Greetings,

Throughout my career, I have witnessed a negative perception of hairdressers and the salon industry by the public.

A common story is that hairstylists work in a low tier profession with correspondingly low earnings. Yet those of us who have extensive experience and access to data in this industry have found that a career in pro beauty can be highly competitive from an earnings, hours worked, AND quality of life perspective.

We’ve seen overwhelming evidence that most employees do not understand their compensation and their paychecks. More often than not, employees grossly underestimate their earnings. Many leave good jobs for what they think are better opportunities, or they get side hustles to make more money, often for a much lower hourly rate. Many even leave the industry prematurely, thinking that they can’t make it as a full time cosmetologist. 

Supportive employers that have sat down with employees and explained their W2 AND other compensation report a common theme of surprise when employees begin to understand their full, gross earnings AND see it broken down to an hourly rate.

What started as a grassroots study to equip salon owners with data to communicate earnings to their staff, has become an unprecedented industry-wide data collaboration.

In my research, I have become increasingly alarmed and shocked to find that much of the data made available to the public about cosmetology pay and hours is flawed and biased.

To date, the primary point of reference on earnings is provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which I have come to learn relies on surprising flawed methods. It fails to adequately account for the fragmented nature of the industry, including the extreme flexibility in work hours, forms of doing business, and the high percentage of part-time solo practitioners operating out of their home, a booth rental salon, or a suite. Data also sometimes comes from public policy groups with an agenda, such as those seeking to remove licensing for cosmetology (and most other industries). Some groups are advocating for public policy reform, which threatens to harm genuinely good beauty schools and attacks the viability of this industry when based on incomplete and flawed data.

We can’t deny the data out there, but we can provide other points of reference on earnings and hours data to help change the narrative.

It’s time to advocate for pro beauty, and to do so with quality data and integrity.

Transparency is important. The Confidentiality and Terms of Use Agreement not only protects those that are in the Study, but it also provides disclosures about perceived and real conflicts of interest, motives, funding, separation of research from other Qnity ventures, and more.

For practical reasons, this study does NOT address all segments of the fragmented pro beauty workforce. But we needed to start somewhere. We went first to where there was the most accessible, standardized, and verifiable data: W2 data provided to the IRS by employee-based salons. We also believe we are starting with the largest segment of the workforce: full service, employee-based salons with under 20 locations, most of them independently owned, small, community-based businesses. We hope that this Study encourages other segments of Pro Beauty to join the collaboration and help change the narrative with data.

Frankly, this is not a project I asked for. As the CEO of high growth companies with a mission of creating greater financial wellness in beauty, wellness, and other industries, and as a Board member of Beauty Changes Lives, I have a full plate.

But this needs to be done.

I have been encouraged by the MANY beauty brands, associations, tech companies, and other parties that have decided to get behind this research and step up as advocates, sponsors, and Think Tank Members. We need it and we are immensely grateful. 

Please join us by participating in or otherwise supporting the next phase of the Pro Beauty Compensation study.

Yours in Service,
Tom Kuhn