February 2018

February 2018

February 2018 Cover

Note From the Editor: Stress and the Salon

Depending on your clientele, salon culture and overall job satisfaction, adjectives used to describe your job as a hairstylist typically fall into the positive category—after all, you’re surrounded by mostly passionate, creative people, right? But would you agree that being a hair stylist is one of the least stressful jobs out there? 
Well, according to results of a recent study of jobs and their respective stress levels conducted by careercast.com, a database of job listings and opportunities, number-two on the list of least stressful jobs of 2018 is hair stylist.

Now, you’re either running through your day’s events (all the missed meals and bathroom breaks, color corrections, that one client who simply won’t stop cutting her own fringe), or you’re thinking of all the ways you’re profession-ally and personally fulfilled by the creative and emotional aspects you get to explore on the salon floor.

Before you bust out the picket signs, let’s review how the results of the stress report were determined.
Eleven factors were taken into consideration: travel, career growth poten-tial, physical demands, environmental conditions, hazards encountered, meet-ing the public, competition, risk of death or grievous injury, immediate risk of another’s life, deadlines and working in the public eye.

CareerCast explains that while some of the least stressful jobs of 2018 still face stressors, the nature of these jobs differs from others in fundamental ways.

Sonographers, which ranked number-one least stressful don’t face imminent risk of bodily harm, and will not typically deal with travel or workplace hazards. However, their day may include the task of cancer screenings, and other difficult situations.

Hair stylists are beholden to the demands of clientele. However, the site says, the main stress criteria that can be universally applied to all careers are lower stress than in comparison to jobs that ranked in the site’s 10 most stressful.

In contrast, the most stressful jobs of 2018 lists enlisted military personnel as the number-one most stressful, followed by firefighter, airline pilot and police officer.

It’s all about perception versus reality. Anyone in the business knows salon professionals have a very emotionally stressful and physically demanding job. Long hours on your feet with your arms elevated is tough—combine that with the intimacy of connecting with your clients and taking on their grief or stress, and you’re not set up for success in the stress-management world.

As the year unfolds and resolutions come and go, remember how important it is that you take care of yourself just as well as you take care of those around you. See how one woman dealt with the physical toll of the profession, and reaped emotional and spiritual benefits, by learning more about the power of yoga in Healthy Hairdresser on page 46.

- Alison Alhamed, Editor in Chief

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