May 2023 Speaking Tour: Coming to a School Near You

As the Co-Founder and Dean of Paul Mitchell Schools, it is my honor to hit the road and spend time with my students and team members. Of course, everyone is welcome, so please put the word out to friends, family, salons, and every type of business.

Here’s my schedule for May 2023 (with Instagram links). Contact schools for details:
May 8: @pmtsrichland, 9–10:30am
May 8: @pmtsspokane, 5–6:30pm and May 9, 9–10:30am
May 10: @pmtstwinfalls, 9–10:30am
May 10: @pmtsboise, 5–6:30pm
May 11: @pmtsnampa, 9–10:30am
May 12: @pmtsrexburgid, 8:30–10am
May 12: @pmtslogan, 3–4:30pm
May 22: @pmtschicago, 5:30–7:30pm
May 23: @carlislebanquets, 10am–1pm
May 31: @paulmitchellschool_pasadena, 2:30–4:30pm and 5:30–7:30pm

MASTERS by Winn Claybaugh Celebrates 100th Podcast Episode

MASTERS founder and host Winn Claybaugh started producing podcasts long before the concept was created. Since February 1995, Winn has recorded and shared profound interviews with leaders of major companies, philanthropic celebrities, and mentors from every walk of life. His earliest interviews were recorded on cassette tapes and mailed to subscribers in about a dozen countries. Today MASTERS by Winn Claybaugh is a free podcast airing on Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart Radio, and other podcast platforms. In February 2023, MASTERS reached a milestone with its 100th podcast and over 1 million downloads to date.

“My very first interview request went to iconic hairstylist Vidal Sassoon,” Winn says. “I figured if Vidal said yes to me, who would ever say no? Fortunately, Vidal was a generous, loving man and although I had no credentials under my belt, he said yes and gave me the opportunity. That vote of confidence gave me the courage to approach everyone else. The exciting result: a 28-year MASTERS library featuring more than 325 interviews.”

The MASTERS roster includes beauty industry luminaries like Vidal Sassoon, Robert Lobetta, Ted Gibson, Tabatha Coffee, Ruth Roche, Vivienne Mackinder, and John Paul DeJoria, along with leaders outside the industry: actors Gary Sinise and Fran Drescher, entertainer and philanthropist Marie Osmond, inspirational speaker and author Tim Storey, bestselling author and wealth/wisdom advisor Patrice Washington, TV and radio personalities Leeza Gibbons and Larry King, Olympic gold medalist Peter Vidmar, American hero and double amputee Cedric King, Paralympic champion Mike Schlappi, hearing-impaired comedian and motivational speaker Kathy Buckley, Emmy nominated actor-producer Monique Coleman, anti-bullying expert Dr. Susan Swearer, Fred Jordan Missions co-founder Willie Jordan, Homeboy Industries founder Father Gregory Boyle, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary founder Faith Maloney, former Outback Steakhouse president Ben Novello, Southwest Airlines President Emeritus Colleen Barrett, Disney animator Saul Blinkoff, Best Buy’s Senior Director of Inclusion and Diversity Eric Fulbright, Forbes “30 Under 30” social entrepreneur Seth Maxwell, and more—telling their stories and sharing their wisdom.

Winn continues to release a new MASTERS podcast every month, along with monthly “classics” from the MASTERS vault.

Winn Talks About Storytelling Your Way to Great Leadership on ProudMouth Podcast

CLICK ON IMAGE TO LISTEN TO PODCAST

Great leaders are often great storytellers.

After all, stories have the power to inspire passion, hope, and resilience!

In this episode, Matt Halloran talks to Winn Claybaugh, founder of Paul Mitchell’s school division, author of Be Nice (Or Else!) and “one of the best motivational speakers in the country,” according to CNN’s Larry King, who wrote the foreword for the book. Winn helps you, as a leader, create an environment of infectious positivity and motivation using the art of storytelling.

Winn discusses:

  • A daily routine that keeps you motivated and stops your passion from dwindling away

  • Why curiosity is the key to personal and professional growth

  • How to cultivate strong connections through storytelling

  • A life-changing lesson that he learned from his 9-year-old daughter

  • And more

Remember Our Veterans & Support Our Troops

(November 11, 2020) – We certainly cannot let this Veterans Day pass without stopping to remember and to thank the brave men and women who have served our country. Oh, how I love the country we live in! I love our freedom and I appreciate those who serve so generously to make it possible. It doesn’t matter what your personal stance is about war, or whether you think our country should be involved in the conflicts happening abroad. The fact is, our own brothers, sisters, parents, sons, and daughters are far away from home and they need our love and support on many levels.

I am so proud of the fact that our Paul Mitchell Schools have raised $935,000 for the Gary Sinise Foundation, which helps build custom-designed “smart homes” for our nation’s most severely wounded warriors while supporting active duty service members, veterans, first responders, and the children and families of our fallen.

I’m grateful that I live in a country that allows me to work, compete in business, pursue my dreams, and give back to those who make it all happen, which definitely includes our military men and women. As a business owner, I use my “power” to support many other causes as well. It’s the patriotic thing to do, and I encourage you to do the same.

I feel so lucky to have had a father who sacrificed so much for our country and his family. My dad entered the U.S. Navy as a torpedoman’s mate in 1943 and served for the rest of World War II on the destroyer U.S.S. Hudson. He served in many campaigns in the South Pacific, and his ship was involved in more major battles in the Pacific than any other ship during the war. From his ship on February 23, 1945, my dad saw the U.S. Marines raise the flag atop Mount Suribachi during the battle of Iwo Jima. He endured a life of pain from a shoulder injury incurred during the war, showing his great sacrifice for freedom and country.

I once asked my dad for his thoughts about the men, women, and families serving our country today. He said, “I think everybody should support them. When you know of a serviceperson—man or woman—seek them out and see if there’s something you can do for them.”

Please listen to this audio message as I interview my World War II father, Donn Claybaugh. It's a special call to action, not a political statement; just a humble and passionate request for you to support a group of individuals who need your love, comfort, attention, and gratitude—the families of our troops at home and abroad.

RELATED LINKS

Winn interviews actor, musician, and humanitarian Gary Sinise, a beautiful, humble, and kindhearted man who does extraordinary work on behalf of all military men and women, their families, veterans, and first responders. No matter what your charitable cause or advocacy passion, Gary is the ultimate mentor on what it means to have a servant’s heart.

Choose Nice Mentors: At This Time in History, We Need to Spread More Kindess

At this time in history, while our country is so divided and people are going out of their way to create an “us versus them” mentality, we need to do the opposite. We need to spread kindness and niceness. We’re all drawn to certain heroes, celebrities, supermodels, or sports figures who exemplify our different hobbies and interests. If you’re not naturally drawn to nice-mentors, you’ll need to find and choose some. You wouldn’t choose a mean, abusive, law-breaking sports jock to be your spiritual mentor, and you shouldn’t choose anyone but nice people to be your nice-mentors.

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One of my nice-mentors happens to be a Catholic nun by the name of Sister Bonnie Steinlage, SFP, a former Franciscan Sister of the Poor, who spent her years dedicated to helping the poor.

Homelessness can frighten and confuse people—I know that it does me. I used to have a difficult time seeing beyond the dirty exterior of the homeless, and I could easily jump into judgment about how those people ended up in the position they’re in. Is that the person I want to be? No, hence my need for a nice-mentor like Sister Bonnie.

One day, I arrived at one of my schools and found a homeless man hanging out in front of the building. Normally, because of my own fears and prejudices, I would’ve ignored him. Or worse, I would’ve called the police to have him removed. But because of Sister Bonnie’s influence on me, I chose a different plan. I decided to step outside of my own egotistical, fear-driven self and began talking to him. After a ten-minute conversation about who knows what, I asked him if he’d like to come into the school for a service, to which he enthusiastically replied, “Yes!” I escorted him in, had him take a seat in the reception area, then walked to the back of the school and asked a group of students, “Who wants to be a daymaker?” Ten students immediately raised their hands. I grabbed one of them, brought him to the reception area, introduced him to the homeless man, and asked him to take good care of his “client.” Two hours later, after being shampooed, conditioned, groomed, and cared for, the homeless man left the school.

 I won’t attempt to exaggerate or embellish the story by talking about how the experience changed the homeless man’s life, because I honestly don’t know how it affected him. His experience is not the point. The person who changed was me. First of all, how difficult was it for me to offer this man a service in my school? How much did it actually cost me? Not much, but that’s also not the point of this story.

 The point is this: Because of Sister Bonnie’s simple mentoring, I made a tiny shift in my thinking and perception about the homeless. I haven’t gone on to raise millions of dollars for homelessness, and I haven’t volunteered hundreds of hours to help that cause. But I did let go of a fear and a belief system that didn’t serve me and had held me back from feeling good about myself. Finding and studying a new program that will make you happy is all about tiny shifts in thought and action, which eventually add up to monumental strides of growth. Nice-mentors can nudge you along that path.

Public or Private? Winn Talks About Philanthropy on "The Chalene Show"

Congratulations to my dear friend—podcast genius, fitness guru and philanthropist Chalene Johnson—on her 500th podcast! For this very special episode, Chalene asked me to contribute with a quick message on whether or not we should be public about our donations and charitable giving.

HERE’S MY 5-MINUTE RECORDED MESSAGE:

Click on the image below for Chalene’s entire message:

Winn Claybaugh Talks About Keeping Up with the Joneses on "Beyond the Technique" Podcast

Do you feel the pressure to keep up with the Joneses? Beyond the Technique dives into the issues with of comparison and why we need to focus less on our wishbone and more on our backbone. Winn Claybaugh opens up about someone he had a “keeping up with the Joneses” moment with—someone we all know—and how he recognized the limiting beliefs he had and what he did about it. If you want to work on your own life, build relationships that matter, and be content and grateful in this journey, this episode is for you.

And BONUS! You can watch the raw, unedited talk on YouTube, too!

Golden Rules for Creating a BE NICE Culture

Because people spend a great amount of their time and energy at work, they long to belong to a company that makes them feel better about themselves and makes them feel that they do more than just earn a paycheck—they want to feel like they have a purpose and make a difference.

The "Golden Rules" code of conduct is who we are together as a team. It's what we all believe in, what we strive for.

1. Always Be on Time

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Spell out for everyone in your company exactly what "being on time" looks like. If customers arrive at 9 a.m., then perhaps a frazzled, rushed employee who also rushes in at 9 a.m. would not be on time.

2. Always Be in a Great Mood (Fake It When Necessary)

A very good friend of mine says he has two reasons for firing an employee from his company: if they steal from him, and if they show up to work in a bad mood. If someone comes to work in a bad mood, he'll fire him or her on the spot. But he'll rehire them five minutes later if they leave and come back in a good mood.

I'd like to propose that on the day we all decided to enter the workforce and take on a job with any company, we gave up the right to ever come to work in a bad mood.

There are days when you leave work and all those things that make you wonderful is drained and empty. But maybe you go home and you don't fill your "reservoir" back up, which means you're now tempted to come into work the next day in a bad mood. What do you do on those days? You fake it. When you walk through those doors, it's show time. And you gave up the right to be in a bad mood.

3. Come to Work Prepared

Coming to work prepared means that you're ready and available to work as effectively as possible—whatever that may look like. Perhaps it means you eat a great breakfast and do yoga before work so your mind is clear and ready to focus. Perhaps it means you lay out your clothes the night before, so your image matches the product you represent. Or maybe you arrive early enough to unclutter your workspace and start the day fresh.

4. Be Informed (Read All Memos and Information)

We used to have a disorder in my company that we called the "But I didn't know" syndrome. People would fall into that pattern often: But I didn't know we had an early staff meeting Tuesday morning. But I didn't know I had to fill out that paperwork. But I didn't know that was the company dress code. Ignorance is not an acceptable defense in your BE NICE culture. Let people know that it's their job to know.

5. Gossip Is Not Allowed

Gossip is a serious cancer in a company. Gossip has many faces, and it can destroy a community. It's a sneaky, clever, subtle, and unnatural side of human nature—and you'll want to proactively recognize when gossip exists and have the courage to do whatever it takes to eliminate it from your company.

6. Hold Each Other Accountable (Use the Twenty-Four-Hour Rule)

Let's face it—you're going to screw up on occasion, and you therefore need a system to keep your BE NICE culture intact.

First, the accountability session must take place within twenty-four hours of the infraction. Second, all infractions are shared privately, behind closed doors. And finally, the intent and motive behind the process of holding each other accountable is that everyone grows and that everyone is accountable for the overall success of the company.

7. Resolve All Personal Challenges with Love

In high school, if we had a problem with someone, we'd tell four other people about it, so that by the time we actually voiced it to the person, we had "ammo" to state our case: I think you're horrible, and they all agree with me!

Anytime you have a grievance with someone, make sure that you keep private both what the person did or said to upset you, and the action you take to resolve it. It's a wonderful practice to praise people publicly, and to reprimand privately.

8. Go to the Decision Maker with Any Apparently Unsolvable Challenges

Why is it that when a person has a problem at work, they tell everyone but the person who could actually do something about it? Why waste your "woe is me" dribble on someone who can do nothing to resolve your challenge? Take your challenge directly to the decision maker.

9. Be Knowledgeable, Literate, and Articulate

I would like to challenge employees, owners, and new hires to be those things by taking responsibility for your education, your knowledge, and your growth, rather than expecting or assuming that the company should provide all the education.

10. Always "Look the Part" of an Impeccable Professional

Whatever your business, you'll want to dress, act, and look the part of the type of business you represent. (Would you trust a dentist who didn't have any teeth?) In fact, you'll want to look the part of the most successful person with your same job.

Bottom line, it's a good idea to dress beyond where you are in life and to look as though you're more successful than you really are.

11. Be Professional Always

The opposite of professional is amateur. Which would you prefer to be dubbed? Every person working for a company has an impact—either positive or negative—on the customer's experience. Every individual should be professional always, because whether you realize it or not, customers are watching and judging.

12. Do Not Get Personally Involved with Clients

All businesses are for profit, so whenever an employee or representative of your company gets personally involved with clients (in a dating situation, for example), you run the risk of messing with continued loyalty from that customer.

13. Personal Lives Remain Personal

Although curious, "inquiring minds" want to know the personal details of co-workers and clients, divulging such information could offend the person and destroy your culture and community. Therefore, personal lives must remain personal. Unless a person wants to share the intimacies of their personal life in order to receive support and advice, it's no one's business to know whether or not so-and-so is divorced, gay, straight, a recovering addict, or any other personal, private detail.

Find more dowloadable posters and other free stuff at https://www.winnclaybaugh.com/author

Winn Claybaugh Launches MASTERS Podcast Club

After more than 20 years of interviews with the most brilliant leaders, artists, and educators in and out of the beauty industry, Winn Claybaugh’s MASTERS Audio Club is now available as MASTERS Podcast Club! And best of all, it’s FREE!

The first 6 podcasts were released on July 22, 2019:

The first week of each month features a brand-new interview with the brilliant leaders you’ve come to expect from MASTERS. As an added bonus, on the other weeks, you’ll get a “classic” interview from the MASTERS archives, which includes more than 325 interviews.

Visit www.masterspodcastclub.com and sign up for the mailing list, so you’ll hear about new releases as they come out each week!

 

Winn Interviews Selina Tomasich, Founder of Hair Aid, Inc.

Winn Claybaugh and the Andrew Gomez Dream Foundation (largely funded by the Paul Mitchell Schools’ FUNraising campaign) are strong supporters of several organizations that teach hairdressing skills to people in poverty-stricken communities, giving them the chance to escape from the sex trade and human trafficking that otherwise would be their fate.

This month’s MASTERS interview features Selina Tomasich, founder and CEO of Hair Aid Inc., an Australian-based charity that takes volunteer hairdressers to developing nations, where they teach those living in critical poverty how to cut hair. Interviewed by Winn Claybaugh, Selina shares difficult-to-hear stories of children and families. She shares how truly simple it is to make a difference, and challenges us all to imagine the shift in energy we could create. Hair Aid assists these families with immediate and measurable results, through the help of caring hairdressers.

NOW AVAILABLE AT www.mastersaudioclub.com

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