by Mike Bandy

 

Last night, on Tabatha's Salon Takeover, Tabatha visited the Mia Bella Salon in San Bruno, CA, which is run by four sisters. Cindy and Marjorie are the owners of the salon, and Karen and Janet, the two younger sisters, misbehave a lot and are not professional. Cindy is the eldest sister and the head boss, and she and her three sisters all fight in front of the clients. Cindy and Marjorie are $190,000 in debt and really need help from Tabatha.

 

Tabatha meets with Cindy and Marjorie to look at the video footage which was taken that day in the salon. The footage showed the sisters fighting with each other, and all of the stylists acting unprofessionally. Marjorie said that Cindy handles all of the books, while she handles the styling, but their salon is failing. Cindy and Marjorie are paying all of the rent, while Karen and Janet are getting a free ride.

 

Tabatha said that clients are not paying for sisterly drama, and asked for the keys to the salon.

 

The inspection of the salon revealed that it was dirty; the place was full of dust, the sterilization tools were not clean, there was hair everywhere, and no organization. Tabatha said that this was the dirtiest salon she'd ever seen, and called a staff meeting for 9am the next day, stating that everyone must show up on time.

 

Tabatha wanted to meet with all of the stylists without the sisters around so that she could get an actual opinion from them. The stylists agreed that all four sisters fight all the time, Cindy is mean, and nobody in the salon has any education in the basics of haircutting. Tabatha said that she would not have anyone come to the salon as dirty as it was, and asked that everyone pitch in and help clean it.

 

Next came the assessment, and Tabatha brought in the co-founder of Toni & Guy, one of the most successful hair companies in the world, to find out if anyone in the salon could cut hair. The basic assessment showed that nobody really could. Karen had a confidence problem and was unsure of herself, and Melissa, another stylist, did not seem to know what she was doing. At the end of the assessment, Tabitha said that the work in the salon was mediocre.

 

Tabatha then goes to the sisters' house to spend the night with them. During the tour of the house, Tabatha discovers that most of it is in disarray, and she says that Cindy's life is a mess. She must get her sisters under control and save her business before she can save anybody else, even though, culturally, the eldest sister takes care of everyone. Tabatha talks to Janet and Karen and says that they need to step up and stop taking advantage of their sisters.

 

The next morning, Tabatha gave the girls the assignment of cleaning out their disorganized basement. Cindy took the leadership role and delegated the jobs she wanted done. The girls worked together very well and did not fight, and they felt very accomplished when it was over. Back at the salon, Tabatha told the staff that they would come back to a new salon.

 

Three days later, the salon was painted and given accent wallpaper; a new client waiting area was installed, along with new stations and a new front desk area. They also got a new booking system, and everything was organized, labeled, and cleaned up. Next, it was time for the stylists to get to work. Everyone handled themselves well, and Tabatha was really impressed that everyone there seemed to make a change. Karen and Janet took initiative, Marjorie said that she'd learned how to respect her sisters, and Cindy said that she finally felt she was getting support from everyone. Melissa, however, just didn't feel comfortable behind the chair, and Tabatha wasn't sure if she should be a stylist.

 

Tabatha's final recommendations were for Cindy to lead by example, for Marjorie to be more vocal, and that Melissa should probably not be a stylist behind the chair. Cindy told Melissa that she would have to step down and get more education before getting behind the chair again, which Melissa agreed to. Tabatha provided everyone with a class at Toni & Guy to get basic haircutting education.

 

Six weeks later, Tabatha came back to find that the salon had really progressed, Cindy made a lot of changes to her management style, and she let go of Melissa. The sisters no longer fight at work, and Tabatha was proud of them and hoped they would continue on this path.

 

 

Tabatha's Salon Takeover airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

 

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

 

 

For more Tabatha's Salon Takeover links, visit SirLinksALot.net