The Underwire Podcast

Ink and Inspiration: The Journey from Artist to Entrepreneur (With Danielle Kincaid)

• Episode 9

Share episode

On this episode, we’re diving into the inspiring journey from artist to entrepreneur.

Joining us is our special guest, Danielle Kincaid, a powerhouse in the cosmetic tattooing world and the founder of Face Studios, a thriving cosmetic tattooing business with 4 locations across the U.S. Danielle has been a cosmetic tattooer for 9 years and has expanded her business from a single studio to multiple locations, all while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship. Danielle also opens up about her involvement in the hardcore music scene and her passion for helping others through initiatives like "Brows for Barb," which offers complimentary brow services to those who have undergone chemotherapy and radiation.

WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT:

  • The transition from artist to entrepreneur
  • Overcoming challenges in business growth
  • The impact of the hardcore music scene
  • The importance of surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded individuals
  • Balancing entrepreneurship with personal well-being
  • Advice on starting a business with limited resources
  • Getting cozy in the chaos for entrepreneurial success
  • Celebrating accomplishments along the journey

Follow Danielle on Instagram: (and see all of her amazing work and updates!)
IG: Danielle.Facestudios

Face Studios Website:  https://facestudiosusa.com/

This episode is packed with motivation, relatable insights, and real talk about the ups and downs of building a business from the ground up. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, someone navigating personal growth, or curious about the world of cosmetic tattooing, Danielle’s story is sure to inspire and resonate.
-------------

DISCLAIMER: The Underwire Podcast provides content for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Jess G. and Ryan Rainbro are not medical professionals, and the opinions expressed on the podcast are based on


Support the show

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of The Underwire, supporting you when life needs a. I'm your host, Jess, and today we have an incredibly inspiring guest, my friend, Danielle Kincaid, a powerhouse in the cosmetic tattooing world and the founder and owner of Face Studios, a thriving business with four locations across the United States. Originally from Canada, now residing in the U. S. as a dual citizen, Danielle has been a cosmetic tattooer for nine years, and at just 31 years old,

she has expanded her business to four different locations:

Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia, and California, all while navigating. the challenges of being a solo entrepreneur. In this episode, Danielle shares her journey from a challenging childhood to becoming a successful entrepreneur. We dive into the highs and lows of business growth, personal development, and the importance of surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded individuals. Danielle opens up about her experiences in the hardcore music scene, her passion for helping others through initiatives like Browse for Barb, which provides complimentary browse services to those who have gone through chemotherapy and radiation, and we'll get into how she balances the demands of Entrepreneurship with personal well-being. We'll explore how getting cozy in the chaos can be the key to entrepreneurial success and why it's crucial to take time to celebrate our accomplishments, no matter how big or small they are. Plus, Danielle shares her advice on starting a business with limited resources, including one tip that's so simple it might surprise you. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, someone navigating personal growth, or just curious about the world of cosmetic tattooing, Danielle's story is sure to resonate. This episode is packed with motivation and down-to-earth, relatable insights. So, without further ado, let's get right into it. Well, thank you so much again for doing this. I really appreciate it. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you and hear all about your success stories. You are killing it, and I'm sure that you have so much insight and advice for other people like me, inspiring to be successful themselves. So, with that being said, can you tell us a little bit about your upbringing? You know, what was your childhood like? Any early experiences that shaped your outlook on life? Yeah, for sure. Definitely wanna say, though, thank you so much for having me on, and I'm super stoked to be here with you and just like talking a little bit about my journey and sharing that with you and your community. I'm just like very thankful to be here. So thanks, Jess. Of course, I'm so excited. I'm so appreciative of your time. Thank you so much! Heck yeah, dude! So, upbringing. So I will say like that's definitely a huge loaded question because I do feel like that is what actually like molded and shaped me into the person that I am today as an entrepreneur. It's 100% my So to kind of get into that a little bit, my mom was a single mom. I was probably around like six or seven, and I'm the oldest of four girls. And we actually were in the States. That's why I have my dual citizenship. And when my mom divorced, we went back to Canada where she's from. And I had like my whole childhood and upbringing back in. And my little sisters were all younger than me, so they all went back there as well. So back to, went straight into French immersion school. My sisters into French school. I had already started my schooling, so they didn't want to put me directly into French school. So I did the immersion program, and yeah, just kind of living with my mom and my three little sisters out in. And that was like a huge change for me at a young age. And my mom had absolutely nothing. She was a stay-at-home mom with us girls. So going back to Canada. We moved in with my grandmother and just stayed in her one-bedroom apartment in Montreal for the time being, which was crazy. Yeah, so there were six of us in there, and until my mom could like figure it out and get on her feet, we stayed there for a little while. What was that like? So I was probably around seven at that point, and I had to grow up really fast. I will say, especially like now looking back on it, like when obviously I'm a kiddo, I'm not thinking about that. But when I actually like look at my life and look at what I've been through in those times, I'm like, dang, I did a lot at a really young age because I had to. I had no choice but my mom was definitely struggling, and me being the I'm who and what she's gonna like lean on, as well as my grandmother. So I had to help a lot with my siblings. My little sister was like, I think like two or three months old at that point. So she was an So yeah, just literally helping my mom all the time with my sisters while she was trying to find a job and figure out all the immigration stuff because we were American citizens at the time, applying for our dual citizenship and whatnot. And then all the legal stuff with court and divorce and kids and all that stuff. So yeah, it was a lot on me definitely. I had to grow up very fast, which I think plays a huge part into like why I am the way that I am now. Yeah, that sounds super hard having to be forced to grow up as a and trying to have a childhood while you're a but also struggling with adult responsibility sounds really hard. Yeah, it was hard for sure, but at the same time I feel like it taught me so many valuable lessons from a young age. Like I learned the value of a dollar so quickly. I learned amazing work ethic from my mother so quickly at a young age. I definitely learned about like surviving and just figuring it out. I mean, we lived in a church basement for a few months. We did so much that we just had to do to get by. And it really humbled. me at a young age and definitely like the years to come as well. It didn't ever really get better. It was just like truly a struggle until I was like out on my own. And then when I was out on my own, I was still trying to help as much as I could. Yeah, and how's your family now? Doing good, yeah, doing really good. My sisters are all like doing their thing. One of my sisters is in nursing school, the other one is a marketer, and one of my sisters I don't really talk to too much, but I think that they're also doing great. hasn't worked for like 10 years or so. So going back into the workforce was really hard for her, and she didn't have a lot of qualifications. and things like that to make a decent living in today's society. So she cleaned houses for my entire childhood. And I mean she still does do that sometimes. So I help my mom out a Now I'm so thankful to be in a position that I can pay for her phone bill and help her out with bills and things like that. So I'm very blessed to be able to do that for her. That's amazing! That's so great! Are you close with your mom? She's my bestie. I love that! I love hearing that! I really do. That's great! That's amazing! So is she back in Canada or is she living? Okay, she's in Canada. My whole family is in I'm the only one that's stateside. So they're all like in Quebec. and that area. Oh wow! Okay. How often do you go? And I should probably go a lot more than I do, but it's hard. It is so hard. You're a busy girl. I am. You're a busy lady trying to make it in this world. I try to go to Montreal at least like three times a year, but my mom comes to visit me quite often when I'm in New Hampshire at my other place where I live. So she definitely comes to. It's only about a four-hour drive from Montreal to where I live in New Hampshire, so it's very nice. Okay. Yeah, that's your most North location. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. So with that being said, what was the initial spark that initially inspired your interest in cosmetic? tattooing How did you get into it? Yeah. Oh my gosh, so crazy! So, I think like when I knew you, I was a makeup artist working at like and for all these brands and things like that. So, I did makeup and esthetician stuff probably right out of high school. I went to school for my aesthetics program. And then, when I moved to America, I started dating this guy, and I moved to America, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing! I can get a job as a makeup artist. It was really hard back home to get a job like that. So, I started doing makeup. And at some point, there was a kind of like a spark in the industry that was called microblading. And it was like this word. that was going around that was so buzzed about. Everybody was like, oh my God, you can have eyebrows that are tattooed and they look like hair and they last for this long. And everybody wanted it. And that was probably around like 2015, 2014 era. And I was so interested. I was like, wow, I love tattoos, I have a lot of them, and I love makeup. And I feel like these are like my two worlds combined. I'm already doing this for a— I love doing eyebrows with. So maybe I would like this. So I took my first course in New Orleans in 2015, and I got started shortly after that in the Louisiana area. So that's kind of when I started in 2015, 2016 I was getting started. with it which is so long ago. Wow, it really has been a while. That's incredible. That's incredible. And we're gonna get more into that, but now you went from no business at all to having four locations. You have four locations, right? Yes. That is incredible. Dude, thank you. It's crazy. That's so incredible. So you mentioned when you and I first met each other, which was a long time ago. We've known each other for a while, literally. And that's wild. So you and I met from hardcore, right? From like the music scene? From the music scene. Right, so let's talk about that. So let's talk about how being involved in music and hardcore your connection to music and the music scene had any sort of influence on you. Yeah, absolutely. So I will say it definitely had a lot. I think that if I didn't make the connections that I did in hardcore and really put myself in those social settings, I wouldn't be as confident and as outgoing as I am today. I definitely feel like because you're just surrounded by all these people and you're so close to them, you have to introduce yourself and make friends, and you just wanna talk to people. I'm a very extroverted person. I'm the opposite of an introvert. So I feel better in social settings with my social anxiety, just talking to people and getting to know. people I love people so much. To my core, I am a people person. So for me, I just loved having conversations, and it got me more comfortable with it just speaking to. So hardcore was a great avenue for that for me, and I love the music, I love the energy. And it just brought a lot of different kinds of people in one room, which I thought was super unique. Yeah, I agree with the whole different types of people and just different connections with people of all avenues of life from all different backgrounds. And I think that that's one of the coolest things about that, that you build these relationships with all sorts of people, like you and me. For instance, we are examples of that. I feel like every single person so far I've had on my podcast has been very similar in this unique way where it's like we've been friends for so long without even realizing how unique that is. People having these lifelong connections, I feel like, is not a common thing. And I don't even realize that until other of my friends are just like, wow, you have all of these people that you've been friends with for so long. And I'm like, oh yeah, I do. And that's so cool. And I'm sure for your business, when you first got started, there were all sorts of people and all sorts of connections that were all about helping. you out and wanting to have your services and help propel you in your business. And I think that that is so cool, dude, for sure. And like a great example of that is like when I first started. I remember like that summer I went to this is hardcore in Philly at the electric factory andreally just practicing and doing my friends and hooking them up. And it was crazy, and like they were hyping me up and really helped my business like get boosted honestly from like such an early onset. And it was like, it's so cool to think about that because it's been so long since like stuff like that has happened for me. But it's a great example of like the hardcore community coming together and just like people hyping me up and getting my business started. I mean, back in 2016, I was doing that. So, it's wild. Yeah, it really is wild. So, on a related note, are there lessons or any takeaways that you have gotten from being involved in the hardcore subculture that you've been able to now apply to your business, especially with like the DIY ethic that comes along with all of that and the nitty gritty? What's something that you have been able to apply to business? Yeah, so I want to talk about two different avenues of that. So, I want to talk about like a negative and a positive because I think. it's super good to be like candid on all fronts and just like honest. So to talk about a negative for a long time, some of my closest friends were people that I met through the music scene and that I grew up with going to shows and whatnot. And for me, unfortunately, like when I started to really get super busy with work and my business was growing, I was growing as an I started having a team, I was just all in at that point. A lot of people like held that against me and you know it was like you don't have time for anything. You don't have time for me anymore. All you care about is your business. Like you don't want to go to shows. You don't want to. travel You don't want to go to fests. Like you don't want to do anything that's not work related, and you just don't have time for anyone or anything. And for me, it was really hard because for a long time I looked at that as something was wrong with me, and I was a bad person for not making time for my friends. When you know, now I look back on it in a different light, and I see how selfish that could be from other people just not wanting me to grow because maybe they might have had some insecurities or maybe at that time that didn't serve them. I didn't serve them in the way they needed to. And you know, it held me back for a long time because I was like wow I have to be a better friend. I can't be doing all these things for like my future, my family, my friends, my significant other, whatever it is at the time. Like, and that's not okay. That was definitely like a hard thing for me. And then positive wise, because there are so many positives and I like to talk about those as well, I think that the connection piece and what really helped me was being vulnerable, especially like in the hardcore community. I feel like it's a really accepting place to just kind of like be yourself and be authentically you and find like-minded people that you might have never been able to find outside of hardcoreSo having those vulnerable conversations with people and people just like seeing that at face value and wanting to like lift you up was a really awesome part of the community that I don't think I ever would have gotten in another type of community the same way. Yeah, I think both your positive and negatives make such good points and can be applied really to every aspect of life. You know, you grow as a person and with any of your relationships, it could be really hard. There are growing pains there. If you are on one page and another person is on another, and sometimes you grow out of friendships and that is life and it's hurtful and it's painful. I really do believe people don't talk about enough the grief that comes along with growing out of friendships or relationships. You know, it happens in all avenues of life. It doesn't matter if it's a platonic relationship, friendship, or a romantic one. If one person wants to just stay the same and the other person wants to grow, there's going to be some growing pains, and that is, it's really hard to walk away from. There are all sorts of feelings that come along with that, and I'm sure that was really hard for you. But I'm so proud of you that you kept going, and you were true to yourself, and you knew that. this was something that you wanted to do. And guess what? Then when that happens and you are true to yourself and your goals, and you stay aligned with that, yes, it does suck that people that you care about fall by the wayside sometimes, and it hurts that they can't be the supporters that you wish that they could be for you. But the good part is that you make room for other people who will do that for you, and you don't have to beg them. They get it when you're busy, and they want to support your business, and they want to support you in any way that they can. And you know it's like this bittersweet thing. Yeah, you said it so well. Thank you. had my own experiences leaving old friendships behind, people that you really care about, and it sucks because you want them so desperately to be there for you and support you. But ultimately, you can't beg people to be in your life or to support you in the way that you need them to 100 You really can't. And it's a valuable lesson to learn, and I just wish that looking back I was a little bit stronger about, like, my morals and my values and not letting those things like eat me alive for as long as they did because I do feel like it definitely, like, slowed my path for a little while. So anybody who's listening to this that has, like, a similar feeling or they're going through something similar, like in this moment, just be true to yourself, like Jess said, because at the end of the day, you have to be the best version of you to be the best version for everybody and anybody else. So that definitely needs to be like a huge focus. Absolutely! And I can relate to that completely. I feel like a lot of my growth was stunted by staying with people that I shouldn't be staying with and trying to cater to other people. But, you know, exactly, exactly. So, going back to you doing eyebrows at this is hardcore in between bands in the hotels. Okay, how do we transition from going from that and having this idea to opening your first studio. Yeah, my god, great transition! So I will say that as far as anything business, until like the past couple of years, none of it was planned strategically. It all just kind of like happened, and I have a really high sense of urgency. I'm not a procrastinator at all. Like the way my crazy brain works is if I have to do something, or I have to make a decision, or I have an opportunity, I just like go, go, go, go, go. And it's worked out best for me personally that way because when I take time to like really think about things, I procrastinate; I pass off good offers because I have doubts in my mind, and sometimes you just have to take the risk to get the reward, and sometimes it doesn't turn out in your favor, and sometimes it does. So I'm big on gambling. I saw that you made some big wins yesterday. I sure did, my friend! I love that. I'm so scared of the casino; I have no idea what to do other than put a couple dollars in the slot machines and pull the lever. But I saw you had some big wins there yesterday. Let's go! It was great! It was great! That's amazing. But yeah, so when it came to opening my first studio, I was at a tattoo shop, my friend's tattoo shop, for like a while, and I loved working with him. He's an awesome business owner. He taught me a lot of great, valuable. lessons But I knew that especially with being in the Bible Belt in Louisiana look in the way that I look I was like I can't really like excel or thrive in a tattoo shop I definitely have to make like more of like a cute clean like not to say tattoo shops aren't clean but like white sterile like environment to make these like clients feel more comfortable and to maybe attract more clients because my mind is going likeokay like how many people can I have an impact on How many people can I help How is that going to relate to business for me So I knew that it was time for me to like step out So at that time I actually rented like one of those studio suite places like those warehouse type vibes. And I got a small salon suite the size of a closet for 1 million trillion because that's how it works. And I started doing, and I was in there for about a year. And then from there I was like, okay, I want to like have my own space, like not in another space. And I started getting so many messages from people, like wanting to learn from me, wanting to work with me, asking if I teach them. And I was like, I would love to have a space where I could do all of that in because I can't do it in this closet. So yeah, from there I opened up like a bigger space, and kind of that's where employees came into place. and education. So rated around like the three or four-year mark for me. That's incredible! So, in the midst of all of that, I'm sure there were so many challenges you faced early on. Can you share some of those? Yeah, absolutely! Because I'm not a business person. Although now I really I figure this stuff out. Girl, now you're so inspiring because I am trying to do the same thing myself. I this, this, this episode is personal to me because I actually just need your coaching, selfishly. This is what, selfishly, this is actually for me. I love that! No, it's true. And like that's why I love doing business coaching now is because like if I would have had. a mentor or someone to even ask questions to back then, I would have saved myself so many mental breakdowns, years of time, financial hardships. Like, God, I would have been doing so much better. So I love having mentors. But yeah, some challenges I faced early on was not knowing what a profit and loss was, not knowing like how much money, where am I spending money? What accounts am I spending it from? Bookkeeping, taxes, write-offs, like what can I write off? What should I write off? What should I not write off? All of these little things like to save money, like Roth IRAs. Should I be a Schedule C? Should I be a sole proprietor? Like, what do I even like bracket myself in as It's so scary. And there's like no help out there for it. So figuring that all out myself was not an easy feat for sure, but I got through. And those are just like some of the small challenges that I had to deal with, not to mention like getting screwed over by not only like clients, but like potential employees, not having contracts, 1099 employees versus W-2, just like things like that, as well as like landlords. And what are my rights as a tenant? What should I be paying for? What should I be having to replace? Like I've gotten screwed over so many times. I've gotten bad deals. Girl, the list goes on and on about. challenges. But here you are, standing strong, super successful with four locations. And I'm just so proud. That's awesome! It's so fucking cool. So, starting out, especially, how did you push through all of that? And especially since you mentioned to me that you also have ADHD? So, as a fellow ADHD-er, a common theme is like, this is hard, I give up and walk away. So, please give me advice on how did you pursue and just push forward and see your vision through. To be totally honest with you, and this is like still something that helps me today, and I know it's not everyone's case, so it is very particular to me with my ADHD and like just like my brain. In general, I have a lot of people that rely on me every day, a lot. And the thought of getting up and walking away comes through my brain every single day. If I'm being totally honest with you, it doesn't leave. But I simply cannot because I have so many people that rely on me. So I say, all right, Danielle, you got to put your big girl pants on, and you got to figure this out, and you got to use your resources and your sense of, and understand that time is money, time is important, time is very valuable for you on your back, which is a lot of pressure all of the time. So that's the only thing that keeps me not walking away, from being 100 honest with you. Yeah, all of that is just such a huge undertaking. And I hope that you're able to also see all of the effort that you are putting in and giving to people and yourself. And just I hope that you're also able to just take a moment pat yourself on the back for all of that. Thank you for saying that, because it's hard. It's hard to take a step back from everything that we've done. It doesn't matter if you own a business; it doesn't matter what you do. It's so hard to just take yourself out of whatever that is and pat yourself on the back for just being a human and existing. 100. And I will say, like literally up until probably this year. like this yeah this I didn't really do that I would take the fall, take the blame for everything. Just like not really give myself recognition and understand like my worth and realize like okay, but without me none of this happens for anyone. And like that might sound cocky to say now, but I've never been able to say anything like that before. And it's the simple truth. I mean I work really hard to make all of this shit happen for everyone every day. And people will still find things to complain about or nitpick or be salty about. But at the end of the day, I mean this has been nine years of my life that I've contributed to making the best possible outcome for not only my clients, my team, my family, like my friends, like literally everyone in my life. And I have to take like some recognition for that every every now and then. So thank you for like bringing that up because it's not something I've done until like this past year. Yeah. It's it's so important and there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with giving yourself the props that you deserve to have, regardless of how many things that you've accomplished. And it's so important. So I'm glad that we're taking a second to stop and acknowledge that. So something else to acknowledge is the fact that you have now opened four different locations. Where are all of your locations? Oh my gosh, they are all far away from one another, which makes my life very difficult, but it is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Los Angeles, California; North Conway, New Hampshire; and Richmond. That is incredible! I have so many questions. Yes, the main question is why those locations? Yeah, I feel like that's like a very common thought process, and it's it makes sense. But basically, I started out in Baton Rouge, where I was living at the time. And from there, I decided I wanted to move back closer to home, to Canada. And so New Hampshire was where I wanted to like kind of put down roots and settle. So I opened up like a little private studio out there, and I was traveling back and forth to Louisiana all the time because I didn't want to close my business. I had such an amazing thing going there; I have years and years of clients, and I have a great team. So I didn't want to like end that. So then my North Conway location became like a lot of my friends from like Boston, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine; like everywhere. Like I want to work for you, I want to train with you, I want to get my brows done. I'm like, oh my God, I need like a team and I need help. And I'm doing this all again in another state. Grew New Hampshire doing amazing. And then I met my husband in Richmond when I started to want to open up a location there. He actually had a business in Richmond, and he was like just kind of helping me like as a friend, like, oh like you could do this, you could do that. Here's my broker that I used. And we ended up falling for each other from like business stuff. And that's how we met. So I opened up a location in Richmond, just kind of going through some hard stuff in the Northeast and wanting to kind of get away from that. I had a lot of friends there. I did guest spots there all the time, so I had a great clientele. And then meeting Joe definitely like solidified it for me. So that's how I got that location. And then, with California, one of my most amazing coworkers, Nikki, who started working for me in New Hampshire, we had been together for like three years. Sounds like we're in love. But she had been with me for that long. And she moved out to California, and she was still like traveling to the other locations because she just loved working at FACE and loved being a part of my mission and, you know, helping people and whatnot. And I was like, dude, let's like co-own a California location. Like, I'd love to like not have as much responsibility with it. I'll definitely take on the brunt of it you know for sure. So, you know, we did a little sliver of the pie there too, and she's loving it and she's crushing it. So I'm excited to have some help with that aspect because it's very far away and she's killing it. She's awesome. That's amazing. That's so incredible. Good for you! That is so sick. I love that. Yeah. So with opening all of the different studios and everything that has brought you to this point, now were there any key decisions or specific pivotal moments that really helped to shape your success? Yeah, I will say mindset and my inner circle is probably like the two most important things that have helped mold me into the human that I am today. With the inner circle, that just means like who you surround yourself with, who are your core people, who are you dating, married to, talking to, whatever it may be. It needs to be someone who has a similar mindset to you, similar goals, similar values. It doesn't really work any other way. I'll be totally honest with you. No, it doesn't. Going back to what we were talking about in the very beginning about even friendships, when you're on different pages and one person wants to grow and the other person wants to stay, it creates a lot of tension. If you don't have deep down the same core values, relationships in general. and things just don't work. Yeah, no, they truly don't. You really have to have a similar mission, similar values, and just wanting toin life, really. Yeah. And that's it takes a while to be able to trust yourself enough and be confident enough to be able to do that. And to those who might not have done that inner work that it takes to get to that point, saying things like that might sound really blunt and selfish, but they are not. That's another thing that you should be very proud of yourself for doing because it is hard to walk away, especially from family. But like, let's be real, just because your blood doesn't make you helpful or a good. influence or supportive, and it's okay. Yeah, oh yeah, it's okay to cut those people out of your life and set boundaries in a way that is able to propel yourself forward and get all of that negativity out of there because we don't need that. Yeah, life's harder. Life is hard enough. We don't need any more of that nonsense. It really is. And you said it really well. It does sound blunt, and it's a lot. And it took me a long time to be that person. And I wish more than anything someone was blunt and honest and just like forthcoming with me like that. So that's why I find value in being like that now with people. And they're just like, that's what I needed to hear. It's not what I want to hear. I don't really want to hear it, but I need to hear it. Direct communication, especially coming from a I feel like it's just not ever taken well. Society has made direct communication this thing that seems like people are being aggressive. And if people were more direct with their communication and knew how to communicate effectively, the world would just be a happier place. Like, tell me what you want from me, please. I can't. I'm not a mind reader. Correct? Yeah. Yeah. That's how I am with everything now. I've stopped beating around the bush. I mean, it's hard in, like, my personal life as well as business. life because, like again, like I said, the higher, slow fire fast. I've been doing a really good job at that lately, which doesn't feel great, but I just don't have time to waste. Like my time is very important, as is those people's time. It is very important. So if I know it's not a good fit, I just got to rip the bandaid off because I can coach all I want and try to help and try to grow. But sometimes you just know that it's not someone that can grow with you, whether it's an employee or it's a significant other. I completely agree. So, with that being said, what do you think are some ways or some things that really helped you to shift your mindset to help. build that resilience and push forward. Yeah, get in a really bad relationship. I'm sure we've all been in a bad relationship; I think we can all relate. Yeah, for sure, we've all been there. And some of us haven't looked back at it and still been able to, like, grow and heal from it. Right? And I think that that's something that took me a long time. I was with someone for five years; I was married to them for five or six years; I don't know. It took me a long time to figure out, like, how emotionally, verbally, and mentally like abused I was by this person and how it just made me like the smallest version of Danielle, where she didn't want to grow. want to prosper. She didn't want to do anything to help anyone. And like me, to my core, is helping people and being around people. And I was just like not in the mindset of being able to be myself. And people were telling me, like my mother, my sister, my closest friends, they're just like you are not you. And I was just so brainwashed that I was like I'm me. I'm just, I'm in a different season. Like leave me alone. To the point where, like I was walking down the aisle and my mom was like please don't do this. You know what I mean? So it's just going through something like that. Luckily, I figured out that I was in that situation. COVID happened. And I was forced to spend time with someone who was terrible to me. And I wasn't able to throw myself into work; I wasn't able to be at work 12 hours a day and then on my laptop all night and then on the phone all morning. So I had to spend time with my husband, and I realized how awful he was and how I deserve so much better. And luckily, I did the thing I needed to do to get out of it. And it's not easy for some people, and it wasn't easy for me for a long time. I should have done it. I should never gotten married. So I think that going through something like that and going through that hardship, it definitely like put me into a more positive mindset that like any man that had come into my life after that I definitely liked had way more self-respect and understanding like what I needed and what I didn't need. Yeah, so many good points there. I feel like we've all been in that situation. And especially as women, being the empathetic creatures we are, always trying to look at the bright side or give somebody the benefit of the doubt or see their potential and create this story in our brains. Especially it's a big ADHD thing to create these illusions of people that we want them to be and that we really truly wish they could be. Yeah, and they just aren't, and they can't be. And you can't look back. and be like oh you know well I regret being with this person for this long because again it goes back to your experiences and those experiences have led you to where you are now. So that's how I try to reframe things like my previous relationships that lasted way too long or bullshit that I've put up with with a certain person for way too long, thinking back, being like what the hell was I thinking? Yeah. But it was those experiences that brought me to how you were to reflect on what I actually do deserve, where my core values are. And I don't know that I could say the same if those experiences didn't happen. I wish they could have been. shorter I know time is so valuable. At least we're learning from them, right? So when you mentioned COVID and being at work all the time,

that made me think:

how do you manage your time to prioritize both your business and your personal life and having fun at the same time? Yeah, that's a great question. So I'm definitely in a part of my life where my business and my personal life and having fun are all the same thing. So I love what I do more than anything, and I love the people that I get to work with more than anything. And I love my clients so much. Some of them have become some of my closest friends. And I mean we go on trips together. It's just so crazy how things develop. So I feel like it's all intertwined, which makes it a little bit easier. And I hope that anybody that is like an entrepreneur or even an intrapreneur can find value in that and knowing that it's okay to have friends that you work with and that you grow with and things like that. Because for a long time, I was told no, you can't be friends with people that you work with. But I think that as long as you respect each other's boundaries, it works out great. And then as far as personal life stuff goes and time management, something that I'm constantly trying to improve on, I've been doing really well with time blocking. So just figuring out what part of my day looks like. What I have certain days set aside for admin stuff, and then I have certain days set aside for in the studio. And then I have certain days set aside for like team building and growing my team. Like I hop on Zoom calls with them if I'm not in their area, and I work through things that they need to improve on or things that they might have questions for me on, and ways to help them. So I'm always like developing my team in that aspect. I have days set aside for virtual consultations, no matter what location. If there's a client that wants to talk to me, they know it's on Tuesdays. So just like kind. of figuring out what that looks like I have to plan my life very far in advance like three to four months at a time which is definitely not normal but it works out well for me. And then I always try to like set aside time to have like a dinner or go get coffee with someone as well. So just time management. And what I found really helps too is being disciplined. So something that I wasn't always, especially in my previous marriage, like I was a very overweight, unhealthy version of myself. And so through fitness and mindset and health and wellness, I've been able to provide so much more and action into my life. And having to make time for that and make that a priority has helped me with like prioritization and time blocking and things like that. Yeah, I've been noticing you've been killing it at the gym. Love that, love that! I always see all of these people that live nowhere near me crushing it at the gym, and I'm like, man, why can't we live closer? Because it would just be so sick. It would be so nice! I know I don't live close to like any of my friends, so I do, I have made some new gym friends though, and they're I love that; it's amazing. So how have you dealt with then challenges like, or stress, or even self-doubt? How do you manage those things? Burnout, I think, happens. when you don't take enough time for you. And whatever that looks like, like for me, there's two things that really make me happy. It's working, which sounds crazy, but it truly does because I get to see how happy it makes other people. Like I get to see how much my team is able to have this awesome life. And I get to see my clients literally cry when they look in the mirror because they feel so good about themselves. So like that truly makes me happy. So that prevents a lot of burnout for me because I'm just doing something that I love every day. And then taking the time again, like for fitness and stuff, that's important for me because when I look in the and I see that I'm not the best version of myself and that I'm not the Danielle I wanna be and the Danielle that I try to be, that creates, like you said, like mental blocks, burnout, stress, things like that. So just making sure that you have the time. And that's like one of my friends asked me the other day is like, what is like your biggest pet peeve in life? And it's when someone says that they don't have time. That is like truly my biggest pet peeve. It just means that you don't care. And there's always time in the day and the night. You just have to figure out what you want that to look like. I don't care if you're a mom of six, a mom of Two, a mom of zero, you have four jobs. Like, to be totally honest with you and blunt, you can always find time. You just have to figure out what your priorities are. I've been through it all, and I've seen people been through it all who figure it out and make it work. Yeah, it really is a prioritization thing, not a time thing. I do hate when people are like, everybody has the same amount of time in a day. Yeah, that might logically be true, but you can't say that to somebody like you that's running four different locations of businesses or a parent of eight children and say, oh, everybody has the same time in the day. But you can say that if it matters. to you, you will find the time to prioritize it 100, that's all it comes down to. With all of that too, do you think that also your fitness helps you stay grounded and maintain focus? 100, my business has never thrived so much until I started taking care of myself.

I'll be totally honest with you:

like night and day, fitness and mindset and health can completely will change your business. It will make it grow. People will take you more seriously because they see that you care about yourself enough to care about them. Like, you're literally tattooing these people's faces. You don't have to like look a certain way to do that, but you have. to be in a certain mindset if you care enough. I think that it all directly impacts it. I've been able to even, like, change people's lives and mindsets just on, like, health and wellness. And I'm not an influencer, I'm not a fitness guru, I just, like, care about people. I love that. I love your approach to that. And aside from fitness, going alongside it is absolutely with mindset and everything. Do you mind sharing the things that you do to help with your mindset? How are you growing with your mindset? Are there books that you're reading? Are you going to therapy? What are you doing for that? Oh my gosh, books are great, especially like entrepreneur. books or like self-help books and like things like that. Even if you're not a business owner, like you can be a great intrapreneur. And what that means is just like you're like the most valuable asset within a company, and you know like you're unstoppable, and they would be in a tough place without you. You have like all the room for negotiations. Those are like the kind of people you want to be. And then as far as things that I like to do to help with my mindset, gratitude is a huge one for me. So at the end of the day, I like to say in my mind or out loud things that I'm grateful for and that I'm thankful for. And in the morning, I like to start the day off with like something that is positive, like what am I going to do today to create like a positive impact on my own life, someone else's life, or just the world in general? Because I like to think that if we all do things like that, we can make the world a better place. I completely agree. I think that's such a good idea. Yeah, yeah, and there is such a huge impact that just being grateful for things has on your insides, to your core. You just resonate differently. You have a different vibration, which I hate throw around those woo woo terms like, oh, I'm vibrating on a different level or whatever, but it's so true. It is so true, and you feel. it in your core that you are just radiating, just showing up in life differently. You look at life completely differently. You can just have a good time when you're grateful; you just have a good time doing literally anything. Yeah, it's the secret to life. It really is. People need to realize that. It really is. Gratitude, being grateful for stuff, is just, there's nothing like that. Yeah. And there's a quote that Ed Milette says; it's not exactly like this, but it's like I get to, I don't have to. You know what I mean? Like we're so lucky that we get the opportunity to eat breakfast every morning. Like we don't have to; like we're very lucky to. be able to do anything and everything. So it's a Yeah. And it doesn't even have to be this huge thing. You can be grateful for anything. And that doesn't mean that there aren't shitty things going on. It just means that you are grateful what you do have. The littlest things, the clouds in the sky are making you happy. Like, you know, the sun is out. Just stuff like that. There could be a whole bunch of stuff that's going wrong too. But it's so important to be able to, at least for a little bit each time in the day, to focus your attention on things that you're grateful for. It makes a huge impact. And I just love that you do that. And you brought that. up Such a great point. Thank you. So moving along, aside from gratitude, what other advice would you give to somebody who is looking to start a business, especially with limited resources? Because we all know that that is, yeah, common. Oh, for sure. And this was definitely like I can definitely speak on this because I had the most of limited resources, quite literally zero. And I didn't have any family to help me out with it, which I'm very, like, happy for the people in life who do have that help because it definitely is a lot easier that way. But when you don't have that, and you're looking to start something, and you're trying to not let all the thoughts in your head say you can't you don't have enough you need to save more next year will be your year all of those things just turn them off. And if you can just sit there and think and know inside that this is what you're meant to do this is what you're put on this earth to do and you want this for yourself and for others you just have to do it. You have to find a way. And there are so many ways to find a. I know a lot more now that would have been a lot smarter and cost me a lot less money and time. But the one thing I will say is ask for help. Use your resources. Use your network. And if you don't have one go out and get one. Like just talk to people A lot of people just sit there in their room and they're just like, I don't know anybody. No one can help me. I don't even know what this is. If you don't use the voice that you have, or the hands you have to type on a keyboard to ask for help, you're just going to continue to sit in this room and you're not going to be able to make any progression. So I think that getting out there and being vulnerable and putting yourselves in an uncomfortable situation to eventually be comfortable— I call it cozy in the chaos. That's what I like to say. I love that term. Yes, I like to get real cozy in the— I mean, I go to these like business conferences and sometimes these like free events that are like for realtors for like just like people not even in my world because you can learn so much from so many other avenues of business and apply it to what you're trying to do. So any little like free community event or networking opportunity or a gathering that someone's putting together on a Facebook group like just go and attend them. Put yourself in the rooms with people who are doing what you want to do eventually and just talk to them. That's really great advice. Thanks! I felt like you were just speaking to me personally like yeah, I need to do all of those things. Girl, I got so much more too. That's just like the easiest one to do because it's just like your time and resources you know. Is there anything that you would have done differently when you first started out? That for sure I foundand being like, well, I'm all alone. No, like I tried to DM this girl and ask her how she did the shading technique, and she was just gatekeepy because at the time our community was so you couldn't ask anybody anything. Luckily, we're in an era of like everybody wants to help everybody, or the good people do. But yeah, I wish I would have like stopped being like sorry for myself and being like no one wants to help me. I'll just figure it out eventually. and like really just like push myself to get out there more and I wish someone told me to do that. I think that's really great advice. Yeah. So what about can you share a standout moment in your journey that you are particularly proud of? It's so hard cause like I am like feeling a lot better about myself and like what I bring to the table, but I don't like take time to celebrate it. So that's a hard one for me. I just got offered a position on the Hanafi pro team, which is like in our world, when you think of like the best brand of paint or like the best kitchen appliance, like Frigidaire or whatever it may be, for us it's like Hanafi is the pigment. brand that we all use as cosmetic tattooers, or like you want to eventually be able to use it, cause it's very expensive. It's the gold standard. So, got you, okay? Just got on their pro team for the USA. So I'm, let's go. One of three people, like in the nation. So, I'm very blessed. See, that's incredible. Thanks, dude. Yeah, that's nothing to scoff at. That's so awesome! Excited, I'm going to Egypt next year, which is like where one of the founders is from. They're doing like their big, like a pro team event in Egypt. So, I'm excited! That's— I love that for you. Thank you! Congratulations, that's amazing! That's so amazing. Great, wow! Awesome. And also something that I read on your website. So I know that you were talking about how you like helping people, and that is at your core the person that you are, and it gives you great joy. I read that you have this program called Browse for Barb. Yeah. Which is a program for someone to receive a complimentary brow service, right? Can you just talk a little bit more about that? Because I thought that was so cool that you started that and you do that. Yeah, thank you. So yeah, I started it in 2018. It was called Browse for a Cause at the time, and I just had a lot of clients that have gone through like chemo and radiation and just hearing their stories and like everything they've been through, I'm like, I would never like take their money at the end of the appointment. I'd be like, you've been through enough. Like, I'm just so blessed to be able to like do this for you. So at the end of the appointment, like that feeling and just knowing that I had an impact on them, like there is nothing that made me feel better than putting the eyebrows back on their face after all they've been through. So I wanted to do that like at large. And so I created the program, and it was like you submitted a form; you can do it for other people too. Like, so say if you have a friend and you want to submit a form for them because you want this for them, you could do it like that. And then I would contact you and set up an. And I would try to do like one or two a month, but it was just me doing it at the time. And then I got like my whole team on board this year. My coworker Nikki, the one that I was talking about earlier in California, her mom passed away from breast cancer a couple of years ago and that was her best friend, and her entire life was like obviously like flipped upside down. And just seeing her go through that and just knowing, it was just a lot. And so I renamed the program to be called Brows for Barb after her mother, and our whole team got on board and now we're. like able to help a lot of people with it. That's incredible. Thanks. Yeah, it's very nice. And it feels really good. And just knowing that we're able to create that impact, because, I mean, like losing your hair is enough, and losing your lashes and your brows, and I can't imagine. Yeah, yeah, that must be so hard. And I'm sure these people are so thankful that you have this now, the service for them. That's incredible. That's really cool. Thank you. So we're about to get into some fun questions. But before we get into the fun questions, what is something that you hope our listeners can take away from your story? I think that in life and in the world we're sometimes like really afraid of things, and we tiptoe around things, and we're not as upfront with ourselves and with the people in our lives. And I hope that with listening to this episode and like hearing some of the things that myself and Jess have talked about, it gives you the energy and the self-worth to like want to be a little bit more clear on what your vision and your goals are, and what you want for yourself and what you want for the people around you, and not be afraid of what people might think or feel about that. That's like the biggest thing at the end of the day. Just do it for you. Again, you cannot be you have to be the best version of yourself before you can be for anyone else. And I truly believe that to my core. I've been taking my own little mental notes and pieces of advice as we go along, just from our conversation. And it's already been so impactful to me. Thank you. So I can only imagine to everybody else who can be listening the impact that we'll have on them. So thank you so much for sharing your story, dude, for sure. Thank you for having me to share my story. Of course, it's an incredible one. And I'm just so proud of you. I've seen you go from doing eyebrows and then between bands to having four different stores in all corners of the US. So that's incredible Are you gonna go to Canada too? Are you gonna open up? I think so. Their economy is pretty rough right now, but we'll see what happens. Okay. All right. So now it's time for the fun questions. Okay. So something that I always ask on this podcast is common theme that

we were just talking about:

Who is one person that you are grateful for and why? I will have to go with my mom because she just has taught me everything that I represent now. And without her, I wouldn't be the woman I am today. So I'm just like so thankful for her and like having me learn those hard lessons and all the values that I carry out today. That's amazing! Shout out to your mom. Shout out, Ma! Yeah, Daniel's mom. Something else we always ask is what have you currently been listening to? It doesn't need to be something current; it just is whatever you're listening to at this moment. A lot of Crazy Frog. I don't know what that is. Oh my God! Did I know what that is? It's that, like, crazy, like, beat, like, dance music that you would hear at, like, roller rinks back in the day. You would know. Type in Axel F, Crazy Frog, after we get off of this. It's my theme song to life, honestly! Amazing! Okay, I'm going to check that out. It's crazy. Okay, is it a Crazy Frog? For sure! Okay, next question is if you could only use one makeup product. For the rest of your life, what would it be and why? I'd probably say the freaking liquid eyeliner. Any brand specifically? I can make do with anything honestly. Just make sure I have it. I literally do the wing liner like every day, and I have my eyeliner tattooed as well, but like I still like it; just like scrunches me up, you know? I love it. Yeah. Awesome. Okay, what is your go-to snack or meal if you're powering through a long day? I got two. Okay, I got the Fair Life Core Protein, the 42 grams. Oh girl, those are so good! Do you like the chocolate, the vanilla, or the strawberry? Any one of them. Chocolate is always going to be like number one though. Those. are legit the gold standard though of the pre-made protein shakes. Oh yeah! Those are the best RTDs on the market. They're so good. I love them. The second one, an Uncrustable. Oh my God! Strawberry or grape? Wait! Have you tried the raspberry one? No! They're the best ones. Apparently, there's a Nutella one now. Amazing! Very Canadian. Yeah! So which one though is your go-to? Now the raspberry. Okay, it changed my life. Okay, I have to fold. Don't eat the crust on the Uncrustables. Oh my God! I know because there's no filling in it. They're lying. They say Uncrustable. Well then why doesn't it have peanut butter and jelly all the way through? Because you have to fold it. It has to fit, but I don't want anything that doesn't have a filling. That's fair. Do you eat pizza crusts? Yeah. Okay. Only with ranch. Okay. All right. Yeah, but you're putting flavor on the crust. So, I mean, maybe you have to dip your Uncrustables crust in raspberry jam or something, and then you don't have to. I know I'm a heathen; I'm so sorry. That's okay. Hey, you do you. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay. Next question is, do you have a hot take about making money in the year 2024 that might surprise people? Yes, real estate, honestly. And like, I can't even like begin to talk on it because I don't know what the heck I'm doing, but I know I need to do it. I need to be involved in it. I think everybody should, if they can, or if they can work their way towards that. But if you rent a home and you don't own a home yet, if you can get close to trying to be able to own a home and, like, still, like, again, like putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, I did it for a long time before I was able to buy my house. I mean, I struggled; I lived in a very crazy places to do it. But if you can own some type of real estate, it's going to be huge. It's such an awesome thing to be able to do. So, also, along with making money in 2024, what is one of the best adult decisions that you have made? For example, something like opening a high yield savings account or real estate or investing in stocks or getting a triple A membership something like that. Yeah, I would definitely say real estate. So, I do this thing called house hacking. Basically, I have a house in New Hampshire and then me and my husband have a house in Virginia. When we are in New Hampshire, we would rent out the Virginia home and then vice versa on Airbnb. We had our house flood a while ago, and it was like a whole chaotic situation. We had to like be in a living situation. Anyways, we were like renting our houses out at the same time for like a couple of years; like I wasn't paying a mortgage. which was really nice. So being able to take the money that I would have been paying in a and reinvesting it back into like making the home better and like working on the value of the home or putting it into other like business ventures, it was really, really helpful for me. So it's called house hacking. So you can even do it if you own a house, and you can get roommates for like a couple of years and just live in your room and take the money that they're paying for rent, which would be surpassing your mortgage, and using that to like buy another house and then have like a short-term renter there, maybe like nurses who travel or things. like that Like you could just keep taking that money and reinvesting it into other real estate options. So I'm on a bunch of coaching websites for that. Like, I pay for coaching for real estate and stuff like that because I'm very interested in learning about it, because there's no like safer way to make money than real estate. That's really cool. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, next question is if FACE Studios had a signature Starbucks drink named after it, what would it be? Oh my God, ice vanilla latte. Okay, so simple, but we all drink that. Very vanilla. Okay, there's nothing wrong with that. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with a little. vanilla What is the weirdest or funniest tattoo story you've encountered in your career? Oh my gosh, I don't know if this person was trolling us or if they were being serious. If they were being serious, I feel sorry for laughing at it. But they sent us a picture of their foot, and like she wanted her toenails tattooed. But like the picture that she sent was like someone else's foot. And then like she was like coloring in the toenails, and she's like, I want you to tattoo them like this. And it was like she had like a French manicure, but there was like she even like went as far to put like glitter on the picture. And I was like, wait, what is happening? First off, I don't do tattoos like that. Second off, I don't think you can tattoo a French manicure. Like maybe you can tattoo a But it was just a crazy thing. How did you respond? Did you respond? I honestly cannot remember; it was like three years ago. But it was just crazy because it like came from like an unknown number. And it was just like a picture of really bad feet, and I was just confused. I don't know. Like if it were me, I wouldn't just text a random number a picture of my foot, you know what I mean? Like I would be like, yeah consultation. So I think I was getting trolled, though, to be totally honest. I mean, it's a good troll. Yeah, it is. It is. It's a good troll. Well, we'll never know if it's real or But if you sent me that toe picture, I hope you got your toes tattooed by someone. Yeah, geez. Wow. Well, with that being said, who is one famous person that you would love to do cosmetic tattooing for, and why? Probably Shia LaBeouf, just so I could like stare at him. Really? Even Steven? Okay. That era of him wasn't as hot as, like, that. That's the only way I can envision him. I don't know if you've seen what I don't know if you've ever... What did you have you watched Even Stevens? Were you an Even Stevens person? I wasn't. Well,

there's this character in the show:

Beans. Oh, yeah. And, okay. if you Google beans as an adult it is horrifying. So I'll look up crazy frog after this, and you can look up you can Google beans as an adult, and then I can't wait. Yeah. Okay. So you're welcome for that, by the way. Thank you. All right.

So last question:

What is your ultimate hype song, especially when you're having a rough day? It's probably going to be freaking crazy frog. Sorry. Okay. All right just like and I've been listening to a lot lately because I'm just like my god we're going to have a great day today. Like it's just like how I've been needing the past. Okay. I'm really excited to check this out. Yeah it's very crazy. I hope that yeah I hope. that you like it. I'll give you my feedback after I listen. Well, we can be in about crazy frog and bees, right? Mm. Well, that concludes our fun questions. Before we finish, though, can people find you on the internet or social media? Yeah, you can find me. It's Instagram is Danielle. dot. face. Studios, and I'm on Instagram mostly. I do have Facebook, Danielle Kincaid. I don't really use it too much, but I love to have some meaningful conversations on there. But yeah, Instagram, and I'm always like open to helping people. Like, even if you have just something you want to get off your chest or just like chat a little bit, like just shoot me a DM. I'm not. one of those people that are like no DMS ever. Like I don't care how many followers you have; it doesn't matter to me. I won't just want to help people. Well, thank you so much. Thank you again so much for doing this. Like I said, I'm being completely honest and serious in saying that you have helped me personally and inspired me just by having this conversation. So I really hope that this impacts other people in the same way because it was great. Oh, thank you so much! That means a lot to me too. Really? Yeah. Yeah, no, it was so good. All right folks, well that just about wraps up another episode of The Underwire. I wanna give a huge thank you to Danielle for joining me today and sharing her incredible journey through the highs and the lows of becoming a thriving entrepreneur in the cosmetic tattooing world with FACE Studios. I hope this episode inspired you to get cozy in the chaos and push through any adversity you may be facing, no matter how big or how small. I also hope this episode reminded you of the power of surrounding yourself with supportive, like-minded individuals. Danielle's story emphasizes the importance of perseverance, celebrating your wins, and knowing that success doesn't come without challenges. Plus, her simple but powerful advice on starting a especially with limited resources is a must-hear for anyone looking to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality. If you enjoyed this episode, send it to a friend who could maybe benefit from hearing it too. And if you haven't already, I'd sincerely appreciate it if you could just take a moment to leave a five-star rating because that really helps reach more listeners just like you. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can also follow us on Instagram at theunderwirepod for more uplifting and inspirational content, reminding you to keep doing the things that are in alignment with your authentic self. Plus, if you have any thoughts you'd like to share, I'd like to hear those too. Thank you so, so much for listening today, and remember, keep pushing forward, stay weird, and I'll catch you on the next episode. See ya.

Head Shot

Jess Goldey

Host
Contributor

Ryan Rainbro

Co-host