You Need PERMISSION To Quit: The Predatory Hair Affiliate Contract

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, we just had a guest come onto the show we just interviewed. It took massive amount of courage for her to get onto our show to go through and speak her truth that she threw up three times just to be here with us and tell her her experience with another haircare company. And this shouldn't be happening in our industry. Please listen to this. You'll glean a lot of information. So if you want to go through and tell your truth and you want to be anonymous like our next guest is, please let us know. Send us an email.

[00:00:29] Send us a voicemail. We definitely want to go through and hear from you. Real hairdressers telling real stories about their experiences from behind the salon chair. And we are now saying the quiet parts out loud. This is Sh!t I told my Hairdresser.

[00:01:01] Hello, hello and welcome back. Paula, how you doing? I'm doing great, Jason. How are you? I'm good. You ready to stir up some more shit? Oh yes, I'm excited to talk to our next guest. If you guys don't know, you're listening to Shit I Told My Hairdresser with a couple of foul mouth motherfucking hairdressers. And we are here to help Paula. Okay, if you guys hear Paula when she's not on the show, she's filthy as fuck. So I'm kidding. She's not.

[00:01:31] Look at the culture I live in. She's actually really sweet. That's really sweet. But guys, welcome back to another episode of Shit I Told My Hairdresser. Please go through and subscribe everywhere you go through and get this podcast. It really helps out our algorithm. That subscribe button is still free. So give that a little click. Hit us up on Instagram and on TikTok. Give us a follow on there. And like the hairdressing industry guys, we are word of mouth.

[00:02:00] So tell 10 of your friends and 20 people that you fucking hate. Because we want to go through and hurt some little ears. And we're definitely going to be going through and doing that today. Because we have a friend with us who she would like to remain anonymous. Kind of like when we went back with the Paul Mitchell fundraising things. We kept that anonymous. And they kind of hounded us about this. We've already gotten a phone call about this episode, actually.

[00:02:29] We've actually gotten a phone call. And the person was kind of like, hey, love to get on this list. I have a chat, you know, because they knew that we would be bringing this up. And we are now here to do that. So I would like to welcome our next anonymous friend onto the show. How are you? Good. So if you guys, we're going to go through it. We're going to put a picture up for our friend here. So that way we don't go through it.

[00:03:00] Here's the, I hear this a lot from people. People want to go through and get the truth out. So other people hear it, but they don't want their images. They don't want to be known in the industry for being that person, which is completely fine. We're not, we're here to go through and expose kind of what the ugly side of the industry and kind of what happens. We're not here to out anybody. I know there's a lot of people that you guys will send us emails and thank you so much for doing that. And we definitely do read them to go through and onto the show and get the stuff out.

[00:03:28] But this is important for people to hear because some of the things that I found out about the next person and product line that we're going to be going through and covering. It's not cool. It really isn't. And I know this person pretty well because I used to work with them. So, um, well, squashing people's freedom of speech is the last thing that this country believes in. Correct.

[00:03:57] And it really, really suffocates, especially hairdressers. So I think things that are going to be out today are going to be important to other people that are going through the same thing. Right. I mean, and that's the thing. It's like, you have to read the fine print. And the thing about it is that our friend who's coming out. Well, Hey. Hi. Yeah. Hi. I'm going to call you autonomy. Yeah. I want to be your new name for the show. Perfect.

[00:04:20] I'll, I'll bleep it out if we need to, if we do say his name, I'm going to say, but the thing of it does, you had to go through and search for the fine print just to read what the rules were on this company. You know what I mean? And that's some bullshit. Right. And there are a lot of pages to read. A lot. There was 23 that I had to filter through and I actually got it down to six to Paula and I kind of got it down a little bit further. But what a bunch of bullshit with this product line.

[00:04:48] Cause it starts off with this guy saying that, I mean, okay, I'm sorry. This guy said that he's a chemist. I used to work with this guy. What the, when did you go to school to be, when did you get this many years into college? Cause when I met him, he was pretty goddamn young. And definitely I don't, I like to go through and see where this guy went to school at. Cause that's the first thing that I heard is like, Oh, I'm a chemist. And I went through and I, you know, created this, you know, bleach and product line or whatnot.

[00:05:17] Um, I'm going to have to go through and call some bullshit on that. Cause where the fuck did you find the time to get all that shit done while you were doing air? That's what I want to know. You know, but you want to let, we'll get into that a little bit more as well, though, too, as I did find out where he's getting all his shit from. And we'll talk about that in a second, but tell us a little bit about your experience with this company and what's the fuck do we need to watch out for?

[00:05:41] Um, so obviously, you know, affiliate programs are super popular right now because of the big hype around diversion. Um, and a lot of the affiliate programs, um, like that's their top thing is they promise you that this is the way you can avoid diversion. Um, and I will say that this company really did do a very good job of avoiding diversion. Um, and that part they have down pat, I'll give them that.

[00:06:08] But it was my experience with this company that initially when you come on, you know, you are, you feel like you're a part of something bigger. You feel like this is going to be life changing for you. And there's just all this like incredible outpouring of support and love and like welcoming. Um, and then the further you get into it, if you're not one of the top performers, you kind of just get forgotten and left by the wayside.

[00:06:36] And so unless you meet a certain level of like, you know, sales or like bringing other people on, you kind of just end up being like some people waiting in the wings, so to speak. Um, and you just kind of get, you get this feeling of like, oh, well, I've got to do more. I need to do more. I'm not doing enough. And it's not like outwardly directly pressure, but everything else makes you feel that pressure. If that, if that makes sense.

[00:07:06] Well, you're saying they bring other people on. Is this like an MLM, like a multi level? So they, they very adamantly say that they're not an MLM, but yes, recruiting is a huge part of it. Um, and you do build, you do build, you know, level. Um, and the more people underneath you, the higher you are ranked. Um, that's an MLM. I mean, I'm in Utah. I, I, we are founded.

[00:07:34] We have tons, not just founded, but we have tons of MLMs here. I mean, like, well, and there, there are a ton of them that are super successful and that's great. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but that's what it is. Yeah. And it's strange that they try to disguise it because here they'll come to me. I get so many clients that become part of MLMs and they say, oh no, it's not an MLM. It's direct marketing. And then we'll get into the minutia of what they're talking about. And it's the same thing. Yeah. So here's, here's my question.

[00:08:03] Those are the two is like, did you go into it? Just one to carry the line or did you go into it? One to become an ambassador. So I went into it number one, wanting to carry the line. And really like, I was really interested in a lot of the products. I was really interested in the education and I was really interested in the community that,

[00:08:25] you know, that they have, so to speak, because it's not like that anymore in this industry. Distributors, you know, I'm very, very fortunate. Isn't it that my rep with my local distributor is so like social with me as she is? I mean, she's always checking in. She's always contacting me. You know, she's personally placing my orders. That's super rare now, like super rare.

[00:08:54] And so when you find a company that has like all of that kind of, you know, culture presented to you that that's what you're getting. Like that was another draw for me was the community aspect and the connection aspect. Right. And you do get that at some of the events. But then you also leave the events feeling kind of weird. Uh-huh. Because it's like, that's the one time a year everybody remembers who you are. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you. But here, let me ask you a question though.

[00:09:23] You went in to buy the product and then later on became an ambassador. But did you know that when you bought the product, you already included as an ambassador? Yes. Like basically by buying the product, you are now linked in to their, basically their fine print that you had to hunt down. I don't want to ask you how you found that. But here's the thing. I've never, it's like me going through and saying that I went to go buy like a fucking Big Mac and now I work for McDonald's. And now I'm a distributor for McDonald's.

[00:09:53] You know what I mean? Right. Because I bought. I bought one of their front of the product. But that's just how you sign up to get, you know. That doesn't make any sense. That doesn't make any sense to me. You know what I mean? It's like if I, that's like if I went through and I bought a couple of bottles of shampoo at Cosmoprof and of like, you know, a certain product line. And then I brought it back to my salon and I sold a couple of them and I kept one for myself. Now I'm part of their ambassador program and have to follow all their fucking rules. All their fucking rules on that they imposed on me that I didn't know about.

[00:10:24] I did not recruit anybody. I did not make that a priority. I did not. I don't, you know, I don't care. That's not. I'm behind the chair like seven days a week. I don't have time for that. And so I was just basically ordering and fulfilling my salon needs. Um, and I just didn't do that piece, but you have to generate enough, um, purchases every month to get your, uh, commission.

[00:10:52] And so there's different ways that that works with it. And so obviously the more people underneath you, the quicker you meet those thresholds. Um, so if you don't have an MLM, there's not an MLM. So if you don't have people underneath you, then you personally have to order enough to meet the threshold to get the commission for like, say, you know, client purchases. And a lot of it's probably my fault for not reading all the fine print on day one.

[00:11:21] I'll totally admit to that. Okay. But here's the thing, but you don't even know that there even was a fine print. That's the thing. Right. Well, and it's so fast and it's so like, it's like, okay, well, here's the link, put in your information, you know, put in your email, put in this, put in that. You could do that. You sign up and they're like, oh, check this out and check this out.

[00:11:38] And so you're like, it's so fast moving that, um, I think a lot of times it just gets glossed over by people because, you know, and I'm not trying to say that hairstylists are dumb by any means, but like, I'm, I'm literally a hairdresser. Like, I'm not going to sink to investigate. No, don't do self-shaming because the thing is, is hairdressers do just want to do hair. And I mean, and God forbid, we'd want a product line that's loyal to the stylist.

[00:12:06] And that's, that's what we're believing in. And the fact that they come in and they just totally, um, bombard you and say, saying this and saying this and saying this. You're like, okay. I mean, you're not a lawyer, you're a hairdresser. You just want to make people pretty. You know, your enrollment packet. It's you want to, she just signed up. You're signing up to buy something from like salon center. You know how you go through, you put in your name, your address, and that's it. There's no like, Hey, here's the contract that you're, you're going through and filling out.

[00:12:35] There's no contract where you're filling it out. All right. It's basically, if you signed up to go through and carry their line, you are now part of everything that's in the fine. So while you sign up and you drove the car off the lot and you drove it off the lot for a test drive and it's automatically yours. And you have to buy it. Yep. That's exactly it. That's the thing. That's because I was looking for the contract of these 23. There's no fucking contract to sign saying that you will abide by these rules. It was just thrown in on the, on the fine print.

[00:13:04] How did you find this by the way? Cause you went to go and look for it and you had no idea that was all there. Yeah. I went to go look for it. So they also had some like technology changeover last year. Um, and so like the new navigating your, um, your login is different than it used to be. And so I went through every single dropdown box and everywhere.

[00:13:28] And like, I was pulling information just for myself personally too, for like taxes and stuff at the end of last year. And that was kind of when I was like, Oh wow. There's a lot in here. And yeah, you know, it says that it's up to your sponsor to present it to you. Like I can't, I honestly, I don't remember getting that information as a message or anything. I don't.

[00:13:55] And I even went far back and looked for like my welcome email. I don't have one. Cause I specifically searched that date, um, that I filled stuff out in order to register. And so I, I don't know though, cause I can't access the old stuff. Um, so it could have changed when they switched over to the new, um, login. I don't know for sure because I can't like, I can't pull up any of that stuff prior to the new login. To even see what I did.

[00:14:26] Makes me wonder if they did that on purpose. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. But like the thing about it, that's so hard is it's like, you know, I felt like I tried so, so hard and put so much into it. And then I just felt like, you know, like all of my time was wasted and I felt let down and it felt weird. It's heartbreaking. Not like that though.

[00:14:49] So getting back to what you guys were just talking about as well, the two is that these, they have it in the fine print that they can go through and change the rules in the fine print. Anytime they fucking want. And they don't have to tell you and you still have to abide by it. Yeah. It's like changing. They're changing the goal posts on you every time. Right. It's one of those things I prayed about it and this is what the Lord told me to do. So this is what we're doing now. And, and, and, and it's really completely out of control because you don't have a choice now. Right.

[00:15:19] Well, and it's, it's one of those things too, where, you know, I'm willing to bet most people don't comb through that and read line for line. You know, even if you glance at it when you're registering, you're like, okay, yeah, whatever. You know, you just assume it's the usual like stuff. You know, there's mad compete in there. There's arbitration stuff in there. There there's, you know, stuff about, there's all kinds of things in there.

[00:15:47] Well, I was reading about the arbitration as well, though, too, it was really funny because it was says the loser pays for it. But then it says each individual pays for it. And I was like, well, what is it? Which one is it? And then it says, now you pay for all of it, no matter what. It's like, so confusing. It's like whoever made this contract. Very much so. It very much so does.

[00:16:09] But but then it also what's in there, what drove me a little bit fucking crazy is that they decide whether you get paid or not. Yeah. On certain commissions. That is the one that I liked. I was like, wait a second. So if they go through to think that you might have broken their rules that they made up in their head that they decided not to tell you about that, you might have to go through and hunt down on their website. They may or may not pay you. Yeah. And some of their verbiage.

[00:16:36] I couldn't believe it when I said when it said when you're under investigation under under investigation. Really? And then they have the choice. Yes, it's in here. It's something you sent me last night. So it says you're under investigation. Who is this company that thinks they can use that kind of verbiage to you? That is so strange. I mean, they're holding you hostage. Yeah. And, you know, I I'm only speaking from my personal experience with all of this. I don't know.

[00:17:03] Maybe other people had a better entry into things and they were presented with all of the information. I really don't know how it worked for, you know, other people. I can't attest to their experience. I just know that like a lot of stuff that I found afterwards, I'm just like, wait a minute. What the hell? Like, I feel dumb for agreeing to a lot of it because I'm like, whoa, I didn't even. Don't feel dumb. But here's the thing. Don't. Don't. Here's the thing. You didn't know you were agreeing to it. No.

[00:17:31] Which is also why we're anonymous today because I'm like, well, fuck. Right. So that's why we're not saying your name, because what if there is if they all of a sudden decide to say like, hey, you said something. Oh, actually, that is inside there. If you do say something bad about us. Right. That's right. Right. In any capacity.

[00:17:51] If you are going through and doing your shit correct, you wouldn't have a clause in there saying if you talk about I actually have that one of my contracts because I had a guy who was so fucking afraid of me. I had been lying about me. When we split up our company, he put in his contract. He wanted to hold his lawyer, put it in. If that if there's anything negative said about the other person that we have to pay a fine. Yeah. Wait a minute. But wait a minute.

[00:18:20] Is telling the truth something negative? Well, it depends on them, isn't it? They're the ones deciding if you're going to get a commission or not, or they're the judge and the and the jury at the exact same time. So the way it's worded is basically that they get to decide your truth, you know, just because I'm speaking from my experience, you know, and I already know there's going to be a ton of people that are going to try and negate it.

[00:18:43] And there's probably gonna be a ton of people in the comments, you know, because on social media to you see posts all the time. And it's just the same comments over and over and over from people with this company in all like anything, you know, a question about doing a highlight or it's literally just all the same stuff. And I already know there's probably gonna be comments that are just going to be like, oh, you know, and I know it'll happen. So how did you discover?

[00:19:13] Yeah. How did you discover your truth and working through this company and and the product of just saying this just isn't working for me anymore? I was struggling really bad with some particular items. And like, I was trying over and over. I was like, it got to a point where I was starting to like, I was ready to quit. I was ready to just be done with hair. Like I thought I was, you know, terrible. Done with hair, not just with the company, but with hair too?

[00:19:42] Yeah, no, like I went through a whole phase of like, I'm done. I should have never gone to school. Like, this is terrible. I'm awful at this. And so when I asked, when I started asking, you know, and saying things like, hey, like, this is what I'm seeing behind the chair. Like, this isn't working. This is what's happening. This is the outcome.

[00:20:04] It was always met with like weird conversations where it was like they were trying to imply that it was, you know, a million other reasons other than the product having an issue. Basically, yeah, basically user error. When you know your when you know your shit. Right. Or, you know, water or, you know, humidity or a lot of other things. And so I went through a really tough like and this is gonna make me sound like a baby because we all go through it in our career.

[00:20:33] But I went through a time where I was like ready to just throw in the towel and go get a job at Dollar General. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, yeah. You don't strike me as a Dollar General type person. But then, you know, I was like, all right, whatever. I'm done. And I just stopped. And they're coming up with the excuses on why their shit doesn't work. Or I mean, placing the blame onto you. It's not you. It never is. Well, and I don't even know that it's so much them because a lot of times it was just peers saying things.

[00:21:02] And I think it's just so like scripted and instructed sometimes. That comes from them. That comes from them. Right. And so and some people probably don't even realize, you know, that they're not being helpful. Yeah. Some of them probably just think, oh, well, this is what I'm supposed to do. And, you know, this is the answer. They're just regurgitating everything that's coming down from the top basically is what they're doing.

[00:21:25] But how did you actually really discover, discover that gave you validation that brought you back saying, wait a minute, it's not me. Oh, I went back to my old company. Oh. And shit started working again. Shit. Immediately. I got my skills back. Yeah. Yeah, basically. And so that was like, and that was what kind of made me feel, you know, that was kind of what made me like, oh, that's validating.

[00:21:55] That's very validating. Man. I've done that a couple of times with product lines. You know? Yeah. And then there's just a lot of other things that looking back now, I'm like, oh, I'm going to do this. Oh, well, I feel dumb because I believed this or I feel dumb because I believed that. And don't self-blame. There was nothing. Putting your whole heart into it. There's there's no blaming in that. Well, and they're going to say that I didn't because I didn't recruit. And that's fine. And a lot of them don't recruit. And that's great.

[00:22:23] But sometimes you just I've dated a few of those where after a few months of dating, they're all you're just not what you what I expected you to be. I'm all what you do know you're dating. Right. Well, and, you know, I try to explain to that, like your local demographic matters to it in terms of retail sales and in terms of what your clientele can afford. And, you know, and so that presents another challenge.

[00:22:51] And when you try to talk about how to navigate that, you know, there's answers, but they're not like viable answers on how to make the retail part of it, you know, successful. Because if you if you are working, if you are a, you know, blue collar stylist in an area that is very rural, that's what it is. Yeah. People, you know, a lot of people come twice a year because that's what they can afford. Yeah.

[00:23:20] But everybody wants their hair done. And that's right. Right. That's the clientele you have. Yeah. Right. And so that was another challenge that made it hard. And so what I want to talk about as well, I know, was the returns. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I never I never made a return. So I didn't really. Yeah. But I saw in the contract, if it's over a certain amount per and per year, $300 a year, that's 10 products. Maybe. Yeah. Depends on what you buy. Yeah.

[00:23:49] And so way more than that. Basically, if you buy if you return over $300 within a 12 month period, not within like a month, within a 12 month period, they can just go through and revoke your ambassador. They can terminate you. You can terminate you. But then what happens is your commission in the meantime, since you. So is that part of the rules that they you broke because of that? And then do they just keep your commissions from that point? I mean, I guess.

[00:24:15] I don't know what happens to your to your clients, so to speak. Oh, they just absorb them. So if you have someone underneath you, he had 300. He broke the rules. They terminate it. And they'll just absorb all the people underneath you as well. Yeah. Wow. Termination. I mean, that's kind of an easy out. So I would have done. I'd be like, I'm sending back all of it. Then we're terminating you. OK, can I get that in writing?

[00:24:46] Ashley, no. You had to put it in writing to actually go through and stop working for them, they said, too. I saw that. They have to give you permission to resign. Yeah. They have to go in and evaluate your resignation in order and to get permission. I mean, exactly. Holy hell. Are you kidding me? What the fuck is that? Are you are you in elementary school? You have to get my permission to go to the bathroom for God's sake. Well, and it's just and it's probably all legalities.

[00:25:12] And it's probably, you know, it's just weird, though, that you can't just be like, OK, well, this isn't working for me, guys. Like, thanks. Thanks. Thanks for the memories. Got to go. So it's got to be this whole formal thing. And or if you have inactivity for a certain amount of time or, you know, there's a lot of other ways that your account can be closed in there. I'm curious. So they have a non-compete. So you just decide not to carry their line anymore. Are you allowed to carry any other line?

[00:25:42] Technically, according to the wordage, not until you are no longer. So that's why they wait to evaluate you so that they can keep you from reusing other lines. I don't know. It sounds like the way it's worded is other affiliate sales or other direct marketing. So it's not that you can't use another color line. You just can't be involved with another company. Like, there's a big shampoo and conditioner company out there, you know, that has both.

[00:26:10] It originated just with, like, consumer to consumer type of sales. Um, and now they're moving into the pro market and it's all over TikTok and it's like huge on TikTok. And, you know, there's a lot of drama surrounding that company. And I'm not going to say their name either. But, um, you know, so like you couldn't leave this company and then go work for them, the other company. Um, or like, you know, any other affiliate style.

[00:26:38] So like, I would assume that would mean, you know, like people can be an affiliate for some of the big makeup cosmetic stores. Um, so I don't think you can do any direct marketing, quote unquote, at all. Um, if it has a direct interest. And so some of them, I would assume like Sephora, for example, would be a no because Sephora sells hair care. And so that would be considered competition. Yep. Oh my God. So they can do it, but you can't.

[00:27:06] And like Sephora does affiliate stuff all the time. All the time. People can be, yeah, people can be Sephora affiliates. Yeah. How, if you're not, if you're going through, you're trying to make money, you're going to go through and take from different areas. You begin, you get an affiliate from not just one person. You get it from 10 to 20 different people. That's how you're going to do it. You can't just sell Amway all day long. Not everyone's going to want your Amway or your Mary Kay. Yeah.

[00:27:33] And I've run into other people in the hair industry that are with other companies that don't even do, you know, a direct marketing type of situation. They're just a company period. Like Wella, for example. Yeah. I talked to somebody recently who works with them and they were interested in the color line that I use. I don't get any benefit from the color line that I use whatsoever. I just really like it. And I think it's great. And I think more people should try it.

[00:28:00] I literally get zero kickback of any sort for that saying that. And so we were talking about it. And then she was like, oh, crap. I signed a non-compete clause with them that was like for five years or something. Oh, whoa. It was something weird. It was a non-compete clause from Wella that she can't because she was an educator for them. She can't touch another line for however long. And I was just like, well, that's weird. She's like, yeah, I'm going to have to look into that. And then I haven't heard from her since.

[00:28:28] And that was just simply like a normal conversation, you know, local connection. Right. And a lot of companies do that. But the funny thing is, is most non-compete clauses don't hold up. They normally don't. They really don't. I mean, so that's the thing. Doesn't mean they won't threaten it, though. That's the problem. And that's my thing is how many people are scared to challenge it because of the idea of consequences.

[00:28:56] So when you start using language that is consequential and, you know, you're starting to put like doubt in the back of somebody's mind, a lot of people just don't even bother because they're like, well, I don't want to get in trouble or I don't want to lose this or I don't want to. And so that also just makes me feel like, ugh. Yeah. Yeah. It's icky. When you start pulling shit like that, it's really fucking icky, you know, especially with the whole wording. I'm like, we can just go through and change our contract and not even tell you.

[00:29:22] So whatever I think that morning is, it applies, you know, so they put it in the website and now it applies. And did you know about it? No. That's fucking bullshit. I mean, a judge would probably or another attorney would probably rip this into fucking shreds. You know what I mean? You can't just go through and pull shit like that. Well, it varies state by state, too, because some states would lean into that and other states would be like, absolutely not. It really just depends on the unfortunate part of where you are.

[00:29:52] My state doesn't. It's a right to work state. My state does not lean into that at all. So as Washington say, we wouldn't put up with that kind of shit. You know what I mean? There are some other states that, yeah, some of their laws haven't been updated. You know what I mean? Because. Right. I know here there's non-compete stuff. Like, I know somebody locally who signed a non-compete with the salon that they worked at. And then when they quit and tried to get a job at another salon, they ended up going to court.

[00:30:17] And the judge ruled that they could not work within a five-mile radius of the physical location of the previous salon. So they had to stay outside of that, you know, area. Which, there's so many full-ons packed into such a small area, you just cut 50 job opportunities out of that person's life. Yeah. Yep. So I want to move on to something. So I nicknamed our guest Autonomy. Yeah. Autonomy. Yeah.

[00:30:45] So Autonomy, I would really like to know, when did you first start getting a feel of the ick? Um, probably after I, well, when I started asking questions about the problems I was having, for sure. Yeah. But also, I attended an event a second time around. In the time that I was with the company, there were three total. But I, it was just weird, you know.

[00:31:12] And kind of, you end up in this, like, thing where people that you thought you were close with or thought you were friends with, you know, or thought that you had, like, some common bond or ground with. You find out that that's not necessarily the case. And people act differently. Yeah. And then I just started hearing, you know, little things from other people about stuff, the way people were being treated, you know, things that, you know, other experiences and stuff.

[00:31:37] And I just kind of started to get the feeling that, like, I was probably not going to enjoy my time. So it was an internal caste system that you really didn't know about? That sounds like how it was happening. I mean, there's just, there's some, like, mean girl behavior with certain people. Yeah. That is ick. That's how Tony and Guy was. I used to work with this guy, Tony and Guy.

[00:32:06] And that's exactly how they would go through it. Paul and I were just talking about this the other day on the ambassador program and also the art directors. We were an art director you consider top tier. And the ambassador program were treated like the redhead stepchild. And the makeup artists were treated worse. And I was with the company for 11 years as an educator. I mean, 11 years too as TG and the others as bedhead once they changed that whole marketing thing.

[00:32:34] But yeah, you were, as a makeup artist, you were just treated like you were nothing. Well, and as much as they try to, like, you know, make everybody feel warm and fuzzy, you definitely get this, like, personal. Like, my experience was I ended up starting getting this feeling of, like, if you're not one of them, you're not really. Like, there's not going to be an opportunity for you if you don't fit a certain mold. Yeah. I was raised in that culture.

[00:33:01] So, you know, certain people maybe that aren't as, like, I don't even know how to word this appropriately. I just got the feeling that, like, I personally maybe wasn't looked at as being a necessarily, like, a peer or, you know what I mean? Like, there were definitely some people that were higher, better. I don't know how to word it. Okay. It's hard to describe. I'm curious.

[00:33:30] Were some of them the teacher's pet? Because I've run into that in salons and so many other things. Yeah. You're my favorite. Yeah. Yep. That's all. Yeah. Whoever kissed the ass the best. You know what I mean? Whoever got that tongue really deep in the butthole is the one who really gets it. You know what I mean? So. Give us the visual, Jason. This is awesome. Speaking of their butthole, though.

[00:33:52] It seems like this guy is wearing his ass as a hat because he's telling everyone that he's a fucking chemist and that he's the one who's developing it. And I went through and went down the rabbit hole and I started finding where he was going through and importing his stuff from Italy. All right. And then I found out the company's name and as soon as soon. No, no, no, no, no.

[00:34:17] No, they're making it for him because normally if there's a manufacturer, that's fine. They have chemists that work at this manufacturing plant that develop the lines as well, too. So they're private labeling it. So all you have to do is go to them and say like, hey, here's what I want. Bam, you get it. You don't have to be a fucking chemist. I mean, maybe they went and maybe he went to the plant where they actually make things and they gave him a little pin that said chemist. Maybe that's what happened.

[00:34:48] They just says he was one because it's no I don't know where he went to school at. I did my research. I looked on every website, everything. You find out where he got his degree from. There's no degree. There's no degree. There's nothing. If you're a chemist, don't you what you tell people where you went to? I mean, that's people we even as hairdressers like we went to Paul Mitchell Academy. We went to Vidal Sasuna. We're Tony and God. Yeah. Yeah. We tell people that shit. You know what I mean?

[00:35:14] If you you would at least go through and say, hey, here's where I got my degree from and here's what I do. I mean, that's not on there. It's just I'm a chemist. I developed this. No, just because you told a private label not to use this and that doesn't make you a fucking chemist. No, it doesn't make you. It makes you a person who's buying it from a private fucking label. Mm hmm. And this see, they don't make you. They don't. I didn't know that. They make color. They make lightener. They make fucking everything you possibly think of.

[00:35:43] I was I guess I was always under the impression that they were doing it themselves. And that's what it makes it sound like. But when I dug, I actually went, dug a little deeper. And as soon as I went to the website, boom, it says private label. Boom. Right there. I'm like, oh, no shit. You don't say. Now, they're not a white label or white labels where they just go through and make the exact same thing and just put your label on it and you put your name on it. That's a white label. But a private label is when you go to them and say, here's what I want.

[00:36:13] Then they give it to you. They're using the same fucking base. So because, you know, they're doing the label and they're doing the private. They do the same thing with cosmetics, too. Do that. So there is a lot of like, wasn't it like I forget who it was. There was some big controversy about that recently. Oh, because of what people finding dupes. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of that. There's a lot. That's the whole white labeling thing. You know what I mean? There's a lot. That's all they do is dupes. But yeah. Here's the thing.

[00:36:42] Where do you ever go to his lab? Have you ever seen it? Is there a picture of it where he's actually doing the chemistry and kind of figuring out the bleach? Exactly. Because if that was true, it would all fucking be right there. You know? Yeah, I never thought of that, actually. Yeah. And they were showing. Yeah. I would have fucking pictures of it. I'd show myself in a fucking white lab coat. I mean, you want to know what, though? He's probably going to go through and make make an AI photo of himself doing it now that we've said it.

[00:37:12] You know? It is like chemistry. You know what I mean? Exactly. Well, and like that's just part of the thing, though. That's what that is. What is so hard about this industry to begin with? Is it like, my God, there are so many companies in this industry that all like stylists just we just want to work. We want a company that's honest. We want a company that, you know, like and there are there are very few and far between out there, but they are becoming more prevalent.

[00:37:39] I feel like because there are enough people getting tired and enough people are like, you know what? Fuck it. I'm going to do it then. And so that's where you get some of these little indie companies coming in because generally they're they've been there. They've done that and they've been burned and they've felt, you know, lied to. And that's how that's how those companies emerge.

[00:38:05] Whether or not they can stay the course, you know, is that's the challenge because we're in an industry that is so cutthroat. A lot of those, unfortunately, indie brands just get, you know, squashed. Yeah, I'm for you. Yeah, they really do. That's where you have to like. But the thing about those that they're not fucking mean. You know what I mean? And when you start looking at the fine print on this shit, it's fucking mean. And the way that they do shit, the way that they run their business.

[00:38:34] I mean, not only that, they're trying to go through what I was reading it. I was going through and finding out that they were trying to use laws because they have different headquarters. They have one in California and one in Texas. And they were going through and actually mixing the laws together. So that way it was like, right. So that way it was like super hazy. And it's kind of like, oh, well, we can use this law because we're in Texas. Oh, but we also use this other law because we're in California and we have an office here.

[00:39:02] So we'll just go through and just make it so ambiguous that no one fucking knows. You know what I mean? Exactly what we're talking about. You know, and that way it all kind of it all it all messes in together. And we'll just confuse the shit out of you and just do what we say. Right. Well, and that's why, you know, like today being anonymous, like, yeah, a lot of that verbiage is scary. And I mean, on one hand, it's like, well, what do I got to lose? But at the same hand, you know, same time, it's like, well, six to one happened to the other.

[00:39:29] I mean, it could potentially be really shitty for me. Have you ever been sued? No. I have. I have. I have been sued before. I've had the non-compete sent to me. I've had, you know, I had a guy sit in my chair, ask me what my name was, had a fake appointment and then serve me the papers as I, after I had him in a robe. Pulls it out from underneath his shirt and he serves me. And it's probably one of the most scariest things to kind of go through. You know what I mean? And it sucks.

[00:39:58] You mean the part that really sucks is having it. Yeah. It was that guy. He's dedicated. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, it was, but not only that though, it's just like having to hire a lawyer afterwards and spell this money. That's where it really is. You know what I mean? So it's like these guys could be going through and they have money and they can, they have a lawyer or someone in house. Someone that to go through and take care of shit for them. But you're the one coming out of pocket. So this isn't about like trying to out anybody, especially you. You know what I mean? It's like, don't want to.

[00:40:27] That's why we're not going to be using your image, just your voice and your mind. And you let, you know, but we want to go through and just like help people when you want to go through and work for somebody, read everything first. Right. You know what I mean? And make sure that you're not working for a fucking piece of shit like this. That goes above and beyond even just, you know, companies that salons. I mean, I know so many people that'll ask questions. They'll be like, oh, I'm in this kind of salon.

[00:40:53] Like it's commission, but they're doing it like there are so many people that just don't even look into it before. Right. You know, I mean, I've heard of people like, oh, I'm commissioned, but then I have to do this. But then they tell me I have to work this. But then they tell like I have a friend who was in like a salon as a chair renter. But the owner of the salon was telling them when they could work, what their hours could be, which clients they were allowed to book.

[00:41:23] No, it doesn't work. I actually was one of his clients. He was told he could no longer book. And it's like, okay, but you're a booth renter. Like it's literally a landlord tenant relationship. They cannot tell you anything about anything. And they were doing it and getting away with it. That's like a landlord saying who we can have over for dinner. Right. Just because they own the house. That's not a, you can't do that. No, you can't. I'm a landlord. I know. Yeah. Yeah. But it happens every day and it happens everywhere in this industry.

[00:41:53] Yeah. And a lot of people are just too like, I need my job because it's, it's their livelihood. And so when that's on the line, people will put up with a lot of, a lot of stuff they shouldn't put up with just to keep their job. Yeah. Unfortunately. You know, I mean, there are some people that do like, I always had a guy on who has a non-compete, but when we talked it out, it's very fair. Or how he does things. And then you also, there's a buyout.

[00:42:19] You want to buy yourself out if you're not done with this, or he's like, to tell you the truth, he's all, I've gone after two people. Who's all because it was just with the way they handled their business was really wrong. Well, and it depends on what you're doing. Like, are you maliciously like trying to steal clients? Like, are you, you know what I mean? Like, there is just certain behavior that probably does warrant, you know. But when you're going over this contract and the way I was reading it and how predatory it really fucking is, you know what I mean?

[00:42:49] That's what gives this industry a bad fucking name. And that's why the next thing you know, when you're, you're a hairstylist, like good news travels less. The lights travel faster than the truth. I got that backwards. You know what I mean? So, and then bad news travels even faster. And when you have, when you've been hurt and you've been burned, you're going to tell so many fucking people. And that's what they don't want. And they're trying to go through the shit out of you.

[00:43:18] See, and like, I didn't even, I didn't even do that. I was just like, all right, well, peace out. Yeah. And that was a funny thing of it is that you contacted me. We had a conversation and then literally a couple of days later, the owner of this company called me. Right. And that like, I was literally like shitting bricks when you told me that. Cause I'm like, what the fuck? Like, I haven't even like, I, when I sent you the email, I didn't even say who it was. I know.

[00:43:48] I know. And I sent you the voicemail. And I was just like, what in the world is happening? Wait, I think, I think I was on the phone with her. No, you and I were talking when you got that phone call. I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. It was, as I was telling you about, you know, our friend here. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe he's got this voicemail. I mean. Yeah. Okay. Is part of the clause that they have to have a microphone in your house to listen to everything that you're saying? Yeah. That's what I was wondering.

[00:44:16] Do you have an air attack on your car or something? And you know, because that was the thing too, is that like, and I know because I even reread the email that I sent you, the very first email I sent you. And I literally in there say, I'm not naming names. That's like my opener. Yeah. And then that happens. And I'm like, what is going on? Oh my gosh. But I think if you listen to this podcast, you're definitely going to go through and figure out exactly who it is.

[00:44:43] Guys, please be really, really careful on who you work for. Look into the company. See if they have a contract. Make sure that you're actually, if you do sign something, read all of it. Go to their website. Make sure that they're very truthful with you on what you're actually signing or what you're agreeing to. And if anything makes you feel weird, ask. Question it. Yes. Trust it.

[00:45:12] If you feel weird, leave as fast as possible. Go. Run. This is some bullshit. So autonomy, you know what I really, really like about you is that they tried to cage a songbird. After this, you can fly and you can sing all you like. Yeah. And thank you for your determination.

[00:45:33] And at the end of the day, I actually like truly am invested in seeing this profession persevere and seeing people be successful. Like I want everyone to win. Yeah. I don't consider other hairdressers competition because there's a salon for everybody and there's enough hair on this earth for all of us. And so I truly vehemently, wholeheartedly believe in the idea of there's no competition.

[00:46:03] We're only comrades. So at the end of the day, you know, hopefully maybe this will help some people think things a little bit through more and investigate things and be advocates for themselves. That's all we're saying. Take control of what they're doing and make informed decisions instead of emotional decisions. Because a lot of times certain things like this come along at a point in your career where you are

[00:46:29] struggling and you are feeling and you're more likely to throw all your chips in if something sounds good enough. Yeah, exactly. Well, thank you so much for coming on to the show and letting us know. Thank you so much for the 23 pages that you sent me. Let me go down this road. You know what I mean? It's like, if you guys have any questions about, you know, what to avoid, please reach out to us.

[00:46:55] This time, I'm not going to put anything in the show notes, just the actual notes, just let you guys know. And that's it. But if you don't know what a white label or a private label is, please go through and go through and take a look, you know, and see what the difference is. Some of them could be good, but most of the time people are going to just lying to you and use the other people's shit to make themselves look better. And that's it. So yeah. Yeah. All right. And find out what your state requires law wise and whether or not other states can dictate that.

[00:47:25] Big time. Big time. Thank you for your courage. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's time to go through and read the fucking fine print on shitology. Hey, Jason, I'm really not happy with how this color is performing. Oh, you want to wait? It's your water. It's filtered. Yeah. You're something you're not doing. You're not mixing it right. You maybe you should go through and stir it from left to right, not right to left. Oh, well, I really want to return it. What?

[00:47:55] If you return product, then you no longer can be employed by us. Okay. It's in the fine print. No, no, no. You have to put that in writing. You have to put that in writing. Yeah. That's okay. I will. Okay. I quit. So I'll be looking forward to my commission. I will sue you. And then any commissions that you do make, you go to arbitration and we get to keep all of it. So I guess we'll see you in court. And with that, stay shitty. And see you next time. Hey, listener persons.

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