HJ VOICENOTES

We chat painful periods and female health in the workplace with Tribe Salon Manager Elle Foreman

ELLE FOREMAN

“ MY VIEW IS - ALWAYS BE OPEN TO LEARNING, LISTEN TO THE DETAILS AND TRY AND UNDERSTAND HOW DEBILITATING IT CAN BE ”

In our business, we have staff that really suffer with painful periods. Because I suffer with them myself, I totally get how debilitating they can be. It’s incredibly hard to work through that level of pain as a hairdresser – we’re on our feet for hours and we have to be fully present with our clients. There’s nowhere to hide behind the chair.

From a medical perspective, women often don’t get the help and support they need when they have painful periods. And culturally, it’s often brushed over with comments like ‘take pain killers and get on with it.’ But as a salon owner of a largely female team, that kind of approach doesn’t work for us. Yes, it can be a sensitive topic, but it’s essential to address it in order to make our team feel supported and to get the best out of them.

In the hairdressing industry we have a large female work force. At Tribe, we’re no different. At the moment, the only man we have in the business is my brother, who is the Director, but he totally gets women’s health having worked with me and my mum on the family business for years. Growing up we both experienced my mum’s periods and later, her journey through the menopause. (In fact, we’ve looked after staff all the way from menstruation, to pregnancy, to post-menopause!)

I’m into open conversation and like to lead by example. It’s not a secret when people are due on in the salon. I think in society, women don’t like to be honest about period pain as we’re often told by medical professionals or our peers that we’re overreacting. If I’m being completely honest, previously some people had an attitude of ‘it’s just period pain, get over it’ in our salon for sure. But the more we learn about it, and the more people we’ve had dealing with it, the better we are at helping.

I get that it’s hard to manage staff absence in a people-facing job, but it’s our responsibility as owners and managers to think of solutions. At the extreme end of the spectrum some of my team have had to have time off to have operations, but if staff need the odd sick day, or an extra break, we don’t question it. But I do believe there’s a bigger problem with society’s perception of female health. We have to change that and make it an open topic. I have spoken directly to my clients about period pain. I remember once doing a client’s foils, and I couldn’t stand up from the pain. I had to step away, to take a few minutes. Clients are very understanding, because often they’ve experienced something similar.

Of course, menstruating people suffer in different ways, not just with period pain, there’s also the side effects of taking contraception and hormonal changes throughout our cycles as well as the perimenopause and menopause. I’d urge all salon owners, regardless of their sex to listen. My view is – always be open to learning, listen to the details and try and understand how debilitating it can be. I do think women find it harder to speak with managers if they are male. But it has to start from the top, it makes sense to have a healthier workforce firing on all cylinders. Even if it’s emotional support, extra breaks, the confidence to take a sick day or just feeling like you’re heard, it can really help. This conversation can cover the health of the whole team too, regardless of their sex. Everyone is entitled to compassion if they are in pain, whether that’s mental or physical.