In this episode recorded in September of 2018, we interview Christina Miller. Chistina is the Manager of TX118 (#sassystars). TX118 recently won "The Logan Trophy" at the 2018 National Huddle. In this podcast, we find out how she took an underperforming store to the pinnacle of success in just three years!
| Episode Air Date |
Guest Name |
Guest Title |
Topic(s) |
| November 30, 2018 |
Christina Miller |
Winning Manager of The Logan Trophy |
Important lessons and values of a winning culture |
Each episode of the Podcast is also available on iTunes and the Google Play store.
Transcription:
Chad Jordan: Hey everybody, this is Chad Jordan. I'm the Director of Marketing for Digital Services here at Sport Clips, and you have joined us for another edition of the Sport Clips Hall of Fame podcast.
So glad to have you. I'm also exited to announce who our guest is. In fact, I'm going to have her announce who she is, and what store she's from. Go ahead.
Christina M.: I'm Christina Miller, I work at TX 118. We're part of the Sassy Stars Team.
Chad Jordan: Ah, I like that. I hadn't known that. #sassystars. And, the reason we're having her on here is, oh I don't know, you guys at Huddle, our national convention, you got to walk up on stage. There's some ... It's escaping my mind right now. There was some trophy that you got to come up and get, can you ... What was that again?
Christina M.: Oh, I think it's the Logan Trophy.
Chad Jordan: Oh yes, the Logan Trophy. So, she is the manager of TX 118, Christina is, and they won the Logan Trophy at our national convention called, Huddle in ... When was it, May? Yeah, May of 2018. So, I have been itching to get her on the podcast to really ... I just want to pick your brain a little bit today Christina, of that's cool, and find out how did you get here? How is the store so successful? What are you doing as the manager, that is getting everybody in position to be successful?
So, without further ado, can you give me a little bit of a back ... Well, first of all, you're not just a manager. That was something we were talking about off air. You're also a mom, alright? So, I know she probably ... Well, I don't know, maybe she is listening. Why don't you give a shout out to your baby girl, and fill us in on how that's going?
Christina M.: My baby's name is Isabella Mendez. Yeah, like I said, she'll be 16 months, so she's a bundle of energy, and just keeps on going, and-
Chad Jordan: Walking? Talking? Babbling?
Christina M.: Just blessed to wake up every single morning, and still have energy, just like she does. So, it keeps me motivated, keeps me going, and yeah-
Chad Jordan: Baby teeth are coming in?
Christina M.: Just got her first-
Chad Jordan: Oh, she's already-
Christina M.: Yeah, she got her first purse this weekend, so ...
Chad Jordan: Oh, okay, I thought you were gonna say tooth. No, no, she got her first purse. That's more important.
Christina M.: Her first car keys and purse, so she wants to be like mom. She got a little cell phone, and-
Chad Jordan: Okay. Oh, you need to get her some plastic scissors. Yeah.
Christina M.: Life is good.
Chad Jordan: That's awesome. Isabella, do you call ... what do you call her? What's it, Izzy, or ...?
Christina M.: Isa.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: We call her Bella.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: I try to stay away from Bella. Everyone else has a Bella, so yeah.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, I got two on my soccer team, so yeah, I know all about that.
Alright, so okay, we got the really important stuff out of the way, talking about you being a mom, which obviously is gonna come into play with some of our conversation today, but give me a quick background. You're the manager of one of the most successful Sport Clips in the country, Logan Trophy winner. We'll get into the details of what that exactly means, but take me back to where your career got started.
Where did you go to beauty school? I want to find all that stuff out.
Christina M.: Nice, so I graduated Paul Mitchell in San Antonio, God, June of '09. Probably waited a good while until I was able to save up money from San Antonio, to move on my own, and-
Chad Jordan: You're originally from there?
Christina M.: No, originally New Orleans, but I moved there after Katrina, and just started ... My family got on their feet, and started Paul Mitchell about four days after I graduated high school. It took me about 14 months. I had to take a two month leave, and save up more money, and moved down here as soon as I could. Things couldn't be better.
Chad Jordan: Why Austin? Why did you think to come here?
Christina M.: I came here for a concert in '08, and was like-
Chad Jordan: Oh, okay, you fell in love with-
Christina M.: ... "Man, there is a lot more-
Chad Jordan: ... the cute Austin [inaudible 00:03:49]
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: All the music of the scene, and yeah.
Christina M.: A lot more than San Antonio, and I enjoyed San Antonio, but there was ... You know, I thought San Antonio was where I was gonna be, but came out here for a concert and thought, man, this is the place to be, a lot of cool people, a lot more opportunities, and just more grain than San Antonio was, so ...
So yeah, I moved here, and started working at Fantastic Sam's. It was really hard to find work before that, so I was gonna go anywhere, whoever was gonna take me, I was gonna go with them, just to get my feet wet, and see what I liked, and didn't like, what was gonna work for me.
Chad Jordan: So, when you were there, or were you cutting ... Was it guys' and girls' hair at that point, or was it mostly-
Christina M.: You know, my goal was just women's cuts.
Chad Jordan: Really?
Christina M.: I was just gonna cut women's hair. I had nothing to do with men's hair, I only did two cuts, you know? At Paul Mitchell, it was mainly, our focus was women, so financial coming out here, I did 77% men clientele, so it was like a whole new world, learning something a little bit different, and enjoyed it, enjoyed learning more about men, and conversations with men were a little bit different, because I wasn't used to it.
Chad Jordan: Was it awkward at first?
Christina M.: Yeah, it was ... I'm a chatterbox, so it was easy to get to know them, but I was what, 18, 19, and middle aged men, you know, a lot of singers, and didn't feel like I had as much in common, but learned more about men, and actually enjoyed it.
I was making $20 a day in tips. That was my goal was, hallelujah, $20 in nine hours!
Chad Jordan: This is 2010 ish?
Christina M.: Yeah, early 2010, yeah.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: Yeah, got on my feet, started working there, things were great, and I felt like it couldn't be better, but I knew there was more to life. I just sincerely enjoyed where I was, and learning something new, and I was okay with $20 a day. I was okay with it at first.
My bills, I think my rent was $400, so it wasn't too bad, but once I started getting better, knowing more, and getting the efficiency down, I thought, man, I could do better than this.
I guess about two years later, I finally was more comfortable knowing what I knew, and there was more to life than where I was working, and more opportunities, and probably a better clientele, so yeah, finally-
Chad Jordan: So, what happened? So, you-
Christina M.: ... I heard about a friend who was like, "Hey, I can't really do where we were working anymore. I wasn't making the money I wanted to make." So, she moved on, and finally, hearing how well she was doing, I thought, man, I could probably do the same thing. Wasn't too sure if I was gonna be good enough for Sport Clips. I heard great things.
Chad Jordan: Had she moved on to Sport Clips, or just somewhere else?
Christina M.: She moved to Sport Clips.
Chad Jordan: Oh, okay, okay, a detail I missed out on.
Christina M.: Yeah sorry, that's a very important part.
Chad Jordan: Okay, yeah. So, she goes, and what, she starts chirping in your ear, like, "Hey, you gotta come to this place"?
Christina M.: Yeah, I called her, like, "Hey, where are you at? Where are you going?"
She told me where she was going, and, "Hey, it's getting better and better."
About a week or two later, "Hey, how's it going? You still doing okay? You still liking it over there?" She loved it, and I think hearing how much she was making, and thinking I could do that. I've been here two years, and great clientele. I'm comfortable. If this clientele loves me so much, guess I'm doing something right. I'm still making $20, maybe $50 by then, two year later, a day in tips, but knew I was probably better than where I was, and didn't want to leave where I was, because I loved the clients. It was great, and loved the people, and loved the people I worked with, and the people I worked for, but can't keep living like this.
Two years later, I had more bills, and the rent wasn't $400. I had a new car, and more payments, and I wanted nice things.
Chad Jordan: Are you managing this location that you were at? No, you were-
Christina M.: No, I was an assistant manager at the time, so I moved up to there. It was probably a 50 cent raise, but I sincerely enjoyed it, but finally opportunities were popping up, and I'm like, "Wow, this is where I should be, with Sport Clips." And, "God, it sounds great. Maybe I should try." I waited, finally I tried it, and going for that interview, I was shaking. I was so nervous. I was excited, and was like, "God, I just-
Chad Jordan: Who did the interview?
Christina M.: Her name was, Tonya Lopez.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: She was the manager at TX 118, and man, I was so excited, but kind of intimidated, so I went in there, and had my boyfriend as my model, and I don't know it was great-
Chad Jordan: Wait, in the interview? I'm sure everybody listening to this knows this. In the interview, are you physically cutting hair in front of somebody?
Christina M.: It was a little bit of both. So, she interviewed me alone, just chatting more than anything, and I felt so comfortable. It wasn't like I felt like I was just sitting there uncomfortable answering each question. I felt very comfortable and she was like, "Hey, bring in your model."
I was like, "Oh, actually it's my boyfriend, blah, blah, blah." I started cutting-
Chad Jordan: Were you making him grow his hair out, just in case?
Christina M.: No.
Chad Jordan: Oh no, you didn't have a lot to work with.
Christina M.: It was great, and I was so nervous, and I was so excited he was there to support me, and make me so comfortable. I was just so nervous, because I thought man, I hope they love me so much, and I hope I get this job, and I don't know what I'm gonna do if I don't get this job, because I heard great things.
Yeah, she interviewed me, and whenever he came in, he was chatting, asking questions as well to her. The benefits I think, is what wowed me more than anything, and I think the time off was God, probably the most exciting part. Like, wow, after a year, I get a paid vacation. Six months after that, I'll get another vacation, and so on, and so on, 401K, health benefits. I was like, "Oh my God. Wow."
Chad Jordan: And off of this is not something that you had, had previously?
Christina M.: Never.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: Yeah, never. I never even had a weekend off. I couldn't request a weekend off, because we were always short. So yeah, God, it couldn't have been better.
Chad Jordan: I'm sure your story to this point, mirrors what a lot of the listeners have gone through, the team members, stylists, managers that are out there, that were working somewhere else, and were fine for a little bit, and then just something began to go, you know, there's gotta be something more.
So, you, like a lot of them, found Sport Clips, and came here. Give me ... so, where are we now? What year is this, that you came to Sport Clips?
Christina M.: January 2012.
Chad Jordan: Okay, so now you've been here about six years or so. TX 118 is a store that you got hired at?
Christina M.: I was hired at TX116.
Chad Jordan: Okay, and stayed there how long?
Christina M.: I guess just over a year.
Chad Jordan: Alright, and then did 118 have an opening, and you-
Christina M.: I went to Georgetown, TX110.
Chad Jordan: Okay, so TX110. Alright, so they love you some much, they're taking you to all the hot spots in the Austin area.
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So, how is it going, as you're transitioning from store to store? Are you getting acclimated, and then you feel like I'm getting pulled away, or is it like, no, I'm literally climbing up the ladder of success here?
Christina M.: You know, my store became more staffed at 116, so my best friend was working at 110. We used to work at the other place before Sport Clips together, so pretty much I recruited her, and then whenever she went to 110, and needed extra assistance as an assistant manager, she was like, "Hey Christina, you wanna come over here?"
Chad Jordan: Oh cool, a dream come true. You got to work with your best friend.
Christina M.: I was like, "Yes!" So yeah, it was a lot of fun, and really just to learn something different, but a busier store, more of a team to help her manage as well, so that was a lot of fun. Yeah.
Chad Jordan: And you, let's get you to TX118. When do you ... That's the store that won the Logan Trophy. You're managing that store. How do you get there? When does that happen?
Christina M.: You know, then I had transferred from 110 a year later, to the BK location, TX111, so I was actually there for I guess about a year and a half, and then I had transferred from there, to Kyle, TX118, so yeah.
Chad Jordan: And, as a what? Were you the assistant manager, key holder ...? When you come to 118?
Christina M.: So, I was an assistant manager at TX 111, and my manager Natalia had said, "Hey, there's an opportunity. I really want you to move up. I would love for you to go to 118."
And I'm like, "I don't know about that. 118, it's way in Kyle. I'm in BK. That's such a big hike. Let me think about it. I don't know if I want to be a manager just yet. I love where I'm at. I love the clientele. I love the girls I work with." Iffy at first.
Chad Jordan: Yeah.
Christina M.: I think I loved the opportunity, but did I really want to move, was the thing. I'd been to three other locations before, and wanted to stay put. So finally, I think I waited about two days, and talked to my boyfriend, and was like, "Hey, what do you think we should do? Should we move? It's a great opportunity." God, I wanted it so bad, and I felt like something was telling me, "You gotta do it. Take it now, and go with the flow."
So, God, I was so blessed. When she told me that, I'm like, you know what? Let me just do it. Once I said I'm gonna do it, I just had my mind set, like, oh, we're gonna be the best. We're gonna do it, and just changed the store.
The store that really wasn't doing too well at 118. It was-
Chad Jordan: Why not? What was the issue?
Christina M.: Well, before corporate had bought it out, before Edward had bought that location, it was actually a franchise, and the franchise owner could have been doing a little bit better, giving a little TLC.
Chad Jordan: Sure.
Christina M.: So, yeah, that store just needed a lot of help, and needed a manager, and someone who cared. There was no manager at ...
PART 1 OF 3 ENDS [00:14:04]
Christina M.: A lot of help and needed a manager and someone who cared. There was no manager at the time. It was kind of just left there, you know? And yeah, the team was incredible and I loved them and things were great. But once I got there the very first day I thought, "Man, this is definitely gonna be a lot of changes."
Chad Jordan: It's your first day ever managing right. And your first day at that new location.
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So walk me through that process. You go in through the doors, are they showering you with flower petals and you know, they have, they have bubbles and all this stuff when you walk in or is it kinda like they're sizing you up?
Christina M.: Probably a little bit of everything. You know, before I went there I guess about two weeks before I thought, "You know what, let me just go check everybody out." I wasn't more nervous than they were to be honest. I was so excited, but God, I hoped they love me. Hope it works out. Hope you don't bump heads and really just wanting to be friendly, you know? Get to know everybody not step on people's toes and see where they're going with their career more than anything.
So I came in about two weeks before, met not Everybody but most of the team, probably about five people. And, yeah. So once I started, my very first day was March 1st. It was on a Sunday. Busy, busy.
Chad Jordan: Heading into the Easter season, probably.
Christina M.: I really wasn't able to meet everybody.
Chad Jordan: Around then.
Christina M.: Probably close. It was still a little chilly. I remember that. So going in there and just enjoying the first day at work, you know, just taking clients, getting to know everybody, kind of seeing their five point play, seeing what we can work on. So the end of the day, everybody else who wasn't scheduled to work came in. We had a huddle. It lasted probably a lot longer than have a good two hours.
Chad Jordan: Longer because you needed that time or because you didn't know as a manager how to fine-tune it yet?
Christina M.: I think a little bit of all of that, of getting to know everyone, kinda like, "Hey y'all, tell me your story. Tell me what you're looking for. What do you want me to achieve being here, what would you like to achieve?"
Chad Jordan: What were some of the things that they're telling you that they were looking for?
Christina M.: Structure.
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: A lot of structure.
Chad Jordan: You think it's pretty common?
Christina M.: Yeah, definitely.
Chad Jordan: Across any hair salon, but you know, Sport Clips stores or the team members are really looking for that.
Christina M.: Well, we have high standards at Sport Clips and some of our team members that were there at the time weren't really too aware of the standards, what we had and kind of just cutting hair for the most part and didn't really have much of a five point play because there was no manager. There wasn't an assistant manager. Everybody was just working.
Chad Jordan: You hear this word or you figure out that they're looking for structure. Do you then put a game plan together? What goes on in your mind as a brand new manager of a store?
Christina M.: You know, walking in there, I felt so loved. Everybody just kind of froze and was looking at me with big open eyes, you know? Wanting to know more about me, what was I going to bring it to them to make them successful? How are we all going to be successful as a team and really just kind of have fun more than anything.
I think a lot of us were kind of stressed out. Everybody had a lot of things going on in their life and it wasn't a close team at the time, you know, so there was a lot of things to work on. Like I said, being that there was no manager there weren't certain roles, you know, people just kind of came in when they came in, so we did a whole turnaround on that store in a good year, I'd say a year is where we were very comfortable, knowing we're being consistent, efficient. Our five point plan was like, really on point.
We had great team members who wanted to work at Sport Clips. When I first got there it was more of finding out who wants to stay and who doesn't-
Chad Jordan: In that first year, do you ever feel like throwing in the towel just being like-
Christina M.: Never. I never, never, never. The first day, at the end of the day we had our huddle. I thought, "Oh my God, these people are so amazing and I love everybody here. I hope everybody continues to love me as well and we can just create a really great culture," you know, in the four walls. So that was kind of my focus and I left there in tears thinking, "Man, this is going to be great," you know, coming from so many successful teams, I thought, "How am I going to create my own team with people that want to stay and stick around and still be successful?"
So that was my goal and I had so many great managers, before I went to that location that helped guide me as well. And I had a manager at TX111, Natalia, who won the Logan Trophy I think a couple of years before I did. So it was really nice to kind of get advice from her and keep kinda making things my own.
I'd hear a certain tips and tricks that work and I'm like, "Oh, let me see if that works at our store."
Chad Jordan: Like what?
Christina M.: As far as tips, you know, there's so many friendly ways to tell someone that they're doing something wrong and they can do it better. But as well as showing them, so I can tell you how to walk our clients around to the register, you know, showing the products and we just used, but there's a lot of fun ways, you know? Just be excited when you're talking about the product and their hair.
Show them how much to use and run it through their hair real quick, you know, and just kind of toss it over and show them how to style their hair and still have fun. Tell them. Run your fingers through it. But when you look excited, they're excited. And it doesn't seem like you're working so hard, you know, and walk them around, "Hey, let me just show you that product that I used."
And when you see the same clients over and over, week after week, sometimes they buy, sometimes they don't. But when you look excited, when they may not, it doesn't seem like you're a robot, you know, and you gotta have fun or it gets boring.
Chad Jordan: As a guy and as a client, I love what you're describing when there's high energy. You're not trying to be pushy, but you're recommending, just checking on me. Do I have a product? What I don't like is when a stylist will be like, "You're probably good on product," or they'll put the negative there like they're expecting me to go, "Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm fine. I'm fine." I'd rather you encourage me to get more and tell me why I need to get it or demonstrate, like you said, put it in your hand and rub it through my hair and then maybe the smell test. Doesn't this smell good? I like that high energy angle because it definitely works.
Christina M.: Yeah. It's fun.
Chad Jordan: So what else would you say has helped you transform 118 from where they were to get in now in a position where you guys won the Logan Trophy, what are some other things that you think have been helpful along the way?
Christina M.: You know, when I first got there, our numbers were really low. Our retention with our team members were low. Efficiency, we were taking a lot longer than we should have, like 45 minutes doing some haircuts and kind of didn't know how we were going to make money. We were so slow. I mean, there was barely a soul coming in to get a haircut, you know?
And it was really just the area at the time, but also, you know, we weren't retaining our clients. Why are we not retaining our clients? So we all had a meeting like, "Hey, what can we do to really kind of pump things up and not only that but make more money?"
Chad Jordan: So you had a meeting with your whole team?
Christina M.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chad Jordan: Okay.
Christina M.: So, we had a nice big store huddle. Everyone went around and you know, we were saying what works for us and what doesn't work for us.
Let's all say one thing, you know, and what we can improve on.
Chad Jordan: Are you writing this down? Are they filling out a paper?
Christina M.: A little bit of all of that, writing it down, you know, keeping it in your head, you know, really just putting down goals of what's going to make us more successful. So I think the biggest thing was consistency. Staying consistent and learning the five point play, a lot of role playing and ways to make it fun, because doing the same thing over and over and over, it gets boring, you know?
And you kind of lose that energy and having more pep rallies to enjoy each other and kind of see how everybody else works and have fun.
Chad Jordan: How often are y'all doing pep rallies?
Christina M.: About once every month, sometimes more than that-
Chad Jordan: At the store? Or you do them off-site?
Christina M.: Outside of the store for the pep rallies. The huddle is always at the store as soon as soon we close on Sunday. So usually about an hour, hour and a half for the huddle, pep rally, you know, one of the team members will actually plan it herself and then kind of make sure everybody wants to go. So, there's not just one of us showing up. We want everybody to show up and bring your husbands, bring your kiddos and just make it fun. Invite everybody.
Chad Jordan: What have been some of the most fun ones that you've been a part or that you've seen that maybe other stores could adopt?
Christina M.: You know, we just went to Chuy's this weekend. That was a lot of fun.
Chad Jordan: Mexican restaurant? Is that what that is?
Christina M.: Yeah, Mexican restaurant, Tex-Mex, you know, based out of San Antonio and Austin. So, it was a lot of fun. Everybody who wanted to come brought their kids, their husbands. We all ate, relaxed. We were there about three hours.
Chad Jordan: Important. You were sitting down.
Christina M.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chad Jordan: You're not on your feet, so you actually got to sit down and relax together.
Christina M.: Lovely. Very relaxing.
Chad Jordan: I mean, how often are you guys sitting together? Not often, right?
Christina M.: Not very often.
Chad Jordan: I'm so knucklehead when it comes to this kind of stuff. Logan Trophy. I know it's cool and you know, I see it at huddle. Everybody's in awe. What is the Logan Trophy all about? How do you get to it? Explain that a little bit to me if you can.
Christina M.: So the Logan Trophy usually takes at least a good two years to, you know, kind of pump everything up as far as your net sales, a lot of growth for the most part. But client count retention. Definitely all of your sales, your retail sales and that's one thing that we really worked on was back-bar retail, total average ticket, service dollar per hour. Pumping all of those up, not only just for us to make more money, but you know, for our store to kind of be put on the map.
We never thought we'd get a Logan Trophy, but a couple years ago, I think 2016 is when I started seeing I think top 100 and I saw her name up there and I'm like, "Oh my God TX118, whoa, that's us."
Chad Jordan: So there's some sort of report that's out.
Christina M.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chad Jordan: How are you getting this report? Is it emailed to you by your team leader?
Christina M.: It's emailed at the end of the quarter. Probably about two weeks after is when everything starts kind of generating. So, two weeks at the end of the quarter, we'll get an email knowing kind of where we're at for the year so far.
So yeah, we were top 100. The next thing I know, maybe three months later we're, you know, top 50 and then I hear we're like, top 10. So that was lovely but kind of doesn't mean anything until you start really working your way up. So, 2017. God, it was such a great year. Ended the first quarter not a clue where we were ranked. Into the second quarter, still don't have a clue. I knew we were doing really good because we were growing. We grew 30% in a year. Pretty dang awesome. So a lot of growth. But the main thing is we were retaining our team members, so we're retaining our clients, seeing the same faces.
Chad Jordan: For sure.
Christina M.: That was one of our biggest goals when we came to this store to revamp everything up was how are we going to make our team members happy, understand how they get paid, but also keep them there. So once we were able to-
Chad Jordan: What do you think you figured out?
Christina M.: Hiring the right people. Asking the right questions in the interview, taking your time to interview, make sure that they're interviewing you and you're interviewing them. There was a lot of questions that an interviewee is going to come in with, you know, and sometimes it's not always me answering those questions until they actually ask them, so I can talk and talk about what we offer. But finally when I ask them, "Hey, what questions do you have for us?" They're usually really great questions. So yeah, I just want to make sure we're the right fit for them.
You know, spending 30 minutes in an interview sometimes doesn't always cut it. Maybe a little bit longer. Maybe ask them a question on how long can you be on your feet before you take a break? That's an honest question. Sometimes we're so short. We're so tight scheduled and busy busy during the holidays and can't always take a break after three hours of being there. We just want to give our interviewees the right answers and kind of set them up for what they're expecting.
So yeah, that's the main thing, is hiring the right people because you don't want to hire people that eventually are going to leave in a week or a month. I don't want to waste your time or clients' time or my time or our team members' time, you know, to keep you here. So yeah, just getting the right people on our team and making sure our team meets them, you know, right after the interview, "Hey, you know, if you want to come in and ask a couple questions," and usually I might step out for a second, use the bathroom real quick, whether it's a minute, two minutes, five minutes at least.
Chad Jordan: Strategically, you're doing this? I just did the air quotes, people listening to the podcast can't see that, where you're really not stepping out ... You're just doing that to give your other team members a chance to come in and check in.
Christina M.: Get to know them.
Chad Jordan: Oh, I like that.
Christina M.: It makes it fun.
Chad Jordan: And you probably get the feedback from your team members too, like, "I really like him or her," or if they ask that kind of weird question, "Did they ask you this?" So, that's great vetting.
Christina M.: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
PART 2 OF 3 ENDS [00:28:04]
Chad Jordan: ... this, so that's a great vetting strategy there.
Christina M.: They're comfortable with the culture because our team is so close. The team that we have, we've been there for three years, four years. There's 10 of us, and three of us have been there less than a year. Others have been there a year and a half, three years, or four. Everybody's been there a long time.
Coming into a team that's been there for a while, we all work well together. We kind of cut up on the floor together and have a good time. We need to make sure that they fit in pretty well. We don't want them to be uncomfortable. We're so close, so you come in and you're kind of real shy and off to the side. We want to wake you up a little bit and shake you up and make you comfortable.
Chad Jordan: I got a question, and it's about the actual Logan trophy. It'll be show on the podcast, the picture that'll go with the podcast. It's like the Stanley Cup, it's huge. Does it live in a store? Is it at your house on a mantle? Where does it reside?
Christina M.: It's pretty big. We had no intention, whenever we got it, to be bringing it all the way over to our store by ourselves because we're kind of small. I don't see myself safely carrying that inside.
Chad Jordan: I say we need a forklift in order to be able to transport it safely all over the place. I didn't know if it was like ... The Stanley Cup gets passed around from teammate to teammate, so I could just see a team member taking that home for photo ops with the family, and then passing it off to the next team member.
Christina M.: I think that'd be terrifying, not a good idea.
Chad Jordan: You're scared of dropping and breaking it.
Christina M.: Yeah. We kind of touch it like if we're petting it.
Chad Jordan: Oh, okay. Where does it live?
Christina M.: It's at the store. We have it at the store. It's got a nice, big space. It's on the very top shelf, definitely high up there to where the kids can't reach it. There's a lot of really nice wood and glass involved in each trophy.
Chad Jordan: Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Christina M.: Definitely don't want to damage it, but it's up there. We make sure we shine the glass.
Chad Jordan: It looks good, and I hope you add another one to your collection at some point.
Christina M.: That's our goal.
Chad Jordan: I know your story is successful. I know I've picked your brain a ton, so what I want to do ... Could I just end with 10 random questions?
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: I won't interrupt and ask anymore follow-up questions to these. There are just kind of fun little questions that I've got put aside here. I'm laughing at myself, too, because I had told you, I'm like, "When you get in here, make sure you turn off all your phones and any iPads, or anything."
Christina M.: Airplane mode.
Chad Jordan: Airplane mode, and then in the middle of the podcast, my phone goes off because I didn't disable my own. As we said before we got here, I'm on California time. We're in Texas right now. I'm jet lagged. I know you forgive me, thank you.
Christina M.: It's all good.
Chad Jordan: Anyways, here are the 10 questions to end the podcast in no particular order. I can't criticize or follow up with whatever your answer is, all right?
Christina M.: Okay.
Chad Jordan: Number one, which super power, Christina, would you most like to have?
Christina M.: That's a good one. I love Thor. My boyfriend and I are really big fans of Thor. Yeah, that'd be awesome.
Chad Jordan: So, what is the super power?
Christina M.: I'd be Thor all day.
Chad Jordan: Holding the big-
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: You're holding that big trophy, so the strength to wield some powerful [crosstalk 00:31:37]?
Christina M.: I would love to have that hammer. That hammer's pretty powerful, I'll take it.
Chad Jordan: I thought you were going to say, "Magical diaper changing power," or something.
Christina M.: No, but if I can just be like, "Hammer," and the hammer just comes straight to me, can't beat it.
Chad Jordan: Love it. Number two, what is your personal motto?
Christina M.: Oh, God. Life is good.
Chad Jordan: Life is good.
Christina M.: Life is so good. When you tell yourself all day, "Life is good," it doesn't get better than that. You're not going to have a bad day. There is no bad days.
Chad Jordan: Love it. Other than where you live now, where else in the world would you most like to live?
Christina M.: That's a great question, too.
Chad Jordan: The whole world.
Christina M.: I don't know, Austin's great. Florida's pretty nice. I know it's not fancy, but you got the beach ... 800 miles of beaches. You kind of can't beat that.
Chad Jordan: Okay, you would take Florida.
Christina M.: Yeah, anywhere in Florida. I'd be swimming with the manatees every day if I could.
Chad Jordan: Who is a celebrity you'd most like to meet one day?
Christina M.: A celebrity ... John Travolta.
Chad Jordan: John Travolta?
Christina M.: Yeah. He's pretty awesome.
Chad Jordan: As a Pulp Fiction fan, or [crosstalk 00:32:49]
Christina M.: Definitely a Pulp Fiction ... classic.
Chad Jordan: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Christina M.: No worries.
Chad Jordan: No worries?
Christina M.: Yeah.
Chad Jordan: So, your team members listen to this are like, "Yeah."
Christina M.: Yeah, they're probably going to-
Chad Jordan: Christina, we need to talk to you.
Christina M.: Yeah. It wears off on them. They start saying it. A lot of times, I'm like, "Sweet," and I hear them, "Sweet," to their clients.
Chad Jordan: "Sweet," and, "No worries."
Christina M.: Yeah. Sometimes I'll have a creepy whisper. I'll just kind of whisper something goofy and caring a lot less what people think sometimes. I'm sure other people in the waiting room are looking at me like, "Who is this weirdo?" You got to have fun, you got to cut up and act up, and really not care what people think.
Chad Jordan: Number six, what sound or noise do you love?
Christina M.: Maybe a baby laughing. A small toddler laughing is so funny and just contagious. We'll hear babies just giggle hysterically in the waiting room, and I'm like, "Oh, my God. That just melts my heart. I just want to go and hug that baby," you know?
Chad Jordan: Then, what sound or noise do you hate?
Christina M.: Sounds or noise ... God, that's a good one. I don't know, maybe just people complaining in general, whining about things that you really can't fix. I know that's not a sound or a noise, but it's something that just annoys the heck out of me. Yeah, I would say that.
Chad Jordan: You got to make a noise to complain.
Christina M.: That's true.
Chad Jordan: That works for me. What profession, other than your own, would you have been good at or at least had wanted to give it a try?
Christina M.: I don't know. As far as being a lawyer ... I thought, at some point, I could be a lawyer, "Oh, I can be a lawyer."
Chad Jordan: I can't tell you how many team members and managers I've interviewed, and that's the answer to that question, a lawyer. That's amazing. [crosstalk 00:34:53]
Christina M.: I thought being a lawyer, maybe I can have my voice be heard, get my point across, people are going to listen. You have to be aggressive, but just getting your point across. I thought that in high school. When I first went to Paul Mitchell ... maybe a month before I graduated ... Actually, my guidance counselor from school was the one that drove me all the way from Boerne in traffic at five o'clock to the Paul Mitchell in San Antonio. It was right before they opened up the school. It was brand new. I knew her pretty well. She really helped me after Katrina get on our feet, my family as well as myself, pointed me in the right direction.
I'm like, "God, this lady's going out of her way. I sure hope I like this school. I hope this is the right opportunity for me." I walked in that school and thought, "Holy moly, this is where I'm going to be." So many opportunities ... My family wasn't going to help me with school. They didn't have any money, so going in there thinking, "Wow, can I really do this?" Speaking of someone at the school as far as loans, and things like that ... scholarships as well, fast ways to get the money for school. It wasn't cheap. I remember walking in that school and feeling the love and the passion and feeling like this is where I'm supposed to be.
Chad Jordan: So, not regrets?
Christina M.: So many opportunities and life is good. Here I am all because of one person believed in me and my family, and took the drive out there to bring me.
Chad Jordan: That's awesome.
Christina M.: I loved it. I don't remember what your question was, but-
Chad Jordan: The question was what other career. You had mentioned lawyer. That was the one you were kind of ... but then you landed the dream job.
Christina M.: Oh, yeah.
Chad Jordan: Number nine and then we have one more. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Christina M.: I wouldn't even say the Logan Trophy. I'd say just building a team that has so much love and passion and culture and happiness, really just having fun. I think fun more than anything because a couple times I had days that weren't my favorite days or my best morning. Almost two weeks ago on a Saturday, I bumped into somebody at the red light right before I get into work. I thought, "Man, I haven't hit anybody in 10 years since I was 18."
Sure enough, bumped into him and thought, "God, I really got to get my butt into work. I probably should take five minutes and kind of cool off, but we're busy. Get your butt in there." As soon as I walked in, I'm thinking, "Let all that go. Maybe walk in the door and tell someone about what just happened, but today's going to be a good day ... walking in and just letting that go and having the bets day." Never even thought about my not so good morning. I'm so blessed to wake up every morning to have this team that I love, and I love going to work.
Chad Jordan: Give a shout out at team members. If you want to say their names real quick if you feel like rattling them off.
Christina M.: There's a total of 10 of us. We have a newest team member named [Dylan 00:38:06]. She's been there for three weeks now. We have Dylan, Jessica, Morgan, [Elsa 00:38:13], Marie, Sam, Heather, [Edsel 00:38:18], and [Helica 00:38:18].
Chad Jordan: We didn't forget anybody?
Christina M.: No.
Chad Jordan: Awesome because I don't want [crosstalk 00:38:28]
Christina M.: We can't have that, yeah.
Chad Jordan: Last question, If heaven indeed exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
Christina M.: God, that's a good question, too. What's up with all these great questions? I don't know, maybe that, "You are where you're meant to be," and I lived a pretty great life. I'm going to live forever and I'm going to do great things, so very excited for all the opportunities from Sports Clips.
Chad Jordan: You're a shining example of a star here at Sports Clips. We loved having you on the podcast. Obviously, TX-118 loves having you. Thank you so much for bringing the Logan Trophy all the way here, too.
Christina M.: Thank you, thank you.
Chad Jordan: For winning that sucker, congratulations on that, and for all the great advice that you gave managers and other team members out there, I hope they take it. Thanks everybody and tune in next time.
Christina M.: Bye guys.
PART 3 OF 3 ENDS [00:39:28]