The Conscious Salon
Welcome to The Conscious Salon.
Here for the real talk salon owners actually need.
The Conscious Salon Podcast is where salon owners get clear guidance without the fluff. Hosted by Nic & Tess, we break down leadership, team culture, money, client journey, systems and numbers into simple moves you can use this week. Expect straight talk, real stories, lots of laughs and practical frameworks that help you lead well, grow profit, and have a life outside the salon.
You will hear from salon owners, industry leaders and working mums who have done the hard yards. We cover mindset that holds under pressure, meetings that improve your team culture, and the habits that build a self led team.
Follow the show and start with leadership posture, client journey design, and money mindset.
Listen in, implement, and stay conscious.
The Conscious Salon
How to rebrand and reinvent your salon with Lauryn Mathrick
A tired but functioning salon is easy to tolerate. The real challenge is admitting it is not the business you truly want and having the courage to rebuild it into the space you imagine. In this episode, we sit down with our friend and client, Lauryn Matrick, to explore how she transformed an inherited and successful salon into Self The Salon, a place designed for deep client connection and a work environment where mums can thrive.
Lauryn shares the twenty four hour crossroads that changed the direction of her life. Sign a home contract or buy the salon. That single decision opened the door to years of growth, trial and error, and ultimately clarity about the kind of business she wanted to lead. She speaks openly about hiding her old space online, the moment she chose action instead of perfection, and the design elements that elevated her client experience. From the calming basin lounge to intentional tea rituals to a softer pace that lets clients actually breathe, every choice supported the vision she held.
This was far more than a renovation. It was a complete leadership reset. Boundaries became clearer, conversations happened sooner, and alignment became more important than tenure. Once the space matched the mission, the culture no longer relied on goodwill. It ran on intention and shared values.
We also honour the legacy of Den, whose influence is still woven into the heart of the new space. Lauryn proves that reinvention can hold both evolution and love at the same time. For salon owners sitting in the messy middle, her approach offers a simple and brave blueprint. Set a loving deadline, move quickly on the ideas that feel true, and let your values guide the difficult decisions.
If you are craving a salon that feels like a retreat and a team culture that supports the people who deliver it, this conversation will offer clarity, courage, and the first steps toward your next chapter.
Follow the show, share it with a salon owner who needs a nudge, and leave a review so more salon owners can find these conversations.
To follow our journey:
Instagram @aheadhair_
@the_conscious_salon
Body shape's like I don't think I can either, but I'm just no my my body type is like I need to like no.
SPEAKER_01:I've never brought anything off shape. How are you feeling? Oh yes.
SPEAKER_06:Can you put the timer on? Is that alright?
SPEAKER_01:Sure.
SPEAKER_06:Lauren, can you just sing into the microphone, please?
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_06:That I couldn't hear Dom before because of the rain.
SPEAKER_00:I couldn't really hear you right now.
SPEAKER_06:I was like, thank God Dom's so loud. Like she's got such a great powerful voice.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so talk loud today. Talk loud.
SPEAKER_06:Loud. Okay. I don't really have a loud voice.
SPEAKER_01:Hear each other, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Your listening ears on.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Let us do it. Yay, thank you.
SPEAKER_06:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Welcome. Welcome back to the Conscious Salon podcast. What were you gonna say? Nothing. Can you see my t-shirt Aiden? I just want to make sure.
SPEAKER_06:Tess has a t-shirt on and it says, I'm boring baby, all I do is make money and come home. If that doesn't sum you up, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:That's why I got it. I was like, darling, that's that's me.
SPEAKER_06:Just very subtle Tess. But welcome back to the Conscious Salon podcast. Thank you. We are very excited, Tess, because we've got one of our favourite people in the world sitting in front of us.
SPEAKER_03:And she's also a recent haircutter of Nikki.
SPEAKER_06:She cut my hair. I've got in for her, like this was this was her um like just let me just chop off a bit of length. Yeah, I love the first time.
SPEAKER_03:Like, this is the nicest haircut. She was going in for the haircut. I was like, well, what did you have? I love it. Such a good haircut.
SPEAKER_06:But anyway, today's not about your hair or my hair, shockingly. Um we have someone very special sitting in front of us. And she's actually been a guest on the Conscious Helen podcast before. But I wrote you a little intro today. Oh, you wrote me an intro today. I didn't get an intro last time. Oh, great. So this person never had hair on her mind. But at 16, she answered a call from her auntie looking for an apprentice. The first year was rough and she almost walked. This then skills met maturity, and by the end of year two, she was on the salon floor. By the end of year three, she was booked out eight weeks in advance and hitting targets. What really changed for her was connection. The person in her chair became the reason. When a crossroads came, she had 24 hours. I didn't actually know this.
SPEAKER_01:You didn't know this when I was writing that. I'm like, you actually don't know this, I don't think. I didn't recognize this.
SPEAKER_06:She had 24 hours to choose between signing a contract on her first home or buying a salon. She chose the salon and a year later, that choice enabled her to buy a house. In time, she realized that she didn't want to just run a salon, she wanted to build a sanctuary. So in January this year, she tore down Gosh Hair and reinvented her space as self-the salon. One of the most intentionally designed retreats our industry has ever seen. The shift was not only cosmetic, she reinvented her leadership, her vision, and her boundaries. She made brave decisions when it would have been easier to stay comfortable. You know we love to joke about you always being uncomfortable. This result the result is a business that feels aligned and alive, and a leader who backs herself completely. Today we get to unpack the reinvention, the culture that she protects, and the courage that it took to choose the salon that she could see in her mind long before it was built. Please welcome to the salon, our beautiful friend, our private client, and the founder of Self the Salon, Lauren Matrick.
SPEAKER_01:You're gonna make me cry next.
SPEAKER_06:Is that beautiful? That's uh I got really emotional back for a second.
SPEAKER_03:I am crying. I had the big lump in the throat. It's very it's massive though, like hearing that back. How do you feel? Yeah, it's pretty cool. This is actually the first time I think we sat down with you as Lauren, the owner of Self.
SPEAKER_06:I think it is, isn't it? Last time we were in the middle of it. And it was really interesting because the last episode that we did with Loz, if if you haven't listened to it, go back and listen to it. It's incredible. We did it in the messy middle.
SPEAKER_01:Which was the messy part, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_06:Yeah, there's so much power in that of being in that messy middle and showing that rather than just showing the polished version on the other side. So Lozy, can you talk us through what self the salon is?
SPEAKER_01:Self the salon's like my dream, I think. So I had it in my mind. I think during COVID definitely was when I created it. I knew I I was in a salon that there was one of those things that I sort of got gifted, not gifted to me, but I was blessed to have a salon that was already in a really good position, but it wasn't really mine. And I think kind of really changed it because I think I had this belief of don't fix anything that's not broken. Right. But I think after a while then I realized that it sort of just stays stagnant, which was yeah, that was sort of not working for me because I sort of started losing passion in it. Um so then I um yeah, I had during COVID, I think that gave me the space to actually think about what I really wanted from it and where I wanted to go with it. And I think also it I just wasn't courageous enough to do it then. But I had all these ideas, I didn't know what to do with it. So yeah, self-started there. And fast forward what five years is COVID five years, do you think? Yeah, five years. Sully was born, so yeah. Five years. I had mentors along the way, definitely, but I think definitely the past two years is the only time that I was really truly ready to actually action it and go all in with it, which was still hard for me, I think. If it wasn't for like you guys, I still think I would back would have backed out a hundred percent. But now I look back and I think, holy crap, thank god I did that.
SPEAKER_03:Do you know one of the things that I think about often when we first met, when we first started working together, and we came, I remember you really didn't want us to come to your space. You were like not proud of it. You kept saying, even when we went through and we're doing the tour, you were like, Oh, don't look at the floors and like don't do this, and like I just I want it to be like so much different than what it is. And I remember thinking as we left that, like the fact that you because like I didn't see it the way that you could see it, in the way that you you were so clear on what you wanted it to look like, yeah, and what you have created. You've like I can see the vision now, yeah. But I remember hearing you say that and I was like, what are you talking about? It's fine, it's it's a salon, like it's just what a salon looks like.
SPEAKER_01:I look back now and I think it was it really like I used to cock block myself hard because I really was not proud of it at all. Like I would never show photos of my salon on Facebook or Instagram or anything like that back then, ever. Yeah, and I would always of hair, I'd always be on a like a white wall and no one would see anything about the salon because yeah, I I was never proud of it. And I think it was just something I had in my head. I don't know why, because it probably wasn't that bad, but it wasn't what I would want in the salon, if that makes sense. I think that was probably the problem as well.
SPEAKER_06:Isn't it interesting? Do you remember walking through like when we early days when we first met when you said I want to renovate the space? And we did a walkthrough, and you were like, Oh, I think maybe I should move, maybe I should move. Like you couldn't necessarily see it. And I remember talking about wow, we've got such an advantage here with these incredible windows, and we've got this as an option and this as an option, and I feel like that space has always had such a beautiful energy to it, irrespective of how you saw it, but it always had such a beautiful energy to it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think because I was there for so long with it the same, I was just like, I couldn't see it, and it was something that used to do my head in all the time. I'd be like, how can I make this work into something into a different vision? And I just all I could see was that I just could not see past it. Yeah, I really struggled with it.
SPEAKER_03:Did it feel like it was yours?
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_03:Until you shifted the space?
SPEAKER_01:Um, no, I don't think it ever felt like mine until I did self, really.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I think it's a that's a massive part, and like I know that especially like you know, you worked with your auntie, and then um you've had that transition from like you were her apprentice, right? Yeah. Actually, let's talk through a bit of your yours and then story. I think that's an interesting story. I love I love when we sh we talk about the story.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I was lucky enough to work with my auntie for since my whole career really. So I was about 16, nearly 17 when I got my apprenticeship with her. And um, she was an amazing mentor, so she was my mentor right up until a few years ago. And um, yeah, we yeah, we did everything together. So I went from a really like young apprentice with her and then like grew into a on-the-floor apprentice. Then I started managing, and then yeah, as you heard in the start, like I got 24 hours to decide whether I wanted to buy the salon or sign the papers to a house I was gonna buy.
SPEAKER_03:So she approached you to to do that?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, she did. Like put me on the spot. Typical den. Jesus.
SPEAKER_03:I was like, oh god, she's having a laugh now, isn't she?
SPEAKER_01:And I was like, oh my god, and it was because of my deposit, right? Wow. So did she know you were looking for a house? Yeah, she knew I was signing papers like the next day. Wow. And she came to me and she said, I I don't even know if we'd ever spoken about it. Like I can't even remember actually, but if you asked a younger version of me, anyone around me, if I would have owned a salon when I was an apprentice, they would literally laugh at you. Like, there was no way. And I think even in that moment I was still like, I've never really had self-trust up until recently, I don't think. But and I think that was peer pressure as well, why I brought the salon. I was like, oh, I'm just gonna be disappointed, or am I just gonna be ass if I don't do this? This is ridiculous. I better buy the salon. You go down to my house.
SPEAKER_03:See you in a year. Literally. Wow, so that's massive. So, how old were you?
SPEAKER_01:Um, God, how old was I? I reckon 25. About 25. Wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Wow. And then the handover, how did that go?
SPEAKER_01:So how quickly did that all pretty quick, actually. So as I said, I was lucky. She mentored me the whole way through it, which was great. And honestly, I never changed a dance thing until I started getting business coaches, like it just worked. Um, but yeah, it was so easy because she was always there.
SPEAKER_03:If I ever had anything, she was my ears or my was she physically in the space still, or was she yeah, so she removed herself. Yeah, because did you feel like you were just like she was just on holidays and you were still running it?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was sort of the same as it was because we had the two salons. So she had the Mount Wavely one, I had the Berwick one. Yes, and then but when I took over Berwick, she stayed at Mount Wavely. Yeah, um, but the team and everything was the same, and I was already managing anyway, so it didn't really change that much, right? Um, and yeah, it just kept flowing, I guess.
SPEAKER_03:And I think a really beautiful part, so is a I want to talk about the unique bit of self because self is very interesting.
SPEAKER_06:You've given self like the most minimal explanation, and as a client, I'm sorry, I got deviated, didn't I?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I should I I probably didn't know.
SPEAKER_06:As a client or self-the salon, it needs so much more than that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:So self the salon, can I talk about it from my point of view sitting in the show? I've been a client at Self for a year, and Lozzie takes care of my extensions.
SPEAKER_02:You were a client before, but then when self like Yeah, so a yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Since I got extensions and and I have blow dries in with the girls and everything, but to me, what that space is, and as a salon owner, going into another salon where you can feel relaxed is such a privilege anyway. Where you don't, it's so different when you're having a blow dry in your own salon and you're like sitting at the base, and then you just sort of like, oh, who needs what? That's the time has gone off. It's like it's so hard to chill. But to me, what self gifts me is time and connection to myself and that moment to stop and really be present with myself. Yeah, you know, and and previously I'd probably had that if I went to like the hot springs or I went to a day's bar, but it it wasn't something that I felt like was accessible regularly to me in an experience like that. And you guys do that so beautifully. But that's what self does for me. It's such an intentional space, such a relaxing, uh peaceful space, and just even just the team, like the the team are just so uh caring and beautiful and um what's the word? Nurturing. Yeah, that's how I describe your team.
SPEAKER_03:What is really a place to be nurtured, I feel like that's where people go to recharge.
SPEAKER_01:I think it works so well because I created that space for me and my team, I think. Not necessarily, of course, for my clients, but I think more so we're all mums and we all really don't have that space to like relax or connect back to ourselves again. And I think uh being a mum, obviously, we all like lose ourselves in that moment, and I think like having that space to come into work and like doing what you do and finding you're creative and actually feeling like you again is so important. So I created that salon literally for me because at the time I was really struggling with like who I was as a person. Like, obviously, I can run a salon, I can do all the mum things, do everything, but me, I was like, fuck, I need something that's I wasn't getting, and yeah, so self was like created for me really, which just happens that happens that everyone else needs the same thing as well. Do you know? Like our main clientele are mums, and all my team, like 90% of them are mums, and instead of the difference between like our old salon and self is they come to work now, and the environment and the culture and the intention of it is just so much more. I don't know, I've tried like gifting to each other to gifting to us, I guess. Like it really does, it helps us find who we are and give us purpose.
SPEAKER_03:Giving back to self, I feel like I feel like that does go right the way just to be clear, it's a mum, it's like it supports lots of mums, but there are no like not littles running around. Sounds like we've got a bit of a daycare thing going on. It's not, it's you guys coming in and like really refilling your cup. So yeah, really mindful things, like down to like the little details that you have of like the teas and the experience and the rituals that you do. Yeah, not going to give away all your little secrets. That was actually one of the things of why how we got Loz moving on a couple of the ideas because we said you do it or we will. You've got a timeline.
SPEAKER_06:Let's go back to that thread because that loving thread. You came up with this idea, and it's funny, you withheld the name from us for a really long time.
SPEAKER_01:I had the name for like five years, and I still wasn't sold on it. I still gave you several names, didn't I? Yeah. And you guys jumped at that one straight away.
SPEAKER_06:When you said I'm ready to say the name, and you came out with the name, and we were like, that's it. That is it. Like it was such a big, still monumental moment. I can actually remember where I was when I read that message.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we were at um the hot springs with Megan. Yeah, there's a lot happening that weekend at the hot springs.
SPEAKER_06:But it was such a an amazing and monumental time. But I want to talk a little bit about so you've been a client of ours for two years. Yep. And I want to talk about that little um gentle thread that we made to you because you said, you know, I want to do this, I want to do this. And we said, cool, let's let's move on. And you know what we're like, we take really fast action in our businesses. Yeah. And we just don't allow ourselves to not me. We don't allow ourselves to it's like, I've got this idea. Open up.
SPEAKER_03:Think about it for another four years and then we'll come back and I'll let you.
SPEAKER_06:I'll bring it back up and then this is like I feel like this is a thing for so many entrepreneurs just wanting things to be so perfect to the point where, and what do we always say? Like it's um what's that thing that I always read? It's like fast action is the best way to market as I'm fine. Um, something really inspiring there. You've got to move quickly. And this is one of the reasons why I feel like we've been so successful in business, and it's one of the things that we encourage our clients to do. When an idea comes in, we're like, cool, you know, we're not we don't unsee this now, that idea, we're running with that. And you definitely wanted it to be perfect and you wanted to wait for perfect conditions. And then we said to you, you got six months to do this. And if by the end of that six months, if you haven't done it, we're taking the idea, we're taking the name, and we're gonna do it. That's right. You did, and you did do it. You did it. It was it.
SPEAKER_02:So you're welcome for that loving thread, thanks to loving thread.
SPEAKER_06:Um, Lozi, for the last two years, you've obviously had a phenomenal amount of transformation, and you have worked through so many different belief systems and even things that you have been coded to believe and think about yourself and business and all of those different things. You've had such an epic transformation. You've physically completely transformed your salon, you've completely transformed yourself and your leadership. What has been the hardest part of your transformation in the past two years?
SPEAKER_01:Um I feel like now I'm in a really good flow. But I think honestly, the hardest part was not taking action, like with doing self. I think honestly, self changed everything for me because it gave me like the confidence and the the clear vision I had was like right in front of my face. There was no like if, buts, or maybes. It was just like this is what I want, this is how it is, and that's it. Whereas with gosh, it I wasn't proud enough to be able to take the action. So I think for me it was like actually just doing it and going for what I want. And like now I've got it, I'm like, it's so precious, I don't want to I want it to be yeah, exactly how I want it and yeah, impact others and yeah, I just think it's so clear now that I can't stuff it up if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_06:Have there been any days where you've just been like I can't fucking do this?
SPEAKER_01:I think everyone has those days for sure. But um Yeah, there's days definitely that I think I can't do this, but um I think having the right people in your corner definitely like help that as well. So if I didn't have that, I probably wouldn't do shit to be honest. We're very bossy. I was gonna say we're very bossy. Like I just stay there and just feel safe and be like, hey can I stay in my little bubble.
SPEAKER_03:You've done such incredible things, and I think even with this, you know, not only that, I like for me, like watching your growth, especially over the last two years, you have really stepped into, I think, the authority. I think I kind of like stepping out of Den's shadow, and like I'm saying that with the utmost respect and love with Den. I'm not trying to, you know, um yeah, especially because I know how she's such an incredible, she's a a massive part of your story. Absolutely. But what I've seen since that, and it's not it wasn't because she's past now, and it's not from her passing, because you shared with her before she passed about. She knew about self, she knew the name and she was so excited.
SPEAKER_01:So excited, yeah, and she helped like um start the planning of it, which was awesome. I think that was really important to me as well because I think I was it was sentimental to me, obviously. Gosh, it's so sentimental to me, but um, I was nervous to tell her about it. I think it took me like two years to tell her about it because I was like, oh, what's she gonna think? I'm gonna totally it was her legacy, you know. Yeah, and I think um I felt like not that I was raising it, but like changing the name and everything, like for her, that was that was her thing, you know. And I think yeah, it's just something I really needed to do. But she was so excited about it.
SPEAKER_03:And I think even when you talk about that, that whole thing of like feeling like even with that, the way you speak about it, it's still even though you own it, it still belongs to someone else.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And what I think when I hear the way that you two were, and even with that story, when she handed over the keys to you, she was there to support you, but she believed in you to like take this to the moon.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah, she always just say that, like even on like my birthday cards and stuff, she would always say, I want you to be better than me. Yeah, like she was amazing.
SPEAKER_03:And that's the thing I think about if you had told her in that moment, like even that day, being like, I'm gonna change the name, she would have been like, Great, amazing. She's such a big, incredible um like part of your story and your reason. But one of my favorite parts of self, you've still got such a massive part of Den in there. Yeah. Well, we've got it still makes me wish every time I think about it, every time I see it. In your basin area, there's a beautiful gold plating of in memory of her. And it's when you enter that space in the basin lounge, it it's like an out-of-body experience, like it does to transcend you to somewhere else, like it is so peaceful and it's so intentional, and so there's so much love in there. And I just always get I remember when I saw it, because you didn't you didn't say that that's what you were putting there, and it still makes me so emotional every time because I know like that's a big part of her still continuing on in that, and it's such a there's so much love and intention in that that you feel that as even if you've never met Den or know you, you can feel that intensity that is in there, and it's just so I'm just it's such a special partner.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I still feel like she's in there heaps. I think even all the clients will always say stuff as well. I had a client a few months ago actually, it was so cool. She had a head spa. And uh when she came out, she said to me, Oh, she goes, I had a really she goes, That head spa was absolutely incredible. And she goes, you know, and she put her hand on me and she's like, Oh, she's like, I really feel like Den was there. Like she goes, I can feel her in there. It was really it was beautiful.
SPEAKER_03:She's loving she's loving that basin room, she's in there all the time.
SPEAKER_01:I regret not doing it earlier, only because I wish she could like she could have seen it. I could have seen her face see it. Yeah. Because I know she'd be like so proud of it. So she's there now though. Lozie, what what would she say to you? But I just know she'd love it. Like, I think it's really cool that um yeah, we finally did it, so it's cool.
SPEAKER_03:She'd be so fucking proud of you. She was.
SPEAKER_01:I literally remember you saying, I told Den about self, and she was like when I saw her reaction, I was like, Oh damn, I should have done this so much earlier.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and it's funny because we do we get in our own way, and we we this is the thing where we can draw things out for so long, or out of the fear or the the obligation, or the like, if I don't honour this, what is the potential that can happen with that? Yeah, Hayden's coming with the tissues, I think, could come in. Here he is, our tissue king, thank you. But even with that, the fact that you were able to let her know, and the fact that she was so responsive and so excited for you, like, and you know, you know that she's she's in there and she's like right with you. She's she's watching the toners as well, she's doing the head spots.
SPEAKER_01:But so much time, like even now, like even with Mel starting back now. I'm like, Yeah, that's huge. I'm like, oh, I just know she's up there being like, and also Mel.
SPEAKER_06:She took care of me the other day when I was in. She is divine.
SPEAKER_03:Let's talk about that though, because Loz has got a lot of her crew are like old school, like you guys have like grown up together. Like, yeah, literally.
SPEAKER_06:Can we talk about yeah, who's been is Candy your longest team member? Longesting team member. How long has Candace been with you?
SPEAKER_01:Candace and I did our apprenticeship together. So when I was an apprentice, she was shampoo girl, so she was 14. And then um, yeah, so then she started her apprenticeship a bit behind me, but 18 years. Wow, wow. Wow with having she's stopped having like she stopped when she had kids and whatnot for a bit, but yeah, 18 years. You guys have like literally grown up together.
SPEAKER_03:Like, I feel like this was a thing for self, and and gosh, before that, you guys like grow up and create your own community and like you stay a part of that community, and that's so rare. Like, that's such a huge part of the magic. Like, you don't have many team members that are brand new, they're all ones that have been with you, and even now you've got you know, one that has been not just like was your mentor who's now coming back to work through with you. Was it mentor or your train um manager? She's my manager, that's right.
SPEAKER_01:Sorry. So yeah, she was my manager when I was an impression. Candace and my manager.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So Ma was um our manager for eight years. Wow. And then she left to have kids um when Den had the salon. And yeah, she's just come back on last week with us um after 13 years. So that was cool.
SPEAKER_03:It's really full circle. I love it. So proud of you, girl.
SPEAKER_01:That was cool.
SPEAKER_06:There'll be so many salon owners who will be watching this who want to reinvent their space, whether it's through a renovation, rebrand, you know, all of the above. And our hope with this episode is that we really inspire people to actually step forward and take that next step. But there will be so many people that will get in their heads about how difficult it will be physically, emotionally, even finding the time to do those things financially. How did you work through some of those things that came up for you?
SPEAKER_01:Um I think definitely like having the right mentors with you definitely helps a lot. Um, I think because you need, especially if you're someone that doesn't have a lot of self-trust, like I never used to. Um yeah, I think you've got to have people in your corner to like push you to do it. Um, but yeah, definitely I'd say if you've if you want to reinvent your salon or do something different that's a little bit out there, like just do it. Just make sure you have people that are there that's gonna push you to do something that you wouldn't do by yourself. I think that's so important.
SPEAKER_06:Huge. I want to read you something that you wrote with your permission, which I'm sure you're gonna give now. If you don't like it, we can cut it out. So I had to include this because this is one of the most powerful things that I've ever read from one of our clients. You said I'm really proud of our culture. This is something that's taken time for me to really feel confident in. That since making the salon feel like mine and a space that I'm so proud of, it's given me the clarity of my vision. I now know so clearly what I'm trying to do. I know my boundaries, I know my boundaries so much better. It's made me become a much stronger leader than I've ever been. I'm blessed with an incredible team, but knowing when people aren't aligned and when they are aligned. Sorry, when knowing that they aren't aligned, I usually wear glasses and I can't wear glasses while we film podcasts, so it makes it very hard to read. Let me read that again. It's made me a much stronger leader than I've ever been. I'm blessed with an incredible team, but knowing when they are aligned and when they are not. I'm absolutely fine if someone leaves who is no longer aligned with what we do. That's something that used to really make me feel like a prisoner in my own business. But I've done a total backflip and now as soon as I see it, I can't unsee it. It needs to be fixed. Realign or leave.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. That's cool because literally for 10 years I would be shit scared of someone leaving. And now I'm so not scared of it. I think because yeah, if I think over the past two years I've learned that if someone isn't aligned in your vision and what you're doing, it's not beneficial to them, you, clients, anyone, team, everything. And that's where I think problems start and yeah, which can get blown out of proportion, way bigger than what they're meant to be. So I feel like if yeah, I've really learned if someone isn't aligned in the business, okay. And it's they either realign themselves or after you have conversations and try and support them the best way you can. Um, or if they're not aligned, they go and either way it's how it's meant to be.
SPEAKER_06:Was that scary for you? Because it's hard not to do this, and I find this with some of our long-standing team members. It's almost like we wear it as a badge of honor when someone's like, How long has that person been with you? And like for us with Tay, I'm like, Oh, we've like we've been working together for seven years.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Or, you know, when team members were with us for four or five years, we really wore that as a almost like a badge of honour. Yeah. And the fear of people leaving our business and now, like, especially for us in the last couple of years, with so many different people moving through our business.
SPEAKER_03:It was almost like we saw time as like the length of the was like that length. How well we were as we were doing. Yeah, that's the evidence that we were good at. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah. Yeah. Has that everything? Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:I think, especially because I've had, as I said, Candace 18 years, Bronn coming up 10. Um even Amora's been there what six or something now, seven. Um yeah, I've got long long staying team members. Um, so yeah, when they do, I think it necess it's not necessarily that it's like a badger honor. I think you build a relationship with them and I think it's I used to get really offended.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, take it personal.
SPEAKER_01:But I used to make it too personal. Yeah. And I've just come to realise that that's not the case anymore. It's not personal.
SPEAKER_03:It is interesting though, I think that side of it, because it is that human aspect, and like, you know, I know that we always say like I identify with you a lot, like we've got so many similarities. But especially with that, like I used to be the same. Like, if someone was leaving for their own reasons, I would think that they were like leaving me. I'd I would take it, I would get like offended or upset, or I mean, we all know the story of when Taya left and how I like clung to her.
SPEAKER_06:The first thing would always be. Be like, where do we go wrong? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, exactly. And I think with that, just that evolution now that you have of like, I I'm gonna be fine either way.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:If people you either need to be all in or all out.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And it's okay.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So good. What a like, can you imagine that you would have been saying this to yourself all these, you know, yeah what is it, 10 years of one way of thinking, and now you're just like, I'm cool, I've got it. Like, it doesn't mean that there's still no response or reaction. It's like we're humans at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_01:And I think even like with Ken, like, I don't know, Candace is getting shout out in this episode. No, she's not. But um, even with Ken, she has left us before um for about three years or so, and she did go work somewhere else. Um, and at the time I was offended, and like we've spoken about this. I was like, oh my god. And I think that was Candace, your dog. Like Taylor, she did the same. I was like, I think it did, it hurt. Of course. Um, and I think both of us, like her and I, I'm not saying it's just her, like we were way more immature at that stage in our lives. And as a leader, I was a crap leader then. Um, and I think, yeah, I think we still we didn't talk for a little bit. I think just because of the immaturity, I guess. Not not because it was like anything bad or whatnot. Um, but then yeah, obviously, then we're like family pretty much, so it just comes back around and then we just realigned ourselves. It's just funny. We had that conversation, we spoke about it, we're like, oh shit, we probably shouldn't have done that or whatnot. And yeah, it's funny. Then she's been working again for I think six years, five years. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:It's I think even when I hear you say that about like I wasn't the leader that like I am now, that's such a huge because I Nikki and I say this all the time, especially with Tay, like we but half of her leaving, if not all of it, would definitely have been because of the way that we were leading and showing up and doing things, and just even that accountability just makes life, it just takes the pressure off of just like being like, I'm a human, I'm learning, I'm evolving, I'm growing as well. It's massive, but I think it's a real credit to you for the longevity that you do have with these people, but also the fact that they are like uh you've used the word family, and it you do have that real family feel in there, yeah. So special.
SPEAKER_01:Kennedy's is my longest relationship.
SPEAKER_03:Gorgeous.
SPEAKER_06:Almost special.
SPEAKER_01:We love that.
SPEAKER_06:Lozy, what do you feel like has been your biggest shift in leadership?
SPEAKER_01:Um as I said, I think it literally all come down to like taking action and just doing self and being so clear, having that clear vision and yeah, just making decision decisions fast and just doing it, I think. Definitely, and just actually not being scared to have uncomfortable conversations, but I think also being proud of something that you've created and and knowing that it is like it is something that does do impact. I think it gives you the permission to have those uncomfortable conversations when you need to, if that makes sense. Absolutely. And I think just doing it like in the in the moment, um or when the time's right, obviously, but not letting not letting things drag on and just build up and build up, and then one thing making something snap and then getting it blown out when you should have just had a conversation, I don't know, six months ago to stop that whole scenario happening. Huge.
SPEAKER_06:Now that you have done this huge reinvention and you're on the other side of it, and you your salon looks beautiful from the outside, and you've worked so hard on the internal as well. What is the one value that you will never compromise on again?
SPEAKER_01:The one value I will never compromise on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06:One thing that you're just like, I will never fuck with that again.
SPEAKER_01:So many. That's hard to pick one.
SPEAKER_03:Um what was the first one that came to your mind?
SPEAKER_01:Probably my intentionality, I reckon, definitely. As something that is super important in that space and for the salon. And I think for the girls as well that work there, that everything has to have intention. And I think if it doesn't, there's no purpose.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, it's so and I think even with that like stating your intention, like this is my intention, like and uh seeing you now stepping into that, yeah, it's such a big part of who you are. You are such an intentional person, to have that as your like number one value, I think is phenomenal.
SPEAKER_06:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Wow.
SPEAKER_06:Lizzie, I wanna wrap with something that I don't think we've ever talked about before, but with I I am very aware and I know that you're very aware as well. We know what your legacy piece is with the clients and what you give the clients and the experience of self. But I want to shift the gears a little bit and I wanna ask you what you want your legacy to be in our industry for team members. For team members.
SPEAKER_01:That's a good question. Um I don't know. I want to s I want people to be able to come to work and feel like themselves again and find themselves again, I think. Not just come to work and actually go to a job. I think that's so important. That's what makes like that's what makes our salon different, is all the team members do come there and it's not like you're at work, you're at you're with family or you're with your friends doing something that makes you feel like you again. I think that's so important. And I think like having the right people in your business as well that do genuinely love what they do is so important um because otherwise you miss that element, and I think that shows in s in so many ways. But yeah, I really want I want the industry to be something that people fall in love with again and not just have to do.
SPEAKER_03:Beautiful. That's so gorgeous.
SPEAKER_06:I think what you give to your community and also what you show, especially the mums in your team, what you show the women in your team of how how purpose can look after having babies is so significant, and I think that is such a big part of your legacy. But it's something that we've never really talked about. And I think that that that's one thing that makes self so special. Yeah. Lozzie, we're so proud of you and everything that you've achieved. And for the past two years, uh you have been such an incredible client of ours, and you've literally become family to us. But watching uh what you've done in two years and watching you uh get out of your comfort zone and become that next level version of yourself, and watching you in those moments of discomfort. If I flick back to two years ago when we first met, Jesus It was like I'm sitting here with a completely different person, the evolution, but that is uh a credit to nobody else but you because uh this work can present to anybody, but the right person has to take it and actually implement it and action it and do the scary things and put themselves in those new rooms, and you have literally done that for the past two years, and we're just so unbelievably proud of everything that you've done.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks, guys. I think it's important to like a shout out to you guys as well. I think because it's important to have those people that you're fully aligned with. I've had as I said before, I've had so many business coaches, well not so many, but I've had three other business coaches, and I I guess I have had information that I never really did anything with, which I could have done with stuff with, but I guess not having that full alignment, it doesn't push you or doesn't inspire you to to fully trust it and just go with it. I think with you guys, when you fully when you're with someone that like fully that you fully trust, you like you just give it your role, I think. So that's super important. So I think a shout out to you guys as well because I wouldn't have done it without you. I wasn't tearing my salon down until it was literally being teared down.
SPEAKER_03:So a loving threat can get you a long way waiting for how long it would take for Lauren to shift the spotlight back. It's on you. I can end it now with the same note. This is your moment. No, this is just this is your moment, though, which is just as important because we want you in here speaking your story because you you inspire the fuck out of us. We want you to be inspiring everyone else that is sitting in there going, I'm not proud of my space. I want to change things up, I want to back myself, and you've done that, like as with a loving threat, of course.
SPEAKER_06:But I'm a bit sad we didn't get to use the idea though. I know fantastic. So good.
SPEAKER_03:But even in this, like, this is your moment, and like we're so proud of you, Den's so proud of you, you're fucking doing the damn thing. But you've literally created your own sanctuary, which is absolutely like one of the most unique things that I've ever been in. And I feel like even the way that you look at it, with how much like you're someone I know that loves having mums working with you. That's not a that's not the norm in our industry. People hear mums and they get scared and think, oh, they're gonna need time off with kids, next, y, and z. And the fact this is like such a big part and a big purpose of what you have with self. Yeah, it's phenomenal. We're so fucking proud of you. Well done. Thank you. Your moment, proud of you. Love you. We're gonna wrap it right there before she says anything. Receive! Received, she's received.
SPEAKER_06:Fantastic. Thank you guys so much for listening to another episode of the Conscious Hell Podcast. Love you guys, stay conscious, Lauren.
