Episode 89: Inside the Beauty Business

Salon owners will use intimidation because they can. They understand that a lot of the women they hire - we have a lot of single mothers, we have a lot of women who are in households that depend on their income even though it isn’t very much.
— Tina Alberino
Photo by Marili Forastieri/DigitalVision / Getty Images
Photo by Marili Forastieri/DigitalVision / Getty Images
I’ve had to tell my bosses a few times, ‘You keep pulling this kind of stuff on me I will leave.’ And mean it.
— Catherine, salon worker

Self-care. You hear that phrase all the time if you're a professional woman. We're all urged to care for ourselves, to take time to do yoga, go to the gym, maybe indulge ourselves with a little beauty treatment once in a while. Many of us get something done on a regular basis - from a haircut to waxing. But how often do we think about the working conditions of the women who work on us? In this show we take a look inside the beauty business - and it isn't pretty. 

tina alberino

My guests are one of my listeners, spa and salon worker Catherine, and beauty industry consultant and educator Tina Alberino. She writes and publishes ThisUglyBeautyBusiness.com and is the author of The Beauty Industry Survival Guide.