The Bridal Hair Club Podcast

Kira McClenaghan @parla.hair
  • 3.0 (2)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

The Bridal Hair Club Podcast is your weekly dose of real talk for bridal hairstylists. Hosted by Kira McClenaghan aka @parla.hair, we cover hair techniques, pricing, boundaries, client experience, and all the business stuff nobody taught us in beauty school. If you’re ready to raise your rates, attract dream brides, and stop doing this alone, start the car and let’s grow your bridal biz together.

  1. 2d ago

    26. How to Stop Taking Bridal Preview Feedback Personally (And What to Do Instead)

    You just finished a bridal preview, your bride seemed SO happy, and you're feeling pretty good about yourself. Until a few days later, an email lands in your inbox with a list of things she'd like to change. Cue the immediate spiral. 🙃 Sound familiar? Because SAME. In this week's episode of The Bridal Hair Club Podcast, we're talking about something every bridal hairstylist experiences (yes, even the ones who've been doing this for years!): receiving feedback after a bridal preview. I'm sharing why feedback doesn't automatically mean you've done something wrong, how your technical skills directly impact your confidence in handling those conversations, and why better consultations can help you receive LESS feedback in the first place. Plus, I'm walking you through 5 practical tips for responding to feedback professionally, when a second preview makes sense (and whether you should charge for it!), and how to recognize when your bride's hair type, haircut, or density might be what's standing between her and her inspiration photo. Because being a great bridal hairstylist doesn't mean getting everything perfect on the first try. It's about knowing how to listen, troubleshoot, and confidently guide your clients toward the best possible result. PLUS: I'm sharing a little sneak peek at my upcoming Hair Extension Rentals Masterclass on November 23rd! Let's get into it! 🤎

  2. Oct 16

    25. You're Not Stuck. You're Overthinking It.

    Ever spend HOURS researching something for your business, only to end up more confused than when you started? 🙋🏼‍♀️ After a full day of coaching calls inside The Bridal Hair Club, I noticed a common theme: so many talented artists are getting stuck in analysis paralysis. Whether it's raising your prices, choosing a CRM, updating your website, or introducing a new service, the fear of making the wrong decision can stop you from making ANY decision. In this episode, we're talking about why overthinking is holding your bridal business back, the hidden cost of doing nothing, and five practical ways to finally start moving forward. PLUS, I'm sharing a sneak peek at my upcoming November 23rd live Hair Extension Rentals class, where I'll walk you through everything you need to confidently introduce this additional revenue stream into your business! Follow @thebridalhairclub on Instagram for more details coming next week. Because here's the thing: Your business doesn't need another six months of overthinking. It needs you to start. 🤍 Join The Bridal Hair Club: www.thebridalhairclub.com

  3. Oct 9

    24. How to Land Brand Deals as a Hair + Makeup Artist

    Want to work with brands but have no idea how they actually find creators — or what makes them choose one person over another? In this episode, I’m getting the inside scoop from my sister, Hannah McClenaghan, a Digital Account Associate at Talk Shop, an integrated communications agency that works with brands to bring campaigns to life. Hannah is one of the people actually searching for, vetting and communicating with creators for brand campaigns, so I asked her allllll the questions we’re usually wondering from the other side. We’re talking about: • How brands + agencies actually find creators• What they look at when they land on your Instagram or TikTok• Why making yourself searchable matters• Whether follower count matters as much as you think• Engagement, niche, location + content quality• What can make a brand immediately say yes — or no• Media kits, cold pitching + what information brands actually want• How much creators can get paid for brand partnerships• Exclusivity, usage rights + negotiating your rates• Why being easy and professional to work with can lead to MORE opportunities• How bridal hair + makeup artists can use their expertise to stand out from traditional creators And maybe the biggest takeaway? You don’t need to completely reinvent your content or become a full-time influencer to start opening the door to brand partnerships. As bridal hair and makeup artists, we already have something incredibly valuable: expertise, authority and an audience that trusts our recommendations. This episode is about learning how to turn that into another potential income stream — while still creating content that actually feels like YOU. If brand deals have been on your 2027 vision board, this one’s for you!

  4. Sep 18

    23. 7 Ways to Elevate Your Client Experience (So You Can Charge More)

    Want to raise your bridal hair prices but aren't totally confident your business is ready for it yet? This episode was inspired by this month's Office Hours inside The Bridal Hair Club, where almost every coaching call came back to the same questions: Am I charging enough? What should I be charging? Can I raise my prices — and will people actually pay them? While I can't give every listener personalized pricing advice, I can help you look at one huge piece of the puzzle: Does the client experience you're providing match the price you want to charge? In this episode, I'm sharing 7 practical ways you can elevate your bridal client experience — most of which cost little to nothing to implement. We're talking about creating a ridiculously clear booking path, making sure your website supports your pricing, elevating your bridal preview experience, improving your communication, anticipating questions before your clients have to ask them, personalizing your systems and showing up professionally on the wedding morning. Plus, I'm giving you a simple client journey audit you can do in your own business to find the friction, confusion and missed opportunities that might be keeping you from feeling confident about your prices. You don't need to overhaul your entire business overnight. Pick one or two touch-points, make them better, and keep building an experience you're genuinely proud to charge more for. Want personalized support with your pricing, packages and business? Every second week of the month, Bridal Hair Club members can book a free 30-minute Office Hours coaching call with me so we can dig into your business together. Join The Bridal Hair Club here:https://www.thebridalhairclub.com/the-bridal-hair-club

  5. Sep 11

    22. Before You Panic About Your 2027 Bookings, Do This

    It’s that time of year when everyone starts posting how many weddings they already have booked for next year… and suddenly you’re counting yours wondering, “Wait… am I behind?” But here’s the thing: the number of weddings someone else has booked tells you absolutely nothing about how your business is doing. In this episode, we’re figuring out how many weddings you actually need based on YOUR business — your revenue goals, your average booking value and, most importantly, how much you actually want to work. We’re chatting about: How to calculate how many weddings you actually needWhy your average booking value matters more than your total number of bookingsHow to know if your pricing and capacity actually support your income goalsHow to identify whether you have a marketing, conversion, pricing or comparison problemWhy being “fully booked” shouldn't be the goalBecause the goal isn't to have the busiest bridal business. It's to build one that makes the money you want it to make without working every single weekend of your life. Grab your calculator for this one, my queens. We’re looking at the numbers 👑 GUEST EDUCATORS THIS MONTH IN THE CLUB @hairstylesby_charlotte and @shannonsarabridalhair Want to be part of The Bridal Hair Club? Join us!

  6. Sep 4

    21. Turning Inquiries Into Bookings

    Getting ghosted sucks — but not because they hurt your feelings. Because you just wasted precious admin time on an inquiry that may have never been a realistic booking in the first place 😅 In this episode of The Bridal Hair Club Podcast, I’m breaking down exactly how I’ve built my bridal inquiry process to help me turn more of the right inquiries into booked weddings — and why my conversion rate is now so high when I’m actually available. We’re talking about: Why I want brides to see my pricing before they inquire The questions I ask to figure out how serious someone is about booking What information I collect upfront to eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth How I use my inquiry form to determine whether I can actually accommodate the wedding Why more inquiries isn’t always the goal — better inquiries are How to audit your own inquiry-to-booking process and find where potential clients are dropping off Because sometimes you don’t need more leads. You just need a better path from “Are you available?” → BOOKED. Want to see exactly how I’ve set mine up? 👉 Take a peek at my Parla Hair Inquiry Form Then audit your own process: What could your brides know before they inquire that would save you both time later?

  7. Aug 28

    20. Beyond the Wedding Day: Education, Community & Continuing to Grow with Jillian Susten | Part 2

    In Part 2 of my conversation with Jillian Susten, co-owner of Glossed, we’re talking about what happens when you start thinking beyond just taking more weddings. We get into building online education and memberships, creating communities people actually want to be part of, finding the balance between client work and growing something new, and the pressure to constantly create more for your members. We also talk about something I think every stylist needs to hear: not everything you do needs to make you money immediately. Sometimes bringing in a model, practicing a new technique, creating content, collaborating with another stylist or simply trying something that might completely flop is still moving your business forward. And because Instagram loves to show us everyone’s most Pinterest-worthy work, we also get into the reality of bridal styling: sometimes you don’t have the perfect hair, extensions, timeline or conditions — and that doesn’t mean you’re a bad stylist. This one feels like two bridal business friends sitting down, comparing notes and reminding each other that we’re all still figuring it out 🤍 Find Jillian on Instagram @glossedbyjillian Learn more about The Glossed Society

  8. Aug 21

    19. Building a Bridal Team Without Burning Out with Jillian Susten | Part 1

    In Part 1 of my conversation with Jillian Susten, co-owner of Glossed and founder of The Gloss Society, we’re talking about what it actually looks like to build and manage a team in the bridal industry. Jillian has built a team of 14 hair and makeup artists while personally taking on close to 100 weddings a year — so she knows a thing or two about managing a LOT of moving parts. We chat about: How Jillian grew her bridal team (and whether she’d do it all over again 👀) Training stylists to represent your brand, work ethic and standards The control-freak struggle of delegating and outsourcing Why keeping your team booked, paid and happy has to factor into your business decisions Pricing as a team vs. a solo stylist Package pricing vs. à la carte — and why there’s no universally “right” answer The responsibility that comes with having other artists working under your name Balancing weddings, business, motherhood and everything in between Why your version of “scaling” doesn’t have to look like someone else’s Jillian and I have taken two very different approaches to growing our businesses — she’s built a large team, while I’ve intentionally stayed solo and expanded into education instead. And that’s really the takeaway from this episode: there’s no one right way to build a successful bridal business. You get to create one that works for your goals, your life and the amount of responsibility you actually want to take on. Connect with Jillian: Follow Jillian on Instagram: @glossedbyjillianLearn more about The Gloss Society and join here: https://www.glossedbyjillian.com/plans-pricing And we’re not done! Jillian will be back next week for Part 2, where we’re talking all about online education, memberships, content creation and what it looks like to build another revenue stream alongside a busy bridal career. Follow The Bridal Hair Club Podcast so you don’t miss Part 2! 🤍

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3
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

The Bridal Hair Club Podcast is your weekly dose of real talk for bridal hairstylists. Hosted by Kira McClenaghan aka @parla.hair, we cover hair techniques, pricing, boundaries, client experience, and all the business stuff nobody taught us in beauty school. If you’re ready to raise your rates, attract dream brides, and stop doing this alone, start the car and let’s grow your bridal biz together.

Information

  • Creator
    Kira McClenaghan @parla.hair
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Kira McClenaghan @parla.hair
  • Show Website
    The Bridal Hair Club Podcast

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