My Story by Jon Gonzales

Who is Jon Gonzales?

Many of you are probably wondering why I am telling you my story;  it is not because I have an ego, it is because I want you to learn from my failures and successes. I want to share my 45 year journey with all my colleagues who are working and struggling to earn a very good living as well as helping our new generation of newcomers reach higher levels of excellence in the beauty profession.

Learning by trial and error is just too costly.

I want to share my journey of hard won experiences and ten years as an educator, so I can make your journey easier than mine.

It is my wish that my story will inspire those of you who may be struggling to build a better future for yourselves and your family, especially newcomers who are in beauty school.My message to all of you,never give up on your dreams! Anything is possible if you believe.

My Story

Like many young people I wandered  job to job seeking security for my family. I had to  decide what I wanted to do with my life along the way for job security. I  married at 19 and starting a family, I  wanted security and a better life for myself and my family. I chose the beauty profession as a part time job in case I lost my job in construction.Because there was no security in my construction job,I decided to enter the beauty profession because both my mother and brother owned a salon.

It took me 2 years to finish beauty school because I attended evening as well as work in the day time.

Upon getting my license, I started at my mother’s small salon. I only intended to earn part time money as insurance in case I needed full employment after losing my job.

I had to make it my full time job.

The first couple of years were difficult, I  wanted to quit many times, but with 6 children, I needed to have a plan in place.

It was sink or swim.

After going around in circles I finally realized that beauty school did not provide me with other critical skills I needed to develop my full learning and earning potential that would allow me to be successful in the beauty profession. To be fair, lack of initiative on my part also contributed to my struggles.

I finally realized I needed to learn more, a lot more. I was following the crowd looking for excuses to fail. I got caught up in the glitter and hype of hair shows; I needed more educational content, so I went on a rampage towards learning and self-improvement. As I learned more, I earned more. I learned to love my profession.

Pretty soon I became more passionate about education and my profession I chose as a career. Along the way, I also saw many flaws in education.

I developed my artistic skills by taking many advanced haircutting classes as well as private haircutting and barbering classes here in the United States and in Europe. In Europe I also took classes at the Jingles school of cutting in London, Luis Llongueras in Spain, Vidal Sassoon, as well as attending the world cup in Holland, France, England, and Spain.

I realized that if I wanted to stand above the crowd and gain a competitive edge with my competitors and grow my business I would have to develop other important skills such as client retention, develop self-motivation guidelines, social media, business management, marketing, self management, excelling at customer service, self-promotion, salesmanship, develop my people and communication skills, develop a  business mind set.

I needed to create value in my skills. The more I learned, the more earned. I took full responsibility for my own growth and development. I quit making excuses to fail.

I have been an education junkie ever since.

As I developed my skills, I decided to start my own salon; unfortunately I had no money, so I did my research and  learned how to write a compelling business plan, and received a direct loan from the Small Business Administration.

With a lot of hard work and personal sacrifices, I was able to establish a very profitable business and succeed as a salon owner.

I opened two other successful salons as well. After 43 years I was able to retire financially independent debt free.

I am telling you my story to give you a 30 year head start.

Some times you have to think outside the box,during during times  of adversity. In addition to improving my artistic skills  I learned how  to invest my money and read everything I could on how to achieve financial independence. I urge you to start cultivating your mind as entrepreneurs as well as your artistic skills.

During this time I kept a journal of all the challenges as well as finding solutions to these challenges, eventually writing my first book A Hairdresser’s Guide to Excellence, as well as finding other educational resources for hairdressers and salon owners.

As a salon owner, I worked hard at developing my leadership and  business management skills. I also took notes and finally wrote 4 books on Business Management for salon owners, as well as Personal Development Programs for Hairdressers.
My new book A Woman’s Guide to success and Happiness is currently under publication.

I hope my small story will help inspire  you to higher levels of excellence, personally, professionally, and financially.

I know many of you are struggling to make a good living and run a successful business. Don’t give up, if I can make it, so can you. A lot of you are a lot smarter than me. I formed HCDS to help you on your journey.

On July 22-23 I will be presenting my 2 day business seminar on in Las Vegas. Click here for complete information sometimes adversity presents many opportunities. I do  hope that my little story will restore your passion towards education and self improvement.

Hope to see you in Las Vegas for two days of valuable information , resources, and a seminar that can change your life.