Ever wondered how to handle team members leaving for higher-paying jobs? We've got you covered as we dive into this sensitive issue, sharing our strategies and insights from the trenches of running a successful salon.
As business owners and life partners, we've faced our share of physical and emotional challenges. Hear Tess reveal the realities of stepping back from daily tasks to focus on leadership and mentorship roles. We share how giving ourselves permission to surrender the small tasks can be the best decision to propel the business forward. Plus, we open up about our team dynamics, transitioning phases and the love we have for our business. So, come join us on this remarkable journey of business, love, and self-discovery at Conscious Salon!
To follow our journey:
Instagram @aheadhair_
@the_conscious_salon
This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative
Ever wondered how to handle team members leaving for higher-paying jobs? We've got you covered as we dive into this sensitive issue, sharing our strategies and insights from the trenches of running a successful salon.
As business owners and life partners, we've faced our share of physical and emotional challenges. Hear Tess reveal the realities of stepping back from daily tasks to focus on leadership and mentorship roles. We share how giving ourselves permission to surrender the small tasks can be the best decision to propel the business forward. Plus, we open up about our team dynamics, transitioning phases and the love we have for our business. So, come join us on this remarkable journey of business, love, and self-discovery at Conscious Salon!
To follow our journey:
Instagram @aheadhair_
@the_conscious_salon
This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative
Here at the Conscious Salon, we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land in which we stand today, the Boon Rung people of the Kula Nation. We pay our respects to the Elders, past and present, and extend their respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Welcome to the Conscious Salon. Welcome back to the Conscious Salon. Odd Past. I feel pressure to like open with something that's my chair, don't worry. Yeah, I know a bit like that. Tess just did big eyes Made like my chair, made a bit of a fart noise, you know, two years ago. I'm just casting back to the days when I wasn't allowed to have the heater on and pour the grease. I had to sit there with like three blankets on and a hot water bottle. And now you're all. The blissful day is produced early. I call them. Yeah, Before she had to compete with all of our sounds of dog snoring, chairs squeaking. But, Tess, it's a beautiful sunny day here in Melbourne, which I never thought I'd utter those words.
Speaker 1:But we're back with another episode of the Conscious Salon podcast. How are you, mate? Good thanks, how are you? Well, that sounds very formal. Very well, Tess, we do a little opener here. The week that was. Yep. How's the week been. It has been good. We're about to head off to Queensland, so I'm really excited for that. Yeah, and I'm a bit prickly about the weather up there because I hear it's rubbish, well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, because this is my week actually, so you just hold the line for a moment.
Speaker 1:The Darny there, absolutely. Yeah, I listened to an episode last week and I was like, wow, I felt like I had a really spicy brain that day because it was like so much Scattered, scattered as, and interrupting you was like just rubbish nonsense. But we are off to Queensland. What's the day today, wednesday, we're heading off. On Friday, 48 hours time, we're heading off. I'm secretly hoping for I'm on the waitlist for a business class upgrade. Oh, that's interesting. Well, I wasn't informed of that at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you and my toddler will be in the back and I'll be in the upgrade, that's all right.
Speaker 1:I should have just hang out with the crew. Anyway, you're. Yeah, good luck to the fella next to you. You get upgraded. Oh, you're not too bad. You're a pretty good vlogger. After a couple of champagne, I'm all right. But we? I want to go into why I'm excited. So we've got. It's not the weather, definitely. Well, I don't even look to the weather, to be fair, but there's room is happening. But on Saturday we've got a bit of free. Our schedule is really really tight, like while we're up there, like Nikki and I, as always. Well, actually, you know, our schedule is not really tight for four days. Your schedule is tight and my entirety of there is tight, yes, but we've got, hang on. It's also schoolies, is it? It's the schoolies week, mate, I've always wanted to be a toolie.
Speaker 1:So I feel like I should get to go because I didn't finish year 12. So I never went to schoolies. It's schoolies week because I was like why is all the accommodation really expensive? It flights for, okay, but I was like the accommodation is outrageous expensive. Are you sure it's schoolies? I thought they have a pretty interesting exam now that I've finished, I promise you it's the week one of the schoolies. Google it and I texted back and I said it's for schoolies. I understand, the assignment will be there. Yeah, you got bombs.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, I said that and then I'm like anyone for a chamomile tea at 9 pm, totally. And yes, thanks. I said. You know what I'm actually so excited for. There's rumours that we're going to go to Wet and Wild. Well, rumours is fact. Rumours is fact, meek put it out there and I was like oh, hell yeah.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:Solie would love it, solie will froth.
Speaker 2:He loves being in the pool. We're going to Wet and Wild on Saturday.
Speaker 1:It's going to be amazing. Yeah, we've put the invite out to Tay and Josh Having her back from Tay, so like rude, to be honest.
Speaker 2:Cut her invite in about 20 minutes time.
Speaker 1:Cut her invite. It's been four hours since she didn't write back, but we'll cut her invite. But, tess, it's going to be a beautiful trip. So we are going up for a work trip. So we've got our planning event with Beck, rebecca Miller. So we're going up to do some planning. We're taking two of our team members up A lovely friend of our short a and honey, who is one of our stylists, and we're going to do some planning the four of us.
Speaker 1:So we're going to plan for conscious. We're going to plan for ahead both businesses and get some nice concrete things in place. But we're also tying this in as a bit of a field trip and excursion, if you will, for the conscious salon as well. So we're going up to visit one of our clients, karina, who is on the Goldie as well, and we're going to be doing some sessions with her team and take her out for dinner and just have some fun with her and actually get to spend some nice quality time with her in person. Can't bloody wait. The other highlight from my week that was because that's where we were. I finished season two of blow deck down under. So that's been very good finish to the week I've got actually no comment. Actually, you do have comments, because, nikki, what she's not telling you that she says are fair, is that she's also really entrenched in the below deck.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I started watching that below deck show that you had on the whole day, absolutely. Yeah, she's loving it. It is good and I will be downloading it for the plane to watch in business class, but it was yes, it is a good show.
Speaker 2:It's a very good show. I get the vibe when we get upgraded.
Speaker 1:You're not getting upgraded this time. You're going to be in economy with the rest of us. But, tess, it never fails. It's failed you so often, so often, I know so often. But yeah, no, I'm definitely, I definitely want to get the upgrade. I'm not getting the upgrade vibes. And I got also got booted out of the lounge because Tess and I were at like, what is it platinum? Were we platinum or we gold? No, we're not a platinum, we're gold.
Speaker 2:I'm still gold. I think you're still a gold.
Speaker 1:I got bumped out of gold and I was I was like so close to getting platinum, but we didn't fly enough last year, so I got bumped out of gold. So what do you win?
Speaker 2:You admit?
Speaker 1:get to go into the lounge. You can also take solely cause. You can take a child if you want, and Pete and I'll have to stay outside and no, no, no, no, no, I'm sure you can do something. What's the silver rules? No, I got something. No, you don't get any. You don't get any lounge access in silver. It's absolutely garbage. Anyway, virginity listening yeah, up your game. People are actually really prickly about it because I deep dove on this cause I was like what I lost? My lounge access, oh my gosh. And people are really prickly about this. He's only been in the lounge once, so he doesn't know what he's really missing.
Speaker 1:I love the lounge and he's on his shred diet anyway, so it's wasted on him. You can come in and like have a little tango around if you like. Absolutely, a couple of champagnes, cheese platter. Thank you very much. We are flying at lunchtime so you're probably going Perfect.
Speaker 2:But yeah we're.
Speaker 1:They do have some times like that really strict, like you know. You can see the ones that are. You know it's usually a nicky with their tongue out at the bar 11.59 because they don't serve alcohol until 12. So 11.59, I'm like lining up there holding a champagne glass. I'm like hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. I love a bit, but, tess, we are back with another episode and it's going to be a great one.
Speaker 2:How was your week.
Speaker 1:You're not sticking to the structure of our episode. I said we're going to Queensland, that's it, that's it.
Speaker 2:My week's going on, I forgot.
Speaker 1:The week that was for both of us was I finished below deck season two.
Speaker 2:Do you know what actually I've?
Speaker 1:actually had a really quiet week and I said to you at the start of the week I have no projects on at the moment.
Speaker 2:Nothing due. I've just got nothing to talk about. What?
Speaker 1:report will you talk about this week? The to-do list is clear and I said to Tess the to-do list is clear. I've added over the last online store that we're doing the meetings courses launched. I'm all ready to go to Queensland Ahead's fine. I've like all of the things that all the like current projects that we had tied up for ahead, like client Christmas presents, christmas party, all that stuff. It's all tied up in a neat bow and I was like I've actually got this the first time in that pretty much the whole year that I've got nothing like nothing on the horizon, nothing that I'm working on Amazing. So I just didn't even know what to do with myself.
Speaker 1:We're going in, I'm going into a salon tomorrow to do an in-person session with one of our private clients, which is going to be really exciting. We're going to be recording a video for her to attract in some ideal team members how good. So it's going to be really good, really fun. A little bit of video production, which I haven't done for a few. You're very good at that Few minutes, but actually you got back on the tools today as well. Nikki did my. I did a live about tidy on the kitchen bench. I said Tess lie down on the kitchen island. We're going to clean up those brows.
Speaker 2:Clean up those brows. What's that of the way?
Speaker 1:Exactly, it was a bit throw. When he walked in, not just lying on the, he was like what did he say?
Speaker 2:He was like are you just doing?
Speaker 1:eyebrows, or should I draw the curtains so? You could improve privacy, no just the brows, which should I be. Thanks very much, but yes, you have to clear a calendar for anything else. But it's been a great week and a nice relaxing week for you, a nice relaxing week for me, actually.
Speaker 1:Not too many things on the horizon. That's the pace I'm rolling with for 2024. I look forward to that, because that's not the pace that you've been working at this year and you know you do like to have pictures popping in for the podcast. But the sweet is it? I'm gonna call out to him hang on, peter, come here, come here. We've got a question to ask you.
Speaker 2:I'll give you some perspective.
Speaker 1:He's got he's got the board shot. I mean, I'm grateful for some material between his body and our eyes, but he's got the board shorts on. He's got the sunglasses. He's wrapping the towel around for a bit of extra sun protection.
Speaker 2:Pete, we think you might be taking the piss with the spa, because every time we record our podcast.
Speaker 1:You uh, it's a coincidental plop.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it might have to do with the timing of the day, because I work very hard.
Speaker 1:He likes to take his spa just after lunch.
Speaker 2:Yeah, on Wednesdays I like to do a bit of work during the day and then I'm generally, you know, time for a bit of relax in the afternoon, and then I pick up Solly from childcare so that does sound pretty nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, gotta get in a little bit of spartan. That's just really clear. I ate part of my lunch and a call this afternoon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look, we're starting a competition.
Speaker 1:What if it is Pete Young's one? All right, pete, off you go. You can take Marty with you. Bye, bye, marty.
Speaker 2:Can I put the bubbles on, or will it be too noisy? Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 1:The bubbles on. I mean, the listeners will love it, but it has been a ripple week for Pete and us and us, of course. It's a great life for Pete. It is a wonderful life for Pete, but um, yeah, it's gonna be he's got too hot.
Speaker 1:He's just gonna have his legs in and adjust and just letting him put the towel down May as well. Just put the cold towel, tap in, just cool that right down. Exactly. Yeah, pete. Um what if he's changed up? He did tell me today that he's just because he was moving all the characters around. I said what are you doing? He said oh, we're about to have 10 days away, so I'm just prepping.
Speaker 1:Relogating oh my god, I actually can't deal with what I put up with from that man, but we love him never, never less. He said today he was explaining something to her and he said I'm not a colleague, I just stopped reading. Like a cactus colleague, I don't want to hear the ins and outs of cactus talk, I just can't listen to it anymore. It's just I said you might not tell you a blow by blow over here, can't? I couldn't get a less bloody hell. Anyway, we are back with another episode. Tess. Our little segment around here is called what? It's? Not a big top of coffee, it's called hot go hot wine.
Speaker 1:I don't know what it is, so anyone who's new around here, we run a little segment each week. It's called hot girl, hot wine for anyone who? Doesn't know like Tess, because she forgot the name of the segment Hot EG. This is going to be the naked man in the spot. He's not naked. Hot. Eg is a. It's a judgment-free zone, tess.
Speaker 2:It is.
Speaker 1:It's a, it's a community, it's a little sanctuary where we can come and we can tell our troubles, our woes, our business secrets and the things that we're facing so that we can solve it as a team together. So Tess and I offer our qualified advice on what we can do to help you in your situation. Tess, what's today's listener question? All right, great today's question is what do you do with team members being offered more money at other salons and leaving? It's a great question. I really like this question.
Speaker 1:Sit down, everyone she's going to give a very good answer. I'm actually going to like probably do like a terrible business move here, but I'm actually going to shout out another business mentor in our industry who summed this up really well and that was Gree not super confident pronouncing her surname, but Gree from Hoode everyone knows who she is, yeah she's got a great haircut. I love her haircut. Amazing haircut, beautiful human.
Speaker 2:She's lovely as well.
Speaker 1:yes, yeah, and look, we chat in the DMs often and we've got a really nice relationship with them. So she actually sums it up really beautifully recently by saying you know, if a team member you know, there's some pretty extraordinary things being offered around in the hair and beauty industry in the last couple of years because obviously we've experienced a bit of staffing and team drought, so people started to get really competitive with what they would offer, and one of the things that she talked about on Instagram recently was, if you're offering people offering crazy things like we're going to give you a Mercedes, like a Harley.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that was wild yeah people were offering, like cars with with Fidermal therapists and things like that, with their contracts and these like seriously outrageous salaries. So Gree really summed it up beautifully when she said with our industry, if people are offering these almost too good to be true scenarios, you really want to ask what's the exchange there. So if I go, yes, I'm going to take this job and get the Mercedes or, you know, get the six figure salary or whatever it is. If you agree to that, what's the expectation that you then have to meet and what's the exchange there? So she talks about that from a team member's perspective and I was like that's a really interesting way of looking at it and I completely agree.
Speaker 1:The jobs that I've had that have been more like bright and shiny from the outside have always ended up being the ones that are a horrible exchange. So in my experience, I go by my gut instinct of how it feels when I'm in there and very much about what the vibe that I'm getting rather than what the package that I'm being offered. So I totally agree with her there. The other thing that she talked about was with team members if they are distracted by like a bright, shiny object. So if they're one of the people who get something waved in front of them and they're like easily distracted and they're like, oh, I'm going to go off and follow this bright, shiny object. Then they're the same people who will continue to leave for the next thing.
Speaker 1:So if you're incentivizing and thinking, well, maybe I'll offer a car and I'll get so many applications the person who you're attracting in you need to look at are they actually aligned with my business or will they just get distracted with if I give them the car and the big package? Are they just going to get distracted by the next person who offers the next big thing and then they just they're not in your business for the right reasons. They're in your business for the shiny objects. Yeah, totally, I think that's so important. What do you think? I think that's a really great like insight from Gray and from you as well. Sharing that, because I know a lot of people will know Gray and a lot of people may not. So and I think you know, especially a few months ago, that was really playing out heavy and fast. I'm just going to offer a perspective of my own, which is what plays out for me. I've really learnt through the last few years that I don't own team and.
Speaker 1:I've always had that as a really. I've definitely felt like I not owned I don't know if owns the right word but I felt that there was a certain amount of loyalty and expectation from them and that they shouldn't leave me really ever. And now I fully support anyone and everyone leaving our salon to do whatever fulfills their cup or fulfills their dreams or fulfill their desires, because I think that's really important and I know that the reality is everyone's replaceable. Now that doesn't mean that everyone's disposable, which is often the, I think the the difference between it, because often people can feel it's not replacing the sense of like you know, yeah, disposing of someone, but I truly feel that I want people in our company that really want to be there and really value being there, and if it doesn't align anymore, that's okay and I truly that. But that's taken. That wasn't like I just woke up one day and was like, oh you know, fabulous, that's not a problem at all. It's taken I would say nine years to the 10 years that I've been a business owner to learn and a lot of heartache and a lot of lessons and understanding and releasing of ego to get there. But I know now you and I'm going to keep throwing back to.
Speaker 1:My biggest lessons in our business with this has been Tayya and Megan, because they are two family members to me, people that I love, like two of my favourite people in the world.
Speaker 1:Leaving our business for different things Tayya took on travel around Australia and now living in the state, and Megan to pursue her dream of teaching, and I really learnt with that that when they were leaving ahead, it wasn't leaving you and me and it wasn't leaving what would have created.
Speaker 1:It was fulfilling dreams of their own Totally, and there was a really different feel on that. Now I still miss them every day, and I know that they also miss us every day or every other day, because we still have such strong relationships, such strong connections, such strong bonds and there's rarely between us going a couple of days without touching base, still catching up, even on the weekend. I saw both of them. Tayya was down and, yeah, that was really beautiful to have that moment with the three of us together as well. But what I've really learnt is that if people start looking outside of our space, or for the person that asked this question or if this is coming up for you, if you are fearful of your team leaving. There's probably a little bit of ownership or expectation in a team that they can't leave you.
Speaker 1:And that is going to leave you in a really vulnerable position. So, if I may offer this person a different perspective, if they are attempted to go to another place where they're going to be paid more or gifted more or more, whatever it is, whatever the reasons are, that's okay. Allow them that time to go and explore that. Yeah, I guess it's a really humbling moment for ego, isn't it? Because I also want to say we've never had a team ever who's left us to go and work in another salon. They've either moved so far away from us that we've driven them out of the industry. We've actually never had anyone who's left to go to another salon, have we? We've heard a couple that have ended up in other salons, but there was issues within that dynamic between us anyway, yeah, it was just clearly unaligned.
Speaker 1:But it may be different if, say, if Megan had left to go to another salon, do you think you would have felt differently? No, I can't say that because I've worked on it so much and it's because I still have the connection with them and the friendship and the value there. So I still feel connected and valued and I know how much they appreciated it. It's a hard one. I find that hard to answer.
Speaker 1:It's really hard to answer we have had teams that have moved on. We're just trying to sympathize with what this person's going through 1000%. We've never had anyone poached. I'll say that We've never had anyone poached. No, the ones that have gone to different salons or, like Abbey Therapist, moved as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, she moved to like regional Victoria.
Speaker 1:So she only went to another salon because she moved. I think it's like look, I just treat it the same. As we don't own team, we don't own clients. If they choose to go and spend their time somewhere else, that's okay. There's always going to be more teams. There's always going to be more clients.
Speaker 2:There's always going to be more opportunities.
Speaker 1:I really want that person to hear that what Tess just said there is always like we truly live. I never thought I'd say these words. We truly live with an abundant mindset. Now, you always have, I never did. Now I truly believe our business is literally like we have a tap that is constantly on of a flow of money, clients, opportunities, team members like incredible things that I never thought were possible. We have been able to have an. It's literally an unlimited resource of that, and the thing that I never got past was oh my God, there's not enough team applying for the job. Oh my God, there's not enough clients booked in this week, whereas when I look at it, I'm like, oh, we literally have a salon full of chairs If we don't have enough appointments. We've got a salon full of chairs and team members behind the chairs ready to take appointments.
Speaker 2:We've got a shelf full of product.
Speaker 1:We literally have every resource that we could possibly need to be able to create abundance. It's the same with team. It's literally an unlimited resource of team. There will always be more team, and you haven't yet met your best team member. Yeah, exactly, and isn't that crazy to think of. You could potentially have all of our team are like what.
Speaker 1:No, I mean that you could potentially have an absolute ride or die around the corner, yeah, and I think that's the thing. But again, it's not something. It's not like you're not going to walk away from this conversation. It's like amazing, like I've healed all of that stuff.
Speaker 1:Letting the ownership is a really big thing to let go of and I think it's a really tricky one to let go of. We have so much of it. I hear it playing out like my clients, like why is my client in with this stylist or whatever. There's so much ownership in our industry and what we do. And when we release ownership, we release ego. And if we have those down, then when people want to further their careers or their dreams or aspirations, and if it is outside of our clinic or salons or you know lives, it doesn't hurt as much and it's okay.
Speaker 1:I think if people there are going to be certain people that are going to be motivated with money and I also think there should be no shame in that I think there's still like this really big ick around money, or like you know that you can never be money driven, or like you know you should have all of these other things like, I'm for it. If this person is driven by, you know money and they've got potential to earn more money at another place that you know you can't match or you aren't prepared to match power to them, let them go and explore that Totally. And for some people it may be the difference of like you know. For a lot of people who are drawn to us, we focus more on personal development, culture, things like that.
Speaker 1:There might be people who are like I don't give a toss about that, I'm just going to go straight for like I want a really high wage and I don't care if I don't see anyone else for the week or have any vibe with a team, I just want to. I'm just like money driven and that's fine and there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and they'll find clinics that serve them or salons that will serve them. And yeah, I just think that this is not a reflection of anyone in this situation. Then you know, if a team member's taken with that, then power to them Beautiful. Thanks for the question. Yeah, really good question, tess. We want to chat today a little bit about something that was a really interesting concept that you came up with last week. Yeah, oh, sorry. No, you're right.
Speaker 2:You tell you announce it.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's just something that we're seeing playing out. Look, we are getting to the pointy end of the year. You know this, this time of year is always like our industry has. Like it's almost like we start creating so much anxiety of like, oh so maybe six weeks till Christmas and five weeks and it's like this. You know I always talk about, you know, the doomsday of Christmas day. Of like, you know, you've got to get everything done and there's almost like we put this like stress and panic around it.
Speaker 1:And so we're having conversations with a lot of salon and clinic owners at the moment around, you know, probably not loving their business as much as what they may have six months ago the love hate relationship with being a salon owner. Yes, that's why we wanted to sit today. So it's a really interesting concept. When Tess came up with this idea last week, I was like, oh, that feels like a bit vulnerable to talk about. But the more that we talked about it and the more that we sat with it, the more that we realized, fuck, if this is making us feel a little bit uncomfortable and this is like a conversation that makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable. This is absolutely why we need to talk about it. Yeah, so we want to normalize the fact that you fall in and out of love with your business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think, in general, entrepreneurship and business ownership small business ownership is a really complicated thing, even for the women that we work with. You know, in our containers, in our one, on one side of our business, we see every single day people struggling with business ownership, the responsibility that comes with it, the incredible risk that comes with it and the huge amount of work that comes with it. On the flip side of it, there's exceptional reward. There's being driven for a purpose that you control. There's some pretty magical things, you know. Obviously you can pick and choose your own hours. There are some really great rewards that come with being a business owner, but the reality is that it can be really bloody hard.
Speaker 1:And we want to talk about it and normalize, yeah, when we fall in and out of love with our business. So, tess, I want to ask you a really kind of question Go for it. Are you in or out of love for that business? At the moment, I would say, actually, tell me about both businesses. Yeah, yeah, oh, that's hard, man. Um, am I in All right? So with our salon? I am in love with it, but it's been a really hard year and I've definitely had more challenges this year in there, for sure, and I'm probably coming out of it being like a bit more of a challenging.
Speaker 1:The salon's challenging for me and for a number of reasons. At the moment, some of it is physically what I can do. Now I'm, um, oh, it's making me emotional. I'm in a lot of pain with the work that I do and that's hard, that's really hard. It's like a constant issue that's playing out for me. I know that it's a matter of time, I know all those things, but that's hard because it impacts, um, I guess, day to day with it. My hands are really as I knew that they would, but I think you know that, ever you know me kind of always the optimist and always like the classic denier. You're just like let's get on with it, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I'm realizing I can't. I can't do what I've always been able to do. I can't push through. I'm I'm starting to really struggle um to do just day to day in the salon, which is really tough. Um, and that's hard. Um. I've definitely found, as many owners have found and many people, I think actually the world has been quite a challenging place of late. I have found this year the. I've had to dig into my motivation for myself, for my team, for creating drive, for creating Um. I found it my my most toughest year of motivation. Um, I've also felt stupid.
Speaker 1:Backed up from a couple of really tough years, yeah, but I reckon I find probably found this the most unmotivated I felt within myself. I've been on a journey of myself of exploring, uh, uh, I think, really acknowledging that my brain has been tricky for me, Um, so that's also taken me on a bit of a an emotional journey as well. So it can be quite true and you know, of course, like there's just, there's been a lot of transition this year. There's been a lot of um, we've had to put in a lot of work. You know, some really incredible moments with our team, some really big lows with our team as well.
Speaker 1:Um, a lot of tough conversations, a lot of really beautiful conversations, Um, a lot of reflection about where I want to improve and how I want to change things, and especially how I want to change things as a leader. Um, because moving forward, I know that's where my role is going to be. It's going to be less about me being a hairdresser. I'm more about me stepping into leader and mentorship and that I think that I think will I actually know that will be better for our salon and better for our team and better for me Totally.
Speaker 1:I can look at it from an objective point of view, like we do with our clients in contrast, and go okay, cool, I can see what this business needs and it would be such a benefit for our business to your time with the clients would be so much better spent if you had time working on the business and working on propelling our team forward. The business would grow so much and you would be of service to the team. You're not of service to them when you're on the floor doing foils with your client. You're of service to them when you're motivating and mentoring them and that's what you're so good at. So I know it would be daunting because you'll be worried about what are people going to think? How do I transition the clients? I mean a lot of people. This will resonate for I mean maybe not so much now where you're at, because you can actually see it from a business point of view, but years ago that would have been a daunting thing.
Speaker 1:It wouldn't have even been up for discussion. I appreciate so much how we've spoken this out, because, yeah, I definitely. It's funny. Six months ago I would have been like we're not even ready, whereas I'm like, no, I'm totally comfortable with this conversation, I'm totally comfortable with where I'm at, I'm totally comfortable with this decision. I know it's going to be the best thing moving forward. For the team, for you, for the clients for everyone.
Speaker 1:But also, what would it look like if you put yourself first, which is you know? Have you done that in our business truly?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is a person who never takes a sick day, who, you know, prioritises business over anything else. And it made it easier for me when I became a mum, because you get like brutal with what you will and won't do because your family comes before anything else. But for you, you know, you've literally had your hands fighting against well, saying we don't want to be, we don't want to be hairdressers. You've literally allergic to these things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was told we were going to do it first.
Speaker 1:If we were coming in hairdresser that I needed to choose another career. Yeah so what would it look like if you actually put yourself first.
Speaker 2:Totally, it's a really interesting question, so different.
Speaker 1:And you know, on the flip side of that, whoever you think that you may be letting down by making a decision like this, would you think that they were letting you down if they made a decision for themselves?
Speaker 2:No, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:It's interesting, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But I appreciate you being so honest about you know where you've been and look it has been. It's been a bloody couple of years, hasn't it? Yeah, but I think, even though our business has been really challenging, I think there's still a lot of love there, totally, and I think this is the thing. Even when I think about it, I'm like, yeah, there's like transition and adjusting and everything. When I think about a salon, it's still, you know, really happy for me. I still I love our team, like I love how you know, like it's just I love how passionate they are, how determined they are, how much vision they have, how much like. There's so many things I adore about our team, the things that I'm not really loving, and more about, I think, my own stuff and how I can start shifting that and changing that to suit.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think this is what you're good at as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I do really want to start like I'm kind of, you know, I really want to be back at a high vibe frequency. So not, you know, I don't want to be pushing through money mindsets that you know is happening so often. You know it's global. I want it to get back to being a little bit. You know everything's so serious and so full on now and it would just be nice to just have it a little bit lighter. What?
Speaker 2:about you? How do you feel about it?
Speaker 1:Well, also I just want to say the potential. So when I stepped out of the treatment room, I remember the clients panicking, the team panicking If I'm being totally honest, you and I panicking a little bit, being like what does it look like if I'm not turning over money? The way that our business has been able to grow and the way that I've been able to show up for the team and the clients and serve our community more because I haven't been on the floor is like, if you think back to when I was on the floor in the treatment room, we weren't able to propel the business forward and grow it and the growth that we've had since then has been crazy but, people get scared because they wonder what has this been for me?
Speaker 1:See, it's funny, though I actually don't think that that adjustment will even be big seriously. I think I've shifted a lot of clients around anyway, because they're less and I'm not as available. I'm not really. Yeah, I don't really have any of those hang-ups anymore, People.
Speaker 1:We've created something where people are so attached to the brand and the company and feel so much trust the brand and the company that they know that we're leaving anyone in. Whoever they see in our doors is going to be like exceptional service and a beautiful, beautiful, high quality experience for them.
Speaker 1:What about you? How do you feel? I feel I'm I this might surprise you. I feel like it's been exceptionally challenging and I actually feel more resilient this year than I did the last few years because I think you know so much of my work with Georgie really has helped my personal mental health. But I might surprise you here and say I am in love with our business.
Speaker 1:I don't think that I thought that that would be my answer when you talked about this the other day, because it's been challenging. So when I think about it on a service level, I'm like the last few years have kind of been like pushing shit up a hill and obviously you know like all the lockdowns and things like that. I mean it's just been like really difficult for small business, particularly small business in Victoria. It's been exceptionally difficult and then this year has been really really challenging. But I've actually I feel exhausted. I feel really exhausted by the thought of what we've overcome this year and some of the things that we've done. But I feel that the business that's the salon is in a really good place. I actually feel really optimistic about it at the moment. So I'm gonna hit the love button and I actually think there's a lot of love for you as well.
Speaker 1:I just think you're exhausted and I feel exhausted too, but I think both of us feel a lot of love, and I look at the business right now and it's the first time in the last few years that I have truly looked at it and been like I'm fucking optimistic about this business.
Speaker 1:This business is going big places. This business has this is such a great business. It's such a great business like. It's so meaningful, it's so purposeful, great people work in it. We attract incredible clients.
Speaker 1:I was listening to a one-on-one client the other day and she was, you know, saying that they had a day full of back-to-back people that just she didn't love.
Speaker 1:She was like, oh, this person, this person really low-vibed people, and I was like, wow, I don't know if we would have had like a single incident in the past couple of years, maybe several years, where there's been like more than one client that you're like, well, you don't feel quite aligned in a week. So we have this beautiful business, beautiful clients, like an amazing team, and it's taken us a little bit of time to work out with this team that we've got now how we actually learn to work together and how we best coexist together and you become almost like housemates. So I feel that we've really ironed out that so much and I also feel you know that we've that's been reflected in our people that we're attracting. You know, we just had someone come forward recently and said I'd love an apprenticeship and she was so aligned. She was so aligned and I'm like yeah, I feel really optimistic with that Totally, and I think I really do think we're over the hump like the the team, how much they lit up with this.
Speaker 1:You know potential of new person as well and I think they loved it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's always another thing I want to be clear, like the stuff that I'm feeling like disheartened by, it's more probably the transition of myself and how that looks and and, as you know, we keep going back to like, yeah, I think more. My hands have always been part of it. The pain level now is like it's a lot, so it's hard. It's really hard to keep doing something you love when you're in pain. But I also think what you're lit up by now is different to what you're lit up by back then, because the gifts that I see in you as a leader and as a business owner is you are such an amazing mentor. You're so incredible with helping the team see the light within themselves. You are so good at motivating people and you are so beautiful at holding space.
Speaker 1:So I look at you and the position that you're in and I'm like it's a crime that you're stuck behind the chair, as in not stuck behind the chair, but it's a crime that you're not doing more of that every single day, because that a lot of people can't do what you're, what you do really well and it comes really naturally to you. I really struggle with it. I really struggle with connecting with people and holding space. It's a thing that I've had to learn. It comes naturally to you and it's really beautiful to see, but the fact that you're not doing that every single day, I see it in conscious and I'm like this is what we need, more of it ahead. That is literally the definition of culture, and the definition of empowering people is taking what you do in conscious and absolutely sticking it in the head.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I agree with that. I really appreciate the canon conversation, though, because for a lot of you guys listening, you're either going to be nodding along being like, yes, I can still feel so much love with my business, or you're shaking your head saying it's doom and gloom and I'm not in love with it at the moment, and I just really want to acknowledge that this can flip at any point. You can go into, it's a traffic light system.
Speaker 2:It's a traffic light system, whereas if you're an OG of our potty.
Speaker 1:You will remember that from.
Speaker 2:The retreat episode.
Speaker 1:It was so funny, the retreat episode, but with that what it looks like. So red can mean that we're in the shit it's been. We're pretty much ready to burn the business down and start again or claim it on insurance. Orange means that we're not quite where we want to be, but we're on our way out.
Speaker 1:You're in the in-between phase, and green is when you are like, fuck yeah, everything's lined, everything's magic and everything is super, super easy. And Nikki had the analogy that at any point, because there are a few of us talking on the retreat episode which, if you want to cast your ears right back off your pop, one was in red, we were in orange and one was in green and we were like all three of us could swap at any point and I would say that we all have at different points in 12 months, yeah, 100%, yeah 100%. We've had conversations with every one of those people and said, like it's, you know, you want to burn your business down and you want to, like, hold it up on the bloody platform today. Which one is it? Yeah, but it's really important that we have these conversations and I know a lot of team listen to our podcast.
Speaker 1:Like there's a lot of our private clients teams listen to this, who might find this a little bit triggering, a bit confronting to hear, but this is really important as well for you guys to understand. You know what potentially your business owner, the person that owns your company, is going through at any given time and sometimes there's not much consideration put into that. I mean I know I couldn't have given a single fuck what my boss was feeling in any of the previous jobs that I worked in, because it just wasn't my mindset. But I think it's really important to have these candid conversations because it can be really, really hard. There are some great benefits and there are some enormous risks involved in business.
Speaker 1:We need to normalize, that we can be up and down and also finding something that can realign you and re motivate you within your business. So for us, it's education. You know, mentorship is really important to us courses, conferences, learning and that reignites the fire within us.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think as well just once echoing that with the team thing if you are a team member and you're listening to this and your boss you know, or if you're recognizing some of these things, what the same as you guys, what you go through is often not to do with what's happening, and what we go through is often not to do with you. So don't think that if you're seeing these things or hearing these things, that it's got anything to do with you. It's just that whole situation where it can be a lot, a lot of responsibility and a lot on, and it's an ebb and flow, just the same as when team. You know, you guys will all have days when you really love being at work and other days when you don't want to be at work anymore, and it's the same thing for the owners as well. So I think that's also really important. We've got to normalize that as well. So people hear that and think like oh well, you know it's about me, it's it's not it's because we are what Humans, Humans not
Speaker 1:robots. It's our favorite saying Tess, we are never representing gratitude. This has been a really important conversation. I'm really actually I'm going to start my gratitude I'm really grateful that you even brought up this idea because when you said, I was like that's a really interesting topic.
Speaker 1:But I'm really glad that we had this conversation and I'm glad we've been so candid, because there would be a lot of people and I said this to the team the other day there are a lot of people who would look at our business, or both businesses, and go, wow, they've like, you know, we go anywhere and people like, oh my God, your team are amazing. Oh my God, your salon's amazing. Oh my God, your businesses are so good. Blah, blah. There are problems in every single team. There are problems in every single business and sometimes things look a certain way on social media and it may. You know we're not going to play the low lights reel of everything that goes in and out of our companies, but this is one of the biggest things. It's not always going to be exceptional all the time, but I really appreciate your you throwing this out there because I've really enjoyed talking about it. It's been a little bit uncomfortable for me, which is always good.
Speaker 2:What about you?
Speaker 1:I'm really grateful for the opportunity to talk about it. You know, I think it is everything we talk about. Nick and I are really big believers in talking about the uncomfortable things. You know, we have this conversation a lot within our private lives as well.
Speaker 1:We really want to normalize businesses relationships, mental health, all of these things. It's also and you know, when discomfort comes up, that's okay, but I think it is really important to normalize this because and it's not just it's to everyone the ebbs and flows, the love and the hate, it's always there. It's just, it doesn't. It's not lost slightly on me to have a discussion like this and to have a platform where we can share this sort of stuff and if it resonates amazing and you know, if it doesn't, that's right, hopefully you got a couple of laughs yeah.
Speaker 1:But I think you know I definitely I don't take it lightly that we get to come on and talk about these things. It feels like a really big privilege and a really big honor on that. So I'm just really grateful to be able to talk about these things and hopefully start normalizing these feelings and emotions and people feeling less alone, Because I know that that would be a thing that a lot of people would think if they were feeling like this, that no one else does, and I just want to normalize that and say everyone does at different points.
Speaker 2:And it's completely okay.
Speaker 1:Beautiful. Thank you, guys, so much for listening. It's been a beautiful episode. Stay conscious everyone. Thanks so much for listening to this episode and hanging out with us today To hear more about our journey. Follow us on Instagram at the underscore conscious underscore salon. If you're a shit speller, check the spelling of conscious or at a head hair underscore. Thank you so much for joining us today and we'll see you in the next episode.