The Mothering Project

From Spray Tans to Brow Boss: Building Two Businesses by Backing Yourself

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 49:19

Send us Fan Mail

Are you sitting on a dream, wondering if it’s too late or too big?

Ciara Gallagher’s story is the reminder you didn’t know you needed. From traffic control to building a thriving beauty business, this conversation is all about bold moves, backing yourself, and learning as you go — not before you start.

We dive into the real journey behind the highlight reel — the pivots, the burnout, the risks, and the little moments that quietly changed everything.

If you’ve ever felt the pull to do something more, this episode will meet you right there.

In This Episode

  •  Ciara’s unexpected leap from traffic control into beauty entrepreneurship 
  •  How spotting trends (before they explode) can change everything 
  •  The role of self-awareness in leadership and building a team 
  •  What it really takes to develop products from scratch 
  •  Why mentorship and connections aren’t optional — they’re essential 
  •  Burnout, boundaries, and building a business that doesn’t break you 
  •  The mindset shifts needed to grow and scale sustainably 
  •  Trusting your intuition (even when it doesn’t make logical sense) 


Resources & Links

Connect with Ciara

SPEAKER_00

Good morning, Kira. How are you?

SPEAKER_01

I'm good, thank you.

SPEAKER_00

That's good. We're live. We're we're on. Sorry, everyone we had some technical difficulties that I had no idea about this morning. So Kira was trying to help me, and obviously neither of us were very good at it. Kira, thank you so much for coming in. Obviously, I think most people will know who you are. And I uh had a giggle this morning. I was like, got it, but I do my eyebrows before I meet Kira this morning. But do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself, Kira, and all the wonderful things you've been up to over the last couple of years?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so I have been in Australia for 20 years and I own Kira Galler Eyebrows in Bondai Junction. And I have more recently launched another business called Brow Era, which is a product-based business. And yeah, so just does he does he do in two businesses? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Now I have to recall, and I had a giggle to myself yesterday. I was like, when was it the last time we would have met? But I guess how we originally met was Kira. Were you doing traffic controlling at the time?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. You were doing traffic controlling and then you were doing the spray tans for all of us Irish to go out many years ago. How many years ago would that have been?

SPEAKER_01

Oh my God, that's probably that's probably 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_00

It would be, yeah. If not more, because I remember we're all mad for the like probably as more, actually.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Probably as more.

SPEAKER_00

We're all mad for the dark ten and the you know and the scrubbing of it every Thursday night. Oh, we've got Kieran Friday.

SPEAKER_01

Probably as more 16, maybe 17 years old.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. God, that's scary. So tell me, what made you go from traffic controlling? Obviously, you've got the spray tan, and you were doing it from your house and your apartment up in Bondi, to now being like a really, really prominent figure in Bondi Junction. Most Irish girls know you, and I know that a lot of Australian celebrities go to you for their eyebrows.

SPEAKER_01

So I think, well, initially when I first came out, I was doing traffic control because I was on like a work and holiday visa and visa status didn't really yeah, was just doing that casually. But I always knew that I wanted to do something like have my own business. So I got into the tannin originally because I would wanted to do products. So I thought that I was going to create a tannin product and try to bring it to Ireland. So that's how I got into the tannins. And then when I realized that it wasn't that easy taking products into Ireland, I started looking into brows, which I think was trending, and that's how I shifted over into the brows. But it wasn't initially to do eyebrows as such, it was more to bring I did the HD brow training back home, and that was doing really, really well in England and Ireland. So I did that hoping that they might consider me to bring the products into Australia. So that's how I got into brows.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't it funny? Like it's just such a sliding door moment, though, because like you obviously started off with the brows and did so. When you say you did HD brows though, did you like do you have to be like a like do you have to do a beautician course or no?

SPEAKER_01

So I didn't have any beauty background even before the tan. I had absolutely no experience in beauty. So the HD, yeah, so I always wanted to have my own business, so I would have done anything that I could do quickly. Like I would have actually seen I'd seen a really good opportunity in hair here as well, but obviously I couldn't just go and train to be a hairdresser overnight. So I'd seen the the HD brows was really trending in the UK, and the training for that was just two days, so I went and done that. And at the time, like brows wasn't really a thing then, and at the time I was the only person ever that went and did the training that wasn't a beauty therapist because I remember I felt a little bit out of place because everybody was like, Oh, you don't do beauty, and I was like, No, because there wasn't any such thing as brow specialist then, nobody was specializing that. And then when I did the training, I actually really did do the training with the intent to make the connections to bring the products to Australia. But when I actually did the training and seen how niche the treatment was, I was there thinking, God, this is actually like I think I would do really well doing this. And I already had that small client help built up with the TANs. So that's when I come back, I just started doing it on my tan clients and was just doing like maybe a few clients every week from home at the start.

SPEAKER_00

And God, I have so many questions because it's like you obviously always had that in you then where you were like, I don't want to work for somebody, I've got my own ideas. What did you do when you left school or before you came to Australia?

SPEAKER_01

So when I left school, I I went and did hospitality and catering, but I didn't I didn't stick at that. And then I moved to England and I worked in an Irish bar, which I I managed to get promoted quite quickly. So I definitely had that leadership skills, and I always wanted to do that a little bit more. Then when I went back to Ireland, I did a marketing course. I was really into brands, I had great because the pub that I worked for was an Irish pub, so it was really brand based. So I loved I loved working on brands and just the concept of a brand. So I did the marketing course, and then I just I was working in an architect's office in Atlan for five years before I moved out to Australia. What made you come here? I I don't know, I just always wanted well, I didn't always want to come to Australia. Initially thought I was gonna go to America, I was always New York, and then me and my friends came traveling here for two months, and after that I was just had this, yeah, I just really knew I wanted to come back to Sydney. I think it just pulls at you, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Because I'm here. I met Maria yesterday and we're here 21 years in December.

SPEAKER_01

You used to used to come to the barbecues at our house?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I do actually, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That one there in Coochie, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Because I don't know who our connection was then.

SPEAKER_00

Gigi, I think.

SPEAKER_01

It was, it was.

SPEAKER_00

It was, yeah. But it's funny because before the podcast we kind of talked, didn't we? And you were saying, Do I get nervous? And I'm like, I feel like because even though I haven't stayed connected with you as much as we probably would have, I feel like I have because I've been watching your journey journey and admiring you all the time on on Instagram as well. So it's actually really, really funny that you've said that leadership is something that you've really, really wanted to pursue because I'm obviously in my other side of the business in the human project. It's actually working around like people actually stepping into leadership and you know equipping them. And it's not a skill that everyone has, you know, naturally either, like to lead people. What do you think it is that leadership has taught you about yourself? Like, what's that main thing that's like on oh yeah? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, probably self-awareness, like having a lot of self-awareness first. Because I don't think I mean there's probably two different aspects of leadership and management, which I think are quite different because although I love leadership, I probably struggle a bit on the management side because I do think there is a bit of a difference in them. But I think you definitely need to have like a lot of self-awareness first and understanding maybe perception and people's perceptions, and then I think having to be able to lead, I think it's just choosing people that want to be led as well, work with people that want to be led. I think that if you work them with the right if you're alongside the right person, you'll bring out the best. So you could probably, you know, if somebody wants to learn off you, you can lead them much better. So I think that's important. I've definitely learned that early days in the business to to always have the right fit in the salon, and then you'll you'll both be able to bring out the best of you know in each other.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And it's almost like getting it early, isn't it? Yeah. Like it's like when we talk about this, it's almost like we have to we have to hire well, but then we also have to make sure that you foster the people that you've got in there as well and work with them and their strengths because everyone has different flaws and you know, strengths.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I I feel at the start I didn't have it because you were just you were changing like your management style to different personalities. And then I realized no, you can't, you just have to have the one like style, one management, you know, and boundaries with that, and then bring in the people that can work with with that. Yeah. I always remember I had I mean I've always had great girls, but I've had uh I had one girl that was really young when she started with me. Her name's Chloe Croy, and she she was incredible because she was so eager to learn. She never and she just never took criticism bad, she just took it so well, and she gave she gave me so much confidence and leadership. And she, whenever she left, she went on and up in this beautiful salon, and she always like credits me, and I always credit her because we both learned so much off each other. Because I think from after her, my management and leadership skills changed. I changed the way I did it because I worked with somebody who was so receptive of it and it gave me the confidence, yeah. And she was incredible, so yeah, I'm really grateful to her.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I think it's always a learning point as well. Because when I think back in my leadership journey when I first started like managing people, I was like, God, I must have been awful to work for it because I had all these high standards and like you have to do yeah, but you kind of realize then that actually, you know, people don't have the same expectations as you, and like they're only there to do a job, some of them, and go home and they don't have the same aspiration or they that's just what they want to do for that season of their life. Yeah. I reckon I must have been like we laughed about it the other day because I was back in where I used to work for 11 years. I was like, I was terrible when I first started managing people.

SPEAKER_01

But I think it's I mean, like if you've got high standards, that's absolutely fine. I think, you know, and I don't think it's a bad I remember years ago one of my well, you know, I've had I did have an instance that was tricky in the salon with somebody, and you know, I was so worried about what she thought or what, you know, just everything and and then somebody pointed out to me. She's like, here she goes, you know, you just who cares if somebody says you're tough to work for, you're a tough boss. She goes, That's good. And you do, you just I think it's fine to be whatever way you want to be, as long as you're communicating that with your team and set letting them know what your standards are and what your values are and making sure everybody's aligned with it. And if they're not, that's fine.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that's it. Because Yeah, and it's it's the it's the not the right fit, is actually it, right? Because it's like you've got your set of values and you may not have them printed up like the corporate world, but you do like in a way.

SPEAKER_01

I do have them printed, and we are I do try to communicate that well with the team now. I'm always oh so what are your values? Well, my values in the salon, well, like-minded people first, and then I share my values in terms of like you know, what's important to me. Communication's very important to me in the salon. It's very important that open dialect happens every week and nothing is said. And I always as well point out that there's never any mistakes, there's always it's just learnings. So if anybody gets anything wrong, it's like don't take it as criticism. It's uh, you know, I think it's good when things go wrong and it's pointed out because it's just a good learning. Yeah. So yeah, I think communications are really high value for me.

SPEAKER_00

And I think because you know, we touched on it before we came in, but like part of my work is around creating psychologically safe teams and workplaces, and it's all exactly what you just said. Like actually have communication about what you expect from people. Make people feel safe to speak up if they think, Kira, actually, the way we're doing this isn't actually, you know, yeah, the most efficient way, or giving people some chance to actually have that voice and and speak up. And that's all people want in a respectful manner manner. And you would be surprised how many workplaces out there that don't feel safe, especially in teams. You know, there might have one manager where they're like, Oh, it's my way or the highway, and he's threatened or she's threatened by the people that work underneath them. But like from what you've just said, because you've got a smaller salon as well and a smaller team, like you have to keep it tight, right? Like you have to have it really clear and and concise.

SPEAKER_01

And then obviously the other values then is just how we do things and the consistency and that and that it's all carried through.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah. But I mean, it's working because you know, you've repeat business, you've massively you started off with was it just a smaller salon and then built it up or Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So initially I just started off with one room in Bondi Junction, but I got booked up quite quickly, so I knew that it was I needed to take on somebody quite fast. But obviously back then nobody was doing for us, so I had to like I just went to one of my friends who's just a beautiful person and she's a great personality, and I was like, Will you train up and come and work for me? And she did, so that was amazing. She was just great. So the two of us did maybe a year and a half, two years in this in the smaller salon that I was first based with. I I had a room and then I took on an extra room, and then after that, then I took on the space in Bombay Junction, just the one it's in the building that I'm in now, not the same salon. And then that was that was the time that I had to like really kind of change the concept of the business and the model because now before that I was always I knew that I could do everything by myself, like I could run the business if it was just me. But then when I went into a bigger space, it just changed because the expenses were that much higher that you really just, you know, it's you had to move into more of a business model and you really relied on staff because you would not be able to run it yourself, you know. You just couldn't physically do all the work that you needed to do to to pay for the expenses. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And so did you get a manager in around that time or no? You just did all that yourself? Always managed, yeah. Yeah, okay. So tell me then where in your life, because you've obviously got two businesses, and we'll get on to the product side because that's I can't wait to use them, by the way. I got a beautiful present this morning from Kira. But what do you feel is probably the busiest season? Is it now in your business?

SPEAKER_01

Like, is this where you're feeling really stretched and expensive or oh like it isn't, it isn't like I think mindset is really important because there's definitely times in my business that I have felt way busier and overwhelmed by it. Yeah. But when I look back, that what you know I wasn't now is when I should be more overwhelmed by it. Yeah. Because there's so much more going on. So it's it's definitely it's definitely busy and it's challenging to navigate, especially for a new business, because a new business really does need your attention like full time. And then probably I feel like I'm dividing myself between the two, and sometimes I give a bit more attention to one and it does better, and then the other one slides, and I feel like I'm just bouncing back and forth.

SPEAKER_00

And do you know it's a similar thing that I talk about like owning a business and growing a business and doing a podcast, and then like having the kids and then wanting to be present for them, but then having a work call that's urgent, and it's like that constant bounce around, isn't it? That you have to pivot and you have to just kind of go, Okay, I'm gonna give the product side a little bit more love this week because it has to, and then I'll go back to you know, my very different businesses as well.

SPEAKER_01

Like, okay, they're ones they're both bar related, but they're so so different. Yeah, and like one of them is completely new to me. So, and there's been so many different aspects of that because I worked behind the scenes. I mean, I've been trying to work on Briar for like probably 10 years. Really? Yeah, and then COVID put a stop to it because I was sourcing trying to source products long before COVID. Wow, I didn't realize that's so funny that it's been happening that long. Because products was always before even I did brow, so that was always where I wanted to go was with products. So then I did three years, like we launched a year last February. I did three years, and I'm gonna say I did work full-time three years on LAM along with the salon before we launched, and those three years work is very different to what it is now because I was in product development and a pre-launch, and all your skills that you were learning, you don't need not that you don't need them now, but that's not what you're doing now. You're doing something completely different. You know, you're trying to navigate e-commerce and Shopify and all these things that I just, you know, learning as I go along. Like I don't know them.

SPEAKER_00

And how did you navigate that? Because it's similar enough. Like I'm listening to this and I'm like, it was like I haven't navigated that you're still in the thick of it.

SPEAKER_01

But did you look to anyone for mentorship or like how so I got like I've had like little bits of help. I mean, I did a lot of um I did a bit of entrepr entrepreneurial training before COVID, which was really valuable for me because that helped me navigate COVID. And I don't I don't know where I would have been actually if I hadn't done that. And I've listened to a lot of podcasts and yeah, I got a lot of mentoring online really, by people that I didn't even know. Yeah. The product. The three years prior to launch, I got good at that because I was doing it for so long. So and I could do that now. If you give I could do that stage over and over again now, and I'd be quite confident doing it, and I would do it a lot quicker. But yeah, I just learned it as I went along.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't it funny though? Because it is actually taking that first initial step. It's like, you know, even with the podcast, I was like, Oh my god, I'm allergic to listening to myself, I don't want to listen. And then I was like, I don't have to, I can just get it like outsourced and edited by someone else, and then I don't need to do that. But yeah, or like even the setup now this morning, like the first time we had a laugh. Like I had to ring the guy that owns the studio and go, I don't know how to turn on the mics. And he was like, Did you press the button at the back? It's on, and I was like, an on-off button. I'm like, no, yeah, okay, I'll do that now. But you know, it is actually all kind of like that newness and it's scary, but then it's kind of exciting once you've gotten over that hurdle, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, you just have to learn.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, you don't you don't learn it first and then do it. You learn it by doing it. So Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So tell us in, I suppose, like you've got the eyebrows and tell us a bit about the products. Like how what made you like where do you have to go? Like, where do the products?

SPEAKER_01

So initially the products, like when I first started to to source the products, there was actually only one other prop brow product in Australia that was a retractable pencil. That's how early that I wanted to do it. And obviously then because there was no products, I made it quite hard to try to source where to get them, where to get them made. So I spent a lot I spent uh probably a good two years trying to find manufacturers first in Australia because I was like, oh, I want to get them made in Australia, but it actually isn't possible because of the machinery needed for the shells, it just Oh right, okay. Yeah. So then I started getting samples from China and I was just getting terrible samples first because they were just not great. And then when I found somebody that had a sample that was kind of close to what I wanted, I just started working with them. Yeah, okay. So yeah, so I did actually know how I was the my found my manufacturer before COVID. So I did. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00

And so, like, did you pick the ingredients that goes into it? And like I had a I had these are all formulated by me.

SPEAKER_01

So I had yeah, I did have keys key things that I wanted the pencil to do and how it's feel like and the colours and stuff. So yeah. Wow, Carrie, that's so amaz. That's like that's the skill set in itself that you've just Well, I mean that took a long time to do it now. If I was to set if I was to do it now, it's so much easier for people to even do now because I mean you can see even yourself online and the e-commerce businesses it's actually quite easy to get products and get them copied. It's it's a lot easier now for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, there's all of that, isn't there? I mean, I just see it more so with the clothes and the retail. Like you'd see something from like LMA or like Zimmerman, and then you know, there's a factory like Sheen have a lot of them. Haven't they been pulled up on them for lately as well?

SPEAKER_01

I think like it is easy to copy get. It is easy to copy. You've trademarked, I think you've a team. I've trademarked, I've I've trademarked Barriera. Yeah. I did all that. Well, actually, not the name Barriera because I changed the name in the last hour. I was gonna say, where did the name come from? Give me the history. So I did have another name which I won't disclose because I get asked all the time what was it, and I I won't tell anybody because I might You can tell me after it. I don't tell anybody. I've just parked, I've actually got I had got two names trademarked. But I feel it well, what happened for me is I got Brandon done and I wasn't happy with the Brandon. I just felt misaligned with the Brandon completely. And every time I I went then to get the Brandon redone, and I couldn't see past the name, and the Brandon just seemed connected. So I was like, I need to change the name, which wasn't ideal because it takes quite a it takes time for trademarks. So at this stage I was almost ready, you know, I had my product finalized and ready to to order. So then I went ahead, I changed the name. So how I came about browra was I was typing to my brand and lady that was doing it, and I was just like, at this point, I was doing browse for 10 years, and I was like, maybe we should bring something in like the decade or something to do with the 10-year mark. I said, I just feel like I've been doing brows the whole of the braura, and I'm typing this in an email, and then I just said Braira. I goes, doesn't that sound nice, bro? Era, and I just sent her the email and she goes, Yeah, that is, and I checked it, it was all free. So I lodged my trademark, but I went ahead and did my branding and ordered my products before my trademark came. So that was it was there was a time there that I was like, please, please get this trademark.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's awesome. Like, because it's sometimes you I know as well from trying to pick for like I have the human project and the mothering project. And I mean, if you look back through my search history and my notes history of all the different names that I have as well, because you kind of you do have to make it fit, don't you? And like I wanted, you know, the human project to feel really grounded because you know I did safety as we for years and years and like there was all this like did you write the pot read the policy and I'm like but did you make the policy more human so the person can actually understand it or you know so I'm all about the human side of it and like making everything just like humanness and yeah it's funny because you do it's like it's something that you really procrastinate over when you know it's yeah that's the one that's the one.

SPEAKER_01

And I think because things that get like I'm really good at doing all that. So those that stage of business like I'm good at doing all that because I I think of all these things like I'll have all this thought out before I go and launch the business because I just know how important that is for branding your name and you know I don't I wanted to have all my handles and I remember the Instagram handle wasn't free and I was just like no this is just not right. I need the Instagram handle and the mind oh my god this is actually quite funny I was like this one person in Argentina or South America somewhere in South America had the handle and I kept messaging her Instagram page because I was saying I'll buy it like I'll I'll pay like whatever she wants I'll buy it and she wasn't she wasn't using the page and I just could not get over it. I was like I cannot go forward without this handle. So I kept reaching out to Instagram nothing and then I started messaging her friends on Instagram and then Facebook and then I was like oh they probably don't speak English so then I was translating the messages at the Portuguese and I was like sending all these messages and nobody ever got back to me and then I just kept going at Instagram like and then Instagram replied once because I had the trade bark I was able to send all this and they replied once and then nothing and then I was like I kept going again and then I got replied a second time they're like forward your trademark forward it all and then nothing and I was like this is just so frustrating and I was like I just really need this Instagram handle. The woman animation so I was on a total mission because I was like if I want this to be a proper brand I need the Instagram handle and then the third time I just sent it again and I just kept putting notes in it that I've already sent this several times. I said have the trademark and and then the next morning I woke up and my the Briera was just on my Instagram whereas what it was barrier underscore and I was like and then it was just barrier on its own so I was so happy.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my god the girl over in she just hers got taken off like she didn't even get notified and then I looked at hers because her hers was like oh she got underscore barrier so it just goes to show though isn't it it's like persistence like you know if you're to look at Kira on Instagram you know I see you down in Bondi with your what is the salted caramel ice cream and you look so like oh yeah everything comes easy but like you know there's a cost in the background like it's not that easy is it when you've got two businesses.

SPEAKER_01

It's not and that's probably the the hardest thing in any small business is overseeing the finances of it all it's oh I know it's not easy. You have to get okay with the numbers but also I'm like sometimes you just sometimes you just have to be a bit ignorant of them as well because if you actually sit and look at them you can't it's not even possible to be okay with them like sometimes you're like how is that even working? Because sometimes it doesn't it's not working.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah and I mean reality. How did you like you know I think that was kind of one of my struggles was like finding a good accountant that gives you advice as well, right? Because I mean like you're totally green and clueless but actually like credible advice and not dodgy advice.

SPEAKER_01

Like how like all of them steps when you're setting up is actually really key isn't it finding them good people that would actually like Oh you just have to put so much trust into your accountant because I won't lie half of it goes over my head because there's so much going on because obviously when you initially when I started I was a sole trader and that was like that was so easy now and I look back just easy. But then you have to like really when you set up a company and like obviously now I have two companies of trust and you've got like GST every quarter for like two different companies a personal one you're doing all your staff's taxes and super and oh it's just never ending and I don't know I never I don't fully understand my account says you need to pay this and I'm like I don't know where it's for or what it is. I just pay it so you put an awful lot of trust in them.

SPEAKER_00

You do don't you yeah and I think as well like it's easy with Soul Trailer isn't it you're like you're just basically a person that's paying yourself and you know paying your super and whatever if you're lucky.

SPEAKER_01

But when it comes to the business side of things then as well like do you think there's a certain version of yourself that you've had to leave behind or even like what part of you will be shedded because you're like I can't bring that with me into the business like it's that mindset of being like there's definitely a difference in being self-employed and having a business and there's a lot of learning to that and you do have to learn because when you're self-employed you know you just have you to worry about and it's but when you have a functional business even just had setting up a company you have responsibilities to you know for that company you've set up and you can't just you just can't take money you know it's everything has to be accounted for and it is it is a lot trickier and more expensive to run as well when you've structured businesses. So I definitely had to shed that mindset of like self-employed to being to to operating it as a business and then going from like being self-employed you just you're doing everything whereas when you have a business you have to you can't you it's it's only a business when you're not doing everything. If you're still doing everything it's you're basically still self-employed.

SPEAKER_00

And that's it like you have to give up some of the power to somebody else or probably give up some of the control to people as well. Yeah. So what's been your biggest learning then being business owner and bosswoman and you know creating all these products like is there a part of you where you're like discovered oh my God that's a bit of a shadow or it's like oh my god I can be X, Y, and Z I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

I mean it's I still think I'm probably learning that all the time and I think definitely the last few years I've transitioned into seeing it differently and trying to do it differently. Again just trying to see it as a business and let it operate you know it has to be profitable without you being in on the tools every day and just trying to, you know, yeah that mindset which was a shift which I think I ha I definitely have moved into it because like there's elements like I'm do not want to go back into the cell full time ever. Like I I physically know that I'm not able to do it because otherwise the business won't run. Like you definitely have to be working on the business full time for it to operate as a business.

SPEAKER_00

But I mean it's almost like I'm looking at you and I'm like you've built that like lovely stage for you that all of us probably in our soul trader era and then we're stepping into PTY like to go, I can't be on the tools anymore because it's actually not like I'm gonna have to actually train someone up to do what I can do and they'll probably be able to do it a lot more efficient and better than me. And then I'll step up and go, right, okay, you know this is what I can do now and I can grow the business and focus on what I need to focus on. It's always that scary part because I go through it myself. I'm like oh how could I get someone else to come and work with me when I'm the only person that knows it and I'm like it's funny because then you'll meet someone in you know especially like the younger generation and you'll give them a spreadsheet and they'll have it done in two seconds and I'll be sitting there fiddling around for like hours and I'm like oh just outsource it I think.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah no it is better. I I think it's just I think you get to a stage where you're ready to do that anyway. I know at the start when I was in the business I and it's not even about giving somebody else control because that's not really what I struggle with. I struggle more with like you know even if I'm in the salon on a Thursday night like I struggle to leave the girls there because I feel like I want to help them up the floor. So I just feel like I want to be there do help them more than anything but yeah it's just didn't go a lot but but I think it's just understanding of the bigger picture that you're not gonna you don't have growth if you stay in it. You just don't you only get it because I like I spent so long on the business where it was just staying in that one place because I was burnt out and I was just constantly in doing it. But it's when you step a set like away from it and start working on the other things you just see it it it does flow.

SPEAKER_00

And that's really interesting because in my mind I was gonna go there but like next but how do you look after yourself? Because like you have lots of balls up in the air and you're juggling everything. Like do you have any care practice your s your your sticker across from you I need more look I won't lie it's yeah it's I don't prioritize myself ever.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah I definitely am a morning person so I definitely like doing my sunrises in the morning I find that's do you go to the beach or yeah I do I I go to the beach and that's my grinding every day there's just something about the morning for me before even before everybody gets up like being up and half an hour earlier before everybody else there's just something about that for me that yeah that it just resets me for the day.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And so you go down and do a bit of a sunrise.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah I'll do sunrise and once for such a long time even I'm not even doing sunrise because I could be down and gone before the sun would even come up. Yeah okay that's how early I I would be some mornings. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

But it's just that time in the morning where it's just Yeah it's just you and the before the world wakes up you can kind of gather yourself.

SPEAKER_01

You know, I don't know there's something I've always been like that since I was younger but the morning so I just love the morning time before everybody else there's just something consistent about it. Yeah you know sun rises every morning and I'm the same.

SPEAKER_00

I like getting up it's like you know people go to the gym in the afternoon or the w I'm like no I'm up and I'm like either going to the gym or now obviously I don't have the choice because I've got a child that wakes up at like quarter to five sometimes five o'clock so it's not like we get up watching the sun but generally I'm trying to wrestle him back into bed. But yeah like I prefer getting up and I think it is that niceness where you go you know now the sunrises are huge right because you've got like could G is packed with like all of everyone from Sean's perceptions you know telling everyone about the sunrise.

SPEAKER_01

I mean it's such a waste to be miss not it's so beautiful.

SPEAKER_00

I don't know how people like one someone said to me the other day oh like I'll sleep until eight and I'm like I actually don't know I reckon even even in like when I used to go out and be social I'd still be up even if I got home at four. Yeah there's a joke at home like there's my my good friends Emer and Granny they're dad we'd get in like at all hours and then I'd be up and I was working in the shop in Newport at the time and they'd be like where are you going? stuck to the bed and I'm like work and like they'd be like are you not dying and I'm like I am but you know life goes on.

SPEAKER_01

She's up with the crowd and she I remember her saying one time she goes sleep is such a waste of time but it's so true though really like it's I mean I'd like a little bit more of it sometimes but like you know if you are up it you just you do feel a lot better I think but I'm so productive in the morning but then I I feel like I need to shift this mindset that I have if it's not done before 12 it's not done whereas I need to change that because now I need to work I need to get stuff done after 12 but I'm just like no I get everything done before 12. Yeah I know then I think my brain just starts to quiet down a bit I'm like can't be bothered.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah I'm the same past two o'clock I'm like don't someone said to me one time can we do a podcast and I was like morning time is the only time I can probably function edit so tell me you did and I kind of wanted to go back to what you said that you wanted to bring products to Ireland.

SPEAKER_01

Has that changed now or like yeah that's I mean you're here for good like I definitely will launch or hopefully I'll launch Barry in Ireland I think whenever I I wanted to do it initially there was a real gap in the market in Ireland for tans but obviously that's changed now I don't think there's much of a gap for anything more everyone has it everybody has it but at the time there wasn't any there wasn't any tans on the market this is like before you know Coco Brown this is before all the tans there's both there's like yeah there's no shortage like you know when you look at them now I would never have dreamt of putting on the days that we used to come to you for a spray tan like you'd remember you put them on I there was a liquid one I think I used to use and like you would be literally orange like going half out thinking you were all out with the blonde bleached hair and then it changed didn't it?

SPEAKER_00

It's like now it's like a more subtle kind of I don't know do people even do spray tans anymore. I still get spray tan still so yeah but like they're more subtle right than they were I mean the self-tanner now is just so good.

SPEAKER_01

Like the self tans are great. Yeah yeah so it's kind of like a different era so yeah so no d I d I definitely won't be bringing out a tan so there's no spoiler alert here in the budget. Yeah I just I'll stick to the prior products. I know you in Sydney for good? I mean I don't ever think about it. Yeah I don't think about it. Yeah. I have a house in our in our well I've always had a house in Ireland but I sold my investment property in Ireland and bought another one that's closer to home which I'm renovating at the minute so I'm definitely creating a bit of a base at home. Oh interesting right yeah so but I think it's because I want to launch Briar in Ireland as well so I definitely can see myself being home more and for maybe longer spells.

SPEAKER_00

Isn't that the ultimate dream though when you live over here because like I think there was a while where I was like oh maybe I should move back because you feel nearly obligated and then you come back here and it's like it kind of goes out of your mind again. You just get into like the lifestyle that you love and the reason why you came up to overthink it.

SPEAKER_01

I think like I'm very if I feel that I want to go home I'll just go home. I'll not put too much thought into it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And that's the right way to be right because I mean otherwise we end up Yeah yeah especially beyond hoping that it will be in a di ideal world you'll always have like the two bases if you want so that would be great. You'll have to give us tips on that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Tell me how are you with boundaries?

SPEAKER_01

Like have you got particular boundaries now in place with your like with your work or look I try to have boundaries of myself more than anything because I think if you have them yourself you're able to handle them both work and others but yeah do I break them I do. I break them there's aspects that I break it up I feel like we're in a confession room here and you're like do I break them there's aspects that I do. I think I there's aspects like in my work environment in the salon I don't because I just feel like it functions better when you just have your boundaries and you stick with them. Personally I break them all the time on myself like I I'll start the year with like right I'm going to be strict myself going to take this time and then I'll be two weeks in and it's out the one go.

SPEAKER_00

We all do it yeah fight the one jump. I know and like it's funny because you are self aware because most boundaries do start with yourself anyway you know you're like especially with all the work I do like I'll be coaching people and they're like you know this person expects me to be on on Fridays and do they though or are you just answering the call because you want to answer the call is it your boundary or actually that you've to put in place or is it their boundary and they're like oh my god no it's me and I'm like so don't answer the call on the Friday if you're not working don't answer the call like like I used to whenever I I started uh working for myself first it was like all the time and you just would answer the phone all the time.

SPEAKER_01

Whereas I got really good then if Sunday was a real like no go for work because I wouldn't look at the work on a Sunday that I've stuck by in terms of the salon the Sunday rule did break then whenever my bra but I just think I just tell myself then it's just you know at the start of any new business you just you just have to. There's no point in like I don't think you can start new businesses and not give it at your all. You just can't. No.

SPEAKER_00

And I think as well you know we talked about the care and the like there's gonna be Instagram nearly has you believe in now that like you have to have fluidity and balance and be up at more in the morning and do your journaling at 430 before everyone else gets up and like it has to be in a lovely journal with a beautiful pen. And do you know what does it's not realistic though because like sometimes it's just like you have to go with the season that you're in now and then reevaluate. I think the key is to actually sit down and do a bit of an audit on yourself and go, okay, where am I actually overstepping and where am I burning out? Like you did mention that you burnt out at one stage so like how did you recognize that?

SPEAKER_01

Was it just well I've I I've burnt out more than one stage and I think the last time that I had a proper burnout was probably nearly two years ago. Oh how God how did you not recognize it? It was terrible like I uh yeah it was just like I couldn't even function. I just didn't even want to speak to anybody I just probably decisions become probably really hard I think yeah just complete burnout you just and you don't even know why you're doing it for because you just like it's like what are you doing? But that was so that was too it was probably nearly two years ago that that was and I hadn't even launched barrier so you were just in a state of overall like that was I was working three years on something that wasn't even anywhere near sellable yet like in terms of like the product wasn't there to set you know it was just a lot of work a lot of investment and and not having any return on it. And you still don't I mean I know this this sounds mad to say because you still don't have the return that you need because at the end of the day it's a business and it has to function as a business although to other people it's so like it's there's so many aspects of it that's going so well and it looks so well but it's still it's not near a business stage yet in terms of that return, you know so there's still a lot of work to be done. Yeah the the the main work has to be done.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah it's important though isn't it and like we talked about this we joked around you know the actual getting on and being visible online and like it can be really scary but like it's because we're in that stage now and like that I suppose the generation that we're in like that's how you do probably get ahead and be online and marketing and Instagram and it's all new to us right because we're a little bit in the the last generation where you know I had a Nokia phone when I first came out here. And it's I think as well like what I see with burnout it's like sometimes it's not that you're working too hard but it's actually that you're doing things without getting a bit of a return at the end or a reward. Yeah or against some of your values in some organizations like I look at someone and I'm like you don't want to be here anymore.

SPEAKER_01

Like that's why you're burning out because you actually don't have actually do you know what it was around this time that I invested in a coach to help me and she was incredible. Her name's Jade Spooner and she actually just was the best thing ever and it wasn't even what she was like teaching me or showing me because she had so many connections that really did help me but it was just that support that I just needed at that time that nobody else could have given it to me and it it was just so invaluable. So I think it is important for people to just go and just to get help because even she was able to just put me in touch with people like I was spending simple things like my the packaging you know I was spending such a long time trying to source packaging and everything was taking so long and and trying to get it you know within budget and and then just having a conversation with her and she's like I have another client that has used somebody I'll connect you and it was just done so quickly and it was just so it is really important to maybe invest in somebody yeah and invest in somebody that's maybe specializes on what it is you're doing in that moment. You know not just life coaching but you know like Jade Spooner is incredible at scaling businesses and she's lots of clients and having you know she if she didn't know the answer she knew somebody else that had the connection and it just it really got me through that stage where I was in burnout and I didn't even know where to go or how to get it past where I was and that's so interesting because like I am a coach as well so I've done coaching and that's what I do but like it's and I've been coached because I've been in that like you think oh yeah I've got it all down pat because I've learned how to be a coach but then I've gone out and I've spent money with actually being coached and mentored too because they're like yeah I use this person for a brand design and go to them this website because they have the connections and they've been there and like you know a good coach will also give you a little bit of mentorship as well because they'll have the connections and like they'll know people.

SPEAKER_00

So that's a really really good point actually to actually instead of looking at it as like a cost it's actually like an investment in yourself because otherwise you're just you will be spinning wheels because you don't know.

SPEAKER_01

And you don't always have to pay for it neither because there's lots of people like I always encourage all my friends that work for themselves to to work alongside somebody in a cafe that like another person that's self-employed or has their own business because you don't know what they know and you can get so much information. You know it's even as recent as last week somebody posted up something they were trying to do something they just posted on their Instagram and I was like oh have you ever heard of this here and I sent it to her because I was like you can get that done so quick and she's like oh my gosh goes I went on that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_00

You know just like people are spending such a long time trying to figure it out figure it out yeah yeah because like the same thing happened to me I was doing a big workshop and I was putting loads of pressure on myself and I wanted the PowerPoint to be pretty and I'm like hang on I'm not a PowerPoint expert though and I know all the details that's on there is my true reflection of what I want to get across but I can't make it look pretty and if I do it will take me three days. So I am there's an app fiver and I put that up on Fiverr you put up like a brief telephone fiver's great I was just like oh my God it was done. It was a guy over in Kenya he had Back to me within like 48 hours. I was like, This is amazing. Do you know what I mean? So it is, but like nobody, I wouldn't have known that until I came to the co-working space and someone said to me, Have you ever used Fiverr? And I'm like, No. So like if you're sitting in your like we talked about this working from home, if you are sitting from home and you're not communicating with people or connecting, like you don't get these tips. And you know, that's been great as well.

SPEAKER_01

They've been, you know, when you're talking to clients, like some of them, you know, some clients and you you could be doing them for ages and not even really realise what it is they do for a living or whatever. But the some of the tips and advice that I've got off clients has been incredible.

SPEAKER_00

Like, yeah, that's nearly a podcast in itself, Kira.

SPEAKER_01

I'll I'll be getting you back on, right? Let's get all the tips. And everybody loves helping everybody else. Like, and I always have to remind myself that because I struggle asking for help. But I love when people ask me for help because it's I just enjoy helping people. So I I I have to do that.

SPEAKER_00

But I think as well though, you've helped, you've been helped, and so like it's almost like a paid forward as well, right? Like it's innate because there's not not everyone is like that, right? Like some people are like, I'm in my lane and I need to focus on what I'm doing, and that's it. But I've been really fortunate as well. I've had so many people that will just go, just go here or go there and like do this. And and I think as well, it's kind of leading into like probably the end of this podcast. But I think connection is probably the biggest thing for me, like actually having a big group of people or a small group of people, even that actually can help you and that are going through similar enough journeys to you as well. Yeah. So tell me then if there was any advice and there's someone at home and they're sitting there, and be it they're on maternity leave or they're at home and they've, you know, they're working for another company, or they've got this little spark in them, and they're like, I really want to do that. What kind of advice would you give them? What would I give them?

SPEAKER_01

I would probably say just do it, just take the step. Don't wait, don't wait for clarity on it. Okay. Just take the first step and know that your plan probably won't work out. It'll probably end up being something else that'll happen, but it'll all work out. Yeah. Your intention. I think um as well, whenever people do want to do something for themselves, I think it's important to to know why you want to do it for yourself as well, because I think people sometimes can get caught up in ego and things like that. You know, they think that they want to have their own business out, you know, like think what you want it to look like, because it's not it's not always fun, and it's not, it's definitely not easy, but yeah, I definitely think just what you want that to look like for you, yeah, and not your ego.

SPEAKER_00

I don't think you could give have given any better advice, Kira, because it's ego gets you know the best of us.

SPEAKER_01

So because I know I I I remember twice somebody saying to me about my salon, you know, coming in going, This is my dream salon. And I was felt really bad because I was like, It's not my dream salon, and because that was never my dream. Do you know what I mean? It wasn't my dream to have a salon. Yeah. And I felt really guilty about that because I thought this is a dream to people to have this salon because my different what I was my goal's not to have a bit of salon, my goal is business driven and yeah, yeah, and the salon was just a result of that. Yeah. I mean, the salon that I'm in now, I wasn't meant to be in that salon. Yeah. That came about through that kind of a roundabout way that was pretty stress stressful.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I think that's the universe as well, isn't it? It's just like I think there's something greater than all of us, really, that's kind of just, you know, we talked about it earlier on. It's like sometimes, and it was like an Elizabeth Gilbert book, and it's like all these little things just come downloaded to you, and it's like all these ideas are basically like the universe going, Do you want that? Yeah. And if you do, then you take it and you run with it. And it will look totally different to you know, if someone else is getting that download, the way you operate and the way you kind of receive it. But I think that's it, right? Like we are we've we're sent in roundabouts and we're sent in diversions, but like that's a true kind of meaning of life. You just have to learn to zigzag with it. Yeah, zigzag and just trust, trust the process of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So the new part of this season, too, is I just ask at the end of the podcast, is there anyone you would like to hear on here, or any female founders or big people in business, or people that like you think that would just be really good? Yeah, I I think I doubt from Peachy Rose is she's on the hit list.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, she is, and she's great. Like, I mean, I rely on her a lot for advice and support, as I do from another couple of friends that have businesses. Yeah, she's great. She's so creative, and her she's just actually the most creative person I've ever met, to be honest. She is great. She seems I'm going to the news salon into Tuesday next Tuesday, I think it is. So I can't wait to see it. Yeah, but she just thrives on being creative. So she does, she's great.

SPEAKER_00

I'll have to let her listen to this little snippet so I can get her on and secure her. Yeah. Kira, thank you so much. We could talk for hours and more. This has just been so good and I think informative. And it's been really nice to hear your story for me personally because I don't know, you know, the the crux of it. And thank you so much for coming and meeting me.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for having me. It's been great. Thank you. Thank you.