Elevate Springfield featuring Jessica Kocurek: Elevating Through the Power of Positivity, Passion, and Expansion

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Summary

In this conversation, Jessica Kocurek shares her journey from a small-town girl in Edinburgh to a successful salon owner in Springfield. She discusses her early passion for the beauty industry, the challenges of building a clientele, and the leap into entrepreneurship. Jessica reflects on her education, the evolution of the beauty industry, and the importance of community engagement in her business. She also highlights the role of social media in marketing and the lessons learned throughout her career. In this conversation, Jessica discusses the significant growth of her business, Willow and Birch, highlighting the expansion from a small space to a 20,000 square foot facility. She emphasizes the importance of customer service and community involvement, detailing the diverse services offered, including spa treatments and alternative hair solutions. Jessica shares insights on the mindset required for business success, the balance between personal and professional life, and the importance of positivity and giving back to the community.

Takeaways

• Building a clientele required creativity and hard work, especially without social media.
• The beauty industry has evolved significantly over the years.
• Jessica emphasizes the importance of mentorship and continuous learning.
• She faced challenges in finding the right location for her salon.
• Community engagement played a crucial role in her business success.
• Navigating the business world required learning and adapting to new challenges.
• Jessica's journey reflects the importance of resilience and determination in entrepreneurship. Expansion from 2,200 to 20,000 square feet was necessary.
• Alternative hair solutions have become a significant part of the offerings.
• Mindset is crucial for business growth and overcoming challenges.
• Community involvement is essential for personal and business fulfillment.
• Positivity can help overcome negativity in business.
• Training for alternative hair is not typically covered in cosmetology school.
• The importance of customizing services to meet individual client needs.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive
into strategies and stories thathelp you rise to your full
potential.
Each episode, we'll talk abouthow you can take intentional
steps to elevate your life andyour business while making a
meaningful impact on thosearound you.
Along the way, we're going tobring in the change makers from

(00:20):
our community that are alreadyelevating.
We'll bring the actionablestrategies, you bring the
discipline and follow through,and together we can elevate
Springfield.
Alright, let's go, Springfield.
Time to 10X your life, yourbusiness, all of it.
Time to crush those goals, timeto get after it.

(00:42):
Let's go.
You are listening to the ElevateSpringfield Podcast.
Robert Farrell here, certified10X coach, speaker, and mentor,
here to bring you actionablestrategies.
You bring the discipline andfollow through, and together
we're going to ElevateSpringfield.
We're coming to you again frombeautiful downtown Springfield

(01:02):
in the Big Dog ConstructionStudio.
Hey, we've got so much going onin Springfield right now.
Make sure you are participating.
Get out there, network withfolks, be a part of the
community, support localbusinesses, support local
nonprofits, and let's go, we canall grow together.

(01:24):
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All right, and we are back.
Hey, joining me in the studio,another uh downtown mate here, I
guess.
Jessica Kasurik from Willow andBirch.
How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 (02:24):
I am doing so good.
Yeah, we're just a hop, skip,and a jump away.
Literally.
Like a block away.
Right across the plaza.

SPEAKER_02 (02:30):
Made for an easy commute for you down here.

SPEAKER_00 (02:32):
Very much so, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 (02:33):
Yeah, appreciate you coming down.

SPEAKER_00 (02:34):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I appreciate you asking.

SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
Yeah, looking forward to, of course, learning
all about Willow and Birch.
But uh, let's start by learninga little bit about you.
Tell us about your background.

SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Okay, so I grew up in Edinburghand I still live there.
So very much a small town girl.
After high school, I went tohair school in Chicago.
And then after I completed myprogram there, which cosmetology
is a little different.
It's not in years, it's inhours.
So it was a 1500-hour program atthe time.
And so about 10 months.

(03:05):
And then I moved back home andstarted working as a hairdresser
in Taylorville, actually.
And then in 2010, I was crazyenough to say, I'm 22.
I'm just gonna open a salon.
I had no idea what I was doing,but you know, it's definitely
grown.
And over the last 16 years, it'sevolved into way more than what
I ever could have dreamt itwould be.
I remember, you know, when webuilt out the first space and it

(03:27):
had five stations, I'm like,this is gonna be great.
Like I just need to find fourpeople who will work with me and
we're gonna be here forever.
Right.
And boy, was I wrong on the behere forever.
We have grown so much throughthe years, but yeah.
So I mean, I I've always had apassion for the beauty industry
and hair and makeup and allthings girly, but it wasn't like
a decided thing out of the gatethat I was like.

SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
So, like when you were in in Edinburgh at high
school, did you know at thatpoint?

SPEAKER_00 (03:54):
Or I loved high school.
So I was like that person,right?
Like right now, I'm planning our20-year high school reunion.
I was our class president.
I was a great student.
I had straight A's.
I was at the top of my class.
Like I loved school and all theactivities that came along with
that.
So if there was a club, I was init.
If there was a sport, I was init.
So I think a lot of peoplethought that I would want to go

(04:14):
to college and have thatexperience, right?
Because I very much enjoyedschool and I had always wanted
to be a teacher and coachvolleyball.
And so that was kind of my plan.
And then when I was in highschool, the No Child Left Behind
act hit.
And my high school Englishteacher, who I worked with very
closely because I was our classpresident and she was our
sponsor.
She was like, you know, I reallythink you should explore other

(04:36):
options.
Like you'll be successful,whatever you do.
Pick something you love.
And I still thank her to thisday.
And like I would not havechanged my mind had she not said
that.
And when I got out, you know,now there's a teacher shortage,
but when I got out of college orhigh school that era, you
couldn't find a job as ateacher.
I mean, there were, there werenone available.
I have multiple friends who haveteaching degrees that do not use
them.

SPEAKER_03 (04:56):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
And so I'm so thankful that she was like, you
know, maybe you should exploreother things.
And so that was beginning of myjunior year.
And I'm like, okay, well, theonly other thing that I have
ever wanted to do was be ahairdresser.
But everyone had always said,like, well, you're really smart.
You probably shouldn't do hair.
You know, like, and I would sayif you go back, you know, people
listening today might be like,well, that's weird.

(05:18):
Like, why would you not wantyour child to do hair?
Because our industry is viewedvery differently now, especially
in the post-COVID era than itwas 20 years ago.
You know, 20 years ago.
And I'll go back even further,30, 40 years ago.
You only went to hair school ifyou didn't have the option to go
to college or you were pregnant.
Right.
Those were like that was athing.
Yeah.
It truly was like, well, you youcould go to hair school and that

(05:39):
would be something, you know?
And so I remember it being kindof like a weird junior senior
era because you have all theseevents where you're like putting
what your future plans are,right?
Like they're announcing you atsenior night and you're like,
I'm going to hair school.
And I was like, all in.
But it taught me very quicklythat whatever I did, I was gonna
have to be fully convinced itwas the right choice for me and

(06:00):
literally not care what anybodyelse thought.
So all in.

SPEAKER_02 (06:03):
Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 (06:04):
I really was because it was, I mean, multiple people,
guidance counselor calling medown, like, are you in a fight
with your boyfriend?
Like, why are you throwing yourlife away?
Like, what's going on?
And I'm like, no, like I'mreally smart.
And if I do math and I onlycharge$20 for a haircut, let's
say, make more than you do as mypraise counselor.
Right.
I only have to do five haircutsa day.
That sounds like a really easylife for me, you know.

(06:25):
So it's interesting now, butyeah, back then it was kind of
wild.
So, anyways, that's kind of howit all started.

SPEAKER_02 (06:30):
And I think that's really cool that you were at
that point, even in high school,like that.
Hey, this is my target.
If I just did five haircuts aday, I'd be making more than
that.
I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 (06:39):
For sure.
I I think I've always been wireda little differently.
My mom often tells a story thatmy second grade teacher was
like, How do you deal with her?
And my mom's like, What do youmean?
Because I was a very goodstudent.
I would, I had good, I mean, Iwasn't getting in trouble,
right?
And the teacher was like, Shejust always has a new idea and
she always wants a project andshe gets done with her work and

(06:59):
then she wants me to give hersomething else.
And my mom's like, so give hersomething else, you know.
Like, but that's not howtraditional school is outlined,
really.
You know, I mean, it's like,this is what we're teaching.
You sit quietly until it's done.
And I was very bored for a lotof schools.
I loved, you know, coming upwith ideas of ways to do things
differently or be inspired bysomething.
And I think I just was wiredthat way from the get-go.

SPEAKER_02 (07:22):
So I think it's funny that completely true how
that is in school.
But when you flip it, like inthe workforce, it's exactly what
you want in people.
You want people to be able to,hey, I've got this done.
What's next?
What can I do?
How can I improve?
What can I do?
I mean, that's how you want tobe as a business owner, that's
how you want your employees tobe.
Right.
But you're right.
In school, it's all right, yougot done now, finish, just wait.

SPEAKER_00 (07:41):
Just wait.
Yeah, finish and wait.
And it's the act exact opposite.
But it's interesting because itdepends on what kind of career
you're in, what you want, right?
There's a lot of fields and alot of careers where they want
you to just do what you areasked, and that's only that, you
know.
But I think when you get intosmall business or
entrepreneurship, especially,you're constantly thinking what
is next.
And you want people that willfeed that around you, you know?

(08:04):
And so you're so right.

SPEAKER_01 (08:05):
Like I don't want everybody to be like, okay, I'll
just sit and wait for the nextclient to call, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (08:11):
I'm good for a little bit.
No, keep pushing.
Let's go.
So you headed off to Chicago.
So what school did you go to upthere?
Was like Paul Mitchell or one ofthe ones up there?

SPEAKER_00 (08:18):
It was the Aveda Institute.
Yeah.
And so that I chose to go therebecause at the time we only had
one school here in Springfield,and it was nice.
Like the education was great andstill is to this day.
But I really wanted to goexperience like being out of my
small town, and which is kind ofwild because I think back now,
the fact that I just at 18 movedto Chicago, lived in a studio

(08:41):
apartment, walked to schoolevery day in a neighborhood I
didn't know.
Like, what people just don't dothat anymore.
You know, Chicago is like.
I can't even say that people didit then.
I was just like, yeah, I'mmoving to Chicago, it's gonna be
great.
Yeah.
And it was, I had a greatexperience.
It was neat to meet people fromall walks of life.
And I had made some likelifelong friends there that
happened to live more downstate.

(09:01):
Like one of my best friendslives in Champagne and we still
get together every few monthsand connect, you know.
But I just had a greatexperience.
It was short, but I got what Ineeded out of that.
And then, of course, I hadfriends who were at college
campuses and I went and visitedthem.
And um, you know, my boyfriendat the time went to ISU.
So I went there and I still wasable to like explore the college
life, I guess, but it justwasn't really something I

(09:23):
wanted.
And when I came back, I did takesome classes for a while because
insurance at the time was verydifferent then.
So you couldn't be on yourparents without being a student.
Right.
So when I was doing hair in thebeginning, I took classes at
Lincoln Land and which Ienjoyed.
I took an accounting class, Itook a marketing class, I, you
know, did uh things thatbenefited me and in the business
I was building.

(09:44):
But then the law changed thatyou could be 26.
26.
And then I was like, okay, I'mdone taking classes.
But yeah, I mean, again, Ialways have enjoyed learning.
And even as a hairdresser andinto my career, I've continued
to constantly seek education andmentorship because I think it
just develops you so much and itit helps kind of broaden your
horizons on what's out there andwhat's available and challenges

(10:04):
you to think differently.
And so yeah, I mean, I tookclasses for a while, you know,
more traditional education, butI've continued to do education
my entire life.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (10:13):
Yeah.
No, with for those out therethat might not be familiar, you
said 1,500 hours.
So a lot of people are morefamiliar with the college model
where it's credit hours.
So with this type of program anda lot of licensure programs, it
is clock hour.
So 1500 clock hours means youare physically in for 1500
hours, whether that's in the inlecture or in the salon or

(10:33):
whatever, it's 1,500 clockhours, physical hours in the
studio.

SPEAKER_00 (10:37):
Yep, you clock in, clock out.
So it's very much like a job,and it'll be interesting to see
how the industry even changeshere in Illinois because they
just passed an apprenticeshipmodel.
And so that's gonna be reallyinteresting.
It's more hours, but it's on thejob training.
So similar to like anelectrician or a plumber, or you
you don't go to plumber school,right?
You be an an apprentice and youget those hours and then you sit

(11:00):
for the exam.
So they've just passed that,which IDFPR has to write the
rules.
Right.
All the things that take likeforever to make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 (11:07):
But very much regulated.

SPEAKER_00 (11:09):
Yeah, but you know, the traditional school model for
hair school is 1,500 hours.
If you go every day, like areally good student, it takes
about 10 months.
If you don't go or you take asummer break or you take a week
off for vacation, it could takeyou like a year, but it's still
a pretty quick program for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (11:24):
Absolutely.
Yeah, and there's some statesthat are even a little bit lower
than that.
I know I was out in Utah.
I think theirs is a little bitlower.
I was doing a site visit at aschool there.
I was helping with theiraccreditation, and it was kind
of a cool process.
But yeah, I think theirs was Ithink theirs might have been
1200 hours.

SPEAKER_00 (11:38):
Some states, oddly enough, have lesser hours, but
then your state board situationis different.
So here in Illinois, we onlyhave a written state board.
It has nothing to do with yourpractical.
But even like neighboringstates, like Missouri, Michigan,
you have a uh technical stateboard exam.
So it's very interesting.
Like every state's different,what they monitor.
Illinois just does a written,which you just go sit for the

(12:00):
exam anywhere, you know.
But yeah, it's reallyinteresting how every state is
so different for something thatyou would think would be very
similar.
It's not at all.
And then moving from state tostate, like whether or not your
license carries with you,depends on the state you're
going to.
Right.
Like California, no reciprocityis legal.
So, like if I moved toCalifornia, I would have, you
can't just pay the money and geta California license.

(12:22):
I would have to go throughtraining and take their state
board exam.

SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Go through the whole program like that.

SPEAKER_00 (12:27):
I don't think you have to go through school fully.
I think there's like a like I'vebeen licensed in another state.
Oh, okay, an alternate license,but you still have to sit sit
for the state board.
And the problem is that yourtraining doesn't prepare you for
a different state's state board.
So it's all just very differentand stuff you wouldn't really
think about until you're in thisworld and you know.

SPEAKER_02 (12:43):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (12:44):
But here we are.

SPEAKER_02 (12:45):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you come back, you start upin Taylorville, right?
So tell us about that firstspot, you know, kind of your
your thought process behind it.

SPEAKER_00 (12:53):
Yeah, I worked in a really small salon.
It was called Contemporary Cuts.
It's no longer open, but Iworked there, it was on the
square in Taylorville, and Iloved it.
The people I worked with weregreat.
I built a clientele veryquickly.
The I would say the last likequote, hairdresser from
Edinburgh from my community hadkind of like quit doing hair for
a while.
So it was like right about thetime I started, she had quit,

(13:14):
and it was like we knew a lot ofthe same people.
So I got a lot of those clientsand then, you know, I went out
and took.
I mean, thinking back now, it'sactually comical what I did to
build my clientele, but I madeflyers that I printed off at
home on neon colored paper.
Yeah.
So, so 2007, right?
So I took them everywhere.
I put them on people's cars atWalmart in town.

(13:34):
I took them to my school and hadthe receptionists put them in um
every teacher's mailbox.
I took them to all the otherneighboring schools like
Taylorville and South Fork.
And I went literally everywhereI could think of, all the little
businesses on the square andjust took them everywhere and it
was like for$5 off a service.
And I had so many people comeout of work.
It really did because at thetime, and it's hard for people

(13:57):
to imagine, and I tell my staffthis constantly like when I
built my clientele, Facebookwasn't a thing.
Facebook came out when I was inhair school and I couldn't get
it because I didn't have anemail that was associated with
the college, right?
So it was like I had beenworking for a year or two before
I was even like, quote, approvedto have a Facebook page.

(14:18):
So that was not a way that yougrew your business.
You know, it was all word ofmouth.
I had a referral program and Iwould ask people to send me
their friends and family, and Iwould give them a credit if they
sent me someone, you know.
But yeah, so I quickly built myclientele.
I mean, I would say within sixmonths, I was booked.
I worked five days a week andwas booked open to close.
And I loved it.
Um, and I loved the people Iworked with, but everyone I

(14:39):
worked with worked part-time.
So I was alone a lot at thesalon.
And that was the only part thatI didn't love about it was that
the salon owner worked just acouple of days a week.
She had kids and was running anddoing that scene.
And so I just didn't haveanybody there with me all day.
And after a couple of years ofthat, I remember thinking, like,
you know, I don't know thatanybody has ever raised their

(15:02):
prices here.
And unless I work more hours,I'm not ever gonna make any more
money.
And like I mentioned, I'm allI've always been like, okay,
well, what's my next goal?
What's my next thing?
And once I was booked and I didthat for a couple of years, I'm
like, okay, well, what's next?
Because there's gotta besomething that will continue to
motivate me and like push metowards the next thing.
So I ended up working on abusiness plan.
Like I was 20, 21.

(15:24):
I think I started like workingon a business plan, working on
what that would look like, kindof imagining what it could be.
And my biggest thing was like Ijust wanted to work with people.
I wanted a team of people aroundme.
And most salons in Taylorvilleare more of a booth rental
structure.
So each person's independent andyou just rent your chair from
the salon owner.

SPEAKER_02 (15:42):
That's what you were at the time.

SPEAKER_00 (15:43):
And that's what I was at the time because that was
just what it was, right?
And then I would say on the flipside of that, larger salons in
Springfield and bigger areaswere more of a commission
structure.
And I just remember thinking,okay, I think I want that
because I want to be able tohave everyone be on the same
train, right?
We're working the same goal,we're working towards the same

(16:04):
thing.
We're here together, we're in ittogether.
And so that was kind of thestart of my thought process of
owning a business.
I wasn't unhappy there.
I didn't hate my job.
I didn't hate the people Iworked with.
I loved them and I still do.
I mean, I still see them fromtime to time because I live in
the community stuff.
So I just I knew that I wantedsomething more, like that wasn't
gonna be fulfilling for me inthe long term for my life for

(16:27):
sure.
Absolutely.
So I made the decision that Iwas gonna open the salon and
with the help of my grandpa, Iasked him for help on like how
do I get funding?
Because I have no money, right?
I'm 21.
I mean, I I'm making good money,but good money to you at 21 is
not the money needed to start acompany, right?
So I remember being like, I needto get a loan and it's not a

(16:49):
secured loan.
So how am I gonna do this?
And he was like, Well, I canhelp you.
And and my my grandfatherdefinitely did very well and
invested his money well and veryeasily could have just written
me a check and said, here yougo.
But did he do that?
No.
No, he did not.
He made me give a presentationto an old golf buddy of his, CM
Poe, who worked at the growthcorp.

(17:10):
I think it's like SBA growthcorp.
Absolutely.
Okay, so I had to go there andpresent to this board of people,
like my business plan, my goals,what I wanted to do.
And of course, it's still likeme alone, it's still gonna be an
unsecured load.
Like I'm releasing a space.
I need money for flooring andpaint and chairs and product.
And so a guy was there for thepresentation.
He must have been on that boardor something.

(17:31):
And he was like, come see me atMarine Bank.
And, you know, at the time I waslike, oh my gosh, he's gonna get
this alone.
So I went and my grandpa endedup co-siding for me to get it.
But I remember being like, oh mygosh, this is it.
Like, we we got it.
And and I'm so grateful that Ihad to go through all of that
because, you know, back then Iwas like, oh my gosh, why is he
making me do this?

(17:51):
Like, I'll pay him interest.
But I was so thankful that Iwent through all of it because
it made me think about how am Igonna present things to people
in the world of business, right?
The world of hair, I felt solid.
Right.
Right.
Like, I mean, I could talk to ahairdresser about anything or I
could talk to my clients aboutanything, but it was a very
untapped world for me,navigating all these guys in
suits, right?

(18:12):
And it was like so intimidating.
But it was a big uh thing for meto present that and put all my
documents together and havepresentations.
And then later on in life, Imean, I had to do it multiple
times.
I did it for you once, I think,actually.
Yeah, it's C C C.
So it's like it's interestinghow things that at the time you
don't realize what they're gonnado for you and what a difference

(18:32):
it makes in the way that youview things and think about
things.

SPEAKER_02 (18:35):
So I bet that was so valuable.
Having to go through thatbecause you really do.
A lot of people don't thinkabout over over the course of
their career.
You really need to have multipletalks for yourself.
You need to be able to tell whatyou do and how you're making an
impact and what you can do in 30seconds, in five minutes, in an
hour, and all that.
So that that was a ri probably areally great learning experience
for you.

SPEAKER_00 (18:53):
Very much so.
And and I remember doing it, andI still remember being in the
room.
And I remember going into therein that office out there, and I
don't even know if it's stillthere.
And there was like all this coolstuff on the walls, cool things
about business and charting.
And I was like, I just rememberkind of looking around, like,
what am I doing here?
Like, this is not and and youknow, my grandpa was so proud to
take me there.

(19:14):
And I think it was for him kindof a moment with his golf
buddies of like, yeah, yeah,yeah.
She did good, didn't she?
You know, and it's likeultimately, nothing I said there
was going to get me a loan ornot, because no one was giving
me a loan without his signatureto to back it if I fault it,
right?
And I remember when we signed,he said to me, failure is not an

(19:35):
option.
Like he literally, he's like,okay.
And before he signed his name,he said, failure is not an
option.
I'm like, okay.
And I've like jokingly kept thatwith me for years, you know?
But it's so funny to think back,like, oh my gosh, I had no idea
what I was signing up for.
I had no idea what I was doing.
I literally was just winging it.
And at the time I really feltthe pressure.
Like, if I don't nail this, likeI'm not getting this loan.

(19:57):
Well, then in hindsight, it'slike I wasn't getting that loan
regardless without him, youknow.
But but it's it was such a greatlife lesson.
And I'm so thankful that he mademe do all of that because it
very much, I don't know, justshaped my my mind in the world
of business and navigating that.

SPEAKER_02 (20:13):
And it was put a little pressure on you right
away, you know?

SPEAKER_00 (20:16):
And I think I've always thrived under pressure,
right?
Like the more pressure there is,the more I rise to the occasion.
I guess.
No, that's the way it is.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (20:23):
A little pressure, a little uncomfort, you know,
getting out of your comfort zonereally pushes you to grow.

SPEAKER_00 (20:28):
It really does for sure.
So we got the funding.
I ended up signing a lease, andour first location was out next
to Bella Milano.
So we were out west in thatstrip mall there.
Um, and it was just a little1200 square foot spot with five
chairs.
And now at that time, so we fastforwarded a few years, we got a

(20:48):
Facebook page.
I had Facebook at that point,and pages had just hit the
scene.
And I was like, I'm gonna make aFacebook page for my salon.
No other salons really in townhad one yet.
And I was posting photos of mydad hanging drywall that were
terrible, right?
I would never post that photonow.
Okay.
But I was just postingeverything that was going on,
like things are coming along,and it was not a good photo.

(21:10):
But we were kind of one of thefirst salons to be documenting
anything on social media becauseat the time I was 21 when we
were doing the build out 22.
And most of what I wouldconsider to be like
long-standing salons, successfulsalons in Springfield at the
time, had been open longer thanI'd been alive.
So their owners were on year 30,40 of ownership.

(21:34):
And I remember going, like oncewe got open, one of the first
things I went to, they were allcelebrating 25 years of
business, 30 years of business.
And I'm like, hi, I'm 22.
I stood up and I said, Well, I'm22 years old.
So we're about four months in onthis, you know?
And so I it was just really kindof like a whoa, I am in a league
that is not like I am I'm newhere, right?
You know, it's how I felt.

(21:55):
But so, anyways, we were one ofthe first businesses to kind of
like tap into that.
And I think we had been.
Open for I'd have to do themath, but maybe a year or two
when Instagram hit the scene.
Yeah.
Which is comical when we lookback now because it's like we
were putting fill the hair wewere doing didn't even look like
the hair we were doing, right?
Because you put all thesefilters and everything had a
vignette and every it was justlike hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 (22:17):
But you know, I think that's a good point.
That a lot of people, whenthey're getting started on
social with their business, areso afraid to that it has to be
perfect that it they don'tstart.
Oh, yeah.
So I mean I think that's just agreat way to you just have to
get out there and start.
You just have to do that.
You might look back and say,man, that was trash.
But you just got to get started.

SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
And you know, and that was the thing too, is that
like I was treading waters thatwere very unknown, right?
Because no one was documentingat the time, the only real
social media type thing outthere was some people were doing
YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 (22:45):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (22:46):
Right.
And but even that was prettyfresh.
Like, you know, so it was just adifferent world.
So we started utilizing it, butthe following and stuff didn't
come until later because peopledidn't have it, right?
Right.
It was only college kids thathad it at that point, and very
few outside of that.
It hadn't spread into other ageranges or groups of people quite

(23:06):
yet.
But yeah, you really just haveto start doing it, you know?
And it's like, I didn't thinkabout it then because I didn't
know any better.
Right.
And it's hard to not, you know,then I I didn't have anything to
compare it to.
Now I can imagine if I wasstarting a business today, the
amount of time and effort Iwould spend thinking about what
my digital brand was going tolook like.

SPEAKER_02 (23:23):
Right, because you see all this per, you know,
quote unquote perfect stuff outthere.

SPEAKER_00 (23:27):
And it's just like and you don't, you know, you
don't want to take a wrong stepbecause how quickly people say
the one wrong word and theirwhole entire thing they've
worked for is gone.
You know, you they it kills youbefore you even start.
So yeah, it's interesting howthinking back, and I don't know
that I've ever like actually satand thought about that, but
yeah, the stuff we were postingwas not pretty.
Yeah.
And we were not gaining clientsbecause if you were coming based

(23:48):
on that hair, you were not gonnabe pleased.
So it's a different world now.
But yeah, I think puttingyourself out there is scary no
matter what, but trying to do itwithout comparing yourself to
others is even more difficult,you know, in a time where
there's so much content thrownat your face 24-7.

SPEAKER_02 (24:04):
So that first spot out west, did you end up going
with the commission structurelike you thought about?

SPEAKER_00 (24:09):
Yep, yep.
And so I did some research very,very briefly to figure out how I
should structure it and wentwith it.
But I didn't know.
And obviously it's changedthrough the years based on the
more you know and how to make abusiness profitable and what
that looks like and all thedifferent variables of it.
But uh yeah, we opened up thereand I I literally remember
saying to my dad, like, I justgotta find four people.

(24:31):
Surely four people want to workwith me.
You know, like I can convincefour people to work with me and
then we'll be full and we willjust be like, good to go.
And he was like, Okay, yeah,like you got this just, you
know, it was just kind of like aweird time.
And so within three and a halfyears, we had added a spa room
and I had more than fivehairdressers.
So I wasn't doing hair five daysa week anymore.

(24:51):
We were sharing stations and ontop of one another.
So we did another build-out andwe moved like a block further
west to a standalone buildingthat's like behind uh advanced
dental care kind of like in thatparking lot.
There was a car dealershipthere.
So it was 2200 square feet, butit wasn't a strip mall.
So it was laid out a littledifferently, and we were able to
have 12 stations and a spa room.

(25:13):
And again, I was like, well,never outgrow this.
We have so much room now tocontinue to grow.
And boy, was I wrong.
So within three years, we wereopen six days a week and we were
shifting.
So people were working eitherlike nine to three or three to
nine, and it was absoluteinsanity.
And we were all on top of oneanother.
And I was splitting up shiftsand trying to find more chairs

(25:35):
to have around a table forpeople to process in.
I mean, it was, I mean, it's agood problem to have, right?
But I remember being like, oh mygoodness gracious, like this is
crazy.
So I started looking for otherspots.
And, you know, at the time,everything out west was so
expensive.
And I'm like, I'm gonna be inthe same problem in three years.
I'm gonna get a 5,000 squarefoot spot and maybe I can

(25:56):
squeeze 20 stations in there,but then it's like, where do I
grow from there?
And it's like I was eating myprofit every three years because
I was doing a build out everythree years.
And it's like the second one,when we went from the first spot
to the second spot, I justfunded that by cutting hair.
I literally just didn't paymyself and I just paid for the
build out so that we could haveit.
So I never got another loan inany of the build outs because I

(26:20):
just did hair to pay for it andjust like basically didn't pay
myself so that I could put itinto the business.
And when we moved downtown, weended up finding a space.
And it's kind of like a reallyweird kismet type of story.
I was looking for spaces, andlike I told you when I came
here, I grew up in this buildingthat your studio's in and grew

(26:41):
up downtown.
My mom worked downtown for yearsand was almost a fun thing to be
sick and have to go to thedoctor because then you got to
come to work with your mom, youknow, be like a sinus infection,
and you'd like to take a nap andthen go get soup from the feed
store and you know, all thelittle things that made downtown
so nostalgic.
And I had always loved downtown,but when I first opened,
downtown buildings were full andexpensive, right?

(27:02):
Right.
So out west was like where youwent because the strip mall
owners were like, we'll paintfor you, we'll put flooring in.
And it's gonna be reallyinexpensive.
And it was for me to getstarted, it was actually very
affordable in our first spot.
And then our second spot, itwasn't bad.
But then, of course, you fastforward seven years into owning
a business and we're in 2016,2017.
The economy had changed, thegrowth out west had changed,

(27:24):
everything was looking verydifferent.
And downtown was really on likea rebuild.
DSI had hit the scene and theywere out trying to find people
to come down.
And so I had looked at abuilding actually on the plaza
here on like the Adams Streetside, and went and looked at it
and it just it was gonna need somuch work.
And I'm like, I don't know.
And it didn't have a workingelevator, and that's a huge

(27:47):
expense.
It was just like, I don't know,but I really love it down here,
but I don't think that this isthe building, you know?
And I was a celebrity bartenderfor the art association and an
event over at Arlington's, and agirl who owned another business
down here was like, Hey, I wantyou to meet this guy.
And I was like, Okay.
And it was Chris Nickel, whoowns multiple properties
downtown.

(28:07):
And he was like, Hey, I heardyou might want to come downtown.
And I'm like, Yeah, you know, Ilooked at a couple spots, but
just haven't found the rightone.
He's like, there's this buildingI really think you should see.
And meanwhile, a girl who workedfor me or still works for me at
the salon, her dad wasaffiliated with a bank at the
time and had been involved inbusiness and had said, I think
she should look at thisbuilding.
So it was like coming frommultiple angles, we're like, you

(28:28):
need to go look at thisbuilding.
And so we went over to look atit.
And Chris was awesome.
He's like, hey, you know, if youwant to buy it, I'll I'll set
you up with the right peoplebecause there's TIFF funding
available.
If you just want to rent, I'llbuy it.
As long as I have a renter, I'mhappy with buying another
property.
Or if you would be interested inpurchasing it together, that
could be a great partnership.
And I'm like, okay, well, Idon't just want to rent it

(28:51):
because I've done that now andI've dumped money into
properties, but I'm also liketerrified to just own a huge
building on my own.
So we ended up actuallypurchasing the property
together.
And it's been a greatpartnership.
He's awesome and so easy to workwith, and we get along great,
and he kind of handles saltingthe sidewalk while like I keep
the business there.
So it's a mutually beneficialdeal.

(29:12):
But nonetheless, we saw thebuilding.
It had been vacant for fiveyears.
And for those who are, I wouldsay from Springfield, it was
Robert's Brothers for a lot ofyears.
And it actually closed the yearI was born in '87.
And it's like I, of course, didlike a deep dive on the history
of the building.
And yeah, they had been thereforever and they were known for
their customer serviceexperience, which is something

(29:32):
like Willow is very much builtupon.
So I thought that was reallycool.
And yeah, they closed in 1987,which was the year I was born.
And so then I think some otherthings were there throughout
some different stores andthings.
And then it most recently wasthe Illinois Surveyors Museum,
which I didn't realize AbrahamLincoln was a land surveyor.

SPEAKER_03 (29:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (29:51):
In all the Lincoln sites I went to as a child, I
never knew that until I saw themurals that we had to paint over
all over the walls.
But so that had been there andthen it had been vacant for five
years.
So we got a 20,000 square footbuilding for nothing.
Literally.
I mean, not nothing, butbasically nothing.
You know, half of what themuseum had bought it for.

(30:11):
Right.
So uh it was just pennies to thedollar as far as space.
Now, of course, old buildingscome with, we'll call it
character.
Right.
Right.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
We're sitting in an oldbuilding, right?
Uh-huh.
And nuances, like we'rerecently, like we're in the
process of staging, we'vereplaced our entire HVAC system
and we've had to do things withwater and plumbing, and you're

(30:32):
just navigating some differentthings, but it's it's worth it
to me to have the community downhere.
So we made the jump in 2017.
And before we moved downtown,because obviously that's a
pretty big jump coming frombeing a business out west to
then come downtown.
And I had two maps on the frontdesk.
And so when people would checkout, we would make them dot
where they live and then dotwhere they work.

(30:53):
Okay.
Okay.
So it was like Springfield andthe surrounding areas.
So 80% of our clients livedoutside of Springfield.
Okay.
And 70% of our clients workdowntown.
Okay.
So our average client, let'sjust say, lives in Rochester,
works downtown, and then wasdriving out west to us to get
their hair done to then go backto Rochester.

(31:14):
Okay.
And that was like drasticallyso.
Now, of course, the landscape'schanged now.
Right.

SPEAKER_02 (31:19):
I mean, that's a huge number at that point.

SPEAKER_00 (31:20):
It was insane.
And so I was like, okay, we'regoing to do this because before
I make this decision, althoughfinancially this seems like the
right move, there's going to bechallenges.
There's going to be parking.
There's going to be these thingswe're going to have to work
through.
And so before I bite off allthis, I need to make sure that
this even logistically makessense.
Right.
And so when we did that, I waslike, okay.
And I remember coming up to thefront desk multiple times a
couple of weeks in.
You know, I'm like, I wanteveryone to dot this map.

(31:42):
And it was like getting to apoint where the outskirts were a
solid dot.
I started to give one big soliddot.
Downtown was a solid dot.
You know, and so, and and wewhen once I saw it on paper, it
all made sense because we hadclients every single day being
like, I'm sorry, I'm runninglate.
If they had a five o'clockappointment, let's say they get
off downtown at 4 30.
It was taking every bit of 30minutes for them to get from

(32:02):
downtown out west, right?

SPEAKER_02 (32:04):
And it does take a little bit.
If people don't come downtownoften and try to go out west
after it, it does take a littlebit.

SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
There's no fast way to get there, right?
Because even to get from hereout to the interstate, you're f
at five o'clock, you're 10, 15minutes.
You know?
And so it was it was surprising,I guess would be the right word.
Cause I I just assumed morepeople lived in Springfield that
were seeing us, and that wasn'tthe case.
And then I didn't realize howmany people at the time were
working down here.

SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
So I was surprised by both numbers.
Like you said, that bothnumbers.

SPEAKER_00 (32:32):
We were like, you know, a lot of my staff is from
surrounding small communities.
So I knew we had clients comingfrom outside of Springfield, but
I guess I just didn't reallyrealize that it was that much.
So once I saw it on paper, I'mlike, okay, that solidifies it.
And so we started the build-outdown here, and it was a lot.
Our build building here is20,000 square feet.

(32:52):
So we went from 2200 to 20,000.
And you just don't have onedoesn't have enough furniture.

SPEAKER_02 (32:58):
That's almost a 10X, right?

SPEAKER_00 (33:00):
I mean, it really is.
And it was crazy.
I mean, it was like, what are wedoing?
We'll never use this much space,right?
Well, nine years later, weoccupy literally every square
inch of the building.
I mean, we I mean we've expandedit in so many different ways.
But and that was the goal.
It was like, if we're gonna moveagain, I want to be somewhere
where we can be literallyforever.
We can restructure it, we canmake renovations, we have all

(33:23):
these different rooms we canutilize for different things and
it might look different, but ifwe need more than 20,000 square
feet, then we need twolocations, right?
And so that was where I waslike, if I'm moving again, I'm
moving to where there is so muchroom, people will be like, this
is nuts.

SPEAKER_02 (33:39):
So I love it though.
I love it.
And I mean, it's so cool thatyou're able to really kind of
build on the legacy of thebuilding too.
Like you said with the RobertsBrothers stuff and how they're
so much into customer service.
And then you're building abusiness right here that's long
standing here that's focused oncustomer service, right?
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (33:53):
It's it was neat.
When we moved down that firstyear, they had an upper story
tour, which our building's threelevels.
So the basement levelunderground is our spa, and then
like shopping and retail, and uhthe nest is actually moving down
to the first floor, and thenupstairs is all salon services.
So we have an upstairs,obviously.
And so during that time when wehad like just moved in, they had

(34:14):
the upper story tours and peoplewere going from downtown
business to downtown businessand anything upstairs.
And there was a poster with thehistory of that building.
I still have the poster becauseit was like set up in our
building for people to come andsee.

SPEAKER_03 (34:28):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (34:29):
But it was just really neat to see how it was.
And when it was RobertsBrothers, the building burned
down in the 70s.
So the building's not as old aswhat you would think it is,
right?
So it had been there forever,but when they rebuilt it in the
70s, it used to be three storiesabove ground and now it's just
two stories above ground, butvery, very tall ceilings.

(34:50):
So like the building's the sameheight, but it's just two
stories and they have this openatrium in it, which is kind of a
cool feature.

SPEAKER_02 (34:55):
That makes a cool feature too.

SPEAKER_00 (34:57):
Yeah, it's neat.
It's it really has like a lot ofcharacter that you just don't
get in a strip mall.
And so we've been very happythere for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (35:04):
So you're taking up every square inch of that place
now.
You said you got the spadownstairs.
So what all is involved in thespa?

SPEAKER_00 (35:11):
Yep.
So the spa's in our lower level,and we try not to say that
they're in the basement, butsometimes, but sometimes it's
like the the elevator, ofcourse, says spacement, right?
And so we're like in our lowerlevel, just because it makes it
sound uh like a not so scary.
So we have eight treatment roomsdown there.
So we have estheticians, weoffer um facials, waxing
services, lash services, bodytreatments.

(35:34):
Stevie does microblading, microshading, so like a tattooing of
the eyebrows, nails, somanicures, pedicures, gel and
gel X.
That's predominantly the mainthings, eminence facials, which
are all custom.
But it's a different world downthere.
It's very zen and spa-like, dimlit and quiet, right?
And then you go up to the salon,and that is not the operation.

(35:58):
So it's kind of cool because youget to experience two very
different scenes, if you will.
But yeah, it's it's like anongoing joke.
If you work in the spa, you'relike really quiet and sweet and
soft spoken.
And everyone who works downthere is just like so.

SPEAKER_02 (36:12):
You do have to talk very much in a slower area.
They do.
Just nice talk.

SPEAKER_00 (36:16):
Yes.
And it's like they're allwonderful and so talented.
And Stevie, I think, has hasbeen selected as the Illinois
Times best esthetician, likefive years in a row at this
point, you know.
And we've really grown that sideof the business.
And we, of course, primarilywere a salon, right?
And we were built around hairservices, but the spa world has

(36:36):
really elevated since I hate toeven continue to say since
COVID, but it's changed.
I mean, our industry drasticallychanged after COVID.
When you told people theycouldn't see their hairdresser
for 12 weeks, people were losingtheir marbles, you know, and we
were 100% closed.
So I think it's an interestingshift in the industry because
it's how people think aboutbeauty and aesthetics and

(36:58):
salons, and it's just different.
And that even goes as far astheir hair regimens and skin
regimens.
And I think skincare really hitthe scene because it was
something that you could do athome.
So once like that all happened,we've seen a huge rise in
people's care about like takingcare of their skin, their
eyebrows, how it adds structureand shape to their face, and how

(37:20):
they change their look and theirtime is spent more on health and
wellness of the skin and havingyour skin be healthy and not
need to cover it up.
Right.
Right.
And so our skincare side of theworld has just shifted so much.
We use eminence organics.
So it's all very customizedusing plant and fruit enzymes
and extracts, and it's all verynatural approach to skincare and

(37:43):
everything's customized.
So when you book a facial withus, you're not booking a
anti-aging facial or an acnefacial.
You're booking a 60-minutecustom and they choose products
based on your exact concerns youwant to target because most
people don't have just oneconcern, right?
Like I need anti-aging here, butthen I'm really dry on my
cheeks.
And then I feel like my nosesometimes gets oily.

(38:06):
Well, I don't want to pick oneconcern, right?
And so that's really the beautyof that.
And the spa side has justcontinued to grow.
And so many new services havehit the scene in that world too.
It was like eyebrow laminationshad a moment.
People are doing lash lift andtint to where they don't have to
wear mascara because theirlashes are now tinted dark, and

(38:26):
there's just a lot of thingsthat have changed and shifted,
and that side of our businesshas grown a lot.

SPEAKER_02 (38:32):
So with those individualized services, those
customized services, has thatdrawn more into the industry?
Are you guys some of the firstones to kind of get into that?

SPEAKER_00 (38:41):
Or yeah, I think that uh a lot of that is
determined by your skincareline, right?
So Imminence is very big oncustomizing it for the person.
And of course, you can have likelabeled, I mean, they of course
spas have this type of facial.
We just prefer it to be custombecause I think that's kind of

(39:01):
how we've always operated, islike we want it to be customized
and unique to you.
So we find that we get the bestresults that way.
And sometimes we'll do like aseasonal or a promotional
facial.
They have a strawberry rhubarbmask and a chocolate mask.
And so we've done things forValentine's Day where you can
get a chocolate-coveredstrawberry hydrating facial,

(39:21):
which is really for all skintypes, right?
So we've done things like thatthat showcase or target, you
know, showcase specific productsor target a specific concern.
But most of the time, if we'redoing that, it's something
that's pretty generalized thatlike anyone can use, right?
Like a stone crop recoveryfacial at the end of summer.
And stone crop's like a cousinof aloe.
Okay, that's what I'm gonna say.
What's stone crop?

(39:42):
I've never heard of that.
Think of like aloe, Vera beingit's it's in the same family.
So it's very healing, verycalming, soothing.
And that's a a big sector of thebrand is based around that
concept.
So just things of that naturethat are gonna be a little bit
more generalized.
If we promote something, it'susually something that everyone
can experience and enjoy.
Whereas otherwise we stick tothe custom options just because

(40:04):
it's very much targeted to youand your needs.

SPEAKER_02 (40:07):
Absolutely.
No, I I can attest.
I've got two teenage daughters.

SPEAKER_00 (40:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (40:10):
And they're both very much into the skincare
routines and everything.
And that has grown significantlyover the last few years.
I'm about to bring them downsometimes.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (40:19):
I think, you know, social media plays into it so
much too, right?
And there's there's so manyproducts and so many things, and
a good skincare routine is soimportant.
And with all the things outthere, it's nice to have a
resource, like to have anesthetician who's very
knowledgeable about all thelayers of the skin and looks at
your skin under a woods lamp andsays, Okay, you like I know you
think you're oily, but you'reactually not.

(40:40):
You're overproducing becauseyou're dehydrating your skin on
a different level.
And that's the difference ofhaving a professional be
involved versus the latest,greatest YouTuber who is
whatever, right?
So I think that that's animportant factor too.
But yeah, I mean, our staff downthere is we have the best group
of people.
And I will die on this hill.
I am so grateful for the team Iget to work with every day and

(41:03):
the spa group.
They're amazing people.
They're so talented.
It's it's wonderful down there.
And you can feel that energywhen you go down there.
It's like, my God, everyone hereis just so pleasant, right?
Like down in the spa,everybody's just like a delight,
you know?
And so, yeah, if you haven'tbeen, definitely just bring the
girls.

SPEAKER_02 (41:18):
Yeah, I will bring them over, no doubt about it.
So you have a retail spot aswell, right?
Retail area.

SPEAKER_00 (41:23):
So when you walk in the front door, everything is
our boutique area.
So everything from professionalproducts, of course, to uh
clothing and accessories andgifts and candles and all kinds
of stuff.
So we have a lot of people thatjust come in to shop.
And I've always said this like,you don't have to leave your
hairdresser.
We love that you love yourhairdresser.
Like, don't feel compelled.
We're not trying to steal you,right?

(41:43):
Like, but we have so many thingsto offer that aren't a conflict
with maybe something you alreadyhave, someone you already have a
relationship with.
So people come in to shop allthe time.
People stop in just to check outwhat we've gotten.
And a lot of the downtown foottraffic will pop in on their
lunch hour and stuff like that.
But yeah, so we've got a widerange of things to choose from.
We also have our little librarythere so people can bring a book

(42:05):
and take a book.
And that's kind of a fun littlething.
Our clients really enjoy.
And then also on the firstfloor, we have moved the nest
down there, which the nest isour alternative hair studio.
So wigs, toppers, anyone who'sneeding additional hair, right?
For whatever reason.
Could be a medical reason, couldbe one of the many forms of

(42:26):
alopecia that people face.
So lots of different reasons forit.
But uh if you're experiencinghair loss, that's the area where
we do those consultations.
We have tons of wigs and toppersin stock.
So you could leave us somethingtoday, which is really nice,
especially for people who arestarting treatment and don't
have time to order something andthey need to be able to take it
right then.
So that's all moving downstairs.

(42:46):
It was upstairs when we openedit last fall, but it's grown in
such a short amount of time.
So we're kind of expanding thatdown.
So we have a dedicated room foruh the wigs and toppers.
And then upstairs, where thatwas, is gonna be more just
extensions and like early stagetoppers.
So yeah, it's kind of it's kindof wild.

(43:06):
It's been a wild ride for thelast year, I would say.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (43:09):
But so with that stuff, do you learn that type of
stuff in cosmetology school oris that a completely different
skill set that you've learnedover the years doing something
else?

SPEAKER_00 (43:16):
Yep.
So we started doing training foralternative hair probably around
two years ago now.
So I've taken multiple masterclasses with John Renault, which
is the brand that primarily wesell.
And so it's actually totallydifferent from doing traditional
hair.
So especially when you'redealing with synthetic fibers,
whether synthetic, HD, HDmeaning it's heat friendly.

(43:38):
So you can use a hot tool on it,synthetic, meaning it's a
straight synthetic, so you can'ttouch anything hot to it, right?
Even like if you're gonna takesomething out of the oven, you
don't want to have it on becausethe steam could sender, right?
So it's technically made fromplastic, is what a synthetic
fiber is, and they like stringit out and make hairs with it.
It's the most incredible thing,really.

SPEAKER_02 (43:58):
But not good for heat though.
That's the when you're

SPEAKER_00 (44:00):
start yeah any of that plastic it yes yes and then
we also of course have humanhair fibers so it really just
depends on the person what theyneed but working with those
fibers is just different whenyou're cutting plastic you can't
cut it like you would cut humanhair because it would fray right
right so it's like everythinghas to be very blunt but you
don't want it to look blunt sothat's a different skill set

(44:21):
just utilizing different toolsand styling is very different
because when you can't just usea curling iron and do what you
do you know you're pulling out asteamer and I'm rolling roller
sets and I haven't done thatsince hair school.
Right.
So I mean just it's veryinteresting all the things that
it requires and how you thinkabout it is different.
But then there's so many otherfactors too as far as cap

(44:41):
construction, base materials,how it fits the head, because
that's really the most importantpart is you want it to fit the
client to perfection.
So I think all of that is stuffthat you don't learn in hair
school.
You know, in hair school you youbriefly talk on synthetic care
pieces maybe that you would addin for an updo or something but
at least my school educationthat was not incorporated.

(45:02):
Maybe some extensions I thinkwith more modern day schooling
they're adding in hairextensions because that's such a
wild thing.
Yeah.
So but just not the same as thewigs and and toppers and even
now we're getting into hairreplacement.
So um hair replacement is a inessence a topper that involves
adhesive.
So think like a toupee and ifyou follow toupee queen on on

(45:23):
social media you watch her bondthose for people.
So they are pieces that likethey don't take off each night
right they're keeping it on fromlike they might come and see us
every two to three, four weeksand we'll remove it.
We clean the head, we clean thepiece and then rebond it.
So we have some people do itwith most people are doing it
with tape it seems thus far, butwe do have some bonds that come

(45:44):
in too.
So that's a whole different sideof it as well.
And so we have a private roomfor that that is just a
one-on-one room then we havelike a semi-private space that
we have the nest in.
So there's multiple stations butit's kind of secluded from every
cool line of the business.
I guess I didn't realize thatyou had that line that's it
that's a much newer addition.
We had had a client who's hadalopecia her whole life and she

(46:06):
asked us a couple years ago ifwe could get her a wig because
the person she was typicallyordering from wasn't available
to continue doing it.
And so I was like yeah but Idon't even know where to begin.
And so I had reached out to afriend that was in a salon owner
group with me and asked him,because they did wigs like where
did you get your training?
And he said I looked up JohnRenault and they had a class at

(46:28):
a hotel nearby years ago andthey went to that.
So I looked up the company sawwhen their next class was and
kind of dove into that world andtheir education's exceptional
and the quality of their piecesis so good.
Just the cap constructions, thematerials that they use, how it
feels on the head is sodifferent than other brands and
just has a very luxe feel.
So we've been really happy withthat.

(46:49):
But it's it's an entiredifferent world.
I bet I bet it and it's beenit's been kind of a wild ride.
We did it just thinking oh thiswill be great.
We can obviously help our clientand then we have clients all the
time who are diagnosed withdifferent forms of cancer and
are losing their hair and we'vealways offered chemo cuts for
free.
So like if you're about to gothrough chemotherapy and you
want to in essence be in controlof that, we will either cut it

(47:13):
very short so that what you'reseeing isn't tons of hair on the
pillow or some clients are likejust shave it off.
I know it's going I want itgone, you know?
And so we've always offered thatas a complimentary service.
So then this just takes it a litlevel further and we can make
sure that they have what theyneed as they go through
treatment.
So that's been kind of a funthing too for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (47:33):
So so cool.
Well from booth rent inTaylorville to a 2000 square
foot facility just about a blockaway from where we're sitting
what would you think are some ofthe main things that spurred
that big growth over the last 20ish years.

SPEAKER_00 (47:47):
Yeah I mean I think so much of it is is just mindset
and and constantly looking forthe next challenge I guess I
don't do well sitting still andI don't mean like sitting in a
chair because I love to watch amovie or things of that nature.
But I don't do good when I don'thave like a project to work
toward or a project to work on.
And I think sometimes it drivespeople around me crazy because

(48:09):
I'm like how can we make itbetter?
And they're like it's fine,quit.
You know and I'm like, but if itcould be better, you know and
they're like stop it because Ithink that like I mentioned
earlier, I'm just kind of wireddifferently.
Like my brain just is constantlythinking of new ideas and new
things and I I've I've done muchbetter through the years as a
business owner and I'm gonna sayleader harnessing that and

(48:31):
utilizing the people around meto discern those ideas so that
I'm not just like changingthings for no reason.
Right.
Because I mean I think sometimesfor years I was just constantly
like this is fun and excitingand like wanted something new.
And now I've I've been a littlebit more methodical especially
in the last few years aboutokay, what is our actual goal
and what are we trying toachieve with this and will this

(48:53):
change get us there or will itnot right like what is the
problem?
How can we fix it?
And if there's not a problem, isit worth fixing right or or you
know making it a problem in witha result that will be better or
is it just going to be a changethat's going to keep us here.
Keep us right.
So it's really just about I'vealways been somebody who looks

(49:13):
for what the reasons why it willwork, not why it won't.
And by nature humans don't thinkthat way right most of the time
we think about why we don't wantto do something or why we
shouldn't do something.
And that's like our most humanbrains are wired that way to
keep us safe, right?
Like we don't want discomfort,we want to make the right choice
and I think that I've alwaystrained my brain and fed my

(49:35):
brain with very positive thingsand positive ways of thinking so
that when I see things, I thinkof why it will work or what the
best possible outcome would be,not the worst, right?
And some people might say that'snaive, but I very much feel that
if you believe in something andyou look for the good, you will

(49:56):
just find more good to see.
It doesn't mean that you don'tthink the bad things exist.
It just simply means I'm Ichoose to not think about that
and waste my time and energy onit.

SPEAKER_02 (50:05):
So and that's a that's a powerful mindset shift
too.
And it's it really is it's hard.
It is hard.
It is hard.
But we talk a lot a lot aboutthat in 10x is taking what you
thought was impossible andmaking it possible instead of
saying you know I could nevermake that happen or something.
Well how could we make thathappen?
Because quite frankly mostthings if you throw enough time,

(50:25):
people, money, impact, actionbehind it, you can do it.
It just may take more than whatyou think think you're capable
of but you got to flip thatthrough it and it usually does
right.

SPEAKER_00 (50:34):
But I think that often we underestimate what
we're capable of.
Yes.
You're gonna say you're capableof doing something you've
already achieved.
And outside of that if you can'tthink beyond that then you're
just gonna be where you're atand that's okay.
I mean the there our world oursociety is built on people being
comfortable right like we needemployees to work jobs.
We need people to do the jobsthat the state that need to be

(50:56):
done right you need thingsfiled.
You need things here you needpeople that are that are
comfortable working in a factoryproducing the items that we need
in our everyday life right noteveryone could live with what
some would think would be likemy life would be very stressful.
Right.
Like how do you manage all ofthese things?
That is very much like just howI was made for lack of a better
way it is how I was made was tolike think the way I think and

(51:19):
then how I harness that andtrain it and how I've developed
my brain to use that for good, Iguess I would say through the
years is, you know, the partthat I would say is challenging.
It's very easy to want to justlike fall into the negative, but
I'm constantly feeding my brainwith things that are positive,
whether it's a podcast, whetherit's people that I can aspire to
be like or or learn from Ilisten to stuff while I drive

(51:42):
that's very positive and justchallenges my brain to think
differently about things.
So it's all about yeah for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (51:48):
You have to have that very high belief lid to be
a successful entrepreneur.
You got to be able to believethat you can do those things.

SPEAKER_00 (51:54):
You do and you have to believe it so deep that no
one can tell you that it's notgoing to work.
Right.
Which is very hard and like evenwhen I was young when I opened
the salon I mean I had mostpeople like are you sure you
want to do this like that's abig risk and you're already so
successful and you're doinggreat.
Like why are you taking such arisk?
You know, I remember when I gotthe loan I had a couple people
say to me like gosh that's a lotof money Jessica like what if it

(52:16):
doesn't work out I'm like itwill fail not an option.

SPEAKER_02 (52:20):
We already know that.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 (52:21):
So I mean I remember being like what is wrong with
these people I was so delusionalin my thought that this was
going to be great that there wasnothing anyone could say to me
that was going to tell meotherwise.
And it's not for a lack ofproblems, right?
I mean we have had issues withAC, issues with water, issues
with all kinds of things andit's in all three locations.
It's not just the old building Imean we would have hot water

(52:43):
issues in our first location wejust kept adding hot water
heaters.
I mean it was crazy.
And it's like to think now tothink back all the challenges
we've overcame in 16 years andthe amazing team that I have and
the incredible success we'rehaving it's like I am so
grateful but I do owe thatsuccess to just literally being
able to be like nope, you don'thave anything nice to say I
don't want to hear from you.

(53:04):
Exactly.
Sorry.
Yeah like and I mean that's it'sreally the only thing that gets
you through.
And if you want to own a companyand you don't think that way,
you're gonna have a really toughtime.

SPEAKER_02 (53:13):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (53:13):
Because there's bricks thrown at you every
single day.

SPEAKER_02 (53:16):
No doubt about it.

SPEAKER_00 (53:16):
Literally every day.

SPEAKER_02 (53:17):
And I've I've shown it on the show multiple times,
but I wear this every single daymy my no negativity allowed
bracelet be positive on theother side that's amazing.
Just a friendly reminder everysingle day no negativity in
here.

SPEAKER_00 (53:29):
Right.
And it I mean it's hard it ishard to keep it out of your life
because most people talk abouttheir problems.
Yeah exactly and I'm guilty ofit too.
We all do you know like it's andmisery loves company.
So when person starts talkingabout their problems you're like
my problems are worse, right?
And then it's like the nextthing you know everybody's
miserable.
We all have problems, you knowbut the reality is is that
everyone has them and the peoplethat'll rise above them are the

(53:50):
people who can shift theirmindset to be like, okay, I'm
just not even gonna ask likethat's happening.
The world's on fire.
Actually there was a meme goingaround on social media not long
ago and it was like a Barbie wholooks like she's been through H
E double hockey sticks.
Okay.
And like the world is on firebehind her.
And hairdressers were posting ita lot and it was like you know
this is me.
Would you like a highlightyou're just like delusional

(54:12):
about what's happening aroundyou behind you.
And it's like you're like hi I'mhere to do your hair at the
building's burning down.
Right.
But that's kind of how you haveto be and especially in business
you have to be able to drown itout and be like this is what I'm
doing.

SPEAKER_02 (54:25):
So come on spitting some fire here today, Justin
come on let's go.
So so much great business stuff.
Let's flip over to the personalside for a minute.
What are some ways you elevateyour life personally?

SPEAKER_00 (54:35):
Well I think I mean I think we've touched on it
really it's really just about Ithink for me, I don't feel
fulfilled if I'm not workingtowards a goal.
So I have a really hard timeseparating my personal life from
my professional life.
Both great people do yeah thatit's not two different things in
my world so it's definitely forme it's definitely more about

(54:56):
finding happiness in my life asa whole and my work is a huge
part of what I do and notbecause I have to but because I
want to right so I love workingI love my job but I also really
love my kids and I love myhusband and I love my friends
and my family.
So it's really finding a balancebetween that but I don't know
that it's a balance as much asit's like just making time for

(55:17):
all of it.
Right.
And like choosing wisely where Iwant to spend my time and and
spacing it out to where I cantry to be as present as
possible.
Right.
You know, when I'm not working Itry to sure disconnect a little
bit so that I can swing on theswing outside or go for a golf
cart ride or go do the familystuff that's necessary.
But I think that you know it'sfunny my husband and I just had

(55:39):
this conversation because peoplewill often ask like well where's
your next vacation and he's insales training and the person's
like you guys need to takevacations and he's like nah I'm
good and and we really don'tever go on vacation.
And it's not because we can'tleave our jobs right I could
leave the salon for four monthsand I have an amazing team.
They do not need me right Idon't want to because I built my

(56:02):
life to love my life right Ilove every aspect of it.
I don't feel the need to getaway and and it's not that I
wouldn't enjoy going somewhereand we do go places, right?
Like we're planning to go toBranson for holidays and take
our little boy to the PolarExpress, which I'll find that'd
be great.
You know, so I mean we do go dothings but it's like I don't
have a burning desire to escapemy life.

(56:23):
I very much love what I do.
I love the people I surroundmyself with which is by design
right I give time to the peoplethat fuel me in such a way.
And so I think it's a matter offinding what makes you happy and
then utilizing that in everyaspect of your life.
And I very much have done that,you know, and of course it
doesn't mean you don't have baddays.
It doesn't mean that stuff's nothard sometimes but I love the

(56:45):
outcome of it.
I love seeing my staff grow.
I love seeing a happy customer Ilove it.
I literally love it.
So then outside of that it'slike I I feel so lucky I have an
amazing husband and he's also anentrepreneur and works a
full-time job too and he's kindof we're joking right now we're
like past like ships passing inthe night you know he and a

(57:05):
couple of his buddies started anice company and they supply ice
for like all the fares didn'teven know this was a thing.
Okay.
It's it's wild actually andthey've acquired another ice
company and they are expandingit's in Edinburgh their
manufacturing facility andeverything.
So that's kind of a cool thingto see happening and he's just
starting that up so we keepjoking we're like passing like
ships in the night, right?

(57:26):
It's like dropping the kidsbetween us.
But it's we're in such a funseason of growing all these
things and seeing all thesepeople around us grow and really
just like loving every minuteand trying to make time for a
date night everyone's like youknow but we call that the 10x
super life being extraordinaryin all those different areas.

SPEAKER_02 (57:41):
You don't have to be balanced between personal and
professional life there is nobalance right it's a myth crazy
there is no balance.
You can be great in all thesethings.

SPEAKER_00 (57:48):
Well and it's crazy it's crazy to think that it
would be it's crazy to thinkthat you're not gonna be able to
be an entrepreneur who isconstantly pushing towards new
things if you clock out at fouro'clock and you don't work
anymore.
And it's not like oh I have somuch work to do.
I'm buried in work.
It's like I'm gonna think aboutthis or I'm gonna look for this
or I want to get these thingsoff my checklist so tomorrow I

(58:10):
can start fresh with a mind onthis item.
I don't ever think of it as likeug I have to do this.
I get to do this and my mindsetaround it is like how lucky am I
that I have flexibility that Ican take my kid to his pre-K
open house at 8 a.m on a Mondayand it's fine.
Right.
Or how lucky am I that I get todo things that I love with

(58:30):
people I love whenever I wantto.
Right.
But that's such a reward ofworking hard, right?
And setting up your life in theway that you want it to be and
really not caring what anybodyelse thinks about it.
Come on let's go.
Yeah I think it's it's very Ifeel very blessed to do what I
do and to have the people in mylife that I have for sure.

SPEAKER_02 (58:48):
So phenomenal stuff today Jessica let's uh close
with these last couple ofthings.
Yeah let's give the audience apiece of advice you can give up
for both it could be the samething because we just kind of
touched on it but a piece ofadvice one on the personal side
one on the professional side tohelp them elevate their life or
business.

SPEAKER_00 (59:03):
Yeah I think um really the biggest thing and I
would say it really counts forboth is to look for the positive
in everything.
And if you focus on the good itgets really hard to see the bad.
Yeah.
So I think that would be mynumber one.
If you're focused on the goodit's really really hard for the
negative to win.

SPEAKER_02 (59:19):
No negativity folks.
And is there anything we can alldo community wide to help us
elevate Springfield and thesurrounding communities.

SPEAKER_00 (59:26):
A huge part of my company and just my life is like
as busy as I am, as busy as myhusband is, we are still super
involved in the community.
I'm on the school board I myhusband's on the township and
the county board and I help withthe Christian county pageant and
we donate to tons of events.
So how successful you are is inmy opinion only marked by how

(59:49):
much you give back to thecommunity.
And sometimes it's in timesometimes it's in donations for
events sometimes it's in sharingideas or support or helping make
an event happen.
But I think just being a part ofthe community that you're in
whether that's where you livewhether it's where you work and
truly dedicating yourself tosomething outside of your

(01:00:09):
individual life and yourindividual work that gives to
the greater good around you.
So join a board join a groupjoin something that gives you a
cause to give back to in somecapacity.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:22):
Come on well so much great stuff today.
Remind everybody where they canfind you learn more about you
learn more about Willow andBirch all the things.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:29):
Yep so Willow and Birch is on all social media
platforms.
So on Facebook, on Instagram ofcourse our website is
willowandbirchsalon.com andpretty much between those three
spots you can find abouteverything you need to know
about us but we're located rightdowntown on the old state
capitol plaza right onWashington Street.
And yeah, there is reallysomething for everyone.

(01:00:51):
So if you haven't been in comein we we don't expect you to
leave your hairdresser that youlove.
We don't want that we very muchhave a service to offer for
everyone and even if you justwant to come shop and check us
out and see what we have, youknow the holidays are around the
corner and holiday walks will bein full swing.
So it's a great time to comeexplore downtown and see what
all is available for sure,including Willow.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:14):
And no more weird filters on Instagram, right?

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:16):
Yes, yes.
Now it's like we're so crazyabout it.
Now I'm like do not filteranything because people edit so
much and now we're into a wholedifferent era with AI.
Oh yeah.
It's like people bring us AIphotos.
I'm like that is not her hair.
That is not real.
So yeah it's very much it's kindof a wild world but now we're
like do not edit it.
Do not do anything to it that wewant them to look exactly real

(01:01:37):
how they are in real life.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:38):
You know absolutely yeah well thanks for having me.
Yeah appreciate you spendingsome time with me this morning
it was fun.
Yeah phenomenal stuff so allright well we're gonna let
Jessica get back to Elevate inSpringfield but for the rest of
you we'll be right back.
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(01:03:01):
Well thank you for joining ustoday everybody appreciate you
making us a part of your day heydon't forget while you're out on
social, check ours out.
You can check my personal oneout at RobertFarrell at
everywhere.
Check out those ElevateSpringfield pages, those big dog
business coaching pages as well.
Check us out over on YouTube.
Give us a subscribe give us alike or a follow on any of those

(01:03:24):
channels we would certainlyappreciate it.
So hey take what you learn todayyou bring the discipline and
follow through and together asright y'all we're gonna elevate
Springfield.
Be great