I don't know what planet you'd need to come from to have missed the shenanigans our business partners have got up to over the past forty-odd years. Or the one you'd need to be from to have missed how Professionals themselves (that's us), have done absolutely nothing about their behavior and business MO.
For the sake of this experiment, we're throwing our observations out there in an effort to form as many of the hypotheses from these as we can.

Let's dive straight in. First up, our very own business partners have conspired to reduce our capacity to earn a living. They've done this by going head-to-head and launching products and services that are a gross conflict of interest.

This has destroyed the Professional hair industry in ways that if stylists don't inject themselves into the situation or continue to do nothing, the outcome will be catastrophic. The denial portrayed by the stylist or their lack of wanting to admit there are even issues is a true testament to how they've been controlled. But more about this as we sift through the following.

Observation One: No consultation or dialog.
Every significant change that has negatively impacted the stylist and salon owners has come with no pre or fair warning. We've yet to see any sign or evidence of a conversation about how this may impact them or a form of consultation that can give them the heads-up. This preparation would allow them to prepare and pivot in accordance. Instead, the little to no transparency has left them scratching their head as an after-the-fact bewilderment. "Did they just launch their own subscription hair color salon?",

Observation Two: No replacement is offered.
Each time our partners have encroached on our territory, they've never offered a replacement to ensure that exclusivity is upheld within the professional industry. And to be sure, we always maintain that point of difference between non-pro and Pro.

We have yet to see a replacement or comparable alternative product or service to support us. The impacts here alone have been an unequivocal loss and a detriment on so many levels. The most disappointing, sad even, is how behind the eightball they have been and will always be.

Observation Three: Manipulating the core values of the stylist:
Dominance is gained relatively simply for these companies. Mostly, they have taken advantage of the fundamental void in most stylist value systems. Feeling like they're not smart enough. Boom, that's it. That's the void. The value these companies fill the void with is education. And they have a laundry list of methods to gain effortless control over that void.

Observation Four: Contracts that control and disempower.
Further control is enforced at the fundamental level where money is exchanged. The purchasing agreement salons and stylists HAVE TO sign to use and represent these companies' products is so unbalanced and so far from anything that resembles 'fair exchange' its unconscionable on these companies' behalf.

Terms and conditions are designed to disempower them at their core. Strict guidelines prohibit them from using and selling the product in ways that suit the current day, modern, digital landscape. They are forbidden to sell the company's products outside their bricks and mortar salons. Their account is terminated in a heartbeat if found to be selling in any capacity, in any market, in any way whatsoever.

Observation Five: Hypocrisy allows non-professionals to have what the professionals can not.
And yet another hippocras, these business partners supply non-professional establishments with the same professional products with zero governance or efforts to monitor or control the market.

Observation Six: Stunting the growth by preventing Professionals from joining the digital age in a digital age.
In current times, salons should be empowered to take advantage of the endless benefits of doing digital business. Yet, they have a stronghold around the neck prohibiting them from participating in the most significant business shift in centuries.

Not having a digital profit center in any business in 2023 is almost unheard of. Yet, our partners own and control this space. We are not allowed in. But the stranglehold has no signs of letting go. Allowing the same rights given to non-professionals is too much of an ask.

Observation Seven: Repressed anger and resentment sit below the surface, making genuine respect difficult.
As one would expect, given the other seven observations, the relationship between the industry and these business partners is tainted at an intrinsic level making the relationship unhealthy by default. The bedrock is fraudulent by nature.

Observation Eight: Things need to change if mutual respect is ever to become part of the future.
Sadly, without the ability to fess up to their actions, neither party can begin to mop up the mess and move forward. The baseline lacks the foundation to carry out such an initiative.

Observation Ten: Hypocrisy, deceit, and manipulation are accepted as normal:

To avoid disclosing the truth, the hypocrisy, deceit, and manipulation witnessed by our business partners (Goldwell, Toni & Guy, Rusk, Loreal, etc.) have been unexplainable. Professionals have also never been able to enjoy an equal, equitable relationship. Instead, the constant disempowerment and betrail right in front of them has made standing up to them unfathomable. Oddly, they've been disempowered without knowing because it's always been this way. Therefore, they have no means to base justice or injustice. No contrast. They don't even think that it's all that much of a big deal.

Observation Eleven: The conversation is thirty-plus years late, maybe?
And another consideration is, in all reality, we're going to attempt to start a conversation that should have occurred thirty-plus years ago but didn't.

The notion that a conversation could be delayed this long almost sounds like a Guinness World Record attempt, but regardless of it not taking place, we believe that's because its time is now.

Observation Twelve: The elephant is still in the room.
However, one of our hypotheses surrounding the reason why there was a lack of motivation by all parties involved back then remains the very same reason no one is stepping up today. And that is the fear of having to deal with the elephant in the room. (AKA our direct partners. Schwarzkopf, Matrix, Wella, etc).

Our current approach neither involves or excludes them (for now). We're suggesting we just go about whatever we need to do in order to save ourselves first, and in doing so, we'll realize that while we've ignored them in these early stages, we believe it'll soon be evident the elephant neither cares or has even noticed. That's because It's an elephant. But giving it attention now will distract us from the work that needs to take place to evaluate the enormous opportunity their actions of late have gifted us with.

Observation Thirteen: Social media has given rise to a passive voice and taken on the modern-day way of subordinating to them digitally.
Another hypothesis of ours:
The public nature of social media and the fact that A. social media is now a special sport. B. every god darn person you know (local/non-local, far/near, private/personal or social) has full visibility to you. And this accommodation of full transparency in communications has altered the authentic voice. We may favor one platform over another, but we can't deny we're both signed up for them all. And even those less favored still get air time.

FB, IG, T, TY, TT, etc. We're all there. Our clients. Our vendors, Our partners (Loreal, Schwarzkopf, Goldwell, etc.). Our potential vendors/clients. Former employees, current and future ones too.

Just one monstrosity of a voyeurism fest, with a differentiating factor of a URL, the medium, and some nuances. Every post with full spectator rights with the potential to do very little, make you a star or bury you forever.

We get it, tho. If you didn't consider the diversity and full spectrum of people and personalities while communicating in their presents, you'd be done and dusted in days.

We believe this has given rise to a passive voice, and while it is what it is, there are some really cool and super relevant, and vital conversations being totally overlooked. And this is a missed opportunity because that's exactly the very thing we believe we're all stepping over.

When we're being over-considerate and super mindful, it inhibits creative communication, furthermore making the likelihood of collaboration pretty much zero.

When we're in a constant state of trying to keep a balanced, fair, and just public persona, we're often out of balance. Our perception of reality is skewed just enough to lose a little bit of ourselves.

Trying to have a balanced perspective is often rooted in a value structure that ultimately belongs to another individual, group, or company. In essence, when we constantly meet the needs of others in order not to rock the so-called boat, it internalizes in some way.

What's not expressed gets repressed (internalized). The outcome can have us feeling to some degree that we're not honoring ourselves. We feel as if we're not living an authentic life. For some of us, it comes in the form of feeling like a fraud at times.

Of course, we all need to be mindful when communicating on behalf of our business and brand, etc., but what we're suggesting is 'like the frog who gets cooked alive when the temperate is gradually turned up ever so slowly to the point of death, is what's happened here to us. We're not even aware we're there. Being cooked alive :(

We're not even suggesting you should change anything, either. It's just an observation of ours, and there's nothing wrong with it. It is what it is.

We believe the conversation will take on a new form when we leave the elephant out of our environment. Without those eyeballs on us all the time, there will be time to take a breather and rest there for a hot minute to see just how it may change.

Observation Fourteen: (on their way)
etc