Anonymous...

Good business owners want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly...A very good business person is secure enough in his/her business practices to know that mistakes are made and it's a great way to be able to learn a valuable lesson.

While I would love to be able to say (as I'm sure every business person would) that we never make mistakes, this is simply unrealistic and untrue. The best places I have visited slips up ever so often, we are all human and can all sometimes use some constructive feedback. To a good business owner this is gold!

After owning my business for 5 years, I really believe that all of our clients know this, but it's worth repeating , I want the good, the bad and the ugly! I hope everyone knows how important this is to me and they know I want the chance always to fix the issue. The Bijou girls know this too and they too have adapted this approach, it's better to know what you are doing wrong than thinking you're doing it always right and nobody telling you! I never appreciated being "spared" the mistakes I made when I was a young stylist, how are you to grow? I always make it a point to go over it with the girls if this happens and evaluate what could be done instead, they have learned also to take constructive feedback without getting bothered. I would be doing them a disservice if I didn't tell them.

When I go to my favorite restaurant and I'm not happy, I used to shy away from telling the manager, but now owning my business...I know how useful and important this information is and that the owners appreciate getting a heads up, just as I do. It's really okay to be honest, helpful and truthful!

BUT what I don't like is "anonymous" reviews that don't feel exactly constructive, they feel more personal, more spiteful and just plain not playing nice on the playground! I remember being infuriated when reading comments on Syracuse.com about Tim Green and Adam Weitsman, two men that I admire greatly, I hate people who spew hate and post anonymous, really?! Don't they remember when our Mothers told us, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?!

We've had two very similar reviews from "anonymous", both saying similar things that our staff is inexperienced and young. I hate to be so blunt, but anonymous in at least one of these cases could be renamed "obvious"! (click here and scroll all the way to the bottom) Notice who "anonymous" insists on going to instead of us, hmm, coincidence?

I would like to address a couple things in this review, it says that the reviews on the web were made by friends and staff of Bijou. I can assure you none were made by staff at all, and they were all made by clients (who in fact are friends of Bijou)! It said we have a high turnover rate, hmm, yes, over the last 5 years 4 were let go for irreconcilable differences you could say, 4 moved to different areas, (and all have said they miss Bijou terribly) 1 decided to stay home with her kids and 1 went on disability full time. We have almost all our original staff and they claim they are lifers. But guess what, in this industry, there is a lot of change and ultimately I will always do what is good for our business. Sometimes it's better for everyone! And years of experience? Well let's just say there are 10 of us and total years combined experience is 92 years, we are a true team so we all mentor the young girls and help each other!

This same review also said the number of bad reviews from locals are infinite, I find this also amusing as I hear so often that the Bijou name comes up at football banquets, wrestling matches, events and clients are always so proud to say that they go there and report back to me what nice things are said. If there is one thing I know, it's our reputation is very solid. I guess this is what eats anonymous up!

So normally I would not jump on my soap box and use this as a platform to vent, but sometimes you just get fed up. All of my friends know, that I am always the one to see the good in everyone, I tend to be very naive when it comes to people not doing nice things and genuinely make excuses for most people's behaviors. While I'm super patient, I also have a breaking point like most people! It's silly, there is plenty of business for everyone, nobody needs to get nasty and make anonymous comments. Work hard at improving your own station in life instead of using immature tactics such as posing as "anonymous", try to build yourself up instead of only trying to sabatoge others. This is always more effective!

I'm a true believer in karma. You get what you give, whether it's bad or good.

This is the first time and only time I will post about such an issue:) It's all hair, hair products, stories at Bijou, doing good and all general happiness from here on out! Amen!