Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations

Is Retail Dead? How One Stylist Rebuilt Profitable Retail Without Ulta or Amazon

• Lisa Huff

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Retail used to feel simple. You trusted your brands, your clients trusted you, and selling products was part of the relationship—not a battle against the internet.

For many stylists today, that’s no longer the case.

In this episode of Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations, Lisa sits down with longtime Soul Tribe member Amanda Tustin to talk about what happens when retail starts to feel broken—and what it actually takes to rebuild it in today’s industry.

Amanda shares her honest journey of nearly walking away from retail after years of frustration with minimum buy-ins, lack of support, inconsistent product performance, and competing with Amazon and big-box retailers. She opens up about the emotional and financial exhaustion of trying line after line—and why loving your product is non-negotiable if you expect clients to buy it.

Together, they unpack:

  • Why so many stylists feel disconnected from retail right now
  • What’s changed in brand–stylist relationships over the last decade
  • How to evaluate brands beyond trends and “clean” marketing
  • How Amanda brought clients along for a retail transition without pressure
  • Why retail is about trust, not just profit margins

This conversation isn’t about pushing a product—it’s about naming an industry shift and giving stylists permission to rethink retail in a way that actually feels aligned.

If you’ve ever thought “retail just isn’t worth it anymore,” this episode is for you.

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Connect with Lisa Huff

Welcome to Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations. I'm your host, Lisa Huff. Over the last five years I've coached hundreds of hairstylists and beauty industry professionals, helping them work their dream schedules exclusively with their dream clientele and earn their dream income. All while fostering genuine connections and lifelong friendships inside the beauty industry. In this podcast, we dive deep into abundance, manifestation, business building strategies, and creating a life that you are truly proud of, both behind the chair and at home. Are you ready to embark on a journey of personal growth, success, and sisterhood? Then hit that subscribe button now and get ready to experience the pure magic of Stylist Soul Tribe conversations. Hello friends. Welcome back to Stylists Soul Tribe Conversations. I am joined today by Amanda Tustin. She is a member of Stylists Soul Tribe. we were having a conversation a couple weeks back on a regular Soul Tribe call about her. Retail journey and bringing on a new retail line, and I was like, we need to do a podcast about this. So thank you so much, Amanda, for coming on. I'm so excited to chat with you today. Thank you, Lisa. I'm excited to be here today. So tell everyone a little bit about you, a little bit about your business, and then we will dive into retail, but I wanna give them some context to start with. Okay. yes. I've been doing, working behind the chair for about 20 years now. I've been married for 14 and a half. We've have two kids, two boys, nine and 11. I really worked very small mom and pop shop for majority of the beginning of my career. Really focused on my babies once they came along. And then when my turned five, I realized he was gonna be in school and I needed to have another creative outlet again. So I leaned back into my business. I started following the Thriving Stylist podcast, with Brit, and I started implementing some of the things that she was coaching just through the podcast, and I saw The momentum started and my business started to take off, so I went ahead and joined Thrivers and it really turned my business around. worked through that program. Really wanted to keep that community after I moved out of like an, I was in a booth, renter situations. It was an open air salon. I moved into a private studio in 2020. Post COVID and I missed being around people. So that's when I found Stylist Soul Tribe, and Lisa. the last probably about two years, I've been looking for a new retail line. I used Redkin for most of my career. I bought into Inters Sense a few years back, about six months before they started selling online and in Ulta. the industry was buzzing about it and I thought maybe my clients would be interested in cleaner products. So I went with them after using them for about a year and a half. They just weren't giving me and my clients the results that we needed anymore. And there was. Not a lot of support either. I started in this business back when brands had a partnership with stylists and salons. Bottles said, guaranteed only one sold by a salon professional on them. it was a relationship that you had. You had a rep that would come in and they knew about you and your history and what you focused on, and they would bring you new products and innovative stuff, and it's just. That's not the way the industry is anymore. so not only was I disappointed in the, the way the line worked, but the support wasn't there either. Hmm. So I started looking into other brands. I spent a lot of time and money. Investing in learning about brands, taking their product knowledge I did get to the point where I thought I would just not sell retail. But I had done a lot of research and time in it. I knew I still wanted to sell. I wasn't selling inner sense because I didn't love it. Yeah. so it was just getting on my, my shelf. I was successful in the past with Redkin, which is what I carried before a few of their products. I really loved and pureology my clients still talk about the Pureology product, the color fanatic that I sold them a decade ago. If you don't love your product, you're not gonna sell it. If you're not passionate about it Yeah. And obsessed with it, you're not gonna tell your clients like you would tell your best friend, like, oh my God, you have to have this. You are gonna love it. so Inners sense wasn't giving me that. So I did start looking at other lines. There's just so many hurdles, especially as a small, independent business. Mm-hmm. there were brands, big brands that wouldn't respond to my emails. There were other brands that, sure, you can sell our product line, but you have to buy three of our 10 packages and the cheapest three being$2,600, which totally, like, very much cater to a full salon. So trying to find a brand that worked, because there were a lot of brands that made promises that when I got my hands on, the product just did not deliver. so something that worked, but also someone that was willing to work with me and I didn't even think it was possible. Someone that was excited to work with me The way. I tried probably eight. Different lines. each time I would start out looking into a line, I would go on their website, learn about who they are, what their values are as a company, and then start looking at their different products. I would reach out to them, To get to see if they would give me a discount on trying a few things. Some brands would send me little travel size packages mm-hmm. to try, which were great'cause it, I could bring it to the salon and try it on my clients. I could use it at home to try it on myself to see how I liked it. Did you have some, like non-negotiables that you were looking for when it came to a brand, when you started this hunt and this search? Like, what was it that you were trying to find and how, what were you saying when you were reaching out to these brands? Well, I don't think there was anything like non-negotiables. I had hopes and dreams, but I also realized that our industry has changed and evolved so much. I really wanted, I was looking for what we used to have 20 years ago. I was looking for a partnership, but I didn't think that existed anymore. I needed to fill my client's needs. I needed products that had slip, shine, detangle, thermal protectants holds, I have a niche down clientele. I specialize in dimensional hair color and extensions. So I don't need a lot of little, like sticky hard paste or hard hold gels. I don't see men, I don't do short pixie cuts. I don't do a lot of curly hair styling. I have a few curly clients. so I really didn't need, like a lot of the brands that are like, oh, you have to pick three of our packages. I love when you said that you went on their websites to see what their core values were, to see what their brand stood for.'cause it sounds like what you were looking for was Product performance. But like you weren't asking for a whole lot when it comes to product performance. Like you were just wanting some simple products that get the job done, but you were really, really looking for, lines that weren't selling elsewhere, that were really delivering from a professional's first approach. Yes. That was kind of the main concern you would say. Yeah, but I also was realistic in like. Does that even exist anymore? I know, yeah. I didn't think it existed anymore. Reached out to a bunch of brands and then where did that lead? Yeah, so, you know, I got a lot of. hard nosed that wouldn't work with me or just wouldn't be flexible in what I could buy. but each brand that I did feel like I wanted to work with, I would research the brand, reach out to the brand, try the product. I would take the product knowledge class because I wanna know about every single product you have, how to use them best. I get on their social media so I can see how stylists are cocktailing, and using things differently than what's on the package. so I really did a lot of research. I bought a few things to use and sell to my clients, being open and honest about my journey with my clients and asking for their feedback on products. So I bought a lot of like travel size so they could try. And just be honest with me about it. I reached out to my Soul tribe because I was running out of brands to try and I was about to give up. And just start using Redkin Pureology again and not, not have retail in the salon. They could go online, but Alta mm-hmm. I was just, I was exhausted with my search. I reached out to, the mega group in SEO Tribe. Got a couple other leads on product lines that were just. You know, okay. Like the performance wasn't there. And there the support was just like everything else, and then I had Mel reach out to me, And Arco Polo, and told me about a brand called Seven. Mm-hmm. And seven has just blown me away with their old school mentality of this being a partnership of me being their client. Not direct to consumer sales. it's what I've been searching for. They don't, they sell on Amazon and they sell directly on their website, but they sell at a higher price point than what. I sell in the salon because they want my customer to come buy from me. Mm-hmm. And so that's an incentive. How much higher is it on their website? In Amazon, it's like two to$3 per product. So if you're buying shampoo, conditioner, and a styling product, mark up price, that's Yes. Two, it's selling for two or$3 more than I sell it, depending on the product. Higher profile price. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I mark it up. Traditionally the way we do. Yeah. Mm-hmm. so they also, their minimum buy-in is a hundred dollars. So if anybody wanted to try them as a small business, and you just wanted to grab a few things that you really loved and retail those to your clients, every time you place an order, it just has to be a hundred dollars, which is easy to do. they did offer packages, which had a lot of perks with them, including a buyback program, which no brand that I had talked to had mentioned. Any sort of buyback program. Let's talk about the buyback program. Yeah. What did they have to offer for that? So they were offering, in their back bar rewards, so they would give me points to use for free products. they were offering 75% of my cost on. Each inter sense product that I had on my shelf. Okay. Up to half of the package price. Wow. So their basic package was like 1600 bucks. So I had over with taking into that just 75%. Price. So like if it was a$10 my cost, they were giving me 77 50 on that product. Yeah. Better than trying to like clearance these all out or just scrap'em or, yeah. Right. Or I don't love it, so I'm not going to sell it to my clients, you know? Yeah. Like, I don't feel good about doing that, so. Totally. so yeah, so they, I had more than that, so I met, the most they were gonna give back to me was half of that package price, which was$800 in free product. They told me typically, like with these. Programs in the past, you would destroy, you know, the product or you would ship it back to the company and they would destroy it. but this company was different. They told me to donate the product to a charity of my choice, and the only proof that they wanted from me was a photo of a receipt. That's amazing. Which blew my mind. Like it's not, I feel like it's not just about profit. Totally with this company. Totally. They have values and morals and they want to build something together with me. Amazing. Yeah. So every time I spend a dollar, I get back bar rewards. I can offer sales to my clients multiple times a year. I'm looking forward to doing that next year. I have never been able to give my clients sales like they can get an Ulta in Amazon because they're buying power. I don't have that buying power as a teen. Tiny little discount. Yeah, I definitely. Feel like in this, in our industry over the last five to 10 years, the retail has so changed, and I know there's chatter and some people think retail's dead in the professional salon industry. Some people think that it's just shifting. based on the amount of stylists that I talked about on a regular basis, I don't think it's dead. I think there's a lot of people that are selling retail, selling them really, really well. I think even more so than a revenue producer. Retail is a nurturing, Piece for me. I feel like there's something that happens when clients buy retail from their stylist. of course you make money and there's a markup and there's a profit margin there, but I think it's more so that all inclusive experience where you are the go-to person. A problem and we need to be able to solve that with retail, right? Yes. And like when they're having a bad hair day or when they're struggling with their hair at home, you don't want that to be a independent concern of theirs. You want that to be like collaborative thing with you and them. or vice versa. When they try a product and they love, you want it to be very much in their mind tied back to you just'cause you are the person then when it comes, to hair. But I agree, I do think that the industry has shifted away from that because brands have made it. Really difficult not to because it is so hard for us to compete with Ulta, Sephora. Yep. All of these, crazy leader specials and things that are ran regularly. So I love to hear that you have found the line. I hope some more exists, but I just wanted to highlight, the company that was giving that, because so many people aren't, and I also love what you said about a promotional calendar, that they give you. I do think brands' core values. should be number one. When you're thinking about a new retail line, what should you be looking at? What should you be paying attention to? Their core values, what they stand for. Obviously product performance is number two, but I almost would lead with, the core values. Then move on to product performance. And then I think another huge bonus piece is that promotional calendar so that you can, in your business market, advertise lean into. The promos happening with your product line and making it, a consistent piece of your marketing as well. So I love that they provide you with that as well. Yes, and I know, I reached out to my rep through seven and she gifted me a code for, if anybody was interested in trying them for 50% off of their first purchase. The code is Amanda 50. Well, we'll put that in the show notes. if anybody's interested, you can use that code of checkout and, get 50% off of anything you wanna try. I love that. And I just wanna say, this isn't a podcast episode where it's like, oh, like this is not sponsored by seven, where I just, when Amanda was, Amanda was talking to another Soul Tribe member. You could tell with passion and with heart that she went through this struggle and she has found a solution and kind of found a hero. And the way she was speaking about this line, I'm like. We should talk about that on the podcast.'cause I know there's stylists everywhere that are either frustrated, wanting to give up, saying retail's not worth it anymore. so seven is on Amazon. You said they're not in any stores. They're not in Sephora or Alta? No, no. Brick and mortar. They do sell direct. Go ahead, direct to consumer from their website. This is something that I think is very interesting because I think, you've been licensed, you said since oh five. I've been licensed since 2011, so you've been in the industry a little bit longer than me. So I feel like I've seen the rise of some of these. What at first, feel very niche and feel very, like a new indie line that hits the scene. Mm-hmm. And it's like, ooh, everyone loves them. They have these really cool practices that make them stand out, give them like a, a unique value proposition to the market. And then enough people fall in love with them and then they end up everywhere. That's just kind of the cycle. You find a line, it's new, it hits the scene. You have a unique you know, proposition there. Until it gets so big that then you may as well kiss a goodbye because it's gonna be everywhere. And that's when you then start looking for the next niche new line. Curious your take or has seven made any promises on that? I mean, I know it's been around for a long time, but like what is your take on that? Just in general, how, since being licensed since oh five. Yeah, I mean the risk is there anytime you buy into a brand, seven has been around, I wanna say like 15 years. Don't that? Yeah. I remember them sending me PR back in the day when I was making product reviews and stuff, so yeah, they have, it's not like they're brand new. Yeah. So they have been around and the way they've just set up their business, it seems like they truly care about Yeah. Working with stylists. Hmm. it seems like that's part of the foundation of their business. Mm-hmm. So I would be surprised, but, you know, anything is possible and, you know, maybe that's. Their, their leadership's view on things right now, but maybe leadership changes, like, you know, anything's, nothing's guaranteed to stay forever, but. I don't see any other brands, you know, I know that are this established Yep. That aren't selling in Ulta and Sephora. Yeah, yeah. Even as we're talking about, I'm like, oh God, it should be publicly put that out there. But I vividly remember when Olaplex like first hit the scene and I was obsessed. I still love Olaplex, but they blew up so quickly and it went from. Totally a four. The styles when they just had products one, two, and three, that was, it was like, this is only a a fix you can get from stylists. And now I feel like every single time I go into Salon Centric, there's like OLAPLEX 97 now, like there's so many products now they're publicly traded, which again, if I was growing that company, that's the goal. You can't be mad at a business for popping off. But it does feel like just this unique problem for licensed stylists. And I will say. Inside of a, one of my coaching containers, SST Jumpstart, I have a, group of Sola Pros in there. And, one girl, Cheyenne, I think she'd be okay with me using her as an example. She's an aesthetician. She doesn't do hair. She said that the skincare world is way more cutthroat than even the hair world. like she has a hard time finding. Any brand that will opt in with her because there's like this interesting shift in the marketing and market happening where they are going above to med spas and they will only allow med spas to carry theirs that like she has no good quality. Products. It's either what you can buy from the store or you have to be a med spot. And it's just such an interesting niche problem that not many people understand. But I don't hear talked about a lot in the, in the industry, so that's why I kind of just wanted to shed light on it and talk about it. And especially'cause you kind of found a fix that you're so passionate about. I think if you guys are independent stylists with similar specialties like Amanda Dimensional color and extensions, she scoured and scoured, You spent over a thousand dollars trying products, all these different lines, all these different brands. so how have your clients been liking this and how did you bring them along for the journey? With that, all of the free product that I was able to get with the buyback program, I was able to offer my guests a buy to get one free promo, and I was much able to give it away for like two months. I had purchases every day of. You know, three products. One of them were free. so they typically get a shampoo, conditioner, and then a Styler. the feedback has been awesome. I actually had my one client, Cindy, she came in when I got the, best sellers package and I was just trying it. I just had a few things. I was trying on my clients. I was trying on myself at home, and I did her hair that day. It turned out. She loved the way it felt. She came back six weeks later and I had brought the line in and I had been talking about it nonstop. So her and I went off and we talked about everything but the product, and so she left that day and texted me later and was like, what have you been using on my hair? Because wow, it has never. So amazing. Wow. And she drove 25 minutes back a couple days later to get to take advantage of the deal. And I told her too, I was like, listen, I know you live a bit away. I have an affiliate link if you wanna buy online, if that's easier for you or Amazon, but you can't get the deal there. So that's another thing, being able to offer these sales, like who doesn't love a sale? Totally. I love the sale, so being able to offer that to my guests and they're more willing to try it too, and a bunch of it because I think that basically they're getting think that strategy when bringing in a new line, being open and vulnerable of like, here's what I'm experiencing. Will you guys come along this journey with me? And then having the margin to be able to run a promo like that so that they can get to using it ASAP, fall in love with it so that when they need to re-up and need new products. Six months from now, three months from now, however long it's going to be, they're hooked. I started selling at the end of August and I wanna say I'm around$3,000, in sales. Awesome. Yeah, I was getting multiple sales a week, and for multiple products at a time, it was good and I think I gave away around, six,$700 worth of product as well. And again, you had the margin to do that. Yeah. It hasn't cut into, what I'm making, and I'm looking forward to, I just had, Kim in my tribe signed up for seven as well. Nice. And since I referred her, I get, a bonus reward for that. So I'm looking forward to having another sale in the slow months. Nice. Awesome. That's so great. Yeah. And even just that like gamification almost of it, and that affiliate program that they really promote, that entices you to talk about it and to share about it and to be able to give that back to your clients. That is incredible. So what are a few of your favorite products? I'm trying to remember. I remember when they. Sent me products. Oh, back in the day they had a really good oil that I remember I held onto for a while. That and like a volumizing powder. I remember the both of those. Yes. I tested them a while back and I love them. Do you have a few favorites that people need to try if they're gonna give it a go? Yes. I love their hydrate line is very lightweight. I have very fine hair, but it is bleached, so I need the moisture, but I stay away from it because I don't wanna weigh down. I love the lightweightness of their hydrate line. Their thermal protectant is great. And another sleeper that I love from my clients that have really. Dense hair, and we're smoothing it out. It's called Relax. They nickname named it Flat Iron in a bottle. A couple of pumps of that worked into their hair and it deflates, right? So I go in and I round brush it and instead of it being poofy and I have to go and flat iron it, it's already like, it's been flattered. what is the, like what are the products retail for? Because obviously, depending on what your service prices are exactly, that's kind of the range that you look for. So what are, what's like the range of their, skews? They're the$30.$30 range. 32 bucks for a shampoo, 42 for a mask. and their, their retail or their styling products. I don't know if there's anything in the$28 range or if I'm getting that confused with one of the other many brands I tried. Mm-hmm. But yeah,$30, like, I feel like they're a mid, you know, Redkin, Pureology range. Amica, what's your haircut price, Amanda, just for comparison. 85 for a cut and stone. Okay. Yeah. So that's a good, that's a good, kind of ratio of where it's at in comparison to your, hourly rate, minute rate. Cool. okay. Amazing. anything else you would share with the stylist who's just kind of in the position you were in where they were just like. Forget it. Retail's not worth it. I'm not investing in another line. I'm not filling my shelves. I'm not wasting any more money. obviously we know you love seven, but anything else you would share just from being at that point of like, I just wanna give up on this to really continuing forward with retail, as a big part of your business structure. Yeah. It's hard to find a line that's gonna support you. Definitely try seven, if you haven't yet. the support is amazing. But I think it's okay if you don't,'cause that's where I was, that I needed to focus on other things in my business. I need to be able to solve my client's problems. So if you just use affiliate links, and you use a more well-known brand, that's fine too. You can't do it wrong, right? As long as you're out there giving it your all. I hope that brands take note of this and just realize the Yeah. What the stylists want. Right? Yeah. I think it is a very, It's a small but very needed corner of the market where if a, if like seven or a few others decide that, no, we're gonna be for the stylist and we're gonna stay for the stylist, and that's gonna be a core value of ours and we're not gonna let up on that. I definitely think that that's missing in the market. And if anyone else. Notes of any other lines that they feel like really greatly does prioritize that. I'd love to have that conversation as well because again, these are just the conversations that I've been hearing happening inside of SEO tribe. so I kind of just wanted to shine a light on it. So thank you so much, Amanda, for coming on. I really appreciate it. make sure you, you send me me. Of course, make sure you send me the link to seven your, code, and I'll put all of that in the show notes. If anybody wants to reach out to Amanda and ask her any questions about her retail experience, feel free to do that. Thank you so much for coming on, and thank you guys all so much for listening, and I will talk to you all next week. Bye.