April 9, 2024 • 25 mins
In this episode, Wafaya Abdallah, owner of Curly Oasis Inc, reveals how specializing in curly hair and embracing a team-based approach dramatically increased productivity. This episode isn't just about the highs of winning a productivity award; it’s a raw look at the challenges that followed, including the departure of key staff members. Wafaya opens up on what it takes to rebuild, proving that the journey of success is as much about adaptability as it is about accolades.
Step into the world of enhanced team efficiency as we dissect the benefits of refining the traditional workweek, introducing a game-changing dedicated training day that improves skill levels without upending existing schedules. We consider the advantages and practicalities of a compressed workweek, diving into how it could benefit both the staff and the business’s bottom line. Tune in for a transformative conversation that highlights Wafayah's evolution as a leader and her perspective shift that turns life’s challenges from hurdles into launching pads for growth.
Conversation Highlights:
1:45 From Award Winner to Facing Curveballs
5:14 Embracing Change and Seeing Challenges as Opportunities
5:55 Impactful Advice from a fellow Strategies member
8:40 Listening Deeply to Understand and Adapt
10:59 The Magic Pill: A 4-day workweek
12:54 Leading with Curiosity
14:07 Behaviors Drive the Numbers
16:07 Achieving Work/Life Harmony
21:49 Wafaya's One Takeaway
Watch the video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/4y_5oj0Pezk
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Beauty Business Podcast.
I am Michael Yost, joined byChristy Hardy.
Christy, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Terrific.
How are you today, Michael?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Awesome, Awesome.
So we also have a special guestwith us today.
Wafeya, how are you, Woo Hi?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Wafeya.
Hey y'all, I'm great Thanks forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Awesome For those that are not familiar, while we
are very familiar with you.
I always love to have anyguests that we have introduce
themselves, so why?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
don't you give us just a brief introduction of
yourself and your business andjust an overview for anyone
listening?
Okay, my name is WafayaAbdallah.
I own Curly Oasis Inc inRockville, maryland.
It is a curly hair salon.
I've been with Strategies since2005, when we first opened
using the team-based system,which I'm a big fan of, and,
(00:59):
yeah, I'm super excited to behere.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Awesome, awesome.
So one of the things that wewant to talk about today is the
overarching theme today that Iwant to discuss is around
productivity, because you areour current reigning champion
when it comes to team-basedawards on productivity.
(01:22):
So you know that came with areally cool you know bit of
hardware, comes with a really arecognition of a lot of really
hard work on your end.
But, as we were talking aboutit, it also came with some
things that you might not alwaysexpect.
That happens along life'sjourney and the journey of a
(01:43):
business owner that I think manypeople can relate to.
So talk to me about where youknow, just talk to me about that
idea of productivity winningthe award.
You know what that was like,what it took to kind of get
there, but then also kind ofwhat happened, you know to kind
of set the table, what happenedin the in the time between then
and now.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, you know, our productivity, I think, is based
on the gift of curly hair.
Very few salons specialize andreally understand the art of
curl and we are deep into it.
We are booked out for monthsahead and also really learning
to use our time wisely.
(02:25):
When we're that busy, we can'tallow the communication to slip
away.
We need to stay efficient inour system so that we can
maximize our productivity butalso not lose sight of our
functionality as a team, and soit was a wonderful celebration
to win the productivity of theyear award at this last
(02:49):
conference with strategies, andI teasingly say I'm not going to
go for an award again, becausesometimes you win an award and I
feel like the universe says oh,you want to be award worthy,
let's give you a challenge sothat you can level up.
So what happened after that is Iwent to Egypt.
(03:14):
I led a group to Egypt, mymotherland, and really left the
team in great shape.
The time that I was away Istayed very connected.
I met with each decide to leavethe company.
I so did not see that coming.
(03:50):
And then, very shortly afterthat, another leader in the
company also decided to move on,and so I thought to myself okay
, great for productivity.
Who won employee retention?
Let me reach out to that personand I did, and you know when
(04:13):
you're going, I really say thatthis time of transition was
gut-wrenching because we werereally close, had a lot of love
and connection.
You know, I thought I reallyfelt I had my finger on the
pulse of the company and whensomething like that happens,
it's, it's painful and and Iimmediately thought to myself,
(04:38):
you know is, is this reallyhappening against me or or for
me?
Is it for the company oragainst the company?
And had to really getintrospective and try to not
beat myself up too much becauseI think, as leaders, that's what
we do.
And the whole saying peoplequit, leaders, not companies.
(04:59):
Where did I fail?
Where was I unaware?
Where did I fail?
Where was I unaware?
And once, you know, as I wasgoing to my pity party, I
thought and opportunity forgrowth.
And I really appreciated whatsomeone said to me is that they
read in a book by verysuccessful business people, book
(05:20):
by very successful businesspeople.
I don't remember the book, Iremember the lesson and that is,
the people who get you fromzero to a hundred won't
necessarily be the same peoplewho get you from a hundred to a
thousand and won't be the samepeople who get you from a
thousand to 10,000.
And I know I'm using smallnumbers here, but you get my
(05:43):
gist and I thought, okay,perhaps then this is the cycle
of a growth of a company, thatthis is what needs to happen to
have that leveling up.
And so I'd really love to sharesome of what Christy Newell,
who won employee retention,shared with me.
(06:06):
Okay, so when I reached, when Ireached out, the first thing she
said is you know, my companydidn't really get to the place
that it is until I loosened mygrip a little bit and I thought
I've been loosening my grip, howmuch more can I loosen?
And but I listened, I listened,I listened and I appreciated
(06:29):
that.
And then she said you know,this younger workforce that they
just need to be heard.
They're going to say all kindsof crazy stuff or, you know,
maybe not so crazy stuff, butultimately they really just want
to be heard.
And I thought, okay, that'ssomething I've been working on
(06:51):
to improve.
Okay, and then she said you know, some people have families or
whatever.
They want it to be part-time.
And I thought to myself, whatdifference does it make, as long
as the hours are covered forthe company?
Now, I was always under theimpression of part-time employee
(07:14):
means part-time performance,and she said she really hasn't
found that that when she wasable to meet the needs of people
around scheduling, that peopledid show up 100%, and so I
really appreciated that.
And with what happened next, Iremembered those words and they
(07:37):
really did were very useful.
And and what happened next?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So with a I want to jump back to you know, something
you said is.
You brought up three or fourthings that kind of trigger
questions in my brain, and Iwant to jump back to something
you shared, you know, that waspassed along to you from Christy
, and again you mentioned theidea that about people just want
to be heard.
(08:03):
You know, team members want tobe heard.
How did that?
What's that?
What does that look like inyour company?
What did you take from that, Iguess, and how is that starting
to kind of show up in yourcompany?
Because when I think about that, I can think about maybe five
or six different ways that, okay, I would interpret and go oh,
(08:24):
when I say, hey, listen, youknow I feel as though I'm being
heard.
I got a few things in my brainthat I think about.
But how is that showing up foryou now in a different way than
maybe it was, and what's thatmean in your culture and in your
environment?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
You know this concept of deep listening and and I I
did also at some point reach outto Bruce Horrigan, who's on the
strategies team, who's, I think, an excellent listener, and he
talked about the concept of deeplistening.
What I understood and what I'velearned is just because someone
says something doesn't meanthere's not more behind it.
(09:04):
Often, you know, when your teammembers have a high regard for
the leader, they can maybeunknowingly or knowingly say
things because they think that'swhat you want to hear.
When we were going through thisshift.
(09:24):
Of course, now I've got someteam members that are going
through it with me and Iunderstood that I had to really
hold space for them.
And you know, one of my acouple of people really
struggled with change.
It wasn't anything more thanchange and, like I said, we were
so close.
(09:44):
I could see how that that wouldbe difficult for them.
So I kept meeting with them andeach time I met I simply would
ask tell me what's showing upfor you today, or tell me how
you feel about this transition.
And they were honest.
Some of it was hard to hear andyet I promised myself that I
(10:09):
would say nothing, that I wouldonly listen, and, of course,
when people are speaking on adeeper level, there's some
emotion involved, and so it canbe messy.
And so it was great because itwas a period of days, and so I
was able to sit with theinformation that I heard and
(10:29):
sift through what I couldrelease, the emotional piece,
and what I could take away, andand I really kept meeting with
them I didn't stop.
In fact, some a couple of otherteam members were like man,
there's so much change, we'renot sure we even want to stick
around, you know.
But they hadn't made any move.
(10:50):
They were just trying to giveme fair warning, which I
appreciated.
And as we kept talking and Ikept listening, what came out of
it is.
So we had this five day workweek, with Tuesday being a half
day of team development, and itworked great.
It was needed Meditate, do yoga, did a lot of stuff around how
(11:13):
we're showing up as individuals.
And as they were saying this, Ithought, well, gosh to heck
with it.
I'm just going to take Tuesdayto train the new team members,
and y'all are skill certified, Ican work with training as we go
with you while you're here.
For the time that you're here,take Tuesday off, just come in
(11:34):
for the four days.
Well, my gosh, within a week,apparently that was the magic
pill.
What I heard is a four day workweek is hard to beat.
We're no longer lookinganywhere else.
We love it and you know I didit because I was just like I'm
done.
But wow, and then you know, fora long time we were going
(11:58):
toward a four day work week.
Anyway, in my mind, we needed tohave pieces in place, a certain
amount of people, before wecould transition to that.
What came to pass is oh well,what if we need to make that
change in order to grow the teamin a better and more efficient
(12:18):
way?
And that is such a sellingpoint that once you're skill
certified, you go to a four-daywork week.
Now we have more peopleapplying, more people engaged
and you know, through theapplication and hiring process,
loving it, and this is a sign ofthe times.
This is what this workforce isasking for, and we could.
(12:41):
You know I did get there bylistening, but the resolution
wasn't anything that Iintentionally planned.
It just kind of came up andreally allowing.
So back to the listening piece.
I mean, sometimes people saythings where you want to explain
or defend and I would just saydon't Listen, just listen and
(13:03):
ask more questions.
And one of the things I did, youknow I told you I remain a
student and for Black Friday, Isaw something on a platform that
I am involved in for educationpurposes and it was a life
coaching program, and I thought,well, I need to do that.
And it was a significant amountoff.
(13:24):
And what I've gotten from thislife coaching is really how to
ask the right questions, andeven you know, you can challenge
when somebody says in a way ofare you sure this is 100% true?
Where did that belief come from?
But really ask, just learningto ask the right questions, and
(13:46):
wow, is it a game changer for meas a leader?
It is.
It helps me separate myemotions, my ego, and really be
present for that person.
And, as I'm listening, what I'mthinking about is more
questions to get clear whatexactly they're trying to tell
me.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That's excellent.
So really, wafeya, what you'resaying is, productivity has
nothing to do with an action, ithas everything to do with
behaviors and truly listening100%.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
But I'll tell you our numbers have shifted in this
time.
I mean, we just hit goal and Ithink we exceeded it by several
thousand dollars in February,where people were sick and we
had two snow days.
So, yes, behaviors drive thenumbers, behaviors drive the
productivity, behaviors driveeverything in a business.
(14:38):
And, yeah, when people areheard and are happier, they're
going to show up better.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's an incredible story with Faya.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So I'm going to, you know I want to touch back and
you kind of just touched on itwith a.
You know I know a lot of people, you know probably wondering
all right, you cut back to,since we said the theme of this
is based around productivity.
Cutting back to a four day week, you know we could probably
make some assumptions and say,all right, those days probably
got busier, but at the same timecutting back hours.
(15:08):
Give me a little bit of thenuts and the bolts behind, like,
what is that looking like asfar as when it comes to just
your productivity itself?
Was it a real shift in theamount of hours you had for sale
?
Or we just kind of restructured, you know, four day weekend?
We found there wasn't muchshift in what we had, what we
were offering for sale.
Give me a little bit more ofthat like again, more of that
(15:32):
nuts and bolts of as you madethese changes in, you know, your
work week and all of that.
We can definitely sense thechange in culture, the change in
just you know, that whole sideof it, which I love.
But what was the change on theother side?
(15:53):
Again, just a number side of it, the business side of it,
balancing the business side.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, what's that?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
look, yeah, that balance between that, you know,
work-life balance and whateveryou want to say it.
But how's the?
What's that look like from awork standpoint?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Gotcha.
Well, you know I prefer theterm work-life harmony because
that's ultimately what we'reseeking, and we were already
seeing clients four days a week.
That fifth day was about teamdevelopment, uh, skill
certification, um, so thatdidn't change, and we got busier
(16:29):
in the sense because now I'vegot this day devoted to training
new staff members, which is nowmore efficient because not
having to balance okay, well, Ihave to train this person who's
further along in the journey andthis person who's brand new.
I can just focus on the newstaff and so I can get them
skill certified in servicesfaster.
(16:52):
And so that was part of theincrease, and that's how we were
.
We were already booked formonths ahead.
We're right now booking in June, and so there was no wiggle
room to be more productive.
We simply were able to show upbetter for the hours we have for
sale and then train new staffso that they could also offer
(17:17):
whatever service they're skillcertified for.
So we're able to train a littlefaster because I'm just able to
focus on them on Tuesday, andso we didn't need to change the
hours for the existing staff.
We simply just said OK, come inthe days that you're serving
clients Now, when we havemeetings, of course that has to
(17:40):
be on a Tuesday because, come on, give me a break.
We're already at a 32 hour workweek and they appreciate that.
They're like, of course,absolutely so once a month on
Tuesday.
They're here for four days andthat's when we can do some, you
know skill, whatever skilldevelopment, have our meeting.
If we are doing some kind ofpersonal development, we can do
(18:02):
it now once a month on that day.
And, of course, looking ahead,at holidays, the 4th of July, I
believe, is on a Thursday.
So I said, guys, we need tomake this work, so can we switch
those hours to Tuesday andyou're still getting a four day
work week.
And again, of course, theyagreed to that.
And so it's making sure andkeeping the grip on the hours
(18:27):
for sale and not just like, ohwell, we don't work Tuesday and
we have a holiday off.
I mean there has to be somegive and take and they
understand that.
They're just really happy tohave the time and I get it.
You know what, man, if theyounger, me and even me now, a
four day work week's great, whodoesn't want that?
(18:49):
Who doesn't want that?
I mean we don't have tocriticize this generation.
We need to really learn how tobe effective in embracing what
they hold to be true in theirworld and figure out how to make
it work.
And you know, christy Newellwas just such a godsend because
(19:10):
and I love using the greaterstrategies community to reach
out to other owners and say help, what have you figured out?
You know, and I've reallyenjoyed our exchanges and she's
so right.
She's like I have a Googlecalendar.
They want to do this.
(19:32):
I just need to make it work forthe company.
And, by the way, it makes greatsense because now I was, we're
able to, let's just say, youhave a team of four, you're able
to add another person and notincrease your payroll because
they went to a four day workweek.
Now we're able to have anotherperson and it doesn't change
that, so it's very efficientfinancially as well.
(19:53):
That's.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
It's really, you know , I love the.
You know how you kind ofbrought that all together.
Is, you know, for someonethat's that's listening, it's
like how can this really startto work itself out?
And we can, I think, get agreat sense of how that works
out for you.
And I love the fact that, likeI said, not only you know, in
many ways we became much moreefficient.
I think the thing that'sinteresting, you know, to me is
(20:18):
because you had mentioned it,you know, when you said a lot of
times and again, you know wecould call it old school
attitude, whatever you want tosay, but I loved how you had
mentioned earlier.
It's like sometimes we kind oflive by the idea of part-time
equals part-time approach andpart-time attitude and the fact
is, obviously that's beenshowing itself to be completely
(20:41):
the opposite as far as that goes.
But I know I want to ask youpersonally how big a jump was
this for you?
Because again, I know, a lot oftimes as business owners most
business owners are always, youknow, kind of fighting that
introspection for themselvesabout am I doing the right
things?
Am I the right type of leader?
(21:02):
Am I challenging myself in theright ways or any kind of
questioning any number of things.
You came back and I come back tothe beginning of this story
came back, you know.
You know you came back tosomething that said, hey, here's
a challenge, I lost two peopleout of my company that were very
important to my company, veryimportant to you, I'm sure,
personally as well, and kind ofon this journey, you know, as we
(21:27):
kind of wrap up in the last fewminutes that we have, I'm
interested to know for you as aleader, what's that again,
knowing how deeply especiallyyou take that in kind of process
and how you take things, what'sbeen the learning experience
for you from all of this, as youkind of look at it now in its
bigger scope of it, what's beenthe one key thing for you that's
(21:51):
stood out as a leader, thatyou've learned in this journey?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Well, I mean, there's so much, but I will say this I
think this was something thatcame to me that really shifted
my perspective, and that is whenwe're facing challenges, are
they here to hinder our progressor present growth opportunities
(22:17):
?
And you know, again, I read alot, I listen to a lot of
podcasts, I listened to allkinds of things.
I love learning and you know, Iwas listening I think it was
Jay Shetty, and I forget who hehad on.
Oh, dave Asprey, I believe thebiohacking king.
(22:38):
And they were saying you know,just because we have this fame
and recognition doesn't mean wedon't have internal stuff in our
companies that we've had toendure.
We just don't talk about it,whether it's, you know, chief
financial officers that havestolen money, or, and each thing
that they've gone through wasnot a setback, it was an
(23:01):
opportunity for learning andgrowth, and I can already tell
you that, within a four monthperiod, things are so much
better, so much better, and evenat the time, I told myself
there's not a yin without a yang, and so if we're going to
suffer and we're going to bekind of low and sad as a leader,
then, my God, good times layahead.
(23:23):
Then, my god, good times layahead and so yeah yeah, just
understanding that challengesare opportunities for growth,
and our suffering really comesfrom when our expectation of
reality isn't being met and wereally don't have that kind of
control.
So how about then?
We just stay open to lessonsand surrender to the guidance
(23:47):
and really open ourselves up towhat it is we need to learn and
how we need to grow.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I love it.
Wafeya, that advice goes forevery business leader it doesn't
matter if it's beauty industryor anywhere else and every
parent and every friend andevery human being.
So really good share.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Awesome.
This has been awesome with Faye.
We got to keep doing thisbecause every time we get a
chance to talk, you always bringgreat insight and, I think, a
great just again perspective onthings and just kind of always
shoot it straight to, to what'shappening and don't sugarcoat
things and and challenges arechallenges, but here's how we
(24:26):
overcome them.
So I love what you had to sharewith us today, christy.
Any last thoughts on your end?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
No, but thank you, wefea, for being vulnerable and
allowing us to hear that youknow, the most successful
businesses absolutely continueto work through challenges, and
it's about how we internalize itand then make a change
necessary for our business.
So, as always, amazing job.
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
My pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Oh, you are welcome.
And, to everyone out there,thanks for tuning in, thanks for
listening and we will see youagain on our next podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Have a great day see you again on our next podcast.
Have a great day.
Thanks again for listening tothe Beauty Business Strategies
podcast.
If you liked this episode, besure to hit follow and please
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To learn more about howstrategies can help create more
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(25:24):
team, we invite you to schedulea free 60 minute strategy
session by clicking the directlink in the description of this
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There you also find links toour wide array of coaching,
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be found at strategiescom.
Welcome to the Beauty Business Podcast.
I am Michael Yost, joined byChristy Hardy.
Christy, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Terrific.
How are you today, Michael?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Awesome, Awesome.
So we also have a special guestwith us today.
Wafeya, how are you, Woo Hi?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Wafeya.
Hey y'all, I'm great Thanks forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Awesome For those that are not familiar, while we
are very familiar with you.
I always love to have anyguests that we have introduce
themselves, so why?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
don't you give us just a brief introduction of
yourself and your business andjust an overview for anyone
listening?
Okay, my name is WafayaAbdallah.
I own Curly Oasis Inc inRockville, maryland.
It is a curly hair salon.
I've been with Strategies since2005, when we first opened
using the team-based system,which I'm a big fan of, and,
(00:59):
yeah, I'm super excited to behere.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Awesome, awesome.
So one of the things that wewant to talk about today is the
overarching theme today that Iwant to discuss is around
productivity, because you areour current reigning champion
when it comes to team-basedawards on productivity.
(01:22):
So you know that came with areally cool you know bit of
hardware, comes with a really arecognition of a lot of really
hard work on your end.
But, as we were talking aboutit, it also came with some
things that you might not alwaysexpect.
That happens along life'sjourney and the journey of a
(01:43):
business owner that I think manypeople can relate to.
So talk to me about where youknow, just talk to me about that
idea of productivity winningthe award.
You know what that was like,what it took to kind of get
there, but then also kind ofwhat happened, you know to kind
of set the table, what happenedin the in the time between then
and now.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Well, you know, our productivity, I think, is based
on the gift of curly hair.
Very few salons specialize andreally understand the art of
curl and we are deep into it.
We are booked out for monthsahead and also really learning
to use our time wisely.
(02:25):
When we're that busy, we can'tallow the communication to slip
away.
We need to stay efficient inour system so that we can
maximize our productivity butalso not lose sight of our
functionality as a team, and soit was a wonderful celebration
to win the productivity of theyear award at this last
(02:49):
conference with strategies, andI teasingly say I'm not going to
go for an award again, becausesometimes you win an award and I
feel like the universe says oh,you want to be award worthy,
let's give you a challenge sothat you can level up.
So what happened after that is Iwent to Egypt.
(03:14):
I led a group to Egypt, mymotherland, and really left the
team in great shape.
The time that I was away Istayed very connected.
I met with each decide to leavethe company.
I so did not see that coming.
(03:50):
And then, very shortly afterthat, another leader in the
company also decided to move on,and so I thought to myself okay
, great for productivity.
Who won employee retention?
Let me reach out to that personand I did, and you know when
(04:13):
you're going, I really say thatthis time of transition was
gut-wrenching because we werereally close, had a lot of love
and connection.
You know, I thought I reallyfelt I had my finger on the
pulse of the company and whensomething like that happens,
it's, it's painful and and Iimmediately thought to myself,
(04:38):
you know is, is this reallyhappening against me or or for
me?
Is it for the company oragainst the company?
And had to really getintrospective and try to not
beat myself up too much becauseI think, as leaders, that's what
we do.
And the whole saying peoplequit, leaders, not companies.
(04:59):
Where did I fail?
Where was I unaware?
Where did I fail?
Where was I unaware?
And once, you know, as I wasgoing to my pity party, I
thought and opportunity forgrowth.
And I really appreciated whatsomeone said to me is that they
read in a book by verysuccessful business people, book
(05:20):
by very successful businesspeople.
I don't remember the book, Iremember the lesson and that is,
the people who get you fromzero to a hundred won't
necessarily be the same peoplewho get you from a hundred to a
thousand and won't be the samepeople who get you from a
thousand to 10,000.
And I know I'm using smallnumbers here, but you get my
(05:43):
gist and I thought, okay,perhaps then this is the cycle
of a growth of a company, thatthis is what needs to happen to
have that leveling up.
And so I'd really love to sharesome of what Christy Newell,
who won employee retention,shared with me.
(06:06):
Okay, so when I reached, when Ireached out, the first thing she
said is you know, my companydidn't really get to the place
that it is until I loosened mygrip a little bit and I thought
I've been loosening my grip, howmuch more can I loosen?
And but I listened, I listened,I listened and I appreciated
(06:29):
that.
And then she said you know,this younger workforce that they
just need to be heard.
They're going to say all kindsof crazy stuff or, you know,
maybe not so crazy stuff, butultimately they really just want
to be heard.
And I thought, okay, that'ssomething I've been working on
(06:51):
to improve.
Okay, and then she said you know, some people have families or
whatever.
They want it to be part-time.
And I thought to myself, whatdifference does it make, as long
as the hours are covered forthe company?
Now, I was always under theimpression of part-time employee
(07:14):
means part-time performance,and she said she really hasn't
found that that when she wasable to meet the needs of people
around scheduling, that peopledid show up 100%, and so I
really appreciated that.
And with what happened next, Iremembered those words and they
(07:37):
really did were very useful.
And and what happened next?
Speaker 1 (07:43):
So with a I want to jump back to you know, something
you said is.
You brought up three or fourthings that kind of trigger
questions in my brain, and Iwant to jump back to something
you shared, you know, that waspassed along to you from Christy
, and again you mentioned theidea that about people just want
to be heard.
(08:03):
You know, team members want tobe heard.
How did that?
What's that?
What does that look like inyour company?
What did you take from that, Iguess, and how is that starting
to kind of show up in yourcompany?
Because when I think about that, I can think about maybe five
or six different ways that, okay, I would interpret and go oh,
(08:24):
when I say, hey, listen, youknow I feel as though I'm being
heard.
I got a few things in my brainthat I think about.
But how is that showing up foryou now in a different way than
maybe it was, and what's thatmean in your culture and in your
environment?
Speaker 3 (08:41):
You know this concept of deep listening and and I I
did also at some point reach outto Bruce Horrigan, who's on the
strategies team, who's, I think, an excellent listener, and he
talked about the concept of deeplistening.
What I understood and what I'velearned is just because someone
says something doesn't meanthere's not more behind it.
(09:04):
Often, you know, when your teammembers have a high regard for
the leader, they can maybeunknowingly or knowingly say
things because they think that'swhat you want to hear.
When we were going through thisshift.
(09:24):
Of course, now I've got someteam members that are going
through it with me and Iunderstood that I had to really
hold space for them.
And you know, one of my acouple of people really
struggled with change.
It wasn't anything more thanchange and, like I said, we were
so close.
(09:44):
I could see how that that wouldbe difficult for them.
So I kept meeting with them andeach time I met I simply would
ask tell me what's showing upfor you today, or tell me how
you feel about this transition.
And they were honest.
Some of it was hard to hear andyet I promised myself that I
(10:09):
would say nothing, that I wouldonly listen, and, of course,
when people are speaking on adeeper level, there's some
emotion involved, and so it canbe messy.
And so it was great because itwas a period of days, and so I
was able to sit with theinformation that I heard and
(10:29):
sift through what I couldrelease, the emotional piece,
and what I could take away, andand I really kept meeting with
them I didn't stop.
In fact, some a couple of otherteam members were like man,
there's so much change, we'renot sure we even want to stick
around, you know.
But they hadn't made any move.
(10:50):
They were just trying to giveme fair warning, which I
appreciated.
And as we kept talking and Ikept listening, what came out of
it is.
So we had this five day workweek, with Tuesday being a half
day of team development, and itworked great.
It was needed Meditate, do yoga, did a lot of stuff around how
(11:13):
we're showing up as individuals.
And as they were saying this, Ithought, well, gosh to heck
with it.
I'm just going to take Tuesdayto train the new team members,
and y'all are skill certified, Ican work with training as we go
with you while you're here.
For the time that you're here,take Tuesday off, just come in
(11:34):
for the four days.
Well, my gosh, within a week,apparently that was the magic
pill.
What I heard is a four day workweek is hard to beat.
We're no longer lookinganywhere else.
We love it and you know I didit because I was just like I'm
done.
But wow, and then you know, fora long time we were going
(11:58):
toward a four day work week.
Anyway, in my mind, we needed tohave pieces in place, a certain
amount of people, before wecould transition to that.
What came to pass is oh well,what if we need to make that
change in order to grow the teamin a better and more efficient
(12:18):
way?
And that is such a sellingpoint that once you're skill
certified, you go to a four-daywork week.
Now we have more peopleapplying, more people engaged
and you know, through theapplication and hiring process,
loving it, and this is a sign ofthe times.
This is what this workforce isasking for, and we could.
(12:41):
You know I did get there bylistening, but the resolution
wasn't anything that Iintentionally planned.
It just kind of came up andreally allowing.
So back to the listening piece.
I mean, sometimes people saythings where you want to explain
or defend and I would just saydon't Listen, just listen and
(13:03):
ask more questions.
And one of the things I did, youknow I told you I remain a
student and for Black Friday, Isaw something on a platform that
I am involved in for educationpurposes and it was a life
coaching program, and I thought,well, I need to do that.
And it was a significant amountoff.
(13:24):
And what I've gotten from thislife coaching is really how to
ask the right questions, andeven you know, you can challenge
when somebody says in a way ofare you sure this is 100% true?
Where did that belief come from?
But really ask, just learningto ask the right questions, and
(13:46):
wow, is it a game changer for meas a leader?
It is.
It helps me separate myemotions, my ego, and really be
present for that person.
And, as I'm listening, what I'mthinking about is more
questions to get clear whatexactly they're trying to tell
me.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
That's excellent.
So really, wafeya, what you'resaying is, productivity has
nothing to do with an action, ithas everything to do with
behaviors and truly listening100%.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
But I'll tell you our numbers have shifted in this
time.
I mean, we just hit goal and Ithink we exceeded it by several
thousand dollars in February,where people were sick and we
had two snow days.
So, yes, behaviors drive thenumbers, behaviors drive the
productivity, behaviors driveeverything in a business.
(14:38):
And, yeah, when people areheard and are happier, they're
going to show up better.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's an incredible story with Faya.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So I'm going to, you know I want to touch back and
you kind of just touched on itwith a.
You know I know a lot of people, you know probably wondering
all right, you cut back to,since we said the theme of this
is based around productivity.
Cutting back to a four day week, you know we could probably
make some assumptions and say,all right, those days probably
got busier, but at the same timecutting back hours.
(15:08):
Give me a little bit of thenuts and the bolts behind, like,
what is that looking like asfar as when it comes to just
your productivity itself?
Was it a real shift in theamount of hours you had for sale
?
Or we just kind of restructured, you know, four day weekend?
We found there wasn't muchshift in what we had, what we
were offering for sale.
Give me a little bit more ofthat like again, more of that
(15:32):
nuts and bolts of as you madethese changes in, you know, your
work week and all of that.
We can definitely sense thechange in culture, the change in
just you know, that whole sideof it, which I love.
But what was the change on theother side?
(15:53):
Again, just a number side of it, the business side of it,
balancing the business side.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, what's that?
Speaker 1 (15:57):
look, yeah, that balance between that, you know,
work-life balance and whateveryou want to say it.
But how's the?
What's that look like from awork standpoint?
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Gotcha.
Well, you know I prefer theterm work-life harmony because
that's ultimately what we'reseeking, and we were already
seeing clients four days a week.
That fifth day was about teamdevelopment, uh, skill
certification, um, so thatdidn't change, and we got busier
(16:29):
in the sense because now I'vegot this day devoted to training
new staff members, which is nowmore efficient because not
having to balance okay, well, Ihave to train this person who's
further along in the journey andthis person who's brand new.
I can just focus on the newstaff and so I can get them
skill certified in servicesfaster.
(16:52):
And so that was part of theincrease, and that's how we were
.
We were already booked formonths ahead.
We're right now booking in June, and so there was no wiggle
room to be more productive.
We simply were able to show upbetter for the hours we have for
sale and then train new staffso that they could also offer
(17:17):
whatever service they're skillcertified for.
So we're able to train a littlefaster because I'm just able to
focus on them on Tuesday, andso we didn't need to change the
hours for the existing staff.
We simply just said OK, come inthe days that you're serving
clients Now, when we havemeetings, of course that has to
(17:40):
be on a Tuesday because, come on, give me a break.
We're already at a 32 hour workweek and they appreciate that.
They're like, of course,absolutely so once a month on
Tuesday.
They're here for four days andthat's when we can do some, you
know skill, whatever skilldevelopment, have our meeting.
If we are doing some kind ofpersonal development, we can do
(18:02):
it now once a month on that day.
And, of course, looking ahead,at holidays, the 4th of July, I
believe, is on a Thursday.
So I said, guys, we need tomake this work, so can we switch
those hours to Tuesday andyou're still getting a four day
work week.
And again, of course, theyagreed to that.
And so it's making sure andkeeping the grip on the hours
(18:27):
for sale and not just like, ohwell, we don't work Tuesday and
we have a holiday off.
I mean there has to be somegive and take and they
understand that.
They're just really happy tohave the time and I get it.
You know what, man, if theyounger, me and even me now, a
four day work week's great, whodoesn't want that?
(18:49):
Who doesn't want that?
I mean we don't have tocriticize this generation.
We need to really learn how tobe effective in embracing what
they hold to be true in theirworld and figure out how to make
it work.
And you know, christy Newellwas just such a godsend because
(19:10):
and I love using the greaterstrategies community to reach
out to other owners and say help, what have you figured out?
You know, and I've reallyenjoyed our exchanges and she's
so right.
She's like I have a Googlecalendar.
They want to do this.
(19:32):
I just need to make it work forthe company.
And, by the way, it makes greatsense because now I was, we're
able to, let's just say, youhave a team of four, you're able
to add another person and notincrease your payroll because
they went to a four day workweek.
Now we're able to have anotherperson and it doesn't change
that, so it's very efficientfinancially as well.
(19:53):
That's.
That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
It's really, you know , I love the.
You know how you kind ofbrought that all together.
Is, you know, for someonethat's that's listening, it's
like how can this really startto work itself out?
And we can, I think, get agreat sense of how that works
out for you.
And I love the fact that, likeI said, not only you know, in
many ways we became much moreefficient.
I think the thing that'sinteresting, you know, to me is
(20:18):
because you had mentioned it,you know, when you said a lot of
times and again, you know wecould call it old school
attitude, whatever you want tosay, but I loved how you had
mentioned earlier.
It's like sometimes we kind oflive by the idea of part-time
equals part-time approach andpart-time attitude and the fact
is, obviously that's beenshowing itself to be completely
(20:41):
the opposite as far as that goes.
But I know I want to ask youpersonally how big a jump was
this for you?
Because again, I know, a lot oftimes as business owners most
business owners are always, youknow, kind of fighting that
introspection for themselvesabout am I doing the right
things?
Am I the right type of leader?
(21:02):
Am I challenging myself in theright ways or any kind of
questioning any number of things.
You came back and I come back tothe beginning of this story
came back, you know.
You know you came back tosomething that said, hey, here's
a challenge, I lost two peopleout of my company that were very
important to my company, veryimportant to you, I'm sure,
personally as well, and kind ofon this journey, you know, as we
(21:27):
kind of wrap up in the last fewminutes that we have, I'm
interested to know for you as aleader, what's that again,
knowing how deeply especiallyyou take that in kind of process
and how you take things, what'sbeen the learning experience
for you from all of this, as youkind of look at it now in its
bigger scope of it, what's beenthe one key thing for you that's
(21:51):
stood out as a leader, thatyou've learned in this journey?
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Well, I mean, there's so much, but I will say this I
think this was something thatcame to me that really shifted
my perspective, and that is whenwe're facing challenges, are
they here to hinder our progressor present growth opportunities
(22:17):
?
And you know, again, I read alot, I listen to a lot of
podcasts, I listened to allkinds of things.
I love learning and you know, Iwas listening I think it was
Jay Shetty, and I forget who hehad on.
Oh, dave Asprey, I believe thebiohacking king.
(22:38):
And they were saying you know,just because we have this fame
and recognition doesn't mean wedon't have internal stuff in our
companies that we've had toendure.
We just don't talk about it,whether it's, you know, chief
financial officers that havestolen money, or, and each thing
that they've gone through wasnot a setback, it was an
(23:01):
opportunity for learning andgrowth, and I can already tell
you that, within a four monthperiod, things are so much
better, so much better, and evenat the time, I told myself
there's not a yin without a yang, and so if we're going to
suffer and we're going to bekind of low and sad as a leader,
then, my God, good times layahead.
(23:23):
Then, my god, good times layahead and so yeah yeah, just
understanding that challengesare opportunities for growth,
and our suffering really comesfrom when our expectation of
reality isn't being met and wereally don't have that kind of
control.
So how about then?
We just stay open to lessonsand surrender to the guidance
(23:47):
and really open ourselves up towhat it is we need to learn and
how we need to grow.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I love it.
Wafeya, that advice goes forevery business leader it doesn't
matter if it's beauty industryor anywhere else and every
parent and every friend andevery human being.
So really good share.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Awesome.
This has been awesome with Faye.
We got to keep doing thisbecause every time we get a
chance to talk, you always bringgreat insight and, I think, a
great just again perspective onthings and just kind of always
shoot it straight to, to what'shappening and don't sugarcoat
things and and challenges arechallenges, but here's how we
(24:26):
overcome them.
So I love what you had to sharewith us today, christy.
Any last thoughts on your end?
Speaker 2 (24:33):
No, but thank you, wefea, for being vulnerable and
allowing us to hear that youknow, the most successful
businesses absolutely continueto work through challenges, and
it's about how we internalize itand then make a change
necessary for our business.
So, as always, amazing job.
Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
My pleasure.
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Oh, you are welcome.
And, to everyone out there,thanks for tuning in, thanks for
listening and we will see youagain on our next podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
Have a great day see you again on our next podcast.
Have a great day.
Thanks again for listening tothe Beauty Business Strategies
podcast.
If you liked this episode, besure to hit follow and please
share the episode link withanyone who you think could
benefit from today's content.
To learn more about howstrategies can help create more
fun, profit and growth potentialfor you, your company and your
(25:24):
team, we invite you to schedulea free 60 minute strategy
session by clicking the directlink in the description of this
episode.
There you also find links toour wide array of coaching,
seminar and learningopportunities, all of which can
be found at strategiescom.
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