10 Minute Beauty Business Podcast with Lexi Lomax

I’m still coming down from birthday week (mini golf tournament, a getaway with my husband, and a salon team that spoiled me rotten), and now I’m ready to get back to work. Last week I stopped mid-recording to write myself a note: we need to talk about how to plan your CEO year, and what it actually looks like to run your salon like a CEO instead of just reacting to whatever comes at you.

Today I’m breaking down what’s on the scenes versus behind the scenes for a salon owner, and the four things I want you to block on your calendar before 2027 starts. If your CEO day is the first thing to get canceled when things get busy, this one is for you.

In this episode:
The on-the-scenes vs. behind-the-scenes framework, and why the 90% nobody sees is where your business actually gets built
What CEO work really looks like: reviewing your numbers every quarter, planning marketing months ahead, and developing your team instead of just managing them
The four things to block on your calendar: a weekly CEO hour, a monthly half or full day, a quarterly planning event, and real time off that’s already scheduled and protected
Why you have to build the net before you leap, and why a plan beats manifesting

The Monday Club:
The community and core curriculum that gives you the framework and accountability to make your CEO work actually happen, with other salon owners moving through it alongside you. Learn more: https://www.lexilomax.com/monday-club

It’s October, my birthday month, and the Libra in me is feeling it. But I’m skipping the small talk because it’s Q4, and we have roughly 90 days left to decide what kind of year 2026 turns out to be. There are about 11 Fridays before Christmas. What you do right now determines how your year ends and how you set up 2027, and none of it should wait until January.

I’ve been running a quarterly audit on this business, and it reminded me how much I love teaching business planning. A little planning goes a long way, and I’m bringing more of it back to the podcast. Today I’m walking through the four things I think every salon owner needs to be doing right now.

In this episode:
Why the clients who fill your January are Googling salons right now, and how a visibility leak in October shows up as a slow Q1
How to look at your website like a stranger would, and what Google and AI tools need to see when people ask for salon recommendations
The quick wins that make a big impact: updating your Google Business Profile and hours, getting Yelp set up, and keeping your booking experience clean
Why you need to put real time off on your calendar before the year ends, and for all of 2027, because a depleted owner makes reactive decisions instead of strategic ones

Salon Visibility:
The training that builds your digital footprint so new clients can actually find you, on Google, on AI search, everywhere they’re looking. This is the foundation everything else gets built on. Learn more: https://www.salonmindsmastermind.com/salon-visibility

I'm in celebration mode this month, and I'm using it to talk about the people who make my salon what it is. Every Thursday, Belle walks into Ooh La La, makes her rounds with hugs and compliments, and sits in Nadine's chair, just like she has for 35 years. Clients often ask me what makes our salon feel the way it does. My answer is always the same: it's the people. But the people don't just show up that way. You build it, you attract it, and it all starts at the top.

Today I'm sharing a few of the women on my team and what I've learned in 19 years about curating a team of incredible humans and creating a place they want to stay. If you've been saying "we just can't find good stylists," this one is for you.

In this episode:
Meet the team: Nadine, Laura, Jackie, and Faith, and what makes each one so great
Why culture isn't a value statement on your website or a monthly team meeting, but the sum of every tiny leadership decision you make
How clients feel your culture the moment they walk through the door, and how that feeling turns Google and Yelp searchers into a community
Why "we need new talent" is often a leadership problem, and why becoming a better leader comes before hiring or firing
Why your ideal client evolves as she ages, and why long-term loyal clients are still worth celebrating

Salon Visibility:
The training that builds your digital footprint so new clients can actually find you, on Google, on AI search, everywhere they're looking. This is the foundation everything else gets built on. Learn more: https://www.salonmindsmastermind.com/salon-visibility

I'm back at "turn up season" energy, and I'm sharing where my head's at going into the last stretch of the year. After a few seasons of running my own salon on autopilot (thank God for good systems), I'm coming back to my 11 out of 10, and this episode is one of the first things I want you to take action on.

Today I'm talking about one of the most expensive problems in the salon industry, and the sneakiest one: the client you lose without ever knowing she was there. There's no notification when someone finds your salon, starts to book, and quietly closes the tab. This episode is about how to find those leaks in your new client journey and fix them, especially if you're running a hybrid or rental salon with stylists on different booking platforms.

In this episode:
Why losing a client mid-booking is invisible, and why it might be costing you more than you realize
What I learned from having multiple stylists on multiple booking systems, and how that friction sent new clients straight to competitors
How to audit your new client journey step by step: count your clicks, check your booking page, and review your confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups
Why "we'll get you in within 48 hours" is losing you bookings, and how to give people a way to book now (even if it's just the consult)
Why visibility is only half the equation, and how your back-end experience has to match your front-end marketing

Switching to Mangomint:
Moving my whole salon onto one system meant one booking experience for every stylist, every time. If you're curious whether it'd work better for your salon, grab your first month free with my link: https://www.mangomint.com/referral/lexi/

Salon Visibility:
The training that builds your digital footprint so new clients can actually find you, on Google, on AI search, everywhere they're looking. This is the foundation everything else gets built on. Learn more: https://www.salonmindsmastermind.com/salon-visibility

I just spent four days in Coronado hosting my one-on-one clients for our annual retreat, and I came home fired up about Q4 in a way I haven't been in a while. Not because I have a shiny new three-step plan, but because being in a room with that many smart, badass salon owners for four days straight surfaced so many small, specific shifts worth making before the holidays hit.

This episode is me walking you through exactly what I'm doing right now, in September, to get my own salon ready for the most revenue-dense stretch of the year. It's about getting hyper-specific with marketing instead of just turning up the volume on what you're already doing, why the software you use for that matters more than people think, and why visibility work has to start months before anyone's actually searching for you. I also share a stat from one of my clients that made me nearly spit out my drink.

In this episode:
Why "know what you do and who you do it for" isn't just a tombstone statement, and how to actually connect it to service-to-product, product-to-service, and product-to-product marketing that converts
How I'm using client and retail data to build hyper-targeted campaigns around specific services instead of generic holiday promos
Why I switched to Mangomint, and how having every piece of client and service data in one place is completely changing how personal and specific my Q4 marketing can get
Why November is too late to start on visibility, and what 90 days of SEO indexing time actually means for your salon's Q4
Why refining your SEO and keywords is never "done," and the Ad Libs–style keyword doc I gave my clients at the retreat to help them get specific fast

Switching to Mangomint:
I finally made the switch after years of jimmy-rigging Zapier and Square to work for a hybrid salon. If you're curious whether it'd work better for your salon, grab your first month free with my link: https://www.mangomint.com/referral/lexi/

Salon Visibility:
The training that builds your digital footprint so new clients can actually find you, on Google, on AI search, everywhere they're looking. This is the foundation everything else gets built on. Learn more: https://www.salonmindsmastermind.com/salon-visibility