HJ Reports: Phorest Salon Owners Summit

The annual Phorest Salon Owners Summit welcomed guests from across the globe for two days of education and inspiration

Bingo Loco

The Phorest Salon Owners Summit, held at the Royal Convention Center in Dublin, Ireland brought together the brightest minds in the salon and spa industry. This year saw the Summit’s largest turnout to date with over 650 attendees gathering for a must-see lineup of speakers both in and outside of the industry, as well as hands-on workshops with Phorest teams.

Dr Anne Marie Imafidon MBE

HJ was invited to join Phorest for a transformative experience that promised to elevate (the theme of this year’s Summit) the way we think about salon software and business growth.

Phorest FM Panel: Alex Belisle-Springer, Winnie Awa, Keya Neal, Tandai Moyo and Dija Ayodele

After a Céad Míle Fáilte - an Irish Welcome - from dancers, Celtic Dance Fusion, day one opened with Phorest Salon Software CEO, Ronan Perceval who welcomed guests and discussed the increasing expectations of both clients and staff, asking guests to rise to the challenge to be better by the end of the year. Reflecting on the event Ronan shared: “We’re thrilled with the success of this year’s Summit. The energy in the room was palpable, and it’s clear that the community we’ve built over the years is stronger than ever… Our theme this year was ELEVATE; from our keynote speakers to our workshops, and Phorest teams’ future features shared exclusively with our guests, this weekend ensured we are supporting our customers with the tools they require to elevate their business in 2025.”

Ronan & Luke

Consumer behaviour expert, Ken Hughes, kicked things off with ‘Taylormaking’ which looked at how customer experience drives brand success focusing specifically on the tribal brand of Taylor Swift and how it embodies the core values of customer and employee connection. Ken emphasised how businesses can create emotional connections and loyalty by focusing on authenticity, intimacy and belonging. Next up, Alex Belisle-Springer (host of the Phorest FM podcast) took to the stage for a panel discussion with hair and beauty leaders Winnie Awa, Keya Neal, Tandai Moyo and Dija Ayodele who addressed issues around diversity and inclusion in the industry and the need for brands to make inclusivity a core business strategy to help remove the pressure on salons who are supporting education alone. The afternoon began with a session from Peigin Crowley, Founder of GROUND Wellbeing who shared her experience and tools for recognising and managing burnout. Peigin stressed that maintaining a healthy work-life balance is key for sustainable growth. Day one closed with insights from the Phorest Team: Patrick Monaghan, Nuala Maguire and Niamh Greaney, who provided actionable insights and trends to help customers understand how unused tools within the app can help their salons thrive in 2025. Guests were then treated to a Phorest Software Summit favourite: Bingo Loco.

Peigin Crowley

"We’re thrilled with the success of this year’s Summit. The energy in the room was palpable, and it’s clear that the community we’ve built over the years is stronger than ever…"

After an energetic end to the first day, day two opened with a moving presentation from Ronan Harrington, a resilience expert who explained that resilience is rooted in self-compassion and purpose – not endurance. His takeaway: create emotional connections with clients to build trust and ensure lasting impressions. Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE followed, giving an insightful look at the use of AI and its impact on the workplace, shedding light on how under-representation in tech leads to biased and unsafe outcomes but encouraged salons to embrace AI for empowerment, wellbeing and inclusivity. Heading into the final segment of the summit, celebrity stylist and mental health advocate, Daniel Mason-Jones led a session that provided tangible tips about how to solve client and employee problems, across generations, in the salon – Daniel managed to find the right balance of informative, respectful and fun to create a safe space for sharing.

Dancers

The Summit was the perfect start to 2025, bringing together a diverse group of salon owners and industry leaders who had the opportunity to connect and grow together. “We’re grateful to our partners, including Vish, Dermalogica, and Mya, who helped make this event a special experience,” said Ronan. “Their support helped create an environment that encouraged collaboration and growth. We can’t wait to welcome more salon owners and professionals to Dublin in 2026,” concluded Ronan – HJ can’t wait to see what’s in store next year…