Mary Rector

Before I started behindthechair.com 24 years ago, I actually owned a search firm where I placed executives in hair care companies like Matrix, Redken, Wella, Aveda, etc. Back then, I worked with all the company founders- like Arnie at Matrix, Horst at Aveda and Paula at Redken. What was always so interesting to me was the way people who worked for these companies described the founders they worked for. Some people would say they were way too hard on them and expected too much and it created a toxic work environment. Others would say they couldn’t imagine working anywhere else and (that same) founder saw something in them they didn’t see in themselves and pushed them to places they never thought they could go. Same founder. Completely different story/perspective. Steve Jobs was considered to be one of the most brutal bosses in history and yet his best engineers would never leave the company. Jobs pushed them to get the A+ instead of the A- and they never truly recovered after he passed away. He pushed them past what they ever thought they could achieve individually or as a team. I believe there’s magic in the hard work a team does collectively when they push themselves past what they thought possible. There’s magic in being better than you were yesterday- individually and as a team. When someone sees something in you- and pushes you beyond your comfort zone- it’s because they care. There may be cases where it’s never good enough, but I might suggest before you take that stance, consider the opposite perspective. Do they care so much about me that they want me to be my best self? Do they think I can achieve more? Do they see something in me I don’t see in myself? Cause here’s the true answer to test: if they didn’t care, they wouldn’t make the effort. ❤️ Join me for my MASTERCLASS @thebtcshow on Tuesday morning (after @oneshothairawards ) from 10am-12pm! Please bring your teams! #behindthechair #teambuilding #goodistheenemyofgreat

Have you seen the new crop of “coaches” out there who tell you they are going to revolutionize your business? Or they’re going to teach you how to build a million dollar salon when they’ve never even owned one? I have one piece of advice that has served me very well over time: Only take business or career advice from the people who have achieved THE success you are looking for in your life. Some of the concepts and ideas and “advice” I have seen over the last year from these “coaches” could put your business out of business. Be careful who you give your money to and take advice from. Just because someone says they are a coach and runs some Facebook ads, doesn’t mean they are. Proceed with caution! Ask them what business successes they have PERSONALLY had. Ask for salon owner references of those they have helped and call those references. Honestly, I have never heard of most of these “coaches” before, and some of the concepts they are attempting to get stylists and salon owners to use will literally destroy your business. Please be careful and be cautious. #saloncoaches #salonbusiness #behindthechair

BRING YOUR TEAM to my first ever Masterclass! I’ll share the truths that you struggle to tell them! THE BTC SHOW @thebtcshow August 18-21, Dallas Tuesday Morning 10am-12pm Stay after the @oneshothairawards for a long session with me where I will dig deep into what it TRULY takes to run a successful business long term. For tix- thebtcshow.com

MY MASTERCLASS! Tuesday @thebtcshow Join me TUESDAY @thebtcshow from 10:00- 12:00 for a hard-hitting MASTERCLASS where I will be digging into: Business Numbers (cause there’s a lot of bad information out there right now!), Building Culture, Adding New Revenue & 25 years of business lessons! Major Q&A session as well!

MARY MASTER CLASS @thebtcshow Please read: This panel discussion was shot nearly 12 years ago at our @thebtcshow in Nashville! I was going through a very difficult time inside my own company, where we had a number of team members who were not playing by the rules, and it was affecting the rest of the team. At the time, I struggled to fire team members when they stepped over the line. I just kept moving the goal post because I afraid of the outcome and maybe because I didn’t believe I deserved better. But, every time I moved the goalpost, everything got worse. The good people were leaving, and the bad people were staying. Every single thing I talk about on stage I have been through. Every piece of advice I give is because I lived through it and don’t want you to. I have so much to say about what’s happening in this industry right now, and I’ve been staying quiet. But not anymore. At @thebtcshow 9 weeks from now, I’m going to tell you my feelings about what’s happening in this industry today and why now- more than ever- you need to take advice from people who have been where you want to be, experienced what you are experiencing and have struggled the way you’re struggling but came out the other end on top. Behindthechair.com has been in business for 24 years. We have a team of nearly 40 professionals- almost all women- with a culture that is almost legendary amongst our clients who work with us. We have built a culture that shows young people that hard work is not toxic, but yet is the very thing where the magic is found. We’ve built a team who often appreciates constructive criticism more than a compliment. Why? Because they want to grow and learn, and they want to be their best selves. On Tuesday of the show, I’m going to tell you about all the difficult situations I’ve been in the last 24 years and how our company was able to not only endure the struggles, but become stronger because of them. I’m going to debunk some of the crazy business concepts I’m hearing some coaches speaking of that could destroy your business. I’m going to lay it all out there and I hope you’ll join me!

If only we were each given permission to live our best lives and to know we are worthy of it.

After every show, as much as I may be tired and want to head backstage to take a deep breath and celebrate with my team, there are always those attendees who are waiting to say hello right at the base of the stage. After all these years on stages, the thing I’ve learned most about these attendees is that they often are the ones who came alone, who are trying to level up, and who spent the whole show mustering the courage to say hello. My team always understands that this is one of the most important moments of every show for me. During our big @thebtcshow , the crews are literally breaking down the LED stage around me, as I generally stand with about 10 people waiting to share some of the most beautiful and tragic stories of their lives. When people are waiting after the show, there is a strange calmness. Everyone provides each other such grace because these stories are the longest ones. Sometimes we gather together, each person telling their stories while others validate their feelings and their experiences. Sometimes they stand in line for over an hour while each person shares a private story with me quietly, often with tears and pictures. A few years ago at the BTC show, a woman who had been at the show many times shared with me that her 5 year old son had passed away from leukemia five weeks prior to the show, but she still came because she knew there would be healing. At that same show, another woman had just been diagnosed with brain cancer and was scared what that would mean for her young salon team and how would she tell them. @jennafaulkenberg , my new friend after our Miami show, was the last one in line to say hello. She told me that she had been to many of our shows, but had never gotten the courage to say hello. We sat there and talked for at least 30 minutes and swapped stories and the struggles of life that made us stronger because we lived through them. Please, never be afraid to say hello. I love meeting all of you and swapping stories! It’s an honor and a privilege to have you at our shows- one I never, ever take for granted. There is so much to learn from each other and I love our time together! xo #thebtcshow2024

When I was in Miami last week for our @thebtcshow , there were an overwhelming number of you who shared stories of moments that were so hard in your business that you found yourself alone, crying in the dark in the middle of the night with your head in your hands, and in so much pain that you struggled to see any light at the end of the tunnel. There is a part of my presentation that I do on stage about how it’s the very hardships themselves that become our super power that keep us going when so many other people would have given up. Know this: The only time that you’re truly “in the game” is when the pain is so bad that you have no idea what you’re going to do next and how you’re going to get through it. If you’ve never experienced this, I pray that you do. It means you’re leveling up and taking risks. Every struggle is building muscle memory. Every struggle is building grit. Every struggle is building the mental tenacity needed to go the distance to find your greatness. Growth can’t happen without struggle. It’s what you do with the struggle that defines you. Let it motivate you, not defeat you! #behindthechair #oneshothairawards #thebtcshow

A walk in the woods….creativity for me is found in looking at the things we see every day with new eyes. Looking closer than most ever do.

What does THIS year’s @marybehindthechair motivation look like? MIAMI got the first look at Building A Truly Powerful Business with BTC Founder & Creative Director, Mary Rector. 🫶🏼✨ Our FIRST “On Tour” stop was a hit. THANK YOU to our amazing audience, sponsors & friends who joined us today 🌴 ✨ THE BTC SHOW TICKET PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE NOW IN OUR BIO ✨@thebtcshow

I started behindthechair.com when I had three children who were aged 3,5 & 7. There is never a “right” time. There is only now. Self care is a term that everyone uses for slowing down and taking time off. It’s never associated with working hard or taking risks. But in my book, at the age of 32 when I started this company, “self care” meant chasing my dreams. The best way to take “care” of myself was to say YES to that fire in my belly to create something that didn’t exist- to get these big ideas out of my head and into action. It meant to work crazy hours and be in such “flow” that I had no idea it was 3:00 in the morning sometimes! It was to love something so much, it rarely felt like work! 24 years later, I can’t even begin to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t answered the call. So here’s your call….. It’s tomorrow! Time to go! #proudachiever #behindthechair #workingmom

SHOTS OF THE DAY!💥chosen by @marybehindthechair ! Comment “ONESHOT” to sign on for our NEW email list for award news, nomination dates & more! Featured Artists: @abbeykhair @hairbyjuliannademaria @therealbossdoss @thathairmagic @hair_by_mallory_ @ericmichaelhair @hairbyrejhan @lyslovescolor @maneintentions_byangeladawn @hairbyhannahjo ⁠ @behindthechair_com ⁠ .⁠ .⁠ #behindthechair  #oneshot  #oneshot2024  #oneshothairawards  #thebtcshow  #thebtcshow2024  #btcready  #balayage #btconeshot2024 _warmbalayage#btconeshot2024 _coolbalayage