NCA Executive Director Gordon Miller joins SalonLife’07 emcee Ann Mincey of REDKEN 5th Avenue NYC in a review of important NCA initiatives and benefits.

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“NCA CARES” has long been the association’s “tag line” and this presentation gives you some insight into how members bring that phrase to life everyday in their salons and communities every day.

If you are an NCA member, we hope you will add your comments and share your thoughts about “NCA CARES” - and if you are not, we encourage you to go to the NCA homepage and click on the join button today. 

So whether you are someone looking to be actively involved in one of our member benefits or programs or not, know that NCA member dues are the foundation for doing good work on behalf of our entire profession!

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Industry luminary, Dean of Paul Mitchell - The School and past SalonLife speaker Winn Claybaugh has an inspiring video we ran across on YouTube that we hope you are inspired to share with others. Its an amazing story about an encouter with the late Noel de Caprio, an industry legend who inspired so many who knew her with her amazing grace, wisdom and courage in the face of a long battle with breast cancer. (Noel de Caprio pictured above).

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Please share your comments by clicking here and on the comments link below this post.

The September 19^th USA Today editorial pages are filled with opinions on how to best begin to fix what polls show that most Americans agree is “broken” – America’s health care system.

With the wealthiest country in the world now ranking 37th of our 191 countries rated on “health care performance,” Americans seem more open to change then ever - with some of those sentiments now spilling onto our SalonLife blog.

Generally speaking, health care benefits are not a part of our national salon culture. And even in the minority of salons that actually offer group health insurance as an option, few appear to pay the majority of premium costs for employees - in spite of industry wages remaining generally low (especially for new entries into the workforce). Add to this the growing number of booth renters as well as a commissioned work force that changes employers frequently (and likely do not qualify for group plans on their own) and it becomes clear that our industry likely ranks high on the list of America’s “under insured populations.”

One possible solution - the decision by Minneapolis based Juut Salons to include a service charge to clients to directly help pay for employee insurance costs. It’s a unique approach that, although we believe ignores the bigger question of employer responsibility to employees, it’s a start.

Importantly, we hope that the industry will begin to engage in a dialogue on this issue. As professionals we spend virtually all of our time caring for clients - but less and less it seems caring for our own. Juut Salon CEO David Wagner raises an important question - just who is responsible for the well being of employees? Is it the employer, employee, customers, our government or a mix of all?

We would argue that Starbucks, David Wagner’s inspiration, gets it close to right - not by creating a client service charge to offset some costs, but simply by building health care costs into the price of every cup of coffee and offering quality benefits to both full and part time workers.

Inspired by a childhood made difficult by a fathers lack on insurance and its devastating impact on an entire working class family when tragedy strikes, Starbucks today spends more on employee healthcare benefits then it does on coffee beans - and yet has no lack of customers for what is surely one of the most expensive cups of coffees brewed anywhere.

If Starbucks can convince consumers to pony up top dollar for a cup of coffee, perhaps the industry can do itself a big favor by building the costs of healthcare into service prices - and simply (a) letting clients know that that the increase in prices is related to the increasing costs of healthcare and (2) exempting a portion of service prices paid by clients from commissions so that benefits can be realized by staff.

As is made clear in the USA Today editorials, there is no shortage of opinions on the question of insurance. What is lacking is an imaginative, entrepreneurial approach that inspires small businesses to action. For this, we congratulate Juut Salons - and hope that others are inspired to do even more.

Have an opinion on health insurance in the salon industry. Add your comments, click here and then click on the comments link below this post. Also, visit NCA’s website to take our insurance poll - just click here and scroll down the page.

NCA was proud to bring Dr. Mehmet Oz, health expert to the Oprah Winfrey Show, to our industry at this year’s SalonLife event.

Dr. Oz wowed the crowd with a down to earth, inspired presentation on how to insure long term health and vitality.  His insights into the key to good eating, weight loss (or ”waist” loss) and maintenance and exercise were among the program’s many highlights.  See Dr. Oz on the SalonLife stage by clicking on the video below, or use this link.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to be inspired by a speaker, book or “program,” or have anything to share on the subject of living a healthier life, add your comments by clicking here and then on the comments link below this post. 

Of all of the many issues facing our industry, few receive as much attention as “reciprocity” – the recognition by one state’s government of the credentials of a licensed professional from another state.  And although there are rules in place that now allow for forms of reciprocity among over 30 states, significant challenges remain.  NCA receives hundreds of communications each year from frustrated salon professionals that are re-locating across state lines. So what is the problem?

At the heart of the reciprocity issue is just what knowledge and skills are required to protect the public - and what educational process is required to best prepare new cosmetology professionals to do just that (regardless of where one practices) - and why is it not the same in all states?   Does it take:

• 1000 hours of schooling (New York)
• 1200 hours (Pennsylvania)
• 1500 hours (Illinois)
• 2300 hours (Oregon)? 

Is there a logical reason for the differences that exist today – or is it more a function of the times in which laws were developed – a time when information wasn’t shared as easily and when “reinventing the wheel” was an all too common practice in many areas of life.

Beyond the issue of assisting those who move to a new state to do so with as little disruption to their livelihoods as possible, there is perhaps a much bigger issue for us all to consider.  Each year, close to 200,000 young people enter beauty school with the goal of making better lives for themselves and their families.  Depending on where they live, some must go to school for 6 months and some for 18 - all to reach the same goal of being licensed.  Given the disparity in requirements based on what seems to be only geography, logic would dictate that some are getting short changed by either (1) not getting enough training or (2) being required to stay in school longer then is needed - all because of the laws in place.

Over time, the industry has changed in more ways then we have space to list.  The ways salons are operated, the services we provide, the business and employment models we operate under the needs of clients and the ways in which salons are provided products, education and support by industry companies and partners has all been changing – and yet the foundation of the laws that govern the industry (the hours required to be licensed as a cosmetologist) have changed very little as it relates to the core knowledge and experience required to meet the needs of the pubic.

As all of the industry’s various associations continue to work to a solution for reciprocity nationwide, NCA encourages all to look beyond the obvious and to consider together the larger issue of modernizing and standardizing the requirements for licensure across the board in all areas of practice for the benefit of both working and future generations of professionals.

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Dr. Lew Losoncy brought to SalonLife attendees the passion for salon professionals that has made him one of the most requested motivational speakers in the industry today.  Focused on reminding all of the important role that every one of you play in the lives of so many clients and peers, “Dr. Lew” brought tears to the eyes of many and the audience to its feet in his emotion packed conclusion to another great “performance.”

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Today there are over one million working professionals in our industry - with over 850,000 of them believed to be women.  That’s a lot of “girl power” and a potential force to be reckoned with when we put our collective minds to it.  We saw this in the months following the devastation of Katrina when we came together to raise over one million dollars to help salon pros in need - and we see it daily at NCA through the work of over 11,000 trained professionals who volunteer their time in the Look  Good… Feel Better program to support women in cancer treatment.

As a reminder of some of the amazing and too often unsung work of women around the world to improve the lives of others, take a look at writer Joanne Bamberger’s list of the ten most amazing women you’ve never heard of. 

Have a salon industry role model you would like to share?  Add your comments, click here and then click on the comments link below this post. 

American Idol’s Hollywood Hair Guy Dean Banowetz has worked his way off the family farm and on to the set of the number one television show in America - and recently shared his story and the lessons learned along the way at NCA’s SalonLife audience. 

One of the keys to Dean’s success - setting goals.  This video clip shares his take on this simple yet powerful tool to make your professional dreams come true. 

If you can’t see the video above, click here to view it.   

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We want to welcome all of our new “subscribers” to NCA’s Salon Life blog - a part our NCA’s overall new focus on inspiring good health, great wealth and sincere happiness for every member.

In case you have yet to hear about NCA’s SalonLife initiative, it all started with an idea for a new kind of education - focused on providing you the resources needed to have a long lasting career centered around the idea that career success begins with a strong foundation is life skills.

Today, SalonLife is an event, a journal and this blog - our online journal of reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks to other sources of information and inspiration.  We hope you’ll find our blog as laid-back avenue to chat about anything and everything related to our salon lives several times each week.

The best part about a blog is the sense of community. You are able to post comments about the things we write about - and we hope you do!

We look forward to seeing your messages!

SalonLife’07 presenter Amanda Gore gives an inspired presentation of critical information that can improve your performance - and that of those around you. SalonLife attendees have raved about Amanda’s program two years running. Here’s your chance to learn from this entertaining yet insightful life coach.

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