Balancing Being an Educator and a Salon Owner

When Ashley Lantz isn’t running her Sola business (and selling tons of retail!), she’s traveling the country as an educator for Matrix. Her passion for education is one of the many reasons Ashley was selected as one of our 2018 Faces of Sola. For many, becoming an educator for a major manufacturer is a dream, but what many don’t take into consideration is how much time one needs to make available and devote to the commitment.

For Ashley, she has committed her time to both—building and running her business, TressPassing Salon in Avondale, Arizona, and educating others on the road.

We asked Ashley to shed some light and wisdom on this very important question: How do you balance being an educator for Matrix and manage to run a successful salon?

“Being an educator is one of the many reasons I took the leap and became an independent stylist,” she shared. “When I first went out on my own, my routine of working seven days a week followed. But let me tell you this—no matter how much you LOVE what you do and where you’re doing it, you will burn out fast without proper planning.”

Here are five ways Ashley is able to do both and avoid stretching herself too thin:

Plan in Advance

“I am a planner FREAK,” Ashley laughed. “I love planners so much I literally buy them for my friends as gifts. I like to sit down and plan out three months in advance. I use different colored highlighters to predetermine what days I will promise to be an educator, what days I will promise to be in my Sola, and most importantly, what days I will promise to keep to myself and spend time with my loved ones.”

Plan in Motion

“After I plan out those three months, I then immediately go into my SolaGenius and input my schedule so that I don’t accidentally double book myself and have to move clients or classes around in the near future,” she added.

Show & Tell

“I like to include all color work and mannequin prep into the days I am planning on being in the studio. Not only does this give my clients a chance to see what fun stuff I am working on with Matrix, but it solidifies that I will not be going into the salon on my personal days to do any color whatsoever.”

Eight is Great

“I try my hardest to not extend my time behind the chair to more than an 8 hours in a day,” she mentioned. “For some reason, as stylists, we are really great at overpromising our time. I was once told ‘The stylist you give someone at

9 AM isn’t the same as the stylist you give someone at 6 PM.’ Practice this and your clients will thank you.”

Recharge Your Battery

“Allow yourself a full day off in-between returning from a class where you have to travel a long distance, and going back behind the chair,” she stressed. “This is something I have not started practicing until recently, and the exponential difference in being able to turn Ashley the Educator off and go back to Ashley the Stylist/Salon Owner. This has been life-changing. I can clean my kitchen, do a load of laundry, go over my books and mentally prepare myself, and most importantly give my body a chance to relax.”

Want some business building tips from “Ashley The Stylist/Salon Owner”? Come check out her tips on how to really make retailing work for you in your Sola, HERE.