How Hairstylists & Image Professionals Think Like Magicians

To Think Like A Magician™, hairstylists and other image professionals should identify all of your audiences, define the emotional effects you want to create, and shape perceptions before, during and after interactions.

As a magician and motivational speaker who teaches professionals to Think Like A Magician™, I recently had the honor of presenting my business keynote at Moroccanoil’s The Collective Event in Las Vegas, an absolutely incredible and inspiring gathering of 1,000 hairstylists, salon owners and image professionals.

My goal was to share key lessons from the art of magic that could help these professionals enhance their skills in understanding their clients, managing perceptions, and boosting their businesses.

Here are 3 magical mindsets I encouraged them to adopt:

#1 Identify The Full Scope of Your Audience for Maximum Impact

The first step in influencing perception is identifying exactly who your audience is. As hairstylists and image professionals, you likely have several key audiences:

• Your clients

• Your team

• Businesses you partner with

• Your local community

Comprehensively Map Out Everyone You Interact With

Really taking the time to make a comprehensive list of all the people you interact with is so important. When I was preparing to fool Penn & Teller on their TV show, I realized my key audience that night wasn’t just Penn & Teller themselves, but the millions of viewers who could potentially hire me for events.

Understanding the makeup of your audience allows you to tailor your approach. For example, clients want to look and feel amazing, while your team may be seeking camaraderie and growth opportunities. Knowing these nuances is the first step in managing perceptions successfully.

Hear Directly from Stylists on Their Diverse Audiences

I had the privilege of interviewing some of the salon owners and stylists prior to my presentation. When asked about their audience, here were some of their insightful responses:

“My staff and my clients. I deal with my landlord, my bookkeeper, telemarketers, people who want to sell things, I deal with Google where I do a lot of my advertising, my website provider, those kind of things."

"It's everyone from distributors, vendors, manufacturers, creditors, just our merchant service company, everything that we need to keep the ball rolling."

"Sometimes it's not day-to-day, but you have your accountant, lawyer, leasing agent, 401K, liability insurance, workman's comp insurance, payroll, HR firms, outside agents for insurance. State licensing, massage license, beauty license."

Their audiences ranged from their daily customers to the businesses they partner with occasionally. But it was clear they all took the time to methodically map out the full scope of who they interact with. That's step one to influencing perceptions.

#2 Define The Emotional Effects You Want to Create

Once you’ve identified your audience, get crystal clear on the effect you want to create in their minds. I explained to the hairstylists that in magic, the “effect” is the final perception that exists purely in the minds of the audience. It’s not the tangible “result”, which is the middle step.

For example, a hospital's "effect" could be "We Are One Community" while a hardware store's "effect" might be "I Can Do Anything." Though results are important to measure, your effects are the intangible emotional impacts.

Clarify the Feelings You Want to Generate

Really hone in on the feeling you want people to have during and after interacting with you. Do you want them to leave empowered, relaxed, excited, or hopeful? Defining this helps ensure everything you do works towards that goal.

Learn Desired Effects Straight from the Experts

I asked the stylists about the effects they aim to create for their clients. Here's what they had to say:

"It's the intangibles. The intangible effect is really being able to change lives."

"Being behind the chair is such a powerful position in so many ways. People budget for us, they plan for us, they look forward to seeing us."

"It's all about my stylist making a connection with their client so that their client feels that connection when they leave. It's not about the hairstyle they do or how they look when they leave, that's part of it but the bigger part for me is the connection that they feel when they leave."

Their desired effects centered around forming deep connections and making positive impacts on their clients' moods and self-images. Defining this effect guides all their client interactions.

For their team members, the effects included “camaraderie,” “escape,” and “playing a part." Identifying the right effect for each audience ensures your efforts stay targeted.

#3 Harness the Power of Before, During & After

Finally, understand that you can shape perceptions before, during, and after a service—not just in the moment. With some creativity, you can bring the same energy and experience to your email confirmations, follow-up messages, and more.

Track Your Progress Over Time

Track your progress by assessing changes in reviews and social media sentiments over time. Are words like “magical”, “uplifting”, and “transformative” appearing more often? Then you know your efforts to influence perceptions across the entire customer journey are working!

Let’s Make Magic Together

The key is to approach your business through the eyes of your audience, not your own. Adopt these magical mindsets of identifying audiences, clarifying desired effects, and broadening when you influence perceptions—and you’ll soon be thinking like a magician too!

If you lead a company, association, or large team and want to help your people Think Like A Magician™, let's talk!

I would be delighted to craft a customized keynote presentation that inspires your audience to adopt magician-like mindsets for enhancing communication, creativity, and connection.

I regularly work with organizations to design high-impact sessions on magic-based lessons for leadership, sales, marketing, customer service, and more.

Reach out now to chat about availability and details for your upcoming meeting or convention. Let's think magically together!