First In A Series
For more than 40 years, The Changing Room Salon (https://www.changingroomsalons.com/) has been revolutionizing the hair styling industry with unique services and business practices that improve the customer experience. Founded in 1981 by United Kingdom natives Tony and Chris Gold, the Aventura-based Changing Room has weathered economic cycles, the pandemic, and competition to remain as one of the finest salons in the country. Today the salon is managed by Tony and Chris’s son, Justin Gold, who has brought new systems and focus to the business.
In this Question & Answer session, Justin discusses what makes The Changing Room unique.
Question (Q): Justin, please tell us a little bit about your background.
Justin Gold (JG): Sure. Initially, I wasn’t interested in running the family business. I have a rather interesting background. For a number of years, I was actually a professional break-dancer. I worked with a financial services company, managed the electronics for the touring Disney on Ice show, and was the general manager of a prestigious retail store. I also have two business degrees, one in Finance and the other is in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Florida State University.

Q: What got you interested in the family business.
JG: As my parents began to age, I just found that managing the business presented some very interesting challenges. And my previous professional positions – except for break-dancing – taught me that successful businesses must continually change, implement new systems, and not always do things because that’s how things have always been done. If you don’t continually adapt and grow, you die.
Q: How did the pandemic affect the business?
JG: Well, as with all “high touch” businesses, we were devastated by the pandemic. But with a loyal group of customers and employees, we were able to stay afloat. Quite frankly, the down time gave us an opportunity to really focus on how to move the business forward.
Q: Can you elaborate, please?
JG: Of course, we had to adjust our business model as to our relationship with our pre-pandemic services and how we wanted to safely protect our team. We chose to focus strictly on what we do best, and that was hair services. In addition we enforced every safety protocol possible to help keep the team and our guests safe. Because of our unique salary based pay structure, everyone on our team were not only able to collect unemployment easily while we were shut down, but once we were allowed to reopen, I was able to offer them signing on bonuses to return to work. This has resulted in unwavering loyalty, hence why the majority of our stylist have been with us for +15 plus years!
Q: It seems as though your experience with several large organizations prepared you for taking The Changing Room to the next level. Is that accurate?
JG: Absolutely. Successful organizations make an investment in their people. Another thing we have done is to create a very sophisticated training program for new employees. Each new stylist is assigned to a mentor who basically teaches them about how we do things here. It includes how we great customers, clean the working areas, and provide services. It’s basically, an apprenticeship program. Once new stylists advance through the program, they earn their chair. They are being paid well before they start earning money for the salon. We’re making an investment in them, and this builds loyalty and a very positive culture. The proof is in the pudding – we have very little turnover in our stylist team.

Q: Is there anything else you learned from being in Corporate America?
JG: One very important lesson is knowing when and how to adjust your business model during trying times. As stated before the decision to assess each area of the business to determine the most profitable margins and where to cut costs. We’ve phased out ancillary services such as manicures/pedicures, facials and waxing. Many salons want to be full-service spas. That is not our goal. We want to be the best hair stylists in South Florida with the best professional delivering this service to provide an outstanding customer experience.

Q: I see that you’ve gained national recognitions for your management systems.
JG: Yes, we’ve been named one of the Top 200 Salons in all of North America six of the last nine years, for best management practices, extraordinary customer services, employee compensation and more by Salon Today Magazine. I’ve lectured at numerous national industry conventions. And, we’re a Black Elite #1 seller of Loreal’s Matrix Color line in Florida.
Q: So, what’s next for The Changing Room?
JG: Our goal at this point is to stay the course and refine all of the new practices and strategies we’ve been implementing. We pride ourselves on staying ahead of the trends of technology wit in our industry with not only our personal salon app but also a tech-based color waste management system to help minimize our carbon footprint on the environment. We’re on the right track and look forward to continued growth as we continue to improve the already outstanding exceptional customer experience.