Ever been on a work trip where everything that could go wrong did, only to end up with some of the best memories with your colleagues? That’s precisely what went down with our belated Christmas getaway in regional Victoria. The universe threw us curveballs - a missing keypad, a power outage, and a cider-seltzer mix up - but we managed to turn it into a comedy of errors that ended in a weekend of celebration and team bonding. And let's not forget that one social media slip that revealed our surprise destination. It's a reminder that sometimes, the journey is just as important as the destination, especially when it's paved with laughter and good company.
Wrapping up, we explore the transformative power of evolving from purely fun gatherings to meaningful experiences that resonate deeply with our company's ethos and our team's diverse needs. We believe in the magic of vulnerability and communication, in crafting team bonding activities that are inclusive and engaging for every member, including those with families or sensory sensitivities. It's about more than just a good time; it's about enriching lives and strengthening our collective spirit. Tune in for an episode filled with chuckles, insights, and a deep sense of gratitude for the journey of mentorship and teamwork that we share at The Conscious Salon.
To follow our journey:
Instagram @aheadhair_
@the_conscious_salon
This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative
Ever been on a work trip where everything that could go wrong did, only to end up with some of the best memories with your colleagues? That’s precisely what went down with our belated Christmas getaway in regional Victoria. The universe threw us curveballs - a missing keypad, a power outage, and a cider-seltzer mix up - but we managed to turn it into a comedy of errors that ended in a weekend of celebration and team bonding. And let's not forget that one social media slip that revealed our surprise destination. It's a reminder that sometimes, the journey is just as important as the destination, especially when it's paved with laughter and good company.
Wrapping up, we explore the transformative power of evolving from purely fun gatherings to meaningful experiences that resonate deeply with our company's ethos and our team's diverse needs. We believe in the magic of vulnerability and communication, in crafting team bonding activities that are inclusive and engaging for every member, including those with families or sensory sensitivities. It's about more than just a good time; it's about enriching lives and strengthening our collective spirit. Tune in for an episode filled with chuckles, insights, and a deep sense of gratitude for the journey of mentorship and teamwork that we share at The Conscious Salon.
To follow our journey:
Instagram @aheadhair_
@the_conscious_salon
This podcast has been produced and edited by Snappystreet Creative
Here at the Consha 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 Consha Salon. Welcome back to the Consha Salon podcast. Test another day, another week. Another day, another week, another month. Another month, another month, another day, another dollar. Isn't that the same? Another day, another dollar. Don't know what that's in. I've gotten it from Seinfeld, but not everyone else would. I don't know. It's a niche reference. It's like just a regular saying, though, isn't it? Yeah, but Elaine says it to a guy that she's trying to work out if he's a communist or not. I think, wow, elaine, is this an icon? The fact that that is just like tucked away in my brain at the minute is really, if that doesn't scream ADHD, I don't know what does. Also, like you, mate, you forget when I ask you to do certain tasks each week. I couldn't tell you what I had for breakfast, but I can tell you that, absolutely. That's why we love you. But test, another week has rolled on by. It's been a great week here at the Consha Salon. Yeah, it's been a lovely week at our salon ahead.
Speaker 1:The week that was let's talk. Well, yeah, as you just like literally lying on the floor, like don't get up. No, I'm lying down because I'm going for comfort. Are we going for comfort? Yeah, all right, we're going for professional. I'm just like casting my mind back to when we first started this podcast and I wasn't allowed to have the heater on. It was like three degrees in Melbourne. I had to sit there with a fucking blanket on and I'm just watching you rolling around the floor. We've all really chilled out since then. So, yeah, leaps and rolls. So you do still have my dogs just being locked on the other side of the door currently Because Missy's snoring. Do you have much feedback we get about Missy snoring? Yeah, but what a beautiful. Like you guys are blessed to hear those snores. Honestly, that dog can do no wrong. In my eyes, she's just heaven on earth.
Speaker 1:Anyway, the week that was just how has your week been? It's been good, much better than the last couple. Yeah, do you remember what you did, elaine? I was just thinking. I thought, hang on, what did I do? Well, I've finished selling sunsets. We'll start there. That was terrific. It's a very, very good show. It's a great show. It's a very good show. It's a great show. So now I have to catch up on all the other shows that you know.
Speaker 1:The more long term you really get into a new show and you're just like, oh, I don't care what else is being watched. Tunnel vision yeah, some people that are more like heightened and not heightened, enlightened and elevated than what I am probably won't resonate with the resonate. Oh my God, can I talk? Resonate with this. But, yeah, finished selling sunsets. That was a real slay. Powers back on Another slay. Life's good. I'll say that we're back in like high level living. Life's good that you've got your power back, which fuels the selling sunsets into your life. Absolutely. I just really needed that on. I would like to read that text that you're just looking at there or no? No, I wouldn't, but no, we have a rule on our podcast that if you get a text message while we're recording, you have to read it on air. It was Megan and she's just saying that.
Speaker 1:By the way, a client who comes to our salon also gets treatments with Rory, her boyfriend, who's the best osteopath. We've got to give him a shout out? We absolutely do. What's his Instagram? Osteo Thrive, which I think is a great one. I'm pretty sure that's it. Anyway, osteo Thrive. We will give Rory a shout out. It's amazing, osteo in Melbourne, if anyone lives in Melbourne and wants to have a bit of a snap, crackle and pop with Rory. Yeah, I've got an appointment on Tuesday, as does Mick. My whole family started going now, so you know, we've got the whole, the family, the family discount, family affair. No, we wouldn't do any discounts, full price and fully fledged converted Osteo people, but that's not what we're talking about.
Speaker 1:We're at Christmas party this week on the weekend, which was very belated Christmas party. You're belated, but not you know what, though? I saw a court from Raul Galore last night shout out to them as well. Another local business that is. If you're in the mood for an Asahi bowl, round the court in the South. All vegan, all fabulous, bloody delicious. It's the best Asahi bowl that I've ever bloody had in my life, but I didn't realise she was the first Asahi bowl I ever had, and I didn't realise that not everyone does a great Asahi bowl, so she has ruined it, for I've had, I've eaten Asahi bowls all around Australia and not one has ever been decent, except for Raul Galore. Yeah, raul Galore.
Speaker 1:A couple of you might remember the business award that we went to where we epically lost five categories we were in and yeah, we can just like, we'll just scrim over the hot dogs, thank you, yeah, nikki. Nikki put it out there that we were absolutely going to clean up, and not one and all the entries were under Nicola Pollock, which I found quite humbling and interesting. I was like I think I'm here. They actually fell like no, because there is decorations they made it was your arm candy for the night. They made like a clerical error. And apparently, no, you did get, because when I saw Nicola Pollock that's interesting, we're in Nicola Pollock Enterprises. But you did grab, as you've been wanting to make sure to prove that that wasn't on your end, always a joy-proving point. Yeah, got to clear the name. So Nikki did bring up the email of the entry form and it did say ahead. So To the end, and they wrote Nicola Pollock. So they maybe looked like the most obnoxious wanger on the planet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but then you took it really humbly because then when we epically lost like absolute burnout of us and Nic kept filming me for every category. I was like the last one. I said turn it off. Great the room, we are not winning. We had the entire family there.
Speaker 1:Nic really thought, right up until the fat lady sings, he was like Nic was in a three-piece suit, we're most people, we're like the trackies. He really thought. I think he thought it was like a. It was a formal dinner. That's like a little punch to our no to the council. Very good, but we did think it was going to be quite a formal affair and we ended up with like oh, we didn't do the limer on the channel on like fold-up white seats. Yeah, they ran out of wine. Nikki got a hot beer. I did. I got a hot beer, I did. It had not been chilled, I had not made it into an esky, not a piece of ice inside, it was a warm beer and I really said that they literally just pulled it out of the shopping and put it on the table.
Speaker 1:It was not fun, but yeah, like shout out to them, probably one of the reasons that we haven't won. Corny did say she was like I got a phone call like telling me to be here, so obviously I'm going to win it, like she obviously knew she was going to win it. She's like I got a phone call telling me I had to attend and I was like, oh, that's weird. My phone didn't ring all week. I was like that's weird, maybe they just knew we were going to come. So, yeah, it's honestly a blessing that you didn't shout out to her who's your little limo, mate, max, or every single game he's been playing. Max is Max. He didn't give you down for your fare. We'll need the limo to put all of our awards in. We did not win one. We're going to stretch.
Speaker 1:Also, 90% of the businesses that won were not there, which really angered me. That pissed me off. I was like you know what, if you don't go to the Grammys, you don't like. You know it's not where you send someone else up to like accept your award on behalf of you. We just have a humbling moment of you comparing those awards to the Grammys. The Grammys certainly don't have hot beers on the table. Let me tell you that, look, I, you know whatever. We don't need to speak about that. Anyway, what are we saying about Raugor Law? So Raugor Law actually got nominated and won. So they did great. So they were what are they? We'd run it up for the best food. They got like the. Yeah, they were like run it up for the best food, which was wild. So I was like who won the best food? Cause Raugor Law has the best food, absolutely.
Speaker 1:But I saw court last night and we're going to circle back to why I brought Courtney up. How many minutes in a week Exactly? How many minutes by 10 minute buffer that I usually have? You're seven and a half going, yeah. So I saw court last night and she said that she was doing her Christmas party tonight. Oh, wow, really, what are they doing for this? Well, I mean, again, she was like I saw yours and now my girls are like quite disappointed with the fact that they're just going out for like dinner and Brighton or something. I was like, oh, it's bright, that's, that's lovely. And Brian's yeah, she's like you know Matt's number. She said, yeah, I feel like you really like set it up for the everyone else's businesses to feel really disappointed. But I said to her we budget for our Christmas party.
Speaker 1:But I also think that the reason why we do such a big Christmas party is because of the nature of the work that we do. So our girls, their job, is literally to make other people feel good about themselves. So they hold space for people. They, you know they, they really. They focus so much on the client experience and people. They give people safety and trust and love, and it's so much about the person sitting in their chair. It's very little about the person standing behind the chair. So I really feel like it's all context, like they give so much part of being a hairdresser is giving so much of yourself and holding it so much space that for us, the Christmas party is our opportunity to really make it all about the people, the same as our personal development program. It's all about the people who stand behind the chair as opposed to the people who sit in the chair. So I think it's all context. You know it's. It was a great Christmas party this year.
Speaker 1:I do worry that one day we're going to run out and we're going to have to send a crew up to space at some point because we've run out of exceptional. I know. Sometimes I feel like I mean all of our girls are so grateful and they were, they were so excited. It's such a pleasure to do it because they are so deserving and they love it so much. So I don't feel like we would ever enter that territory, but I think, yes, I do feel pressure to continue, like to make the surprise and delight even better. But every year it always comes together, don't you think? The same personal development program, like it always comes together. We always know exactly what's meant to be done at that time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's touch on the weekend, because it was very funny Nikki and I did have. There was a bit of a. Have you got like a report that you want to run through quickly before we step in as your week? Yeah, I mean, mine was good. I've got 15 seconds left of the week that was, so mine was great and yes to all the above. But what, what? Yeah, well, it was funny about the weekend. So we got.
Speaker 1:It was funny because we we went down our crew don't even, I think, know a lot of these things we got down there and it was. I can't remember exactly what happened, but we were delayed. And then I was running late because of all the cleanup. Yeah, I remember exactly what happened. We were delayed because you didn't get there on time. Yeah, no, but we left it, which is really I was supposed to say we had a lot of stuff to do, because a lot of the stuff required us to pick it up the day of, and you know it was two hours away and blah, blah. Yes, it was like, yeah, we had a lot to do that day. Plus, we also had, I think, the storms really threw us out, because all the days that we were going to be going and doing those things, we were turved on its head with the everything with the power outage and things going on at home and selling and trying to restore all that. Yeah, it was a big week, so it was a big week. But then when we got there so you left without me, but we weren't really that far behind each other I had to go into all the shopping on the day and then I stuffed up the drinks, which was good.
Speaker 1:I heard Nikki said this doesn't do details, so anytime we send her to do details, I went to task. I'm always like fuck, and anytime we have like details oriented admin, that is overflowing for me. Even if chess is right there and available, I'm like I'm going to get the VA's or the PA to do it. Oh yeah, absolutely, as opposed to getting tested. Just like to be clear. I'm very good at details in my job, but I'm not great if it's like a task that's outside of my every day. It's, you know, it's a nightmare.
Speaker 1:So I was in charge of getting the alcohol on the food nailed. The food made no mistakes with that. There was one item that I couldn't get and I turned everything upside down to get it the tin light cheese for the light cheese martinis. Yeah, not a thing in the hills. I was like what? I think tin light cheese is just hard to come by. Anyway, I'll be honest, I haven't seen too many. So if you have or if you know where the supplies are, please let us know, because they're certainly not. It was kind of a niche cocktail, but I just was thinking of the surprise and delight when I serve a light cheese martini to the girls and they were just so excited. But we didn't get that opportunity. No, we sure didn't, but that's okay. Anyway, yep, got all that nailed. That Alcohol no worries, I'm quite good at drinking and I'm pretty good at picking things out Went through the list really well, somehow switched in my head.
Speaker 1:The girls want cider, not seltzer. Four, they want seltzer and not cider. I bought both and Niki was thrilled to see that, yeah, it's nothing like $200 of wasted drinks, but not to worry, yeah, it was a real great moment by me, but that was all right. We all worked it all out. We pulled it together, got to the house, couldn't get into the house because we couldn't find the keypad. That was fun. So we thought that the door was broken. Yes, but it ended up being a great weekend. So let's talk.
Speaker 1:What did you forget? Let's not just highlight what I forgot. What did you leave behind? I forgot everything. I forgot the speaker, I forgot the coffee machine. I forgot literally everything All the milk, all the plant-based milks that everyone needs. I literally forgot half the shit that I had planned to do. I had a list. I didn't go off the list. Oh, it was chaos. So I was panicking. Oh, my God, no, I'm not going to be able to have good coffee. You did say should I get Pete down here to drop everything off? I said I'm just going to ring Pete Young and get him to pop himself in the car and he can come down the three hour round trip. But yeah, no, we decided not to do that. We made do with what we had and it was great. It was great, but we had a really beautiful weekend away.
Speaker 1:So, with our team at a head, as we say, we really do, if you knew, around here we really do like to go above and beyond for our Christmas party, for our team, and this was no exception this year. So we hired a really beautiful house in regional Victoria, a little place called Nerum, which is not far from Nugie, somewhere that, like I kept saying to the others, you're never going to guess where we're going because it's so out of the beaten, like off the beaten track, and it's so out of the way, and we weren't. It's like not a holiday destination. No, doing the funny eyes at me Because, although we, they had no idea, you posted a story before they got up there and I said to you, don't do that.
Speaker 1:Hannah is like a what's that dog that has like a amazing bloodhound. She can detect anything and she knows everything that's going on. She doesn't miss a beat. It must be exhausting in her head because she literally does not miss a beat. But she, like, if I suspected someone was cheating, I'd ask Hannah to look at it. No, we all would. She's Olivia Benson of Melbourne. Like it's fantastic.
Speaker 1:But she, I said to Nikki she was doing a story and showing bits of the house. I said stop, because they will find it. The girls were on their way down in the limo, so they'll be watching, they're going to be, they'll find it and they'll find the house. And, of course, sure enough, they found it. They found it, they found it on Airbnb, so they were aware of the property and how people were going. Anyway, not to worry, but they did arrive and when we In style with the limo, of course, matt, matt, nikki's best mate, matt, but it was really good they came down. We organized a private chef for them. So the idea of our Christmas party.
Speaker 1:We do have a couple of little pieces of criteria that we like to have. We like to always be at a sustainable house and have a good level of eco consciousness and sustainability. We only shop with small businesses, so our team's gifts, the food, the grog, everything has to come from a small business, and we also want to give them experiences that they may not usually have access to or they may not have ever done for themselves. So we did organize a private chef to come down, yona, who is beautiful, an absolute king, and he made a four course meal for us, which was absolutely beautiful and we sat outside the property with the most incredible view and a stunning sunset, and we had the girls always pick a theme for us to do for our dinner party on our first night and they picked the theme fancy pants. So we had to really dress like like we're going to the Grammys, like we're going to the Glen O'erra Business Awards. My dress had a train. It was beautiful, but I literally wore mine, got a photo. Guys, it's too tight for me to sit down and eat in, so I'm just going to take a quick photo and then I'm going to hop into my Jami's, which was beautiful but really, really stunning location. Anyone who wants to see what we got up to in a bit behind the scenes? Our Instagram page ahead, ahead here. That's our salon Instagram page. We've got a little highlight thing saved so you can click there and see what we did. But we did have a private chef.
Speaker 1:Then we did a scavenger hunt the next day. What else did we do Then? We popped off to. We just had a chill day. The girls were swimming in the pool, having fun. The pool was really beautiful. It was a natural swimming pool, so it had no chemicals and no chlorine, no salt. That was. That was really cool. And then they also had like chickens and roosters and cows and things. It was beautiful. It was really really like beautiful little stay. Actually, our private clients are getting to experience that house next weekend when we go and do our a retreat, which will be great, but actually when this episode comes out, the retreat will be finished. Wow, thank God, shospies, hugs and kisses to everyone. We'll be farewelling them. They can listen to it on the drive home. But it was a beautiful day.
Speaker 1:What did we do after that? Then we went out to the Nooch Nuju pub for dinner the Nooch, that was really good and then just a couple of hours sleep. We'll be up at 3 am because we took the girls to go to Yarra Valley to do some hot air ballooning, which was beautiful. They loved it. So up in the clouds, like literally in the clouds, it was magical. You'll see it on the highlights reel. They had a great time.
Speaker 1:Didn't pop myself up. I have a absolutely debilitating fear of heights and I really didn't think it would be fair to our team and the other 20 people that had booked to have a panic attack or lose my mind up there. So I didn't put myself up there and you were a sub in, I think we decided I was a sub in. So we just because we were obviously springing this on the girls we didn't want anyone to be like, oh my God, I'm too terrified to go and feel like they couldn't walk away from it. So I said I'll pop my name down, pencil me in and I can jump in if anyone's too scared. But everyone was great. It was beautiful. It was so beautiful Back home. It was such a beautiful experience. It was beautiful to go up together and do that. It was really nice. They had a beautiful time and we absolutely loved it and it was a very special weekend. It was magical, it was very special.
Speaker 1:And, look, I think this is a really beautiful topic test, because this really leans into. I think that our Christmas party has to do with a lot to do with our team culture and team and culture is something that we really focus on at a head and basically for us, if our team and culture is good, we feel really good about our business. But the Christmas party has so much to do with our team and culture and the way that our team connects with each other and the way that our team connects with the company as well. So this really leans into one of our Hot Girl Hotline questions that we got over the weekend about team bonding. Tess, what's today's actually? For anyone who's new around here, sorry, yeah, it's like two whiz, three going gosh. Sorry for anyone who's new around here.
Speaker 1:We run a little segment, tess, what's it called? Hot Girl Hotline? Hot Girl Hotline, hot Girl Hotline. So we put up a questions box on Instagram once a week and we ask you for your troubles, your woes, what's keeping you up at night in your business, and then we give you our advice around it. So, tess, what's today's listener question? Any ideas for team bonding exercises? I have a great team, but they aren't connected to each other. Would love any tips. Yes, here's a practical tip Get a limo guy. Here's Matt's number. Yes, team bonding. So this person wants to. Their goal is to connect their team. But awesome.
Speaker 1:I think people think that team bonding is like going out and getting sloshed together and while that can have its place, I think for us personally, we have definitely moved into a much more conscious realm with our team. A few years ago it really used to be about like let's go out and get. We actually had a budget in our annual budget that was set aside for, like, going out and getting blind together. It was like basically like a bar to our budget. But I think where we've moved now is a lot more conscious and we really focus on more mindful things together.
Speaker 1:Even our Christmas party wasn't based around alcohol. No, actually it's the first one that Megan didn't vomit at. So shout out to Meg she did a great job. And no one was. I don't think was anyone. I didn't see anyone drunk. There were a couple people that were a bit pissed, but not not Like a little bit tiddly, but I didn't see there was. It was the first Christmas. I'm going to be totally honest. It was the first Christmas party we've ever had where someone wasn't extremely drunk. Yeah, and it was interesting, it was. I really liked the dynamic. Yeah, absolutely. So what this person like? Some tips for that person, I guess, depending on the team that you have.
Speaker 1:But one piece of advice that we always give our private clients when they're planning events or team bonding things or Christmas parties is talk to your team and actually ask them first of all what they're comfortable with and what they're lit up by. So for our girls, they are absolutely not present driven. We very, very, very rarely give them gifts. Most of them are we give them gifts all the time. No, we don't. We really don't. You don't think? No, like we really don't.
Speaker 1:Oh, they're personalised pajamas. Yeah, that was that. Yeah, oh no, I guess we give them things that they're going to use in the salon. Actually, when I think about that, but the personalised pajamas, those things are I know what you're talking about. No, I was thinking more of the diaries in the journals and those sort of thing, but I was like, actually, they're all because they use that at work. So you're absolutely dead on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, and then the pajamas, that's more about gifting them something where they can feel, you know, like a bonded together, really, because they'll get matching jammies when we go away for our Christmas party, which is really cute, but in terms of, we don't go. Okay, cool, you've done a great job. Here's a gift. It's your birthday. Here's a gift. Yeah, that's true, because most of them is there when we do the five love languages, when someone on board with us Most of them it's their lowest love languages gift giving. So for us, we know that most of our girls are their number one, love languages, quality time and they're really driven by experiences, so they love having incredible experiences together.
Speaker 1:So getting to know your team and what they actually like. Don't plan some hectic, amazing big weekend away if you've got young moms who may not wanna leave their kids. Don't go and plan some huge thing where you take your girls to a festival if you've got a neurodivergent team who may have sensory overload, things like that. And I know that sounds like really common sense. But actually hearing what is meaningful to your team and then matching that also to your company values. So for us, we really make sure that whatever events we're planning really leans into our company values as well. So my advice would be definitely looking at your company values and how can you can match that to an event. If your company values are, you know you're really eco-conscious, you're not gonna go and do an event that's like you know, tearing through plastic or something like that, or like a break room or something like that, where it's like To smashing things up Smashing things up for the sake of smashing things up. So planning something that really aligns with your company values and also making sure that you check in with your team as to what is meaningful to them, because otherwise you'll be disappointed because they won't enjoy it. Yeah, what do you think? I think that's a really great one. I definitely know that that changed for us, because I'd always think about what do I want to do, what would I really like, rather than when we started asking the question of what our team really want and what they really like. That's like, as you said, a really easy way to create bond and connection. I think this is like a yes, you can do things like events and you know, team bonding things.
Speaker 1:Realistically, I think the highest part of bonding is vulnerability. That's where I've noticed it is being open and honest and that means, I think, really prioritising time with your team. That is like conscious, curated time. So, yes, that can be a dinner out, that can be going for a night out, that can be going to party, that can be those things. All will bond your team. But for me, with that, I wanted to shift from us having a bonding over like partying and alcohol and whatever else and going, you know, bleh balls to the wall or just like you know, being like oh my God. Well, specifically, I've gotten drunk at a couple of got one work event really badly and I didn't want that to be the thing we bonded over For me. I'd rather us be bonded over the way that I can show up and support them and how then they can show up and support each other. So the biggest thing that I found that really helps with team bonding again goes back to our episode not too long ago around vulnerability.
Speaker 1:I truly think that if you are wanting to have awareness, consciousness and connection in your business, it starts with conversations that are honest and vulnerable. What does that look like? Some people might not even know where to start with that. I think there's so many really amazing, different like what are like personality tests and quizzes and things like that. Do those sort of things with your team. Do the love languages with your team. It can start a really simple thing like that of doing like. If you want to learn how people want to give and receive love within your team, that's a really great one to do. So. Set half an hour aside, send them all the links and then do it together. Let everyone go and do the quiz and then share with each other. That can be a really great bonding exercise. There are literally so many.
Speaker 1:If you ever start for an idea, just Google something like team bonding exercises or team building exercises, games, anything like that. There are so like this is it? We've got the internet and we can find all of these things so easily and like start playing and like creating our own. Start Googling things and see what resonates. If you see something like I really want to do that, do it. We've done things before, like escape rooms.
Speaker 1:We've done things like what was that amazing race thing that we did in the city? We did I think it was called the amazing race Melbourne. We like hired a company I'm not going to say the company's name because I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it. I thought that it was. We could probably have come up with something similar ourselves. It was fun. I liked it. It was fun, it was good. It was like it was a huge investment. It was one of the bigger investments we've made. But I didn't think that the juice was necessarily worth the squeeze. I thought we could have done something similar. A little punch to them. No, it was fine. It was fine. It was just. I think it was more like. I think it was more like like corporate people, but that was really good. So it was like kind of like scavenger hunt sort of vibe Through the city. That was fun. I like that one.
Speaker 1:We've done so many different. We've done ropes courses, we've done We've got a nutritionist in to talk our girls through fueling their bodies correctly. We've done charity events. We've gone to go and give back those sort of things. They're all team bonding as well. I think it really is starting to do things that are not necessarily behind the chair or in a treatment room and start connecting through that. And it can literally be half an hour, half an hour where you're sitting down and doing that as a group. It shows that you are prioritizing them and also understanding them better and that's going to leave them feeling really seen and really valued and I think that that is truly what 99.99% of people want to do. They want to feel like they're making a difference and that they're valued where they are.
Speaker 1:I also want to add because of the nature of our industry, you know, we're not all sitting around an office together, sitting in an office together, talking throughout the day. We're working with clients and we're so focused on the client's experience we can almost be like even though we work together all day, every day, and we help each other out and we're all a team together. We actually have very little interaction together and catching up on a personal level it can be like ships in the night. Yeah, yeah, sure, like hey, good, yep, great, all right, awesome, can I get you anything? No, all right, bob, all right guys, thanks for a great day, let's go. Yeah, so even though you're trotting around on the same piece of concrete together for 10 hours a day, you're not really having quality time together.
Speaker 1:So I think, personally, team bonding experiences are an absolute must. Our girls like doing them as well, but we do have. Obviously. We have our big Christmas party where we go away and we have that really intentional time together. We're also introducing, for the first time ever this year, the ahead retreat, so we're taking our girls away to do a personal development weekend. We have our personal development program separate. That is where our life ahead program, which is where we close the salon and have personal development days with our team, and aside from that, we also schedule a couple of nights a year where we'll go out and do dinners and, you know, karaoke or like some sort of activity together. Yeah, which is a really beautiful thing to do and for us it'll always be a must.
Speaker 1:Yes, let's give tests. You know we love a pracky tea. A practical tip, and I want to give three practical tips of what people could do today if they're like yes, I definitely know I need to do team bonding. So my one that I want to start with is talking to your team, as I said before, talking to your team and finding out what drives them Doing the love languages quiz to work out what their love language is. So, just if you just Google the love link, the five love languages quiz, you can do, it's free, you can literally just find it and it will rank your love languages from one to five. What's most important, what's least important. I think that is absolutely imperative for everyone who owns a business to do. Yeah, what praki tea would you give? Um, I Definitely think. Yeah, I think research.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the best things that I find Finding some time like truly some of the best connection that we've had and understanding of each other Is when we've done in our you know meeting time rather than going through. You know, like bowls aren't clean enough and you know colors getting on the floor and we're not going to put the wraps in the dryer anymore or the grievance list as we're smoking about. Rather than going through that, let's go through. We've just created questions. Nikki and I have Journal prompts, journal prompts or, you know, getting to know each other ones. I remember we did it one on getting to know each other and it was literally things like what music do you listen to in the car On the way to here? The last thing at night I do before I go to sleep is this I have in our notes, our shared notes collaboration.
Speaker 1:There's about five different ideas for getting to know each other team refreshers, understanding each other better, whatever it is that we're needing at that time, and and going and grabbing them and it is literally down to like either things that I want to know about them, things that I think would really help them understand each other better, and Like create better connection and just truly getting to a point of seeing each other. So it's just. It can be really fun, light, easy things. It doesn't need to take up a lot of time. You spend 10, 15, 20 minutes Just going through some questions quickly, everyone jotting down and then sharing their answers. Every person will walk away Understanding each other a little bit better. We're just going to create a stronger bond, absolutely. That's great.
Speaker 1:I want to use our third praki tea to Shout out a couple of things that people could do in salon now. So some activities that we've done, some games to do Like as a team bonding thing that you can literally do in salon without having to go out and do an escape room or something like that. If you Google the marshmallow challenge, that is a great thing to play. Split your team into two separate teams and Let them do the marshmallow challenge is a really, really good team bonding activity and watch the way that people Play games, because test, as we know, how you play games is how you play life. So our first ever mentor told us that and it really triggered the shit out of me because the first game that I played I just Got so angry and I was just like so, so angry. Obviously they put you under a lot of pressure. You know it's kind of like survivor, but in a salon environment and you put under so much pressure and I got so furiously angry. And when she said to me the way you play games is the way you played life, obviously Also really quickly about that. Yeah, but it is really true. And, yeah, watching your team if, even if you set them up on something like the marshmallow challenge, you will be able to see team members who step forward, yeah, and who would be incredibly in leadership positions. And you'll also be able to see team members who are so focused on what the other person, the other team, is doing, so they tend to be people who have a bit of problem with comparison. You'll be able to see people who try and rush to the end yeah, so they won't be detailed. Yeah, it's really interesting. People that will naturally step up. They'll be natural people that naturally step back. Yes, it's just really interesting because then you can have that time to like self-evaluate and start working on how do I want to improve Things moving forward, absolutely. So that's been one of the most valuable things that we've done. The marshmallow challenge is a great one to do as a team. I'm just trying to think person any personality tests and then deep breathing on them. Yeah, I think the love languages is a great one.
Speaker 1:I think you know that the internet is a big, beautiful, vast thing that we have, and if you are Googling things like team bonding or, you know, team building, any of those sort of things. There are a whole. You know, there's a whole internet worth. Hmm. You know what we did do once. We did a team bonding exercise where the girls had to. They were in partnerships and they had to blindfold each other. Oh yeah, and they had to. It was like something, while they had to like fill up a thing of water and like pass it over Six people or something, and they have done a few different ones of that. So they have. We've done the water one. We've also done that obstacle challenge and you have to direct your partner from the other end, like all of those things. There's look guys, there's a whole host. You'll find one that will suit you.
Speaker 1:But Prioritize them, because I really think that the biggest issue that happens in our industry is that we get so focused on the fact that you know, every every minute, we need to be having people bums on seats, bums on. So sick of hearing that, as I was saying, you know, industry of put you bums on seat, bums on seats. Start working with your crew and inspiring them, believing in them and building them up, so then they will be at their best level and then everyone that walks through the door is going to get an incredible experience and really elevate the Natural networking of your clientele, because they're going to go out and sing from the rooftops how amazing this place is. Yeah, it's really true, beautiful. So if you guys do decide to do any of these things, please let us know. We would love to hear all about it.
Speaker 1:Test we end every episode in gratitude. What are you grateful for, hi? I am super grateful that we prioritized the time with our team. I think I think that should be a practical T practical tip on its own Schedule connection time with your team. If you want the connection or the team bonding create it, I'm really grateful that we prioritized that.
Speaker 1:I'm really grateful for our team bonding and connection because I realized this weekend we had a couple of people that had not gone on our weekends away before and they're a bit uncertain of how it would look like and I know that there are a couple of them are a bit worried about what if it's going to be a bit awkward or we get uncomfortable. People who are introverted are feeling exactly socially burnt out and I love the fact that there was just none of that all weekend. It was just very much to do what you want and see how you know. There was no pressure and no like. It was very much like come as you are. If you need to retreat and go and be by yourself and introvert, it's OK. Yeah. And when I actually realized that that's just so normal in our world now, I thought like this is really. It's a really nice sweet spot to be at where.
Speaker 1:But I also think we work really hard at building that connection and making sure it's there. So I'm so grateful that we prioritized it and constantly continue to prioritize that we haven't just gotten to a point like all right, we all know each other well enough, let's just crack on. It's something that we continually work at and keep scratching at the itch. And I'm also really grateful for Leah, because she's put in quite a few sound effects recently and I just wanted to say thank you so much, producer Leah, I'm very grateful for you. Please insert a rounding applause sound now, but I've thrown over the last few episodes a couple of like Leah, but there's been Leah put that in and I haven't actually said thank you. So thank you so much, leah. I'm grateful for you. We love you. Just, leah. What are you grateful for Nikki.
Speaker 1:I am really grateful that we are in a position to be able to Like I actually know. I'm really grateful that we have set up our business to be able to give our girls experiences like this and also to be able to tag along to these experiences. Oh great, this is pretty damn rad. So I really am so grateful for that. And every single time we are able to do something like this, I do feel a huge level of emotion on the way there, and I totally felt that this time I was playing some beautiful music on the way down and I was like I just can't believe we get to do this so beautiful, it's incredible. So I really am so grateful and I just feel, yeah, really really so proud that we're able to do something like this. So, so, so, so, so proud that we can do something like this, and we would never would be in this position if we hadn't have gotten our first ever mentor. Honestly, absolutely, we've never been able to have our business where we could have, you know, financially be able to sustain something like this and be able to invest in people, in our people, like this, but also to be able to have a team as big as what we do and to be able to have the opportunity to thank them for everything that they do.
Speaker 1:I'm just so grateful that we've got this beautiful bunch of humans. Like seeing their little faces on the weekend. They were so happy and delighted in so many different points and that's a big driver for me. Like that's one of the reasons why I want to work hard and make this company even better, because I just look at their faces and I'm like this is a beautiful feeling yeah, beautiful. Thank you, guys, so much for listening. Thanks, guys, teconch. 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 ahead hair underscore. Thank you so much for joining us today and we'll see you in the next episode.