Over the years, working with A-list clients and competing with thousands of hairstylists for high-status bookings, I’ve seen firsthand the difference between stylists who plateau in their careers, and those who rise to the top.
Talent matters, but it’s not everything. Elevating your work and your career is about so much more than the hair service you provide.
Here are the top five mistakes I see stylists make that hold them back from reaching their career goals.
1. Prioritizing Trends Over Technique
No look lands unless the foundation is solid. You can’t copy what’s trending on TikTok or the hottest celebrity cut without understanding the techniques that created it.
True elevation comes from simplicity, not complexity. It’s knowing how to create clean shapes with purpose and how to adapt them for real clients under real pressure.
The Solution: Go back to the basics and re-master the foundations of your craft. Pick up a classic haircutting book, take a fundamentals-focused course, or even revisit core techniques through digital tutorials.
Trends come and go but shape, balance, and structure never stop being relevant.
Consider committing to two technique-based education sessions per year to keep your theory sharp and front-of-mind.
When your fundamentals are strong, you can translate them into any trending look with confidence.
2. Thinking a Better Salon Will Fix Everything
Switching salons might feel like progress, but it’s not a solution if you’re still working the same way you always have.
In my career, I’ve seen stylists hop from salon to salon hoping the latest move will resolve issues they experience at work. But remember the saying: "Wherever you go, there you are." That is, your environment can only reflect the energy you bring.
If you're struggling or dissatisfied in your career, consider that the workplace might not be the source of the problem. Ask yourself what you can do to improve your work life right here, right now.
I have had my biggest success behind the chair when I treated every client like royalty, was confident in my work, and pushed myself. That's been true whether I have worked behind the chair at a small-town salon or backstage at New York Fashion Week.
The Solution: Start seeing yourself as a business within your business.
This shift gives you more control and helps you focus on what you can influence — yourself — and not what you can't, i.e. the salon environment.
For me, this was a game changer. I stopped relying on the salon’s marketing or education and began investing in myself: learning independently, building my client relationships, and creating my own momentum.
The freedom that comes from that mindset shift is powerful and it stays with you, no matter where you work.
3. Neglecting to Market Themselves
In New York, I'm surrounded by insanely talented stylists who are languishing under the radar because they aren't visible.
In today’s beauty industry, it doesn’t matter how good your work is if nobody sees it. Wherever I’ve worked — on set for an editorial photoshoot, backstage in a Broadway theater, or in a celebrity's hotel suite styling them for the red carpet — I’ve made sure the work is documented and posted to social media.
Publicizing my own work is how doors originally opened for me, and how new opportunities continue to find me again and again.
If you’re not posting because you’re too shy, too busy, or don’t want to “be a content creator,” just know someone with better marketing habits than you will book the client you want, even if they can't touch your skills as a stylist.
The Solution: Set aside a regular window each week to create content. Even 30 minutes makes a difference.
Posting at the same time each day builds a routine and makes consistency easier.
Personally, I create content on the fly when inspiration hits or when I’m doing something worth sharing — but I always post in the mornings. That rhythm has become second nature.
Consistency doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to happen.
4. Focusing Only on the Cut, Not the Client
Cutting someone like Nick Jonas for the Met Gala, or Bad Bunny for his SNL appearance, involves more than just working with hair. You’re shaping how someone feels … on camera, in the room, about themselves.
Stylists often miss this. They perfect the technique but forget about presence, connection, and trust.
Clients don’t just come back to you because of what you did. They come back because of how you made them feel.
The Solution: Ask open-ended questions during the consultation. These invite conversation and help you understand who is in your chair beyond their hair.
I ask clients about their work, their routines, what they’ve tried in the past. Just by staying curious, I learn so much more about what clients want and need for their hair. From there, we can collaborate on something that fits them — a much more personal basis for their look beyond an inspo photo.
That connection is what turns a good haircut into a great experience.
5. Refusing Feedback or Outside Perspective
If you think you’re already doing your best work, you’ve probably stopped growing.
You can’t elevate your work without taking advice, inspiration, and criticism from those around you. I’ve had notes from creative directors, photographers, and even clients that completely changed the way I approached things.
Every stylist who’s made it to the top — whether on set, backstage, or behind the chair — is still a student. That’s the mindset that keeps you leveling up. Nobody was ever so good they had nothing left to learn.
The Solution: Don’t be too hard on yourself. Growth doesn’t come from perfection; it comes from openness.
If someone offers feedback, try it. Apply it even briefly and see what comes up. If it doesn’t land, nothing’s lost. But if it reveals something helpful, something massive has been gained. You’ve just leveled up!
Every day is an opportunity to learn, adjust, and refine.
Marc Ballance is an Irish-born celebrity and editorial stylist, salon educator, content creator, and beauty business consultant based in New York City.
