Great Clips CEO Steve Hockett: ‘You Have To Own And Learn From Failure’

Like any experienced golfer, Steve Hockett hopes to avoid driving his ball into the sand traps or the rough—but when he does, he knows how to get back on the fairway. Growing up in small town South Dakota, Hockett learned to play golf on some of the roughest terrain: sand.

“You don’t have water, and you’re in the middle of nowhere,” Hockett said. “Some of these golf courses would have sand greens, and you’d hit your ball up.”

While he cheerfully concedes he isn’t the world’s best golfer, Hockett, who played on his high school’s team, took what he learned about persistence and applied it to his career at Great Clips. In 1988, he opened a Great Clips store—and it failed. Hockett says that setback is still fresh in his mind and he thinks about it every day.

Reflecting on what happened to that franchise, Hockett said he found a way to turn that negative experience into a positive one. Instead of making excuses or passing the blame onto others, Hockett reviewed what happened and realized he had only himself to blame. But Hockett also knew he would do things differently if he ever had the chance to rejoin the salon chain, something he wanted to do as quickly as possible.

“I loved the business, I loved the people, I loved the concept,” Hockett said about owning a Great Clips franchise. After his store went under, Hockett went back to Great Clips and told them he wanted to work with other franchise owners to avoid a similar outcome.

It took Steve a few years to convince Great Clips to bring him back on board.

In 1993, Steve got a call from Great Clips saying that there was a position available in the marketing department, and they asked him if he wanted it. He jumped on it in a heartbeat and has overseen incredible growth.

Since taking on a leadership role in 2008, Steve has driven Great Clips’ impressive expansion from 2,700 to 4,400 salons across 190 markets in the US and Canada. Listeners looking to expand their operations will learn a great deal from Steve, including:

•   How franchisor and franchisees can challenge one another to ensure continuous improvement
•   The importance of the three Ps: patience, performance and presence.
•   When it’s ok to compromise and adjust your plans.

Looking back at his store failing, Steve goes back to what he learned from all those bad shots on the sandy courses of South Dakota, including knowing who was to blame.

“You have to look in the mirror and understand that if you fail, it’s a lot on you. It can be on other things, but you got to own it,” he said.