Jo Henderson is the Director and Founder of Care Beyond The Chair Ltd. With over 30 years of experience in the industry – more than 20 of those as a salon manager – she has witnessed both the highs and the challenges of the profession, alongside her own personal journey with mental health.
As a Mental Health Advocate and a Level 2 Mental Health First Aider, Jo is dedicated to supporting others. She shares practical, realistic techniques inspired by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help individuals navigate challenges in a way that feels manageable and grounded.
Here, she shares an open letter to the industry…
I see you.
The fully booked column.
The late finishes.
The “just squeeze them in” mentality.
The lunch you didn’t take.
The constant giving.
Somewhere along the way, being a “good hairdresser” became about how much of yourself you were willing to sacrifice.
And most of us didn’t question it – because we love what we do.
I did it for over 30 years.
Working on the salon floor, and managing salons – supporting teams, holding standards, keeping everything moving.
Showing up for everyone – clients, staff, the business.
From the outside, it looked successful.
But behind that, I was exhausted.
Not because I didn’t care – but because I cared too much... and didn’t know where I ended and the job began.
I was often the one giving advice.
Supporting others. Helping them put boundaries in place.
But I wasn’t very good at following it myself.
For years, I said yes to everything.
Clients, friends, out-of-hours appointments, last-minute changes.
I thought that was what built loyalty.
I thought that was what made me good at my job.
But what it actually built was burnout.
And stepping away from the salon floor wasn’t an easy decision – it was a necessary one.
Now, working more closely with stylists and salon owners in a different way, I see the same pattern everywhere.
Fully booked... but completely drained.
Holding everything together... but with no space to breathe.
An industry that quietly rewards overworking and calls it passion.
And now, we’ve added another layer.
Constant inspiration. Constant comparison.
We’re surrounded by flawless images, perfect finishes, and now even AI-generated ideas and spoken-word style content telling us what we should be creating, how we should be showing up, how we should be doing more.
None of that is inherently wrong.
But in an industry that already struggles with boundaries, it becomes just one more thing to live up to.
One more pressure.
One more expectation.
One more reason to feel like you’re not quite doing enough.
At what point did this become normal?
At what point did running yourself into the ground become part of the job description?
Because it doesn’t have to be.
Sustainability in this industry isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing things differently.
It’s about:
Saying no without guilt.
Charging properly for your time.
Protecting your energy, not just your column.
Understanding that being fully booked doesn’t mean you’re fulfilled.
And for salon owners – it’s about recognising that your team don’t just need targets.
They need support, boundaries, and permission to not run on empty.
We don’t talk about this enough.
We celebrate the busy ones.
We admire the ones who “never stop.”
But rarely do we ask what it’s costing them.
This industry can be incredible.
Creative. Fulfilling. Life-changing.
But only if the people within it are able to sustain it.
So if you’re tired – really tired – this isn’t a sign you’re failing.
It’s a sign something needs to change.
And that change doesn’t start with doing more.
It starts with doing things differently.
Because I’ve lived both sides of this – and I know how easy it is to lose yourself in it.
