Twisted Sisters

When I sat down and showed Cindy and Marjorie the undercover footage, I felt for Cindy. She truly was stressed about her business and her sisters, because she had a strong sense of family obligation from her upbringing. Marjorie was the "good sister" and peacemaker -- basically she had no balls! Cindy felt overwhelmed and that she had no support, and in many ways she didn't. Marjorie swayed whatever way the wind blew. And to make matters worse, her two younger sisters, Janet and Karen, had no respect for Cindy or the salon and all the other staff followed suit.

The Phun sisters were bringing the family drama into the salon, and it was ruining their business. The staff had a "Who cares?" attitude because they felt that Janet and Karen got away with anything they wanted. And the staff felt they were not respected by Cindy; she spoke down to them and didn't give constructive feedback or education, just orders. There was no education, no rules, and no pride. When I walked into Mia Bella salon, I literally wanted to walk out. It was FILTHY!

As soon as I figured out the problems, it was time to put the staff to work, including Femi (even if it was her birthday!) and get the salon clean before my models and special guests arrived. Mia Bella was a struggling family business, so I asked my Friend Anthony Mascolo and his brother Bruno, two of the founding brothers of the very successful Toni and Guy hair care company, to come and give Cindy and Marjorie advice. I hoped it would help the girls understand that business is business, and that there had to be rules, boundaries, and expectations even when family is involved.

I still wasn't sure the girls understood that they needed to leave their family drama at home and not bring it into work. So I decided  that a surprise visit to the girls' house would help me get to the bottom of the family dynamic. I'm not sure who was more shocked: the Phun  sisters at my impromptu sleepover or me by what I found in their house! It became very clear that the dirt and chaos in the salon also carried into the house, and Cindy truly was overwhelmed and out of control. The basement was a mess. I have never seen so much stuff and some of it had never even been used. I was gobsmacked.

It was a long night! Trying to get through to each of the sisters as we hung out, ate dinner, and even changed into our PJs was a challenge. But I felt like spending the night with the sisters helped me get through to them, and they realized that they needed to start taking responsibility for themselves and their business. Karen and Janet finally realized that they needed to grow up and stop expecting Cindy to be the mother hen. And Cindy realized that she needed to take a different approach in how she spoke to her sisters and staff. The next job to tackle was getting them to work together and and to get control of their lives, so I made them clean out that damn basement!

I really saw a huge change in the sisters and I wanted to give Cindy, Marjorie, and the whole team the salon of their dreams. The makeover was amazing and everyone was really inspired on reopening day. All the staff really stepped up and did great work except for Melissa. She truly struggled with her work and needed a lot more education to be behind the chair. I was truly proud of them all especially, Karen and Janet, who really grew up in the week I was there.

I was so happy to go back and revisit my honorary sisters and see how they were doing. They have truly changed and embraced the recommendations I made and are doing a wonderful job in the salon. I know they will be a big success.