Stylists: Get Out of Your Own Way
Morgan Franklin: Welcome to the
Aspiring Stylists Podcast with
Tracey Franklin. Where to begin,
grow and aspire to become the
best stylist you can be. Whether
you're thinking about becoming a
stylist opening a salon, or
developing your skills as an
experienced stylist the next
step of your beauty career
starts here. Each week we'll
discuss strategic ways to
design, plan and execute on
becoming a stylist that excels
behind the chair and above the
bottom line. Here's your host,
Tracey Franklin.
Tracey Franklin: A lot of things
have shaped me as a stylist, one
of them being my upbringing, the
type of home that I grew up in,
my parents were divorced, and
they definitely had their share
of issues, not a lot of
encouragement or direction in
life. And I didn't place much
value on education, like I was
never told, reach for the stars,
get it girl you can be whatever
you want to be when you grow up,
that was just not the type of
environment that I grew up in.
So I didn't know I got married
young and I had children. And I
really felt like that would be
my path, I didn't really see
much outside of that. I couldn't
believe that at some point I
would ever be successful at
anything. And most households,
one income just doesn't cut it,
you know, you need more than
one, sometimes two doesn't feel
like enough. But in our
situation, we had just moved out
to Tennessee from California,
and we're really trying to make
a go of it in this new
environment. But you know, it's
really hard to shake your
childhood. If you've ever tried
to overcome some of the crap
your parents have put you
through, then you understand
where I'm coming from. It's
really hard to set goals for
yourself when no one has ever
set a goal for you. So not
really having a lot of direction
not knowing what I wanted to do
with my life. I had two small
children, I had had a really bad
incident with a babysitter which
had just scared me to death. And
I just couldn't even imagine
leaving my children with someone
else. So I went to work in their
preschool, it seemed like a good
fit at the time. It definitely
wasn't. It wasn't a great time,
you know, trying to spread
yourself too thin. As far as
patients go with kids, it
doesn't leave you a lot for your
own family at the end of the
day. So it helped financially.
But it was really, really
straining on my relationship
with my husband at the time. And
with my children as well. I
didn't place much value on
myself outside of motherhood,
that was the only thing in my
life that I had ever done that I
was really proud of. It's the
only thing that I felt good at.
It's the only way I felt that I
had achieved anything. A lack of
belief in yourself is really
hard to shake. It takes a lot of
work to believe you deserve more
to believe that you have a place
in society of worth. You know,
if you've ever grown up in a
home where your parents didn't
celebrate you and encourage you
to reach for the stars and chase
your dreams, then you know that
you have to be that person for
yourself. And that's really hard
to do. When you're experiencing
massive unworthiness. That is a
huge challenge. I still struggle
with that there is no amount of
achievements in my career that I
could possibly get that just
erase years of self doubt, there
is nothing that you can do that
just makes all of that go away.
But changing your mindset
certainly helps. And just
realizing that you're not going
to let people speak things over
you. You know, I worked for
someone one time that didn't
always encourage me as much as I
really needed as an early
stylist, and would say things
sometimes that would really just
like, ah, would knock the wind
out of me. And if you've ever
worked for someone like that,
then you know, it's really hard
to go in there feeling confident
and feeling ready to deliver
great service to a guest when
you just feel like no matter
what you do, it's not going to
be good enough. You really have
to change your mindset you have
to get out of that way of
thinking. And that takes a lot
of work. It takes a lot of you
know getting out of your own way
and believing for more for
yourself and believing that you
can do it even when you're not
getting that support externally.
You have to do it for yourself.
Procrastination is one of the
biggest roadblocks for me. I
have always been a
procrastinator, like I just
cannot come out of it sometimes
and I don't know why. Like I
have literally seen the demise
of so many goals that I've made
in my life because it just can't
take that first step. I just
can't make myself get up off the
couch. I can't make myself put
on those running shoes. You
know, procrastination man, it
will really really set you back
and will really slow you down.
But big things happen when you
start taking action. All you
have to do is take one step
forward and see how that feels.
And then take another step. Step
forward. How does that feel? No
one has ever regretted it, no
one has ever been like, Man, I
wish I would have procrastinated
a little bit longer, I wish I
would have waited to chase that
dream just a little bit longer.
That's just not something that
people think, you know, take the
first step. We don't do things
sometimes not because we don't
want to, but because we simply
don't know how we simply don't
know what that first step looks
like. And so we just don't ever
start like and we don't know,
then we just don't ever start,
stop talking yourself out of
taking that first step, take the
course get the certification,
like there are only good things
on the other side of the
journey. But it's not always
enough. Sometimes knowing that
is not always enough, we really,
really have to focus on just one
step at a time. One of my
biggest challenges has always
been on social media. It just
feels like so much work. I don't
know where to start. But at the
end of the day, you're not
getting out of it in this
industry, like everyone
listening to me right now might
as well except that social media
is by far the biggest platform
of recognition, it helps you
locally, it helps you
nationally, it's a way for your
clients to really look into your
life and look into your career.
See if they like what they see
and take action. You know, it's
just there's no getting out of
it. And honestly, any industry
at this point, I don't really
see an industry out there that
doesn't benefit from social
media exposure. But for me, it
just felt like a daunting task.
Like I didn't feel like I had
what it took to be interesting
on social media. You know, I
just thought, why would anyone
care about what I have to say?
My skills are average, why would
anyone want to look at that? I'm
here to tell you guys, that is
not true. People do care. And
people do want to see what
you're doing behind the chair.
They do. It's how they find you.
People don't even hardly look at
websites anymore, like social
media is where it's at. And I
know I'm getting off on a whole
Bender about that. But I'm just
sharing my point of view with
you on that. And what a huge
challenge that was for me. And
when I finally got out of my own
way. And I finally started
making the silly little videos.
And I finally started trying
harder to capture not just the
end result. But the process of
the service, I started getting a
lot of encouragement, I started
getting a lot of added girls,
and it felt amazing. And I just
thought to myself, Why did I
ever think this sucked? Like,
why did I ever think this wasn't
a worthy thing to do? I got
serious about it. I did my
research, I even hired some
help. It took me a while I had
to do things wrong for a really
long time before I realized that
there are people out there that
do this for a living that can
really help advance you. But I
just didn't know, I didn't know
that that was even a thing. So
now it's just another facet of
the job. You know, it's just one
more thing that I do. It's like
making sure I have the products
that I need. It's making sure
that my book is scheduled
properly. And now I just you
know, I make the videos, I take
the pictures, I do what it takes
to make sure that I'm moving
myself forward in that
direction. And I even enjoy it a
little now, you know, I wouldn't
say a lot. Sometimes it just
feels a bit overwhelming. But I
am even learning to enjoy it
now. So that feels nice. You all
know you're never really done
with the beauty industry.
There's always something new to
learn. There's always something
exciting, you know, some new
trend, and that can feel very
fun. And it can also feel very
overwhelming at times. There are
a lot of really talented veteran
stylists out there that are
putting out great content, they
really want to help. I feel like
in this industry more than a lot
of others. There's a lot of
support for stylist that are
just coming up and coming out.
And you know, trying to make a
successful path out of this. And
I feel like those veteran
stylists have a real heart for
that I know I do. 22 years in
the industry has taught me a ton
of things. And I'm excited to
pass those along. It's not like
let's hoard it all for ourselves
because you really can't. It's
so much more beneficial to share
it and inspire other people. You
can draw a lot of inspiration
from people that have been where
you are that have overcome the
challenges that you're walking
through right now. And you
should lean on them. You should
lean on them in any way that you
can, because most people will
always become more successful in
spite of their challenges. I
don't know anybody that's just
got this precious little life
that's got a bow tied around it
that just never they just never
suffered a day in their life.
They never had any challenges.
The challenges are what show you
what you're made of. They're
what gives you like the badass
or II that you need to overcome
things in this life because this
industry right here has the
power to make you feel like a
rock star or a defeated little
colorist that wants to crawl
into fetal position. because
things didn't turn out, right,
and things are not always going
to turn out, right. So you
really need that person in your
life, that mentor in your life
or mentors that are constantly
helping you balance that out
that are saying, Hey, I remember
that, I went through that, and I
survived that. And you can, too.
I mean, I still struggle, I
don't know that I'm ever going
to feel like I'm here. You know,
I don't know that anyone ever
feels that way. I love my
clients. I love what I do. But
it still requires a lot of you,
you are basically a sounding
board for every client that ever
sits in your chair. If you're a
salon owner or an independent
stylist, then you are basically
a sounding board for everyone
that works for you or with you.
You carry people's energy around
with you. And it's heavy, you
know, when it can feel very
overwhelming at times. For me,
the key is taking care of
myself, it's making sure that I
find the balance, it's making
sure that I spend time outside
with the sun on my face, walking
my dog. It's singing and
dancing. For me, there are a lot
of things that I do that help me
balance out the energy that I
carry around from other people
and you know, making room for my
own energy. My energy is super
important. That's also what they
come for. You know, they come
for what I have to give back to
the situation. Have fun. You
know, fun is one of those things
that are easily you know, nixed
out of the lifestyle out of the
schedule. Yeah, I was definitely
gonna have some fun today. But
instead, I'm going to work hard.
I'm going to get this last thing
on the list checked off. But at
the end of the day, it really is
all about balance. It's one of
the main ways you can get out of
your way is not to give all of
your energy to one thing. Make
sure you spread it around and
make sure that you save some for
yourself.
Morgan Franklin: Thank you for
joining us on this episode of
The Aspiring Stylist Podcast
with Tracey Franklin. If you
enjoyed listening and you want
to hear more, make sure you
subscribe on Apple Podcast,
Spotify or wherever you find
your podcasts. The Aspiring
Stylist Podcast with Tracey
Franklin is a Morgan Franklin
Production. Today's episode was
written and produced by Morgan
Franklin editing and post
production by Mike Franklin.
Want to find out more about
Tracey and the Aspiring Barber
and Beauty Academy go to
aspirebarberandbeauty.com
