Show Up Uncut
Welcome to "Show Up Uncut," a podcast where two fierce ladies bring you unfiltered conversations on business, health, fitness, and mindset.
Join us for an unapologetic exploration of the highs, lows, and everything in between as we share raw, real-life stories from the trenches of SHOWING UP. From crushing goals in business to smashing personal best at the gym, we're here to inspire and empower you to show up fully in every aspect of your life. Get ready for straight talk, bold insights, and unwavering authenticity as we dive deep into what it takes to succeed in business and beyond. Tune in and get ready to elevate your game with "Show Up Uncut"!
Show Up Uncut
Sonia’s Expert Strategies for Success
What if you could revolutionize your salon's retail sales with just a change in mindset? This episode features Sonia from the Salon Doctor Correct, who comes with 37 years of experience in the hairdressing industry. Sonia shares her incredible journey from owning her own salons to excelling in corporate and pharmaceutical sales, leading her to the creation of the Salon Doctor. With a wealth of knowledge under her belt, Sonia reveals how recommending products rather than selling them can drastically uplift your salon's retail performance. She also shares practical tips on using high-quality hair products and the importance of educating salon staff to see immediate revenue boosts, enhancing both client satisfaction and business growth.
Wondering how to communicate effectively with your clients and recommend the right products without overwhelming them? Sonia guides us through identifying client needs and offering tailored solutions, starting with essentials like shampoo and conditioner. We discuss the power of client cards for tracking recommendations and ensuring consistent follow-ups, which build confidence in retailing and understanding client psychology. Addressing common objections and breaking down costs, Sonia shows us how to underline the value of professional products over supermarket brands, making the process of closing sales much smoother.
Beyond sales strategies, we also explore the importance of networking and building trust within the salon industry. Sonia recounts her experiences in fostering strong relationships with salon owners, understanding their needs, and providing effective stock control and product recommendations. She shares personal growth routines like journaling and meditation, emphasizing the significance of overcoming self-doubt and embracing self-confidence. This episode is a treasure trove of advice on elevating retail sales, empowering women in business, and creating a supportive community. Join us and glean from Sonia's extensive experience and practical wisdom.
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Welcome back to Show Up Uncut with Em and Jess.
Speaker 2:Welcome guys. It's been a while and we've got the amazing Sonia from the Salon Doctor Correct, who's been in the industry the hairdressing industry for 37 years now. So, sonia, can you talk a little bit about what you do, how long you've been in the industry, obviously with exactly what you've been doing, and just a little bit about what you do, how long you've been in the industry, obviously with exactly what you've been doing, and just a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry guys. I've been really sick, so this might be interesting.
Speaker 3:Okay, no. Thank you so much, first of all, for inviting me to your show up. I love it Absolutely and, jess, you're an absolute.
Speaker 2:Bring your microphone close to you. Yeah, this is. We're a bit rusty, guys. We haven't been here for a while. It's been what? Nearly eight weeks, and this is Sonia's first time on a podcast.
Speaker 3:No, it's not my first time but with you guys it is yeah, sorry, okay, keep going, sorry, okay, keep going, that's okay. Uh, so 37 years in in total, um, I did my apprenticeship and then had my own salon. I actually owned two salons and then when I had my first salon, I'd end up, um, having to sell that salon and then I went to corporate sales. So I did corporate sales for 10 years, which was great, and then after that really loved it, but I wanted to. I got actually poached by one of the industries in our hairdressing to actually do sales in salons. So then I ended up 15 years doing being a business development manager and a sales rep in our hairdressing industry. So over those 15 years I really felt that I was working a lot with my clients on how to grow their business. So when I'd go in there I'd actually start asking them about tell me a little bit about your retail, tell me about you know, because a lot of salons don't like retail, don't want to sell, don't like having stock on their shelves.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because they feel like it's like pushy, like I've been like in that state before where, you know, I've kind of like felt like like you know you don't want to feel like you're just pushing things on to people, but like, yeah, I've come very far now where it's like, you see, I see it as a service as a whole, like why would you be using, why would you be paying this much to have your hair done and then not? Yeah, exactly, not sell retail. Yeah, not sell retail, yeah.
Speaker 3:It's a maintenance, I kind of talk about.
Speaker 3:They're in the salon for maybe two, three hours but, what do they do with their hair six weeks at home? Right, so we forget about that part of the service. Yeah, so I actually started educating my clients on how to pay their retail bill. Right, because a lot of times their retail bill is paid out of their hair. Right, because they don't sell it in time. They buy stock. It sits on the shelf. So then they don't want more stock. So when us reps go in, it's like we don't want to spend more money. So then I started really unpacking that for my clients and saying well, tell me, how many staff do you have? You know who sells, who's not recommending? Do you incorporate that in a consultation? What does that look like? So I actually built up my clientele and was very successful in my sales because I actually built my salons up so they were selling really well. So that kind of organically built my business on the back end yeah and really loved that.
Speaker 3:And then I felt like I was coaching a lot and so then I decided to put my hat up with sales for the company I was working for, I. I did go into pharmaceutical sales a little bit, but then I really felt I had a lot of salons still ringing me saying can you please help me? So then I developed the salon doctor and I developed a six-module course on how to actually educate salons and I really felt that staff, like a lot of salon owners, will go and do you know, they'll get a coach, but then they have to implement that into their teams and they're very time poor because a lot of the time salon owners are the business.
Speaker 3:So I thought I'd cut to the chase and I'd actually educate staff and build their confidence up and find out why aren't they selling. They hate the word sell so I would actually unpack. Well, what does that look like for you? What don't you like about recommending? It's not selling, it's recommending, you know. And so it's been really successful, had a lot of salons get their revenue up within the first two weeks.
Speaker 2:Even sometimes I've done a course in the morning and they've done $600 worth of retail sales in the afternoon yeah, well and they're lucky if they've even done like 200 that week because then it becomes more like, especially, as you said, when you're not using the word sell. It becomes more organic. You actually, and if you recommend, like and you really enjoy that product or like that product, it's going to come across like. You know, when, when I started with Em, started with Em when she started doing my hair, I used to use and I was telling you about it I used to go to Coles and just get whatever, whatever was on special, and as soon as I started to actually invest in my hair and then she's like you need to use what's the brand you know, yeah, and my hair, like.
Speaker 1:I always get compliments on my hair like all the time and it's so Because, like you're one of those people that, like you know when, like people use the supermarket like shampoo and they just think we're talking shit, and then they it's very outgoing. We convert you and you're like this is the best ever, like it's like, literally, you're a walking advertisement, right? Yeah, yeah, literally yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I feel like, if you're yeah when coming to like a sales perspective, like if you are actually passionate, like with coaching, for me, I don't go into consults course looking at it as I'm trying to sell them my business or my service. It's because I'm so passionate about them, I know that I've got a solution for them and I'm going to be able to help them get to their goals. And that same with, like you know, with with sales, you know that they're gonna, when you educate them, they, they know that they're gonna be able to get to their hair cold goals like I struggle sometimes with my staff is how to teach them how to do that.
Speaker 1:Because, like I feel like for me it just is so natural, like I can naturally just sort of recommend things to people, like without it seeming like you know what I mean. Like I'll just be, like I'll be feeling with the Like I'll just be like I'll be feeling with the hair and I'll just be like what do you use at home? And like I think I become. I'm a very approachable person, I think at the salon as well, like a lot of my clients do become like my really good friends, but they do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have your family right. I do it super organically for myself. But then I struggle to sort of like you can't really teach that, like, well, you can't, you can't. Yeah, that's exactly right why, you're here but, like for me personally, I like struggle to sort of like coach your staff.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, to like how to, and sometimes they don't. They when, when a staff, when a, when an owner teaches their staff, it comes across that you want them to sell, so you make more money yeah, that's their perception.
Speaker 3:So when they actually understand it, coming from my perspective, is that it's part of your job, and one of the key things you just said, jess, was Em will actually say this is what you need and that is the key. A lot of staff will say, oh, I think you should use this, or I think this product would be good.
Speaker 3:Well, do you know it's going to be good or is it going to be good, but that's exactly right. Right, when you speak from a place of confidence, you know what you're talking about and it's non-negotiable.
Speaker 2:Your client just goes. Okay, it's not even a question do you need it?
Speaker 3:It's not even a question of do you want to buy it. It's like this is the problems you're having, this is what you want to buy it. It's like this is the problems you're having, this is what you need to fix it. Now it's up to you whether you're going to want to fix it or not. Yeah, yeah, for sure, that's as simple as that. Yeah, it's not a push. I'm just telling you yeah, you've just told me your hair's this, this and this. Yeah, I'm giving you a solution to fix it do you agree with?
Speaker 1:not like overwhelming them as well, like you don't want to overwhelm them with like. Like, say, for example, if someone only uses supermarket shampoos and they're like oh, these are my issues, I'll be like okay, let's start with the shampoo and conditioner first, rather than recommending like six products. You know what I mean? Because I would prefer someone to start using a good shampoo and conditioner before they go and use a freaking curl cream or something. Because it's like if you're using Tresemme, your hair's going to be shit anyway. The curl cream's not really going to do too much I always use a philosophy of skincare so with skincare.
Speaker 3:You use your cleanser, your toner and your moisturizer. It's non-negotiable, that's what you use. And then you go to sephora and then they recommend this cream and they use a pour this, and then they use a vitamin c and then they it's the same thing, right? So what are the issues and your basic fundamentals is shampoo and conditioner? Yeah, that's where I, that's how I tell my client, that's your basic. Yeah, entry point yeah, right, but then if you want to actually fix anything else, okay, well, how many treatments are you having?
Speaker 3:I use client cards. You know people don't use weird. I unpack everything, right, when I do my training, I literally unpack absolutely everything. So I talk about even record cards. What do you write? If you're writing 6 and20V, I'm telling you in 45 minutes. I've been in the industry 37 years. 45 minutes has not changed in the whole time I've worked in the industry. So you don't need to write 45 minutes. But are you talking about what you're writing down about their haircut? What do you write about what you recommended? Did they buy the retail? When they come back in, you know two months' time, and you come back in, you know two months time, and you say to them how much do you have left? Well, they don't know how much they've got left.
Speaker 2:They just know they haven't run out. I know I always get to the point where I'm like right.
Speaker 3:So if you know they bought it two months ago, let them know. Jess, I know, from this service to your next, you're going to run out, you're going to need to top up. Okay, no worries. Rather than relying on them running out, they go online and they buy it. Yeah, right. So why aren't we having these conversations and using a client card? So there's so much I unpack and I also talk about confidence, because a lot of them don't have the confidence, because they don't know what to ask. So then I give them a cheat sheet. What questions are you asking? And I'm not talking generic questions Like we know how to you know qualify a colour? You know what's their root colour? What colour are we putting on? How much are you overtone Things like that? I'm not talking about those questions.
Speaker 3:I'm actually talking about retail questions and then closing the sale, because we and then closing the sale because we're really good at educating our clients and then they go away and they go to Hair House Warehouse or they go to Price Hack and then they buy the retail right. So we're really good at educating, but we're not good at asking for the sale right. So I do like I said, I do cover and even know, like a lot of staff, don't like the word no. Well, what does no mean? Does it mean that we haven't really qualified? Does don't like the word no? Well, what does no mean? Does it mean that we haven't really qualified? Does it mean that we're not coming across confident enough? Are we as our psychologically, we're talking ourselves out of the sale? Oh, it's expensive, I don't think I can afford it. So I don't want to ask for the extra 80 dollars. There's so much that I unpack body language.
Speaker 1:So yeah yeah I do that I'm a was like I like, as I said before, about like just recommending the shampoo and the conditioner because I don't want to overwhelm them. You know what I mean. Like I'm like I can be bad for that. I can make up excuses like oh, like you know, they're already paying like nearly $500 for their service, but how are they going to maintain it? Yeah, I know, but just listening to you say that I am a veteran in the industry.
Speaker 3:So back in the day we had Pert, we had 2-in-1s and it was cheap to buy. But now you go to the supermarket, I'm telling you they're buying shampoo every fortnight. If you ask your client how often you're buying it every time I go grocery shopping, okay, and it's costing them $20, if you actually work out how long our last and how long theirs last, I'm telling you they're spending more on rubbish than if they actually were to invest in good product. So when you actually break it down and actually give them numbers too, it's like oh yeah, I'm actually saving money and I'm actually, you know, keeping the integrity of my hair, keeping integrity of my toner, keeping integrity of my condition. So yeah, I unpack that with staff as well. Like, what does that look like? Going into, you know, kpis and targets? I go into that as well. You know they don't like doing targets, but everyone loves making money.
Speaker 3:So, that kind of doesn't make sense to me either. So then, because I'm a sales background, I actually help them unpack what that looks like per week, what that breaks down to a daily figure. How do we achieve that? I've got staff now making $700 to $1,200 a week in retail and I've had DMs going. Oh my God, I closed my target in three days and I'm making extra money every month. Happy days. Right, yeah, that's everyone's dream.
Speaker 2:Yeah, make more moolah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I have obviously KPIs for the girls to hit and then they make a mission off that.
Speaker 3:So it's like and are they making we?
Speaker 1:need to have a conversation.
Speaker 3:So are they making targets?
Speaker 1:Like sometimes, but not often, yeah, and they're not unachievable. Like for how much the salon cost me to run like. It's literally what we have to be. I have to be making. Yeah, because it's not freaking cheap.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%, but it's easy to make it when they understand it and they see it, yeah, and they're motivated, like they're not lazy staff either, they're motivated. So, like that's not the issue, so little tweaks honestly, yeah, even just doing, yeah, the course, just doing the course. Honestly, it is a game changer. Yeah, it really really is. Um, I've seen it time and time and time again.
Speaker 1:I feel like, too, with hair like you can become a little bit like like because you know you have people come in, they're like they become your friends and you become a bit like lazy, like people become a bit lazy because it's like you know you're coming in and like you're having a chat and like to be fair with you. Like most of my client base are my made up from my friends and my family, so, like you know, it's kind of trying to like yeah, so I actually talk about that.
Speaker 1:I put it on the yeah, like the work hat and just taking off the friend's hat for a whole bit and do that in the beginning right.
Speaker 3:So when they come in, they'll go in and the first thing we talk about is oh my god, how's your? How are you guys getting married in all the countdowns on rather than going into that? Or they come in and they're really excited to say jess, I can't wait for you to tell me all about it, but let's just get this consultation done and then we can talk about the wedding for the rest of the conversation and they go okay. So then really strip that back and go right, let's talk hair. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Then you've got the whole time to talk about whatever you want to talk about. Right, we're doing the same colour? Yes. Are we doing colour balance? Yes, have you been using shampoo and conditioner? Yes, no, da da da. We did a treatment two months ago. We know that's not in your top, that up. Are you happy for that? We asked to do the treatment again. This like this appointment, yes, great. So now I've just covered all of it your retail, your treatment, your color balance, your color, your cut. Then you know what. I don't have to worry about that while the blow dry is going. I don't have to worry about that when I've got to do another color while your color's on. Yeah, get it done straight away, like plan your. I talk about planning. You know we're on computers now so we don't pull off client cards anymore. As I said, the dinosaur in the industry used to have client cards.
Speaker 1:I was there when I started my apprenticeship. Open the foil red filing cabinet. Apprentices have it so easy these days, but you know what Get them to print it off.
Speaker 3:Get them to print it off and plan their day. You've got five clients for the day. Spend 10 minutes. I had a rule that even if I my clients would turn up at the door early, because they always do so, your nine o'clock's always there. At 10 to 9, I'd say, great, come in, take a seat. I'll be 10 minutes. I start at 9, but I'd always print off my cards and I'd quickly do a scan over and I knew what I was going to talk about, with who, about what. Yeah, I didn't have to think about it on the hock when that client came in of what I was going to talk about.
Speaker 3:I knew yeah you know, write down what are they having. And another thing you went on holidays, is that right?
Speaker 1:I did okay who looked after your clients um? My manager Amy some of them though a lot of them did want to wait the full six weeks. So I'm very busy now.
Speaker 3:I want to go back to work, right, that's fine, so yeah so the good thing is, if you actually write everything down on a client card, if you happen to be sick, then how good is that that? Let's say, jess is your client and you're sick and I've got to look after Jess, I can actually actually pick up that card and go Jess, now I know Em has done this, this and this. I know you're using this, this and this and I know this is where you're up to. You're going to go. Oh great, I don't need to be worried about the sun you do on my hair. She knows everything. But how many times have we not put that on a card? I'm actually going in and doing a work trial. Yeah, so the staff think I'm actually going to be employed.
Speaker 1:Oh, my god, I love it right, so they don't.
Speaker 2:It says Amy and Ava don't listen to this.
Speaker 3:So I'll go in and see how the staff treat me. Yeah, because sometimes you don't know how the staff treats a new employee, whether they show me around the salon, whether they show me where the towels things are, and I'll go in and do a client and they'll see how I work, and then I get to see how they work, how things happen in the background, because things are very different sometimes. Oh my God, this would be so interesting.
Speaker 2:We're just going to have to push this episode back. Wait until she's gone.
Speaker 3:So I went into a salon and they gave me a client to do and I actually asked the receptionist oh, can you print off this client card? So it was a regular client and they go, we don't have one. Now, this is a regular client that didn't have a client card and I had to do a full consultation again and I felt bad for the client because she says to me oh, I'm happy with the last colour, I'll just have the same. Now, if you know, hair, no colour is going to be the same six weeks later. No color, there's going to be slight fading. Yeah, because she was a red color, right. So I had to then decipher.
Speaker 3:So I had to the result that she actually really wanted when I wanted and I'm like so when I had to do it, so I give a report to the salon owner of what that you know two hours look like, and I had no client card. Like that is a fundamental in a salon. But this happens like, trust me, I've seen it all. Like, when I'm on my, my, my lives and my stories, um, on Instagram, I'm telling you when I've, when I talk about stuff that I've seen, trust me, there's something I've seen it all in 15 years of selling right, um, so, yeah, I really unpack that yeah, what was your biggest challenge?
Speaker 2:like when you started, because you had two salons, um, and obviously you've been in the industry for so long as a business owner. What was one of the biggest challenges that you faced throughout your time? The whole time, or just as a salon owner or within owning a business, like as a business owner, I guess, just in general, yeah yeah, I guess I'm come from old school training.
Speaker 3:so when you went through the ranks in the salon, you, you were trained every part of the way, right. So you weren't put on the floor until you could actually physically go on the floor. You weren't trained to be a manager unless you could physically do that step. So we had my training was very strict and we had a consultation coach every week for 12 months. It was called Client Communication Services. His name was Bruce Cordoval. I actually caught up with the lady and she said I think he's still around and he used to come every week and we used to do Client Communication Services. We used to do our consultations and recommend retail on that inception.
Speaker 3:So for me it's not unusual to talk about retail on that first initial consultation and unpack. Well, why did you come? Why did you pick our salon? Like I'll ask these real questions that it's not just hair related, yeah, um. So when I actually did open my salon, I felt like I already had the tools, um, and you kind of really find out really quickly who's in for the long game and who's not. So some staff would really step up and some, who you know weren't, were challenged. Then I was always really good at saying okay, well, talk to me, what does that look like for you? Tell me what you're struggling with, so really keeping that open communication. So I had six staff and a receptionist and we pumped it and I didn't sell the salon because I wanted to sell. I got divorced. So I probably would have still had the salon, to be honest, because it was amazing. I loved it. If I didn't get divorced, that was kind of collateral damage from that, but did you work in it as well, or did you yeah?
Speaker 1:did you work full-time in it or did you yeah?
Speaker 3:I did four days a week when I had my second salon yeah so it took me a long time to open up again.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I opened up in an area and I had no clients like not one and I closed my books in six months and I only worked four days a week and I didn't do sad days and I didn't do Thursday nights. Well, so it's referral. So I talk about even with staff. Like you know, it's your responsibility to build up your clientele it's not the owners and to market it, to advertise it to you know, instagram it. You should be getting clients that say, oh my god, I love emma doing my hair. They go home, they tell everyone about it, so they're going. You know what? I'm not happy with my hairdresser. I'm gonna go see em. That's how you build your clientele. It's not about you advertising and bringing new clients to the door. That's a bonus, right, but what are you doing for your own clientele?
Speaker 1:yeah, and like find too, like a lot of the time being that salon owner when people come, like I don't know what it is about it, but they want to see you, and like I've just put in like a thing now, cause I've only just recently taken I used to work five days, you used to work 40 hours a week plus then run the business, so I've only just stepped back down to four and then I do Wednesdays as my admin day, which has been like, oh my God, life-saving Yep, but yeah, so like I've only just started to do that, so I don't know where I was going with this. I've just completely lost my train of thought.
Speaker 3:You're talking about how you stepped back in the salon and people want to do their hair. Yeah, and I've only just sorry.
Speaker 1:I've only just sorry, I've only just. I was like, oh, I'm very good listening, yeah, well, um, yeah, so I've done that, but I've also actually put an out online booking that I'm actually no longer taking new clients because I just don't have the capacity because, yeah, I've been now doing this for like nearly seven.
Speaker 1:I've been hairdressing for 12 years but like having my business for nearly seven. So like I'm like now at the point where, like I would prefer to be doing my regular clients, who have been loyal to me for seven years, than taking on these new people, when I've got staff who can take on new clients yeah, but you can, even if you wanted to.
Speaker 3:You could, even if a client rang and said, look, I really want you to do it, you could actually do the consultation with the stylist and say, look, that's a really good idea. You know what I mean. So you do the introduction, say, look, I would love to do your hair. But you know what? Jess is here and I have my full faith in Jess and we're going to do a consultation together, but I'm going to leave you in good hands with her. And then they feel like they're supported, yeah, and they don't feel like they're missing out, yeah, so they actually get to touch you, yeah, that little bit.
Speaker 3:But also palmed off, yeah, so but then you kind of do like a bit of a handover, even without doing the hair.
Speaker 1:We kind of do that already, though, don't we? Like? We're a very close-knit team, which is really cool, like everyone sort of jumps in on. Yeah.
Speaker 3:What.
Speaker 1:I love too, is that as soon as someone walks through the door, every single one of us is like hello, like we greet every single one of us.
Speaker 3:I talk about that to the first 10 minutes. Yeah, 10 by 10. So the first 10 minutes of that client will determine whether they come back or not.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and like that's one of the biggest things of feedback that I get which I love is that people just say that like they love coming to us, because like it's just the best vibe and like everyone feels like they're coming to see a friend, absolutely.
Speaker 3:It's so important.
Speaker 1:It is, and it's such an industry where it's like two people aren't getting along. Oh my, yeah, like you can we're working on people, with people, so you can just feel the vibe. Oh god, how many times have you been into a salon that's like I've seen it all? Yeah, honestly, I've seen it all worse. I've worked in, yeah, someone and yeah, the drama I was just like this is so awful you've got to remember.
Speaker 3:One thing I talk about is you've got to remember when a new client comes into your business. They've got to trust you before you do their hair. Yeah, so think about how daunting that is. Yeah, it's like going to the doctor and going to get surgery, okay, and not having a consultation yeah, you have to trust them, but that, but that's what they do. They have to. I say to, I say to staff you think about it from a client perspective. They have to trust you before you've done anything right.
Speaker 3:So you really need to make sure that you're covering every single base, you're asking every single question and you're really, really qualifying the expectation. Because if the client knows the expectation and you know what you can deliver, I mean, someone comes in with really thick you know you've got really fine hair, and they come in with a phone and they go I want this, and it's really thick. Well, some pages will go oh yeah, we can do that, and you go no, you can't. No day of the week are you going to be able to achieve that. But you know what? Let's unpack it. What I can do for you is this, this and this. I can get close to this all getting the expectation right and getting client to understand what you really can achieve. Then they're sold yeah, but don't sell them a dream. And then you're going to get a bad google review because no they've promised an underdeveloped.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'd rather over promise a hundred percent you know, you do that too, like when people are going from, like you know, light, um, from darker to lighter, and you're just, like I always downplayed, I'm like prob's not going to get there, I'll show them on the color chart, where we'll probably get to. It's usually like a much darker too, because then, like I get it that little bit lighter and they're like oh, I love it, like it's so much lighter than I was expecting. And then you're like yes, you know, when I do foils, yeah.
Speaker 1:I'll get your blonde from black. They're going to be like why is my hair not blonde? Why is it still like a level four?
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100%.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:When I do foils I hardly ever tone Wow, hardly ever tone because I lift properly. Yeah, I lift slowly, I live properly. You know I've got, I still have girlfriends. I think one was on one of my lives with me and she's rang me up, you know, because we're still close friends. But she's like I know where we still talk, but you need to do my hair again. I don't care, even though it's no buts.
Speaker 3:You know she's had an absolute disaster but I foil her hair. The salon's doing her hair couldn't get it light enough, always got it brassy. I do her foils but I said to her non-negotiables, you have to, we have to do hair every six weeks. I don't want any banding, I don't want it too far away from the roots and I can lift that and no toner. And she's like aren't we doing? A toner doesn't need tone. If you lift it up to the right level, you don't need to tone. Maybe, maybe you might need a purple shampoo, if that at best you know. But yeah, I think um, definitely really qualifying the client, what you're able to achieve and be honest. You know we don't sometimes we don't want to be, we're too scared, and I find that with staff, the confidence in you know what they can achieve. Confidence in retail. You know we don't can achieve confidence in retail. You know we don't need to know all the ingredients, but think of three main things that you can remember. What does it do? Yeah, right, so yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:There you go. I don't really know much about hair, but I'm learning a lot.
Speaker 2:I do have a question what strategy has been the most effective in growing your business? So over the last couple of years, obviously you've got the salon doctor. Now you're doing your courses and you're also travelling around New South Wales to salons to teach. For somebody that is and this is like a generic question because we've got many different, you know people in business, so not just based around, I guess, hair. But what was your best strategy in growing your business and getting clientele?
Speaker 3:I think networking, yeah, it's been a big love, it, don't we?
Speaker 1:We love networking. Yeah, that was so gay.
Speaker 2:I was like is she really going to do? She'll be hesitant, be to europe and think she's too cool, that's too funny. Yeah, networking definitely working.
Speaker 3:I think networking and I think, look, I know a lot of salons and a lot of them, and you know what a lot of them. I'm not, I guess, pulling my own chain here, but a lot of them really missed me because I could go into a salon and I knew their stock control. I knew what they ordered. They trusted me. They always were keen to see A, what I wore, b, you know, I'd always go in just so excited I'd go. Oh, you know, I'd always go in just so excited I'd go. Oh, my God, we've got this product. And they knew if I recommended something, they knew it was going to sell, it was going to be good for their business. I would never talk about anything that wasn't. The company I worked for had over 9,000 SKUs, okay, and I always knew what I was going to go into the salon with and I always talked about two or three that were staple. If I needed to talk about something else, then I'd go into something else, but I always had a focus and I'd say, right, em, you know, talk to me about what colour you're using. Where are the gaps? Okay, because not every brand is going to fill every need, right, so where are the gaps in your business? Talk to me and then I could actually find something that fit in with your business that we had because we had so many SKUs, right?
Speaker 3:Do you sell electricals? A lot of sellers don't like electricals because they think it's a lot of money sitting on the shelf. But I don't know about you, em, but I wouldn't use anything but a Parlox. Okay, but I wouldn't use anything but a Parallax. Okay, I want my clients to use Parallax. I used to sell Parallax, like going out, you know, going out the door. You sell Silver Bullet.
Speaker 1:So we only use Parallax too. But I have a Dyson, but yeah so I sell Cloud9 hair straighteners, because that's what we use in the salon. Yeah, right, right.
Speaker 3:So your clients want to use. So I actually unpack all of this and go right, this is how you're going to recommend it. So it was never. I never had to do a hard sell. I just actually asked you tell me where the gaps are in your business. Where do you want to grow and where do we want to increase revenue?
Speaker 1:It's funny that you say that, that you ask because, like for me personally, sometimes I get so like I get so up in my head and, like you know, like I get so up in my head and like you know it could be my adhd. But I'm literally just always like, sometimes I can't think, like I'm like what, like I can't mentally think like what is it that I need? Sometimes you just need a person to be like tell me help you unpack it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, your colors. Uh, how are you toning?
Speaker 2:yeah, I love you overwhelming, like yeah, and then I just like throw my hands up and I procrastinate because I'm like what I can say from Sonia, like you've always got a bit of a strategy in place like going in, yeah, you're going in with intention and there's you know, you're not just going in to see how the salon's going and or see, yeah, like obviously that you will, but yeah, it's a part of it, and you're also.
Speaker 2:You're a really bubbly person, you're a very powerful woman, so when you do go in, it's like part of it, and you're also a really bubbly person, you're a very powerful woman. So when you do go in, it's like you've got. You know you're trying to achieve X, y and Z, but then you're also, you know, there to connect.
Speaker 3:Look, my business will organically grow. Yeah, yours grows, that's right, right. So if I can help you make more money, make your staff confident, help you make more money, make your staff confident, help you with a direction, then you're going to then network and go. Oh my God, sonia helped me do this, this and this. You need to talk to her, right?
Speaker 2:It's like impact, it's impact, right, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3:I've had. When I was at I worked for L'Oreal and I had a salesman in Braidwater. He talked about her a lot and her name was Cara and she had a big colour account, right, she'd order $2,000 to $3,000 worth of colour with me every month, right, but she had no retail. And I sat down with her one day so I'm going back 15 years ago, okay, and I said to her Cara, you're the only salon in Braidwood, please tell me your clients. I said I'm going to ask you something. Do your clients come back to you every six weeks with faded care? She goes yes, she looked at me with these eyes. She's like how do you know? Like I was a miracle, like I had this, you know psychic. And I said you don't sell shampoo and conditioner, you don't buy any retail from me. Why? And I actually said to her broke it down. This is why they need it. You know that this is why they should do blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 3:She went from having, I'm telling you, she had one shampoo and an odd conditioner on her shelf. It gave me anxiety walking in. I shampoo and an odd condition on her shelf. It gave me anxiety walking in. I was like please just get rid of it, rather have nothing than just have these two odd bottles on the shelf. Right, she went from having two bottles to two full retail shelves an extra 50K in her business. Now she wasn't doing GST at that point. She sent a letter of commendation to L'Oreal. She said I changed the trajectory of her business through retail. Wow, now this is 15 years ago. Yeah, she's like I would never not sell retail now like. She's just like I don't know how I did it without it. But it's about her clients and what they were doing and the results she could achieve by them using that.
Speaker 3:They're in tank water in the country Like their hair was never going to survive any day of the week without a good product.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like when you go to Bali.
Speaker 1:Every time people go to Bali I'm like, please don't put your head under the water. You come back and your blonde's all crusty and yellow and you're like, oh, no Green.
Speaker 3:You come back and your hair blonde's all crusty and yellow and you're like, oh no, green, worse, yeah so, so yeah, so did I answer your question?
Speaker 2:I think so yeah, that's, that's a yes, you did, you did. That's a normal thing.
Speaker 1:It's hard to generalize some things though, like you know how you're like, oh, like just a business yeah, networking, networking.
Speaker 3:And, as I said about you know, knowing that I can help, yeah, as I said, like impact, like making sure Organically grows from that.
Speaker 3:You know, I just feel like I can help so many like more, but yeah, it's just you know, I think growth sometimes does take a little bit of time and then all of a sudden you feel like you're doing this right and then all of a sudden it goes like this and I even noticed that when we had retail lines with the company I worked with before, is that I talk about a particular product and all of a sudden, over a couple of years, it went from kind of just trickling and then all of a sudden everyone knew about it, everyone wanted it. You know, kind of and I think that's very like our kind of businesses yeah, it goes through that gross period and then all of a sudden, bang, yeah there yeah, yeah, I love that with.
Speaker 2:I know that you're big on um mindset, your habits, so I want to touch on, before we wrap things up, just about your daily routines. And again, because you're such an inspiring woman and you're a very successful one, that is, we're here to empower.
Speaker 1:We're here to empower. I love it. I love how passionate you get, though, like you just get so, like you're so empowering and like I love it. I love how passionate you get, though, like you just get so, like you're so empowering and like.
Speaker 2:I love it. It's so cute. Well, my routine. Yeah, so your daily, your non-negotiable habits, your daily routine and, I guess, about what you might do. So you mentioned that you do yoga, so run us through like your day and you know how you keep a very positive mindset, yep.
Speaker 3:So I journal every day, non-negotiable for me. I do it at night and I do it in the morning.
Speaker 2:Yeah, see, it's like proof of the pudding. It's like everyone we talk to journals. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I do a gratitude, I do a check-in, I do with the best part of my day. I think there's five check-ins I do Just in your journal. Yeah, I've actually got an app now that gives me these five check-ins.
Speaker 2:What app is that?
Speaker 3:It's called Calm. Oh yeah, calm yeah, and they've actually continued. I actually looked at when I first started using it. I started using it three years ago when I started listening to Jay Shetty.
Speaker 2:Yeah, shout out Jay Shetty.
Speaker 3:He was a game changer for me. I did, yeah, he was a game changer. So I read his book three times, lived like a month. Oh yeah, I learned a lot from that. And then basically just instilling meditation Every morning. I'll listen to. So when I was repping I'd get in the car and my first appointment so normally I looked after Northern Beaches. So I my first appointment was always like half an hour to an hour away. I listened to an audio every day and that was a not and I still do self-development self.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so habit stacking. Hey, like you know, you're driving your car instead of listening. It was automatic. I didn't have to think about it, right?
Speaker 3:so I knew getting the car audio goes on, and then I get obsessed with ticking the boxes, right, I'm on a day that's missed, right? Well, how long can the street go for me, right? So, so, yeah, I journal, I meditate, I listen to calm, I listen to calm. Before I go to bed I do a little bit of do like exercise at home, do a bit of yoga at home Beautiful and then start my day, but I always have like I've got a book, that I have, that I continue with my tasks. So every day I have a list ready to go, so I don't need to think about what I need to do for that day and I find, if I've got that there, I love crossing it out. That's my OCD. I love that's the Virgo, the perfectionism. Oh my.
Speaker 3:God, I'm not going to go too. My soul sister is sitting right here, so I would actually. I love ticking off things and then at the end of the day, I feel like you know. One thing I've learned through this positive mindset is it's a win even if I don't tick it off. So have you heard of a box diary? No, no, okay. So you just put everything in, so even your meals, like you box everything in, right, so everything you do for the whole day, and then you do that with your tasks. So you just write all your tasks down, but if you don't finish it, it's actually still okay. So I know I still got stuff done and I still go. You know what I got, that, rather than being hard on yourself, rather than being hard on myself, and I go, you know what. It's good.
Speaker 3:I at least got things that I needed to tick off. So I've got my three priorities, and there's urgent and there's must do, so the must do gets first rather than the urgent yeah. Because Must do so the must do gets first rather than the urgent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because sometimes urgent can actually wait. Yeah, so yeah, I love that. What is your best piece of advice for our listeners that you'd like to share? So it could be anything. It could be a quote. It could be a quote. It could be business. It could be anything.
Speaker 3:The world is your oyster, okay, my advice is go in your own lane yeah okay, do you stay in your lane? Stay, you know and you know what. There's no limitations. The only limitations you have is what you put on yourself. Yeah, and we hit. We listen to a lot of the noise in the background. Turn the noise off and we can actually do anything we want to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, have you dealt with like a lot of imposter syndrome or anything like that, like personally, or because I feel like I deal with it like not on a daily basis, but like I'll have like sons around, like hell yeah, I'm this like amazing person and blah, blah, blah. And then I'll like hit walls and I'm like, hell yeah, I'm this like amazing person and blah, blah, blah. And then I'll like hit walls and I'm like, oh my God, what am I doing? Like even this morning, when I was like getting ready for the podcast, I'm like oh my God, Like you know what I mean, Like I let like this, like negative person.
Speaker 3:So we've talked about this, yeah.
Speaker 2:This is why every time I've spoken to Sonia, like I'm speaking to my mom yeah, the mom that I never had. Yeah, yeah, and she's like, yeah, and she does, like I think that's with the lives, like she was killing it with the lives with our new business coach. We're meant to be doing lives like she wants to do it every single day. I haven't even done one yet. I said to sonia can you please jump off? Yeah, and we, because we had a chat, we were on the phone and on, yeah, what we were talking like. Basically, you overthink things, you start to get in your own head, and then you know it stops you from actioning.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly. So for me, I have a lot of young, beautiful women that I guess I'm around and I feel like I am the veteran, like I am over 50 now okay, and I don't really care anymore. Yeah. I actually don't Like, I actually don't care.
Speaker 1:Like I can't wait to not care.
Speaker 2:But this is like, and when I spoke to Sonia, I don't care about people I don't care about, like I know that I have to.
Speaker 3:I am who.
Speaker 1:I am yeah, and you're just like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna make it happen for myself, yeah.
Speaker 3:I have learned the hard way. Right, I have not done things because I've listened to other people, I've made mistakes and I think I shouldn't have done this or I should have done this, and now it's like you know what I go with my gut, yeah, and I listen to myself and you're either on the bus or you're off the bus, that's it and my circle. They do say the people that are in your circle really count and you know what actually really do really count. All people in my circle now are leveling up right, and I get to speak to people like you and I said this to Jess, like I'm inspired by you guys, because I wasn't like this at your age.
Speaker 3:Right, I had three kids. I was, you know, I look back and I didn't give myself the credit. I look back and I go. I actually survived that. I actually I don't know how anyone would have left a marriage. My father had passed away three months later. I left my partner through DV and I had three kids, you know, under seven, and I had to find a place to live, had to find a new job. I lost my business. Like I had it tough and I look back now and I go. If anyone said to me this is what's going to happen, you need to step up, I'd go. Oh no, I can't do that. Yeah, but I did look back and I go. You know what?
Speaker 2:no one can keep me down, yeah, do you know what's really sad and I did say this to Sonia, like so many of us, young girls, younger girls will get to the point when we are 40, 50 and go fuck. I wish I was more confident. I wish I just did that thing. I wish I was more confident, I wish I just did that thing.
Speaker 1:I wish I didn't hold back or so you know, because I, like, had an epiphany when I was over at seeds and it was like a similar thing. I was just like I'm not going to, like I don't want to like get old and wish that I'd done these things, or like, oh, calm down on the old guys.
Speaker 2:no, I'm just joking, I didn't say that no, we're talking like 80.
Speaker 1:Jesus, I'm the old girl. I do speak to people that say like, oh, I wish I did this when I was young, or I wish I had done this or I wish I had started that business. And, like you know, when I was away, that's when I was kind of like I just like like, made that excuse up for myself for years that's been a limiting belief of mine and I went you believe what you say is what happens For me that was a massive one for me. So I was just like for me that was a massive like yeah, realisation for me to be like you know what everything's fine, like I don't want to live my life by these limiting beliefs anymore, these limiting beliefs anymore.
Speaker 3:Do you know what One thing I always say to my kids and to my close friends? I say you know what? It always works out. Yeah. It doesn't matter what situation you're in. So true, it always works out the way it's meant to be. Yeah, if you have rebuttal, it's because you're not letting the universe let you go that way. Yeah, if it doesn't feel right and you push back, you push back. You know what it does it stops you from progressing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, because you want something so bad and it's not happening. It's not meant for you, let it go. Yeah, because we, we try so hard to go down a certain path and then when it doesn't work you've held back six months, you've stopped yourself from progressing for six months because you just didn't let it flow. Yeah yeah it's not for you. I said my mantra always what's for you won't go past you. I say that, oof, I love it every day what's for you will not go past you.
Speaker 2:If it goes past you, it's not for you yeah, because I feel like we need to do a podcast on that there's like so many little things popping into my mind, because that is so true, that is so true and that's what you've got to resist, what's that other one like let it, let it flow or let it go, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I always if a comparison is the um, that's my favourite quote.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Is there anything else that you would like to share with everyone? No, I just really appreciate you guys having me on. Oh, I've loved it.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you. Expect a message from me.
Speaker 3:Look, I'm happy to work with you, for sure. I think it would be very exciting and that's what I love doing. I just love doing it. So, as I said, I love speaking to powerhouses like yourself. I know you guys don't will have that. You know sometimes you have that self-doubt, but honestly take it from. As I said, I know I don't like the word old or veteran or whatever, but like you guys are killing it and take the wins. Don't sit back and go. You know what I did it. I look back and one of my clients said to me she said you always reinvent yourself. That's what I love about you and I never thought of it that way. I went from having my business losing it all. I did. You know corporate sales and I killed it. I killed it. You know corporate sales and I killed it.
Speaker 3:I killed it, you know, and then open up another salon. Then I went into sales in the industry and then I'm now doing coaching. So I have reinvented myself and I've never stopped to think about that. Yeah, you know so.
Speaker 2:You're amazing.
Speaker 1:Keep going, girls, I agree, I think what we'll do, we'll pop your link for your Instagram and the course in the show notes. Yes, yeah, thank you, so that everyone like can have easy access to that. Yeah, check you out on socials.
Speaker 2:Thank you, so it's thesalondoctor on Instagram.
Speaker 3:And it's D-R, d-r, yeah, and it's D-R, d-r, yeah. So yeah, not D-O-C-T-O-R, it's D-R.
Speaker 2:Beautiful. Yeah, we'll pop it in the show notes and I'm sure Sonia's inbox is always open.
Speaker 3:I am really rusty, so anyone that is you know anybody that was super inspired by our podcast today um make sure you hit her up, thank you that sounds good, big love, thank you, thank you.