Transforming Work Woes: Channeling Hard Work into Your Ticket to a Brighter Future

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Ever wonder what it takes to turn a flicker of passion into a blazing career? Essence and Adelaide join us to weave a narrative that begins with a young girl's resolve to transform hairdressing into a business empire, and another's recognition at just 15—a partnership that has since flourished. It's a conversation that celebrates the underdog spirit and the tenacity required to reshape an industry, all while building a legacy that transcends the individual.

As we settle into the heart of our dialogue, the essence of trust and loyalty takes center stage, revealing how these virtues are the bedrock of our guest's thriving partnership. Adelaide's journey from an employee to a co-owner underlines the incredible power of nurturing potential and the organic evolution of a shared vision. We share the wisdom gained from steering a venture through the highs and lows, and discuss how stewardship and a robust work ethic are crucial for those who aspire to leave a mark on the business world.

Bringing our episode to a close, we dissect the role of passion in leadership, the kind that makes you leap out of bed in the morning, eager to face the day's challenges. Essence and Adelaide illuminate how a genuine culture fit can supercharge a team, and how emotional maturity paves the way for exceptional customer service. This is about more than just business—it's about a legacy of leadership that works hand-in-hand with the team, never shying away from the hard work that defines an extraordinary future. Join us on this empowering journey, and be ready to ignite your passion and redefine your path to success.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello and welcome to underdogs, bootstrappers and
game changers.
This is for those of you thatare starting with nothing and
using business to change theirstars, motivating people who
disrupted industry standards.
This is the real side ofbusiness.
This isn't Shark Tank.
My aim with this podcast is totake away some of the imaginary

(00:21):
roadblocks that are out there.
I want to help more underdogs,because underdogs are truly who
change the world.
This is part of our Content forGood initiative.
All the proceeds from themonetization of this podcast
will go to charitable causes.
It's for the person that wantsit.
Hello and welcome once again toUnderdogs, bootstrappers, game

(00:43):
Changers.
Another exciting episode.
I'm going to welcome backEssence and Adelaide.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
So, as always, I have somewherewe're trying to go and today
we're trying to go into.
You're not doing it for them,you're doing it for you and your

(01:04):
story is beautiful.
We've had that on episode eight.
We'll probably dive just alittle bit back into that too,
and then how you guys came about.
But you guys are perfect forthis message that I think the
opposite is being portrayed inthis world and I think it's
dangerous, especially tounderdogs and their futures.
So, without further ado,welcome and let's jump into this

(01:25):
thing.
So, essence, if you could justslightly, in case somebody
didn't see episode eight, couldyou rehash the story of like how
you started first business?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I started doing hair at avery young age and I just
realized I had a great passionfor it and so I kind of like
didn't want to do it as muchbecause I thought it was going
to be like a hustle as opposedto something that was a viable
business.
But later on in my journey Iactually had to change the law
in the state of Arizona, whichopened up the doors for me to
actually do it professionally,and so I've been in the hair

(01:58):
industry for 20 plus years.
I mean, the law was changed 20years ago, which is crazy to me.
So I know I was doing herealmost a decade before that.
And so we're here now, you know, still growing the business,
and never thought that I wouldbe, you know, this far into it
because it was just a hustle anda hobby you know.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
You know like I wish I could say it better Like I'm
thinking about Yosemite Sam andhe, like he fires the guns in
the air and he's like I'm arootin tootin.
It's like you're a smallbusiness starting law changing.
You know like now, schoolowning.
You know like I think yourstory is amazing, thank you.
So how did Adelaide come intoyour life, like which one of you

(02:36):
guys wants to take over, andlike enter Adelaide when did
that happen?

Speaker 2 (02:40):
I mean, we met, I met her at a very early age.
Well, her, she was really young, but she can kind of speak to
it Okay, oh gosh, okay.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
So yeah, I was 15 and we met at church and she was
like she saw my siblings andcousins hair.
She was like who did their hair?
And of course somebody told herit was me and she was like you
did that.
I was like, yeah, and then shehad just opened the salon.
So this is a short version.
And then she pretty much justinvited me to start working

(03:10):
there and it's just been, Iguess, history since then.
I didn't stay at 15 and workcontinuously.
I came in, I worked for a shortperiod of time and then I
finished high school because Iwas super, super, I was
definitely a nerd I was into,like I was super involved in

(03:35):
school and so I just didn't havethe capacity to like do hair
essentially professionallyprofessionally at that time.
But I maintained a relationshipwith her so I would always come
and visit, stop by.
And then my freshman year ofcollege, I was trying to find a
job and literally I'm like Ifeel so qualified and I was

(03:58):
getting nothing.
And I also realized I was beingvery honest about where I was
and what my abilities were and Ididn't know that that was like
not a thing You're supposed toembellish a little bit.
I didn't know that.
And so me, being super honest,it was like not getting me a job
and I was okay with that.
But you know, god always worksfor us.

(04:19):
But she had run into my sisterand my sister was like China is
trying to get ahold of you.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
And so then she called me and was like do you
want to, you want to come back?
And I was like yes, Like and,and I've been ever since.
So it's been a continuous what?
Uh, 14 years now.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Yeah, that's amazing.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
So a continuous 14 years, but yeah, just started at
15 and then maintaining thatrelationship, it was always good
and now literally like we'resisters and it's just the
greatest.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
So basically, like it sounds like, so you recognized
her talent.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, yes, it spoke.
I mean, when I seen the work Iwas just like, okay, I know that
I just opened the salon and I'mlooking for a potential stylist
and talent.
And so when I met her sisterand she pointed to her and she
just looked so young, I'm justlike, well, I'll at least talk
to her and talk to her mom andjust ask her is it something
that, even if she's not readynow, that she can come work in

(05:15):
the summers and, you know,intern or something like that?
And so that's how it wasestablished?
But it was the work that thatdrew me for sure.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, so you originally were like interning
there over the summers or likehow did that originally start?

Speaker 3 (05:26):
No, I was coming in on Saturdays and just working
and I was already doing hair.
I had been doing hair prior tothat for many years, so by then
I was at least like five toseven years in like doing it a
lot and, yes, I was 15.
But I started really earlydoing like my family members
hair, friends hair, my brother'sfriends hair, and so I had a

(05:51):
lot of practice.
But I never saw it as somethingthat I could do professionally.
And then when she like offeredme the opportunity, it was just
a, it was a seed at that timebecause I still continued
through college and it never wasencouraged for it to be a
career, because people saw it inmy life as more of a hobby.

(06:13):
And so I didn't see it as apotential opportunity until my
eyes were opened and, like,there were so many skills that I
learned, disciplines that Ilearned being in that
environment, that they carriedon into college and vice versa.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
What's the hardest?
I mean, either of you couldanswer this question at this
point, but I'm going to focus onyou.
What is the hardest part aboutbusiness?

Speaker 2 (06:38):
The hardest part about business?
Oh, that's a good question.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
I mean, I think Think about it, because I know you
know the answer.

Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Super clear.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Well, I mean, I think you know we talked about this
on our podcast.
It's like you know themanagement of people, because
it's you know their lives cominginto the environment that
you're trying to establish, andso now you're managing people
and it's like I didn't get intoit for this.
You know, I wanted't get into itfor this you know I wanted to
get into it for the craft youknow, but if you're really
trying to grow then you have tohave people and when people come
, some potential problems youknow you can only grow as good

(07:11):
as your people are.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, in fact I was listening to the story of oh
Hubert Packard the other day andthey used to always be hiring,
you know, even if they didn'thave positions open, because
they knew they could only growas fast as they had good people.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
You know, and it's like I think that's what people
don't realize.
You know it's like before wedive really hard into that.
You know it's like and youcould go to episode one we
talked about employees.
You know it's the hardest partabout business hands down,
finding good people, right?
So tell me how it happened thatyou went from like working
there to partners.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, really quick, I have togo back to when I was looking
for her.
When I was looking for her, Ididn't really have space for her
, so the salon is full.
You know all the chairs are full, clientele's popping, but she
just kept coming up in my spiritand so I think it has to do.
You're talking about lookingfor good people and I knew she
was a really solid individualand she was really great at what

(08:05):
she did, and even though Ididn't have space for her, I
just felt like I needed to, youknow, contact her, and so when.
I did contact her.
We actually had to make amakeshift station, kind of like
by the shampoo bowls.
It wasn't even like a place toactually have a station, but we
made it work and it did work outand so it was like there was
room being made.
But I didn't understand at thattime that she was purposed to

(08:27):
be there for the partnershipthat was going to come down the
line.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (08:30):
But when it came into partnership, it just was a
natural progression.
I think that we just bonded ina way that I hadn't with any of
the other stylists and I hademployed countless stylists over
the years but it was herleadership quality that made me
recognize like she has greatcharacter, she has great
integrity, she's she's just hasa just a value and a standard

(08:54):
for herself.
That made me feel like I cantrust her.
And so I think we aligned inmany ways that we didn't
necessarily know in the verybeginning, but it was like okay,
she sees a vision, and then shealso has vision within herself
that complements the vision, andthen we have the same values.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
Before you guys officially became partners?
Is it safe to say that, likeyou felt like you'd put
something on her and trust thatit would get done?

Speaker 2 (09:19):
Absolutely, absolutely.
I mean, we're talking likewe've known each other for 17
years and 14 years working sideby side, and so you know, there
are areas that I just I justknew I could trust her and so
there could have never been apartnership without me feeling
that level of trust.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, because, like, one of the hardest things like
I've had in business is likeknowing somebody is just going
to pick this up and I don't haveto circle back around on it
Like people don't realize it.
For business owners, that isinvaluable, right, if you can
leave something on somebody andknow it's like law to get it
done.
So let me ask you this you justwork there, it's her business.

(09:54):
Before you were partners, whywould you do anything above like
what your actual station wasLike?
Why would you do more?
Why would you be that go-toperson?
Why would you do more?
Why?

Speaker 3 (10:02):
would you be that go-to person?
I think I was that personbefore it was even a title
involved and as she was saying,like that just was my standard
and I also.
I learned about my.
I learned this about myselfover the years.
I had like a really deep rootedsense of loyalty.
It was essence poured so muchinto me without this expectation

(10:28):
of like oh, you owe me.
It was never that, it was always.
I'm going to pour this into youand, whether you give it back
or not, like it is what it is,it felt like there was just this
selfless pouring all the timeand I felt like, if I did

(10:48):
nothing else, let me show up andtreat this baby like it's my
baby.
Let me show, let me do it as ifit was my own, like I started
to attach myself more to thevision and I really believed in
it.
I remember when I was even incollege.
I'm like, if I'm not doing hairhere, I'm not doing hair
anywhere.
That's just how it was.
It was like the only the onlyhome for my gift.

(11:12):
If that made, if that makessense.
And it was the one that I grewin.
I developed so many skills and,like I studied every little
movement, like what her fingerswere doing, what her body
positioning was when she's doingcertain styles, how she engaged
with clients, and it wasn'tsomething like, oh, I'm going to
study this, to mimic it or mockit.

(11:32):
It just felt like, no, I'mlearning so much, and there's a
seed in me that just keptgrowing and growing as I studied
these things, and so it wasjust taking on like I want to
treat this as if it was mine,and so it was just taking on
like I want to treat this as ifit was mine, and I didn't even
know the fullness of what thatmeant.
until what, five years ago shewell, essentially six years ago

(11:55):
she was like what do you thinkabout owning?
And I was like I don't thinkabout owning and like I had all
intentions on being a therapistand going to school and
finishing school.
And she never made me feel likeI had all intentions on being a
therapist and going to schooland finishing school and she
never made me feel like I had tochoose.
It was just whatever God isleading you to do, like I'm with
you, I support you and I feltlike she genuinely did that.

(12:15):
So it just made my decisionlike easier, because I felt like
it was my decision and itwasn't our decision or there was
no leverage with whatever thatdecision was.
Um, so yeah, I feel like I Iwas able to grow and nurture so
many gifts in me in a space thatI could safely do that and I

(12:36):
just I'm like I'm not goinganywhere.
And then it just became clearand clear like, oh, god has
assigned us to each other'slives forever.
It wasn't like, oh, this isjust for a couple of years.
And when I think that clicked,it was like we just start
running.
Yeah, I don't know how todescribe it.

Speaker 1 (12:56):
How many people had you poured into that?

Speaker 3 (12:58):
You put me on the spot on episode eight you know,
so I'm going to put you rightback on the spot.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
How many people had you poured into and to be
disappointed?
And not only because, not justbecause, like they're not doing
what you, but like maybe notliving up to their potential, or
you know, like how many peoplehad you done that with?

Speaker 2 (13:14):
I mean I would say dozens.
You know we're talking about 18years of salon ownership.
So you know it was a revolvingdoor.
People would come and go andcome and go.
You know it was a revolvingdoor, people would come and go
and come and go.
You know, in this first probablyfive years I was just learning
how to even lead and learninghow to even use my voice and, to
you know, set expectations.
But after that point, when Istarted to set expectations,

(13:34):
they were either living up to itor they weren't.
You know some people they camein with you know motives and I
didn't necessarily understanduntil after the fact.
But when I'd seen pureintentions with her, that's when
I just was like, okay, she's akeeper, but I didn't, again, I
didn't put that pressure on her.
It was just like when she cameto me and said I'm not going
anywhere, I was just like reallylike, where did that come from?
Because I never asked orexpected that of her.

(13:55):
But when she said that and Iwas feeling what I was feeling,
it was just like, okay, I knowthat you're a writer, you know
and that, and that's what's solike a big message I want to get
out today.

Speaker 1 (14:05):
It's like a lot of people are like I work at
Walmart, I work at Starbucks,you know wherever it is, and I'm
just going to do the bareminimum.
You know, I'm just going to dothe bare minimum and, like, one
of my biggest things in life is,sure, big corporations take
advantage of people.
There's no doubt.
I mean, walmart has a thingwhere, if you pass away and you

(14:26):
work for them, they collect yourdeath insurance and they don't
give you any.
Oh, wow, this is ridiculous.
Right, this is horrible.
So why work hard for a companylike that?
And I think people need to stopthinking about working for the
company and working forthemselves.
Yeah, yeah.
Because it does zero good topractice being a crappy worker.

(14:47):
Right, it's like you might aswell be the best damn worker.
Shove it in their face and thenwhen you leave them because

(15:11):
you're offered betteropportunities, it's going to
hurt.
You want to get back at Walmart.
Make it hurt.
You're leaving when you're ahalf-assed employee doesn't hurt
.
Yeah, you know.
Yeah, here's the other side.
That could happen.
You're a manager, then you're adistrict manager, then you're
CEO.
Do you know how many peoplelove this story?
There is a story where the guyworked his way up from,
basically, parking lot attendantall the way up to the CEO of

(15:33):
the company and they're one ofthe best CEOs out there.
I'm frustrated with myself thatI can't remember who that is,
but that is the person we wantto be CEO Now.
We're rooting for a Walmartwhen that happens.
The CEO comes up about all thatbecause they can understand
everything.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
Right.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
I mean, has that helped you with your management?
Absolutely Coming from you knowlike I don't want to call it
the bottom, but coming from thestart.

Speaker 3 (15:54):
No, really Like when I came in as a freshman in
college, like I didn't know howto work with clients, like in a
professional setting.
I had to learn all of thosethings.
I had to learn all of thosethings.
I had to learn what it meant tofollow certain procedures.
I had to learn what it meant tofit into an environment.
I'll also say I know I'm ananomaly because I've never had a

(16:16):
conventional job.
I've never worked for a largecorporation.
I've always worked for likesmall business.
I worked like at a nursery, aplant nursery in like Tennessee
in the summer, or I did hair onmy own or I worked in rare
essence.
So, it wasn't like I worked foranybody else to learn these
things.
It was.
I got to come in and see itfrom that view, but I also knew

(16:37):
that that that was a part of theway that I needed to learn it.
Um, not again because I waslike, oh, I'm going to be in
this position, but I'm like Iwould rather know what these,
these, what may seem like alower level positions do, so
that when I do become a stylist,like now, I have a greater

(16:57):
respect.
Now I have a greaterunderstanding.
Now, if I need to step in andhelp, I know what to do to be
able to help.
We always say, like just whatyou were saying the way you do
one thing is the way you doeverything.
When somebody comes in, we wantthem to see, evaluate what the
position that you think isbeneath you is, and can you show

(17:17):
up in that?
Because, that's going to tell usa lot more about your character
If you come in thinking youhave all this pride and like, oh
, I'm this bomb stylist on this,but you can't pick up your
trash.
Like you can't clean yourmirror, you can't get down and
wipe someone else's baseboard.
Like our environment breedsservice and service to each
other, and that creates a wholedifferent team dynamic.

(17:41):
And so me being able toessentially do some of the tasks
that the receptionist did whenI first came in it gave me a way
better understanding of what itmeans to be in the higher
position then, managing people.
Now I know what it means to bea receptionist.
I know what it means to be astylist.
I know what it means to be amanager.
Then, when I became an owner,now I'm like there's such a

(18:04):
great, a great appreciationbecause everybody plays a role
in, like, making this body work.

Speaker 1 (18:11):
That's beautiful.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
And then I can communicate it with real
evidence, with like a real, realheart, instead of me just
barking like, oh, go clean thetrash, cause you're the
receptionist, like that's,that's nasty.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
You know and like you need to be a leader worth
following.
Yeah, right, if you're theleader that's like, go do that.
And you would never do that.
Like, why should I follow you?
Why should I be inspired?
And this is like this storypeople think is stupid.
Right, it's like how, like this, this goes away from anything
that is logical business sense.
But up until the day I sold mybig company, multiple location,

(18:47):
like huge client company, I tookturns cleaning the employee
bathroom, and not only that, butI had people that I paid over
$100,000 a year that would taketurns cleaning the employee
bathroom.
That is stupid.
When it comes to every businessfundamental right, my
opportunity cost is too high.
You know, it's like.
But here's the thing.
It's like I remember we had amanager and he had come in to

(19:08):
manage a department and they hada bigger manager you know that
was over him and he's wasn'tdoing anything.
He's like hey, why don't yousweep that stuff up over on the
floor?
And the guy's like I'm amanager, you know I'm not going
to sweep the floor.
And the guy goes to him.
He's like the boss cleans therestroom.
I'm pretty sure you can sweepthe floor and, honestly, that

(19:29):
like, thought of, like alwaysgiving myself like the low job,
from time to time the crappiestjob cleaning the bathroom.
You guess what that built?
That built camaraderie.
That showed him I wasn't toogood to do anything.
I didn't forget where I camefrom, you know it's like, but at
the same time it was achallenge.
At that point they try to beatme in the damn restroom because
they didn't want the bosscleaning the restroom.
You know, like there was thatmuch respect and like it's

(19:50):
almost giving me goosebumps thatthey would do that.
You know they didn't want theirboss to be doing that.
When I would beat them in there, then I have to make sure to
make it the clean.
It became a challenge who canmake it the cleanest?

Speaker 3 (20:00):
Who can the most like ?

Speaker 1 (20:02):
yeah and that, yeah, that becomes work ethic, that
becomes respect.
You know, it's like when we getup here and we think we're too
good to do things, shame on us.
You know, there is that likeworking on it in your business,
but I think I still think youdrop in once in a while and you
show them you're not afraid todo it you know it's like you
show them that your boss willstand by you.
And how much camaraderie does itbuild when you're sitting there

(20:23):
cleaning the floors with them.
Or?
My favorite thing in this worldis to do some hard labor, work
with like employees or friendsthat I love and I'm talking like
dirty 125 degree weather, likelet's do some landscaping or
let's move some stuff.
I can enjoy the heck out ofthat.
And not only that, but if Icould gauge any employee that I
ever had, we would do that kindof work for a couple days.

(20:45):
I would see how well you try tokeep up with me, because you're
never going to be able to.
I don't care how good a workerI'm going to be.
I have to beat you.
I have to die to beat youbecause I have to be a leader
worth following.
But at the same time, do youkeep a good attitude when you're
doing it, like it can be fun,if you make it fun?
I know you're out therethinking that's crazy, but it's
not.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
It can be fun if you're working with the right
people, if you're working withthe right people and so if you
don't, if you can't, as a leader, be able to discern what their
heart posture is when they comeinto your place like that could
set you up for a whole notherexperience, but we've been
really fortunate to be able to,like, teach people that that's a

(21:24):
part of our culture, but notonly teach them, but demonstrate
it consistently.
Like essence is not above it,I'm not above it.
And so then they start tocommunicate back to us like no,
we want you to be able to havetime to lead, so please let us
take care of this for you,please let us do it excellently,
and I'm like that's a whole,like I couldn't have imagined

(21:46):
that.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
And look and that's so counterintuitive.
That's what taught out thereabout business.
You know, it's like they havethat undercover boss show and
all of a sudden he learns thiseye opening stuff about working
on the bottom level.
You should have been on thebottom level from time to time
before you ever had to get onthe show to do it.
You know, like, how can youever understand it?
It's like if I have anoffspring someday that's due to
take over my companies, that kidis starting at the bottom yeah

(22:09):
Right, and he's working with hisfellow employees.
He's not starting at the top.
I'll bring him up from time totime and we can talk about some
things going on with thebusiness, but he's starting at
the bottom.
His cancer building.

Speaker 3 (22:18):
She's starting at the bottom.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, Absolutely.
I mean you now could growbecause you brought on a partner
.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Because you couldn't have grown anymore.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
Right.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
Yeah, and so now like , how do you guys eye
opportunities for growth and thepeople that you would bring on
to further growth?
That's a good question.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
I think we know what our strengths are, right.
So it took a while for me toeven know Adelaide's strengths,
until she was able to step intoanother position.
And so now I'm like I'm avisionary, I'm the one that sees
the big picture.
I get excited.
I'm like, oh, I see us in.
Paris, already, you know we'retalking 10 years before we even
got to Paris.
And so Adelaide is into thedetails, right, and so me

(22:58):
knowing her strength, me knowingmy strength, and then it's like
, okay, as we're growing, it'seasier for us to eye what we
need because we know what welack.
You know what I mean.
And so you know, we justcontinue to move along until
those people come.
But we actually start jottingdown, okay, what do we actually
need, like what can alleviatesome?
You know certain things in ourroles that we can attract that

(23:20):
person, and so we just wait tillthat person comes, because we
know what's going to come atsome point.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yeah, and you can see it in people.
You know it's whether they careor not.
You know, it's like, and thenit's whether they want to work
for it or not.
It's like you're only paying meto be there.
Sure, you know.
But the people that want to dobeyond the only paying you to be
there, those are the people we.
I, I mean like I would start abusiness every other week if I
could lay it on them and nothave to worry about it anymore.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Right.

Speaker 1 (23:46):
And most people in the world that have any kind of
like business savvy.
The more businesses I open, themore money I make.
The problem is, there's onlyone me, exactly.
So if I can't find another meto care to be a leader to, you
know that if that businessrequires, I set you up, I invest
in you.
I have to be over there everyother day.
I can't do it.
Every business I've ever had Iwould have never sold.

(24:08):
If I could find somebody tostep up, why would I Continue to
make me money?
And then let's grow this thingto the top, because I can only
do so much.
I think that's what people needto understand more.
It's not about doing the bareminimum, because that's what
you're paying to do it.

Speaker 2 (24:25):
Do it for you, exactly, exactly, and I think
when leaders are able toidentify that in a person, we
know that we can elevate them,we know that we can actually
grow with them and as we growand we are able to go higher,
then they can go higher as well.
Yeah, you know, but when peopledon't see it from that
perspective and they, you knowthen it just never works for

(24:45):
them because they're going tocarry that mentality wherever
they go and they won't see theelevation in their own life
because it really has to do withyour own standard for yourself.
It's just like do this, you'llbe trusted with your own when
you manage somebody else's as ifit's yours.

Speaker 3 (24:59):
Principal stewardship .

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Absolutely.
I mean going back to that howyou do something, how you do
everything you know, it's like Ididn't realize at the time,
like I was forced into doublejobs, full-time job in college.
You know, I didn't realize atthe time what I was building as
a superhero entrepreneur, like Ijust thought I was, like I
needed the money, I wanted to goto college to have a future.

(25:27):
But what I didn't realize isthose 80, 90, 100-hour weeks,
you know, like those wereactually building me perfectly
to become an entrepreneur Right.
One job I had was at a countryclub and this is the best thing
that ever happened in my life,honestly, is working at that
country club and I was treatedhorribly.
They called me the help, youknow.
They would come in and theseare the pillars of our society,
you know and they would beshowering off their mistress or
like they would bring strippersin and throw rolls at strippers.
I mean, these are the pillarsof our society and I was exposed

(25:48):
to this right.
These are the wealthy people,the smart people, the people
that we're supposed to look upto, and I saw them as normal,
inferior human beings and Icould have got a real big
attitude.
I would valet in the morning andthen I would switch over and I
would bartend at night and Icould have got an attitude and

(26:11):
I'm like I'm gonna get this caras slow as possible.
Rich guy, slow as possible, yougotta wait for me.
You're on my watch.
Instead, I sprinted the parkinglot huge parking lot, 120 to
five degree weather, like you'renot gonna see anybody faster on
the planet, sir, than megetting your car.
You know it's like and that wasthe way I stuck it to him in my
mind it's like I am going to bethe best at this that I can
possibly be.
And not only that, but I'mgoing to remember this.
I'm going to remember the wayyou treat me.

(26:32):
I'm going to remember this workethic that I have and I'm going
to bring that into my futurebusiness.
You know, and like now, a lotof what I do.
You know it's like I want tobring more people up.
You know I want them to see.
You know I want them.
You know they need to be.
These are just normal people,these pillars of the community.
You know I want more people withgood hearts coming up with
their success.
You know, and it started withvaleting in a parking lot, but

(26:56):
trying to do it as good aspossible.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Right.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
So, so, like that's the message that I really really
want to hit today, and you guysare perfect example.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
It's like had she not been a good worker, had she not
cared, you guys wouldn't havehad a future together.
Well, I mean it goes back tolike core value.
So the salon is established onthe core value.
I live my life based off ofcore value, and they're not
necessarily things that I justsay, they're things that I
expect, and so you know there'san acronym for rare and
literally, like we evaluatepeople based on do you live up
to these values?
Like, if there's not alignmentthere, then one you can't even

(27:31):
work here.
But when you exemplify thesevalues and we see that you're
adopting them as your own, thatsolidifies your space.
And to hire and fire off ofcore values, it's like, okay,
integrity is a core value.
How is this showing up?
And you know this particular,you know stylist or worker, and

(27:54):
if it's not there, it's justlike either we can't promote you
or you might be on probation.
You know, because it's likeyou're not taking this as if you
want something for yourself.
We can't want more for you thanyou want for yourself, sure,
and it's a consistentcommunication.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
It is a consistent like yielding to us
demonstrating what these corevalues actually mean Every
single day.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
In our personal lives , when we show up to work, are
we showing up to work on time?
Are we giving it our best?
Like we believe in excellenceand not perfection?
And so our expectation is foryou to do things excellently.
If you communicate to me yeah,I want to do twists or braids or
locks or whatever I want to dothat style, but you want to

(28:39):
halfway do it sometimes, then Ican't trust you, then that's not
integral and you're not doingit excellently and you're not
representing the blood, sweatand tears.
Now we done put in to train youto do it right, and so it's.
How consistent are we incommunicating that expectation
and demonstrating thatexpectation?

Speaker 1 (29:00):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
Like it's literally every single day and it's a
battle sometimes, becausesometimes I'm like I'm tired.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
Am I going to push through to make sure that I am
leading with integrity?

Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
And even though I can communicate that, I'm tired and
we have like a culture of likelow-key over-communication,
because I want you to startgetting these principles, like
we know that it's a trainingground in there.
Like what we prepare you for,what you learn in here, really
is for the rest of your life,like you don't have to stay here
forever.
But I want you to take to learnthese principles over and over

(29:34):
again so you could just be abetter leader, and so it's very
intentional for us now, asleaders, to say what do I see in
you?
How consistent are you, and amI really living up to what I see
in you?

Speaker 1 (29:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
So that I won't be a liar.
And so now, like, even thoughit wasn't super intentional for
Essence to be like, oh, I'mgoing to make her this or make
her that, like it just naturallyformed into that.
Now it's like, okay, God hasgiven us the ears and the eyes
to be able to see what do weneed, what do we need, what do

(30:11):
we need to pour into and how dowe do it in a way that one we're
communicating it very clearlyso that there's no room for
manipulation, no room forspeculation.
But we know that there's someproduce that you need to be able
to have from being in ourpresence, being in our
environment, and that'sliterally the goal now, yeah, if
you leave, just leave betterLeave better Leave transformed.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yes, you know, yeah, we just.
Our goal is just to plantwhatever seeds, to water
whatever needs to happen.
But whatever they decide to dowith it is their choice.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:33):
But we just want to see people just succeed and grow
, you know.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
I mean, I like I feel the same way.
It's like I never have aproblem.
If you're going to go out andstart your own thing, I started
my own thing.
I would applaud you on that andI will help you every inch of
the way.
Right, you know, like in fact,I will invest in you too if
you're ready.
But if you're like in thebusiness, barely working, not
showing up a time, and you'relike, hey, I'm going to go out,
start my own thing, I'm not.

(30:57):
I'm sorry, I can't invest inthat.
Yeah, it's like get ready, youreally want to embrace this.
You know, it's like I think,like people don't realize this a
lot of owners out there.
You work for the right owner,they'll invest in you, they'll
help you start that secondlocation if they feel you're
ready for it.
You know, but you got to learn,you got to, you got to show up,
you got to be the best that youcan possibly be.
So that way, when you're off onyour own, you know like you

(31:19):
know it's going to take it, gettaken care of yeah, yeah because
we all, like, know this it'slike if they're 70 when you're
watching them, they're 40 ontheir own.
Yeah, you know, and that's why Idon't think I don't understand
how people's logic works.
You know, like these days, youknow, I applaud the younger
generation for the most part,but this is one thing I don't
see.
It's like I'm gonna go work forthe man, I'm gonna do bare

(31:40):
minimum, but the second I openmy business, you know, like now
I'm.

Speaker 3 (31:45):
You know it's like no , you're not going to run a
marathon and you ain't nevertrained.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:49):
Like what You're going to hurt.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
You're going to be cramping.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
And I think it's easy to look at a business owner
from a position and not know allof all of what it takes the
responsibility until you stepinto that role so they can run
off and go and do it.
Step into that role so they canrun off and go and do it.
And then they're like, oh, now,maybe some of the things that
was happening in your businessthey're realizing like, oh, now
I understand, because now theyhave to learn it on their own.
And I think that was theconversation that I had with

(32:16):
Adelaide.
I trusted that, even though shehadn't been in that role, that
level of responsibility, thatshe was going to be able to
grasp it.
But she still had to learn.
You know, when she stepped intothat role and I stepped away,
there were so many things thatshe was like essence.
I did not.

Speaker 3 (32:34):
I didn't know you can speak to that.
Yeah, no, it was like thisthree-year period where her
father had just passed and sheneeded time to grieve and I
loved her enough to let hergrieve and I knew that I'm like,
okay, this is really, reallyhard, but she doesn't have
capacity to be my crutch and soI'm like I have to learn this,

(32:58):
it now, with a level ofknowledge and wisdom that I just
could not have had withouthaving the space to learn it.
I always say Essence throws mein the water sometimes to let me
figure it out, but she know Ican swim.

Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:19):
And she know, I'll figure out something.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
And she's there watching you from the shore.
Yeah, like I'm going to get her.

Speaker 3 (33:24):
If necessary, she'll catch me if she needs to but she
trusts me enough to let melearn and it made me have a much
deeper like respect and loveand even honor for her, knowing
all the things that she had todeal with that I couldn't have
even been prepared for if Ididn't have to go through them
by myself, have to go throughthem by myself, and I think that

(33:49):
that benefited our relationshipeven more to where it did come
to a point where I was like okay, I don't want you to see me as
your little sister, I want youto see me as somebody who adds
as much value in the way that Iknow I can add now that I would
not have known a few years ago.
And so it took like it literallytook all of that.

(34:11):
And so now I believe in counsel.
I believe in I don't knoweverything.
I communicate to my team.
I don't know everything, butyou know who I'm going to go ask
, you know who I'm going to talkto, you know who I'm going to
have counsel with.
But for her to again trust mein that position, all of that,
them three years, had to belearned.
I had to go there and it wasvery hard.

Speaker 1 (34:32):
She made it look easier than it was.
She sure did yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
She made it look super easy.
And she has great rapport withclients and even the people that
were there before, likeemployees that were there before
.
She didn't make it look easyand I'm like I'm shaking and
crying, having to let somebodygo.
She'd be like girl, maybe I Idon't but I had to feel all of
those feelings.

(34:56):
I literally had to, and itcreated a different level of
empathy, a different level ofgrace, a different level of
awareness to like, see throughthe crap sometimes and take the
responsibility of having to beGod in their life.
Like, yeah, let God take careof them, that's not your job.
Like they not doing whatthey're supposed to do, you
can't suffer the consequencesbecause they don't want to.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah.
You know um one of the hardestlessons I've ever learned, you
know, because it's like havingloyalty to the wrong people is
actually having reverse loyaltyto your good people.
Right, and that was the hardestthing for me.
I had to reframe it that way.
We talked a lot about that inepisode one, but it's like by
allowing these people that werenot showing up, you know like

(35:39):
like literally I would catchthem stealing and things
sometimes, but I'm like focusedon the family they got a family
can't let them go and like shameon me, you know.
It's like, yeah, they're notshowing up for the business and
at the same point that punishesthe good people.
You know it's like and that'sone of the hardest things you
know it's like.
So you know like, not always,and not always is it blatant

(35:59):
like stealing and robbing.
You know, sometimes the personjust doesn't have that push and
they're like well, why should Iwork any harder than that person
?
Right, and that's another trapyou can't fall into, because
we're eyeing this.
Right.
It's like when you're lookingfor that next location.
Are you looking at Joe?
I'm just going to Jill Sorry,probably Jill Jill or Joe.

(36:22):
Are you looking at joe?
I'm just gonna jill sorry,probably jill jill or joe.
You know it's like I'm justgonna do the bare minimum no,
never you're looking at theperseverance, I can't think of a
name the motivation

Speaker 2 (36:33):
the you know the excitement, the joy, like I
think all of those things areimportant, like I always tell
people, if you have the passion,you have the potential and I
think passion shows up in a waythat just gives you this, just
drive.
And if you don't have a drivebecause we've definitely
employed stylists that are justlike they just drag into the
salon it's like maybe this isnot where you're supposed to be,
maybe you can do it, but maybethat's not what you're created

(36:54):
to do, because you don't havethe enthusiasm, you don't have
the joy.
Maybe you need to go find that,because we only want people who
truly want to be here.
And if you want to be here,you're going to show up like you
do, yeah, and that just showsin every area.
Now, don't get me wrong.
There are sometimes people comeand they have to be groomed and
you know, everybody has, youknow, a transformation that has
to take place.
But then there's just timeswhere people, they just they're
resistant, yeah, and they don't.

Speaker 3 (37:17):
This is not the place , yeah and we we also understand
too that we're not foreverybody like and that could be
super countercultural like alot of people think that you
have to.
They're like, oh, if you want togrow, just just employ people,
let people let anybody work foryou.
And we're like, no, no, and itwill not ever happen.
We, we value quality overquantity.

(37:38):
Any day, we don't care essence,literally.
She put this in my head reallyearly.
She was like you could stilloperate this salon by yourself
if everybody left, and you knowthat.
And for me it was like I wantyou and I need you, but if you
don't want to, it's okay.

Speaker 1 (37:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
I know we'll still run.
We're not necessarily going togo anywhere.
Yeah, I know we'll still run,we're not necessarily going to
go anywhere, but I will notcompromise the quality over just
having numbers, knowing thatthat can affect our reputation
10 years down the line justbecause I made a decision to get
some money.

Speaker 2 (38:13):
Yeah, yeah, it's not worth it.
It compromises the brand.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
Yeah, yeah, we can't.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
It has to be a culture fit Yep.

Speaker 1 (38:18):
It absolutely does, and you have to pay attention to
that quick too.
You know, it's like.
A story that springs to mind isI had these two guys that
actually met, you know, workingin my business.
They were some of my firstemployees, younger guys, so they
were always going out right,and I wake up at three o'clock
in the morning.
The best thing for me on earthis for the business to start at
like 6am, you know, like or 5am.

(38:40):
That would be amazing for me,but couldn't get them to work on
time, you know it's like.
So I finally switched the hourslike to 10 o'clock, like, which
, which to me was like basically, like the afternoon night,
basically, you know it's likeswitch the hours to that like do
all this stuff.
And I wanted to do thingsdifferent.
I had horrible bosses, right,kind of like I touched on a
little bit.
I wanted to make it this likeplace that was beautiful for

(39:02):
people to work.
You know, like I wanted it tobe amazing, like I wanted it to
be fun, I wanted it to beinnovative, I wanted us to be
working on cool stuff all thetime Like I really wanted that.
You know, like we would do likeno lunch hour.
You know it's like you take thelunch hour, you go off site,
we'll pay you, you know.
And then the next thing youknow they're taking three hours,
four hours, or, like the twoguys I mentioned, they show up

(39:23):
11 o'clock.
I've got tons of work to do andthey're delaying the company
and they're like what are yougoing to do about it?
You need us.
And so it wasn't long afterthat they actually took off.
They became my closestcompetitor, closest vicinity
competitor, and started abusiness together.
And they never directly told methis, but I, when they got out

(39:45):
there in the world, theyrealized it wasn't as easy as
they think.
They didn't impact our businessat all.
Yeah not a.
We didn't skip a beat the timethey left.
Don't get me wrong.
I wanted them there.
I loved them.
You know, like people to me, Iget attached to them quickly.
They're family to me and that'swhat's made being a business
owner so tough, you know.
But it's like, and so realizethat out there, if you're
working for a company, you knowit's like.

(40:06):
I'm not saying everybody workslike us, you know.
But you can find people thatwork like us, that want your
future, and not only that, butwe're smart, logical people.
If we're building you, you know, like, we're building you for
our future too.
Like my strategy has me, I can'tdo everything.
Your strategy has you can't doeverything.
I mean, I'm constrained 99% ofthe time because of the people,

(40:29):
no other reason.
So there's people like us outthere right now that are begging
to have a good person.
Come in, learn and we'll teachyou everything you need to know.
You just got to show up withthe attitude and the work ethic.
You know it's like that'swhat's so frustrating to me.
It's like there's so many of uswilling.
And you guys know I savefailing businesses in my free
time, you know I go in there, Idive in there.

(40:50):
I was in one on Friday that I'mworking with and it's like you
know what they say 80% ofbusinesses fail because of this.
Like a guy the other day,there's no leads, you know like
no incoming sales leads.
No, it's not.
90 of businesses fail becausethe person quits.
That is why and they've beentraining the wrong way most

(41:10):
likely, you know it's like, likeyou guys probably know, I'm a
big mma guy.
I've trained it for years it'slike if you go in and half-ass
your training, how are you goingto fight?
right, yeah if you go in thereand half-ass your work, your
work is training you to be thebusiness owner someday, whether
you know it or not.
Every piece of it right, yeah,even being a lowly valet.
You know that trained me incustomer service, that trained

(41:32):
me in work ethic, that trainedme in doing the hard thing, and
then guess what, on top of that,it gave me.
You know, it's like anytime.
Business was hard.
You guys can vouch for me.
How hard is business?

Speaker 2 (41:41):
it's a challenge.
It is a challenge, we have agrace for it, but it's a
challenge.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
So every time I felt like like this little creature
saying you know, like you don'twant to, you don't want to do
this.
This is hard.
You know that little creaturewould creep in and be like, oh
yeah, you want to go back tothat.
You want to go back to beingcalled to help.
You know it's like that wasincredible motivation.
You want to go back to beingcalled to help.
You know it's like that wasincredible motivation.
You want to go back tosplitting the 125 degree parking
lot that people don'tappreciate you in.

(42:06):
Yeah, I'll stay here.
I'll keep working on this thing.
Yeah, you know.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
Well, I think the thing is like business ownership
is leadership, yeah Right.
And when we understand thatthat's what it is for somebody
who's just starting in at thebottom of a job, if they realize
that all I have to do isexemplify being a leader,
meaning I'm leading myself, I'mmaking the right decisions, I'm
doing the things that willposition me, regardless of where
I'm at, to get to that nextplace.

(42:31):
But people who decide I'm notgoing to lead, or I'm not going
to make good decisions or I'mnot going to be responsible,
they need to be managed.
So either you're going to needto be managed because you're not
making good decisions, or yousay I'm going to be a leader and
I'm leading myself first andtherefore I can ascend to
business ownership because I'malready doing the things that
constitute a good leader.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
Yeah, yeah.
Look at your heart of hearts.
Are you only working when theboss is watching, or are you
working Because that's theleader you're going to be
someday?

Speaker 3 (43:02):
And your fruit will tell that yeah.
So if you, if you say no, I'vebeen doing this, there's no
evidence that you've been doingthat Like you don't have no
fruit for that.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
Well, one of the things that, like, we're working
on right now as a tech company,and so I've been working with
one of the most wonderful thingsabout my MBA program.
I don't talk about it a lot onthis, but I made some incredible
connections with teachers thatI have, and one of them is a
leadership professor one of theforemost in the world, actually.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
And.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
I reached out to him, I'm like I'm scared about this
huge company because I am notthis yelling screaming leader.
I'm not Bill Gates screaming atyou in the boardroom if you do
something wrong.
I'm not Elon Musk, like youknow, like beating you over the
head because you did like thissilly maneuver or something like
that.
I'm not that you know, and sohow am I going to run this huge
company?
You know, or like.

(43:42):
When I was first starting, itwas like um, I had heard you had
to be an asshole to besuccessful in business.
You know it's like I was afraidof that, Cause I'm not an
asshole.
You know it's like, but no,like the thing is you have to
find the people that work withyour leadership style.

Speaker 2 (43:57):
That's it, yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
And some people will take advantage of that style,
Right, you know.
And then they, they need aleader like Elon, leaning over
their shoulder, screaming atthem all the time that's, but
they're never going to surpassthat, Right?
You know like I have to findpeople that work like me.
You know, leave me alone, Tellme my job, help me when you can.
You know I will work my buttoff for you.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Right.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
You know it's like and we will do that you've
proven yeah you've proven itlike.
How do you like?
This is my point of view.
I've told a couple differentstories on what I.
But how do you guys inspirepeople to realize, like, when
you're sitting back in thecorner, it's not the best thing
you can do for your future?

Speaker 3 (44:35):
yeah, um, I, I definitely think.
I just think of anybody whocomes to essentially even work
at the salon.
It is, in essence, reallytaught me this why are you here?
Yeah, what are you here tolearn?
And not in the sense of like,oh, why are you here and what

(44:57):
are you trying to take from us?
It is what even drew you, whatconnected you to us and how can
we nurture that Like it's reallycoming at it from a different
perspective?
I definitely resonate with likeI'm not a barker.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (45:14):
I could probably be too kind sometime or two.
I'm very clear on what theexpectations are and it's hard
for me to have to like severcertain things, because I give
people a lot of grace, which isnot even the character that I
grew up with, like I was verytype a and, like you know, god
done, done some work on me, but,but I feel like as a leader now

(45:38):
I'm I'm a little gentler whenit comes to certain things
because I'm like I want to givesomebody a chance.
But I also know that if I playtoo much of a role in their life
then I can be stopping themfrom learning whatever they're
supposed to learn in my care if.
I don't manage it well, and soit's really been like it's a

(46:01):
dance, it's a rhythm, it's not aformula, it's not a you do this
and you're going to get thisresponse every single time it's.
I get to interact and I'mgrateful that we're a small
business now, but we know thatas we get further and further
along, we still want thatone-to-one contact like really
have intentional time tounderstand why somebody's there

(46:24):
and they might not even know.
They might fully know and that'sgoing to be up to us to be able
to discern.
Like what brought you here, andwe're not always going to get a
return on that investment, it'snot always going to come back
to us the same way that we'veput it in.

Speaker 1 (46:40):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (46:40):
And so it's really being able to take that gamble.
I think Essence took a gambleon me.
She learned to trust me, but itwasn't like she knew that off
the bat.
Yeah, then that taught me as aleader, I can expect that I can
pour something into somebody andthey're going to disappoint me
in some way, shape or form.
How am I going to respond tothat?

(47:01):
Am I going to fight them, or amI going to learn and then
create a boundary?
It's always an opportunity thatleads to another opportunity,
but if I don't have thatperspective, it can feel
overwhelming.
It can feel like I'mmanipulating them or they're
manipulating me, and so it'slearning, whatever your dance is

(47:22):
.

Speaker 2 (47:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:23):
And for us I'm grateful because we don't have
to, like, figure it out all byourselves all the time.
We want to see people in ourindustry create more
partnerships, create morecommunity not necessarily be out
there on their own.
And for people who even have asimilar disposition or
leadership style as us, webelieve in allowing God to just

(47:47):
direct us to do what we need todo, and if somebody connects and
resonates with that, we want tobe able to offer our
perspectives as an option.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:57):
Because I'm sure there are, like you said, there
are people out there who maybethat's just how they learn.
That's just not how we teach.
It's not.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
No, they got to find a different kind of boss Right
and.

Speaker 2 (48:08):
I think the other thing is we inspire them to
dream.
So we do affirmations, we getthem to think about, okay, aside
from you being here, what doyou see for your life?
And so we get them to literallycreate these visions for their
life of what they see, and helpthem to dream.
And I think that inspirationhelps, but also, too, what we
require them to do is becomeself-aware, because if you have

(48:30):
this vision, it also requiresaversion, and so, yes, you want
this, but then who are you goingto become and what are you
going to hold yourselfaccountable to become it?
And so what does that look likein your day to day life?
And so we hold them to astandard for all of the dreams,
so they get excited about thedreams that they have outside of
the salon or even in the salon,and so I think that that also

(48:54):
helps them to recognize OK, inorder for me to achieve this and
to have this, I have to embodyit, I have to become it.
And so we talked to them aboutall of the things that you know.
These are the actionable stepsthat you have to take.
Like you know, being on time issomething like it's going to
require that for you to be aworld traveling stylist, you
know, like there are things thatyou know you can be an amazing

(49:14):
stylist, but if you don't havethe character and the qualities
that go along with it, you canget yourself there, but you
can't keep yourself there.
Yeah, how will you be able tomaintain it?
The reason why the salon hasbeen open for 18 years 18 years
is because there's been amaintenance there.
It's not like oh, I got excitedand I was doing this for a day
or two.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
No, there's a stick-to-itiveness, oh yeah.
And that's the thing too.
It's like every single job I'veever had in life, I've taken
something away from it.
You know it's like like look,even if somebody's like at your
business right now and they'repart time and they're going to
school to be a doctor, you thinkthat client human interaction,
you think that, like, I meanthere's a million things around

(49:52):
their customer service.
You know, like work ethic,showing up on time.
You know dealing with stress.
You know it's like when you'redealing with somebody's hair,
I'm sure there's some prettypicky hair people, right yeah,
probably more so than like theyeven care about their kids, some
of them, right, you know.
And so it's like those are alllessons that we're learning and
if you'll embrace those, you'llactually realize that it's super

(50:13):
efficient to explore differentthings and it gives you a
different mindset towards things.

Speaker 3 (50:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:17):
Like I'm super into interdisciplinary studies, you
know, it's like the concept thatwe could put 20 people in the
room and I don't care wherethey're from, whether they own a
stylist business, whether theyown a landscaping company,
whether they're an astronaut, wecan all approach a problem
differently and the, the, the,the solution to that problem
could come from absolutelyanybody.

(50:39):
Yeah, there was actually anamazing um thing that I heard
where, like, these doctors wereworking on cancer research, you
know, and they were like likereally frustrated, like the how
to like combat cancer.
And I guess this like five-stargeneral accidentally walks in
on this conference and looks attheir map on the screen and he's
like, well, we would approachit from all sides.

(50:59):
That's's good militarydiscipline and like this opened
this idea that it's like we'llfight cancer from all sides.
You know it's like so the ideacan come from anybody.
You know the experience cancome from anywhere.
You know, it's like how often dowe have somebody, that's like
somebody could be working inyour business right now and like
see an invention Right thatcould perpetuate them to

(51:21):
billionaire status.
They could meet a client rightthat they get along with so well
that the next thing you knowthey're opening a salon.
You know, and if they have agood rapport with you guys,
they're calling you, as long asthey're not a block up the
street and being unfair.
They're calling you from youknow like and saying, hey, I
don't know what to do here.
I don't know about you guys,but I take that call all day

(51:42):
long.
You have any questions for me?
Past employee, and I do itactually a lot.
They get a hold of me.
You know I help them all that Ican, you know, with whatever I
can.
Another thing you're buildingwhile you're working.

Speaker 3 (51:54):
Yeah, and I think that there's just a different
that's a whole different heartposture for a lot of people and
honestly, it requires a deeplevel of work.
Yeah, inner work.
Yeah, you have to get to a pointwhere you're so self-aware that
you know you don't want to makesomebody feel like you felt
before you have to get to apoint where you have to heal

(52:15):
from those past, what feel likeinjustices from employees or
people you've worked with, to beable to continue the work.
It's not easy, it's a lot ofinner work, like essence
literally always says like yourbusiness will only grow to the
extent that you do, and itbecomes like a mantra that you
have to recite Am I growing?
I know I want my business togrow, but can I even sustain

(52:38):
where the company can go withoutmy discipline, without my
character?
If I'm, you know, if I'm notpaying attention to small like I
believe in small details, ifI'm not paying attention to the
small details, if I'm, if I'mlike, more reactionary than than
I need to, then I need to learnhow to be like more self-aware

(52:58):
in those areas, and that takes,it takes a lot to get there oh
yeah it really does emotionalmaturity you?

Speaker 2 (53:04):
know, people don't think that that is a part of
business, but it's a huge partof a huge part of business
managing people and not being,uh, you know, a canon yeah every
single time something doesn'tgo your way, like yeah that, how
you respond, is what you inviteother people to respond to you
in.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
So if you decide oh, I'm about to just yell at them
and are today, that can reallyaffect your tomorrow and affect

(53:46):
the people that you are calledto lead, Because I do believe
everybody is called to somebody,the people that when we were
talking about leadership evenearlier, it's like as a
receptionist, you are a leader.
The way you do this isincredibly important.
As a stylist, you are a leader,Like I am a leader in this way
and I know that I have to assumethis role to cover you, but you

(54:09):
need to cover that position.
You need to cover the peoplethat are even directly under you
, because there's somebody underthem and it's a circle.
It's not like a building youknow, Like there's always this
revolving sense of service andhow do we assume that position
as a leader?
Yeah, but I think that always,that always starts with us, that

(54:30):
always starts with that, thatreflection.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
And, let's be fair, there's a lot of leaders and
managers out there that coulduse a lot of work right Then.
Like I worked under a lot ofthem, I can't think of many
inspirational leaders I had inmy work career you know, like
unfortunately, I would love tohave some.
I'd still actually, like youknow, like sometimes wish I
could like go work undersomebody that I felt was like an
amazing leader and learn.
I'm a constant wanting toevolve and grow person.

(54:54):
You know it's like I'd love towork under a leader that I was
like, uh, felt I could learnfrom and be passionate about.
But if you're working under aleader that is like Not a good
leader.
You know it's like my thing isWork as hard as you can, grow
past them For one.
Or you know, like people willlike There'll be other
opportunities that open up foryou.

(55:15):
You know it's like and maybethat that's when you start
exploring you don't stay under abad leader forever, you know,
but realize a leader that'strying to build you and realize
one that's not worth following.
And then I think that's whereyou find like your work ethic
will eventually take you pastthat right, because the next
company there probably is aleader there that will
appreciate you and build youright and so, but working hard,

(55:39):
know, and having those good, youknow, like opportunities it's,
I think, about the person atMcDonald's all the time.
It's like if you're the bestdamn McDonald's employee, your
immediate manager might see itand not see it because they're
an idiot, but somebody's goingto see it and that can sometimes
be the person on the other sideof the counter.
You know what I look for, thatyou know, If I'm out at a

(56:03):
business and I see somebodythat's amazing, like there's
this kid that scoops ice creamat Cold Stone.
I like Cold Stone and he's inthere and he's singing.
He's throwing the ice cream upin the air.
He's catching it behind hisback.
This is unfortunately.
I didn't have a business at thetime, but he made that job
unbelievable.
He could have just scooped theice cream.
You know.
Little customer service orwhatever.

(56:23):
No, instead he's dancing andthrowing it.
He is the man at this.
You know it's like and I waslike, if that kid was an
investment, I would invest rightnow, because how that kid is
doing this, he's going to doeverything in life, that's right
so there's somebody on theother side of the counter that
might see that too and be likeI'm taking this kid if I had
like I had just sold my othercompany.
You know it's like, but if I hada company right then I would

(56:45):
have been slipping him a card.
You know I really would have.
You know it's like, and so like, realize I think if you
continue to show up and do theright thing, like it's going to
come around for you yeah and ifit doesn't just like me.
I never wanted to open my ownbusiness.
I never saw that.
That, like we talked about thelast episode, that's for the
rich white dude right, the oldman, white dude, you know it's
like that was supposed to be thecompany guy.

(57:05):
But then then you get to thepoint it's like, well, I'm
working past all my managers,I'm a harder worker than anybody
at this place, and that's whenyou know it's time to go for
yourself.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (57:16):
You know that's that's to me the answer when
you're the hardest worker at thebusiness and you're the best
leader and the best you know,like at everything you do at the
company.
Now it's just a matter ofturning the key into that
business, because you got it all.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
Yeah, yeah.
I think nothing is for nothing.
I think that you know, a lot oftimes we work jobs to get the
skills, get the tools you knowdevelop as a person.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
And then you know when it's your time, especially
if you already have a vision, gofor it.
Yeah, yeah, you know, likesometimes I kind of like don't
take this the wrong way.
I hope bad leaders on people alittle bit.
You know, don't get me wrong,I'd rather have the
inspirational leader that youlearn from, but at the same time
you got a bad leader.
Use it as motivation, work yourbutt off and then go out there
and be a better leader yeah,learn what not to do yeah, yeah,
like I think about this all thetime in our bully podcast.
Uh, this lady, at episode eight,the end of the season, she goes

(58:07):
I'm just trying to be the herothat I wish I had.
Try to be the leader that youwish you had.
Yeah, right, you're inspiringother people and that people
look to us as our leaders in ourbusinesses.
You know it's like don't be theone you got to show up every
day with a smile on your face,no matter how much you're
getting your butt kicked.
Don't be the one that's gettingoutworked by your staff.
Don't be the one that caresless than your staff, you know,

(58:29):
otherwise you can't expect themto do anything.
And then when you see somebodythat has a good idea, that has
like insight and caring and youknow like I look for that like
bring it, bring it out in them,right, embrace that, embrace the
good idea that they just cameup with.
You know it's like you come upwith a good idea in my company
that's an invention and you're ahard worker.

(58:49):
I'm right behind you with moneyand everything I can do to make
it work.

Speaker 3 (58:53):
I love it, that's good.

Speaker 1 (58:55):
I want to give you guys a chance to add anything
that you think we missed today.
I know it's an important topicand we said it wasn't going to
be a popular one, but your primeevidence of your worth at work
ethic inspired your partnership,your caring inspired your
partnership and now it's amazingwhat you guys have done and
will continue to do together,and right now I'm sure you're

(59:16):
working looking for the nextperson to build up so you can
open the next thing yeah, so wecan expand.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
We just look for like-minded individuals, people
that have the same values thatwe can grow with.
So, yeah, we don't wantfollowers, we're looking for the
leader in the person and wewant to cultivate that leader so
that leader can soar with us.
Yeah, yeah, beautiful.

Speaker 3 (59:36):
I don't have anything to add.
I think this was great and Idon't have anything to add.
I think this was great and Idon't necessarily.
I don't look at it from theperspective of it's like oh,
this is just unpopular opinion.
I just feel like it's for whoit's for?
Yeah, it's watering a seedsomewhere and everybody ain't
going to get the same nutrientsyeah, so if you don't like it,

(59:57):
just move on.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
But if it's for you, amen, I mean, keep doing your
thing, right.
You know, I think back to theuh.
There's a meme out there, yousee, and there's the leader
sitting in the chair whileeverybody else is pulling the
weight, kind of back to ancientEgypt, look.
And then there's the leaderthat's right out front pulling
the weight.
First, be that leader.

Speaker 3 (01:00:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:23):
Underdogs, bootstrappers, game changers.
I'm telling you life will do alot how you show up and how you
practice.
Don't sit in the corner and dothe bare minimum.
You're being unfair to yourself, not that company.
Work your butt off.
Get to the next level, provethem wrong.
You're practicing for yourfuture, not for theirs.
See you next time.

Speaker 3 (01:00:42):
Bye.