Episode 2: My Therapists Are Going Solo… Help!

Therapists Going Solo: The Realities, Challenges, and Success Strategies

Are you a beauty therapist thinking about going solo? Or a salon owner navigating staff transitions? In this episode, Debbie Mulhall shares expert insights on why therapists leave, the biggest challenges of working solo, and how salon owners can build a strong business ecosystem to protect against turnover.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why Therapists Decide to Go Solo – From rising costs to the desire for more flexibility, discover the top reasons beauty therapists take the leap.
• The Challenges of Going Solo – Managing bookings, client retention, and financial realities—Debbie shares what to expect and how to prepare.
• Client Retention & Loyalty – Will your clients follow you? Learn the truth about keeping a loyal customer base.
• Building a Strong Salon Ecosystem – Strategies for salon owners to reduce staff turnover and create a thriving business.
• Maintaining Positive Relationships – Why parting on good terms matters and how to stay connected with former team members.
• Final Tips & Resources – Proactive steps to ensure long-term success, plus a sneak peek at Debbie’s Beauty Business Mastery Program for salon owners.

💬 Debbie’s Key Message: A salon should be more than a job—it should be a valuable, sellable asset. Without systems, strategy, and financial clarity, many beauty business owners face burnout and walk away with nothing. Start planning your exit now—so you can leave on your terms, with profit and purpose.

✨ Discover the 4 Biggest Profit Killers that could be holding your beauty business back 💸💔—straight from Beauty CEO & Mentor Debbie Mulhall 💄👩‍💼: https://www.beautybbm.com/signup

🎧 Tune in now to protect your passion, prepare your plan, and turn your salon into a sellable asset.

📩 Have thoughts or questions? Connect with Debbie on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautybusinessmasterybbm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beauty_business_mastery/#

Website: https://www.beautybbm.com/

📢 Loved this episode? Subscribe, rate, and review! Your support helps empower more beauty entrepreneurs to build sustainable, stress-free success.

Chapters

• 0:26 The Challenge of Therapists Going Solo
• 1:52 Emotional Impact of Losing Staff
• 3:56 Why Therapists Choose to Go Solo
• 8:00 Misconceptions About Going Solo
• 11:56 Do Clients Always Follow a Therapist?
• 17:02 Coping Strategies for Salon Owners
• 22:05 Building a Resilient Business
• 26:59 Ending on a Positive Note
• 29:04 Creating a Sustainable Salon Business
• 33:56 Final Thoughts & CEO Mindset

Transcript

Debbie  0:01  

Welcome to the Beauty Pro To CEO podcast. The spa and beauty industry podcast, where we discuss all things beauty business and CEO life. I'm your host, Debbie Mulhall, and I'm on a mission to serve and empower female beautypreneurs, just like you from all over the world. So sit back, grab a couple and let's dig into this week's episode of the pod.

Debbie  0:26  

My therapists are going solo help. Have you ever felt sinking feeling when one of your therapists drops the bombshell, I'm going solo. You are not alone. It's a story I hear all the time, and one that I've experienced myself, and I know that it can leave you feeling a little bit betrayed or panicked and wondering what went wrong. But here's the thing, their departure doesn't have to spell disaster for your business. In fact, it can be the catalyst for incredible growth and success.

Debbie  1:00  

If you know how to navigate it. Today, I'm sharing why therapists believe the truth of outgoing solo and how you can build a salon so strong that it can weather any storm. If you've ever lost a key therapist or team member, you know it can feel personal, but it's also a sign that your business is ready for growth. Today I'm going to flip the script on this common fear and turn it into an opportunity for transformation. Some of the things we're going to cover in today's episode, why therapists actually decide to leave, common challenges that solo therapists face when they do, how to protect your business against high staff turnover, and a little bit about the systems processes and conversations you need to have with them to help you thrive. 

Debbie  1:52  

Well, let's just start off by saying this. I would imagine if you have had this happen to you, even the mention of somebody leaving your team, or somebody who's a very key member, probably brought up, like PTSD, I mentioned it there. It can be. It can actually take a huge physical grip on you when you're not prepared. And it can be quite shocking to your business. I mean, I have had so many silent owners reach out to me throughout the years. It's very, very common thing that people would message me to share that they were in a state of panic that their main person was leaving, or they had more than one person going out on maternity and didn't think that they were coming back after they had their babies. I even had one salon owner reach out to me, and she had three or four staff members that was the size for salon and herself, and she contacted me, messaged me on social media, and said, you know, we didn't know each other very well, but she she needed to talk to somebody. 

Debbie  3:00  

She said, This is quite an emergency. I'm in a state of distress and panic. Could you take a call? And I actually just felt the tone from the lady's message that was at the time that she was really, really stressed out. So I decided to jump on a call with her. And yeah, she had shared with me that all of her staff had decided to open another salon in the exact same small town. It was a small village here in Ireland, and I don't think there was any other salons in the area. And yeah, they were all leaving, and it's the I can remember feeling the pain for her, and yeah, if that's you, and if you're relating to this, I hope that you're going to get so much out of this podcast. So let's go ahead, let's dig in, and let's talk about why therapists decide to go solo in the beginning.

Debbie  3:56  

Well, there are so many reasons why somebody may decide to go solo. They really are in today's economy, the number one thing that I actually see, and have seen more recently, since 2020, and since COVID, is with the cost of living crisis going up. Sometimes they are strapped financially. I know in Ireland, we have a huge housing crisis, and it can be extremely tricky to get on the property ladder. So they may be struggling to maintain, you know, funding to get a house, and everything in general has gone more expensive. And yeah, sometimes, I guess the, you know, the person might just take a look, and they are obviously aware of the finances that they make in the business. So if you are a 60k 70k earner for a salon, I can understand how that therapist would look at their sales and go, Oh, my God, I'm on, you know, whatever, less than whatever X amount of dollars. And I bring in all this revenue.

Debbie  5:03  

If I was working for myself, I could make that money, and then I'd be able to buy my head, get the car I want, maybe even have more flexibility. And another big thing, actually, and it really goes back to the cost of living as well, is childcare. Now I can tell you, this is a huge one for us. At the moment, in our clinics, trying to find solutions that work for families that have children, and yeah, like it depends on their circumstances. Not everybody has help or support outside of paying for childcare service, which, in Ireland, I mean, my daughter's 13, but when I had my daughter, she was full-time in childcare. Um, when I was in I had to always have somebody take care of her. My mom, who was amazing, was just gone. 

Debbie  5:58  

She actually, technically took care of all the other kids that all the nieces and nephews, but my mom would have been a little bit old at the time to take my daughter, and she would have, but we had childcare. And I remember in the beginning, when I was renting, I didn't have a mortgage, or I didn't have a home, and it was hard because I only had one daughter, and every time I would pay that, it was almost a mortgage. At the time, I remember thinking, if I could get a mortgage for my house, I could pay with this childcare fee, but I was very grateful to have childcare, and Bryn always had the very best but, yeah, I remember how tough it was, so I think that that can be a big thing so and then, okay, so that's if maybe one of your stylists and therapist leaves and they have one kid, but then it becomes even more tricky when they have a second baby, or they have a larger family. And that's one that I think we see a lot, and it's really hard actually as a business owner as well. Because, I mean, who can blame somebody if they can't financially go back to work. 

Debbie  7:00  

You know, sometimes people become stay-at-home moms, not because they want to, more so because they have to. So that's a bit tricky in the industry, and it is a problem that we face, and something that I think at the moment, we had our annual planning meeting my manager and I last week, and that's something that's at the forefront of my mind, moving into my my big picture, Vision planning. You know, how do we better support, support our therapists through this cost of living crisis, and especially our moms? So, yeah, I do believe there's solutions for all of this. But yeah, it's no doubt, it's a very big challenge, and it's something that I'm hearing across the industry, and I'd love to hear from you if it's something that you feel that you feel is a challenge in your industry. I know we have listeners from all over, so I'm always, yeah, I'm always interested to hear what goes on in other parts of the world as well and how they deal with those things. So yeah, that's just one of the main reasons. And cost of living crisis is, of course, a global problem. 

Debbie  8:00  

It's not unique to Ireland. I know it could be at the moment, it's probably a little bit worse in the States, from what I'm hearing and seeing and understanding, but yeah, so that is something that is a challenge. Now, one thing I suppose that does happen, excuse me, as well, is I see a huge amount of people deciding to go solo because they really want flexibility in their schedule and more freedom. They, you know, working for an hourly rate and working in a business for somebody else, working schedules, and working rosters. After a couple of years, they can start to feel like they want to have a bit more freedom. And I guess if they're leaving for that reason, I don't ever want to be the I don't ever want to be the person that breaks it to them. But I think there's a lot of misconception around actually business ownership. 

Debbie  9:00  

So when you go solo, as many of you who are salon owners, you all know this. You've been through it, or if you're thinking about going solo, then definitely listen up. This is not to scare you. I'm all for growth and success, but I think solo business ownership brings with it a unique set of challenges that people don't, don't think about, excuse me. Okay, so I would say that it's it can be quite small-minded thinking from in terms of going solo. Because if you take, let's say you're on a schedule for 36 hours, that's somewhere around the average of what you might see for a full term therapist in our clinic, if you were to take 36 hours of clients in your home or in a, you know, in a small salon in the town, I think what happens is a solo therapist really forgets that they then need to apply.

Debbie  9:59  

Be another three, four hours of the week to getting those clients booked in and scheduled. And then obviously, you won't have a front of house when you start. So then you have to kind of stretch your appointments so that you have a little bit of time to turn your room and to get your client, you know, set up with the till and everything. So the appointments stretch out a little bit, and very often, if they don't factor in that time. And I think most of us know even it usually ends up being like your day off, which I do not encourage anybody to do, but I'm like reality is, when you start on your own, the hardest you will ever, the hardest you would ever, ever work is those first few years, if you stay on your own, and statistically, most of these salons end up closing. I think it's less than seven years. They don't last very long because they end up burning out. Or the second option is that they decide to grow a team, which does bring its other set of challenges, but that was the direction I went with my business. 

Debbie  10:58  

So I was solo for a number of years, and then decided to grow it into a business and build a team. But yeah, they don't take into account all of that. And then obviously you have to clean it, clean your salon, clean your space. And yeah, so if you take into consideration all of the hours that it takes to get the business set up and running, and then the dreaded marketing, I hear this all the time from business owners who have gone solo, but they say that they they really underestimated how much time then that they would need to generate some marketing for their business. There is a sort of a common misconception or illusion, and this, this should serve this bit of information that should serve business owners, how you know if your staff are leaving, just to help you ease the panic, but also as something to bear in mind if you are going out as a solo business owner, the therapist who's leaving and the business owner, in my experience, both make one false assumption. 

Debbie  11:56  

It's the number one thing that I think if everybody could remember at the beginning of their journey, it would serve them well, and that is that all of the clients that you have serviced as a solo therapist, or all of those clients in that person's column, are going to leave your salon and move with that person, and you're never going To see them again. Well, that's actually not true. Of course, there will be a, you know, you of course, have a certain amount of clients who will absolutely follow that person. They've built up relationships with them, and they may be the only person that they like to go to. And for sure, it is a possibility that you will need a good few. Here's what I've seen in my experience now, bearing in mind of over 14 years at this point, and a lot of the treatments we carried out in my clinic were very specific, meaning a specific person goes to a specific person for her eyebrow shaping and tenting, or her HD, or her pro brow treatment, or this person only wants to go to my lead sin therapist in my tulmore clinic. 

Debbie  13:09  

So let this is how you know your clients become loyal. I've seen on more than probably, I'm going to say, 15 occasions. I've learned all this through experience, I've seen on more than 15 occasions when we think, Oh, sugar, that's we're going to lose so many clients, and how are we going to survive? And especially our tulmore clinic, because it's in quite a small town. And the funny thing is, some will definitely go and some may not come back. The other point to note is, if you offer a multiple arrange or a multiple array of services, they may go for one particular service with that person, but if you have other treatments or other services available in your business, they probably will come back to yours to avail of other things. So you might lose them partially, or might not lose them at all. 

Debbie  13:59  

One trend that I have seen happen is the for the first cycle. So let's say I have brow artist. She is incredible, and she's moving to another area, and she's going to work in another salon, or she's going to work for herself. And the book can look quite scary on that first four to six week cycle, when the person leads and you go, Uh oh. But what happens is, a huge amount of her clients will go and visit her in her first, in her next place. I can tell you of the first cycle and maybe the second cycle, so maybe they'll do one more appointment. Only around maybe 30, 40% of those will actually stay with that person. What happens is lots of things. The client realizes that they do love this person services, but perhaps the parking doesn't suit them at the new location, or not everybody wants to go into, like your home salon or down your back garden, into your cabin at the back, some people just find that a little bit. Comfortable. 

Debbie  15:02  

I'm just speaking from personal experience as well. I know I went to somebody's home salon, and I just found it very cold, and I just felt a little bit like, oh, I mean, I was in, I've had my treatment. Treatment was amazing. The girl was amazing. But I kind of missed the whole vibe of going into where she used to work, because there was always a ton of people, a ton of smiley faces. If, for some reason, that lady wasn't well in or she had to reschedule with her childcare, somebody else would take my appointment. So my appointment never got moved or canceled. As much as possible. They would always try and facilitate, which I loved, and I don't know how to explain, I just didn't feel that it was the experience was the same going to her home salon. So there are so many reasons and then another. Another thing is statistically, if you do a bit of research on you know, your business statistically, when we look at, for example, our Athlone clinic, statistically, people come to our Athlone clinic because, first and foremost, because of our location. 

Debbie  16:01  

So we have an incredible high street location. We if we're in a town where parking is very, very tricky, we have ample parking outside our front door, and I've always maintained that that has been a superpower for our business. And that can be just, it can be just as simple as that. So I have one fellow reach out to me, and one of her key players left, and she was a brown beauty artist in her business. And not only did she leave, but she opened her own place, I would say, 100 meters from her employer. Okay, these things happen, all right? They can happen. They don't happen as much in the skin industry and they don't happen as much in certain industries, but I know it happens in hair and it happens in beauty, okay, because there's a low barrier to entry for those types of services. 

Debbie  17:02  

Okay, so the lady opened around the corner, let's say she was just across the street, and yeah, that girl was in she was in dire straits, so she told me she wasn't sleeping. She couldn't relax at night. She couldn't unwind. It had taken all the joy. The rest of the team really felt the impact, because this was a key member of the team as well, so she was very much loved on the team, and they all, they all felt the pinch, and everyone just felt a little bit weird. But what happened? And, yeah, you know, I worked with that girl at the time, and I was, I was so glad I was able to support her, and I was able to forward plan exactly what would happen. I'm not going to go into the details now, because that would be actually another excellent podcast topic for another day, but I was able to through experience, I was able to give her a good idea of how I thought it would play out. And about three months later, we were back in contact, and she said, Oh my god, exactly as you said, exactly as you said. 

Debbie  18:00  

So for a number of reasons, which we were able to predict, and I was able to forecast, based on the story, about half the clients came back. And I think over time, more of them came back, here and there, and that salon offered multiple services, and she said most of them came back for other treatments. So in the end, she had the main problem she had was maybe about a three-month period where she had to train somebody to a high level just to build the column back up. And here's the thing, and here's the thing, whether you like this fact or whether you don't like this fact, clientele. And your clientele is transient. Okay, it's not, it's an ecosystem of people coming and going, 

Debbie  18:43  

Hey, beauty boss, if you're loving this episode and you're serious about making more profit in your business without constantly hustling for it, then you need to check out my mini program, Beauty Profit First. This isn't just another pricing formula or spreadsheet. Beauty Profit First is all about flipping your mindset and creating rock solid and simple habits that will protect and grow your profit week after week, month after month, no matter what stage of business you're in. I've also included a really, really handy plug and play Beauty Profit Tracker for you to install straight away from today into your business, so you don't have to go building any crazy elaborate spreadsheets. It's all there ready for you to go. So whether you're just starting out or you're already an established beauty entrepreneur, the difference between struggling and thriving isn't about working harder. It's definitely about working smarter and making those money moves. And that's exactly what I'm going to show you how to do inside Beauty Profit First. So if you're ready to start running your business like a true CEO and actually keep more of what you earn, then click the link in the show notes and grab Beauty Profit First today. All right, let's jump back into the episode.

Debbie  19:55  

You can't look at your book today and say these people will always be with me. These are liver. Now, some of them are lifers. Some of them do end up being lifers, of course, but as a whole, for you're running a large team and a large salon, your clientele will move for different reasons. You just somebody could move jobs and they're not living in the area anymore. Somebody may decide, may just move to another part of town, and may decide that the place across the street is just quicker and handier on a lunch break for an appointment. And it can be just that simple, they may get a service someday in your salon or in your clinic that they just don't love. I know no one wants to think that that could happen, but it can happen. It can be very unfortunate if you miss that client and you don't get that feedback. But if I don't know about the rest of the world, but we are notorious in Ireland when we are asked how our service was, or if we have feedback, the Irish people are notorious for saying, it was grand. And what that means, if you're listening from around the world, is it's not, it's not a passive aggressive remark. We just say, Oh, it was, it was perfect. 

Debbie  20:59  

Thank you very much, because we're too embarrassed as a nation, not always, but can be too embarrassed to say, Well, if you're asking, I actually really didn't like that style that she did, or she made the color really too dark on that service, or, yeah, for whatever reason. So your clientele will a lot of people, or some people, and a small percentage will go somewhere else because they didn't love their last service. What else? And that's just kind of how it rolls. And yeah, so book clients come and go, and this is why I think it is so important to protect your it is so important to have your business protected. So you do need to have an ecosystem and a flow and a pipeline and a system in place for pipelining new clients into your business all the time, and that is something that will that's big picture thinking. So I always talk about the CEO mindset. I never stop talking about the CEO mindset. But that's visionary mindset, thinking big picture, seeing past your current problem today, to try and find solutions for a much bigger picture. 

Debbie  22:05  

Again, you might even argue that somebody who chooses to work from home or go solo, that could be quite small minded picture thinking. Because I think if that person needs time off, or if they become unwell, it can be it can be a I can tell you it's a much bigger struggle than if you work within a team or if you have team members working for you. So that's just a couple of points around why team members may decide to go solo, and the reasons, you know, they look at the numbers, they don't, they confuse, they very often confuse, the revenue that they generate for profit, you know. And sometimes I don't know whether I think it's the right way or the wrong way. Sometimes you need to be very transparent. I think what your team i I'm sure that sometimes the illusion is that there's buckets and buckets of cash going into the business. So there's, there must be a bank account with buckets and buckets of cash. It's not necessarily the case, as you all may know. 

Debbie  23:03  

So that's just an assumption. If they don't have a good understanding of finances, they might just think, well, that's that's profit, and not understanding that the reality is, with the extra hours that they would do and with the all of the time that they would spend trying to just get those times in the door, when you average out, their hourly rate would end up being much, much lower. And again, that illusion they feel that they are going to have so much more freedom in their life. And the reality is, running a small solo business is probably the hardest thing you would ever do. I'm not saying don't do it, but it is the I don't think if anyone wants to argue with me and tell me I'm wrong again. I'm always open to hear other stories and success stories. But yeah, I think that's been the general, that's what I've seen a lot of, so that the conception that all my clients will follow me, they might not go home silence, not the same experience. So definitely their family and friends and a small number of clients will go there. 

Debbie  24:00  

And yeah, we've discussed a little bit about the clientele not staying static. I would say I've just written some notes. The number one thing that you can do to protect yourself as a business owner and to really help with the emotional ups and downs of when people leave is commit to building and growing a well-oiled machine and make your business such a strong entity that no single person leaving can disrupt its success. Okay, that is not an easy thing to do. That takes a little bit of time. It takes a lot of focused and intentional management, but with the right systems and processes in place, it can happen. How do we know this? Because we once had a situation where one of our key members, she actually wasn't a therapist, she was the light and heart and soul of our Athlone clinic, and she was very much the point. 

Debbie  25:00  

Us of the business, and at the time, when it was time for her stations with us for good, for years, it was such a shock, because we had no systems and processes in place. And we're going to call this lady Anne. And Anne was loved, but Anne was if anyone couldn't find anything, or if we couldn't figure out which supply everything was, ask Anne. And in the in the end, like it was nearly a joke, and when, when this lady that we say her name is Anne, was leaving, it was devastating to the business. Okay, so I remember having full blown anxiety for days on how we're going to do this. But if you're in this position, and if you ever find you're in this you're in this position, position, I advise you to really alchemize that feeling and turn it into an opportunity. And that's what real mastery of, you know, business ownership is take every kick and every knock back and step back, and turn it, use it as an opportunity for growth, and use it as an opportunity for success. 

Debbie  26:01  

So in that instance, I identified that we didn't have systems and processes in place, and that it was actually unfair to have everything in one person's head or on her computer screen for two businesses with a huge team. And it was at that point we committed, committed about a year, I stepped back in to the role in the office, and we got all our systems and processes set up. And it was that I didn't hire another manager until I had all that done. So I stayed in the business for free, here myself. And it was at that point, then, when I knew that we had got our systems in place, that we hired a new manager. So you know, another thing, when your team members are leaving. Please remember that this person has worked really hard for you for X, Y, Z years. You know, always come from a place of gratitude. Remember that person has been, has done their best, and most likely, you know you should be, you know if they're moving and it's exciting. Be excited for them. 

Debbie  26:59  

Most definitely end on a really positive note and just kind of accept that this is part of the this is part of it. It's not personal. Usually not personal. Maybe it is, I don't know, but generally, in my experience, it's not personal, and maintain a nice relationship, if possible, with the person. Doesn't always happen that way in the real world, but I would say, if you can at all, there's nobody needs that negativity. Nobody needs to leave on bad terms. Don't do it. And actually, I've parted ways as best I could with almost all my team members. And you know what? They come back for a chat, or someday, if they've gone on their own, they'll need something. I don't know how many times I've had to pick up the phone and ring one of my, you know, past therapists who has their own business. So many of my past therapists are self-employed. Ask them for advice, or, Hey, you got that new machine? How did it go for you? How was your rep down to, I need wax strips in the salon. We can't get an order. And can somebody run across and go to Neve and see what? And that's it. 

Debbie  27:58  

And that's how you do business, and that's how you, you know, become so confident in your ability that somebody else's success is not going to tear you down. You will have a steel rod right through your back, and it's very empowering. So that's a lot of the work I would do when I'm, you know, working with salon owners who have that kind of stress. A lot of its mindset shifts in perspective, and if you take on, you know the identity of the CEO and the role and responsibility, then you gotta find solutions to make sure that you're protecting your business. We spoke a little bit about that. So build better pathways. So we build a better salon ecosystem, understanding that your culture, what your brand offers your clients, is what they come back for. Build a brand so strong that one person is not going to do detrimental damage. Okay, so another thing that we well, I maintain, in my experience, that that sweet spot of around five to eight therapists, once you have that number in your business, you should have pathways and programs and training plans in place to bring through new talent to your business. 

Debbie  29:04  

Okay, if you're depending on if you're not hiring, if you don't have a system in place for bringing on apprentices and trainees, and you should always have a good junior or two that is very excited to learn, and you're putting them in a position in your salon to work under 4, 6, 8, 10, whatever it is, combined years of experience therapists like that's such a privilege for them to get to learn in that environment. It's such a privilege for them to get to learn in that environment. So provide that within your business model, okay? And it always means, then again, if somebody needs there can be great opportunity for somebody else to step in, you know, a junior who has been just, you know, building up her time based slowly, all of a sudden, gets the opportunity to shine with some of this person's clientele. So there's positive in it. I've seen so many incredible transformations on some of my best girls. They started with me as juniors, and they just worked their way up. 

Debbie  29:59  

And somebody else would leave, and then they get access to, you know, the next level of client base and that's how you get better hours, too. So, yeah, that's, that's, you know, a really, really important part so building your ecosystem and your brand to protect against it, that's a huge part of what we've done over the past few years. And now, you know, I sleep much better as a business owner, because I've been through it all, and I'm pretty confident that regardless of we, let me tell you, I say pretty confident, but like, I mean, if half your team are out on maternity at one point or have left as business owner is, I'm not going to say it's easy, but you have ways and means and systems in place to survive those periods, and inevitably, you'll get going again. Numbers will come back up, clients will all be serviced, and everything does all work out in the end. So those are my little tips. And yeah, the last thing I wanted to just say about when your therapists are exiting.

Debbie  30:57  

Two things, number one is to make sure that you know. You ask them, Is there anything else you could have done to support them? Try not that conversation before they leave, because I've had team members who really just wanted a better schedule, or they just needed a bit more flexibility with something else. And in actual fact, when we got down to it, we were able to facilitate it, but they just didn't ask, because nobody else in the team had that availability. But for example, we've been changing how we organize our time off and rosters, and we've been very much of the mindset for the past couple of years. For example, if you are a senior skin master in our business and your clients, you're a top tier stylist or therapist, and if your clients are happy to come in Monday to Friday, and you don't need to be on the schedule on Saturday, and if that's your request that you, for example, you have child care issues and you don't have anyone on a Saturday, well, we will set you your target, that your client base, if you can keep your Diary full with your regulars, and that's what happens. 

Debbie  30:57  

People just come in on other days. So that could mean that somebody who is an excellent therapist, that could keep them really happy in their career for many, many years. So those types of things, there's so many different strategies. Would definitely have a conversation before they leave, make sure that there's, you know, that there is nothing else. Now I'm not saying that you leave those conversations. You don't want those conversations coming up at the last minute. You should be doing regular, regular conversations, regular performance reviews, and you should already know if there's big issues like that with your team members, and we do our you know. And you should have your team career pathways in place so that they know what the next year is. Your therapist will leave when they feel like there is nowhere left for them to grow. So if they've hit the top of the pay scale, if there's no one more opportunity for them to make more commission, if there's no more opportunity for them to adjust their schedules, if there's not an opportunity for them to go Flexi or part time, whatever, everyone's different. Everyone has different needs. 

Debbie  33:01  

Well, you need to have a pathway in place so that people have places to go. All right, maybe some would like an opportunity to go into management. There's there's, there should be a pathway that they should know where they stand and where their next step to success is. And I think that's a huge part of having your team members stay long term. So I hope some of those tips have helped. I hope it didn't go on too much of a ramble, so many things to talk about on any one of those topics, we could go in. But I hope that you did, at least found that a little bit help. And if you're currently undergoing a transition of team members, I want you to just know to really try not in the big picture, getting super stressed and having your health and compromise, it isn't actually worth it if you don't have systems in place, you know, to bring new team members in. And if a lot of this sounds like you know, you really haven't got it in place, I will tell you that is the secret. 

Debbie  33:56  

You gotta build a business so strong and grow business so strong with the right processes for each component in place to protect against team members leaving, to make sure you have new team members coming, Team career pathways, so that your staff find that they have somewhere to go. And yeah, try and be as flexible as you can while still maintaining, you know, to meet the needs of the business. And that usually will help. I know I didn't have those things when I started out, my first my growth to my first 5,6,7 team members, I had none of those things. And we had such a high turnover of staff, and I didn't understand. But yeah, three years, of course, is learning mentorship and, you know, studying other businesses and how they got to where they got to. I realized I, you know, had to stand up and look in the mirror so many times. And had look in the mirror and say, Where are you not showing up? How do you need to do better, tough conversations to have with yourself, but yeah, you have to always the book falls of the CEO. If there's something not wrong. 

Debbie  35:00  

Right in the system. It's generally, you know, it's up to you as the leader of the company to find a solution and to make sure that things are right now, not an easy thing to do, but it's when you start asking those questions of yourself. And, you know, ask a mentor, ask somebody you trust. Don't be careful who you ask. But ask somebody that you trust, or somebody who's wise, and somebody who's done all these things. Don't ask your mom or your sister or another team member, or, you know, ask somebody who's walked the path maybe where you need to improve. Sometimes, self-analysis is good. If you're very, very aware, or you have a lot of self awareness, or you've been doing a lot of programs or on a lot of masterminds with other business owners. Masterminding is excellent as well, because you'll get very honest feedback in there, because sometimes you just need a little feedback and a little guidance and a lot of self awareness. Anyway, I'm going to stop because I could just go on on these topics forever. 

Debbie  35:55  

So yeah, this is a lot of what we do in our program, BBM, Beauty Business Mastery, all of the information, links and details, where everything is in the show notes, and thanks so much for joining. It was amazing to get my second episode recorded, and I thought I was going to have to really think about things to talk about. But no, the more I get stuck in, the more I realize I've got so much good stuff to share. But yeah, as I mentioned before, if you would like to reach out to me on beautybusinessmastery.com, I hang out mostly on Instagram handles. Link below, I'd love to know if you had any takes, if you can relate to anything I said here, and for sure, if you have any burning questions, let me know. I'd love to answer them and make sure that I am delivering as much helpful information on this platform as possible. 

Debbie  36:39  

That is a wrap on today's episode. I hope you're leaving with fresh inspiration, new ideas, and the confidence to take some action in your business, because, trust me, you are so capable of building something amazing. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I love having these chats, and if something in this episode lit a fire under you, please let me know. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to reach out, ask questions or just tell me what you're taking away. And remember sharing is caring. If you know another beauty pro who needs to hear this, send it their way. Let's spread the love and help more beauty business owners step into their CEO power before you go. Don't forget to check out all of the goodies in the show notes. I've got some incredible resources waiting for you, including my free guide on the biggest profit killers in your business. Trust me, you will want to see these plus links to my programs if you are ready to deep diver and work with me. Alright, beauty boss, that's it for now. Keep growing, glowing and I'll catch you in the next episode.