Picture this: It's a busy Tuesday, and I'm elbow-deep in a tricky color correction. The studio salon door swings open, and in walks a woman with a clipboard. My heart sinks. Yep, it's a surprise salon inspection from the state board of cosmetology.
As she starts looking around, my mind goes into overdrive. Is my station clean? Did I update the sanitation log? When was the last time I checked the disinfectant solution?
Long story short: That day didn't end well. I got slapped with a fine for a mislabeled station drawer. Me, with my years of experience, caught off guard by something so basic.
How State Board Inspections used to go.....
It embarrasses me to even admit this. But here goes: I used to hide from state board.
Not because my license was out of date or my salon wasn't clean.
Nope!
I was a rule follower through and through.
Truth was I had a few scary and confusing inspections with state board that:
1) Cost me hundreds of dollars in fines I had to pay
2) Embarrassed me in front of my peers
3) Left me wondering what rules would be changed or redefined at my next inspection
Maybe somewhere inside yourself you can relate with these feelings of overwhelm, trying to keep up with everything all while fearing and wanting to hide from moments like this.
Within a few years of being licensed I learned that one of the ways you'd minimize these fear filled moments was if you leaned into the fellow salons in the area who would give you a 'heads up' when state board was in town.
We'd get the text and scurry to find every out of place hair and unlabeled drawer so that fines would be avoided and it would look as though we were the model licensed beauty professionals.
Deep down inside I knew this wasn't how things should be operating. I knew it was dangerous to the public to not take a daily care for their health and safety and only care at the most when inspections were going to take place.
State Board Anxiety
Look, I get it. State board inspections used to make my palms sweat too. But here's the thing - once you shift your mindset, everything changes. It's not about dreading inspections or scrambling to comply.
But I didn't stop there. I thought, "If I struggled with this, other stylists must be too." That's when the idea hit me: why not create a tool to help every salon stop dreading state board inspections and just do the required steps to be compliant!?
Enter the Salon Safety App – born from my own state board nightmares and designed to turn every stylist into a salon inspection pro.
A solution for salons isn't just about avoiding fines.
It's about giving your helpful reminders when new laws are passed.
Reminding you when your license is about to expire
Taking a picture of your station or drawers and using state board's code to suggest ways to practice safely and avoid fines
When our tool is used within the salon space, inspections become an expected part of every day, not just something to hope happens infrequently. This new mindset allows us to walk into our salon spaces with less dread and more confidence.
Think about it: How many salons make this daily promise to themselves and their clients? Not many. Inspectors and clients alike notice the difference that using a tool like Salon Safety can bring to your business - and mostly to your peace of mind.