Ep. 135: 2021 Beauty Industry Predictions With Mimi Johnson Influencer And Beauty Business Brand Marketer
2020 was unpredictable - but can we make predictions for 2021?
It's been one crazy year. Totally unpredictable. And it's been really hard for a lot of us. My salon has been shut down for most of the year. We shut down in March, opened for a little while in June, and then shut down again. Some people have completely lost their brick and mortar, some people have just had to totally shut down.
One thing that this year has taught me is the magic of a pivot. I think we all have to be prepared to pivot at any time - that's the key to survival. So maybe we can't plan everything down to a tee for 2021 BUT we can prepare ourselves to shift our business at any moment.
So for this episode, we have the incredibly talented Mimi Johnson, microblader, influencer, and beauty brand marketer. Since getting into the business she's become a pro at the pivot and she has some really great advice for all of you who have struggled through this really difficult year. So get your journal out, grab a pen, and let's get started.
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [16:09] Here Mimi introduces herself to those who might not be familiar with her.
‣‣ [17:02] I want to know how Mimi became a celebrity makeup artist because that is NOT something that just happens overnight.
‣‣ [19:10] Here's a hot tip for those of you who need to network but aren't great at socializing in person.
‣‣ [20:53] This is a controversial take but let's talk about the benefits of free work.
‣‣ [23:50] 2020 has been a really weird year with COVID forcing most of us to close up shop. A lot of us have lost our main sources of income and have had to pick up new side hustles. So what does 2021 look like to Mimi?
‣‣ [28:01] For those of you who are worried about the status of your beauty businesses and want to make sure you make it out of 2021 no matter what happens - take some notes.
‣‣ [32:19] Showing up big time on social media is key to growing your audience and growing your business. But it can feel pointless if you feel like nobody is paying attention to you. So here are some tips for showing up on social media.
‣‣ [37:02] Hopefully, a lot will change once the pandemic finally ends, but what will stick?
‣‣ [47:01] Here's our advice for anyone who just feels like they're in the worst place right now. The pandemic has hit you hard and you're hanging by a thread. This is advice for you.
WHAT DOES 2021 HAVE IN STORE FOR ME? (Listen Here)
You can follow me, Sheila Bella, on Instagram @realsheilabella!
Here are the links that were mentioned in the podcast!
Pretty Rich Bosses
Mimi Johnson Mentorship
Hiring Guide
New Clients Consistently
Text me! (310) 388-4588
FOR MY LISTENER BOSS BABES
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You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
She is the creator of Glamatory and Grind Pretty with our 2021 beauty industry predictions, here is Mimi Johnson.
Welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast, where you're totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella, and I've built a seven figure PMU beauty biz and a seven figure online biz, without a degree, without a fancy website or a sugar daddy. And if you and I hang out on here long enough, you're going to start believe that you can do it too. How about that for a side effect of listening to this podcast? Because you really can. I know you think I don't know you, I have no idea who you are, but I do. I really, really do, because I am you. I was you. And I believe we are all on the same journey together. My perfect job didn't exist, so I created it. The job I wanted wasn't hiring me. Wanted nothing to do with me. So I skipped the line and I hired myself as CEO. Just like you can. So consider me your secret beauty biz BFF in case you need to be reminded on a weekly basis that power is never just handed to you. You have to take it. Are you ready beauty boss? Let's jump in.
What's up you guys? Welcome to another super awesome episode of Pretty Rich Podcast. We are wrapping up the year, you guys. We're wrapping it up with beauty industry predictions for 2021. I'm super stoked for this. I'm super excited. Guys, by the way, it's not too late to write a five-star review for your chance to win any course you want on sheilabella.com. So this is something I started doing on Pretty Rich Podcast, so I decided just as a thank you to all of my listeners or anyone willing to take 30 seconds to write me a five-star review on iTunes that I was going to give a free online course. My courses are specific to the beauty industry. I have courses on how to get new clients, how to grow your Instagram, how to build a seven figure beauty business and one of my latest courses, actually, is called Canva and Branding. So basically it teaches you how I brand my own business.
I don't have an expensive graphic arts designer that's at my beck and call. This is honestly, the promo for this podcast and everything you see on my Instagram @realsheilabella is honestly stuff that my team and I just create. So if you want a chance to win a course like Canva and Branding and all the other cool, beauty business courses on sheilabella.com, all you need to do is leave me a five-star Yelp review on iTunes and make sure you include your Instagram handle so I can contact you. Guys, these review mean so much to me. Means so much to me. So, thanks for taking the time. If you've already written one, muchos gracias. Really.
All right. Let's get down and dirty with Mimi Johnson. I love her personality. I thought she was super real, super sweet and this was me getting to know her in front of you. She was introduced by a common friend of ours. Kelly Callaghan who you guys might know as well. She's been on this podcast. And I just see so many amazing women in this industry. So many amazing women that I want all of these women, honestly, to be my friends. I meet so many awesome personalities. The beauty industry is a lot more beautiful than it is ugly. Don't let the talk fool you. You just got to reach out and collaborate with awesome people like Mimi Johnson and which brings me honestly to just friendships in general. The thought of friendships in general and how this year has been eye opening, right? 2020 has been really eye opening and not in the way that we all thought. But it's been an eye opening year for me particularly in the area of my friendships.
The solid friends I have, I can count on one hand. I've had plenty of friends, but those who I've let in, right, and then I've also had the honor of truly seeing into their souls, I think are very few. So, I kind of want to give you a warning before I talk about this because before [inaudible 00:04:45] want to be my friend, honestly. Like I feel like I need to have a disclaimer because most of my friends have told me that I've been disruption so to speak. Yeah. I've been a disruption in their thought patterns into what they thought. And for some people I think that's good news and for others who don't want that, it isn't. I ask real questions. I'm an eight on the Enneagram and if you guys look that up, you guys should take the Enneagram test. It's very revealing. I'm obsessed with my Enneagram test. And my therapist himself has told me, "Sheila", I'm going to curse. Get the kids out of the room. Sharon, get the kids out of the room. My therapist told me, he said, "Sheila, you fuck with people." He told me that.
He's admitted to me that after weeks of sessions I got him to rethink many things that he thought to be true. Such as like previous judgements he had about girls who look like me and this was my therapist. Anyway. Oh my gosh. I can't believe I just admitted that to you guys. I like getting deep. I like getting deep. I get bored with small talk. I want to know what your soul's telling you. What's your body telling you? I question judgment and where it comes from. I'm not judgemental, but I like to get to know people. I'm very curious as to why people do the things they do. Why are they competitive? Why are they empathetic? Why does that make you cry? Why does that make you happy? Right? And I don't know if you want a friend like me in your life.
I want to discuss the shadow and the light. Why do we work the jobs that we do or love the people we do? All that to me is fascinating. And not everybody is willing to control, to confront those things in their lives, right? A lot of people are honestly on autopilot. So, my friends and I, actually my close friends and I, understand this about me, right? And so I guess they enjoy it because they're still around. We spend time examining aspects of our lives that may have been put on autopilot for several years. Those are the kinds of relationships I love. Those are the kind of friends I want. And that's the kind of friend I am back. I like to be checked in on. I like to be put in check. It's not calling ... it's not necessarily calling somebody out. It's calling them up. Right? Because if my aim and intention is to live the most radiant life possible, I cannot shy away from difficult conversations. What is that quote from Maya Angelou? Oh, oh, oh. She says, "There's no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you."
So go deep, you guys. Not wide. I don't want a whole lot of superficial super relationships. I want the real, real. And self-examination is uncomfortable, but the freedom that comes from refining your life and your spirit and your surroundings, that freedom where you're like, "I am exactly where I need to be." That certainty is worth it. That's why I think sometimes I might be misunderstood as tactless. I might be misunderstood as two direct or blunt or too honest. But I just think that the freedom is worth the discomforts and the awkwardness, I guess, because it shouldn't be awkward because if it's your life, you shouldn't live awkwardly, right?
Yeah. All right. Well, I just went off on a tangent right now. What are your thoughts on this, you guys? Text me. Text me your thoughts. Do you think I'm crazy or are you the same? Text me your thoughts. I love hearing feedback from you guys about anything on this episode or any of my episodes. My number is 8-1 ... no wait. That's not it. My number is 310-388-4588. 310-388-4588. And you can straight up text me. It goes straight to my phone and be like, "Sheila, I listened to that episode. I am the same." Or, "Sheila, I listened to that episode and I am not the same. Why do you do that? You are so rude." Oh my goodness. Okay. Well I hope you guys are having a good holiday season and I'm about to make it better because I have Mimi Johnson in the house with our beauty industry predictions for 2021. Here we go.
Hello, hello. Welcome. Good afternoon, good evening depending on where you're at. I quite like this. Quite like it. Hey, you guys. What's going on? All right, so today I have a very special guess. We're going to be talking about 2021 predictions with the pandemic and everything going on and how to strategize your business with the one and only Mimi Johnson. Mia Johnson, Mimi Johnson, Mia Johnson. She is the CEO of Glamatory and also Grind Pretty. She is a celebrity makeup artist. She does all the housewives in Atlanta. So we're going to talk a lot about that too. But I just want to show you something. These are my podcast notes and I printed them on my kid's homework right here.
Really, really. So if you guys are excited to find out what [inaudible 00:10:46] predictions are for 2021 and how to strategize your business with this new situation, I don't want to call it the new normal because this is not normal. Okay? This is not normal. But with this new situation, let us know. And guys, we're going to be answering your questions too. I'm going to bring on Mimi Johnson [inaudible 00:11:13]. Crown headband. Instagram Live filter. Let's go.
Mimi Johnson:
Hi.
Sheila Bella:
Oh my gosh. We match. We totally match, look.
Mimi Johnson:
Let me add a filter. You look all glam. Okay. I'm sparking. I'm sparkling in my background. I'm sparkling on my face. We'll roll with this.
Sheila Bella:
I love it. I love it. All right. But we're both sporting the blue or the blue theme today.
Mimi Johnson:
We are. And I'm usually more of a pink person. But-
Sheila Bella:
Me too.
Mimi Johnson:
[crosstalk 00:11:43] today.
Sheila Bella:
Oh my gosh. Okay. Your camera is a little close.
Mimi Johnson:
Is it? There we go.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
Let's see.
Sheila Bella:
There we go.
Mimi Johnson:
There we go. That better?
Sheila Bella:
Perfect.
Mimi Johnson:
All right.
Sheila Bella:
You're so beautiful.
Mimi Johnson:
Thank you.
Sheila Bella:
I sent my team your pictures and they were like, "Ooh, who is this?" I was like [crosstalk 00:12:04].
Mimi Johnson:
I try, girl. I try.
Sheila Bella:
Well, I'm excited to get to know you on Instagram Live right now. I think that's so crazy.
Mimi Johnson:
Yes. We have a lot in common. I'm excited. Equally excited to talk to you, too. And you’re all the way on the West Coast. It's a little cold here. I'm in Atlanta. I won't complain. There's no snow. I grew up in the snow. So as long as there's no snow and ice, I'm not going to complain.
Sheila Bella:
I want that.
Mimi Johnson:
You want that?
Sheila Bella:
I do. And people don't believe me. My husband who grew up around snow is like, "No you don't. No, you don't." It's a novelty for ... no you don't. And I don't know. I might really be in a way. I might really [crosstalk 00:12:45].
Mimi Johnson:
You will want it for a good day and a half until that car-
Sheila Bella:
Everyone says that.
Mimi Johnson:
... needs to be scraped off. And all that stuff. That's the not fun part.
Sheila Bella:
Oh man.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
You can pay someone to do that for you.
Mimi Johnson:
I know. But I'm saying like I mean you got a husband so maybe that's his [inaudible 00:13:03].
Sheila Bella:
Oh.
Mimi Johnson:
But I am a single lady, so ...
Sheila Bella:
You're so cute. Okay. Well, cheers, babe. I don't know if you have a drink. I have my probiotics.
Mimi Johnson:
Ah. You know what? I don't have my drink. I do have some wine.
Sheila Bella:
You can grab it.
Mimi Johnson:
I do have some wine.
Sheila Bella:
I'll wait if you want.
Mimi Johnson:
Okay. Hold on. Let me go grab it.
Sheila Bella:
Okay. No problem. Okay. You guys, so isn't she awesome? Mia Johnson. Mimi Johnson. And I just want to take this opportunity while she's grabbing herself a drink and pouring herself a little bit of bubbly, we actually have an amazing opportunity for you guys to check out our Beauty Boss Bundle valued at $1,400 but we are selling it for $49. And it has-
Mimi Johnson:
Crazy.
Sheila Bella:
... five courses in it, right?
Mimi Johnson:
Five courses.
Sheila Bella:
Five courses.
Mimi Johnson:
That's crazy.
Sheila Bella:
Five courses.
Mimi Johnson:
That's like $10 a course which is insane.
Sheila Bella:
That's nuts. They're all beauty business courses, too. So you get my course, Grow your Gram, [inaudible 00:14:13] Kler Rosenberg's Advanced Brow Patterns course, Kelly Callaghan Align online course. [inaudible 00:14:20] Keep Your Clients course. And then your course, Secure the Brand, and then yeah, like I said, my course Grow your Gram. Did I miss anybody? I think that's it. I think that's it. But-
Mimi Johnson:
Nope. I think you got it.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
And that's crazy. So if you are in the beauty industry and you did not download it yet, you need to go download it.
Sheila Bella:
[crosstalk 00:14:37]. I'm going to type it in the comments. beautybossbundle.com. And it's only available-
Mimi Johnson:
Hey Olivia.
Sheila Bella:
Hi Olivia. It's only available until the-
Mimi Johnson:
[crosstalk 00:14:49].
Sheila Bella:
Yeah I'm going to pin it right now. It's only available until December 14th, so get on that. All right, you guys. Okay. So, I'm so excited to introduce my guest to you today. Did you get yourself a drink?
Mimi Johnson:
I sure did. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
Awesome. Let me get more details out of you.
Mimi Johnson:
A good glass of wine.
Sheila Bella:
I'll get more details out of you today. Okay. So, today, we're going to chat a lot about strategies for how to stay afloat in 2021 in the beauty industry and also what our predictions are for where the beauty industry is going in 2021. So if you guys are interested in that kind of stuff, if you want to know, if you want to be prepared, I suggest you stick around.
Mimi Johnson:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
Because I will read my notes even though-
Mimi Johnson:
I love your notepad.
Sheila Bella:
I accidentally printed it on my kid's homework. I will-
Mimi Johnson:
That's okay.
Sheila Bella:
... get the information out and over to you guys. Watch me. All right. So, before we get to the good stuff, that's kindergarten homework. So for my audience who may have just come across you for the first time, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Sure. I'll try to do it in the quickest way. So I'm a Midwest transplant. I'm from Kansas City. Go Chiefs. Moved to Atlanta for college. I went to Clark Atlanta University. Majored in marketing. Somehow ended up in IT and I wasn't happy and I knew that whatever I ended up doing, I wanted to be an entrepreneur and I also wanted to do something with art. I actually fell into makeup. I was the designated makeup artist for my friends and one trip to New York, my friend was like, "You're really good. You should do this." And I was like, "Okay. Well, I'll try." And that's just what happened. Started networking. Making the right connections. Doing a lot of sweat equity. And one thing led to another. I think my biggest break was getting on the Real Housewives at the same time as Love & Hip Hop and yeah. Things just took off from there. [crosstalk 00:17:02].
Sheila Bella:
Hold on. You can't just brush across that. How did you get to be a celebrity makeup artist? How does a makeup artist even get a coveted job such as that?
Mimi Johnson:
Gosh. I hate even saying that, but it is what it is. It was, honestly, I always say, "Talent can get you noticed and it can keep you somewhere but it's really about the relationships that you make." And your brand. The way that you present yourself in a professional, excitable way. I learned that very early on. I started as a makeup artist, and I did not know anyone in the beauty industry. So, I literally found a way and just created opportunities for myself. So anyway, long story short. Housewives. There was a photographer. His name is James Anthony. He is an amazing photographer. He's in L.A. I had done something with James before and James reached out and was like, "Hey, I got this photoshoot coming up. It's not [inaudible 00:18:08] but it's for a cover and the person used to be Miss USA." And I was like, "Oh, okay. That's cool." He does great work so I was like, "All right. Cool. I know I'm going to get some good pictures as the cover."
Sheila Bella:
For your portfolio.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. And I show up and then there's like cameras everywhere. And I'm like, "Yo, what's going on?" And then I'm signing the little waiver to be on TV and it says, "The Real Housewives", and I'm like, "What?" Like why didn't you tell me that? So the first time I did [inaudible 00:18:41] it was actually live. Like I mean, like they were filming. I had never met her before and the first time I did her makeup it was on camera. And you're talking about nervous, like ...
Sheila Bella:
Oh man.
Mimi Johnson:
But it worked out. But it worked out. That was it. And every big opportunity I've ever had has been through a relationship that I've made. So yeah. That's literally how that happens.
Sheila Bella:
So be a people person.
Mimi Johnson:
Here's my thing. Yes, be a people person, but you don't have to be the butterfly. It's great if you're the social butterfly in the room. I'm really not. I'm really that Internet gangster. Like I can reach out to people on the Internet because it's not face-to-face and I can make the right pitch through the Internet, through DMs, through social media. But in-person, I know I'm not a social butterfly, so I keep a hype man with me. If you're not a social butterfly then you need that hype man.
Sheila Bella:
I hear you. Some people are like that.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Shout out to Reggie of Plan L.A. Planning L.A. I feel like whenever I'm around him, he's like lube for ... He's a lube for conversations.
Mimi Johnson:
You need that person.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. That's a really good tip.
Mimi Johnson:
It is a good tip because-
Sheila Bella:
I don't think I've ever had anybody tell me that before.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. I feel awkward sometimes. Going up to somebody and then talking about yourself, sometimes you might ... I get in my own head, but I'm like, "I don't want to brag." You don't want to kick off all of your [inaudible 00:20:31] to a stranger. So if you have the hype man with you, they be like, "Oh, you don't know Mimi? She does X, Y, Z. She's this."
Sheila Bella:
That's how Reggie is.
Mimi Johnson:
You guys should know each other.
Sheila Bella:
Reggie, where are you? Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
So everybody should have a hype man. If you're not the social butterfly-
Sheila Bella:
Have a hype man.
Mimi Johnson:
... in the room, you got to have a hype man.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Or just work on it. Or work on it. Work on being that.
Mimi Johnson:
[crosstalk 00:20:54].
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Absolutely. Awesome. That's a good point. That's a good tip. Now listen, I love that you got basically one of the dream jobs, makeup artistry, through doing free work through it's the same role of reciprocity is through showing up and being valuable as opposed to focusing on the numbers, focusing on what can I get, what can I get, what can I get? Be out there. Show your value. Create connections.
Mimi Johnson:
Absolutely.
Sheila Bella:
So many people are so opposed to free work. But if you're in the beginning of your business, I built my business ... I built a seven figure permanent makeup business and a lot of it was free work. I did one free brow model a week for like three years. Even when I was making a lot of money, I continued to do free work for the right people.
Mimi Johnson:
That's the sweat equity. It's the sweat equity.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Sweat equity.
Mimi Johnson:
You are strategic in what you offer and really it's not free. Really it's free in the moment but you're looking at it to be something that's either building a skill or you're building a relationship or-
Sheila Bella:
True.
Mimi Johnson:
... you're doing some branding. One of my best friends, she would always come into my shop and she would just do a model every week. And that was for Instagram. You know what I mean?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
And some people don't think like that. They're just thinking money, money, money, money. You got to think like whatever you're doing, it's not free. It's sweat equity. You're doing that to pay off for something else. So I'm a strong believer in that and especially in the beauty industry. You have to do that. You're not going to come out making, shoot, even five figures quickly as a makeup artist, right? You got to build your way up there.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. I hear you. I hear you. I know. You can't have ego in this business if you want to ... Yeah. You can't be too big for anything. Speaking of not having ego and not being too big for anything, I wanted to talk about COVID and how beauty entrepreneurs can not only survive but thrive in the land of COVID. As you know, I'm in Los Angeles and they're shut down right now.
Mimi Johnson:
Again.
Sheila Bella:
This is the third closure. And that's why I never really reopened my business the second time we had an opportunity to because the first time that we reopened in June, we got shut down after 10 days. And then so the second reopening, we were opened for ... we were allowed to open for maybe about a month, but then just a couple days ago were like, "Nope." I was like, "I knew it."
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. That's tough.
Sheila Bella:
I knew it.
Mimi Johnson:
It's tough.
Sheila Bella:
It is. So we've been closed basically all year. So, I really feel for a lot of beauty entrepreneurs here who are going through it, especially permanent makeup artists because we have not been allowed to open for the majority of the year. Hair stylists, I believe still were hurting, still were hurting, but they were allowed to open sooner than us. So, yeah. Based on the scenarios, I think, expected by global executives and the current trends, I think the beauty industry revenues could fell anywhere between 20 to 30% but I think with the second closure and there seems to be a second wave happening, the decline could be as much as 35%. And also, I see that a lot of people are exiting the industry. I just had a call with a couple of people today that they were like, "I don't know what to do. Should I keep my salon open? Should I keep doing services? Maybe I should never open just like you said." A lot of people are making an exit. It's like a great reset. So I want to know what your thoughts were on that.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, of course I totally can relate. For those of you who do follow me, I had to give up my brick and mortar of the Glamatory and I think it's all about being open to change and also that lesson of what your exit strategy is going to be and not putting all of your eggs in one basket. My friends in the industry that are struggling, they were just focused on one thing and that was their [inaudible 00:25:33]. So it's almost as equivalent as working in corporate ... and there's nothing wrong working in corporate America, but you don't own it. So, if COVID happens and lay offs happen, you've been there for 10 years and oops, sorry, now you've got to go. It's the same. Even if I were working in corporate America, I would still have some investment somewhere, a side hustle or something because you never know.
And now we're in an unpredictable stage where I don't know if COVID is going to linger on for 2021. We can plan all we want to and it might do a whole cycle again. We just don't know. So, we can only do what we can control. And so what I think is learning how to thrive in either knowledge transfer or retail e-commerce.
Sheila Bella:
Write that down. Everyone, write that down.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
One of the reasons why I did the course that I'm doing is I'm a beauty professional, right? And so you start to think, even if COVID wasn't here, it's like how long ... I'm sorry. My son is in the background. Channing. One second.
Sheila Bella:
Guys, I hope you wrote that down. Knowledge transfer or retail. And guys, I've been talking about this for years, I feel like. If you are in the service industry, you should have or should be actively working on pursuing and securing another stream of income for yourself. And if you are not shut down yet, I have to say, it's not too late to do that. It's not too late to do that. And that's what my program, Pretty Rich Bosses is all about. And that's what Secure the Brand, Mimi's course, is all about, too.
Mimi Johnson:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
It's helping you guys build digital currency basically. Which is I love social media.
Mimi Johnson:
Yes. And I'm sorry. I had to take care of my eight year old.
Sheila Bella:
Oh, no worries.
Mimi Johnson:
Or else it was going to be like a choir in the background.
Sheila Bella:
Aww. I love choirs.
Mimi Johnson:
What I was about to say was there's ways. I'll just list some ways [inaudible 00:28:09] pivot as a beauty professional and one of that is knowledge transfer, right? You have two different audiences. You have the aspiring beauty professionals that can learn from your experiences. Your expertise. You always have to find a niche. Find a niche in whatever you're doing. If you are a makeup artist, is it natural makeup? Is it-
Sheila Bella:
[crosstalk 00:28:35].
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Is it ... what's your thing? Hair stylist. I specialize in color or there's a guy that I love. He has like black girl blondes. That's his thing. And so if any black girl wants to go blonde, they probably will find him, right?
Sheila Bella:
Wow.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Think about how you can make yourself a niche in whatever you do. Whatever you specialize in and hone in on that. The other part of that is becoming that influencer. That pivot. And what I find interesting, I won't give away it all. You guys should get the bundle. But, what I find that works is in this social world, I find a lot of professionals still don't have a website and they're just on Instagram and that's it. Cannot do that. You don't own your content on Instagram.
Sheila Bella:
Or your followers. Or your followers.
Mimi Johnson:
Right. You need an additional platform, whether it's a blog, whether it's a podcast. An e-commerce. You need something else. And I'm speaking specifically of working with brands and YouTube videos and things like that. The ones who ... you don't have to have a million followers. You can be a micro influencer and get the bag, but you have to have something else outside of Instagram. That's just from my experience and my own eyes of seeing and working with different brands. Unless you're working with celebrities. You have to have something else, you know what I mean? It has to be something else if you don't have the large social media following yet. It has to be something else that you have and that you're consistent with. So I just wanted to say that tip because I know we're all thinking about our pivots and how we evolve in such a volatile, unpredictable environment.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Yeah. So many people don't even know where to start but I think the obvious place to start is showing your face on social media. You got to show your face more than your product, and I think that's something that people struggle with. The concept of showing your face more than your product is probably counterintuitive because a lot of people think, "Well, aren't people interested in the product?" I'm more interested in the founder. I'm more interested in your story of who you are, who I'm buying from, the human behind this microblade or this pigment or this eyeshadow palette. So, and a lot of people really fight me on this. They do. But then I feel like a lot of them have learned, unfortunately the hard way, with COVID and honestly I have had the best year of my business which is so-
Mimi Johnson:
Good. Good.
Sheila Bella:
... strange and so oh my gosh. I'm so grateful because this was not a good start of the year. Not a good start at all.
Mimi Johnson:
But it gave you more time. It gave you more time to focus.
Sheila Bella:
It did. Absolutely. So yeah. Because of that, and I don't think this is something that happened over night. I think it was just years and years of showing up on social media because when you have an audience, you have people to sing for to give value to. Right?
Mimi Johnson:
Absolutely.
Sheila Bella:
So my suggestion is to post when you think nobody cares. To show up on live even if there's only two followers. To continue to reach out to people to collaborate even if nobody is getting back to you. This is a number's game. This is, as you said, this is sweat ... what is it? Sweat-
Mimi Johnson:
Sweat equity.
Sheila Bella:
Okay. I thought it was sweat equity. I was like, "That can't be right."
Mimi Johnson:
Yep. Sweat equity.
Sheila Bella:
I was like [inaudible 00:32:40] sweat equity. It's sweat equity. It's yeah. It's compound interest. It's basically doing good things every single day and having it finally build up into something. You can't judge your results too soon.
Mimi Johnson:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep.
Sheila Bella:
So yeah, I get it because I see especially a lot of the people that we coach in our program, Pretty Rich Bosses, especially when they first ... when we tell them to do this first, we're like, "You know what? Show up on social", and they're like, "But nobody is watching. No one is listening." It wasn't very effective, right? And they judge the results too early. So it's [inaudible 00:33:18]. It's just ...
Mimi Johnson:
I was like, are you passionate?
Sheila Bella:
So funny. Yeah. And it's like, it's discouraging for people but I had to start somewhere. We all had to start somewhere. We all had to.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. I think we ... and I'm a victim of that. I'm definitely working on being on camera more. I hate hearing myself talk. I hate ... I think that the best advice also is you don't have to be perfect, and I think we sometimes have to ... we think that we have to be perfect before we get on camera and stage everything we're going to say. A lot of times people appreciate the authenticity of who you are.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Absolutely.
Mimi Johnson:
You know? Yeah. I think a lot of people ... and it's funny because maybe a decade ago or more, people were more so that old school of I don't want them to know who is behind the brand. I just want them to see this. But it's the opposite now and people do care and it's a consciousness now. It's the consciousness. So we're talking about trends. It's the consciousness of what your brand values are, what your values are, who are you as a person behind these brands so that I can get on board of supporting you? I think that's the big difference of marketing right now. People are very conscious of what they support and who they support.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. They are. They are. Even more so. People have time to pay attention. And I feel like people are lacking connection in this so they're looking for it. They're getting that fill through social media. So I think more than ever they are hyper focused on the face behind the brand more than ever.
Mimi Johnson:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Sheila Bella:
I hear you. And the causes that that brand upholds.
Mimi Johnson:
Absolutely. Yep.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Brow and lash clients are getting pickier and pickier. If they can't get an appointment right away, they're going to go somewhere else. If you're an artist who is booked out for months, before you congratulate yourself that's not always a good thing. Why? Because you're losing money as a solo act. You're losing scalability. You're so busy working in your business that you don't have time to work on it. Wasn't the whole point of getting into the beauty business having freedom of time, being able to make your own schedule making lots of money? But, I know it doesn't feel like that for a lot of people. You feel like a brown or a lash robot, right? So stop limiting yourself. If you know you need to expand, you need to delegate tasks, you need a clone. You need to multiply yourself. But you're scared. I get it. I've hired fourteen artists to work for me at Sheila Bella Microblading and it's great.
My business makes money even when I'm not there. And I have people that I can really trust. So if it's possible for me, it's possible for you. If you know you need to expand, delegate tasks, multiply yourself. Heck, find your clone. You can do it. But if you're scared and you don't know where to start, I have the perfect thing for you, sister, download my free beauty biz hiring guide. It's for artists who are overworked and underpaid. And all you need to do is text the words hiring guide to 310-388-4588.
Okay. So, what do you foresee as far as what changes do you foresee ... not changes. What are the things that you think will stick even beyond this pandemic? Because we as an industry have learned to innovate a lot of things. And like for example, we are streamlining our schedule systems. We have more one-on-one time with our clients. So [inaudible 00:37:34] more one-on-one time with the beauty professional. I feel like there's hardly a need for the lobby anymore because we do early check-ins. We take payments over the phone. We do consultations via FaceTime before the client comes in. So a lot of that, I think, people appreciate. I have a feeling that kind of stuff is going to stick around because people have realized how much time they can save and how much easier it can be. Oh my gosh. This fly. Do you see it?
Mimi Johnson:
No. I don't see it. It's okay. I understand.
Sheila Bella:
California has these like teeny tiny ones that I feel like the screen door cannot keep out.
Mimi Johnson:
Right. How did you get in here?
Sheila Bella:
It's so small. Okay. So yeah. What do you foresee sticking around?
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Yeah. So definitely I don't see us ... I think we're now in a new space of virtual everything just about, right? We are finding people ... people are finding ... I think we're now in a DIY place. Right?
Sheila Bella:
That's true.
Mimi Johnson:
We're in a DIY place now. We're forced to be in it. And so I think if you can find ways to hone in on that and empower people to do things themselves, all right? I know that sounds counterproductive as a beauty professional, but it kind of is what it is right now.
Sheila Bella:
That's really important and that's really powerful. Can you please say that again? Because I feel like that's going to be hard to hear for some people.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep. You're going to have to meet people where they are and if you're empowering them to do something that you're good at, you're going to have to. It sounds counterproductive, but that is the way right now. You're going to have to empower your clients, because guess what? That's going to build brand loyalty to you.
Sheila Bella:
They're going to find out how to do it themselves anyway.
Mimi Johnson:
That too.
Sheila Bella:
I just bleached my own roots right now.
Mimi Johnson:
That too, but there's a magic that you possess. That's just like there's a million hair stylists out there, but your clients come to you because there's magic between you and that client and nobody else. They don't want anybody else to touch them, right?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
I can think back to ... I'm not saying I'm the best makeup artist in the world, but I can remember when I'm like, y'all I look back and I'm like, "Ooh, that was not good." But I had loyal clients. Loyal. They wouldn't let anyone else touch their faces. And that to me says, "Hey, that's the magic of who you are." So whatever you're doing, you have the magic. You have to give it to your customers. So I say that one thing is that the trend of knowledge transfer and [inaudible 00:40:30] and that can coincide with going into e-commerce, right?
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely.
Mimi Johnson:
So whether you're teaching classes. So one thing that works for me was just that. I freaked out. Panicked. When I had my space I had this thing which I just trademarked. Yay. But I had this thing called Sip and Beat, so it's basically like sip and paint.
Sheila Bella:
Ooh, how cute.
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. And so I did that physically in my space. But then I was like, "Crap", but then I was like, "All right. Well I can do that virtually." So I started infiltrating different Facebook groups and I would ... Ah, the oven is going off. Sorry. Hold on.
Sheila Bella:
Hold on, you guys. Let me just translate that. That's so good. That's so good. Let me just translate that in permanent makeup talk, okay? And lash artist talk, because that's the majority of my audience. So I-
Mimi Johnson:
So ...
Sheila Bella:
My studio, all permanent makeup artists, we used to do these things called brow and sip. Which is like a wine and sip, but like a ... what is it? Yeah. I mean, brow and sip. So we do latex brows while sipping wine. That is a great idea for an event for like a group where you just get on Zoom. You do makeup. And then you drink wine. What a great idea.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep. Yep. And the beauty of that is, if you have a product, whether it's your own or if you don't ... everybody doesn't have to have a product, all right? If you don't have some sort of affiliate, ambassador type of thing where you can at least get like some commission off of some products, right? So whatever you're using in those virtual classes or events, guess what? People are going to see it and be like, "Oh, no. I want that. What were you using? Okay. Let me buy that."
Sheila Bella:
Exactly.
Mimi Johnson:
And there's even ... now I've heard that Instagram is going to start letting you tag while you're live, products.
Sheila Bella:
Nice.
Mimi Johnson:
But there are platforms out there right now where you can go live and you can tag the products and they can buy it right then and there. So that's pretty darn cool.
Sheila Bella:
That's awesome.
Mimi Johnson:
So I'm just saying if you're not ... I just feel like you have to have something to sell, and that was a rule before all of this happened. You have to have ... you can't just be a service provider. You have to have something to upsell the client. You always have to have some type of product whether it's education. You got an e-book. You got to have something that can create that passive income because otherwise-
Sheila Bella:
Always something to sell.
Mimi Johnson:
... like how long are you going to be on your feet? How long are you going to be a service provider? Or do you teach people to be under you and then you are now an agency? You got to think, what's that exit strategy. So, knowledge transfer, using more technology, e-commerce. Those are the ways that I feel are going to be in 2021. I also when we think about what people care about and it's a lot of self-care. Finding ways to provide products and services for self-care is going to definitely stay in 2021. So whether that's skin care, how to care for your skin at home, how to do your hair at home. How to take care of your brows at home. Those are the things that people are going to care about and invest in. And my final thought is kind of what I talked about earlier is who are you and what does your brand represent [inaudible 00:44:13] about the causes that you care about. Your values.
People are very conscious of those things now. So it's not just like, oh, she's got a bomb lipstick. Yeah. But does she support ... yeah. You know what I mean? People have the time. They have the time to research who you are, and [inaudible 00:44:38] the brand. Is there any bad press of you being racist or like it matters today. So I would just say as you are either forming a new brand or whether you're supporting, becoming an ambassador or an affiliate of a brand, look at what they value or look at your own values and make that prevalent within your branding as well.
Sheila Bella:
Agree. Such good advice. I feel like you gave us so many nuggets today. I want to go back to self-care and how we should provide self-care. So I was doing some homework earlier on this and I guess for Ipsy and Blushington, for the very first time in recent weeks, their skincare sales have outdone their makeup sales for the very first time. And it is due to the need for self-care during a really challenging time, perhaps a lot of people aren't necessarily seeing their aestheticians right now. So, they're trying to do this stuff at home.
Mimi Johnson:
[crosstalk 00:45:49].
Sheila Bella:
And then I found a ... I love also what you said about knowledge transfer. So, I have a friend of a friend who gets his ... he has a barber, he goes to the same barber and has been for several years. The whole time that their barber shop was shut down, he was not too proud. He would FaceTime with wives at home and they would pay him to teach them how to give their husbands a fade.
Mimi Johnson:
That's dope. Yep.
Sheila Bella:
That showed me so much security.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep.
Sheila Bella:
So much security. I would have paid for that.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep. Great idea.
Sheila Bella:
Have you seen my family?
Mimi Johnson:
Great idea. And then it also creates the social media campaign of filming that process. That's smart. That's something that's newsworthy that could propel the brand even more. You got to think about those things, too. What tells a story? What makes a story? Because anybody can do something in the beauty industry, but what makes a story? What makes you special? You got to think that through as well.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Yeah. By the way, you guys, if you have any questions for us, let us know in the comments. We have a couple more minutes before we got to wrap things up. So yeah. Just let us know. My other question for you is let's take somebody right now because let's say who is in California. They are hanging on to their last dollar basically. No government assistance and there doesn't seem to be another one in sight. And they're in the beauty industry. What advice would you have for that person who might be listening to this who might be in that situation right?
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. First of all, that's tough and I actually know some people that are in that space. It's very tough. I would say you ... this is how I deal with things, right? You have your pity party, and then you say what's next. Because I feel like a lot of times we sulk into the things that aren't going right, and yeah, it's very real. But we don't see the other opportunities, potential, and things that make us who we are and makes us have that magic and that special touch. So, you got to see past the now and think about other opportunity. I've had people that just totally flipped out of the industry. I have a friend right now who is killing it as a fashion influencer. And you got to think. Because when I had my store, even before COVID I said, "Oh, I'm going to be this. Black girl Sephora." And I'm going to do this. And then I got into it and was like, "I don't have Sephora money."
So, I lost a lot of money in some of those years because I was focused on the wrong thing and I wasn't open to change. And had I been open sooner, I would have saw these makeup artists. They listen to you. They look up to you so you can teach them. You can create the synergy. That can be the thing that works for you. Maybe it's not selling everybody else's brand. Maybe it's selling your own brand. So I would just say just have that ... my mom always say, "Cry it out for 10 minutes and then wipe those tears and what's next." Outside of having faith, that would be my advice, because there are still opportunities for yourself. You just might have to create them yourself.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. But hasn't it always been this way? Opportunities-
Mimi Johnson:
It is.
Sheila Bella:
... which [inaudible 00:49:57] create it themselves.
Mimi Johnson:
[crosstalk 00:49:59].
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Mimi Johnson:
But there's two types of people. There are people that take direction and then there's those who create the opportunities. And now it's forcing those people that were taking those direction from people to now it's forcing them to see those other opportunities. That's the key. That's the kicker. It's being able to open your mind to see that you are more than just that barber and you're more than just that makeup artist. What else? What other magic is there? There was something there connecting you to those existing clients. What was that? It wasn't just that you were good at doing brows. It was something else that you had as well. So, that's the hard part is now-
Sheila Bella:
[crosstalk 00:50:47].
Mimi Johnson:
... forcing people who were just like, "I like doing makeup and that's what it is." It's forcing them to come out of that comfort zone and be leaders and create opportunities.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. You have to. Yeah. Nobody wanted to hire me, so I had to hire myself.
Mimi Johnson:
There you go. There you go.
Sheila Bella:
The job I want, didn't exist. So-
Mimi Johnson:
There you go.
Sheila Bella:
... I had to create it. We had to make it. And I think like I agree with you that this season is going to be about mindset. It's a game of the mind. Life is a game of the mind because adversity is guaranteed. Success isn't guaranteed but adversity is. So really got to toughen up, buttercup. You know?
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Yep.
Sheila Bella:
Listen, I cried too when this all happened. This COVID happened the day before my sold out live event was supposed to go down.
Mimi Johnson:
Aww man.
Sheila Bella:
400 people in Los Angeles.
Mimi Johnson:
Aww man.
Sheila Bella:
So yeah. And I'm still mourning that quote, unquote, "miscarriage". It'll never be as valuable as a human. I'm just saying that because-
Mimi Johnson:
No. I get it.
Sheila Bella:
... the closest thing ... I'm a mom, and I know you are too, but it's like the closest thing to not even a miscarriage but a stillbirth. I carried that child for a year, and here it was. The day before. And then it's just ripped out of your hands.
Mimi Johnson:
Yep.
Sheila Bella:
And I can't believe I had the best year of business in my entire life. So, I mean, I bought my dream house this year.
Mimi Johnson:
Congrats.
Sheila Bella:
I don't know how this happened. Thank you. And the only reason why I tell you guys that is because I want you guys to know that it's possible for you, that if you're in a shit place right now like I was in the beginning of this year, just the advice that you gave, Mimi, just give yourself time to cry and get back in the game. You need to just innovate. My salon is still closed. So gosh. Thank you so much for inspiring us today. One last question before we head off. What is your ... I always ask every podcast guest this. What is your number one piece of advice for how to live a pretty rich life? And when I say rich, it means rich in wealth in so many areas, not just financial but spiritual, emotional, health-wise. Relationally. What's your number one piece of advice?
Mimi Johnson:
Yeah. Two-fold. Definitely faith over fear. There's a ... I'm so sorry. He's having a moment.
Sheila Bella:
Aww.
Mimi Johnson:
Hold on. Channing.
Sheila Bella:
I'm a mom.
Mimi Johnson:
Channing. Come here. Come here. Come here. He's about to make a debut.
Sheila Bella:
It'll be okay.
Mimi Johnson:
It's okay. It's okay. Oh, it's okay.
Sheila Bella:
Aww.
Mimi Johnson:
Aww. Yeah. I know. See? Say hi. Say hi.
Sheila Bella:
He's eight.
Mimi Johnson:
And say hi to the camera. And oh, we're not having a good day. Can you say hi? No. Okay.
Sheila Bella:
It's okay.
Mimi Johnson:
It's okay. There you go.
Sheila Bella:
It's okay. Hashtag-
Mimi Johnson:
Can you go right there? Thank you, Channing. Okay. We're good now. So, I would close by saying definitely having faith over fear. There's a certain level of faith that you just have to have as an entrepreneur.
Sheila Bella:
Ooh, yeah. You're right.
Mimi Johnson:
Because you can plan things to a T and then just like you perfectly planned your event and boom, things change. So, definitely having that faith that once those things happen, that you're going to make it. That mindset that you're going to make it. There's no other way. And then the other thing for me would be just to be yourself. Be authentic. Don't try to be someone else and look at ... comparison is the devil. Do things that are true and authentic to you. Those are my two things.
Sheila Bella:
Such good advice. Thank you so much Mimi.
Mimi Johnson:
Thanks for having me.
Sheila Bella:
And where can we find you and how can we work with you?
Mimi Johnson:
Yes. You can find me. So my personal ... everything. The gateway to everything, all things Mimi, is @mimijonline on Instagram. My website. But you can also check out Grind Pretty @grindpretty and at the Glamatory. T-H-E G-L-A-M-A-T-O-R-Y.
Sheila Bella:
Awesome. Thank you so much. And to everybody listening, thank you so much for joining us Pretty Rich Podcast. This episode should be up really soon because it's so timely and it's so needed. Okay, you guys. Have a great day.
Mimi Johnson:
Thank you.
Sheila Bella:
Bye Mimi.
Sheila Bella:
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's episode of Pretty Rich Podcast. If you want to continue the conversation longer, check me out on Instagram. It's my favorite place to connect with you guys @realsheilabella. I'm happy to answer any of your questions or simply to chat and get to know you better. And if you end up doing something super awesome like screenshotting this episode and reposting it on your stories, that would put the biggest smile on my face. Don't forget to tag me. I appreciate every share and love feedback from my listeners. Also, do you have my number? Do you have my number? Because if we're going to keep hanging out you should probably have my number. So you can actually text me. That's right. You can text me at 310-388-4588. And if you're sick and tired of doing business alone and you're interested in accelerating your success by hiring a business coach or joining our mentorship program called Pretty Rich Bosses, go ahead and just apply. Why not? Check it out. Go to sheilabella.com/apply, and we'll schedule a free strategy session with either myself or one of my advisors.
Sheila Bella:
And of course, I got to include my kids. So here to send us off are Beau and Gray.
Grey:
Hello.
Sheila Bella:
Grey, say share with your friends.
Grey:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
Please review my mommy on iTunes.
Grey:
[inaudible 00:57:24] mommy on iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
Thanks for listening.
Grey:
Thanks for listening.
Sheila Bella:
Hey, Beau, can you tell everybody what our family motto is?
Beau:
Yeah. I can do hard things.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Good job, buddy.
