Self-care tips for busy salon owners
Q: My business leaves me with no time to myself. How can I factor in self-care?
As employers and employees who work in the fast-paced beauty industry, we tend to put everyone else first without consideration for ourselves. There can be weeks, even months, where we provide everyone else – clients, staff, family – with all of us, when really, we are only human and need investing in too.
I speak to so many salon and spa owners who aren’t given the opportunity to make time for themselves and are running on empty. As a spa owner, I often overwork and exhaust myself, giving everything I can to clients and staff, with very little left for my family and friends, and most importantly, me.
Our industry is all consuming – the continual changes, unpredictability of staff, clients and life – we are on call 24/7. Delegation is the key. We know we are masters of juggling many balls at once because we are conditioned to do so; however, it is far more practical to focus on one job at a time, becoming present in the task at hand.
It’s also important that we try to implement mindfulness in our day-to-day routine – even just five minutes of quiet time can bring such clarity. Every morning the team and I sit together and focus on the day ahead, visualising what we want to achieve. I can’t recommend pausing for a while highly enough.
Sam Pearce is owner of the Potting Shed Spa in Batley, West Yorkshire, which has won 23 awards in the past seven years.