Description
In this inspiring episode of The Day Maker Podcast, host David Dolce sits down with Larry Foster, the COO of Tricoci University, to explore his passion for beauty education and the transformative impact it has on students and clients alike. Larry shares his journey in the industry, the philosophy behind Tricoci University, and why he believes beauty professionals have the power to change lives. Tune in for an insightful discussion about mentorship, leadership, and the future of beauty education.
Show Notes
– David Dolce welcomes listeners and introduces guest Larry Foster.
– Larry shares how he got started in the beauty industry and his journey to becoming COO of Tricoci University.
– They discuss the power of beauty education and how training future professionals goes beyond just teaching techniques—it’s about building confidence and changing lives.
– Larry explains what sets Tricoci University apart and how its approach to education empowers students.
– They explore the “Day Maker” philosophy and how beauty professionals can have a lasting impact on their clients.
– Larry talks about mentorship, leadership, and his approach to fostering a positive learning environment for students.
– A discussion on emerging trends, industry shifts, and Larry’s vision for the future of beauty education.
– Larry shares his final thoughts, key takeaways, and advice for aspiring beauty professionals.
Links:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/PRu1wRwW_fE
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3LAo3EY52rduJQCuePSSf6?si=LwRxVPDwQkWo70Sb6IWpjQ
Transcript
We are here to make people feel good about themselves.
We really have to feel like we are a day maker for the guest
You’ve made my day.
How great is that when you hear those words from your guest.
Hello, I’m David Dolce
and welcome to the Day Maker podcast.
I have the privilege today of interviewing one
of my day makers and mentors, Larry Foster.
Larry Foster, welcome to the podcast.
Hey, thanks David. You’re welcome.
Thank you for doing this with us. Yeah,
I’m excited. Good,
Good, good. So
it’s true.
Um, you’re one of the people that motivates me, mentors me.
I’ve learned so much for you.
So I can’t even imagine a better podcast for you
to be on than the day maker podcast.
It’s great to have some of my day
makers on this too as well.
So Larry, what do you do
besides everything for, to coach university?
So I’m officially the Chief operating Officer.
However, I do a little bit of everything.
I do do education, I do do the operations side,
but my passion is really all about education.
What got you involved in the beauty industry?
So I think I’m no different than a lot of our students.
I think that this is more of a calling.
I think most of us have always wanted
to do this since we were really young.
So I’d say probably the catalyst
for me was my aunt was a hairstylist.
Oh, awesome. So I remember hanging out
with her on weekends and things like that.
Being in her beauty salon, helping her,
I’m gonna date myself with this,
but helping her empty the ashtrays in the dryer chairs
and helping her wash her frosting caps
and sweeping up hair and all those things.
So, but then life kind of happened
and I went on a different career path through college
and in my mid twenties realized
that I really wanted to be a part of this world.
So I went back to school, got my certification in massage,
got my certification in SD and then kind of grew from there.
That’s really cool. I’ve been hearing commonly like a lot
of people that have gotten in this industry,
including myself, has had somebody in their past
and their family that like inspired them to do that.
And that’s cool. I like seeing that connection.
What skills do you think somebody should possess
before starting beauty school?
I think the biggest skill
that would make them successful is probably people skills.
I agree. I think that there are multiple things
that a student should kind
of focus on when they’re in our schools.
I think one is building their business. Mm-hmm.
And that incorporates how they treat people.
I think the other thing is building their brand
and right from day one, working with social media,
doing the different assignments we have daily things like
that to truly build their book.
Because in the real world we know it takes probably two
years to build a good solid book.
Yeah. Behind the chair. Mm-hmm.
Or in a massage room or room or barber chair.
You know, why not use that 10 months
or more that you’re in school to truly build your business.
So building your business is another
and I think remembering your why through school.
I think those are the three skills you need
because you have to remember why you’re in it.
Really connect with that passion.
Because school can get kind of challenging at times
and you know, remembering your
passion helps get you through it.
Yeah. I think you hit on the main points,
like personality, people skills,
customer service is everything.
I think that’s what made me successful
when I had no clients.
Right. ’cause I had people skills so people wanted
to come back ’cause I was funny
or talk about some crazy thing in my life
or they’re telling you about it.
And then further down the road you look, it’s been 20 years
and you’re doing your best friend’s hair
and you’re getting paid for it at that point.
’cause you’ve known them for so long.
You know, I think you’re spot on with that
because I remember, you know, when I owned,
well I owned a couple day spots, but one had hair in it
and I used to watch this person who was magical with hair.
I could watch him for hours.
You know, it was just impressive what he could do with it,
with cut color, things like that.
And I wondered why he was never that busy,
even though everything he did was magical.
But then the person next to him, she was okay with hair.
Mm-hmm. You know, not bad, not great,
but her personality was dynamic and so she was booked solid.
She charged more. She, you know, was, you’d have
to wait four weeks to get in with her.
And I’d look at the contrast between the two
and I’m like, it’s all about personality.
People don’t buy things, people buy people.
So that connection you make
with your client is incredibly important.
Yep. There’s a reason I said this
before, like why
that person’s in your chair for the first time.
It’s ’cause whoever did their hair before
or did their facial before, you didn’t.
They didn’t. Wow. They, you weren’t memorable to them.
Right. So there’s tons
of different beauty schools out there, obviously.
We know that. Um, I went for cosmetology
to a different school, did teacher training through Kochi,
which now I bleed green.
I really believe in Tricoci and what we do.
What does Tricoci do to set them apart from other schools?
Well I think we teach the basics like other schools,
you know, the whole objective
for beauty school in general is to be able
to pass your state boards and get your license.
Mm-hmm. You know, and that license is
something that should be valued.
Right. Because it we’re licensed by the same people
who license doctors and lawyers and nurses.
Yep. You know, so it’s incredibly
important to take pride in that.
So, so the important thing, once we get that license,
you know the way we help at Tricoci is we take you
beyond those basics.
You know, those basics are incredibly important.
But we offer things like nano infusion,
which is incredibly, we’ve talked about that
A lot already. We
talk, we do keratin complex,
we do hair extensions.
We’re bringing on airbrush. Tanning.
We want to give you the skills
that take you a little bit further.
You know, a lot of schools work with one product line.
We work with multiple product lines.
We want you to feel comfortable.
We, because no matter
where you go work in the world mm-hmm You’ll understand
the shampoos, you’ll understand the conditioners.
You know it’s not about the name on that bottle.
Mm-hmm You know, it’s about what they do.
The performance ingredients.
You know, it’s not about retelling to your clients,
it’s about actually educating your clients
so they understand why it’s important
to use salon quality products over
what they would buy at a grocery store.
You know? So those things are incredibly important.
Those are all things we teach.
Plus we teach the business building side.
You know, we do work a lot with social media
because that’s incredibly important.
That’s where our students are today.
I think that is huge.
I think like you don’t realize it while you’re in school,
but the business portion
of it is almost more important than us teaching
you actually how to do hair.
Obviously we have to do both.
But when I was in beauty school, I was that student,
why do I have to sell your retail?
I pay you to go to school here.
And then you get a job
and they’re tracking everybody’s progress
and what you’re doing and then all
of a sudden you have a car payment
and you realize you can pay your car payment
by making yourself knowledgeable Right.
About these products. ’cause you earn commission off of it.
Exactly. In the real world.
So that’s one of those moments I go back to my teachers
and I’m like, uh, I’m so sorry.
You were right. You were right.
You’re talking about all the products
that we use, the things that we offer.
Like I said, I’ve been talking about the
nano infusion with everybody.
I just love it. How is, and you’ve taught me a lot of this,
but I’m gonna ask you this question.
How is vendor relationships important to like what we do?
Oh, it’s everything. You know, the relationship
with our vendors is incredibly important
and it’s mutual, right?
Mm-hmm. So I want to give to them
as much as they give to us.
But the important thing is what do they bring to the table?
You know, they supply a lot of education to our educators,
but they also bring it directly to the students themselves.
We were the first schools to be able
to offer texture mastery with L’Oreal
that taught nothing but textured hair.
You know? And the fact we could bring
that directly into the classroom was huge.
And you know, we work with them.
You know, our beauty blitz is all
about our vendor relations.
You know, and that continues to grow every year.
Last year we had over 20 vendors.
Some of them we don’t actually contract with,
but they wanted to be a part of it
and they wanted to be connected to us
and they wanted to be there to support
our students, which is major.
That’s, you know, so the vendor relationships
are incredibly important.
And I’ve seen that. ’cause we’ve got to go
to different shows, meet people.
And it’s really opened my eyes to how important it is.
Seeing the relationships that you’ve built,
that I’ve built now even exactly how they respect us.
How they wanna be part of us
that makes our name big and out there.
But the best thing about you is you’re so genuine with it.
It’s not fake. It’s not a networking opportunity.
Like you’re really building relationships with our vendors
and in return they’re treating us really good.
Right. And you do know that better than anyone
because that’s how when we were at the premier show, that’s
where we connected with Elizabeth Faye
and that’s how we brought the wellness project
to our students.
And you know, that’s been huge
because talking about the different things that we do
that maybe other schools don’t,
we were the first one to offer that.
I know I’m all about this really focuses
on the student mental health component.
Because when you’re behind the chair
and you’re taking on all those conversations with,
you know, they’ve lost family members
or they’re struggling with their marriage Yes.
Or all those things, you take it upon yourself And you know,
learning how to ground yourself and how to focus
and take those mental wellness breaks to be able
to really take care of yourself so you can take care
of the clients is incredibly important.
And I know that’s a passion project for both you and me.
Yep. So I am really proud of that relationship too. Yeah.
Elizabeth’s awesome to work with
And that’s crazy. And
I watched that just form organically just by Right.
Being genuine with her.
Um, and like you said, that is very important to me.
I’m glad we do it.
It’s not even just for the students, it’s
for our staff, our educators.
Right. Everybody can get so much out of that.
That’s really awesome. So we do a lot with technology,
I think, which your coach university
for me makes me feel like we’re more
of a state of the art school.
’cause it is a constantly changing industry.
How do we use technology in our
education? How does that play
Into it? So I think
the biggest thing for us is we try
to meet students where they’re at.
You know, the student of today isn’t a textbook student,
so we don’t use textbooks.
You know, we have them available if there’s a student
who needs to have that touch
and that feel of the actual book.
But what we predominantly use is their tablet
and everything’s hyperlinked.
So we can go in, Lauren and our team there will go in
and change things on the fly.
So if something needs updated, we can update it today.
Mm-hmm You know, if there’s a trend we want to focus on,
we can go and update it today.
We don’t have to stick to the status quo.
So, you know, so we’re always trying
to stay ahead of the curve.
So whether that’s within the curriculum
or whether that’s how a student punches in
and out, is that how our student tracks their own time?
Those are huge things. So technology is where it’s at
for our students and we wanna stay ahead with all that.
Yeah, that’s true. I’ve seen it change
so much in the 10 years that I’ve been here.
It’s constantly changing
and you’re like, oh it’s changing again.
Of course it is. Technology changes.
The curriculum changes we offer so many things.
Like you said, the hair extensions, kerin treatments that
we, I never thought that we would do at this school.
And then you came along and all your skills
and your vendor relations
and now we got all these great things to offer
and yeah, it feels good.
Feels really good. What advice do you have
for a student on their first day?
On their first day at school? Mm-hmm I think be present.
I think that’s the biggest mistake I see
with students is they’re, maybe
they think it’s a beautiful day.
We’re up here in Chicago today.
Maybe they want to go to the beach
or hang out with their friends or whatever.
But if you’re be present, if you make this commitment,
it’s a nine, 10 month commitment.
Don’t spread it out longer than what it needs to be.
Be present because we teach so much.
And in that time period you’re in school,
if you miss just a few hours,
you’ve missed a whole technique.
Yeah. So being present
and be there to participate, I think those are huge.
I think that’s the biggest thing.
The other thing is just making sure that you’re open.
You know that you’re transparent with your staff
and your teachers and really look for those mentors
as you go through the program.
And then build your book again.
I think that’s another thing.
You know, you want to be able to build connections
with the industry relations people.
So whether that’s that platform artist
that comes into your school
or whether it’s one that you follow on, you know, Instagram,
you wanna make sure that you’re building those
connections right from the get go.
So those are all important things from day one
to stay focused with.
But be here graduate and get that license.
I think that’s the biggest thing
I love when we have graduates
and we’re like, give a speech.
Give a speech. And every graduate’s like come to school.
Don’t miss any days. They all do.
And I like how you mentioned the mentor thing
because everybody does have different personalities
and I was a little rougher when I started school.
I didn’t really trust all of my educators,
but I did have one.
And I feel like she’s the reason why I’m here today.
Even because she was my mentor.
I trusted her, I believed in her.
And having that one person in my life kind of inspired me
to be an educator as well.
Did you have anybody in your life that inspired you
to get into education and do what you do?
I had lots of people. I do have one that I worked with
that probably taught me everything.
She’s no longer with us.
She was one of my biggest mentors and I think of her often
and I always, her name was Margie.
And I always think what would Margie do? You know?
So with me being in my current role, I think
that’s incredibly important.
You know, so between her and Theresa
and my friend Sabrina
and all these people that were really there with me
through my journey, I, whether they’re present now
or not, I take them with me.
And I think that’s a huge part of what makes us us Yeah.
Is that we look for those people
and we really take to heart what they have to say.
And I think there are sometimes
that you can even learn from those negative people, right?
You can learn what not to do.
A hundred Percent. You know, so I, I used to work
with someone who is a manager
and I remember how I would get nervous when I’d bring a new
employee through because I would look at ’em
and if their nails were chipped
or their shoes were polished, I tried
to quickly get them together.
But it taught me through working with him that maybe
have a different approach when addressing those things.
Mm-hmm But those details matter. So it taught me that.
But it also taught me how not
to address someone with it too.
So I think you can learn from those people as much
as the good mentors in your life as well.
And you taught me that details matter.
So when I go into campuses, my eyes, not even campuses,
I’m in a hotel room and I a restaurant, I’m
Looking around in the elevator details.
Yes. Those are huge. They’re very, very important.
We got some signature questions that we like
to ask everybody on this podcast.
But the first one is, when did you realize
that you have the power?
’cause it is a power to actually make somebody’s day.
I don’t remember when I realized it,
but I do see it on a daily basis.
And I think it’s a privilege.
You know, I think so many of our students there are,
there’s a certain percentage that feel invisible
or they don’t feel supported, you know,
and they don’t have a lot of cheerleaders in their lives.
So for me it’s a matter of just taking the time to be able
to help them be seen.
So if they want to talk
or even if they don’t want to talk, kind of trying to work
that out of them so they have that venue
and you know, life does get in the way
and students sometimes do want to quit.
And our job is to say, remember your why, you know,
focus on that why.
And remember, school is the means
to get over all those other obstacles in your life.
It is not the obstacle, it’s the means to get over them.
And that’s what we have to focus on with our students.
So I think those type of things are what make us us
and help us be day makers is when we can actually look at
someone and maybe it’s just a simple
hi, how’s your day going?
Or maybe it’s a little bit deeper conversation,
but just making someone feel seen
I think is enough to be a day maker.
It’s huge. I think people in a creative industry,
well not the industry, but creative people, you grow up kind
of feeling different than everybody.
Everything’s still rigid and normal
and you don’t think you’re normal.
So you don’t think you’re right. Right.
So getting to come to beauty school
and being around these creative people, it’s almost like,
oh my god, I found my home.
Like it’s okay to be me. And I do see that you’re right.
A lot of people don’t have that cheerleader.
We get to be that person for them
and like yeah, that’s what makes me realize
that we are day makers.
’cause you watch it in front
of you every day, it’s beautiful.
It’s teaching them that it’s okay
to color outside the lines.
You know, my daughter’s an artist.
She went to art school for a year
and she hated it, you know?
But now she’s in beauty school, she’s in one of our schools
and she’s loving it.
You know, she, every day I get pictures from her
of her hairstyles or pin girls or whatever she’s doing
and it makes my day to see that.
Yeah. That’s so cool. That’s awesome.
Yeah, she’s killing it. She is. She’s great.
Um, so how do you think people,
she makes their day right at school.
How do you think this translates into the personal life?
Like once they leave our building?
I think hopefully it’ll, it’ll trickle down
to their clients, you know,
because when you’re behind the chair again
that people relationship is so important.
Mm-hmm And you will have those people that come in.
You know, it’s a matter of even if it’s a student
who just says they’re having an okay day, you know,
if I take the time to say, okay, just, okay,
let’s talk about what’s the best thing that’s happened
to you today and just get them
to realize that happy thought.
Then hopefully they’ll take that to their client.
So when that person sits down in their chair
and they say, how are you doing?
And they say I’m okay.
They can do the same thing
and they can really engage the person
and get them to smile by thinking of that, you know,
that one standout moment
where their day was
actually better than they thought it was.
That’s great. You actually,
you like answered the last question really.
So it’s like how does that translate into long lasting
relationships and client building
Like that’s it right there.
You hit it right on the head.
Um, that’s very important, the personality.
I’m glad we talked about all that.
Somebody also told me like while you’re learning at the
beginning, if you could do a great shampoo
and a great blow dry, you have a great personality.
The work with you while you figure out the middle part.
Exactly. And I met my focus,
I’m like I do a great blow dry, give a great shampoo
Experience and you definitely bring the personality.
So that’s good. Yeah. That makes all the difference. And
These are things you don’t even realize about yourself
because in this industry you get to just beat yourself
and it’s great to be recognized for being yourself.
You’ve recognized me for being myself,
which has been super important my whole life.
I had people telling me I wouldn’t be good in a leadership
role ’cause I’m too nice, I’m too nice, I’m too nice.
And be having heart led leadership has made
all the difference in my career.
So I thank you so much for being here
with us is very, very important.
Glad I got to interview you today
and yeah, we all appreciate you
Larry, at to Tricoci University.
Thank you David. You’re welcome.