03.02 : A big leap, a big chance...

What's up Rockstars + Lambs?

It's late on a Monday evening and I'm sitting here catching up on my DVR and sipping coffee and tending to a to-do list.  Actually, I'm taking a break from my to-do list to finally write a blog.

It saddens me when I'm not able to make a connection with my tweethearts through blogging.  I love the connection and reaching out to the public via social media and online sites when I'm not in the salon.  It means a lot to me.

Lately, it's been a bit different for me behind the scenes as I'm changed my after-hours schedule to include an earlier bedtime (hard to believe, I know) and with that said, I find it very hard to calm my mind.  The average set up for me is to turn a majority of the lights off at 10pm at my home and turn the TV down low and begin reading or replying to emails or some of your messages, by 11pm, I try to disconnect myself from my phone and read a spiritual book or watch an old 1930s movie, slowly, sleep sets in and I migrate to my master suite and attempt to stay there til 4:30 or 5 and make my way to the gym...

The biggest thought on my brain keeping me up lately is my longing to expand Rockstars + Lambs to a larger location.  I have found a location about 3,000 square feet (up from my 840 square foot studio) and wonder if its too soon to invest in my future and expand my team. 

There's so many cool things I could do in a bigger space with a team and then there's the overwhelming weight of me NOT wanting to start over again.  Honestly, as a salon owner, there are some things I'm just NOW figuring out. I am to the point where my assistant and I are on the same page and my internship program is a talked-about commidity.

Part of expanding into a larger space is NOT ONLY to be a place for top color and top colorists trained by me, but also to open a training facility for other hairdressers to expand there knowledge through advanced education and to mentor young stylists as I'm doing now.  I said about a year ago that my goal was to grow my brand.

I had to ask myself: what does the Josh Cooley brand include?

My answer was: top skill. top professionalism. top in education.

The key to all this is education. Without being properly trained or educated, no body can grow in any industry they select to be a Rockstar in.  I truly believe that.

In bringing on my assistant as a permanent feature, I've been torn as to how I will manage a staff, teach and mentor.  I need a director of the Josh Cooley brand.  Most people tell me "well, Josh, that's you!"

No.  I'm the Creative Director.  I say use Joico color and listen to Beth Minardi and myself and reference Vidal Sassoon, but put the Josh spin on it."

That's being creative.

A director manages the facility, the money and the growth of the brand. My goal has always been to bring my mom into the equation. For 30 years, she has managed restaurants under my dad's franchise and she is very good at it.  The restaurant industry and the salon industry are different, but have one thing in common: guest satisfaction.

I think she'd be good at this.  

As part of growing my brand and education brand, I have begun work on new imagery and working on books to go with the proper tools needed to create a truly independent professional stylist.  It is hard work!  It has taken me eight years to understand the equation, with the last five being very successful and first one being a drag.

I have worked for three major haircare companies and educated thousands of professionals and STILL do not feel as though I have arrived fully as an industry educator.  I often feel "dumbed" down by manufacturers due to the politics involved in booking a class.

When I started booking Josh Cooley: Atelier classes privately, my reputation surpassed me.  As much as I love working with the Joico and Minardi brands, I feel very sad that they have not fully utilized me as an important color educator in my native territory.  I had to take things into my own hands and begin teaching MY WAY.

I have NEVER let a company hold me down or put me in a box and as much as I have loved all my business associates, that is all they ever become. They never have truly become my partner.  I invest thousands of dollars year into being brand specific and hope that one day, they reciprocate and invest in me.

With that being a far and few dream, I created the education at Rockstars + Lambs and trained seven young colorists and over 200 professionals at various Academies in Colorado.

Why wouldn't I gamble it all and invest in a bigger space?

It can only get better, right?