Symposium 11: Go Team!

Members Celebrate Networking and Education

The salon/spa section of PBA brought together over 850 attendees at Symposium 11, our industry's most important salon/spa business forum. Themed "Get in the Game," this year's Symposium offered salon and spa owners and managers the chance to learn new business strategies, network with other PBA members and attend informative workshops in an interactive and team-building atmosphere.

One of the most anticipated events at Symposium 11 was the Dream Team Panel. This panel of industry MVPs, including Gene Juarez, Eveline Charles, Paul Brown, Dennis Ratner, Steven Brooks, Jan Seybold, Bob Zupko, Eric Fisher and Eunice Dudley, was facilitated by Melissa Yamaguchi. The panel discussed the ups and downs of salon/spa ownership and shared the secrets and strategies of winning big in the salon/spa business. Following are excerpts from the panel's discussion:

Gene Juarez
Team: Gene Juarez Salons & Spas
Position: Founder / CEO
Rookie Year: 1971

We talk all the time about growing business and getting bigger... I met with a gentleman from a different field, and I asked him what he was doing with his business. He said, "I am a rare person, and I'm going to dare to be small." I loved it because if you want to be successful in this business, you don't have to grow big. You can make a lot of money standing behind your chair and doing the right things with that money.

Eveline Charles
Team: EvelineCharles Salon Spa
Position: Founder and CEO
Rookie Year: 1984

My biggest disappointment is that I've been in business for 33 years, but I've only really been in business for the last 10 years. It was not until I got off the floor, quit doing hair and started to drive my business and really work on growing a team of people that I went into business. If I had done that 20 years ago, we could have been so much farther ahead now.

Paul Brown
Team: The Paul Brown Companies: Salon Division and Product Line
Position: CEO/President
Rookie Year: 1968

If I had known about cosmetology schools and how they operated, I would have opened one 25 years ago. We just opened a school. And I'm telling everyone in the audience, if you have a notion to become more creative, a school is just a great thing to do. And we need more schools; we need good schools... What a concept: they pay you to train them!

Dennis Ratner
Team: Ratner Companies
Position: Founder/CEO/Stylist
Rookie Year: 1964

When I started, it was from the seat of the pants, just behind the chair. Learning through the hard knocks is very difficult; it takes a lot of years to do that. Education is really the key and benchmarking against other people who have done it before you so you can learn to eliminate some of the mistakes along the way.

Steven Brooks
Team: DIVA Studio
Position: Founder/CEO/Stylist
Rookie Year: 1996

One of the greatest things was what Gene [Juarez] said to me when we were playing golf, and I hit an errant shot, which was normal in my game, and I got angry. Gene looked at me and said, "Brooks, you aren't good enough be angry." I had to stop and think about what he said, and I said, "You know, you're right because if I played and practiced enough, I could be good, but I don't practice enough and I don't play enough to really be good, to worry about a shot like that."

Jan Seybold
Team: Carenza Color Cutting Experience
Position: Owner/General Manager/Coach/Cheerleader
Rookie Year: 1995

Use your organization and be involved with PBA. The opportunities we've had as an organization, as a company, to meet other salon owners in the last 10 years that we've been involved have been priceless. To even have a Milwaukee networking group started. It's really incredible to have other salon owners that will share their passions, their ideas, their challenges, give you feedback on things that you are struggling with... The opportunities are here for you to develop that same kind of network for yourself. It's priceless.

Bob Zupko
Team: Robert Andrews Salon & Spa
Position: CEO / Owner
Rookie Year: 1962

We tripled our size in one year. It was a very difficult thing, and the way we were able to accomplish it and be successful at accomplishing that was to give accountability to the managers, free them up to touch the people as much as possible. We think big, but we act small.

Eric Fisher
Team: Eric Fisher Salon & Spa
Position: Founder/CEO/Stylist
Rookie Year: 1979

My mother used to say motivation is like taking a bath: You can't just do it once in a while, but you have got to do it a little bit every day... I believe you become what you think about. I start every day off with a mantra. I say, "I feel healthy, happy. I feel terrific." And as silly as that sounds, I have my kids say it... and I try to teach this to my staff as well as my children.

Eunice Dudley
Team: Dudley Products, Inc.; Dudley Beauty Schools
Position: CFO
Rookie Year: 1967

Don't be intimidated. You are hiring them for their knowledge, their expertise and their training, but you are the boss. You have the ability to pay them so don't feel little, don't feel under classed. You are always up here.

Did these quotes inspire and intrigue you? Get a FREE MP3 / CD of the entire Dream Team Panel session when you purchase a set of all eight Symposium 11 breakouts! Download an order form online at www.probeauty.org/symposium/.