“Life is not about becoming who you are, it is about creating who you want to be,” wrote owners (from left) Tina Jay, Vanessa Rose, and Celeste Williams in their application essay to Salon Today. "We feel very strongly in supporting each team member in their personal growth as they continue to grow in their professional careers." Photo courtesy of Maude
Through an awards competition that named the best and the brightest salon owners in the country for their managerial and leadership skills, Celeste Williams, Tina Jay and Vanessa Rose, owners of Maude in Herndon, were honored to have their salon receive the Salon Today 200 2018 Honoree Award. Maude is a popular downtown business located at 775 Station St. in the Historic Downtown District. The salon received recognition by the industry's leading business media, Salon Today in the category of Salon Culture.
The January/February 2018 edition of "Salon Today 200" profiled the activities of 200 award-winning salons out of 20,000 top-producing salons and spas in the country. The named honorees are salons judges believe exceed excellence and will, through modeling of their managerial practices, fuel the business trajectory of other salons. Judges named 200 winners in eleven categories, including Technology, Retention & Referral, Philanthropy, Employee Education, and Salon Culture.
In the 21st Annual Salon Today 200, Stacey Soble defined what Salon Culture means. She stated, "Salon Culture is that invisible, yet tangible, energy that binds and propels a team and attracts clients. A strong culture is hard to define and even more difficult to build. But when mastered, these salons are unstoppable."
Salon owners Rose, Jay, and Williams recounted in their essay application how Maude's initial team of three has grown to a group of 25 and how that growth is what drives the salon's entire culture. “We have learned how to be leaders and to train leaders…‘Life is not about becoming who you are; it is about creating who you want to be.’ This quote is printed in our employee handbook, it hangs on the wall in our salon and it holds a place in our hearts...We support, mentor, and coach one another."
As another example of salon culture that drives their staff, Rose, Jay and Williams described a project they created called "The Unicorn Challenge." It is a spinoff idea of their own based on an idea the owners acquired during a salon owners focus group. The owners used humor to both focus positive reinforcement on what is going well and gentle attention on something that needs correction. The January/February Salon 200 quotes the owners' application: "We have cute rubber unicorns and piglets. If a team member does something incredible, another team member can give her a unicorn. Piglets are given anonymously and are a great way to address negative behaviors. Distribution of both is tracked by the front-desk manager, who records why the team member is getting a unicorn or a piglet."
Shawn Leonard, of Alexandria, is a Master Crafter at Maude. Standing in the lobby of Maude, he offered his thoughts on the unique culture at the salon. Leonard attested how members of the "Maude Squad” are only as good as others around them. "Iron sharpens iron, comes to mind,” said Leonard. "It's a positive peer pressure that influences ethos of the salon. Peer pressure influences us to strive to be the best in our craft...I believe we are the last juggernaut salon, meaning it's more like a snowball; it grows and gets bigger and bigger. Reputation breeds reputation."