Ep. 85: The 5 Commandments of Being a Boss in the Beauty Biz
Today we're going to talk business. We're going to give you props for what you're doing right and also try to figure out what you could be doing better.
I know you're serious about your business. I know because you're here! I was in the same place as you at one point. When I first started experiencing success in my business - it was like validation. When I got that, the next thing I wanted was time. And real success in my business gave me that.
I know that's what you want too so in this episode I share with you my Top 5 Commandments for Beauty Boss success in PMU and Lashes.
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [08:59] I start with my number one commandment: the client is the real boss.
‣‣ [11:04] Here I share a rookie move I pulled a couple of months ago. WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES!
‣‣ [14:32] Emotions can get in the way of you doing a good job sometimes. Let's talk about that!
‣‣ [17:55] My thoughts on what makes a leader.
‣‣ [22:13] My final commandment for being a PMU lash boss. If you listen to anything, listen to this.
I NEED THE TOP 5 COMMANDMENTS FOR SUCCESS! (Listen Here)
You can follow me, Sheila Bella, on Instagram @realsheilabella!
Here are the links that were mentioned in the podcast!
Grow Your Gram
Online Course Workshop
FOR MY LISTENER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy this podcast by downloading it on iTunes here.
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FOR MY READER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
Hey, bestie, what's going on? It's your friend, Sheila Bella. Today we are going to talk business. We're going to talk this out. The five commandments of being a brow and lash boss. We're going to give you props for what you're doing right and also try to figure out what you could be doing better. I know you're serious about this. I know you've got some big plans. I know success is on your mind. You want that financial piece, right? You have big plans for this year. I just want you to know how proud of you I am because you listen to this podcast and you are really, really trying. You're trying to get as much information as possible because this business of yours means a lot to you. I get it. Mine means a lot to me too. It means something slightly different at different stages of the game.
In the beginning, it felt like my success meant validation. Then when I got that, the next thing I wanted was time. Yeah. Success in my business gave me more time. I didn't care about validation as much. Who can relate? Of course you can. We're so alike. Because I know how badly you want these results, I know you're going to take this episode seriously because I promise you this episode is not only going to give you business skills, but the life skills to boot. Okay, here we go. Top five commandments being a brow lash boss. Let's go.
You're listening to the Pretty Rich podcast where you are totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella. I built a seven figure PMU biz without a degree, without a fancy website, or a sugar daddy. If you and I hang out here long enough, you're going to start to believe that you can do it too, because you really can. I know you think I don't know you, but I do. I really, really do because I am you. I believe we're all on the same journey together. My perfect job didn't exist. So I created it. The job I wanted wasn't hiring me. So I skipped the line and hired myself as CEO. Just like you can. So consider me your secret beauty biz BFF in case you need to be reminded that power is never given to you. You just have to take it. Are you ready beauty boss? Let's jump in.
Hey, friends. What's going on? Okay. Okay. So today we have some stuff that we need to talk about and confront. Okay. Some demons, some beauty boss demons we need to confront. First of all, I want to sincerely thank you guys. The past couple of episodes I've asked for a favor, if you guys could leave some reviews on iTunes and some of you have, and I am so grateful for that. Please keep them coming. I have to say that reading these reviews gives me so much fuel, given me so much fuel. If you only knew the behind the scenes and I try to be as transparent as possible, sometimes life gets so busy. Crap happens in our businesses every single day. I forget why I started to begin with. The reason why I started this podcast is because of you.
You the one right now listening to this. Sometimes when you get caught up in the everyday politics of the industry or your business, that purity that you first had when you first had the idea that you were going to start your business, you forget. You lose that purity. The only thing that really brings me back, the only thing that really brings me back is hearing from you guys. Whether it's a review, which I really, really appreciate because it helps this podcast rank. If you guys repost an episode that you really loved on Instagram and tag me in it, or comment on something and tell me if it's impacted you or helped you. Then I'm like, yes. Oh, that's right. Yes. Every time I sit on this mic, I really try and hone in and focus on the most important part of my platform and of this podcast, which is you, the listener. You are a heartbeat.
I love it when you guys remind me that you are real and that you're listening and it's not just me talking into this mic that I bought from Amazon. Right? I pour everything I know, my heart and soul into these recordings. Yeah. Sometimes, I'm sure you guys feel this way too, you put something out there and you're like, did it hit anyone? Did it hit anyone? We always question it. We're human. With that said, I would love to read you guys the review of the week. The review of the week, this was really interesting because this reviewed a specific episode. This is from Sheche. Oh my God. Am I saying this right? Sheche Web. Okay. She says, "The entire episode of strangers to clients I kept saying to myself, yes, yes, yes." Oh my God.
Are you having an orgasm? Okay. Well it sounds like it. Okay. She says, "The way you explained each step was clear, concise, and made it very easy to put into action. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I am forever grateful." Red heart. Thank you. Thank you so much for saying that. I'm glad you get it because that is one of the pillars of what I teach within Pretty Rich University and what I teach in this podcast too, which is how to build trust. So thank you for seeing that. That's confirmation for me because I felt like that was a really important episode. So if you guys haven't heard that episode, you got to go back. Strangers to clients. As a matter of fact, it comes with a downloadable PDF. Not just the audio, but I wanted to give you guys something tangible and something that you can look at and reference because it does what it says.
It will help you turn complete strangers into clients. Just go to sheilabella.com/strangerstoclients. Now that is just a little bit of a preview of what is inside Pretty Rich University. Pretty Rich University is a community and an educational resource that I put together. It is basically the most comprehensive PMU marketing, beauty business marketing course online. I see so many people struggling with their businesses at every stage of the game. I created it again for her, for you, because I saw that there was a need for it. I saw myself and the struggles of the everyday beauty boss. I was like, "Whoa, there's nothing like this out there." I was already helping my microblading students and my permanent makeup students build their businesses because truth be told after you get that certification, you don't know what the next step is.
You really don't. I mean, you end up guessing, but there's no clear map. That's what I wanted to do. With Pretty Rich University I give you a map. I give you a step by step how to. How to create your own success your way, how to create multiple six figures in the first year and if you want beyond that. So if you're like 90% sure that Pretty Rich University is for you and it's probably something that you should be looking into, I encourage you to send me a direct message and book a discovery call with me. I have one on one packages as well as group mentorship packages. I would love to sit down and talk with you, see what your issues are, what your specific struggles are, and see if you'd be a good fit for the program. So check it out.
sheilabella.com/PRU. Alrighty. So today we're going to talk about the five commandments of being a brow and lash boss. Starting with number one, the client is the real boss. That's rule number one. The client is the real boss. I say this to my team all the time. She is my boss. Okay. All of the people that's on our booker right now. All of the people we have coming in today with appointments. When the phone rings, guess who's calling? Your boss, my boss. That's who we need to impress. It's not really me. If you impress the clients, you're impressing me. So work towards that. Who's the boss? The boss is the one that signs the checks, right? Well, the clients sign the checks. I also think that's why it's easier for me to have these difficult conversations with my team because I can always point to the client.
I say, "I understand that yes, it is my standard, but it's the client's standards. They have high standards. So yeah, you got to answer the phone this way." If the client isn't happy, everyone fails. That's a team failure period, because either your team wasn't skilled enough to execute the job or they didn't screen the client thoroughly enough for the red flags. Whenever a business gets a bad Yelp review, that's on the business. That's on the business. Even if the client was erratic or lying, that's still on the business that falls on the boss and everybody on the team. Which reminds me, I should probably do a whole episode on how to spot red flags. How to spot red flags with clients? I'm going to write that down. Okay. We're written down. So I don't forget. Let me know too if that's an episode you'd be interested in me creating.
Number two. Commandment number two is spell it out. If a team member doesn't do something that's up to your standards, it's your fault for not explaining your expectations well enough. So I've been beauty bossing now for about 10 years, right? I pulled a rookie move over the holidays. I did. So I had my team put together our company Christmas cards. Every year I send out a company Christmas card to clients, to colleagues, et cetera. This past year, 2019 was no different. So what I did was I got the Christmas cards from Shutterfly and I also attach a Christmas letter, like a printout of a Christmas letter.
Yep. Basic Christmas mom right here. Right? So I left it up to my team to put together, to stamp, to address, and mail out. So guess what? When I got to work the next day after having left it there for 24 hours, I could not believe my eyes. Each and every address was handwritten. I had emailed them a master list of all of the addresses that we typically send cards out to. The person in charge wrote out every single address by hand. It took her all day and I'm not throwing her under the bus. I'm not saying her name. To me, the higher calling of this podcast is to teach. Right? Honestly, that wasn't her fault. That was my fault. That was my fault for assuming that she knew exactly how I wanted it.
So I was pissed. I was pissed, not necessarily at my team, but at myself. At myself for not spelling it out. What ended up happening was she spent the entire day, the entire day writing out each and every address by hand, instead of doing all the other things that needed to be done around the office. What else? The letter wasn't printed out the way I wanted. That was my fault too. Totally. I should have spelled that one out too. I should have said, I want this font. I want this spacing. I want this stationary. Thank you. Guys, you need to spell it out and you need to accept responsibility for not being clear because if people don't know what they're supposed to do, then they can't do their job well. So don't assume that people should just know. That would have been the worst thing I could have said at that time.
You should just know. No, she didn't. She didn't just know. She can't read my mind. So spell it out. Be clear, be direct. Ask for what you want. Do it in an empowering kind way too because if you do it that way, you'll never have to apologize for your high standards. Don't start it out with, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm giving you the super hard job. Oh my gosh. I know. Don't apologize for it. You say like, "Hey, I need something done and I need it done well. I think you're the woman for the job. This is what I need." I didn't do that. I didn't do that. I had a million and one things going on and I assumed. So yeah. Lesson learned again.
Okay. Number three. Number three is detach from emotion when necessary. People get carried away with their feelings, they do. They run their businesses. They're playing with it. Okay. This is fire. You don't play with your business. If you make business decisions based on emotion, you end up losing the long game. Maybe it's satisfying like temporarily, immediately gratifying. I'm going to show her, I'm going to do this. No, no. You never punish a client, a team member, a brand partner for somebody else's sins. You have to be self aware enough to know that if you're doing that, if you are projecting past experiences into a present situation, that's terrible. That is going to bite you in the ass. Yeah, sure. It might feel good to take it out on somebody, but you can't do that. Not if you expect to last as a company. If you commit to doing something, you follow through. Another time being the boss might call for detaching from emotion is when you have to let somebody go or when you have to have any difficult conversation with somebody. Again, it falls on the business.
It falls on the business. Clients have high standards and they're the real bosses because they're the ones who are signing our checks. Right? The first time I had to let someone go was really difficult. It was really difficult. It was like drama inside of me. Over the years, you just now understand that the reason why you need to let somebody go is to free them of something good and give them the opportunity to find something that's great. Every time I need to let someone go, it's because they're just not a good fit. They're not a good fit. I truly believe that. That's why it's gotten somewhat easier. Then something else I learned from Jocko Willink is this. Chin up. Whenever you're feeling anxious, whenever you're feeling a little too emotional about something and you can't really make a decision, just the physical position of putting your chin up changes you. I've done this. I take a breath.
I open my eyes, I put my chin up. I look around and as I'm looking around, I'm assessing the situation. Right? Then I make a call. It's amazing how sometimes if you don't feel it from the inside, just changing your physicality helps you tap into it. So take a breath, open your eyes, chin up, look around, and make the call that would be best for the survival of the company and its members. Don't get lost in the drama. Don't get lost in other people's drama or your own. Okay. Number four. Number four is everyone is a leader. Everyone is a leader. Don't ever think that the person who works for you is not a leader. What you need to do is you should cultivate self-leadership at the very least. That should be a company culture of self-leadership. No one on my team is ever allowed to think that leadership is somebody else's job.
A leader is basically somebody, anybody with the ability to take action. At the very least, everyone must lead themselves. You must lead yourself, right? Your brain is the general, your body, your cells they're the troops. I think the reason why I have a self sustaining team, like I don't need to be at my office every single second is because I have a lot of leaders who work at Sheila Bella. I love that. That's what I know this podcast is. It's creating new leaders.
Hey friend, how are you liking our talk so far? I want this to be a conversation. I don't want the show to be just about me. I want it to be about you too. So we're getting towards the end of the episode. Before we wrap things up, I wanted to bring you today's beauty boss spotlight. Yes. I want you on this show. I want to feature your story. I want to answer your questions. I am in love with a Pretty Rich community. So if you have something to say and you want to be featured on this show too, you got to head on over to sheilabella.com/beautybossspotlight and here is today's spotlight guest.
Steven:
What is up my Pretty Rich board? I hope you all are having a fantastic start to 2020. I'm so excited to be part of this podcast, but I'm even more excited to be part of such an amazing community. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Steven Nguyen. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and my Instagram handle is brow_beast. One of the questions I that I would like to answer is how did I feel the first time I completed my first brows on a real client? It was honestly so surreal. I could not believe I was able to get paid for something that I've been working on and practicing on months and months before I even decided to take my first client. I actually framed the hundred dollar bill that I was paid. I hang it on the wall where I usually sit in a room and I practice working on the brows.
One of the most rewarding feelings is just seeing how happy that I made her. It's one of the coolest thing to be able to put art on something that people will walk around and advertise for you and just expressing the joy and just so happy to do it. It's honestly one of the coolest feelings, especially there was so many long nights where I doubted myself in the beginning. Really just asking myself if I can even do this. So being able to finish my first client and seeing how happy she was, I'm just so much more motivated and it gave me so much drive to keep practicing and be better at what I do and really chase after what I really want out of this industry. One of my best advice that I can give anybody that's even curious or even thought about wanting to do permanent makeup is just take a dive into it.
There's going to be a lot of long days where you don't want to practice. You don't want to try to find leads. You don't know how to close sales and you're going to get a lot of no's before you get a lot of yes. Your first couple of clients, it's not going to be your ideal clients. You're not going to be as good as you want to be in the beginning. If you keep working at this craft and really perfecting your skills and really just trying to chase mastery of all angles, it's so, so worth it. 10 years from now, you'll look back and you'll be so happy you started. Thank you so much, Sheila, for giving me the opportunity to be able to be on this podcast. Keep doing what you're doing, keep motivating us. I swear, I cannot wait to one day meet you.
Sheila Bella:
The last commandment, the last commandment, well for today. The last commandment for being a brow and lash boss is grind like you're broke. Show up like you're made. Grind like you're broke. Even if you're not. Show up like you're made, even if you're not. Never get too complacent and think that you can skip a day and not show up. You can't just show up at work when you feel like it. You can't just show up when it's convenient. Instagram makes entrepreneurship look glamorous all the time. Perfectly curated profile pics, but the reality is running a business is messy. You set your own deadlines as your own boss. I had a commitment to do this podcast and I hold myself to content creating a minimum on a weekly basis. I hold myself to showing up on stories every single day. I make sure even if I don't feel like it, that I put some form of makeup on.
So I show up because I know at some point during that day, I want to be on camera because I have you in mind. I have you to serve. So if you want it bad enough, you're going to make it work no matter what the conditions are, whether or not it's convenient because if you wait for the conditions to be perfect, you'll be waiting forever. Or you'll not be doing a whole lot. The universe will reward you by bending to your will, bending to your dreams if you tell it how badly you want this by showing up consistently. When you do show up, you show up like you're made. I'm not even talking about you need to have perfect hair and makeup all the time. I'm talking about from the inside. Show up like it's already done. You have to bring that kind of energy to your people because you get paid for your energy.
I'm not talking about faking it. I'm talking about acting as if, because if you believe in yourself, you know that this is a done deal. It's only a matter of time. Hello? So you can vibrate off of that high energy like it's already done genuinely because you believe. I'm sure I've said this to you before, but I just really, really believe in this story. When I first started doing permanent makeup and people asked me what I did, I went to networking events, chamber of commerce events. When I go to parties or meet new people or even answered the phone, I showed up and introduce myself as the owner and CEO of the most luxurious, permanent makeup studio in all of Los Angeles.
I believed it. Even at like three weeks in, I believed that Sheila Bella Microblading would be the most luxurious place where you can get permanent makeup. I showed up as that person. I showed up as that leader because I was confident too in my ability to give a stellar experience. There's no reason why you can't think like that and show up like that. You act as if until it actually is. That's it for today's episode. Until next week.
That's it for today's episode of Pretty Rich podcast. If there was anything in this episode that has impacted you in any small or big way, I want to know. You can reach me at RealSheilaBella on Instagram. By the way, if we are not text buddies yet, that needs to change. You can text my name Sheila, S-H-E-I-L-A to 31996 and we'll be connected. I really love hanging with you guys on here. One last thing before we wrap it up, I got to include my kids, right? Hashtag mom first. So here our Beau and Grey to close things out.
Beau:
Hi, my name is Beau and I'm five years old.
Sheila Bella:
Can you tell everybody what our family motto is?
Beau:
I can do hard things.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Now fill in the blanks. Hard is?
Beau:
Fun.
Sheila Bella:
Easy is?
Beau:
Boring.
Sheila Bella:
Good job, buddy. I love you so much.
Beau:
I love you the best mom, infinity. I love you.
Sheila Bella:
Gray say share with your friends.
Grey:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
Please review my mommy on iTunes.
Grey:
Mama on iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
Thanks for listening.
Grey:
Thanks for listening.
