Is the Professional Beauty Industry Truly Inclusive of Mothers?

A recent conversation in a Facebook group has been living rent-free in my mind for weeks. It started with a simple question: Is the beauty industry really inclusive of mothers? At first, I thought yes. After all, we’re a 98% female-dominated field, rich with empathy, community, and creativity. But the more I reflected, the clearer it became: our structural systems aren’t built for mums — at least not those in traditional salon roles.

Let’s break it down.

School hours in Australia generally run from 9:00am to 3:00pm, with drop-off around 8:30am. This means mums, particularly those without additional support at home, can realistically only work weekday shifts between 10:00am and 2:00pm. Evening shifts from 5:00pm to 9:00pm are sometimes doable if a partner or support network is available — but for many, that’s a luxury. Weekends? Even trickier. Children’s sport, birthday parties, and family life don’t stop for Saturday trade — which just so happens to be one of the busiest days in beauty.

So what do working mothers do?

Many find themselves funnelling into one of three options:

• Start a home salon, offering flexibility and autonomy but removing their talent from the commercial salon floor — where experienced therapists are needed most.

• Pivot to sales or education roles, often with product companies that offer work-from-home flexibility, fewer late nights, and minimal weekend commitments.

• Exit the industry entirely, unable to find a viable path that balances motherhood with meaningful employment.

  
  

And here’s the rub: the times mums can work are often the times salons are quiet. And the times salons need staff (evenings and Saturdays) are when mums are least available. So we’re left with a growing mismatch between the needs of the workforce and the demands of the market.

As an industry of mostly women, we need to ask: Are we creating business models that support mothers, or are we quietly pushing them out?

I don’t have all the answers, but I have a lot of questions:

• Could job sharing, team rostering, or on-call models provide greater flexibility?

• Can we create treatment menus or service offerings specific to quieter mid-morning or early afternoon slots?

• Are there hybrid roles within salons that could blend in-person hours with admin, education, or digital responsibilities?

• Can we stop viewing flexibility as a favour, and start seeing it as a strategic advantage?

What we risk by not addressing this is two-fold: we lose experienced, passionate therapists from our workforce, and we unintentionally build a culture where women feel they must choose between being a mum and having a career.

Inclusion doesn’t just mean creating space — it means rethinking the structures that determine who gets to stay, thrive, and lead.

This is the start of the conversation, not the end. And if you’ve felt this tension too — I’d love to hear your story.