Salon Owners Collective
Salon Owners Collective Podcast Ready to stop working in your salon and start leading it like a true CEO? Welcome to the Salon Owners Collective Podcast—your go-to show for turning hustle into high performance and growing a salon business that gives you freedom, profit, and lifestyle. Hosted by Larissa Macleman, former salon owner turned business strategist, this podcast is for salon & spa owners who are ready to step fully into their Salon CEO role. Each episode brings you: ✨ Strategic frameworks to grow and scale with confidence 🎯 Actionable steps to lead your team, increase profits, and reclaim your time 💬 Real stories of...
The 5 Christmas Cracks About to Break Your Salon (and How to Fix Them)
You either love Christmas in a salon, or you hate it. Most Salon CEOs feel both.
With six weeks to go, this is the moment to decide how December is going to go, before it just arrives. Larissa Macleman, Founder of Salon Owners Collective, and Joel Bouzaid, SOC's Boardroom Coach, unpack the five things every Salon CEO needs to get ahead of before Christmas: your team, your book, the money, January, and you. Larissa shares the maths she ran on her own salon that changed how she booked the busiest weeks of the year. And Joel takes you...If We Walked Into Your Salon Tomorrow, This Is What We’d Change First
You walk into your salon every day. Which is exactly why you can't see what your clients and team feel the moment they walk in.
After Joel walked into a salon last week to pick up a gift, he and Larissa came straight back to the media room to share the changes they'd make if they walked into your salon tomorrow. Episode Overview: Not new strategies. Not new clients. Larissa Macleman, Founder, and Joel Bouzaid, SOC's head of coaching, each pick the changes they'd make first in a salon to lift revenue, keep clients coming back...The Real Reason You Can’t Sleep the night before Payday: How to Build a Salon That Prioritises Profit
You make the money. You pay the bills. And you still can't sleep on payday.
Straight out of her monthly profit workshop inside Salon Mastery, Larissa Macleman, Founder of Salon Owners Collective, walks you through the money principles that take a Salon CEO from running on luck to running on a system.
Most salon owners aren't paying themselves correctly, which means the profit they think they're making isn't the real picture. Larissa breaks down the one decision you have to make before profit is even possible, the five magic margins that tell you exactly what to...Why You Sabotage Your Salon the Moment It Starts Working
You finally have a great month. And then, somehow, you find a way to wreck it. Recorded at the bar in Bali the day after the Turning Pro intensive, Larissa Macleman, Founder of Salon Owners Collective, and Joel, SOC's Boardroom Coach, unpack what happened when 40 Salon CEOs decided to stop living with their amateur habits.
Episode Overview: Turning pro isn't a course, a certification, or a revenue milestone. It's a decision. Joel walks through it all, the fix, the decision and the upper limit, and why most salon owners never get past the first step. You'll hear the...Delegate Faster in 5 Minutes: Stop Doing Manager Jobs on an Owner’s Schedule
You didn't achieve anything today. And it wasn't because you didn't work hard enough.
In this episode, recorded poolside in Bali just hours before Larissa switched off for a week, she breaks down why overwhelm isn't a productivity problem at all, and gives you the exact system to fix it.Overview:
Every salon owner has three types of work sitting on her plate, and most of them can't tell the difference between the one that grows the business and the one that's just noise. In this episode, Larissa introduces the rocks, pebbles, and sand...The 3 Problems Facing Every Salon Owner in 2026 and How to Fix Them
54% of salons aren't going to make it to 2030.
That's the number Larissa and Joel landed on when they ran the research. In this episode, recorded poolside in Bali during their annual Salon Mastery intensive, they break down exactly why, and what separates the salons that will survive from the ones that won't.Episode Overview:
Six years on from COVID, the economics of running a salon have shifted for good. Client spending has changed. The team you can hire has changed. And AI has changed how we show up on our socials. In this episode...The Question That Separates Salon Leaders From Everyone Else
You don't get in life what you want. You get in life who you are.
And if that's true - and we believe it is - then the question isn't "What strategies should I implement?" or "What systems should I build?" The question is: Who am I? Not as a person. As a leader. As the person running your salon every single day. Most salon owners never answer that. And the cost is massive.Episode Overview:
In this episode, Larissa and Joel break down the exact framework every Salon CEO needs to...Your Manager's Not In. Here's Why - And What To Do About It
Your manager isn't the problem. The relationship structure is.
In this episode, Larissa and Joel break down the exact framework, the Triple T, that transforms the owner-manager dynamic. If you're still doing your manager's job while she "isn't stepping up," this episode reveals what's actually happening and how to fix it in days, not months. EPISODE OVERVIEW: You'll discover why your manager isn't stepping in (it's not because she doesn't care). You'll learn the exact framework that brings her into real ownership. And you'll understand the rhythm, just fifteen minutes a week, that keeps you connected w...The $50K on the Shelf
Your bank account is nearly empty. Your revenue looked solid. Your team showed up. It doesn't compute. But here's what I know: the money isn't gone. It's in your salon right now. It's just in the wrong place.
In this episode, I'm walking you through where hidden cash lives in your salon, why knowing one specific number changes everything about how you manage your business, and the framework that tells you exactly how much stock should actually be on your shelf - and what to do when it's too much. Most salon owners have no idea how much m...Why Your Team Meeting Isn’t Working (And What To Do Instead)
The Five Meetings Your Salon Actually Needs
You've sat down to run a team meeting. You've talked about goals. Everyone nodded. And then nothing changed. So you stopped doing them. Larissa Macleman - founder of Salon Owners Collective, 20-year salon owner - sits down with Janine from Hair and Barber, and Colour Bar Manager. They've known each other since they were both baby salon owners trying to figure it out. Now they're breaking down the five meetings that actually move the needle. Not five random meetings. Five specific meetings, each with a real purpose, each designed...Nine Minutes That Add $100K to Your Salon
You've hired the right people. You've trained them. And somehow they're still performing at 60% of what's possible. The trap? If you're still the most important person in your business, you're not building a business-you're building a job you can never leave.
In this episode, Larissa reveals why team underperformance isn't a motivation problem-it's a visibility problem. And she shares the exact nine-minute morning huddle system that makes your team's daily target visible, personal, and theirs. Episode Overview: You'll discover why your team is underperforming (and it's not what you think), the step-by-step morning huddle framework you...The One Number That Ends the Payday Panic
The One Number That Ends the Payday Panic
Six times a year, Larissa Macleman was convinced her salon wasn't going to make it. Bad week. Team off sick. Clients cancelling. Every single time, she panicked. And every single time, when June rolled around, she'd made her goal. In this episode, Larissa Macleman, founder of Salon Owners Collective, breaks down the number that ended the panic for good, the exact maths behind it, and how any salon owner can use it to know if they're really tracking for $1 million, without waiting three months for an accountant's report. ...You Can't Build a Million-Dollar Salon While You're Hustling
The Answers Come in the Gap You know that moment. You're not trying to solve anything. You're in the shower, or you're swimming in the pool, and suddenly the answer is there. Clear. Simple. The thing you've been chasing for weeks. Most salon owners never get to that moment. They take holidays and bring the laptop. They step away and they're still checking emails. So their brain never actually stops. Never actually thinks. In this episode, Larissa Macleman and Joel Bouzaid record live from a coaching conference in Thailand — and share the conversation that's been shaping why they bring their sa...
The $48 Gap Between You and a Million Dollar Salon
The $48 Gap Between You and a Million Dollar Salon
A million dollars in revenue. You've said the number. You've thought about it on a Sunday night. And then Monday hits, and it feels further away than ever. It's not. And in this episode, Larissa Macleman, founder of Salon Owners Collective and Salon Mastery, and Joel Bouzaid, Boardroom and Leadership Coach, sit down in Thailand and do the actual maths. Not the motivational version. The version that makes you realise the gap is far smaller than you think, and far more specific than you've been told. $48 an...The AI Mistake Quietly Costing You Clients
The AI Mistake Quietly Costing You Clients
Every salon owner has access to the exact same AI tools right now. And most of them are using them the exact same way, which means most of them are starting to sound exactly the same. In this episode, Larissa Macleman and Joel Bouzaid of Salon Owners Collective, sit down to unpack the three biggest AI mistakes they're seeing salon owners make right now. The ones quietly costing them clients, credibility, and control of their own business. What you'll discover in this episode: The dead giveaways that instantly tell someone AI...It's Not a Marketing Problem. It's a Mentoring Problem.
The Real Reason Your Best People Keep Leaving You've raised your prices. Possibly more than once. And yet the book still has white space, the roster still feels gappy, and you're left wondering if the market has genuinely turned against you. It hasn't. Something else has shifted, and most salon owners are only seeing one piece of it. In this episode, Larissa Macleman, founder of Salon Owners Collective and Salon Mastery, breaks down three shifts happening across the industry right now, and what they mean for the salons that will still be thriving by 2030. What you'll discover in...
Become the Mentor your salon needs to grow $100K
Are you leading your team into the next level, or waiting for them to find it on their own?
This is where so many Salon CEOs get stuck: You hire the team. You train the team. You pay the wages. You carry the emotional load. Then you quietly wonder why they are not stepping up, rebooking properly, lifting their column, or acting like the business matters. The gap is not always skill. The gap is leadership. And that does not happen by accident. In this episode, Joel Bouzaid takes you inside one of our Salon Mastery intensive workshops...10 Years. 9 Lessons: The Final Four… and a Half. What We’ve Learnt From a Decade Coaching Salon Owners.
The Final Four (and a Half) Lessons - Continuation of the 500th Episode
Ten years. Five hundred episodes. And the same handful of sentences Larissa and Joel still say more than anything else. Last week, on the 500th episode, they got through the first five (and a half). This week, they're finishing the job with the final four and a half truths that have carried Salon Owners Collective from a handful of stuck salon owners to a decade-long movement. What you'll discover in this episode: Why “do better” might be the most useful two words in your...The 9 Things We’ve Said Every Single Week for 10 Years
The 9 Things We've Said Every Single Week for 10 Years
500 episodes. Ten years. And the only way to mark that is with the truths that made it possible. This isn't a highlight reel. Larissa Macleman and Joel Bouzaid, founders of Salon Owners Collective, sat down for the 500th episode and did something far more useful than looking back. They looked inward. They asked: what are the nine things we say every single week? In coaching sessions, on stage, in strategy calls, in the hallways of Salon Mastery events. The phrases that have shaped hundreds of salon owners int...If Your Salon Doubled Tomorrow, Would It Break?
If your salon doubled tomorrow, would it actually feel easier?
Or would the same problems simply get bigger? More revenue does not fix team drama. More clients do not fix retention. More growth does not fix a salon built around one person. In this episode, Larissa Macleman is talking about the part most Salon CEOs skip before they chase the next level. Because the goal is not a bigger business that burns you out. The goal is a salon that runs as if you were there, even when you are not in the room.3 Reasons Why...
Why Two Salons Won’t Automatically Double Your Profit
One salon works. So two must mean double the profit… right?
Not always. A second location can grow your brand, your team and your opportunities. But it can also expose every weak spot in your systems, leadership and margins. In this episode, Larissa Macleman is joined by Sophie Anquetil, a Salon Mastery coach, to unpack what really happens when you make the move from one successful salon to two. Before you add another lease, another team and another set of expectations, listen to this conversation.3 Reasons Why Every Salon Owner Should Listen
✨The copy-and-paste mist...The 3 Queen Moves To Grow Your Salon
Your salon does not need more hours of you. In this episode, Larissa shares the 3 queen moves that help you step into the Salon CEO role, so you can build the right business structure and grow a salon that no longer depends on you holding everything together.
If you have built the team, grown the clientele and done the hard yards, but your salon still depends on you to hold everything together- this episode is what you’ve been looking for. These 3 queen moves can transform your salon from an overwhelming monster into a successful, profitable business that ca...I Opened My Salon When I Was 20. Here’s What I Got Wrong.
For the first time ever, Larissa Macleman is sharing the founder story behind opening her salon at 20 years old - and the hard lesson that changed the way she saw salon growth forever.
She was the best stylist in the salon. Fully booked. Highest revenue column. Working harder than everyone else. And somehow… she was taking home the least. In this episode, Larissa opens up about the moment she realised the business could not outgrow her while she was still behaving like the busiest stylist in it. Because the truth is: The version of you that built the sal...3 Behaviours Most Salon CEOs Won’t Do (That Would Make You Thousands of $)
Right now, the salons that are pulling ahead aren't doing more. They're doing different.
3 things, specifically. Most owners know about them. Very few will actually do them
In this episode, we unpack the 3 behaviours most Salon CEOs probably won’t do, and why those behaviours matter if you want a salon that keeps growing while others pull back. This is not about adding more chaos. It is about installing the right structure at the right stage.Key Topics
The communication shift most salons are missingWhy SMS could become one of your strongest rev...There’s No Stylist Shortage… Why Nobody’s Applying to Your Salon
You've said it. Your fellow salon owners have said it. The industry has been nodding along for two years now: "There's just no one out there."
It's time to stop agreeing with that story. Because it's not true. And it's costing you far more than an empty column. JOIN THE LIVE WORKSHOP WITH LARISSA MACLEMAN: The Always-Recruiting Salon Playbook | Tuesday 26 May ✨ Auckland: 1 PM | Sydney: 11 AM | *Los Angeles: 6 PM* previous day* Walk away with a custom audit of why you're not getting applications right now ✓ , a real working recruitment ad ✓, and an Always-Recruiting plan mapped out for your sa...Why Your Salon Is Stuck at $700k (and How to Break Through)
If your salon is sitting somewhere between $500K and $700K… and no matter what you try, the revenue just won’t budge…
This episode is for you. Because on paper, everything looks like it should be working. You’ve done the hard yards. You’ve built the team. You’ve got clients choosing your salon over the others. You’re no longer in the early survival stage. 👉 But somehow… your revenue has flatlined. And it’s frustrating because you know your salon should be making more money by now… but something keeps holding it back. In this episode, Larissa & Joel reveal the...Ready to Sell Your Salon? Or Buy Another?
When your salon hits $1M, it’s not the finish line. In this episode, Larissa Macleman and Joel Bouzaid unpack whether your next move should be to buy, sell or expand, and the costly mistake too many salon CEOs make when they choose too soon. Because once you reach that million-dollar milestone, suddenly there’s a whole new question…
“WHAT COMES NEXT?”
👉Should I buy another salon? 👉Sell and finally escape the pressure? 👉Expand the one you already have? This is where so many salon owners make expensive, exhausting decisions. In this episode, La...Why Most Salons Won’t Make It to 2030
54% of salons won’t make it through to 2030.
The rules of the game have completely changed, but so many hard-working, talented Salon CEOs are stuck doing more in 2026… More hours on the floor. More admin behind the scenes. More pressure. But not more profit… And certainly not more freedom. And that’s exactly what Larissa Macleman unpacks inside this episode. How to stop being stuck and start building a salon that supports the life you want. There’s a massive divide happening in the salon industry right now b...3 Reasons Not to Give Up On Your Salon
Owning a salon can feel incredibly rewarding… and brutally hard. When you’re carrying the weight of your team, your clients, your profit, and your future, it’s easy to start asking yourself the question most salon owners are too scared to say out loud… Why am I still doing this? Inside this episode, Joel unpacks the 3 powerful reasons Salon CEOs should NOT give up… even when leadership feels heavy and business feels relentless.
3 Reasons You Need to Listen
Why your work in the salon industry is more meaningful than you realiseW...The 3 Hats Every Salon Owner Must Wear (Don’t Get Stuck in #1)
You didn’t build your salon to become the most overworked person in it.
But for so many salon CEOs, that’s exactly what happens. You start out doing what you love. Serving clients. Leading from the front. Making it work. Then before you know it, you’re wearing every hat, making every decision, solving every problem, and holding the entire business together with your own time, energy, and brain… And that’s exactly where SO many owners get STUCK. Busy. Needed. Responsible for everything. And quietly wondering why the business still feels so heavy. In this episode...Your Salon Can’t Survive 2026 Like This
Something BIG is shifting in the salon industry… and most CEOs haven’t caught up yet. In this episode, Larissa Macleman unpacks why the old financial model is breaking, why talented team members are leaving salons, and what salon CEOs must do now to future-proof their business. If you own a salon, this is your moment to pay attention. Because staying busy is no longer enough. And the salons that don’t evolve their structure, team strategy, and financial model are going to feel it first.
3 Reasons You Need to Listen
Understand your top talent might be out...AI Is Coming To Your Salon (Here’s How to Win)
What if you could see exactly what’s happening in your salon… in real time? Joel Bouzaid reveals the 5 shifts AI will create for Salon CEOs, and what you must fix now to win. This isn’t about robots cutting hair. It’s about what happens when your salon becomes fully visible… your numbers, your team performance, your systems… all in real time. Because AI isn’t here to replace you or your team. It’s here to separate the salons who are organised and decisive… from the ones who are still guessing. If your salon feels even a little messy behind the s...
You Told Them. You Showed Them. Why Aren’t They Doing It?
One of the most frustrating experiences as a Salon CEO is telling your team what to do… and watching it slowly disappear. The consultation script? Not followed. The rebooking process? Slipping again. The retail conversation? Gone after 3 days. Welcome to the “professional repeater” problem. In this episode, Larissa Macleman is joined by coach Greta Veint to unpack why salon systems often fail to stick inside a business. After seven years coaching Salon CEOs inside Salon Mastery, Greta sees the same frustration come up again and again. Owners create the system. Teams...
Did I Build My Salon Systems the Wrong Way?
Most Salon CEOs are stuck being the walking, talking version of the manual no one reads. Larissa breaks down a simpler, smarter way to build systems your team will actually use, so your salon can grow without you being the answer to everything. You wrote it all down. The process. The steps. The expectations. Maybe it’s beautifully laid out and colour-coded and you were quite proud of it, honestly. And yet… Your team still comes to you! They ask the same question, do it differently anyway, and then wait for you to step in. So now you’re stuck! In thi...
Your Salon Depends On You Too Much
If your salon still relies on you for every decision, the problem may not be your team: it may be your systems.
In this episode, Larissa Macleman and Joel Bouzaid unpack how repeatable salon systems create consistency, accountability and true freedom for salon owners ready to step into CEO leadership.
🚨 “Can I swap my shift?” 🚨“How do I do this consultation again?” 🚨 “Hey, can I take Saturday off?” With every question you get... There’s another decision you need to make… and the business lands right back on your shoulders. This is an...Build a Salon Brand That Doesn’t Revolve Around You
Who is the brand: You or your salon?
Maybe you’ve realised that you built something fragile that only works when YOU show up EVERY DAY…
As the most booked stylist.
As the superstar every client asks for.
As the everything.
Because the problem is? That business model has a ceiling.
If you’re stuck between $300K and $500K and can’t seem to scale…
Or you’ve hit $1M but still feel like the business relies on you more than you’d like…
This episode breaks down the shift from
Salon Challenges. Pressure. Exhaustion… And How to Respond.
It’s inevitable that your salon will have challenges. Staff drama, cash flow dips, growth plateaus…
Joel Bouzaid unpacks the uncomfortable truth about leadership when you’re under pressure and feeling exhausted, and how you can master the CEO skill of reframing difficulty in your salon. Because what will truly drain your energy is what happens inside you when it hits 👇 The tightening in your chest. The mental spiral. The replaying conversations at night. The tone that slips out sharper than you intended. ...Most Million-Dollar Salons Aren’t Profitable
Most million dollar salons are operating on pressure, not profit.
Full books. Full teams. Hitting revenue milestones that should mean you’re crushing it? Right?This episode is for the salon owner who hit growth… and realised it didn’t feel like relief.
You did what you were told - Grow the revenue. Build the team. Keep the salon busy. Only to realise the reward never came… Just more wages.. More decisions.. More responsibility. In this episode, Larissa Macleman has the step-by-step strategy to fix this once and for all.3 Re...
My Salon Team Doesn’t Want Targets
What would you do if your team told you they don’t want targets, incentives or KPIs?
This episode was inspired by a real question from a salon owner navigating some tricky conversations…
Some of her team members have said they just want to come to work, do their job, and that earning more money doesn’t motivate them. She’s constantly getting messages about time off... And now she feels stuck between holding standards and the risk of losing her team. Tune in to find out:3 Reasons You Need to Listen
W...5 Salon Meetings to Rule Them All
