December 2, 2024 • 27 mins
In this week’s episode, I sit down with Sandra Pierce from Looking Good Naturally, who shares her remarkable journey from IT to the beauty industry—a career shift inspired by her hearing disability.
Sandra opens up about the unique challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in self-employment and the importance of building confidence and finding mentors along the way. We also discuss self-sufficiency, overcoming obstacles, and creating a career you love—no matter where you start.
Get comfy and tune in to be inspired by Sandra's story and her passion for helping others thrive!
NOTES
You can find out more about Sandra you can find her on Instagram or Facebook.
Download your unmissable FREE Ultimate Personal Brand Story Planner
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
Welcome to the Bravery BehindThe Brand podcast, the podcast
that dives deep into the heartof the stories behind the
brands we encounter on socialmedia every day. On the
surface they make it look soeasy but I guarantee there is
blood, sweat and tears behindall the reels, posts and
beautifully presentedproducts. I'm your host Amanda
Jane, a personal branding andmedia skills coach originally
(00:25):
from the north of Ireland andnow calling beautiful
Cheshire, England my home. Iwork with business owners,
building their confidence andcrafting compelling brand
stories so they feelcomfortable stepping into the
spotlight and becoming thego-to guest that everyone
wants, speaking with authorityand selling with authenticity.
I experience first-hand thecourage that's required to
move beyond our comfort zoneand these are the
inspirational stories I wantto share. I'll also be doing
(00:48):
some solo episodes and sharinguseful tips that will
hopefully help you to getmotivated with your own
personal branding. Becauseit's more than just a
beautiful website and glossyphotos for Instagram, You do
actually have to talk topeople, so let's get started.
(01:09):
Hello, everyone, and welcometo the Bravery Behind The
Brand podcast. I'm AmandaJayne, your host, and today I
have with me Sandra Pierce.Hello, Sandra. Hello there.
Hello. Thank you for joiningme. So before we get stuck in,
find out all about yourbusiness, I'm just going to
ask you a few questions so wecan get to know you a little
(01:30):
bit better. So do you have afavourite motivational song?
Oh, yes I do actually. There'sone that I listen to not all
the time but it's quitepoignant to me and it's called
No Matter What They Tell Usand it was from, I think it
(01:51):
was Boyzone back in the dayand I love the words in it
because if you listen to thewords they're very poignant. I
think they're very poignant.Yeah, so that's one that
springs to mind. Good choice,I love that song and I love
Boyzone and their Irish. Thatwill go on the Spotify
(02:12):
playlist, thank you. And doyou have a motivational quote?
Yes, well there's a lady thatI follow and her name is Mel
Robbins and she's an Americanlady and she's very
motivational and she's got,it's called the five four
(02:32):
three two one, just do it. Soif you're ever contemplating
and fretting about something,if you count five, four,
three, two, one and do it,nine times out of ten you'll
do it. I've heard of her, I'venot really, I shall
investigate further becauseshe sounds very interesting,
(02:53):
but thank you for that. I loveit when someone mentions
something I think I'll get alittle bit curious and think
oh I'll have to investigatefurther, but thank you for
that. And now I'm just beingnosy, do you read Not as much
as I should, but I've justbeen and ordered Miranda
Hart's new book. It's arrivedtoday, so I'm looking forward
to getting stuck into that.It's had great reviews, I
(03:15):
understand. So again, it'smore motivational, I think. So
that's going to be my bedsideread tonight. Oh, that sounds
good. I love her. She's veryfunny. So is it about her life
or is it fiction or is it justNo, I think it's a bit more
along the lines of, I thinkit's all to do with, you know,
(03:39):
how mindfulness and that sortof thing. Yeah, so I thought
I'd give it a try and see whatour gain from reading her
book. Well, that sounds good.I might look that up actually.
That sounds right up mystreet. Brilliant. Thank you.
So you are from Looking GoodNaturally and you are a
(03:59):
business mentor in the beautyindustry. So tell me more
about that. Yeah, so I've beenin the beauty industry for
over 23 years now. Originally,I guess I say I fell into
beauty. I wanted to go off andteach IT packages back in the
(04:23):
day and I went to do an ITaccess course and discovered
that I'd got a hearingdisability at 38 and so it was
on that year at college doingtraining that I decided that I
would change tack and dosomething where I knew it
would be more on a one-to-onebasis with people And so I set
(04:47):
up, it's called Beauty atNumber Two back in the day and
I ran a lovely beauty businessdown in Chawley Wood in
Hertfordshire and then I movedto North Wales 11 years ago.
I'm supposed to have retiredbut after six months it wasn't
(05:07):
quite so launched looking goodnaturally and I thoroughly
enjoyed it so yeah getting outmeeting new people and
obviously helping women lookgood naturally. Amazing. So
interesting that you went fromIT to beauty, but I can see
(05:28):
why with the hearing issuesyou wanted to do sort of a
little bit one-to-one and thenmoving to North Wales, I'm not
far from there myself and it'sbeautiful. It's gorgeous. My
views from my home, I overlookPuffin Island in Anglesey and
And the Snowdonia mountainrange is the most beautiful
(05:49):
place to live. It gets quitewindy here, but it's
beautiful. Yeah, you need towrap up warm, don't you? So
what's the biggest challengethat you faced then in that
industry and how have youovercome it? Looking back when
I was 38 and discovering I hada hearing disability, I didn't
believe it to start off with.I just couldn't believe at
(06:12):
that age. You associatehearing loss with old people
and it completely locked myconfidence for six. And I
wasn't in a very good placefor quite a few years. I was
quite ashamed of the fact thatI had a hearing disability.
And it was very much work inprogress for me, but going
(06:38):
into the beauty industry, itwas a big game changer for me.
I mean, you get to meet somewonderful people and I could,
you know, going self-employed,I could manage my hearing
loss. My way, I wasn't workingin somebody else's office or
salon and I put my tokenstrategies in place and in the
(07:06):
30 plus years that I've wornhearing aids now, Technology's
just moved on amazing, youknow, I Bluetoothed into you
tonight, so that would nothave been possible. I wouldn't
be on this call had it notbeen for technology. So it
useful words. I didn't evenknow that you could do that
(07:28):
and I know quite a few peoplewith hearing issues. So can
you explain to me how theBluetooth works then while
we're having thisconversation? It's really
cool, so I don't have to wearAirPods like you guys when you
listen to music on yourphones. So mine's just
streamed straight into myhearing aids now. So I can
(07:49):
watch TV, I can watch movieson my iPads and it's all
streamed in, so it's a bitlike having your own sound
around. It makes such adifference. Back when I was
running Beauty at number twoand the phones used to ring, I
used to have to let it runinto voicemail and then get my
(08:13):
other half to play themessages back because I
couldn't work out what peoplewere saying. It was really
tough, it was really tough. Itwas, you know, how can you not
function without your phonethese days? So yes Bluetooth
has been amazing. Oh that'sincredible and I'm really
(08:35):
interested in technologyanyway and I just love it when
something new comes along oryou make this discovery and I
just think wow that's just youknow it's incredible that you
can do that and remember itwasn't even that long ago when
I better not say it out loudyou know when we got the Alexa
I'm so in awe of where it'sgoing to go in the future and
(08:56):
I know there's concerns andyou know we've got to learn
butTo see technology working in
action and making such adifference for you, I just
think, oh, that's soincredible. Wow, I'm amazed.
Thank you for sharing that.That's just... And I'm going
(09:18):
to tell lots of people becauseI do know people with hearing
difficulty and I'm going toshare your story. So, you
know, it's been such ajourney, really Amanda, you
know, going back from thebeginning with Beauty at
Number 2. When I first startedout, I can remember one week I
(09:38):
had one eyebrow shape. I thinkthat, you know, eight pounds
and I thought, how in the hellam I going to survive on, you
know, on this? How is thisgoing to work for me? But, you
know, by just sticking at itand being consistent, you
know, you soon begin to grow aclient base and anybody
(10:00):
starting out in business don'tgive up. They reckon, you
know, most people who areself-employed After three
years a lot don't survivebeing self-employed but
especially people as I saywith disabilities if you're
struggling to get a job andthat was that was one of my
biggest issues I think when Imoved up here I did go for
(10:23):
interviews for jobs but whowas going to employ me with a
disability as opposed tosomeone who they wouldn't need
to put you know pieces ofequipment in place in the
workplace That is not good fora million reasons. That is not
good and it shouldn't evenhave been a factor because
(10:46):
reasonable adjustments can bemade and it is no measure of
your ability for all of thatand shame on any employer that
If you could give yourselfone piece of advice, your
younger self, what would itbe? I'm really interested in
what you have to say and I'msorry that you went through
(11:06):
those experiences with thoseemployers and I feel that you
felt almost compelled tocreate a job for yourself. And
one thing that I notice whensomeone's wanting to work for
themselves but things aren'thappening fast enough, when
you create a business you'reexpecting everything there and
then but as you say it takestime, it takes consistency.
You've got to build up aprofile, you've got to build
(11:27):
up credibility, you've got tobuild your brand. So what
piece of advice would you giveto a younger self? Oh I think
I think do some researchdefinitely and you know always
strive to look for answersbecause there is an answer out
there definitely and betrue to yourself, don't give
(11:52):
up. We all know our worth andthis is why I try to instill
with some of my team who lackconfidence you know it's
always work in progress andGoing back to when I wanted to
do teaching and I knew Icouldn't stand in front of the
class full of students becauseof my hearing loss, here I am
(12:15):
now. I do mentoring on aone-to-one basis with people
in my team. You can workthings to suit you. It's just
about not giving up and notworrying about what everybody
else thinks, definitely. Ithink us women, we're quite...
(12:36):
Yeah, I think we think toomuch about what everybody else
thinks. We should just stickon our own path. And always
look, if you're looking tobetter yourself, look for
someone who's already done itand go and ask them questions.
Nothing wrong with askingquestions, that's what I
(12:57):
think. It might sound a bitscary, but you'd be surprised
what comes back. And if youplateau, it's usually because
you've got to a level andyou're working out You're just
about to branch off and grow abit more. So beauty for me is
(13:18):
a very sociable industry to bein. I love helping people with
their skincare and I do lotsof makeovers. Now for ladies
in their, probably in theirlate 40s to 50s,
I don't capture the youngermarket really, that's not my
niche, but I still get a hugepleasure out of ladies. I
(13:44):
guess when they get to their50s, some ladies, they've sort
of given up a bit and theyblend in the background I
think, come on, you do need towear some makeup. You do need
to put that lipstick on andmake yourself feel good
sometimes. And so, yeah,that's what I've been up to in
the last few years. But as Imentioned to you, I took
(14:10):
Tropic skincare on seven and ahalf years ago. And that was
purely because I'd moved toNorth Wales and I wanted to
get out and meet new people.And here I am, as I say, seven
and a half years later with ateam of over 200. It's been a
(14:31):
fabulous journey. You know, Iget to talk about something I
love all the time and liketraining today with one of my
new girls, sharing some of myknowledge with skincare and
beauty to help set her on herway. That sounds absolutely
incredible and I love the factthat you're encouraging women
(14:53):
regardless of their age tojust feel a little bit better
and it doesn't have to stopwhen you get to a certain age.
I'll be one of those 99 yearolds still doing the lipstick.
I will never stop. But one ofthe things I always say to
people when they're worriedabout them being judged, going
online or being judged, thosepeople that are judging me
(15:16):
don't pay my bills. So that'swhat drives me. I just think,
I don't care, I'm out to do mything my way. And it's a
mindset that you have to getover. But to be able to give
someone that lift and makethem feel better about
themselves, it's somethingthat's always going to be in
demand. And look what you'vemanaged to achieve from
(15:38):
finding yourself unable toBelieving that you were only
able to do something liketeaching, to finding yourself
actually teaching, usingtechnology and always having
had the capability of doing itbut maybe thinking at one
point you couldn't and ofcourse you always could. It
was just sometimes withreasonable adjustments like I
mentioned, a little bit oftechnology and a little bit of
(16:00):
imagination and possiblyCompassion that you gave
yourself to be able to do itand make it work and you
didn't give up you made itwork and I just think that's a
perfect example of not givingup being just so determined
with your dream to make itwork and here you are telling
the story and I think it's anincredible story. Well, it's
interesting, you know, from myeight pound eyebrow shape, I
(16:24):
think my team had just, we'djust turned over 2.5 million.
Wow, that's amazing. There yougo. Well, what is that from
those employers that wouldn'tconsider you or wouldn't take
on that person with that? Idon't want to say disability
because as it turned out, itwas probably One of the things
that gave you that push tothink creatively and think in
(16:47):
a different direction and lookat what you've achieved I
think it's amazing. I do thinkyou know sometimes things
aren't meant to be and it willtake you down a different path
and you know the universe islooking down on us and guiding
us I think and it's just It'sjust reaching out and giving
(17:10):
it a try. That's what I think.You have to give things a try
and as I say, I think being inthe beauty industry, they
reckon it's one of the mosthappiest places to be. I think
it's like that whenhairdressers, isn't it? And
everybody's pleased to seeyour hairdresser because
you're going to come outlooking amazing after having
(17:31):
your hair done. Where are weleaving her Jess? We're
feeling worse than when wewent in, you know. Most of the
time you come back out feelinglike a million dollars. So how
comfortable are you showing upfor your audience then online
or in public? Do you get up onstages? Well obviously
training you have to speak toa lot of people at once. How
comfortable are you with that?Well, I have done a few
(17:55):
presentations and I've been upon stage sharing my story with
Tropic Skincare a couple oftimes, which has been
absolutely amazing. But I wasalso invited with Hidden
Hearing and I go and do apresentation with the new
audiologist and share mystory. So there's two sides
(18:19):
really, there's some niceupsides that come from it.
When it comes to social media,I try, I do try, I have an
Instagram and I do Facebook.I've tried TikTok, I'm not so
sure on TikTok. But I'm alittle bit too old for that
one. No, I'm not having it.Nobody's too old for it. I'm
(18:43):
on TikTok and I've gothundreds of followers. But for
me, TikTok's like the WildWest. I'm going to give it a
go. But you know what? I'm nothaving no labels, no barriers.
No, no, no. So that one'sstill a work in progress for
me. But I will do lives in aclosed group. I share skincare
and makeup tips and I'll dolives in there. So I've got
(19:06):
over that, I think. Butinitially, initially it was
quite scary, really, isn't it?Anything. The first time you
do it, you're unsure. But keepdoing it. Keep showing up. But
I tend to try and do most ofmy lives now with subtitles
because also I think we're ofthis age where people, you
(19:27):
know, they do want to listento you but they might not be
in the right environment to doit but they will watch your
subtitles and tune in to you.Yeah, that's really
interesting. I heard somethingon television this morning.
It's weird what a lot ofpeople do it. They're watching
a program but they're watchingsomething on the phones and
(19:48):
they're reading the captionscoming up but they're actually
multitasking. I think a lot ofpeople do that so it's just
interesting that we can have,I mean there's never been a
better time to have all this.And technology to promote
ourselves. So my view is ifit's on there, use it, just
accommodate all your audiencesfor whatever reason and put it
(20:10):
on there. But yeah, people dotend to multitask when there's
content. And it's likecreating your own little
television show, isn't it?You've got to think of
everything, the productionelement, everything. But no,
that's brilliant that you dothat. And plus, people can
watch it back when they feellike it. And it's always
there. Yeah, I think, youknow, we have to try and it's
(20:35):
got to be less than threeminutes because they reckon we
haven't got nobody's got anyattention span anymore. And
that's probably my downfallwas I couldn't I couldn't
chat, chat for A lot longerthan three minutes. That's a
really hard one to try andrein in that one. Yeah, and
it's not a bad idea to kind ofgive you that limit, isn't it?
(20:57):
Right, what have I got to say?Who am I going to send to? How
long have I got? Right, get itout there. Yeah, that's
actually a good idea. Probablyone I should follow a little
bit more as well. So with allof that, that's amazing. What
would you like to be knownfor? What legacy would you
like to leave? Iwould love to spread an
(21:17):
awareness and leave a legacythat really we should be
researching more into whatwe're putting on our skin, on
our bodies for a start. It isimportant and I don't think a
lot of people realise just howimportant all these chemicals
they put in our foods and inour products We should be
(21:42):
raising an awareness andinvesting in ourselves. But
also I think if I look at mychildren, especially my
daughter, my legacy is to beself-sufficient and to learn
to stand on your own two feetand not be reliant on somebody
(22:04):
else. I think to be in aposition where You can be just
you and, as I say, nothave to rely on your other
half to support you, tosupport yourself. And that's,
you know, I come across lotsof women that are coming out
(22:27):
of marriages and things likethat, and they just don't know
where to start. And they'rehaving to rebuild their lives
again. I've got a couple ofladies in my team in their 70s
with no or bare minimumpensions. So my legacy would
be if you can, I think, investin yourself and be confident
(22:52):
and find something that youreally love and you can pass
it on, That's why I would likemy granddaughter to, you know,
from my daughter to mygranddaughter is to be you and
be as independent as you can.Yeah, I agree. I think it's an
(23:13):
amazing example to set ourchildren and grandchildren To
be able to say well actually Ican work for myself, I can do
this for myself and employmentisn't the only route in life,
there are many options and Ilove it when women are able to
be that example for otherwomen because you could find
(23:35):
yourself single for whateverreason at any age and you know
to be in your 70s and and haveno pension to fall back on or
whatever that must be prettyfrightening but to be able to
think oh well actually therethere are options you know I
have a choice it's it's reallygood to have those choices and
not be forced into thinkingwell you know I'm destitute
I'm doomed but that there areother avenues and I was always
(23:58):
keen to teach my daughtersthat employment wasn't the
only option that there wereother ways and I taught them
when they were very very smallIt's about ways to set up a
business and what you could dobecause they're asking really
interesting questions andthey've both gone on to study
business studies which isgreat. However, what they
learned was because they choseto learn business studies but
they don't teach those skills.If you don't study business
(24:22):
studies and I think thereshould be an element somewhere
in the education system whereall children are taught a
little bit about it. You know,but there are other routes,
you don't have to be employed,there are apprenticeships you
can set up on your own, youhave your own business,
there's more financialeducation and it just worries
me that we just seem to beshoehorning children, you
(24:43):
know, down one route. But withpeople like yourself, you're
out there, you're doing it,you're showing your children,
grandchildren that there areother routes and I think it's
incredible to be able toshowcase that work that you're
doing. We are, we're allunique and we've all got a
special place in this world Ithink and yeah, there's an
(25:05):
answer out there foreverybody. You just have to
keep looking. As I say, I'mjust so very grateful really
that my path went off down thebeauty avenue and as I say, I
can be honest with yousometimes, yes, I still do
(25:25):
have Moments where my hearingdisability gets me down but
I try to live with it as bestas I can and I choose
wisely I think these days.Certain situations that don't
(25:47):
suit me, that's fine, that'sfine. It's not a disservice
to yourself, it's just we havechoices and that's the nice
thing, I don't have to, I'mnot answerable to anybody. So
yeah, that is one of theupsides for working for
(26:07):
yourself. Yeah, absolutely.Making your choices on your
choice is the definitionfreedom in my eyes, isn't it?
That is just freedom. So wherecan we find out more about you
online? And I'll put yourlinks in the show notes. Well
you can find me on Instagramon Sandra Pierce Looking Good
(26:28):
Naturally and the same onFacebook. It goes through to
Linktree and there's lots ofmy links on there. I'm still
to get my website up andrunning. That's work in
progress at the moment butyou'll find lots of
information about me and onLinkedIn too. Fantastic, I
(26:50):
will put those on the shownotes and thank you so much
for joining. It's been anabsolute pleasure and I've
loved hearing your story andthank you for sharing it with
me. Thank you Amanda, thankyou for having me. Thank you
for listening today. A specialthanks to my fantastic guest,
Sandra Pierce, for sharing herincredible story with us. If
you want to increase saleswith your personal brand
strategy, don't miss out on myfree resources. You can find
(27:13):
the links in the podcastnotes, as well as the links
that Sandra also mentioned inthe podcast. And if you liked
the episode, please leave areview and share it with your
friends. Join me on the nextepisode for more incredible
bravery behind the brandstories. You can follow me on
Instagram at Or visit mywebsite amandajean.co.uk. Bye
for now!
Welcome to the Bravery BehindThe Brand podcast, the podcast
that dives deep into the heartof the stories behind the
brands we encounter on socialmedia every day. On the
surface they make it look soeasy but I guarantee there is
blood, sweat and tears behindall the reels, posts and
beautifully presentedproducts. I'm your host Amanda
Jane, a personal branding andmedia skills coach originally
(00:25):
from the north of Ireland andnow calling beautiful
Cheshire, England my home. Iwork with business owners,
building their confidence andcrafting compelling brand
stories so they feelcomfortable stepping into the
spotlight and becoming thego-to guest that everyone
wants, speaking with authorityand selling with authenticity.
I experience first-hand thecourage that's required to
move beyond our comfort zoneand these are the
inspirational stories I wantto share. I'll also be doing
(00:48):
some solo episodes and sharinguseful tips that will
hopefully help you to getmotivated with your own
personal branding. Becauseit's more than just a
beautiful website and glossyphotos for Instagram, You do
actually have to talk topeople, so let's get started.
(01:09):
Hello, everyone, and welcometo the Bravery Behind The
Brand podcast. I'm AmandaJayne, your host, and today I
have with me Sandra Pierce.Hello, Sandra. Hello there.
Hello. Thank you for joiningme. So before we get stuck in,
find out all about yourbusiness, I'm just going to
ask you a few questions so wecan get to know you a little
(01:30):
bit better. So do you have afavourite motivational song?
Oh, yes I do actually. There'sone that I listen to not all
the time but it's quitepoignant to me and it's called
No Matter What They Tell Usand it was from, I think it
(01:51):
was Boyzone back in the dayand I love the words in it
because if you listen to thewords they're very poignant. I
think they're very poignant.Yeah, so that's one that
springs to mind. Good choice,I love that song and I love
Boyzone and their Irish. Thatwill go on the Spotify
(02:12):
playlist, thank you. And doyou have a motivational quote?
Yes, well there's a lady thatI follow and her name is Mel
Robbins and she's an Americanlady and she's very
motivational and she's got,it's called the five four
(02:32):
three two one, just do it. Soif you're ever contemplating
and fretting about something,if you count five, four,
three, two, one and do it,nine times out of ten you'll
do it. I've heard of her, I'venot really, I shall
investigate further becauseshe sounds very interesting,
(02:53):
but thank you for that. I loveit when someone mentions
something I think I'll get alittle bit curious and think
oh I'll have to investigatefurther, but thank you for
that. And now I'm just beingnosy, do you read Not as much
as I should, but I've justbeen and ordered Miranda
Hart's new book. It's arrivedtoday, so I'm looking forward
to getting stuck into that.It's had great reviews, I
(03:15):
understand. So again, it'smore motivational, I think. So
that's going to be my bedsideread tonight. Oh, that sounds
good. I love her. She's veryfunny. So is it about her life
or is it fiction or is it justNo, I think it's a bit more
along the lines of, I thinkit's all to do with, you know,
(03:39):
how mindfulness and that sortof thing. Yeah, so I thought
I'd give it a try and see whatour gain from reading her
book. Well, that sounds good.I might look that up actually.
That sounds right up mystreet. Brilliant. Thank you.
So you are from Looking GoodNaturally and you are a
(03:59):
business mentor in the beautyindustry. So tell me more
about that. Yeah, so I've beenin the beauty industry for
over 23 years now. Originally,I guess I say I fell into
beauty. I wanted to go off andteach IT packages back in the
(04:23):
day and I went to do an ITaccess course and discovered
that I'd got a hearingdisability at 38 and so it was
on that year at college doingtraining that I decided that I
would change tack and dosomething where I knew it
would be more on a one-to-onebasis with people And so I set
(04:47):
up, it's called Beauty atNumber Two back in the day and
I ran a lovely beauty businessdown in Chawley Wood in
Hertfordshire and then I movedto North Wales 11 years ago.
I'm supposed to have retiredbut after six months it wasn't
(05:07):
quite so launched looking goodnaturally and I thoroughly
enjoyed it so yeah getting outmeeting new people and
obviously helping women lookgood naturally. Amazing. So
interesting that you went fromIT to beauty, but I can see
(05:28):
why with the hearing issuesyou wanted to do sort of a
little bit one-to-one and thenmoving to North Wales, I'm not
far from there myself and it'sbeautiful. It's gorgeous. My
views from my home, I overlookPuffin Island in Anglesey and
And the Snowdonia mountainrange is the most beautiful
(05:49):
place to live. It gets quitewindy here, but it's
beautiful. Yeah, you need towrap up warm, don't you? So
what's the biggest challengethat you faced then in that
industry and how have youovercome it? Looking back when
I was 38 and discovering I hada hearing disability, I didn't
believe it to start off with.I just couldn't believe at
(06:12):
that age. You associatehearing loss with old people
and it completely locked myconfidence for six. And I
wasn't in a very good placefor quite a few years. I was
quite ashamed of the fact thatI had a hearing disability.
And it was very much work inprogress for me, but going
(06:38):
into the beauty industry, itwas a big game changer for me.
I mean, you get to meet somewonderful people and I could,
you know, going self-employed,I could manage my hearing
loss. My way, I wasn't workingin somebody else's office or
salon and I put my tokenstrategies in place and in the
(07:06):
30 plus years that I've wornhearing aids now, Technology's
just moved on amazing, youknow, I Bluetoothed into you
tonight, so that would nothave been possible. I wouldn't
be on this call had it notbeen for technology. So it
useful words. I didn't evenknow that you could do that
(07:28):
and I know quite a few peoplewith hearing issues. So can
you explain to me how theBluetooth works then while
we're having thisconversation? It's really
cool, so I don't have to wearAirPods like you guys when you
listen to music on yourphones. So mine's just
streamed straight into myhearing aids now. So I can
(07:49):
watch TV, I can watch movieson my iPads and it's all
streamed in, so it's a bitlike having your own sound
around. It makes such adifference. Back when I was
running Beauty at number twoand the phones used to ring, I
used to have to let it runinto voicemail and then get my
(08:13):
other half to play themessages back because I
couldn't work out what peoplewere saying. It was really
tough, it was really tough. Itwas, you know, how can you not
function without your phonethese days? So yes Bluetooth
has been amazing. Oh that'sincredible and I'm really
(08:35):
interested in technologyanyway and I just love it when
something new comes along oryou make this discovery and I
just think wow that's just youknow it's incredible that you
can do that and remember itwasn't even that long ago when
I better not say it out loudyou know when we got the Alexa
I'm so in awe of where it'sgoing to go in the future and
(08:56):
I know there's concerns andyou know we've got to learn
butTo see technology working in
action and making such adifference for you, I just
think, oh, that's soincredible. Wow, I'm amazed.
Thank you for sharing that.That's just... And I'm going
(09:18):
to tell lots of people becauseI do know people with hearing
difficulty and I'm going toshare your story. So, you
know, it's been such ajourney, really Amanda, you
know, going back from thebeginning with Beauty at
Number 2. When I first startedout, I can remember one week I
(09:38):
had one eyebrow shape. I thinkthat, you know, eight pounds
and I thought, how in the hellam I going to survive on, you
know, on this? How is thisgoing to work for me? But, you
know, by just sticking at itand being consistent, you
know, you soon begin to grow aclient base and anybody
(10:00):
starting out in business don'tgive up. They reckon, you
know, most people who areself-employed After three
years a lot don't survivebeing self-employed but
especially people as I saywith disabilities if you're
struggling to get a job andthat was that was one of my
biggest issues I think when Imoved up here I did go for
(10:23):
interviews for jobs but whowas going to employ me with a
disability as opposed tosomeone who they wouldn't need
to put you know pieces ofequipment in place in the
workplace That is not good fora million reasons. That is not
good and it shouldn't evenhave been a factor because
(10:46):
reasonable adjustments can bemade and it is no measure of
your ability for all of thatand shame on any employer that
If you could give yourselfone piece of advice, your
younger self, what would itbe? I'm really interested in
what you have to say and I'msorry that you went through
(11:06):
those experiences with thoseemployers and I feel that you
felt almost compelled tocreate a job for yourself. And
one thing that I notice whensomeone's wanting to work for
themselves but things aren'thappening fast enough, when
you create a business you'reexpecting everything there and
then but as you say it takestime, it takes consistency.
You've got to build up aprofile, you've got to build
(11:27):
up credibility, you've got tobuild your brand. So what
piece of advice would you giveto a younger self? Oh I think
I think do some researchdefinitely and you know always
strive to look for answersbecause there is an answer out
there definitely and betrue to yourself, don't give
(11:52):
up. We all know our worth andthis is why I try to instill
with some of my team who lackconfidence you know it's
always work in progress andGoing back to when I wanted to
do teaching and I knew Icouldn't stand in front of the
class full of students becauseof my hearing loss, here I am
(12:15):
now. I do mentoring on aone-to-one basis with people
in my team. You can workthings to suit you. It's just
about not giving up and notworrying about what everybody
else thinks, definitely. Ithink us women, we're quite...
(12:36):
Yeah, I think we think toomuch about what everybody else
thinks. We should just stickon our own path. And always
look, if you're looking tobetter yourself, look for
someone who's already done itand go and ask them questions.
Nothing wrong with askingquestions, that's what I
(12:57):
think. It might sound a bitscary, but you'd be surprised
what comes back. And if youplateau, it's usually because
you've got to a level andyou're working out You're just
about to branch off and grow abit more. So beauty for me is
(13:18):
a very sociable industry to bein. I love helping people with
their skincare and I do lotsof makeovers. Now for ladies
in their, probably in theirlate 40s to 50s,
I don't capture the youngermarket really, that's not my
niche, but I still get a hugepleasure out of ladies. I
(13:44):
guess when they get to their50s, some ladies, they've sort
of given up a bit and theyblend in the background I
think, come on, you do need towear some makeup. You do need
to put that lipstick on andmake yourself feel good
sometimes. And so, yeah,that's what I've been up to in
the last few years. But as Imentioned to you, I took
(14:10):
Tropic skincare on seven and ahalf years ago. And that was
purely because I'd moved toNorth Wales and I wanted to
get out and meet new people.And here I am, as I say, seven
and a half years later with ateam of over 200. It's been a
(14:31):
fabulous journey. You know, Iget to talk about something I
love all the time and liketraining today with one of my
new girls, sharing some of myknowledge with skincare and
beauty to help set her on herway. That sounds absolutely
incredible and I love the factthat you're encouraging women
(14:53):
regardless of their age tojust feel a little bit better
and it doesn't have to stopwhen you get to a certain age.
I'll be one of those 99 yearolds still doing the lipstick.
I will never stop. But one ofthe things I always say to
people when they're worriedabout them being judged, going
online or being judged, thosepeople that are judging me
(15:16):
don't pay my bills. So that'swhat drives me. I just think,
I don't care, I'm out to do mything my way. And it's a
mindset that you have to getover. But to be able to give
someone that lift and makethem feel better about
themselves, it's somethingthat's always going to be in
demand. And look what you'vemanaged to achieve from
(15:38):
finding yourself unable toBelieving that you were only
able to do something liketeaching, to finding yourself
actually teaching, usingtechnology and always having
had the capability of doing itbut maybe thinking at one
point you couldn't and ofcourse you always could. It
was just sometimes withreasonable adjustments like I
mentioned, a little bit oftechnology and a little bit of
(16:00):
imagination and possiblyCompassion that you gave
yourself to be able to do itand make it work and you
didn't give up you made itwork and I just think that's a
perfect example of not givingup being just so determined
with your dream to make itwork and here you are telling
the story and I think it's anincredible story. Well, it's
interesting, you know, from myeight pound eyebrow shape, I
(16:24):
think my team had just, we'djust turned over 2.5 million.
Wow, that's amazing. There yougo. Well, what is that from
those employers that wouldn'tconsider you or wouldn't take
on that person with that? Idon't want to say disability
because as it turned out, itwas probably One of the things
that gave you that push tothink creatively and think in
(16:47):
a different direction and lookat what you've achieved I
think it's amazing. I do thinkyou know sometimes things
aren't meant to be and it willtake you down a different path
and you know the universe islooking down on us and guiding
us I think and it's just It'sjust reaching out and giving
(17:10):
it a try. That's what I think.You have to give things a try
and as I say, I think being inthe beauty industry, they
reckon it's one of the mosthappiest places to be. I think
it's like that whenhairdressers, isn't it? And
everybody's pleased to seeyour hairdresser because
you're going to come outlooking amazing after having
(17:31):
your hair done. Where are weleaving her Jess? We're
feeling worse than when wewent in, you know. Most of the
time you come back out feelinglike a million dollars. So how
comfortable are you showing upfor your audience then online
or in public? Do you get up onstages? Well obviously
training you have to speak toa lot of people at once. How
comfortable are you with that?Well, I have done a few
(17:55):
presentations and I've been upon stage sharing my story with
Tropic Skincare a couple oftimes, which has been
absolutely amazing. But I wasalso invited with Hidden
Hearing and I go and do apresentation with the new
audiologist and share mystory. So there's two sides
(18:19):
really, there's some niceupsides that come from it.
When it comes to social media,I try, I do try, I have an
Instagram and I do Facebook.I've tried TikTok, I'm not so
sure on TikTok. But I'm alittle bit too old for that
one. No, I'm not having it.Nobody's too old for it. I'm
(18:43):
on TikTok and I've gothundreds of followers. But for
me, TikTok's like the WildWest. I'm going to give it a
go. But you know what? I'm nothaving no labels, no barriers.
No, no, no. So that one'sstill a work in progress for
me. But I will do lives in aclosed group. I share skincare
and makeup tips and I'll dolives in there. So I've got
(19:06):
over that, I think. Butinitially, initially it was
quite scary, really, isn't it?Anything. The first time you
do it, you're unsure. But keepdoing it. Keep showing up. But
I tend to try and do most ofmy lives now with subtitles
because also I think we're ofthis age where people, you
(19:27):
know, they do want to listento you but they might not be
in the right environment to doit but they will watch your
subtitles and tune in to you.Yeah, that's really
interesting. I heard somethingon television this morning.
It's weird what a lot ofpeople do it. They're watching
a program but they're watchingsomething on the phones and
(19:48):
they're reading the captionscoming up but they're actually
multitasking. I think a lot ofpeople do that so it's just
interesting that we can have,I mean there's never been a
better time to have all this.And technology to promote
ourselves. So my view is ifit's on there, use it, just
accommodate all your audiencesfor whatever reason and put it
(20:10):
on there. But yeah, people dotend to multitask when there's
content. And it's likecreating your own little
television show, isn't it?You've got to think of
everything, the productionelement, everything. But no,
that's brilliant that you dothat. And plus, people can
watch it back when they feellike it. And it's always
there. Yeah, I think, youknow, we have to try and it's
(20:35):
got to be less than threeminutes because they reckon we
haven't got nobody's got anyattention span anymore. And
that's probably my downfallwas I couldn't I couldn't
chat, chat for A lot longerthan three minutes. That's a
really hard one to try andrein in that one. Yeah, and
it's not a bad idea to kind ofgive you that limit, isn't it?
(20:57):
Right, what have I got to say?Who am I going to send to? How
long have I got? Right, get itout there. Yeah, that's
actually a good idea. Probablyone I should follow a little
bit more as well. So with allof that, that's amazing. What
would you like to be knownfor? What legacy would you
like to leave? Iwould love to spread an
(21:17):
awareness and leave a legacythat really we should be
researching more into whatwe're putting on our skin, on
our bodies for a start. It isimportant and I don't think a
lot of people realise just howimportant all these chemicals
they put in our foods and inour products We should be
(21:42):
raising an awareness andinvesting in ourselves. But
also I think if I look at mychildren, especially my
daughter, my legacy is to beself-sufficient and to learn
to stand on your own two feetand not be reliant on somebody
(22:04):
else. I think to be in aposition where You can be just
you and, as I say, nothave to rely on your other
half to support you, tosupport yourself. And that's,
you know, I come across lotsof women that are coming out
(22:27):
of marriages and things likethat, and they just don't know
where to start. And they'rehaving to rebuild their lives
again. I've got a couple ofladies in my team in their 70s
with no or bare minimumpensions. So my legacy would
be if you can, I think, investin yourself and be confident
(22:52):
and find something that youreally love and you can pass
it on, That's why I would likemy granddaughter to, you know,
from my daughter to mygranddaughter is to be you and
be as independent as you can.Yeah, I agree. I think it's an
(23:13):
amazing example to set ourchildren and grandchildren To
be able to say well actually Ican work for myself, I can do
this for myself and employmentisn't the only route in life,
there are many options and Ilove it when women are able to
be that example for otherwomen because you could find
(23:35):
yourself single for whateverreason at any age and you know
to be in your 70s and and haveno pension to fall back on or
whatever that must be prettyfrightening but to be able to
think oh well actually therethere are options you know I
have a choice it's it's reallygood to have those choices and
not be forced into thinkingwell you know I'm destitute
I'm doomed but that there areother avenues and I was always
(23:58):
keen to teach my daughtersthat employment wasn't the
only option that there wereother ways and I taught them
when they were very very smallIt's about ways to set up a
business and what you could dobecause they're asking really
interesting questions andthey've both gone on to study
business studies which isgreat. However, what they
learned was because they choseto learn business studies but
they don't teach those skills.If you don't study business
(24:22):
studies and I think thereshould be an element somewhere
in the education system whereall children are taught a
little bit about it. You know,but there are other routes,
you don't have to be employed,there are apprenticeships you
can set up on your own, youhave your own business,
there's more financialeducation and it just worries
me that we just seem to beshoehorning children, you
(24:43):
know, down one route. But withpeople like yourself, you're
out there, you're doing it,you're showing your children,
grandchildren that there areother routes and I think it's
incredible to be able toshowcase that work that you're
doing. We are, we're allunique and we've all got a
special place in this world Ithink and yeah, there's an
(25:05):
answer out there foreverybody. You just have to
keep looking. As I say, I'mjust so very grateful really
that my path went off down thebeauty avenue and as I say, I
can be honest with yousometimes, yes, I still do
(25:25):
have Moments where my hearingdisability gets me down but
I try to live with it as bestas I can and I choose
wisely I think these days.Certain situations that don't
(25:47):
suit me, that's fine, that'sfine. It's not a disservice
to yourself, it's just we havechoices and that's the nice
thing, I don't have to, I'mnot answerable to anybody. So
yeah, that is one of theupsides for working for
(26:07):
yourself. Yeah, absolutely.Making your choices on your
choice is the definitionfreedom in my eyes, isn't it?
That is just freedom. So wherecan we find out more about you
online? And I'll put yourlinks in the show notes. Well
you can find me on Instagramon Sandra Pierce Looking Good
(26:28):
Naturally and the same onFacebook. It goes through to
Linktree and there's lots ofmy links on there. I'm still
to get my website up andrunning. That's work in
progress at the moment butyou'll find lots of
information about me and onLinkedIn too. Fantastic, I
(26:50):
will put those on the shownotes and thank you so much
for joining. It's been anabsolute pleasure and I've
loved hearing your story andthank you for sharing it with
me. Thank you Amanda, thankyou for having me. Thank you
for listening today. A specialthanks to my fantastic guest,
Sandra Pierce, for sharing herincredible story with us. If
you want to increase saleswith your personal brand
strategy, don't miss out on myfree resources. You can find
(27:13):
the links in the podcastnotes, as well as the links
that Sandra also mentioned inthe podcast. And if you liked
the episode, please leave areview and share it with your
friends. Join me on the nextepisode for more incredible
bravery behind the brandstories. You can follow me on
Instagram at Or visit mywebsite amandajean.co.uk. Bye
for now!
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