What the Phorest Salon Owners Summit Taught Me About Community as Advocacy

I flew to Dublin for the Phorest Salon Owners Summit expecting inspiration, big ideas, and a few sharp business takeaways.

What I didn’t expect was to leave with a renewed conviction that community isn’t just a “nice to have” in our industry — it’s one of the most powerful advocacy and growth levers we have.

Not in a bandwagon sense. Not in a “post about it on Instagram and hope it converts” way. But in the quieter, stickier pull of belonging — the kind that shapes decisions, influences adoption, and drives awareness and acquisition without ever needing to sell.

The first thing you notice at the Phorest Summit isn’t the staging, the production value, or even the speakers (and yes, they were excellent) - It’s the energy in the room.

Salon owners from all over the world (different industry segments, different business models, different stages of growth) but with a shared language. Shared challenges. Shared ambition. Shared pride in the work they do.

There was no convincing required. No “warming up” the audience.

These people were already bought in — not just to Phorest as a platform, but to each other. And that’s the point worth sitting with.

Let's be honest Phorest, at its core, is a software company. But what they’ve built goes far beyond functionality. They’ve created a community where salon owners see themselves reflected, supported, and understood.

That doesn’t happen because of dashboards or tech alone. It happens because the brand has consistently invested in:

• Bringing people together offline

• Giving salon owners product buy-in

• Championing real growth stories

• Creating moments where the industry feels seen, not sold to

  
  

At the summit, you could feel that identity in motion. People weren’t just attending an event — they were reaffirming that they’re part of something.

And when people feel like they belong, advocacy stops being an ask. It becomes the mission.

In beauty, we often talk about advocacy as something transactional:

• Ambassador programs

• Referral incentives

• Marketing deliverables

All of that has its place. But what I saw in Dublin was a deeper, more durable form of advocacy.

Salon owners weren’t talking about Phorest because they were asked to. They were talking about it because it’s woven into how they operate, who they learn from, and where they feel connected.

That kind of advocacy:

• Travels faster than ads

• Carries more trust than testimonials

• And influences decisions long before someone hits a sales page

It’s awareness and acquisition driven not by push — but by proximity and influence.

When a salon owner hears, “You need to come next year — it changed how I think about my business,” that lands very differently to any paid campaign.

We’re in an era where everything is optimised for scale, speed, and digital efficiency - the theme of the event was literally saturated in AI. And yet, one of the most powerful moments of the summit was simply being in a room together.

Sharing meals. Sharing stories. Sharing strategy. Sharing wins that don’t always make it to social media. The irony isn’t lost on me: In an industry increasingly driven by tech and automation, human connection is becoming the differentiator.

Phorest understands this. The summit wasn’t a replacement for digital community — it was a reinforcement of it.

Offline experiences gave weight and meaning to the online ecosystem, strengthening trust and deepening loyalty in a way no Slack group or email sequence ever could on its own.

Here’s the part that matters for brands, platforms, and industry leaders reading this.

Community (when done well) doesn’t just support retention. It fuels organic awareness and acquisition.

Because:

• People want to be where other people like them are

• They follow peers they respect

• They’re drawn to spaces that feel aligned, not aspirationally distant

The Phorest Summit didn’t need to hard-sell the product, in fact they didn't sell at all. The product was already embedded in the relationships.

That’s the pull of belonging. It’s subtle. It’s long-term. And it’s incredibly effective.

The biggest takeaway I brought home from Dublin wasn’t a tactic — it was a reminder.

If you want advocacy, build community. If you want awareness, create spaces people are proud to be part of. If you want acquisition, stop focusing solely on funnels and start thinking about influential ecosystems.

And when you get it right, growth becomes a byproduct — not the goal.

As I left the summit, one thing was clear: Phorest isn’t just supporting salon owners to run better businesses. They’re reminding them they don’t have to do it alone, by using the product like an additional team member (who doesn't call in sick 30 minutes before their shift!). And in an industry as demanding, fast-moving, and human as ours — that might be the most powerful advocacy pillar of all.