Behind the Brand Podcast | Episode 5 | Thecarveclub

Welcome to Episode 5 of Behind the Brand with Buff Browz, featuring Leah Hails aka @thecarvclub In this episode, Ellie and Leah deep dive into Leah's life before browz and being a successful business owner. They cover everything from Leahs new rebrand to moving house and getting married while being self employed! In our longest episode to date we hear what it really takes to be self employed in 2026! All this to come and more in this week episode of Behind The Brand.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

My name is Ellie and welcome to Beth and Brain.

SPEAKER_03 0:07

Oh, I didn't realise this was gonna be so hard with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:09

It is gonna be hard. I know it's Christy. We're just gonna laugh the whole time. I don't do serious with you. It doesn't have to be serious. Good, because we're not capable when we're together.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Hello and welcome back to Behind the Brand. We're joined today with Leah from Shapin Co. Immediately broke the ice.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

100% has told her to come to my house and take her pants off, for Christ's sake. So yeah, I am in the process of rebounding as we speak. I went and got some help. I actually went to the doctors and said, listen, like I want to be in the best spot of my life right now, and I'm really not. It's more a therapy session than it is a podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Hi!

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Welcome. Hi, how was it doing this? This is so fun. Are you enjoying it? Yeah. Can you just start it?

SPEAKER_02 0:56

I can't believe it's it's a thing now though. Like you have a full-blown podcast.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

You should be used to this because you had a podcast. Yeah, well, we haven't talked about that.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Podcasting is hard work. I feel like because the setup here is so good as well, and the mic's the lot. I was in my room with a five-pound Amazon clip-on mic. Oh, really? How listen to my podcast? But the prep of it, like figuring out episodes, figuring out all of that, it's you know, it's also I feel like you were like a weekly drop. Yeah, that was a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:24

This isn't a weekly drop.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Yeah, that was just, I think, one of those moments where I'm like, oh, new business idea and need to do it all in one go.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Yeah. And then it didn't last for no.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

To be fair, when we actually did it, it was so much fun. I I enjoyed doing it because you know what I'm like, I'll chat away for hours about anything.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

So it was really good to do, but just the behind the scenes of it is hard work. So podcasters out there and you guys, fair play.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Yeah, but I can't take any credit because we have Owen who is behind the camera that you can't see. Um who does everything for us.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

So yeah, to be fair, that that does make it a hell of a lot of time.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

I'm not doing it by myself.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

No, I was we were trying to edit, we were trying to do all of it as well as run the business our like brow and lash business and edit everything, get content, and I was like, I can't breathe.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

I'm simply overwhelmed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

I was like, I'm gonna have to tap out. Yeah, which is a shame. But now I get to do this one, so I'm fine.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

And you haven't got to do any of the hard work that comes with it.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

No, I just get to turn up and go, see ya!

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Um, we are gonna cover your journey into the broad world, we're gonna cover clients, we're gonna cover what's next for Shape to Co.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_03 2:34

Because you're at a very exciting point in your commanding.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

I'm having like a little pivotal moment. Is that the word? Yeah. Pivotal.

SPEAKER_03 2:43

I think it's your second pivotal moment.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

Yeah, it probably won't be the last. I get bored, yeah, is my problem with youth. And I'm like always thinking, like, I need to change things up, I need to like refresh and and just move with time because time changes all the time. Like branding changes and just all sorts. So my little brain is like, oh, I I need to do it all. So yeah, I am in the process of rebranding as we speak. We'll cover that in a minute. Oh, okay. That's me getting ahead of the game. I'm like, let me tell you everything right now.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

How did you first get into brow work? Because you didn't you didn't start doing brows from school, did you?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

No, not at all. I actually, weirdly enough, was a professional dancer on cruise ships. Do you want to show us some well? No, I'm retired. I have done my time. No, I trained, so I started off. I always knew that I wanted to be a dancer. I started dancing when I was two, and it was like always my passion. It was the thing that I was really good at. And I've never been very academic in that respect. Like, I've always had that kind of creative flow more so than being clever, basically. Like it's not my fault. So when I was younger, everyone would be like, Oh, what do you want to do when you're on? I'd be like, I want to be a dancer, I want to be a dancer. Because, like I say, I just came alive in that kind of industry because it was so creative and so on. So decided that was a path I was going to take. So then went to professional dance college for three years, which was intense, like it's hard work, it's not easy. And going into the performing world is not the most welcoming industry. Yeah, it's not for the faint-hearted off really. And it's quite I found it quite toxic and quite a hard industry to be in. So finished college, got my first job on a cruise ship. Prior to that, I've done little things like I did a UK tour, which was amazing. Um, I've done shows here and there and pantomimes and all of that stuff. So then went on the cruise ship, worked for MSc, and that was an 11-month contract. So not only was it like this whole new thing, yeah, I was doing long distance with Jack, my fiance, away from my family. So that was quite difficult, but I loved it. I had the most amazing time, met the most amazing girls, travelled literally pretty much the whole world, it feels like we started in the med, went the whole way through the med, all over to all the way over to South America. Oh wow. Spent my 22nd birthday on Cobra Bina Beach. Do you know what I mean? Like I feel blessed that I've got all of those experiences. Um, but yeah, then COVID happened basically. Cheers. Like it was very short-lived of a career, but it was also my whole life, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Yeah, well, you're doing it all the time, aren't you?

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Yeah, like I only professionally worked for the probably about three to four years. So I'd like trained my whole life. And then whilst I was away, COVID happened, which was bizarre. Being on cruise ships when COVID was a thing.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

What was that like?

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Not crazy, but not nice, I can imagine. I don't know if you remember when it all happened. Cruise ships were like a breeding ground for COVID, like they were locking down ships. So our ship was in, I think we were in, we were near Argentina, and we got a case. I think we got a case on board. I can't really remember the ins and outs of it, but basically all the ports were like shutting off to us. They're like, you can't come in.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

We were like, uh we're in the ocean. Like, yeah, you need to let us in type thing. Um, and we all just got called into the theatre, and they were like, You're going home tomorrow, like COVID's like this massive thing, like the ship can't run, no one's letting passengers on board, nobody's letting anybody like come into the into the dock. So we were like, Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

So how far into your contract were you?

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Eight months. Okay, fine. So then all of a sudden I was like, Oh, I'm going home tomorrow. And I think we were so unaware what it was like over there. Like, we didn't know what it was like in the UK. Although I'd talk to my family and stuff, and they'd be like, Oh yeah, it's quite bad. But I think even you guys didn't really know.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

I don't think anyone really knew, like, it was such an unknown territory.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

So I was like, No, that'd be fine. I was like, I'll be back in a month. I nearly left my stuff on board. I was like, Oh, we'll be fli like flown back out in a month.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

Did people leave their stuff on board?

SPEAKER_02 7:05

Some of some people left a few bits, and Bob's like silly things like duvets and stuff that we took with us, but I was so close to leaving stuff, and I thought, no, just take it in case. Good bloody job, because I've still never been back. Half my stuff does in Argentina, but yeah. So then I came home from the ship with COVID, and I just had this moment and I thought, I actually can't do that forever. And I think COVID was so eye-opening for me with that career because I thought ships didn't go back for nearly like two years after COVID, it was really bad. The performing arts industry suffered heavily, as did most industries, but shows weren't going ahead, like because you couldn't, it was all social distancing and stuff like that. And it just opened my eyes to the fact that that career was never going to be long term for me, and it was really, really hard. I I had a massive struggle letting go of that because I trained my whole life for it.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Yeah, like what's now?

SPEAKER_02 7:55

Yeah, and I had this like full moment where I was like, What the hell do I do with my life now? Yeah, like I don't know what to do. Couldn't get a job anywhere because my CV basically said it essentially says that I don't work, but I don't know what the college. So I was trying to get a job in like Morrison's and they're like, No, babes. I was like, sound. Yeah, change. I didn't know what to do. And then I had like a moment, I sat down, I was chatting with like my mum and Jack, and I was like, I knew I needed to be in that creative industry, I needed something that was for me that I could build and that brought me alive because like I said, I'm not your academic.

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Yeah, you don't want to be sat behind a desk.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

I would struggle in an office job. Yeah, and I know it sounds really stupid, but like I listen to Jack sometimes, he's um a civil servant, and I hear him chatting away in in these meetings, and I think, I ain't got a clue what you just said. Like, that's way above me.

SPEAKER_03 8:46

Like, yeah, I just're good at it, but I could never yeah, it can't be me.

SPEAKER_02 8:50

So I was I always knew that I needed to do something creative and that set me alive again. So that is how I fell into browse, but it started off as facials. Started off with facials, I never started with brows. Really?

SPEAKER_03 9:04

Yeah, well, I never knew that.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Yeah, really bizarre, bizarre, bizarre. I did a facial course and I was like, right, I'm gonna be a facialist because I I love skin. I love all of that stuff, I love the nitty-grease.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Real adoring of you.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

So I um I did that course, and then I thought on the side, I was like, I need to get more clients in because I need to build this business. So I was like, I'll do a wax and tink course on the side, like so I could just offer that as of when. And then I started taking on brow clients, and I was like, hold on a minute, like this is so much fun, you can be so creative because everyone's brows were so different and like nothing was ever the same. And then yeah, so then started doing browse and just absolutely loved it. And literally from that moment until now is what I've done. I've just built my business solely through browse. Yeah, so yeah, that that was the really long-winded version of how I got into this job.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

It's a good story.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

I feel like there's a lot going on there.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

I love that you're a dancer.

SPEAKER_02 10:07

I know, it's really fun. And when it's like a whole different like you, I know, because sometimes, like, the odd time a video will pop up and I think, oh, I'll repost that. And my client's like, wait, you can dance. Like, what? You can actually dance. Yeah, chime, get me involved. I love it. So, yeah, people think it's really bizarre when I show them videos of me dancing.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

They're like, Oh, like you weren't lying. I said, No. I was actually good at it. Yeah, yeah. It's actually a talent of mine, it's not the only one I've got. That a browse, don't ask me for anything else because I can do it.

SPEAKER_03 10:35

You've made a career out of both, though, so actually.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

I have to be fair, so I'm not doing too bad. I do have pinch me moments though with my business now, and I think like even things like today, like coming here filming this with you guys and just being involved, I think fucking hell, like oh sorry.

SPEAKER_03 10:48

You're allowed to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Oh yeah, well, fucking hell. Um I just think I built this tiny little business just with a brow wax and tink course, and now it's literally my life. Like just little old me. Little old me in my brow room, and it's still lit is little old me in my brow room, but like shed? Yeah, oh yeah, we're going to the shed now. Shed reno. Excited. If you follow me on my on my storage, you'll see. Shed renault is a thing. I'm excited for it. I know. Me too, but I need to finish it because it's stressing me out.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

Yeah, I mean, you've got new branding coming though. I do. And you haven't always been shaped and co.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

No, I haven't. We've really I feel like you've been through it with. I have, yeah. I have, yeah. We've been through it all.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

I love to come along on the journey.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Yeah, I started off as really original, this like really creative LH Beauty. I know, my initials. And we weren't there for beauty. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Like, really, really put the creative juices out there for that.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

Yeah, yeah. Chat GPT didn't exist then.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Clearly not.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Initials, beauty.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

I was like, that'll do. Got me up and running. Um, and then we were shaped by Leah. By Leah.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Yeah. And you're still that in my phone.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

I'm at. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Yeah, shaped by Leah.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Leah, shaped by Leah. Um, and then we ended up as shaped and co because again, this is was one of those moments. So I had a bit of a moment where I thought, do I want to expand this business beyond just me? Like, do I want to venture more towards a salon and things like that? And do I want to like grow this business that way? And for a while I did think that was the plan. So that is kind of where shaped and co came from because I thought it always gives me the option with the co. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, you can do my.

SPEAKER_03 12:32

Oh, so you don't just do brows, like you can do lash lift and that kind of thing.

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Yeah, exactly. So I was like, right, we'll go with shaped co. We came up with that together, didn't we? Actually, I think I remember voicing it and you're like, Ellie, I'm stressed. Like, I I don't know what to call this. I just don't know what I'm gonna do. Because I mean, shaped by Leah was a really it was a really difficult one because I feel you could I couldn't trademark Shape by Leah really, because it's my name. So yeah, you could be shaped by Ellie tomorrow, and that's not the same as shaped by Leah. No, yeah. So it was really hard because I felt like I couldn't I couldn't make that branding completely mine. And it was like very easy for anyone, and absolutely like shaped by anyone, it's fine, like because I didn't own Shaped by Leah. I felt so I felt like I needed to change that up, hence Shape and Co. But now I'm on a whole new avenue with business. I feel like I've really found my feet now. I've come out of the pit.

SPEAKER_03 13:27

You're in a bad place, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

We've we've been there, and I will I'll probably divulge some of that because I'm a chronic oversharer and a share.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Yeah, I can't help. But yeah, for my entire life, I'm literally like, what? You want my national insurance number? Yeah, I'll go in. Perfect. Like, it's so bad, I need to stop. No, it's fine. Um, yeah, so I feel like I've come into like this new spot now, and I'm like, this is the way this business is going. Yeah. I know what I want from it, I know the way I want it to be, and I know how I want to grow it. And that's probably the first time in the four years that I've been doing this that I'm like so solid on the next step of this. Yeah, you know where your direction is. I think it's so easy, especially in this industry. We were talking about this yesterday. Like, you don't you kind of follow a trend, like I was saying, so many people do training now, which I think is epic. It's so amazing. I think you go for it, share your knowledge. Like, I I envy the people that do it. I just don't feel like I fall into a training category. I don't feel like Yeah, you're not passionate about training other people. No, and I don't want to just be like, hey, come and do my course for the money. I want to do it because I want it to be, I want to provide the the right knowledge and everything for customers, clients, and whatnot. So I just felt like that wasn't the avenue for me. So it took me a while to think, well, what is actually next for my business then? Because I was like, well, what else are we doing if we're not training?

SPEAKER_03 14:48

That's kind of yeah, like what because that is generally the next step.

SPEAKER_02 14:51

Yeah, and I think it's amazing. These people that train, and I'm like, I love that for you. And people that are so passionate about it, I think that's why you should train because you're passionate about it, because you want to give everyone the best. Whereas I was a bit like just here for a good time doing eyebrows.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

So didn't feel like the next step for me. Whereas this rebrand is certainly the next step for me, it's exactly where I want this business to start.

SPEAKER_03 15:14

And by the time this is out, you were a free brand. What?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Welcome to Calf Club.

SPEAKER_02 15:22

So excited. So the whole vibe for this business is I want it to feel so much like a community, more so than it's just a brow business or she's just a brow girl. Yeah. Like I want, for example, I've got little uh little coffee machine and stuff in the shed, and I need to start calling it a shed. It's an outhouse, an insulated outhouse. Like, welcome to my shed. Leah's been kicking insulation this week. Oh my god, I have if you've not seen that on TikTok, I've been booting the insulation with a crock 40 times. But yeah, I've got a little coffee um station, everything's branded. I've got hoodies on the way. I'm hoping by the time this comes out, they will be a thing. Yeah. Well, they should be. I want one. I'm gonna get one. My mate Pearl said they're on the way, so they wear me. But like a full brand, and like the idea behind the hoodies was I wanted it to have a touch on brows, carve, carving the brows, but carve club and the design of the hoodies, anyone can wear them. You don't have to have anything to do with brows, and that's where I wanted to pull in more of people that aren't in the brow community and that aren't in the beauty industry, but I wanted to pull them into my business somehow, and that was kind of the avenue I decided I was going to take. So I wanted to create this full club, a carve club, welcome to the club.

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Well, so you open it up then for your clients to like had to go out in and that kind of.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Let the brand go and show everyone the carf club. Like, I just I really wanted that community feel where it's just a proper little unit and it's just a cool space to be. You know, like when you go to these Pilates studios, yeah. And you feel like you're a good one. You've got the like branded like Pilates socks and like yeah, hot girl Pilates and all of that. Like, I kind of wanted that type of vibe, but through my brow business. So that's the avenue Shaped and Co is going. Well, Shaped and Co will be no more. I know. Waiver off. That's really sad. We went through an era together with it. I know that's nice though, isn't it? It is, and to be fair, when I came up with Car Club, I still sent it to you straight away. I was like, what do you think? I was like, yeah, no, it's shit.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

And you're like, yeah, no, I'm not gonna. Are you gonna do that anymore? It's not a cool, so like, I'm not gonna do it. I thought it was shit anyway.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Thank God you still like to the time. No, I mean.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Because you had some time off, and we missed you, but yes, we have we have been through it.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

It's been a couple of months. I mean, don't know if you need a trigger warning for this, it was a lot. But I I'm so open about sharing this side of my life, like and what I did go through. And maybe this is a bit depressing, so fast forward if you want. We're just going down a mental health chat. But and I tell you what, one thing that I massively struggled with was being self-employed and going through mental health because there's no break, there's no, there's no time off sick, there's no nothing. Like, if you aren't working, you aren't getting paid. There's no one else to pick up your stuff. Exactly. So the pressure for that was just mental. So basically, we'd had a year from hell pretty much, and it I always feel quite um, I'm not sure what the word is like, I feel a bit guilty for saying, oh, we had a year from hell because we're privileged enough to be able to move house and to be able to do these things in life. So I think, well, I can't sit there and be like, oh, where is me? It's gone wrong. Because I think, well, how privileged are we to be able to do it? But I've now learned like that's probably why I had the mental breakdown because I was pushing it away all the time. I was like, no, be happy, be happy. So this is boring, long and short of it, not brow related at all. But we were buying a house, the house we were buying fell through. We went through hell for like eight months. We were selling our house, we then had to move back in with parents, whilst we then found a new house because the house fell through, lost so much money in the process, and it was just hell. So that went on for just short of 11 months altogether, and it was just so much. The mental toll on that was just horrendous. And I didn't quite realise at the time how much it was taken out of me. I was just exhausted by it. But again, business still had to run, bills still had to be paid, and life still had to keep ticking. I never gave myself the minute to go, actually, I'm really stressed and I'm not coping with it.

SPEAKER_03 19:27

Yeah. Also, you are also sorry, planning a wedding at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Six months away. So there's that as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

So it's not actually not just the house.

SPEAKER_02 19:36

No, it's not just the house. The wedding was a big thing as well. And obviously, the financial side of a wedding, if you get married, or you're gonna get married. Start saving now. It's a lot. So I think the financial things as well, losing all that money on the house when we knew we had to pay the wedding. I was like, oh my god, I felt like we were being shot at every angle. I was just like, Oh, I can't like just standing there at this point. I'll take it, yeah. It's horrendous. So we finally moved into the house we're in now in August this year. And I think for me, I thought, once we move in, it's done. The problems are solved. I've not got to stress them because I just felt like the house hanging over me was such a huge thing. So when we moved in, we moved in on a Friday, the weekend was amazing. We surprised our family, didn't tell them we were moving house or anything like that. It was amazing. And then Monday came around, and this is where it goes quite drastically downhill rapidly. Like I laugh about it now.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

The Sunday scary's got you so my god, fully.

SPEAKER_02 20:36

Like Sunday scary's absolutely took me out. Like, I do laugh about it now because I'm on the other side of it, and I think sometimes the best thing to do is laugh over it. But if I really deep it, it was really, really bad. I woke up that morning and basically my body just stopped functioning. I was throwing up constantly, couldn't do anything, could barely like string a sentence together. Like, I've never felt anything like it, but the burnout was something else. My body just was like, nope, like we're not doing it. Because I woke up and I was like, I've got a sickness bug. I was like, not ideal. I was like, I've got a full day of work, and the the stress of being ill when you're self-employed.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Yeah, that too. Don't get paid for that either, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

So I was like, it's fine, power three, power through. And this lasted for about three weeks of constant sickness, illness, couldn't eat, couldn't do anything. I was losing weight rapidly. Like I got to a point where I looked physically ill. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like even my mom and Jack were like, you look rough. I was like, yeah, no, you feel worse than a lot.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Like it was a lot.

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Yeah, but then I was I felt so guilty because I was like, oh my god, my life is incredible. Yeah, everything I've ever dreamt of having and building it's in front of you, yeah. Like I've got all I ever wanted, and I was depressed, heavily depressed. So powering through with work was really difficult because clients book in to have their time, it's their appointment.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

You've got a shop for them, yeah, 100% every single day.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Time and like when you've got 12 clients in a day, showing up for them, even when you're in the best of head spaces, it can be exhausting. Yeah, it's your social battery dies pretty quick. Like, if you're tired, if you've had a long day, if you've had whatever going on, it can be hard sometimes to turn it on. So I found that when I was in that mental space, turning that on was great for me. I was just like, I can't do this. And then it just progressively got worse basically. And this went on for nearly four months altogether. We're only recently out the other end of it for me to like chat about it and laugh about it. So I went and got some help. I actually went to the doctors and just said, listen, like I want to be in the best spot of my life right now, and I'm really not. Like I couldn't have carried on.

SPEAKER_03 22:43

No, I couldn't carry on. It's not healthy, it's not like good for you, it's not good for the relationship, like any of that.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Jack West's soul literally carried me through that. We love Jack. We we do love Jack. Jack's great boy. My fiance, he is a gem, and without him, I don't know what I would have done. And my mom, I'm so fortunate to have this incredible support system around me. Yeah, yeah. But the self-employed aspect of it and being a business owner, I struggled massively, the pressure from that. Because I was like, if I don't show up for my business, if I don't post, if I don't do all of these things, I said, Well, my business is gonna like die essentially, is how I felt. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03 23:18

The Instagram algorithm doesn't allow for this.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

No, it really doesn't. I'm suffering. Literally, if you actually go on my Instagram, you'll see where the Mentibee started because I posted that we'd moved into the house and then never posted until last week. Like fully just went off the radar. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't.

SPEAKER_03 23:38

It's also just horrible that the pressure you feel like when you feel like that and you've got the pressure of the Instagram and like everything else.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

And the are we just taking out this massive new house. So I was like, gotta pay the bills. Yeah, like SOS. And I was like barely working because I couldn't. Yeah, couldn't do anything. And the best thing was I went to the doctors. She I sat there and she went, I'll sign you off sick for a month. Thought, perfect, do am I giving the note to myself? I was like, HMRC? I was like, I need I need to function. Yeah. At this point, I was like, horse tranquilise me, I don't even care.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

Yeah, also I've already had a month off. No, literally. I would need another one.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

And I don't care what you do for me right now. I was like, I just need to function.

SPEAKER_03 24:15

Yeah, just and it works. And here we are.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

And here we are, popping the meds for fun, and it's great.

SPEAKER_03 24:20

I'm proud of you though.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

Do you know what? And I never say this, and I think it's so awkward to say it sometimes, but I'm actually so proud of myself for getting out the other side of it because I think it's such a shitty time. And anyone that's been in it, anyone that's going through it, it does end. Yeah. And I was convinced, I was like, well, that's me for life. Yeah, this is it. I mean the depressive pit before the facility. Yeah, yeah. It's like I'll rot in my bedroom and not shower.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

This is the end of Shaped and Co. Carved Club doesn't exist. Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Calve club, I was like, I'll sack it off.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Yeah, not interested.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

I couldn't. I was like, I don't care. But I didn't care.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

It's like ah, not arsed.

SPEAKER_03 24:55

No.

SPEAKER_02 24:55

I am arsed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:57

Turns out I actually care. Turns out I can't.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

No, I do. So, but yeah, we got there, and I'm proud for doing it. And and you're back now doing clients and stuff. Back doing clients, back posting, the mojo's back. I'm here. Like, if you'd have you asked me actually to do this, didn't you, a while ago? And I was like, politely, no, I can't, yeah. I was like, Ellie, I can't get out of the way. I'm in the pits, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Every time you let you okay, I was like, no, no, I'm sorry I'm not posting. Honestly, people like to feel like they've always feel really guilty for not posting. And I'm like, honestly, it's fine.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

You do because I feel like it's the thing that carries your business, it's what builds your business. Yeah, but life failure.

SPEAKER_03 25:31

Yeah, but life happens. I know. And while life is life thing, it's so tricky to be like, oh, I'm gonna put bath brows at the forefront of my brain. Don't do that ever. God. Don't do it. Don't. It's not worth it.

SPEAKER_02 25:42

I'm always at the at the forefront of my brain.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Oh, don't say that.

SPEAKER_02 25:46

I'm like, oh my babies. But no, we're we're thriving, we're on to the next step. Life is great.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

And how many clients are you doing a day at the moment? Or are you just like taking it easy?

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Oh no, we're back.

SPEAKER_03 25:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:59

We're back.

SPEAKER_03 26:00

Back to back.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

Yep, back to back. I think I see about 12 clients a day, roughly.

SPEAKER_03 26:07

So you're back doing clients. How many clients are you doing a day at the moment, or are you like fully back?

SPEAKER_02 26:11

Roughly 12 clients a day. Okay, yeah, no breaks. We're really in the in the flow of it again. I went from kind of nothing to like, hi, back in the room.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

Hello. Yeah. Um I do Monday to Friday and then I do the odd Saturday mornings. I I feel like that's really um weird for people in the beauty industry. People take the Monday off. Yeah, or like a Wednesday or but I just thought, listen, I'm my own boss right now. I don't want to work the weekend.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

The whole reason that you're like self-employed is because Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:39

And my family and Jack don't work weekends. So I think if I choose to work over the weekend, I don't get the quality time in my family and like to do the things I want to do.

SPEAKER_03 26:47

So I'm like, And also your friends that aren't self-employed, like they're all working lines five.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

And clients work around it. Like if I always feel like if somebody wants to come to you, they do make it work. And I'm super accommodating. Like if someone can only do this specific time and this specific date for an event, I'll work it. Like I'm not bothered.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

But my actual hours are Monday to Saturday afternoon, and I see a lot of people. However, this is what's gonna change with Calf Club. Okay. So maybe this is controversial, I don't really know. Probably not, but anyway.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

I can do it. I'm gonna say it anyway. My business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:25

I used to like all I ever wanted was to be booked and busy.

SPEAKER_03 27:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:32

Clients, clients, clients. That's all I wanted. This massive clientele. I was like, I need more, I need more. And now I've got to a point and I'm so fortunate and I feel blessed to even be able to say it. But like my clientele is massive. Like I do have a big clientele, and I'm so grateful for that. But on the say in the same breath, like I built it. So I'm like, I'm buzzing for my own.

SPEAKER_03 27:52

Also, you are good at what you do.

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 27:55

I still don't believe that sometimes. You are.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

When you're like, no, they're really good. I'm like, are they? Really? I know I've been doing it four years.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

I can't tell you how many brows I've seen you do for like community events, my brows, love them all the time.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

They're shaped in co-brows today.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

It's actually Calve Club.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

Oh yeah, Calve Club. Don't know what business I am today. It'll be a different one by like June next year.

SPEAKER_03 28:14

So the your like community events, my brows, like I've seen you do a lot of brows, and every single time you're like, was that okay?

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Yeah. Yes, perfect. It's so hard to believe in yourself though, I feel like. But we we are getting there. I think, well, I've done a business for you, it's can't be that bad. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's changing a little bit because I feel like now I've hit capacity with my clientele, and I hate to admit this and say it, but I'm just gonna say it because it's the truth. And I think over the past year, with the whole Mentibees situation and just losing the fucking plot, I um lost what my business was about. So I always wanted to every every treatment I wanted it to be the best of my ability. I wanted it to be like an amazing experience, tailored fully to the client and so on. Whereas now I feel like because I've taken on so many clients, I feel like I'm like clockwork in and out, in and out, just to get people in because the demand's there, which is incredible. But I hate, like I say, I hate to admit it, but I feel like I've lost my quality in each appointment, if that makes sense. Yeah, and I want that back. Like I prided my business on being amazing quality, amazing service. And don't get me wrong, I'm acting like I can't do I don't do brows good at all. Like I do, yeah, yeah, you take a job. My clients still come back all the time, but for me personally, I feel like I can offer and do so much more. So with Carved Club, we're going more to the luxury side of it. Like each appointment is gonna be longer, there's gonna be more time for clients to come in, we'll have a little chat together, whatever, luxury service because there's so many buff products out there to offer luxury service now. So I'm like, pop, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's the plan with that because I don't want to be doing 12 a day. I I want to be more on like side of maybe eight a day. Yeah. Still a lot of time.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

Taking that time also, but yeah, but take the time. Sorry, I've already interrupted you there. No, you're good. Taking the time in between to like have a conversation with them, be able like time for you to like go to the toilet, yeah, get a drink. That's it, eat. Time to f yeah, eat, time to like finish the brow, time to like have a conversation with a client. Because also they're paying the money. I know, and you want to give them their 45 minutes and they're like, I've actually walked away from that and felt like I've done some like self-care.

SPEAKER_02 30:28

Yeah, fully. That's what I want it to be like. And I have a lot of clients that come to me and divulge like their entire life because I'm I am part-time therapist, and I love that, and I love being like that, but I feel like I don't get the time to really give them my full attention. Yeah, because I'm clock watching, I think, right, I've got five minutes left, my next client's gonna be here.

SPEAKER_03 30:47

Yeah, probably five minutes early, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

And that is that is the case a lot of the time. So I'm just like, I really want to strip that back. I don't want to get rid of my clients, no, but I do want to just shorten my days so that everyone has a bit of luxury, bit of quality time, yeah, a hundred percent. I do think that's so easy to do as well, because in this industry, it's like I need to be busy, I need you see people posting, and don't get me wrong, I probably am guilty of it. It is truthful when I've said like I can't take on anymore, and yeah, my books like are full. Like I I wasn't lying when I said that, but I do think you can see sometimes a lot of people being like, I don't know how to like word it, but you know, when everyone's like, you need to have this many clients, I've got this many clients, I do this a day or this a day. Yeah, I make this a month. Yeah, well, actually, you probably don't. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, there's a lot of that. It's not realistic, but that puts the pressure on everyone then because it's like, well, she does that and she does this.

SPEAKER_03 31:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:41

And I need to be doing that as well. I mean, I'm probably a hypocrite there because I've just sat there and gone, I see 12 clients a day. Not every day.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

So not anymore. Well, not anymore, because I'm not not well. Yeah, but also like I don't want to see people love you all, but like don't want to see that many clients.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

I want to see you all in the same time.

SPEAKER_03 31:56

Yes, but it's overwhelming, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

But don't get me wrong, I'm the first to say like November for me is the most pathetic working month there that I don't know if it's the same for everyone else. My clients, I have a mental October, everyone skips November because they want a December appointment. So November for me, I'm sat here saying I say see 12 clients a day. On the regular, I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

At the moment, obviously about four.

unknown 32:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:17

And then I have my afternoon off. Like it's not what it's cracked up to be. What you see on social media sometimes isn't always the case. No, everyone wants to post their day when it's busy and booked, but I am the first to say there is certainly days where you just don't really work. Yeah. And that's fine. It's panicky because you think, oh, I need to pay my bills. Yeah, I've got one to pay for. I've got a phone bill to pay for. Yeah. But it's not always realistic. So yeah, I see about 12 on the regular, but if you ask me in November, I'm unemployed. Yeah. Could have cued the men to be for now. That would have been perfect.

SPEAKER_03 32:51

Yeah, because you've missed all of someone.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Yeah, literally. And I'd have been fine. I'd have been like, listen, I'm taking November off.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

Yeah. But here we are. What are your clients like? Are they fine? I assume they're fine with like.

SPEAKER_02 33:01

Oh, do you know what I am so grateful? My clients are incredible. And I know everyone will say that, everyone loves their clients, but like my clients, I feel like I have the biggest little best friendship group with them all. Yeah. So many of them know about my Menti B. Like, this is what I was saying. It's really hard because you have to turn it on and you can't go and divulge your personal life to all your clients. But some of my clients I did, and they were here for me. They were here for me, there for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

Yeah. Which one? Both work.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

They were here for me. They were there for me.

SPEAKER_03 33:30

You've been here for me. You've been there. You were. Anyway. Moving on. They listened. They were there.

SPEAKER_02 33:37

They were there. Um, but loads of my clients would like share their stories with me about that what they were going through, and it helped me so much. I didn't feel as lonely.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

Oh, so like it just feels like you're not the only person that's ever gone through that. And like you see someone else come out the other side, you're like, oh, yeah. I could be like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

And I was so scared to start medication because I think there's such a stigma around it. And I had it if people want to take it or they don't, you do like whatever. I I don't have an opinion on it. I was desperate. So I was like, I don't care. You give me anything. No, literally, like, I don't care if you've drugged it. I'll take it. Put me to sleep. I'm not all. So I was like, I just need a break. So talking to some of my clients about medication and things like that massively helped me feel confident that it was going to get better. So my clients are incredible. Like, I absolutely adore all of my clients, they're so lovely. I've made friendships. One of my bridesmaids is someone that came to me as a client four years ago. She came to me heavily. Oh, I need to tell you the story. It's actually really funny. So I used to do brow waxing. No, sorry.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

You still do.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

Medication's not working. I used to do body waxing. So that's another avenue that I did. I did full body waxing, bikini, legs, armpits a lot. So Frankie, my gorgeous bridesmaid, she came to me as a new client and I had two back to back. So the client that I had in before her, um no, sorry, the client I had in after her was in for a bikini wax, and Frankie had booked him for an armpit wax.

SPEAKER_03 35:06

Right, okay.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

For some reason in my head I'd got them mixed up. So Frankie comes in, lies down on the bed, and she's just led there. She's a new client, so she's she's feeling a bit awkward naturally. So then I just give her this towel and I say, if you just want to like take your bottoms off, whatever, I'll step out the room and just give me a shout when you when you're ready. So I walk out of the room. She's thinking, am I taking my pants off for? She's like, I'm in for an armpit wax. Like, so she's there and she's like, Hey, like, I ready? I came back in and she's like, Um, I'm just in with my armpits. Do I need to take my pants off?

SPEAKER_01 35:42

And I was like, Oh, no, I was like, I'm so sorry. I mixed her up with my other client, and then from then on, our relationship was just like you immediately broke the ice. Well, 100%. I told her to come to my house and take her pants off, for Christ's sake. And that's how I get to know my clients. Yeah, literally, we're really close.

SPEAKER_02 36:01

So yeah, she came to me as a client, and four years later, she will be walking down the aisle with me. That seems really cute. So I love my clients, they're the best ever. And uh, if you follow me on social media, I post it non-stop. Yeah, I'm like, I love you all, thank you for everything you do.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Yeah, and it is nice when you have that like friendship with them as well.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

Yeah, well, they they literally keep my business a business.

SPEAKER_03 36:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

Say this all the time like without them, I'm nothing. I'm I'm nobody without my clients and without the people that support me. So I'm forever grateful to them. I bang on about it. So when C447. Because I love them. They're grey. They are. We love a client.

unknown 36:37

They're the best.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

How do you it's obviously quite a personal industry? How do you protect like your own energy when you I think on the socials, comparing yourself to other people? Oh yeah, that's a bad one, isn't it? They compare it's a fucker, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:50

It's a fucking one. Um do you know what? I actually don't know how I really like keep myself sane. I just manage to somehow. I think because I have like that creative mindset and that creative flow, yeah, I don't find that I'm comparing myself to everyone else's things as much because I'm like, I want to create this, I want to create that. So I'm I'm constantly in my own head. The the pressure that I get is from myself more so than everybody else. Like, I don't know how I don't compare myself to anyone else. That's actually a really good question because I don't know how to answer it.

SPEAKER_03 37:29

I actually don't think you do compare having asked that, I actually don't know that you do compare yourself to other people that much. I think you are your own worst enemy.

SPEAKER_02 37:35

Yeah, I am. I am the problem.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

That's self-reflection.

SPEAKER_01 37:39

Yeah, this is more a therapy session than it is a podcast.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

Um, but from like what you say to me, like you are your own worst critic. I don't believe in myself enough. But I don't think that's abnormal. No, you really don't. Like you didn't ever think that you could do like your hybrid mask class. No. But you are fab.

unknown 37:57

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 37:58

Like a hybrid brow, like that's a hybrid. Yeah, and you're great at it.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Yeah, I don't believe in myself enough. I think that's my biggest problem within this industry, is that I I tell you what I do compare myself with though, actually. Like we were saying before, when everyone's taking this next step with their business, yeah, that's what I was comparing myself to. Now that I've found my flow and I've found where I'm going now, I don't feel like that. But I was a bit like, I'm gonna have to start training. And and don't get me wrong, my hybrid masterclass, my online one, I love it. I loved doing that, I loved creating it because again, I think I've said this about 90 times already, but it was that creativeness that I loved and putting all of my knowledge onto paper and just being like, if you like it, cool, if you don't, cool. Like the pressure wasn't there to train people with a qualification, it was simply upskill. So I loved doing that, but yeah, my the way that I would put pressure on myself and kind of compare to other people would be what I was gonna do with my business next because it felt like everyone's always upskilling everyone, everyone's like doing the next thing, yeah. Which I is incredible, and I love to support people, like I am the biggest cheerleader for anybody in this industry, whether it's your brows, nails, beauty, lashes, whatever pop off, do what you need to do. 100%. I will repost the shit out of everything for everyone because I think like it's such an immense support network, but the more I did that, the more I was seeing wherever the people were going with stuff, and I was like, what am I doing other than not showering for four days and crying?

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Yeah, washing in my bed.

SPEAKER_02 39:25

Yeah, where do I go next? And and that was probably where I I found the pressure a little bit, but again, solely from myself, more so like I am. I would say I am my worst enemy, but I'm getting better. You are. I think now that I've found, like I say, where I want to be next, like I'm ready. I don't I can block out a lot of that, I can block out the haters.

SPEAKER_03 39:48

Yeah, and I feel like the conversations we always had was you didn't feel like you were good enough to like put your prices up. Do you remember how many how many times we had this conversation? We'd be a comedian.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

I got roasted in there's a buff brows group chat for elite techs, isn't there, where we just like chat away about what what's going on in life. I got roasted in that group chat, like roasted for my prices because they were so low.

SPEAKER_03 40:16

So you would not put them up.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

No, I need to put them up now and I can't do it. You can. I can't. You can! You can you can no I just I hate it, I hate doing it.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

I just think we need to just be at a community event, and the question always, always is how much do you charge? I'd literally be like that, looking at Leah.

SPEAKER_02 40:38

Does anyone else want to answer that?

SPEAKER_03 40:39

How much do we charge?

SPEAKER_02 40:41

I hated it though. I just hated it. But you just didn't believe that you were good enough to put your prices up. And I still feel like that a bit now sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

But you put your prices up and you didn't really lose any clients.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

No, I didn't. I gained clients and I was very, very grateful. Exactly. But I just Yeah, I need to, I think I need to get better at knowing like my worth as a as a business and as a brow tech and knowing that being confident in what I offer is worth it. Don't get me wrong, I know that it is, and it's just kind of hard. It feels a bit um, it's like sitting there and saying you're proud of yourself or being like, oh, I did good today. Like you can't, it's hard to do that. And I really struggle with that.

SPEAKER_03 41:19

So I'm on a finger mind bummel. Yeah, literally. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:23

Like I can't.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Should, but I can't. I can't. I can't do it. No bumhole finger in from there. I'll do it. Go on.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

But yeah, I no bumhole finger in.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

You're welcome. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start the beauty industry, or even just like yourself and just wants to be self-employed, or take that step from what they're doing?

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Just do it. Go for it. Like, don't second guess it, don't overthink it, just put yourself out there. I think it's really difficult in the beginning. I really struggled. I was so scared of judgment. I thought, are people gonna think, oh, who the hell does she think she is? What's she doing doing that? And blah blah blah. And the thing that I have learned, and I have got so much better with people are always gonna have something to say about you. No matter what you're doing, you could be doing the best ever, you could be doing the worst part the in the worst part of your life. It doesn't matter, someone is always gonna be talking about you. They're either gonna be jealous and they're gonna slate you for what you do, yeah, or they're they're gonna love what you do when they talk about you. Everyone has always got something to say, so I just think there is no point holding back on something that could benefit your life in such an incredible way because you're worried about what somebody else might think. And I know that's very, very easy to say because I think in the the day and age we're in now, yeah, everyone is so opinionated, everyone voices their opinions, and it can be quite overwhelming and you think, oh god, I can't do it. Yeah. But I definitely, along the way of that's what I mean, like come to realise someone's always talking about me, whether it be good or bad, or they're slating me or whatever. So I just think my biggest advice is to put those people to the back of your brain, ignore them, and just put your best foot forward because if I hadn't have started this business, I would not have the life that I have now. And I adore my life, and I really do. And I think coming out the other side of that really bad patch has made me look at it in a completely different way where I'm like, my life is absolutely incredible, and it's not a good thing. Yeah, you're so grateful for what you've done. 100%. And I think I wouldn't have the house that we've just bought, which is a beautiful, beautiful home.

SPEAKER_03 43:29

If you want the renovations, it's on TikTok, you can see it.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

You need to come on over. It's me again, booting insulation.

unknown 43:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Because I am a DIY girl and I do everything myself, which is quite tragic sometimes. But anyway, I divulge. Divulge, that's not the word, is it? Digress. Digress.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

That's gotta get your kick somewhere. Yeah. And yours is in DIY.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

Yeah, it is fully. But yeah, I wouldn't have all the things that I have now. And if I hadn't have just taken that step forward, so my biggest bit of advice is just go for it. You're not gonna be perfect straight away. No. I reluctantly would share the first brows that I ever did. Can you? Do you have them to hand? I actually can find them for you and I will show it here. Shall I get them off in a minute? No, you can go now. I mean, my beloved Teagan, she's gorgeous.

SPEAKER_03 44:15

Is she still your client now?

SPEAKER_02 44:16

Well, kind of, yeah, but she moved to Australia. Actually, that's a lie. It's not even Australia, New Zealand she moved to. And when she comes home to visit family, she comes to see me for her brows. Um quite tragic, if you ask me. They look like slugs. I love her dearly. But they're horrific. Not the one. Not good. Especially when you look at like the brows that I did yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 44:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

Like gorgeous. See what I mean? We've progressed. So my advice is that you do let me throw that somewhere. Sorry. I didn't do anything, did I? Um yeah, you're all you do have to start somewhere, you're not going to be perfect. And I think going back to the question about comparing yourself to everybody else, you have to strip that away in the beginning. It is solely about building something just for you. Do the do things the way you want to do them. I think I feel a bit passionately about this, but in this industry, especially at the moment, I adore this industry, and I've said this from the get-go. I think I don't know necessarily about other industries, hair, nails, and all of that. But brows, we are we're great over here. Like I have met so many gorgeous, amazing, supportive women throughout this business, buff on its own. Like I've been with you guys for three years now, which is mental.

SPEAKER_03 45:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:38

I still need to sign that contract from year one.

SPEAKER_03 45:40

Sorry, don't worry.

SPEAKER_02 45:41

Never really, really signed that.

SPEAKER_03 45:43

You're stuck with us.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

Thank you. Um, but yeah, like I I've met so many incredible people that have supported me the whole way through. And I feel quite passionately about this. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

Yes. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

And I'm a bit opinionated on it. But as much as this industry is incredible, brows especially, I don't know about nails, hairs, all of that. But as a brow community, like we are very close-knit, I feel. Buff is amazing, has brought so many texts together. I just I do feel, and more so now than ever, people are very, very opinionated on the way you do things. Don't let that get in your head. Because I see a lot of, and this is no shade, by the way, to anyone or anything. This is this is my opinion. I mean, take it or leave it, but I just feel like there's a lot of people that will say, Oh, you shouldn't do it this way, or you should do it that way, or that's wrong, or that's not right. If you if you provide a treatment, it's safe, you've done it properly, you're qualified, and your client loves those brows or the nails or whatever it is you want to go into, good for you because you've won, you've done what you need to do. As long as that treatment is carried out safely, if you map sideways, backwards, whatever you don't map, you use a mapping pen. If you use a specific tint or you brush tint through, you don't place it, whatever you want to do. Like, I sometimes with a hybrid dye, for example, won't place it. I don't precision tint it sometimes. Yeah. I whack it on the same way you would whack on classic tin. I brush it through and then I shape it, which everyone says, Oh, you can't do that with the hybrid tint sometimes because it sticks to the skin. But I'm like, well, why?

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Watch me.

SPEAKER_02 47:15

It works for me. So and there's so like I this is what I was saying before, there's so many people in this industry, again, buff techs that I've met and and non-buff techs, like that are like, oh my god, I love that. You go for it. You see that at the community events.

SPEAKER_03 47:29

Yeah, big time, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:30

And people are like, oh my god, I've never even thought of doing it like that, and then they pick up these like tips and tricks. So don't be don't like take it too personally if someone says, Oh, I wouldn't do it like that, or I do it like this. Like, learn the basis of what you need to do in your craft, whether it be lashes, brows, nails, hair, whatever you want to do, and then perfect the skill for yourself.

SPEAKER_03 47:51

Yeah, don't do it for anyone else.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

Do it the way you like to do it and the way you like to do it.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

And don't let someone tell you that no, that's not how you do it.

SPEAKER_02 47:57

No, absolutely, it's such a creative industry, and I think I've said the word creative now. Like, I mean, take a shot every time I say creative at this point because you're a good point. But it is a creative industry, and you can make it how you want to make it. Yeah, do it safely, be qualified, and crack on. Go for it. Go on. What is stopping you? There's nothing stopping you. No, four years down the line, and I'm living life.

SPEAKER_03 48:21

She's happy. She's happy, she's having a good time. She's having fun. Do you think that your younger self would be proud of like where you are now?

SPEAKER_02 48:29

Younger me would cry. Really? Yeah. I you know, before when I said I can't cry on these tablets. I don't this always makes me super emotional because I just think I would have dreamed to be where I am, like right now, like where my life is, and I'm grateful for everything I've been through this year. There's shy times I'm I'm proud for because I've come out the other end. If if younger me could see how confident I am now and that I am sat here doing a podcast, joke, because I'll cry. Because I am just truly proud of myself, and I think it's so hard to sit there and say, I'm proud of me, but I really am. And to have built what I've built, whether it be a massive business to some or a small business to others, it's it is my literal life, like it's my baby, which is why I I took it so hard when I kind of had to take that step back because it is my whole being, like it's it's me. So, yeah, to think younger me would dream of having the house I have, the fiance I have, planning a wedding, and this business that I have. And I did it on my own. Yeah, and I never had to, I mean, my self-belief at the moment we're working on books. Younger me never believed that I could do anything like it. I would never have put myself forward. I was so scared of what everyone would say about me or people's opinions. And the older I've got, and the more my life has progressed, I've just realized like I I'm number one. Like what I want to do, I'm gonna do. And I have to put it in. You can't give your life for anybody else because you get one life, and if you waste it on everybody else's opinions and thoughts and stuff, you won't do what you want to do. Yeah, and I think since I adapted that mentality, it's got me to where I am now, where I'm in a place where I'm just I am truly happy now. Yeah, and like coming out the end of what is has been an awful year. I'm not the I'm not the one to say, I can't wait for this year to be over. To be quite honest, I will throw a fucking send-off party for 2025. But I'll see you later. Bye. Yeah, not for me, but it's taught me a lot. I've grown a lot, yeah, matured a lot, and yeah, I'm I'm living a life that I would have absolutely dreamt of. As cringy and cliche as it probably sounds, it is true, and I've had my struggles to get there, but yeah. We're there, and I think the next chapter is even more exciting.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

Yeah, and it's something you're really passionate about doing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:05

Yeah, so next time you see me, I'll be wrapping my calf club jumper. Me too. Sometimes. Is that us? Yeah. Are we wrapped up?

SPEAKER_03 51:14

Yeah, we've just got to do outros and stuff. No. I love an outro. What do you want me to say? Leah, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. For being so real and just chatting about your journey. Leah and I actually, everyone thinks we've known each other for a really long time, but we haven't. It's only been like three years. Three years, and we hit it off from the get-go, didn't we?

SPEAKER_02 51:36

Yeah, we just we we just clicked straight away.

SPEAKER_03 51:39

Um, we live far away from each other, so we don't get to see each other often. So we've actually had some sillies during this, which Owen's hopefully cut out that you haven't seen. Leave him in. Um, but it's been really lovely to have you and thank you for joining us. Where can we find your socials?

SPEAKER_02 51:55

In well, actually, right now it's shaped and covet. I think by the time this comes out.

SPEAKER_03 52:01

That's gonna have changed.

SPEAKER_02 52:02

It will have. We'll have to link it below. It will be it's carve.club for my Instagram. And that's actually all I have. Because I don't do TikTok. My TikTok is me renoin. If you want to see that, it's Leahstx original.

SPEAKER_03 52:19

And that is it for Behind the Brand this time. Next time we will be joined by Harry from Browse by Harry. Don't forget to like and subscribe, and you can find us wherever you find your podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

Woohoo! Thank you so much. That was so funny. I love that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 52:36

Angel. That was so fun. Did you enjoy it? How long was it? Um, we're probably about an hour and a half. Yay!