Why isn’t there a service like Uber for professional hairstylists so they can hire a salon assistant only when they need one? And why is it so dang hard for newly graduated beauty school grads to find assisting jobs and get started in the industry?
Those are the questions that inspired me to close my salon in California, and quit my job as a hairstylist of 12 years. So I could go all in on building a beauty platform that connects hairstylists and salon assistants for day-to-day jobs.
(Hi, I’m Holly, by the way, a gal and fellow hairstylist from Orange County, California!)
Currently, professional hairstylists are struggling to hire salon assistants
And if you’ve ever hired a salon assistant, you already know it’s because of these three problems…
Number one? Finding a salon assistant to hire is freaking hard. Your options are posting on Instagram or asking your hairstylist friends if they know anyone graduating from beauty school. And both options mean you’re essentially sitting around, hoping someone appears out of thin air.
Problem number two? A lot of professional hairstylists don’t want or need full-time help. Some days aren’t as booked as other days. Sometimes you’re in a busy season, and sometimes you’re not. Which is a problem because most salon assistants are looking for regular hours, so if you can’t offer a full-time or part-time schedule, you’re out of luck.
Problem three? If you do manage to find a great salon assistant, they eventually leave to start their own careers! Which makes sense for the salon assistant, but after having spent months to years teaching them everything you know, now you have to start the painful process of finding another salon assistant all over again.
(I know because I struggled with all of those issues when I hired my first salon assistant! In fact, I still remember posting my first “salon assistant wanted” post on Instagram, hoping someone qualified would respond, but the only message I got was from my mom, telling me how proud she was. 😂)
Another massive problem? Salon assistants are struggling to get hired (or ending up in dead end jobs)
A lot of beauty school students graduate and end up having to choose between these 4 bad options:
- Take an unpaid internship/apprenticeship to get some real experience (while making no money)
- Spend more money on education (or hours trying to YouTube University hairstyling skills on a mannequin at home)
- Say yes to an unwanted job (like being a “temporary” receptionist that turns into a long-term position)
- Start giving bad haircuts at a random salon and hope for the best
And not only is finding a salon assistant job in the first place an uphill battle for so many people, but a lot of salon assistants who do get hired end up in assisting jobs where they are mistreated, overworked, and underpaid. So much so that many end up quitting the hair industry altogether.
I mean, have you ever searched “salon assistant” on Reddit? The results are heartbreaking!
Which doesn’t surprise me because my own experience as a salon assistant was rough! I was lucky enough to be hired right out of cosmo school, but the hours were crazy, the pay was super low, and I was stuck assisting for 2 whole years before I could finally move up. I thought about quitting to go somewhere else, but I knew that if I did, I would have to start from the bottom all over again, so I sucked it up and “paid my dues.”
And that’s not an experience I ever want other salon assistants to have.
To Fix Those Problems? We Need to Start Offering On-Demand Support
Professional hairstylists who only want to double book here and there don’t need a full-time assistant. They need an easy-peasy way of hiring short-term, on-demand salon support for the specific days they need an extra set of hands.
That’s Why I Invented DoubleBook, A Platform Matching Hairstylists and Salon Assistants for Day-to-Day Jobs
Instead of having to go through a complicated hiring process or offer full-time hours, hairstylists and salon teams can hire a salon assistant for 1-day jobs. (And if you like that salon assistant, you can stay connected for future jobs!)
Instead of having to knock on doors or be stuck in a bad assisting position for years, salon assistants can easily find flexible salon assisting gigs.
Plus, all members on DoubleBook are licensed (you have to have your cosmetology license to sign up), and it’s a ridiculously easy-to-use platform where you can hire, get hired, pay, get paid, and review each other, all in one place.
