Ep. 89: How To Give A Luxury PMU Experience With Hoi Kwan of Hoi Tattoo
"No matter how much monetary or financial stability, whatever circumstances we're in, everyone is capable of delivering that luxury or wow experience to someone." - Hoi Kwan
If you're looking to upgrade your salon experience and give your clients the luxury they deserve then you are going to love this episode. I got to sit down with one of my favorite artists and favorite people, Hoi Kwan of Hoi Tattoo. She's so amazing, she's one of the LEADERS of the permanent makeup industry.
Her career and her success have taken her all over the globe speaking at different conferences and meeting new people. She is the leader of Hoi Tattoo and they are eleven years strong in tattoo and six years in PMU! You will not want to miss this talk with Hoi. She's an absolute boss babe.
Here are the episode highlights:
‣‣ [10:41] Hoi and I talk about her ORIGIN STORY (a.k.a. where she grew up).
‣‣ [12:31] We talk about why luxury experiences are important and how you can get started delivering luxury to your customers.
‣‣ [15:28] How to create a luxury experience even when your space isn't quite what you want it to be.
‣‣ [21:40] Hoi talks about how she amps up the anticipation for her clients before they get to their appointment
‣‣ [26:27] We dive deeper into luxury and how treating yourself to a good vacation twice a year can really amplify the experience that you give back to your clients
‣‣ [31:31] How do you become more aware of when you're giving a WOW experience vs a meh experience and how do you demand better of yourself?
‣‣ [37:22] What is your best advice for living a rich life?
MY CLIENTS DESERVE LUXURY AND I WANT TO DELIVER! (Listen Here)
Wasn't it so great listening to all the beauty business wisdom from Hoi?? If you want to keep up with her and her amazingness, follow her 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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You can enjoy a transcript of the podcast here.
Sheila Bella:
Hey guys, welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast, this is Sheila Bella and we are officially 11 days away from Pretty Ambitious. I'm like, "Oh my gosh." I just realized, I'm so excited you guys. Today's podcast is featuring Hoi Tattoo. Hoi Kwan of Hoi Tattoo and we're going to talk all about how to give a luxury experience. Yeah, check it out. Here we 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 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 beauty boss? Let's jump in.
What's up everybody? It's Sheila Bella. What's going on? Oh my gosh, this is insane. So I just wanted to give you guys a little bit of behind the scenes because I teach you guys to give a behind the scenes and be real so I would be a hypocrite, right? If I didn't follow my own advice.
And yeah, on Friday, I had a walkthrough of Pretty Ambitious with my team and I can't believe it's happening. I got out of Reggie and Terrance' car because they drove me there, I carpooled with them. I got out of Reggie and Terrance' car and then I stepped into the front entrance of Lowe's and I was like, "Wait, what?" And then I just had this fear, it just set in, fear came. It came, it just like, "Hey, I'm going to be at house right now Sheila Bella." And that's exactly what happened and Reggie was like, "What's wrong with you?"
And I was like, "Whoa, I'm scared." I'm scared. And when I say I'm scared, I say it just like that. Not even, oh I'm scared. I say it as I recognize it. So that's a fact like, "Whoa, I am scared. I'm scared right now, very confidently scared. So interesting."
And Reggie was like, "What?" Anyway, and yeah, I don't know, he looked me in the eyes. If you watch my stories, Reggie is actually part of our media team and he's a riot. And he was like, "No, come on, I believe in you, you got this. Hello." And I'm just like, "Yeah, I do." But then honestly it's like, it comes and goes."
Like 400, now ... First of all, this started out as a 60 person thing. 400 of you are coming out to Pretty Ambitious. And yeah, I really, really want to bring it like you have no idea. So I'm excited to do that, right? And for the people out there who are thinking about doing something like this or doing something that is bigger than anybody has ever done before in your field or maybe something different because this is a very different conference, it's inspiration, mindset, confidence, connection and business strategy focused.
It's very different. If you're thinking about doing something just out there and the negative thought army is holding you back, I just got to say that you have to be your own coach.
You have to be your own coach and the thing is, success is not guaranteed, that's true. Success is not guaranteed, but struggle is and you know what else is guaranteed? Is the haters. Hate haters. Sorry, I just said it funny. It's haters. They are guaranteed, okay? Every endeavor comes with fake people. It comes with people talking behind your back, it comes with people being super unsupportive. It comes with it all and lately, I feel like we're all on the same journey you guys because I just got a message yesterday from somebody saying, "I know you don't have time to answer this, but ..." And she told me. She says that there are people that she helped in the industry. I'm not going to say who it is. People that she helped in the industry who are now like on her bad side.
And they're spreading rumors about her. Somebody else is going through the same thing. People who are bad mouthing them or misunderstanding them, or she can't handle it, it's really, really difficult to handle all of this criticism especially from people that you were on good terms with at some point.
And it's funny because these messages both kind of started out with, "I know you don't have time to answer this." But I answered, and I answered very quickly, and I was like, "Actually, responding to this isn't going to be very long. It's going to take me two seconds, watch."
My response to that is ignore and outperform. That's it. Ignore and outperform. Ignore and outperform. Every time you see these people talking about you or you see people just trying to throw negativity at you and you know that it's rooted in arrogance and self-centeredness, it's rooted in greed, right? Or just like plain out tactless, tactless things, right? And if you cringe and allow yourself to be affected, they win because it's not their job to like you, it's your job to like you, okay? Can you hear that again? It's not their job to like you, it's your job to like you. That's your job. That's your J-O-B is to believe in yourself. That should be number one.
Why do you think the first day of Pretty Ambitious is going to be all about mindset and confidence? Now, here's the thing.
The episodes that do the best at Pretty Rich Podcasts are the ones that are full of strategy, strangers to clients, it's a social media formula for trust and that did really well, it got downloaded a ton of times. But then the episodes like this, about a luxury service, or mindsets, what I'm talking about right now, how it's your job to like you don't do as well. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. The people who are going to maybe not really listen too much on the first day of Pretty Ambitious because it's not really strategic, you know what? I'm okay with that. And there's a reason why it's called the 1%. It's the people who understand that everything that flows out of you, all the strategies that flow out of you will be useless without the correct mindset.
You've got to come correct. You've got to show up like your made and grind like you're broke. You have to come forth with the right energy, you can't just execute, just execute like willy-nilly, it's not the same thing. You have to execute with the right energy and that's what day one of Pretty Ambitious is going to be about and you need to outperform the bad guys, okay? If there's bad guys and dramatic people in your life, ignore and outperform, stay focused, lay low and just outperform. If you know that you are more generous, if you know that you're a kinder human, if you know that you are creating content out of the goodness of your heart because you really, really, really want to help others and you're compassionate and gracious and respectful and peaceful and you're a tactful person, it is your obligation to show your face.
It is your obligation to create a better product, to create better content, to create better information, education than them. This reason why they're "winning" is because you are not showing up. So for those of you who are being ostracized right now in your industry or in your group, or people are posting things about you, just outperform them, sing a louder song of positivity.
That's how you drown out the noise of negativity is to sing a louder, sweeter, more positive, more consistent song. Ignore and outperform and without further ado, here is Hoi Kwan, freaking love her and I know you will too, she's so pretty. Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful. And you're going to be seeing her actually at Pretty Ambitious. She's going to be on the PMU business panel on Sunday. So excited. Here she is.
What's up you guys? Welcome to Pretty Rich Podcast. Today, we're going to be talking about how to give your clients a luxury experience. And here to lend their expertise is none other than Hoi Kwan. Hoi, say hi.
Hoi Kwan:
Hello. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be joining you today on the Pretty Rich Podcast.
Sheila Bella:
I am so excited. So for those of you who don't know who Hoi is, first of all, what are you doing with your life? Hoi is one of the leaders in the permanent makeup industry.
Her career and her success has taken her all over her country and all over the world speaking at different conferences. She is the leader of Hoi Tattoo which is family-owned and operated or mostly and they are 11 years strong in tattoo and six years in PMU.
She is the international trainer for Amelia and Canada and she is a boss, business owner and she's also the fiance, Lance, her business and life partner help her in all things and they come as a package deal and I'm so excited to have her on the show today.
Hoi Kwan:
Thank you. That was a great intro.
Sheila Bella:
Really? We just wrote it right now together.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, we did.
Sheila Bella:
Oh my goodness. Okay, so I want to know a little bit about you, can we do a little bit of rapid fire questions?
Hoi Kwan:
Oh, go ahead.
Sheila Bella:
Okay. Number one, where are you from and where did you grow up?
Hoi Kwan:
Where am I from? I'm born in Macau and for those that don't know where it is, it's the Las Vegas of Asia pretty much. There's an even ... There's a strip there now too.
So I grew up there, moved to Canada, I think I was five when I first moved to Vancouver and then we went back home for a year before we settled in Calgary. I think I was seven when I moved to Canada. My mom and my two sisters at the time [crosstalk 00:11:13]
Sheila Bella:
Why did they move here?
Hoi Kwan:
For us. For a better life. I'm the only one that's born in Asia. Both my sisters were born in Canada, but for [inaudible 00:11:20] for a better life, for a more simple life and for our education really.
Sheila Bella:
That's incredible. What about you as a kid? Did you ever think that you were going to be a permanent make up artist as a kid?
Hoi Kwan:
Doing eyebrows or making lines and traveling the world? No. No.
Sheila Bella:
What did you think you were going to be?
Hoi Kwan:
I love dance. That was definitely my first passion in life. I loved ballet, I did that growing up, but I came very young and it was just me and my mom and my sisters. And I was that little girl who went to the bank and pretended to be my mom on the phone. So I guess I assumed the role of I didn't think of it that, but maybe as a father figure for my family in a small way and grew up really quickly. Everyone has a story, no one's better or suffered more. It's all your own perception, right?
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely. Abso-freaking-lutely. Totally feel you on that. So let's get into the luxury experience.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, that was a little bit heartfelt. Now let's get into the fun stuff.
Sheila Bella:
Okay. I like the heartfelt stuff. That's the fun stuff for me. Okay, so let's talk about the luxury experience. So, first of all, why is this important? Why is this important? Why should we even care? Why should somebody listen to this episode?
Hoi Kwan:
I think that whatever we have, no matter how much monetary or financial stability or whatever circumstance we're in, everyone is capable of delivering that luxury or wow experience for someone else. And it doesn't have to just be for work. It can be for your partner, it can be yeah, of course for our clients and that's what I want is to translate into the conferences that we're going to be at, at the pretty ambitious summit as well.
So anything in life, we have the opportunity to create these experiences for people, and that's what people remember. So that's why I'm so passionate about it. I light up when I see other people light up.
Sheila Bella:
So what are your tips for creating that?
Hoi Kwan:
I guess we'll start off with I started out very small. I was renting a room in the basement or actually, no, my first place was a hair salon, a small, small room I rented and then really funny story about that, actually. When I was doing my client, I think it was like midday, and I glanced on the ledge that was in the room, and there was an empty condom wrapper on that ledge.
Sheila Bella:
You're kidding.
Hoi Kwan:
I am not kidding. I was so embarrassed. I'm like, "I hope none of my clients saw that." So next day I moved out and ...
Sheila Bella:
Oh my goodness.
Hoi Kwan:
[crosstalk 00:14:08] hair salon and in a little basement and if my clients are listening to this, we call it our little Harry Potter room. It was really rundown house, but I loved it, simple times sometimes are the best times. But I think about like some of my clients have been with me for six years, actually a majority of my clients have been with me since the beginning and allowed me to grow with them, they grew with me as well. So I did not start off with a beautiful space or whatnot, but what keeps them coming back, right?
Sheila Bella:
It does.
Hoi Kwan:
Number one is that Hoi Tattoo's artistry and I hear so many people say, "I'm not artistic, I can't do that." Everyone is artistic. Artistic to me is bringing a piece of you into what you do and how you show up.
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely.
Hoi Kwan:
The first and foremost thing, just make eye contact. Make eye contact with people. You can't connect talking to people without making eye contact and it's so funny sometimes, I think we've all experienced that, right Sheila?
Sheila Bella:
Yes. Yes. I've actually let client ... I've fired clients who wouldn't look me in the eye.
Hoi Kwan:
It's really weird when people talk to you and they're not looking at you.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
Or they're looking past you.
Sheila Bella:
So that's really awesome. So you started out [crosstalk 00:15:23] in a little space with a condom wrapper on the floor.
Hoi Kwan:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
What would your tips be for how to offer a luxury experience for those people who have space that they themselves they don't like?
Hoi Kwan:
Be present when you're with your client. And again, that's how we connect as well. They schedule time with you, they deserve your full attention, be very present. People can tell when you're not present. Even for myself, I get into those moments. I'm like doing my appointment, but then my mind trails off. So I think learn to bring your self back, recognize when you're not being present, but then be able to bring yourself back into that present moment.
Sheila Bella:
It's all about the comeback. It's all about the comeback, right? You know what? I've experienced that too where I'll go to like a big Burke Williams Spa or something like that. And I feel like a number, you know what I mean? And then I'll go to like a little boutique spa where I know it's a solo entrepreneur and it's her, massage or like beauty service and I feel so important to her.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
I prefer those experiences. Yeah, just little things. Make sure it's clean first of all.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, make sure it's sanitary.
Sheila Bella:
Make sure it's good sanitary. Make sure it smells good. I mean, in that ... Light a candle. The nicest candle you can afford, right? Play some music, offer them refreshments and yeah, definitely richness in conversation too. I used to actually had to stop my artists from doing this, but there were times where I had artists who just had a bad day or something like that and they wouldn't even know it, but they were unloading their problems on their clients, but it's their time ...
Hoi Kwan:
[crosstalk 00:17:09]
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. I actually was going to a nail salon, like the same nail artist for like maybe four years. And towards the end of our relationship together, I remember I was always ... She was always asking me for business advice and social media advice.
And I happily gave them until it got to a point where it was every single time and I felt like I was coaching, there was no action on their part.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). You love giving advice, you do it every single day, but giving advice without it translating into action can feel frustrating, right? With your [crosstalk 00:17:49]
Sheila Bella:
It was frustrating. It was my time, you know what I mean? The time where I turn off my phone, I get my nails done. I have my pedicure and I did it once a month and it was me time and it felt Like work and I felt bad, I did because I really cared about them, but I needed my sanity.
Hoi Kwan:
Well, that's why going ... if you go to have your me time and I think we need to respect that, right? And ...
Sheila Bella:
I mean, we need to act the same way, right?
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, and we're responsible, 100% responsible for the energy we bring into any room, any situation regardless of your client, right? Regardless of if you've had a bad day, our energy is our responsibility.
Hoi Kwan:
So it's hard to manage and it's hard to not be reactive sometimes and unload, everyone has a bad day.
Sheila Bella:
Of course. I've done it. I've done it.
Hoi Kwan:
I've done it.
Sheila Bella:
Yes, I've done it. We've all done it. Yeah, I'm not here on a pedestal saying, "I've never done that." I'm sure I've done.
Hoi Kwan:
Probably did it last week.
Sheila Bella:
Maybe. Maybe, yeah, just last week. Yeah, but I guess just being aware of it and then like turning the attention back on the client and asking them about their lives and helping them with their issues.
Sheila Bella:
And honestly, it helps you, it helps you get out of your own head and out of your own world and your own problems. Everybody has a little soap opera going on in their minds and that's why I'm always curious like, "What's the soap opera in your world right now?"
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, I mean, we all do. We all live in soap opera, right? And of course, once you develop a certain relationship, if you get to that point, of course, that's a whole different story.
Don't change that experience because of the things that happened to you that day or how you're feeling that day. That client, every single client deserves that same level of experience and service from you.
Sheila Bella:
Right. I think that's why clients leave.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
And we don't know why.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, they never call you again. And even when you know you did a good job, it's a lot of the times, you wonder why but, their eyes are closed so their only experience is ...
Sheila Bella:
Oh my God.
Hoi Kwan:
But they're hearing from you.
Sheila Bella:
My gosh, it's such a good point. That's such a good point.
Hoi Kwan:
And what they're smelling so make sure you smell good, okay?
Sheila Bella:
Take a shower.
Hoi Kwan:
Take a shower.
Sheila Bella:
Brush your teeth. Yeah, we have a lot of mouthwash and toothpaste at the Sheila Bella break room because we're also conscious of that
Hoi Kwan:
We go through so much gum, it's insane, but it's important. So that's what I mean, having a nice space is great. It adds to the experience, but [crosstalk 00:20:24]
Sheila Bella:
That's true.
Hoi Kwan:
... We must remember that their eyes are closed for two, three hours at a time. So what are they experiencing? They're experiencing your voice, your knowledge, you touching them.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
And smells of course, we all know that smells can bring us back to memories very easily. So yeah, like paying pay attention to those senses because their visual senses shut off now.
Sheila Bella:
Let's remember that. Yeah, that's why clients leave. They don't feel like you're in touch, they don't feel like you care. They feel like they're not as special.
Yeah, that's such a good point that their eyes are closed most of the time so you can't just like, "Oh, that doesn't smell bad, look over here."
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we've all had those experiences and I kind of want to touch on too like moving forward if you guys are going to go into like speaking or attending conferences, some elements that I've noticed, I noticed in all my wow experiences. There's also an element of surprise and anticipation for the appointment, for going to the conference and you guys have done such an amazing job with that already.
Everyone's so excited to be coming to the conference, but then anticipating before they come to the appointment, and how can we create that [crosstalk 00:21:39]
Sheila Bella:
So what do you do to in anticipation of it? To promote excitement before they walk in? What do you do?
Hoi Kwan:
Definitely touch base with them before the appointment. Let them know all their pre-care answer any questions they have. Oftentimes, it's especially if you're a one man show, it's easy to just be like go online, book the appointment and then you don't hear from them until they walk through the door.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
So all those nerves take over the excitement and anticipation. Once you rest those nerves and calm them, then people can get excited. If you don't call them, there's no excitement coming, you know what I mean?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a really good point. You know what we've done in the past, we still do it actually is before their appointment, I send them a video, I send them a quick little video saying how I'm looking forward to seeing them, reminding them of all their pre-procedure care instructions, where parking is and sometimes, I'll even send them, it depends on the client.
If it's a correction, I won't do this. Send them a color chart. A color chart so so they can start envisioning what color they're going to pick and then honestly you guys, once they fall in love with a color, once they fall in love with a color before they come to the appointment, they are less likely to cancel.
Hoi Kwan:
[crosstalk 00:22:54] about that. Yeah, that's a good one because that's like one of the most common questions. You want to involve them in the process.
I think we often think like the appointment is the entire process. No, it's their booking process, or how you're contacting them beforehand and letting them ... Parking too can be frustrating, right? Depending on what area you're in.
So all those little things is part of their experience. So don't just think that it's the minute they walk in and walk out of the door.
Sheila Bella:
This is all in my course, here's a shameless plug NCC. I'll have the editor put the ad right here.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
No, it really is all in my course NCC, all that stuff, but yeah, I mean, it's all about differentiating the clients that are undecided. The clients that just booked, the clients that are present, the clients that just left and the clients that are dormant, and how to treat each and every one of these types of clients. There's a procedure for right before when they're there for after and for even years to come. So yeah, there's a way that you can continue to touch base with each and every one of those types of clients in order to give them a super connected experience like what you're talking about.
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Hoi Kwan:
Right sometimes like the anticipation is as good as like the experience itself, right? Because we're humans, we can imagine, right? That's the great thing about us.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
So give them good things to imagine and to think about.
Sheila Bella:
It's almost like who said ... Joe Dispenza I think, I'm going to butcher this [crosstalk 00:25:55]
Hoi Kwan:
Oh, I love him. Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, he said like a memory or like something in your mind is just as powerful as something that happened, like an imagination is could be just as powerful chemically as something that actually happened.
For this event, right? I keep imagining it over and over and over in my head and that I feel like it already happened.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
When you're preparing for something.
Hoi Kwan:
[crosstalk 00:26:17] there already, right?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, and a vacation.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
A vacation, I feel like it happened already because we're just anticipating, anticipating, anticipating. That's why also I think it's important biz tip, good self-care tip to book a vacation twice a year, one in the summer, one in the winter because it will give ... That gift will last for six months.
Hoi Kwan:
You have to go out and see things, you really do and I believe that no matter if you have, if you can go on a $1,000 vacation or a $10,000 vacation, it doesn't matter, it really doesn't matter.
You have to take yourself out there, get uncomfortable before good things can come your way, right?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Traveling really does open your eyes. It really does open your eyes to so many elements of the world that we live in that you may have not realized especially if you travel with that intention.
You can't just like travel, just like white girl wasted. No, but like with the intention of really like diving into this new planet basically and ingesting the culture.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, and it's important because that's actually, every time I travel, I kind of like to see how culturally people like different kind of experiences.
And I'm going back to certain clients, meet different kind of communication, it's the same with different ethnicities of clients sometimes. We have to [crosstalk 00:27:53]
Sheila Bella:
Yes. Yes.
Hoi Kwan:
It worked in our favor.
Sheila Bella:
Yes.
Hoi Kwan:
Understand those things, what cultures value.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Yeah. Filipinos value, have a different value set for sure.
Hoi Kwan:
What would you guys say Filipino's top three?
Sheila Bella:
Oh my gosh. Filipinos love a hookup. They love a hookup. If you make them feel like they got a little bit of a discount from you even if it was nothing, or like a free gift, or something like that, and Filipinos love vanity.
Hoi Kwan:
Don't we all though?
Sheila Bella:
Love vanity. They love it when you compare their brows to celebrities because they feel very current. So like let's say you're just giving them what you should typically give them because you're just going off with their bone structure, but if you say this is a lot like Jessica Alba or like that ...
Hoi Kwan:
I think that's Asians in general.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, maybe that's Asians in general, but we're like, "What?" And then yeah, and then you give them a free gift or like you give them an extra like hand massage or something like that, like Filipinos love that.
Even if the gift was ... Let's say you give your aftercare for free and you give it anyway, right? But my aunties and my mom, if you tell us like you know we typically charge for this, but I like you so much that here you go.
Hoi Kwan:
All the good with purchases.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, I know. No, it just makes us feel special or maybe like write something like a handwritten note or like extra pieces of chocolate. It doesn't matter.
Hoi Kwan:
It doesn't have to be monetary. Generosity can go so long, go so far so long.
Sheila Bella:
So long.
Hoi Kwan:
And if you can't do it monetarily to give the discount or give them the extra gift like you said, give them the extra time.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Or the connection. Sometimes our front desk manager will give her card with her direct cell phone number, but we tell them, "You know what? Don't call, just text. Here's my direct text number." They love it.
Hoi Kwan:
They kind of feel like, "Oh, I'm in with you."
Sheila Bella:
I'm in. I'm in. Filipinos love a hookup. I'm sure and I'm sure everybody does.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, and touching on like being in with something I think also wow experiences, at least my wow experiences for work, it makes you feel like you're part of something, you belong to something or to a community or family.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
And that sense and every wow experience I've had you're just proud to be have been a part of this with these people because you will never be able to replicate the same experience ever with anyone.
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely. Oh my goodness. all of this stuff really matters in the end you guys because our clients, they can tell. They can tell when we've stopped caring.
They can tell when we've ... You get to a point where like, "Oh, this is my longtime client and now we just kind of like feel entitled." Whereas a new permanent makeup studio will treat them a lot better because they're new.
You know what I mean? We'll look them in the eyes, we'll get to know them, we'll not unload problems on them and there is something about like connection, there's a difference between like connecting with a client and relating by sharing your story.
But there's also unloading and yeah, that's for your colleagues, that's for the break room, but for your clients who are there to relax and have it just be about them getting more beautiful that day and be excited about it.
Hoi Kwan:
Exactly. And an lone experience versus a shared experience with someone else is also different.
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely. Completely agree with you. Is there anything else on your list?
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, actually, I do. After we've talked about all this, I think it's important for us to learn how to recognize when we're experiencing a wow experience or when we're providing an experience, recognize when we're not providing that [crosstalk 00:31:46] and be able to demand that from yourself.
As we get in our world, as we get more experience, sometimes we can get in our heads and never think we're too good for someone or too good to be doing this because where did we start? Those people started and supported us from the very beginning.
So I think don't ever forget that in our industry at the beginning, no one really liked to talk to one another, right? It's not like now where we have these platforms, the one you've created for us to share not only knowledge on the PMU school podcast, and now, expenses and stories through your Pretty Rich Podcast, right?
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
So yeah, just be humble and when it gets to that point where you're feeling a little flustered, just take a moment and get back inside and remember those people that have treated you kindly even when people treat you unkind, don't lose that sense where you like, "Oh, F the world." We've all been there.
Sheila Bella:
Is that one of your mantras? When people are unkind to you, how do you deal with that?
Hoi Kwan:
That's something I'm learning actually and I'm like I think shortening our reaction times. It's not about not feeling or not getting hurt either because I don't believe in that.
For a while, I was like, "That didn't bother me." Or like, "Whatever." No, you didn't get over it, you didn't work through it. It's important to actually feel those emotions, but then manage them accordingly.
Shorten that time where it affects you, where it will tap into all the other parts of your life. Trust me, when you don't work through something properly, it will fester and it will manifest in all parts of your life, but I also think don't react when you are upset.
Give it space, give yourself that space and time to collect your thoughts and truly separate, "Okay, is that my jealous self talking? Is that my 10 year old self talking? Or is that really who I am now?"
So give yourself that space to recollect. You don't have to say everything all the time. If someone's wronged you, my mom has always said, "The sky knows, the earth knows. and you know."
Sheila Bella:
Oh wow.
Hoi Kwan:
So it's fine. We've all hurt people and you know when you've wronged someone.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
Sooner or later, you know deep down who you've wronged in your life, and they will know too. In my younger years, you try to like prove it to people like, "No, I'm not this way." Or, "This is not how it happened."
But time will tell the truth and really, it's a solution for a lot of things is time, giving yourself that time.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, there's this quote, everyone should smile. Life isn't that serious. We make it hard, the sun rises, the sun sets, we just tend to complicate the process.
Hoi Kwan:
It's true. [crosstalk 00:34:28]
Sheila Bella:
That related me.
Hoi Kwan:
... This is not that complicated, life is actually simple.
Sheila Bella:
It's actually simple.
Hoi Kwan:
It's actually simple, it's complicated, but it can be simple. It can be anything we want it to be.
Sheila Bella:
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Do you have a favorite quote for us?
Hoi Kwan:
I do. I always open up my speech with the hardest thing in life is to be honest with yourself. If you can just be honest with yourself and own those parts of you that maybe you weren't so proud of or even the parts that you are proud of, no one can get you.
No one can get at you, and it's you and once you own your story and your truth, no one can take anything away from you.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, that's so true.
Hoi Kwan:
A lot of people have I think a very complicated relationship with money. I do too. I was scared to share my successes sometimes, always kind of downplayed it, but I've come to terms. The flow of financial or currency, the flow of money allows us to have choices in life. It allows us to have options to choose and that's exactly what I was able to do when my dad did pass last year and I decided finally I needed to take some time and I have built it where I do, I didn't have to worry about money.
I had a team that helped me and were there for me. So I think we have to get our minds set straight and relationships with certain concepts like money, money is important. We're all in it to make some money. I'd be lying if I said, "I want to come. I did brows to change the world." And it's evolved and changed now, but of course, everyone learned something new to make money. Also, money can't be the final motivator of anything we do in life.
Sheila Bella:
Love it. And what is your favorite advice, your best advice for how to live a rich life? A pretty rich life?
Hoi Kwan:
That's a good one. I think realizing that not everyone has to like you and you don't have to like everyone.
Sheila Bella:
We put pressure on ourselves.
Hoi Kwan:
And we want to especially if we work in a very public eye as well. You don't have to be liked by everyone.
Do you, do you boo and be a nice person, be a kind person, but have boundaries. That's something I'm learning this year is boundaries needs to be in all aspects of life whether it's our moms, our sisters, our clients.
Sheila Bella:
Even yourself.
Hoi Kwan:
Myself. Myself too.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, when the negative thought army comes in, I have to set a boundary.
Hoi Kwan:
Your best friend that's in your head sometimes.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, I know, right? She can be a little ...
Hoi Kwan:
That's our inner child, right? So we have to nurture and let them know that they'll be okay. They're okay now. We're big girls, we're going to take care of them and we're going to take care of ourselves now.
Hoi Kwan:
And now our families and other people. So you talked about is your family bit involved in your business as well?
Sheila Bella:
Yes. Oh yeah, yeah. Oh, I mean, maybe it's an Asian thing, but I employed my mom, right? My brother is now doing some part-time video editing for us because he needs it.
Hoi Kwan:
Yes.
Sheila Bella:
And also, he's really good. And yeah, my team is we're all family. We really are. For example, and I've talked about this before. My nanny who's been with me since I was three years old ...
Hoi Kwan:
Like your nanny that took care of you?
Sheila Bella:
Yes. Not my nanny that takes care of my kids, that's another ... My nanny that [crosstalk 00:39:12]
Hoi Kwan:
But I just want to [crosstalk 00:39:12] out there like for Asian people, having nannies is not like a luxury thing. We have nannies, everyone has a nanny no matter how much money you make in Asia.
Sheila Bella:
Thank you. Thank you. That's, yeah, that's a thing, right? That's a thing that's different in the United States and in Canada. Asian people just have nannies, that's just how it is.
Hoi Kwan:
Because they have to work.
Sheila Bella:
Right. No matter how much money you make, whether you're low class, middle class, upper class, you have a nanny.
So my nanny who grew up with me still works for my parents to this day, but in another capacity. So my parents are entrepreneurs. They always found something for her to do in a way to employ her and she's still here and that's how I feel about ... Our nanny now, our live in Nanny Lin, one day the kids will be grown, we don't need her necessarily so, but guess what? She'll still be employed as long as she wants, as long as she wants to be.
So and that's kind of like the mentality that we go into this whole thing, I think that's the biggest difference that people don't understand.
Hoi Kwan:
That's awesome. I love hearing that because I think that's what ... Working alone for so long. You want a work family too, right? And a family. And these people who aren't biologically our family do become our family in so many ways, and I think it's important to ...
Sheila Bella:
Yes, because of the shared goal.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, The last episode was with Julie. It was can you work with friends?
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
We touched a lot on this so check that out if you like this topic.
Hoi Kwan:
No, I did. I listened to it and it's true because I've hired quite a few friends and some has worked and some hasn't worked and it's tough because it goes from a friendship to a working relationship and if your friendship, if you've never set boundaries in your friendship, oh gosh, bring them into work and then you've got a mess.
Sheila Bella:
Whoa, whoa, if you've never set boundaries in a friendship, bring them into work and you have a mess.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
I love that. For sure. Yeah, how can you bring this person in if we don't even have boundaries with our friendship?
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, in the first place, right? That's the [crosstalk 00:41:32]
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, I would recognize who those people are and don't hire them. If you can't have a hard conversation with somebody about a ... That's anything outside of work, can you imagine what it will be like when it's work related?
Hoi Kwan:
Exactly. And even like the best of friends, no matter what, at a point, you're going to have a fight. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how great of friends you are, but then if boundaries aren't set, then it just becomes a friend yelling at a friend, right?
Sheila Bella:
Right.
Hoi Kwan:
But for you and for me, we have a family to feed, you have a family to feed, you have workers to pay as well. So sometimes with friendships, if the lines are blurred and too blurred, it's hard. I think you said it's hard to kind of tighten the reins sometimes when ...
Sheila Bella:
Versus looses them, versus loosen them.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
You listened.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, I did listen. Can I have a question?
Sheila Bella:
Oh yeah, you said you wanted to ask me questions, that's right.
Hoi Kwan:
I did. I want to know what was an experience for you that was like, "Wow." But that shifted kind of like the way you saw things or like just a memorable wow experience for you.
Sheila Bella:
When my husband had a stroke in 2018. My husband is 36 years old, he had a stroke and well, my whole life changed, I changed. We changed, our family changed. I remember and I think I've said this before. Once the doctor gave me that diagnosis that he was in critical condition in the emergency room, and that he had a stroke, number one, I could not believe her.
I was like, "Wait, what?" We thought it was just, I just couldn't believe her. He has abs. It don't mean nothing. But yeah, I remember just being in so much shock that I had to chase her down the hall to repeat it because I couldn't believe it. And so she was very gracious with me and I'll never forget her and she just had to repeat it and she was like, "Yeah, it's bad news." You know how doctors are trained to do that. They come in and they say, "I have good news, I have bad news." So that it's not like an in between and when she said she had bad news, I just couldn't believe it.
And I remember, I called my client for the next day from the hospital. People don't usually have my personal number, but I called her because I felt so bad because this particular client, I had to reschedule twice already and now I was like, "No, there's no way I can miss this client.” But then Will had a stroke and she was so kind, she was so kind she's like, "Of course." Yeah, that whole 10 days that we were at the hospital was oh my gosh, I felt like I was in another dimension almost.
And when we were finally released to go home, I couldn't, I remember I hadn't showered, I hadn't seen the kids. I was just right by Will's side the whole time and we were finally released to go home, I remember getting in the car. The same car that I take the kids to school in, it's the same ... Everything was the same. The DVDs were there, it smelled the same. My water bottle was there, everything was the same. And as I got into the car, and I put my hands on the steering wheel and everything was the same I broke down and cried because I was not.
It was kind of like, I know how it is. It's kind of like let's say you lose a bunch of weight, right? You lose a bunch of weight and then you try on the same pair of jeans and it doesn't fit. And that's how it felt when I got in the car. That's why it was so emotional for me because it was the realization that of ... It was the reintroduction back into normalcy, yet gripping the wheel knowing that nothing, I am a different body in this chair right now.
Hoi Kwan:
And you feel that to the core? Like you maybe sometimes in that moment when you're going through something like that, you don't know, but you know you've changed.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. It was like a robbing of an innocence and I kind of like think back to that girl who used to drive that van. Now, she had so unaware that this thing could get her, right? Or us, get her children, get our husband and this family and then like it was like a robbing of innocence. I was like, "Whoa, oh my god." I felt like a grew like 100 years in that 10 days.
Hoi Kwan:
Well, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.
Sheila Bella:
You really don't, you really don't. Sick person ... Sorry, a healthy person wants a million things and a sick person wants one thing.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, so that really changed me and it helped trim the fat after that and it's kind of weird. My filter for my first tier friends is just anyone who was with me during that time got bumped up to first tier and I just stopped, not necessarily stopped caring about everybody else, but I had a guard up about everybody and I just kept saying like, "I'm good. I just need these five or eight people who was there by my side during this hard time when I couldn't do a thing for them, I couldn't do anything for them, I needed them and they gave back, they supported me."
Those people to this day, I'm like, "Yup, it's you. You, I'll never forget." So I'm sure you feel similar ways when you think about your dad's ascension, your dad's passing.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, that changed me. Actually, I was supposed to be teaching that day in a class and that morning, my brother from Asia, and my dad's been sick for a very long time. So we always knew it was coming, he had cancer, and actually a very specific cancer to that part of Hong Kong that he lived in and it's really strange. I think they said it was 80% of that specific cancer, all the people came from that area from Asia.
Sheila Bella:
That's so interesting.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, that's for another topic, but when it happened, I didn't even think I knew how to process it. I knew my initial emotion was like you have to be sad, right? You should be sad, but I think I actually, I felt numb. Yeah, I didn't know how to feel and then it became searching like, "Why am I not feeling this way?" And that was a common thread between me and my sisters, we didn't ... Some of us process did a little bit better. Some of us had to take more time because we just didn't know how to feel and I think for me is I realized he wasn't coming back. And for all my life, I'm like, "I did things out of anger, I take care of my family, but I kind of like I have to take care of my family because he's not here, but now that he's really not here and not coming back, what do you do? You've got to move on."
Yeah, it took me to some places and I'm happy that it did because I came out the other side stronger. And you really look at life and like, "What is priority to you?" Family, A, 100% this year forever and always.
Sheila Bella:
Absolutely.
Hoi Kwan:
Because they're your family. They're never, they're there for you. They really are. You have to value the family that's there ... Time is not promised as like ... I didn't follow basketball very much, but that day I was teaching too, the world stopped for a moment ...
Sheila Bella:
When Kobe died?
Hoi Kwan:
Kobe died.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah. Me too.
Hoi Kwan:
And Lance was like, I've never seen Lance cry.
Sheila Bella:
Oh my gosh.
Hoi Kwan:
Like seriously, I mean it's [crosstalk 00:49:21].
Sheila Bella:
Yes.
Hoi Kwan:
You have a man cry.
Sheila Bella:
I was, me too. Lance, we've got to grab a beer sometime and cheers to Mamba, but yeah, oh man. Yeah, me too. Me too.
Sheila Bella:
And Lance wasn't the only guy. We hung out with some of our friends and yeah, and a bunch of guys I've never seen cry before we're just like a mess. I was.
Hoi Kwan:
I just, I think it was just kind of a shock like you ... It was like that same moment. I think like the disbelief, you're like, "No. That's not true. It's a hoax." That moment where you don't want to believe something.
Sheila Bella:
Seriously.
Hoi Kwan:
But that really like I think everyone just kind of like, "Shoot, I only have this life. What am I going to leave behind?" You don't get to take anything with you when you die.
Sheila Bella:
We were just at that road to Las Virgenes where the crash happened. We were there the night before. That's the thing, the sun sets, the sunrises, just smile, geez.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
And that's the thing. We create these conspiracies in our heads and it's just, and sometimes, you have to just really talk to people, talk to the people that really center you and help you remember what truly matters.
Hoi Kwan:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sheila Bella:
And as cliche as that sounds, it's true though because we're so distracted.
Hoi Kwan:
Everything is to distract you nowadays.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
[crosstalk 00:50:58] even stronger will power do not get distracted nowadays compared to before.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, I'm hoping that attendees that Pretty Ambitious not only will they get a bunch of strategy and a bunch of confidence, but I really hope that they leave feeling light, much lighter.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah, light, and that's a feeling I think unless you felt it, you don't know what that feels like.
Sheila Bella:
You don't know what it is. Yeah.
Hoi Kwan:
You don't know what it is. And I love that you said that. I hope so too. I hope they ... Everyone that goes has the experience that I had when I first took my training with Amia and now you guys know I'm a part of this family.
I hope you guys have that feeling that I had when I went too and because in those moments, you gain clarity, you find meaning, purpose maybe or just like make new friends and I really want to urge everyone to step into this event or any kind of event with no ego.
Sheila Bella:
Yes please, yeah. Try.
Hoi Kwan:
So that's not going to serve you, it's not going to serve us, it's not going to serve the community. Yeah, like you said, be you, wear what you want to wear and just have fun because it's supposed to be fun.
Sheila Bella:
Ego is a big distraction.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
It is. And I want [crosstalk 00:52:16]
Hoi Kwan:
Drop that at the door.
Sheila Bella:
Drop it at the door, let your guard down, we're all thinking, feeling the same things. And the speakers I chose, it's not because they're perfect, I chose them because they had a purpose.
Sheila Bella:
And if you have a purpose, you can be a speaker next year and I don't care how many followers you have. So that's what this space is for and I hope everybody can feel that coming in.
Hoi Kwan:
Yes, everyone join us at the Pretty Ambitious Summit, I'm so excited. Thank you Sheila. I have the privilege to speak on the business panel on Sunday.
Sheila Bella:
Yay.
Hoi Kwan:
Yay. So I'm so excited to see everyone and up and chat with us. Don't feel afraid like you're bugging us. That's what we're here for, we're here to connect with you guys really. So don't be afraid. If you want to come say hi, come say hi. I know what that's like. Being nervous you're bugging someone or like, "Oh, there's a lot of people around right now." Don't do it. You have your chance to do it so just come up and say hello, just do it.
Sheila Bella:
Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Echoing that. Oh, it's so nice having you Kwan.
Hoi Kwan:
Yeah.
Sheila Bella:
I mean Hoi. Does Lance call you Kwan sometimes?
Hoi Kwan:
He calls me the tornado because I leave a little mess around everywhere I go.
Sheila Bella:
I know this couple like one of our best friends who are couples, yeah, he always calls her like Gomez.
Hoi Kwan:
Gomez.
Sheila Bella:
That's her last name and she just ... Even to this day, they're married and he still calls her Gomez so.
Hoi Kwan:
Well, thanks for the time. You were great at bringing that out of me and allowing me to be vulnerable.
Sheila Bella:
Oh, well thank you for sharing. Where can we find you? How can we work with you?
Hoi Kwan:
You can work with me anytime, but I am located in Calgary and for those of you who don't know, it's where the stampede, the rodeos at, I'm just an hour away from Vancouver and between Vancouver and Toronto. Not only do we have Hoi Tattoo, but we have our Hoi Tattoo education programs as well and we specialize in private training.
Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram at Hoi Tattoo or on our website www.hoitattoo.com, but really, shoot us a DM, connect with us anytime. There's so many ways to connect with each other so you guys don't have an excuse.
Sheila Bella:
Yay. Thank you so much Hoi and until next time you guys.
Hoi Kwan:
Yes, I'll see you guys soon.
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 @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've got to include my kids, right? #momfirst. So here are Beau and Gray 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.
Sheila Bella:
Gray, say, "Share with your friends."
Gray:
Share with your friends.
Sheila Bella:
Please review my Mommy on iTunes.
Gray:
Review Mommy iTunes.
Sheila Bella:
Thanks for listening.
Gray:
Thanks for listening.
