Page 279 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

260 The Disney Way

John told us that about half of those who interview at John Roberts
find out the culture is not right for them. Some say, “Hey dude, all I want
to do is cut some hair.” Others say, “I thought you said this was going to be
difficult . . . this is everything I have ever dreamed of.”
John and Stacy truly believe that the “magical” client experience begins
with a “magical” employee experience. John says it best: “Take my buildings,
equipment, all my money, my land, but leave me my people and in one year,
I will be back on top again.”

Dare

Both John and Stacy came from modest backgrounds. Back in 1993, the finan-
cial risk alone was almost enough to deter them from realizing their dream of
opening a salon. Stacy was overwhelmed thinking about their lack of funds, the
potential of amassing debt, being a new mother and, on top of all this stress,
running a salon. But after the initial shock wave had passed, John Robert’s
began to stabilize. The new employees had a client following, and John still
had a dependable paycheck coming in from UPS. For a while, life was good.
Six short weeks later, the chairs were all empty and the only employees left
were Stacy and Cathy (John’s sister). John started coming in after work to help
save the company.
At that point, the safe move would have been to hire another group of
hairdressers and hope for the best. But John had another plan. He came home
one night and announced that he was going to quit his job at UPS and go to
beauty school! This one-time college baseball player and well-paid truck driver
was going to become a hairdresser. Stacy remembers, “When John first came
into the business, I was not real thrilled. I asked him, ‘What do you mean
you’re going to beauty school? You should be going to law school.’” After our
original employees walked out, John thought that at the very least, he and
Stacy could make a living in their two-chair shop without compromising their
service values. Stacy says, “After he got his license (hairdresser’s license), I don’t
think he realized how passionate he was about the industry, not the technical
part, but the business part. Believe it or not, John is really good at haircutting
and still cuts hair. After he came into the business, we really started cooking.”
We do believe that John’s energy, work ethic, and service mentality
would be enough to catapult him to the top ranks of countless organizations.
But John was born to be an entrepreneur. Like Walt Disney, John dared to
follow his dream, and I think we can speak for the more than 30,000 John
Robert’s clients—we’re glad he did!