There’s an old saying “we keep what we have by giving it away.” At Starks we believe giving the world the best-looking version of yourself is about something way more meaningful than image or ego. Appearance should be about building your confidence, your attitude and overall – about wellness. There is actual science behind the whole looking good feeling better thing.
At Starks we teach the barbers to complement their clients. It makes the client feel better about their appearance and it gets the barber in the habit of constantly giving themselves positive affirmation. After all, they are complimenting their own work. This type of positive affirmation builds their confidence and promotes a positive attitude; ergo, it’s great for their overall mental health.
When you compliment someone, practice gratitude or even compliment yourself, it releases dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin in your body. These are the feel-good chemicals that are associated with well-being and happiness. Even the practice of self-care rituals like the application of great products to the skin, hair, etc. can be considered this type of behavior and trigger these chemical results in your body. In an article I found from Medical News Today, an outlet that tackles various subjects from ADHD to back pain to Leukemia – they outlined the following tips for hygiene:
• Make it a habit: With daily practice, a new habit can become a regular part of life. Choose one area to focus on and practice until it becomes second nature.
• Set reminders: Using the notes app on a cell phone can be a great way to avoid forgetting any tasks.
• Use rewards: A sticker chart can be a brilliant incentive for children to maintain their personal hygiene.
• Invest in nice toiletries: Using products that smell good may encourage some people to stick to their personal hygiene routine.
They also explain why practicing good hygiene is great for mental health. Ultimately, you really have to feel good about the way you look, and hygiene is only one element.
One of my barbers told me years ago that “Helping people feel good about how they look is a really rewarding part of our job”. I couldn’t agree with her more. Think about the reaction you get when you take your child for a haircut and see them with their new look and a big smile… That’s the way the barber feels every time they give a great haircut. Now ask yourself if you get the same feeling when you see your own haircut. If you don’t, you should try it the next time you step out of the barber chair. You’ll get the opportunity when you reach the front to pay and see those giant mirrors behind our reception desks. They’re cool looking pieces, but they were implemented so the customer can check out their new look! We encourage you to pay yourself an internal compliment, it might seem silly but it’s a really great habit to get into. Whether you do or you don’t, your barber will. We teach our staff that these compliments and the positivity behind them can even make their workday less stressful.
Like many jobs, there is an element of stress and pressure that the barber feels. They want to give every client the best possible haircut, while engaging in interesting conversation and staying on time. When I left my corporate career and started Starks, I learned very quickly that the work they do can get very overwhelming. We can’t really make the barber shop look like the Google campus with ping pong tables and nap pods, but we take a fairly focused approach to keeping the staff in good spirits. Our Toronto Franchise Owner Sam purchased an electric shoulder massager for his barbers to use on their breaks. We’ve now started to put them in all of our stores. The feedback from the barbers was tremendous and I’m sure it made Sam feel great. Good karma all the way around!
At Starks we really feel that our company has to pay attention to the role that grooming plays with wellness and mental health. We see restaurants that procure spices and vegetables from a local farm, or businesses that plant a tree every time one of their products is purchased. They’re called “impact businesses” and it’s certainly a buzz word these days, but If you think about it, every business can have an impact if they make the choice. Our impact has a direct connection to well-being, because making people look good makes them feel great about themselves.
When we conceptualized this blog and decided to write about style, grooming and franchising – the idea to write about wellness was equally as exciting. I started writing this particular piece with the intent of highlighting and explaining the whole “look good feel better” concept – and I’m ending it with the hope that you will feel compelled to pay someone a compliment today. If everyone did that once a day, the impact would be immeasurable.
Steve Tallis is a thought leader in men’s grooming and franchising. He routinely contributes to style and business publications to promote wellness and the growing brand he co-founded almost ten years ago. For more information head to StarksBarberCompany.com.