In the business of making people feel good
This semester, I am teaching our newest class of students Salon Experience. It is one of our longest and I consider it one of our most important classes.
In this course, one assignment that students are tasked with is to go and investigate the who, why, and what of three professional hair care brands of their choice. What they discovered in doing the assignment, and in our lively discussion, was an awareness of the level of authenticity and value in the company mission statements.
It became clear through this assignment that brands that are owned by hairstylists seem to have a more authentic message. They had more concern for hairstylists, the environment, and an overall deeper concern for leaving both people and the planet better than they found it.
On the other hand, the students very quickly pointed out that the mission statements created by corporations, non-hairstylists, or people developing brands for their own reasons said nothing of value or substance. It was clear to the students that the language used was easily seen as disingenuous. I think this is very interesting and informative.
I have always said, "never open a business to make money, money is a result of your mission". In any business, how people feel while interacting with you is most important.