Secret Service

Preface: Impossible Dream versus Reality

In the 1980s the salon industry was very different from what it is today. Many salons were poorly run businesses, hairdressers jumped from salon to salon, and poor customer service was the norm. Clients accepted this state of affairs, and few customers respected their salon or its staff.

These salons didn’t make much money or survive for long. Few offered their employees such benefits as hospitalization and vacation, let alone 401Ks or further education. Opportunities for advancement were rare. A hairdresser couldn’t expect to advance to a better job; nor for that matter could a receptionist. As a result, many frustrated people sought greener grass at other salons that offered what often turned out to ...