Apprentice cut my ear at 9am, customer still tipped me $20

Last month I let my new apprentice do a simple skin fade on a regular while I watched. He nicked the guy's ear lobe pretty bad, blood everywhere, but the customer just laughed and said 'at least it's not my neck'. I gave him a free beard trim and he still left a $20 tip for the kid. Now I'm wondering, how do you guys handle teaching moments without scaring off clients or crushing the apprentice's confidence? Has anyone else had a close call like this during training?

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noahchen28d ago

Did you sit down with the apprentice afterward and walk him through exactly what went wrong, or did you just let him ride the customer's good mood? That $20 tip can easily hide a mistake if you don't break it down step by step. Curious if you corrected his grip or angle before he tries that fade on someone less chill.