"You start to exist in the middle. You start to exist where everything just kind of comes together. You ever float in water that's the same temperature as your body and you just lose place of yourself? That's kind of how it starts to become."

Do you maybe just want to take a moment, pause, and reread that? Let it settle?

Okay? Yeah. That's a direct quote from this episode's guest, Carla Ricciardone. You're gonna want to buckle yourself up for this one because it's jam-packed with life-changing wisdom. I'm not even kidding, you guys. And if you listen to it, you'll totally get what I'm saying.

There's this quote that I like, "True confidence is being comfortable in your own skin," and every time I think about it, I think of Carla. I don't think I've ever met anyone that's as at peace with a) who she is and b) what happens to her. She's totally content with her life, no matter her battles. And it's infectious. Every time I'm with, every time I talk to her, I just feel...

Should you train your competition? If someone is opening a business offering the same service as you nearby, should you share your information with them? What if they steal everything from you and copy your entire business? Is that even possible?

First of all, no, nobody can copy your entire business. You can read more about all of my thoughts on that here, but this episode is all about if you should train your competition or not. Ultimately, I guess that's your decision to make BUT that won't stop me and my friend, Molly O'Bryant, CEO of A Touch of Lash, from giving you all of our advice and thoughts on whether or not you should (spoiler alert: we think you should).

I'm so happy I got to meet up with Molly for this episode. She's really incredible and so full of information. In this episode, we share our thoughts on training your competition. We talk about applying the 5 Love Languages to your business, scarcity mindset vs abundance, the fear of competition, and...

WARNING: THIS MIGHT INSPIRE YOU TO STOP BEING SOFT ABOUT YOUR GOALS!

I love talking about my business, you know this. I love helping others realize their dreams and their potential. I think one of the best things that we can do as entrepreneurs is share our journeys. It helps those who are getting started or who are struggling no that they're not alone.

In this podcast episode, I got to talk with Courtney Clarke for her amazing podcast Women On Top, which I'll link down below so you can check it out. She really got me to open up and dive into some things that I've never shared publicly before. It was kind of scary, no lie, but it felt so good and I know that the things I share in this episode will be extremely helpful for you as a beauty business entrepreneur.

We talk about my parent's rise from being immigrants, my first heartbreak, what made me such a fast achiever, and I share my marketing secrets for PMU boss babes.

Here are...

Do you have a friend where every time you sit down and actually talk to them it's like a revelation? Like you're just so much on the same wavelength and every time you talk about what's going on in your life, all your life's questions, you come away feeling so deeply understood?

Well, Anthea and I are here to be those friends for you. Anthea is a really good friend of mine and every time we talk, well, you just never know what good you're gonna get out of it. Really, it's a surprise every time. We like to keep you on your toes! But in the best way possible.

In this episode, we're answering allllll your burning questions. We talk about getting your priorities straight, managing your time efficiently, The Rock, and getting your beauty business started. Let us help you, girl.

Here are the episode highlights:

‣‣  [03:24]  Are your priorities in the right place?

‣‣  [09:39]  How do you juggle all of your responsibilities and hobbies...

Dear Me, I'm sorry.

If you had to write yourself an apology letter, do you know what you would write? I'm sure you probably have some ideas.

Apologies can be tough in general. Not a lot of people are eager to admit that they were wrong, or admit that they hurt someone that they care about. But you probably apologize to others way more often than you ever apologize to yourself for the way you've treated you.

I encourage you to think back and try to remember the last time you apologized to yourself and then try to remember the time before that. It might be hard. So I want you to listen to this episode and then just take a moment to write an apology letter to yourself. Apologize for all of the ways that you've hurt yourself, all the times that you've been mean, or cruel, or insensitive. You can write it physically, think it mentally, or speak it out loud, whatever works for you.

It's an emotional practice. It'll probably feel super uncomfortable. But...

My heart was beating so fast, I could almost hear it. I told myself, "Breathe. You got this."

I'm sure you've been in a position before where you had to do some sort of public speaking. Even presenting to a small group of people can be super anxiety-inducing.

I know it may seem like I have no fear when it comes to public speaking. I mean, I have this podcast, I have my online courses, I do coaching calls, I go live on Instagram, I put videos on YouTube. Those are all, in a way, forms of public speaking, right? So I should be a pro. It should be totally easy for me.

Wrong.

It's still hard! I still experience anxiety when it comes to things like giving talks at events or conferences. I still get anxiety going live. I mean, there's no way to edit those, you know? Whatever I say...that's it. So, yeah, it's still scary. But I still show up every day.

Not too long ago, I was giving a talk at the Las Vegas PMU Conference, and I was experiencing so much...

Do you see all of these brands growing their business through influencer marketing and you're just like, okay how do I get into that? Do you want to get your name out there but you don't know where to start?

Don't worry, we're here to help. Influencer marketing is a great way to grow your business, especially right now. Influencers are super big and they have a lot of, well, influence. It's a great market to tap into. I did a lot of influencer marketing when I first started and I still do!

I didn't want to just give you my tips, though. I thought, why not bring in a total expert? Why not bring in someone who's on both sides? Someone who both has their own business and is an influencer? Enter: Amanda Paris.

Amanda's amazing. She's a total complete modern-day renaissance woman. Seriously, here's a list of some of the things she does: she models, she's a comedian, an actress, a producer, a booking agent, influencer, squirrel mom, and fitness expert. She also...

Have you ever experienced a deep loss? Did you allow yourself to fully feel your grief? How did you come out of that season of your life?

Grief and pain are tricky to deal with. Our culture doesn't have a great relationship with either. You might be the kind of person that just hates dealing with grief, you can't handle it. You just want to shut it out and not deal with it.

And I understand that. I do. A lot of the time we can think of grief and pain as inconveniences. Like "Oh I don't have time to be upset, I don't have time to feel my feelings I have a life I have to get on with." But that's not healthy, you know?

In this episode, I have my good friend, Anthea. You're probably familiar with her, she's on the show a lot. We always have fun, right? We're always joking around and laughing. It's crazy. But we're real. We're always real. And, at the time of recording this episode, Anthea had just gone through some major life changes. She was dealing with a...

Are you dreaming of starting your own PMU business but you're terrified? Are you lacking a support system? Are you lacking confidence in your abilities? Is your imposter syndrome skyrocketing?

Trust me, we've all been there. Yeah, me too.

I still have moments where I'm like, "Who am I to think I have any sort of ability to do this? Who do I think I am? Nobody wants to hear about this from me." WRONG.

Yeah, those negative thoughts running around in your head? Wrong.

I know that this experience can be scary. I know that it can feel like your seconds away from hitting rock bottom constantly. I know it can seem lonely. But you are not alone. First of all, you're here with me so, hello. Second of all, this is the Pretty Rich Podcast. Do you know how many people listen in with the exact same thoughts and struggles you have? So many.

I've battled with all of the negative thoughts you're having, so in this episode, I'm going to tell you my story. I'm...

Do you need help with your branding? Are you trying to find your unique design but you keep getting pulled to blush pink?

Trust me, sister, I understand. But blush pink does not a brand make. You know?

It can be hard to figure out what your brand is when you're first starting out? Especially with all of the different examples of beauty brands out there doing the same thing as you? There's so many places for you to look, how do you make yourself stand out? Especially when you're not some kind of branding expert?

Well, that's where we come in. For this episode, I brought in an actual branding expert, Nicole Martinez. Nicole is a well of information. Like, honestly, bottomless, she had so much information to give in this episode it was amazing. It's going to be so beneficial to you guys. Whether you're just starting out as a beauty business, or you're trying to rebrand, or you just want to fine-tune some things, Nicole is your girl 100%.

Here are the episode...