About this podcast
SUMM IT UP is a podcast from Summit Salon Business Center that engages salon, school, barbershop and spa professionals on our shared path toward happiness in the beauty industry. Hosted by stylist, salon owner, educator, and “Top 30 Colorist Under 30” Blake Reed Evans, SUMM IT UP brings you frank conversations with changemakers from all corners of the beauty world, with a focus on business and interpersonal relationships. New episodes every Wednesday.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 128 episodes
- Listen again: Becoming a new Summit salon with Bianca Rose · 32 min · Episode 56Stylist, salon owner and influencer Bianca Rose speaks about bringing Summit systems to her existing salon.
- Struggling with retail? Try this experiment · 39 min · Episode 110Like most salons, Lisa Musgrove's needed a retail boost. So she offered her stylists an opportunity to open up, reset, and try something new.
- Decoding the generations on your salon team · 36 min · Episode 109Boomers, Gen X, Millenials, and Gen Z each bring something different and valuable to a salon company -- but we don't always understand each other
- Juggling your passions with salon owner/ brand artist Cody Evans · 33 min · Episode 108Cody Evans is the co-founder or Colour Collective Salon in Mobile, Alabama, and a L'Oréal Professionnel artist.
- Listen again: Guiding newbie styists with Lisa Giles · 31 min · Episode 82If you're a newbie or baby stylist or a salon owner looking to grow and retain new stylists, this episode is for you.
- Level up your retail game with Inovshop ft. Martin Spritzer · 36 min · Episode 107Salon retail can be a tough nut to crack. Inovshop's interactive digital displays give stylists a leg up by sparking guests' curiosity and providing education right in the salon.
- Building a $6 million business from the ground up w/ Urban Betty's Chelle Neff · 34 min · Episode 106How badly do you want it?
- What the heck are shareholders? Your people, your legacy with Lisa Lipani · 35 min · Episode 105Turn your salon company into a legacy business with a shareholder program.
- Navigating cancer as a (young) salon leader with Sarah Hooper · 31 min · Episode 104Dealing with cancer is hard enough without worrying about your business. How can you take care of yourself as a salon owner when life throws you a curve ball?
- Travel stylist and thriving with Trish Vereze · 32 min · Episode 78A specialist in color correction, Trish Vereze regularly travels between Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu to do hair.
- Future-proof salon: AI & the human touch ft. Phorest's Ronan Perceval · 35 min · Episode 103How new AI and automation tools can improve your ability to provide human customer service -- and grow your salon company.
- This salon grew more than 16% in 2025. Here's their formula · 31 min · Episode 102Blake Reed Evans sits down with Heather Meredith and Maegan Moore of Ahead of Hair Salon in Midlothian, Virginian to unpack how a legacy Summit salon achieved 16.76% growth in 2025
- Employees struggling? Lead with curiosity ft. Araceli Castaneda · 40 min · Episode 101A salon owner and leadership coach with degrees in psychology and marriate and family therapy, Araceli Castañeda is here to help.
- Reduce salon waste and boost your bottom line ft. Shane Price · 34 min · Episode 100Beauty shouldn't come at the planet's expense. Founder Shane Price explains how Green Circle Salons can help your salon company recover up to 95% of your waste, and boost your…
- Gaining a social media following as a colorist with Alejandro Lopez · 31 min · Episode 66Social media influencer and hair colorist extraordinaire Alejandro Lopez chats with Blake about how he established his brand as first a braider and then a colorist - and how he…
- How to get featured in SALON TODAY ft. Stacey Soble · 34 min · Episode 99Stacey Soble is editor in chief of SALON TODAY, your source for salon business news.
- Learn to recognize signs of domestic violence and how you can help ft. Liz McKeon · 30 min · Episode 98It's only 20 minutes and you just might save a life. Liz McKeon is UK & Irish Ambassador for Shear Haven Domestic Violence Training.
- Legacy, loyalty, and giving back with Lester Crowell · 32 min · Episode 97“He’s been with us for 13 years. He’s the new guy.” When host Blake Reed Evans heard those words on a visit to Three-13 Salon in Marietta, Georgia, he knew we had to talk about…
- Find your financial blind spots with Kevin Robinson · 35 min · Episode 96Summit CFO Kevin Robinson joins Blake for an essential conversation about financial literacy for salon owners.
- Inside a 4 generation family salon business with Chris Huffstutter · 38 min · Episode 95It all began with Viola, who's salon did so well that she made more money than the doctor who delivered her son -- in the Great Depression, no less. That son went to hair school…
