Money — As entrepreneurs it’s something we all want, yet it’s the piece of business I’d say the majority of the spa owners I speak to and that are my students struggle with the most. 

Whether it’s not being clear on your cash flow or wondering when in the world you’ll be able to pay yourself a livable salary (or at all), understanding your money is critical to your spa’s success. 

Not to mention, even though money is by no means the measure of personal success as a human, we can’t understate the importance of money as a tool to make the dreams we have for our family and future come to life. 

However, you can’t measure what you don’t manage, so if your money matters are a hot mess, or you simply know that you could have a better wrangle on your numbers, this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy is a must-listen!  

Here to discuss with me the steps to planning for profitability and doing so in a way that’s easy and builds your confidence is Danielle Hayden.  

Danielle is a reformed corporate CFO who is on a mission to help rule-breaking female entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can gain the confidence needed to create sustainable profits. After spending 10+ years in the boardroom, Danielle is now in her sweet spot as the co- owner of Kickstart Accounting, Inc. where she helps business owners with bookkeeping, financial analysis, and education and as the author of the Profit Planner book series.

As we discuss in the episode, it’s never too late to get your money affairs in order, so let’s start planning for profit right now. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Danielle’s journey from studying cosmetology to falling in love with numbers and shifting into a career of corporate finance to breaking out of the boardroom and into entrepreneurship 
• The key money management documents and financial records we need to know how to read for our business to see where we’ve been and where we’re going
• Danielle’s top tips to understanding these various documents and the key insights that can help us gauge the financial health of our businesses
• Why budgeting and forecasting is crucial for meeting your financial and overall business goals 

References Mentioned in Episode #175: Planning for Profitability and Managing Money with Ease with Danielle Hayden 

• Connect with Danielle and her company, Kickstart Accounting, on her website
• Learn more about the Profit Planner Books here
• Follow Danielle on Instagram @kickstartaccounting
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

Are you a solo aesthetician with your sights set on making your first hire?

A spa owner with a robust team looking to expand to multiple locations?

Do you have dreams of reaching the “Icon Stage” with your signature skincare line being on the shelves of a nationwide retailer or your spa’s brand being acquired by a larger holding company?

As you might have noticed, these are very different stages in business, but they all fall inside a framework I’ve dubbed the Aesthetician Success Path. 

Over the last 7 years of working with everyone from independent and solo aestheticians to international skincare brands, I’ve gotten a glimpse at every facet of the industry and the journey that acts as throughline as aesthetic experts work to grow and scale. 

In this episode, I’m outlining that pathway along with the key indicators to help you determine where you are along the Aesthetician Success Path and where you’re headed next. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why it’s critical to clarify your own definition of success to be able to set your vision for the future in motion
• The 3 primary sections of the Aesthetician Success Path and the markers and key performance indicators within each stage to help you determine where you’re at along the path
• How seeing the entire path allows you to determine your bigger-vision goals and have a gameplan to move toward where you ultimately want to go 

References Mentioned in Episode #171: Moving Along the Aesthetician Success Path

• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

You began your business journey with passion and drive, but leadership?

Maybe that’s an area you feel could use some work. 

As my guest on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy shares, as entrepreneurs, we’re natural leaders with vision; the key to success is developing those leadership skills along with our managerial capabilities to grow and scale. 

That’s right, you have to be the leader AND manager. 

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Ugh, I hate managing people!,” I want you to pump the brakes on that thought process and instead open your mind to a new perspective, because here’s the truth…

Managing people well doesn’t mean:

• Micro-managing 
• Being cold or having a show-em-who’s-in-charge-attitude
• Or trying to be everyone’s BFF 

As you’ll learn in this episode with Eleanor Beaton, being a strong leader means managing with vision, clarity, guiding through nurturing, and establishing open lines of communication with equally clear boundaries. 

And a little proof that Eleanor knows what she’s talking about like the back of her hand ⤵️

Eleanor is an internationally-recognized expert in women’s leadership, advisor to growth-oriented women entrepreneurs, award-winning author, esteemed journalist and speaker, as well as loving wife and mother. 

Whether you’re leading a team of 1, 10 or 100, this conversation is one that I know will leave you with takeaways you can carry with you through every stage of growth in your business. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• How leadership ties into building an incredible team and business and Eleanor’s insights on the leader vs. manager roles 
• Why communicating needs, company culture, and expectations is critical for effective leadership
• Steps to take so you can move to a place of efficient and effective management of your people so that they perform in the way that produces results 
• How to find boundaries as a leader and business owner and steps for setting your communications ground rules

References Mentioned in Episode #166: Harnessing Your Fierce Feminine Leadership with Eleanor Beaton 

• Learn more about Eleanor’s work by visiting her website and listening to her podcast, Fierce Feminine Leadership
• Connect with Eleanor on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter
• Leadership Books – Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek and Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

You’ve got big dreams, but the idea of hiring a big team…well, it can be a little intimidating. 

Building a team of all-stars takes time, patience, and tenacity, and the thought of “I can just do it myself” is one you’ll likely have more times than you care to count. 

But here’s the thing – while you are strong, smart, and totally capable of making your big dreams a reality, the truth is that your big dreams may take more than just you to conquer them. 

Whether it be a constraint on your time and energy or a constraint around areas of your business that aren’t your zone of genius, having a team often allows you to make greater strides than you can take on your own. 

You may have heard the saying, “if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.”

I’d argue that having a team on your side does allow you to move faster once you’ve found your groove with getting the right team on board, which is a process that many of my Growth Factor students and I discuss including my guest on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy. 

If you’re a long-time listener and active in the SMME community, you’re likely familiar with Gisel, the founder and CEO of Elevate Esthetics. 

Gisel has built an incredibly successful business on her own, but as you’ll hear in this episode, her thoughts on remaining solo versus building a team have shifted, and she’s here to share how she’s navigating a new path beyond being a solopreneur.

If you’ve been at a crossroads wondering whether staying solo or expanding with a team is the right move for you, I think you’ll find this episode a helpful guide in weighing out the pros and cons. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Gisel’s journey in building a successful business as a solo aesthetician and how her goals have shifted, especially during quarantine 
• The reflection questions she used to help guide her decision making on whether to stay solo or starting hiring a team
• Evaluating the opportunity cost and the various pros and cons of hiring vs. staying solo 
• Tips for those thinking about hiring their first employee and ideas for where to find great candidates

References Mentioned in Episode #156: The Pros and Cons of Being a Solo Aesthetician Versus Building a Team with Gisel Campbell

• Learn more about Gisel and Elevate Esthetics by visiting her website and connecting with her on Facebook and Instagram.
• Listen to Gisel’s previous episode on Spa Marketing Made Easy – Episode #061: Level Up by Niching Down with Gisel of Elevate Esthetics
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

It’s no secret that if you want to have a long-term and sustainable career in aesthetics, you have to stay committed to a constant development of your aesthetic skill set. 

And as my guest on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy shares, one of the most critical skills requires branching out beyond what is traditionally and currently taught in aesthetics school and learning to properly treat multicultural skin. 

Meet JoElle Lee, a skincare expert and celebrity aesthetician (she was Michelle Obama’s aesthetician!), a professional speaker and published author, as well as an educator, trainer and skincare business consultant. 

JoElle is a woman who wears many hats, but her mission is highly focused on ensuring that every aesthetic professional knows how to treat multicultural skin safely and effectively. 

I don’t know about you, but when I went to aesthetics school, we weren’t taught specific protocols to treat darker skin tones and the conditions that commonly affect people of color. 

It’s a piece of our traditional and structured education that needs to evolve, but at the end of the day, it’s up to us as experts and practitioners to seek out and complete the continued education needed so that we can provide the best care for our clients no matter where they fall on the Fitzpatrick scale. 

And I’m so excited for you to tune into this episode, because JoElle is the ultimate expert to learn from! 

In this episode, you’ll learn: 

• JoElle’s background in the aesthetics industry and her claim to fame as First Lady, Michelle Obama’s, aesthetician among other notable people who need to always be camera-ready
• Why learning the skill of how to treat multicultural skin is critical for any aesthetician who wants a sustainable career
• How JoElle discovered and developed her own method to treating multicultural skin 
• What drove JoElle into the education space and the formats in which she teaches other aesthetic professionals on fully rounding out their expertise by learning how to care for all skin types

References Mentioned in Episode #148: Developing the Critical Skill of Treating Multicultural Skin with JoElle Lee 

• Connect with JoElle and her educational trainings and resources on her website 
• Download JoElle’s Free Guide – 10 Mistakes Estheticians Make When Treating Skin of Color
• Connect with JoElle on social on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

Whether you’re ready to scale your aesthetic practice by growing your team now, or you’ve got a vision for expanding beyond being a solo in the future, having a thorough understanding of the hiring process will always serve you well. 

( Yes, even if you never hire and you’re an employee, knowing how employers are approaching the hiring process is still a fantastic piece of knowledge to have in your backpocket.)

Often I hear about hiring disappointments like not getting any great candidates to interview or finding someone you thought was promising only to be let down shortly thereafter. 

Listen, there will always be rough patches in the process of building your team, sometimes no matter how much prep and precaution you take, you’ll still hire the person you thought was great, and for whatever reason, it doesn’t pan out. 

Scenarios like these can wear you down and make you weary about trusting other people inside your business, but I’m here to share with you my tried-and-true process that will allow you to build the dream team that can take you and your business to new heights with minimal rough patches along the way. 

From finding the best possible candidates straight out the gate to knowing how to navigate an interview and your new employee’s first quarter on your team. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to craft your hiring ads and where to place them to find candidates quickly
• My 2-step interview process to ensure you only conduct productive in-person interviews
• Why you should consider having a 90-day probation period for new hires and what that looks like 
• How properly praise and encourage your team members as well as have the tough conversations with ease
• Setting expectations for professional development and how this benefits your team long-term

References Mentioned in Episode #146: A Step-by-Step Process to Hiring Your Dream Team 

• Read Brené Brown’s book – Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. 
• Start a job posting on Indeed
• Read The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace 
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

[ Subscribe to Spa Marketing Made Easy on iTunes ] 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked!

We may not be out of the woods with COVID-19 just yet, but as my Growth Factor students Sara and Melissa of Sykes & Lanno Skinbar have shown, we can still navigate through it with total grace and grit. 

Since the start of 2020, Sara, Melissa, and I have sat down to record an episode every month as they chronicle their journey to becoming a 7-figure spa. 

Of course, we could’ve never known that 2020 would throw the curveball of coronavirus, but as you’ll hear in this episode, continuing to pivot through the pandemic five months in can not only be possible, but profitable. 

Be sure to listen to all of our previous episodes that chronicle their journey thus far, but especially our previous episode, Episode 137, where we discussed getting their ecommerce store set up in record speed, selling unique packages of their products to drum up new interest from their existing highly-loyal clientele, as well as attracting the attention of new clients and customers. 

Now, as they reopen their doors for treatments and services, you’ll hear how they’re staying nimble and adaptable while still leveraging everything they’ve built during the shutdown. 

In this episode, we discuss: 

• Sara and Melissa’s re-opening strategy and how they’re approaching the various phases of re-opening from a state-mandated level and what they feel comfortable with
• Why they crafted new services to fall into their re-opening phases and to get clients back in the groove of coming to their clinic
• Their thought-process around the potential case of a second shutdown and how they would continue to pivot 
• The biggest factors in how they’ve been able to remain connected to their clientele and continue to keep their business growth on an upward trajectory through the pandemic

References Mentioned in Episode #145: Pivoting Through the Pandemic with Sara and Melissa of Sykes & Lanno Skinbar

• Connect with Sykes & Lanno Skinbar on their website, Instagram, and Facebook
• Follow their Growth Factor journey in Episode #106, Episode #113, Episode #121, Episode #130, and Episode #137
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked!

Ever met someone and intuitively knew they had something special, but then you hear their story and they not only confirm that belief, but simply blow you away? 

That’s what happened when I met my Growth Factor Framework student and guest on this episode, Lauren Hum. 

Lauren is the founder and CEO of Orchid Skin Company, her brick and mortar spa and online business that she has built to be one of the most successful spas in her state and region. 

What started as a quarter-life crisis that pushed Lauren to follow a childhood dream and enroll in beauty school at the age of 27, while 4 months pregnant with her first child, and to the skepticism of some family members, her life experiences during this time and the support she received from classmates and school staff created a deep gratitude for the people in the beauty industry. 

After graduating, Lauren opted for the entrepreneurial path and started her business from her sofa with a laptop in one arm and a newborn in the other. 

In less than 3 years, she has built a loyal, high-value customer base by carving out a niche as one of the first microbladers in her state and creating a powerful online presence that led to the multi-six figure business, Orchid Skin Company, she has today. 

Living in Conway, Arkansas with her husband, Patrick, 3-year-old son, Luke, plus her beloved goldendoodle, Willow, and rescue mutt, Chaco, Lauren’s next leg of her entrepreneurial journey is to help other beauty industry professionals find financial stability while doing the work they love and inspiring them to create the life they truly want.  

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Lauren’s dream to go to beauty school was met with skepticism and it led to following a different path than the one on her heart
• How she made the decision to defy the doubt and go after her dream of working in the beauty and aesthetic industry
• The personal tragedy she faced while going to aesthetic school and how she overcame adversity to finish strong
• Why she chose the entrepreneurial path and the intentional steps she took to quickly grow her  spa to a multiple six-figure business in a small town and her desire to help other aestheticians do the same

References Mentioned in Episode #141: Defying Doubt to Chase Your Dreams with Lauren Hum, CEO of Orchid Skin Company 

• Learn more about Lauren’s event, Activate Your Online Presence 
• Connect with Lauren on Instagram @laurenhum_beautybizmentor
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

If you’ve ever wondered what goes into crafting a product line between the scientific research, intention, heart, pure passion and drive, you’re going to love this episode with Victoria Tabak, the CEO of Nature Pure Clinical Skincare. 

I first met Victoria at the 2019 Beauty Business Summit where she shared a piece of her story as a brand founder and product creator, educator as well as wife and mother, and her journey was awe inspiring. 

Then when I experienced one of the most popular products in her line in the exhibit hall, I knew I had to get her on the show because what she’s creating is truly unique. 

All of the Nature Pure Clinical Skincare products and treatments incorporate traditional holistic healing remedies alongside the scientific research and breakthroughs discovered by Victoria’s father, a distinguished scientist and expert formulator. 

Victoria is a two-time international award-winning licensed esthetician, a published skin and wellness expert, and a nationally recognized skincare educator.

With more than 20 years of experience in the beauty industry along with a Master’s Degree in Business, Victoria has worked with countless estheticians, dermatologists, plastic surgeons, and cosmetologists to formulate and revolutionize an approach to beauty that people love, and I know you’ll love what she has to share in this episode!  

In this episode, we discuss:

• The history behind Nature Pure Labs and Nature Pure Clinical Skincare 
• The vast array of treatment protocols Victoria has worked to develop with her unique line of skincare that weaves together innovative science and natural ingredients
• Victoria’s suggestions on how aestheticians can find the right product fit for their practice plus how she works with the aestheticians who carry Nature Pure Clinical Skincare to set them up for success
• Her top can’t-live-without ingredients in her skincare regimen 

References Mentioned in Episode #140: The Fusion of Science and Nature with Victoria Tabak, CEO of Nature Pure Clinical Skincare 

• Learn more about Nature Pure Clinical Skincare via their website 
• Follow Nature Pure Clinical Skincare on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
• Connect with Victoria on Instagram @victoriatabak
• Learn more about Nature Pure’s Instant Energizer Oxygen Masque 
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked! 

If you’ve been a Spa Marketing Made Easy listener since at least early 2020, you’re already familiar with my guests on this episode. 

But in case you’re new, here’s the quick recap: all throughout 2020, my Growth Factor students, Sara and Melissa, the co-founders of Skyes & Lanno Skinbar, are chronicling their journey to becoming a 7-figure spa with a monthly episode where we pull back the curtain to show the real behind-the-scenes of the process of building an empire. 

As fate and timing would have it, the last episode we recorded together was a couple of weeks before I was anticipating going on maternity leave and wanted to do a March episode to cover their growth in Quarter 1 and what was coming down the pipe for Quarter 2.

Little did any of us know that in a couple of weeks time the world would shut down and Sara and Melissa, along with thousands of other aestheticians and spa owners across the country, and the world, would be forced to shut their doors due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

Now, after a whirlwind April, we’re back on the mic discussing just how they handled the hard pivot, how they’re keeping their spa afloat (and at no surprise to me or anyone who knows them — thriving), and what they anticipate for their business moving forward.

If you’ve found yourself wondering how to navigate these uncharted waters, you won’t want to miss tuning in and taking this page out of Sara and Melissa’s playbook. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• How they felt when the news first broke regarding COVID-19 and that they would have to shut their spa’s doors for the unforeseeable future
• Their top priority for maintaining a strong relationship with each other and their clients through the shut down and how they immediately sprang into creative mode to keep cash flowing
• What they’ve done over the course of the last two months to keep clients coming back for more and being able to introduce new and exciting offerings to their audience
• The biggest shifts they’ve noticed in their business model moving forward and their top mindset tips for other aestheticians navigating the “new normal”

References Mentioned in Episode #137: Navigating the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 with Growth Factor Students, Sykes & Lanno

• Connect with Sykes & Lanno Skinbar on their website, Instagram, and Facebook
• Follow their Growth Factor journey in Episode #106, Episode #113, Episode #121, and Episode #130
• Learn more about offering the My Skin Buddy for sale on your ecommerce store
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

As a thank you for being a loyal listener to the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast and for helping us to reach more aestheticians working on growing their businesses and creating a life they love, we have created a free resource portal just for you! 

It’s totally free to join, and for every 25 reviews we get on iTunes, we’ll add a new training video, PDF, tracker, or other high-value resource to help you grow your aesthetic business!

If you have yet to leave a review, click here to leave one on iTunes, and click here to access the free resources already unlocked!