The ways that Jill has suggested to use the seasonal scented products in your salon are great ways to freshen up your service menu for the holidays and can be extended throughout the year as well. We are now doing our fall scented services. It is really fun to be able to offer something different to our guests and see them get excited about it. It is also a nice bonus for the service providers to have something different to use for the add-on services. It keeps them excited about the offerings, which means they ultimately are more successful in selling the additional service.

On another note, we are getting ready for our anniversary event. Since the salon’s opening date was in October, we incorporate breast cancer awareness with our event. We have always partnered with the local cancer center for this annual celebration. We have a salon-wide sale on the actual anniversary date with all of the proceeds going to the cancer center. The cancer center brings in awareness pamphlets for us to display and to hand out to guests. We also offer pink hair extensions, bling strands, and breast cancer ribbon nail stickers, or hand-painted ribbons for a few dollars each to our guests and all of the monies collected for those things for the entire month are donated as well.

We all help to clean and decorate the salon until it looks amazing. We stocked up and have special pink items for sale — from hand lotions and nail polish to travel bags of hair care products.  All of the stylists have at least one of the pink extensions in their hair themselves and so do we on the spa side. Everyone pitches in to bring punch and to make cupcakes and cookies for the day as a special treat for our guests. In the past we have partnered with local caterers or restaurants for this, but we decided this year to put some of the amazing cooking talents of some of our staff to good use.

We run the event all day long and it has always been well attended and a really fun day for the whole salon. It is a great way to celebrate our being in business another year and to give back to a great cause and to the community that has been so good to us.

— Sandy