Great Clips announced its new CEO last summer, with Rob Goggins stepping into the top job after seven years as president, a role he maintains.

At Great Clips since 2007, Goggins began as vice president of franchise development, became COO in 2014, and took over as president in 2018. Prior to Great Clips, he cut his teeth in franchise leadership as vice president of development for Service Brands International, a Michigan-based franchise system operator.

Great Clips has worked under a franchise model since 1983, the year after its founding. The private Minneapolis company supports more than 4,400 salons across all 50 states and in four Canadian provinces. Those salons employ 30,000-plus stylists.

Goggins became CEO on Jan. 1, succeeding Steve Hockett, who started with Great Clips as a franchisee in 1988 and became CEO in 2018. Hockett announced his retirement last summer, also sharing with the Minnesota Star Tribune that Great Clips was looking at 16 straight quarters of growth following Covid-19’s interruption of a 14-year sales-growth streak.

During the pandemic, Great Clips invested in technology and salons. Goggins, as president, oversaw the launch of text alerts and the introduction of salon remodels, among other initiatives.

Rising costs and economic uncertainty have hurt discretionary spending, which in turn has hurt aspects of the salon business—but Great Clips is a low-cost option that describes itself as recession resistant. It reports sustained growth in customers, stylists, and salons across the United States and Canada. Through 2028, the company intends to roll out a strategic plan centered on brand delivery, which has tended to highlight affordability and convenience.

This interview has been edited for clarity. A representative emailed Goggins’ responses to Twin Cities Business.

What drew you to the hair salon business?

It wasn’t the hair salon industry itself that initially drew me in—it was the strength of the brand, the people behind it, and the way they conducted business. When the opportunity to join Great Clips came along in early 2007, my family and I were living just outside Ann Arbor, Michigan. My wife and I weren’t sure it was worth uprooting our family and moving to Minneapolis. What ultimately convinced us was the caliber of the people that built this amazing brand. I also respected the way this privately held company approached the recruitment process—thoughtfully yet assertively. In fact, they flew my wife and our two kids to Minnesota as part of the process to ensure the entire family could meet people, see the area, and ensure the move would be right for our family, not just my career. That level of care said a lot about the company culture. I’m grateful I made the leap. Well, I’m grateful my wife signed off on making the leap!

You started with Great Clips, which has a 100% franchise model, as VP of franchise development in 2007. Did you learn anything surprising during that time—or come across a lesson that stuck with you—about what makes a franchise successful?

When I joined Great Clips, I came from an organization that operated five franchise brands under one umbrella. I enjoyed that structure, as the environment was dynamic and fast-paced. Drawing from that experience, I thought that kind of multi-brand model was something we should consider replicating at Great Clips. So much so that during one of my earliest conversations with Ray Barton, owner and now chair of the company, I tried to convince him that expanding into additional franchise organizations would accelerate growth and make the business even more exciting. Instead, Ray challenged my thinking. He made the case that our greatest strength wasn’t diversification, it was focus—on one brand, operational excellence, and most importantly our franchisees and their success.

That conversation has stuck with me. There is tremendous opportunity in front of us within this single brand. That early lesson reinforced for me that sustainable franchise growth comes from clarity of purpose, consistency, and an unwavering commitment to the people who own and operate the business every day.

During the pandemic, Great Clips started sending video updates to all franchisees, which are now monthly. What do the updates communicate, and why are they important?

During the pandemic, we began sending frequent video updates to franchisees because the situation was evolving rapidly and we needed a way to communicate in real time. We talked about doing these video updates for a long time but never got around to it. Covid forced our hand, in a good way. Video allowed us to speak directly to franchisees in a way that felt immediate and personal. What started as a crisis-response tool quickly proved to be something more valuable. We realized that video helped create a stronger connection to our franchisees, as they could see and hear from leadership, which helped reinforce transparency and trust.

Today, we continue monthly video updates because they provide an efficient way to deliver critical messages, highlight compelling data, reinforce business priorities, and address questions or feedback we’re hearing from the system. Overall, our approach to franchisee communications is to meet them where they are and communicate in formats that ensure clarity and engagement.

With economic uncertainty, flat wages, and high inflation, we’re seeing reports that the hair salon business has slowed. What stands out as different about today? You started with Great Clips shortly before the Great Recession; I’d imagine this is not entirely new.

Economic cycles aren’t new, and our franchisees, like most small business owners, are regularly faced with challenges. I’ve seen firsthand how resilient our franchisees can be during uncertain times, and I marvel at their ability to be creative and adapt during various challenges. However, what feels different today is the level of scrutiny around discretionary spending. Customers are more intentional about where they spend, which puts even greater emphasis on delivering clear, consistent value every visit. To navigate this, our focus is on strengthening the Great Clips brand and ensuring the consistent delivery of the haircut experience. At the same time, we’re equipping franchisees with the tools, data, and support they need to navigate any environment. And despite the headwinds, our franchisees are growing. They’re adding stylists, expanding hours, signing leases, opening new salons, and investing in technology and upgrades. This momentum speaks to the strength of the model and the confidence they have in the brand.

It’s been reported you’re using AI with the Great Clips app to improve stylist efficiency. When did this begin, and how does it work, broadly speaking?

At Great Clips, Inc., we’re consistently innovating around our core offering of convenient haircuts. Over the past five years, that’s included launching a new consumer website and app, along with meaningful investments in technology to better support salons. To clarify, AI isn’t currently embedded in the consumer-facing Great Clips app. We are testing a few AI-related things that might appear in our app in the near future, but our scheduling tools are where we are primarily using AI today. This helps franchisees more accurately forecast demand and schedule stylists accordingly. The result is improved stylist efficiency, more accurate wait times, and an overall better experience for customers. We see AI as a practical tool to enhance salon operations and decision-making, and we’ll continue to invest strategically in ways that strengthen performance and elevate the customer experience in Great Clips salons.