! We embrace and show love by setting examples in the community. We help the homeless who are looking to step up their personal lives by looking for work and getting back to being a positive role model. They come back and thank us.
Kim F.—We are a great team because we love to encourage and support each other in all aspects of our lives. We encourage each other to eat real food like fruits and vegetables, to drink water and not too much caffeine. We talk about good posture while we work and promote each other in and out of the salon to our clients and other people we meet. We encourage healthy home lives for each other with our significant others and our children. We energize each other every day. We are each taking family vacations this summer to get rejuvenated, and as a salon we are teaching each other techniques on our down time to take advantage of our slower summer months.