Crafting the Future: Fostering Integrity and Growth in Hairdressing | Victor Scotti Jr. | Creative Director & Stylist, Our S.P.A.C.E. | Soon to be graduate, Aveda Arts & Sciences Institute, Arlington

The Hairdresser Strong Show

Tune in to hear Victor Scotti Jr. explore the critical need for holistic education and transparent communication in the beauty industry to bridge gaps, foster integrity, and ensure sustainable growth for hairdressers.⁠

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

-- Our S.P.A.C.E is a holistic wellness and healing space that stands for Safety (he moves at the speed of safety), Play (what fuels his creativity), Agency (pushes him to say what he means and mean what he says & holds others accountable), Community (you can’t do anything alone; finding like-minded peers in, Exploration (keeps you growing)

-- Victor believes that every individual on a spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical level needs those things (his own personal values that guide who he lives and leads)

-- Victor has a non-traditional perspective of the industry (he thinks a lot about people and experiences in a given space). He is 33 and had a career in Corporate America (worked with students and been in HR) prior to joining the Beauty Industry.

-- Victor sees a gap between exiting school directly and being the stylist you want to be.

-- There are a number of different things cosmetology schools can do to increase the awareness of the students and help prepare them for longevity in the Beauty Career

-- Bringing in people like Industry Aligned to discuss body mechanics and how it can impact your career or exposing students to L'Oréal’s Head-Up mental health training program

-- Having an undergrad degree, he recognizes that many life skills aren’t taught in college, so it’s not just the Beauty Industry

-- As Victor prepares for graduation by shadowing and interviewing at different salons, coming from an HR background, he feels there are places where we can add more structure, rigor, and process, especially so people have the information they need to make informed decisions to set themselves on a path to success

-- How do we know what you say is what you’ll do if it’s not written down? How can I assess integrity and growth plans if it’s communicated casually as opposed to a place to access/as a resource?

-- Think about providing various touchpoints of opportunity to learn more about people on a behavioral level

-- Understand what the Rising Stylist does well and how they want to grow from a technical level

-- Goal alignment: Where do you want to be, and how can we both push each other to grow and learn together?

-- There needs to be more intentional conversations (less open-ended) but also honesty about the vision for the salon/space, how you are looking for folks to grow, and what might be coming that is on the road map. This will help Rising Stylists make informed decisions and Owners be more comfortable about talent coming into their space.

-- This is not an individual profession; being a business owner is not an individual task (you’re leading & managing people and shepherding a vision. You can’t effectively shepherd without being able to share a clear vision, get feedback, and share expectations.

-- At school, people have varying experiences because they don’t know what they should experience.

-- Do the educators stay with you for the whole haircut or walk away and come back? How do we work together?

-- Victor predicts that we will return to caring more about the fundamentals (WE all need to define what that means), but it will be led by the guests’ needs/wants.

-- Guests will notice you gave them the exact cut they wanted, but if they say it doesn’t look the best on them and a stylist doesn’t have the fundamentals, they won’t be able to satisfy the client.

-- Clientele and, ultimately, our pocketbooks will be the catalysts for this deep change in the industry, and he hopes we can begin to make that change for the health and integrity of the industry BEFORE it becomes critical.

MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE:

👉Follow Victor Scotti Jr. on Instagram, check out his personal recommendations, and more on his episode page.

Find Victor's Pinq Magic Hair Growth Oil here!

Victor will also be a Panelist at our upcoming Beauty Business Brunch on May 19th in Washington, DC. CLICK HERE to learn more, and join us!⁠

The Hairdresser Strong Show is all about Salon Owners, Rising Stylists, and Seasoned Stylists sharing their experiences, successes, failures, and advice to inform, educate, and empower their Fellow Hairdresser. We won’t stop until we are all: Hairdresser Strong.

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The views and opinions of our guests are theirs and important to hear. Each guest's views and opinions are their own and we aim to bring you diverse perspectives, career paths and thoughts about the craft and industry so you can become Hairdresser Strong! They do not necessarily reflect the positions of HairdresserStrong.com.