Purpose, Shampoo, and the Boy in the Plastic Bubble 🫧

Grab a coffee and settle in with Tessa, Michelle, and Monica as they talk about the messy, funny, and meaningful moments that led them to join FermaGlo. Between allergies, motherhood chaos, and honest talk about clean beauty, this episode is a reminder that purpose can show up right when you need it most.

✨ Disclaimer: The hosts are not medical professionals. Nothing shared in this podcast should be taken as medical advice or claims.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:03

Hey, hey, hey, gorgeous people. Welcome to the Hair at First Podcast where Great Hair Meets Real Life. We're your hosts, Tessa, Monica, and Michelle. Freestylists, moms, besties. We're keeping it real about beauty, business, and the chaos of motherhood.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

We're here to share stories, laugh way too loud, and maybe spill a little shampoo along the way. Just a quick heads up. We're not making any medical claims or giving professional advice here, just sharing our own thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

So grab your coffee, your favorite blanket, and let's hair it first.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Hey, hey, hey, glad you're back. It's me, Michelle, and Monica just tuning in today to discuss a few things of why we joined FermaGlow and just some other things in our lives. So how are you girls doing? Everybody have a good day.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Doing good today. Yeah. It's been a good day. Sun is shining, birds are chirping.

SPEAKER_03 1:08

Absolutely. Although I would like some snow. I love the snow.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

I'm ready for like straight up fall. All this willy-nilly, warm, not warm, sick of it. My sinuses hate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

I yeah, hate, despise summer. I'm allergic to my own sweat and the sun. Literally been tested for that. Allergic to my own sweat and the sun. Like, oh my god. Oh, awesome. That's let me just be that kid on what was that one movie where he just had to live in the closet and drink his own pee? You know? That movie. The boy in the plastic bubble. I don't even know what you're talking about. The boy in the plastic bubble. That one. Well, that's how it was. It was the one where um they take all the misfit kids and form a ball team and the um you guys. Okay, I'll have to get back to you guys on the name of that later, but now you're gonna have to watch it. So obviously I do not I do not consume my own urine. I am allergic to that as well. So I am not that person. I just want you guys to know it's just sometimes I feel like that boy. I think the question is what are you not allergic to? Well, that would be easier. It would be a lot easier, to be honest. But yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

You and I both are melanoma people. We can't, the sun is not our friend.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

Yeah, well, um, you all can take the winter because I hate the snow. I like to watch it fall, and then I don't ever want to see it again. Ever. I we gotta have it for Christmas. That's right. It can fall at Christmas and then it can leave the day after. Because I'm done.

SPEAKER_03 3:02

But I got that hurts my feelings actually, a little bit that you're talking about snow like that because it makes me so happy. I love snow. I want more of it. I love ice, I love all the things, I love everything that comes with winter.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

I like watching the reels of people falling on the ice. I got me too. They don't get hurt. I don't love it if people get hurt, but I literally die laughing laying in my bed at night. Me too. I will say all the time. I do I do like to laugh at that. It's like but it's like and then the person that comes to help will wipes out too.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yes, it's like 85 degrees outside. I'm diabolical, and I have on alpaca socks because I'm so cold.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

Made with real alpaca.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

They are, they're actually Craig's hunting socks. You're allergic to that also.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Yeah, she is, but look how cute the little lap we talked about that earlier. If I would have put those on, I would die.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

So cute. We actually have an alpaca farm here, it's called um Laurie's, and she's a baker. So, like you take the kids, they have all these animals. It's it's like the perfect place to take children, and they have they make their own socks and everything like that. So they have a cute little gift shop and a bake shop, and it's awesome. Do they make alpaca? It's in the middle of BFE. Do they make alpaca pies?

SPEAKER_03 4:22

Socks. No, no, they don't cook the alpaca. Well, you said they own an alpaca farm and she's a baker, and I was like, oh no, she brings just baked goods, brings a whole new meaning to minced meat pie.

SPEAKER_00 4:36

Oh my god!

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Disgusting, disgusting.

SPEAKER_03 4:42

No, I would like to visit the alpaca farm.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

I think we have we have an alpaca farm right down the road from our house. That is not where I got these socks. So cute. I don't know where Craig got them, but I like to wear them because they're warm.

SPEAKER_03 4:57

If I see on the news later that your neighbor is missing an alpaca or running around with no hair on it, I know that you made your socks from their pet alpaca Alfred, that it was just hanging out there innocent, enjoying life. And here comes Monica with a pair of clippers for some box.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

It is what it is. Life happens.

SPEAKER_00 5:23

I mean, we she's pretty crunchy.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

I am pretty crunchy. That is better than cringy. Those are both accurate, and I'm sure sometimes I can be a little cringy too.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

So whatever. Well, who can't? I haven't seen it yet. I haven't I like if you're cringy. Yeah, I yeah, yeah. Um I sorry, I always have to sit with my legs. Me too. You'll notice me doing this too. That's who I am.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Um, I have the crisscross, the crisscross chair is the best. Crisscross apples. I have a crisscross chair. So, like my chair is like I'm sitting crisscross applesauce with my legs, and my chair supports my legs. It's great.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

Could you send us one of the link to that, please?

SPEAKER_01 6:15

Because I feel like we've been pulling out.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

Um we would like a rock chair.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

I get a little rockage to it.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

Oh I like a good rocking chair.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Mine doesn't really well. I guess I could make it, but I could go over backwards if I was gonna say if I just from staples. Oh my gosh, you guys, you know. Fun fact, my husband cannot do crisscross applesauce. He is not limber at all. I don't think he's never, even his mom said he's never been able to just zip Indian style. I don't think Greg could do it. Yeah, I feel like he should stretch.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

They don't listen. Yeah, I don't know. No, no, they don't. They're not good listeners. We love them all. Sweet peace. No, they're not some days. Like maybe that they're born with um an extra piece in their ears, you know, like some little extra equipment in there, you know. They a hundred percent, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

I agree. All right, so let's talk about our whys. Like, why why did we join Firmaglobe? Like, we are all busy stylists in a salon working all the time. Why why add something else to our plate? Like, why did Tessa, why did you join Fermaglobe?

SPEAKER_03 7:59

So for the longest time, um, well, okay, the type of salon I run and the allergies I have, it's always been a dream of mine to find or create something that's safe for people. It's just such a horrible thing to try to figure out on your own. And so, um, you know, being a small town girl, I'm like, how am I ever gonna get into anything like that? You know? So um Adam and I became empty nesters. Our three boys all moved out, went to college and things. And so I was honestly lost. Um, there was not that hustle and bustle of me um washing 15,000 pairs of ball pants and PTO and you know, just everything that comes along, you know, nonstop ball games, travel teams, this, that. When that silence hit, it hit, it hit hard. And so um I prayed and prayed and prayed for something. I needed a purpose in my life because my kids were my purpose. And I somewhere along the way lost myself. I didn't know who I was, I didn't know who my husband was. We didn't even have we've always had kids together. So we never got that time to actually get to know each other well enough either. So I did, I prayed and prayed for something to fill that emptiness in my life, but also something to bring me and my husband together. Um, because we did always just have kids. When we got married, our kids were very, very young, but I had one and he had two, and you know, so one day I had been praying, and one day I get a phone call from my cousin Jason, and he's like, Hey, you know, think about this. We got this thing, and blah, blah, blah. Next thing I know, I'm getting on the Zoom with Tony, and Adam gets home, and we get on another Zoom, and we just look at each other like we are all in. We just we and I was shocked that my husband, who's a lineman, was like, I'm all in on a shampoo company. He don't even have any hair. Yeah, it's weird, but he don't have no hair, you know. So, um that that is my reason why, first of all, because these products are what people everywhere need and are looking for, and we can give that to them, but also to fill that space in my life and bring that support and that connection between me and my husband. My husband and I this has brought us so close together because we support each other every step of the way and we're patting each other's back. Like, you know, I mean, my husband's insane. We'll be sitting there talking to somebody and he'll take up a over the whole conversation about shampoo and color. He's learned he could work in this law now. I don't know, but um that's and and to secure my future, our future and for our family, our kids, our grandkids, to create really a legacy for them and be able to leave things behind for them and to um you know just create a whole different different life for them as well. It's I I don't know. I just I'm very, very thankful for it, but you know, that's really why I did this. And this is it's already been so life-changing in all of those areas, and I know it's only gonna keep getting better and better and better. So um that's that's my why on that. So and God put it right in my hands. I prayed for it, and he was like, here you go. So how about you girls? How about you guys?

SPEAKER_01 11:59

Go ahead, Michelle. Go and go ahead and say your why.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

Mine's yeah, my mine is very similar. Um between my husband and myself, um, we've got six kids. Uh he had one pass away, and then we have a special needs daughter, and she's now 20, but you know, when we got together, um, it was it was all the sports and the feeding and the you know, working and running here and running there, and then all of a sudden, all that's gone. And it you're just like, what do I do now? And and I I honestly started getting some anxiety, and I was just laying in bed right now, or one night, and I also started praying, and I just I'm like, you know, I'm type A control freak, and I just gave it all up to my higher being, and I I was like, I need some guidance, I need to hear you. Like, I've always felt like I can't, you know, everybody's like, oh, just listen and you'll you'll see, you'll hear, and I just never had really felt that. Um, and you know, I said my prayers and I was speaking, and um, I still couldn't sleep, and I picked up the phone and I saw Tony and immediately um was sent the webinar. And now, mind you guys, this is like 12 quarter to 12 at night, and I decided to join at one in the morning, and it it's one of those things that I feel like it's a god thing also, um, because I did listen. And first of all, what I've got is YouTube. Um, you know, I don't have a lot of close friends right now because just life happens, and you know, you to find you guys out of this has been such a blessing because I feel like, you know, Tessa, you've said it before. We feel like we're best friends and we've only known each other six weeks, and but we talk every day, like so it's more than just a company, it's a community. I felt welcome from the minute I walked into that Airbnb. Everybody is so kind, and I had been on the search. I'm you know, I'm on a new clean journey, right? So I'm a newbie. You guys know a little bit more about it than I do. Um, but I'm I'm beginning and I'm making little changes here and there, and I feel like this company is so transparent in their ingredients and what they are doing and how they want to help people. Obviously, companies want to make money. I mean, we're hairstylists, we're here to make money. But if I can offer my clients, myself, my family, an option that is not harmful. I mean, if you're listening to this and you're kind of like, you know, I don't know, I I challenge you to Google the ingredients that are in your shampoo that are in your shower right now. Google them and dive into it because you are gonna be so surprised. I would say what 99% of our professional products have plastic in them.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

Yes, and it's hidden. That's horrible. It's also hidden. You you you reach out and you get those vegan products, you guys, you better research every single ingredient on there because I can promise you, there's hidden stuff in it nine times out of ten.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

They just don't have when you're laying in bed, instead of the reels, do a deep dive into the products that you're using. I I just challenge you to do that. You know, we're gonna get into that in later episodes, but until you see it and read it for yourself, you're gonna be shocked at what we've been using for me the last 30, 40 years. Because that's how long I've been a stylist. It's insane. So it has been, yeah. And not to mention, this is the other big thing. You know, I've mentioned this in the last podcast. My hair was trash from COVID and menopause and everything I've done to it. It was shit. And I I tried all the things. I I tried everything that was well, probably not everything, obviously, but you know, all the things that I knew that was supposed to help me wasn't helping me. So I I my hair needed some love. Yeah, absolutely. So that's pretty much my my why. And again, the the legacy of you know, it it's our job to recommend products to our clients, right? It's our job to educate them about things. How many times do your your clients ask you about restaurants? Or I mean, I swear to God, I'm I'm and I'm not saying this really, but you know, you get to talking about medical issues with your clients. And I'm like, hey, have you tried this supplement or have you tried that supplement, or maybe a parasite cleanse, you know, like you you go in deep with your clients and they trust you, and it's like, wait, I'm not a doctor, and anything we say on this is not medical advice. Do your own research, but what you find is going to surprise you if you haven't dove in yet.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

Absolutely well, and it's important that as stylists, our our clients are coming to us trusting us, trusting what we're putting on their head that's gonna soak into their systems, so you know, and and I think people are finally waking up to it. And I think it's so important for stylists to carry a vegan, clean line. And and I I really feel like with the government throwing different things out now, that it is gonna be mandatory at some point. I hope so. But there's not gonna be anything compared to what what what we have, and it's it's so amazing. The first time that you even try it, everybody's like, oh, and it's just it's been amazing. And the fact also that we are helping people, and I know you too and myself, that is something that's so huge to us is to help people. And I also know that we all have been looking for something so we can step out from behind the chair a little bit, but still do something that we love, yeah, you know, and have freedom for our families. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

So my why is very, very different. Um, I'm at a completely different stage in my life than what you guys are. Um I have four children, like I've said before. I have an almost 16-year-old, an 11-year-old, an almost five-year-old, and an almost three-year-old. So we are literally in the trenches every day. Every day we're in the trenches. Um, and about 10 months ago, um, my spouse came to me and was like, I want to start a new business. So he left everything he knew and started a new company. So it changed my hours at work, which I wasn't upset about. I want to be home with my kids. I that's what I want. The reality of it is I am not gonna have that much more time with my kids in my home. And talking to you guys has really made me like see that that time passes so quickly. Oh so I want to be present. I don't want to just be there. I want to be present, and that is what I was looking for. I was looking for something where I could be with my kids and be present and still be able to be a part of something that I love because I am extremely passionate about hair. I'm extremely passionate about being non-toxic and trying my best to live in like the 80-20 portion of my life. So for me, I just uh I had felt like I needed something. Um, and I, you know, the 30s are a hard, everybody tells me that the 30s are the worst. Those years are the hardest. And I felt that at like around my 36th birthday. I had had a lot of medical things come into play. I knew I was gonna be out of work um for like a couple months at a time. And I was like, what am I gonna do? Like, we are stylists. I do not have paid vacation. I I mean, my maternity leave, I was out of work for two weeks. And that was, and I had a C section. So like my babies went to work with me. Um, so I was like, I need something that I can be making money even when I can't go to work. And that for me, you know, was huge. And Tony, um, Tony and I had previously been friends before. And I trust that woman, like I've said before, with a lot of things in my life. So when she approached me, it was before Fermaglow was even called Fermaglow. You know, she was like, I have this concept and this idea, and I I I I really think this is what I want to do. And when you trust somebody, you don't ask questions. You just don't ask questions. So when she came to me, I was like, yeah, I yeah. She was like, really? I'm like, uh you you say jump, but I'm gonna ask you how high you want me to jump. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna ask anything else. Because number one, I knew it was gonna be clean. Because that woman, her integrity and Way the things that she believes, I knew I knew that it was gonna be good. I didn't have to question that. All I had to do was make sure in myself that I knew this is what I wanted. And I had done generational or you know, network marketing, things like that before. And this environment here is unlike anything I've ever been a part of. And I agree, I feel like when you've when you get to be something that is this family, it's the only way to put it. Friends that become your family. And that that was huge with Tony. It it always has been. So I knew that I was gonna find my people. And when you have four kids and they run your entire life, because let's be real, I am a chauffeur and a cook and I clean, and I just I prioritize their life over mine. This is something that I have for me that is going to financially help me, mentally help me, physically help me, emotionally help me. Like this is everything I didn't know that I really needed. And that is that is huge because I know there are probably thousands of other women who are my age who feel the exact same way. They're like, there's no way I have time for this. There's no way I can do this. I don't know how to sell things. I'm a busy stylist. The reality of it is you advertise every single day in everything you do. When somebody asks you where you got your shirt from, that is advertising. When somebody asks you where to eat, that is advertising. You are doing this every single day. And I will tell you this, and it's something that it took me a while to learn, and I get it now. You don't have to know everything. You just have to know where to find it. And when you are truly passionate about something, it is not work. It is not work at all. Every day we go to work, we might not want to get there, but once we get there, it is you are in your element and you have a passion for something. And I feel like that's that's what it is when I'm talking about Fermaglow. It's a passion. So that is my why. My why is so that way I can be with my family and be at every single event for my kids, take off what I need to take off because we're getting ready to come into cold and flu season. So there's that.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Well, and also as stylists, we get cold and flu from from clients, you know, and and things too. So, but we don't get paid when we're now and and that's awesome too. I know we've been talking a lot about uh stylist view on this. This company is not set up just for stylists, there's less stylists than there is um non-stylists in in uh the this. It's designed for everybody, it is designed to fit into people's lives and to free up time for what they've got. It's meant to give people a purpose again in life. Let's face it, the world's so unhappy right now because of the things that have happened and things that continue to happen. This has given so many people a purpose again and happiness, like you were saying, Monica. Like, I don't feel like it's work at all because I'm absolutely loving it. I have people tell me all the time, my God, you're working your rear off. Are you tired? Like, we're seeing it. No, I don't feel that way because it's the most rewarding, fun. I've never besides the birth of my children and things, I've never been happier in my whole entire life than I am right now. I finally fit exactly where I'm supposed to be at in this stage of my life, and I am so incredibly happy. And to be able to express that has been fantastic. And everybody in the company feels the same way. They are on everyone's the same, everybody's just so happy and love it. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

My husband even comments on it, you know what I mean? He's like, this is the real deal for you, isn't it? And I'm like, yeah, I mean, you know, like Monica, I've been in other network marketing companies. Um, I just didn't feel this amount of love from people, and it's authentic. Like, I and I don't know what it is about me. I always seem to be the person that's a kind of standing on the outside looking at people because, like I had said before, sometimes I have trust issues. Um, and I just don't like I can read if somebody's lying. I I just see through people and I don't always say it. I just kind of keep it to myself. But yeah, I this is it's an amazing place to be. Is it's an amazing product, and I am just gonna, whoops, I'm just gonna throw it out there. Um, I am a licensed hairstylist, I have been for 34 years. Um, and I'm not gonna bash any products, but you know, there's gonna be some hairdressers out there, hairstylists, that are like, well, this isn't a professional product. Well, look at your professional product and then come talk to me because on paper, it doesn't lie. Ingredients don't lie. So here's me kind of challenging you again, and we'll leave it at that. We're gonna end the podcast, but look at your ingredients and see what it's doing. You're coating the hair, you're coating your scalp. A lot of the ingredients are harmful. So just take take some time and and look into it and see what you come up with. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 28:28

A thousand percent, Michelle. I love that. You can't get more professional than these products. No, and the world's the world's gonna learn that. And fermentation is new to a lot of people, but it's it's gonna open a lot of eyes, and so thankful we could be a part of that, huh? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Yeah, yeah. All right, Monica, I know you gotta go get your gotta go get them babies.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Okay, well, we will see you guys next time. Yeah. Come back to join us, and I love you girls.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Love you. Have a great day. Rest of the day, you guys.

SPEAKER_03 29:04

All right, bye.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Bye.

SPEAKER_03 29:07

And that's a wrap on this episode of Hair It First. Thanks for hanging out with us. We hope you laughed, learned, and maybe felt a little more seen through all the good hair days and the hot mess ones too.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Remember, we're just sharing our own thoughts and experiences. No medical claims or professional advice here. Just real talk from stylists and moms who get it.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

Don't forget to follow, subscribe, and share Hair It First with your fellow beauty lovers and boss moms. We will catch you next time with more stories, laughs, and probably a little conditioner in our hair.