KELLY GORSUCH
SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR + OWNER
Hells Bottom Barbershops + Immortal Beloved Salon | DC + VA
EPISODES
How I Built Multiple Salons & What I’ve Learned:
Watch or Listen
Changes in the Salon Model, Culture, and Desires of Hairdressers:
Watch or Listen
Salon Owners vs. Gen-Z; Both Have Changes to Make:
Watch or Listen
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:
Basic Economics: Thomas Sowell
Discourses: Epictetus
Mastery: Robert Greene
Principles: Ray Dalio
Factfulness: Hans Rosling
The Gulag Archipelago: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
PEOPLE TO FOLLOW
The Hair Bros
Angelo Seminara
Luke Hersheson
David Mallett
Anthony Mascolo
EPISODES
How I Built Multiple Salons & What I’ve Learned
Tune in to hear Kelly share his journey building multiple salons and what he learned along the way!
Key Takeaways:
Went to school, apprenticed at a salon, went on the floor, started teaching for brands, and learned the salon business by being a salon manager.
Do not open a salon until you manage someone else's salon.
Becoming a salon owner was riddled with uncertainty, and my partners fell apart at the last minute.
I rented a chair between salons while I was waiting to open mine and I hated chair rental due to not feeling inspired by those around me.
It took me 13 years to make more money as an owner than working behind the chair.
A salon is not a viable business unless the owner does not have to work there.
Keep your integrity by not sneaking around. Be forward w/ your owner if you are opening a salon.
I do not like the chair renting concept because I want a say in whom I work next to.
Reverse engineer the career path you want to figure out the decisions you should make.
Profit margins in salons are around 10%!
Changes in the Salon Model, Culture, and Desires of Hairdressers
Tune in to hear Kelly Gorsuch discuss changes in The Salon Model, Culture, and Desires of Hairdressers!
Key Takeaways:
The only way to realize what you don't know and get better is to work around people that are better than you.
Be careful whom you hire as a coach, advisor, or consultant
Not paying taxes = hypocrisy when virtue signaling
Salons have a very hard time because rising stylists are not staying at salons that build them
Commission salons struggle due to this fact, AND anyone who grows from the beginning has a "grass is greener" mentality
Will we lose the craft b/c the young stylists just want to repeat what they see on social and not master their craft
Want to retire? -Be okay with making money for someone else, which helps make you more money
Salon Owners vs. Gen-Z; Both Have Changes to Make
Hello, World!
Tune in to hear Kelly Gorsuch discuss what changes both Salon Owners & Gen-Z must make for a successful future.
Key Takeaways:
Spend more time training at a high pricepoint salon, as opposed to getting on the floor quickly at a lower pricepoint salon, to increase your opportunity to make more money faster.
Even going to a top-tier school, you will not be ready to take on the majority of client requests.
Do not confuse online education with “good” education.
The education you pay for online is also not guaranteed to be any good.
Overnight, a high-end salon without a training program can become a low-quality salon in the event of a walkout because the salon owner gets desperate and highers anyone regardless of skill...beware when picking a salon!
