Half My Team Walked Out in 2011. Here’s Exactly How I Rebuilt
In 2011, I expanded my salon from 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.
We went from 10 chairs to 16. It was a massive leap for me at the time. Bigger space, bigger team, bigger vision.
I had just come back from a cruise. On the outside, it probably looked like everything was working.
Behind the scenes, my business checking account was negative $8,000.
Then I got the letter.
It was a thank-you note. Two of my booth renters were leaving to open their own salon, and they were taking three employees with them.
I had 10 people on my team.
Five of them were gone overnight.
The Numbers No One Talks About
In 2011, we grossed $877,464.
That same year, my personal income was $50,000.
Read that again.
Almost a million dollar business, and I was taking home $50k.
I was working nonstop, carrying all the stress, and still not getting paid what most people would expect at that level.
At that time, I was running a hybrid salon. Some commission stylists, some booth renters.
Here’s the part that surprised even me looking back.
When those five people left, my revenue didn’t collapse the way you would think.
In 2012, we crossed $1.12 million for the first time.
And here’s why.
Those stylists who left were booth renters. I wasn’t making money off of them in the same way. What I lost in headcount, I gained in clarity.
For years, I had been saying I wanted to move away from booth rental and build a full commission salon. I just didn’t have the guts to force the change.
That walkout forced it for me.
What Actually Caused It
Honestly, I don’t blame them.
They wanted to open their own salon. That’s exactly what I had done. That’s this industry.
But if I really look deeper, we had outgrown what they wanted.
We started in a small, cozy space. Six chairs. Tight knit. Intimate.
By the time we expanded, it felt big. Busy. Different.
They wanted small.
I was building something bigger.
That misalignment was already there. The walkout just made it visible.
The Lowest Moment
The hardest part wasn’t the walkout.
It was what came after.
There was a moment during those years where I had to ask for help just to stay afloat. I needed two months of my mortgage and two months of my car payment covered.
That was the moment I thought, I don’t know if I can keep doing this.
I had built this business, expanded it, taken all the risk, and I still couldn’t make it work financially.
That’s a very lonely place to be.
What I Got Wrong
At first, I thought switching to commission would solve everything.
More control. Better margins. More revenue.
And yes, revenue went up.
But so did expenses.
I had no real understanding of my numbers. No structure. No system.
I was busy. We were growing. But I still wasn’t making money.
The Turning Point
Everything changed in 2014.
That’s when I brought on a consultant through Summit Salon Services and got a coach.
And I’ll be honest. It felt like jumping off a cliff.
But it was change or die.
If I did not change how I was running my business, we were going to close.
That’s when I learned how to build a real business.
We implemented a tiered level system that pays stylists based on performance instead of seniority.
We fixed our pricing instead of relying on discounts and package deals.
We finally understood our numbers.
And for the first time, the business started to stabilize.
We are still a Summit salon today. Same systems. Same coach. That decision changed everything.
What That Walkout Gave Me
Looking back, that walkout forced me to become the leader I had been avoiding becoming.
When I first opened Urban Betty, I didn’t want to be the boss. I wanted to stay in the background. Rent chairs. Keep things easy.
But if you want to make real money in this industry, you don’t get to hide.
You have to lead.
You have to make hard decisions.
You have to build systems that actually work.
That moment forced me to step into my power in a way I never would have chosen on my own.
The Truth Most Salon Owners Don’t Want to Hear
You can be busy.
You can be fully booked.
You can be growing.
And still not be making money.
I lived that for years.
Closing
Losing half my team felt like everything was falling apart.
It was actually the moment everything started to fall into place.
