Arts
The Secrets of Van CouncilI had the opportunity to interview one of the top salon owners and salon personalities in the world, Van Council, owner of eight Van Michael Salons in Atlanta and 42 salons in Japan. He and his salons have won various awards including 4 times North American Hair Stylist of the Year awards, Best Salon in Atlanta from various publications and much more. He is the Artistic Director for Intercoiffure North America, considered one the 75 top educators by Modern Salon Magazine, Aveda Global Master and the list goes on. He is a tour de force, a hairdresser's hairdresser, a leader in business. I have seen Van speak many times and for full disclosure, I have been enamoured of his great success. So it truly was an honor to speak with him, yet he is humble and real. It is always interesting for me to observe how unassuming Van is. As an example, he tells me how smart his kids are, and then says, “not sure where they got that from.” His voice is full and sure and he qualifies everything. Because there are so many ways to run salons, he says, this is the way we do it. Whether you are salon owner, stylist or fashion creative, there are big lessons in his message. His voice is full, compelling, positive, reasonable, his methods for running salons are logical. I remember being with some of my staff at one of his talks. He regularly speaks at Aveda events, that I go to. My young staff were with me. They were entranced by him, engaged, shaking their heads up and down, they were jumping on the Van bandwagon, lucky he hasn’t opened a salon in my town. During this podcast, we talked about Atlanta as a great place to do hair. He says, “Atlanta has a lot of good salons. Keeps us on our toes.” But it is more than that, with 400 employees you need to be a great leader. From my perspective it comes from various things Van does. 1st he thinks deeply about his business. He has a personal habit of reading a lot. He takes his cues from top business people. It gives him an enormous amount to draw on. In fact I have heard him speak on some of my favorite authors, like Seth Goodin and Edward Demming. 2nd While many business people will suggest that hanging with your staff is a bad idea, Van does the opposite. He goes out of his way to meet and get to know his people. Take them to dinner, ride bikes, etc. 3rd, he is very affable, easy to be around, creative but not weird. I think Van would be a leader in any endeavor. I do think Van Michael has a couple strong philosophies that he articulates well. 1st the idea of specialization. This ideas goes all the way to the front desk. One person for check in another for check out, of course one for cut one for color. 2nd, Quality is first and foremost. Van says the chair has to make money, and the stylist has a date by which they need to be making a certain amount, or they are out. Van Council, the tour de force a leader among stylists, salon owners and the business world. Tony GordonT Gordon Salon TalksGordon Stylist AcademyGordon Salons