Building a Community, Not Just an Audience | With Terri

In this episode of Beyond The Tweezers, I sit down with beauty artist and educator Terri for a conversation that goes far beyond beauty.

Terri shares her journey into the industry, from taking her very first spray tanning course while working at Waitrose, to discovering a passion for teaching and travelling around the UK training beginners in beauty treatments. She talks about the moment she realised she was good at teaching, after helping another student who was struggling on a course she was attending herself.

Throughout this conversation, Terri opens up about her experience with depression and the challenges she faced during some difficult periods of her life. She shares how becoming self employed allowed her to create the structure and working hours she needed at the time, helping her move forward while still protecting her mental wellbeing.

One of the biggest focuses of this episode is the difference between building an audience and building a community. Terri has built a loyal community of people who genuinely trust her, and we dive into how she's done that through consistency, showing up as herself, supporting others and creating real connections.

Terri also shares her experience of being bullied in the workplace, who spoke to her badly and made her working life incredibly difficult. She talks about crying outside, picking herself back up and walking straight back into the classroom to continue teaching.

We also discuss authenticity within the beauty industry, why being relatable matters, and how some of the marketing we see online doesn't always reflect reality.

This conversation is honest, inspiring and full of lessons that go far beyond beauty. It's about resilience, finding your confidence, staying true to yourself and building something that genuinely helps people.

If you've ever struggled with confidence, mental health or you’re wondering how to build a community that truly trusts you, this episode is for you.

Don't forget to press follow, subscribe, or whatever button is in front of you, so you never miss an episode.

Connect with Terri: https://www.instagram.com/bellesbeautytraining?igsh=NjUwMnRhZ3B3MnVj

Thank you for pressing play and joining me! If you would love to connect - follow and DM me. I would love to hear your stories.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I feel like that just it did change my life. No, I was quite good at this teaching art. What were the biggest challenges through the beginning of your career? I was also suffering quite a lot with my mental health. Honestly, I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

When you were doing your beauty, was there ever a time where you thought that you didn't want to continue? I mean that was the driving force behind me leaving. When was it that you left your full-time job? Hey my lovelies, welcome back to Beyond the Tweezers. In today's episode, I am sitting down with the lovely Terry, and we are talking all things about building a community and building a support network around you. She is someone who I have admired in the beauty industry. I love that she's always doing so much for other people. She genuinely wants to help others, and she's got such an incredible community around her. I actually met Terry when I spoke at an online conference. She was one of the participants, and after the conference, she reached out to me and wanted me to speak on her conference. She does like these boot camps, she has these memberships, she does mentoring, and we connected straight away. I really know you're gonna love this episode because Terry's really real, she's very authentic, and yeah, she's got great energy, and this conversation is really inspiring, really quite deep and honest. So I hope you enjoy it. Terry, welcome to Beyond the Tweezers. I am really excited to have you on because I feel like we met on that online conference when then you messaged me to come and speak on one of your conferences.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

I kind of feel like I knew you before, yeah, and it was a good couple of years ago, and like we kind of spoke, and as you say, you come on to one of my conferences, and so we crossed paths, but this is the first time actually. But then I feel like I kind of already know you because we've been we've voice notes, yeah, lots of voice notes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Talk about the dogs, yeah, yeah. That's one thing we've got in common as well, definitely. Yeah, so I want to start from the beginning. Yeah, when we were you were at school, everything like that. Was your dream job to go into the beauty industry? Yeah, or did you not go into beauty at all, or what what was it?

SPEAKER_02 2:25

So, you know, when you're at school and you've got to choose your options and you don't know what you want to do and stuff like that, and I honestly didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. And I remember I was in maths and there was a girl next to me, and she was like, Oh no, I'm gonna go to course, uh go to college and do a beauty course. And I thought, oh yeah, that that sounds like something I could do. And then by the time actual like leaving school came, I just wanted to work, so I really wanted to be in the beauty industry, but at the time I just wanted to earn my own money, so I ended up just getting a job, and I didn't do it for I left so obviously I left school at 16, and I didn't end up doing my first course until I was probably 21, 20, no, probably even older, probably about maybe about 23. Um, and that was a spray tanning course. So I knew I wanted to do it, and it was always there, even when I did leave and I was always working and doing other stuff. I knew I wanted to do it, but it didn't happen straight away. It was in my head, but it took a bit of a while to get there.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

So it wasn't ever so for the listeners who don't know you, yeah, you are mostly known for your nails, your teaching, the community that you have around you. Yeah, but you started with spray tanning. Yeah, I started with spray tanning.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

That's my biggest that is still asked if if I had to pick one course to teach for the rest of my days, it would probably be spray tanning. And yeah, that was that was my very first step into the industry, and I've got so busy with it. I remember I was working full-time at the time, and I was so busy um evenings and weekends, but it was around about the time that Only Way Aesthetics had just started, so spray tanks was really popular. Um, so I think that went in my favour as well, and then from there, I that's when I started doing little nail courses, like just short courses, um, and just manicure, pedicure, gel polish, facials, and I built it up gradually, and then later down the line, it wasn't until I went back and then actually got my full MVQs and everything, but yeah, I started very gradually, like I just built it as I was working, but it was always what I wanted to do from school, I just didn't do it straight away.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

So, what were you doing straight away before you did your little spray you did the spray tan course, or was it so I just always wanted to work and earned my own money.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Um, so when I first left school, I just had little jobs doing different bits and pieces here and there, and then I got a job in Waitros at Canary Wolf. I worked there for about 11 years, started off on the shop floor, and then I went into the personnel, so like recruitment and stuff like that. And then I went from there into like events coordinating for um like organising like staff Christmas parties, days out and things like that. And at the time John Lewis used to always, because John Lewis and Waitros are the same company, aren't they? They always used to pay quite a good bonus um in the March. And for the first few years I was getting it, I was young and I was going on holiday and stuff like that. And then one year I was like, no, I'm gonna like book my spray tancourse. So probably, I don't know, like if I hadn't have gone down that route, would I have booked the would I have thought then oh I've had my bonus, let's book that course. I don't know if that was all just part of leading to it.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

But what pulled you to beauty? What made you so you're working in waitross, you're getting a good bonus? What made you go? Well, I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

I don't know, I just always wanted to do it from school, and even like when I was a kid, I really had an interest in it, but then from school I really wanted to do the course, and I think it was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to do it. So one year I probably thought, do you know what? I've done like the holidays and stuff like that now. You know what up when you're going away with your friends, and I think I thought let's actually start to pursue it. And I remember I went, I had to go to Hyde Park, and I did the course in a hotel in um Hyde Park with CNRX, and yeah, I just went and done it, and I had such a good teacher, and going forward, I've done so many other courses where the training hasn't been that amazing. And I think if that would have been my first experience in the beauty industry, I might have been like, Oh, do you know what? No, that this ain't for me, I don't want to do it. But I had such a good experience on that course, like I feel like that just it did change my life.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

And spray tanning is so fun, yeah. I loved it when I did it.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Oh, I do love yeah, definitely love the before and after, yeah, and it's such a quick before and after as well. Like you see the results straight away. Like a dopamine hit, you're like, Yeah, and whenever you do it, I always think, Oh, I want to get in there and have it done now as well. Like, it makes you feel so good. And I always say to people as well, like when I get people now that are working full-time and they're like, Oh, I want to run a little bit of extra money, or I want to get into the industry and I don't really know how to start. I think if you're working full-time, spray tanning is one of the easiest ones because it's quick and easy. If you want to do it of an evening or at weekends, like you're not if you want to go mobile, you're not gonna cut the bed and all of that sort of stuff, it's like one bag and a tent, you kind of get money in and out, and then if you like that, then you can think, oh, do you know what? Now I'll do something else. But if you're working full-time and you want to you want to increase your income, I would definitely say spray tans, yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

So you then did your now courses and then went into doing like the MVQ and everything like that. What was did you just fall in love with it in the sense of that then spray tans just drifted away?

SPEAKER_02 7:22

I definitely yeah, I don't know, because I've carried on with spray tans, I was always kind of in the background, and then sometimes, like if I had a little break from like the industry, if I was like really busy with my other job or anything like that, it would always be spray tans that I'd go back into first. So there was always there, but then I think when I started doing nails and stuff like that, obviously I'd more offer clients, so I kind of got a little bit busy with nails and other stuff, but then when it comes to teaching, I remember where I was teaching uh where I was did my course at the time, I was doing a massage course, and but God knows why, part of this massage course got a free spray tan course. I don't they're not even linked, I know, but you did really yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

I got free classic lash course, yeah, free spray tan, free gel nails.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

I've got free gel nails, three cluster lashes, mine was, and free spray tan. And it's like okay. There's no, I thought, yeah, lovely, I'll do them, but it's so not linked with the with massage. But anyway, did it anyway, even though I was trained, even though I was experienced, I thought, oh do you know what? A bit like what we was just saying, let's go and see if I can learn something new, right? Well, I might as well not bother. It was like there was no explanation of like the different percentages, there was no explanation of how to set your machine up. No, there was no explanation of nothing, it was just do it and go. And I remember there was one of the girls that was on my call, she was so excited for that free call. She really wanted to go on and like make quite a like a business out of spray tans. So I was like, don't worry, what we'll do is we'll get together and I'll show you how to do it. And when I remember I went to her house and I hadn't really planned what I was gonna say or what I was gonna do, but I remember my theory that I come out with, not to blow my own trumpet, considering I hadn't done it for years myself, was so good. And then I taught her and I was thinking, I'm quite good at this teaching, like I'm quite alright. So I come out there and I put a message, because I wasn't trying to teach them, I put a message on one of the Facebook groups, must have been the spray tanning one, saying, Oh, is anyone interested in refreshers? Because I thought, if I'm only doing a refresher, I don't need to be able to give them a certificate if they're already accredited. And I remember Dong, the lady that owns Novatan, messaged me because she needed a trainer in London, and then that's when I started teaching for Novitan. So technically, and then I was working to then I started my teaching course I was working towards it at the time, so we were covered from that point of view. So it ended up being spray telling was my first step into the industry, but it was also my first step into teaching as well. So it kind of like it did fizzle out for a little while, but then it always came back into my life somehow. So it was a bit weird. It's like it was like always pulling you into it. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah, 100%. So once I signed up and I was uh once, sorry, I started teaching for Novertan, I enrolled straight onto my teaching course, and then once I got that, that's when I started teaching all the other stuff that I teach as well. So it was always spray tan for some reason has always been my in, it's been like my entry point into the industry, into teaching. So, and that's why I recommend it to so many people because I think if you've not got a lot of time, it's not that time consuming to learn, it's not like you're going to do a million and one exams and stuff like that. It's not that time, it's not that hard to get the knack of either.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Um, so it's like a good introduction to beauty world, definitely, and actually seeing if you like the aspect of it, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

And it that's that's why I've recommended to so many people. And then usually what happens is they go and do it and they are like, oh Joe, you're right, like that worked really well. And um then they'll a couple of months later or a year later, they'll be like, Oh, I think I'll do my jail nails course, and then they book in for another one. So it kind of works like that. It's like their foot in the door, yeah, 100%. And even with mentoring, when I decided, I always probably a bit like you offer my students' aftercare. Like, I don't ever just train them and say bye, thanks for that. And but a lot of places do, don't they? And then they're they're like, Oh, I don't know what to do next. So I always offer them aftercare throughout their career. I don't care if they message me in five years' time. If they need, if they've got a question, I asked it, it's fine. And a lot of people was contacting me and they were going, Oh, I did my training like with so and so, and they not necessarily that anyone local, it could be anyone across the country. I did my training with this person or that person, and now they've they've closed down and they're not doing it anymore, and now I don't know what to do. And so many people was coming to me like that, so I wasn't helping them, and I thought, well, now I know there's a bit of a gap in the market for some sort of like mentoring. So the first step into mentoring that I did, I set up a like a called it a boot camp. It was like an online business boot camp, but I did it for people that offer spray turns, even though I was qualified in everything else. I don't know, I just felt, oh maybe it was just in my head by that stage. Every time I wanted to start something new, it always went back to spray tanning, and I did it. And um, I remember it got fully booked, and on social media week, one lady messaged me and she was like, Oh, I did I implemented everything you said, I've got eight new clients. And I was like, Oh wow, like even I was like even though I'd done it and it worked for me, even I was like, Oh my god, I've actually taught them to do that.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

I was quite impressed. It's like that feedback just makes you know that what you were doing is right. It's like that I don't know about you, but it gives you that fulfillment. Oh you almost like realise that your purpose is like, oh, oh, I like that feeling of actually helping others, and that's what makes you go on to do more and more.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Yeah, it is this a really nice feeling, and then so it's that started off with spray tanning as well. So every time I've kind of stepped into something, a new chapter of what I'm doing, it's always started off with spray tanning. I'm like, oh, actually, I'm good at that. Let's now make it for the wider industry, and that's what I did, and that's where I how I kind of ended up doing what I'm doing, really.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

So you were still working at Waitrose by doing doing a spray tab and you still did your nails. When was it that you left your full-time job to go fully on your own?

SPEAKER_02 13:07

So, oh, how many years? It was probably a good few years. Like I never did the course and then left like gradually the following year. Yeah, it was probably about maybe about six years after I like because I carried on just doing everything like gradually. I was working during the day and then I was doing my evenings and weekends doing beauty. It was probably it was a fair while. Um how did you find that?

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Did you was it exhausting? A little bit, a little bit. It was did you love it because it was like it was something that you really wanted to do, and you have to put the work in the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

I think, yeah, I very much saw it as kind of like the next step to leave me where I wanted to be. So yeah, it was a little bit tiring, but it was worth it. I knew it was always going to be worth it, and I was I remember I used where my office used to be because it was in Canary of I used to look out and at all the like the like the apartments and things like that, and I used to think, wouldn't it be good if I could get busy enough to just go and be mobile to all these places? And I actually did. So yeah, you're very driven and very Yeah, once I get a beer in my bonnet, I I do kind of stick to it, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

What was the biggest challenges through the beginning of your career? What did you find it? Was it was it working with clients? Was it some things that went wrong?

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Yeah, I think probably confidence because I was obviously nowhere near as experienced as I am now, and it was new to me then. So confidence, I would say at the time when I was starting out, I was also suffering quite a lot with my mental health with depression, so it was kind of battling that and having the will to get up and carry on going and doing that through that as well. So that was obviously a challenge.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Um I was gonna ask you about that because I saw that you spoke quite openly on your Instagram about it. Yeah, do you mind talking about that moment of your career? Just if you feel comfortable talking about it. That's fine. Um what happened? Like, what was it that was it when you first went into doing it all by yourself? Is that when it kind of crept in?

SPEAKER_02 15:09

I think I think even before I did the course, it was already there. So, and I think that might have like the spray tankles, and I think that might have been I don't think it was like the driving force for me to go and do it, but I think it might have been in the back of my head thinking, right, well, is it because I don't feel completely fulfilled? Is it because I want to be doing something else? So I can't say that that was a driving force for me doing the course, but I think it was slightly in my head why I did it. Um, and then yeah, for even when I was working, like I was having quite a lot of time off um because of because of depression, and then I was having to keep going back, and then because obviously at the time I was um as I said, I was organising the Christmas parties, the staff days out, and it was quite quite people was putting trust in me to do like whole calendar of events, and it was for like seven, eight hundred people, so it wasn't like I was all just booking a table somewhere, and um it was I was finding it quite difficult the fact that people had double that trust in me, and then I was going off for a month, and then by the time I come back, they was all like, oh like she'd be off again, and I've got to build their confidence up again. So I feel like that the more I did that when you said that you was off, was that because you got signed off of work? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I feel like there was because of that, that was in turn, every time I went back, I went back because I felt a bit better, but then because everyone was sort of so like, oh, like here we go again, that then knocked me back again. So I felt like I was constantly in that catch 22 situation. So that whole pattern of being where I didn't necessarily want to be work-wise, going off, going back, and people like losing faith in me, that was kind of bringing me down as well. So I think that was the driving force behind me leaving and then going forward.

SPEAKER_01 16:46

So you almost like went back because you felt all right, yeah. You almost had that like, oh, I can go back and do this, yeah. Then being felt like you're being dragged back, yeah, yeah, everything feels a bit deflated, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

And it was a constant cycle, and I feel like that then probably led me to my decision to be like, no, come on now, you've got to like throw yourself into this full time and be your own boss. And just because I was my own boss didn't mean I could wake up one day and go, Oh, actually, I don't feel well because I'm gonna cancel everyone. I didn't, but it meant that I could set my own times, it meant that I could be a little even more flexible with myself, be more realistic with myself, set more realistic goals. I'm not trying to kind of always meet other people's expectations, and it did. I'm not saying I did the course and then all of a sudden I felt better, but it did give me something to work towards, and I felt like as I started meeting my goals and I started getting the good feedback, that's what then gave me a sense of pride and it started to lift. So I feel like it was in answer to your question, it was there when I started, and then I feel like it got worse because I was in and out of a situation with work that was making I went back because I felt better, and then it was deflating, so I felt worse. And I think once I removed myself from that and started working towards what I actually really wanted to do, it did definitely help.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

And how's your mental health been since that moment?

SPEAKER_02 18:04

Yeah, uh it's been better, it's been like now I've I like luckily I've been alright for years, so yeah, it's been a lot better. Um obviously, you still everyone has their moments in life, but I think there's no in between is it just a bit of a like a rough phase in life in general, or is it depression? And I think the times where I've not felt 100% of late have been it's just been a hard time in life, it hasn't been depression, it's not been I'm like this because I'm ill. Um, so yeah, mental health-wise, a good few years I've been fine.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And I feel like not a lot of people speak about the mental health side that we believe because I feel like everyone can suffer with it in different ways in their whole life, yeah. Like sometimes it can be triggered by something that's happened, or it can just be that it's just something like you said, you've you've always had, and sometimes maybe it just comes.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Yeah, and and people suffer in so many different ways, and that's why I was thinking with the whole mental health thing, I feel like it's so many people do suffer now, and I thought it's nothing to be embarrassed of, it's nothing to be ashamed of, so why not just be open about it? And actually, like it kind of makes me a little bit more relatable to a lot of people, and I feel like even not necessarily on courses because the courses that I teach at the minute are quite um they're fast track, so I don't really get to obviously if they come on and do mentoring me after I get to know them a lot more, but we don't go into it on a three-day course. But when people start to get involved with mentoring, so many people come to me and say, actually, the fact that you shared your story meant that I could that it gave me like the feeling of I might be feeling like this now, but actually I can work towards it and things can change, or they feel like they've got someone if they're not feeling 100%, they can come to me and say, Well, like, what did you do when you were feeling like this? And I'm no agony on or therapist, but I can at least I can tell them from personal experience, so yeah, that's I feel like it was definitely worth sharing it 100%.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

And I feel like it is really relatable because especially in our industry where we work with clients, yeah, and we can be their therapists, can't we? We take on actually quite a lot of their emotions. Yeah, we definitely do. And I was listening to a podcast this morning actually, and he was saying that our body stores things um inside, and if we don't have an outlet, sometimes it can still stay within us, so it can cause you mental health problems as well as even if you've got something that's happened in your life beforehand, but when there isn't no outlet and things like that, it just bottles up and stays inside, and yeah, it's better to speak about it, definitely. And I think as well, like even when you're younger, confidence isn't really the strong point. Like, that's something that I struggled when I was younger, confidence was just Oh, 100%. I kind of thought I knew I was all doing all right, and then something would happen, or I don't know, I could kind of couldn't figure it out, or something like that. And it's just not true, yeah, it's so hard to come back from sometimes, and then sometimes you think, oh my god, like am I good enough to do this? Yeah, and I feel like you probably find that with students. A lot of it is they go away and they're not confident and they need extra support, yeah. Having the support afterwards, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

And that's that's a whole reason I do it because I feel like a lot of the courses that we do are fairly short. It's not like they we sign up to big like five-year courses where you're gonna walk out at the end of it knowing everything there is to know. Like you you are gonna have questions that you've got to ask after, you are gonna need someone to be able to look at a photo and go, Well, have you tried this or tried that? So I feel like it's just the best thing to do for your students, really. It just makes sense, and then they feel like they're supported and yeah, they get to know you on a level, so then if there are any issues that they need help with, or that they're not afraid to come to you.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

So after you had or when you were going through your depression, what made you get up and go to work just because it was your

SPEAKER_02 22:00

own like was it your drive in I think it was my own I think I'd set my day up in a way where I knew it was gonna work for me so that was easier I wasn't trying to work on someone else's time scale so I'd set my day up on a day that had worked for me and that worked I think I had my drive to get I always had a goal so if I achieved one then I'd be moving on to the next one so kind of the the drive to meet that as well and I think I just knew that from my experience of being employed and the the coming like one minute you're doing really well and then next minute everyone's lost confidence because you've just been off tick for a month I knew I didn't ever want to go back into that environment full time so I thought if I'm gonna make this work I've got to do it and there were days where I wasn't well or like periods of time when I wasn't well but then that just meant at that time I wasn't booking in 40 hour weeks I was doing it in a way that was more manageable for me. So you was also setting boundaries for yourself which is huge. Yeah and I that's how I had to do it really amazing yeah and there was no like boss to to be like you know like if you'd if you had been unwell and you'd been late or you'd been up sick there was none of there was none of that pressure they like pick like not pick at you but you know like you go in there like oh you just think you'll sit and feel silly forming about yeah how you're feeling no there's not there was none of that and I think that pressure being gone makes you feel made me feel better as well um so I kind of realised that that was more the lifestyle that I wanted to lead um while I was doing that when I went completely full time with my business there were times where I was like do you know what I'm not earning as much as I wanted so I remember one of my spray tan clients her name was Penny I used to always go and do her spray tans religiously like she would have it every week and she had a salon um by Tell Bridge and she needed someone she was just so busy and she just needed someone to it was a bit like a PA really like it was like did a bit of reception kind of organise her diary organise when she needed models for apprenticeships fed her daughter's cat all of that sort of stuff so it was bits like that that I used to do like and I'd do like a day a week or something like that. So there was odd bits like that but even that was good because I was stepping outside my comfort zone and I was still in a salon environment as well but that then allowed me to kind of obviously I was only then at the time working with my client so it was only me and a client it allowed me then to start working with people from different walks of life and talking to people like that. So there was odd bits that I did there I remember when I did my teaching course um where my mum worked today was doing a refurbishment and my mum ended up being she was receptionist but she reception manager but she ended up being quite involved in the refurbishment so she was kind of coordinating that and they needed someone for a reception and I went in and done that a couple of days with it and I remember when it was quiet I used to be doing my assignments and stuff like that. So although I did go full time and like I was earning the my money through beauty there was periods of time where I stepped out and did little tiny other bits but and I think all right I'm grateful I did that because otherwise I would have kind of just felt fallen into the traffic of just being me and my clients and it would have just been the same people.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Do you know what it says a lot because of you saying that because I think sometimes whoever's listening right now might be thinking that they've maybe been felt like a bit of a failure that they've maybe gone and got a little part-time job somewhere because they think they're not earning as much as they want.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Actually you saying that because of how successful you you are I actually find that's quite quite inspiring because people feel like if they leave their job to go do something one day a week that they're like oh I've not I've not made it no but you've not but it's not that at all no sometimes you just need to take a step back like for example when I was doing my teaching calls I would have had to have been I was still doing clients I was still going out I was mobile and I was still working a lot in the beauty industry but if that opportunity hadn't come up to cover my mum while she was working on that refit thing I would have been having to really pack the car up unpack the car do double the amount of clients that I was doing to be able to earn my money and then go and do my assignments. With this I could cut back on my clients so I wasn't having to do my normal amount I could earn a wage covering my mum and doing my assignments at the same time so sometimes I've just got to think a bit outside the box and be like alright I've stepped back into a job but it's helped me get to my next and also like take the pressure of yourself. Yeah definitely you've got needs must you know I mean if you're gonna go do that you've got time for your assignments like you said yeah that's actually made your life yeah easier 100% and you and sometimes that's better and I feel like there's a lot of pressure with um like mentors online that I feel like people are sold a bit of a dream like oh no yeah you know like do this slash course and by next week you're gonna be earning £1000 a week and you're you do six sets a day yeah at this point this much yeah sorry yeah you've got to find the six clients first and you've got to be quick enough to get them people in and out to be able to do a break your back yeah yeah definitely and and you can do that all within a week of doing your calls like I feel like there's so much I know bad advertising out there it puts the industry in a bit of a bad name when people doing that because I like for example lash extensions I see it when people mentors do like if you do a full set five times a day yeah like you said you'll earn yeah let's just over exaggerate you'll earn 10k yeah no one's doing full sets every day no our wage is infills yeah same I guess the nails it's an infill price isn't it so I almost feel like you've they're feeding the wrong oh of course it's just to get them a few quid isn't it that's what it is I don't actually care about the people that they're I think it's what ruins everything yeah because I almost think like no one wants to invest in yeah having anything because they're worried that it's just I guess like a scam.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Exactly and I think it it it's just the people are so money grabbing now aren't they with like I find nowadays everything's very sousy. Yeah have this you need this do this you just think I my brain gets confused with the amount that's on there like I almost feel like everyone's missing that authenticity and trust in the person.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Oh 100% what about the ones as well they go and you'll get all this time freedom oh I don't I ain't got no I've got well I haven't got much time freedom I tell you on the way on the way here in the car I was thinking to myself do you know what I really need because I've been so busy I need about a week or two weeks where I haven't got to go out and teach anyone and I can actually work on my business not in it because I need I've got so many new courses I want to bring out and so many different things I want to do but I can't do it because I'm always here there and everywhere so I kind of need that little bit of time and so even for all the time I've been doing it alright it's in terms of time freedom I can look at my diary and be like oh I can't do that day whereas I'd have to fill in about six forms and wait for about five people to authorise it if I had a proper job like an actual employed job um so I can be flexible in that respect but they make out like you do a beauty course and then you're gonna have like the life of leisure I'm gonna be on the beach all day every day and it's just it's just not true.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

I think freedom is different to everyone. Like for example my idea of freedom is that I don't have to work weekends. Yeah I rar I do one a month really I can get up and start at 10 I can take tucks for a walk. Yeah my freedom isn't the fact of being completely away from work because I'll admit I'm a bit of a workaholic because I because I really love it. Yeah so it almost isn't me being on a beach and being like I don't have to work at all because I don't think when you run your own business that's never gonna happen. No definitely not but you build a business to be able to still do the things you enjoy like I don't work till 9pm anymore like you know what I mean I can structure it and be in charge of my hours to have a freedom that I like but people do sell it that you're basically going to earn six figure months and you're gonna be working one day a week because yeah that's how that's how it's made out and yeah for me so my freedom would be kind of be the same like I can look and I can be like do you know what actually I can't do that day so I'll move I like like I won't book that person in so when I started adding like myself like putting myself out there as a freelance educator and adding that as a stream of income into my business I they sent me out a rotor basically they sent me about a year in advance so I can plan everything around it which is really good but if I if I get that rotor and I look and I've already got something booked in I can just say like actually I can't do that week but I can do this week whereas if I went and got a job and they gave me a rotor I couldn't be like oh well I can't do Monday because I've got something and so that you have got more freedom in that respect as well so yeah I just that is my idea of freedom and I think the flex more flexibility than sitting on the beach I would say um but so many of my people come to me and they're like oh I really wish I could do more clients but I can't because I've got a job and this that and the other I I always say to them like having a job is not not a bad thing because it takes the pressure off like when you're starting out and you're setting up it's it's hard like you've got to find the money for all your products and everything to start up with then you've got to get regular clients and if you've got a job while you're trying to do that life is a lot less stressful financially because you've got an income so it might be a bit difficult with time but I don't think having a job at the beginning is a bad thing at all. I think what is the difficult part is people don't want to do the hours.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

No definitely not and sometimes I feel like people go well how did you do it and then I say oh I worked full time and then I did this and I did that blah blah blah worked the weekends I did this I did that and they look at you like yeah so I I sometimes I remember when I even when I started mentoring I used to think oh yeah like if they do that they'll be alright but then I forget not everyone wants to do that like it's I think running your own business you have to have the the drive the commitment the you want to have it so much that you'll put all the hours into it because it don't come easy.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

No it really does and I think everyone goes I'll just go do that and I can be flexible but I'm like you've got to put the work in don't you're not gonna get any anything from it no but I think what people don't like is the hard work of it that goes in it.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

They think a lot of people think right I'm gonna go and do a jail now course and I am going to go and spend five six hours doing that course I'll do that on the Monday on the Tuesday I'll get my clients by the Friday I'll be fully brought to them I'm never gonna look back and they think it's gonna be like that that easy and it's not and I think when they realise it's not that's when they're like oh no this industry's so oversaturated I can't get any clients I can't do and it's every excuse under the sun well I've done it you've done it how many other people have done it so if we can it goes to show it's doable but you've got to have that drive you've got to have the the passion for it definitely you've got to have that I want to make this my reality yeah if you don't you're not really gonna stick it I just don't think it's not for everyone either like having your own business is not for it's not for everyone and some people like my whereas I don't want to have to be answering to a boss or every time I want to go on holiday you have to fill in all the forms and all that all that sort of stuff and wait for about five different departments to okay it I don't particularly want that in my life but other people might not want not necessarily always being certain of what their income's going to be they might like the stability of being in a job and then on the 20th of each month I'm gonna get paid X amount whereas with us when you do run a business especially when you're new it's not a guarantee you're gonna get the same amount every single month and I feel like people don't think about that until then until they're doing it and then they're like oh actually this is harder than I thought and then they go back to to an employed job which is fine like there's nothing wrong with being employed and then they just don't continue.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

No. When you were doing your beauty was there ever a time where you thought that you didn't want to continue do you know when there was a time this is gonna really surprise you time when I didn't want to continue Christmas last year just gone.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

No last year I went and ventured into something new and I was managing an academy for someone else and we got funding and the funders were horrific to work with they were vile and they made my life a misery an absolute misery so when you say funders they fund the academy yeah so basically they fund the funded courses that we offer so it's like it's like a partnership sort of thing. And so they come in and they fund the funded courses that we offer oh my god they were vile they were the worst people I've ever ever worked with they made my life a misery I was working round the clock 247 I couldn't do jump through enough hoops for them and they was making my life a misery and then it came to an end in November time December and I had such a rough year going into Christmas so I was alright going into Christmas but then you know that phase between Christmas and new year when everyone's putting up about what fantastic year they've had and all that I was looking and I was thinking to myself oh I don't even know if I want to do this anymore. I've done I can't because I was kind of thinking like that's done that's behind me I've got to start again and a lot of the stuff that I had been doing I just hadn't had times on my mentoring my own courses because so much went into the academy and I thought now I've got to start again and I don't know if I want to I don't know if I don't want to go through that again and I there wasn't well it was probably only about a day if I did think oh is it time like I've done this for what 12 years now is it time to look at something else and then I woke up the next day and I was like no like take that bad year out look at everything else that I've achieved and actually the bad year that I had wasn't because I was bad at what I did it wasn't because the academy that I'd set up was bad it was because I was with bad people and you can't let that they were they were bullies and if I'd give up I would have been giving up because of bullies for one badge and I'd actually it was the way they treated me was bad but I'd actually achieved a lot in that year and I thought I'm not gonna let them take that away from me and yeah I picked up there so five months ago I was like I don't know if I'm gonna carry on now um I've got a little bit of availability I think I've got about four days in June that I could feel but actually I wanted that to be my week where I'm actually gonna work on getting stuff done and then I think I'm fully booked until about the middle of December. So and five months ago I was like no I think I've had enough jack it is yeah so that's a show like when you get them little negative spells you can't you can't just give up on it.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

I think in the moments you also learn a lot.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

Yeah definitely with them I mean when you say bullion was it in the Are you happy to talk you yeah I don't mind talking about talking about that what was it that they so basically they was very much I don't I don't know much about them as a business but they were very much whether or not they were the best of the best or they thought they were the best of the best I don't know but they thought that they were like market leaders in what they did and um everything had to be their way down to if you put the wrong cross in a box and a form you get a phone call if you can't complete a simple task like this that was that was phone call number one right what I was saying this to you yeah on the phone right and then you had to everything was like you had to use black pen you couldn't use blue pen you couldn't wear the students couldn't wear leggings they had to wear trousers everything you you sounds like you're in school yeah you couldn't there couldn't be it was like the bloke thought he was God and he thought he thought he controlled the world and nothing I did was good enough you should have known this you should have known that but we wasn't trained in that in the first place like scri I remember a grown man I mean I'm not a baby but I'm thought but he was he was must have been knocking 70 the fella and he was like he was ringing me and he was screaming at me down the phone day in day out I had this and um oh no I used to I remember I used to be crying in the garden at the bat and I used to have to whom my face go back in and teach he was vile the things he used to say to me I can't even I can't even remember to give you an example now oh I've got poor judgment I've got poor judgment I've got oh the things he used to say I must be strict I must be stupid have you ever met him once but he was the nice as pilon that was the first day I met him and um Terry that's awful oh he was vile I wish I could think of an example to give you of the things he used to say to me and then he got a woman in right he got a he got a woman in because he he was apparently he was so stressed out by all these centres that he ran he had to take a step back because we was all so stupid and he it was making him video and all that did he not realise that he was a common denominator and it was exactly oh oh and he would only have women he wouldn't have anything to do with men and that makes you wonder doesn't it and he anyway so then he put this he put this woman in charge right and I thought oh she'll be alright hopefully things possibly calmed down a little bit well I got that wrong because he was just as bad and I remember him he used to say yeah we've worked together I mean whatever I don't even can't even remember her name we've worked together for 30 years um and I used to think she might have a patience saint this woman and when I first spoke to her I thought oh she seems alright come conversation two I was like I know now why these two have worked together for 30 years because they took like two peas in a pod and um I remember one of our tutors her dad had quite um aggressive cancer and he'd just been diagnosed and we had to do training and it was only things silly things like the you know the barberside course and um a few like safeguarding courses and things like that which I know safeguarding's not silly but it was we'd all done it it was just they again we'd all done all the relevant training but just as you thought you'd done it there was something else that we had to do and I remember it was it was probably days days after her dad had got diagnosed and we all had to get our training in say her dad had got diagnosed on the Monday we worked to have our training in by the Friday. So we all did ours and then this one treater obviously hadn't because who would in that situation so I I said to the lady just to let you know so and so's dad's been diagnosed with quite aggressive cancer she's contacted me and she said unfortunately she won't be able to get a training in by Friday she'll do it by Monday. So it's not like I've never said she wouldn't do it at all. Well unfortunately that's life my husband had cancer and I had to get on and as soon as she said that I thought now I know like I know who I'm working with you and I've kind of got a read of him then and that was just vile you couldn't I am so cross with you like I was six like it's like I don't know that was vile that was the worst people I could have worked with and then how long did you put up with that? I was it started in May and then it finished in the November November December did you say I ain't putting up with this no more no I carried on like I don't I carried on because I thought do you know what I'm in I'm in with this now I've got to carry on and I thought if I can carry on maybe we can get a different funder and um I remember something went tits up I can't remember what it was oh that was it we had to have a an EQA visit that was a nightmare I thought it was going to be a nightmare it turned out to be really good and this these are the things that I had to hold on to like we had so basically it was like an external person coming in to make sure we was doing everything all right and he kept saying to me you're gonna fail this I've got a feeling this is going to be a total mess and if you fail it we won't be able to give you no more funding da da da da da and I remember we came in and we got uh put down as a very low risk centre with no improvements and I thought up yours mate see how you like that and I think he wanted to get rid of us because I think he'd really I think he'd been sold a bit of a dream by someone else and I think he thought we was a bigger academy than we was so we couldn't do as much training as he wanted and I think just think it's crazy that someone's even speaking to someone I know and I think he thought we was going to fail at EQA and that would be his his out of us and it wasn't and I thought there you go see how you like that and then we ended up getting um something I'd sent forms off and then there was like no this is wrong and that's wrong and this is something else and something else and there was like do you know what actually we think like we need a bigger academy and we think that this is that and the other and then I remember that woman on the phone said to me so unfortunately we're gonna have to part ways and at the time that sentence our thought everything just fell apart because I just put everything I had in all my time my energy into making this a success I've kind of dropped my other stuff so now how am I gonna earn money? So at Christmas I was like every everything I'd worked for was for nothing and I thought oh I don't know if I'm that's when I thought I don't know if I'm gonna carry on but I always remember that sentence so I'm sorry we're gonna have to part ways and now I think that one sentence was the best thing she could have ever said to me because she's done me the biggest favour and yeah it's I thought yeah I thought how am I gonna carry on now but she done me the biggest favour saying that because like as I said like I'm super busy I've I'm on here I did that other podcast I'm getting I had another lady from an academy um again not beauty related but she does a lot of um start up stuff so I've got a meeting with her in a couple of weeks so many other Opportunities have come my way, and I wouldn't have even been able to consider them. But by the time it finished, and this is what I was saying earlier about depression like I wasn't depressed because I know the difference, but I'd been through such a rough stage, I had nothing else to give, and it so even if I had tried to squeeze in the opportunities that I'm getting now while I was doing that, I wouldn't have been able to do it as a best version of me because I was absolutely exhausted. It's like when a door closes, another door opens. 100%. And if they come back to me now and said, I've I'll give you five million pounds cash to come back, which obviously they wouldn't, but if they did, I wouldn't I wouldn't go back there for all the money in the world. Definitely not.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

No. If someone's listening and they're going through something similar right now, like even maybe they've got a horrible boss in the salon or even in their workplace full-time, what advice could you give them that maybe helped you in that moment? Was is there anything now you reflect back and you could say this is what you would recommend, or a little advice or anything? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

I think going back, I wish when he first started speaking to me like that, I'd have said something to him. It wouldn't have gone down well, and I probably would have lost funding there and then, but it would have put me out of my misery a lot sooner. So I wish I would have said it to him then. That's one thing, but I would say, yeah, you don't have to, even if you think that this is leading to your biggest opportunity, because that was another thing. He was he was another one that sold your dream. He was always like, Yeah, so you're because one minute I was doing fantastic, I was his golden child, and everyone else weren't great. He was obviously doing that to everyone, and he was like, Yeah, so this time next year you could have X amount of funding. So I think even if if someone's making you that unhappy, even if you think ultimately it's gonna get you to your dream goal, going through that unhappiness ain't worth it because you might close the door on that and think, actually, you might have a little period of time like I did, where you're like, Oh, what's next? But what then you actually work then other opportunities do come along, so kind of sometimes people make you feel like they're the be-all and end-all, and if you don't stick with them, then you're never gonna get to your goal.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

But actually, if they're talking to you like that, it it's never gonna work, and there's also different pathways to get to the same destination, yeah, definitely, yeah. So you don't actually need them people that are are being like that.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

Yeah, no, a hundred percent, you definitely don't, and yeah, I wish I'd have said something sooner, he wouldn't have liked it. I would have had the funding pump from under me so quick, but I would have probably happened a lot quicker and I would have felt better for it. But yeah, that when I was managing an academy for someone else, I it wasn't the the academy, it wasn't the people there, it was once we started having that external funder come in. For me, that was the end, like the end of my enjoyment there. They they were vile. So I even though I had a bad experience there, I didn't have a bad experience with the people at the academy. There was nothing, no negativity there. Um well, there was a little bit, but there wasn't there weren't no, no, like on the whole, like, because I went in as I went in, it was like a consultancy role when I first went in. So obviously it was quite established in it wasn't that established as an academy, but it was quite established as a team. So then obviously I was going in to kind of change things, so that there was a little, I faced a little bit of negativity there at first, but then they kind of I think it kind of settled because they could see what I was doing was for the sort of improvement. So that kind of settled, so I had to kind of get over that hurdle at first, and I would never in a million years have had the confidence confidence to do that when I first started out. So there was that little bit of negativity there, but once we got past that, we actually had built a nice team, so I can't fault that element of it. It was only when we got the external funders involved that it all went wrong.

SPEAKER_01 47:39

It's like they kind of having that bad experience actually shaped you in the industry of being better with boundaries, definitely with confidence in yourself, actually being like, I would have no one ever do like that to me. Definitely not, and also you proving him wrong. Yeah, like imagine someone ringing you, like if someone was ringing me and saying, like, you're gonna fail that, yeah, that I'd be like, like it would it depends on the person, but I I'm I'm a sensitive soul.

SPEAKER_02 48:07

Yeah, I am as well. I'd be crippled. I I and I think I don't know how I got like it goes for show, and I know when I speak to my uncle as well, because we talk about my time at the academy and things, it goes, I saw you grow as a person the whole time you were there. So when I come out of it, it was a bit like oh that was a whole waste of time. But actually, I grew a lot as a person because even the day I first walked in there, if someone had spoken to me like that on the phone, I would probably have cried, and I was there a good year before we got these external funders involved. Um, and I managed to get through it. I think I cried once, but not to them on the phone. I managed to get through it, and I remember one of the tutors came in and she got told off by one of the funders, and she was in tears straight away. And I I obviously I didn't say it to her because it would have been a bit artless, but I thought I've had that every day, morning, noon, and night for the last five months, and now I've seen that. Obviously, I didn't want to see her cry, but it actually made me realise I've done quite well to last like this long time. That's actually made you so much stronger 100% and so much clearer on what I want as well, because I think a lot of people think the ultimate goal is to have an academy to be able to offer funded courses. If someone gave me a set of keys to a brand new spanking academy and said, That's yours, I wouldn't want it now. Wouldn't want it. I'm happy doing what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

So it kind of actually it's shown you what you actually want from life. Yeah, definitely. And the world, I don't know if you're into like the universe stuff. I love all things like that. But I sometimes think it gives you things happen for a reason, and this was probably an indication of you've got to do your own thing, yeah, be your own person, go and do what you in you enjoy the most. Yeah, and look, you're busy up to December. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

I know, it's amazing. And last year, when it all went wrong, it went wrong right on top of Christmas. So I kind of didn't have time to quickly have anything in place for the new year. Whereas this year, I'm gonna I was actually talking to Mum about this last night. I'm gonna be able to, as the year carries on, I'm gonna be able to start getting things booked in for next year. So I've got a kind of con continuous flow. Whereas last year I dropped everything to do what I was doing, so I was starting this year of completely again, and it was five months ago. We're only the start of May, and I got through it. Yeah, I got through it, and I've probably busier than I've ever been in a way that is manageable because last year I was definitely busier than I've ever been, but in a way that was ridiculously busy, like I was doing too much, there was no boundaries. Um, but now I'm busy, but in a comfortable, busy if that makes sense, so I'm not like I'm not I can look and think like oh, I've got a couple of days off there, or I need to do this. I'm not breaking my back, I'm not getting anyone ringing me screaming, I'm not, I've not got really I've really ain't got that that much stress with this. Obviously, there's times things some days are more difficult than others, but that's life.

SPEAKER_01 50:56

It's quite a traumatic experience, though, innit?

SPEAKER_02 50:58

Oh, do you know what? It was vile.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

And I had we're giggling like this because you go, it's like sometimes how you deal with it, yeah, because you're either gonna laugh or you're yeah, cry.

SPEAKER_02 51:09

Oh, definitely. It was awful. And I remember because I so there's another story that came out of this as well, because this will lead on to like my community thing as well, and uh later on so it will it'll all kind of flow, but um I met so basically when you're in an academy setting, you have to have an IQA, so she would be like our internal verifier who comes and checks everything, and then you have to have an EQA, which is external, which is the one that he told me I was gonna fail, and I never. And um at the time he told me he uh oh it was someone, someone at that company told me that they had an IQA in place, and so therefore I didn't get an IQA because I was told that we had one in place. Then all of a sudden that was something else that I'd done wrong, but we never had an IQA, and I thought, oh, I need to find someone quick. And I remember just up the road to where we were, there was another academy, and Katie, she's very well known for what she does, and she's got a good online presence, and I think a lot of people would probably think I can't ask her because she's just up the road, she's gonna think it's silly that I never had one lined up in the first place. She's gonna, do you know, like there's gonna be so many reasons why I shouldn't approach her. But I just thought to myself, you know what, I've got to get someone, and she's the nearest person, and I'm just gonna ring her and ask. So I remember I phoned her Academy and someone else said, Oh no, she's teaching. So I messaged her on Instagram and she was like, Yeah, I can help. And we had a chat that night, and I told her about the funder, and he was my second experience of a funder, the first one weren't like it. She wasn't great, but she weren't like that. And I told her about him and how he'd been behaving, and she was like, No, that's not normal, even the things that he was expecting of me, the things he was telling me to do, she said that's not normal. So she was the first step in me realising how bad he actually was. But anyway, she came in to be our IQA, she really helped me because there was I'd never done it before in the way that he wanted it. So there was things that I didn't know, and she really helped me to get him on track, and then we kind of made friends, and then after that, we stayed in touch, and then when the funding went, um, and I was a bit like, what am I gonna do now? She was like, I'm teaching a job freelance at the minute, and she said, I've got so busy, I haven't really got time to do it, but I don't want to let them down. So she was like, How would you feel about if I had a word and you stepped in? So I took over, so because I made that phone call from that, that gave me my next step into something else. So I took over from Katie on this freelance thing, teaching Nels. And at first I went in just teaching what Katie was doing, and obviously Katie's got an academy, and so she couldn't do as much, she didn't have, I literally had nothing to do because I'd just lost everything. So I had I went in and then the man that owns it, I had a chat with him on the phone, and I was like, Have you got any other work available or any other teaching? And he was like, Oh, he said, Are you available for more? So I was like, Yeah, well, next thing I do, like this wrote her of things. It's quite a lot of travelling. Like I've taught twice in Swansea, I've taught in Plymouth, but it's fine, I'm sitting in different parts of the country, I'm meeting different people, all the people I meet then filter through in time and mentoring, and that would never have happened. I would never have got that foot in the door with this company if I hadn't have made that phone call to Katie.

SPEAKER_01 54:18

So I feel like I wouldn't have reached out and built that relationship.

SPEAKER_02 54:22

Definitely. So that kind of goes back to that whole universe thing as well. That was meant to be.

SPEAKER_01 54:26

I think there's all those things you cross past people for a reason. There's things that there's things that happen that connect you, and then the door opens and someone goes, Do you know what? I've I know someone who can do that, or oh I can't do that, but I know someone that can. Yeah, yeah. So I think you're building that community, which is exactly what we were gonna go on to next. Because this is what I admire from you, even from when I did that conference on your um, it was an online conference for like your membership group, wasn't it, on Facebook? Yeah, and that's what yeah, it was on it's like a a mixture of different yeah, and we had a few all different people on.

SPEAKER_02 55:08

And that's what I want to do again. I definitely want to organise another one of them because that I started organising, and then I got this funder, so at the time I started it all excited, and I was putting everything into it, but then I was getting all these screaming phone calls, so I felt like I couldn't really put my all into that conference, but it still gave us the opportunity to meet and work together, so it was worth doing, but that's something that I would like to do more of as well, I think.

SPEAKER_01 55:32

Because you have this community of where beauty professionals really trust you, yeah, and they are asking you for help, they if something goes wrong, they want to talk to you. What do you think it is about you or what you've done in the industry where you have created this community? Like, what is it that has connected you all?

SPEAKER_02 55:55

So I think I as a person I think I'm quite relatable because I am quite open with not just up the mental health thing, but the thing about like having other jobs and stuff like that. Like when I was building, I feel like that makes me a little bit more relatable. I'm not forever online showing off my new Range Rover. I haven't got a new Range Rover, but you know what I mean? If I did have one, like you know, like I'm not showing off all my luxury holidays and all that, so I kind of think that makes me a little bit more relatable, so they feel a little bit more comfortable. And I've I did read and I did mention this before on uh another training that I did, but I feel like people like to learn from people that are just a couple of steps ahead of them rather than a whole world ahead of them because it kind of makes me feel like not in reach, but it makes me feel like I'm not I don't come across like a preachy way if that makes sense. So I feel like being relatable in that aspect and just being really honest that's probably helped me to to build that community, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

When did you start and seeing the community grow? Did you like what did you put in place to I think it's there's a difference to having an audience and having a community? Oh, definitely, a hundred percent. A community trusts what you say, it the community connects with who you are. Yeah, you can have an audience who follows you but doesn't connect with you. Yeah. So when was it that you how did it start for you?

SPEAKER_02 57:17

So how it started was when I decided that I was getting all these messages about help and I hadn't trained these people, but they still wanted the help. Um I decided that actually there was a gap in the market for mentoring. And as I said, I started off with the spray tan business boot camp. And as a part of that, they got a WhatsApp group. So in that group, they'd be like, Oh, I've created this cover photo for my Facebook page, what do you think? Or how what do you think of this caption or whatever they'd done that I taught them? They was all asking each other questions, and then obviously every single day I was going in and I was giving feedback on what they'd done. But I was looking at how that they were connecting with each other, and I was thinking, actually, that's really nice because when we work and we're solo and we're not working with anyone else, we can't go to the next person on the next nail desk and ask what they think. And sometimes you've got the support groups on Facebook, but that can get a little bit like the blind leading the blind because it's just everyone giving their opinions. It's not really people, there are some people with experience, but you don't know who them people are, who the trusted people are.

SPEAKER_01 58:18

It can be quite salesy, yeah, definitely. Like you could have someone say, like, for example, a brand of let's say lash extensions, yeah. Someone's like, oh, the glue, the my glue's not working, and then you have like a brand will be like, you can use our glue. Yeah, that's not really helping the situation explaining why, is it, or what could be going wrong and things like that?

SPEAKER_02 58:39

The community's not there, is it? No, it's like it's just sounds trying to get money all the time, yeah, definitely. And I thought, you know what? The whole idea was that that the group was gonna be open for a couple of months after the um the training, and that would be that. But then I thought, no, this is too good. Like people actually need this, and every day I would go in, so they would all talk amongst themselves, and I would then go in and actually be like, Is this on a Facebook group? This so I have got a Facebook group, but this this was within a WhatsApp group, this this is how it initially started. Um, and then I would go in, and obviously they're all giving each other good advice, but if I thought actually there's a better way of doing it, then I'd go in and say, This is what I've done. Like, I'll give you an example. Like, I've got I've now started one for beginners as well because of the amount of beginners that I come across, and no one really likes working with normal polish, right? So yesterday someone put in the group and said, Oh, what brand would you recommend for normal polish? And then someone's like, Don't bother with it, it's not worth it, this, that, and the other, and it kind of like slugged it right off, and no one really likes it. But I then went in and was like, if I was you, I'd really actively encourage people to have gel, but you do get clients that sometimes want normal polish, maybe for health reasons, if they're in and out of hospital a lot, allergies, allergies, or they might work in a hospital and they might want their nails done for a wedding on a Saturday or something like that, and then be going back to work on a Monday, they can take it off easily. So, whereas there was quite a few group messages in there, and no, they weren't nasty messages, it's just how how it would be in the now world, no one likes using normal polish. Should so they was like, No, I can't stand the stuff, and um I was like, to be fair, no one really likes it, but there are a few clients that will still want it done, so I wouldn't say you need to have a massive collection, but still have a few for that reason. And she was like, Oh, that's great advice. Whereas in a what's in a Facebook group, you kind of just get either bombarded with sales or like the negative side, there's not a balanced answer. So that's why I think people enjoy being in the group.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:34

Um, I like a WhatsApp group, I have one for my students and I like when everyone interacts with each other. I think it's so nice. I like you say, uh, you read it, and if there's advice that if someone hasn't already given it, and I'm like, I personally would maybe do it this way, I still will give my advice. But if one of the other girls have handled it, I'll just say, absolutely, do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:57

That's exactly what I do. So at the beginner's group, I've got a lot of obviously because I'm teaching a lot of now courses at the minute, so it is very now based in there, but in my I've got another group who are kind of like one of my original mentoring groups, and they're kind of like the best way I could describe it is the ones I've got now are like my year sevens, and he's like ready to leave now, if that makes sense. So they're not gonna leave, but they're gonna, they're they're quite established, so they are able to help each other and give really good advice. So the other day I was driving home from Swansea, I just stopped to get a coffee, and someone had asked a question about facials, but I was literally about to get back on the road, so I was like, I'll reply to this when I get home. But in the meantime, Felicity might be able to help, and I tagged her because she's like a facial facial queen. By the time I got home, she'd give the most detailed, perfect message, and the lady was off like implementing that advice. So I just think it's really nice that they can help each other like that. And I feel like we work on our own a lot, which as I've just said is probably what most of us want because we don't want the boss and the the all of that sort of stuff, but it doesn't mean that we don't want to feel part of something because it can sometimes feel like definitely, yeah. So like it gives you these groups, give you like a sense of kind of being part of a team, part of a community, and yeah, the origin and the original one started off as on the back of that spray tanning one. Then when I realised that was gonna work, I thought, right, let me start to build up a community of people that might want to do more with me about other stuff, not just um tans. So that's when I started my Facebook group. That's got like a thousand members, but I'll be honest, since I've become more active on Instagram and I've got this beginners and my mentoring group going, that's kind of where mainly my community lies now. I haven't done as much on Facebook recently.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:37

Do you feel like you intentionally wanted to build community, or do you think it just naturally grew?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:44

Um, I wanted to be able to properly help people get started in their business. That was definitely what I wanted. I don't think I ever sat and thought, right, I really want to build a solid community. I think once I realised how well it worked, then I decided I was gonna grow it more, but I don't think I ever sat and made a conscious decision to do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:02

Um it's quite authentically you being you that has built this community. I think I feel like people connect, don't they? And then that's where you hold on to them. Yeah, so I do you think students or beauty professionals notice when someone is being genuine or not genuine?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:25

I definitely think so.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:27

Have you ever come across that yourself? Maybe where you've seen something, you're like, well, I don't feel like that's genuine, that they actually want a community, though they just want sales, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:37

Definitely, yeah. And I feel like they either want the sales, or I think they all want the sales, but I think some of them want to come across like they are the best of the best of the best, but they don't come across in a nice way with it. It's always a bit like, well, I'm doing this and so should you be. Like it's a bit preachy. Um, so I feel like you get people that are not authentic and they are after it for the money, or you've got people that are so keen to show you everything they've done and everything they've achieved, they kind of talk down to people a little bit, and I don't think people want that in a community, they want someone that's going to be on their level, side by side with them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:13

Was there ever a moment throughout your whole career that you realised you were making an impact on people? Like maybe there was a student in particular where you were like, Oh, I've I've really helped her.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:24

Like, or yeah, I think there's been a few, but one that really stood out from a community thing um was I decided that we were gonna have this community, and then I thought, right, we speak to each other every single day, like we are a team, but we can't because I've got people from all over the country, I can't say to them, right, I'm gonna organise a Christmas party. But I thought we need to do something to mark what we've done this year. So I thought I'm gonna do like a little awards thing. And what I do is they all enter, they it's free to enter, and then if they want to do another category, I think it's something like a fiver, and then that money just goes to our chosen charity. Um, and I I did it, and then they fill in their application forms. Uh they there's like judges that can't that that just mark their like forms and and stuff like that, and I thought it just brings them together. Um, and then what I do is I put it all together on like a little presentation and I schedule it, and it goes up like seven o'clock Christmas Eve morning. So they wake up and they see the results. And what they when I first mentioned it, they got so excited, they were so happy, and then one of them was like, Um, my dad really wants to watch it with me. Like, I thought we were just gonna do it and that they was gonna like it, but I didn't think it was gonna mean that much to them. She was like, Can you send me the link so me and my dad can watch it together? And I thought, I know that is not an example how I've I've necessarily helped her in her career, but it's an example of how I've given them like a positive impression of the industry. And then there were people messaging me going, Oh my god, I can't believe I've won, I've been in in tears. And I feel like there's so many negative things that get said about the industry. People say about there are money grabbers in the industry, there's bitchiness in the industry and stuff like that. And I feel like building my community, I've been able to give them a taste of the nicer side of things and like the team spirit and how we don't all have to be against each other. So that would be one example that springs to mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:18

Because I think a lot of us in the industry get imposter syndrome. Oh, definitely. So we don't feel good enough. Yeah. We get imposter syndrome, we are perfectionists in our work and we're picking at every detail. So when someone like you does something as it's free and you're just recognising and awarding their hard work, they don't really have to overly do anything, really. Do you know what I mean? Other than enter, it kind of gives someone like that that feeling of like I'm okay. Yeah, definitely. That is such an big thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:54

Yeah, and they ended that year on such a high, and I did it. Like I remember I was getting my nails done and I had the idea, and so it weren't like something I've been planning for years. It was quite like an off-the-cut thing, and I did it, and then it went so well, like we did it again last Christmas. I'll definitely do it this Christmas. I've got my beginners now as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:11

Um it just gives people a boost, and it's you don't know what people going through on yard, like just in general. Yeah. So doing something out of just because it just makes people's day. Definitely, it really does. Positive, that fire.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:30

Yeah, and it inspires them, and then they go into the new year thinking, yes, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna grow this and I'm gonna grow that. And I don't do it to make money, like as I say, the categories are free, or I think they do more than one, it's a five or each after that, and then that goes to charity. So I don't do it to make money, I just do it just to give people a bit of a boost. So, what are they doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:48

They just send in in some of their work or they do assess in their profile.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:52

So they do an application form, um, and then they send in photos of their work that they feel is their best work to be judged on for the awards, and then they send in their social media links as well. Um, so if the judges want to look at their work in a little bit more detail or look at what they're doing to grow their business, they can. Um I love that. Yeah, and it's just I feel like when that girl said to me, Oh, can I watch it with my dad? I thought, can I look at what like how much that's actually meaning to people? And yeah, I feel like that that might not be a shining example of how I've taken one person from here to there and now they're they're doing a fantastic job, but it shows how it's giving them a boost.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:28

I think there's a that's a good I feel like that story itself is a very imp it's very impactful because I don't think many people realise what that can actually do to someone. Oh, definitely, yeah. You're doing it out of like the kindness of your heart, like you're actually going, I want these girls or boys in the industry to be recognised for their work, and you want to be able to give them that without it being anything that you have something on the other end that you're gaining from it in a way, you're just doing it because it gives them a booth. You are inside going, I want this for you, like I want you to be recognised, I want you to have the boost, I want you to be pushed, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:06

And it knows you're gonna help and it helps them so much for their confidence. And I remember that first Christmas I did it. Obviously, I didn't know what the outcome, like what the reaction to it was gonna be. And I'd see them all so happy on Christmas Eve, like it literally made my Christmas. I was so happy with how it worked out. Um, but yeah, I just thought it was a good idea, and I'm definitely gonna do it again. We need more of you on the street as a clone make at someone else. There was another lady as well, she um she did my first spray tam boot cam, her name was Sue, and she came across me. You know, sometimes you just scroll in and you just come across random people on social media. That's how she came across me, and she was just about to give up with her business, and she was the one that said um she's got social media week and had eight new clients. She's got like her own um studio in her garden now, and she's flying through with her business. So that's one I could say, yeah, you know what?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:00

Like sometimes I think you just need someone to give you a nudge in the right direction, or just give you that little bit of hope that you're doing all right, yeah. Because we work alone and we can get stuck in our own thoughts 100%. We might not take action, we might be comparing ourselves to everyone else, yeah, and then you don't do nothing, yeah, and then you just get worse and then you feel deflated. Yeah, definitely. So having that is just amazing. What you're doing in your community, that's I just find it such an admirable thing. I just think I I love that you have such a connection with people around you and that people trust you. What do you think it is about the way you show up that's made people feel like they're a part of your community rather than just following you online?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:48

I think it is because I am so honest. Like, I don't go on there and hold back, I don't go on to try and be someone that I'm not. I'm quite if you look at my oh, I'm a bit behind on the talking stories at the minute because obviously we all say about the importance of showing our face on camera, but even when I talk on camera, I'm not trying, I'm not trying to come out of all these big impressive things and show off. Um I'm just me all the time, like what you see is what you get, and I feel like people can kind of relate with that, um, and then they want to join that community, and I think they think if I don't know, I think they probably a little, I don't know the best way to word it, but they kind of associate me with the kind of people that will also be in that community as well, because we're all kind quite like-minded, whereas no one in my community is is um the type of person that you do see in industry that wants to come continually tell you what they earn and what they've got. Like it's very relaxed, it's professional, but it's relaxed, and I feel like I I I know just then it's not intimidating, no, not at all. And I feel like just saying, Oh, it's because I'm myself, ain't the best of answers, but I do feel like that is probably what authenticity is huge.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:55

Yeah, I think when you are yourself and you just show up as who you are, yeah. I think people see it, and I also think when you're not showing up as yourself, people see straight through it 100% they do.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:08

And I think I I struggle, I can't really be anyone else. Like, I can't, I don't want to be on there and pretend that I'm this or I'm that or I'm someone else. And I feel like, to be fair, and this is another thing that goes back to the mental health and how it's helped me as well. I go on and I show up as myself, and as it's proven, me doing that is enough, and that's then got people to be part of my community. And I didn't think there would ever be a time I'd go, you know what? I'm I am enough, I'm doing that is what's gonna build my career going forward, just being me. So that is another thing that long term has given me a boost, and I feel like you are your brand, yeah. 100%. I am, and I I there's no like I well because I've been so busy, I have got someone to help me a little bit now with like the WhatsApp groups and stuff like that. Um, but there is no like big team, it is it is me, and if I'm gonna show up as someone that I'm not, then I'm gonna struggle to sell and get people to book in.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:00

And people remember you for doing that extra stretch of messaging them, helping them, not ignoring them. I think it goes a long way. It does definitely. Is there any part of when you're so in demand or people needing your help that you can sometimes feel a little bit of the pressure and a little bit lonely in it?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:25

Um I feel like there would have been a time like that, but I feel like as a result of last year, which was such a rough year, I met the best women in the industry. Like I met, well, Katie for one, but then I also met and they they was my students because that was another thing. I was meant to be managing like the funded side of things and stuff like that. I wasn't supposed to be teaching, I was supposed to be like kind of leading, but then one of the tutors went off and I had to take over. That it only went on holiday, but the funder was adamant that she couldn't come back because there would it wouldn't be consistent enough for the students, so I had to take over, and I remember starting that massage course thinking I've not got time for this. But another thing, if I hadn't have done that, I wouldn't have met the girls on them courts on that course, and they went on to be really good friends as well. Like a good I built a good support network last year, so I think if I hadn't have done that, there probably would have been times I might have been a bit overwhelmed or a bit, oh I don't really know what to do, or a bit lonely.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:23

Because I feel like when you're someone everyone's turning to, yeah, sometimes it's it's great because they trust you and they want sometimes when it's you if you don't have the people around you, you could be a bit like oh my god, this is a lot, yeah. But actually, you've met them people all for a reason and you're all basically supporting each other, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:41

So it's all kind of worked out well, definitely, yeah. And it's really I wouldn't so many things when I you don't even realise until we talk about it, but so many things come out of last year that were positives as well, like even though it was a negative time, there was a lot of positives that come from it.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:56

Sometimes you see it later on and you reflect and look back and you go, okay, that was that was shit. Yeah, but actually, there is so much that you have taken from that.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:08

Yeah, definitely. Makes a huge difference to look back and think, well, at least it wasn't just that one bad year, like there was good things that come out of it as well. So that was good.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:16

Yeah, and I feel like it shapes you and betters you into giving advice to other people because imagine someone else going for that and then you don't have that experience, you know. Like I've had it where I've had a boss be horrible to me, and it really gave me anxiety. I had spoken about it once in a solo episode, but I had such bad anxiety from it that I didn't realise how badly it affected that it affected me in that moment, and I was so young, I was only like 20.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:45

So that could have been enough to stop you in the industry altogether, really, couldn't it?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:48

It made me leave the salon I went to after because it wasn't the salon I was at, the boss was it was my previous one. Okay, but I was so consumed by how she spoke to me, yeah, that I almost felt like I was like crippled with anxiety. I was scared that someone was going to be horrible to me again. Yeah, I was scared that if I left this other place, would they have a guy? It was just like all-consuming, yeah, and it made me it made me go on my own, but it made me go on my own, but it almost all it actually made me fearful of things I was never really that worried about, like being on your own boss is scary on its own, you know, like you're so young, yeah. But when you have a bad experience, it can be quite traumatic and it can be like. Oh, and it can stay with you as well, yeah. Throughout, and then you you have to work through that. So now you have that experience, you almost can say, This is how I do it, this is what how it actually makes you stronger and different.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:44

This is what I achieved like as a result, even though it didn't feel like it at the time, this is what I went on to achieve as a result.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:49

So I mean, if someone's listening and they want to build a community, like that's something that they want to grow and they want to have people that they can help, what advice would you give to them? Was it is there anything that you could say where there could be a starting point for them?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:03

If um I would say pick for me, obviously, when I did start and I started with spray tanning, I could have started with anything, but I think, as I said, so many times when I've started something new, like when I wanted to be in the industry, spray tanning was when it started. When I wanted to teach spray tanning was where it started. So I think automatically I went to spray tanning to start mentoring. So I would I would say start small, like you don't have to make build the biggest community in the world. Start small and start on something that you know inside out. So for me, that was uh Tans. Start by showing them that you are an expert in that area and you can get them to where they need to be if they implement your advice. That will help you to get them on board, and then once they're on board, then you can grow a community from that. So you might start with like a WhatsApp group, build it, get results, get feedback that you can share.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:59

Nurture the WhatsApp group to just put them in and never speak.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:04

I'll go into the WhatsApp group every single day. There might be the odd occasion I miss a day, but then I'm back in there the next day. But normally they'll know in advance. I'll be like, oh, I'm in Swansea teaching, or they'll know. But yeah, even if I just go in and say, Hi ladies, are you all okay? Does anyone need any help? And then some days they're all fine, or then that might trigger out a conversation and they'll all start chatting amongst themselves. But yeah, nurture it. Think, try and be a little bit different. So what worked for me might not work for you. So try and tailor, kind of once you get a few people in there, you can really get a feel for what they want and kind of tailor it for them. Definitely. Um, and keep going. Don't be like, oh god, I've only had five people joining this thing, it's not worth it.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:42

It's like anything else, when you're starting afresh, you want to make sure that it you you are consistent with it because it takes time, like um nothing happens overnight, you have to put the work in, and it all stems to putting the work in. It does, definitely. Yeah, you've got to be. I had this quote: you've got to be the change you want to see 100%.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:05

Yeah, definitely. You have to, and that's the that's a really good point. Think about when you're setting up your community, why are you doing it? Because for me, it was because I realised that these people didn't have anywhere to turn to, so they needed that. So be really clear on why you're doing it and what kind of changes you want to make as well, and that'll help you going forward, and just yeah, support them as best as you can, but think really listen to them and try and kind of once you've got a real feel for what they want, try and tailor it to them as well, and that'll keep them on board. And then once you've got that community, you've always got a room of people that will be your biggest supporters as well, and they trust you, yeah, definitely. So if you do launch something new, you're not not launching something new and being like, Oh no, I've got this course and just hoping that someone sees it on Instagram, you've already got like an audience that fully trusts you, like it's true, it's so it's so worth doing.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:56

If that's five people, yeah, that don't matter. That's only five people to tell other people about you.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:00

Yeah, 100%, and it makes a difference. And like yesterday, even though I've got, I don't know if this is being about business owner self-employed, I don't know, but even though I keep saying I've got that week in June, I think it's like four days actually, where I really want to work on the business and not in it. To me, if I see a gap, I think, but I would like to like earn a little bit that week. And I thought to myself, you know what? I've got I've been meaning to do another boot camp for so long, and I've got so many newbies. Because I mean, I since just on the away courses that I've done, not collecting the ones that I've taught local, I've had like 50 students. So I've got so many newbies that are ready to learn everything that I covered in that boot camp. So I looked and I thought, oh, I could do one in June. And it's like I'll be doing it at home. So it's like a couple of hours online a day, so I could still work on all the other things that I wanted to do. So I put it in the group yesterday, I was like, right, I'm thinking about doing this. Last time I did it, social media week, someone got eight clients, blah blah blah blah. Explain what was in it, and then within about 10 minutes, I had about six people saying, Yep, send me the details, I want to do it. So having a community, then as a business owner, although that's not what you formatically set it up for in the beginning, it helps you grow your business going forward as well. So it is definitely worth having.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:15

Because people want to be a part of whatever you're doing, so and if it's going to benefit them and they know it already works time and time again. Yeah, and I've got all my reviews for that now.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:24

And the thing is, when I do it, I thoroughly enjoy teaching it because I know what I'm teaching is tried and tested that I've done in my business and worked. I've not just read a book and I'm plucking bits out and then selling them a dream. Like, I what I'm selling them is real and honest, so I thoroughly enjoyed doing that.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:41

And it's all from experience, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:43

And so and literally how I worded it in the group was it's basically everything I wish someone had told me when I was in the position that you're in now. And I think you can't put a price on someone giving you that information, really. Like, you think you've still got to learn things and figure things out for yourself. But imagine having someone at the beginning that can give you that guide and give you give you though point you in that right direction. And I know it's up to them if they want to implement it, but yeah, I thought I really enjoyed doing things like that. And when I saw I had that little gap, I thought, lovely, that's that can be that. And then so many people was like interested in it, and then straight away, and I think this is another thing about being a business owner. I was like, so that'll be June, and then I thought, then come Christmas, I would have had another whole lot of newbies come in, so I'll come do another one in January. And I I like the fact that I can have that variation and do different things as well, yeah. So yeah, it makes it makes a difference, and it's really working for you, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:33

Like even from watching you online, I can see people interacting, wanting to be a part of all doing it.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:40

And I love it, and I'm so much I'm enjoying it so much more than what I was doing last year, and yeah, there's nothing I don't like about my job at the minute, to be honest. There's nothing I don't like about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:50

You should be very proud of what you've created, it's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:53

Yeah, I actually am, like, and a few times like I know that might sound a bit. No, this is this is it should you should be proud. I am because I feel like literally at Christmas, I didn't know where my next pound was coming from because everything I'd put in had literally just been pulled from under me. I didn't have necessarily have to drive to carry on. And then I woke up, I was like, no, I'm not letting a bully get me down, and yeah, five months on, I'm fully I was fully brought last month, fully brought this month. As I said, June, I've got that little gap, but I desperately need that time to to implement other stuff, but I'm gonna do a boot camp then as well. July, I think I've got maybe the odd day or two, and then from then on it's pretty much up to Christmas. I'm quite fully fit.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:33

It's amazing, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:34

So I'm I've been really lucky. Um, yeah, really lucky. Well, no, I say I've been lucky, I haven't been lucky. I did I've been I've worked hard to get to get to where I have, but I was lucky I met the right people last year to have the right support in place. Um, but the actual achievement of being that fully booked doesn't come down to luck, that's come down to determinate determination and hard work. Um yeah, I'm just I am proud of what I've done because literally I would have been proud of myself regardless, but what I've achieved this year, I've literally done in five months, so yeah, I'm definitely proud of that.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:07

Especially what everything you went through. Yeah, it's 100% turned it on again, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 1:24:12

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:13

So yeah, just before we go on to the Beyond Five round, so Beyond Five is a quick fire round, it's just a bit of fun, it's just really lighthearted. Yeah. But I just wanted to say for anyone who's listening or watching and they they're hearing about you doing your education, what courses do you offer online, in person, um, like your workshops, boot camp. Yeah. Could you just explain a little bit about your academy as such? Yep, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:41

So I offer, I always describe it, I'll go ahead and in a bit more detail, but pretty much treatment-wise, everything that would be on like a level two or a level three course. So I don't do any aesthetics, any injectables because I don't like needles. So that is why I don't do that. That scares me. Yeah, but so all of like your introduction of things like manicure, pedicure, gel polish, um facials, waxing, tinting, lash lift and tint, brow lamination, and then all of your massage stuff. Um, so pre-blender aromatherapy, body massage, Indian head, hot stone, lymphatic drainage, yeah, quite a lot. Wow, loads. Um, and then obviously spray turns, nails, and then everything that I do in person, I also do online. Amazing. So I've got an online version as well. Teach a fast track now course um for a company called NTC. I teach that on a freelance basis, so that I teach manicure, pedicure, gel polish, builder gel, hard gel, and acrylics. So that's something else that I do. Um, and then I do, I've got my obviously in my community, so I've got my online WhatsApp groups, and then I do like the business boot camp. So on them, I teach things like how to stand out from the crowd, how to set your price incorrectly, how to set your social media up for success, how to make your business as stress-free as possible, set up policies and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:03

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:03

How to make more money in your business, that's all included on a boot camp as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:07

So the next thing we're doing is beyond fire. So this is the last thing towards the end. So quick fire round. Sometimes it's not quick, so don't worry if you want to think about it. So the first question is what is your go-to comfort food after a long day of work?

SPEAKER_02 1:26:24

Oh, go-to comfort food. Oh, I don't know. I think food is like my favourite thing, so it's hard to pick a go-to. Probably oh, go-to comfort food. Probably like a nice proper dinner, like a home cooked dinner, like maybe like a spaghetti bolognese. Oh, a good one with bread and not such a thing. Yeah, yeah, that would probably be a go-to, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:46

Yeah, I'd go with that. That is delicious. One word your friends would use to describe you.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:52

Oh, probably determined, I would say, because they've seen me go from how I was when I started out to what I've built, so I'd say you're probably determined. A lot of people say funny as well, but I don't think I'm that funny, but I think it's just I don't know, it must just be how to tell my story and tell a bit.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:09

I feel like with you, when you told that story about that man, it even made me laugh because you make such a positive spin on it and you're laughing as you're telling the story, and it's almost like so awful, but you still see the sun through the clouds.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:25

It must just spin with delivery of stories, I think. That that people find funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:29

I love it. I love it. What lash oh no, what tool or product could you never live without?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:35

This could be anything, so it doesn't have to be beauty related.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:38

No, it can be beauty related if you want it too.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:42

Oh, tall or product I couldn't live without. Does my car count? Because I could definitely couldn't live without that. I couldn't work without that. Um so that's what I would think of go to. Tall, what tall would they be? Oh, I don't know about a tall. The only thing I can think of for me and my business, two things would be my car and my laptop, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:00

You can't live without them. No. I don't blame you. No. I'd be stuck without them. What's the biggest lesson you have learnt so far?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:08

Um, don't let people scream and shout down five day in day out. Um, yeah, don't be so fixated on what you think, don't put up with things like what I said about the man and the shouting and the screaming, and because you think he's gonna lead you ultimately to your goal that you've always wanted. Because if you've got to go through that every day to get there, by the time you get there, you're gonna be so drained, you're not gonna want it anyway. So don't put up with things that you don't deserve, set your boundaries, and even if it means walking away from things, nine times out of ten, that's gonna lead you into a better path anyway. So that would be my advice there.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:46

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would that be?

SPEAKER_02 1:28:50

So I would say one piece of advice I would give to my younger self is going back to when I was younger, there was times where I thought I had these big dreams, but I didn't think I would ever achieve them. And I thought I did think because obviously, where I wasn't well with depression and things like that, things like that, I didn't think I'd ever achieve what other people have achieved. But I think if I could go back, I would say just be consistent, do what you can, even if it's just a small thing every day, keep going and you're gonna be fine. And that would be my goal. And that would that would be my advice to anyone that is struggling a little bit. Don't just think, don't think you've gotta set the whole world alight in one day and achieve everything there is to achieve. Just keep doing a small thing every day towards your goals, and it will be alright. So that's what I would say to me, my younger self, and I would say that to anyone that's in that position as well, really.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:42

Oh no, I love that one. Yeah. I remember being um when I was younger, me and Jack have been together I'll be eight years this year, and I remember um I got with him when I first went on my own. So I was 20 in the um beauty world. And I remember him saying to me a few years in when I used to get so stressed and upset about something, and I felt like you know, when you turn up a day's work and you're almost not feeling yourself, yeah, he went to me, Cash, you have to realise your 50% is someone's 100% showing up and just being consistent, and even if it's 60, 50, 40, yeah, but you're still showing up, yeah. You're still going for it, even if you're not feeling your best. Yeah, but for someone else who's not as driven or determined as you are, that 50% is their 100%, so you're fine, you're doing well, yeah. And that him saying that to me has stayed with me the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:36

Yeah, and sometimes you just have to hear that and it clicks and it makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:39

Yeah, definitely. No, I love that one. So this is a wild card. So pick a number one to 30. Um 22. If you could go back and relive one day, yeah, which would it be?

SPEAKER_02 1:30:56

Oh, what a question. If I could go back and relive one day, I don't know. That is a tribute. Yeah, I suppose it would be so I don't I honestly don't know. That is really hard. Um if I could go back and relive one day. I think this is so random, but we right up until May at March this year, we had a caravan, and um when it was like the royal weddings and things like that, we always used to celebrate and like do things. And there was one weekend, it was it was William's wedding, and it was me and my mum and our friend Debbie, and we just went away for the weekend with the dogs, and on the I don't know, I think the wedding was the Saturday, on the Friday we had like a hen night and like royal hen night, and then we had the wedding, and it was just the best weekend. And I always say the whole time we had the caravan, and we had it like 20 odd years, that was the best weekend we ever had there. So if I had to think of a time that I'd go back where we had the best time, probably that weekend, I would say.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:53

I love it, and you know what caravan holidays are. Yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:57

So that's something that I'll definitely go back and and relive.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:01

I've absolutely loved having you on. Oh, thank you. If anyone's watching and listening and they want to connect with you, yeah, what is the best way to contact you? Is it Instagram? Is it Instagram, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:11

So Bell's Beauty Training on Instagram. Um I'll put it in the description. Thank you. But I think, yeah, that's that's the best way. DM me and then I can explain a little bit more about what I do and other ways that we can stay in touch as well. But yeah, that's that would be the best way.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:25

Well, I guess I bet this is not gonna be the last time everyone sees you. You're gonna be doing all sorts. Oh, I hope so. Fingers crossed. Thank you so much. Oh, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:33

Thank you for having me.