hair stylist

salon manager

stylist

cosmetologist

hair specialist

Fantastic Sams

The coworkers that I connected with there were very nice and I could trust them. Those co-workers were basically the only enjoyable thing I can mark down for this location. I’ve worked at this company before in a different state, so I’ve learned that it may not be the company, but the management. Overall, the work environment became extremely hostile very quickly.

 There was very poor and unstable communication through the owner of the store. There were many spontaneous measures that were completely unexpected from the owner, and the management of the specific location was extremely poor. 

Boundaries and accommodations were rarely acknowledged or accepted, and there was an unnecessary and excessive amount of controversy and drama. The owner was rather unprofessional with their employees, especially in the way they spoke to them during a workplace obstacle. There isn’t a lot of traffic at this location, and that’s mainly due to the fact that inventory is neglected by the owner. Tools and products necessary to perform services were rarely restocked, even after those said products were requested several times. These weren’t just products on the shelf, by the way. These weren’t essential tools such as: cotton for perms, wooden sticks for waxing, back bar products such as treatments, etc. 

Sometimes, we wouldn’t even have the hair color in the back room OR the necessary canisters in the Chi Color Machine to perform a basic root retouch, resulting in us losing customers and money. The owner has an unreliable approach to running this business, and I believe it’s affecting the workplace, as well as the abilities of the stylists working. Lots of empty promises, lots of spontaneous (and inconvenient) schedule changes, and I’ve even seen the owner demote one of the shift managers, despite the store being supremely understaffed. 

Not to mention, the communication varied depending on who was speaking to who. The owner would tell one employee something negative about another employee, but never address it with said employee, which resulted in a lot of unnecessary workplace gossip. I understand that these kinds of things can (and probably) will happen at any salon, but it was absolutely excessive. I love being a hair stylist, but this was absolutely one of those stores that had me dreading, and having extreme anxiety before every shift, which was mainly consisting stylists just sitting around with no clients. Which also meant that you were getting barely any commission for the day. I believe that the reason for a typically vacant salon like this was because there was absolutely no promotion, and blame was pushed solely onto the employees for their lack of business. 



I have worked for fantastic sams for 9 years now. I have been in the industry for 18. I have worked in private sectors and booth rental and just about every type of situation you can think of in this industry. This type of setting is not for everyone but for what it offers fantastic sams is and has become family to me. We get paid training and it counts for continuing educational hours, we have our own hair show in my region and let me tell you I never get in front of people and put myself out there but with this (family) company I have. I have helped behind the scenes, on stage, they value my opinion, we have contests all the time for friendly competition. I have won a ton of products, amazing professional styling tools, gift cards, my salon has won free lunches, tools, not only from our region but from our owners! I have won a trip to Cancun with CHI /Farouk systems and it was amazing! Everything was paid for but I had that opportunity because of the relationship that my company has with CHI/ Farouk systems. We have paid vacation time offered and can I just tell you about the back up! Not only do we have back up from CHI/Farouk systems but our owners from this entire region are amazing! If I ever had any problem or question I can call any of them and they will be there to help. The educators that we have are phenomenal! They truly care about us and want us to succeed. Not only on a professional level but in our lives as well. Having your owners care for you as one of their own and the regional owners  call to see how you are when you have a personal situation going on really speaks highly to me. This is a company that I pride myself in saying I am a part of.

I've only worked here a month, I've been really impressed so far though. Orientation was really professional and organized and direct. The Salon is clean, everyone pitches in to keep it that way. 
It has a great walk in customer base. The owner and management have excellent work ethics and care deeply about both the customers and workers. Everyone there is passionate about what they do and it shows.
The coworkers are friendly professional and always ready to lend a hand. It has a real family feel to it, it's a good environment to learn in. 

Continuing education is paid for and there are monthly classes, paid time off.

The shopping area is well lit and at night there is always security.
Management is great with putting schedules out in advance. They are pretty flexible and willing to work with you on scheduling conflicts or if you need time off. Most weeks you get at least one weekend day of if you want it, only very ocassionaly would have to work both unless it was your choice to do so.
They are really good about making sure you get a break to eat when it's really busy.

Every so often there will be fun group events too, over all the best salon I've worked at so far.

If your a beginner it really is a great place to start because the team is extremely patient and encouraging!

If you are a beginner the base pay is reasonable if you aren't it will be easy for you to make commission.

Management can only do so much. They do take orders from the franchise owners. Since it is a franchise there are rules set in place that cannot be changed. 

The owner I worked under had two salons. One was 30+ minutes away from my town and the salon I was hired to work in. She would demand that I fill in at the other salon when she lost employees. Offering me a closing shift. Which means I would not only be driving more than an hour a day to and from work that also meant that most of the time I would barely be home at 11 at night. No compensation for gas. Not to mention my "regular" clients I would lose because I was constantly in a different salon. 

The same owner removed ALL of our insurance packages. Try paying for your own insurance out of pocket on the ridiculously low pay and you will find out that it is better to just pay the fine of not having insurance. 

Most of these places tell you they pay you hourly plus commission. And they do IF you can work fast enough to move the money you earn for THE SALON  into a higher bracket.  Which is next to impossible considering they dock the coupon and sale prices off that amount. $7.99 haircut coupon and you have to bring in $50 an hour in shop revenue. That is 6 haircuts an hour. You also have to shampoo and condition the client in this time. So how much time of that 10 minutes is left to cut the hair? They will tell you add on a blow dry or a deep conditioner to upsale. Sounds great but the average Joe Blow doesn't want either of those.

Fantastic Sams has a great work environment;the employees are great, the regular clients are delightful, the manager is easy to speak to and very fair, and the building stays clean. You are responsible for   supplying your own tools for the day but there are some items we share and some that are supplied for us (capes, towels, aprons, etc.) and everyone is responsible for keeping everything well maintained and in working order. Twice a week product shelves are dusted and numerous times throughout day the entire salon floor is swept. What I enjoy most about this job is being able to work with my hands and clients keep me on my toes. I am almost always learning something new such as a technique or a way to achieve the same goal while saving some time. I like that I can work alone but when help is needed everyone is willing to pitch in. The hardest things about this type of job was the slow seasons. There are times when I have nothing do do besides clean and organize during the hours where there are no clients walking through the doors. There are times in an 8 hour period where I only see maybe 3 clients. It can be tough work when it is slow but it gives you time to really talk and connect with others but it is rewarding.

My experience working here was disappointing. Most days were extremely slow, except for a couple of busier days during the week. I did learn a lot from one coworker who was supportive and genuinely cared.

Unfortunately, the overall management made the job stressful. They were often dismissive, unapproachable, and offered very little support. When I brought up concerns or uncomfortable situations to the regional manager about the store manager, nothing was really addressed. I frequently helped other locations when coverage was needed, but when I needed help, I never received the same support.

The compensation was also discouraging. There was no overtime pay, no holiday pay, and the commission structure felt unclear and unfair. Tips were treated as “bonuses,” which was misleading, and overall pay didn’t match expectations.

The salon environment itself was unprofessional. The workplace was often dirty, poorly maintained, and had low product stock. It didn’t feel like a clean or comfortable place to work.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend working here based on my experience.

I worked as a hairstylist at Fantastic Sam’s for about seven months, and I want to start by saying that the people I worked with are amazing, and I had a really fun time there. However, when it comes to education, it’s lacking. There is no real structure, and they mainly teach the basics, offering a few additional classes here and there. If you’re looking for in-depth training, this may not be the best place for you. The pay is $12 an hour, which is pretty insulting considering the expectations placed on you. I was expected to check people in and answer phones while I was taking clients. They encourage you to rely on tips, but I found the tips were often minimal. This is a good place for new stylists to get their foot in the door and build confidence, but I feel like I spent more time trying to figure things out on my own rather than receiving proper training. I had to wing a lot of tasks because there wasn’t enough support in place. While the experience did help me grow my confidence, I feel like I could have gained more technical knowledge elsewhere. In summary, it’s a great place to start for a beginner stylist, but you can definitely find better pay and more structured training at another salon. 

Most of the days there were pretty steady and busy, but sometimes could be slow. Very rarely were we bored. I was stylist/manager there so I had double duty and it was difficult at times managing my time between both clients and stylist throughout the day. I ended up spending more hours then scheduled there for sure.  I had a younger crew and the hardest part was dealing with attitudes and personalities. Customer service was always on par but back stage they weren't so cooperative. I learned on ways to dealing with a younger less motivated staff and getting them to be optimistic, but they were also the best part about the experience was the crew. They are a great bunch and most of the time enjoyed working with them. The owner was really laid back and easy going which was great, but the only consistent complaint I have was the compensation. Behind the chair manager is a lot of work and hours, and I didn't feel that the pay was accurate for the work that was delivered. Other then that I enjoyed my time there, not a place I would be forever. I would highly recommend it for a newer stylist trying to get into the business and eager to learn a lot.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I can’t think of any part that can be considered the best. The pay is terrible. The way your treated is terrible. The customer flow is terrible. Coworkers throw each other under the bus and sabotage each others work. Going home at the end of the day was pretty good. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Everything is stressful. You never know if your paycheck will be enough to pay your bills. There wasn’t enough business to go around. If you get a second job they will get mad at you. Plus the owners are the most judgmental people I’ve ever encountered. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Dog eat dog. That’s the best I could do to describe the way it is there. Nobody will help you. If they give you an opinion it’s best not to take it. They’re probably setting you up for failure. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Slow. It’s so slow there. You would think after being in the same location for twenty years, they would have a steady flow of walk in clientele, but that’s not the case. Plus, if you aren’t one of the favorites then you’ll just be sitting there watching your coworkers make money.

I was the manager of a Fantastic Sam's and I can tell you that this was the most challenging job I did have. I was the in between for the owner, employees and corporate office. I would work the floor along with the other employees, but I also had to have time off the floor to complete my manager duties of which consisted of payroll, dealing with unhappy clients, coming up with promotional deals for clients, keeping owner informed of our performance along with the corporate office. I also had to plan orders and schedules for employees. I also had to make myself available to be able to jump in when it got busy and I learn how to cater to the customer and employees very well here. I often had to come up with challenges for the employees to help keep them motivates of which the corporate office had many to choose from, but also came up with some on my own. I can tell  you it is pretty hard to keep 8-10 woman from being catty, as long as we were busy, there was no time for that. I do have to say I did enjoy this job to a point.

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