Daniel Montes, Owner of Hair by Daniel M, works on a client in his Sola Salon Suite.
Courtesy of Daniel Montes
Have you ever struggled to communicate with your clients? With over 42.5 million individuals speaking Spanish in the United States, over 13% of our population has difficulty communicating with beauty professionals. What are Spanish-speaking consumers to do?
Let’s ask Daniel Montes (@hairby_danielm), Owner of a Sola Salon Studio called Hair by Daniel M. As a Mexican immigrant, Montes operates a bilingual, culturally diverse salon. He started his career as a beauty professional in Mexico after being encouraged to enter the profession by his grandmother. After opening his salon in the United States, Montes is one of the only bilingual hairstylists in his area, creating the first culturally diverse salon with a welcoming and safe environment for all hair textures and nationalities. His salon is now a cultural meeting place for the community, with many of his clients becoming friends after sharing his chair.
We wanted to know more about how important inclusion is to Montes and his community, so we asked him the questions below.
Q: Where are you located? Is your Sola Studio one or two chairs?
A: My salon studio is located in Greensboro, North Carolina and my salon is a two-chair salon.
What kind of salon did you start in? And what made you think you’d service your clients better inside a suite?
I started as an assistant in a luxury, commission-based salon in Mexico. It was a 12-chair salon with nine stylists, and each stylist had a designated assistant. Throughout assisting and becoming a full-time stylist, I always had my own dreams of entrepreneurship.
How do you make sure all clients feel welcome in your salon and in your chair?
I make sure my clients feel welcome through a warm smile upon entering the salon, and making sure they have a customized consultation to ensure I am meeting their needs. Each client is different, and I do believe in making them feel special.
Do you use appointment scheduling software? If so, does it offer Spanish-language options?
My online appointment scheduler is Gloss Genius. There is not a bilingual option, however, it is user-friendly, and I also keep my menu simple as well. In the event that a client is having an issue, I will always make time to walk them through the booking process.
What could beauty brands do to make their products more accessible to Spanish-speaking beauty professionals?
I believe beauty brands can put Spanish instructions on the packages/bottles to make them more user-friendly for Spanish-speaking professionals and clients.
To learn more about the benefits of having your own Sola Salon Studio, visit solasalonstudios.com/why-sola.
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Originally posted on Modern Salon
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