Sometimes, you might be involved with the beauty industry but not actually have your license yet. In the case of Daniel Berry, he began his journey in high school and actually ended up managing a salon but didn’t have his cosmetology license. To get that license and finally circle back around, Daniel was able to learn at Ogle School. Find out more about Daniel’s journey by reading on.

Daniel Berry’s Years-Long Journey

What made you realize you really loved cosmetology?

I began in high school. That was 13 years ago. I entered cosmetology as an elective. I fell in love with it, but I didn’t complete my hours there. I got 700 hours, but I went into business management afterward. I still practice here on the side, here and there, but I really enjoyed managing. I have managed a salon, a high-end Aveda Salon, for about seven years. And I made the decision at the beginning of this year that I’m going to finish my license. Luckily, TDLR still has my hours, and Ogle accepted all those hours. And Ogle was pretty much a no-brainer for me to finish my license here.

Why did you choose Ogle School?

I mean, Ogle’s been around for several years. I’ve known about it since I was in high school, but working in the Aveda world, I did the hiring and recruiting for the salon. I hired students from Ogle a lot. I came to their Power Hour a couple of times and did career fairs, as well as other schools too. So, I had a good understanding of what other schools’ structure was like. And that’s really guiding my direction straight to Ogle. It’s close to home and had everything I needed, an excellent reputation, and I hired good students from Ogle in the past.

Why did you decide to go back to cosmetology school?

You want to be versatile in your craft of what you do and what you can offer your guests. Nowadays, clients can go almost anywhere and get their haircuts. There’s YouTube where they can do it themselves, or they can purchase color online now. So, the question is, what’s going to make you different?

I think it’s your versatility and what you can offer. If you just specialize in one thing, you’re just narrowing your market and your demographic to just that one thing. If you have different options for your guests, not just with hair but also skincare, maybe even nails too, that’s just going to make you more marketable and more attractive to different types of clientele.

What has your experience been with Ogle School?

It’s been great. It’s been great. What I love about this school is it’s very diverse. So, I get to learn more from other students as well as the instructors who have all kinds of different backgrounds, different histories, what brought them here. I love talking to people and hearing their stories, but also what they’re good at, because there are things that I’m good at, there are things that I’m not good at, and our strengths and areas of improvement complement each other really well. And we get to learn from each other.

What is your biggest passion?

I’ve always been good with hairstyling. I feel pretty confident with hair color and haircutting. But with more natural textured hair, that’s something that I haven’t really even experienced or been exposed to a whole lot. So, I got to play with that a whole lot being here in school. Also, different types of styling, like roller sets that I do. I haven’t done so many perms. I haven’t done so much of–so I’ve got more hands-on experience with that. I’ve done some men’s cuts in the past, but I’ve had a lot more exposure with that. And I’ve definitely built up my confidence with men’s cuts. I can pretty much tackle any men’s cut, especially going through American Crew’s training now.

How do you handle clients?

My approach to my clients is not just to treat them how I would want to be treated, but actually to make them feel special, give them your attention, and don’t be distracted. You want to make them feel welcome, make them feel at home. Let them know where the restrooms are. Make sure they have water if they need water. You just really want them to be comfortable because that’s how you’re going to earn their trust. Once they’re comfortable, their guard comes down more. You can actually communicate and build that trust more.

That’s when your recommendations during the consultation come into play. At this point, they’re going to trust you whenever you recommend what to do with their hair color, what to do with their haircut, or to try something new. And when it comes to retailing, you’ve got to recommend the right homecare too. If you don’t have that trust and relationship there, they’re not going to be as likely to purchase retail and use it at home. Building that relationship is really important, so that’s what I start with. It’s building a relationship– solid communication starting with trust.

Is it difficult to talk to clients about pricing?

I don’t live in people’s pocketbooks. I’m never going to assume how much money they have, but I’m going to do my job to educate them on what their hair needs, and make the proper recommendations for them. And ultimately, it’s up to their discretion if they want to purchase that. If they want to talk about pricing with services, I’ll talk about pricing; maybe offer them some different options that we could do. You just don’t have that one option. There’s maybe Plan A, Plan B, maybe a Plan C. And that’s up to their discretion if they want to proceed with Plan A, B, or C, and the same thing with their homecare.

So, I don’t really take offense to it at all. There’s no reason to. I’m cheap with some things sometimes, but I’m also about quality too.  And if I’m going to offer them quality service, quality products, quality results, I’m going to educate them and let them make the decision. And those things are important. Whenever they come in, give them a tour. It’s a great way to show them where the products are, introduce other services, and other service providers. Maybe you have a spa. You can show them that too. I’ve had guests that I’ve shown this Spa, and I see them come in the next weekend; they’re getting a facial.

What is your goal?

I really wanted to finish my license, so I can offer more. I can offer more than just my customer service and my mentoring skills. I want to own a business. I want to create my own business where I can employ stylists; I can teach them, train them to be professionals, give them the same opportunities I was given, and hopefully, make them just as successful or more successful than I am. So those are kind of my ultimate goals to teach and train other stylists within this industry to be professionals and to not just build their clientele and not just make money but really build those relationships and bring the whole industry to a higher level.

Discover Your Own Beautiful Story

If you’re interested in the world of beauty, then you have your own Beautiful Story. Whether you go through the cosmetology program or the esthetics program, Ogle School can help you grow and thrive on your journey. Request more information from Ogle School to discover how we can help you on your journey toward something better.