When Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise owner Kendra Keating began counting the number of days she was traveling while raising her baby as a single mother, she realized something needed to change.
“I traveled 122 days throughout her first year of life,” Kendra said. “I took her with me and hired a nanny at my expense.”
Little did the Chief Financial Officer know that change would come in the form of losing her executive position due to a merger in 2005.
Kendra worked as a financial consultant and fostered three boys over the next three years until she signed a franchise agreement with Pigtails & Crewcuts in 2008, right before the stock market crashed. She opened her first location’s doors in 2010.
“My daughter was three when I lost my job,” Kendra said. “Pigtails & Crewcuts was a blessing because I was able to spend time with her and do things other moms got to do.”
Now an Area Representative for Southern California and Arizona, and owner of three of her own children’s hair salons, Kendra has found a new career in franchising that allows her the work-life balance she needs.
Managing Kid’s Hair Salon Employees as a Multi-Unit Franchisee Starts with Hiring
Being a multi-unit franchisee comes with its challenges. Juggling multiple businesses at once can be a struggle without the right preparation and business acumen. For the former CFO, managing the numbers comes easy. Instead, she focuses most of her energy on improving her store culture and working to keep it consistent across her three stores.
This starts with building the right team, and that’s an area of business ownership that Kendra has improved on throughout her time as a franchisee.
Since there are no perfect employees, Kendra has found that she more carefully considers what she doesn’t want in an employee than what she necessarily does want. She uses a specific set of interview questions for every candidate, designed to help her zero in on the skills and attitude she looks for when hiring new team members. Once new employees are hired, Kendra ensures they are treated well.
Without fail, her employees all end up having one thing in common.
“They genuinely love working with kids,” Kendra said. “But they also like that I’m fair. There’s no favoritism. They come to work and do their jobs. I tell them where they’re doing great and where they could do a little better. If they need days off, I try to accommodate them. It’s not really rocket science to treat your employees well.”
The aspect of her business ownership that Kendra is most proud of is how long some of her employees have worked for her. She establishes strong, mutually respectful relationships with her staff, which has led to decade-plus tenures with some team members.
Comradery Among Pigtails & Crewcuts Franchise Owners is Key to Support
Kendra’s strong work relationships don’t stop at her employees. She has made sure to take advantage of our peer-to-peer network of franchisee support.
At Pigtails & Crewcuts, we take franchise support seriously. We also understand how important it is that our franchisees support each other. That’s why we make it easy for our franchisees to communicate, trade ideas, and ask questions.
Just recently, Kendra took a trip to visit fellow franchisee Jennifer Tribble in Orlando, FL. While she went there to surprise Jennifer and help her open her newest Pigtails & Crewcuts salon, Kendra left with new knowledge on an easy fix integrating her bookkeeping software with her recently upgraded point-of-sale (POS) system.
Pigtails & Crewcuts peer-to-peer network isn’t designed with any designated teachers in mind, but rather to promote a mutual learning experience between our franchisees. Kendra never hesitates to reach out for help from her peers or corporate support team.
“I love my relationship with my employees, franchisor, and other franchisees,” she said. “That’s where I’ve benefitted the most. I have these incredible relationships I didn’t have before.”
Are you interested in learning more about franchising with Pigtails & Crewcuts? Download our Franchise Information Packet by clicking below!
