S1: Just five years ago, Tara was behind the chair as
S1: a stylist, making $400,000 a year, working four days a week,
S1: and five short years later, she has a business that
S1: is on track to do $15 million in revenue this year,
S1: and I want to just chop it up with her
S1: and have a really awesome conversation about what it's like
S1: to be a woman in business and how she's been
S1: able to create this success, and to normalize women doing
S1: cool things, having a family, doing it all, being successful
S1: and not taking any excuses along the way. So Tara,
S1: five years ago, if you could have told yourself one
S1: thing about what it was going to take to get
S1: to where you are today, what would that have sounded like?
S2: Yeah, I think, um, you know, I could I don't
S2: know if that I can speak for everyone, but I
S2: think that people think growing and scaling a business is
S2: just getting more known, and that's sort of all there
S2: is to it. Um, but you guys have.
S3: Taught.
S2: Me and my entire company and my team that there's
S2: so much operationally and the people game. That's the thing,
S2: the people game. And I can speak that for salon owners,
S2: you know, the word on the street and the salon
S2: industry is that turnover is heavy. And it's true. I've
S2: seen it. I've had it happen to myself. But it's
S2: because they're not investing in their people, not giving their
S2: people a reason to stay. And you guys have taught
S2: us how inside of our organization we can get people
S2: to stay and help us grow. And so we're leveraging
S2: our people and their and their goals. And I just
S2: never knew that was a thing before. We don't know
S2: what you don't know.
S1: Yeah. Because no one's really talking about how important people
S1: are to the equation. I was literally just talking to
S1: a group of people 20 minutes ago about how they're
S1: saying that people is their biggest constraint in their business.
S1: They're saying that their team members are disengaged. They're saying
S1: all of this stuff about the problems with their people,
S1: and yet they spend very little time actually solving those problems.
S1: They don't talk about their goals. They don't create job descriptions.
S1: They don't have aligned incentives. They don't even pay attention
S1: to what their recruitment site says about their brand and
S1: their reviews. And yet they expect that these problems are
S1: just going to magically get solved by them going to
S1: a conference and investing themselves as a business owner, but
S1: not really thinking about how to invest in their team.
S1: What would you say is like the number one thing
S1: as a business owner that you've invested in for not
S1: just yourself, but to grow and develop your team? Like
S1: the time aspect, like where where you've essentially crafted your
S1: energy to be like, I'm investing this thing in my
S1: team so that they grow. Yeah.
S2: So, you know, I think I woke up probably my
S2: business is five years old, and I woke up probably
S2: four years ago as we started to hire more people
S2: because we needed help. And I realized like, oh my goodness,
S2: this isn't about me at all. And it shouldn't be.
S2: And so now my team, you know, we are all in,
S2: you know, with cartoon adventures and and they're teaching you
S2: guys are teaching my team how to come to work
S2: every single day and to have the same energy that
S2: I have as the business owner. And as a matter
S2: of fact, now it's the to the point where they
S2: have so much energy, they pull me even when I'm
S2: having a bad day or something. You know, they they
S2: have the energy. And so, you know, the time that
S2: we've invested in the money we have, we've spent our
S2: last dime on education and getting in the room with
S2: people who have done the things that I want to do.
S2: I mean, I want to grow this business to I
S2: used to say 150 million, but I think that goal
S2: is a little small now. So it's so.
S1: Small, Tara.
S2: It's so small. And so, you know, that you have
S2: to invest time with people who have done it. But
S2: that's the thing, even in my industry, and I know
S2: in all industries, people are investing so much time and
S2: money into people that haven't really done what they're wanting
S2: to do. They just show up really well on social media.
S2: So that's what I love about you and Brandon. You
S2: guys have done you've done the thing. And so I'm
S2: just literally mimicking exactly what you guys are doing. And
S2: it's working and we're scaling and we're scaling really fast.
S1: It's so exciting.
S2: Yeah.
S1: How do you navigate the growth with being a wife
S1: and being a mom, and having really created this business
S1: that's successful in such a short period of time?
S2: Yeah. You know, like I have not. I think people
S2: lie if they're if they're like, you know, I don't
S2: have the mom guilt and I don't have, you know,
S2: the wife guilt. And, you know, I wake up some
S2: days and I'm like, oh my gosh, I've got to
S2: spend more time. And but what have brought me the
S2: peace and I think, I think I know that you'll
S2: know exactly what I'm talking about is because we're so aligned.
S2: My husband and I are so aligned with our goals
S2: together and the business and, you know, the guilt and
S2: all of that that you people have. I know I've
S2: talked to hairdressers, especially every single day salon owners, and
S2: they have that, and it's because they're not aligned with
S2: their goals. They don't really know what they're doing every
S2: single day. And so navigating it is never easy. I
S2: have to pick and choose and be 100% present when
S2: I'm there, no matter when I'm there. Um, um, but
S2: I'm just thinking about the life that I'm going to
S2: be able to provide for my child that I never had.
S2: And so many people in my industry and a lot
S2: of industries can't provide.
S1: And you're able to create a different opportunity because you
S1: did have the hard conversations. I remember, like the hard
S1: conversations for Brandon and I were actually the goal conversations,
S1: because when you aren't talking about goals with your spouse
S1: or your significant other, starting the conversation feels very daunting
S1: because there is such a lack of alignment and it's
S1: awkward and you're like, well, I want this thing and
S1: you want this thing, but they're different things. So do
S1: we just end the relationship. And it's it's really an art.
S1: Navigating what somebody wants versus what you want and just
S1: being patient and loving and understanding and thinking about the
S1: long term. While it's hard to confront that, it might
S1: not be aligned right now and you guys might be
S1: on two separate pages. How did you did you have
S1: the same experience? How did you like navigate if you
S1: guys were on different pages? Sticking with it to have
S1: the better conversation to get aligned? Yeah.
S2: I mean, like it's so true if you've really set
S2: down to set real goals. Like that's the hard part.
S2: Going after them to me is the easy part, because
S2: it's the you get momentum and it's the hustle. And
S2: that's the fun part. Um, but actually sitting down to
S2: figure out what those goals are to me that I
S2: don't know about you, but I think that's sometimes very difficult.
S2: And I think with Josh and I, I'm so thankful
S2: because he's always been supportive, and I know not everyone
S2: has that. But the one thing that him and I
S2: do agree on when it comes to setting goals is
S2: you're just like if you're talking with your partner or
S2: anyone to try to align those, just take your take
S2: yourself out of it. It's not always about you and
S2: what you want. And if you do that, I feel
S2: like your goals do come true. And they do. The
S2: dreams do come true and the goals do get met
S2: and the targets get met because you're helping the people
S2: around you, so they're helping you. So it's just a
S2: team effort. You know, I think everyone goes into goal
S2: setting and target setting, thinking about what they want. And
S2: it's the same thing with my employees. You know, you
S2: guys have taught me this, like my goals are getting
S2: met because I'm helping, you know, people in my, my
S2: organization help make their dream income. And and it's just
S2: how that works.
S1: So I really did learn this from my husband. When
S1: it comes to goal setting, if you don't put the
S1: other person above your goals. It's always going to feel
S1: like a battle in a war. But if you recognize
S1: that if you help them hit their goals, they're going
S1: to help you hit yours. The battle goes away and
S1: the emotion goes away because you're able to actually make
S1: progress and see that they're winning. So they're comfortable and
S1: secure with you winning. And as a woman in business,
S1: it was very difficult for me to figure out what
S1: my place was, especially because of the relationship and the
S1: experience gap that Brandon and I have had. But him prioritizing,
S1: like Natalie, being successful in the things she wants to
S1: be successful in, make me so happy to make him
S1: successful in the things he wants to be successful in. Yeah.
S2: I think a lot of people approach them. Is this
S2: just our Todd? Or maybe how we're wired and you
S2: think goals are just, you know, what do you want
S2: in our life? It's like, well, you know. Yes. But
S2: if you think about everyone else around you, I think
S2: they just it's so much easier to accomplish those. It
S2: becomes a different environment, especially in our organization, but also
S2: at home. You know, Josh and I are always sort
S2: of battling for each other because we know exactly what
S2: the other one wants. We have very different goals. That's
S2: the thing. Like, we don't we don't really work together.
S2: We do. But he works more on our real estate,
S2: where I'm working in the hair extension business. And at
S2: the end of the day, you know, he's battling for
S2: what I want, I'm battling for what he wants, and
S2: it really becomes a team effort. And it has to
S2: be that way. Can't do it by yourself. I've learned that,
S2: you know.
S1: Unless you want it to end in divorce or pain. Yeah.
S1: There was a switch that happened for Brandon and I
S1: with having conversations around our goals where we really had
S1: to prioritize focusing on conversations, even the small conversations, the
S1: ones that happen in the car ride to not just
S1: be about the problems that we have today, but to
S1: shift our mindset to say, we're going to talk about
S1: what the future is in these small, short moments, these
S1: brief moments that we have together and couples who do that,
S1: I do see create the future that they're looking to
S1: create because they're focused on the future, instead of just
S1: being focused in those tiny, short little moments on what
S1: the goals are. And people think it's this like big
S1: long process like, oh, I have to sit down and
S1: I have to be on a beach someplace, and I
S1: have to have this goal setting conversation where we're just like, Kumbaya.
S2: Date night, even.
S1: A date night. You have to be that. No, it
S1: doesn't have to be a date night. It's like those
S1: small moments where you're not talking about the person that
S1: quit on you, and that you can't do anything about
S1: in this negative circumstance. But you're focused on, okay, like, man,
S1: in a year from now, could you imagine if we're
S1: able to do this cool thing? Yeah.
S2: One thing I would tell you that has helped so
S2: much with Josh and I, which he's a very positive person,
S2: which I'm so thankful for. I don't go home if
S2: I've had a bad day, I don't. It's not that
S2: I don't want to like, tell him about it. You
S2: normally can tell, maybe, but it's like, don't start a
S2: conversation with how how bad your day was. You know,
S2: like start it more talking about the good things. And
S2: I feel like at the end of the conversation we
S2: always end up talking about seriously, the good things and like,
S2: oh my gosh, look at what we get to do.
S2: Look at, you know, all the things that is happening
S2: for us and we don't even mention the bad. And
S2: I just think that's how we go so fast because
S2: we're not focusing on because everyone has bad. If you
S2: focus on it, it's just like lingers you know. Mhm.
S1: So walk me through the mindset change that you've experienced
S1: over the last five years from going from like making
S1: $400,000 a year and becoming somebody who's even confident saying,
S1: I'm going to make $15 million this year and in
S1: the future, my $250 million target seems still just like
S1: a little small. Yeah. What was the mindset shift that
S1: you can, like, point back to and say, man, this
S1: thing really helped for somebody who is making $400,000 or
S1: $100,000 right now that can't quite see how to think
S1: different to get to where they want to go.
S2: Yeah. You know, I actually there's a real on my
S2: Instagram that has gone a little bit viral. And, um,
S2: it's about me making 400 K behind the chair. And
S2: there's so many hairdressers that are on there, and hairstylists
S2: and salon owners who are telling me that it's not possible.
S2: I'm like, I will gladly show you the QuickBooks. Let's
S2: get out the numbers. You know, um, I got receipts.
S2: I got receipts. Let's go. But, um. And I hate
S2: that because I can help them. And, you know, we
S2: can change their mind. But, you know, the one thing
S2: that I've always done right is just be around people
S2: who are doing more than me. If you're in the
S2: room and you're the most successful or you're making the
S2: most money, um, it's not always about money. But if
S2: you're in the room and you're doing the most, you know,
S2: you got to get out of that room quickly. Um,
S2: and I think that's that's what I've done from day one.
S2: I just have always put myself at tables that I
S2: don't belong at. And but here's the thing. Like people,
S2: it doesn't just come overnight. You know, you can start small.
S2: You can, you know you can. You don't have to
S2: get in the room with the most your biggest mentor
S2: ever first. Um, but I highly recommend just making sure
S2: that you're not the most successful. And then that's the
S2: thing with same thing with hairstylists. You can't be around
S2: a bunch of broke hairstylists because you'll be the next
S2: broke hairstylist. You can't get around a bunch of salon
S2: owners who aren't profitable and don't make any money, because
S2: you will be the next person just like them. So
S2: I've always known that, and that's what I've done, right?
S1: What piece of advice would you give for the person
S1: that is sitting here watching this in their bed, looking
S1: to build a business, looking to create the success that
S1: you've had, to create the success and duplicate what you've
S1: been able to create.
S2: Yeah. I mean, seriously, I have I tell a lot
S2: of people this like, quit waiting for the magic wand.
S2: Like you just have to get started, because it's not gonna.
S2: It's not gonna come to you. You have to go
S2: after it. And it's also not easy. So like, expect it.
S2: And so I feel like if you expect it to
S2: be hard and be willing to do the hard things,
S2: then things are gonna start happening. It's the momentum, you know,
S2: like you never feel good when you go to the gym.
S2: You feel good when you leave the gym. So keep
S2: that in mind. It's the same thing with success. You
S2: have to like, you have to get started and then
S2: you're going to start feeling good. Not always, but just
S2: keep going. Go after it because it will never come
S2: after you. Ever.
S1: So inspiring story. I am so excited to be able
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