January 30, 2024 • 47 mins
When Lynzie Smith transformed from a small-town hairstylist to a community-building entrepreneur, the landscape of the beauty and barber industry in Chicago took notice. Our chat with the founder of Common Wealth Collective is a deep-dive into the art of cultivating relationships that redefine the boundaries of business competition. Listen as we unravel the threads of networking and its crucial role in nurturing growth, creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit.
The conversation pivots towards the focus on individuality as a unique selling point in the saturated realms of fashion and beauty. Lynzie shares her insights on how collaboration fosters a thriving community where former rivals become allies, supporting each other's success. Host, Mackenzie's own experiences align with this philosophy, emphasizing the benefits of contributing to the collective while simultaneously strengthening your own business ventures.
Wrapping up with the human element that underpins every business story, we explore the transformative influence of partnerships, both professional and personal. We acknowledge the pressures that come with the pursuit of success and offer strategies for managing stress through systemization, automation, and delegation. This episode is a testament to the power of genuine connections and a reminder of the collective journey towards our individual and shared triumphs in business. Join us as we continue to provide actionable insights that are not just about winning, but about fostering a legacy of supportive community relationships.
Mackenzie Kilshaw Co. offers comprehensive business coaching, and consulting tailored to your needs.
With Mackenzie's award winning entrepreneurial expertise in strategy, leadership, business development, branding, website development, social media management, SEO, sales and customer service training and more, clients receive personalized guidance to drive growth and success.
Let's make your business unforgettable!
We are looking for Sponsors for our show!
We have a variety of sponsorship packages to suit every business and budget.
If you have a business that you would like to promote to thousands of people, send us an email at podcastwinning@gmail.com or message us through Facebook or Instagram.
Thanks for listening to this Episode of #WINNING!
Follow #WINNING on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winning_podcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winningpodcastpage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Winningpod
Follow Host, Mackenzie Kilshaw, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mackenziefirbykilshaw/
Visit our Website: https://podcastwinning.wixsite.com/mysite
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shauna Foster (00:06):
Winning is your guide to making it in business.
Join our award-winning host andentrepreneur, Mackenzie Kilshaw
, and special guests in casualconversations that will educate
and inspire you on your businessjourney.
Winning will help you learn thehard lessons the easy way, with
guidance from celebratedentrepreneurs and business
(00:26):
leaders.
It's fun, it's informative,it's Winning.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (00:31):
Hello, welcome to Winning.
I'm your host, MackenzieKilshaw, and today's guest i L i
Smith.
How are you, l?
Lynzie Smith (00:36):
Hi Mackenzie, I'm so good.
How are you?
Mackenzie Kilshaw (00:40):
I'm really good.
and I have known each other.
We think it's been about threeyears now.
We've connected on so manylevels, but Lindsay L is working
for the company that I now workfor, so we're going to be
working with each other a lotmore, so I'm so pumped to have
her on.
She is the founder ofCommonwealth Common Collective
Collective Wealth Wealth Wealthealth wealth Collective, which
is a community platform that'sreshaping the beauty and barber
(01:02):
industry.
She has a profound commitmentto relationship building and
networking, and she's empoweredcountless entrepreneurs to
unlock their full potential andachieve their desired wealth and
freedom.
She knows all aboutentrepreneurs, solopreneurs,
everybody that we're talking totoday, and she actually has
Common Weal ConversationsConversations C Wealth Wealth
wealth wealth a podcast as well,called Commonwealth
(01:23):
Conversations, which I'm goingto be a guest on.
So now she's here with us too,so we're going to link that to
in our l notes and make sure youguys get to listen to that.
But thanks, lindsay, for beingon, just like I'm so pumped.
Lynzie Smith (01:35):
Me, too, I love connecting with you.
Like Mackenzie shared, we'veknown each other now for about
three years, and when your rolewithin SalonScale the company
that we now both work for, indifferent capacities when it
shifted from partnerships intocustomer success, I was so sad
because I loved being able toget on with you and strategize,
and so it's amazing now, fullcircle, to be back in community
(01:58):
in that capacity too.
So I'm so excited to be here.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (02:01):
Well, thanks for saying that.
It's funny that you said that,because when Sarah, who does
partnerships, now took over andI'm like I'm going to miss L, I
mean there was like people and Iwas like, oh, I'm not going to
be able to see them anymore andlike I can't just have a meeting
.
To have a meeting, Like youactually have to do some work at
it.
So I'm glad that we're back inthe same round again.
So why don't you start?
I did their little bio but justgive people an idea of who you
(02:25):
are and maybe a little bit more.
We're talking a lot today aboutcommunity and relationships,
but maybe a little bit more onWealth Common Wealth Wealth
Common Wealth Wealth WealthWealth ealth wealth, Collective
and what you do there.
Lynzie Smith (02:35):
Yeah, sure.
So I am, by trade, ahairstylist.
I started my career in 2007 ina small town in Michigan where I
grew up and being able to kindof, over the last 15 years,
evolve as an entrepreneur intoavenues that truly, at that
stage in my life, were just adream, nothing that I really saw
(02:55):
as attainable or maybe even, atthat stage in my life, even saw
at all in any capacity.
And so in the early part of mycareer, I moved to the city of
Chicago right after I waslicensed and I built my business
first at a commission basedsalon.
So I was part of a team and Istarted really really assisting,
I mean, but in a very informalcapacity.
(03:18):
I talking about relationships.
I actually came in, dropped offmy resume it was only a four
chair salon and I basicallybegged for a job.
I said I would volunteer atthat point, I would fold towels,
I would come in on Saturdaymornings and clean like anything
at all, because I loved theenergy of the salon and it was
around the corner from where Ilived in a really cute community
(03:38):
, and one of the things thatmade me so attracted to it is
that when I was walking by, theyhad huge glass windows in the
front.
When I was walking by, everyonewas laughing, and I'm not even
exaggerating.
I still visually very clearlyremember seeing their entire
team and the client sitting inthe chair, smiling and laughing,
and that was my first likethat's the spot.
I don't care what I have to do,that's where I'm going to work,
(04:00):
and so I literally begged forthat job.
I was able to start as anassistant in a very, very, very
part time capacity and then,ironically, just a couple of
months later, one of thestylists moved on to other
things.
She actually went back to schooland so a chair was open and I
stepped right into building aclientele, and then that
continued to evolve for me intobecoming a solo entrepreneur.
(04:22):
I was independent.
I started my business solo in2012 and that grew and evolved
for about eight years, and then,in 2020, I launched a community
, which is now Wealth WealthW .
Collective Wealth WealthWealth Wealth Wealth Wealth
Collective Independent BeautyPros out as independent beauty
pros and my focus in that rolewas to build relationships, was
to connect with others who wereindependent, and that season I
(04:45):
was running my business solo, Iwas working solo, and so I felt
really lonely.
I really missed the team andthe community that came from a
commission space and commissionstructure, and so I wanted to
kind of outsource that and findthat with my peers who are also
independent, and so I launchedindependent beauty pros in
(05:06):
spring 2020, right when pandemichit the pandemic COVID,
businesses right COVIDbusinesses.
And what's funny is I hadactually been sitting on that
business for about two yearsbefore I launching, and so the
timing was just almost ironicbecause I launched prior to the
pandemic really hitting, and atthe time that I launched I
(05:27):
actually thought it would be ain-person Chicago networking
community where we would cometogether maybe once a month or
quarterly, but in-person.
And then, obviously, because ofthe pandemic, that shifted my
focus virtually and that wasactually for me such a blessing
in disguise.
It allowed me to grow and scalethe community way beyond what I
had envisioned initially.
(05:49):
And then, after hosting ourfirst large scale event in July
last year in Dallas, I realizedthat we needed to go through a
rebrand, because who we serve interms of community building,
relationship building,networking and then, obviously,
business education is applicableto all business models.
Whether you are a commission,ran, team-based, independent
(06:09):
solo, a coach, an educator, itdoesn't matter.
And so we went through a rebrandat the beginning of this year
and now we are Wealth wealth owealth Common wealth Common .
Collective, two wordsCommonwealth.
I really want to bring thatword wealth, whatever that
definition is, to you.
I want to bring that into aconnection that feels common
within our industry, withinfemale entrepreneurs and really
(06:31):
trade-based entrepreneurs whomaybe don't have a college
degree.
So that, for me, was my bigfocus, and now I'm also Salon
head of community engagement,with Mackenzie Solon Scale
working alongside you, mackenzie.
So my career has taken many,many, many turns, and all of
them are really kind of basedaround the relationships that
I've built.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (06:50):
Yeah, and it's just crazy where those
relationships take you.
You meet someone today and youdon't know two years, five years
, ten years down the road wherethat relationship is going to
get you totally.
We're talking about that alltoday, and then you have to
listen to 's podcast because I'malso on hers which we actually
recorded right before this.
(07:10):
So we're just on like a threehour relationship bender here.
I'll call it on a beautifulNovember afternoon.
Okay, so we start out behindthe chair and I know now too,
you've recently gone back todoing some behind the chair
which we're going to talk aboutthat.
But when were you, did you havelike an aha moment?
(07:34):
Or when were you like I feelalone other people have to be
feeling this like when, rightbefore you, started independent
beauty pros.
What was that moment or thattime where you're like we need
to have this community and thisrelationship ability within all
of these people that need it?
Lynzie Smith (07:53):
Yeah, my pain point started actually in bridal
.
So I one of my areas of focuswas in bridal and special events
, so I would do on locationservices.
I would travel prettyfrequently and so what I was
really struggling withespecially if I traveled out of
state I could not find supportfor larger, larger bridal
priorities.
(08:13):
So my first initial reasonbehind starting independent
beauty pros was because I feltlike there should be a space
LinkedIn if you will for beautyand barber pros where we can
just, you know, search by stateor region or specialty, so that
that way we could kind ofconnect in a very easy capacity.
I love Instagram, I loveLinkedIn even, but it wasn't a
(08:35):
space designed for us.
So when I first startedindependent beauty pros, my
vision was a LinkedIn space forthe beauty industry that has
pivoted and evolved so much andthat is actually not at all what
w wealth is.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (08:48):
I was like do you want to have?
Lynzie Smith (08:50):
that one.
Yeah, but that was initiallywhen I first launched, I had
worked with a developer who wasa client of mine.
I still work with her, she'sstill our web developer for
Commo e and and and then I wentthrough many ideations of like
going through what I would wantit to look like, how I would
want it to be used, and lastyear actually in 2022, I spent
(09:13):
most of my time pitching toAngel and VC investors and
getting into that like nextlevel of technology and app
development.
I'm sure we'll kind of talkabout this a little bit further
later, but I had a verydifficult year.
This year.
2023 was just an absolute shiftfor me, predominantly
personally, and then thatrippled into everything else, as
(09:37):
we talked about earlier today.
It's all connected, and so forme, in my role as CEO and
founder of Common , and then asmy role as a 35 year old woman
and a partner and a daughter,there were just so many other
pieces of my life that werebeing impacted.
And so this year for me waskind of this pause of let's get
(09:59):
some clarity, because what Ienvisioned in 2020 and even in
2018, when I first kind ofthought through what I wanted to
create, that vision has changed.
And so how do I, how do Iembrace that change and lean
into that change and trust thatchange instead of, you know,
white knuckle onto that originalidea or that original vision
that I had for myself?
So it is evolved and shiftedmuch and that is how I started
(10:23):
was really that need forconnection in the bridal
category and then recognizinghow if I have that pain point,
lots of people have to have thatpain point.
And then, within the pandemic,we saw how much we need each
other.
So it all, just, it all justrippled through.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (10:36):
Yeah, exactly , and you don't actually even
realize how, especiallyentrepreneurship, whether you
are like in the slant industry,we'll talk about whether you you
own a salon and you have 10stylists or you're by yourself.
Right, it's lonely, yes,because who are you talking to
If you're by yourself?
If you don't know anyone elsethat owns a business, you can't
(10:58):
really talk about your problemswith them because they don't get
it.
If you own it and you have astaff, you're certainly not
going to talk to your staffabout your problems.
Shauna Foster (11:06):
Oh yeah.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (11:07):
So where do you go?
And a lot of industries, theindustries that we were in,
fashion and beauty.
They're very competitive andyou're certainly not going to
ask the other hair, the otherhair salon besides you.
I'm having this problem.
What are you guys doing?
Because you don't want to tellthem you have any problems,
right?
So you really do feel thatisolation and that aloneness.
Lynzie Smith (11:29):
Yeah, yeah, like I think it could be.
I wanted to break that down too.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (11:33):
Yes.
Lynzie Smith (11:34):
That was actually even part of the thing is
especially as independentartists.
So if you're listening to thisand you're not, in the beauty
industry there are twopredominant categories within
our space and they arecommission led or team based,
and independent or solo.
So that would be a suite orsomebody who is renting a chair,
and so in my lane, as anindependent but with a
background in commission andteam, and then, especially when
(11:55):
it came to contracted work, likebridal, I needed support.
I needed more than just me.
I couldn't do everything justme, and so that alone, that
competition error that is sorampant in our industry that was
the piece that I really wantedto take on.
I wanted to kind of like headfirst, look at, like, listen, we
are actually so much bettertogether.
We can just get over this makebelieve concept of competing
(12:19):
with each other and instead belike hey, I'm struggling with
this, is anybody else strugglingwith this, what did you do?
Or hey, I navigated that andthis is what worked for me, try
this out, or hire this person.
Like to me, that was reallyagain at that core foundation of
like this is silly.
Let's get out of this and let'sinstead come together and build
community and learn from eachother, because it's just so much
easier for sure.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (12:42):
Somebody once said to me when I first opened
my clothing store they're like,if you put one hot dog stand on
a corner, what do you think isgoing to happen?
I'm like, well, people aregoing to come to the hot dog
stand.
They're like yeah, they're like, but if you put a hot dog stand
on all four corners of that thecorner, what do you think is
going to happen?
I'm like more people are goingto come to the hot dog stands.
(13:04):
They're like yeah, it'sbasically just math.
Like the more, like.
I'm not going to name any namesbecause I'm not that person, but
when I opened my store, therewas a few other stores around
and they were like absolutelypissed that I opened sure, just
putting it out there, becauseI'm going to steal all their
clients.
I'm like no, if you have a goodbusiness, your clients are
going to shop with you andthey're probably going to shop
(13:25):
with me too, but they're notgoing to leave you.
If you have a not so greatbusiness, then they're going to
leave you and they're going tobecome my client.
But that's a you problem,that's not a me problem, Right?
So to me it's like the more ofus there are, the better we all
are, the better we all are.
It's not a hard concept, butit's the most difficult concept
(13:45):
in the world.
Right, yeah, yeah.
Because people just for somereason you have to hate on the
other hair salon or you have tohate on the other clothing store
just because you think you haveto, and it's absolutely garbage
.
Lynzie Smith (13:59):
Or the other community or the other educator
or the other coach or the other,like that concept is so broken
and it is so outdated.
And I think that is something I, whenever I am coaching, I
really try to drive home thatidea of like, listen, no one can
do it like you can, because noone is you, there is nothing
else.
You don't need Anything else,there's nothing else that you
(14:19):
need that is special, other thanyou are you and there's only
one of you.
So that alone debunks the ideaof competition.
It doesn't exist, it's not real.
It's my belief.
It's Santa Claus, and if wecould all just move away from
that, we would all be, we wouldall be so much better off.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (14:34):
Yeah, and if you stay in your own lane and
worry about your own self andwhat you're doing, you can be
cognitive like I knew whatbrands they carried, or I knew
when they had a big sale,because I pay attention, but I
didn't have a big sale the sametime they were having a big sale
to try to steal their big sale,like I don't care, have your
sale, I'll have myself, like itwas.
It's good to know what's goingon, but when you're just
(14:57):
worrying about yourself, you canbe guaranteed that, instead of
competing against them, thatyou're going to be farther ahead
.
And actually you're going to beeven farther ahead if you build
a relationship with them.
Lynzie Smith (15:10):
Yes, right work together.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (15:11):
Work together .
Why not rent a space and have abig, huge, giant sale for
everything?
Yeah, you'll get three times asmany people right, like things
like that is really wherecommunity and relationship comes
in.
Yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%, I think, if you've never been a part of
that and it still is kind ofcrazy to me because I am so
(15:32):
community focused and sorelationship building focused
it's crazy to me that peoplestill don't see this and that we
have to talk about it.
Right, why is it so important,l?
Well, we have to tell peoplewhy it's important, because
they're not doing it, and Idon't want, if you're listening,
I don't want you to think Ithink you don't understand this,
because I really hope that youdo.
(15:52):
But if you don't really like,the relationships you have today
can take you much farther inyour life, whether it's personal
, career, whatever in yourbusiness.
It's gonna get you so muchfarther, so much faster 100%,
yeah, yeah.
This isn't even something I wasgonna bring up, but I'm going
(16:15):
to, because you and I startedour relationship over a
partnership.
Yeah, so IBP worked withSalonScale.
That was our two businesseswork together.
Partnerships that's arelationship that you have that
can just absolutely propel you.
So let's talk a little bitabout partnerships and what you.
(16:37):
I know you like partnerships,because I know we're low on, but
just let's talk aboutpartnerships and what can
partnerships do for you, and I'mnot saying just in a business,
but in all aspects of things.
Lynzie Smith (16:51):
Yeah, I mean thinking about the word partner
in general.
Partner is somebody that youwalk alongside of.
It's somebody I mean it's funnybecause my partner romantically
Brett and I when we first Ifeel like we've been together
for about five years now and inthe earlier stage of our
relationship we actually used tojoke because someone within
this family would talk abouttheir significant other as their
(17:13):
partner.
And I am divorced.
I was at one point married.
I'm now 35 years old.
To me the word boyfriend soundsso juvenile I just can't say it
.
It just feels so like I'm nottoo old for a boyfriend.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (17:27):
That's fine.
That was me too.
I was 39 when I got married.
You guys and people, I'm my 37year old boyfriend.
Like I felt, like I was 15.
Lynzie Smith (17:37):
Yes, so that's for us.
I now say my partner almost allthe time, and at one stage I
thought that word was strange.
But when you think about apartner, somebody who you're
really like, you are workingtogether for something.
And so when you even break down, like romantically whether
you're married, you know,engaged in a relationship,
whatever your title is withinthat dynamic, that partnership
(18:00):
is what helps you accomplishyour goals together, whether
that's within your family orwithin your individual
businesses.
My partner is also aentrepreneur and so we work a
lot around our goals.
We talk through a lot of likewhat do we wanna step into next
year?
What do we wanna, you know,navigate?
What are the things that we'restruggling with within our
business?
So, like even that relationship, that partnership is in so much
(18:22):
support of my individual growthprofessionally.
And so when I think aboutpartnerships in all capacity
community or even speaking, youknow, within a keynote I really
break down relationship buildinginto kind of three buckets.
And that is when speaking tothe beauty industry,
specifically through clients.
(18:42):
So if you are a hairstylist, or,again, even you on a boutique,
or you have a service-basedbusiness, you have clients who
need to purchase those servicesfrom you for your business to
grow.
That's one bucket.
Then you mentioned, you know,rent a space and host a sale
together.
That bucket, for me, is a peerbucket.
So these are your peers.
(19:03):
These are the people that youwork you know alongside of in
some capacity, even if you're indifferent geographical areas.
It's people who do what you doin some way, shape or form, who
you can learn from and thenmaybe collaborate with, whether
that is through hosting eventsor education or cross-referral.
You know, maybe this person oneof my power partners we call
(19:23):
them within our community, butone of my power partners in
Chicago was an esthetician.
I was a hairstylist.
We would constantly cross-referclients back and forth together
.
So that is a peer-basedrelationship.
So we've got clients, we've gotpeers.
And then I talk about brandsand so, again, whatever your
business is, brands can lookvery different.
So Solon Scale, for me, startedout as a partner with my
(19:46):
community, independent BeautyPros.
We first started a partnershipand at the early, early stage
that partnership was not, therewas no monetary exchange.
It was in a service of brandawareness how do I get my
community in front of SolonScale and how does Solon Scale
get in front of my community?
And so that started out in avery organic way and evolved
(20:06):
into sponsorships and evolvedinto monetary value for my
company and for my revenue andmy growth.
And even now we are still in abrand partnership this year and
we'll continue that brandpartnership ongoing as I
continue to develop my role ashead of community engagement.
And so, again, it's just sosymbiotic.
In that capacity, s Scale is aperfect example of a brand
(20:29):
relationship that I havenurtured over the years that has
now spider webbed into so muchopportunity for me in different
capacities.
So when, vice versa Salon solonScale supports our community in
such a huge way I mean thepeople I coach, the people I
work with, who make morefreaking money, who genuinely
have so much value, you know andthat's not like me doing that
(20:51):
for them, but my connection toSolon Scale and bringing that
tool into our community and thenpassing that along to them is
very valuable.
So, again, partnerships arejust so necessary.
Personally, professionally,none of us can do it all.
None of us have the ability todo it all.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (21:10):
I've tried, I've tried.
Yep, I used to do everythingand you're like, holy geez, I'm
not even good at this.
Why am I trying to do it?
Lynzie Smith (21:17):
Yes, it's terrible and again, I think that
mentality, especially with womenI mean our industry, the beauty
industry, which I'm a part ofis permanently female.
And it's so funny because, youknow, I think we have seen this
kind of shift around women.
You know, we've had thismovement of women's empowerment
which of course obviously I'mall for, and independence, and
(21:41):
you know, boss babes and hustleand like we've had that and I've
rode that wave, I have hustled,I have hustled, but in that
concept I actually feel like wehave you seen those memes that
are like I boss-scrawled toohard and now I have a real job,
like that's.
I feel like all of us as women,we took on so much in a you know
(22:02):
a period of time I'd say maybe20 years or so so many of us
were just like I can do it all.
I can mom and I can wife, and Ican run a business and I can be
a great friend and I can justdo all these things.
And the truth is like I can'tdo all those things, I struggle
doing all those things, and so,again, and as I shared, I'm
divorced, and so it shows.
It shows when you're, whenyou're not able to hold it all,
(22:25):
and so in this season of my life, I don't wanna do it all.
I don't even wanna do most ofit.
I wanna be able to take thatstep back.
I want life that is full ofease, full of rest, full of, you
know, abundance.
I'm just not in that hustleseason whatsoever, and so that
requires a partner who is ableto support me in the same way
that I can show up for everyoneelse.
(22:45):
That requires, you know,support within my team that are
able to support me so that I canshow up in the way that I need.
And then also now for me,stepping into a team-based role
with Salon Scale, like I havelearned so much getting out of
that mentality.
That will only further value mypartnership with Salon Scale in
my role as head of communityengagement.
So again, partnerships are justfundamental, they're absolutely
(23:10):
necessary and you can buildthem in every area of your life
and it makes life so much moreenjoyable and so much easier.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (23:17):
I agree.
I agree literally to every.
I'm just sitting here beinglike uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh to
everything.
And it took me a long time.
Relationships, I knew I knew Idon't know when I realized that,
but relationships, I knewthey're important.
But the doing the things thatyou're good at and that you like
(23:38):
and the not worrying about theother stuff or getting somebody
else into the other stuff tookme a really really long, long,
long, long, long time to figurethat out.
Because, especially when I firststarted out, I really thought I
had to do everything.
I'm like, well, I'm thebusiness owner, so like I have
to do everything.
And also it was kind offinancially Like I'm like, well,
(23:59):
I'm not gonna pay somebody todo this because I need to.
Every money, like every dollarI make, I have to pay my
mortgage and I have to pay mystaff and whatever.
So I cleaned everything becauseI'm like I can't pay somebody
to clean, and I attempted to domy own books, which lasted for
about 12 minutes.
And then I was like, oh my God,why am I doing this?
I don't know.
I have a, like a businessdegree, like I took accounting
(24:21):
and finance, but like I don'tknow the rules and the tax stuff
that you need.
Like I'm like this isridiculous.
So I started paying somebody todo that and plus, I didn't like
it.
So now I'm at the point whereIf it's not in my like realm,
I'll say, like if it's not inthe, I like doing it and I'm
(24:42):
good at doing it and acombination of Both of those
things, then I'm not gonna do it.
Lynzie Smith (24:48):
Yes, that's exactly what we kind of when I'm
working with someone,especially in that role.
So a lot of times when I have aLike a new client come through,
whether so, we have a six-monthgroup coaching program, and so
when someone comes into thatprogram, part of the value is
one-on-one coaching with me, andso when I first am diving into
their role in their business, alot of times they are, they are
(25:10):
beyond capacity, they are sobeyond what they are capable of
getting done in a day, and soand I've been there so many
times, and so my first focus isso they'll come in and they want
to make more money.
That's almost always, you know,they want to make more money,
yeah, and so I will be like,okay, all right, we're gonna get
there for make more money, butfirst, what are the things right
now that are taking up yourcreative space, your energy,
(25:32):
overwhelming you?
You're procrastinating.
Let's kind of really assesswhat's on your plate right now
that needs to get off your platebefore we can add revenue
streams.
You know, I think so many,especially entrepreneurs, like
so many entrepreneurs, want todiversify their revenue.
Of course, especially after thepandemic, we've all seen the
importance of having multiplestreams of income, and so that's
(25:53):
usually one of the first topicsthat comes up, and my, my
wisdom now has allowed me to beable to say like yes, yes, of
course, make more money, we'regonna put that right over here.
That's a goal.
But first we have to make spacefor that money.
Money can't come in if you're,you're plate is full, there's no
room.
So, no matter what creativeideas you have, no matter what
collaboration opportunities youhave, if you're dropping the
(26:15):
ball left and right becauseyou're burnt out and you're
overwhelmed, the money willnever come.
And for me I'm gonna get alittle personal here, but I'll
share for me, like my, like rockbottom, and that came from a
miscarriage.
I experienced a miscarriage.
My partner and I have been on afertility journey.
It's been difficult, and when Imiscarried my first miscarriage
(26:35):
, I was absolutely shocked at IWas not capable.
I was no longer capable.
There was actually for me aseason of time where doing it
all was just actually no longeran option.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (26:46):
There was just no grieving you were
grieving, you had to grieve.
You can't like go on IG livebecause, no, not happening.
Lynzie Smith (26:55):
Yeah, zero, zero and again in my role.
This was actually in the peakof my career around pitching and
and tech.
So, again, at this stage, I hadjust secured my first letter of
intent from a venture capitalfirm and I was on track and
moving towards developing it outand taking what I have built
and and really doubling down onthe technology piece and and
(27:17):
scaling in that capacity andit's so funny.
In hindsight, I am just soeternally grateful that that is
not the path I took and and thatwas not my choice at the time.
It was actually again, I justwas not able to continue down
that road and thought at somestage, you know, I can pick it
back up and we'll go, you knowwe'll move on.
However, in that season of mebeing able to recognize like I
(27:39):
can't do this anymore, thisisn't working for me.
It's not even working for me inmy wellness, in my physical
well-being, and so, thank God, Ihad a partner who was like sit
down, sit down, like no more, nomore of this, like constantly
going, no more of this,constantly taking on new things,
like and that was, you know,within our household.
He managed so much, but then,even separately, he was the one,
(28:00):
oh, and he still is my soundingword when I'm overwhelmed where
he'll be like, do less, do less, do less, like let things come
to you, as opposed to alwaysgoing and and doing, and and
navigating.
And again, I think that is thatthat girl boss that we were, we
were taught in that I want tosay like 90s, 2000s of like we
can do it all, and I think thatmentality, I think it's like a
(28:22):
pendulum, I think it's swung toofar.
We went, we were way too far,and now we got to kind of come
back to a place of like, what dowe want to do Versus what can
we do?
We can manage many things, butwhat are the things that
actually light us up, thatcharge our batteries, as opposed
to?
You know, for me, same thingAccounting, not a chance.
So goodbye.
What are those things that canget off of our place so that we
(28:43):
can actually step into, like,our lane of genius and what we
really excel at, because that'sthat's where we shine.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (28:49):
Yeah, and wouldn't you rather, instead of
trying to literally fumble yourway through doing your books and
it takes you an entire day amonth to do it wouldn't you
rather take that time to meetwith a potential partner, or
meet with someone to build arelationship that could open
doors for you, and don't buildrelationships to get farther
(29:10):
ahead.
That's not what we're sayinghere, but the relationships that
you build, you don't know wherethey're gonna get you.
Lynzie Smith (29:17):
Things come when you build relationships, you
will get ahead, so like youdon't even have to focus on that
, like you just will.
So when you build relationshipsand your intent is to just
build that relationship, thegetting ahead piece will work
itself out, like the money willwork itself out the things, the
opportunity is, it'll workitself out.
And again, there have beenseasons in my life where I've
forgotten that and I am alwaysreminded, always reminded that
(29:41):
when I get off track and I focuson things that are not
connected to the relationshipsthat I value, that is where I
start to overwhelm myself, Istart to burn out.
Other things come up and if Ican just get right back on track
with who is aligned with me andwhat can I do to support them
in that relationship, everythingelse comes in.
It's like it's like a magnetic.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (30:00):
Yeah, I feel like our we need in our own
lives like a tangent button,yeah, that we can just be like
and hit it and be like this isthe wrong.
Like I started going down thisroad and now I'm down here and I
don't want to be down here andyou know, course correct to get
back, because it's so true andthere are so many times when you
use like think to yourself, whyam I doing this, what is this
(30:25):
for?
And sometimes in the momentit's not worth anything.
But if you look at down theroad, sometimes you're like,
okay, I don't know I'm doingthis and then like, oh wait,
yeah, I am doing this for thatright now.
It's kind of sucky, yes, butit's gonna get me there.
Maybe you pay somebody to do itright now, maybe you partner
(30:46):
with someone that their team cando it, maybe you, whatever you
figure that out.
But sometimes you got to gokind of through those crap pumps
to get to the good stuff.
But I think most of the time wedon't even know that there's
good stuff on the other side.
Lynzie Smith (31:01):
Yeah, I think I'm gonna kind of share a little tip
on that too, because this issomething as I was navigating
okay, what's for me, what arethe things I love?
And again, we all go throughdifferent seasons.
I mean, I shared with youearlier I didn't pay myself for
two years, so like my revenuewas very minimum and I came from
a lifestyle where my income washigh and so all of a sudden it
(31:23):
was like whoa, what's happening?
No, I don't just have thismoney.
That has always flown throughand I have to get really lean on
how I run my business.
And so in the building season,what I started to categorize
which I now also facilitate in athree bucket capacity I like
threes for some reason.
But when I'm looking at myentrepreneurs that I work with
(31:44):
and we're kind of navigatingokay, this is what we wanna get
to, but what do we have to kindof eliminate here first?
That is always what we look at.
So the first step for me issystemizing.
So when you're doing it all,what can you systemize, like
what are the things that you canstart to put systems in place
so that you can theoretically doit with your eyes closed?
And then, when you get that downand your revenue increases and
you have more money to work with, then what can we automate?
(32:07):
Then we can pay for tools thatwill automate things, and it's a
low cost most of the time, soyou can automate whatever else
is overwhelming you, and thenyou make more money and your
plate is a little clearer.
And then that third bucket isoutsourcing, so hiring, getting
things kind of out of the way.
Who will do a better job atthis than you even will Like?
Then you have the revenue tosupport the outsourcing.
(32:28):
So to me, those three bucketssystems first, and then
automation, and then outsourcingto me, that's how you scale as
an entrepreneur and you clearthings out of your way so that
you can be creative and enjoyyour role exactly, and there's
some things that like especiallywhen you're talking about the
automating thing, that just cometo my mind really quickly
(32:49):
there's some things you canautomate for free today, for
example, your social media posts.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (32:54):
Like go into your Facebook business center
and do all your social mediaposts in there, schedule them to
come out.
Facebook and Instagram eventell you when your audience is
on there, so you don't just haveto do it for 8 AM every day,
you can do it.
Oh, on Tuesday they're moreactive at 11 AM.
You do it for 11 AM that day.
I didn't even know this was athing until I was in my third
(33:18):
year of business and somebody'slike are you automating posts?
I'm like, no, I literally everyday.
They're like oh my God, what atime sucker.
And then I was like that is atime sucker.
I didn't even.
Yeah, you have to sit downmaybe for an hour to do your
whole week or whatever it is,but then it's done.
Yes, 100%.
I was spending 10 minutes everyday doing it and sometimes that
10 minutes turned into twohours because I was at work and
(33:40):
got busy and whatever right.
So, yeah, there's things thatyou can do, like right now, that
don't even cost you money.
That can get rid of that stuff.
Yes yeah, oh, this is awesome.
It's like that was such a no,seriously, the day I found out
about that, I should preface.
I actually don't think it was athing for a while and when I
(34:03):
first had my business becausewe're talking like 10 years ago,
so I think that just came alongbut a friend was like duh, why
aren't you using this?
And then I felt like such anidiot that I wasn't using it.
But then I did and neverthought about it again.
Lynzie Smith (34:17):
Yes, I love it.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (34:18):
Yep, that's usually what happens when you
automate.
You have to revisit right, likeemails, things like that that
you can just make a workflow soyou don't actually have to send
the email when somebody comesinto that workflow.
It sends it right and you mighthave to change that email every
once in a while or change youroffering or whatever, but that's
like a once a quarter maybething.
(34:40):
You don't have to do it all thetime, right?
Yeah, oh, I love that advice.
I feel like this has gone froma relationship to like full on,
just like business 101.
But it doesn't matter becauseit's all helpful, right.
So I had a question in my headthat was like are there any
drawbacks of a community orrelationship?
Because I did have somebodytell me once that a community
(35:03):
only creates like just createsdrama and problems and whatever.
And I was like, okay, I canmaybe see how someone got down
that road.
Yeah, the only drawback that Icould ever think of is that
you're in the wrong community.
Lynzie Smith (35:19):
Yeah, so let's talk about that for sure.
I think this is kind of like aperfect, like the cherry on the
top of this conversation ingeneral, because that to me, I
play with this a lot and I'vehad a lot of kind of soul
searching myself over the lastfive years and so one of the
(35:40):
beliefs I carry is that we areall mirrors of each other.
We're mirrors, we're mirroringback whatever it is that we need
to see, whatever we are workingthrough or whatever challenges
we might be navigating, even ifwe don't know it.
And so when you have thatexperience, so if you had this
person who said this to you, Ilove that, because to me, what
(36:00):
that says is that is a mirrorshowing you something that you
need to work through.
So if you are in a space whereyou feel like it's drama, what
is it that that's showing you interms of what you're bringing
to that group, to that community?
And I'm telling you, I've testedthis out more times than I can
count in my own life around mychallenges, my, you know, the
(36:22):
things that don't serve me, mypersonality traits, the way that
I communicate, whatever it is,whenever I have a problem with
someone else, whatever thatproblem is with that person.
If I can get to the pointsometimes it takes me a little
longer than other times, but ifI can get to the point that I
recognize that that is mirroringback to me something I need to
learn it immediately shifts intoa value of mine.
(36:46):
So this person my guess notknowing them, they are probably
a little drama, they probablywalk around with drama and
they're probably magnetizingthat drama versus magnetizing
that connection.
And so to me that's the bigpiece of relationship building
that we have to kind of alwayscome back to is if you're coming
(37:06):
into rooms, virtually or inperson, ready to serve and ready
to share and ready to connect,you are going to attract the
people that are in that samecaliber.
If you're coming into a roomwith drama, you're gonna attract
drama.
That is what you're going toexperience in that space.
So to me, that's a mirror,that's a you problem.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (37:24):
It's just all I have in my head is Taylor
Swift.
I'm the problem.
It's me just going like roundand round and round and like I
just speaking of drama for justone second.
But the people are like dramaalways follows me.
Everywhere I go.
I'm like, yeah, that's causeyou're the drop, like it's you.
It's that sad something, it'syou and it doesn't have to be
drama.
That could be.
Bad things always happen to me.
(37:46):
That could be nothing goes.
Nothing works out like I hadplanned, like any of that stuff.
It all comes back to you andit's mindset.
It's what you're putting out,it's all of those things right.
It's totally also luck whenpeople say I was really lucky.
I'm just gonna go L and I justrecorded her podcast and we were
(38:08):
talking about me when I left mystores and just went to an
online only and moved and had ahuge life change, like the
biggest life change you couldhave career, city, family, like
literally everything happened tome in one clear shot.
But people are like you're solucky that you like, just like,
got to leave your.
I'm like, well, I'm not.
(38:28):
There's no luck involved inthat.
I'm like that was me workinghard to find someone to take
over my space.
Yes, you know, it wasn't luck.
So the luck is a thing, too.
That always drives me wild.
When people are like, oh, we'vebeen so lucky.
I'm like, well, it's more hardwork than luck.
But okay, if you think it'sluck, you go for that, because
(38:50):
everybody else is gonna be luckyexcept for you.
Right, yes totally that's howit's gonna go, for sure, l?
Do you have just in likegeneral business life?
Whatever you wanna go?
Do you have a most importantlesson, maybe that you've
learned along the way, orlearned during your re brand or
when you started IBP?
Just something that you're likeit was a moment for you that
(39:13):
you're like I need to share thiswith the world.
Lynzie Smith (39:16):
Yeah, I think for me it really does always kind of
come back to that practice ofwhen I am having conflict in any
area of my life, with anysituation.
Again, I mean, I feel like evenlooking back into some of my
difficult conflicts, divorce isconflict.
Divorce comes with a lot ofchallenge and it would be very
easy to point a finger and sayyou know, you're the problem.
(39:40):
You're the problem in theprocess of divorce and, trust me
, you know there were moments inthat process for me that I
definitely felt that someoneelse was the problem and not me.
But after healing through thatand navigating that, when I got
to a space of recognizing like,what did I?
What did I bring of conflict?
What did I do or how did I actthat was not aligned with who I
(40:04):
want to be as a wife or as apartner.
What can I take from that andmove forward with my life?
I think so many of us spend somuch time and energy looking
outside of ourselves and puttingblame on other people or other
situations or other challenges.
Again, even luck, like you'reso lucky or like this, it
basically takes away your powerand that, to me, is the thing
(40:27):
that I think everyone shouldlearn is that when you are
wasting your precious life force, energy, blaming other people
or projecting your problems ontoothers, you are missing the
opportunity to step into thatgrowth and really learn for
yourself.
You know, my ex-husband isn't apart of my life anymore, so if
I was walking around wasting mytime blaming him, I wouldn't be
(40:49):
living the life that I am livingnow where he is.
He's not here.
You know, and I remember, evenin our you know our
communication towards the end ofour relationship, I really do
remember saying, like at somestage, I'm not going to be in
your life anymore, so I can't bethe problem if I'm not here.
And so again, that is that that,to me, always stands out as
(41:10):
something now that has affectedmy, my work life, my friendships
, my you know my connections inevery capacity.
When there is a problem or anissue, that issue is here to
teach me something.
So when I can take thatownership, I get my power back
and I can move forward.
So that would be the thing thatI think like whenever you're
having an obstacle or achallenge or conflict.
Think of it as a mirror.
(41:31):
What do you need to learn?
What is the showing?
You grab that lesson and thenmove on.
Move on with your life.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (41:37):
I love that.
It's so true and it's very muchwhatever is important to you,
what you value, and if youreflect that always, then you
can hold your head up high,right?
Yes, yes, yeah.
Is there anything that you wishyou had known?
Or maybe you could tell youryounger self I know.
Like everything, people likeever.
Shauna Foster (41:57):
I wish I knew everything but like.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (42:00):
Sometimes you're like oh, if only I'd
known that sooner.
If only I could tell myselfthis 10 years ago.
Lynzie Smith (42:05):
Yeah, do less, that's that my partner.
Brett says that to me all thetime because I am such a doer
and I take on everything and Ijust I almost love it.
It's like a fuel for me in somecapacity.
Shauna Foster (42:18):
Yeah.
Lynzie Smith (42:18):
Do you think there's a you know that's a
little bit of a trauma responseI definitely avoid through doing
.
That's like my way of copingwith emotions that I may be in
putting off or suppressing.
And so he's been a great mirrorfor me and, recognizing when I
am doing too much and when I'magain like kind of white
knuckling something intofruition, he's the first one to
be like you're doing too much, Ican feel it.
(42:39):
This is too much.
Like, even if you get what youwant, are you going to feel the
way that you want to feel?
And so for me, always comingback to that feeling, first
holding onto that feeling andthen taking aligned action,
versus just taking a ton ofaction.
I wish my younger self wouldhave known to do less.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (42:56):
I agree, I fully agree with that also and
honestly, if you are drained,exhausted mentally, you cannot
be in where you need to be.
What good are you doing?
You're not right?
No, no, not at all.
Love that advice, l.
Thank you so much for being on.
I know people are going to wantto know more about you, know
(43:17):
more about Commonwealth.
So where can they go?
What's the best place for themto go to find out more?
Lynzie Smith (43:22):
Yeah.
So if you're a Beauty BarberPro and you're looking for
community, commonwealthco onInstagram is our handle.
I love connecting through ourcommunity in that capacity,
because that's really whereyou're not just connected with
me, but you're connecting withlike-minded entrepreneurs in
that space.
So we have a six-month groupcoaching program that we offer
twice a year.
That is the only way that youcan work with me one-on-one.
(43:45):
That's the only opportunitythat I provide right now for
coaching, but within that, wealso have our podcast,
commonwealth Conversations, wehost virtual events, we've got
some freebies Whatever you needin terms of supporting your
business growth in community.
That's the space there.
And then I hang out onInstagram as well.
My professional page isLSBeautyPro and my personal is L
(44:06):
M Smith.
My name is spelled a littledifferently, so Mackenzie, I'm
sure you'll link that all in theshow notes.
But, Instagram is the easiestway to connect and hang out, and
I love relationships, I lovebuilding those relationships and
I'm a total fan of , c , DMDM, so send me a message and
say hi.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (44:26):
I was never a fan of cold ntil until until
until I sold my business thatway.
So here we go, folks.
I'm the same, though.
Reach out right.
Reach out Like you learnsomething.
You connect at some L part.
Lindsay, you and I even todayfound out more things we
connected on.
We became partners at a job,and now I feel like we're
friends too.
So I just really appreciate youbeing on and sharing your story
(44:50):
and your lessons with ourlisteners.
So thank you so much again.
Thank you for everybodylistening.
We'll see you on the nextepisode.
Thanks for listening to Winning.
Be sure to subscribe to get allof our new episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode andyou'd like to help support the
podcast, please share it withothers, post about it on social
media and leave a rating andreview wherever you listen to
(45:12):
Winning.
To catch all of the latest fromus, you can follow Winning
Podcast on Instagram at Winningu podcast, facebook Facebook at
Winning podcast Podcast and onTwitter at Winning pod.
Winning was created and isproduced by me, mackenzie
Mackenzie Kilshaw Music, createdby Summer Furby Firby editing
by Seth Armstrong.
(45:32):
Special thanks to Shauna Fosterfor voicing our opening and, of
course, a huge thank you tothis episode's guest.
Thanks again for listening andI'll see you on the next episode
.
Winning is your guide to making it in business.
Join our award-winning host andentrepreneur, Mackenzie Kilshaw
, and special guests in casualconversations that will educate
and inspire you on your businessjourney.
Winning will help you learn thehard lessons the easy way, with
guidance from celebratedentrepreneurs and business
(00:26):
leaders.
It's fun, it's informative,it's Winning.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (00:31):
Hello, welcome to Winning.
I'm your host, MackenzieKilshaw, and today's guest i L i
Smith.
How are you, l?
Lynzie Smith (00:36):
Hi Mackenzie, I'm so good.
How are you?
Mackenzie Kilshaw (00:40):
I'm really good.
and I have known each other.
We think it's been about threeyears now.
We've connected on so manylevels, but Lindsay L is working
for the company that I now workfor, so we're going to be
working with each other a lotmore, so I'm so pumped to have
her on.
She is the founder ofCommonwealth Common Collective
Collective Wealth Wealth Wealthealth wealth Collective, which
is a community platform that'sreshaping the beauty and barber
(01:02):
industry.
She has a profound commitmentto relationship building and
networking, and she's empoweredcountless entrepreneurs to
unlock their full potential andachieve their desired wealth and
freedom.
She knows all aboutentrepreneurs, solopreneurs,
everybody that we're talking totoday, and she actually has
Common Weal ConversationsConversations C Wealth Wealth
wealth wealth a podcast as well,called Commonwealth
(01:23):
Conversations, which I'm goingto be a guest on.
So now she's here with us too,so we're going to link that to
in our l notes and make sure youguys get to listen to that.
But thanks, lindsay, for beingon, just like I'm so pumped.
Lynzie Smith (01:35):
Me, too, I love connecting with you.
Like Mackenzie shared, we'veknown each other now for about
three years, and when your rolewithin SalonScale the company
that we now both work for, indifferent capacities when it
shifted from partnerships intocustomer success, I was so sad
because I loved being able toget on with you and strategize,
and so it's amazing now, fullcircle, to be back in community
(01:58):
in that capacity too.
So I'm so excited to be here.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (02:01):
Well, thanks for saying that.
It's funny that you said that,because when Sarah, who does
partnerships, now took over andI'm like I'm going to miss L, I
mean there was like people and Iwas like, oh, I'm not going to
be able to see them anymore andlike I can't just have a meeting
.
To have a meeting, Like youactually have to do some work at
it.
So I'm glad that we're back inthe same round again.
So why don't you start?
I did their little bio but justgive people an idea of who you
(02:25):
are and maybe a little bit more.
We're talking a lot today aboutcommunity and relationships,
but maybe a little bit more onWealth Common Wealth Wealth
Common Wealth Wealth WealthWealth ealth wealth, Collective
and what you do there.
Lynzie Smith (02:35):
Yeah, sure.
So I am, by trade, ahairstylist.
I started my career in 2007 ina small town in Michigan where I
grew up and being able to kindof, over the last 15 years,
evolve as an entrepreneur intoavenues that truly, at that
stage in my life, were just adream, nothing that I really saw
(02:55):
as attainable or maybe even, atthat stage in my life, even saw
at all in any capacity.
And so in the early part of mycareer, I moved to the city of
Chicago right after I waslicensed and I built my business
first at a commission basedsalon.
So I was part of a team and Istarted really really assisting,
I mean, but in a very informalcapacity.
(03:18):
I talking about relationships.
I actually came in, dropped offmy resume it was only a four
chair salon and I basicallybegged for a job.
I said I would volunteer atthat point, I would fold towels,
I would come in on Saturdaymornings and clean like anything
at all, because I loved theenergy of the salon and it was
around the corner from where Ilived in a really cute community
(03:38):
, and one of the things thatmade me so attracted to it is
that when I was walking by, theyhad huge glass windows in the
front.
When I was walking by, everyonewas laughing, and I'm not even
exaggerating.
I still visually very clearlyremember seeing their entire
team and the client sitting inthe chair, smiling and laughing,
and that was my first likethat's the spot.
I don't care what I have to do,that's where I'm going to work,
(04:00):
and so I literally begged forthat job.
I was able to start as anassistant in a very, very, very
part time capacity and then,ironically, just a couple of
months later, one of thestylists moved on to other
things.
She actually went back to schooland so a chair was open and I
stepped right into building aclientele, and then that
continued to evolve for me intobecoming a solo entrepreneur.
(04:22):
I was independent.
I started my business solo in2012 and that grew and evolved
for about eight years, and then,in 2020, I launched a community
, which is now Wealth WealthW .
Collective Wealth WealthWealth Wealth Wealth Wealth
Collective Independent BeautyPros out as independent beauty
pros and my focus in that rolewas to build relationships, was
to connect with others who wereindependent, and that season I
(04:45):
was running my business solo, Iwas working solo, and so I felt
really lonely.
I really missed the team andthe community that came from a
commission space and commissionstructure, and so I wanted to
kind of outsource that and findthat with my peers who are also
independent, and so I launchedindependent beauty pros in
(05:06):
spring 2020, right when pandemichit the pandemic COVID,
businesses right COVIDbusinesses.
And what's funny is I hadactually been sitting on that
business for about two yearsbefore I launching, and so the
timing was just almost ironicbecause I launched prior to the
pandemic really hitting, and atthe time that I launched I
(05:27):
actually thought it would be ain-person Chicago networking
community where we would cometogether maybe once a month or
quarterly, but in-person.
And then, obviously, because ofthe pandemic, that shifted my
focus virtually and that wasactually for me such a blessing
in disguise.
It allowed me to grow and scalethe community way beyond what I
had envisioned initially.
(05:49):
And then, after hosting ourfirst large scale event in July
last year in Dallas, I realizedthat we needed to go through a
rebrand, because who we serve interms of community building,
relationship building,networking and then, obviously,
business education is applicableto all business models.
Whether you are a commission,ran, team-based, independent
(06:09):
solo, a coach, an educator, itdoesn't matter.
And so we went through a rebrandat the beginning of this year
and now we are Wealth wealth owealth Common wealth Common .
Collective, two wordsCommonwealth.
I really want to bring thatword wealth, whatever that
definition is, to you.
I want to bring that into aconnection that feels common
within our industry, withinfemale entrepreneurs and really
(06:31):
trade-based entrepreneurs whomaybe don't have a college
degree.
So that, for me, was my bigfocus, and now I'm also Salon
head of community engagement,with Mackenzie Solon Scale
working alongside you, mackenzie.
So my career has taken many,many, many turns, and all of
them are really kind of basedaround the relationships that
I've built.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (06:50):
Yeah, and it's just crazy where those
relationships take you.
You meet someone today and youdon't know two years, five years
, ten years down the road wherethat relationship is going to
get you totally.
We're talking about that alltoday, and then you have to
listen to 's podcast because I'malso on hers which we actually
recorded right before this.
(07:10):
So we're just on like a threehour relationship bender here.
I'll call it on a beautifulNovember afternoon.
Okay, so we start out behindthe chair and I know now too,
you've recently gone back todoing some behind the chair
which we're going to talk aboutthat.
But when were you, did you havelike an aha moment?
(07:34):
Or when were you like I feelalone other people have to be
feeling this like when, rightbefore you, started independent
beauty pros.
What was that moment or thattime where you're like we need
to have this community and thisrelationship ability within all
of these people that need it?
Lynzie Smith (07:53):
Yeah, my pain point started actually in bridal
.
So I one of my areas of focuswas in bridal and special events
, so I would do on locationservices.
I would travel prettyfrequently and so what I was
really struggling withespecially if I traveled out of
state I could not find supportfor larger, larger bridal
priorities.
(08:13):
So my first initial reasonbehind starting independent
beauty pros was because I feltlike there should be a space
LinkedIn if you will for beautyand barber pros where we can
just, you know, search by stateor region or specialty, so that
that way we could kind ofconnect in a very easy capacity.
I love Instagram, I loveLinkedIn even, but it wasn't a
(08:35):
space designed for us.
So when I first startedindependent beauty pros, my
vision was a LinkedIn space forthe beauty industry that has
pivoted and evolved so much andthat is actually not at all what
w wealth is.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (08:48):
I was like do you want to have?
Lynzie Smith (08:50):
that one.
Yeah, but that was initiallywhen I first launched, I had
worked with a developer who wasa client of mine.
I still work with her, she'sstill our web developer for
Commo e and and and then I wentthrough many ideations of like
going through what I would wantit to look like, how I would
want it to be used, and lastyear actually in 2022, I spent
(09:13):
most of my time pitching toAngel and VC investors and
getting into that like nextlevel of technology and app
development.
I'm sure we'll kind of talkabout this a little bit further
later, but I had a verydifficult year.
This year.
2023 was just an absolute shiftfor me, predominantly
personally, and then thatrippled into everything else, as
(09:37):
we talked about earlier today.
It's all connected, and so forme, in my role as CEO and
founder of Common , and then asmy role as a 35 year old woman
and a partner and a daughter,there were just so many other
pieces of my life that werebeing impacted.
And so this year for me waskind of this pause of let's get
(09:59):
some clarity, because what Ienvisioned in 2020 and even in
2018, when I first kind ofthought through what I wanted to
create, that vision has changed.
And so how do I, how do Iembrace that change and lean
into that change and trust thatchange instead of, you know,
white knuckle onto that originalidea or that original vision
that I had for myself?
So it is evolved and shiftedmuch and that is how I started
(10:23):
was really that need forconnection in the bridal
category and then recognizinghow if I have that pain point,
lots of people have to have thatpain point.
And then, within the pandemic,we saw how much we need each
other.
So it all, just, it all justrippled through.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (10:36):
Yeah, exactly , and you don't actually even
realize how, especiallyentrepreneurship, whether you
are like in the slant industry,we'll talk about whether you you
own a salon and you have 10stylists or you're by yourself.
Right, it's lonely, yes,because who are you talking to
If you're by yourself?
If you don't know anyone elsethat owns a business, you can't
(10:58):
really talk about your problemswith them because they don't get
it.
If you own it and you have astaff, you're certainly not
going to talk to your staffabout your problems.
Shauna Foster (11:06):
Oh yeah.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (11:07):
So where do you go?
And a lot of industries, theindustries that we were in,
fashion and beauty.
They're very competitive andyou're certainly not going to
ask the other hair, the otherhair salon besides you.
I'm having this problem.
What are you guys doing?
Because you don't want to tellthem you have any problems,
right?
So you really do feel thatisolation and that aloneness.
Lynzie Smith (11:29):
Yeah, yeah, like I think it could be.
I wanted to break that down too.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (11:33):
Yes.
Lynzie Smith (11:34):
That was actually even part of the thing is
especially as independentartists.
So if you're listening to thisand you're not, in the beauty
industry there are twopredominant categories within
our space and they arecommission led or team based,
and independent or solo.
So that would be a suite orsomebody who is renting a chair,
and so in my lane, as anindependent but with a
background in commission andteam, and then, especially when
(11:55):
it came to contracted work, likebridal, I needed support.
I needed more than just me.
I couldn't do everything justme, and so that alone, that
competition error that is sorampant in our industry that was
the piece that I really wantedto take on.
I wanted to kind of like headfirst, look at, like, listen, we
are actually so much bettertogether.
We can just get over this makebelieve concept of competing
(12:19):
with each other and instead belike hey, I'm struggling with
this, is anybody else strugglingwith this, what did you do?
Or hey, I navigated that andthis is what worked for me, try
this out, or hire this person.
Like to me, that was reallyagain at that core foundation of
like this is silly.
Let's get out of this and let'sinstead come together and build
community and learn from eachother, because it's just so much
easier for sure.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (12:42):
Somebody once said to me when I first opened
my clothing store they're like,if you put one hot dog stand on
a corner, what do you think isgoing to happen?
I'm like, well, people aregoing to come to the hot dog
stand.
They're like yeah, they're like, but if you put a hot dog stand
on all four corners of that thecorner, what do you think is
going to happen?
I'm like more people are goingto come to the hot dog stands.
(13:04):
They're like yeah, it'sbasically just math.
Like the more, like.
I'm not going to name any namesbecause I'm not that person, but
when I opened my store, therewas a few other stores around
and they were like absolutelypissed that I opened sure, just
putting it out there, becauseI'm going to steal all their
clients.
I'm like no, if you have a goodbusiness, your clients are
going to shop with you andthey're probably going to shop
(13:25):
with me too, but they're notgoing to leave you.
If you have a not so greatbusiness, then they're going to
leave you and they're going tobecome my client.
But that's a you problem,that's not a me problem, Right?
So to me it's like the more ofus there are, the better we all
are, the better we all are.
It's not a hard concept, butit's the most difficult concept
(13:45):
in the world.
Right, yeah, yeah.
Because people just for somereason you have to hate on the
other hair salon or you have tohate on the other clothing store
just because you think you haveto, and it's absolutely garbage
.
Lynzie Smith (13:59):
Or the other community or the other educator
or the other coach or the other,like that concept is so broken
and it is so outdated.
And I think that is something I, whenever I am coaching, I
really try to drive home thatidea of like, listen, no one can
do it like you can, because noone is you, there is nothing
else.
You don't need Anything else,there's nothing else that you
(14:19):
need that is special, other thanyou are you and there's only
one of you.
So that alone debunks the ideaof competition.
It doesn't exist, it's not real.
It's my belief.
It's Santa Claus, and if wecould all just move away from
that, we would all be, we wouldall be so much better off.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (14:34):
Yeah, and if you stay in your own lane and
worry about your own self andwhat you're doing, you can be
cognitive like I knew whatbrands they carried, or I knew
when they had a big sale,because I pay attention, but I
didn't have a big sale the sametime they were having a big sale
to try to steal their big sale,like I don't care, have your
sale, I'll have myself, like itwas.
It's good to know what's goingon, but when you're just
(14:57):
worrying about yourself, you canbe guaranteed that, instead of
competing against them, thatyou're going to be farther ahead
.
And actually you're going to beeven farther ahead if you build
a relationship with them.
Lynzie Smith (15:10):
Yes, right work together.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (15:11):
Work together .
Why not rent a space and have abig, huge, giant sale for
everything?
Yeah, you'll get three times asmany people right, like things
like that is really wherecommunity and relationship comes
in.
Yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%, I think, if you've never been a part of
that and it still is kind ofcrazy to me because I am so
(15:32):
community focused and sorelationship building focused
it's crazy to me that peoplestill don't see this and that we
have to talk about it.
Right, why is it so important,l?
Well, we have to tell peoplewhy it's important, because
they're not doing it, and Idon't want, if you're listening,
I don't want you to think Ithink you don't understand this,
because I really hope that youdo.
(15:52):
But if you don't really like,the relationships you have today
can take you much farther inyour life, whether it's personal
, career, whatever in yourbusiness.
It's gonna get you so muchfarther, so much faster 100%,
yeah, yeah.
This isn't even something I wasgonna bring up, but I'm going
(16:15):
to, because you and I startedour relationship over a
partnership.
Yeah, so IBP worked withSalonScale.
That was our two businesseswork together.
Partnerships that's arelationship that you have that
can just absolutely propel you.
So let's talk a little bitabout partnerships and what you.
(16:37):
I know you like partnerships,because I know we're low on, but
just let's talk aboutpartnerships and what can
partnerships do for you, and I'mnot saying just in a business,
but in all aspects of things.
Lynzie Smith (16:51):
Yeah, I mean thinking about the word partner
in general.
Partner is somebody that youwalk alongside of.
It's somebody I mean it's funnybecause my partner romantically
Brett and I when we first Ifeel like we've been together
for about five years now and inthe earlier stage of our
relationship we actually used tojoke because someone within
this family would talk abouttheir significant other as their
(17:13):
partner.
And I am divorced.
I was at one point married.
I'm now 35 years old.
To me the word boyfriend soundsso juvenile I just can't say it
.
It just feels so like I'm nottoo old for a boyfriend.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (17:27):
That's fine.
That was me too.
I was 39 when I got married.
You guys and people, I'm my 37year old boyfriend.
Like I felt, like I was 15.
Lynzie Smith (17:37):
Yes, so that's for us.
I now say my partner almost allthe time, and at one stage I
thought that word was strange.
But when you think about apartner, somebody who you're
really like, you are workingtogether for something.
And so when you even break down, like romantically whether
you're married, you know,engaged in a relationship,
whatever your title is withinthat dynamic, that partnership
(18:00):
is what helps you accomplishyour goals together, whether
that's within your family orwithin your individual
businesses.
My partner is also aentrepreneur and so we work a
lot around our goals.
We talk through a lot of likewhat do we wanna step into next
year?
What do we wanna, you know,navigate?
What are the things that we'restruggling with within our
business?
So, like even that relationship, that partnership is in so much
(18:22):
support of my individual growthprofessionally.
And so when I think aboutpartnerships in all capacity
community or even speaking, youknow, within a keynote I really
break down relationship buildinginto kind of three buckets.
And that is when speaking tothe beauty industry,
specifically through clients.
(18:42):
So if you are a hairstylist, or,again, even you on a boutique,
or you have a service-basedbusiness, you have clients who
need to purchase those servicesfrom you for your business to
grow.
That's one bucket.
Then you mentioned, you know,rent a space and host a sale
together.
That bucket, for me, is a peerbucket.
So these are your peers.
(19:03):
These are the people that youwork you know alongside of in
some capacity, even if you're indifferent geographical areas.
It's people who do what you doin some way, shape or form, who
you can learn from and thenmaybe collaborate with, whether
that is through hosting eventsor education or cross-referral.
You know, maybe this person oneof my power partners we call
(19:23):
them within our community, butone of my power partners in
Chicago was an esthetician.
I was a hairstylist.
We would constantly cross-referclients back and forth together
.
So that is a peer-basedrelationship.
So we've got clients, we've gotpeers.
And then I talk about brandsand so, again, whatever your
business is, brands can lookvery different.
So Solon Scale, for me, startedout as a partner with my
(19:46):
community, independent BeautyPros.
We first started a partnershipand at the early, early stage
that partnership was not, therewas no monetary exchange.
It was in a service of brandawareness how do I get my
community in front of SolonScale and how does Solon Scale
get in front of my community?
And so that started out in avery organic way and evolved
(20:06):
into sponsorships and evolvedinto monetary value for my
company and for my revenue andmy growth.
And even now we are still in abrand partnership this year and
we'll continue that brandpartnership ongoing as I
continue to develop my role ashead of community engagement.
And so, again, it's just sosymbiotic.
In that capacity, s Scale is aperfect example of a brand
(20:29):
relationship that I havenurtured over the years that has
now spider webbed into so muchopportunity for me in different
capacities.
So when, vice versa Salon solonScale supports our community in
such a huge way I mean thepeople I coach, the people I
work with, who make morefreaking money, who genuinely
have so much value, you know andthat's not like me doing that
(20:51):
for them, but my connection toSolon Scale and bringing that
tool into our community and thenpassing that along to them is
very valuable.
So, again, partnerships arejust so necessary.
Personally, professionally,none of us can do it all.
None of us have the ability todo it all.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (21:10):
I've tried, I've tried.
Yep, I used to do everythingand you're like, holy geez, I'm
not even good at this.
Why am I trying to do it?
Lynzie Smith (21:17):
Yes, it's terrible and again, I think that
mentality, especially with womenI mean our industry, the beauty
industry, which I'm a part ofis permanently female.
And it's so funny because, youknow, I think we have seen this
kind of shift around women.
You know, we've had thismovement of women's empowerment
which of course obviously I'mall for, and independence, and
(21:41):
you know, boss babes and hustleand like we've had that and I've
rode that wave, I have hustled,I have hustled, but in that
concept I actually feel like wehave you seen those memes that
are like I boss-scrawled toohard and now I have a real job,
like that's.
I feel like all of us as women,we took on so much in a you know
(22:02):
a period of time I'd say maybe20 years or so so many of us
were just like I can do it all.
I can mom and I can wife, and Ican run a business and I can be
a great friend and I can justdo all these things.
And the truth is like I can'tdo all those things, I struggle
doing all those things, and so,again, and as I shared, I'm
divorced, and so it shows.
It shows when you're, whenyou're not able to hold it all,
(22:25):
and so in this season of my life, I don't wanna do it all.
I don't even wanna do most ofit.
I wanna be able to take thatstep back.
I want life that is full ofease, full of rest, full of, you
know, abundance.
I'm just not in that hustleseason whatsoever, and so that
requires a partner who is ableto support me in the same way
that I can show up for everyoneelse.
(22:45):
That requires, you know,support within my team that are
able to support me so that I canshow up in the way that I need.
And then also now for me,stepping into a team-based role
with Salon Scale, like I havelearned so much getting out of
that mentality.
That will only further value mypartnership with Salon Scale in
my role as head of communityengagement.
So again, partnerships are justfundamental, they're absolutely
(23:10):
necessary and you can buildthem in every area of your life
and it makes life so much moreenjoyable and so much easier.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (23:17):
I agree.
I agree literally to every.
I'm just sitting here beinglike uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh to
everything.
And it took me a long time.
Relationships, I knew I knew Idon't know when I realized that,
but relationships, I knewthey're important.
But the doing the things thatyou're good at and that you like
(23:38):
and the not worrying about theother stuff or getting somebody
else into the other stuff tookme a really really long, long,
long, long, long time to figurethat out.
Because, especially when I firststarted out, I really thought I
had to do everything.
I'm like, well, I'm thebusiness owner, so like I have
to do everything.
And also it was kind offinancially Like I'm like, well,
(23:59):
I'm not gonna pay somebody todo this because I need to.
Every money, like every dollarI make, I have to pay my
mortgage and I have to pay mystaff and whatever.
So I cleaned everything becauseI'm like I can't pay somebody
to clean, and I attempted to domy own books, which lasted for
about 12 minutes.
And then I was like, oh my God,why am I doing this?
I don't know.
I have a, like a businessdegree, like I took accounting
(24:21):
and finance, but like I don'tknow the rules and the tax stuff
that you need.
Like I'm like this isridiculous.
So I started paying somebody todo that and plus, I didn't like
it.
So now I'm at the point whereIf it's not in my like realm,
I'll say, like if it's not inthe, I like doing it and I'm
(24:42):
good at doing it and acombination of Both of those
things, then I'm not gonna do it.
Lynzie Smith (24:48):
Yes, that's exactly what we kind of when I'm
working with someone,especially in that role.
So a lot of times when I have aLike a new client come through,
whether so, we have a six-monthgroup coaching program, and so
when someone comes into thatprogram, part of the value is
one-on-one coaching with me, andso when I first am diving into
their role in their business, alot of times they are, they are
(25:10):
beyond capacity, they are sobeyond what they are capable of
getting done in a day, and soand I've been there so many
times, and so my first focus isso they'll come in and they want
to make more money.
That's almost always, you know,they want to make more money,
yeah, and so I will be like,okay, all right, we're gonna get
there for make more money, butfirst, what are the things right
now that are taking up yourcreative space, your energy,
(25:32):
overwhelming you?
You're procrastinating.
Let's kind of really assesswhat's on your plate right now
that needs to get off your platebefore we can add revenue
streams.
You know, I think so many,especially entrepreneurs, like
so many entrepreneurs, want todiversify their revenue.
Of course, especially after thepandemic, we've all seen the
importance of having multiplestreams of income, and so that's
(25:53):
usually one of the first topicsthat comes up, and my, my
wisdom now has allowed me to beable to say like yes, yes, of
course, make more money, we'regonna put that right over here.
That's a goal.
But first we have to make spacefor that money.
Money can't come in if you're,you're plate is full, there's no
room.
So, no matter what creativeideas you have, no matter what
collaboration opportunities youhave, if you're dropping the
(26:15):
ball left and right becauseyou're burnt out and you're
overwhelmed, the money willnever come.
And for me I'm gonna get alittle personal here, but I'll
share for me, like my, like rockbottom, and that came from a
miscarriage.
I experienced a miscarriage.
My partner and I have been on afertility journey.
It's been difficult, and when Imiscarried my first miscarriage
(26:35):
, I was absolutely shocked at IWas not capable.
I was no longer capable.
There was actually for me aseason of time where doing it
all was just actually no longeran option.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (26:46):
There was just no grieving you were
grieving, you had to grieve.
You can't like go on IG livebecause, no, not happening.
Lynzie Smith (26:55):
Yeah, zero, zero and again in my role.
This was actually in the peakof my career around pitching and
and tech.
So, again, at this stage, I hadjust secured my first letter of
intent from a venture capitalfirm and I was on track and
moving towards developing it outand taking what I have built
and and really doubling down onthe technology piece and and
(27:17):
scaling in that capacity andit's so funny.
In hindsight, I am just soeternally grateful that that is
not the path I took and and thatwas not my choice at the time.
It was actually again, I justwas not able to continue down
that road and thought at somestage, you know, I can pick it
back up and we'll go, you knowwe'll move on.
However, in that season of mebeing able to recognize like I
(27:39):
can't do this anymore, thisisn't working for me.
It's not even working for me inmy wellness, in my physical
well-being, and so, thank God, Ihad a partner who was like sit
down, sit down, like no more, nomore of this, like constantly
going, no more of this,constantly taking on new things,
like and that was, you know,within our household.
He managed so much, but then,even separately, he was the one,
(28:00):
oh, and he still is my soundingword when I'm overwhelmed where
he'll be like, do less, do less, do less, like let things come
to you, as opposed to alwaysgoing and and doing, and and
navigating.
And again, I think that is thatthat girl boss that we were, we
were taught in that I want tosay like 90s, 2000s of like we
can do it all, and I think thatmentality, I think it's like a
(28:22):
pendulum, I think it's swung toofar.
We went, we were way too far,and now we got to kind of come
back to a place of like, what dowe want to do Versus what can
we do?
We can manage many things, butwhat are the things that
actually light us up, thatcharge our batteries, as opposed
to?
You know, for me, same thingAccounting, not a chance.
So goodbye.
What are those things that canget off of our place so that we
(28:43):
can actually step into, like,our lane of genius and what we
really excel at, because that'sthat's where we shine.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (28:49):
Yeah, and wouldn't you rather, instead of
trying to literally fumble yourway through doing your books and
it takes you an entire day amonth to do it wouldn't you
rather take that time to meetwith a potential partner, or
meet with someone to build arelationship that could open
doors for you, and don't buildrelationships to get farther
(29:10):
ahead.
That's not what we're sayinghere, but the relationships that
you build, you don't know wherethey're gonna get you.
Lynzie Smith (29:17):
Things come when you build relationships, you
will get ahead, so like youdon't even have to focus on that
, like you just will.
So when you build relationshipsand your intent is to just
build that relationship, thegetting ahead piece will work
itself out, like the money willwork itself out the things, the
opportunity is, it'll workitself out.
And again, there have beenseasons in my life where I've
forgotten that and I am alwaysreminded, always reminded that
(29:41):
when I get off track and I focuson things that are not
connected to the relationshipsthat I value, that is where I
start to overwhelm myself, Istart to burn out.
Other things come up and if Ican just get right back on track
with who is aligned with me andwhat can I do to support them
in that relationship, everythingelse comes in.
It's like it's like a magnetic.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (30:00):
Yeah, I feel like our we need in our own
lives like a tangent button,yeah, that we can just be like
and hit it and be like this isthe wrong.
Like I started going down thisroad and now I'm down here and I
don't want to be down here andyou know, course correct to get
back, because it's so true andthere are so many times when you
use like think to yourself, whyam I doing this, what is this
(30:25):
for?
And sometimes in the momentit's not worth anything.
But if you look at down theroad, sometimes you're like,
okay, I don't know I'm doingthis and then like, oh wait,
yeah, I am doing this for thatright now.
It's kind of sucky, yes, butit's gonna get me there.
Maybe you pay somebody to do itright now, maybe you partner
(30:46):
with someone that their team cando it, maybe you, whatever you
figure that out.
But sometimes you got to gokind of through those crap pumps
to get to the good stuff.
But I think most of the time wedon't even know that there's
good stuff on the other side.
Lynzie Smith (31:01):
Yeah, I think I'm gonna kind of share a little tip
on that too, because this issomething as I was navigating
okay, what's for me, what arethe things I love?
And again, we all go throughdifferent seasons.
I mean, I shared with youearlier I didn't pay myself for
two years, so like my revenuewas very minimum and I came from
a lifestyle where my income washigh and so all of a sudden it
(31:23):
was like whoa, what's happening?
No, I don't just have thismoney.
That has always flown throughand I have to get really lean on
how I run my business.
And so in the building season,what I started to categorize
which I now also facilitate in athree bucket capacity I like
threes for some reason.
But when I'm looking at myentrepreneurs that I work with
(31:44):
and we're kind of navigatingokay, this is what we wanna get
to, but what do we have to kindof eliminate here first?
That is always what we look at.
So the first step for me issystemizing.
So when you're doing it all,what can you systemize, like
what are the things that you canstart to put systems in place
so that you can theoretically doit with your eyes closed?
And then, when you get that downand your revenue increases and
you have more money to work with, then what can we automate?
(32:07):
Then we can pay for tools thatwill automate things, and it's a
low cost most of the time, soyou can automate whatever else
is overwhelming you, and thenyou make more money and your
plate is a little clearer.
And then that third bucket isoutsourcing, so hiring, getting
things kind of out of the way.
Who will do a better job atthis than you even will Like?
Then you have the revenue tosupport the outsourcing.
(32:28):
So to me, those three bucketssystems first, and then
automation, and then outsourcingto me, that's how you scale as
an entrepreneur and you clearthings out of your way so that
you can be creative and enjoyyour role exactly, and there's
some things that like especiallywhen you're talking about the
automating thing, that just cometo my mind really quickly
(32:49):
there's some things you canautomate for free today, for
example, your social media posts.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (32:54):
Like go into your Facebook business center
and do all your social mediaposts in there, schedule them to
come out.
Facebook and Instagram eventell you when your audience is
on there, so you don't just haveto do it for 8 AM every day,
you can do it.
Oh, on Tuesday they're moreactive at 11 AM.
You do it for 11 AM that day.
I didn't even know this was athing until I was in my third
(33:18):
year of business and somebody'slike are you automating posts?
I'm like, no, I literally everyday.
They're like oh my God, what atime sucker.
And then I was like that is atime sucker.
I didn't even.
Yeah, you have to sit downmaybe for an hour to do your
whole week or whatever it is,but then it's done.
Yes, 100%.
I was spending 10 minutes everyday doing it and sometimes that
10 minutes turned into twohours because I was at work and
(33:40):
got busy and whatever right.
So, yeah, there's things thatyou can do, like right now, that
don't even cost you money.
That can get rid of that stuff.
Yes yeah, oh, this is awesome.
It's like that was such a no,seriously, the day I found out
about that, I should preface.
I actually don't think it was athing for a while and when I
(34:03):
first had my business becausewe're talking like 10 years ago,
so I think that just came alongbut a friend was like duh, why
aren't you using this?
And then I felt like such anidiot that I wasn't using it.
But then I did and neverthought about it again.
Lynzie Smith (34:17):
Yes, I love it.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (34:18):
Yep, that's usually what happens when you
automate.
You have to revisit right, likeemails, things like that that
you can just make a workflow soyou don't actually have to send
the email when somebody comesinto that workflow.
It sends it right and you mighthave to change that email every
once in a while or change youroffering or whatever, but that's
like a once a quarter maybething.
(34:40):
You don't have to do it all thetime, right?
Yeah, oh, I love that advice.
I feel like this has gone froma relationship to like full on,
just like business 101.
But it doesn't matter becauseit's all helpful, right.
So I had a question in my headthat was like are there any
drawbacks of a community orrelationship?
Because I did have somebodytell me once that a community
(35:03):
only creates like just createsdrama and problems and whatever.
And I was like, okay, I canmaybe see how someone got down
that road.
Yeah, the only drawback that Icould ever think of is that
you're in the wrong community.
Lynzie Smith (35:19):
Yeah, so let's talk about that for sure.
I think this is kind of like aperfect, like the cherry on the
top of this conversation ingeneral, because that to me, I
play with this a lot and I'vehad a lot of kind of soul
searching myself over the lastfive years and so one of the
(35:40):
beliefs I carry is that we areall mirrors of each other.
We're mirrors, we're mirroringback whatever it is that we need
to see, whatever we are workingthrough or whatever challenges
we might be navigating, even ifwe don't know it.
And so when you have thatexperience, so if you had this
person who said this to you, Ilove that, because to me, what
(36:00):
that says is that is a mirrorshowing you something that you
need to work through.
So if you are in a space whereyou feel like it's drama, what
is it that that's showing you interms of what you're bringing
to that group, to that community?
And I'm telling you, I've testedthis out more times than I can
count in my own life around mychallenges, my, you know, the
(36:22):
things that don't serve me, mypersonality traits, the way that
I communicate, whatever it is,whenever I have a problem with
someone else, whatever thatproblem is with that person.
If I can get to the pointsometimes it takes me a little
longer than other times, but ifI can get to the point that I
recognize that that is mirroringback to me something I need to
learn it immediately shifts intoa value of mine.
(36:46):
So this person my guess notknowing them, they are probably
a little drama, they probablywalk around with drama and
they're probably magnetizingthat drama versus magnetizing
that connection.
And so to me that's the bigpiece of relationship building
that we have to kind of alwayscome back to is if you're coming
(37:06):
into rooms, virtually or inperson, ready to serve and ready
to share and ready to connect,you are going to attract the
people that are in that samecaliber.
If you're coming into a roomwith drama, you're gonna attract
drama.
That is what you're going toexperience in that space.
So to me, that's a mirror,that's a you problem.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (37:24):
It's just all I have in my head is Taylor
Swift.
I'm the problem.
It's me just going like roundand round and round and like I
just speaking of drama for justone second.
But the people are like dramaalways follows me.
Everywhere I go.
I'm like, yeah, that's causeyou're the drop, like it's you.
It's that sad something, it'syou and it doesn't have to be
drama.
That could be.
Bad things always happen to me.
(37:46):
That could be nothing goes.
Nothing works out like I hadplanned, like any of that stuff.
It all comes back to you andit's mindset.
It's what you're putting out,it's all of those things right.
It's totally also luck whenpeople say I was really lucky.
I'm just gonna go L and I justrecorded her podcast and we were
(38:08):
talking about me when I left mystores and just went to an
online only and moved and had ahuge life change, like the
biggest life change you couldhave career, city, family, like
literally everything happened tome in one clear shot.
But people are like you're solucky that you like, just like,
got to leave your.
I'm like, well, I'm not.
(38:28):
There's no luck involved inthat.
I'm like that was me workinghard to find someone to take
over my space.
Yes, you know, it wasn't luck.
So the luck is a thing, too.
That always drives me wild.
When people are like, oh, we'vebeen so lucky.
I'm like, well, it's more hardwork than luck.
But okay, if you think it'sluck, you go for that, because
(38:50):
everybody else is gonna be luckyexcept for you.
Right, yes totally that's howit's gonna go, for sure, l?
Do you have just in likegeneral business life?
Whatever you wanna go?
Do you have a most importantlesson, maybe that you've
learned along the way, orlearned during your re brand or
when you started IBP?
Just something that you're likeit was a moment for you that
(39:13):
you're like I need to share thiswith the world.
Lynzie Smith (39:16):
Yeah, I think for me it really does always kind of
come back to that practice ofwhen I am having conflict in any
area of my life, with anysituation.
Again, I mean, I feel like evenlooking back into some of my
difficult conflicts, divorce isconflict.
Divorce comes with a lot ofchallenge and it would be very
easy to point a finger and sayyou know, you're the problem.
(39:40):
You're the problem in theprocess of divorce and, trust me
, you know there were moments inthat process for me that I
definitely felt that someoneelse was the problem and not me.
But after healing through thatand navigating that, when I got
to a space of recognizing like,what did I?
What did I bring of conflict?
What did I do or how did I actthat was not aligned with who I
(40:04):
want to be as a wife or as apartner.
What can I take from that andmove forward with my life?
I think so many of us spend somuch time and energy looking
outside of ourselves and puttingblame on other people or other
situations or other challenges.
Again, even luck, like you'reso lucky or like this, it
basically takes away your powerand that, to me, is the thing
(40:27):
that I think everyone shouldlearn is that when you are
wasting your precious life force, energy, blaming other people
or projecting your problems ontoothers, you are missing the
opportunity to step into thatgrowth and really learn for
yourself.
You know, my ex-husband isn't apart of my life anymore, so if
I was walking around wasting mytime blaming him, I wouldn't be
(40:49):
living the life that I am livingnow where he is.
He's not here.
You know, and I remember, evenin our you know our
communication towards the end ofour relationship, I really do
remember saying, like at somestage, I'm not going to be in
your life anymore, so I can't bethe problem if I'm not here.
And so again, that is that that,to me, always stands out as
(41:10):
something now that has affectedmy, my work life, my friendships
, my you know my connections inevery capacity.
When there is a problem or anissue, that issue is here to
teach me something.
So when I can take thatownership, I get my power back
and I can move forward.
So that would be the thing thatI think like whenever you're
having an obstacle or achallenge or conflict.
Think of it as a mirror.
(41:31):
What do you need to learn?
What is the showing?
You grab that lesson and thenmove on.
Move on with your life.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (41:37):
I love that.
It's so true and it's very muchwhatever is important to you,
what you value, and if youreflect that always, then you
can hold your head up high,right?
Yes, yes, yeah.
Is there anything that you wishyou had known?
Or maybe you could tell youryounger self I know.
Like everything, people likeever.
Shauna Foster (41:57):
I wish I knew everything but like.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (42:00):
Sometimes you're like oh, if only I'd
known that sooner.
If only I could tell myselfthis 10 years ago.
Lynzie Smith (42:05):
Yeah, do less, that's that my partner.
Brett says that to me all thetime because I am such a doer
and I take on everything and Ijust I almost love it.
It's like a fuel for me in somecapacity.
Shauna Foster (42:18):
Yeah.
Lynzie Smith (42:18):
Do you think there's a you know that's a
little bit of a trauma responseI definitely avoid through doing
.
That's like my way of copingwith emotions that I may be in
putting off or suppressing.
And so he's been a great mirrorfor me and, recognizing when I
am doing too much and when I'magain like kind of white
knuckling something intofruition, he's the first one to
be like you're doing too much, Ican feel it.
(42:39):
This is too much.
Like, even if you get what youwant, are you going to feel the
way that you want to feel?
And so for me, always comingback to that feeling, first
holding onto that feeling andthen taking aligned action,
versus just taking a ton ofaction.
I wish my younger self wouldhave known to do less.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (42:56):
I agree, I fully agree with that also and
honestly, if you are drained,exhausted mentally, you cannot
be in where you need to be.
What good are you doing?
You're not right?
No, no, not at all.
Love that advice, l.
Thank you so much for being on.
I know people are going to wantto know more about you, know
(43:17):
more about Commonwealth.
So where can they go?
What's the best place for themto go to find out more?
Lynzie Smith (43:22):
Yeah.
So if you're a Beauty BarberPro and you're looking for
community, commonwealthco onInstagram is our handle.
I love connecting through ourcommunity in that capacity,
because that's really whereyou're not just connected with
me, but you're connecting withlike-minded entrepreneurs in
that space.
So we have a six-month groupcoaching program that we offer
twice a year.
That is the only way that youcan work with me one-on-one.
(43:45):
That's the only opportunitythat I provide right now for
coaching, but within that, wealso have our podcast,
commonwealth Conversations, wehost virtual events, we've got
some freebies Whatever you needin terms of supporting your
business growth in community.
That's the space there.
And then I hang out onInstagram as well.
My professional page isLSBeautyPro and my personal is L
(44:06):
M Smith.
My name is spelled a littledifferently, so Mackenzie, I'm
sure you'll link that all in theshow notes.
But, Instagram is the easiestway to connect and hang out, and
I love relationships, I lovebuilding those relationships and
I'm a total fan of , c , DMDM, so send me a message and
say hi.
Mackenzie Kilshaw (44:26):
I was never a fan of cold ntil until until
until I sold my business thatway.
So here we go, folks.
I'm the same, though.
Reach out right.
Reach out Like you learnsomething.
You connect at some L part.
Lindsay, you and I even todayfound out more things we
connected on.
We became partners at a job,and now I feel like we're
friends too.
So I just really appreciate youbeing on and sharing your story
(44:50):
and your lessons with ourlisteners.
So thank you so much again.
Thank you for everybodylistening.
We'll see you on the nextepisode.
Thanks for listening to Winning.
Be sure to subscribe to get allof our new episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode andyou'd like to help support the
podcast, please share it withothers, post about it on social
media and leave a rating andreview wherever you listen to
(45:12):
Winning.
To catch all of the latest fromus, you can follow Winning
Podcast on Instagram at Winningu podcast, facebook Facebook at
Winning podcast Podcast and onTwitter at Winning pod.
Winning was created and isproduced by me, mackenzie
Mackenzie Kilshaw Music, createdby Summer Furby Firby editing
by Seth Armstrong.
(45:32):
Special thanks to Shauna Fosterfor voicing our opening and, of
course, a huge thank you tothis episode's guest.
Thanks again for listening andI'll see you on the next episode
.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.