PhorestFM: Stories From the Salon Floor
The salon industry has a lot to be proud of. Phorest has always been in awe of it. The energy. The camaraderie. The creativity. Being a business owner takes courage, but it can sometimes become an isolating, all-consuming reality. Amidst the daily whirlwind of tasks, there’s still the challenge of thinking ahead, of carving a path forward. The PhorestFM podcast celebrates innovative ideas, methods, and perspectives on business management and growth, marketing, leadership, and building great teams and cultures. Launched in 2017, it is hosted by Alex Bélisle-Springer (he/they), Global Education Content Lead at Phorest Salon Software. As of Season 9 (2025), new episodes air every second week, with occasional bonus drops on ”off” weeks.
Episodes

Monday Oct 26, 2020
Inside Phorest: Text Conversations With Your Clients, at Your Fingertips
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
[184] In a post-COVID world, less waiting time for clients inside the salon is essential. This week's episode features recent podcast recaps in addition to an interview with Rob Hewitt, Head of Product Marketing & Retention at Phorest. In said interview, he’ll be discussing Phorest’s latest US feature, Phorest Chat. Bringing the human touch to your clients will never have been easier with one-to-one text conversations with your clients from your dedicated salon SMS number.
Links:
Watch the US “Lifestyle Recruiting” webinar on-demand: https://bit.ly/2GcUWHO
Watch the UK/IE “Back On Track” webinar on-demand: https://bit.ly/34EdHNB
Watch the AUS “Booking Policy” webinar on-demand: https://bit.ly/34DXZCb
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Oct 19, 2020
#CEA2020: Celebrating Excellence in Service
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
[183] This episode is dedicated to the hard-working, busy salon professionals. The ones who commit each day of their professional lives to make their clients look and feel amazing. It aims to celebrate excellence in service, how much salons care for their clients, and how hard they work to gain an excellent reputation.
Featuring feel-good stories, reflections, and tips from Phorest Client Experience Award recipients in both the UK and the US, we hope to make you smile, perhaps even pick up the phone and check-in on some of those wonderful clients of yours who always seem to make your day shine brighter.
More specifically, you’ll first hear from Robbie Ellis, Sales Director at the Beauty Temple Group, Sophie Hare, Owner of HARE, and Beauty — both in the UK. Following suit, you’ll hear from Cynthia Perry, Owner of Cynergy Color Bar, Marcia Mehrali, Owner of Beneath The Surface Spa and Heather Spath, Owner of Mod Hair Color Salon & Beauty Store — all three in the US.
Links:
Watch the UK/IE “Back On Track” webinar on-demand: https://bit.ly/3e5oBiJ
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Oct 12, 2020
Georgia Bell on Mentoring, Commitment & Investing in Yourself
Monday Oct 12, 2020
Monday Oct 12, 2020
[182] If you don't already meet someone like a salon coach or a mentor to discuss your career or business setbacks or to plan for the future, then you should. Having a few people in your corner is one of the most invaluable things. However, finding a mentor doesn't happen overnight, and for it to be a successful arrangement, you'll need to show up and put the relationship before the mentorship.
Featuring salon owner, educator and celebrity stylist Georgia Bell (@georgiabellhair, @societybygeorgiabell), this week's episode discusses the right and wrong ways to approach people who inspire you, why mentors look for commitment, investing in yourself & paying it forward, as well as Georgia's education programs.
Links:
Learn more about Georgia, her salon and education: www.societygeorgiabell.co.uk
Register for the Data Driven Salon Experience: https://www.datadrivensalon.com/experience
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Oct 05, 2020
Karan Burke on Leading With Humility & Drive
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
[181] When you think of great leadership, the words that come to mind might be accountability, confidence, passion, empathy, transparency, self-awareness and integrity. Rarely do we think about humility first. Yet, leading with humility can have profound and positive impacts on one's inner circle and peers.
Featuring Karan Burke, Director of Ebano Ballinteer, Myskincare.ie, and Co-Founder of The Beauty Managers, this week's episode discusses facing adversity with leadership, drive & a positive outlook, finding stillness through change, building security for yourself & others, and much more.
Links:
Register for the Data Driven Salon Experience: https://www.datadrivensalon.com/experience
Register for the "Back On Track" Live Webinar: https://bit.ly/36Ig2IH
Learn more about The Beauty Managers: https://thebeautymanagers.com/
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Sep 28, 2020
Inside Phorest: Your 5-Star Fan Club Is Waiting
Monday Sep 28, 2020
Monday Sep 28, 2020
[180] September: less episodes, lots of planning! We're headed into the last quarter of the year and preparing the 13 remaining episodes to Season 4. This week on the show, we talk about online reputation with Salon Business Advisor Sinéad Norman, discuss our recent episode on community, announce a few upcoming blogs, webinars and everything else in between.
Links:
[Blog] The Importance Of Reviews & Getting To The Top Of Google With The Phorest Online Reputation Manager: https://bit.ly/3jltypm
[Webinar] Lifestyle Recruiting, Building A Salon Team That Helps You Scale: https://bit.ly/3n71Vmb
[Online Event] Data Driven Salon Experience Free Registration, from Sept.28 to Oct.30: https://www.datadrivensalon.com/experience
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Sep 14, 2020
Alison Alhamed on the Life-Changing Power of Community
Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
[179] Suppose life longevity can be rooted in our level of connection to others. Would it be such a great leap to think that career longevity might have its roots in connection too? What if the story we made ourselves about successful people and success too often failed us; made us doubt our worth, skills, knowledge, experiences? What if support from like-minded people and professionals was at times all we needed to keep going?
Featuring Alison Alhamed, Vice President of Social Media & Community at R+Co, this week's episode takes a look into the meaning of "community," and discusses how brand-engineered ones can positively impact businesses, careers and lives altogether.
Links:
Learn more about R+Co: https://www.randco.com
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Aug 31, 2020
Inside Phorest: Slicker Than Ever Marketing to Help Fill Your Calendar
Monday Aug 31, 2020
Monday Aug 31, 2020
[178] This ‘new normal’ definitely hasn’t come without its challenges, but the good news is Phorest is here to help. Catch up on everything that's happened in August! This week's episode features recent blog and podcast recaps in addition to an interview with Product Manager Aisling Scolard on Phorest Salon Software's new and improved Email Editor.
Links:
[Blog] Digital Consultation Forms, A Step Closer To Your Safe & Paperless Salon: https://bit.ly/2ED7qYa
[Blog] Taking Control Of Your Colour Business With Vish: https://bit.ly/3gF2NtD
[Blog] Life Beyond COVID-19, Your Have 3 Types Of Salon Customers: https://bit.ly/34VCOMz
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Aug 24, 2020
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Sarah Doyle on Two Decades of Phorest Features
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
[177] This week's conversation is more like a story, a trip down memory lane, as the title suggests. On the show, we welcome Sarah Doyle, owner of Templeogue Beauty Clinic (@templeoguebeauty) in Dublin — one of Phorest Salon Software's first clients, going back 17 years ago. We discuss her journey with Phorest, what it was like back in the days, the features she's adopted over time, and how from listening to clients, she's gained insights into what they look for in a salon; what's important to them.Links:Visit Templeogue Beauty Clinic's website: https://templeoguebeautyclinic.ie/index.htmlClick here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Aug 17, 2020
Derek Anthony on Growing a Seven-Figure Business Using Mobile Technology
Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
[176] Reaching the $1+ million in revenue mark in business doesn't mean everything is smooth sailing or running at its peak performance; growing pains are still very much part of the process. And while they can be challenging in the moment, overcoming them can create competitive advantage opportunities.
A little over a year ago, NYC-based salon D Anthony (@d_anthonyhair) underwent a culture reset led by entrepreneur, salon owner and master stylist Derek Anthony (@derek__anthony_), for which the central theme was modernization.
Featuring the man himself, this week's episode discusses what rethinking the D Anthony brand and its operations both required, as well as how communication and mobile technology usage — among other things — were vital pieces to the salon's next stage of business growth.
Links:
Visit the DAnthony salon website: http://danthony.com/
Schedule a complimentary call on Culture Curators: https://www.myculturecurators.com/bookings/
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Monday Aug 10, 2020
James Davis on Leading Through Change & Becoming a Community Linchpin
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
[175] When the coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year, James Davis went back to digging deep, working 16-hour days, and thinking outside the box to figure out what he could do to keep his various business operations alive and lead positively through change and uncertainty.
Enabling his salon, Clay, to financially evolve while supporting the team with a new work platform as they returned, his 'thinking outside the box' mindset also led to a village togetherness featured in national newspapers and magazines. Inspired by the "Pay It Forward" mentality and determined to give back to the very people who had contributed to his entrepreneurial success over the years, James Davis pulled together volunteers from all fields and launched Oxshott Delivery.
In this episode, hear Phorest's CEO Ronan Perceval and entrepreneur James Davis discuss recent projects, what changes both lockdown and reopening have brought to his salon, and how leading positively through change positioned him and his local businesses as community linchpins.
Links:
Visit Clay Salon's website: https://clayhairsalon.com
Click here to subscribe to the weekly Phorest FM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1
This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.
Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm
Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.