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Navigating Post-School Success image

Navigating Post-School Success

S1 E9 ยท Beauty and the Business Podcast
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28 Plays3 months ago

๐Ÿš€ From Cosmetology School to Six-Figure Salon Success ๐Ÿš€

In the latest episode of Beauty & The Business, Renee and Damon have the pleasure of speaking with Madison Pate, a remarkable graduate of the Beauty & The Business Masterclass and proud salon suite owner at Ava Jade Aesthetics. ๐ŸŽ“๐Ÿ’‡โ€โ™€๏ธ

Madison's journey is nothing short of inspiring. Starting her cosmetology education during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, she faced numerous obstacles but remained steadfast in her passion for beauty. Today, at just 24, she's built a thriving six-figure hair extension business. ๐ŸŒŸ

Throughout the conversation, Madison shares invaluable insights:

  • The significance of continuous education in the ever-evolving beauty industry.
  • Strategies to overcome self-doubt and build unwavering confidence.
  • The art of setting boundaries to ensure professional and personal growth.
  • The transformative power of mentorship and surrounding oneself with supportive individuals.

Her story is a testament to resilience, dedication, and the belief that with the right mindset and support, success is within reach.

๐ŸŽง Tune in to hear Madison's full story and gather actionable advice for your own beauty business journey. Whether you're a budding beauty entrepreneur or looking to elevate your existing practice, this episode is packed with gems you won't want to miss.

#BeautyAndTheBusiness #SalonSuccess #HairExtensions #BeautyEntrepreneurship #MentorshipMatters #ContinuousEducation #ConfidenceInBusiness #SalonOwnership #BeautyPodcast #BusinessGrowthStrategies

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Transcript

Introduction to Renee and Madison

00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to Beauty and the Business Podcast. I'm Renee Leone, a beauty entrepreneur, coach, and single mom who built a six-figure beauty business straight out of school. Now, I'm here to help you do the same.
00:00:17
Speaker
If you're ready to stop struggling and start scaling, you're in the right place. Let's turn your passion into profit. Hit play and let's build your beauty empire.
00:00:29
Speaker
Guys, welcome back to a another episode. We are very excited about this today. We actually have a graduate of our masterclass. Madison, welcome to the podcast.
00:00:40
Speaker
Hi, how are you? Doing good. So Madison owns her own salon suite inside of Ava Jade Aesthetics. I've known her for four years now.
00:00:53
Speaker
And we just wanted to talk to her a little bit about...

Madison's Journey in the Beauty Industry

00:00:58
Speaker
leaving cosmetology school, just your journey with cosmetology school, what you experienced there and what you chose to do right out of school and kind of what got you here.
00:01:08
Speaker
thank So what school did you go to? I went to Tony and Guy. It's mostly focused on hair, which is great. And if you wanted to go to a school for mostly being a hairstylist, that's definitely the school to go to. you do learn other things, too, but it's like I said, it's mostly focused on hair.
00:01:28
Speaker
I started that in 2019 and that was right, like I did it for a little bit and then COVID hit about three months into it. and I had nine months to go so I had to learn hair a lot online so I already was pushed back a lot and challenged a lot more than lot of other stylists, you know.
00:01:50
Speaker
So I loved school, though. i know a lot of people didn't have the greatest of experience, but I did until COVID. So again, I learned a lot online. And then, yeah, I went to, after I graduated in everything, I went to ah another salon as an assistant to get experience because I didn't have a lot of experience. So it's That was really, really good for my business.
00:02:16
Speaker
I totally recommend that for people getting experience first before just hopping on to anything. ah Would you say it's kind of like paying your dues? Like you're kind of learning more in-depth color? Because what a lot of people don't understand going into beauty school is they just teach you the basics of like sanitation and clothing.
00:02:36
Speaker
Just what you need to pass your boards. And so technique and like color theory and a lot of that comes with continuing education. Oh, yeah, absolutely. You definitely just learn the basics. you just learn basic color theory, basic sanitation.
00:02:53
Speaker
Experience is what's going to get you to go a long way. how to handle clients while trying to work with chemicals and all the things.

Success and Learning in Business

00:03:01
Speaker
And luckily because of you, that helped me tremendously because that helped me grow into the business owner I am today.
00:03:10
Speaker
Well, you're very coachable. good Which is really one of the best qualities I think anybody can have is being coachable. And Maddie did come to me fresh out of the commission salon.
00:03:23
Speaker
She was with another girl sharing a room here. The other girl had to leave for unforeseen circumstances. And so... Madison just kind of got launched into her own beauty career with building her own clientele. And now she's not going to brag on her, but I will.
00:03:40
Speaker
She's one of the top extension specialists in the DFW area. I think she got top three within 25 surrounding cities. And she makes six figures now doing hair at 24 years old.
00:03:51
Speaker
yeah Four years out of school. And I will say I did get the top three extension specialists after working with you for a whole year just being in the business. So that's shout out to you because i feel like that is and people think it's really hard to do, but it's really not. You just have to take the certain steps to get there.
00:04:10
Speaker
And like you said, I agree, being coachable, like it's okay to take criticism. i think people get offended too easily and they let their pride get in the way, I think. Especially being a younger business owner, or even older, you need to be able to be open to learning. Yeah.
00:04:27
Speaker
Being meek, you know. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. That's one of the things in what I do of working with like sales professionals. Like I see that a lot of people just having an ego, like they bring an ego into it.
00:04:39
Speaker
And you think it's funny to have an ego about something that you've never done before, right? Like you went to school, like how many people come out of school and they have that ego to where they can't take actual criticism.
00:04:50
Speaker
And from somebody that can actually help you grow, or maybe they can just help you get to that next step, right? A mentor doesn't always have to be the number one hair extension person in the entire United States or the number one beauty professional in the world.
00:05:02
Speaker
Like, can you just be somebody that's at where you want to be. And so if they can give you a little bit of feedback and you apply that, see if it works or not, test it out, then you can really test, it yeah, put to test what they're telling you.
00:05:13
Speaker
Absolutely. And some of that I think comes with the culture at school.

Building a Supportive Community

00:05:17
Speaker
yeah Like they when you're in school, a lot of times they do competitions and awards and it almost creates instead of a teamwork environment and creates a divide.
00:05:27
Speaker
And so while you're learning, you're so worried about what everybody else is doing, what everyone else is achieving. And it's really easy to get inside your head when you're in school.
00:05:37
Speaker
yeah And so shedding that and just jumping into groups like our community, sorry, like our community, that's why we made it. So you didn't have to feel alone. It's online coaching and we have our course. We just made it free and available to everybody today.
00:05:55
Speaker
We'll post the promo code in the description of this podcast. But it's basically all of the knowledge that I worked and Damon worked with Maddie over the past couple of years broken down into like your branding and your mastery and your building your business and customer service and just staying organized and all of the things like that you need right out of school.
00:06:19
Speaker
I feel like when you first start out, it's very overwhelming on where to start. I was always the type of person that I loved working with people, but I am a very independent person.
00:06:31
Speaker
So at the end of the day, i didn't really want a boss. Not that I didn't. I loved my previous boss. I think she's amazing, but i this just wasn't for me. I'm a very ah independent person that needs my own space, wants to make my own schedule and everything like that. And I know there's a lot of women out there that like that too, especially if you're a people pleaser, you know, it's harder to start a business, but you learn real quick, especially with this program too mature in that way. Like it's okay to say no, you're not going to die. You know, ah my famous phrase. Yeah.
00:07:06
Speaker
Starting out your business. I was very young. I was 21 when I first left the salon. Mind you, I was only an assistant, so I never was a hairstylist there. So like I only got the experience. So I did it the harder way because I wanted to be so independent. So when I came here to Renee,
00:07:25
Speaker
I joined and I had no idea where to start. So I had a little bit of my clientele and Renee first started helping me with marketing. She's like, that's the first thing you need to do. You need to do model pricings, market, maybe do some specials here and there. And a lot of what she helped me with, it explains it in the program.
00:07:44
Speaker
But yeah, I started there and then it's slowly, you have to be patient, but slowly builds and eventually you get to ah point where you're steady.

Earnings and Financial Growth

00:07:55
Speaker
You know, that's that was just my goal was to be steady. I think I barely broke 20,000 my first year, but that was just my first year and I hadn't even worked there for a full year. So, but then second year I hit 70 and then now I'm at six figures four years later. So it's pretty crazy.
00:08:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And adding and continuing education was a big part of that because she went from doing color and she wasn't comfortable with certain methods of extensions. And that's when hand tied wefts became really big.
00:08:25
Speaker
I said, just go for it. Take some training, take some classes. a lot You have to continually take courses and classes to strengthen your business skills, but strengthen your technical skills also if you want to keep increasing your prices.
00:08:39
Speaker
And the goal is to get in such high demand, you can raise your prices, your clients like weed themselves out who don't want to stay, and then you're left with your ideal client base and making your dream money.
00:08:53
Speaker
And I do agree with the education part. Like I said, I did it the harder way. So I went straight into just being just assistant, which I got a lot of experience from that. But i when I was building my business, I was also like taking classes.
00:09:07
Speaker
Even if you can't afford to take classes, like there's tons of videos on Instagram and TikTok and like other stylists or estheticians or whatever beauty profession you're going to get into that We have the internet for the reason to learn things. So even if you're on a budget at beginning like I was, that's how I learned.
00:09:25
Speaker
And then I ended up spending the money with Renee to get this class. And it was very worth it because now I have six figures. So spend a little bit of that money to get you where you want to be, you know.
00:09:39
Speaker
What do you think is the hardest area to master when you're new? What was the scariest thing? If you can go back to like when you came into the salon suite, was it just putting yourself out there? Was it communication with clients? Was it boundaries? Was it...
00:09:56
Speaker
all the confidence. I feel like the hardest part was confidence for me. So because I was young, so coming into it, I didn't have a lot of confidence in myself, but I had a really great clientele base and I had you and friend base and family that really supported me. So I think it's about who you do surround yourself with. And I know when you're first starting out,
00:10:21
Speaker
Certain clients, you have to go through some of the bad eggs first to get your dream clientele. That just comes a part of it. But you're going to want those bad eggs because they do build your confidence. They do end up making you set those boundaries and be like, no, I'm worthy of more.
00:10:36
Speaker
I'm not a Groupon client. yeah I don't want Groupon clients. No offense to you guys because I get out of a good deal. But yeah, I feel like confidence was my hardest thing if you're a younger stylist.
00:10:48
Speaker
I feel like older stylists being, again, meek, like learning criticism. And it's okay to take criticism. It's not people judging you or coming after you. It's setting your pride aside and learning. Yeah, and setting that personal side from absolutely your business side.
00:11:05
Speaker
Absolutely. What Madison would have helped do you gain that confidence? Because I mean, we're talking relatively quickly from what 21 to 24. mean, that's a relatively quick time. I know, like I think about when I first got into the like professional world, I don't think, i mean, I think I had a level of confidence, but i I don't think I had that level of confidence that you're talking about to to be an actual business owner.
00:11:27
Speaker
I mean, it probably took me five years of being an entrepreneur. Right. but Is there something that you can look back at and say that did that or was it natural or a book or anything? is there a tip and you can give people or point them towards that helped you?
00:11:42
Speaker
Experience, I feel like is what is big on confidence for me. It's multiple things. I think a huge one was making mistakes, built my confidence, which is messed up as that sounds.
00:11:54
Speaker
I feel like making those mistakes, learning from them and then growing. Again, being teachable, asking for help. Like, don't do not not ask for help. Please do, because it's what's going to build your confidence, you know.
00:12:07
Speaker
i just think that and bad eggs, that's really what built my confidence. Like, telling people, no, like, I deserve more confidence. And it's hard because it wasn't like I didn't do right off the bat. I would call Renee crying multiple times. Like, what did i do wrong? I've been trying my hardest. There was times I wanted to quit.
00:12:25
Speaker
And she, I will say, having good friends. And that's what I love about y'all's business, too, is. Y'all will be there for people and you almost become, y'all are so easy to get along with and become like family where if we needed to call you or text you that we're freaking out.
00:12:41
Speaker
You've done that with countless people, not just me in their business. I do think it's who you surround yourself with too. and pushing you and letting you know like you're okay like you're gonna die we make mistakes you know yeah just keep pushing forward too and you know what it's funny i was thinking when you just said that your number one thing you struggled with was confidence in the beginning and then damon came in to get a haircut with you like a month or so ago and the first thing he complimented to you i was like wow she's really good she didn't make it weird she's like oh do you have a regular
00:13:15
Speaker
you know, barber. And yeah, yeah. would i You can tell the story. Tell about it to me. But it was just, and yeah, it was so funny because she was like, you have a regular person you go to. was like, yeah, I go to this person. She's like, well, if you ever want to switch, I'm here for you. And she also said, does your wife have somebody to go to regularly?
00:13:31
Speaker
I said, yeah, she goes to this person. shit Well, if she's ever in the market to switch, I'm here. Like I'd love a shot or something. It was just, it was so natural. And the funny thing is also, I heard you talking after I left, like I was out of the room and i think you were talking to somebody here.
00:13:45
Speaker
And you were like, I was so nervous. And they were like, oh, I'm so proud of you. and It was because you don't usually do men's haircuts. Yeah, I don't. But i I had to fake it till I made it, you know? yeah yeah Yeah, And I think the more work you can do on your attitude, the better.

Attitude and Long-Term Goals

00:13:59
Speaker
And I don't mean you, Madison. I mean, anybody that can work on their attitude. Because when I hear you talking, it's what you're talking about is just having a good attitude.
00:14:07
Speaker
Like it's be willing, like having the big picture in mind. It's something that we talk about in the course a lot. Yeah. is knowing where you want to go and how you're going to get there. Because if you are caught up in the moment by moment, like if you're trying to impress everybody all the time, if you get criticism and you take it personally, really what that means is that you're more focused on the moment rather than where you're going.
00:14:27
Speaker
and it's because if you're if you know where you're going or where you want to go, like you you don't care about right now, right? This is just a part of the journey. And everybody knows like any road trip you ever go on that we talk a lot about in the goal setting course, any road trip you go on, like you're going to hit detours, you're going hit potholes, you're going hit these different things that suck.
00:14:44
Speaker
But, you know, it's literally a part of it. There's no perfect rainbow unicorn sprinkle journey, right? Everybody's going to go through ups and downs. So as think- That makes it fun too.
00:14:55
Speaker
mean It's life, right? It's, you know that you you either can look at it as fun or you can look at it as bad, not fun. And then it's terrible, but it's your, I think for you, like your attitude, like you have such a good attitude that it's really funny to hear you say that like I, my confidence, like was the thing I had to work on because it takes a confident person to say, i appreciate the feedback.
00:15:17
Speaker
It's taken a long way. Yeah. Like, I'm a little baby birdie coming in here asking her to hold me 24-7. And now I'll call her excited and be like, I just told a person no.
00:15:28
Speaker
You know? like That's all. You know? Or, like, she'll ask me, do you need help with that? I'm like, no, I got it handled. I'll let you know. I know. You never call me anymore. I know. Well, just for fun. Just for fun now. with tears. Yeah.
00:15:41
Speaker
no nick when When you think back when you went to school, right? Mm-hmm. it was during COVID. Were you able to get close to some of the people you were in school with? I did. I don't talk to many of them anymore. and we still keep in touch with, like, there's a couple of girls I keep in touch with. Yeah.
00:15:57
Speaker
But I'm going to be honest. One of the girls I knew, there's three girls i was really close with. One of them is a successful hairstylist still. She actually just got her own suite.
00:16:08
Speaker
She's amazing. But the other two, one doesn't do hair anymore. And then the one became a lash artist instead. Yeah. She decided she like lashes more and she's incredible at it.
00:16:19
Speaker
But... A lot of the girls that I did know that I don't keep up with anymore, I think a lot of them don't do hair anymore. Like, I would say out of the 60 girls in my class, like, less than 10, that would, no.
00:16:33
Speaker
Yeah. That tracks with the numbers we pulled. That's exactly why i was asking that because it's crazy. Like 75% are not in the industry after five years. And i think a lot of that, again, is confidence because being as a hairstylist, it's very difficult in the beginning. it's very There's a lot of anxiety. There's a lot of pressure on doing someone's hair and not messing up.
00:16:54
Speaker
But I think it's seriously about who you're surrounded with. The experience, confidence is really the at the end of the day, that's what it is. Maybe even awareness. like i like the people i like I work with a lot of people, again, that are just starting out their business.
00:17:09
Speaker
And think one of the best things that I try to do with them is know what they like know what they're doing it for. Like, why would you want to be a hairstylist? And then you kind of adapt a plan to it, but also you inoculate them and help them understand you're going to make mistakes.
00:17:21
Speaker
yeah Things are going to go bad, but we're just going to keep going. That's natural for everybody. Anybody who's ever gotten anywhere is just built upon mistakes. And if not even hair, it could be anything in life.
00:17:34
Speaker
Building a business, you're gonna go through some really hard times trying to build a business. You might even lose money first or anything before you get to where you truly wanna be. And now if I mess up someone's hair,
00:17:47
Speaker
I don't even get anxiety over. I'm like, oh, no worries. We'll fix this right up. yeah I gave a girl hot roots the other day and was like, oh, no worries. I'll just put up some natural on it and we'll be good. you know And then she trusted me because i been a client or she's been my client for years. you know She had no anxiety with me at all. She knew I was going to handle it.
00:18:07
Speaker
I did and she was completely happy with her hair. you know so That is a lot of experience that comes along with it is knowing that it's not the end of the world if you mess up. Yeah. I think communication too. Like over communicating to the client, walking them through the steps you're going to take to correct it.
00:18:23
Speaker
And that makes them feel comfortable. Absolutely. That's a good one.

Client Relationships and Loyalty

00:18:26
Speaker
Part of it, you are counseling. Like 50% of doing hair is being a counselor, an uncertified counselor. If it's not actually with the service going on, but it's being good listener and communicative and you want to make sure you're engaging with them and not just talking about yourself and 1000 that's such a good one communication what i did in the beginning too i knew i wasn't as experienced as other stylists so my main hook was making connections yeah
00:18:55
Speaker
And so I wanted to, because that's just who I am too. i love people, but I wanted to make them feel as special as they could because maybe at home they don't feel that or maybe where else, you know? So I feel like trying, if you're in it as a beginner stylist of anything, make those true connections with those people, make them feel special, make them special.
00:19:18
Speaker
you know, butter them up. um Like, seriously, it works. And they'll stay with you just because they love you for you. Even if you're not the best stylist or business owner in the world, like sometimes people just want genuine people because they know at the end of the day, you you'll have their back. Yeah.
00:19:34
Speaker
And you'll take care of them. So that's a good point. And I think now there's because of social media, there's a lot of flaunting of how much lash artists make or hairstylist extension specialist. And it gets a little cringy to me, honestly, i think to be bragging about that when your client is watching you brag about how much money you just took from them. And it's getting to the point where that loss of customer like the customer service isn't there anymore. yeah It's turning into transaction. And so I think that's why Maddie soars and she doesn't have to continue to build.
00:20:05
Speaker
She built deep in referrals. And kept strong relationships that really generated a natural um referral service for her.
00:20:17
Speaker
And people are thrilled to recommend her because they love her so much. Yeah, playing the long game. Yeah. And even ones that didn't work out, like maybe I wasn't the stylist for them, that was something that I really struggled with. Like I got my feelings hurt really quickly.
00:20:32
Speaker
But sometimes it's just not meant to be and I've learned that's okay, but I've still kept good relationships with them. Like we didn't end on any bad terms, you know? Unless there was maybe like a few bad eggs that I've had to set those boundaries with respectfully telling them I deserve better, right you know?
00:20:50
Speaker
And yeah, so... So proud of you. Yeah. So Madison, we can finish on this. What's the, so there's somebody either, maybe they're still in school, they're fresh out of school, like within a year out of school.
00:21:04
Speaker
What's the one piece of advice that you would give somebody?

Perseverance and Positive Influences

00:21:08
Speaker
For coming out of school? Yeah, if they're in school, out of school. like there the I think even somebody that's like a year out is just, maybe not even lost, just they're looking for something. right they They want to be where you're at.
00:21:19
Speaker
In four years, if they had a magic wand and and they found out they're making six figures, they're like, yes, like that's what I want. I want to work my way to that position. um What's one or two pieces of advice that you would give them?
00:21:32
Speaker
I love what Angelina Jolie says, just push right through it, go all the way through it, even if it's hard, even if it's you know emotional, all the things messy, just keep pushing through it. yeah Feel all the emotions, everything, learn from it, because that's the hardest part, and I think that's why there's such a huge number.
00:21:53
Speaker
of women in the beauty industry that don't continue with it is because they don't push through the hardness of it you know i think once you get past i'm so glad i did because i feel like i was i did try to quit renee helped me i wouldn't let her yeah i held her down exactly and that's because of the beauty in the business program we promise not to assault you no she promises well maybe no kidding But yeah, just pushing through those hard times, i feel like is the best advice I could give to anybody in life.
00:22:27
Speaker
It's life. And no matter what, it's not going to be easy growing a business. You're literally, you're asking for hardships. And that's okay. If it was easy.
00:22:38
Speaker
Everyone would do it. you know? That's from Tom Hanks, right? Is it? I think so. On League of Their Own. If it was easy, everybody would do it? where do get all these quotes stored up? I don't know. Let us know, chat.
00:22:51
Speaker
Chat? Radisson, how do you, a 24-year-old, you do know a lot of old movies. I just heard you literally recall the name of every golden girl. You listen to that? Yeah.
00:23:02
Speaker
I have a grandma. Okay, that's another thing. Have grandma tendencies and y'all have a great- and yeah but So back to your quote, back to your advice. It does remind me of one of my my favorite sayings is like, well what if I'm tired? Then you do it tired.
00:23:15
Speaker
Like, what if I'm sick? Do it sick. Do it scared. Do it when everything's going well. Do it when everything's going bad. Just do it. I was terrified of starting my business. I was so scared of everything.
00:23:28
Speaker
I had to pursue that. And luckily, will say, surround yourself with good people. i' am a Christian, so I believe making the main source of your business, Jesus, is the top thing over anything, too.
00:23:41
Speaker
So... And it shows yeah for you. But that's because I wasn't close to him until surrounded myself with good people that have that. I believe in that a lot. is It's who you surround yourself with. make sure whatever salon or people you pick in your life, they are also they have the same beliefs as you and want the same things in life for you.
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, you get to choose the people that you surround yourself with. Yeah. And the energy and kind of take in. like the You get to pick the energy you're taking in and what you're putting out. Yeah, absolutely. And not to like bring up any bad past or anything, but me and Renee both, we've had experiences with surrounding ourselves with very toxic people, you know, and it hurt both of our businesses at some point. We were still doing amazing, but it just wasn't where we would like it to be. And we and her were both very drained. And I think that's why we kind trow rebonded together a little bit, you know, in a good way.
00:24:38
Speaker
But, you know, there's lots of personalities in any industry, really. Yeah, any job, any position. People, and they walk through life differently than others. And I'm proud of Renee because she's built a space safe for women that don't want that. She built a space for people that are positive, that support other women, men, like everyone, you know, and I'm very proud of you for that.
00:25:03
Speaker
Thank you. You fucked up. and Madison, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. We'll definitely have you back. Yep.

Conclusion and Community Plug

00:25:10
Speaker
where where can't Where can everybody follow you at? You can follow me at MadisonMadeHair or if you want to look at my bike page, Maddie Pate. Oh, yeah. So she's probably my favorite juxtaposition.
00:25:21
Speaker
She loves Golden Girls. She looks like a cute little ray of sunshine and she rides motorcycles. Fantastic. She's just a lot of layers. lot of layers.
00:25:31
Speaker
gotta you know? Yeah. Yeah. and Anyways, we'll review about the bike next time. Yeah, this was fun. ah Okay, perfect. Thank you, Maddie.
00:25:43
Speaker
everybody. If you like what you heard today, join us over at beautyinthebusiness.vip. Again, that's www.beautyinthebusiness.vip. That's where we have our courses. That's where we have our community group.
00:25:56
Speaker
And we look forward to interacting with you over there. beautyinthebusiness.vip. We will see you on the next episode.