The Esthetician Podcast

Transform Your Esthetics Business by Building an Empire: Navigating Growth Phases and Unleashing Fearless Prosperity

• Kari Jo

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Building an esthetics empire isn't just a dream—it's a journey filled with exhilarating highs and challenging lows. Picture this: launching your own brand, mastering financial management, and transforming from a solo esthetician into a thriving business owner. That's exactly what I've done, and in this episode, I'm sharing my roadmap to success. Drawing from my own story and my book, "Fearless Prosperity," I'll walk you through the six transformative phases of building an esthetics empire. Whether you're a budding esthetician or a seasoned professional, you'll find invaluable insights on how to successfully navigate from the launch phase to the survival stage, and beyond.

Rewriting my book taught me that growth is messy and success lies in constant refinement—a lesson every esthetician should embrace. Tune in as I share candid stories about the trials and triumphs I faced while building my business, and why the first version of anything is rarely the final one. From tackling financial hurdles to creating a magnetic brand that keeps clients coming back, I'm here to guide you through each phase with practical wisdom and encouragement. Join me on the Esthetician Podcast, where we'll transform your passion into prosperity and craft an empire that stands the test of time.

To learn more about coaching please visit: https://www.karijopatterson.com

Connect with me on your fav social platform:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kari.jo.patterson
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TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@karijopatterson
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Links You May Want to Check out:

Join the Client Building for Estheticians group to go deep in learning all the latest tips and strategies https://www.facebook.com/groups/clientbuildingforestheticians
Check out Kari Jo’s courses here https://esthelaunchacademy.com

Announcer:

Welcome to the Esthetician Podcast, where passion meets prosperity. Your host, Kari Jo Patterson, transformed from a solo esthetician into a successful business owner, achieving ultimate time and financial freedom by the age of 38. Kari is the author of Fearless Prosperity, empowering estheticians to build their empire and achieve financial freedom, and the creator of the Empire Growth System for Estheticians. Get ready for some empire-building wisdom Now. Welcome your host, Kari Jo Patterson.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Welcome back. Thanks for coming back and listening to another episode of the Esthetician Podcast. Guys, I am Kari, and if you are an esthetician and you are dreaming of building your own empire whether you are just starting out or you have hit some milestones then this episode today is for you. I'm gonna be diving in to the six phases of building your business. I have outlined this in a book that I wrote and I recently released. It's called Fearless Prosperity and you can read more about that on my website. I'll put a link in the show notes. For now, I want to walk you through the story behind the book and the lessons that I learned while I was writing it, actually, while I rewrote it.

Kari Jo Patterson:

The truth is, estheticians need to hear about growth, success and what it actually really takes to building a thriving business. See, when I first started writing Fearless Prosperity, I thought I had it all figured out. I'd built my own aesthetics business from the ground up. I did it all by myself. I took out a loan for $4,000. I paid that loan back. I maxed out my credit cards. I paid my credit card bills off. In fact, even when I got the building that I was in, I got that loan all by myself. My husband's name was not even on it. I was able to build it, I sold it and I've now mentored countless estheticians and I thought that this book would just practically write itself. But guess what? I finished the whole book and I got to the last chapter and I realized that what the book was on was not what it needed to be on, and I needed to rewrite the whole entire thing. Yep, start it again.

Kari Jo Patterson:

I found, after writing the first one, more of the guide that I feel like estheticians needed. That process taught me a very important lesson which I want to share with you, which is the first a product, business, whatever it is, is almost never your final version, and that's okay. Growth is so messy, so messy, and success is built on editing it over and over and over again. So for estheticians especially, this is so true. Many of us enter into this industry and we start out thinking I know how to give a good facial I was the best facial person in my school or I know all about acne and you think that you are the best of the best, or at least you know how to do a pretty good job. You're good to go, you're ready, people are going to come to you. But here's the reality is, you are not as good as you think. You are learning, and that is exactly where you are supposed to be.

Kari Jo Patterson:

In my book, I break down the journey of building my aesthetics business into six phases, and I want you to think of these phases like climbing a mountain you conquer one peak only to see the next challenge coming up, and each stage builds on the last. Together, they form this little path for you to prosperity. I'm going to give you a quick overview of the phases. So the first phase that an esthetician is going to go through is the launch phase, and this is basically where you're setting the foundation, you're getting licensed, you're starting to develop your brand, you're starting to market the surfaces, you're taking the leap and you're creating the business and it is so fun and you're excited and you have the most passion in, I think, this launch phase. The next stage you're going to hit is the survival phase, and this is hey, you started, but now you're working to stay afloat. It's about mastering financial management, building stability and learning how to keep your clients coming back in this space. Then you hit the growth phase, and this is where you have to get off the hamster wheel. So you built your clientele and now you're maxed out and it's time to scale your business and start hiring staff and Expanding your services and reclaiming your time. And you've got to start giving back to those estheticians Like now you get to teach them how you did it, but you get a little kickback for also doing that, and they get kicked back because they get a mentor. So it's fabulous like little circle.

Kari Jo Patterson:

The fourth step is culture building. So at that stage you have a team, but now you've got to create a thriving workplace culture. And so you've got to create a thriving workplace culture, and so you've got to start investing in leadership and you got to start developing accountability systems and fostering collaboration within your team. After that you move to the optimization phase, and this is where your business is basically running smoothly, and now it's just time to refine it, and so you start focusing on systems. You got to start looking at performance metrics and advanced training to really help maximize your efficiency in your company. Now, if you get through all of that, you hit the last phase, which is the legacy phase, and this is the pinnacle. Right, you are successful, you have done it, you have built the business and now you have to start planning for the future. What does the future look like for you, and is it mentoring others, expanding your brand, building a personal brand or leaving a lasting impact in the community? It's about sustaining your success, really.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Here's something that I need you to know your first attempt when you whether it is like your consultation script that you write maybe you don't even have one. So if you're doing a consultation and you don't even have a consultation script, there you go. That's your first draft and it's not good. I'm just telling you right now. It's not good, but maybe you write one. The second one you write is probably not going to be the one that lasts forever too. It's not going to be your ending script either, but you have to start somewhere. Maybe it's your service menu or your marketing strategy. Whatever it is. It is not going to be perfect. It is like your first child. You think it's flawless and, looking back, you laugh at how far you've come.

Kari Jo Patterson:

When I first launched my business my consultation process it was rough. I thought I knew what I was doing, but in reality, I had so much to learn. Over time, I refined my approach and I would listen to the clients feedback and I built new systems that actually work. That is basically what I am doing now is I'm like teaching other estheticians how to do the same thing. The same applies for your services. So maybe you think that you have mastered dermaplaning and you are confident about your facial techniques, but when you put those services out in the wild, your clients are going to give you feedback, and sometimes that feedback is they didn't rebook with you, and that's the feedback you need to hear. You don't need to ask them how was their facial? They just told you they didn't rebook. But maybe you can get them to give you more information about why. What I want you to know is you can't let that discourage you. You have to use it in order to grow.

Kari Jo Patterson:

Here's the thing about growth. It is a process. You do not launch your business or your product or your book and suddenly you have it all figured out. And suddenly you have it all figured out. It takes time, it takes trial, it takes error and a willingness to pivot every time something does not work. Every time you have that client that does not rebook, you re-pivot. What do you need to change? What do you need to redo? For example, when I again when I launched my book Fearless Prosperity, I realized that the first version wasn't aligned with necessarily what my audience I felt needed, and so I went back to the drawing bar and I redid it, and that's what you're going to be doing with your business, your services, your client experiences. So let me tell you about a rule that I wish I learned like quicker and sooner when I was building my company, which is don't over invest in your first version. What do I mean by this?

Kari Jo Patterson:

When I was buying the hydrafacial, I bought the hydrafacial and I put it to market and what ended up happening was my clients were not happy with it. Not at all, because I was doing the hydrafacial. The way that hydrafacial taught me to do the hydrafacial right, and it's like a quick 30 minute treatment or less. You know what I mean and it's very simple. But it's 200 and I don't know 50 or something like that. My clients hated it. I just bought this machine that was $30,000 and I expected my clients to love it, but they didn't. And the thing was is it was because the first time you do anything, it's not going to be great. It is not, but I had to pivot and listen to my clients. What did they hate? Well, they didn't want the hydrafacial because they weren't getting the massage. They could get a facial and it would end up getting a massage, and that's what they really wanted. So I had to pivot and re-enter in and redo my protocols for the hydrafacial and now it's going to include a massage.

Kari Jo Patterson:

What I'm saying is you got to start small. You got to test your ideas, get feedback and you got to refine what you're doing before you go all in. See your ugly prototype. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you just got to start and you got to be willing to pivot. Practical tips for you to take Test before you launch. If you are launching a new service, start with a soft launch. Offer it to a few clients at a discounted rate and then get their honest feedback so that you can pivot, because the first time you bring it on it's not going to be great. Two, you got to be patient. So, building a successful business, it really does take time and it's going to cost way more than you think it is, and it is going to take way longer than you actually think, and that's normal and that's okay. Three, you got to pivot relentlessly, whether it's your consultation process, and I I say edit, it's almost like you gotta reiterate is that the right word? I think that is right. Basically, you just need to continue tweaking your consultation process or your rebooking strategy or your marketing efforts.

Kari Jo Patterson:

You're always trying to look how to improve and I'm not going to lie, this one really kept me up at night when I was building my business. I'm not even kidding you. There were nights I literally went to bed. I'm not joking, this is 100% accurate. I laid in bed and I kept thinking and I kept saying to myself, over and over and over again, until I fell asleep how can I be better? How can I be better? How can I be better? I'm not going to say it was the most healthy thing, but you're always trying to improve. You're always trying to get better.

Kari Jo Patterson:

The last one I wrote down for you is to stay connected to your purpose. So when you are frustrated, when you are burnt out, remember why it is you started. Your purpose is basically the only anchor you have to keeping you moving forward. Guys, my esthetician besties, my esti besties, I want to leave you with this. Building your business is not about getting it perfect, especially not the first time. It's just about showing up and learning from your mistakes and then pivoting until you get it right. Your first service, your first consultation, your first time bringing on a new service is your ugly prototype, and eventually it's going to lead to something beautiful. So embrace the process, trust the journey, don't give up. Remember your success isn't about getting it all right from the very beginning. It's about growing through each of the phases and becoming better every single step of the way.

Kari Jo Patterson:

So I want to thank you for listening to the Esthetician Podcast. If this episode resonates with you, I want you to check out my book Fearless Prosperity. You can find it at kerryjopattersoncom, or learn more about the six phases of building your aesthetics empire on my blog. You can find that from my website, too. And don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a fellow SD who needs to hear it. Until next time, keep building your empire and living your fearless prosperity. Bye, guys.

Announcer:

Thank you for listening to the esthetician podcast with Carrie Jo Patterson. Each week, carrie brings you real world lessons on how to grow your empire. To learn more about Carrie's fearless prosperity mastermind group, one-on-one VIP coaching opportunities and more world lessons on how to grow your empire. To learn more about Kari Fearless Prosperity Mastermind Group, one-on-one VIP coaching opportunities and more, visit Kari. That's Kari. See you next week for more insights and strategies on the Esthetician Podcast.

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