Ep. 107 - Beauty Industry Leader Reveals Why Social Media Success Is Smoke and Mirrors

Think you need to grind 24/7 to build an empire? Think again.

Meet Danielle Keasling, the beauty industry powerhouse who turned a passion for service into partnerships with L'Oreal, Matrix, Dyson, and Ulta – all while living on island time. After 26 years of hustle, she's calling BS on the "work yourself to death" mentality.

In this no-bullshit conversation, we dive deep into:

• Why social media success is smoke and mirrors
• The real secret to building sustainable wealth (hint: it's not what influencers tell you)
• How COVID exposed the truth about "industry experts"
• The mindset shift that lets you build wealth WITHOUT sacrificing your life

Plus, Danielle drops truth bombs about credibility vs. influence in today's digital age and reveals her controversial take on work-life balance that's transforming the beauty industry.

🔗 CONNECT WITH DANIELLE: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielle.keasling/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anothermillionmiles Website: https://anothermillionmiles.com/

💰 Ready to build real wealth without the BS? Hit subscribe and let's dive in.

As always we ask you to comment, DM, whatever it takes to have a conversation to help you take the next step in your journey, reach out on any platform!

Twitter, FaceBook, Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin

DISCLOSURE: Awards and rankings by third parties are not indicative of future performance or client investment success. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investment strategies carry profit/loss potential and cannot eliminate investment risks. Information discussed may not reflect current positions/recommendations. While believed accurate, Black Mammoth does not guarantee information accuracy. This broadcast is not a solicitation for securities transactions or personalized investment advice. Tax/estate planning information is general - consult professionals for specific situations. Full disclosures at www.blackmammoth.com.

Chapters

• 0:34 Meet Danielle Keasling: Beauty Industry Expert
• 4:52 The Importance of Mindset in Success
• 8:08 Balancing Work and Personal Life
• 12:57 Navigating Social Media and Authenticity
• 15:22 Another Million Miles: A New Venture
• 23:43 Final Thoughts and Advice

Transcript

Stoy Hall: 0:07

We're back with another exciting episode of No BS Wealth War where we like to bring you no bullshit. And today we have a badass, not other than Danielle Kiesling, who is, uh, the best you can say in the beauty industry, but has taken that to another degree and is here to help you grow in your journey, wherever that journey may be. She's definitely here for that. Even coming off a red eye, she's here with us today, uh, to talk through traveling in beauty as well. So Danielle, love the intro, obviously, but without further ado, why don't you give us a background of where you came from and how you got to where you're at.

Danielle Keasling: 0:42

Yeah. I've been in the beauty industry for 26 years now and I had no idea what I was going to do in the beauty industry. I just love to service people and that's like my love language is to help other people and to give service to other people. So it sat well with me. I always loved beauty myself. And 25, almost 26 years later, my career has taken. A million different turns. It's all mindset though. And, I just literally got off of a red eye. And I was in Utah, in Salt Lake City, doing a huge event for Matrix. And Flew home. So I didn't lose a day and just got right back into work today. I it's mindset and mindfulness. And now I work for some of the biggest brands in the industry. I work for five different companies. I do a lot of coaching and consulting and freelance work and. I, people consider me a workaholic, but I love what I do and I cannot imagine waking up every day, like not in that perspective. For sure. For sure.

Stoy Hall: 1:56

Talk us through the early part of your career, then like the transition from, working somewhat for others to like your own brand and your own business now.

Danielle Keasling: 2:04

Yeah, so, I've always ebbed and flowed, like I've done everything in this industry that you could probably think of, and so I've been on so many different sides of it, like booth rental, owning a salon, being an employee, and then becoming an entrepreneur and like doing my own brand and that started with you. Owning my own salon and owning my own brand and business and knowing how to market that brand and grow that brand. And then ended up selling the brand and making a really great profit off of it. And that's alleviated any type of financial stress for a good three years where I could get back into the creative artistry side of things and figure out what I wanted to do. Uh, I. Went back into education. I came from the fashion world of hair, did a lot of editorial work and then started, after I sold the salon, went into the education side of things. And that's when I saw, I guess it's probably when I connected because I always loved what I did, but you know, in my mindset, owning a salon, I was growing employees and I grew my culture. But like when I could. Changed thousands of people's lives on an international scale is when I started tapping into what I really wanted to do and what I knew I could do. And then when you work with big, large brands like L'Oreal and Dyson and Ulta, you can just reach so many more people. So. Yeah, my journey just kept growing through it. And, um, now I still represent a lot of brands, but I'm completely freelance. I'm not, I'm my own brand. My brand is Danielle Kiesling and Hair Biz and Beyond coaching and consulting. And then. We're my business partner and I are starting another million miles, which is an entire women's it's like the concierge of credibility. It's a lifestyle brand for particularly women, men follow it too, but it's more about like the women, woman's body, biohacking, staying young. I'm in my mid forties. I don't know where the time lands. I refuse to cave into the age thing, so it's the beauty industry in my background.

Stoy Hall: 4:34

It's a, it's an important one though, right? The biggest difference between men and women, not the biggest. There's a lot, obviously, but one is the beauty side, right? Most men just were simple. We're simple creatures. We don't really give a shit. We usually go to the barber, fresh haircut, we're good, right? Talk us through like the mindset, right? You mentioned mindset a couple of times now, and I'm a huge proponent of mindset. I don't think you can do anything in life without having the mindset, correct. Yeah. Oriented or else it's just going to fail. Most likely. Talk us through that mindset piece of why you do what you do, right? Because you could do. And speak and take it a brand a hundred different ways, but why focus on the beauty side and enhancing other women from that perspective?

Danielle Keasling: 5:23

Uh, it's a confidence thing. I think that, when women feel beautiful they, they can outperform their expectations and their own like level of thinking, you can literally like the beauty industry is one of, I think, four or five Industries as a whole that like actually physically touches people. And so you become connected with your client, your model, whoever you're working with, no matter what, like you're going to take on their energy. You have to be able to like navigate that, but I think that most beauty professionals. In, and this goes for nurses too, and doctors, like they're like, they're physical touch you, you get that, it's in your heart, it's in your it's your purpose, and when you're, when you are like, a server, that, that's what fills me up I don't need to win it, and I just had this conversation last night with one of the My colleagues are coworkers and I'm like, I don't need to win any more awards. I don't need to like, I'm done. Not that I won't, not that I won't bring up, but to lead a team, to lead a mentee, to lead somebody else to like wealth and knowledge and skill and that's like what makes me happy. And it really makes me like, I just came off, like I said, I just came back from Utah. I was in Salt Lake City doing a event for Matrix Hair Care and like they're so exhausting and tiring, but you just, you get on that plane and you're like, You're just elated. You're happy. You're like, wow, I actually probably changed the perspective of at least a dozen people, if not a hundred people in that room. So

Stoy Hall: 7:19

You talked about you take on your clients emotions a little bit, a lot of it actually. I know I do. When we talk about their money, like I, I can feel the energy in it and it puts a lot on your shoulders. Right. It really does. It weighs heavy because we're not therapists, but we are therapists, right? Like anybody who's able to touch someone physically and or touch their deepest rooted secrets, usually it falls in around money. You become a therapist. You become part of them and part of their journey in that relationship. Yeah, how do you deal with that? Right? Because there's a lot of listeners right now There are business owners across the globe let alone the beauty industry and the money industry How do you personally deal with some of that weight because it puts bags on us, too You deal with that emotional weight from your client.

Danielle Keasling: 8:09

Yeah, I used to not deal with it And you don't like, I didn't really realize until, to be honest with you, I was just burning the candle on both ends until COVID and that's when I realized whoa, I need to step back or I'm not going to be able to do this like sustainably, much longer. And I still work like crazy. People think I'm crazy. I just am dedicated to what I'm doing, but I have a very. Like I've been full of balance when you become an entrepreneur and you get to make the choices, you have to also make the choices to create balance. Like I live on a beautiful island, Hilton Hood Island in South Carolina. And I get up, I go to yoga at every day I'm home. I'm at a nine o'clock yoga class and it's an hour and a half. And that is my time. It's non negotiable. A cold plunge. Every day I'm home. I hate it. Every day I'm home, but I do it because it makes all the difference. Like you can physically feel it instantly. I'm just dedicated. Like I go out and I walk and I work out and I'm not crazy about working out. I don't particularly care to work out, but I do it because I know that I have to in order to maintain balance in your life. Because if you just sit, if you just, my business partner's guilty of this. I'll call her out on it. Sometimes I'm like, girl, get off the computer. You have got to. To come to the beach and take a walk, take a deep breath, that was pointed out to me again, this weekend is like everyone, I get around my fellow industry people and they're like, you just work, you work, how do you do this? You work for so many different brands, you're doing so many different projects and I'm like, yeah, but the reality of it is like social media is all smoke and mirrors and yes, I jumped from one place to the next and I'm traveling internationally and I'm going here and there and taking red eyes and, but I get to bring my French bulldog sometimes and I get to go and go to a cool place and like chill and and I don't, I used to have a big guilt about that, like I had a huge, I didn't want to share that with people because I felt like it was like, it was almost shame. Like I, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew, understood that I'm like a workaholic and now I am like 110 I try to be like, yeah, I go to the beach, I go bike riding and I do things like the average person shouldn't be working more than. I should say, I shouldn't say that because I'm like, I probably work more than eight hours, but a day for sure. But it's it's flexibility. It's freedom. I guess it's financial freedom. And it's like the flexibility when you are at a level of entrepreneurship that you built up is It's really nice. It's really nice to have, sometimes I'm like, gosh, I can't turn off, but then on the other hand, I'm like, I can go have dinner whenever I want. I can go do, I just have to rearrange my schedule.

Stoy Hall: 11:34

But that takes time to build that, right? You can't start a business and be like, you know what I'm done. I feel like our society does a really poor job, and the internet doesn't help this, social media doesn't help this at all, of when you start a business, success isn't overnight. You need to build it, it needs to be sustainable over time before you can get to where you're at, where it's you know what? Yes, I need to do this at nine o'clock every day. Cool. Guess what? I can fill the things in around that. And I know growing up, although my childhood is really not good, but I know growing up, we were always taught like work as hard as you can, nine to five straight through grind grind. Today's age is more like I'm going to work a lot. Yeah. But I don't really track the hours because I'm doing things intermittently that balances me out. So I'm not really working right. All I'm texting clients at nine o'clock at night. Sometimes. But I'm also not talking to them for two days, there's this give and take and I feel like our society in specifically social media doesn't highlight the fact that there's the grind still. And that success doesn't come overnight. Can you talk a little bit more about like the journey, right? The overall journey that you took from getting to like just grinding away, COVID hit, and now you're able to do that thing. Talk us through what some of the, those days looked like.

Danielle Keasling: 12:57

Yeah. That's like such a great point, social media does, it has changed the game and people do get there's so everyone's a coach now and everyone's selling a digital product, and it's cool. It's fine. It's not like there's no diss on that at all. It's just, I think that it's like what you're saying is that in order to get to that certain level, though, you got to put the time in, it just doesn't, I have, I coach people. So like one of the first things I, our first consultation call, I'm like, what are your goals? What is your, what are your goals for the next six months? What are your goals for the year? What are your goals for three years, five years? And. I would say 95 percent of the people get like silent because they don't even know what their goals are. And for me, I think my whole journey revolved around goals. That's why I like understand it so well. I was raised similar to you, like corporate, the parents wanted me to be a corporate, doctor, lawyer, like work your way up. You like go through the corporate ladder, like you work your way to the top and then You can retire at, you can retire at 65 if you're lucky. And I just, I was so, I don't know what Jean, cause no one in my family is in the beauty industry. They're all like. Corporate people, I just went so opposite of it and was like, again, I worked in a salon for well over 12 years and did other things on the side editorial work and flew back and forth from New York to here and did, got into the celebrity world of doing hair and everything like that. But. Again, I had the flexibility, even though I was like working my ass off. I was working 12 hour days, 7 days a week. It doesn't just happen. People will say to me all the time, I want to do what you do. I'm like, well, I've been doing this for almost 26 years, believe it or not. Thank you for the compliment, like it's just it's mind blowing to me and you know There is the financial freedom on the other side of it when you can get there though But like you have to put the work in like It doesn't, it just doesn't happen unless you're really good at manifesting. I try to be, but

Stoy Hall: 15:21

It'd be on a different level, a whole different level. If I had to manifest what I wanted to be talk to us more about another million miles, let's get in deep a little there.

Danielle Keasling: 15:28

So it like dawned on me after COVID. I think when I was watching people create. Social media brands, particularly, like it was like, everyone was home. They had time to go now, which I do, so there was just like, and the beauty industry especially got hit really hard. Like it went. It completely changed. There's industries, I think everyone is affected by it, but there was industries that like, they're not that affected by it. The beauty industry got crazy affected by it. Everybody became either a beauty salon, professional influencer to teach salon professionals, or they became like a beauty blogger. To like use products and blog and review like all the fashions, the models that weren't working fashion week anymore, whether it was because they couldn't, whether it was cause their age, like everyone just became like in the beauty business. So it just. It was like this over flood of, influence. And when you work on the side with the brands and you're targeting budgets, and you're trying to figure out where, your return on investment is, you have to take into consideration. You're marketing and I started tapping into what the brands were paying influencers and, and then I was tapping into what their credibility actually was. And that's when you start going, this is insane that someone that is doing the same service that I'm capable of doing and has a quarter of the amount. Of years of experience, zero accolades or awards hasn't spoke on a stage in their life. They know how to edit a good video and I'm paying them X amount of dollars per post. And that's where I thought, I should be using my credibility and a consumer market and be somebody that consumers. Women especially can tap into and go, okay, she actually has one North American hairstylist of the year. So maybe her advice is valid when it comes to, hair care or, how to consult with your stylist, like whatever it is. And that led me, another million miles has led me into, A whole nother world of health and wellness and the beauty industry and the health and wellness industry has merged in the last couple of years, probably since COVID, because they're all speaking the same language about reversing your age now, and how do you stay more youthful? How do you stay? Everything's about being younger, being more athletic, being more vibrant, being more self love, self care. And so it's really merged like fitness, health, wellness, beauty. It's all one big industry at this point. So. Another million miles is like the lifestyle blog with credibility.

Stoy Hall: 18:44

That is the credibility side. So I've been in the industry. What the hell year is it? 2024. I've been in it for 13 years. I've got, my credentials, top 100 advisor, et cetera. You won that in, I was the same way with you of like, why am I seeing all of these financial gurus that I see on TikTok or Instagram, how are these people providing Really poor advice and people are following and getting that as opposed to someone who's been in it, still in it, drag, dragging her away, grinding away and attacking that, what can you say to those that are listening to guide them to people that are like you and I, who have the expertise, the credentials behind it, plus, the years of experience of failures, of course, too, as opposed to someone who's really good at editing a video

Danielle Keasling: 19:36

and

Stoy Hall: 19:36

grabbing your attention.

Danielle Keasling: 19:38

It's, it, you have to just pay attention. It's hard sometimes, but I always say I always make a joke. I'm like, well, if it happened on Instagram, it's real, right? Because for a while it was like, especially I think when Instagram stories came out, like everyone like was like documenting their entire day to day. Life every day, their routine. And it was like, they just, they made their reality on social media. And, let's be honest, people, like I, if it's perfect, it's probably not, it's probably not, of course, I want to be the woman that does refrigerator Amazon finds, and all of her stuff is labeled and perfect,

Stoy Hall: 20:20

and she chucks up

Danielle Keasling: 20:21

all of her things for her kids, and everything's so unorganized, and I'm who am I? I cannot, and I said that to a friend of mine the other day and he was like, No, you don't. You don't want to be like that. He's you would just lose your mind if that was your life. And he's you're organized, but that's like another level of OCD. And he's but you have to put everything into perspective. People that make money doing that's their job now, like they are like, their job is to organize your refrigerator or organize your pantry or organize your closet. That's how they make money. So the imposter syndrome nowadays is like a huge, awful. Thing because everyone feels like they're just not enough and you know when you're watching people like I just think about Aspire to be better, but be honest with yourself That is the reality of it is like they don't have a if they're that good at social media They are That is their job

Stoy Hall: 21:32

their job or they're paying someone a lot of money to do it. A lot of money,

Danielle Keasling: 21:37

yeah, to do

Stoy Hall: 21:38

it

Danielle Keasling: 21:38

or have a big team. Exactly. So it's just not possible. Like I can tell you no bullshit. Like I work for, brands that like I have to have in my contract, like I have to post X amount of stuff and I. After I get off of an event and get on a plane, it's like my email is like flooded and I have to answer all of these DMs on Instagram and TikTok and you're just like, the last thing I want to do is make a recap video but I do it like, and I do it and I say this to be real. I don't like. There's no negative pun behind it towards my brand that I just worked with. It has nothing to do with that, it's just you're just, you're a human, I'm a human being, you're a human being everyone's human. Maybe they're not, I don't know, nowadays, but you can only do so much in 24 hours we don't get to buy time.

Stoy Hall: 22:45

And that shit takes time. We have videos. Oh,

Danielle Keasling: 22:48

see, that takes a lot of time. It takes time, and then, talk about ADD I go, I literally pick up my phone to start checking emails. And then I'm like, Notification! And then you just go down a rabbit hole and you're like, 30 minutes later you're like, What did I pick up my phone for? What did I do? Yeah, it's wild. That's I actually purposely try not to use my phone for emails anymore because If I have to open my computer, I go right to my email and I don't have my notifications and messages on my computer. If I go on my phone, between the text messages and the email link notifications, like I'm like squirrel, there's nothing getting done.

Stoy Hall: 23:43

Well, as we get to the end of this, we always ask one important question and that is what is one piece of advice, tip. Guide something that you can give our listeners that will help them take that next step on their journey, wherever their journey is.

Danielle Keasling: 24:01

That you only have one life on this planet that we live on. And I always say that, if you're really lucky, you have a hundred years, right? So it's the scale, like, where are you on? Where are you at that 100 years? Are you 25 percent through it? Are you 50 percent through it? And then what do you want to do with the rest of it? And I don't personally think I'm going to learn to live to help endurance. So I, I like to scale it back to 80 maybe, but you know, and then it really puts it into perspective though, because I'm 44 years old. And if I like, think about that scale and I'm like, okay, I spent, uh, That portion of my life, building my business. Now I'm here. Really, when I think about the scale of one to 80, I'm like, I want to be re I want to be in Bali in two years. Yeah. So I, you gotta like that's the big, it's like big picture. Like really, what do you want to do with the time that you have on this?

Stoy Hall: 25:12

That's powerful. It really is. I know we always talk about it. You have less time than you think yada, but like truthfully think about what you have left and start to make the memories and live life that you want to not retire at 65, 67, based upon what we've been told when we were little, that ain't gonna work. It's not how it works, but. As always, everybody 1, I appreciate you, Daniel, for coming on, shining some lights. Can't wait to share more about it as well. But also, I always tell everyone share, comment, subscribe, not because of the algorithm and all that shit. I don't care. I really don't. I want you to be able to communicate with us, right? Yeah. Reach out to us, DM us. Get us involved because the only way you're going to be able to take a step forward Is if you talk to somebody there's not one person on this earth that is successful both wealthy rich However, you want to say it by doing it alone. They have a team whatever that team may look like everyone has a team And we're here for you whether that's more on the beauty side with danielle more on the well side with me Or hell our own networks that may be able to help you. Please reach out to us. So follow us as much as you can and again, I appreciate your time coming off red eye and being on the show Uh, definitely love you for that.

Danielle Keasling: 26:27

Thank you. I appreciate it. And thank you for having me

Black Mammoth: 26:31

Was sponsored by black mammoth any awards rankings or recognition by unaffiliated third parties or publications? Are in no way indicative of the advisors future performance or any individual client's investment success No award, ranking, or recognitions should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Black Mammoth. Information regarding specific awards, rankings, or recognitions is available on the Black Mammoth website, www. blackmammoth. com. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. Investment strategies such as asset allocation, diversification, or rebalancing do not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses. There are no guarantees that a portfolio employing these or any other strategy will outperform a portfolio that does not engage in such strategies. This broadcast should not be construed by any client or prospective client as a solicitation to affect or intend to affect transactions and securities, or the rendering of personalized investment advice, due to various factors including changing market conditions. The information discussed in this broadcast may no longer be reflective of current positions or recommendations. While information presented is believed to be factual and up to date, Black Mammoth do not guarantee its accuracy, and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. The tax and estate planning information discussed is general in nature and is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Listeners should consult an attorney or tax professional regarding their specific legal or tax situation. Past performance is not indicative of future results.