Mental Health in the Salon Industry

 First, I am not a hairstylist or a barber. 

I started as a receptionist who worked his way up to general manager in a female dominated world. 

In an industry that has barbershop and salon chains that chew up and spit out creative’s like nothing. 

Stylists put their bodies on the line.

 Many that  I know have physical aches and pains from their fingers down to their toes. 

I see the creative spark dying like a star in the galaxy.

I become their counselor, their therapist, their leader, and their motivator. 

I have tried my best to appreciate what they do, to really understand what got them to this place. 

So many times I have encountered salon professionals with alcohol problems, drug problems, mental health problems and on top of all that financial insecurity. 

According to an article from Behindthechair.com, 1 in 5 hair stylists suffer from an anxiety disorder. That is 20% of hairstylists across the nation.

In comparison only 3.1% of the general population suffers from Generalized Anxiety disorder. 

So why is it that stylists are more than 6 times more likely to be anxious?

Just from the conversations I have heard over the 8 years in the industry is that they deal with a lot of instability in the home. 

Many I know are single mothers. 

Many have trouble making ends meet.

Many have general stress about the workload they have to do. 

From 20 minute haircuts, to having a full book or not having a full book, to not liking the clients they have. 

I have heard it all and it is sad because I really thought they would like their profession. 

What I have learned is that stylists love to be independent and that is the goal, the dream for almost all of them. 

My sister is a successful, young stylist that specializes in color and loves her job. 

She sets her own schedule, takes who she wants, and can audit her books. 

She can take trips, do yoga, work out, see friends and have the work life balance along with being able to take on other creative endeavors. 

She is also able to be financially independent because of her career. 

That is what everyone wants in this industry. 

From the client facing perspective, if you work in a chain salon,  you cannot really control who sits in your chair. 

That choice is stripped away, The schedule is set for them, by a manager like myself. 

Weekends are a must as their clientele is everyone that typically works Monday through Friday. They have to fight for weekends off but that is the nature of the business. 

The other contributing factor to the anxiousness found in hair stylists comes down to simple demographics. 

According to Zippia, 90.8% of all hairstylists are women. 

Women are twice as likely to be anxious in comparison to their male counterparts. 

Only 9.2% of hairstylists are men. 

Another surprising fact is that hair stylists on average earn only $38,359 annually. 

That isn’t enough to sustain an individual much less a family. 

As many of those who work in the service industry, know they feel undervalued because they not only provide a service with their skills but also give a lot of themselves in each unique interaction with a client. 

Imagine talking to 8-20 people a day, a new conservation all the time, dealing with a different mood, and not having the time to actually reset in between people. 

I have seen hair stylists have full on mental breakdowns, panick attacks, anxiety attacks and there aren’t many resources for them. 

As a general manager, I am caught in between doing what is best for my team, what is best for the business to thrive and what is best for the customer. 

A lot of the time, what is best for the business and best for the customer outweighs the needs of the team. 

That is something I am not proud of. Those decisions have consequences such as high turnover, unhappy staff and pushing staff to the breaking point.

So what can be done? 

According to the same article in Behindthechair.com their recommendations are: Take the day off, schedule an hour massage, or get your hair done.

That’s nice. 

Yet its the equivalent of putting a Flintstones band-aid on a gunshot wound to your abdomen. 

More has to be done. Our service providers are literally falling apart, and this model is not sustainable.