How They Crushed It

Alyssa Perna | Opening a Salon at 20, How to Market Your Business, & Sacrificing Everything

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In this episode, Alyssa Perna, an esthetician and skincare expert, shares her journey of building her business from scratch. She emphasizes the importance of passion, hunger, consistency, and authenticity in achieving success. Alyssa discusses her sales and marketing strategies, including the use of word of mouth and Instagram. She also talks about her plans for business expansion and the need for continuous learning and adaptation in the ever-changing beauty industry. Alyssa's story serves as an inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and stay focused on their craft.


Direct Mortgage Loans (00:

00.) I realized I just didn't want to work for anybody ever again. I learned everything on my own. Hunger can't be taught. Half of it was survival mode. If I wanted to compete against you, I can't do it by being you. I got to do it by being me. If you're in competition with somebody else, then you're not focused enough on your craft. These eyebrows could be viral. Your skin is your largest organ. Swimming, just can't swim. You're an entrepreneur. Of course you would want to do that. I feel like I've come to the right place. Welcome, everybody, to episode five of our How They Crushed It podcast. hosted by Direct Mortgage Loans, which is where I work. Today we've got Alyssa Perna. She's an, I can't say this word very well, she's an esthetician. See, I wanted to say an esthetician, but that means she gives anesthesia. That's not what she is. She's a skincare expert. And she's got a great business local in Baltimore. She's a young lady and she's crushing it. She built her business herself. Nobody really helped her. She started with a couple bucks in her pocket and just... marched forward and talks, she's gonna talk a bunch today about consistency and hunger and sacrifice and passion. I mean, it's really, really, really good stuff and we're pumped to have her. So without further ado, let's learn how she crushed it. Welcome everybody to episode five of the How They Crushed It podcast. I have an outside guest today, my friend Alyssa Perna from Artistry by Alyssa. I said it right, correct? Yes. Okay, episode five. Remember everybody. In our How They Crushed It podcast, we have four segments every time. We come with some rapid fire questions that Alyssa does not know ahead of time. We do not know. Some of which we ask Google to compare her answers with Google, some of which we come up with on our own. Secondly, we're going to hear from Alyssa her story. What led little Alyssa to eventually run this thriving business where she's crushing it? Third segment, we're going to talk about her sales and marketing story, things she's doing that's really working for her. And lastly, we're going to talk about...

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44.174) Topical. What are you doing right now? It's February everybody. I don't know when this will exactly air. Maybe it'll be March, but it's right now cold and dark outside and all the light on my face is artificial light because it's pretty miserable out there. Agreed? I agree. So. Without further ado, segment one, welcome Alyssa, I'm glad you're here. Thank you for having me. So everybody, I don't know Alyssa ahead of time, so all of this, and you're gonna get a kick out of this, Alyssa's business is not one that I've had the pleasure of attending to, although there's been some jokes before we started that I will be a customer soon. We'll get to that in a few minutes, do you agree? I agree. Okay, cool. But a couple of questions that we asked Google, my first one that I came up with and our producers off stage got a kick out of, Are you familiar with the scene from the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin with the hairy chest? No, but I'm assuming it has something to do with waxing. It does have something to do with waxing and I strongly recommend everybody listening to this or watching this podcast check out the scene. That's so funny. Well, I'm probably going to do that when I leave here. Steve Carell gets his chest waxed and it's funny. It's more than funny. You, in your line of work, need to check it out. I'm surprised I haven't seen it. I'm surprised as well. So next one, we asked Google this one and I don't know the answer. What order do I apply my skin care? Well, I guess it depends on what your condition is or what it is that you're trying to treat. Well, you're sitting there. What is my condition? I mean, I would have to touch you to see, but I mean, if it was, if it actually was an order, I would say cleanse, tone, exfoliate, moisturize, sunscreen. I don't do any. That is not my order. My wife is probably watching this. She tells me that. For a man, I would say cleanse, moisturize, sunscreen. Cleanse, moisturize, sunscreen. Three things. Three things. Easy peasy. Got it. What percentage of men have ever had a facial? If I could pick a percent, I would say 20.

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35.95) Well, I'm in the other 80, because I've never had the pleasure. Wait, 20 % I mean had a facial. Right, I'm in the other 80 who have never had. I see what you're saying. OK, right. OK. I'm thinking it's higher than 20. I bet you it's 23. 23%. 23%. OK, and then last one, Google couldn't answer this one. On chat, GPT couldn't either, but what about these brows here? How are they? They look great. They look like you just got them done. I got a haircut this morning, everybody. There you go. She saw a couple flyaways and clipped them up for me. So you are correct, my friend. I must have known that. Well, more importantly than the funny questions, tell us a little bit about your story. We talked about this before we started. What led little Alyssa, young Alyssa to this point in life of running a business? Walk us through it a little bit. I would say that to make it not too short but also sweet that when I was young, I was an only child so I never grew up with siblings, a big family. I played a lot of soccer when I was younger and I do feel like with me playing soccer I was very underestimated. but I always shocked people because I was small and they, you know. They can't tell that you're, what, are you five foot tall? I'm actually four, 10 and a half. Four, 10 and a half. Yeah, a half. I want that extra half. Okay, you got it. But I will say that when, you know, soccer kind of came to an end of my high school career, I actually wanted to go into forensics for college. And something, you know, I got into Stevenson, a school I've always wanted to get into, and something in me was just like, that's not gonna make you money. That's not gonna make you money, I don't know. And, I always had a thing for just, I always had a thing for just like brows and skin and I just decided to tour an ascetician school and I just knew that that was something I wanted to do but I didn't know where it was gonna take me. And how old were you at this point? I was 18. Okay. I was 18. So I dropped out of school like the day before I probably had to pay my first like semester tuition. I dropped out, went to Von Lee and Von Lee is actually closed now. It was a very high end school in Pikesville. went there and I still really didn't know what I wanted to do. And halfway through I wound up landing actually a really good job. I will say I would never be where I am today without the owner of my last salon. So you had a mentor that? I actually did not have any mentor. I learned everything on my own. Okay. Honestly. We just said without this person. What do you mean by that? She was my boss and I was a shampoo girl at like a hair salon and basically...

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56.878) she let me have the back room because I started brow waxing because it just got too much for everybody. And she was like, well, you're a licensed cosmetologist. I went to Carver, which is right down the road. I got my cosmetology license. I didn't want to do hair, but I knew I was good at eyebrows. So she was like, just take over the brow waxing. Well, from that point forward, once I waxed somebody's brows, it was like they were coming back. So all these people were coming back. So you're self -taught at the beginning? Yeah. I mean, like I said, I went to cosmetology school, but like, That day that I did an eyebrow wax, I've never done eyebrow wax before. That was the first time I did it. And then it was like from that point forward, I realized that... By the way, who's that person that was... Pilar. There's somebody... Jill and Pilar were the owners of the hair salon. And they let you experiment on them, Kinny Pig? Basically, yeah. And they literally, I feel like, kind of helped build me up in a way, but they didn't help me. They were just like, here's the room. We take 50 percent. You have 50 percent. do whatever you will with it, as long as you can still shampoo our clients, we don't care. I was like, okay. And then suddenly we had to hire a shampoo girl because I was taking clients and bringing new clients in. And how long were you there doing that role? Five months. Five months. That role, but I was like a shampoo girl there for probably like a year and a half. But five months there, and then a high end salon in the city actually like reached out to me. We had like, kind of went back and forth. I got hired by them. to do brows, so I was working at the regular salon and there, and then I realized I just did not wanna work for anybody ever again. Where does that come from? I think the fact that I just knew I was more, and my dad always told me that if you're gonna do something, make sure whatever you choose to do is something like when somebody hears aesthetics, for example, right, they think of you, and that always stuck with me. So I was like, well, I need to make sure being at a salon, Nobody's thinking of me. You know what I'm saying? I wanted to be something where I could set myself apart and I wasn't being told what to do because I felt like I just had a bigger dream than what I was doing. That's phenomenal. Your dad gave you that advice? Yeah. That's great advice. And it always stuck with me. Thanks, dad. Yeah, thanks, dad. No, that's great advice. I want to dive into that a little bit. You and I haven't talked, by the way, everybody, we haven't talked about any of this stuff prior to, you know, sitting down here. So dad gives you this advice. So that's stuck in your head because five months, by the way, is not that long of a time. I didn't know. It's not. I honestly, I feel like.

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15.246) Like I said, I've only been doing this for four years on my own and I have grown tremendously. Four years is a lot of time compared to five months. It is. It is. But I feel like everything kind of happened in like a five month and then a five month and then a five month. It was like things were just going so quick. And I was also 18. I just moved out of my first apartment. I was on my own. I was going through just some very hard times with things and my parents divorced a lot of things. And it was just like things were just going so quick. And I just realized I had such a drive that like, you actually put your mind to it. I mean, it really will turn over well. So the question I've got, this is interesting. So do you think it's because you were still young and naive and didn't know any better that you just kind of just kept charging forward? I think half of it was survival mode. I think the other half was passion. And I think the blend of the two just. That's a great answer. Honestly. I think I just, it hit me that I was like, I'm an adult. and the cards I was dealt, the cards I was dealt, did they suck? Sure. But if I don't flip them and turn them into something greater, then I'm gonna constantly be looking through this card like, damn, this sucks, damn, this sucks, you know, whatever. But I, Hunger can't be taught, you agree with that one? Yeah. You can't teach somebody to be hungry. And that's what I feel with soccer, that's what it was for me. It was like, I didn't care about how I got that ball in the net, I just knew that I wanted to get the ball into the net. And that's how I feel I tackle life. That's great. Get the ball in the net. Get the ball. I love that. Get the ball in the net. I'm going to and we'll definitely be talking about that one afterwards. But so, yeah, I've always said you can't teach hunger. Somebody's either hungry or they're not. So you had hunger. And I love the way you said you blended that a passion for what you were doing is just as important. Yeah. Talk about that. I mean, how does one become passionate? I mean, I'm making a joke here because I've never had my eyebrows waxed ever. Can you believe that? No, I can't. I've actually never had them done myself and I do it. Isn't that crazy? I do that myself. That is really crazy. You do that yourself? Yeah, I only pluck them. Like in the mirror? Don't do that at home, but you know. No, but how does one... I mean, you had a passion for this. You know, I never knew what I wanted to do. Like honestly, I always... Even when I was in cosmetology school and soccer, I never had that thing. But I'm telling you, the first time I waxed somebody's brows and they looked at themselves and they were like, my God, I've never had my brows done like this before. That's what it was. I just like, I like the fact that I did something that somebody hasn't done for them before.

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33.678) Or that, and also too, you build relationships with people and the way they trust you. And I feel like just the passion that I realized I was gaining for it and how I was constantly outside of work, I was still working. And that's when I realized, okay, this is what I wanna do. What do you mean by that, you were working outside of work? I was always reading new books and buying new tools and I'm always staying up to date with the new things that are coming out and trying new products and I don't know. Well, we talk about this all the time at our company. Never stop learning. Yeah, never stop learning. Leaders are readers is one famous quote I've heard before. Yeah, leaders are readers. Studying your craft, no matter what industry you're in, and that this podcast is not meant to just talk to people in your industry or mortgages, our industry is supposed to talk to everybody. I mean, I feel like it's always ever -changing, especially I feel like the beauty industry is very quick. Always things are going out, new things are coming in, and if you don't stay up to date, then you're gonna fall behind. Totally, totally. So you have a passion for it that's, you know. yeah, definitely. You think you're still, like I get a weird question. You think you're still as hungry as the 18 year old version of yourself? 100%. 100%. I think I'm more hungry now than I was when I was 18. Why is that? Because now I feel like I can see what can be done with it. So again, so that's graduating from being naive and hungry. At first I didn't know what I was doing. I just knew I was doing something and I didn't know what the end goal was. I never wanted to own a business, ever. ever. I said I was going to Stevenson for business. I did not want to own a business. So what, okay, so let's stay there. So what takes you from working at this salon where they're giving you space, they're giving you an opportunity, you're hungry, you're passionate. What takes you from doing that for a while to this business? What takes you to day one of starting this business? How does that happen? Well, I actually was about to be like one of the higher end estheticians at this point. I was young, you know, I was up with like 20, 30 years old. See these gray hairs? You're young now. Okay, well you don't see mine because my hair is dead. Actually, I really don't have gray hairs yet, so I'm not going to look. I hate that. Cut that clip out, ladies. But either way, I forgot the question. ADHD. No, what takes you, so you're working now. You're a young lady, you're passionate, you're hungry, you're doing well. What takes you from, why didn't you just keep riding? When I landed this salon job, I thought I landed like,

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46.158) the aesthetician job. Like this is what I'm gonna work, this is where I'm gonna work for the next whatever years. And then I, well one, I couldn't wax there. I couldn't wax eyebrows there. They didn't wax, they only tweezed, which I hated. But I just, I don't know. I think COVID had happened and I realized how many people were like, hey, are you open? Are you open yet? Are you open yet? And I'm realizing how many clients I'm having. And for some reason I was just like, I don't know why I did it. Cause I was actually very broke at that time in my life. I had like $500 to my name and I used that $500 to start up my business. And I just went for it, I don't know why. I just had that weird feeling. And I trust my intuition. And I just trusted it. And my boss was like, look, she was like, you have an entrepreneur, you're an entrepreneur at heart. You know, it's sad to see you go, but. I got a couple questions. Well, no, statement first, always trust your gut. You agree with that one? Yeah. Okay, I do too. It was like a cool, it wasn't just like a one day thing. This was like a, wow, this is really like. If you could, I don't. A large. energy like consuming me I felt like. That's a great way to put it and you said something really deep a second ago that and I've always said this entrepreneurs if you think you're an entrepreneur you're not an entrepreneur it's only when you can feel that you're an entrepreneur that you're an entrepreneur you agree with that one? I do yeah. Yeah talk a little bit more about that feeling I want to hear about this you're you're drawn to it I want to talk about it. I just feel like I don't know this sounds kind of horrible to say but I feel like there's just so many things that I'm like I wouldn't have done it that way I would have done it different and like I just feel. Like I trust my opinion more than anybody else's. So therefore - But you're crushing it, right? Your business is doing - Yeah. Is your business doing well? My business is doing very well. Honestly, it's - I feel like just getting better. You proved your - So you proved your point. I did prove my point. Okay, well that's good. Hold on, Nux again. Point has been proven. But as a business owner, don't you always have to constantly be reproving the point? Do you find that? Yeah. I feel like, you know, I'm not always up, you know, a lot of days I'm down, but - point is is like you don't you're never gonna be up if you don't have the days where you're kind of down so I feel like you got to just keep finding new points to prove you know what I mean like I said things change and new points need to be put in. Are you a believer in the just keep putting one foot in front of the other and moving forward at all times? One day at a time. Yeah. Absolutely. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Is that what? Was it Nemo? Yeah I love that one. I love that one. Just keep swimming you know. They all can't be winners that's what my dad says.

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07.31) Your dad keeps popping in there. What's your dad think of your business? I don't know what he would say, but I know he would say great things. Me and my dad are like... Well, you gotta send him this podcast when it's over. Make sure he watches it. I called him right before I parked my car, so... And then tell me after... Get back to me and let me know what he says after he hears all this. He probably did not know I was gonna talk about him in the podcast, though. Well, you never... I've always found... I'm not gonna say my mom didn't have anything to do with it, but... She might be upset. Me and my mom are just like... You know. I don't know. We're just like sisters, so. Well, you never know. I've always found in my career and in life, you never know where that great advice is going to come from. And it sounds like you've gotten it. It's kind of hit you in weird spots. And you followed your feeling and your gut, which, you know, you didn't wake up one day thinking, today's the day I'm going to start a business. But it just when the feeling overwhelms you, you just roll with it. I do feel like my parents as a whole, like ever since I was a kid, I do feel like my parents always let me do what I wanted to do. And like my mom was telling me this thing the other day, how like, When I was a kid, I was really small, obviously, because I was shorter than everybody else. You're tall now. But right. I would always go over the monkey bars and all the parents. One of the things would be like, my god, how are you going to let your kid do that? My mom's like, she's fine. She can do it. You know, whatever. My mom's like, I feel like because we just let you have so much independence, you kind of just took it and ran with it. And I feel like I agree with that. Well, you're following a feeling. You're talking about entrepreneurism. And entrepreneurs typically are independent. So you seem to fit the definition. I just like to do it on my own. Well, I love that. I love that. Well, let's transition a little bit. So, you know, you've got this business now. Talk to me about your sales story, your marketing story. You know, what did you do? You're a youngster, so you start a business. Right. No money. No money. And how... Well, I don't want to put words in your mouth. I imagine not a massive client list, right? Small client list? I would say 100 or less. Okay. And how many clients you have now? Over a thousand. Okay, so that's probably over 1200 now. Then you're perfect. So how do you go from starting a business with no name recognition and you're a kid to four years in business? Wouldn't it be horrible to say word of mouth? No, there's no horrible answer. We want people watching this to - If I'm being honest, I feel majority of my clientele is word of mouth, but I do feel like also a part of it is Instagram.

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26.094) Okay, well talk to us about it. What did you do on Instagram? What were you doing when you first started? Well, okay, when I started my Instagram, that was actually my portfolio. That was like just where I was uploading pictures of things I was doing in a way to be like, this is what I do, you know, whatever. I didn't realize the platform Instagram had. I mean, also, too, Instagram has grown so much. And this is four or five years ago we're talking about. Yeah, so Instagram was different than it is now. You know, everybody has Instagram now. I'm not saying they didn't four or five years ago. Even 53 -year -old dudes? I mean, don't you have Instagram? Right, you followed me on Instagram. I know you did knuckles. Anyway, but I don't know. I just feel like word of mouth and being consistent with posting and also too just like... Stop right there. Consistency. Consistency. Yeah, consistency is key. Everybody we've talked to in every industry. Even with your skincare. Well done. But no, but marketing. I want you to stay on consistency because that's something everybody I've ever talked to on the podcast and everybody I've ever talked to in my career talks about consistency is it. Other people come and go. Those that stay... You know, so were you posting how, I mean, when you started, how often do you post? I mean, yeah, I probably, I post every day. I post every day, whether it's my story or my Instagram. I'm always posting every day. Your business, about your business every day? Every day. And I'm working every day. So if I'm not posting, I'm working. Are you time blocking for that? Is that first thing you do? One of the first things? You just kind of wing it and get it in when you can. I wing it. Okay. Yeah, I feel like it's more authentic that way. I mean, I could try to like plan out. what I want to do, but I don't know what I really want to do until I wake up one day. So you said word of mouth. So you're posting on Instagram. So people are seeing you. Talk to me about the early momentum. I mean, that's what I want to be. I want to dive deep into that. So you're consistent. You're using Instagram. You've now started a business. You've got word of mouth starting. Yeah. Talk to me about as the ball starts rolling. You know, like in a way of what marketing like how how does it go from basically nothing to this? That's what I'm talking about. I won. I feel like sacrifice. I feel like my first year I sacrificed everything I had for what I have now, but I do feel like it all could have totally hit the fan. But I feel like if you're not willing to sacrifice, then it's probably not, you're probably not as passionate about it as you think. I would have sacrificed everything. But from the day you launched, you were posting every single day. Yeah, yeah. And what were you, I mean, talk, what were you posting every day? Just my clients, pictures of my clients. And I would post maybe me doing my skincare routine, or this is a new product I got, or.

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43.566) But you're getting engagement and there's engagement going on. Yeah, I do feel like people would swipe up. I do feel like because I'm not like, I mean, I could sit in front of a camera. I could sit anywhere. I don't really. This is just me. You know what I'm saying? So I feel like people can feel that from just being on my Instagram. And I feel like they can look at it and be like, like I trust this girl to, you know, X, Y, and Z. The word is authenticity. So I feel like they people, my followers at least have built a trust with me that they know that I'm never going to post something to like mislead them. You know what I mean? I'm not here for the money. I'm here because I want this stuff to work. too, you know? So I feel like, yeah, I don't really know. It just worked out. Well, consistency and authenticity, you say you don't know, but... Sacrifice. Yeah. Consistency, authenticity, sacrifice. I'm going to keep writing. These are like good. I'm good. Yeah. Well, you're being good. I'm not good. I'm going to watch this video back for motivation later. She's going to watch her own video. But no, look, I didn't know any of this about you. I'm enjoying the heck out of this. Consistency is something. We talk about with our sales team at Direct Mortgage Loans all the time. If you're gonna do it, stay with it. Authenticity and having your own voice is crucial to anybody. I can't be like, if I wanted to compete against you, I can't do it by being you. I gotta do it by being me. Well, I feel like that's where, in my industry specifically, I mean the beauty industry is a very competitive industry to be in, but I think that's where everyone falls short, is everybody wants to compete. And I think what people don't fail to realize is there's enough people. to go around and there's no competing. There's no competing that needs to happen because I feel like, how would I word this? I feel like there's enough people to go around and if you're in competition with somebody else, then you're not focused enough on your craft. You're focused on the wrong thing. Well, focusing on your competition instead of focusing on yourself is, that's it. That's just like a no -no. I mean, you just, I mean, it's okay to like. have people that inspire you or like admire other people's work but it's another way to be in competition with people that's just not good energy and that's not a good way to approach your job or you know life at all with multiple situations you know what I'm saying there's no competition because you're gonna be you until you you know so she's she's a philosopher to everybody so if you go there to get your brows done I could be a therapist I guess right?

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00.558) I am, most of the day. Hold on, here's a question, back to our funny questions. Isn't everybody in the beauty industry a therapist to some degree? Yeah. All hairstylists are. But also too, I mean, everybody that's in the beauty industry, we definitely do be throwing our problems on our clients too. We're like, girl, same. I think my wife's haircut only takes 20 minutes, but she sits there for two hours. I don't, you know, if she's watching. It probably does only take 20 minutes, but all the in -betweens and the... my God, let me show you what I just got from Amazon. So you're agreeing with me? Kind of. I don't want your wife to be mad. Okay, partially. Anyways, so keep going. Sales and marketing though, word of mouth, are you, over the years, are you asking clients, hey, put word out about me? Are you asking people to post about you? No. Are you doing that now? No. I mean, I give business cards, but they're loyalty cards. So when you post on Instagram and you're, you know, you're doing - I've never paid for ads. That's wonderful. Built your business? No. No ads. All elbow grease? Yeah, I don't want any random person seeing me pop up as an ad. I feel like it's kind of a lot. But you're not asking people to post about you. You're loyal clients. You're not asking for any of that. They just do it. Good for you. Are you tagging them? Yeah. I mean, well, they tag me and then I repost it and I share it with everybody else and... That's wonderful. So on and so forth. How has your Instagram plan evolved over the years? How is it different now than it was four years ago? Well, I do feel four years ago I didn't take it as serious as I do now. I do take it a little bit more seriously now because I'm in the more like medical side of aesthetics and like, you know, I do want a good algorithm. I do want to make sure that it's aesthetically pleasing to the eye and that I'm, when people are seeing my page, they directly know what they're here for. They're not like, what does she do again? You know what I mean? As before, I feel like not many people knew what I was like doing because I was doing so many different things. And now I'm just like a jack of all trades. But do you have a marketing plan? Do you have a written marketing plan? No. But you have a consistent plan you use every day. Yeah, I feel like in my brain there's like, it's like a knowing. I mean, I've been doing it for like five years. I feel like I've gotten into a routine that this is like a part of my job, whether I want it to be like or not. So it's like, okay, Monday, like today, like I feel like the past few days I haven't been posting a lot. For example, before I got here, I went on my Instagram story and I was like, I know I've been like a little MIA. I've just been busy X, Y, and Z because I'm bringing in. These eyebrows could be viral. They probably could if I would have done them.

Direct Mortgage Loans (24:

22.926) I'm joking. That's serving. But no, I do think that, yeah, I just kind of wing it, I guess. But now I do take it more seriously than I did four years ago. You say wing it, but I don't believe you. I think you think you wing it, but you have a pretty specific plan. I mean, I have a plan. I know what I want to go out. And I am very particular about what I post now. I used to always just be like, post whatever. Now I make sure the angle's right. they're seeing it, the knowledge is there when they're reading it, they're not like having to read through all these things to get to like the important part. Like it's just like straightforward, to the point, and that's it. And then they can just book. You could be a teacher, you know that, right? I wanted to be when I was good. Well, you could teach people about marketing. I mean, consistency, authenticity. I mean, these are buzzwords in the industry and it sounds like you just kind of figured them out on your own. Nobody really taught you how to do it. It's like suddenly I feel like everybody's just like inspired to like go out on their own when I talk to them. And I'm like, do it. Yeah, well, it's... Do it. What's the Nike saying? Just do it. Yeah. We say that one at our company all the time too. I mean, seriously though. I am serious. Do it. Tell them. Just do it. Just do it. So listen, in your own words, we were talking about you grew this and you jumped and covered a lot. But in two sentences or three sentences, how did you get from 100 people on your client list when you started to 1200, which is what you got now? If you had to... Give me a simple answer. Well, I can say, I will say one thing, is I did not, I wasn't picky about my schedule. If a client wanted to book, I squeezed them in. I wasn't like, I don't have time, I don't have this. I made sure I got every client in. I didn't care if I was tired, I didn't care what if I had somewhere to be. I honestly just put my life a little bit on hold for a while and made sure I got my clients booked and worked every day. But you're daily posting. And I daily posted and it's just something, I mean, you just have to work for it. You can't just like... It's not gonna just fall into your hands one day. You can't, you know what I mean? You could have the most aesthetically pleasing Instagram, but if you're not putting out good work and you're not being, when you're squeezing people in and you're like allowing these things, when you're like, you know, this is my policy and this is strict, but like, you have to kind of like... You're hungry. Yeah, yeah, you have, like I was hungry in the beginning, so I made sure that I fit them in, you know? If I didn't have a three o 'clock, I'm like, okay, well, I'll get you at 3 .15, like...

Direct Mortgage Loans (26:

37.518) Make it work, you gotta make it work. So it goes from 100 to 101 to 102 to 103. This didn't go from 100 to 12. And on and on and on, yeah. Well, 1200's a big number, it's impressive. Yeah, I only know that because my POS system updates me as people book appointments and it keeps track of them. You wouldn't even have known what POS meant five years ago, did you? No. Of course you didn't, good for you. But yes I do. I know you do. So, right now it's mid -February, like we said at the beginning, it's dark out, it's cold out. What are you doing right now? This is one segment we always go with with everybody because forget about what you did. We talked a little bit about the growth over the last four or five years. We've talked now about, you know, we talked a little bit about what your future is. What are you doing right now today that you think is working for you? I do think that there has been a sudden shift in my... I'm not gonna say my industry or as a whole, but I do think the aesthetics industry has had a shift in the past two years and I myself have made like a shift. And I think that just skincare I think is becoming more important. I feel like people are actually caring about what they're putting on their face and what's in their products and X, Y, and Z. Same thing with food. Everybody's very, you know, wondering what's in their food, whatever. But I do think with me, I have went into more like acne treatments, putting people in regimens. I don't know, just kind of being like, Like I said, like I'm a jack of all trades, but I'm putting them on regimens. I'm taking care of their eyebrows. I'm making sure like just everything is going to plan to get them to their end result, whatever that is. So I do feel like lately I have been putting more products on my shelves. I have been focusing more on bringing in my skincare lines, things that I actually retail like full one. And it's a big investment at first. So as of right now, I'm bringing in my fourth skincare line that I retail as a whole. And I mean, basically you're talking about business expansion. Because these are different. I like expanding, yeah. I feel like, yeah. And I don't know where I'm going to be yet, but I feel something changing. So. OK. And talk to me about expansion. Does that scare you? No. I think if you don't expand, then you just are going to stay in the same place. I feel like expanding is the only way that you're going to grow. Well, that's a true entrepreneur talks like that. But do you have a plan for what you're trying to achieve with your expansion? I mean, do you have something in your mind, or are you just kind of?

Direct Mortgage Loans (28:

53.71) you know, putting one foot in front of the other. It's like I have this little cloud that hangs above my head and there's like multiple little pictures, right? And then I just slowly cross one off. Okay, I did that. I did that. And now my cloud is like weird because I feel like there's nothing really in there. And it usually is. But this time is different because I feel like I've accomplished kind of everything that I wanted to. Now I'm at this place where everything's in a nice bay and I can start digging, like, tipping my toe into like new things. And that's like what I'm doing. And the new thing is, is that I'm bringing in these lines that are good lines, are good skincare lines. They're hard to, I feel like, keep in stock and sell because they're expensive, but I don't care. If I wanna make sure, I would rather risk all my money to bring in something good and then have a good return on your investment than for me to bring in a crappy skincare line and it not have that great of a return on investment, also not really result -driven. So I'm making sure the products I'm putting out. actually giving me results. I want to make sure people are paying for what they're getting and wanting and they're actually happy with their purchase because good skincare is not cheap. So as you're expanding, how do you maintain or are you maintaining the same level of grit, hustle, determination that the young lady that started this business four years ago had? Yeah, I feel like I'm maintaining the same grip but I do think that it's a lot different than I anticipated it to be four years ago. In what way? Women, some women are just not the nicest. And I feel like - You mean competitors or clients? Yeah, I think competitors. And like, even though I don't pay attention to it much, I mean, you still feel it, you know it, you hear it, whatever. But trying to just keep your eyes here and not like me like looking around. Well you said earlier you keep all that blocked out. Yeah, so lately it's just been like, I feel like I've had a lot of eyes on me, to say the least. And I feel like people are like, what is she gonna do next? So it's like, I'm just at this point where I feel like I'm held up to this pedestal and I'm scared, duh. do anything that's gonna knock me off the pedestal. But I also, at the same time, I'm like, I mean, if I fall, I just get back up, right? I don't know. Well, I like you, earlier you said you gotta block all that out and just focus on what's going on here. So I'll give you your own advice back to you. Yeah, that's my advice, but I don't always take my own advice. Well, we all need to sometimes step back and listen to our own advice. That's the only way you'll succeed. Absolutely. So tell me what else, what else is going on? What else are the big plans?

Direct Mortgage Loans (31:

19.854) I do think that I'm getting to a point where I'm a little overworked, so I think maybe hiring somebody in the future would be something that's gonna help. And when I say hire, not... You have no employees, your whole business is yourself right now? Just me. Just me. You do everything? Yeah, everything. I work six days a week. I'm actually about to start taking off an extra day, so I'm gonna take off on Mondays. So I'm actually only gonna be working, you know, a normal schedule, like a normal human. So I think that'll help me. But I just think having like a receptionist or somebody that can just... do orders and things like that that I just don't really feel like doing anymore and possibly moving. Gotcha. I want to buy a building. Smart. You're an entrepreneur. Of course you would want to do that. I feel like I've come to the right place. We could help with that. We got some people that could help you with that. It sounds like you're crushing it. I've been writing notes. So, I mean, look, it's as if you were like a marketing professor at a college because you talked about consistency, which we talk about all the time. You talked about authenticity. and being authentic in the way you communicate, the way you deal with your clients, the voice you use in your marketing. It's crucial. And look, sacrifice and hunger, you can't teach that. I love the way you put it. I think anybody watching should take that away with them, sacrifice and hunger. You gotta dig in your own gut, am I correct? No, literally, literally. Nobody outside can get, I mean, yeah, nobody can tell you to be hungry. Literally. And look, passion, I love that you threw that one at me. Passion is important, you gotta love what you do, you gotta love studying the bit. It sounds like you don't only love what you do, you love studying what goes on in your industry. Yeah, like I feel like even if I did something else, I would so probably still be learning about this stuff, because I'm just, it's interesting. Well, that's a true answer. Your skin is your largest organ. I didn't know that. Well, now you do. I'm gonna buy sunscreen on the ride. You better. I should have had like the white stuff on my nose for this. I'm serious. I know you're serious. You're four foot ten. I should have brought you a sample. You're four ten and a half and you intimidate me a little bit. Yeah. I was going to show up here today with the, my wife's little like things that you put under your eyes. What are they called? I don't know what, do you know what they're called? I'm just asking, I just want to know what you think they're called. I, I don't, I have no idea what they're called. But there's a little.

Direct Mortgage Loans (33:

29.518) chilled things. But instead, I did do it this morning and send it to our producers. So they're probably going to post it on here. And you saw, you did see the picture. I did see the picture, yes. Yeah. So I look like I'm like 30 years old instead of what I really am. I'm not like 10 years off. Well, that would be 20 years for the record. But anyway, that was my best attempt. I wasn't going to pluck for the record, but that was my best attempt to prep for this. That's great. I'm glad that you thought of me. I did. I did. Look, Artistry by Alyssa. We're going to post it on here. You got to check her out. She's local here in Baltimore. She's got a great story She is crushing it and sounds like she's somebody who will continue to crush it and I got full faith in you And I'm so pumped you came in today. Thank you. Yeah, remember me when I'm famous I Got no comeback for that everybody no comeback. I will remember you I followed you on Instagram my autograph somewhere you give it to them, but look she's crushing it I got a lot of this one today. Follow Alyssa, check her out. I mean, I don't get my eyebrows done, but I even, I think I gotta go in there one day and do it. But. Well, I'm gonna do a lot of advanced skin things. Well, we'll talk after. We'll talk after this is all over, but thank you. I appreciate you coming in. Yes, thank you very much. She's crushing it. She crushed it. Thanks everybody. See you next time. Bye.

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Dean Johnson

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