I was speaking with my wife the other day about a situation that was upsetting. She was going to change some of the things she enjoys because she was tired of drama that was being created. The problem was that Leah, my wife, was going to give up something she loved because others were creating drama.

It made me think about our industry, which historically is filled with dramatic people who live dramatic lives that have made salons places of daily drama. That though was in the past.

Now, because of reality TV, especially shows involving salons and/or the overly obsessive time spent on hair, many in our industry seem to have come to the conclusion that their lives are not dramatic enough. Reality TV is like a car accident, and we have a natural desire to slow down and look. But now it seems we went from looking at the car accident to wanting to be the car wreck. It seems we have decided that drama—instead of being happy—makes us more important or special.

What is special is our salons, our industry and all of its professional members that understand salons make people feel better, look better and provide guests a place to relax/recharge.

For younger members of our industry, I feel badly that it’s much harder to become successful. When I entered the industry more than 20 years ago, it was easy to be successful because there were more clients graying with more disposable income (it was the mid 1980s).  People would wait hours for a star stylist who always ran late, and it was acceptable to have an attitude, as long as the reputation/or persona made others think we were some how “more special” and worth the attitude.

Also, for most of our newer salon professionals, they have grown up with reality TV and entered our industry during the “Great Recession.”  The recession will be over  (if it isn’t already), and as I said to my wife, we can’t control other people’s drama, but we don’t have to react to it or even pay attention to it.

Though I grew up in New Jersey, I have never lost or wasted a minute of my life on any reality show that takes place in New Jersey or a salon, which allows me to focus the precious time I have on making things better—and not looking at car accidents.

Patrick McIvor is the artistic color director with Matrix – the leading professional haircare and haircolor company in the United States and part of the L’Oreal USA Professional Products Division.  He owns patrick mcivor color studio (Bethlehem, PA) and studio two (Allentown, PA) – the two hottest hair studios in the Lehigh Valley.  As one of the most respected colorists in the industry, McIvor mentors his team by involving them in runway work at New York Fashion Week; fashion/beauty editorial shoots and interviews with publications like Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Real Simple, Seventeen, Family Circle and Allure (editors named him best colorist in the USA); and television segments on “The 10! Show”/NBC Channel 10, WFMZ “Channel 69 News” and “Good Housekeeping Reports.”  His studio provides stellar hair services inspired by international cosmopolitan influences such as fashion, cultural and global trends. In other words, guests leave with beautiful, sexy believable hair.  McIvor is also featured in the book “50 Hairstylists.”