PhorestFM Episode 337: 10 Years of the Phorest Summit, A Retrospective & Look At Where the Event Is Headed Next

Episode transcript

[00:00:00] Chrissy Alger: So if you think you’re coming to the Phorest Summit for some boring tech talk where someone jumps on a stage and goes, “Oh, I need to present my…” It’s, it’s, it’s not that. It is, couldn’t be further from that. It’s engaging. It’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s hilarious. It’s Irish in all the ways, and I absolutely loved it.

[00:00:20] Lucy Carty: I, I, I turn up purely out of curiosity to say, “What else can they do? What else can they do?” And they never disappoint. 

[00:00:28] Season 10 Intro: We have an obligation to the industry that we serve, that we serve it in the right manner. Being a business owner ain’t for the weak. The expectations are just different. There’s always a way. When you’re born into something this special, you can’t help but fight for it.

[00:00:40] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Céad Míle Fáilte! One hundred thousand welcomes to the PhorestFM podcast, brought to you by Phorest Software. I’m your resident host, Alex Bélisle-Springer. Today, we’re tracing back the history of Phorest’s long-standing and beloved annual event, the Summit. And to kick us off, a special announcement made at this year’s edition.

[00:01:03] Barry Quinn: What’s happening, Ronan?

[00:01:04] Ronan Perceval: Ah, good man. Good, yeah. Good to see you. 

[00:01:06] Barry Quinn: Yeah, good to see you. Sláinte. 

[00:01:08] Ronan Perceval: Yeah. Mm. 

[00:01:09] Barry Quinn: Ah. 

[00:01:11] Ronan Perceval: Man, it’s been 10 years of the Summit.

[00:01:14] Barry Quinn: Jesus, 10 years. 

[00:01:15] Ronan Perceval: Can you remember the first one? 

[00:01:16] Barry Quinn: Just about. I can’t really remember a whole lot, but I remember it being more like a business event. 

[00:01:20] Ronan Perceval: Yeah. 

[00:01:21] Barry Quinn: Half a day maybe.

[00:01:22] Ronan Perceval: There was about 100 people, I reckon. It wasn’t the way it was now. 

[00:01:26] Barry Quinn: Yeah. Who would’ve been there? Who would’ve been there? 

[00:01:28] Ronan Perceval: Oh, yeah, yeah. Actually, I have a list here. Penny and Trevor Easton, 

[00:01:31] Barry Quinn: of course. 

Penny and Trevor. 

[00:01:32] Ronan Perceval: Yeah, from the studio.

[00:01:33] Barry Quinn: See them every year, yeah. 

[00:01:34] Ronan Perceval: Every year. Another person who’s been here every year, and a huge supporter of us, Greg Clarke.

[00:01:39] Barry Quinn: Big Man United fan, of course.

[00:01:41] Ronan Perceval: We’ll forgive him that. 

[00:01:42] Barry Quinn: Yeah. 

[00:01:42] Ronan Perceval: Lena Jardine. 

[00:01:43] Barry Quinn: From Clondalkin, my hometown. 

[00:01:45] Ronan Perceval: Yeah, your neck of the woods. 

[00:01:46] Barry Quinn: Of Clondalkin.

[00:01:46] Ronan Perceval: I presume that’s why she comes every year as well.

[00:01:49] Barry Quinn: I doubt it.

[00:01:49] Ronan Perceval: Good to see you, yeah. And then Helen Byrne from Azure. She was there at the first one. Uh, Lucy Carty from Eden Skin, and Lisa McGinnis is also here.

Oh, yeah. She was there at that first one as well, from Fab.

[00:01:59] Barry Quinn: Yeah.

[00:02:00] Ronan Perceval: But 10 years in the same place, they’ve seen everything. They’ve been to the Guinness Storehouse. 

[00:02:05] Barry Quinn: We’ve had, like, Bingo Loco. We’ve had dueling pianos. We’ve had parties, jazz nights. We’ve- We’ve become a festival now. Yeah. We’ve kind of done it all in Dublin, though, it feels.

[00:02:15] Ronan Perceval: I know. My dad was giving out to me the other day, ’cause he, he’s, he has to do the walking tour again, and he says he has a few new places for this year, but he just doesn’t have any new places after that. They’ve done Dublin. 

[00:02:24] Barry Quinn: Yeah. What else could we do? 

[00:02:26] Ronan Perceval: Well, I wouldn’t mind taking them maybe down to the West Ireland, ’cause-

[00:02:30] Barry Quinn: Interesting.

[00:02:30] Ronan Perceval: That’s where I’m from. I have this dream that we’re gonna be on a street. It’s a beautiful town in the west of Ireland somewhere, mountains in the background, people meeting each other, people meeting old friends. 

[00:02:40] Barry Quinn: With business, with fun, with music. 

[00:02:43] Ronan Perceval: Yeah. New experience that they’ll never have had before.

[00:02:46] Barry Quinn: Where would we be able to do something like that, though?

[00:02:48] Ronan Perceval: Well, what about Kerry? 

[00:02:50] Barry Quinn: Yeah.

[00:02:50] Ronan Perceval: It’s the most beautiful place in Ireland. 

[00:02:52] Barry Quinn: Yeah. Plenty of people who wouldn’t have ever been. 

[00:02:53] Ronan Perceval: Yeah. Killarney has some beautiful streets, amazing pubs.

[00:02:56] Barry Quinn: It does, yeah.

[00:02:57] Ronan Perceval: That’d be some experience, wouldn’t it?

[00:02:59] Barry Quinn: It would.

[00:02:59] Ronan Perceval: Let’s do that.

[00:02:59] Barry Quinn: Let’s do it.

[00:03:00] Ronan Perceval: We’ll drink to that.

[00:03:00] Ronan Perceval & Barry Quinn: Sláinte. Kerry. 2027.

[00:03:04] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And so with that announcement, Phorest is officially launching its flagship event into a whole new chapter. In January 2027, the Phorest Summit is making a big move, heading from its longtime home in Dublin straight to the breathtaking landscapes of Killarney, County Kerry.

[00:03:22] Sinéad Hynes: It is just the most beautiful place to see and witness.

[00:03:29] Alex Bélisle-Springer: This marks a huge milestone in the event’s identity. Formerly known as the Salon Owners Summit, the transition to the Phorest Summit reflects the inclusive community Phorest serves, bringing hair, beauty, and clinic professionals together under one roof, one unified banner of innovation. A few years ago, we sat down with founder and CEO Ronan Percival to share the story of Phorest.

That episode quickly made it into the top 10 most downloaded episodes of the PhorestFM podcast history. Seeing how much people loved that story, we knew that for the Summit’s 10th anniversary, we had to tell its origin story too. And taking a moment to look back lets us have a moment of gratitude for everyone who’s made this event what it is today.

From everyone who’s been a part of the organizing team, the tech teams, speakers, and of course, everyone who’s ever attended. Year after year, the Summit is an anchor that brings us all together from all corners of the globe.

[00:04:32] Summit Attendee: It’s lovely to be able to meet other people that use the Phorest app and have a community.

[00:04:37] Shannon Fanshawe: It’s expertise, it’s feelings, and it’s passion for the industry. 

[00:04:43] Ross Loveland: My key takeaways are the connections, so like the following up with different people, like partners, other salon owners, uh, and just like exploring that together and like the things that we can do together.

[00:05:02] Summit Attendee: From Winnipeg, Canada

[00:05:03] Luisa Gladymir Garcia: New Hampshire

[00:05:04] Summit Attendee: In Essex.

[00:05:04] Summit Attendee: Dublin.

[00:05:05] Ed (Ed’s Hair): Manchester.

[00:05:06] Seán O’Riordan: Naas, Kildare.

[00:05:07] Coral Pleas: Sarasota, Florida.

[00:05:12] Winnie Awa: It really felt like this safe, receptive space where people actually wanted to learn and they were excited to hear everything, all the points everyone had to make. And I think it’s really nice.

[00:05:26] Dija Ayodele: It is always great to be surrounded by people who want to learn and push the boundaries forward.

[00:05:38] Alex Bélisle-Springer: So how did we get there? Well, the first edition of the Summit was held on Monday, January 12th, 2015 at the Marker Hotel in Dublin with, like Ronan Percival mentioned in the conversational announcement with Barry Quinn, roughly 100 attendees. Alan Austin Smith, also known as the Fantastic Hairdresser, was set to speak alongside the highly anticipated Industry Leaders Forum featuring Dylan Bradshaw, Ellen Kavanagh, Nigel Kenny, Lilach Miller, and Celia Rose.

Together, they discussed key trends, essential skills, and effective marketing strategies shaping the industry. But of course, before any of this came to fruition, the idea for the Summit had to see the light of day. Now, this part predates my own journey with Phorest, but luckily, people like it here and tend to stick around.

Alex Quinn, who led Phorest’s events and PR efforts at the time, kindly took me down memory lane. Naturally, I started the conversation by asking her about where the Summit came from originally. 

[00:06:41] Alex Quinn: It came from just a lunch and an idea. Like everything else emerged, it came from Ronan and Connor and myself talking about the industry and talking about industry events, and we wanted to bring something that is a networking event where people learn and something that creates communities.

[00:07:11] Alex Bélisle-Springer: In a recent webinar session titled Summit 101, event sales executive at Phorest, Sinéad Hynes, echoed that sentiment, the one that got everything going over a decade ago with, of course, the nuance that this is now where you also get to hear about the latest Phorest product launches first. 

[00:07:28] Sinéad Hynes: What is the Summit about?

So it’s about education, it’s about technology, and it’s about connection. Connection probably being one of the biggest things about it is that you’re going to network with some global leaders. Um, technology, we are all about showing the latest launches from Phorest. That’s one of the main things is you’re gonna see the new launches 

[00:07:50] Alex Bélisle-Springer: As for the event’s original name, the Salon Owners Summit, I tried tracing back some of the options that were explored.

Amidst those that Alex could recall, we even had Salon Tech and something along the lines of Salon Evolution in there. 

[00:08:04] Alex Quinn: I actually remember sitting outside of, like, our Capel Street office, that little tiny courtyard… on, like, three weird metal rickety stools, eating our lunch, thinking about, like, what could, like, what could we call this thing?

Like, ’cause… And back then, the Web Summit was really big. 

[00:08:26] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:08:26] Alex Quinn: So we were saying, like, “Oh, can we do something like this just for salon owners? Like, what will we call it? Like, the Salon Conference or the Salon Owners Event?”

And we were just, like, literally writing down random names, and the Salon Owners Summit, uh, came up, and kinda we sat with it for

a bit- 

[00:08:45] Alex Bélisle-Springer: To this day, connection is what makes up the essence of the event, and the ripple effect of that has its way in people’s personal lives too. It’s shared with us in the feedback again and again. 

[00:08:58] Charlene Londra: Like, personally, you go away feeling inspired in your own life as well. So I just think, like, overall, that’s just, like, a, a nice mixture.

So you can take it into your life and to your works. 

[00:09:09] Christine Cunningham-Smith: You surround yourself here with people with so much energy and so much positivity, and there’s just no way you can go away not feeling positive and buzzy. 

[00:09:16] Charlene Londra: Yeah. I, I love that part of it. 

[00:09:20] Alex Bélisle-Springer: This desire to facilitate connection and build community was well-received, and as it would turn out, our own desire to connect with the people and businesses we served would be reciprocal.

Summit attendees, even back then, would also enjoy meeting Phoresters, putting a face to the name they would be in conversation with regularly via support or the Grow team. Remember, this is 2015 and well before we introduced the role of success managers as you know it today. 

[00:09:46] Alex Quinn: They loved having a party.

They loved getting to know people in Phorest, you know, putting a face to a name. So there was just always such a positive vibe around the Summit. Um, and I think even though, like, um, it was a more intimate affair back then because it was so small, and we still have… The, the Summit that I came, that I went to, like, just recently- Yeah

there was still the same people that came to the very first one. 

[00:10:17] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Rónán, in the announcement you heard kick off this episode, gave shout-outs to a few people who’ve been coming back year after year. He mentioned Lucy Carty, registered general nurse and the founder of Eden Skin and Laser Clinic in Roscommon, Ireland, and Greg Clarke, co-founder and owner of Amika Eco Hairdressing, located in the lovely Dublin suburb of Castleknock.

I invited them both to join me for a chat at, well, you guessed it, The Summit. I mean, name a better place. I’ll wait. 

[00:10:46] Lucy Carty: I think I was at the very first one. It w- lookit, from the st- out the gate, it was always a phenomenal event. The quality and the, um, o- of the presenters or of the speakers was just, the caliber of them was just fantastic and so relevant.

You know, they, they spoke about, I suppose, the humanity of things and how people, um, people sell to people, you know? And they spoke about that. It wasn’t just sort of like, you know, the back end of, you know, computing and stuff I don’t understand, and financials. They, uh, they spoke about, you know, how to deal with people, how to talk about, you know, looking after yourself and how to look after your client.

[00:11:25] Greg Clarke: I brought the whole team, and I just loved it. I think anything that gathers a community together is a good thing, and you’ll always… Y- your net- your network y- is your net worth. So when you’re meeting people, you’re growing. You’re, you’re learning all the time. So to me, that’s, that’s what I loved about it, and I love the community of the industry, you know?

[00:11:46] Alex Bélisle-Springer: I asked Lucy whether she remembered the moment when she thought, “Wow, I’m really glad I came,” and she replied… 

[00:11:53] Lucy Carty: Probably the first 10 minutes. Just, you know, just as you went in, you were handed your goodie bag, and you felt, you know… And one of the things was that you felt seen. You felt appreciated as, as a customer, you know?

Mm-hmm. You felt, you felt very included. Um, you felt very, um, I dunno, very treasured as, as a client. Mm-hmm. And they were like, “Oh, look at you, and you’re welcome.” And, you know, they had the same thing for everybody. And it was just- Right … like a joyous, positive, uplifting occasion. And just the first 10 minutes, I was like, “Yeah, I’ve done the right thing here.

I’ve done…” You know? And I was in the room with like-minded people. Yeah. We all wanted to learn. We all wanted to get something from this. 

[00:12:30] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Logistically and physically, Lucy couldn’t make it over to the Summit the last five years, but sure had some feelings about coming back to it in 2026. Greg, on the other hand, has yet to miss a single edition.

[00:12:42] Lucy Carty: It’s like coming to my people again and, you know, Phorest gets you. They get you as a- and they support you. They get your, your day-to-day, um, issues. Um, as I say, they’re not just supporting the technical stuff, they’re supporting the person, they’re supporting the salon owner, the clinic owner, which, uh, it’s, it’s fantastic.

They’re really, you know, they, they look after you holistically, I guess. 

[00:13:06] Greg Clarke: From a personal point of view, I’m one of these people that would suffer serious FOMO. And I’d travel back, cut me holiday short to come back for this one. I don’t like hearing about something second and third hand. Mm. I like to be hearing about it at the beginning.

[00:13:25] Alex Bélisle-Springer: A lot goes into planning an event like the Summit. Curating the speaker lineup, for one, is a very intentional process. And in addition to all of the aspects tied to booking speakers in general, the team working on this also keeps in mind a particularity we introduced a long time ago. 

[00:13:41] Alex Quinn: One of the early premise, and I think this is something that still carries through, was that we wanted to have industry speakers, but we always wanted to bring in somebody with a fresh perspective.

So that’s why we always got like a non-industry speaker to actually translate some other business concepts for salon owners. 

[00:13:59] Alex Bélisle-Springer: A particularity that seems to go down well, also echoed by Lucy Cardy in our chat earlier this year. 

[00:14:05] Lucy Carty: As a company that, you know, the, the lads and the ladies, they never disappoint.

It’s, you know, they’re always innovating. Phorest and the speakers that, again, help you to… Scenarios that I could identify with, and I was like, “Oh my God, so that’s how I solve that,” or h- “That’s how I come to it,” or… Because I suppose, w- as I’m working as a nurse, I worked in a clinical situation. You’re not a manager, you’re not a salon owner.

You’re coming to a completely different, um, form, forum, whatever. But Phorest and the speakers that, again, help you to navigate that. 

[00:14:37] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Outside of working on the agenda, the team also has to work with the event’s growing demand, and more than once in its history, for capacity and logistical reasons, has had to find the Summit a new venue.

In 2016, we hosted the event at the home to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House. The theme was creating a magical client experience, and keynote speakers Anthony Whitaker and John DeJulius left quite the impression on attendees, including Greg Clarke. I 

[00:15:05] Greg Clarke: just loved him and because he was us. He was a salon owner, and he was on stage and, and they say sometimes, “Don’t meet your heroes ’cause you might disappoint you,” but when we met him offs- off stage, then he was still one of us.

He w- he, he still was very grounded and very passionate about the industry and I kind of… And, and it stuck with me all the way through that it doesn’t matter what success is. Yeah. Just, just be you. You know what I mean? So that was one of the key things, and that’s going back way to the beginning. There’s been a lot of great speakers since, but, you know, if you asked me to name 20 speakers, probably, but I can remember him.

So I don’t know why he stuck there, but maybe it was one of the reasons I keep coming back. 

[00:15:42] Alex Bélisle-Springer: In 2017, we were at the Shelbourne Hotel. This was personally my first Summit, and I remember feeling embarrassed from what, in my opinion, was a disastrous hair dye job. I had learned my lesson and no longer box dye.

I’m sure there are photos somewhere, and you can go digging if you want, but for now, let’s just say it earned me a few Billie Joe Armstrong comparisons. The theme, team building, creating a culture of initiative in your salon, had speakers Jill Morris, Andy Bounds, and Mary Portas discuss techniques on how to build, motivate, and work together with a team that cares about and wants to work towards your vision.

That year, we also surprised attendees with a keynote by Richard Mollender, former Scotland Yard hostage negotiator and the founder of the Listening Institute. Drawing from his high-stakes experience, such as negotiating the release of UN workers in 2004 and assisting with Norman Kember’s rescue in Iraq in 2006, he tailored his negotiation strategies and communication insights directly to the hair and beauty industry.

Now, 2018 marked a new era. Demand for the Summit had once again grown substantially, and we needed a new home. We found one in the Convention Center in the Dublin Docklands and stayed there for three consecutive years. And over time, the Phorest product team added the Inside Phorest sessions, bringing clients into Phorest HQ to help shape the direction of the product.

[00:17:07] Conor Cunningham: One of the great things about Phorest is, I think our proximity to our customers, so we’re really close to our customers and, and, and that… as people in product and as people building software, it’s, that is the best place to be because we get to co-create with them. We get to build with 

[00:17:25] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Great Starts Here was the theme in 2018, for which Gavin Hoare, Steve Martin, Valerie Delforge, and Tabatha Coffee showcased how you can harness the power of your passion and elevate yourself, your team, your salon, and the industry.

In the workshops, the newest addition to the Salon Owners Summit, Marina Doyle spoke about visual merchandising, Chris Brennan gave a last-minute replacement talk on work-life balance for a speaker who got stuck overseas, and Paddy Monaghan delivered a session on GDPR and its effect on salons. Now, I don’t have a clip from Paddy’s session in 2018, but I still wanna give you a taste of his energy on stage.

So allow me to play a clip from a more recent session of his. 

[00:18:07] Paddy Monaghan: Um, so I saw there was a, a bit of a mix of people who’ve been here before and who are brand new, so welcome to everyone who’s brand new, and welcome to everyone who’s been here before. So those of you who’ve been here before, you will have seen me, and you will have seen that last year I was also scheduled after the most charismatic speaker that we’ve seen in the event.

And much like last year, one of my team said, “Who’s on next after that guy? I would really hate that.” Thank you very much. It’s the confidence that my team have in me. 

[00:18:31] Alex Bélisle-Springer: On January 7, 2019, we gathered again, and this time the theme was Power Up, a promise for speakers to deliver insights on business, brand, and personal growth.

Jo Fairley, the founder of the organic chocolate company Green & Black’s; Ryan Holiday, former head of advertising for American Apparel and best-selling living philosopher and author; spoke alongside Christina Cradle, Heather Manuel, Albie X. Cortez, David Barnett, and Steve Gomez. Before the fast-paced day of education, we also welcomed a group of owners who’d traveled from the United States and Australia with two days of Dublin sightseeing and networking.

Their adventure started on a private bus that carried them up to the nearby Wicklow Mountains for lunch and Irish music at Johnny Fox’s, the highest pub in Ireland. And even though the trip is quite lengthy, especially for Australia-based attendees, the event has always been well worth it. 

[00:19:26] Kristian Tognini: I’m like, what a fabulous, fabulous place to be.

It is my fifth time this year coming to the Phorest Salon Summit, and it just keeps getting better and better every year. 

[00:19:35] Summit Attendee: This is my very first Phorest Summit. I’m just, you know, motivated even more to see what else this system can offer, knowing that we’ve only just scratched the surface of what Phorest can offer in my business.

[00:19:49] Summit Attendee: To sort of dive into this whole community has been a wonderful opportunity for us to meet faces and also see the heartbeat behind  Phorest itself.

[00:19:57] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Then, just shy of a few months before the world would start shutting down, we set out to help salon, spa, and clinic owners create a 2020 vision for their business.

This sixth Summit speaker lineup reflected how much the industry’s ambitions had expanded. Inside Phorest: The Future of Technology for the Salon Industry, where attendees got the chance to meet Phorest’s product developers and hear more about what was coming down the line, also became more official than ever, moving from the Phorest office to the Convention Center as a pre-Summit event tied with other stage moments: a special guest speaker from Instagram’s European headquarters, and a live recorded episode of this very podcast.

This was followed by a pre-party, where guests networked the evening away ahead of the Summit itself, hosted on the Monday. 

[00:20:43] Josh Goldsworthy: I would describe the Summit as great crack. Um, for me, it’s probably the best hairdressing event that I go to, and I go to a lot each year. The Phorest team are really warm and friendly.

Talking to like-minded business owners from all around the world, it’s incredible. And the party night is something that I often do forget, but is great.

[00:21:07] Alex Bélisle-Springer: The sixth edition continued to attract an international audience of salon and spa owners spanning the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, and Ireland. The event’s growth has not gone unnoticed by attendees coming back year after year. 

[00:21:24] Greg Clarke: It’s got bigger. Yeah, it’s got bigger. Um, there’s a lot more of our cross-Atlantic cousins coming over.

But, um, you know, that, that’s been interesting because you’re getting a different perspective. Yeah. And I’ve always felt Americans created service. Uh, and, and I feel having Americans coming here is a great testament to what Phorest have done as a company, that one of the biggest nations for technology, people feel it’s worthy coming here to learn.

And, and I think it’s good. I think people… The world has become a small place now, and we learn off everybody that we meet from different parts of the world. So, you know, it’s, uh, so I, I just love the different demographics that I meet at it, and that’s… And what keeps me coming back every year is can I afford not to?

[00:22:11] Alex Bélisle-Springer: So in 2020, we welcomed speakers Marcus Allen, the salon management professional and educator behind the phenomenal growth of Urban Retreat in London’s famous Harrods; Pamela Laird, self-confessed beauty obsessive and the founder and CEO of cosmetic company Moxie Loves; salon owner and educator Jamie Dana; then president of the Fellowship for British Hairdressing, Ken Picton; leadership and talent expert Stephanie Fox; and bringing back a lost concept from 2017, we hosted a Q&A session with Christophe Robin, iconic French celebrity hair colorist and product innovator, a session that provided attendees with a window into the resilience, humbleness, and hard work it took to get to his level of recognition.

[00:22:53] Shauna O’Halloran: Thank you to everybody who’s here today. Um, it’s been a day full of ideas, so I’m sure your brains are just bubbling and raring to go with kind of taking them home and implementing them. Um, but before you go, we’ve got one last slice of inspiration for you. Christophe Robin opened the first ever hair salon in Paris dedicated to color at the age of just 24.

Since then, he’s gone on to color the heads of many, many famous people like Kylie Minogue, Elle Macpherson, Catherine Deneuve, and that’s just to name a few. There are, there are many, many of them there. Um, and also built a very successful multimillion euro haircare brand made of natural ingredients, a real passion of his.

Let’s take a little closer look at this industry icon before he joins me up here on stage

[00:23:40] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Then the pandemic hit, and the Summit went digital through our Uplift event. It was a different kind of gathering, and sure, there were some technical blips, but the intention to keep the community moving stayed the same even when doors had to be closed. And let’s be honest, those of you who organize events know this: navigating stressful moments could be considered a rite of passage for any successful event.

[00:24:07] Alex Quinn: Yeah, like, to be honest, it’s… When you’re organizing a, an event like this, it’s a super hard slog. It’s… I was talking to Sam the other day. She was like, “Never again.” “I’m traumatized,” you know? But, um, it is very rewarding when it all comes together, but it’s also, like, it can be incredibly stressful. I remember at the Mansion House, the set technician overslept on the morning, so did not…

We did not have any run-through because he just was not there. Uh, I was losing my absolute mind. But it is nice to… Once you actually get this over the line, it’s really nice. 

[00:24:45] Alex Bélisle-Springer: After three tumultuous years, the Summit was finally back, the room alive with the joy of reunion. Phoresters and attendees spent that January morning hugging, shaking hands, and taking selfies together.

Nearly 100 Phorest employees waited in the wings backstage and throughout the venue’s halls. Some took the stage themselves while others provided the support to keep the two-day conference running smoothly. We’d once more elected a new home in a brand-new space for even Dublin. We were now to welcome attendees from the Dublin Royal Convention Center.

Also, the product sessions from Inside Phorest were now fully woven into a two-day agenda. The workshops were back, and behind Ronan, six large white letters, each over a meter tall spanning the stage, spelling the word Ignite, the theme for the 2023 edition of the event. We were ready to kick off. Now, some of you might have heard this story before, but this is, after all, the origins of the Phorest Summit.

And so maybe especially for those who haven’t, I’m gonna let Ronan tell the story of why we host the Summit in January, and why that year we landed on ignite as a theme. 

[00:25:59] Ronan Perceval: Something people always ask me is, “Ronan, why the hell do you do this Summit in January? ‘Cause the weather is shit, and it’s dark. Uh, and we’re only just getting over Christmas, so why are you guys doing it in January?”

Well, I’m gonna tell you why we’re gonna do it in January. I’ve never actually said why. Um, so some of you have heard this story before, but maybe haven’t realized what it means in relation to the Summit. So I started off in the early 2000s working in a salon as a receptionist front of house, and that’s how I got into this industry.

And some of you who have heard this story will know, um, I was… While I was working there is when I came across the problem of no-shows in salons. And we helped to solve that problem, or make a difference for the salon owner, Tina, who owned the salon where I was working here in Dublin, by coming up with SMS appointment reminders, which was the first time that was ever done anywhere in the salon.

Um, so we int- I was able to introduce that with a friend of mine who built that software, and as I was doing the appointments, I was able to get people’s phone numbers and put it into this little piece of software that was gonna send appointment reminders at night. Now, that’s a whole different story in itself, but needless to say, it worked.

Those appointment reminders started going out, and we cut down Tina’s no-shows by about 70%. But that isn’t why Phorest started, uh, and that’s what I want to talk to you about, because I worked there in the run-up to Chris- um, in 2002, so 20 year… over 20 years ago now, and it was crazy busy. So between sort of, like, the end of November all the way up to Christmas Eve, we worked our socks off And you guys all know this.

You guys have all done this. And so in those four crazy weeks, the salon was as busy as it ever had been. And then on Christmas Eve, we got to go home, and I got to be able to take about 10 days off. And then when I came back in the beginning of January, which is 20 years ago this week, this is when the idea for Phorest was ignited.

And that’s why we wanna talk about this theme and also about why we do the Summit now. So I came back, I walked into the salon, and Tina had her appointment book, ’cause, you know, the crazy thing that we were doing is we were writing the appointments in a book and writing them into a computer as well, and I was the person at the front desk, so I had to do that.

But we were looking at the book, or she was looking at the book when I walked in after Christmas, and she was flicking through the pages, and she had that… Her eyes basically had a look of fear in them. And the reason was, as we flicked through the pages, there wasn’t anything in there. There was hardly any appointments in there.

And I’m sure you guys have all had that feeling at some point in your careers Um, and it was at that point she was like, “What are we gonna do about it?” And it was in that moment, in this week 20 years ago, when we had our first idea which led to Phorest, and that was to collect all those phone numbers we’d be collecting for the appointment reminders, send out a text message promotion that got her business absolutely flying.

And what we did was we worked with… And for those of you who’ve heard this story before, I’m sorry, but for those that are new, we worked with the brand she was working with who were launching a new product, and we were able to give out a travel size of that product in the promotion that anybody that booked in got a free product if they booked in in January.

And because we were one of the first people ever to send out a promotion like that by text message, people were forwarding it to their friends, and the phone never stopped ringing for three days, and we booked her out solid for January, which is absolutely incredible. But it was while it was happening and the phone was ringing that the hairs went up on the back of my neck and I realized, yeah, this is something, and I think I’m gonna be doing this for the rest of my life.

And that was 20 years ago today, and that idea then led to us starting Phorest. And the whole idea was to do marketing campaigns to help salons get busy at times when they were quiet. And that’s the idea Phorest was born. And that’s where the idea ignited, and that’s why we do the Summit this week in January, and that’s why we’re always gonna do it, I’m sorry to say, this week.

Um, but it’s also why the theme is ignite, because that’s where Phorest, the idea got ignited. 

[00:30:39] Alex Bélisle-Springer: That year we had Jason Everett speak on leadership, Valerie Tate on sustainability, Janna Ronert with a tell-all look into her career, Sophia Hilton on workplace toxicity and branding, Tom Chapman telling the story of Lions Barbers Collective, Liz Earle MBE speaking on building a brand, as well as Derek Anthony, Jill Ruan, and Dennis Van Leerop all speaking on recruitment and finding the right people for your business.

2023, coming back from the pandemic, was a reminder of why the Summit is such a special event. And the next three editions, 2024, 2025, and 2026, all shared a similar format, though never without tweaks, new additions, and surprises. 

[00:31:25] Riccardo Corvi: Hi there. My name is Riccardo Corvi, and I’m from Rainbow Room International in Scotland. I have a franchise within the brand, and my salon is in Ayr over in the west coast of Scotland. And I’ve been with the company for 32 years, and I’ve had my business running 18 years.

Summit 2023 has moved on so much since the last time I’ve been here. Uh, I had such a good time last time. I can’t remember whether it was eight or six years ago, but I can wholeheartedly tell anybody that next year, 2024, make sure that you, you come, because you’re missing out on a great environment and great information 

[00:32:10] Ronan Perceval: Welcome to Dublin for the Salon Owners’ Summit 2024. Woo! Um, it’s an incredible privilege for me and for everyone from Phorest to see so many of you having traveled so far from Australia, America, Germany, England, Scotland, Wales, and even here in Ireland, to spend the weekend with us here in Dublin. And, uh, there’s a famous Irish saying, I don’t know if you’ve heard it before, but it, it comes from a famous Irish writer and poet called W.B. Yeats, and it goes like this: “There’s no strangers in here, there’s only friends you haven’t met yet.” And when I look around this room, I see lots of old friends, but also new faces that me and the guys here 

[00:32:54] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Themes became aligned with the latest Phorest product developments. 

[00:32:58] Sinéad Hynes: In 2020 to 2023, we went with Phorest Go 2.0, the mobile app. 2024 then moved into Ads Manager, um, 2025 Digital Loyalty. But the biggest ones was 2026, Cheat Sheet AI, all your strategic, your AI, full AI suite was launched. That’s one of the main things is you’re gonna see the new launches. 

[00:33:20] Tomek Nieżurawski: It’s not only that your clients like to look a little bit nicer, you know, the software as well, so it has to change from time to time.

But it, the major elements are there. And on the right, we have a wait list. This time, we added labels, you know? So yeah. So let’s go for the wait list. And let’s go for Sally. Sally Westcork, baby lights, and click. And she said morning. Let’s do morning. She said Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, next week. Yeah. Yeah, next week we will skip the Sunday and…

[00:34:02] Alex Bélisle-Springer: The agenda got fuller and fuller, and naming everyone who set foot on stage for a keynote, workshop, or hands-on masterclass would be a podcast in itself, so I won’t list everyone out. However, we do have excellent recap blogs on our website that I encourage you to dive into. What I will say, though, is that the 2026 Summit sure left an impression.

[00:34:23] Polly Vincent: I feel that this Summit has been so incredible. You’ve got inspirational keynote speakers, um, Katie Piper, Caroline Hirons, and also we’ve got doctors; Dr. Lollie Mancey, she was incredible. The speakers are not only educational, but we also have, um, members who work for Phorest and the team. So they get up on stage, and you really get to have a feel of the community, the thriving, like, amazing feel, and you can really feel that Phorest is a family.

[00:34:54] Alex Bélisle-Springer: 10 years in, we have so much to look back on already and so much to look forward to. The Phorest Summit isn’t just where ideas are shared. It’s where businesses leave with clearer direction. 

[00:35:07] Sinéad Hynes: The theme for Summit 2027 is Beyond, so what you’re going to see is Phorest going beyond. Where are we going? 

[00:35:13] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And if you’re considering joining us, there’s so many different options.

[00:35:17] Sinéad Hynes: You can come alone. You can come with your business partner, your partner. We have social tickets as well. 

[00:35:23] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And again, beyond the inspiring speakers and product showcases, what truly sets the Phorest Summit apart are the genuine connections, spontaneous chats over lunch, key moments shared on the dance floor, lasting relationships built between our team and the people who trust Phorest as a partner in their business operations.

The Summit provides a dedicated space for salon, spa, and clinic owners to openly express what they truly need from their software. It feels really special to know just how much a two-day gathering in Dublin has, over time, profoundly influenced the everyday tools thousands of businesses rely on while continuing to guide how Phorest evolves as a company.

[00:36:14] Kati Whitledge: The people, right? And we are in a human-to-human business. The people here are incredible, and the owners are another level. They are the most involved, engaged, focused owners that care the most about their business and the growth of their business. So I’m in good company. I’m super thankful to be here.

[00:36:40] Ken Hughes: The networking here is amazing. You can see the conversation even before the event starts. There’s a huge energy here, a kind of a sparkly, uh, igniting energy.

[00:36:55] Daniel Mason-Jones: Being around so many passionate people that have the same cares is, is, I can’t even explain it. It’s amazing. If you’re not here, you need to get here. If you were here, I love you and thank you for today

[00:37:24] Riccardo Corvi: Together we grow. 

[00:37:25] Summit Attendees (group): Together we grow. Together we grow. Together we grow. Together we grow

[00:37:34] Alex Bélisle-Springer: So once again, we’re moving. But this time, it’s like we’re moving out, because in some ways we are, out of Dublin that is. After 10 editions hosted in the city, we couldn’t be more grateful for the amazing memories we’ve made there. From walking tours and pub crawls to Bingo Loco nights and after parties that finish with an unofficial official after-after party in The George, it’s been great sharing all that Dublin has to offer with clients, partners, and guests.

But a decade in, we’ve really done it all. And this next chapter, which I’m sure will eventually be part of another retroactive, will kick off at the Gleneagle INEC in Killarney, County Kerry, a venue sure to become another unforgettable piece of the Phorest Summit history. For anyone travelling to the 2027 Phorest Summit, you’re in for something special.

Expect to see rolling mountains, the wide banks of Lough Leane, 19th-century buildings, and in Killarney, a town full of color and character. And you might have heard this through the grapevines already, but we’re planning a Phorest takeover of the town, mixing the energy that salon, spa, and clinic professionals bring to each Summit with impeccable Irish hospitality and plenty of delicious pints, if that’s what you’re into

[00:38:58] Lucy Carty: One of the first, uh, speakers over there, I remember they talking about, you know, fans and clients. Yeah. And y- you know, they were saying, you know, they were, the analogy, you know, are your, are your clients, are they customers or are they fans? And all I can say is I am such a fan of Phorest. If some other company approached me and said…

And I’m approached regularly by other companies to say, you know, “We can do this, this, and this. We can do this, this, and this, and, uh, you’ll pay 50% less.” And I’m like, “Nah. Nah.” I’m locked in with Phorest, you know? And yeah.

[00:39:30] Charlene Londra: This is my fourth Summit. 

[00:39:34] Christine Cunningham-Smith: This is your- It’s my fifth. We keep thinking every year is, can never be as good as last year, and then it is.

[00:39:40] Alex Bélisle-Springer: See you in Killarney? Le keyla toma jig fas. Together, we grow

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