Cutting Through It | Hair Stylists, Clientele, Income, Salon, Cosmetologist

Sherri Brodie | Hairstylist, Business Coach
  • 5.0 (31)
  • Entrepreneurship

Are you a hairstylist who's doing everything right... but your chair still isn't full? Struggling to get clients, keep them coming back, or make consistent money behind the chair? Maybe you feel awkward talking to clients, unsure what to say… or wondering why it seems so much easier for everyone else. “If that’s you, you’re not alone and I want to help you understand what’s really going on. I'm Sherri, a hairstylist, educator, and business coach with over 40 years of experience. After rebuilding my salon business and clientele from scratch multiple times, I know what it takes to grow a loyal clientele and create lasting success behind the chair. In each episode, I share practical strategies for haircutting confidence, client consultations, client retention, marketing, communication, and building a profitable salon career. New episodes weekly.

  1. 4d ago

    53| Haircutting Is the Skill That Fills Your Chair. Why Are Stylists Walking Away from It

    Haircutting Is the Skill That Fills Your Chair. Why Are Stylists Walking Away from It? Everybody needs a haircut. Not everybody needs color, extensions, or a keratin treatment. But every single person walking down the street needs a haircut, and they need one every few weeks. So why are so many stylists treating it like the service they'd rather skip? In this episode, I share why haircutting is being pushed aside in our industry, why that's actually your biggest opportunity, and how a great haircut becomes the bridge to trust, loyalty, and a fully booked chair. After more than 40 years behind the chair, I can tell you this: haircutting is the skill that built my clientele, and it can build yours too. In this episode, you'll learn: ✂️ Why haircutting is being treated as "filler," and what that's costing stylists ✂️ Why haircutting is the easiest door into your chair for new clients ✂️ The trust bridge: how a great cut turns into loyal, multi-service clients ✂️ What confident cutting actually takes, starting before you pick up your shears ✂️ One simple thing you can do this week to build your cutting confidence Memorable moment: "Haircutting isn't the service you squeeze in. It's the service that builds your whole business." Ready to cut with confidence? My course, Cutting with Confidence, teaches you step by step how to feel confident with every haircut that sits in your chair. It's only available on its own until October 15th. After that, it won't be sold separately anymore. 🎁 BONUS: The first 10 people who join get a one-hour, one-on-one coaching session with me. Get it here: onpointhairbysherri.com/links Episodes mentioned: 🎧 Why Pixie Cuts and Short Cuts Intimidate Hairstylists (and How to Stop Avoiding Them) 🎧 Consultation Mistakes That Are Costing Rebookings (Fix It This Week) Stay connected: 🌐 Website and links: onpointhairbysherri.com/links 💬 Join the free On Point Pro Community: onpointhairbysherri.com/links If this episode helped you, please leave a rating and review. It helps more stylists find the show. 💛 Cutting Through It, with Sherri Brodie

  2. Sep 21

    52| Are You Afraid to Be Seen? The Fear That's Quietly Keeping Hairstylists Invisible

    Are You Afraid to Be Seen? Have you ever wanted to ask another hairstylist for help, but stopped yourself because you were worried about how it might make you look? Or maybe you've wanted to try a new service, post your work, show your face online, share what you know, or put yourself out there in a bigger way...but then you started thinking about what everyone else might think. Sometimes the thing keeping us from growing isn't a lack of knowledge. It's the fear of being judged. In this episode of Cutting Through It, I'm sharing something personal: I thought about starting this podcast for years. And one of the things holding me back wasn't whether I could actually do it, it was knowing that my family, friends, and people who knew me were going to hear it. I had to learn something I'm still reminding myself of today: You don't have to stop being nervous before you allow yourself to be seen. We'll talk about how fear of judgment shows up behind the chair and in your business—and I'll give you a simple way to work through it when it does. You'll learn how to: Name the fear instead of letting it quietly make the decision for you Shift from "What will they think of me?" to "Who could this help?" Take one small action instead of waiting until you suddenly feel confident Because confidence doesn't always come before action. Sometimes action is how we build the confidence. Your challenge this week What's one thing you've been holding yourself back from doing because you're worried about what someone else might think? Name the fear. Think about who could benefit if you did it anyway. Then take one small step. You don't have to feel completely ready. Sometimes you just have to do it nervous. Let's keep the conversation going I'd really love to hear what you're going to do nervous. Come join me in the FREE On Point Pro community and tell me. I want this to be a place where hairstylists can ask questions, share what they're working through, learn from one another, and realize they're not the only ones figuring things out along the way. You can join the community and find all of my other resources on my Links & Resources page. While you're there, grab my FREE tutorial, Four Ways to Get Clients in Your Chair Fast, with simple, actionable steps you can start using today to help get more clients into your chair. onpointhairbysherri.com/links If this episode made you think of another hairstylist who's been holding herself back, send it to her. And make sure you follow or subscribe to Cutting Through It so you don't miss what's coming next.

  3. Sep 14

    51| Stop Guessing on Google: The SEO and AI Gap Every Hairstylist Is Missing

    It’s One Thing to Be Online. It’s Another Thing to Be Found. You have a website. You're posting your work. You're showing up online. But here's the question: Can the right clients actually find you? In this episode of Cutting Through It, we're taking the next step in our conversation about your online presence and talking about something that can sound a little intimidating at first: SEO. But don't worry—we're not turning you into a marketing expert. I'm breaking SEO down in hairstylist language and showing you how being more intentional about the words you use online can help Google better understand who you are, what you specialize in, and where you're located. And we're bringing AI into the conversation, too. In This Episode, You'll Learn: What SEO means and why it matters to hairstylists Why getting specific about what you do can make a difference online How to start thinking like the client who's searching for you Why your website and Google presence need to clearly communicate your specialties How AI can help you uncover the words and questions your ideal clients may actually be searching for Why you shouldn't let AI take away your personality and voice You don't need to understand every technical piece of SEO. You need to make it easier for the right client to understand: This stylist does what I'm looking for. She's in my area. And I want to know more. Try This After You Listen Choose one service you would love to become better known for. Then think about your ideal client. If she needed that service but didn't know your name, what would she type into Google to find someone like you? That's where we're going to start. 🎧 Listen to this episode of Cutting Through It and learn how SEO and AI can work together to help the right clients find you. Let's Keep the Conversation Going I'd love to hear what you discover when you start looking at your own online presence. Come join us in the FREE On Point Pro community. It's a place for hairstylists to ask questions, share ideas, get tips, and have conversations about growing behind the chair and building a stronger business. Grab my FREE tutorial, Four Ways to Get Clients in Your Chair Fast, where I’ll walk you through simple, actionable steps you can start using today to help get more clients into your chair. Find everything here:👇 https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com/links And if you know another hairstylist who's wondering how to get found online, send this episode their way. Make sure you follow or subscribe to Cutting Through It so you don't miss what's coming next. Because it's one thing to be online. It's another thing to be found.

  4. Sep 7

    Stop Relying on Instagram Alone: The Online Presence Gap Every Hairstylist Is Missing.

    Does Your Hair Business Really Need a Website? If a potential client Googled you today, what would they find?   If Cutting Through It is helping you think differently about your business behind the chair, make sure you follow or subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you know another hairstylist who could use this conversation, send this episode their way. I'll see you in the next episode of Cutting Through It.

  5. Aug 31

    49| When a Client Isn’t Happy with Their Hair: What to Say and What to Do

    Have you ever had a client say, "I'm not happy with my hair," and immediately felt your stomach drop? Before you even know exactly what she's unhappy about, your mind starts racing. Did I mess it up? Should I offer to redo it? Should I give her money back? Is she going to leave a bad review? Maybe I'm not as good at this as I thought I was… That moment can make even an experienced hairstylist question herself. But how you handle those first few minutes matters. Because handled well, an unhappy client doesn't necessarily mean a lost client. In fact, the way you respond can actually build trust and strengthen the relationship. Handled poorly? A small concern can turn into a much bigger problem — and leave you replaying the entire appointment in your head for days. In this episode of Cutting Through It, I'm sharing a simple framework built around one word: STOP. It will help you slow down, listen to what your client is actually telling you, respond professionally, and confidently lead the conversation toward a solution — without immediately becoming defensive, giving everything away, or deciding you must be terrible at what you do. Because the goal isn't just to fix the hair. It's to protect the relationship with your client, protect your business, and protect your confidence behind the chair. If client complaints make you nervous or you've ever walked away from one questioning yourself, this is an episode you need to hear. Want More Clients in Your Chair? If you're working on building your clientele, grab my free 5 Easy Ways to Attract New Clients & Fill Your Chair training. In about 20 minutes, I'll walk you through five practical things you can start doing to get yourself in front of more potential clients and start filling those openings in your book .Free training link: https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com/free-training And if this episode helped you, share it with another hairstylist who could use it and subscribe to Cutting Through It so you don't miss the next episode.

  6. Aug 24

    48| Why Pixie Cuts and Short Haircuts Intimidate Hairstylists (And How to Stop Avoiding Them)

    Pixie cuts and short haircuts can feel intimidating, especially when a client shows you a photo of a haircut you've never done before. But here's the thing: you don't need to memorize every haircut. You need to understand how to break down what you're looking at. In this episode of Cutting Through It, I'm walking you through how I approach a short haircut before I ever pick up my shears. We'll talk about: * Why understanding your client's head shape matters so much with short haircuts and pixie cuts * What to look for in the crown, occipital bone, nape and hairline * How to break down an inspiration photo instead of trying to copy it * How one length, graduation and layering work together to create shape * Why texture, density and growth patterns can change how you approach the haircut * How learning to really see a haircut can help you build the confidence to stop second-guessing yourself behind the chair If you've ever said, "I don't do pixies," passed a short haircut to another stylist, or steered a client toward a haircut you felt more comfortable doing, this episode is for you. Ready to feel more confident with short haircuts and pixie cuts? If you find yourself sticking to the same few haircuts because they're the ones you know you can do, you don't need another haircut to memorize. You need to understand the foundations of haircutting well enough to look at a shape and know how to create it. That's exactly what I teach inside Cutting with Confidence, it was created so you can stop second-guessing yourself and start trusting your skills behind the chair. Check out Cutting with Confidence: 👇 https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com/cutting-with-confidence And if you know a hairstylist who's nervous about short haircuts or pixie cuts, share this episode with them. If something in today's episode helped you look at haircutting differently or you have a haircutting question you'd love for me to talk about, I want to hear from you! Come find me on Instagram @OnPointWithSherri and send me a DM. Tell me what clicked for you, what you're struggling with, or what you'd like me to teach about next. I may just turn your question into a future episode!

  7. Aug 17

    47| An Unhappy Client Went Viral on TikTok How the Hairstylist and Salon Owner Are Paying the Price

    Mistakes, misunderstandings, and services that don't go as planned can happen, even when you're an experienced hairstylist. But sometimes the biggest mistake isn't what happened behind the chair. It's what happens next. In this episode of Cutting Through It, I'm talking about a story I recently came across — a client who went public on TikTok after a bad experience and what it reveals about how we handle those uncomfortable moments with our clients. When one unhappy client can share their experience with thousands of people online, how we respond matters more than ever. Triggering Questions What happens when a client leaves your chair unhappy and how you respond next? Why doesn't avoiding an uncomfortable conversation make the problem disappear? What should you actually do the moment a client tells you they're unhappy? Is your reputation really built on never making a mistake or on how you handle it when you do? Highlights Why we can never forget that to our clients, it's not "just hair" Why a technical mistake doesn't have to mean losing a client How fear and avoiding confrontation can turn one problem into a much bigger one What to do when a client tells you they're unhappy Why listening before defending yourself can change the entire conversation What Sherri learned as a salon owner from handling unhappy clients and negative reviews Why reputation isn't built on perfection, it's built on response  You don't have to have all the answers before you pick up the phone. Sometimes the most important thing you can do is simply be willing to listen. If you're a hairstylist who knows how to do hair but feels like you're still trying to figure out the business side of this career, I created something specifically for you. Own Your Chair Like a Pro is a step-by-step program designed to help you build your brand, attract the right clients, create an experience that keeps them coming back, and build the business foundation underneath your chair. You can learn all about it here👇 Resources & Links: Own Your Chair Like a Pro — a step-by-step program to help you build your brand, attract the right clients, create an experience that keeps them coming back, and build the business foundation underneath your chair: https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com/own-your-chair-like-a-pro Free Tutorial + Checklist — 5 Ways to Get More Clients in Your Chair: https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com/free-training Website: https://www.onpointhairbysherri.com Facebook Community — Hairstylist Tips: Cutting & Getting Clients: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2749808815367908/ Contact: sherri@onpointhairbysherri.com Connect + Next Steps Share this episode with a hairstylist friend — these are the conversations our industry needs to be having Subscribe to Cutting Through It so you don't miss next week's episode Follow @onpointhairbysherri on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook & TikTok

  8. Aug 10

    46| Why You Keep Quitting Right Before You Get Good: The Mindset Trap Holding Hairstylists Back

    Have you ever been so afraid of failing at something that you actually created the very failure you were trying to avoid? Or maybe you've tried something new behind the chair like a haircut you weren't comfortable with, a harder consultation, talking to someone about what you do and because it didn't come easily, you started thinking: “Maybe I'm just not good at this.” Maybe you've even said: “I just don't get haircutting. Color comes so much easier to me, so maybe I'll just stick with that.” Or maybe consultations feel awkward, so you tell yourself you're just not good at talking to people. But what if none of that is actually true? What if you're simply in a stage of learning that feels uncomfortable and you're allowing that feeling to decide what you're capable of? In this episode of Cutting Through It, I'm sharing a story from when I was 15 years old and on the swim team. I was called in at the last minute to swim the 100 butterfly in place of our star swimmer. Butterfly was actually my favorite stroke. I knew how to swim it. But I got so inside my own head and put so much pressure on myself that when the race started, I took off swimming freestyle instead and got disqualified. Looking back, I can see something I couldn't see at 15: My talent didn't disqualify me. My identity did. And I think we do this behind the chair more often than we realize. Something feels hard. We don't understand it right away. We try it a few times and struggle. And pretty soon, instead of thinking, “I haven't learned this yet,” we start thinking, “I'm just not good at this.” That's a very different story to tell yourself. In this episode, I want to introduce you to something called the Learning Cycle and show you why these feelings can actually be a normal part of learning something new. Once you understand where you are in that cycle, you can start asking yourself: Is this really something I'm not capable of doing or am I simply uncomfortable because I haven't learned it yet? Because there's a stage in learning where you suddenly become very aware of what you don't know. And that's often the exact point where we want to quit. But what if instead of quitting, you recognized it for what it was? You're learning. My hope is that after listening to this episode, you'll have a new way to look at those moments when you're frustrated, uncomfortable, or tempted to tell yourself, “I'm just not good at this.” Because sometimes you don't need more talent. You just need to stay in the learning process long enough to discover what you're actually capable of. Don't confuse where you are in the learning cycle with who you are as a person. And remember: Confidence doesn't come before action. Identity comes before confidence. Resources & Links FREE Tutorial + Checklist: 5 Easy Ways to Attract New Clients & Fill Your Chair If building your clientele is something you're struggling with, I created this short, free training to give you five practical things you can start doing right now to get yourself out there, attract new clients, and start filling your chair. Watch the FREE Training + Get the Checklist Visit On Point Hair by Sherri Join the Facebook Community Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook: @onpointhairbysherri Questions? sherri@onpointhairbysherri.com If you know a hairstylist who's been struggling with something new and starting to wonder whether she's just not good at it, share this episode with her. And make sure you subscribe to Cutting Through It so you don't miss next week's episode.

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Are you a hairstylist who's doing everything right... but your chair still isn't full? Struggling to get clients, keep them coming back, or make consistent money behind the chair? Maybe you feel awkward talking to clients, unsure what to say… or wondering why it seems so much easier for everyone else. “If that’s you, you’re not alone and I want to help you understand what’s really going on. I'm Sherri, a hairstylist, educator, and business coach with over 40 years of experience. After rebuilding my salon business and clientele from scratch multiple times, I know what it takes to grow a loyal clientele and create lasting success behind the chair. In each episode, I share practical strategies for haircutting confidence, client consultations, client retention, marketing, communication, and building a profitable salon career. New episodes weekly.

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