Turning Lash Services Into a 7-Figure Product Brand — with Courtney Buhler

On this episode of Girl Gang the Podcast, we're interviewing Courtney Buhler - Founder & CEO at Sugarlash PRO.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Girl Gang the Podcast. I'm your host, Amy Will, and the founder of Girl Gang. This podcast is brought to you by Girl Gangthelabel.com. Read our online magazine, The Edit, for interviews with female creatives, plus tips, tools, and rituals to level up your own career. Shop our line of merchandise, including our signature support your local girl gang collection. For every item sold, we team up with a charity to support women's education, health, and empowerment. Shop today and use code Girl Gang to receive 20% off at GirlGangthelabel.com. Show us your listening by tagging us on Instagram at Girl Gang The Label. Thank you so much for tuning in. I am Courtney Bueller, founder and CEO of Sugar Lash Pro. Thank you so much. Um, well, thank you all for coming today. We also have your team in here with us, which is so exciting. Um, you are from Canada. And on what is bringing you to Los Angeles? Are you doing a press tour? Um, what's going on out here?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yeah, we're here doing actually just a lot of podcasts, which is the first time that I've done, I mean, uh lots of podcasts, but usually we're meeting with editors and we're doing lashes and all of that stuff. But there's I like this podcast platform that we can speak about interesting things and entrepreneurship and like the lash industry, and it's just all super cool to be able to, yeah, meet people in like a deeper way.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

So, what is that like than when you are going on a tour like this? Can you kind of paint us a picture of how many days you go through this? What is like a day of press like for you to give our listeners a little peek inside what that's like?

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yeah, so this trip's been different. I mean, usually our trips, our press trips are we rent out like a penthouse in New York or whatever, and we'll have editors come in from like Birdie or Friday 29 and and just people in and out all day doing like 10 to 12 um people per day for Lash services. So we do that for two days usually, and it's very service-based. But now I think because we're coming into, I don't know, just like this era where people just want more authentic, you know, connections and stuff. Now I'm doing lots of entrepreneurship um podcasts. So this trip has actually been, I mean, it's been quite light, actually. So it's been um, you know, we we rented an Airbnb and we're we did a podcast yesterday, and then we're doing three podcasts today. Um, so going here, and then we're gonna go for lunch, and then we've got another two in the afternoon, and and then just meeting LA people. We were actually out for dinner last night with uh a couple that does a lash-based podcast called Lash Cast Podcast. And that was really fun. Yes, they're awesome. We didn't record with them this time, but I have recorded with them, and then um, and then we're beauty biz BFF, so very beauty, beauty industry focused. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

So exciting. Um, and then before we dive in, can you um walk us through exactly um what your brand is, um, how you got started? Um, we'll kind of go through the beginning phases first. That's what I would say is a focal point of ours, especially for companies like yours that are like very successful. So if you can kind of explain your mission and then those early days, and then we can go into the entrepreneurship journey as well.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Yeah, the whole journey has been such an organic um realization. And and so where the brand is now, essentially what Sugar Lash Pro is in a nutshell, is it's a company that we now develop professional product for people to use in their salons to do the services. But that's not how I started. I just started in the lash industry, just starting as my most audacious dream was to have a part-time business out of my home doing lash extensions as a like solo lash provider. And so um got into the industry like that. It wasn't easy to break into the industry. There was lots of like red tape that you had to get through to be able to get trained initially. And so I kind of went to this like backyard course and still was really successful, and then it grew and I hired staff and we moved to a salon, and then I decided to think bigger, um, having all that knowledge that I, you know, had accumulated over the years through trial and error and so many errors, um, and create a line, a product line, and training that I needed when I started that didn't exist. And so that's where Sugar Lash Pro was born. So now I don't lash anymore and I don't have the salon side anymore, but we just support the salons. So we have um just over 60,000 lash artists in 80 plus countries around the world that are currently using our stuff that we help be amazing kick-ass business owners.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Oh my god, what is that like now to be on the support and training side? For I'm sure you like see yourself probably in some or most of the people in salons that you're training and supporting now. Yeah. What is that like, like going on the other side of it now? Do you ever have those moments where you're like, holy shit, that was me. Like, I I am on this other side now throughout this journey and like still being so young. Totally.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

I think like that's been such a key driver to success, is like I didn't miss any steps, right? I've been on every single, like I've been the solo at-home lash artist, and then I've been the at-home lash artist hiring staff illegally in my basement. And then I've been, you know, I built the whole commercial, like I furnished the whole commercial space myself and had to hire contractors and doing all the stuff. And so I've known the like the stresses and the pain points at every, you know, angle. Um, so I think that it still, yeah, to this day, drives me. Like if we have stock issues at Sugar Lash Pro and I'm out of stock, I'm not thinking, oh my goodness, we're out of stock or losing sales. I'm thinking this woman who has these services booked, if she has to cancel one of them, like that's on me. She's got kids to feed at home and she might be a single mom and she might be whatever. So everything is like driven by this person I have in my head, which probably is essentially myself when I was uh like 19, 20 as a single mom getting into the lash industry. Cause yeah, if you're a single income, then you know every appointment counts. And so you just try and like be there as best you can for them. And then when we're our most successful at Sugar Lash Pro is when they're being their most successful. So it's this cool circle of um, yeah, everyone supporting each other.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

So let's talk about that 19 to 20 year old version of yourself. You're building this. What when you talked about like moving towards the the growth strategy, moving towards the support side, was it fight or flight mode where you're like survival mode? I really need to figure out how to grow this smarter, get more cash in, or was it just this like vision that you dreamed up during it and seeing the full potential of it? Can you kind of walk us through? I think it's as people grow their businesses, we can take them in so many different directions. So I love talking about that point where you can go two different roads, stay in that dream, like, you know what, I'm gonna do part-time, or based on demand or needing more cash. Like, what was the driver for kind of like revamping and completely pivoting the business model that you had built?

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Yeah. So, like there has been a lot of. So when I first started, yeah, it was just for part-time because I wanted the flexibility and I wanted that. And then it everything that's happened along the way has kind of just been, yeah, this fight or flight thing. So I got way too busy. I was working 60 hours a week. So I was forced to hire an employee. That was never in the plans, never was even on my radar. So forced to hire an employee, forced to hire a second, third, fourth, fifth. Then we were out of the house. So we were operating out of the house. It was so illegal. I'm pretty sure people thought that we were drug dealing or a brothel or both. I don't know. But it was like 50 or 60 people in and out of my house every day. Um, and by that, that was a couple years into it, and I had had another baby, another baby on the way. So I have three kids, um, had gotten married by that point. And then we so then fight or flight again, neighbors started freaking out. We had like altercations in the house of like people coming into my home and stomping on the floors and like you're blocking my driveway, like people are so, anyways, shit hit the fan and we then we moved commercially. So great. It was like I was forced to do it again. It was always like led. So then we go to the salon, everything's great. We hired out to 10 staff, and then everyone's like, Well, are you gonna hire another? Are you gonna open another salon? Or are you going like what are you gonna do? You're gonna franchise it, you're gonna do whatever. And we were always booking in the salon like six weeks out. It was going super well, but all of a sudden we started seeing this dip in bookings. This is like, yeah, seven years ago now. Um, we started seeing this dip in bookings for the first time ever. And so I started just asking random people on the street, like, have you heard of lash extensions? What do you think about them? And it was like there was a fear going around because as eyelash extensions became more popular, training, good training wasn't accessible, and there was all that red tape. And so people were taking YouTube courses and just ordering product off of like wherever they could find and get their hands on it. And so the horror stories were like like true horror stories. Like, you don't, I don't even want to talk about them, like they're just awful stories, and so it only takes a few of those for it to spread like wildfire. And so people not knowing because it's such a new service, they don't know, you know, if you get your hair bleached and it all falls out, you know that your hair provider was like irresponsible and bleached it too fast, right? Like we know that because it's like been around for so long, but with lashes, it was like a bad application, was just like, oh, lash extensions are bad. Not your provider was bad, not the application was bad, it was just lash extensions are bad. And so it was like again a fight or flight moment where it was like, Am I what am I gonna do? Like start laying off my staff, do more marketing. I was already doing so much marketing, but it's like they didn't almost didn't believe it because it's like, well, I had a friend whose lashes fault, but it wasn't my salon, it was a different one, but they didn't know. And so I just thought, man, I can, you know, be victim and hope for the best for this industry and hope it turns around and do my part, or I can change it. And so that's when I was like, no, I will get these people the training that they need. I know the red tape that was there for me and why I couldn't get good training. So I'm gonna develop a pro a course and a program that has everything out of it that you would have from the aesthetics program or from the cosmetology program. I don't want, because at the time you had to be a cosmetologist or an aesthetician to take a lash course. And I thought, man, why would I spend 20 grand on a course that doesn't touch anything with lashes than to take a$2,000 lash course, right? So I took everything out of those programs and put it into our programs and made it really accessible to everyone. And um, yeah, and it's just been a wild ride ever since.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

That was a huge pivotal moment. And now, I mean, your company is just like everywhere, and it's I mean, did you ever picture it getting to the point you're at today?

SPEAKER_00 10:28

No, like never in a million years. And people even ask me now, like, what is it gonna look like in a year? And I have no idea. Like, all I know is we're gonna do the best we can when I have crazy ideas, which is literally like pretty much all I'm good for, is the endless ideas. Um, and now I have an amazing team that can like make shit happen. So, I mean, who's to say? Who's to say what it looks like in 12 months, in five years? I just know that I work hard every day, and so does everyone around me. And we just, yeah, listen to the industry, listen to, you know, what's happening and the pain points and try and alleviate those the best we can. And I mean, that's all you can do at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Um, and now, I mean, the point you're at now, I'm sure there's been a handful of like kind of surreal out-of-body experiences. Can you take us through the first couple, maybe um a huge salon you worked with or a the first large press that you got? What were those like early holy shit moments in building your business?

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Oh, it's been like nothing but holy shit moments.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

That is the most epic answer you can give. Give a give me all of them you're willing to.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Oh man, I think I think recently, so when I started, when I started the salon, um, and then we were doing the services out of the out of the house, right? And so the whole basement was the lash lounge, and I had had so I have three kids at this point. Uh, I'm married, and then when I decided to start Sugar Lash Pro and get into the product side and the distribution, I was like, uh, honey, we're gonna start another business and it's gonna be back in the house. And he's like, no, you're not. He's like, it's our house now, it's finally a home. And so it grew. So it was from a 10 by 10 basement, and then we moved all the product to the uh or sorry, 10 by 10 bedroom, and then we moved all the product into the basement. Then it took over two levels of our home. So we were eating dinner and like making like our food in between just rows of lashes, like it was just floor to ceiling, and and then it went all the way up. So we then we moved out and it went to all three levels of the house was the business. Um, so fast forward to now, um, just this year, so that was at the beginning. So, you know, four years past, we moved to a different warehouse. But we just opened this this warehouse in Edmonton now, and it's like 18,000 square feet, and I never saw it. Um, like I never was in in that deal. They were just, you know, we need space, whatever. So people were looking at space. And um walking, I remember walking in there for the first time and I hadn't seen it. They'd been working in there for a month. So the other thing about me as an entrepreneur, I'm never in the office. I can't do it. Like, I get totally creativity, it does not flow if I'm at a desk in in the warehouse. And so I hadn't seen it. And I walked into this space, and like, like it takes, I don't know, Ruth, how long does it take to walk to the back? Like, it takes a considerable amount of time to walk to the back of this warehouse. And it's like a Costco, like it's like essentially walking into a Costco. And that moment was insane um for me. And then I actually won an award this year, uh, Young Entrepreneur of the Year. And it was super cool to get nominated, especially in Alberta, like where we're from, it's very oil and gas driven. Um, and so the this little beauty business like doesn't really fit into the whole thing, and so I won my category for that, and it's just these bizarre moments of like imposter syndrome, I think, that I'll always have. Slash, I think it's kind of good to have it, like imposter syndrome, meaning for one who doesn't know a drug meaning, like you just feel like a phony. You feel like, well, these people are all more legit than I am. Um and I think that I don't know, I think at it's kind of healthy to be like that because it keeps you moving forward, right? But winning that award this year was super cool, and then we just got that deal with Ulta. I don't know if you had been briefed on that, but that was super cool. So Ulta decided they're gonna bring on lash services, and they were talking to like all these lash companies, and I was like, Yeah, so long story short, we didn't we got rejected and and they didn't choose us as the finalists. And I wrote them back and I was like, I think that you're making a mistake, and here's all the reasons like we are the only ones with online training, we're the only ones with with lash lift and lash extensions and all these and all these reasons, and they were like, Yeah, we we made a mistake, you're back on the list. Please come to Chicago next week, and so threw it together. My teamwork like 20, I'm not joking, 20 hour days. Like they had a couple naps during the day for that week, and we went to Chicago and pitched it and got it. So that was another one of those crazy moments. So it's just been a lot of that, a lot of like failing forward and roadblock and then like pivoting around it and then you know, coming out on top. Not that there haven't been actual failures in there because there definitely have, but like lots of moments like that.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Okay, I need to know so much more about the Ulta deal then. So what went through your head when you got the I I just feel like that's such a powerful thing. And I think that people get, including me, get in their heads a lot about either no or the idea of no. Um I like to go through it's a until it's a no, it's a maybe, but that's just straight up no is not an option. We are the best and we're gonna partner with you. So what like can you take us through the like, I don't know, just like the confidence, the thought process to be able to put that out there and then what that actually looked like when you pitched it, got the deal, and kind of like what the rollout looks like, as much detail as you can give us. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

So like the whole process of it was um, because Ulta's in the States, right? Like, we're not ultra familiar with them in Canada, but I had heard the name for sure. Um, so the president of my company kind of came to me and said, Hey, there's this really big chain, um, you know, Ulta who wants to get into lash extensions and they have, you know, 1,500 salons, and I'm like, whoa, it's too big. Like I was just like, don't even entertain it. Like, we don't have the capability to take that on. Um, and so I she's like, Well, no, we're going to put something together for them. And I was like, okay, fine. Like, if you've got a plan, then you do it because I I can't even think about how that would work or what that would look like. And so I just kept doing my thing. And so they put there was this huge RFQ. It was like an 82-page document and very structured on, you know, what exactly this looked like. And I don't deal with structured stuff like that. Like, I can come up with a plan, but like not it in this way. So anyway, so they pitched it, they submitted it, took so much work on everyone's part, and we got the news back that said, like, unfortunately, you haven't been selected. So it was only when they rejected us that my ears perked up, and I was like, who are these people? So then I'm reading about Alta and I'm like, oh my gosh, like this is this move is gonna completely either, you know, hurt our industry and like we're gonna be in serious trouble if they don't partner with the right person, or it can be amazing and it can solidify this kind of niche industry. Because we've we're kind of like these weird, like lash extensions is like people like, oh, lash extensions, like, is that still a thing? Is that you know, whatever? And we've seen this growth, but it was like a partner, like a corporate giant, like Alta saying, like, yep, we've done the research and people really want that. It was like so solidifying, so I'm like, it's gotta be us. So I was in Hawaii at the time, I got the rejection letter. I'm like, I'm kind of like fuming because I don't like being rejected, obviously. Um, and but it's like this weight, it was like this weight was on me that I was like, I should have taken this more seriously if they partner, you know, there is there is other lash companies for sure in in North America that are my colleagues that I respect a thousand percent. And we like drive each other to be better, but we're very different. Like lots of people are hands-on. We've gone very much online with our education so we can reach, you know, those things. That's what I used for Alta. I said, you know, no one has the capability to be sending, you know, live trainers to 1500 salons to train 5,000 staff. Like it's just not feasible. So I really was like, we have the online training, but we have educators to support you live as well. Um, we have lash lift, which is a much easier service to learn than lash extensions, and we can start you there, and then we're gonna work you into lash extensions as time goes on if that's what we decide to do. Um, but knowing that, and I talked about the culture, like, you know, because it's that millennial culture right now, or the Gen X, Gen Z? What letter is it? I know Gen A B C one. Gen. The Generation something. But those and like the Glossier generation, right? Like that want like the they want like the effortless, whatever. So lash lifting is, which is a perm, if if listeners don't know what that is, it's kind of like a new new way to perm that isn't as um barrel-y as it used to be. It's nicer shaped. Nonetheless, so that was it. So I wrote it an email and I literally in the bathtub, I was in the bathtub. Did I mention that yet? No, but I lost it. So I was in Hawaii and I was mad. And when I need to think, and I need to think very clearly, I get in the bathtub, which is funny because we're get we're building a headquarters right now, and I have a office, and then equally in size to the office is a bathroom with a big bathtub because that's where I get shit done. So yeah, so we're doing it. It's gonna be funny. I don't know, it's more funny than anything, but I feel like I'm gonna use it all the time. Like it was a joke, but it's not really a joke. I'm gonna be in the bathtub. There's nothing funny about that. The most badass thing I've ever heard. Ever.

SPEAKER_01 19:54

Oh my gosh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

That's not funny.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

But also, too, we um like in bathtubs, jacuzzi's, anything like that. I feel like you tap into the um the like half-conscious part of thinking. And so I feel like there is some. I mean, I go in the baths just when I need to like calm down and stress out and like think clearly. And so just being able to, I just feel like no excuses. Live your best life. This is like what I'm taking from this right now. Like, I am raising the standards. I've like put a barrier on for myself today. Like, that is incredible. Thank you. It's a little neurotic, but I will own it.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

But yes, then I'll tell they basically when they I wrote them an email, I wrote out a plan. I basically done my team, I was like, that RFQ, whatever we pitched, that's done. Like, let's not even talk about it again. Like, we're not gonna bring up anything. And so I just in two hours, I wrote out this is the plan. I'm like, phase one, we're gonna do all this. Your people are gonna take our online education, we're gonna send you these kits. This is what it costs, this is cost per service, this is whatever, this is the revenue that you're gonna make off this. And and I pitched them an entire thing in one email um in two hours, instead of this RFQ that took three months to fill out that was super structured. And and I just said, I'm sorry that you know you didn't like our first proposal. Hopefully this one's better. And grant I didn't even know what that first proposal was. Like I didn't even care. I never looked at it, and I didn't ask them about it then because it got rejected anyway. So I'm like, hopefully I'm not pitching the same thing, but whatever. So sent that in, and then yeah, then they said uh come to Chicago next week. And so I flew home, did the did a big power for and then I'm so then I'm pitching to a board, right? In Chicago, and I'm not so I I barely passed high school, like I've no post-secondary. I'm just like my idea of what a pitch is is like shark tank. And I'm like, which is like two minutes, which I'm sure isn't actually two minutes on the show, right? It's gonna be like an hour. Anyways, I had two hours to fill. So I was like, okay, I'm like, how are we gonna shark tank this? And so we were go to Chicago, we got um three models in. So we did like a classic lash set, volume lash, and uh Lash lift to show the different things. They were like Sugar Lash Pro, like silk robes, and I just go into this pitch. So I'm like amped up. Like we haven't slept in a week. We flew in, we stayed up all night. We're tweaking numbers because there were some errors in the slides because it was so rushed. Um, I go in, I start talking about just Sugar Lash Pro and the lash industry and the culture and what we are trying to, like we're trying to bring lash services to the masses. So the men and um masculine lash extensions if guys want it, but they don't want to look femme or you know, whatever. And we talk about um different ethnicities and how to approach lash extensions for each um, you know, just diverse people and making it like an everyday thing that anyone could have. And so we start talking about that. It was like such good back and forth, and so I finally go, okay, so this is gonna be the plan. And I just start talking about like the rollout. Someone looks down at their watch and they're like, we're out of time. Like, so I didn't get to anything. I just literally blabbed about Sugar Lash Pro and Lash Culture in the industry for like 90 minutes, and they're like, We're out of time. And I'm like, Okay, well, I'm like, let's schedule a call next week. They're all just like packing up their binders, and I'm like, I just blew it. We just put together this amazing, like phase one, phase two, this and revenue and how we're gonna do it. And I I didn't touch any of it. And so I said, I'm like, we're gonna get on the phone next week, and um, and whatever. They're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. Like, we'll just leave us because they had little booklets printed out, and so I touch base with them next week. They're like, nope, we're good, thanks for coming. And I'm like, ugh, it's done. And so another week passes and another week passes, and I'm like following up, being like, Hey, any questions? And you're they're like, no, we've got everything we need. Thanks so much. And I'm like, okay. So then it was like week four, week five, and I get I starting to get mad now because it's lingering over my head, right? It's something that's like in my brain space that I'm like, well, we should do this, but if we find out Alta, but if we and so then I just ran a new one. I said, Can you just tell tell me no? Like, just tell me that I don't have it so I can move on with my life because I'm fine. I'm fine either way, but I just want to know. And so um then they wrote back that day and they were like, sorry for the delay, we're just firming up the communication, but you're gonna be very happy, and that was it. So that they left me that for the day. So we're like kind of freaking out and kind of like, oh, what does that mean? And then it was like the next day at dinner. This is another holy shit moment where I was sitting in a breakfast spot with um Kim, who was the president at the time, and she we both got an email from uh Richard at Alta, and both of us just like head down open it, and Kim just goes like just there's freaking. I I can't remember exactly what she said, but both of us were just there were noises coming out of our mouths, and then we just stood up and we're not really huggy people, but we did like definitely hug and cry in chorus. And Kim's like, this is gonna be in your book someday. And I'm like, This will be in a book. Now it's in podcasts, so I mean, just as good.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Oh my gosh, that is so beautiful. It's also a true testament to just like it's great to outsource, it's great to get a great team, but at the end of the day, like you're the person that started this, like you are serving you, and it sounds like a huge fire was not just for your brand and for the people that work for you, um, but what it's gonna do to your industry again, getting back to that core. And sometimes you just need to like show up, get that fuel, and just no matter what type of process you have, even if you're not like super type A and structured and have like a PhD from Stanford, I feel like it's a like sometimes you just need to show up with and play with the big boys and say, and like they really respond to passion. And so there was no other way besides you doing this, and it really is gonna help scale just the industry in general, and of course, like most importantly, your brand through this.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

So I think something else that's cool, like for anyone listening that feels like, oh man, I need I'm just not smart enough or whatever, like passion does go so far, and I think so. What even when we're in that boardroom pitch, it was like I was so intimidated, like that was like imposter syndrome to the absolute max, um, and just feeling so inadequate. But and and so what I what they told me after was like we believed in you because you're like you are so passionate about your industry and you have such a like a pulse on what's happening. So that was ultimately why they decided. They said, like, no one talks about the industry like you talk about it. They had met with every other company that they'd met with before that. They like literally just lauded us into the end of that week, but um I'm I'm not that smart. I'm I am smart in like business building or like the emotional side of things or like strategic, you know, maneuvering or the business to, you know, for marketing stuff or you know, product development stuff, but like Excel spreadsheets and financials and what else am I bad at? There's there's many things I'm bad at. I I have a very limited l skill set that I'm good at, and I do that really well, and so I've never been scared to outsource where I'm weak. Um, I think a lot of people get bogged down with like, yeah, feeling inadequate, and then you're gonna spend two days looking at a spreadsheet that you're not even gonna do well because you don't know how to do those things, or you could spend two days doing something that you're amazing at and get someone else to do that work in an hour because they're a whiz at it. Um, but it's like it's those epiphanies that it's like it's not a money driver, right? It's like people are scared to outsource because they get a little bit money hungry, where they're like, I need every dollar, but it's like you can make so many more dollars if you just spread it out a little bit, the work and the money, really. So anytime that you're weak, I just outsource all day. I've never regretted outsourcing anything besides the things that I'm good at. Because if I'm really good at it, then chances are you're not gonna be better than me at it. But um, yeah, financials and all that boring shit. Get it off here. Someone else do it.

SPEAKER_01 27:54

I don't even care who does it. It's not me. Well, and just getting out of your own way. I think when you're starting something just from this like passion and drive and you want to change, it doesn't mean you need to be this traditional CEO, president, CFO, COO mixture role that has their hand in everything, you know, like you don't have to be the one that picks out the warehouse. You don't have to be the one that's like on the ground floor of all these things. But when you need to show up for your brand and you're the face of it, I just think those are the most successful ones, especially for the gen blank, whatever it is we decided on. Um, I mean, a big reason customers are going towards those is because of the people, you know, they're buying because of Emily Weissiglossy, buying because of Tyler Haney and Outdoor Voices, like they're gonna buy because of you. And so I think that's how customers are shopping now. And it's really exciting. And it's also beautiful because you can't fake it. You know, these big corporations can't like study and make an algorithm out of what you're doing because they can't create a human that's you. So I think that's really um beautiful. And I think if someone has that creative power, uh for me personally, I'm ADD, so I get very defoc, like defocused easily. Um, instead of looking at that as a negative, I just try to see like where can I shine? Like I love creativity, business development. Let's lean in as much as we can to that, learn, fail fast, move on, go, go, go, and figure it out. And I think that we can a lot more people can tap into their full potential if they're okay with that, admitting what they're not good at and not trying to be someone they're not and owning who they are. And then you really do find people that are excited by that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

And you hit it on the head, like the pivoting. Like it's just if you can pivot and you're not scared to make decisions and you just take everything on board that you learn, like the easy way or the hard way, and you just use that to your advantage, then that's all you can do. But it's the people that like let the failures hang them up, or worse yet, don't move initially because they're too scared of failing, those are the people that are in trouble, not the people that you know make quick decisions and make mistakes. As long as you can, you know, frame them right, then you're golden.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Well, this has been a wild journey. I'm like so impressed by everything you've done. Um, before we sign off, if you can let people know where um to find you, learn more about you, the education, um, and your personal and company Instagram handles as well. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:06

So if anyone is wanting to learn more about the lash industry, um, they can go to sugarlashpro.com and then sugarlash pro on Instagram and Facebook and all the things. And then me personally, my name's Courtney Bueller. So on Instagram, I'm just Court Bueller, and that is definitely a pretty raw look into entrepreneurship. I don't have time to curate stuff as well as I would like to, but that's a capacity thing that I don't have capacity for. So if you want to come on the nitty-gritty entrepreneurial journey, then Court Bueller is the one to follow. And then Sugar Lash Pros, Everything Lashes, beautifully curated by our amazing teams. And um, yeah, the lash industry is a rockin' place to be. So if someone wants to get into it, it is nothing but ups in in this market. It is such a cool place to be.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

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