You Can't Afford Me
You Can't Afford Me
The Essence of Brand Culture and Success in Team Dynamics
Embark on an inspiring journey with Holly Byrd Miller, the paragon of pivoting professions. From healthcare management to CEO of Makeup by Holly Beauty Partners, Holly's narrative is a masterclass in embracing change and the power of personal branding. Her candid reflections on the emotional landscape of leaving a stable career for entrepreneurship illuminate the path to aligning one's career with their innermost values. Every aspiring entrepreneur or person yearning for more meaningful work will find solace and motivation in Holly's story of selling confidence and commanding one's space.
This episode isn't just about inspiration; it's a treasure trove of practical business wisdom. We wade through the complexities of financial acumen, the lifeline of every business venture. Learn how I navigate the intricacies of business credit and manage cash flow with precision. As we dissect the nuances of team building, bear in mind the mantra: 'hire slow, fire fast'. Discover how to imbue every team member with the essence of your brand's culture, and why this is non-negotiable for sustaining a thriving business.
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Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Are one-on-one coaching Taylor's strategies to your unique business goals. Dive into interactive workshops fostering skills essential for success. Looking for an inspirational speaker for your next event? Look, mr Pernumer. To elevate your gathering. Visit wwwdmrpnurcom to learn more and embark on your path to entrepreneurial success. Mr Pernumer, empowering your entrepreneurial spirit. Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the you Can't Afford Me podcast. Now I have somebody in the studio today that we actually started our businesses right about the same time and I actually went to the restaurant this past weekend at the place that we first met and had our first business meeting, which actually is a whole new restaurant now. It's something different now, but today in the studio we got Holly Birdmiller. Holly, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I am so good, sam, and thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. For those who don't know, you first tell us who you are and what you do.
Speaker 2:I am Holly Birdmiller, ceo and founder of Makeup by Holly Beauty Partners. We are a talent management agency that specializes in personal branding and image consulting, and we also have a luxury bridal division.
Speaker 1:Beautiful, beautiful. Now, I always like to start before entrepreneurship. What did you do?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. So for 20 years and I hate to date myself, but for about 20 years I worked in healthcare. I was in healthcare management for a few different organizations throughout the DC, maryland, virginia areas and that's kind of where I got my start, like I came right out of school and directly into management. So definitely got the skills I needed in order to be an effective leader. And, yeah, the rest is kind of history.
Speaker 1:Nice. So what made you make that pivot from corporate America to owning your own brand?
Speaker 2:You know what? It was just time. I just felt in my soul that it was time to make a pivot, and when I was making the decision for my last corporate job, I was in that job for 15 years. I was in business development, traveling all over the country, so no longer did I have fatigue just from traveling. But also, I just decided that you know what, this isn't feeding my soul anymore, and when it comes to being an entrepreneur, I think you should do the thing that really feeds your soul and you're constantly pulled towards that thing and give it all you got, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So I talked to us about that transition because for me it was pretty difficult, like I almost had to sleep in my car. I was broke for like three, four months where I was like I was just trying to make ends meet. Obviously, everybody's story is different, but how did you transition? Were you still working full time and then you started this as a side hustle? And when did you take that side hustle and make it full time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I started just as you described. So I was just kind of doing a side hustle because I've always been passionate about personal brand image consulting. I was oftentimes the only female in the room, the only minority in the room, so I had to learn very quickly to take up space, and so part of that was my personal like how I showed up right, and so I decided that I wanted to kind of do more of that. Like I said, when my corporate job just wasn't feeding my soul anymore, I was burnt out because it was all about the sales and not about the relationships, which is what I'm. I feel like that's my strength, and I just realized that I wanted to like see what I can do on my own, like take everything in my toolkit from everything I learned in corporate, all of my college education, all of that and just really do what fed my soul, but take those experiences and bring those into our talent management agency, which is what I did, so best decision I could have ever made.
Speaker 1:How did you figure out that this field is what would feel feed yourself, Because there are a number of different avenues you could have gone. What was it about image consulting and branding and all these different things that spoke to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I realized that again from being in leadership oftentimes the only minority woman in a room, I had to take up space, so I had to be confident. So I always tell people, even now, we don't sell services, we sell confidence and that's what it's all about, like helping to empower people from the inside out, letting them know they belong in a space you know, no matter what that space, no matter what that industry is. And so because I had gone through that and had that first hand experience about how I needed to do that, I thought, when I'm going to go and transition into entrepreneurship, do what feeds my soul, do what feels right to me also, but speaking from a place of experience. And so it was an easy transition for me to at least decide what I wanted to do. Now, actually physically making that transition was harder. I was nervous because I had a corporate job with a 401K and benefits and paid time off and all that.
Speaker 1:That's how they get us.
Speaker 2:That's how they get us and they hold us there right. But I was like you know what? This just isn't it for me anymore, and I thought it's no longer about a paycheck. I need to chase my dreams and not just dollars. And so that's what I decided to do, but it got very uncomfortable. Before I did that, I was having some push pull with leadership. It got very, very uncomfortable, but I found out that when you're ultimately following your purpose not just a passion, but a purpose it can be uncomfortable, and some of us need that push in order to make us do the thing that we were destined and designed to do. And so, you know, after having some struggles with my director at the time really, really got ugly. I was like no longer happy. I was going through some, some mental health challenges. I was like, all right, something has to change, and I made the decision to bet on myself, and it was the best decision I could have ever made.
Speaker 1:So what did that transition look like for you in terms of, like I described to you a little bit about my struggle was almost at sleep in my car. What did that financial transition look like for you? Were you making anywhere close to what you were making at your corporate job when you made that transition? Was it like, hey, I got enough in savings that I can roll with this for the next 12 months? How'd that look?
Speaker 2:No, none of those things which I recommend people do 1000%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I didn't do it that way. I just was living on prayer. Honestly, thankfully, I have a husband who's very supportive, and so financially we were fine, but I didn't have those savings to 12 months of savings that I would recommend to someone else. I did have my clients, though I had built my client roster, because it was kind of like a side hustle, but I was still building my client roster. So that was in place. I had my systems in place. I had a lot of the back end things in place that I needed.
Speaker 2:The talent was in place, but financially definitely not. But because I was, again, very business savvy and I knew how to write a strategic plan and all of that, I resigned from my corporate job in February of 2020. Well, the month later, covid happened. Nobody saw that coming. I don't think anybody could have even prepared for that, financially or otherwise, but it proves that I was doing the right thing, the thing that I was designed to do, and so we grew our business 278% in 2020, despite a pandemic, because we had all our systems in place and everything that I previously described.
Speaker 1:So with that transition, like we both did it the wrong way, in terms of like I had no 401k.
Speaker 1:I ended up finding out years later that I actually did have a 401k from another company and was able to transition that and do some things, but yeah, I had nothing in savings. That's the reason for the title of this podcast. You Can't Afford Me Like. I went to my boss's office one day and said that to him and it was a complete lie. Had you been able to go back, what would be your advice in terms of you know, because stacking up for a lot of people stacking up six to 12 months is gonna be somewhat difficult if you're not extremely focused on it. If you had to do it all over again today, how would you structure that transition for yourself?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, definitely 12 months of savings if you can. So if you have a side hustle, that's the perfect time. If you're still you have a full-time job and you're kind of working your business as a side hustle, and that's ideal time to save up, would definitely recommend that. I was able to also roll over my 401k. Thankfully, I have since learned that I also need a SEP, so a supplemental employment pension, so that's something because you have to continue to pour into your retirement. So that's a great way to do that. I would highly recommend that for anybody.
Speaker 2:Make sure your business credit, like you have strong business credit. So when you're first starting out as an entrepreneur, you may not have that. You're just relying on your personal credit, but you're gonna quickly need to build your business credit. That's imperative. People are gonna make you wanna want a line of credit, you're gonna want a business credit card, you're gonna want people to invest in you at some point, and so having a business credit is gonna be imperative to make sure that those things happen. So those are some of the key things I highly recommend from a financial perspective.
Speaker 1:So talk to us about building business credit, because I don't know how I did it.
Speaker 1:I think I just kind of fell into it. Like one day I got an email like hey, we can give you a credit card for your business and I was like sure, I need credit for my business, let's start building it. I'm not gonna say the name of the company. I still use them but they're not paying me, so I'm not gonna mention them here. But how did you start building credit for your business and taking that out of your personal name?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I got a business credit card. I was one of the greatest things I could have done. I got a credit card that had rewards points built into it, so I knew I was gonna use the card.
Speaker 2:So a lot of businesses don't realize that access to capital, yes, it is a problem, but what people fail to realize that's equally as important, if not more so, is how you manage your cash flow. Cash flow management helps to ensure that you're getting access to capital or you hold on to that capital even longer. So, even if it's 28 to 30 days, hold on to your capital so you can continue to reinvest it into your business. So, again, just vitally important for a business owner to do that. But paying the credit card before it was due because I didn't want the interest to accrue. So I was paying in 28 days versus the 30 days when the interest starts to accrue, and doing that consistently.
Speaker 2:I'm a stickler for a good credit, so I was doing that and then just making sure that I didn't borrow more than I could pay back. So when I was determining my budget, making sure that I was including any loans and all of that into my budget and checking that budget, I honestly look at my budget probably once a week, versus some people may do it monthly or quarterly just because I wanna make sure I'm staying on top of my spending, making sure I'm checking my cash flow, my revenue, my expenses, all of those things that we should be paying very, very, very close attention to.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. That's a great point because for me, once business got to a certain point, I'm a firm believer that focus on the things that you're really good at and offload everything else that you're not. So for me, I hate doing the numbers, I hate bookkeeping, I hate all that stuff. Love seeing the checks come in, but everything beyond that I'm not much of a fan. So for the longest time years I just hired a CPA and I just gave it a blind eye. I wasn't paying attention to what was going on. I just trusted that this person that I hired was doing me right, and to a certain extent that can work. But since I've since transitioned a model, because I'm reading some stuff now that says you need to know your numbers better than anything else.
Speaker 2:So let them go.
Speaker 1:I'm doing everything through QuickBooks now I still have CPA to handle my taxes and things like that. But going through that I'm looking at some things. I'm like what is this? $400 a month for occurring paint? Like what is this? And I do some digging. I'm like, oh, we haven't used that in years, like let me cut that off. I went through and like ended up saving a couple grand just going through the books and looking at things myself. So that's vitally important for entrepreneurs, like a lot of us are so quick. Actually, it's probably two forms of people One, the entrepreneur that doesn't wanna let anything go, and then the other entrepreneur that relinquishes things far too quickly. But that is one key point of your business where you wanna make sure that you're in the numbers.
Speaker 1:You don't necessarily have to be managing it if you don't want to, but don't just give it a blind eye. Every aspect of your business. You need to be keeping some sort of eyeball on 100%.
Speaker 2:I mean there's working on the business and the working in the business. So I get the importance of working on the business because you have to continuously grow it. There's being for a strategic business development, all of that, but that's part of the working in the business that I don't lose sight of. So I am always keenly aware of my numbers on a daily basis. And then I have a fractional CFO who's managing it from a bigger, from a operational perspective. But you have to know the numbers Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this when did your confidence come from? Because that is a trait that I think every entrepreneur needs to possess. It's very hard to go out there and beat the pavement and build something if you're not confident in yourself, because starting out, everybody's going to doubt you, and it's not until they start to see some success on the fruit tree that they're like oh yeah, girl, I knew you was always going to do it, so for you, where did that confidence come from?
Speaker 2:You know what? Again, it was developed over time in my corporate background. But for those of us who don't have that, you know, luxury to have a corporate background. You just have to believe in your vision and your dream more than anyone else and you can't be wavering if you can't sell it, if no one else is going to buy it. So you have to believe it, you have to know it, eat, breathe and sleep it. And the better you are at, you know, believing it, digesting it, knowing that you can, you know, do all the things that you say you can do, the more convincing you're going to be to others. And so I developed that over time.
Speaker 2:And my business is like my baby, and so my baby is something I hold near and dear to me. I continue to nurture it, cultivate it, do everything I need to make sure it grows, and and for that I'm confident. So I study. I'm always going to be the one who's studying and learning. I'm in three different programs right now where I'm like mentoring programs or entrepreneurship programs, where I'm continuously feeding it to grow it. And because I do that, I know that there's no one, that, no matter what they say, they can't take that away from me, right?
Speaker 1:Absolutely yeah, absolutely Talking about your skill set, like you talked about corporate America, but a lot of the skill set that you need now you didn't have in corporate America, like I'm assuming you weren't doing anybody's hair, make up, photography or branding or anything like that in corporate America. So where did that skill set come from? Because I know for me, I just went on YouTube and studied everything I could and spent countless hours after work just like absorbing as much information as I could. Getting some clients, like my first initial clients, I brought them on for free and just said, hey, just let me try this out so I can build a portfolio. How did you develop that skill set for yourself?
Speaker 2:Similar to that. So I had to build a portfolio, like you said, with models and, you know, making sure that people knew that I could do what I said I was going to do. So I started out with, you know, team of one it was me I and initially my business was makeup by Holly and it was just based on the makeup services that I could provide. I quickly had to bring on other team members who were like-minded, who believed in the vision, who were equally talented, if not more so, because we were growing so rapidly.
Speaker 1:Where did you pick up that makeup skill, though?
Speaker 2:Yeah so. I was self-taught initially, but then I realized if you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best. So I started taking workshops, one-on-one classes with Derek Rutledge, who's Oprah's makeup artist, and her previous makeup artist was Reggie Wells and so we did one-on-one classes.
Speaker 2:He was actually a mentor and unfortunately just passed away a couple of weeks ago, but he was a mentor and so Sir John who's Beyonce's makeup artist. I was like, if I want to be the best, I have to learn from the best. So I did that very early on. I also studied with international artists at Saks, fifth Avenue, at Nordstroms, like ambassadors for those you know, premium luxury brands. That's where I also learned the white glove service that we bring into our talent management agency. So I now bring that into to our team members and make sure that we kind of all looking the same, walking and talking the same.
Speaker 1:Let me interrupt you right there for a second, because you dropped the bar.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:You want to be the best. You got to work with the best.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:She was willing to invest money into herself first and into her business, to develop the skillset she needed. And some of you won't even download a free podcast to learn how to excel your business, and that's just a part of the equation that you cannot skip. You have to invest in yourself, you have to educate yourself and you have to keep moving forward with that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's so non-negotiable. Like there's so much information out there, free information, information and data is like the current that's currency. It's like gold. And so you have to invest in yourself. You have to take the time to like immerse yourself in whatever skill or whatever service it is you are trying to offer to your clients, and that's the only way that you're going to grow and become the absolute best. You can't fast track that. I know. Social media makes it seem like a lot of things just happen, like as an overnight success.
Speaker 1:Takes 10 years to be an overnight success.
Speaker 2:It really does. It really does. I'm living proof of that, because I'm 12 years in the game at this point and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. Yeah.
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Speaker 1:How did you navigate those barriers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're right. I mean we're in triple digit growth and so just navigating some of those barriers is to some of the things we've already talked about, like just being the hardest working person in the room, educating myself. Like surrounding myself by people around people who are smarter than me. I don't wanna be the smartest person in the room. I always wanna learn. I'm a sponge. I don't go in there claiming to know everything. I wanna sit down.
Speaker 2:I've invested money with just sitting down with successful people in the beauty industry. That I admired, because sometimes it seems like there's no blueprint for success, and that's true. It's not completely mapped out. But there are folks who have come along before us who are very successful, who, if you're willing to invest an hour of your money to take, buy their time. It's well worth it because they can help you navigate some financial hurdles. And then time is money. So I did that. I absorb. I'm a sponge. I still, like I said, I educate myself with free education, but also listening to podcasts vitally important. There's so much information out there. Also, investing in leadership programs. I'm in a number of leadership programs right now because I realize I'm in a scaling part of my business where we're on like the trajectory is insane, but it's because I'm surrounding myself by other success around, other successful CEOs, people that I wanna learn and grow from on a corporate level. So I have to invest that time, invest that money and energy into learning from those folks.
Speaker 1:So how do you make those connections, Cause oftentimes Richmond's a big city but it's a small big city and oftentimes I'll be at a networking event and I'll see you there and like we've run into each other at several different events, what is it like? How much time do you dedicate to making sure that you're front facing, like being out in public networking, whatever it is?
Speaker 2:Networking is important. Business development I consider it kind of like business development. There has to be somebody out there in the community who's constantly making those connections. So I invest anywhere from 10, probably about 10 to 12 hours a week doing just that. It's so important and I'm really fortunate now that I have people like my teams in place. I have folks in the office who are doing things on our behalf so I can do that. I realize some people aren't at that stage of their business, so I get it. You have to kind of have a mix of how much time you're gonna spend administratively, how much time you're gonna spend working on business development. But strategy and business development is huge. So I'm out in the field probably 12, 15 hours a week, but I'm actually doing business development more than half of my time, so I don't work a traditional 40 hours a week and probably at 60 hours a week.
Speaker 2:So I would say at least 30 of those hours is strategic and business development, and part of that is networking.
Speaker 1:So for me, one of the most difficult parts of being a business owner is managing a team. So talk to us about that transition. How did you know? I'm gonna break this up in several parts. Let me start with this how did you know when it was time to start hiring people on your team?
Speaker 2:When I could no longer do it on my own and I felt as if I was dropping some of the balls. Because you don't want that Like the worst. You know, the best form of marketing is word of mouth, but it also can be the worst, because if a client has a bad experience, they're gonna share that just as quickly as they will a good experience.
Speaker 2:Probably faster than they will if they have a good experience Very likely, very likely, and so and I'm a stickler for professionalism in detail that's it.
Speaker 2:You know, that's how I was reared over the last 20 plus years.
Speaker 2:So I'm I knew I needed to bring in a team when I could no longer do the work on my own.
Speaker 2:And I, when I realized that I needed to grow and I couldn't grow if I was doing everything myself there are only so many hours in a day. You can only trade, you know, so much time for dollars and so I realized that I needed, in order to scale, I had to bring in a team so higher, slow fire, fast is a motto, and that I adopted, because you have to bring in people who are like minded, they get division, they work hard like you do, they're going to take ownership of the role that they're filling, because I want everyone on my team to see it as their business. You know, and so I have. I'm so fortunate I have 45 and growing like team members who own everything that they do as if it's their business and they represent really hard. And so that's something you have to do when you want to really scale and grow. Bring in the right team. Um, everybody kind of like, you know, walking in the same direction and um, going hard for the business, just as as I would.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one thing to note like a lot of entrepreneurs have to understand, there's nothing wrong with this. When you start up a business, when you formulate your LLC and you're the only one doing the work, you have a job. You do not have a business. You don't have a business until you can step away and this machine can make money for you while you're not present. So that transition for you you've recognized. Hey, things are getting a little overwhelming. I can't do everything. I need to start adding some people to the team for you, because there is a different layer of becoming an entrepreneur in a business owner Once you have people underneath you. What has been, I want to say, the secret sauce for you in terms of how you identify the right team member and how you manage them and create the culture that you want in your company.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so identifying the right team is not just about a skill set, because I can teach a skill. What you can teach is culture fit. So it was finding folks who believed in the business and the culture.
Speaker 2:That was something you can't teach. And so I, when I saw folks who were very, very passionate about our business, they knew about our business they were like I watch you, I see what you're doing, I really like what you're doing, I'd love to be a part of it. I would obviously do my due diligence and research them and return. I get references, I do several interviews, I do auditions, because the work that we're doing it's. There's no room, there's very little room for error.
Speaker 2:So we have to make sure that it's a right fit. I also get referrals like other team members who were, like I know, other beauty pros nationwide who would be an amazing fit, and so that's kind of how we're building it again hiring slow to make sure that it's the right fit.
Speaker 1:Love that, Love that. Let's talk about branding First. Let's define branding.
Speaker 2:What does?
Speaker 1:branding mean to you. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's personal branding. We are literally helping entrepreneurs and professionals to convey who they are to the world and a big part of that is their personal appearance. The first impression is visual. It only takes about seven seconds to do that face to face, about three to five seconds online to make a strong visual impression. So we're helping entrepreneurs and professionals do that in a really authentic and transparent way.
Speaker 2:I don't want anyone to feel like we're dressing them or we're styling them In a way that doesn't feel authentic to who they are or that's going to resonate with their target audience. So we do take a lot of time to interview our clients, to do discovery calls, to get to know them and then, once we do that, then we're styling them. So we're getting them ready for campaigns. Anytime they make a camera camera ready appearance or face to face appearance, we are kind of like their styling team, if you will, to make sure that they are instantly getting the attention of their target audience and they're. They make people, they draw the attention, they draw that visual interest, they're creating that visual interest so that folks can come over and get to know them.
Speaker 2:You know, or folks are, as they're scrolling online, they're going to stop and they're going to be like okay, I want to learn more about who this person is.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. People have to understand we live in I mean, you can fight it if you want to. We live in a very superficial world and people are going to judge you on the way of you. Look Now, I'm not saying you have to be a 10 looking like Brad Pitt or whatever like that but the way you present yourself as a business owner can dramatically change your business.
Speaker 1:Like when I'm on state, like I'm most day to day life, like I'm not taking a lot of time to pick out my fit for the day. But when I know I'm giving a talk that day, there's a little extra effort. Like if I'm like this week I'm speaking to a business school of VCU Since I'm speaking to college students, I know I'm going to put on a fresh pair of J's, like I got to have something there. That's going to relate, versus if I'm speaking to a room full of managers you know I'm going to button it up a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Know your audience, absolutely Knowing your audience. But you know that comes into like health and wellness and things like that Just making sure that you're taking care of yourself and taking care of your body, because you could do. I'm going to put this on men for a second use. As an example, you have a man that is drastically overweight and has 40 years of experience in this field, done phenomenal work, and you could have another gentleman the same age, but he's fit, he's well put together.
Speaker 1:Who do you think is more likely to get the business? It's got to be the person that looks better, because people often think, you know, that person took the time to take care of themselves. They're that diligent, they're that detail oriented. Well then, that's how they're going to handle me as a client. So you got to be thinking about those things when you're putting that brand together, because biggest hesitation I see from a lot of entrepreneurs is well, you know, I don't want to make the initial investment. Is this really that important? Blah, blah, blah. What would you say to someone that has that thought process?
Speaker 2:It's finally important People aren't going to invest in you if you invest in yourself. And so if you take the time to put together a nice polished look and again keeping him on your audience right, so your attire will vary depending on you know to to your previous point where you are and who you're talking to but if you take the time to just present yourself in a polished manner, then folks will equate that to success. They will. That's just the society we live in. Call it fear or whatever, but that's the way it is. So it's just investing a little extra effort making sure that your hair is neat, making sure your clothes are ironed in, you know, and and you're just kind of presenting yourself in a really nice polished manner.
Speaker 2:It's going to make a huge difference. It could ultimately make the difference between whether someone approaches you in a networking event or not.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Talk to us about, about partnerships. For me, that has been a major piece of our success is partnering up with the right people, and you know make up a hollybee and Enzo MediaFirm. We've been partners for years. Talk to the benefit, and I know you have tons of other partnerships Talk. Speak to the benefit of partnering with other organizations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean. Partnering with organizations like yours has been vitally important to our success, because For one we're like-minded.
Speaker 2:You know you and I are both ambitious. We're gonna go get it. We're professional. We are executing on the work that we tell our clients we're gonna execute on. We're doing it in a really professional manner, in a timely manner. We're delivering excellence.
Speaker 2:That's what our clients expect, and so partnering with people who operate in that same way vitally important. It's gonna make the difference between you know us scaling and growing. So you, in essence, are an extension of our marketing. Like when someone needs personal branding and image consulting, oftentimes you're gonna refer them to us Because you know you can trust us to deliver on what you say. And people are gonna, you know, believe they're gonna trust you. If you say this is the company you should be working with, then they're gonna take you at your word and know that you're not gonna refer them to someone who's not gonna deliver. So we've been really fortunate to have some strategic partners around the nation who market on our behalf and we do the same for them, and we're just continuing to elevate and move each other along, but again doing it in a way that makes sure that we're all kind of growing and we all are held accountable to the services and the products that we say that we're gonna deliver to our clients.
Speaker 1:If someone listening to this podcast right now says they wanna do exactly what you do, they wanna start their own business and go into this industry, what are the top three tips you would give them to get started?
Speaker 2:Oh, good question. So in order to be a talent manager, you have to obviously be able to recognize talent. That's vitally important. But in order to recognize it, you have to know what it looks like. So I started from the ground and built this agency and I feel like my success has come because I did the grunt work and so being able to recognize what it is you're looking for in the right team vitally important doing the work. So you know, I may not be the most like, I'm a non-technical CEO, but I have technical expertise that's required. But I know enough that if it's done well, I can recognize that and if it's not done well, more importantly, if it's not done well, then I can recognize that. So knowing about every facet of your business, what it takes in order for it to run really seamlessly and to run well, is gonna be vitally important. I can't stress that enough.
Speaker 2:The other thing I would say is always like be very strategic on not only where your business is currently, but where you want it to go, and I believe in reverse engineering. So I already have a three-year plan three to five-year plan, honestly for where I want my talent agency to go, and now I'm reverse engineering it. I'm making sure that all the systems in place, the teams in place, all the things I need in order to get there, because the worst thing a business owner can do is achieve success and you can't sustain it Like that's absolutely the worst thing you can do. So put all the systems in place even before you get there. You know that saying they said like you've been there, right, so that's finally important. So I would say, put the teams in place, put the systems in place and always be strategic.
Speaker 1:Love it, love it. We talked a lot about education and feeding into yourself and to your business. What are? I don't wanna ask. It may be a book for you. It could be a conference or an entrepreneur that you look up to Give us a couple of resources that people should look out for in terms of growing as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Oh, so surround yourself with like-minded professionals. So join organizations and associations, where you're constantly having conversations with other entrepreneurs.
Speaker 2:It doesn't even matter if they're in your industry, but just constantly having conversations. So I would recommend the Metropolitan Business League if you're in Virginia, because they're doing the work, they're giving you the resources, they're giving you access to capital, they are giving you networks everything you need in order to be successful. You just have to tap into it. So I would say, join the right organizations. I would also say, continue to educate yourself. So, even though I had degrees in corporate backgrounds and whatever, I've learned more in the last four years. So post COVID, then I've ever learned from any of those experiences because I'm in entrepreneurship programs. I went through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 small businesses program where it was all about entrepreneurship, uncovering every facet of your business and how you can identify gaps and fill those gaps. So doing programs like that in startup Virginia where it's all focused on that's specifically for entrepreneurs because now our cosmetics tech company, so that's a separate business.
Speaker 2:I wanted to start from the ground up on what it takes to be a tech company. Startup Virginia has been vitally important, so that's education. I'm on another program with Capital One. Capital One has a mentorship program that is really geared towards making sure that we are the types of employees I mean the types of vendors they wanna hire.
Speaker 2:So, they're grooming us to be the vendors that would make us horrible, and so that has been impaired like. That's been a game changer for my business, honestly. So if you have those opportunities and those luxuries to be able to take advantage of those types of programs and associations that I mentioned, I'd highly recommend it.
Speaker 1:Love it, love it. Holly. This has been awesome. If people wanna follow you, get in touch with you, utilize your services, how can they get a hold of you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so reach us at makeupbyhollybcom. You can call us at 804-266-4564 and we're all over social media. Makeup by Holly beauty partners.
Speaker 1:Good stuff, we appreciate you. Thanks for coming on.
Speaker 1:Thanks for having me and we will see you guys on the next episode. Dream of launching a business that combines innovation with social impact. Legacy Vending Machines Entrepreneur Program is a gateway to make it happen. I'm Sam Anderson, co-founder, inviting you to join a movement reshaping the future of vending. With personalized coaching, access to prime locations and a unique model that supports nonprofits, we empower you to start a profitable vending operation that truly gives back. Whether you're new to entrepreneurship or looking to expand, we're here to guide you every step of the way. Be more than an entrepreneur. Be a legacy builder with legacy vending machines. Apply today to take the first steps towards the business that makes a difference. Visit our website now at wwwlegacyvendingco. Your legacy starts here.