No Walkouts in 21 years – Top 20 Success Secrets of Spa Mizan

by | Feb 23, 2020 | Salon Entrepreneurship

Last week I had an enlightening chat with Ginger Louviere, the owner of Spa Mizan in Lafayette LA. http://www.spamizan.com/ginger-louviere.html and boy are you in for a treat! Ginger was such a delight to chat with and today I’m telling her story of how she manages herself and her staff without having a walkout in 21 years.  Ginger credits her Spa Director, Edi,  with coming up with many of the fun ideas they have incorporated at Spa Mizan. Here are the deets about how Ginger and Edi run the business and what Ginger considers the secret to her team’s long time success.

  1. Ginger has completed business training from Strategies, Aveda and Inspiring Champions.
  2. Ginger has a 10,000 square foot facility with 16 styling stations and 13 stylists plus an aesthetics side.
  3. From the get go, at the hiring process, the staff understands that the guests belong to the company and that the guest always comes first.
  4. The team works together closely and there is no owning the guests.
  5. They have a team based environment but are commission based in their pay system.
  6. Ginger merged her strong aesthetics based business with a successful hairstylist years ago.The hairstylist only lasted 6 months and Ginger ended up running the entire business.
  7. Spa Mizan includes the front desk in goals. By how many appointments were booked, products sales goals and getting the team 75% booked or better.
  8. The team has speakers come in monthly in the middle of the day so all can attend for about an hour and a half.
  9. Ginger is very transparent with her numbers. Annually,  usually in January or February she has and “In and Out Meeting.” Where Ginger reveals what dollars came in and where they went annually. The team knows how much was spent on everything from advertising to the phone bill.
  10. Her benchmark is to hit a 6-10% profit margin annually.
  11. They also “celebrate as much as they can, says Ginger.” By giving out certificates for best in sales, product goals, and department goals but also fun things that the team votes on like funniest, most fashionable, most helpful, most spirited, most inspirational.
  12. Several of her stylists came to Spa Mizan right out of school and are still there after 15 + years.
  13. Ginger gets the bad seeds out within 3 months of hiring if they are not a good fit.
  14. Ginger says she doesn’t fill a seat just to fill it. Each employee has to be a good fit.
  15. Ginger says that booth rental IS allowed in her state.
  16. She also says that overall her area is depressed and there isn’t alot of talent to draw from.
  17. Her team signs a non-compete with a 5 mile radius and 2 year period after employment. She only had to try to uphold it once.
  18. Her Spa Director, Edi, has been with her for 15 years and is the go between for her and her staff. Edi organizes everything for Ginger and also comes up with all the fun ideas to keep staff engaged.
  19. Ginger spends alot of time in her office and now makes it a practice of walking around and seeing what is going on at both sides of the business, salon and spa.
  20. Ginger credits herself with being detail oriented, thorough, strong and compassionate.

Have any additional questions for Ginger ask them here. Next week I’ll be talking to one of Ginger’s team to get feedback on why they love working for Spa Mizan and what makes Ginger a great leader that they stick with.