What motivates you? The easy answer is money, of course. But that’s not what really motivates you. Come on, what gets you out of bed in the morning? What gets you to do your best work?

According to Jon Reyman—an Aveda artist, go-to fashion week stylist and successful owner of multiple salons in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago (seriously, his salons do $15 million a year!)—the answer has less to do with money and more to do with considering these three questions:

1. What is your purpose?
2. Can you master it?
3. Do you have the self-direction to make it happen?

If you and your staff can answer these questions, you’re on the right track to a successful business and company culture. Here’s a closer look at all the details we grabbed while at the Aveda Un|Buttoned Tour in St. Louis and how purpose, mastery and self-direction are the key factors behind true motivation at the salon. 

Purpose:

• As an owner ask yourself, “What is my purpose? Why do I do what I do?”
• For Jon, it’s to disrupt the norm and create a different kind of salon—a place that really enhances the lives of his stylists. “I wanted to be a part of something interesting and different. I do it because I love it and I want to make things better.”
• Ultimately, purpose is the reason why you do the things you do. “If it’s because of money, that’s just boring and, over time, it will lose its allure,” says Jon.

Mastery:

• Now that you’ve established a purpose, ask yourself, “Can I master it—can I become a master of my goals and my passions?”
• Is the goal to build an excellent salon culture and create a greater quality of life for your stylists? If so, are you giving yourself and your stylists the tools to succeed?
  • Try new things to improve the salon work space, and if it doesn’t work, try something else. “Fail forward,” says Jon. “Don’t continue to cycle through things that don’t work.”
  • Education is always a good idea. Try creating an in-salon training program, says Jon. Give your staff the tools needed to succeed—because this is how the salon succeeds.

Self-Direction

• You’ve identified a purpose and you’ve recognized the tools needed to master those goals—now ask yourself, “Do I, and do my stylists, have the autonomy, or the control, to move forward individually?”
• For Jon, the answer is yes because his salons are built on trust and a clear communication policy. “My staff is not my enemy. Every one of my team members has a key to my salon—if I don’t trust them, then they don’t work for me. Or, the conversation goes like this, ‘I don’t trust you, either you earn my trust by doing this, this and this, or you cannot work here anymore.’”
• Establishing this kind of trust and relationship with your stylists gives them control and responsibility over their work, their attitude and their actions, and it allows them to see not only their vision, but the salon’s vision too.

Want more business tips from Jon? Check out these three questions all salon owners need to answer!