TikTok drama and PTO for self employed stylists

I’m not going to lie, today’s episode is probably going to make a few hairstylists kinda mad, which is never my goal so I hope you can hear me out all the way through before forming your own opinion. As someone who is an enneagram 9 I value seeing multiple perspectives to every situation and this has been a hot button topic the past few weeks that I haven’t heard this point of view on yet. 

So let’s start at the beginning.

The past few weeks my TikTok has been infiltrated with stylists retaliating back at clients. And I’m kinda pissed about it because what you probably don’t know about me is that I don’t watch hair content on TikTok. It’s is my safe social media platform to be completely away from the beauty industry. I love consuming hair content when I’m seeking out that space, but as I mentioned in the previous episode, having an identity outside of being a hairstylist is something I value and make a priority. Obviously there are ways that I do that outside of social media, but I know I’m not the only one who’s guilty pleasure is binge scrolling funny stories, new music artists, and maybe a little religious and family trauma tok.

But when the hair industry does take over my FYP, it typically is a sign that this isn’t an isolated event. So I gave in and did some research, and what I’ve found is an interesting topic since I actually teach self employed hairstylists how to get PTO.

This trend began with a girl complaining on TikTok about having to take PTO to get her hair done because she couldn’t find a stylist who’s work that she loved that was also available on nights or weekends. And as a stylist myself who doesn’t work in the salon on weekends and I have greatly decreased my evening availability, I completely understand that my schedule doesn’t work for everyone. 

I am a huge supporter of stylists working the schedules that make the most sense for your personal life. You should have the freedom to be available for your kids sporting events, or have a schedule that lines up to see your spouse for dinner and weekends, or simply be off at the times you want to be off without owing anyone an explanation as to why you chose that schedule. If you have the clientele to support working the hours that work best for you, you should absolutely do that! And if you don’t have that clientele yet, you should definitely utilize your resources to work towards that goal. 

However, the issue I’m noticing is an overwhelming amount of stylists firing back about “how nice it must be to have PTO when hairstylists don’t get that” and then a few moments later preaching about how they chose this career to be able to make their own schedule. 

There are a few different issues with these types of posts, and I am in now way shaming anyone for standing up for these boundaries within the beauty industry but we do need to be strategic in how we handle these topics. 

First of all, I encourage all stylists—especially those focused on building a strong behind the chair business—to stay away from any trend that is fighting back against potential clients. Maybe the OG post is not someone you would ever want to have in your chair. Just becuase the clients who are resonating with the original post are not your ideal client, is even more of a reason for you to stay away from this trend. I’m sure talking about it would get you a lot of social media engagement, but those vanity numbers are not going to help you attract any more dream clients to your chair than they are pushing them away. 

Content like this comes off as client shaming and insecure. It does more harm to your business than good and usually invites unwanted drama into your business. 

I’ve seen so many stylists recently talk about how they feel burnt out by clients disparaging them on TikTok, they feel undervalued and under appreciated. But that algorithm is only showing you a very specific niche of content and that’s is not the majority of clients regardless of how it feels online. Clearly the clients in your chair are there for a reason, and we have to separate ourselves from this narrative or else we are going to drive ourselves crazy to the point of making decisions that self sabotage our businesses and mental health.

My best advice is to create content that resonates with the clients that already appreciate you instead of content for the clients you would never want to meet in the first place. The more client appreciation you pour out, the greater the appreciation you’re going to receive back in return. 

Secondly, there is a bit of irony when we are passive aggressively shaming clients for getting paid time off when we have the luxury of creating our own schedules as self employed stylists. 

Let’s put our privilege in check for a second. PTO is not always generously given out, and taking off work in general is a big deal for a lot of people regardless of if they get paid or not. Some businesses don’t give their employees much freedom to take off for personal appointments. If these particular clients facing this struggle had the freedom to create their own schedule or even more flexibility to take off work regardless of if they get paid or not, this wouldn’t be an issue in the first place. The clients who are expressing this frustration don’t have the advantage of working a different day of the week to make up for the day they are having to be out of the office.

As stylists who do have that flexibility, I think a lot of what PTO actually means is getting lost in translation. 

Yes PTO provides a set amount of time you can be out of office without your salary being docked, but it’s not some unlimited free for all.

To be clear, I’m not saying that you should make yourself available on nights and weekends to accommodate the clients in this situation. There are other stylists who are available those hours for those clients to go to, and you can still respond kindly and empathize with them while standing firm in your schedule boundaries. But I do wish we could see less of the hairstylist victim mentality when we are having these conversations. 

As someone who is self employed, it’s your responsibility to create a business structure that supports your goals. For some reason along the way, we’ve accepted this narrative that being a self employed stylist comes with a list of pros and cons that are set in stone. No PTO, no insurance, no retirement, etc.,But the reality is that there is so much freedom and opportunity to eliminate that cons list by utilizing your business structure to your advantage! 

Any corporate business is still a business just like you, regardless of the industry they are in. How do you think they offer their employees PTO, retirement, and insurance? They build a business plan that includes those amenities into their pricing and expenses.

Maybe the first year Google opened their doors, they couldn’t be as generous with their pay and employee benefits. But over time they scaled their business to be able to offer things like a generous 401k and retirement plan, flexible PTO, medical dental and vision insurance, and more. I’ll even include a link in the show notes if you want to see for yourself all that they offer. 

Now Idk about you, but I’m not trying to have some crazy Google sized salon empire, but I do know for a fact that even if you are a solo independent stylist you can have PTO and retirement—and you probably don’t have to scale your business as much as you think to start implementing those benefits.

And when I say PTO, I am not referring to working on your day off to make up for time missed while you were on vacation. That’s not real time off, that’s just rearranging your schedule. Real paid time off is when you take a day off of work and you don’t have to make up that time outside of your regular business hours to still have that loss of income supplemented by your business. 

The secret to implementing PTO effectively as a self employed stylist is budgeting it into your salary and your prices. 

That’s what every other business is doing. They are looking at how each employees salary breaks down per hour and day, and then they determine how much of their incoming cash flow needs to be set aside to cover that expense within their budget. 

This is a topic I dive deeper into inside of my group Coaching Program, The Small Town Stylist Collective. So if you’re unsure about how to factor PTO and retirement into your business, and you want added support in incorporating that into your personal business structure, definitely join the waitlist at caseytaylorstylist.com/waitlist Doors will be opening up again this summer and it’s getting a major upgrade that I’m super excited about. I’ll also be doing exclusive bonuses for those of you who listen to this podcast so don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on those as well! 

Until then, I want to close out this episode by reminding you that you are valued, smart, and capable. You do not have to fight to prove your worthiness as a hairstylist. Let your ability to implement boundaries with kindness and showing your clients as much respect as you expect for your self, be the things that speak volumes for how far this industry has grown and evolved into a career you can be proud of. You are worthy of all of the appreciation that you so free share with others.

- Casey Taylor