Balancing Salon Life with Marlene Lamont

From educating, to working in the salon, to being a grandmother, no two days are the same for Marlene Lamont. No week follows a pattern for the salon owner and educator, jetting to London for an education day with Project Extend or another working back to back in the salon, chatting with her regulars. Over the years, Marlene has perfected balancing salon life and remembering to take time for herself and her family, whilst also doing what she loves the most – hair!

Defining Work Hours

At Urban Hair & Beauty, a four-day working week has been introduced to allow staff more time to spend with their family and friends, resulting in a better work life balance. Marlene also allows the team to choose their working hours, with the salon being open later to accommodate those with commitments. Defining work hours helps balance life by preventing your business from bleeding into your personal time. Without set hours, salon life can easily stretch to 24/7 with answering client messages, handling staff emergencies and doing admin late into the night. This helps create a hard stop and allows you and the team to mentally clock out.

Empower Your Team

When staff are trained and trusted to make decisions, the salon can function smoothly without requiring your constant presence. As salon owner, Marlene encourages her team to grab every opportunity they can, with many of the team taking part in Fellowship Projects including Project Men and Media, Project Extend and Project X. The team are also always encouraged to apply for industry awards with the team bringing home wins from The Salon Awards and The Scottish Hair and Beauty Awards. This helps remove you as the bottle neck, allowing the salon to run effortlessly even when you aren’t there, whilst giving your team the main advantage –  opportunity!

Time Block Your Week

Time blocking your week gives every single hour of your week a purpose. Marlene has scheduled two days a week dedicated to being in the salon, meaning she can work around this. Some weeks mean heading to London for a few days with Project Extend to the next meeting up with the MOOD Art Team for all things education. Time blocking allows Marlene to know where she needs to be at all times. It is also perfect for life in the salon and as a keen educator is a great tip that she has passed down to her team to keep everything in check.