Welcome to this week's episode of Beauty Babble. Today we are answering a listener question. We've been looking forward to this one.  So I'm going to start us off. I'm going to  read out the question and we'll get into it.  Here's a question. What are good ways to find someone to share a suite with after graduation or starting out on your own?

And ideas and ideas.  So this is interesting cause I really see this as two very different things myself. Like if you're, if you're looking at. Sharing a suite, that's one way of talking about this or on your own. Some of it will kind of marry into the same thing. Like I think the first thing, no matter what you're looking at doing is what's available in the area that you're hoping to work from.

Like if you're in a small town or you're in a big city or whatever it may be. What is around you and what's available? How far do you need to commute? I think it's really important because that matters in your life. Are you five minutes away? Are you having to travel half an hour? Because I tell you, depending where you live, the, those, the weather months will change how happy you are driving to work every day.

Right? So think about those things.  I think it's a huge one. And is it the right place? It could be available, but it's not what you're looking for. So you're, you know, really looking at finding your fit, like you need to look at, is it good for you and is it good for them? And just really be honest about it.

Because as we know, everybody has their own ways, their own procedures, their own thoughts, their goals, their policies, the team itself. If they have other people there how do you fit within that? Are you sharing the room? With other staff that's there or other people like there's a lot of factors to take in place and I think I would start off with you know, a spreadsheet or paper and pen and start listing out the things you must have for you to feel good and successful.

And then think about all those things to like include your goals, like what are your goals? Are they aligning with your goals? Like a lot of people say, well, I want to start here. I'm just going to work from a place, but eventually I want to own my own.  Okay. What does that look like?  

Right. I think too, if we just, when you're finding your fit, just.

Realizing that you can share a room in a spa is different than sharing an independent studio space where you're you and another person are, you know, taking alternate days or however it will work. So there's like a couple of different ways that you can share space too and I think that, that's a big factor and things with that you have to factor is like, I think for me, I would always first consider cost, like how much is this going to cost me?

And then I would go into like,  how, what's their work style like? Is it going to align with my work style? What about their schedule? Like maybe they really only want to work days. Do I really want to get stuck working nights? And that kind of ties into your, the goals, right? Like it may be okay now, but how is it going to feel in a year?

So looking at it a little bit more long term I think those are just a few things to consider, right? Like, 

oh yeah, don't just look at the cost. The cost is 

for sure. It's a big one, but it's not the 

only thing. And then if you are sharing a room with someone else. Who's equipment?  Yeah. 

And what's the other spa culture like?

Is it going to align with you and the experience you want for your clients? Because that's also kind of bringing it back to that client experience. Mm hmm. 

Yeah. And when you look at places to go to, I mean, there's a lot of I, I'll share experience when I first finished school, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do.

So I went back home. Some of you might've heard already, I'm from originally from Dawson Creek, BC, small town. And I knew I could get. At the time they held my job at the pool as a lifeguard swim instructor. So I knew I could go back because I needed to make money. Right. So I thought, well, let me go back there and think about things. 

So I went back and I thought I'm going to freelance and do makeup for all the weddings that are going on because it was wedding season, right? So I did that and I went into the known hairstylist, like it was the hoity toity of the town. And I went in and I said, I passed my card and I said, Hey, I just want to let you know I'm going to be doing this.

I thought maybe we could partner up and work together. You do hair, I do makeup. If you're interested, let me know. Here's my card. I'd be happy to do a full Makeover on you. And you can tell me as I built my portfolio too, cause I needed to start building a portfolio.  And well, ironically, what happened was she goes, you do what?

And she was so excited. And she was, can I show you something? I said, sure. And she opened up this little room full of stuff. Like it was just jam packed of.  Stop. So much.  Would you want to work out of here? And I was like, what? What do you mean? Yeah, you could work from here. We'll clean it up. I'll get you.

What do you need to get started? And I was like,  wow. Okay.  That sounds interesting. I said, well, let's, let's set some time and talk about this. So. You know, you just don't know what will happen and how you want to pursue it. And that was coming from the smaller town version of things. Aesthetics wasn't big back then.

Like back then, gosh, I'm saying so old, but yeah, it wasn't the same thing 

then. Right now. And there's more options now, right? Like in the studio spaces are a lot more common now than they were even when I was. Working as an estate. 

Sure. I mean, a lot of hair salons will have a room in the back.  That's an option.

They're always looking for people because they know what works with their business.  Right. And then they, and then you're sharing the cost of the rent.  On that note, if that's the case.  Are there hours aligning with your hours? You know, sometimes they close, I don't know, early on a Tuesday night, but that's the only night you can operate.

How do you handle that? So really being open to those things. I mean, most of them are going to be, cause you're renting from them. They're going to allow you access. You're just going to have to correlate that with your clients.  And make sure they text you when they've arrived and that they wait in their car.

So you can go when you're ready to go and lock the door because you need to have it locked. You don't have anybody in the place, right? But you can still do your services around the times you want to do. So that's, that's one thing I would approach. I had someone asked me that not long ago, actually. And I said, well, no, you, how are you going to operate like that?

They changed their hours all of a sudden. And she's with clients. I said, well, you need to tell them this doesn't work for me.  I need the opportunity to go in there. And I mean, you are renting from them.  They should trust you.  Right. It's I mean, you're there to just do your business and pay your rent and build your clients. 

And these are 

all things to consider, right? Like, how it can get complicated 

a little bit. It can be, yeah, and just keep that communication open. You might end up in a place where, this happened to someone that we know in another city actually, and she was having a hard time with the owner But I think it's, you know, you have a veteran hairstylist in it for a long time and you're brand new in the industry six months in,  and you think, you know, everything, sorry guys, I get it.

You were trained and you do. And then you have someone like this, it's like, okay, we got another one wanting to start their own business. How long is this going to last? You have to understand how many people that person's probably been through. When they own their own place for 20 years, how many people have rented that room come and gone. 

And all of us come at it like we're all happy and excited and passionate, really want to do it. And then you discover it's like pound the pavement, man, give it all,  don't realize what it takes. I think that's part of the reason why you might get a little bit of,  you know, you might, you might feel it's a negative.

Attitude of someone, but it sounds to me more like a tired person. Yeah, 

I think so. I think, too, like that,  back to the question, like, you know, obviously we don't have, like, we're not, we didn't talk to the person who submitted the question, right? Yeah, to find out more what they meant. To find out more, but I think, like,  One scenario is, you know, maybe this person has already been working, has a clientele, is ready for the next step, and is considering, do I do this alone, or do I do this in, you know, in a suite with somebody, renting a shared space, right, and I think part of know, The yes, it's going to be a little challenging, but if you don't have a good client base, having a shared space is another opportunity to gain clients and to like that cross promotion where on your own, you really have to either, you know, do a lot of self promotion or go at it when you have a full client base, right?

You're fully booked, you can do this because the expense. Part of operating on your own is considerably more than  that shared space, even if you're doing it out of a room in your house. I, I started my own company, which is not aesthetics, and I did not, you know, all the little things that  You know, add up every month that you need to run a business.

And this is, you know, mine is a consulting business, so I don't have product costs, I don't have  room rental, you know, but it's still a lot of those additional costs that when you look at it, is that something you can afford at this time, or should you go into that shared space and know there's going to be some sacrifices because you have to work with people.

Yes. 

Right. Yes. I think too, like on that question, it does say something about after graduation. And I think you have to look at if you do, either way, you're starting out on your own, whether you're sharing the suite with someone or completely on your own, you're still running your own business. So I would recommend taking some, you know, how to start your own business course, all the things to consider behind it.

You know, I had a conversation with not someone not long ago.  You know, thinking that, what do you mean a license?  I have to have a license, an operating license? They go, yes. In any town, city you work out of, you need to have an operating license. You can't just open up.  For example, some start out of their home  and if the neighbors get wind of it, guess what?

They can file a complaint  to your council, to your city, and then they're going to discover you don't have a business license. And they'll shut you down. Now, what are you going to do? So understanding and knowing all those things, like there's insurance. There's so many things to look at. And again, you'll hear other people's experiences too, of, of, you know, learning the hard way, I guess you could say of not having it, maybe they had insurance, but it didn't quite cover what they realized should have been covered kind of like your home insurance.

You don't really know truly what's covered in a sense the details until something unfortunately happens. Yeah. And then you're like, Oh, well, I didn't know that. I thought it was covered. Yeah. So, you know, really diving in there's so much information to consider. And sometimes when you go into a place that's existing and you are renting a room, you could probably have these conversations with the owner. 

Right. They've probably been at this for a long time, shared knowledge  again, you know, hooking up with that experienced person. You know, I always say the mentorship, whenever you're starting out and continue on, who can you mentor with? And learn from, so no matter what that decision is after school, when you're graduated or you're carrying forward, you make the big plunge to start your own, right?

Who, who's your mentor? I think it's really great. Cause most people are going to give those resources as well. Typically, you might have to give something to them. I mean, a lot of people are going to mentor you, but  you know, they want to be paid because they're giving you a cost them money to learn what they did.

Like everything I have learned, it cost me money. And time to do it and to give every little thing that I have. Well, that's why I did consulting for many, many years. Right. So, yeah.  

I think for me, like.  If somebody is considering, you know, after graduation,  I feel like because of the way the industry is now where it's a lot easier to just do your own thing. 

Yeah. It's almost like shooting yourself in the foot.  Because you will gain so much more experience.  experience and learn things that you wouldn't have in school or on your own when you work in an environment with other aestheticians with, you know, in that spa setting. So I think like it should be  a prerequisite before you do your own thing to really just have that experience because it's going to make you a better service provider and it's going to make you a better At what you do, and you learn along the way.

I mean, you don't necessarily will learn just from asking the questions, but also from watching how things are being done. And you'll know what you won't like, you know what your clients don't like, or 

how you want to deal with that situation. Exactly. You it's like so many things, you know, what comes to mind, I would compare it to when you first moved out from home. 

You think you know,  but until you're on your own, you do not realize all the little details. Exactly. And all of those things, not negative. Don't worry. And some things you're probably only going to learn when you go on your own as well. Right. But that's okay. But at least have a good foundation before you do it.

I feel I have I'm still in contact with some of the staff I had and, and I remember remember years, years ago after I sold, right. Started on their own and you know, a year into it, one of them had reached out to me and I said, Oh my God,  first off. I'm so sorry how I behaved.  I laughed at, Oh my God, that's all under the bridge of good days and bad days.

Right. But the other was, I wish I would have paid more attention.  How in the hell did you do it? Suzanne, two little kids expansion of having, I don't even remember how many staff and contracts I had contractors I had at the time, but it was a lot. And. And then for that person to recognize it. And she was a sole provider.

Like she was on her own. She didn't even have staff. One person by herself. And she was just like, Oh my God.  Wow. 

There's so many other things that you have to do after you do your 

clients. Yeah, exactly. So it was good. I mean, still in contact with, with most of them, but yeah. And it was. Positive. And, you know, it's, it's quite cute.

Cause sometimes you ever went nice. I was kind of out of the beauty industry in a way just for how long was it for, do we count COVID as a time? I think everybody was out then. Yeah. Everybody's out. So really I was out only for a year out of the beauty industry as in not teaching it, not providing service.

I mean, I shouldn't say that I did do some people here and there, but anyways, and. They say, are you, you're back in the industry? Did you open again? I'll come work for you. Would you hire me again? I'm like, Oh my God, no, no, no, no. I did that one already. I'm not on a new journey in my world of this industry, but I'm here to help in a new way.

So they're excited. Those that are still in the industry. So, yeah. 

Yes. I think that that's also really valuable in the sense of having somebody to talk to. So even if you don't have that, like finding a Facebook group or. Right. Reaching out to your local. Supplier and see if they have, you know, somebody there that's had experience, whatever it may be, just having,  hearing other people's stories and what's worked and what hasn't is also really valuable.

Yes. If you don't get that, you know, firsthand experience yourself. Talk to 

your hairstylist. Don't, don't you all go to see your hairstylist?  They know lots of people. In the industry, talk to your friends, maybe their hair stylist. You know what I'm saying? Like I, I point that way, or do they get services done where they at?

And, you know, it's like, start asking questions and reach out to people before.  It's great if you have an idea of what you want to do, but pull yourself back a bit, make your plan again, see how it fits, where can you go, do your homework. I think a lot of people end up being  stressed and unsuccessful in this industry because they didn't do that due diligence and really learn and ask questions and 

see.

And you know, that makes me think.  Of you saying like, ask your hairstylist, I, okay, so when I started out, I had somebody come fix my doorbell, and he was like sending me sent me a confirmation on text message, and then when he was done, he sent me the invoice on text message, and I'm like, what are you using?

So I was like, I asked him what he was using, I'm like, how do you do your, and he showed me everything that he uses and does, and what platform he has, and I'm like, I didn't go with it because I'm not there yet, but it was like, You can even ask other service providers 

because absolutely. 

Yeah. I was picking his brain too.

I'm like, what do you, where's your website? How do you like this?  

Well, and then it becomes resources, right? To help. Like I even asked I had someone asked me some questions about, she didn't know where to start, where to begin. I said, Oh let me ask my hairstylist. Cause she does everything off of her tablet.

All these things. So, you know, I asked her, what, how did you do this? What did you, and what do you think for cost? Cause she rents a chair, right? So it's all her costs, everything product she brings in herself. Like, right. So, I mean, but it's really kind of cool. Cause they all work together. It's a lot of chair rental too, but it's such a unique, unique atmosphere when someone can visualize a team amongst owners.

Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty cool. Yeah. It's very rare. Very rare. But people need to, you know, she's an actually younger person and I am nothing against us older people.  I get it. But they have a different view.  They see things differently. And sometimes, you know, you got to learn from that. I learned that from the high school kids.

Yeah. I learned a lot from them.  A lot.  You know, so every time you say high school kids, I get a little scared.  Well, we've all been there. It's not that different from before. I can tell. No, that's because I was 

a high school kid and it was terrible. Oh,  

there's a daughter becomes like 

me. Jeez. 

Send help. 

All right. Well, I hope that we, you know, we, it was a lot that we could have. talked about. We weren't quite sure with the question. I'm hoping we got everything. If we didn't reach out to us because then we can do a part two on this one. No problem. We'd love to, or maybe 

more questions coming 

up. Oh yes.

Yep. Yep. We're going to dive into these one at a time. As you guys all know, we can definitely keep the topic going.  

Well, we will wrap it up for this week. Thanks so much for listening and we'll be back next week.