Episode Transcript
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Speaker (00:01):
This is the
Fredericksburg Neighbors
Podcast, the place where localbusinesses and neighbors come
together.
Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome back to
another episode of the FXBG
Neighbors Podcast, where weshare the stories of our
favorite local brands.
I'm excited to introduce you tomy guest today.
We have Kat Halstead with Kat'sBeauty Lounge.
Kat, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hi.
Good morning, everyone.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I am so excited to
have you on the show and share
your story and share all aboutyour business.
So let's start there.
Share with us a little bitabout Kat's Beauty Lounge.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Oh, thanks for having
me, Dory.
Kat's Beauty Lounge was reallyuh a project that I started
after my divorce.
And I think it was just mereally sharing like my voice.
I wanted to create a safe spacefor myself and my clients to
feel seen and heard.
And I get overstimulated in anuh open concept salon.
(01:11):
And so the private suite lifehas really been an elevated
version of what I was doingbefore.
And so it's been um a labor oflove for sure.
And then it's evolved into theChatham Heights project where
now we're trying to share thesame um safety with other
(01:32):
stylists and more clients.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So I love that.
And I am one of your clients,so I have been to your suite
several times, and it is awonderful, comfortable space.
And I also I don't love beingin a crowded salon.
And so it's really nice to beable to connect with you and be
(01:55):
in a super relaxing atmospherewhere there's no judgment,
right?
Right?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
No, zero judgment.
And then I feel like becauseit's uh a little bit more
private, it gives us more roomto really zoom in on like your
personal concerns as a client,and then I can zoom on them as a
stylist because I don't doublebook.
So then it really is a privateexperience for both of us.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
I love that.
I love that.
And so you have a space and inand you are sharing it with um
another stylist, and now you'relooking for a third stylist so
that they can also offer thesame type of experience for
their clients.
So tell us, share what with usa little bit more about that
opportunity because you do havespace for for one more.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
I do, I do.
I have one available suiteleft.
Um looking for another uhindependent stylist that is
motivated and ready to elevatetheir business.
Uh, we like to collab aroundhere.
So I want to uh encourage otherstylists to do the same, to
really reach for their ownpersonal dreams in their
(03:01):
business because there's there'splenty of clients out here for
everybody.
We don't have to necessarily bedoing the same thing.
We can really customize and umpick what we want to do also,
uh, because then we can reallyzoom in on making it super
perfect for for each person.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, absolutely.
So share with me a little bitabout your specialty and your
your services and and you know,the services that you really um
you know specialize in for yourclients.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, the one I think
I take pride in the most is my
like corrective coloring,blonding services.
Uh, I really like flexing my mytechnical skills, the color
services is my happy place, mywheelhouse.
I do work for a global haircolor company, Keune and Hair
Cosmetics, where I get to sharethose um or share that education
(03:53):
that they've given me.
And so I really like to giftthat to other stylists as well
because it's really changed mywhole life.
Um, not just the business andnot just the clients, but
literally just I don't know, theripple effect is real.
Um, and so I'm grateful to havethe space um to share.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I love that, I love
that.
And um you uh did wonders on myown hair because I needed a
blonction.
And I one of the things that Ireally appreciate about you is
the education piece that youjust talked about.
So talk to me a little bitabout that and how you are
staying up with trends in youreducation.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, so the industry
is always evolving, trends are
always changing.
Um, and it happens, it feelslike faster and faster as things
progress.
So I'm grateful for the brandthat they help kind of keep me
on the forefront of things.
And then I just that rippleeffect thing, I get to share it
with everyone.
Um, a lot of it is fundamentalsthough, that once you get those
(05:01):
fundamentals nailed down,you're just kind of like mixed
mixing and matching like anoutfit, you know, you have this
belt and you have this blazer,and now maybe you're gonna wear
these this together, where maybethis person wouldn't style it
that way, but this person does.
And um, depending on yourlifestyle and you know, budget,
maybe, or whatever variables aregoing on in your hair math
(05:26):
equation.
Um I have a lot of experiencein that and that gifting thing.
Um, before hair school, I beatmy hair up a lot.
I've had a lot of differentclients, and um, I get I'm
grateful that I get a lot ofexposure with the education.
So it just I don't know, Iguess I'm grateful for the brand
um taking me on because it'sreally that's really where I get
(05:47):
it from.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
That's amazing.
I love that.
And so you mentioned umaccessibility, and so something
that um I've noticed is that notonly are you um you know in an
elite status with your educationand your experience, but you
also still try to make itaccessible to everyone.
So talk to me a little bitabout that.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, um I hate
feeling like hair has gotten to
be so much of a luxury thatpeople feel like it's
unattainable.
Um I think we underestimate howmuch it is linked to our mental
health or how we feel aboutourselves and that talk about a
game changer when we feel good.
(06:31):
I think we feel like we canshare that.
I don't know.
I feel like I'm repeatingmyself, but it just it's really
I want to share what I'velearned with people, and that's
just I don't know.
I feel better when I lookbetter.
And when my clients are there,I can see them.
You are a different person fromthe arrival of your appointment
(06:52):
through your consultation,through I watch them relax and
they they turn into the personthey're supposed to be instead
of this the person.
I don't know, I don't even knowhow to explain it, but I think
um people get people people getwhat I'm trying to say right
now.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And yeah, absolutely.
I mean it is a trans, it is atransformation inside and out,
right?
So you are working on theoutside, but in turn it it it
also transform the inside.
It's more than a hairappointment.
It is.
You're like part partpsychologist, part scientist,
part, I call you magician.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Hey, it's it might be
it looks like a wand sometimes,
right?
Smoke and mirrors sometimes,you know.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Absolutely.
Um so let me ask you this (07:37):
do
you find that there are any
misconceptions when it comes tothe industry?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Um, I think
considering myself a chemical
specialist, the the heat on thechemicals, um I think, you know,
um to each their own, but Idon't know any manufacturers'
directions that say to do that.
And so then I just I feel likewe're creating this unstable
(08:06):
environment and we're justifyingum doing that because we want
it to work faster, and I thinkthat we're doing ourselves and
our clients a disservice withthat.
I think that's my I thinkthat's my least favorite one,
and maybe maybe I shouldn't, Idon't know.
Maybe the hairdressers aregonna want to cancel me for
that, but um that's probablythat's probably a good one.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I think so.
Yeah.
So let me switch gears a littlebit.
Um, being a business owner,you're working very hard.
So when you're not working,what are you doing for fun?
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Oh man, hopefully a
lot of nothing.
A lot of a lot of relaxing,drinking of the coffee.
Um, I like to eat.
I don't know if you if you'refollowing me.
You find that it's a lot ofhair and a lot of food.
I like to work hard and thenwe're hungry after work.
So we need to we need to eatsomething nice.
So a new restaurant, a littlefood adventure, and a cute
(09:08):
outfit, brand new outfit.
Um, take myself on a date, takemy friends on a date, um, my
daughter on a date.
I love that.
Any local favorites?
Um, let's see.
Pastiglias is a go-to.
We like Benny's.
We like, I'm trying to thinkall the aspects.
Fahrenheit.
I haven't made it to Chop Houseyet.
(09:30):
I'd like to check that placeout.
I've heard good things.
Localvor.
I want to try that new place.
I've heard good things aboutthat.
Um, Casey's Cheeky's.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
I always like their
espresso martini.
I love that we've gotten somesome good new restaurants in
downtown, Fredericksburg.
Yeah, it's always a good timegoing down there.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
No, that's right.
Well, when the weather's nice,right?
You take a little stroll.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Love that.
And so let me ask you, is therea challenge or a hardship that
you have gone through?
And now that you're on theother side of it, you feel like
you're better and stronger forit, whether it's uh, you know,
in business or in life?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
I think the hardest
part is just like staying
self-motivated.
Um, it gets heavy, it gets hardto carry sometimes, and you
just want to throw it away orput it down.
Um, but you can't for right,you gotta pick it back up.
Um yeah.
It's a roller coaster, right?
It can be, it can be.
(10:39):
Um, and so I think we have toremember that the downtime is
prep time.
I learned a long time ago thatdon't look at that as like a
deficit.
This is the calm before thestorm, clean, order stuff, do
inventory, get your mind right.
I don't know, take a break,take a break, you know what?
Take a break.
Yeah, yeah.
(11:00):
So you can be ready for when itgets popping again.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's that's really
good advice.
And if someone came to you andmaybe they were thinking about
opening a salon or they'relooking at starting a business,
what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Um that's a tricky
one because I'm like, I would
one, I would want to say don'toverthink it, but then at the
same time, you got to be reallycalculated.
Um you want to be smart aboutyour decisions because you don't
want to be spinning yourwheels.
You can really go far when youare disciplined in the right
(11:42):
areas, and it makes it can makea huge difference.
I think we underestimate that.
Just like good maintenance onyour yard, good maintenance on
your hair, good maintenance onyour business is the same.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Yeah, yeah.
It's important, uh, you know,the planning stage is is huge,
and then it's execution, butjust dive in and and get
started.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
But yes, putting out
something is better than being
scared to put out nothing.
Absolutely.
Then you at least you haveit'll evolve.
It does that doesn't have to beit can be edited forever, is
kind of what I've also learned.
Yeah, so it doesn't have to belike all done in one swoop
either, but the snowball thing,the ripple, right?
(12:26):
It's one little thing at atime, and it gets to be this
big, beautiful thing.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I love that.
I like the the snowballanalogy.
Each level that you scale yourbusiness, you get better and you
learn it as you go, and you'renot expected to have it all
figured out.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
That's right.
And if you've ever actuallybuilt a snowman, you take
breaks.
That gets heavy to roll aroundto get it together, right?
Speaker 1 (12:54):
I love that.
So, what is something that youwish the listeners knew about
Kat's Beauty Lounge?
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Um, I wish they knew
I was here.
I hope that everybody knows I'mhere.
I think as a small businessowner, that's one of your
biggest concerns is people canfind you.
Yeah.
Um I worked really hard to besomething good for everyone.
Um, and so if they could justfind if they find me, then it
(13:25):
should work, right?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
And if they want to
find you and connect with you,
where can they find you?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Okay, so it's Kat's
Beauty Lounge underscore on
Instagram.
It's it's just Kat's BeautyLounge with a K, like everywhere
on Google.
Um, I have a Facebook.
Trying to think what else isthere?
We have the link tree.
I try to keep it simple too.
Um, but nice.
Any suggestions maybe from theaudience, I'll take too.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Awesome.
Awesome.
Well, Kat, it has been so nicehaving you on the podcast today.
Thank you for sharing Kat'sBeauty Lounge with us.
Tash, thanks for having me,Dori.
It was really nice.
Speaker (14:06):
You're welcome.
Thank you for listening to theFredericksburg Neighbors
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to FXBGNeighborsPodcast.com.