{"id":124989,"date":"2023-03-01T12:19:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T12:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.phorest.com\/?p=124989"},"modified":"2023-03-01T12:19:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T12:19:31","slug":"salon-owners-summit-your-2023-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.phorest.com\/us\/blog\/salon-owners-summit-your-2023-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"The Return of the Salon Owners Summit: Your 2023 Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hour has finally arrived at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre. After a morning of mingling, conference go-ers jostle their lanyards and fresh tote bags, finish up their last bites of breakfast and eagerly stream into the auditorium to find their seats. The murmur of the crowd swells into cheers and applause as Ronan Perceval, CEO of Phorest Salon Software<\/a> takes to the stage. The music fades as he greets the crowd of nearly 600 hair and beauty professionals and business owners from around the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHello Dublin! Thank you so much for coming,\u201d he begins, beaming at them all. And with that, the Salon Owner\u2019s Summit<\/a> 2023 begins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After three tumultuous years for the hair and beauty industry, the Summit <\/strong>is back. <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The room is alive with the joy of reunion. Phoresters and attendees have already spent the morning hugging, shaking hands and taking selfies together. Nearly 100 Phorest employees wait in the wings backstage and throughout the venue’s halls. Some will soon take the stage themselves, while plenty of others will provide the support to keep the two-day conference running smoothly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind Ronan, six large white letters, each over a meter tall, span the stage, spelling the word \u201cIGNITE,\u201d the theme for this year\u2019s event.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople always ask me,\u201d Ronan goes on, \u201cWhy the hell<\/em> do you do the Summit in January?\u201d It\u2019s an understandable question, as Dublin is not exactly known for its pleasant January weather. However, Ronan is happy to elaborate on the significance. The timing of the Summit relates back to the origin of Phorest\u2014a story<\/a> some in the crowd already know well, while others are hearing for the first time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 20 years ago, Ronan was working his first job in the industry as a salon receptionist in Dublin. After a busy Christmas rush, the salon team returned in January<\/em> to find their appointment book was essentially empty. At first, they didn\u2019t know what to do and the owner soon became seriously worried about their bottom line. Having previously experimented with appointment reminder text messages, Ronan and the owner devised a plan to try something similar but different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They decided they would send out an SMS message to all the clients in the salon\u2019s database with a promotion: everyone who booked an appointment in January would receive a free set of travel-sized salon products. As this was 2002, no one had seen this technology from their local salon before. People were intrigued.  From the day the SMS \u201ccampaign\u201d went out, the phones in the salon hardly stopped ringing. They filled up their books for January and February. Seeing the results, Ronan began laying the groundwork for Phorest Salon Software and the cutting-edge salon marketing tools<\/a> Phorest offers today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe beginning of January, 20 years ago\u2013that\u2019s when the idea for Phorest was ignited,\u201d Ronan says. <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat I have learned is that it is when things are that hardest that your best ideas come. That\u2019s when you really get to learn what you are made of,\u201d he tells the audience as many heads gently nod in agreement.  In the spring of 2020, Salon owners around the world faced the ultimate test. \u201cI don\u2019t think this industry has ever faced what it did in March 2020, and you\u2019ve all come through,\u201d Ronan says as he gestures out to the crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd when you\u2019ve gone through tough times, and you\u2019ve looked inside yourself and you\u2019ve survived, you then know, and everything single one of you in this room knows, that when your back is up against the wall, you are going to make it\u2026 I know you guys have all the raw ingredients to build a great business, but you guys know it too now. And that\u2019s what’s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The start of the year is the best time to reflect on everything that has gone before and think about what ideas you want to implement in your business in the year ahead. This is what the Salon Owners Summit is all about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the two days, attendees received talks and workshops from industry leaders and speakers from around the world.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n