Hair Hero

Why NEVER to Burn Bridges in the Hair Industry (w/ Ryan Weeden)

• Ryan Weeden • Episode 76

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In this episode of Hair Hero, we dive into why burning bridges in the hair industry (or any industry) can have long-lasting effects on your career—and what to do if your ego has already caused some damage. I’ll share practical tips on how to take responsibility, offer sincere apologies, and mend relationships with friends, companies, or brands. Whether you’ve had a falling out with a colleague or left a job on bad terms, there’s always a way to rebuild. Tune in to learn how to keep your reputation—and your opportunities—intact!

Be Bold, be Brave, be You.

Thanks for you listening.
-Ryan


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Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Hair Hero, where we're going to dive into everything you need to know to make it big in the hair industry. So buckle in, because I got a lot to tell you here in a very short amount of time. I'm your host here, ryan Whedon, and today we are tackling a topic that's not just important in our industry but in life why you should never burn bridges and how to fix it if your ego is not your amigo and it gets in the way, or already has. Let's be real. We've all been there right At some point in our life. Sometimes we let our emotions or our pride take over and, before we know it, we've damaged the relationship that we actually care about. And after it's over, we're just like, oops, that sucks, let's move on, but should you? Well, you know what. And after it's over, we're just like, oops, that sucks, let's move on, but should you? Well, you know what? There's always hope for redemption, and today I'm actually going to show you how to mend a broken relationship, or at least try, because there's no guarantees that somebody is going to forgive you, right? All right? Well, let's start by talking about why it is so important to keep those bridges intact.

Speaker 1:

In the hair industry, relationships are everything. Who you know can often be just as important as what you know your reputation, whether it's good or bad. It's going to follow you over the years and as you evolve. And, trust me, the connections that you build can either boost you up or, if handled poorly, they can hold you back and they can keep you from doing things that you really want to do in life. Just think about it.

Speaker 1:

Imagine you worked with a brand earlier in your career and maybe you didn't end things on great terms. Maybe you walked out on a deal or quit without notice, or even sent some messages or emails that maybe you wish you hadn't have sent, sent some messages or emails that maybe you wish you hadn't have sent. But then you fast forward a couple of years. That brand is now a huge. It's like a monster. It's opening doors for other stylists, for other opportunities, but not for you, because that bridge was burned. Now that's an opportunity that you're never going to get back.

Speaker 1:

Oops, and the truth is, our world here is very small. In our industry, in a lot of industries and word travels fast If you have left a job dramatically or maybe even bad mouth, the brand and gosh. There's a lot of people that just love to voice their opinion. We're in this free speaking social media. Everybody needs to be heard and put in their two cents, even though they don't think about hey, what you just said can easily be screenshot and come back to haunt you. You just never know who knows who in this industry. Plus, you never know what the future holds. You might not think that you'll be successful or need that relationship again, but it's amazing how paths cross years down the road. There's a lot of opportunities out there and there's not a lot of people that are able to take them. So as you get closer and closer to the top of the industry, you're going to find that a lot of people know each other.

Speaker 1:

A lot of people talk and a lot of people will ask other people, their peers opinions about. Hey, do you know about this person or her have you ever worked with them, or I saw they worked with you. What do you think of them that can come back to bite you if you were unkind in, let's say, a previous era, previous part of your career, when maybe you weren't being your ideal self and maybe you let your ego get in the way. But whatever it is, you just don't know where you're going to be going in your career. So be careful of what you say and be kind along the way. That's why I feel like it's always better to keep things civil, even if you're parting ways. Okay, well, so the question here is what if you've oops, you made a mistake and you're already in this situation? Maybe you did let your ego get in the way, maybe an opportunity passed you up and you took it out on a person in leadership, or you took it out on a brand. You took it out in a way that wasn't your ideal self, something that actually is coming back with fangs to bite you and your bridge that you burned. It's in flames and it's burning down.

Speaker 1:

What do you do? How could you, is it possible to solve this? Well, here's the thing you do. First thing you do, and you might want to write this down. It's very simple two words own it.

Speaker 1:

First thing you got to do is you have to know yourself well enough to know that you might have screwed up, you might have done something that might come back to haunt you, so you have to own it. This might be the hardest part, but taking responsibility for your actions is absolutely crucial. No one likes to admit when they've messed up, but this is about growth. This is about maturity. For example, here's something that you could say and again, this takes some kah our relationship. I'm really sorry for that. I'm really sorry for the things I've said, for the way I ended this. It's not that wasn't my ideal self, and, gosh, I feel like a real, real shit, you know, however, you want to say it whatever. Whatever is in your own words to personalize it, but the goal is to own up to it. Don't let your ego keep making excuses for bad behavior.

Speaker 1:

Next thing you want to do is you want to offer a sincere apology, whether it's in writing, whether it's personal. You can even use AI to help you construct a really nice apology. You type into AI if you're using it. If you're not using it, you should use it, but you can type into the prompt and say, hey, I burned this bridge and I'm trying to rekindle things. I'm trying to own up to my mistake and mend this relationship. What should I say? How should I say it? What questions can you ask me that will help you better craft this? That's like getting into AI. We'll do that on a different topic if you're interested. Ai We'll do that on a different topic if you're interested.

Speaker 1:

But there's a big difference with a sincere apology between like a half-hearted hey, I'm sorry because people just offer I'm sorry all the time. If you're in the supermarket and you bump into somebody or somebody's in your way, or somebody almost runs into you, everybody's, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're apologizing for things all the time, even if it's not something to apologize for. I'm sorry by itself is not enough. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1:

But if you're saying I'm sorry and a genuine, I've had time to reflect and I regret how things played out might have some more weight behind it. Don't apologize just to like check it off your list, like okay, did that, I'm going to move on. Make sure you mean it when you say it, because it's really easy to see that insincerity. It's very hollow, even if you're really good at lying and when you do actually approach this and apologize, explain that you'd love to rebuild the relationship if possible. Don't expect it to just be mended, but say that like, hey, I messed up, I would like to make this relationship and rebuild it better if possible. I'm here, let me know what I can do on how badly you might have screwed up. Just because you're ready to make things right doesn't mean the other person is. You got to give them the time and the space if they need it. There might be some healing that needs to go on some consideration. Do I want to bring this person that was so disrespectful, so mean, back into our circle? Because rebuilding trust takes time and it's going to be about showing through action, not just telling that you've changed.

Speaker 1:

I used to use this analogy you take, like a number two pencil, one of those ones we used to use in school before everything was pen, and the pencil itself a solid pencil. The number two pencil represents trust and once that trust is broken, you actually take the pencil. You snap the pencil in half and you say, okay, you broke trust here. Now we need to mend that, no matter what you do, whether you use glue, whether you use tape to fit that broken piece together, so two pieces into one again. It's never going to be as strong as it was. So always keep that in mind too. Mind too. Another reason to try not to burn bridges in the first place, because that trust is even if you can mend it, it's never going to. There's always going to be that crack there, that fracture there. No matter how well you seal it, it's never going to be as strong as it was initially. That rebuilding it it's going to take time, but it is about the effort that you put in.

Speaker 1:

Afterward Do not expect it overnight. And if you really want to extend this olive branch, you could even take it a step further, because sometimes mending a relationship takes way more than just words and even more than flowers. Offer to do something tangible, like helping them out with something or even sending business their way, something that shows that you are going above and beyond. So let's say you left a salon on bad terms, or left a salon owner on bad terms. Maybe you can refer clients to them if your schedules or services don't overlap anymore. Show them that you're actually serious about making things right. Show them that you're actually serious about making things right. And the last thing is here, lastly, just you got to learn from this experience. Once you're able to own it, think about how painful it is to be in the situation of feeling like a screw up, feeling like you're afraid to meet this person at even a hair show or something and cross their eyes, meet eye to eye or get stuck in line with them. How awkward that is going to be. So learn from this and kind of feel that pain, that pain that you don't want to actually have to face again.

Speaker 1:

Now. The best way to prevent burning future bridges is to reflect on what went wrong. So this is going to take some internal deep processing right. Why did things blow up? What triggered you? What triggered your ego? How did your ego get in the way of you making responsible decisions and feeling the need to lash out? What could you have done differently? You need to start to learn how to manage those emotions so that you do not repeat the same mistake.

Speaker 1:

I've seen way too many people in the industry just bite themselves by saying things that either were untrue or hurtful or mean, letting their emotions take control, letting anger slip out and suddenly opportunities that they may have had they're no longer an option anymore. So to wrap things up here, short and sweet relationships are the key to lasting success in this industry. It's very small at the top and if you really have high, set goals and places you want to be, stages you want to be on, do your best to be kind to everyone. Cordial support. Don't burn bridges, because burning bridges can hurt your future more than you realize. But here's the good news it's never too late to try and rebuild them.

Speaker 1:

If you've burned a bridge in the past, don't be afraid to reach out. Don't be afraid to apologize and start fresh. It might be awkward, I get it. You might have that fear inside of you of like well, what are they going to say? But trust me, it's worth it in the long run, even if it's about tapping into a side of yourself where you're taking more ownership of your own success, because deep down remember, we've all made mistakes, we're all human, but it's how we own them and fix them that really, truly defines who we are. Thanks for tuning in, guys, for this short, quick fire episode, and I hope today's show inspired you to think twice before lighting that match, or at least to grab a bucket of water if you already have All right. Until next time, stay humble, stay hungry and don't forget. Don't burn bridges. See you next week.

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Ryan Weeden

Host