Ep. 80: The Importance of Community, Providing Good Service, Achieving Your Goals, and a Strong Team
"If we can just strive to have every day be good, that's a win. And on the exceptional days, we'll just have so much more to be thankful for. But on the days that are good, we can be proud of ourselves that we did our best." MEI-CHA.
Running a successful business takes a lot of work. It's hard. Surrounding yourself with a good community makes it SO much better. But in a predominantly female industry, things can get tricky. As well as women bond with other women, tension can still build up and relationships can get messy.
In this episode, I talk to some OG PMU Boss Babes: Lilian Su, Kimberly Crider, and Michelle Essenburg of MEI-CHA. We talk about how these three women work so well together along with the rest of their team and the importance of aligning your community, services, and goals to run a successful female-owned beauty business.
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [06:15] I start out by talking about how tricky it can sometimes be to work with other women.
‣‣ [12:27] This is one of the most important things that I've learned while working with women. And communicating with people in general.
‣‣ [19:02] Kimberly talks about how important supporting community is in their business.
‣‣ [20:04] The MEI-CHA girls share how allowing creative freedom within their team promotes a stronger brand experience for clients.
‣‣ [22:47] How can you create a brand identity that will not only set expectations for your team but also communicate to your clients the kind of services that you provide?
‣‣ [33:20] The MEI-CHA team shares how they're focusing on their community this year and why that's so important to them and their business.
‣‣ [37:05] We talk about what challenges artists face in the beauty industry.
‣‣ [41:55] Let's talk business strategy. What is your current goal? Are you striving to provide a new service? Or are you striving to hit a specific number?
‣‣ [44:56] The team shares their advice for sticking to it and not feeling disheartened when your business plans don't pan out exactly the way you want them to.
‣‣ [51:24] Our advice for those new to the beauty industry. We got your back, babe.
I WANT TO BUILD A STRONG BEAUTY BUSINESS COMMUNITY! (Listen Here)
Aren't the MEI-CHA ladies amazing? I love them so much. You can keep up with them and all things MEI-CHA by following them on Instagram right 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
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FOR MY READER BOSS BABES
You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
Hey guys. What's going on? It's Sheila Bella. And I'm excited to be hanging with you once again on today's episode of Pretty Rich Podcast. Oh, yeah. I like this kind of old school. I like it. All right. I'm bobbing up and down. By the way, have you guys ever been to a silent disco party? It's insane. And I hope that if you haven't gotten your tickets to the Pretty Ambitious Summit that you grab them right now, because you better. We're going to be silent discoing all night on Saturday and you better be there or have FOMO. Really. I want you to be there. I want to party with you. Why do I keep talking about this thing? I keep talking about this thing because I believe in it that much, I believe in the power of live events, my own life has been transformed by live events.
My business has been transformed by live events. And I have to tell you guys, and you won't know it until you're there. That it's different, carrying it on a podcast, reading it in a caption versus being there in person. The energy is unmatched. And for those of you who've never been to a live event and Pretty Ambitious Summit is going to be your first one, I can't wait to hear all your testimonials and have you echo the same things. I would have to say that I would be nothing without having attended live events. That's where I met friends in the industry. That's where I learned things about the industry. That's when the industry became real to me and I became real to it. Because I showed up. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, maybe this is your first episode of Pretty Rich Podcasts.
I'm talking about the Pretty Ambitious Summit. This is the very first live event for beauty entrepreneurs, where you will learn marketing, sales, create connections, build confidence, and get inspired. Oh yeah. And silent disco, of course, that's really important. Guys, we're like two months away. So you better grab your tickets. Grab your tickets, right, right now at prettyambitioussummit.com. Go there, check out all the amazing speakers and yeah, I really, really, really want to meet you. Okay. So today's episode, we have the girls from MEI-CHA. We have Michelle, Lillian, and Kim from the MEI-CHA Team.
Now MEI-CHA has been around for maybe 30 years. Yeah. They're like OG in the permanent cosmetics world. And what they do is they create PMU devices and tools that make people look real, "good." Get it. Because it's not really real because it's tattoo. Okay. Yeah. So I met my friends at MEI-CHA at a live event actually, the Vegas PMU Conference. Another example of why live events are really awesome.
And I was just really impressed with the culture of their company. The fact that they're family-owned and operated and these three boss babes work together all the time. Like how do they do it? It's very similar to my work environment where we're all females, I got my mom's in the mix too. So we're butting heads left and right. But we're all so very close and it's difficult to do. So I wanted to kind of dive into that. The complexities and female relationships, especially female working relationships. You have to be a crazy, crazy, crazy good communicator. It's one thing being a female, being full of feelings, but an entrepreneurial female with ideas and leaders of qualities. Like who's the head, who's the head today? I don't know.
But before we get into predominantly-owned female businesses and how to make them work, I want to read the review of the week. By the way, thank you guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you for leaving me reviews. Those of you who already have, and I just want to thank you guys by reading one every week. And sometimes I forget, but honestly, leaving me a review is the best thing you could do for me. You know how you kind of like tip your waiter or waitress if they give you good service? That's how you can leave me a tip. If I've given you good service today, I would like to kindly ask you to please leave me a review. And the reason why reviews are so important is because it helps cool people like you, more cool people like you find the show and get the right information to the right people.
And it helps the ranking of my show and the ranking determines how many people it gets distributed to. So thank you so much to Everyday Glam PMU. She says, "Tons of actionable steps, knowledge and realness. I'm so grateful to have found this podcast at the beginning of my PMU journey." Oh wow. Yeah. If you're at the beginning of your PMU journey, I wish this podcast was around too in the beginning. When I first started, I was so lost. And she also says, "Sometimes I play an episode and it's exactly what I need to hear at the time." Oh, that makes me feel so good. "Thank you for answering questions. I didn't even know I had and giving me the perspective of a six figure PMU artist. You are helping me reach my own goals of being a successful PMU artist. And I look forward to all of the great things you will release into the universe in the future."
This was beautifully written. Thank you so much Every day Glam PMU, hit me up on Instagram. Tell me, "Hey, you read my review today and I want to give you some props for it." Really, it means the world to me that you guys take the time to write a review or just to repost this episode or any episode and encourage and bless another woman. I know it's rare. You know it's rare. So that's why I try to repost everything. And I try to get back to you guys as much as possible, sometimes even with voice notes, I love voice notes.
So for those of you who have predominantly females working for you, I want to know, and you can hit me up on Instagram. What is the experience for you guys like? Is it difficult? Is it harmonious? Is it kind of a little bit of both? Is there no gray area? Is it either all the way crazy or all the way super harmonious? Yeah. So, from everybody that I've talked to who has a predominantly-owned female business, it can get pretty tricky because, we bond, we bond so easily us women, especially if you're the type of person who likes this podcast, you love deep conversations and you get really fueled from them. I'm sure. So it puts another color on the friendship when you work professionally together, there is a color there that's a little bit different, which is takes I'm getting used to.
And I'll be the first to admit that I've had some very deep friendships that have fallen apart and it was all because of work. So I just want to say that I don't believe that money is the root of all evil. I don't believe that. I don't believe that money corrupts people all the time. From my experience money has helped more so in revealing the character of people faster, which is really sad. But then again, it's just more information. So it might be good. It just depends on how you look at it, right? So when you're working with people that you deeply, deeply care about, you need to have: number one, a strong backbone, and you need to have really strong communication muscles. And that takes work. And for those of you who are scared to hire your first employee or to bring in a friend or family into your business, I understand it because we've all, we've all experienced that moment.
When you first find out that your entire friendship with this woman was a lie, there's been backstabbing, judgment, betrayal, the list goes on, and nobody is exempt from this. I don't care how much money you have or how pretty you are. Every single one of us females has done this to each other. Yeah. So when we're hurt, when we're deeply hurt by somebody, we go off and we immediately create a story. We create one and tell ourselves things like, "F her. I knew she never really liked me. She was just using me this whole time. How could I be so stupid as to not see the signs?" Did you know that your brain actually rewards you? It rewards you for compartmentalizing things and telling a story, especially if you're confused.
So let's say you have a good friend who you found out was saying all this stuff about you behind your back. And you're shocked. Anytime you're shocked that way, the immediate response is first of all denial, and then the response after that is making sense of it. So how do we make sense of it? We immediately tell a story around it to make us feel better. We assume a gazillion different things. "She never liked me. I knew she was not in it for the right reasons. I always knew she was jealous of me." Just like that. Without even the conversation. But it does feel good admittedly to have an immediate explanation for that kind of behavior. So what do we do? Then we lash out. We lash out at this person because we are much better at inflicting pain than feeling it, staying still acknowledging the pain that exists inside of us. It is so much easier to lash out and to administer pain to somebody else than it is to feel it ourselves.
That's why when something happens, we feel attacked. Our minds, like I said, create the story within seconds. Like, "Oh, she was just using me. This is so calculated I knew it. I knew it. I knew it." But if we really quiet down and look at the core of that lash out, of that freak out, I think we can all uncover the truth, which is vulnerability. And it should sound maybe more like this, "I'm not good enough for someone to actually love me and be good to me." That's what that lash out really means. That's that lash out translated, is that vulnerability, is that pain, is that insecurity within us that we were not good enough for somebody else, we didn't deserve to be treated well. That really sucks, right? We're hurt. We're hurt.
Our value has been compromised. And all of a sudden, all the other times someone has betrayed us, whether it was recent, an ex boyfriend, ex husband, or somebody in our childhood who hurt us, when we were bullied or whether it was a parent that never apologize. All those stories surface again from this one incident. And then now the narrative that we've created in our minds is that no one can be trusted. I am not worthy of love and friendship. I am putting up a wall. That story is reinforced. So when another woman hurts you and betrays you, when we retell that story to other people, it's flawed, it's incomplete. Most of the time, we've never really had a real conversation about the falling out with that person. Not one that was calm and vulnerable, most likely it was probably angry. And then we think we had a good conversation with them, but no, if you are really angry and you weren't vulnerable, then yeah, that probably wasn't a complete conversation.
But here's the thing, we retell the story of the betrayal as if we know all the facts around it. We're so sure, but we don't. We have some ideas about what really went on and what she said and what she was thinking. We have some data, but when we retell the story, what happens is our existing values fill in the blanks. It fills in the blanks, and this is scary. It fills in the blanks with confidence. This is just how the brain works. I know you guys have done it. I've done it too. So that's why I think it's really important when you're working with people you care about that you ask for more data, you cool down, you tap into your vulnerability. And the most important thing is curiosity. You have to stay super curious about the other side. Why would you say something like that? Why would you do something like that? Was that from a place of hurt? Was that from a place of fear or insecurity?
And most likely it was, it really was. And if you try not to take it personally and take yourself out of the equation, it gives you an opportunity to see the situation for what it really is. If you remove all expectation and you give that person the freedom to just express without expecting, you give yourself the gift of truth. And that is really hard to do especially if you're angry, but I've always said that the opposite of anger is vulnerability and vulnerability is divine. It's almost like it's all we have. It's the realest thing we have. So you, in your most vulnerable and open state, that's actually the real you. It's not the snap in, pony tail swinging, girl on Instagram who's yap, yap, yap in a way, because she's pissed. No, the most vulnerable side of you is the real you.
And it's probably, not probably it is the most lovable one. And I know this for a fact that me at my lowest is when I am the clearest, I'm not clouded in anger. I'm not talking a hundred miles per hour. I feel calm. I feel connected to my body. I feel connected to my feelings and I just pour them out. Yeah. Without any expectation that somebody will apologize or heal me because that's my job. I take responsibility for my own healing, regardless of whether or not I get an apology, that's evolved. And I wish that for all of you today. And now without further ado, our guest for today's episode of Pretty Rich Podcasts, I have Kim, Lillian and Michelle of MEI-CHA.
You're listening to the Pretty Rich Podcast, where you are totally the heroine of your own story. I'm your host, Sheila Bella. And I built a seven figure PMU biz without a degree, without a fancy website or a sugar daddy. And 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. And 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 to beauty boss? Let's jump in. Hey you guys. Welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast. Sitting in front of me, live in person right now are three beautiful ladies from MEI-CHA. MEI-CHA makes PMU devices and tools that make people look real. Good. They've been around for 30 years. They are international. They have distributors in 45 different countries. They are the creators of the first ever motorized PMU handheld device. And they have a patent on it. Yay, patent. They are family-owned and operated. And I have to say, I saw them walk into my studio and I was like, "PMU girl power." Those are the people I'm going to have on my podcast right now. They didn't see me, but I was behind them. And I like, "That's them, that's them. I can feel it." So welcome everybody.
Lillian Su:
Thank you [crosstalk 00:17:30]
Kimberly Crider:
It's so nice to be here.
Sheila Bella:
So let's start out. So there's four of us in the room right now. So let's just start out by introducing ourselves. So I'm Sheila.
Kimberly Crider:
I'm Kim, I'm the director of brand strategy for MEI-CHA.
Michelle Essenburg:
I'm Michelle and I'm the creative director.
Lillian Su:
I'm Lillian, I'm the director of the company with my husband. And then I handle everything in between what Kim and Michelle does.
Sheila Bella:
Wow. This is amazing you guys. So Lillian, and you were just telling me that you took over the company in 2016, right?
Lillian Su:
That's correct.
Sheila Bella:
Okay. I feels you, I feels you, because you were rebranded everything or the three of you did?
Lillian Su:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
And I have to say, I feel a very different hipper, sleeker, I don't know, just a really positive energy from interacting with your brand. I just want to commend you on this undertaking because it does feel really good to interact with your page and your people. So really good job.
Lillian Su:
Yes. Thank you. We try to provide a really good customer experience from the first time you landed on our Instagram page, you go through our website, you dm us, to getting a product, opening the packaging and-
Michelle Essenburg:
Truly just the whole experience.
Lillian Su:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. And I can see that. So I liked to start off Pretty Rich Podcast. Well, this year I'm going to started off with, going around and saying one thing that you're thankful for. And one thing that's challenging you right now.
Kimberly Crider:
I'll start.
Sheila Bella:
Go ahead, Kim.
Kimberly Crider:
I would say one thing that I'm so thankful for is working at a place that values family and just the culture and community. We're a big family. We all have kids. Michelle doesn't have kids though. Most of us have kids. It really makes coming to work every day just so positive. And one thing I'm working on and struggling with is focusing. I actually just moved my desk. So all I look at is a wall. So I can just narrow in and focus versus trying to do too many things at one time.
Sheila Bella:
I feel you on that.
Lillian Su:
I think I'm thankful for having a great team that we owe care. And while everyone has different opinions or sometimes we can have conflicting opinions, but our focus is always on providing good product, good service and make it right.
Sheila Bella:
Make it right.
Lillian Su:
Make it right.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Because you don't half ass anything you got to be full ass everything.
Michelle Essenburg:
I am thankful for having creative freedom. I'm also thankful for working with the team who allows me to have that creative freedom with you or us like how we work well together.
Lillian Su:
And then we realize that artists do care about aesthetic presentation of our new brands, new packaging, the whole brand image, or a whole new image behind it.
Sheila Bella:
They do care.
Lillian Su:
And people notice. You would thought that one wouldn't notice, but they do. And they would compliment you on it.
Kimberly Crider:
Okay. Yeah. Like within the creative freedom is more of the experience that you're also providing to your clients. It's about the experience of them receiving it and opening it and going to your page and wanting to follow you and seeing something different versus seeing just the same other thing that everyone else has out there already.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. I hear you. The number one reason why people stick to jobs is freedom and relationship. I think first is relationship then it's freedom. If you feel like you have creative freedom, it may gives you a sense of control and that's what I know that... I've read that, that's the reason why people stick to jobs. Makes sense.
Kimberly Crider:
It makes sense, yeah.
Sheila Bella:
Because you can control your day.
Kimberly Crider:
Then we all take ownership of what we do.
Michelle Essenburg:
Right. Yeah. That's like a huge thing is everybody really owns their area.
Sheila Bella:
And I think that's why my girls are happy too [inaudible 00:21:40] Yet do what you want, but everybody just takes-
Lillian Su:
It's also a thing where it's like, because it is so... Lax say you push yourself because you want, because she's giving you freedom. You want to do right for her. You don't want to have the freedom and if you used it. It's like it almost makes you want to do better versus if I was told, well, then you take the time away to do your own freedom where it-
Sheila Bella:
Don't forget that.
Lillian Su:
... Takes away from the word. No. I won't forget it. We know we are lucky.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. We're also lucky to be doing what we're doing. I love our industry. So I want to brush on our favorite quote and I think it's so funny how we've just all stumbled upon it together. So you guys said that you almost brought me a hat that just said, "Good."
Michelle Essenburg:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
And I was like, "Oh my gosh, it has a special significance to me." So, before I go into what the significance of the word good is, can you guys tell me how you guys came about "this product"
Michelle Essenburg:
Yeah. So we knew we wanted a slogan and before we actually decided on what that was, we brainstormed a list of words and your typical words are in there. Like you want to be in exceptional business, you want to be great at this. And I remember us sitting and looking at this board and we kind of paused. And we were like, "All those things sound nice, but what is the reality?" Every day is not going to be great. In business, it's just the truth. You're not going to deliver great business every single day, every single time. There will be customers who won't like what you do for whatever reason. And so the word good was thrown out. And I don't know who said it, but I remember saying if we can just strive to have every day be good, that's a win. And on the days that are exceptional, we'll just have so much more to be thankful for. But on the days that are good, we can be proud of ourselves that we did our best.
Sheila Bella:
So the word is kind of like not putting too much pressure on yourself for it to be awesome or perfect. But yeah, and I feel like that makes sense because everybody can find a little bit of good in their day. Yeah. That's awesome.
Kimberly Crider:
It's really fitting [inaudible 00:24:05] comfy the slogan that we ended up trademark was that we major as a company. We make good products that make people look real good. And there's a play on the real good because they're not real. But you think they're are real. [crosstalk 00:24:24]
Sheila Bella:
Oh, that's good. Yeah. It kind of makes me feel bad because every time somebody asks me like, "How are you?" I don't want to say good. I don't want to say just good. It's so hard for me to just kind of like throw an answer out there when somebody asks me like, "Hey, how are you?" I really have to think about it. And sometimes I give complete strangers a really honest, maybe too honest. But the word good has significance to me and my family actually, because of Jocko Willink, who's a Navy seal. I don't know if you've heard me talk about it before, obsess Jockowillink.com and check them out on Instagram. But it is the word that is actually in my hallway, it's framed, just the word good. And then it's going to be in our kids' room, our little boys room, we're going to have the word good on the wall. It was a mindset that was developed by Jocko. He explained in his book, the meaning is basically any time something happens that is not in your favor, the proper response should be, "Good. Got a bad review. Good."
It highlights where I fell short and I can make it better. Or let's say an employee doesn't show up to work on time. You say good. Now I know it's data. Now I know that, that employee is not reliable. What else could happen? We didn't get funding for a specific project. Good, it opens up opportunities for other projects. It opens up greater opportunities. So basically it's the mindset that anything that happens to you is a win because failures... What are failures? They're just data. It's just more information. And the thing is, I think people who are successful, just take it that way. That it's just more information, but people who are not successful, I think they personify the failure a little bit too much. And they really see it as a failure versus just more information you can get back up on your feet and you can try again because now you know a little bit better. So with anything and everything I say good. I can't wait to support that hat.
Kimberly Crider:
Oh my gosh, I love [inaudible 00:26:38]
Julie:
Hey, Richies, this Julie, better known as Sheila's long time best friend. And I'm sure if you follow Sheila on Instagram, you've seen our show tune shenanigans on her Instastories, but seriously, I'm also one of the master trainers and elite artists that Sheila Bella PMU. But this segment is not about me. It's about you, the listener. It's my honor to introduce today's Beauty Boss Spotlight. I don't know. So next time, it could be. You let's hear what today's Beauty Boss has to say, take it away.
Natalie Warren:
Hey, what's up you guys? My name is Natalie Warren. I am an esthetician and owner of Skinspiration esthetics. And you guys can follow us on Instagram, Facebook at the Skinspiration. So it's just The Inspiration with an SK in front of it, pretty simple. But I am originally from Campbellsville, Kentucky, which is a super small town in the middle of Central Kentucky. And I left to follow my dreams of becoming an aesthetician in Nashville, Tennessee. I went to... Shout out to Aveda Institute in Nashville. That's where I went to school and I returned back to my tiny little town and started my business. And I was very blessed that it was super successful. And now I have a six figure beauty business and get to travel and work with people like Sheila, who is so amazing. Obviously, if you're listening to this podcast, you know who Sheila is, but I wanted to come on here and talk a little bit about one of the biggest challenges that I faced with building my business.
And I know majority of people who are listening to this right now, you are a business owner or you're in the process of opening a business, whatever the case may be. And I just wanted to give you a little encouragement. So when I first told my parents, my family that I wanted to go to esthetician school, I was actually asking them for money to help me go to esthetician school, because I was actually obviously was fresh out of high school, really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life for a very long time.
And then finally I had made the decision that I wanted to touch people's faces for a living and just give everybody really beautiful skin. Because side note, growing up, I had, had terrible acne. I have a really long history of bad skin. And I had kind of dealt with that all through my teenage years. And then eventually, I was able to kind of get it under control, like I have now. So I decided that I wanted to become an esthetician because I was very familiar with the skin. I was very passionate about it.
So I had approached my parents and was like, "This is what I want to do. Ultimately, I'd really like to own a business doing this type of stuff." And I was met with so much backlash from my family, from the people who are supposed to support you and care about you. And obviously, they're super supportive now that they have seen my success and my hard work has paid off in this industry. I remember, I think it was my dad who literally told me, "That is not a real job. But you need to find another real job." Or if you want to do that, you need to plan on moving somewhere where there are celebrities or people who have money, who can pay for things like that. Pay for facials, pay for chemical peels.
As you guys know, some of these procedures can get a little expensive and I side note and from a very small rural area, and there's a lot of poverty. So if any of you guys who are listening to this, live in a smaller area, maybe in the South, or maybe just in a more of like a rural area, I am so here for you and don't feel like you have to move away to LA or move away to New York to be successful and to live your dreams. You have to grow where you're planted. That's something that I think is super important, but I remember battling the feeling of feeling underestimated. And I still do. That still my biggest challenge when it has come to growing my business, because I am super young, I am 21 and I have so many stories about checking into hotel rooms and then asking me if my entire party's here, if my husband's here.
And I'm just like, "No, it's just me." So I kind of live with that every single day, but you cannot get sucked into the whole, "prove them wrong." Definitely use the, "prove them wrong" idea as fuel, as your power. It can motivate you to an extent, but just don't get sucked in to the idea of, "My whole life mission of my brand is to prove this person wrong." Use it as fuel and just do what you love and work hard at it, and then you will be successful at it. And honestly, I wish I had the magical answer because I still struggle with, even when I underestimate myself and I still am constantly working on battling with that, but it is something that I've overcome for the most part. And I just kind of laugh at it now, when people look at me funny, when I check into hotel rooms or when I show people like videos of me traveling, because I love traveling and I try to travel quite a bit.
And the first thing they always say is, "What does your husband do?" And which is so funny because I'm not married, but yeah, just stuff like that. It can be very disheartening, but don't get sucked in to that. So that was personally my biggest challenge with growing my business was people underestimating me or people not believing in the dream, but as long as you believe in you, everything will be completely fine. So that is my piece of Beauty Boss advice for you guys.
Sheila Bella:
Hello friend, guess what? I want you on this show. I bet you weren't expecting that. Yes. I want you on this show, introducing Beauty Boss Spotlight, because you are the hero of the Pretty Rich Podcast. You are the hero of the Pretty Ambitious Summit. And I want to know where are you from, what's the most challenging thing you've overcome, what's your advice for how to live a pretty rich life. If you're up for the challenge and you really should be, go to sheilabella.com/beautybossspotlight. Just follow the instructions. It's very simple. Don't overthink it. And remember, you can't be fear. So do it scared. I want to feature you. I want to shout out your Instagram handle and get you some social media props, but more importantly, I want to get to know you for real. What are you all about? Again, that's sheilabella.com/beautybossspotlight. Okay. Okay. Back to the show.
I want you guys to tell me a little bit about your vision for MEI-CHA this year.
Lillian Su:
So in December, every year we have like two weeks worth of meetings where we just sit and kind of vision what we want this year to be. And the word we came up with to guide our year is community. So to us, that means stepping back a little bit in terms of attending every single event and sponsoring every single thing. And instead pour it back into our community. For us that also means that we're not as focused on growing our revenue like crazy amounts. We just want to provide artists with the support and the tools that they need. And we think by doing that, the community and the numbers and everything follows. So some things that we're going to be doing, we're going to be hosting networking events, where it's going to be like less than $20 a ticket and it's panel style, where we talk about the hard things in business of like how do you take care of yourself as an entrepreneur, how do you handle financials or taxes and all of those things and really give artists a space to meet other people, like them going through the same thing.
Lillian Su:
We also have pros and people that we "stalk on Instagram" [crosstalk 00:34:44] we know would just have really good connections and things in common. And so we facilitate those conversations, whether it's an email or a DM or a text, and we also are doing blog interviews now. So we're driving and flying all over to interview artists in person and just have those conversations on who they are so that we can better serve them.
Michelle Essenburg:
And really to be in those artist's shoes and roll out different programs. Because for example, we're really on this demo trial unit program where artists gets to try our device before they purchase. Because for us, it doesn't really make sense. As an artists, if you're shelling out thousands of dollars for this new device that you haven't even tried it yet, because we're competent enough in our product, we want to put it in your hands.
Sheila Bella:
That's really fair. Yeah. Thank you for that. So you said that the biggest challenges for artists today is community basically, because I feel like we're all solopreneurs. We're all solopreneurs. It's just like us in a dark room, typically with a headlamp or something like that. And then our client and then that's it. But then outside of the Facebook groups, and then us stalking each other on Instagram, there's no real touchpoint. And that's what I think what you guys are doing is so awesome. Bridging the gap because it's really what we mean.
Kimberly Crider:
We're so excited for the summit.
Sheila Bella:
I'm really excited too. I think it's about time. And then you guys were asking me, we have like a dinner or something like that, one of the nights. And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. And that doesn't just go for the MEI-CHA girls. If you guys want to host something, all of you guys who are attending the summit, like hosted dinner, please. That's where it's for. If you guys are all... Then when else are you going to all be in one city for three days? So yeah. Take advantage of it. Host a breakfast, host a dinner, but come to the silent [crosstalk 00:36:39] A what?
Kimberly Crider:
Yoga fishing.
Sheila Bella:
Oh, that's happening on Saturday morning. So we better start practicing. Because I don't think any of us [crosstalk 00:36:48] It's right on the beach. It's going to be hosted by Carla [Vichadon 00:36:55]. So she's going to be doing yoga for everyone, right of Muscle Beach. Yeah. 7:00 AM.
Kimberly Crider:
Okay.
Sheila Bella:
Awesome. So aside from community, what else do you think is the most challenging thing for artists?
Lillian Su:
I think that a lot of artists are drawn into the industry of make six figures or do this and that. And then when they take training and then they're left to spilled their business, it's permits and it's licensed [crosstalk 00:37:31] Yeah. It's a lot of like the nitty-gritty business things that maybe they necessarily weren't taught or they're so overwhelmed with information that they weren't able to figure it out. So then they're left with all of these goals of like, "I don't want to do six figures or I want to grow my business to have other artists." But they don't necessarily understand or know the how. And it seems very daunting because you have this laundry list of things in addition to your creative services that you now have to tackle.
This industry is not for the faint of heart. But I always talk about this, but we see our clients once a year, whereas if you're a nail tech or you do hair or-
Kimberly Crider:
Lashes.
Lillian Su:
Lashes, there's that repeat service every couple of weeks. But getting customers, getting clients is a huge problem for everybody who wants to do this full time. And even the people who are full time sometimes have slow months and then they start getting anxiety about it. So that's also some of the large part of the stuff that we're going to be covering at the summit is the how, but for people who are drawn to this, thinking like you're going to make six figures right away, or maybe even seven figures, you have to stop and think about like, what is that really going to take?
It's going to take you researching a ton, getting a mentor or if you can't afford a mentor, just befriending somebody who's been there before, because it's a lot of stuff. It's just a lot of stuff that not only are you perfecting your artistry right now and learning the craft, but now you have to find the clients too and your art isn't that great yet, it's a lot. So a step by step process of how to do that, I think is something that is missing in our society. I actually recommend doing people for free in the beginning, do it for free. What are you talking about? You need an education. You need practice. Don't charge people yet. If you know you're not seasoned, they're doing you a favor by allowing you to touch their face if you're a novice.
So build your portfolio. I would do things for free first. Don't think that you are going to be able to quit your job immediately after getting a certification for two to three days, four days, max, I think is the longest I've heard of. Yeah. That's super important. Let's say like a year, make sure that you keep your day job.
Michelle Essenburg:
Or have other services that you're offering.
Lillian Su:
Yeah. For a lot of estheticians who want this as like an add on service, sure. But even that, I feel like when I don't do permanent makeup for like a month, I feel out of it. That's why I still do it. I do it on Saturdays.
Sheila Bella:
What's up PMU sister, friend? No, seriously. Do you want new clients all the time? Do you want to end the worry and anxiety over where your next client is going to come from? How awesome would it be to have a steady, I'm talking of steady, flow of leads and calls to your business, inquiring about your services. I'm inviting you to stop stressing and start living with. My new online course, NCC, which stands for new clients consistently. Here, you will learn how to guarantee. How about one client that loved you so much is going to turn into 10 more. There's a formula to this and it works. It works so well.
This course is going to teach you how to create new clients, of the current ones that you do have. So if you have a PMU, lash or any beauty business that's struggling, you've got to check this out. This is everything. This is the secret right here. It's a new era. You got to shake things up because if what you're doing isn't working, stop doing it, your pattern isn't working so you need to get a new one. And this is the ultimate pattern interrupt. So stop what you're doing. You got to go to sheilabella.com/ncc. Let's get you those new clients consistently and I'll see you inside.
Okay. I love that you guys lead with service actually. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Because every time I ask you like what's your goal? You don't give me a number. You give me the activity, which I'm so all of that.
Michelle Essenburg:
I would say to hit a number, you need to provide the service otherwise you're not going to hit it.
Lillian Su:
It's not just about the revenue for us, but also like with any business, we're nothing without our customers. Some of our customers have been with us since MEI-CHA was founded. And those relationships are so strong because of just the service that they have given us, but also that we provide them. I think that we just everyday are so grateful for the people around us and the pro-community that we've built.
Kimberly Crider:
Because every one of us are business owners, ourselves, and same goes to the artist. And them trusting us is trusting their business planners as well. So we feel responsible to provide good product, good customer service and everything.
Sheila Bella:
That's an interesting point because whatever it is you create trickles down to not just your artists that you're providing a service to, but their clients and their families and so on and so forth. That's really interesting. So if you provide a quality product then the blessings are just never ending. I was at Starbucks this morning as I asked you guys, what do you guys [inaudible 00:43:26] Oh, nothing. You should have. This is why you should have told me what you wanted. Maybe like 15, have some hippie or something like that because the person in front of me paid for my bill.
Kimberly Crider:
Oh my God [crosstalk 00:43:41]
Sheila Bella:
But here's the thing though, by time it got to me, I found out that this went on for five cars and she didn't tell me to pass it on, but I was like, "Oh my God, is there anyone behind me?" I'm like, "Okay, I'll do it for them too." And she was like, "I was... And then I was like, "Am I the first person that this has happened to you today?" And she was like, "Actually no, it's been like five cars already." And I was like, "Oh my gosh, thank God I did that. I don't want to be the one person [crosstalk 00:44:16]
Right, it does. But it started with one car. Started with one car and it lasted five cars. And I actually told that barista, "Can you give me your number and text me how many cars this lasts for?" So yeah. I hope not how amazing would it be if it lasted all day? So yeah, we shouldn't underestimate, just putting your all into something small because you have no idea how long it's going to reverberate. Okay. So what are your tips for goal setting for this year? So a lot of our listeners are probably like it's end of January and they're, I don't know if you guys have fallen off the wagon by now with your plans and everything. And you're like, "Man, it's only January or February and I've already messed up on this, this, this, this, this." What do you want to say to that woman who's listening to this?
Kimberly Crider:
I think the first thing is to not get discouraged because I don't know about anyone else, but when I set a goal or put a to do list and I don't track everything off that day, or if I don't complete a goal, then I get so frustrated that I couldn't do it. And then I off like spirals into, well, can I not do it? And it just keeps going. So I would say don't get discouraged. And my second tip is just to start where you're at and take one step. With our pro-program, we started a year ago. I think it was.
Michelle Essenburg:
We thought no one was going to apply.
Kimberly Crider:
And we thought no one would apply. And when we first launched, no one really did apply. And so we invited about 10 artists that we had just that relationship with. And we ended up closing applications and we were like, "It's not going to grow. It's fine, but we're going to focus on this community that we have." And so we just opened applications again in the fall and we had over 500 responses and applicants and we had, I think, 20 spots available. And I remember like seeing them come in, it was a Friday and I was working from home and we just all of a sudden start getting them in the first hour-
Michelle Essenburg:
Within an hour.
Kimberly Crider:
... We had like 250 and I just started crying because we wrote the contract. So we just thought it would be nothing. And so we had to choose 20 out of 500 plus. And I think it's just such a powerful lesson to us that just take one step, one step towards the branding that you want. And one step towards the website and one step towards a blog post, and one step towards reaching out to someone on Instagram that you've been stalking for a while.
Lillian Su:
It will authentic.
Kimberly Crider:
Yeah. And like an avalanche will follow. So set your big goals, but take one step at a time to get there and just focus on that one step until you get to where you want to be.
Sheila Bella:
That's incredible. So fail, fail, fail until you don't.
Kimberly Crider:
Yep. Basically.
Sheila Bella:
It's basically, actually that simple. I feel like we overcomplicate things. That's amazing. How did you choose the 20 out of the 500?
Kimberly Crider:
It was a lot. We voted internally and it was the artists that represent the community the most. So it's not necessary-
Sheila Bella:
How did you tell? How could you tell? Like what vetting process did you have? Did you have an interview?
Kimberly Crider:
So they had an application and they had questions and they had to share their story, but it was more about like, how did they interact on Instagram? Were they responding to the people that were responding to them? Were they engaging as well? And where they [crosstalk 00:48:04] Right. To us, it's always about who the person is. And then I think that who you are is how we can partner and become something even better. And your work will get there if you're a beginner. In five years, your work will be even more incredible than it is now. So I think investing in those people who we believe in because of who they are as a person.
Lillian Su:
As a company, we try to grow with our artists.
Sheila Bella:
That's so cool. Yeah. And a lot of times you don't really hear that, especially in our industry, the focus is on how many followers somebody has, but I love that you guys lead with the heart and I believe you'll be rewarded for that. It's just like with anything. I think people get discouraged the first time they try something new or they put up anything new and then they quit. I mean at this business, if you... First of all, can I just say to anyone listening out there that if you are a working permanent makeup artists, that is a huge accomplishment. If you're not doing anything else, that already in itself is huge. It takes a certain type of person to have that kind of tenacity that, "No, I'm not going to give up." And that boldness to tattoo somebody's face. So yeah, I feel like we are speaking to a very specific group of people.
So for me, I have a goal. I have a personal goal this year of getting to a nine minute mile or under a nine minute mile. And I just think once you take the step forward, don't take it back. So I've set my treadmill already at five miles per hour. And no matter what, every morning when I get up, I am not doing 4.9. So no matter what, don't take a step back. And the thing is the decision to go to 4.9 is going to be a big one because now I need to stick to that. So I think that's great. Yeah. Take a step forward, but don't take a step back. Don't rush, don't rush, but just make sure that you're not taking any steps back.
Lillian Su:
And if you have to stand still for a moment, because you're overwhelmed, give yourself that moment. Everyone else is running their own race. And if you need to catch your breath, stop and catch your breath and keep moving forward. But just don't take that step back. I agree a 100%.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. So you guys, you have interviewed all of these artists, right? You've interviewed all these artists. It sounds like you really have your finger on the pulse. The true pulse of what's really going on in artists' heads. So if you had advice for, let's say the artists who just started, just got their certification a few months ago and is dang frustrated with themselves, what would you say?
Michelle Essenburg:
Don't be overwhelmed by the Facebook groups.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. The Facebook groups can be really overwhelming. Do you have advice for the newbie?
Lillian Su:
Yeah. I would encourage you to do an exercise where you grab a piece of paper and you close your eyes and you just envision what you want your business to look like. If that's you're a mom and you only want to work two days a week, that is fine. And if it's you want to have multiple artists in your studio, that's awesome too. But I would say spend some time just by yourself, with a cup of coffee or wine envisioning what you want to be and who you want to embody and where you'd want your business to be. And then from there create your goals. So if it's having your own space, what does that look like financially? Do you need to get alone? Do you need to find funding? If you want to just rent out a room, what does that look like?
And just create your overall arching action steps to get there. And then from there, break it into smaller points and how are you going to measure it. So one that I have told a few of our pros who want to grow their Instagram community, they focus on like, "Kim, I want to get to five followers in a year." And that's great, but how are you going to get there? Because we don't encourage buying followers. So my suggestion is like, "Okay, 5,000 in a year is a lot. Who are you going to engage with to get to that point? Because you're not just going to have random people following you and keep following you. So you're going to have to engage with accounts and you're going to have to post a certain number of pictures a week. And what are you putting out there? So put that number for us when we grow and we engaged.
I have a number of we want to thoughtfully engage with 20 to 30 accounts a day and that's not including checking in on people that I'm thinking of on Instagram, DM, that's commenting on people's photos and their stories and just being out there in the community. So how are you measuring things I think is also important to think about.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. I love that. I also like to measure output before the result. I like to set output as the goal, activity as the goal before the end result. And to me, if I meet that activity goal, I've done my job or I've kept that promise to myself. And that's so important. I do see a lot of people hungry for followers and stuff. But I have to say I know people who have millions of followers and it doesn't always mean profit. These people asking for discounts. I'm like what's going on [inaudible 00:54:09] And it's one thing to be popular, but it's another thing to be profitable. More followers doesn't always mean more profit. I think what you guys have done has been amazing. You guys have grown authentically. You guys have 6,000.
Michelle Essenburg:
Well, I think we'd just has... Oh, that's not my phone. [crosstalk 00:54:32] I've just like had six [crosstalk 00:54:34]. Yeah. Because avant sent that message [crosstalk 00:54:37]
Kimberly Crider:
Organically.
Michelle Essenburg:
Yeah. Think about it. Do you really need more? If every single one of those people, those 6,000 people was a regular customer, do you really need more? And for those of you out there who are have 1000 followers, if every single one of those people wanted their permanent makeup done by you regularly and were to refer you to all their friends, if they're die hard loyalists, you don't need more. So I think the goal should be how to turn your followers into customers. If you don't know how to do that, you don't need more followers then.
Sheila Bella:
And just to close things off. Do you have one piece of advice for how to live a pretty rich life?
Lillian Su:
Be true to yourself and love what you do.
Michelle Essenburg:
I think mine is, don't be afraid to be yourself and to fight for what you want because there may be a million people doing the same thing, but you are here for a reason and your passions and your talents are for a reason. And if you just believe in yourself, you'll make a difference.
Kimberly Crider:
I love that. I think mine would be gratitude. And I say that all the time. I just want my kids to grow up to be grateful people. I don't care what they do, but if they live in gratitude every day, isn't that a happy person? Just period. No matter the world could be falling apart. But yeah, if they can find good there it is again, in their day like, "Oh, cool. They're okay. They're okay."
Sheila Bella:
Thank you guys.
Lillian Su:
Thank you.
Michelle Essenburg:
Thank you, Sheila.
Sheila Bella:
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. And 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. And one last thing before we wrap it up, I got to include my kids, right? Hashtag mom first. So here are 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 thing.
Sheila Bella:
I can do hard things. Now fill in the blanks. Hard is?
Beau:
Funny.
Sheila Bella:
Easy is?
Beau:
Boring.
Sheila Bella:
Good job, buddy. I love you so much.
Beau:
I love you. You're the best. [inaudible 00:57:21] infinity. I love you.
Sheila Bella:
Great. Say, "Share with your friends."
Beau:
Share with friends.
Sheila Bella:
"Please review my mommy on iTunes."
Beau:
Please [inaudible 00:57:33] mommy iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
"Thanks for listening."
Beau:
Thanks for listening.
