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You Can't Afford Me
Making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be a scary time. The biggest fear people have is the unknown. Here on the “You Can’t Afford Me Podast” we speak with hustlers and innovators on how to make the most of your journey. If you have questions we have answers.
You Can't Afford Me
She Turned Panic Into A Plan And Grew A Multi-Stream Beauty Business
What does it take to build a resilient beauty brand when the ground vanishes beneath your feet? Whitney’s story begins with family scissors and a high school cosmetology license, but the turning point hits hard: her salon closes with almost no notice while she’s seven months pregnant. That gut-punch becomes a catalyst. She finds shared space, leans on loyal clients, and accepts timely help from another stylist who waives booth rent during maternity recovery. From there, the blueprint is refreshingly practical: simple before-and-after photos, consistent Instagram posting, and tagging wedding vendors to expand reach. No hacks—just work that shows.
We talk about the rise of her bridal business and how networking—done without the cringe—drove out-of-state bookings. Whitney explains why hiring in beauty is about reliability as much as talent, especially when wedding mornings have no retakes. After a no-show nearly derailed a couple’s day, she rallied a stylist in hours and turned a crisis into a core teammate. Her leadership style is hands-on and human: clear standards, real gratitude, and thoughtful rewards that make people feel seen. It’s not top-down; it’s shoulder-to-shoulder.
One of the most moving chapters is her weekly service inside assisted living and nursing homes. A shampoo becomes dignity, touch, and conversation for residents who often don’t get many visitors. The work is tough, the logistics are real, and the meaning runs deep. Alongside in-salon services and weddings, that created three steady income streams that smooth out seasons and keep the team booked. We also get into motherhood, marriage, and the honest math of late nights, blocked family time, and support systems that make the dream sustainable.
If you’re building a service brand, this conversation is a masterclass in trust, retention, and growth without the gloss. You’ll leave with tactics you can use today: content that works, networking that lands, hiring that protects your reputation, and the courage to take the right risks. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a push, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we’ll shout out our favorites next week.
www.themrpreneur.com
Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me podcast. Let's get the fluff and straight to the real entrepreneur. Real truck. And the unfiltered drug. Let's get it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me Podcast. Again, you guys know why I love doing this. I get to meet great people all the time. So this young lady actually met when we had a networking event here at our office. Didn't get a chance to talk to her then, but my team was going through her social media and we're like, you know, we we need to talk to her. Um, she's got a great business we're gonna talk about, how she built all that up today. But today we have Whitney on the podcast. Whitney, how you doing?
SPEAKER_00:Good, I'm doing good.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for being here today.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I'm excited.
SPEAKER_01:Give everybody a quick rundown of who you are and what you do.
SPEAKER_00:So I'm Whitney Solomon. I have a hair salon out in Denwiddy County, which most people have never heard of, but it's about uh 45 minutes south of Richmond. Um, we do bridal hair and makeup. We just launched spray tanning for our brides or for anybody that needs spray tans for events. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I've got I've had a business model I've always thought about. I always thought that a tanning place should hire me, and I just stand outside and say this is what you can look like.
SPEAKER_00:No, that's the thing with the tanning. Um, I am not, I didn't go to get certified for that. I have a stylist that does that. Yep. Um she actually just did mine two days ago, and it can be for any skin color. It doesn't, you know, yeah, I've heard about it. Can have the glow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Do a lot of black people get tans though, for real?
SPEAKER_00:We did a mixed girl the other day. Yeah. Um, and she's actually gonna model for us this afternoon.
SPEAKER_01:Nice.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and she got like an express tan, which is can get pretty dark, but it she looks phenomenal.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm I tell my wife all the time, my wife's white. And so when we go on family vacations to the beach and stuff, I'm like, look, I'm not sitting on the beach and looking like Wesley Snipes at the end of this trip. Like, I'm going inside or I'm gonna play golf or something like that. Y'all can sit out on the beach as long as you want, but I'm not that dude. So let's go back a little bit. Like, take us to the beginning. Like, what got you in this industry?
SPEAKER_00:So, what there's five of us in my family that do here. That's on my dad's side. We're all cousins. Um, three out of the five, yes, three out of the five work in a salon literally right next door to me. Oh, wow. Um, there's no competition there though. Yeah. I mean, I support her. She has supported me from day one and publicly in front of everybody, you know. Um, so I appreciate that of her. She her and my other cousin are actually were my inspo. I wanted to be like them growing up, and so I literally did it.
SPEAKER_01:Did you go? Did you go directly from high school and to cosmetology school?
SPEAKER_00:What was the I did it while I was in high school.
SPEAKER_01:Oh wow.
SPEAKER_00:So when I graduated high school, I left with my hair license and my diploma.
SPEAKER_01:All right, so let's pause right there because I look back at my journey, and everything happens for a reason, and I I know I'm in the right spot that I'm supposed to be. But I always think back to man, if I had just gotten started a little bit earlier, like how much further along would I be?
SPEAKER_00:It has been a blessing for me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So what was the mindset though at 17, 18 years old to say, I already know what I want to do for the rest of my life? Like, was that inspired by your family?
SPEAKER_00:Most teenagers don't know what they want to do.
SPEAKER_01:Most people in their 40s and 50s don't know what they want to do.
SPEAKER_00:So I was I turned 16 that summer and I started hair school and then I turned 17 and I graduated at 17 with my hair license and my diploma.
SPEAKER_01:So it was immediately the thought I'm gonna open up my own shop or like I'm gonna go work for somebody else.
SPEAKER_00:I if you would have asked me at that age or even 10 years after that, if I would have been working for myself, I'd have looked at you like you were crazy.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:I had always said, no, I just want to get a paycheck, I want to pay my bills, I don't want to have to worry about. You know, there's a lot when you are working for yourself. I think I'm working harder now than I did thousand percent.
SPEAKER_01:Lori from Shark Tank had one of the most real quotes I've ever heard in my life, and I've always remembered this. Entrepreneurs, uh, we choose to work for ourselves. Well, we'd rather work 80 hours a week for ourselves than working 40 hours a week for somebody else. Like, it's literally true. Like the hours aren't now that I'm here.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, uh, yes, am I working harder? Do I need sleep? Definitely, yeah, but I wouldn't change it.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah. When it's when it's in your system, it's a no-brainer. Yeah, was there even a thought of, hey, I want to go to college directly after you were just like, this is my passion, this is what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00:I wanted to be just like my cousins. And here we are.
SPEAKER_01:Were they ever was or were any of them, so you said it was five of y'all in total that went into this industry. Did any of them early on when you were younger branch out and do their own thing, or they all went to work for other salons?
SPEAKER_00:Um honestly can't say that I know that for sure. Um one of my cousins, she is she has her own salon, she owns her own building. She's got like eight girls in there. Um, and I worked for her at one point for about a year or so uh while I was in hair school, and she went to the same school that I did. So she there again graduated and had her license when she was probably 17 or 18 years old as well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I want to get down to the mindset of this because I mean it's tripping me out. It's seven at 16, 17 years old to figure out your passion, whether it's the route of entrepreneurship or just figuring out the industry, like another one of quote quotes I like is that uh the graveyard is the most expensive property in the world because so many people go six feet under with their dreams buried there. That is crazy to figure out your dream that early on in life. Did you feel like your parents were talking to you and saying, hey, you know, they were supporting you in that aspect? Like, what was it that made you say like so funny?
SPEAKER_00:I was able to go to the hair school, but my dad was like, No, you don't need to do that, you don't want to do that. And I did and look, and I'm like, mm-hmm. He tries to give me uh give me business advice, and I'm like, mm, you just stay over there. I think I got it.
SPEAKER_01:Was that part of your motivation? Like, because that's how I operate. Like, I'm one of the most petty people you may ever meet. So when someone tells me I can't do it. I'm gonna get the worst I get.
SPEAKER_00:I was very naive at that age. I was very naive. I worked at Great Clips at one point. I don't even know if I can say the business name, but I did. And they when you got paid tips, you were supposed to take it out of the drawer or whatever, or they gave you cash, you cut the cash. And I didn't know if somebody had wrote or gave you a tip on a card that you were supposed to take it out of the drawer because the receipts would match up or whatever. And I wasn't doing that. I thought it was gonna be put into my paycheck. And a girl I worked with was the drawer would be over at the end of the night, and she was keeping it for herself. So I was very naive. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:So would but would you recommend someone getting in this industry? I've often counseled people and said, you know, you want to learn an industry instead of just going out and starting on your own, work for somebody else. Learn everything about the business you possibly can before you make that decision. What were the things that you think you gained from working for somebody else in this industry? Besides little tips like that with figuring out petitions.
SPEAKER_00:So I don't even have an answer for that.
SPEAKER_01:Well, is that I'll tell you this to maybe prompt you. I've always said the greatest business lessons I've learned were from having bad bosses. I look I looked at some of the things my bosses were doing, and I'm like, if I ever own my own business and I have employees, I would never do that.
SPEAKER_00:100%.
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:100%. The way I actually just had this conversation this morning, I want to treat my girls completely different than how I was treated. Um and my cousin, that has nothing to do with that. Great clips got me to where I was too. Um, I was kind of making more money there because we got paid hourly. Where if you don't have a clientele and you're working off a commission, which is what I was doing, I was working at a full-time salon and then getting off there and working at Great Clips on my days off from there. So I was working seven days a week for three, maybe four years. So I was from like 17 years old.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, from like 17 to 21, 22, you were seven days a week and not making nothing. But what what kept you doing that? Was there something in you that like in the back of your head you're thinking, one day I'm gonna do this on my own?
SPEAKER_00:I guess I felt like I didn't have a choice. It was I had to work. So I picked up the Great Clips job because I wasn't making what I needed to at the other salon, um, which where is where I got paid commission?
SPEAKER_01:Um But it sounds like you didn't have a plan B. You were all in on this dream.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:There was no if I get asked all the time to this day, what would you do if you weren't doing hair? I don't have an answer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Uh my sister's a nurse. There is no way.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I fainted inside blood. Yeah. Even though I have an addiction to crime podcasts, like I can't watch, I can't see blood or you don't want to see it. Yeah, when I have to go get a shot, that's not me.
SPEAKER_00:That's not for me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um right now I am, me and one of my sales are working at a nursing home. One's uh an assistant living and one's a nursing.
SPEAKER_01:So pa pause on that because I definitely want to dive deep into that because I think that is a genius business model for what it is you're doing. But let's fast forward, how long ago did you make the decision that you wanted to open up your own shop?
SPEAKER_00:So I worked for my mother-in-law and I worked for her for 12 years, and she told me about six to eight weeks before she was closing her salon, which in hairdresser world that's not enough time. People are booking months out, months out, six, eight, ten, twelve weeks in advance. So I went in full panic mode. I was seven months pregnant. I had first children. Every uh second, that was with my no third child. Let's go back, bring it with my third child. I was six, seven months pregnant and scared to death because I had stayed in that one spot for 12 years. That's what I knew. Um, and I in the back of my head, I just I might get emotional about I didn't think I was gonna make it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And then here I am.
SPEAKER_01:So most entrepreneurs feel that's so people have no idea, like on the back end. This literally happened to me within the last two weeks where I'm like, yo, I'm the greatest entrepreneur alive, like I'm on top of the mountain, like I'm killing it. And then you get that phone call where something just like shatters your earth, and you're just like, Man, what in the world am I gonna do? As entrepreneurs, we have no choice. You you gotta just figure it out every time.
SPEAKER_00:Why don't you just take a break for a couple months and get your thoughts together? You know, you're probably who is gonna pay my bills? Yeah, I don't have that option. It's we're gonna we've gotta go to work.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I think I had looked at into JCPenney at Great Cliffs again. I had reached out to my cousins, booth rent. I went looking everywhere.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And um I was like, I don't want to work for myself, I just want to get a paycheck and know I'm getting that paycheck to cover my bills.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But I was living paycheck to paycheck, not even. But that money was gone before I even got it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know.
SPEAKER_01:So then you just found yourself with the back against the wall. What was that decision to say, all right, I've explored all these different options? It seems like the only route for me is to open up my own shop.
SPEAKER_00:So I actually am in a shop with another lady. Um, she works for herself. I work for myself, and I'd reached out to her and said, Hey, look, I've been doing hair for this long. I'm looking, you know, to booth rent, or if you're hiring. And she's like, No, not at this time. I'm thinking about retiring, this, that, and other. And I was like, okay, just want to, you know, get it out there. And maybe a week after that, she'd reach back out to me and was like, Hey, do you just want to meet? I was like, sure. So I go up in there, pregnant as I'll get out. Not a dollar, the money I did have. Um that's a whole nother situation. My son, I had to take him to the emergency room. I don't even remember what happened, but he didn't have insurance. And so before I could start my business, uh, the hospital had put a warrant out in debt two days before Christmas. I got a knock on the door. Uh, you gotta go to court and pay this fee. So I took every dollar I had and paid that off and got the material that I needed to start. And like I said, she had reached back out to me. We had this meeting and we just kind of clicked. We were the same person. Yeah. Um, and I've been there for almost six years with her.
SPEAKER_01:So six six years ultimately is when you started your own brand.
SPEAKER_00:Pretty much, yes. Yeah. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:What did you all right? So kind of being, because your story is a little bit more unique. Um, kind of being thrust into being an entrepreneur, how did you cultivate like building a brand? Because when I look at your Instagram and I see the people you've worked with and how you things have have outlined, like I wouldn't have thought this was part of your story that you just kind of got shoved into entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_00:It gets it gets better. I got some I can give you a story. Give us the T. Give us the T. So I didn't have a choice. It was all right, and then I'd let her know, you know, I'm seven months pregnant, I'm gonna be out of work again, no pay. Yeah, you know, when you work for yourself, you don't have insurance and maternity leave and all these things. And she was gracious enough to not charge me booth rent for those two months that I was out of work with my daughter. So I'm very blessed and fortunate. If it wasn't for her, yeah. I mean, she opened her doors and welcomed me in to her salon and we share space and it's worked.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, a lot a lot of people don't realize when they see from the outside, people can look at us as business owners and think, oh my god, she has it all, she has a success, like all this stuff. And a lot of people just don't realize you never make it alone. It's it's always something yes, it's always someone or a group of people with raising kids.
SPEAKER_00:It takes a village.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Same thing with yeah. I mean, the girls that work for me, it's not just me. It's there, I've got women behind me supporting me 100%. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So no, absolutely. So how how did you get into the brand development piece and start actually before that? How did you start acquiring clients? So you had six to eight weeks to get your stuff together from the last job. You're pregnant, seven months pregnant at this point. You get the opportunity to get a uh a booth, a space, and a salon. Um, how did you start acquiring clients?
SPEAKER_00:So I had, you know, my regulars from there. Um, and then like I said, my mother-in-law had retired, so a lot of her clients followed me too. The support from my clients, they had my back a hundred percent. Um while I was still pregnant, I had a guy come in. I charged him his hair. At the time, I think I was charging maybe$20 for a haircut.
SPEAKER_02:I missed those days.
SPEAKER_00:They told me to keep it. He said, keep doing what you're doing. So the support from them, and then like I said, the lady that welcomed me into her salon.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, the first two years that I was there, it was kind of more focused on my daughter because I did just have her. Not that I wasn't focused on my clients, but I worked Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and that was it.
SPEAKER_01:And then Was that your daughter that I got to meet when I was there?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Um, and she'll be five next year. So we were doing a lot of pageants with her and traveling, and that got very expensive. So we kind of backed off that, and then weddings started picking up, and then I started promoting and networking and advertising that hey, we do weddings, I've always done them.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and now within the past three years, that's just really taken off.
SPEAKER_01:How did how did you promote that piece of your business, the the wedding side? So it sounds like a lot of your business was coming through referrals and repeat business to go out there and get that wedding demographic when you made the decision, like, hey, I'm gonna start putting this out there. How did you put that out there? Is this you going to selfie movement on so okay?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh, Instagram was a huge part of that, and then networking, going to these networking events and meeting people from different yeah, not even they're not even doing hair and makeup, but word of mouth. Oh, I know this girl. Not that I've even touched their head, but a lot of my brides are from out of state. I've never met them in Instagram, yeah. You're messaging me on Instagram. Beautiful.
SPEAKER_01:So when when let's talk about because it sounds like majority of your following is coming from the Instagram channel. Um, talk to us about the type of content that you started making because I want people listening to this, a lot of people think this stuff is so complex and I hate doing it, and da-da-da. But like I want people to understand, and this is coming from a guy who does this stuff, there is a point in every business where you need to hire a pro to take on some things for you.
SPEAKER_00:And I'm right there.
SPEAKER_01:We're gonna chat a little bit more after the mic's cut off. But looking at like when I was able to first hire an accountant because I sucked at doing the books and I finally had enough income coming in where I could afford to pay someone to do that, or initially, you know, even as so when I first started, you know, I didn't want to do none of this.
SPEAKER_00:So I hired my CPA and I sent her all the all the things because I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to that. Let me just do the hair, you figure out this part, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so I've had her from the beginning, but it I feel like it is a lot with trying to maintain on social media posting three to five times a day, getting the reels. I'm just now starting to put my face on there and talk to my clients, you know, because they want to hear and see the real you, you know.
SPEAKER_01:And so what was the initial content that you started with? So you're saying now you're just getting used to getting in front of the camera. Yeah. What were you putting out there before?
SPEAKER_00:Just taking before and after pictures of even in the salon, you know, um, before and afters for makeup, and then every wedding I try to get content from that too.
SPEAKER_01:Um do videographers and photographers at weddings ever get new content as well?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, yes, yep. So that's been a huge thing too. You know, they're posting on their pages and it's just spreads out from there.
SPEAKER_01:So let me let me break it down so people didn't just miss what you said. So, number one, I think in your industry, it is one of the few industries where doing very simplistic content can lead to big results. So, just simply before you start on someone's hair, taking a photo, and then once you're done with the hair and makeup, taking another photo and just getting that content out there because oftentimes, and you probably felt like this when you were doing it, man, nobody's paying attention to this. Like it's not good.
SPEAKER_00:To this day, sometimes I still feel like that, you know, but you just gotta keep posting regardless. But it even somebody is seeing it.
SPEAKER_01:That's what I was about to say. Like, even if you know that post reached 103 people, two people out of that 103 may be the ones that are like, hey, I need to. That's all you need, is one. Yeah, that's it. And it's like every time you step up to bet, you you make that post, you're creating another opportunity for yourself. Because like what I'm personally seeing right now with my network, it's like my skill set hasn't changed, my team hasn't really changed for the most part, our services haven't really changed. But now that I'm being exposed to a different level of people in my network, the bigger opportunities are just coming because of the relationships that have been being built.
SPEAKER_00:Same with me. It's I can definitely tell, I mean, my brand is growing. I started, it was just me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And now I have four or five girls, you know, working for me that are standing behind me.
SPEAKER_01:So I want to touch on the employee side of things too, but talk to us about the the networking piece. So, number one, were you initially comfortable with going out and networking?
SPEAKER_00:No, not at all.
SPEAKER_01:So you seem to be a mix of like an introvert and extrovert, like you're right there in the middle. Where you like your quiet, but you'll go out and talk to people if you need to.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and um the more you do it, the more comfortable you're gonna get. So I know I went to a class and she said, start practicing by yourself, make a video of yourself. We all judge.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I'm like, oh my gosh, why do I sound like that on camera? It doesn't matter, just do it. Just do it. The first thing I said to myself. I'm probably gonna say the same thing when I see this video, but you just have to do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. No, that's the key. Um, and then like in terms of networking, because you know, anybody can just go out and meet people. What's been the most successful thing you've seen in terms of like being out there networking? Is it specific type of events? You seek certain things out, like what is it?
SPEAKER_00:You really just have to go and put yourself out there and stand out from other brands and other people, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:They'll remember you doing that. You go and don't mingle and don't talk to anybody, your name's not you're not doing nothing for yourself. So you have to you have to branch out. If you don't like talking, you have to do it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:If you don't, then there was no point in even coming to a networking event, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. I tell people all the time, like looking at uh, I'll never forget, it was it was I think it was uh Richmond Chamber. They had like uh an open meeting, like guests could come in for free, all that kind of stuff. So I went to this meeting, not knowing anybody but the membership person who invited me because she was scanning my LinkedIn page. Um, went in there, and I mean it's probably like 60, 70 people, and it's at that moment of meeting where it's like, hey, run around, tell everybody who you are, what you do, type thing. And for some reason that day there were a bunch of VCU professors there, like back to back to back to back. So probably like seven or eight people before it even got to me said, Hey, I'm a professor of at VCU, da da da da. So when it got around to me, I'm looking around the whole time. Like all these people are talking in different professionals, blah, blah, blah. I'm looking around the room and I'm like, how am I gonna make myself stand out from everybody else? Because everybody's basically giving the same pitch, everybody's basically saying the same thing. What it what can I say to make people walk away and be like, Man, I gotta go talk to that guy afterwards and remember who you are. Yeah. So immediately it got to me, I was like, hey guys, I'm Sam Anderson, I'm a professor of VCU. No, I'm just playing, and then the whole room just erupts.
SPEAKER_00:So I knew at that moment everybody was yeah, it's funny because every networking event I have been to, everybody thinks I'm a realtor. Nope. Well, you did come here to an event that was primarily real estate, and I got asked that while I was here. Oh, what do you do? Real estate? No, here it become.
SPEAKER_01:So Yeah, no, that's how it works out. Now let's let's jump to the employee side of things. So you say you have four women on your team now?
SPEAKER_00:Let me think. Yes.
SPEAKER_01:All right. Um, talk to us about number one, because it sounds like they are very attached to the brand that that they seem to take somewhat ownership of the brand and and they're continuing to work that with you. Um, number one, what is it that you initially look for in a staff member to know that this person is going to be a good fit for your team?
SPEAKER_00:One, I have to be able to count on you and rely on you. I had a girl that I think it was two times. The second time it was done. That's done deal. Yeah. Uh she didn't show up to a wedding.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, God.
SPEAKER_00:And that's somebody's wedding day.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that's the way.
SPEAKER_00:I do not play with that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I get life happens. Um I feel like I'm the most understanding person. No. I totally get it. But you gotta call, not text, not show up, not respond until this day has not responded or reached out. So I'm at first I was like, oh my gosh, I hope nothing has happened, you know, accidents or whatever the case, that can happen. Um at the time, me and my sister-in-law weren't speaking and she had just got her hair license, and I texted her panicking. I was we had two weddings booked that day, and I was at one, and I said, Are you at home? And she was like, Yes. I said, Do you know how to do updo? And she was like, Yeah, I can. And I basically begged her, and she got in her car, went to my house, picked up my supplies, and went and got it done. And she's been on my team ever since. So that, like the loyalty and knowing I can count on you to show up and do and to do good work too, you know. I've got to see your work. Um, I have a girl that is just getting started, and I would never send her out by herself. She's not at that level where you know, she still needs she could prep, and that's good because we all need assistance too. So um, definitely that that's like the big one for me to be able to trust and rely on you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. What is it you do for them or the environment that you've created that these women are so loyal to you and the brand?
SPEAKER_00:Um, going back to what I had said before, trying to treat them differently than how I was treated before. Um I'm a very bougie person. And I was talking to one of my girls.
SPEAKER_01:I got a little bougie in me. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
SPEAKER_00:I love being bougie.
SPEAKER_01:You see the they got they got the red bottoms.
SPEAKER_00:So, and I know these girls, most of the time you're not gonna spend that on yourself. So I try to do these dinners and bonuses or these nice gestures to them that was never done, or at least a thank you. I mean, I never even got that. So just a smallish, it doesn't even have to be red bottoms, it can be a thank you card just to show initiative that I'm very appreciative of what they do for me and my brand, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And I think you have to do that.
SPEAKER_01:I think the other piece, and you haven't voices, but uh even based off that first story you you share where somebody didn't show up, and I've had that happen with employees before, too, where it's like it's one thing if it's like a scheduled like brand anthem video with a client where it's like we scheduled this, it's just with their staff. Okay, something happened, we can reschedule this.
SPEAKER_00:Right.
SPEAKER_01:But if it's a live event, a wedding, something like that, there's no going back and redoing it.
SPEAKER_00:You can't mess that up. That's that's gonna live with that person forever.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Um But I think the fact that you number one jumped out there and did whatever you could.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I was gonna do what I had to do because at the end of the day, that's my name on the line, not hers.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. So But I think that shows to your staff that uh, hey, she's not leading up from a position of power, she's actually willing to roll up her sleeves, get dirty with us. So she's not saying she's better than us, like she's willing to get in and I know at the end of the day, you know, they might not work for me forever, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_00:I'm a girl's girl, I will support you 100%. Yep. 100%.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:So there's no capital. There's room. Yeah, exactly. There's room for all of us. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I tell people all the time if every, let's take hair and beauty, for instance, if every person in the Richmond, Virginia area that needed hair and makeup done came to you right now and said, Hey, I want to book you, there's no way in the world you can service all those people. Exactly. So I never understood why people are so competitive. I get the competitive people, yeah. But blocking people off, like there's no capital success. We can all go out here and do things.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Exactly. I have never I don't want to be that person either.
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:Collaboration is gonna happen at the top, competition is at the bottom.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. I'm not that's a bar right there. That's a bar right there.
SPEAKER_00:I'm not, I'm in competition with myself on who I was yesterday, not anybody else.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. I know hearing part of your story here, I know some women are listening to this and probably thinking, how because how many kids do you have total?
SPEAKER_02:Three.
SPEAKER_01:Three. Um, I know some people are listening to this right now, like, how in the world is she running this business? She's got kids, like dah, dah. So for the women out there that have been told you can't have it all, you can't be a career woman and and a mom, um, what would you say to those people? Have you been able to make it work?
SPEAKER_00:You're gonna make me emotional again.
SPEAKER_01:I'm an emotional person.
SPEAKER_00:Um, you can do it's possible, it takes a village. Do not get me wrong. Um, when I first started working, like I said, I was doing Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays, nine to five, nine to six. That doesn't happen anymore. I'm at that salon nine to nine, and I get they're like, you're doing hair at nine o'clock at night? I've done hair till midnight before. If you want it done, I don't mind doing it. I'm not doing it every day. I am not staying at the salon till midnight every day. We are not doing that, but you gotta put in the hours, and I do have the support behind me.
SPEAKER_01:So So how do you and your are you married?
SPEAKER_00:I am married.
SPEAKER_01:So how do you and your husband balance that? Because I know with me and my wife, it's now that I've kind of let her in the business, she's now an executive assistant for the company, which I never thought of would bring my wife into my business, but it ended up making sense, and it's actually been one of the better decisions I've ever made. But now that she has access to my email and sees my calendar, those days before it would be like, hey, I think I need to work a little bit later today. Now she proactively is the one reaching out to me after she sees everything I'm going through today. So hey, if you need to work a little late today, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00:Totally understandable.
SPEAKER_01:So talk about how you and your husband balanced it.
SPEAKER_00:I would get a text message, hey, when are you getting off? When are you coming home? That doesn't happen anymore.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:If you you know where I'm at, I'm at that sort. If you need me. Um, so he doesn't even ask because he knows what I'm doing now. Like that's where I'm at.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You can find me. I'm either gonna be there or at the ball field. One of the two. So I mean, he gets off work, he gets them, he picks them up, he gives them baths, he does the dinner. One, I hate cooking to begin with. Um, but there's no time for that. When by the time I get home, and we don't have a washer and dryer at the salon, so I've got to take the towels home and wash them and dry them and get them prepared for the next day. So sometimes it's one o'clock in the morning before I get in the bed, and then I've got to get up and do it all over again. Um, but we make it work.
SPEAKER_01:How do you balance, and I'm not putting this on you or anything, yeah. I'm just telling you from my perspective, how I feel sometimes. I'm number one, I started my business before I even met my wife. And it was always a thought in my head is by the time I have kids, if they have a cheer competition or a soccer game or whatever, I never want to have to be that dad to say, oh, dad has to work late. Sorry, I'm gonna miss it. Um, but there are those moments, I at least at this point, as young as our kids are, five and four, um, I always try to be home before bedtime. Like get a couple hours with them before they go to bed. I'm normally the one putting them to bed. Um, and that's my time with the kids to make sure I'm connecting with them every day. But there's some of those nights where I have to work late or have a networking event or something like that. But there is a sense of guilt at times where it's like sure, um, should I be spending more with the kids? Like, but I gotta do and my wife's a stay-at-home mom. Well, now I brought her on uh our Enzo team, but for the most part, she's a stay-at-home mom. So it's like if I don't go out and kill something, we don't eat. So like I have to go and do this. So I'm still struggling sometimes at that point. How do you deal with that?
SPEAKER_00:I'm right there with you. It is sometimes I am guilty. I'm like, oh my gosh, I feel like my work is another baby, and it it kind of is like I don't play, that's my name out there. That is kind of one of my babies, but I'm my kid's number one supporter too. Have I missed ball games? Definitely. When we have weddings, weddings are most of the time on Saturdays. Yeah, their ball games are on Saturdays. Um and it sucks. I hate missing it. And but sometimes I have to. But if I know I can get off, oh, I'm blocking that schedule off and I'm gonna be there.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Um, with me working most of the time, it's Wednesday through Saturday right now. So I'm off Sunday, off, because I'm never off. Um, I do have that time when they're out of school on Monday, Tuesday afternoons. I'm there. So yeah, there is a balance. It is a balance, and sometimes I have to miss, and sometimes I'm we're taking off and we're in Raleigh for a two-day travel ball tournament. So and I hope my kids look back at this one day and say, oh, you know, she worked, but she also supported us from work too, you know.
SPEAKER_01:I think you're also giving that example to them that like number one, the reason I brought it up is because some women may listen to this and be like, How is she doing it all? Like, you're giving your children the blueprint in terms of like however you want things to look. Like, dad can be the one to get you these days and make dinner, mom's gonna be the one these days, but like if you have a dream, if you have a desire to go out and do something, go for it. Yeah, you can go out and get this done. Um, let's talk about the the service that you're providing at um senior homes.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:When you told me that the other day, I was like, Jesus, that is genius. I was like, because the amount of the amount of women there that are probably because at that age too, it's just like sometimes you just want to feel good about yourself.
SPEAKER_00:A lot of these family, the residents don't have families to come visit. Yeah, they're in there by themselves, even just coming to get a shampoo. I've had them tell me just to come in the salon and get their hair washed. It doesn't even have to be cut. They have that time, they're spending, you know, they're by themselves a lot of the time, and it does make them feel good.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know. It's a conversation they're having with you or the stylist or whoever they're working with that day. What what prompted you to even go down that space? Was that an opportunity that was presented to you or it was?
SPEAKER_00:I had somebody reach out and said that uh we've got two different ones that we do, and they reached out and one of them hadn't had a stylus in there in over two years. I can see why. It is very hard. I can see why they went so long without having it's a lot too.
SPEAKER_01:Um and you're probably dealing with some people in there too that may have dementia and different things like that.
SPEAKER_00:And it's sometimes it's not even the residents, it's the employees that are in there. Um I have my sister-in-law and my sister are both nurses, and from their perspective of things, um, my sister was when my grandma was sick, she said she is not going to in a nursing home. Like, I will do what I have to do. And that's coming from another nurse, from what she sees that goes on in these places, and I kind of see it too. You've got women coming in there and you can smell a soil diaper or whatever. And I get that line of work too, can be that's a lot. Oh, yeah. I'm not a nurse at all. Yeah, that's a lot. I give them 100% props for that because I could never do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, I'm glad there are people out there that can.
SPEAKER_00:For sure. Um but then you and that's with any profession. Yeah, you're gonna have ones that go above and beyond, and you're gonna have ones that are just there because they want the money.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And we we can see that. And so that makes it hard on us too. You know, we're not nurses, we're not supposed to be lifting them and moving them and walking them, you know. And I had a guy had gone to his room, I was like, You ready to go get your hair cut? And he jumped up so excited. Um, and he was in a walker, and I didn't touch him, but I did walk beside him and he had something in his shoe and he bent down. And when he did, he like two-stepped across the floor and fell. And I had a nurse look at me like I had, yeah, I had to throw my hands up. I was like, I didn't, yeah, I didn't even want to catch him because that could come back on. Exactly. Um, did I want to, you know, because that's just instinct, you know.
SPEAKER_01:2025, you can get sued for helping someone.
SPEAKER_00:And she looked at me and she was like, We're gonna have to write this down. And I said, Look, this is what happens, y'all can pull the cameras if you need to. I didn't even touch him.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I would have gladly caught him if I knew there wasn't gonna be because that's just who I am as a person. So it's a lot to have to deal with that too. But at the end of the day, we do get close to these residents, and that is their Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Provide more than just a service of like hair and makeup. Like it's really connecting with these individuals, and you you do this weekly.
SPEAKER_00:Weekly, yes.
SPEAKER_01:So you ultimately have three three income streams within your business. One's the wedding division, two's the assisted living, and then I would label the third one just general practices. Um was that originally by design, or this is just how the business has evolved?
SPEAKER_00:Growing, yeah. And I'm down for it to keep growing, you know. There again, I said I didn't want to work for myself, and here I am. And then I said I didn't want, you know, it's just gonna be me. And now that I'm growing, that's changing too. Um, but to go back to something you had just said, m one of my logos is it's more than just hair. Like it's more than just doing your hair, it's your therapist therapy session. This is pastor, your therapist, your everything. This is all the things, and I want you to be able to come into the salon and feel like you're at home and feel like you can vent and know that it's not gonna leave those walls because I hear and see a lot of that too. We're drama, it's everywhere.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but I want my clients to be able to come in and vent and know that it's not going anywhere. It's staying right there in that chair between me and them, you know.
SPEAKER_01:Have you because in your industry, I'm actually an advisor for a barbershop right now. Okay. Gentleman just took ownership. Originally they were talking about me taking part ownership of the barbershop, and I talked to my advisor. He's like, Man, you don't want those problems. Like somebody, somebody's hairline gets nicked, and you're gonna call it Tuesday at two o'clock over a$60 haircut, man. You got bigger problems to deal with. Just come on as an advisor, you can help them grow the business that way. Um, for you on that end, like what give us one story where like something's crazy happened, and you found a way like to resolve that. Because we all have, no matter how great your service is, you're always gonna have customers that are gonna whine, bitch, and complain about something. Yeah, um, but give us a time where like something crazy happened and how you were able to resolve that.
SPEAKER_00:I have to say, especially now, my clients are my clients, like they're good, and I love them all in their own way, you know. Um I don't think anything crazy like that has ever happened, but actually, not too long ago, recently, I got um like surge with papers, but they were in my mailbox and I went in full panic mode because it had my business name on there. And I'm like, what did I jack somebody's hair up and they not reach back out? Like, what is going on here? And it had nothing to do with that. I had a girl, I won't say names and stuff, a bank was I guess suing her, taking her to court, and I had got this paper for me to take garnish her wages or something, and she doesn't even work for me. Never heard of her, never seen her, and I went in full panic mode. So I called the lawyer's office and was like, look, I don't know what this is or how I got wrapped up in it. Um but I don't know this girl at all. So can we like I'm not trying to go to court and they were like, I don't know how I'm gonna let the courts know. And I did have to fill out the back of the paperwork and put on there. Look, she did never has worked for me, so I can't garnish anything.
SPEAKER_01:So I got crazy stories like that more than somebody coming in and one interesting thing about your business, it seems like the retention factor that you guys have in the in the beauty space is much longer lived than most other businesses. It seems like once a woman finds a specialist that she really enjoys, like does her hair just right or does her makeup just right, you don't ever want to let that person go. I can see it from the barber side. Like when I get a barber, I got a bar, unless this dude falls off the cliff of the earth or he moves out of state, you're my guy. I'm not going to anybody else.
SPEAKER_00:You can go in and they know exactly what you want. I've never had to be.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I don't know what guard you're supposed to use in my hand and stuff like that. And those guys.
SPEAKER_00:I don't know, you just need to do it.
SPEAKER_01:But it sounds like you guys have those deep relationships. What it is it the conversation, is it the service, is it a combination of everything?
SPEAKER_00:It's a combination of both. Like obviously you want your hair and your makeup to look good. Yeah. But I think a lot of the factor is who we are and how you're treated as well, you know? Yeah. And that goes back to when you come in and vent something to me, it's not going anywhere.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And I hear a lot of that where you go and you vent your and then somebody's heard it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:You know, or he say, she say, I'm not doing it. Yeah. I don't got time.
SPEAKER_01:No, I get that. I get that.
SPEAKER_00:I am too old for that. And I'm not perfect. I don't claim to be.
SPEAKER_01:What how long would you say is your longest tenured client that you've worked with?
SPEAKER_00:I've I've I've got people that have started with me since I was 16 years old, you know, letting me practice on their head, my mom being one of them.
SPEAKER_01:Um Yeah, your mom's well taken care of Natalie. Everybody can get it. It wasn't at first.
SPEAKER_00:The first time I did her hair, I was at the slime by myself. I had my license at the time, but the owner had left. And I was afraid I was gonna like make her hair fall out. So I rinsed it too early and it was still yellow. Yeah. So my mom's like, it's fine, it's fine. But in the back of her mind, she was like, oh my God, I have that yellow hair.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, so I'm not perfect, you know, and I tell my clients that too. If anything is wrong, you know, a lot of people are afraid to reach back out and say, Hey, I don't like this, you're not gonna hurt my feelings. That's how I'm gonna learn, and that's how I'm gonna get you taken care of. If you don't tell me, then I don't know.
SPEAKER_01:See, but I think that's one of the most frustrating things about being an entrepreneur because you have so many because I know now, like I know the script when somebody comes back to me, it's like, oh, it's not you guys, it's us, you guys have been great, we're just going a different direction or whatever the case is. Okay, so one or two things happen. One, the finances got funny and you can't afford us anymore. Or two, we screwed up on something and you just never told us.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, and I would love for you to just tell me, and I know that can be tricky too, because maybe they have told their previous person and that person flipped out on them or made them feel like that they were crazy and that their work was 100% perfect. Yeah, I'm not perfect, and I would rather you tell me and I can fix it or give some kind of gesture um to make up for that, you know? And I think that's a big part of it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Because I at the end of the day, I'd rather have I don't need cheerleaders around me. I don't need people telling me how great I'm doing at something. I need the people around me that are telling me this is what you screwed up on. How can I change this? How can I better myself?
SPEAKER_00:Taking that criticism and using it towards the good.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's crucial as a business owner. Like, we have to know what needs to be improved, what's not working. Like the time I appreciate when somebody reaches out to me and is like, man, your team was top-notch today, man. They did an excellent job. They took care of beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:Of course you want to hear those things, but you also want to hear.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because now I can go reward that person, at least if it's words of affirmation, or I do something special for them that day, whatever the case is, like letting them know, like, hey, you guys did an amazing job, and that word got to me. I also want to hear on the other end, hey man, I gotta let you know, man, your team showed up today.
SPEAKER_00:It's never fun hearing that, but you want to hear it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I'm like, okay, well, I'll comp you another session, or we'll do X, Y, and Z, or you'll get a month of services, 50% off, like whatever it is. Like, we'll figure out something. But um, I think that can be very frustrating. But for you, it sounds like just the way that you have been able to interact with your clients, the the relationships you've been able to develop with them, that majority of people, even on the employee side, feel comfortable coming to you and addressing those things. And that's something I've struggled with because I'm like from the outside, and I've learned this just dealing internally, is that I think I'm pretty cool. I I never micromanage anybody, I don't jump on anybody's ass about something. Da, and over the years, I've had things go on with my employees, and I'm like, I find out like three months later.
SPEAKER_00:Well, kind of makes you question what you're doing.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but I'm like, bro, why don't you come tell me? And somebody I finally had one employee sit me down and be like, Look, Sam, I gotta explain this to you. Like, yeah, you're cool, man. Like, you know, you never jump on our case about anything, you have the right conversations. At the end of the day, dude, you're still our boss, and like there's some things that people are just gonna be afraid to come to you and voice. Exactly. Yeah, even though you've made it extremely aware to them that, like, hey, my door is always open. Come have these conversations with me. Some people just aren't gonna feel comfortable doing that.
SPEAKER_00:So we've actually sometimes it can be a hard conversation, but just like you said, I feel like I'm an easy going person.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I feel that way, but like you said, they might not, yeah, at the end of the day, you're still the boss or whatever.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, because you're still sitting behind the big desk and like you're the one that's signing the check, so like they they are gonna look at you a different way. Um, let me ask you this as we wrap up. This has become one of my favorite questions to ask every entrepreneur on the show. Uh, give us a time where it was like the the rock bottom in your business and how you overcame it. What was that one moment where you're like, I don't think I'm gonna make it, and you were able to turn it around?
SPEAKER_00:Honestly, I don't think I've had that situation since I've been by myself. Um, do we have you know ups and downs for sure? No. Um I think it goes back to where I was previously. Um not even living paycheck to paycheck and then kind of being thrown to the wolves and being seven months pregnant and not knowing where to go or what to do. I didn't think I was gonna be where I am right now when I first started. I just if you would have asked me that, I'd have looked at you like you've lost your mind.
SPEAKER_01:No.
SPEAKER_00:Um I didn't have any money. I'd had Medicaid and WIC when I had my children, you know what I mean? Um and I'm grateful that I was able to have that because I really don't know how I would have done it. Um and my sister asks me all the time now, like sh everybody struggles at some point. And she's she's like, I don't know how you did it. I said, I don't know how I did it either. You just do. Yeah, you just do what you have to do and get it done. And that's always been my mindset to me.
SPEAKER_01:That's 70% of success is just showing up.
SPEAKER_00:You just gotta do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah. Um, man, this has been an awesome conversation. Actually, last one more question. Yeah, for anybody specifically coming into this industry, they want to do what you do, they want to start up their own salon. What's your biggest piece of advice to someone starting out?
SPEAKER_00:To just do it. Like right now, I'm in the process of making a big decision, and I know in the back of my head it's like scared money don't make no money. Yep, you just have to do it. It's a you have to take the risk. Um, but if you put 110% into it and make it your baby, you can it's not gonna fail. Yeah, no. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01:So love it. Appreciate you being on the show today. If people want to get in contact with you, come book you, come to your salon, how can they reach you?
SPEAKER_00:Um, Instagram. Uh, it's at wit G09 or um my cell phone, 804 712 7149. I have a Facebook page in the process of trying to get a website pulled up.
SPEAKER_01:So good stuff. Yeah. Good stuff. We'll appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, anytime.
SPEAKER_01:We'll see you guys on the next episode.