The Power of Community For The Lonely Business Owner

In today's episode, we're joined by Natalie Wallen one of our Momentum Mastermind members and who has been in this industry for about 18 years already! I’m so happy to have her here to share with you how she has been crushing it as she's implemented the strategies and processes we teach in Society Xcelerator and in the Momentum Mastermind while hiring her new team member. She can clearly see the difference between her new hire and the other team members. 👀 Natalie's gonna spill the beans on why hiring with intention — based on mission, vision, and values — is an absolute game-changer AND how it has positively impacted her business! And hey, If you're planning to hire or have already done so but  feeling like things aren't clicking, I've got your back with a sweet little hiring guide. Just head over to www.thelashpreneur.com/expand and grab the "Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Your First Hire”.

Hey Lashpreneurs! This week's episode is something special — I'm sharing a glimpse into one of our coaching sessions within the Society Xcelerator. And if you aren’t familiar yet, this program is where we teach our members how to hire legally and profitably. In this specific coaching call, we went through a mindset shift around fears associated with hiring. It's a topic that's incredibly relevant both when it comes to building your team and in running your business overall, and so I'd like to share this with you!! I'm sooo excited to share this transformative conversation that’s all about addressing fears, shifting mindsets, and empowering you to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship with confidence. And in this program, we're all about getting intentional with our decisions by diving deep into our financials and understanding the data behind our businesses. Because let's face it, we're not moving forward with just emotions — we're using the data to drive our success. 😉 If you are interested in hiring or thinking about hiring and you want to know what you need to know before hiring, grab my top 10 questions to ask before your first hire guide! Just go to thelashpreneur.com/expand. Also, feel free to DM me 'hire' on Instagram, and we can discuss your hiring plans or any challenges you're facing with hiring.

Are you thinking about expanding your team or hiring your first team member but not sure where to start? Well, you're in luck! This episode's here to guide you through the hiring maze with ease. 😌 We talk about the pitfalls of traditional hiring practices and the right approach to hiring to really identify the right fit for your business. Learn about the legalities, why lengthy in-person interviews may be counterproductive, how to streamline your hiring process without compromising on quality, job offer AND key questions to ask yourself before making your next hire, ensuring a seamless fit for your team and business goals and needs. I’ll walk you through everything you need to know! 🌐 Grab your Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Your First Hire guide 👉🏽 thelashpreneur.com/expand 🌐 Register for my Know Your Numbers Masterclass to know if your business is PROFITABLE and how you can INCREASE your profitability 👉🏽  thelashpreneur.com/knowyournumbers Feel free to reach out with any questions or podcast topic suggestions! (I’m always in my DMs 😜) And If you are planning to hire a team but need support so you can do it the RIGHT WAY — DM me #hire on instagram @thelashpreneur ALSO, don’t forget to follow @lessonsofalashpreneur for more podcast content and mindset tips. 🫡

Hey Lashpreneurs! Today's episode is all about keeping your finances in check and making sure you're not leaving money on the table. 💸  We're getting into accounting and why it's important to have a solid understanding of where your money is coming from and where it's going. Streamlining your financial processes and having a crystal-clear system for tracking income and expenses can completely transform how you manage your business. AND with accurate financial data at your fingertips helps you make smarter decisions about pricing, budgeting, and growth strategies.  Basically, you're setting your business up for ✨ success ✨, allowing you to focus on what truly matters – growing and thriving in your industry.  I’ll also talk about how booking software integrated with payment processors can make your life a whole lot easier and save you from the headache of manual bookkeeping. Because let's face it, overcomplicating things can be a nightmare for your bottom line. 🫣 Curious to know if your business is profitable and how you can increase your profitability? Be sure to register here 👉🏽 thelashpreneur.com/knowyournumbers 

In episode 2 of Lessons of a Lashpreneur I shared with you about how lash artists are killing their chances with the Instagram algorithm by prioritizing popularity over profitability. This is not how you should be utilizing social media for your business. You need to prioritize profitability over popularity.  You are using social media marketing in a way that's actually making it harder for you to get clients finding them on social media If you are constantly concerned about your number of followers more than the quality of your posts – then you have got things backwards. So I wanted to bring back an episode from 2019 that I've referenced at least 10+ times in the last few weeks that some of you may never have heard so you can start to really understand how to start attracting actual clients to your business using Instagram.   In this week’s episode I’m going to talk to you about: What big mistakes you are making in your social media marketing How to maximize your exposure and your effort And, how to get clients off your app and into your business   To do all this – you need to start with an INSTAGRAM CLEANSE!!!   But I’ve finally reached 1,000 followers, why would I do an Instagram cleanse??! I can practically hear you crying this from reading the title of this episode alone. But it’s okay, I’ll explain all. Get ready, because in this episode of Lessons of a Lashpreneur I’m going to get REAL honest about how an Instagram cleanse is essential for the growth of your business.   Why do I need an Instagram cleanse? If they are not a potential customer of yours – or they’re a dude! Or a bunch of tweezer manufacturers…or anyone who is NEVER going to be your customer, then they are not helping you extend your reach or purchase from you. So, if you have 1,000 or 2,000, 8,000 followers and you own a solo brick and mortar business – you have a lot of clicking ahead of you.   If they are never going to be your customer – then ELIMINATE them.   You’ve got to get real. It’s no longer social media for your personal use. We want to get our marketing in front of the right people. All these fake followers, tweezer manufacturers, lash brands are all people getting in the way of people who would actually want to become a customer of yours.   I don’t care about popularity, I don’t care about numbers and I hope you don’t either.   If you’ve gone from 1,000 followers to 100 followers because of this cleanse, then you now have 100 potential clients that your posts are more likely to show up in their feeds. Not those 1,000 people who have no interest in your business. That does nothing to grow your business and it wastes your time. So stop wasting your valuable time coming up with posts, editing photos, crafting captions, getting the right hashtags, to then have nobody see your posts!  That’s because the only people that like your posts are other industry professionals, lash brands and beauty industry. And, that does NOTHING to grow your business. You all DM me and say that social media doesn’t work. Well if I go into your social media account and the first thing I find is industry pros, or anything that says, lash, hair or make-up in the name, then I know you are not targeting the right followers – and that is why your social media is not working.   It doesn’t matter who you follow. It’s about who follows you.   How does the Instagram algorithm actually work? Instagram sends out your post to a test section of your followers. If that test sample shows that people engaged with your post, then the algorithm will send it out to another test section of your audience. The more valuable it is, the more likely it is to show up in more of your followers’ feed. If that test section doesn’t engage, then it won’t get sent out to more people.   Instagram works off engagement.   If you spend longer in the app you are going to get more exposure to ads – so Facebook/Instagram can charge more to advertisers. That’s how they make their business. Instagram’s social reach is between 1-3%. If you have 100 followers, only 1-3% will actually see your posts. For our Instagram account, we have 30,000 followers and our reach is way less than 1%. The more followers you have can actually work against you.   But we have a really targeted audience – and we are constantly cleansing. It may sound harsh, but that’s how the algorithm works.   Go back to episode 2 of Lessons of a Lashpreneur – How You’re Killing Your Chances With The Instagram Algorithm to learn more about how Instagram works.   Why am I not getting engagement? If you’re not using any captions, or hashtags, and are not responding to comments and are just posting an emoji of a butterfly 🦋 and a close-up eye shot👁️, then of course you are not building engagement. What am I supposed to engage with? Do I reply with a caterpillar emoji?? 🐛. That’s not engagement. 🙄   What about other lash artists that follow me and engage? I can’t get rid of them? Yes, all those lash artists and friends may be great for community, but how are you supposed to get accurate data on what posts are successful and connecting with customers if it is getting watered down by lash artists who are engaging with you on EVERYTHING.   You need to eliminate ANYBODY and EVERYBODY who is not a potential customer. Even if they are your supportive Auntie who lives in Boca – they have got to go.   It’s not personal, it’s business. Let your friends follow your personal account or pick up the phone and call you. Your social media marketing is supposed to create a relationship with the customer. To do that – you need to hear from them and find out what they want.   Do they want to know your story? Do they want before and after shots? Do they want inspirational quotes? Do they want community?   We can’t know any of that – without that data. Data is everything if you want to grow your business. How can you make informed decisions about how to market to a potential customer if you don’t know what it is they want to see or hear from you if you are not getting accurate data? If you want to know what potential customers want from you –  and you can’t experiment with that – until you have the right audience. Lash artists are drawn to all those close-up eye shots. But, potential customers aren’t. You will keep thinking this is what your audience wants and keep posting more and more eye shots. What you really need to do is find out what it is your audience wants, but you have all these other people muddying up the waters. I know I keep telling you to engage with your audience – but you have the WRONG AUDIENCE.   So, if you have low engagement you either have the wrong audience and the wrong followers or they don’t value your posts.   You can find out which, by doing an Instagram cleanse.   How do you remove followers? I know some of you are going to resist this and I challenge you to DM me and tell me “hang on I’ve already taken off 200 followers and I haven’t found a difference?” Well, let me tell you, we have had so much success with members going through and being BRUTAL with eliminating followers and cutting 8 or 900 down to 200. AND… They’ve said; “I’m getting more engagement and more interaction from people I didn’t even know were potential customers and I’m getting DMs.” Trust me, there is a method to my madness.   How do I start? Go to your profile page on your app Click on number of followers Tap on that number On the right-hand side, you’ll see three little dots Tap that and you should have the option to remove follower If you don’t, you’ll have to go into their account and block that follower instead   Wait, blocking is way too harsh? If you block them, you won’t even come up when they search for you. And, if that sounds harsh – well it doesn’t matter as they aren’t ever going to be your customer. Plus, they don’t know that you’ve blocked them. I recommend for any spammy manufacturers you just block them.   What will happen once you cleanse your Instagram account? Once you’ve cleansed your customers into actual potential customers, you will start to notice an increase in engagement, more traffic to your website, views on your stories – all those good things you want from social media because you have the right, targeted audience. You’ll start getting true data about what your audience wants from you. Then, you’ll start getting real engagement. More of your posts will be getting seen and more DMs will start coming your way.   You need to utilize social media so you can get a return on your time and energy it takes to post. Start getting numbers that translate into dollars.   Go do your cleanse and let me know how it works for you over on my Instagram account! ALSO - this week is our last week for accepting applications for the Momentum Mastermind! If you are interested in growing and scaling your business to multiple six and seven figures with a team, head on over to www.thelashpreneur.com/mastermind to schedule a call with me and let's talk about the program!

Welcome back to another thrilling episode! 👋🏼 This time, I'm joined by our incredible business coaches, Coach Victoria and Coach Danielle, and let me tell you, we've got quite the lineup for you today!  We're digging into their journey to coaching in our programs, how our coaching is very different from other business coaches', giving you a sneak peek into what really goes down during our retreats and sooo much more. We are here not only to dish out strategies but also to help you overcome those tricky mindset obstacles that can hold you back. We're all about creating a safe space where you can be authentically you, free from judgment, and full of support and growth. 🫶🏽💕✨ So if you’re interested to know more about Momentum Mastermind — our highest level of support and coaching — you can apply for the program and jump on a call with me to learn how this can transform your team and your business 👉🏽 www.thelashpreneur.com/mastermind 💌 Applications close March 25th for this next round of enrollment! If you have any questions, you can always hit me up in the DMs @thelashpreneur!  

This week, we've got a special guest, Megan Leger from Southern Lash Co. and a member of my business coaching program, Society Xcelerator! She's dropping some real talk about hiring the right way — no more just bringing in pals or fam. Sound familiar? We've all been there! 👀 We dive into the nitty-gritty of setting clear professional boundaries,  pointing out that personal connections don't always translate well into a work environment. 🤷🏼‍♀️  Megan opens up about her quest to find the perfect coach for her beauty business, highlighting the game-changing impact of having someone who truly understands the industry. Listen to her share how these made achieving work-life balance easier for her! If you're nodding along and dreaming of that work-life balance, just like Megan, and been wanting to build a team — hit me up on Instagram at @thelashpreneur with #hire, and I’ll spill more details about this program! 🤗 And Psst! Applications for Momentum Mastermind are open until March 29th! This is our highest level of support and coaching for building out a kickass team and stopping trading YOUR time for money and start growing your business without growing your time spent in it! Learn more about this program and apply here: www.thelashpreneur.com/mastermind

In this week’s episode, I open up about my recent ski trip ⛷️ disaster during my 40th birthday celebration (which you may already be aware of if you’ve been following me on Instagram). What started as a dream getaway turned into a challenging situation when my daughter had a skiing accident. I share the raw experience of dealing with unexpected problems, from lift ticket issues to a broken leg. It's a real-life account of how I coped with overwhelming moments and found strength in vulnerability. I also discuss what I noticed on social media during this experience and how it can offer valuable lessons for marketing your business. Join me in this episode for a genuine and relatable journey through life's challenges! PS. Momentum Mastermind Applications are now open thru March 30! Visit www.thelashpreneur.com/apply to schedule a free call with me to see if this program is the right next step to scale your team to multiple six and seven figures!  

Welcome back to another round of life lessons with yours truly. 🤗 If you haven't caught ✨ Part 1 ✨ yet, hold the phone and hop on over to last week's episode as I’ve shared the first half in there!  So in this episode, we're talking about everything – from smart business moves and marketing hacks to personal growth, relationships, and keeping our heads in a good place. We’re gonna have a real chat about how sleep impacts every aspect of our lives, how we're all a work in progress (our personalities included) 😌, and the game-changing power of choosing positive thoughts. But that's not all — you gotta stay tuned for more wisdom and insights packed into this episode! AAAND as your birthday gift to me 🤪 - if you find some gems that hit home, snap a screenshot, share it with us on our podcast Instagram account, and tag @lessonsofalashpreneur. Let's have a chat about what spoke to you the most!

Hey Lashpreneurs! 👋🏼 Get ready for a birthday bash here on the Lessons of a Lashpreneur Show! In this special episode, I'm spilling the beans on 40 years of life and business wisdom - and guess what? This is just Part 1! 👀 We're talking about the language of business, overcoming challenges, and the real deal about success. And, of course, we'll chat about finding balance between work and, you know, living. 😉 Tag or DM me on @lessonsofalashpreneur while you’re tuning in! Take a screenshot and share your biggest takeaway, what resonated with you, or had the most impact from this episode. 🎧 Sharing your thoughts would mean the world to me — it's the best birthday gift you could give!