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Leadership - Cultivating Greatness and Growth
121 Plays1 year ago
Leadership seems to be one of the most difficult and trying things in our businesses as beauty professionals and our lives. Some of us excel at it and some of us are daunted by it. Yet for so many of us, it seems to be something that we want for growth. Having a team, no matter how small, can lead to growth and expansion. So why is it so hard? We believe in open and trusting leadership that helps cultivate greatness in our team. Come on this journey with us and join us in this conversation! We'd love to hear any thoughts you have about this topic!
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@beyondestheticspodcast
@sweetcheeksuniversity
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Transcript
Introduction to Beyond Aesthetics
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to the Beyond Aesthetics podcast. We're so happy you guys are here and we are your hosts. My name is Tiffany Orr. I am Jessica Peterson.
00:00:24
Speaker
And thank you for joining us. Today we're gonna talk about leadership and what that looks like, building a team, how to navigate hard conversations, key things that you should be implementing for your team. And yeah, we have a lot to talk about today.
00:00:47
Speaker
Yeah, I bet that we'll make lots of episodes about leadership because there's so many different aspects of leadership that are worthy of having conversations about.
Why is Leadership Important?
00:00:58
Speaker
And, you know, there's different reasons why this is even coming up as a topic and why we felt like it was really important. Number one is in our mastermind group. It's something that
00:01:08
Speaker
comes up a lot, something that people really struggle with. I actually kind of struggle with this myself, and Tiffany's done a really great team herself, but I know that you get asked about this all the time, so we felt like it was really important to have a really open conversation about it.
00:01:25
Speaker
Yeah, exactly that's what it's just been on my heart I think because it's been coming up in conversation with other people in the industry so much and over the last two and a half years I have built my own team and so I've navigated a lot of things and I've realized what's worked and what maybe doesn't work and so I feel like I have a lot to share about it that
00:01:48
Speaker
may be helpful to anyone in the industry.
Tiffany's Team Building Journey
00:01:52
Speaker
So my own story on building a team. So I've been, you guys, I've been in the industry, I've ran my own business for 12 years in April, it's almost 12 years. And I was a solo SD up until a little over two years ago. And where I got in my career was, I always thought like,
00:02:13
Speaker
you know it's just me i don't i always didn't want the headache of having a team i didn't know how i would even start having a team so i immediately landed on i can't do it cuz i don't know how to do it and i went that way for a long time and as my business started to grow
00:02:32
Speaker
then I knew I was at my limit within my business or at least I thought. And so I started turning away clientele because my books were full and I just thought, okay, this I've reached the peak of my success. I can't go anywhere else.
00:02:48
Speaker
Until I just, it's funny, when you reach that point and then you allow yourself to open up this whole other world of possibility that you didn't even consider, then it's just amazing. You're like, oh, this whole other door is open and you're like, there's so much that we can do. So anyways, then I had it on my heart to add to my team, but I didn't know
00:03:13
Speaker
who or when or how. Obviously, I didn't know how to implement that, but I just knew that I still wanted to grow. I still wanted to serve my community and my clientele. I felt really bad that I was turning away clients, and I knew that didn't feel right to me, and so I knew I had to do something about it.
Overcoming Fear and Defining Vision
00:03:33
Speaker
So, um, I kind of just put it out onto the universe that I was willing to take on a team member, another aesthetician and teach them, um, you know, my way and bring them onto my team and basically give them my clientele that I couldn't serve anymore.
00:03:51
Speaker
And once I did that, once I just kind of opened up my own eyes to that is when two estheticians actually fell into my lap. And they're still with me today, Adrian and Regan. And they both came on at the same time, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I
00:04:10
Speaker
It's always easier to teach two people rather than just one. They've been with me since then and it's worked out really well. I've learned a lot along the way though and they probably can even attest to that that we've had some bumps in the road and that's been okay. It's just been a learning process. Now I think we have a team.
00:04:31
Speaker
a total team of eight, eight or nine. They're not all estheticians, but we've grown a lot in the last two years and it's been really helpful to have some key steps along the way that we're going to talk about.
00:04:47
Speaker
I have a question. Yes. So one thing that our discovery workbook that we have in our mastermind in that process that they go through, one of the questions in there is like, is there a fear reaction when it comes to thinking about
00:05:04
Speaker
hiring out for certain things. And usually the answer is yes. And people also really struggle to let go of control. They're like, yeah, you can see how that could be a good idea and give me some growth and everything that comes along with that. But how do I let go of
00:05:30
Speaker
the reins people have, especially when it's your own business and it's your baby and you've built it from the ground up, how do you get over, how would you advise other people get over that fear that can come along with that
Legal Clarity and Team Structure
00:05:42
Speaker
and that perfection and letting go of control? Because you did a pretty good job, but I'm sure that it was there for you.
00:05:51
Speaker
Oh, it was so hard because like I said, I mean, for a solid almost 10 years, it was just me and my way of doing things and I only had an answer to me. And it's a very real fear and control can be a really hard thing to navigate, especially for somebody that struggles with perfectionism like myself. So what I would advise on that is you really have to ask yourself,
00:06:16
Speaker
where do you want to be where do you want to take your business what type of business do you really want you have to like look at your vision and it really comes back to that and if your vision is like i'm happy where i'm at i like only having to answer myself i.
00:06:31
Speaker
Basically, I'm satisfied with where I'm at and I'm okay to not grow further, then that's totally fine. But if your vision is leading you towards, I want to grow, I want to XYZ all of these things, and really the only answer is to add a team member or members along with you, then
00:06:52
Speaker
I think the answer becomes really clear that yes, that control may still be there and you may still have to navigate it that perfectionism may still be there and you have to
00:07:01
Speaker
deal with that and address that as it comes. But once you can land on, this is where I want to be, this is the impact I want to make, this is what I want to do with my business, then all the rest kind of falls away because it becomes very clear that you have to... Saying that you have to let go sounds so simple and easier said than done, but when you can land,
00:07:28
Speaker
on your vision and work backwards from that vision, it becomes a lot easier. And I do have some steps on helping let go of that control
00:07:40
Speaker
I think implementing systems and policies and protocols for you and your team members and for everyone to answer to is one of the key things that you could do. And that's something that I had to navigate along the way because I didn't have those in place when Adrian and Regan joined, but I very quickly realized I needed them because I could, we all had basically an accountability to turn back to when we had systems in place for even something as simple as restocking cleaning supplies.
00:08:10
Speaker
you know, it wasn't, it didn't happen overnight. But of course, like how we're going to answer our customer service, how we're going to do this, how we're going to do that, having those things in place help keep me accountable as a service provider and as the team leader, but it also gave the team members something to reference.
00:08:34
Speaker
Um, and it wasn't just like, what do we do? And it was just mass chaos, if that makes sense. Yeah, definitely. I'm looking for this book that I read last year that I felt like was super, super helpful for me. I'll see if I can remember the name of it as we go, or I might have to like run to my little library.
00:08:58
Speaker
Let's keep going and I think the name will hopefully come to me, but that was a really good answer. Letting go is never an easy thing to do, but I think especially once you want to allow other people into your business, that's the biggest part of it. I think it's also important to get really clear on your expectations of what you require and what you want.
00:09:24
Speaker
to get very, very clear. So if you are considering adding team members or if you even have team members and maybe it's not going super well, I would write down on paper exactly what you expect from each employee, or a contractor, however they look, and write down very clear things of their responsibilities,
00:09:48
Speaker
basically everything that you can think of that is good that you're going to navigate within that relationship.
00:09:54
Speaker
and to have a contract in place for your team members, however that
Transitioning Contractors to Employees
00:09:59
Speaker
looks. If they're an employee, if they're a contractor to type up a contract, have you both go over it and agree to it, and then have you sign it before you move forward. And that makes it very easy for you to reference back to if a problem arises, but also it's starting the foot on very clear communication. And I think that is so important.
00:10:25
Speaker
Do you have a preference or what would you say between an employee and a contractor? What is the most ideal situation? Do you think
00:10:38
Speaker
Um, you know, I don't know if I have a preference. I'll just tell you where we're at. So when I brought on Adrian and Reagan, both I brought them on as contractors. And that was an easy way to navigate, um, being a leader in a boss initially, as I was learning what to do. Um, and I, um, just recently in the fall of 2023, we moved everyone over to employee status because technically learning the laws in Idaho,
00:11:08
Speaker
they were actually contractors with what I was asking of them and requiring them to do. And for my own peace of mind and to be able to sleep at night and to not worry about the IRS coming after me, I felt that it was really necessary to move everybody over to employee status. And it wasn't easy, but it wasn't that hard. It was definitely doable. And I think everybody is happier all together too because
00:11:37
Speaker
As you guys know, as a contractor, when you 1099 a contractor, they're responsible for their own taxes. So taxes are not taken out of that. That's something that they have to be responsible to pay when that time comes. And I know for some of my girls, that was hard for them to do when it came to tax season and they didn't have taxes taken out of their paycheck all year long. And then that was hard to have to pay those taxes in a big lump sum.
00:12:02
Speaker
And so now that they're employees, we have taxes taken out and they just, I think it's just easier for them to navigate as well. And I can sleep better at night too. Yeah.
00:12:14
Speaker
Well, I was just going to say that I think that that is a perfect answer. And I think if anybody is on the fence about, you know, which one you would like to do, I think you do need to kind of look into the legalities behind both and what that actually entails. Like I've had contractors, I've never had employees. And so I had to be really mindful about what that actually meant, because it's actually very, very different. And so that is my best recommendation when you're making that choice.
00:12:43
Speaker
figure out what the legalities are and then decide how you really want to approach it and what is best for. Really you as a business owner but also having their best interest at heart too. And that's something that you can you know if you're unclear of how you should move forward with your relationship if you want to bring on
00:13:06
Speaker
a team member, you can have that conversation with your potential team member too and see what you're both willing to give for the relationship and for the business and your careers moving forward and then land on something that you can both agree on. But I definitely feel that you should do your homework as an owner, as a boss and move forward accordingly.
00:13:26
Speaker
and try not to cut corners because I just knew that if I didn't get my legality straight, that I was going to pay for it down the road. Yeah. Peace of mind is priceless.
Communication and Team Alignment
00:13:42
Speaker
priceless. It is worth every penny. And as far as your contract goes, you can draft that up however you see fit some things that I definitely feel like are should be included in a contract is the type of relationship or they an employee or they contractor, their pay scale, including any commissions that you offer,
00:14:03
Speaker
time off, their responsibilities, and I would make that very detailed. What they have access to, whether it be like your booking system or your client information, a notice of how the contract should end and your requirements with that, and a timeframe, and then definitely a non-compete in there as well.
00:14:29
Speaker
And I definitely think that if you're nervous about your contract and if it's legal or not, you can definitely reach out to a lawyer and have them help you draft that. It's going to cost you a little bit, but if that gives you peace of mind, again, peace of mind is priceless and it's an easy way to do that. And then I would also revisit and update your contracts often. And if there's things that change in the relationship or in the business,
00:14:56
Speaker
go back and revisit that, update that, and that kind of, we'll talk about that here in a minute, can be brought up when you meet with your employers, your contractors, or your team members, and having visits with them often. Yeah, how often do you think of the good timeframe?
00:15:16
Speaker
For contract status, I would do it definitely at least once a year, maybe every six months. That's going to probably depend on you and your business and maybe how often you implement changes. But we try to do hours every year and I think that's plenty. But yeah, if there's things that changes that you implement in your business and I would probably do it more often and make sure that everybody's still on the same page, never assume
00:15:43
Speaker
always communicate and check in because I feel like when you assume that, you know, everything's even keel and that's kind of when you can head for a disaster. So yeah, check-ins are vital. And we as a team, we meet as a team once a month and that's something we just implemented last year as well. And I remember our first couple meetings telling, because they were, everybody was kind of like, what are we doing? And I remember telling them,
00:16:12
Speaker
I know. Just trust me in this. Like, we will, we'll get to a place where this will come together. I'm new. It's okay. And now I think everybody looks forward to meeting and it's a great way to update everybody at one time and to bring, bring everybody together too. And I mean, you're a team and you should be a team. And it's a great way to just, I can't think of the word that I'm thinking of, but just build that relationship within your team.
00:16:41
Speaker
And then I also think it's often to do individual check-ins every so often too. Probably quarterly would be a great rule of thumb. Do you mean just checking a more casual conversation checking in with them? You wouldn't consider that a review. It would just be like, hey, how are you? How's it going?
00:17:03
Speaker
I don't like the word review, even though I do think it's necessary because personally for me, that instantly puts me on like defense. Like if my boss came to me and said, I want to have, it's time for your review. But I just, I just say, let's have a meeting. And I'm sure maybe there's some nervousness that comes with that too, but it seems less threatening. But I try to meet with, to actually have a meeting and have a sit down meeting quarterly, if not twice a year.
00:17:30
Speaker
Something like that. Again, it depends on their role. I always do casual check ins. I feel like I do those very often. And usually when I see them, we don't always see each other when everybody's in their roles. But when I do see them and we cross paths in the shop,
00:17:43
Speaker
and we have that opportunity. I always try to do a check-in to just see how things are going on in their life and if they're happy in their role and stuff like that. But then we'll do a formal individual meeting along with our formal monthly team meetings. We'll do a formal individual meeting probably quarterly or twice a year. It sounds like the communication overall is so open.
00:18:10
Speaker
I try and that is my main goal. And I always, when we meet individual or as a team, I always at least let them know that my door is always open and to please come to me with anything good or bad. And if there's something that I'm not doing in my role that is helping them perform their best in their role, I want to know. And I just try my hardest to reiterate that as often as possible, basically every time we see each other.
00:18:39
Speaker
Um, so that they're reminded, like, you know, I just don't, and I always tell them, if you're not happy in your role, then I don't want you here. And I mean that with love because, um, you know, we had, we had a team member leave this fall.
00:18:56
Speaker
She loved her role and then she got to a point where she didn't love her role anymore and I was so grateful that she came to me and told me that and was brave enough to tell me that. Instead of staying in a role that she wasn't happy in because if she's not happy, then she's not going to be able to perform her best and it's going to affect everything within the business and yeah, I never want that. Yeah, I definitely was there last year too for the same reason.
00:19:22
Speaker
Yeah. And yeah, it's just, it's always better to, to navigate that, even if it's a hard conversation or a hard ending or however it looks, everybody's going to be happier as long as everybody is doing their role with love and attention and you know,
00:19:39
Speaker
especially in a service-based industry.
Creative Freedom in Team Dynamics
00:19:44
Speaker
I think that is really important that everyone is happy and coming from the heart and remembering that service is number one. And clearly, if there's some unhappiness, if there's some resentment, if there's anything like that, then it is going to have an effect on the business overall in a lot of different aspects. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:08
Speaker
I also, back to letting go of control. I know, again, this is a hard one and I think it's just one that has to be practiced. And I see a lot of people, they reach out and this is a lot of their struggles is trying to navigate letting go and control on social media. So say they have team members join their team and then they want to control how they show up on social media. And I have opinions about this.
00:20:39
Speaker
and they may not be very popular, but I feel like when you control any aspect of your team member in a way that limits their creativity, it's going to affect you negatively as well. Because when you're trying to put a box on someone and how they want to show up and create, and I get it, I get that you have a brand and you have a way of showing up on social media for your business and your brand.
00:21:07
Speaker
And I do think that's important, but I think it's more important to just, if your team members want to be on social media, let them show up how they want to show up. And I will say there's probably some rules and regulations. You don't want them acting in negative ways or portraying themselves in negative ways. There are definitely
00:21:30
Speaker
some some rules that you would want to put in place, but a lot of it is a When people say like, you know, I don't know if I should let her have her own handle or Create her own handle. I want it to reflect on my business's name. I think that's so silly I don't know. What are your thoughts on that?
00:21:49
Speaker
I don't know, but now that we're having this conversation, I can say, so I'm usually an outsider looking in. My perspective is different than Tiffany's. I have had teams, but they're one or two people. They're very, very small teams because I have issues with that myself.
00:22:10
Speaker
So most of my experience just comes from watching all of my spa partners over the last 10 years. And I will say that the people who hold on to their teams the longest do seem like now that we're having this conversation, it does seem like those are the ones who have the open trust leadership.
00:22:34
Speaker
relationship with their team and their team is able to have their own social media that's not even tied to their business. It's not such and such name dot the business name or anything like that. It's just this is who they are.
00:22:52
Speaker
And so that's a really interesting fact because I think the number one most important thing about leadership is allowing people to be who they are and cultivating their greatness and bringing the greatness out in them and having a lot of trust with them.
00:23:11
Speaker
Yeah, and that's going to translate to their social media, you know, and and yeah, putting putting constraints and so so many rules and so many expectations on what they're allowed to do on their social media or what those expectations are like, I think that they're you're right. I think that there should be like a rough guideline for what that should look like. But I
00:23:32
Speaker
think that social media is kind of how we cultivate our creativity and put ourselves out there in our own personal way. Just like, you know, in the treatment room when somebody wants their estheticians to be a certain way, those owners tend to really struggle because estheticians are already creative. You know, most and beauty professionals, we tend to work with that side of our brain. And so when you take
00:23:59
Speaker
that type of a person and you put them under this harsh rule and expectation and limitations instead of being a more open, trusting leader. We don't hold onto those employees very well because you're stifling them. I think that there's a fine line there.
00:24:20
Speaker
but you've done a really good job. So I definitely see where you're coming from. I know that people would have, I think it is, you know, that they build up their social media that reflects that business and the owners are afraid of them. You know, now they take all of that clientele or all of those people. Like if they aren't, if it is their own, right? If they allow them, it's delicious. She's going to say Adrian, okay? So let's say Adrian, she has her own social media.
00:24:49
Speaker
So if Adrienne ever were to leave, you would be super concerned about Adrienne now taking all of her clients with her because her handle wasn't exactly Sweet Cheeks brand. So that's what we're saying, and that is what I run into. I do have a lot of spot partners who do that, and I have a handful that don't do that.
00:25:09
Speaker
Um, and they do just, you know, we allow Adrian to just have her, her social media and her handle and it's hers and it is, it's branded to Adrian. Basically, not that it's not branded to sweet cheeks, cause there's a ton of respect there, but you have not put all these limitations and constraints on Adrian.
00:25:27
Speaker
And I think that that comes down to just having a lot of, I don't know, I just, having a non-compete is really important, don't get me wrong, at the same time. I just don't think that that's something that we can control these days because of social media. And so I think that that's where their problem is, but I don't see how, whether or not it's Adrian dot sweet cheeks, whatever, is going to stop that from happening.
00:25:54
Speaker
Exactly. That is my thing. You phrase that so well because I think that was the point I was trying to make. And since we're talking about Adrienne, I had a conversation with Adrienne almost a year ago and I told her, my goal is to set you up for success because I don't expect you to retire with me. I absolutely don't expect any of my girls to retire with me. And my goal is to set you up for if and when you do leave and spread your wings further than I can get you.
00:26:23
Speaker
you take your clients with you. That is my goal. And I feel that to my core with all of my service providers, because I love them so much and I want them to grow and succeed. And I know that there are certain limitations. And just because of the town we live in, right? We live in a 3000 population town. And I know I'm referencing that so much, but it's so important. They're all so young. Everybody on my team is under 30, except for one.
00:26:53
Speaker
And so I know, you know, and some of them, is anybody a mom?
00:27:01
Speaker
A couple of them are moms. Tyra. Most of them are not. Tyra is a mom, Annette is a mom. The rest is not moms, you know? So I know that they have growing to do in their entire lives and they want them to grow. And I don't come from, I should say anymore. I used to. I've done a lot of growing myself, but I don't come from a fear-based mindset anymore because I truly believe and know what is meant for them. We'll find and go with them. And what is meant for me will find and stay with me.
00:27:31
Speaker
And so I want them to succeed. I want them to grow so far. I want them to build their own visions and mountains and climb them and conquer them. And that's just where I'm at. Having a non-compete is important. Again, like you said, in today's world,
00:27:52
Speaker
Is it, would it really be right to force certain clients to stay with me if Adrian decided to leave and they wanted to go with her? Probably not. You know, I don't want those clients anyways. If they wanted to be with her, I would want them to be with her because I care about our clients too. So yeah, thank you for landing on that. That's the point I'm trying to make. And social media is just such a small part of that. But even in the treatment room, how they perform services and treatments, you can have guidelines and you can have expectations.
00:28:20
Speaker
for sure in high standards. You should have high standards. Absolutely. But let them flex their creativity. Let them spread their wings. Let them, you know, think of it as guidance instead of controlling. And I think that as a leader, you will go so far and you'll be able to grow your team and keep your team members for so much longer.
Leadership vs. CEO Mindset
00:28:42
Speaker
If you just let their light shine, because nobody is going to be able to stay in an environment where they feel caged.
00:28:52
Speaker
It's just a mic drop moment. Honestly, I just watched so many businesses try to be so controlling over their teams and want everything to be an exact way. And they expect this other person to be a mold of who they are, of who they are, right? And I'm like, nope, it's just not going to work. They're not going to stay with you. They're going to feel really limited, really caged.
00:29:17
Speaker
And there's a lot of turnover out there. And I think that it's one of the reasons. It's not the only reason, but it is definitely one of the reasons because when I look at all of my spa partners who keep their employees really well, there's a vast difference in the leadership style and the beliefs. And that's, I think, another thing about leadership is that some people just have these very concrete beliefs and
00:29:43
Speaker
a lot of expectations and exhaustion with needing to mentor people.
00:29:52
Speaker
Yeah. You know what I mean? And I'm like, well, that's what leadership is. Leadership is coaching, it's helping, and it's cultivating the greatness in people, their own unique greatness, and then encouraging them and helping them spread their wings and fly. And I understand that that can be a really exhausting thing to do. And there's a lot of turnover. But I'm like, if you're having a lot of turnover,
00:30:15
Speaker
I think you need to take some really radical responsibility over the belief system that you have about leadership and how your business is actually set up. I have a lot of spa partners who work with different spa coaches and these coaches are like, you need to pay this and you need to
00:30:32
Speaker
do this and it would be silly free to do this it would make any sense for your bottom line and i've had this conversation with you before where i just feel like well you can do that but if you're doing that you know solely because.
00:30:47
Speaker
of the bottom line, but you're not actually taking the people portion of this into consideration and the long term, you want to keep your employees for as long as possible. So if you're, if you're paying a little bit amount of money, you're controlling them, you know, their social media, and you're being really controlling over like everything that they do and what your expectations are.
00:31:07
Speaker
You're going to have a lot of turnover, so was it really worth saving a few dollars for the way that you're paying them and the way that you're treating them when really you could pay them a little bit more, give them a little bit more freedom, help cultivate, help mentor, and actually keep these people. It's like there's small, immediate picture, and then there's big picture, and then there's an even bigger picture, which is what you're saying, which is like,
00:31:37
Speaker
if you need to spread your wings, I support that. Not only do I support that, but freaking I'll help you if you, you know what I mean? If like, I'd help you. And that is like, so I think that there's different stages. There's like this very limited, narrow kind of mindset about it. And then there's like, okay, I'm going to be an open, you know, trusting leader. I'm going to mentor. I'm going to really cultivate the greatness in people. And that's amazing. And then there's an even
00:32:05
Speaker
bigger picture than that, which is so like my hand movements right now are like, I love you this much. And my arms are spread really wide for those of you who can't see. One thing that I learned a long time ago is that people who have that more narrow mindset, it's like they're, they're holding on so, so, so tight to everything. Like they're so controlling. They want everything to be a certain way. I only want to pay this amount of money. This only makes sense and la, la, la, la, la. And this is the energy that you're coming from is this very just like
00:32:33
Speaker
Low, tight, gripped energy. As you then expand a little bit and you just expand to that open leadership, that trusting leadership point of view, you're opening up a little bit and then eventually you're going to get into the, what's for me is going to find me. What's for them is going to find them. I'm not afraid of losing a handful of clients if that means it's great for them.
00:32:56
Speaker
I know that other people will find me and we're just going to fill in that gap. It's very much the same thing that I go through with Eminence. When I do have spa partners fall off because they close their business or different things happen, I don't stress too much about that because I know that that's going to be made up for and probably tenfold.
00:33:21
Speaker
It's just a very open space that I'm able to come from. And so it's kind of a similar kind of a similar thing. Yeah.
00:33:30
Speaker
Absolutely. And always, their success is your success. And when they have an environment that they feel safe in and able to grow and expand, that's only going to reflect on you in one way or another, even if they leave you. Like you said, it generally will open up the door and create space for something even more for you when you come from an open heart space. And I think it is so important.
Showing Appreciation and Support
00:33:55
Speaker
And yeah, big picture. Biggest picture you can ever even imagine. Maybe you can't even imagine it. You can only feel it. That's the place to operate from for sure. Yeah. I know. I love it so much. I also think it's fun maybe and probably important to give back to your team in certain ways.
00:34:24
Speaker
ways that I like to do is I think birthdays are special and important and I try and do something special for my team members on their birthday. And then I always love to surprise them in little ways. And that could be just, you know, like venmoing them for coffee for that morning or sending flowers unexpectedly or something that doesn't coincide with a holiday necessarily.
00:34:49
Speaker
And like our team meetings, I always I'll buy coffee and sometimes breakfast for our team meetings and just little things like that can go a long way or leaving them a no or something when they come on shift or something like that. Because I love that kind of stuff. And I always like it touches me so deeply when unexpected things when people go out of their way and unexpected ways for me. So I try to always remember that and try to remember that they're human.
00:35:15
Speaker
They're allowed to make mistakes and they're allowed to be human. And your job as the boss and the team leader is to always support them. And it's always, I always go back to the mindset of it's not me versus you, it's us versus the problem. And that's something that I really utilize if and when there's a hard conversation that needs to be had.
00:35:40
Speaker
And to help them know that I'm always on their team and I'm always on their side and I'm always willing to help them navigate something if it, you know, something hard comes up, or if we have to, you know, maybe go back and learn some techniques again or whatever it may be. Always it's like, I'm not coming to you and it's not me against you, it's us versus the problem.
00:36:01
Speaker
and what can we do together to tackle this problem or to navigate through it and to really bring them into that and to know that I'm on their side always. So good. You remind me a lot of Collette.
00:36:16
Speaker
Really? Really great leadership. He's a great leader, huh? Yes. Very, very good leader. Very good leader. It's important because our relationship is interesting because she was my mentor and everything and she's a rep and I'm a rep, but at the same time, I am actually on her Utah team and I do work underneath of her. I really do. I answered her.
00:36:39
Speaker
but I always feel supported. I always feel like I know she has my back. I mean, I know she does anyways because she is one of my best friends, but I always know with work that she has my back and she's really good at leading just in the sense of everything that you've just said. It's like if I
00:36:59
Speaker
am struggling, if I'm falling behind, it's very much like, what do we do? And another aspect of leadership that I think is really important, like you're talking about gratitude. I think showing gratitude to your team is always so important and just letting them know that you're always so, so, so thankful for them. And then I think another aspect of leadership that is so important is just taking radical accountability.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yeah, because you're like, Hey, they're really like, so for instance, when somebody, you know, kind of is falling behind when there is something going on, that really shouldn't be going on. I think a good leader, the first question they ask is, you know, what kind of responsibility do, what responsibility do I have in this? Like, did I actually
00:37:48
Speaker
Set that expectation. Is that part of the contract? Was that a conversation that we had? You know, and I really learned that from Collette. She, like her expectations are just so, so, so clear. And whenever I've struggled with my own team, it was, well, Jess, did you say this, like, how clear did you make this thing? You know what I mean? In different instances. And so it always instantly, when an issue arises, I think
00:38:13
Speaker
yeah i think a good leader is like hey where's my own responsibility in this because i don't think you ever grow as much in your life and number one when you go to really hard times and number two when you become a leader having a team is like an insane amount of personal growth because there's just so much accountability and responsibility and add a really good mirror.
00:38:38
Speaker
Oh, I love that. A really good mirror because it does have a pink glowing mirror, but it does force you to look at how you're running your business for one.
Core Values and Mission Statement
00:38:49
Speaker
And you know, maybe some shortcomings that you have for two and then everything in between. And you have to look at that often because when you grow your team, especially if you grow your team to more than one or two employees or team members that you've got several people to account for.
00:39:05
Speaker
and to answer to and to, you know, be responsible for and it's a it's a great responsibility. It's a big one for the right person though. It's very rewarding and fulfilling. And do you have a mission statement for sweet cheeks?
00:39:23
Speaker
Um, we do, it's kind of, we have a core values that we will read at the beginning of our team meeting. I'll just pick somebody and have them read them, read them. And they're hanging on our wall, um, by kind of our like shipping station. Um, but yeah, we, um,
00:39:42
Speaker
And then we have a mission statement for our business as a whole. But for our team and how we show up and how we support each other, we definitely have core values. Yeah, I think that's really important. And that's why I was going to go run and grab that book is that that was something that I learned is like when you are a leader and you're building a team, you really have to make sure that you all have the same mission. And if one member is not on the same mission, if one of them does not have those core values, or they're not displaying the core values, then
00:40:12
Speaker
you know, we're out of alignment. And so I think it's a really good way to, I don't know, just bring everybody into the same vision, you know, we're really all on the same path here. And that really creates a lot of unity, it creates a lot of success, and it does set that expectation.
00:40:32
Speaker
Absolutely. I think it's something that you can always go back to if you're feeling out of alignment with a team member and you have those core values in place. You can revisit them and they will tell you if that team member is meant to stay with you or not. Maybe a hard conversation needs to be had. Maybe you guys need to pivot. Maybe you need to change your relationship or their role in some way. That is a hard, hard conversation to navigate and have.
00:41:00
Speaker
definitely so much more worth doing than to just muster through and hope it gets better. Yeah. Absolutely. And one other key thing, when it's time to have a hard conversation, I always like to start with the positives and a little bit of positive reinforcement can go a really long way, especially if this hard conversation is
00:41:27
Speaker
to help you both navigate through it and to come out on the other side still together as a team. You always want to go into it with positives before you start hammering on you're doing this wrong and this is not good and all of these things that they're doing wrong because it's their their trauma response is going to immediately come up that wall is going to come up and then it's going to be hard to navigate that hard conversation if they're automatically on the defense and that's just human nature.
00:41:54
Speaker
And so I think there's definitely kind ways to navigate those hard conversations and there's ways to do it. It doesn't make them any less easy. They're still hard. It's a reason that's called a hard conversation. It's hard. And I probably make it a lot harder than it needs to be because that's something that I've just always navigated in my own personal life is having hard conversations, but it definitely gets better with practice.
Handling Difficult Discussions
00:42:20
Speaker
you always feel better on the other side of it. And then it releases any resentment and those expectations that aren't being met, when you can just communicate in a kind and loving way with the same goal in mind. And if you guys don't have the same goal or the same values, and that's something that you really need to navigate and take a good hard look in the mirror and see if
00:42:44
Speaker
if this relationship needs to end here or if you can navigate through it and come out on the other side still together. How important do you think it is to really get to know somebody's personality, their learning style? Let's say there's a lot of personality tests that people can take. I know that that's something that
00:43:07
Speaker
my Utah Washington team has implemented when she brings on new people. She has them take a test so that she knows how to communicate with them best, their personalities, so that you can cater to someone's personality. Because I think that's another really hard part about leadership is that we're very likely to work with somebody who's very, very
00:43:30
Speaker
Different the you know don't have the same mindset or work ethic and stuff like that now i also think it's really important as a leader we remember that. Our investment in our business is different nobody is ever going to care about our business as much as we do and so there is already an automatic like okay.
00:43:48
Speaker
a little bit of a ridge there. You know what I mean? Because this is your baby and it's not theirs. And so no, they're never going to care as much as you do. They're just not going to. That's not the way that it works. But you know, people really struggle with like the different personalities, the different, you know, they don't think the way that I do, they don't approach things the way that I do. And
00:44:13
Speaker
So do you think that the way to deal with that might be to learn a little bit more about that person so that you can understand them better and know better how to work with them? I love that so much. And yes, I agree. So do you mean like an Enneagram test? Sure. And there's several like something like that. Yeah. Yep.
00:44:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And it actually just made me think we did this a couple years ago when I learned about the Enia gram test and I took my own and it was like mind blowing for me and then I had my spouse take kids and it was like mind blowing to understand the way his brain thinks made so much sense. And then immediately I like set my team the test and I was like, take this and it's a very enlightening and I think it can be a really good tool for you to use because the more we understand
00:45:00
Speaker
how someone else operates and how they think and how they react can help us be a better leader. And I don't know if I would necessarily like use that on a job application form or not. Maybe, you know, you get to know them a little bit and build that relationship and then you can implement that. It can be so enlightening and truly mind blowing. And then you're like, okay, this is why they react the way they act. It's not personal. That's just how they're wired.
00:45:28
Speaker
And it can be such a great tool. I'm so glad you brought that up. I actually forgot about that. Yeah. I mean, different, everyone's personalities are so different. And as a leader, you have to just learn how to navigate different people's personalities and learn how to work with them best.
Understanding Team Personalities
00:45:44
Speaker
And just understand that nobody thinks like you because they just don't. And it's your business. It's your baby. So no one's going to have that level of heart that you do for it.
00:45:54
Speaker
Yeah, and I think it's important because of that to not put that expectation on your team to carry the business the way you carry the business. You're the owner, you're the boss, you're the CEO, whatever, for a reason because it's yours. And just having that heart space for the rest of your team to know that they aren't capable of carrying the love and the blood and the sweat and the tears that you do because it's not theirs.
00:46:19
Speaker
It doesn't mean they can't still give it their all. You can't still guide them and lead them in the best way possible for them. But just know that it's yours for a reason and nobody, like you said, no one's going to care as much as you care because it's not theirs.
00:46:36
Speaker
It's just like it's not in them. They're not capable of that. Do you think that there is a difference? And this is just barely popped into my head during this conversation. Do you think there is a difference between a CEO mindset and a leadership mindset?
00:46:52
Speaker
Oh, that's a great question. I've never considered
Balancing CEO and Leadership Roles
00:46:55
Speaker
that. I haven't either until we started this conversation. Do you? Well, I think you need to understand that you're the CEO of your business, but I don't think that you ever want to use that type of a mindset as like, I'm up here and you're down here. Or it seems like if you come from a place of leadership, mentorship, coaching,
00:47:17
Speaker
It's just a much more open level team sort of a mindset and approach to things versus like, I'm the CEO. I'm this, I'm this. It's a different energy is I think basically what I'm trying to get at just having the two different mindsets. That's interesting because to me, I would assume any CEO is a great leader because they've gotten to that position. You don't think so? Absolutely not.
00:47:47
Speaker
Interesting. Okay. That's, that's good to know. And that's very enlightening for me. It's a little bit like I, like you'd be coming from your ego. If you're constantly like CEO mindset, I'm the CEO, CEO, this CEO, this. I'm like, yes, you are the CEO of your business, but that doesn't mean that you come from a place of ego. It actually means that you want to come more from a place of like leadership and mentorship and coaching and cultivating greatness in people.
00:48:13
Speaker
It's where your success is really going to come from. It's not going to come from that ego CEO mindset that I think a lot of people can kind of get into. Not even on purpose, I think sometimes it just can happen and maybe we just need to bring that down a little bit and mesh the two together. Absolutely. That's so interesting. I'm going to have to analyze my feelings on that.
00:48:37
Speaker
we get done because I didn't consider that, but now that you say that, I could see that from an outside perspective. And yeah, I don't feel like any CEO should have that perspective or should have that feeling about themselves. It should always be from a leadership mindset because you're leading the company, hopefully to grow into greatness and you're leading your team. And I always
00:49:01
Speaker
I always consider myself, or this is just the perspective I have as a leader, is I work for my team because I'm so grateful. They're moving the scale for me. What can I do for them to help them grow, to help us all succeed?
00:49:18
Speaker
to help us all get to the top of that mountain. And I always visualize myself that we're, as a team, we're climbing the top, like the biggest mountain that you can imagine. And I'm always at the back. Because that's like, I think it's a pack mentality. The leader of the pack, say a wolf pack,
00:49:36
Speaker
is always at the rear of the pack. They're never in the front leading their pack. They're always at the rear to make sure that everybody stays together, that predators aren't getting anybody and they're pushing them and they're leading them from the rear.
00:49:52
Speaker
And so it kind of gives me chills to talk about. I totally have chills. Oh my gosh. I just love this so much. Keep going. I always just envision myself, especially when we're like, okay, we're navigating maybe something hard as a business and as a team.
00:50:07
Speaker
I'm at the back and I'm helping everybody get up to the top of the mountain and I'm making sure if somebody falls that I help them up or if you know somebody needs a water and food and it's maybe silly a silly analogy or a silly like little dream that I have but that's how I feel and And yeah, it's always what can I do to serve you who's on my team well work for me I work for them your retention is Easily the best
00:50:36
Speaker
Besides Krista, Krista's done a really good job at leading her team. I think that I do work with a really great handful of people who have amazing retention. And that's why I can look at that and say, what are you guys doing so different? What is the different approach, the different mindset, and the level of openness and leadership? So I think your retention
00:51:03
Speaker
speaks for itself. And so what you have to say is extremely valid. Yeah, very valid. Yeah. Yeah. And I love because like you said, and you work with your partners and you're in their business, but I can even see it from a lot of
00:51:19
Speaker
your partners and the people like Krista that I follow on social media, that you can feel that energy when that teamwork is there and when it's cultivated and they're thriving. And you can feel it. I think it's safe to say you can feel it in any type of business you go into. You know, I picked my car up yesterday from the body shop cause I hit a deer and it's been there a week and I went to go. I know. And I actually hit a moose last year. So I've seen, I've like,
00:51:46
Speaker
had my car worked on twice in the last year anyways. So I noticed it last year when I went and picked up my car after I hit my moose about just the level of respect I think the whole team has for their bosses, their leaders. And then I picked it up yesterday.
00:52:02
Speaker
And I think knowing that we were recording this episode, I was just more in tune to it. And I just sat and observed and just the energy in that business was thriving. And you can tell that they have a great leader and that they respect their leaders and that they're well taken care of as employees.
00:52:21
Speaker
And I just, I love to see that and I love to feel that. And yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. That's, I mean, Eminence does a really good job at that as well. Like our CEO is really amazing at that too. And he's done a really good job with just leading us and really cultivating us. And we are independent contractors, so we do take ownership over
00:52:43
Speaker
you know our territories and the you know we do have to answer to people and check all the boxes in order to get our deposits and everything like that but he he's a really really great leader and has cultivated a really beautiful culture and a lot of love and a lot of respect and we always know our core values you know are always at the top of the list and
00:53:05
Speaker
We even do our conference calls, we have business conferences, so I get to see what that looks like on such a massive scale too. I love being in my position and viewing it on all my spot partners levels, but then also just working for the company that I do and watching how we've been led has been a really incredible experience too.
00:53:30
Speaker
And it shows, Eminence's success overall shows, but then your success shows as well. And it just filters down. And I think that's where I view a CEO as there, it just all filters down and everybody's success.
00:53:45
Speaker
you know, radiates up from there. So it's cool to see. Yeah. Such a good conversation. Really is. I love it so much. So yeah. So my tip is if you are wanting to grow a team or maybe work on some things within your team, analyze what businesses you see that seemingly have to have successful teams are doing right. And I wouldn't hesitate to reach out and ask them. And if anything, they'll probably be honored to share
00:54:13
Speaker
know what works in their team with you. And so it's a great resource that you can lean on. I have a few other resources for you guys that have helped me become a leader, but really quick before I share them, I think it's also important when you are a leader to own your role as a leader. And that's not something that I did until recently because I always was like,
00:54:38
Speaker
I don't know what I'm doing. And we're just figuring out as a way. And I didn't stand firmly in my own power. And there's so much power when you just own your role, however that role looks for you. And once I started to do that, things started shifting within our team and within the business and within myself and how I showed up. And so I just encourage anyone who is a leader or in their leadership role to just own your power and your energy and that.
00:55:05
Speaker
and that will fuel you in great ways if your heart is in the right place. So good.
00:55:15
Speaker
So a couple resources I want to share with you guys. The Go-Giver and the Go-Giver Leader by Bob Berg. Excellent books. Freaking good. Really easy reads. Like I read them in less than a day. I just beat them up. I love to follow Sebastian Angus. I think is how you say it. I've only ever found him on Facebook. I didn't find him on Instagram. He's a mental conditioning and performing coach. Do you know who he is Jess? No.
00:55:42
Speaker
you might like him. He is an asshole and he'll say he's an asshole, but he has some really great tips to share in business overall, but as a leader too, but he's kind of has just a little bit arrogant energy, but he's also funny. But anyways, I like following him. And then Brené Brown, Dare to Lead has a great book too. I just started listening to it.
00:56:02
Speaker
Did you? Yeah, after we had talked about doing this episode, I have tons of leadership books and that was one I had bought a while ago. And yeah, for some reason that my intuition was like, let's start here.
00:56:14
Speaker
I love it. I love a good intuition. I know. Oh, such a great episode. I definitely would love for people to reach out to us if you have any more questions, if you need help with specific situations. And we have an email address. It's just beyond aesthetics.
00:56:37
Speaker
podcast at gmail.com. Aesthetics is just with an E. My Instagram handle is at the underscore SD underscore coach and SD is just with an E. There's no way. You can find me on Instagram at Sweet Cheeks University or at Sweet Cheeks Waxing Skincare.
00:56:59
Speaker
And then I also have a website, sweetcheeksuniversity.com. And yeah, definitely don't hesitate to reach out if there's maybe something that you're navigating through as a team leader or you have a question about, we would love to help you, support you in that. So yeah, we just love to hear from anybody anyways. We do. I actually have some messages I need to share with you that have come through and we really appreciate all of our support, all of our listeners.
00:57:25
Speaker
It just means so much to us when you reach out and let us know that you appreciate what we're doing and the conversations that we are having because we're really passionate about it. Yeah, for sure. Thank you guys for tuning in. Thanks. Have a good day and have pretty dreams. We'll see you in the next episode. Bye, guys.