Speaker 1: Welcome to this studio and a banana high.
Speaker 2: What are you doing? Because I'm doing great? How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm fine? Yeah, yeah. Our relationship is kind of like
Speaker 1: I feel like for each of us. You know, actually
Speaker 1: it's like the opposite of what they say, like when
Speaker 1: you're drowning and someone comes to save you, but like
Speaker 1: they kind of push you down with you and stop it.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, we're the opposite, will we When
Speaker 1: we're together, we're both trying to lift each other up. Now,
Speaker 1: if you want to get into it, my lifting you
Speaker 1: up sometimes does feel like taking you down, just because
Speaker 1: her language.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, yeah, I'm going to believe my whole life.
Speaker 2: So this is just your way of loving me and
Speaker 2: cure she believe her.
Speaker 1: She's not a She gives it as good as she gets. Okay,
Speaker 1: she gives it as good as she gets. So for
Speaker 1: the Brown Ambition audience, why do I have Anna on
Speaker 1: the show? I'm going to do a live kind of
Speaker 1: I want to do a live career coaching session with Anna,
Speaker 1: but first I want to give some backstory. So Anna
Speaker 1: is ten years younger than me. We ain't gotta give agentes.
Speaker 1: But she's in her mid twenties, which means you know
Speaker 1: what I am. Anyway, I used to baby said Anna
Speaker 1: when she was just over the toll, twelve year old
Speaker 1: peanut in my pocket. And now, well a decade later,
Speaker 1: it was the pandemic. Right. I was obviously struggling. I
Speaker 1: had a baby, a newborn, and I was trying to
Speaker 1: like balance that with working. Couldn't have childcare because everything
Speaker 1: seemed too dangerous, so I was doing I was like breastfeeding,
Speaker 1: having the baby at home.
Speaker 2: So I was living back home and I in Georgia,
Speaker 2: and I was just having like the worst mental everything.
Speaker 2: Nothing was working. I was just not happy, was very
Speaker 2: like I was just like a mess. Then Nandy just
Speaker 2: called me out of the blue.
Speaker 1: No, yeah, standing Thursday.
Speaker 2: Every Thursday.
Speaker 1: I was worried about you.
Speaker 2: I was like, so yeah, and you and I and
Speaker 2: I just hated whenever, like someone has to worry about
Speaker 2: them because I'm like, damn and that like, am I
Speaker 2: that fragile? But you know, your love really did show through.
Speaker 2: And I told you to get down the ups and
Speaker 2: the downs more downs and ups. And then I think
Speaker 2: we both asked ourselves the same questions, like you were
Speaker 2: trying to warm me up. To the idea of moving,
Speaker 2: and I was like, I was like, I need to
Speaker 2: get out of the state. I need to leave. And
Speaker 2: then it just happened where we're like, okay, we're going
Speaker 2: to do this. And then I said.
Speaker 1: When it was so funny because it was around I
Speaker 1: felt like I was plotting on you, but you were
Speaker 1: planning on I was plotting on you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: We were trying to warm you up. I don't know,
Speaker 2: because you have a husband, and I wasn't trying to huh.
Speaker 1: You were like, please the do well. You were living
Speaker 1: with one of our what you'r aunt on your mom's side,
Speaker 1: so not my auntie anyway, and you were I remember
Speaker 1: forget this phone call when you called me.
Speaker 2: And you're like, right now, I can't. You're twenty two.
Speaker 1: So you're doing a lot of twenty you were at
Speaker 1: the time anyway, right twenty.
Speaker 2: Two, twenty three, twenty two, yeah, twenty time.
Speaker 1: But at the time you were like doing what door
Speaker 1: dash you had tried.
Speaker 2: I was doing Instacar. I was working on Amazon, oh,
Speaker 2: the warehouse home good, Oh my god. I was working.
Speaker 2: I was working.
Speaker 1: But you ain't never not worked, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: You ain't never know work, yes, startups, Yeah, I was
Speaker 2: all of.
Speaker 1: That, okay, But at this time I remember because I
Speaker 1: remember when I really I was already worried about you
Speaker 1: because I could tell when I was talking to you
Speaker 1: that you were struggling. That's why I was like, I
Speaker 1: think that in the spring before, I was like, we're
Speaker 1: going to talk every Thursday at nine pm. Put it
Speaker 1: on the calendar. We're doing it. Yeah, he did, anyway,
Speaker 1: and I just I just wanted to like keep you know,
Speaker 1: I couldn't see you, so I just wanted to like
Speaker 1: at least talk to you so I could be sure
Speaker 1: that you're okay. So anyway, we that's all I'll say you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: ever since, I was like I fell in love with
Speaker 1: you and with Ariel and RJ and all that, but
Speaker 1: I mean like really fell in love, like, oh this
Speaker 1: is my like my bonus family. Yeah, but you're not
Speaker 1: always so close with cousins anyhow. So we had this connection.
Speaker 1: I could tell when you were off, and so I
Speaker 1: we met all summer long and then this in the
Speaker 1: in the fall, you were like, I gotta I'm going
Speaker 1: to join this. What were you going to sell kitchen knives?
Speaker 1: She's like it's okay, I got a job, I'm gonna try.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna start my own business. I'm gonna sell knives.
Speaker 2: And it was a scam. It was a scam.
Speaker 1: It was an MLM. It was a multi level marketing.
Speaker 1: It was like one of those pyramid scheme type things
Speaker 1: people will.
Speaker 2: Probably there were so many that were hitting me up there.
Speaker 2: You date, I was.
Speaker 1: Global, you want to make money overnight, you want to
Speaker 1: own your work hours, you can work from home, you know,
Speaker 1: like yeah, because you want some value. Yeah, so they
Speaker 1: got you. And thank god you told me because I
Speaker 1: was like, right now, we need to Like.
Speaker 2: I felt like I was in trouble. She's like absolutely, okay.
Speaker 1: So because you were going to buy like a bunch
Speaker 1: of knives and have.
Speaker 2: That, it just didn't make sense.
Speaker 1: Were house and you're the interview.
Speaker 2: I was doing the interview like on my on my
Speaker 2: little tiny desk with like fifteen other people, and I
Speaker 2: was like, what is this? Yeah, and then yeah it
Speaker 2: was Yeah, it was a hot mess dot com.
Speaker 1: So we had this conversation and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm really struggling with this and I already was scheming.
Speaker 1: I'm like, wouldn't it be perfect if Anna just could
Speaker 1: be here, like here, I could keep an eye on her,
Speaker 1: because somehow I'm working on this too. I want to
Speaker 1: like protect and fix everybody. I don't have to do that.
Speaker 1: But at the time, I was like, I can keep
Speaker 1: an eye on her because I'm really worried about her,
Speaker 1: and also I think she would really enjoy watching my
Speaker 1: child for me so that I could start my new job.
Speaker 1: And we had the conversation and I was like, so,
Speaker 1: I mean and I was like, so, you know, I
Speaker 1: feel like what you really need is like you'd be
Speaker 1: great helping a family who just you know, was working
Speaker 1: really hard and just had trouble finding childcare during the pandemic,
Speaker 1: and like, and you were like, yeah, that sounds like
Speaker 1: a good idea, and said do you know anybody like
Speaker 1: that that you can think of? And your little voice
Speaker 1: well like you, I'm like, yeah, thank you for offering.
Speaker 2: You know. That was the funniest conversation. I was like,
Speaker 2: I was plotting on you. I was like, Oh, it's
Speaker 2: how's your upstairs bedroom looking like it's vacant?
Speaker 1: It saved both of our lives? No, for real, right,
Speaker 1: it did?
Speaker 2: It? Did?
Speaker 1: It did?
Speaker 2: For sure?
Speaker 1: Yeah? So cut to and when you moved in. Of course,
Speaker 1: again because I have a bit of a like fixer personality,
Speaker 1: and you know, you were you're not you were not
Speaker 1: finished with like college, your degree, no job and all that.
Speaker 1: So I was like, also, while you were here, let's
Speaker 1: let's have some personal finance conversations. Let's you know, really
Speaker 1: untangle you from that uncle over.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Anna's yeah, you talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: that where you were in terms of like you were
Speaker 1: twenty yeah, you were like twenty three. But also you were,
Speaker 1: like with your relationship with your father, not financially free.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, Like I just grew up of he hands
Speaker 2: me money and then I deal with it. So whenever
Speaker 2: I had like my financial struggles, he would always have
Speaker 2: like a string attached to whatever dollar is behind it.
Speaker 2: So I was just very exhausted and tire trying to
Speaker 2: chase what he's giving me. And then I have to
Speaker 2: this mental load that I had to pay him for
Speaker 2: the price of whatever amount of dollars. And I remember
Speaker 2: when I moved to you, he cut me off financially
Speaker 2: and this owed me and all this extra stuff. So
Speaker 2: my mental health was was like down was down the street.
Speaker 2: It was terrible.
Speaker 1: And can you be specific when you say you had
Speaker 1: to pay him for the money, like what were the
Speaker 1: strings attached?
Speaker 2: If it'd just be his controlling ways when it comes
Speaker 2: to finances, like if I maybe had an attitude he
Speaker 2: was like, well I do X y Z for you,
Speaker 2: and you're going to do this to me after I
Speaker 2: gave you this amount of money for school or just
Speaker 2: like just being his daughter, just asking for money here
Speaker 2: and there. It's always like an issue or problem. So
Speaker 2: that's whenever I just I want to stop asking him
Speaker 2: for money completely. So that's why I was working those
Speaker 2: those numerous jobs just to get myself together. And then
Speaker 2: you know, my mental health is just taking a toll
Speaker 2: for you know, all the finances that had to deal
Speaker 2: with that with him and myself because you know, I'm
Speaker 2: a little pricey. I noticed he was spoiled.
Speaker 1: For a price. But yeah, and also it was to
Speaker 1: the point where he it was like, i'll pay for school,
Speaker 1: but you got to study what I think is a good.
Speaker 2: Degree, yes, right, yeah, yeah totally.
Speaker 1: So that level of control.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then the thing about me, I just I
Speaker 2: don't do well with control like that, Like I I'll
Speaker 2: just stop everything if I don't. I just don't feel
Speaker 2: like you should live your life for your parents, and
Speaker 2: I learned that the hard way.
Speaker 1: Well you were and I mean, like it was so
Speaker 1: heartbreaking to see, I mean how tough it was for you.
Speaker 1: What do you think are the biggest changes that have
Speaker 1: happened since you moved in with me? For those who
Speaker 1: are watching on YouTube, you might be able to note
Speaker 1: the most significant change. We're not in the same place.
Speaker 2: No, we're not. Why I was able to move out.
Speaker 2: I have a lovely roommate, She's great. But it was
Speaker 2: just so nice to buy things with money that I
Speaker 2: worked hard for and earned. And I just feel like
Speaker 2: the hard work really did pay off. And I appreciate you.
Speaker 1: Over the hard work. What have you accomplished. Let's let's
Speaker 1: sit with it.
Speaker 2: Girl, Okay, okay, I'm just give me over.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Definitely my mental health, for sure. I received so much
Speaker 2: healing from the past, like year, two years, almost.
Speaker 1: Three three, yeah, I mean three years.
Speaker 2: I almost the big three. But yeah, I've seen a
Speaker 2: huge turnout from my mental health about you know, how
Speaker 2: I feel about myself boundaries. That was a huge thing
Speaker 2: that I had to develop. I didn't have any like
Speaker 2: especially with my parents whatever they said when I didn't care,
Speaker 2: like they didn't care if I didn't feel comfortable. I
Speaker 2: didn't care if I didn't feel comfortable. I just did
Speaker 2: what I was told. So whenever I was disowned, I
Speaker 2: was like, all right, if I'm really disowned, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: do what I what I please and in a respectful way.
Speaker 1: It took me a long devastated.
Speaker 2: I was heartbroken. Yeah, and then you know therapy, you know.
Speaker 1: What, but listen for those who are But did he
Speaker 1: actually was?
Speaker 2: It lasted three I think it lasted three months. And
Speaker 2: then he said how are you doing?
Speaker 1: I was like, I was, So, you're like, yeah, try
Speaker 1: to survive without this cute face.
Speaker 2: That you had daughter you got you can never get
Speaker 2: rid of me. I got. I got off of everything.
Speaker 1: He didn't need a car anymore. He owned the car.
Speaker 2: As soon as I moved here, he sold my car
Speaker 2: and I was like, that's fine, I don't need it.
Speaker 2: And then he was more upset that I didn't care.
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, that's fine.
Speaker 1: And he had it was he did a tantrum.
Speaker 2: He did, and then I think he hit you up
Speaker 2: and was very very angry towards you about it.
Speaker 1: Oh, so then let's move into the career and finance side.
Speaker 1: What kind of what kind of like strides have you made?
Speaker 1: Because you came here in no full time job, no
Speaker 1: job period, it's not the knives thing, and no money
Speaker 1: of your own, So like, when did you start taking
Speaker 1: those strides? What are the big accomplishments you've made?
Speaker 2: I think at that time, whenever I was hoping out
Speaker 2: was you know, your lovely son, my godson. I was
Speaker 2: really ready to just start working again to make money
Speaker 2: for myself, to move out, to save to you know,
Speaker 2: spend things on myself, to give back to you guys
Speaker 2: with whatever is needed, you know. And then I found
Speaker 2: a job doing executive assistant work for this unknown fashion
Speaker 2: and jewelry company. That was the worst.
Speaker 1: Let me touch on that later. But you needed a
Speaker 1: like a non part time like a retail You wanted.
Speaker 2: Like I wanted full time. I wanted to hit the
Speaker 2: ground running.
Speaker 1: But and you were like, what's your degree in? What?
Speaker 2: Healthcare administration? Yeah? Healthare administration.
Speaker 1: We got you a LinkedIn page, right, remember that. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to tell y'all, Anna is a boomer in
Speaker 1: a generation Z suit body like you and and it's
Speaker 1: just like, here's your A, a r P card, here's
Speaker 1: your handicap.
Speaker 2: I grew up sheltered. I grew up sheltered. So I
Speaker 2: was like, what is this when she's more gen z
Speaker 2: than me. I just know the terms, but she knows
Speaker 2: like the logistics, she knows the you know technology.
Speaker 1: All right, So you got a LinkedIn page. I was like,
Speaker 1: you need a presence. So we put some job experience there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we said that you were my assistant. Don't ever ask
Speaker 1: me for a reference because.
Speaker 2: That's too late.
Speaker 1: You weren't the best.
Speaker 2: I was dealing with so much ments like, yeah, be
Speaker 2: my assistant.
Speaker 1: She's like what So.
Speaker 2: I was just so overwhelmed, and I was like, I
Speaker 2: did not what you said slack? I said, what is slack?
Speaker 1: She couldn't be my idea?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I couldn't I know, I know to do my email?
Speaker 1: She was, she said, what is slack? I was like, so,
Speaker 1: just you focus on the babies. I'll give you the
Speaker 1: title my admin. Anyway, but you got a job assisting,
Speaker 1: and then from but that point is you had something
Speaker 1: on your resume, and then from there then you got
Speaker 1: the job. You did like a lot more well, actually
Speaker 1: that job was so toxic that you quit?
Speaker 2: It was? It was, yeah, it was so Me and
Speaker 2: my roommate we worked at the same job before, and
Speaker 2: then she quit a little bit before me. It was
Speaker 2: just such a toxic work environment and nothing was getting done,
Speaker 2: and I was like, I want to put my efforts
Speaker 2: into something else that would appreciate me. So you know,
Speaker 2: when I quit, I shouldn't have done that. That was
Speaker 2: not smart.
Speaker 1: What do you say?
Speaker 2: But I did because like I was, I didn't have
Speaker 2: a job for like maybe a month when I tell you,
Speaker 2: I was applying to a to z jobs more like
Speaker 2: to the day I woke up to like at night,
Speaker 2: I was applying. Interviews were happening, but they weren't good
Speaker 2: enough or it just it wasn't the right fit. And
Speaker 2: then my current dame.
Speaker 1: Scam kind of like LinkedIn messages.
Speaker 2: What if people do that as like people are like strong.
Speaker 1: We're going all the way to Manhattan to find out
Speaker 1: it was like, what was the thing where they sent
Speaker 1: you home with a big textbook, like a real estate textbook.
Speaker 2: They wanted you I honestly wanted to forget that happened,
Speaker 2: and for you to bring that up is very triggering.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, but you went through it, and honestly
Speaker 1: a month doesn't see that. But I'm interested. You said
Speaker 1: it was a bad idea to quit. Yes it was
Speaker 1: at the time. I'm not going to lie I was.
Speaker 1: I was a little worried. I'm like, yes you were,
Speaker 1: but I was trying to let you do your own thing,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And honestly, I don't think
Speaker 1: it was a mistake because a couple months later you
Speaker 1: got the job in the SPA, right, and you just
Speaker 1: found that on LinkedIn? Is that right or indeed or something?
Speaker 2: I saw them one indeed, and it was just it
Speaker 2: looks sketchy applying for it, but I was like, you
Speaker 2: know what everything was.
Speaker 1: Like, Yes, it hadn't opened yet. It was a news,
Speaker 1: it was a break.
Speaker 2: It was in the it was being built as I
Speaker 2: was applying. So whenever I got the job, interview OV
Speaker 2: and I was like, oh, can I see the spot.
Speaker 2: It was like construction walls. There was wood exposed, and
Speaker 2: they said, yeah, this is it. I said, I see
Speaker 2: the potential. And I think after the interview went well,
Speaker 2: and then you told me to write a letter to
Speaker 2: you know, show my appreciation and at first.
Speaker 1: I remember now, I remember I dropped you off to
Speaker 1: give them the thank you note.
Speaker 2: Yeah you did, and I think it was like an
Speaker 2: it was like a nice little card. It was yellow.
Speaker 2: It was like a yellow flower. Yellow's your your brand,
Speaker 2: I see, you know. Yeah, And then I got the
Speaker 2: call that I got the job. And I was so ecstatic.
Speaker 2: When I tell you, I was struggling financially. I was
Speaker 2: I was living off my savings, like I think one
Speaker 2: time I didn't have enough for two pays if I
Speaker 2: didn't want to go into my I mean.
Speaker 1: I think I started to ask you to pay rent
Speaker 1: because I was fring to get you a little ready
Speaker 1: for the real world. I was going to do that
Speaker 1: thing where you just put the money aside and give
Speaker 1: it back to you at the end of Yeah. But
Speaker 1: that's when you quit. And I was like, oh, so
Speaker 1: the renting you.
Speaker 2: Really got to stop. But no, I felt like such
Speaker 2: a loser because I was like, why would I do
Speaker 2: that with that like a plan B. And I was
Speaker 2: just like I was so scared and so like eager
Speaker 2: to know, like what's next, what's the next move? Like
Speaker 2: what can you do? And then you know, I got
Speaker 2: the I got the call I got the job, and
Speaker 2: I was like, all right, I can relax a little
Speaker 2: bit more and then.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna we're gonna take a quick break, but
Speaker 1: before we do, I want to just kind of like
Speaker 1: round out that phase because I feel like for you
Speaker 1: it was about Listen, your dad chose your major, right,
Speaker 1: healthcare admin, which isn't a bad major. I think it's
Speaker 1: obviously a hot field. It's a it's on the cover up,
Speaker 1: on the come up, and you got to you still
Speaker 1: kept up, like with your studies virtually while you were
Speaker 1: working full time. But at the same time, you knew
Speaker 1: you didn't want to like work in a hospital, like
Speaker 1: just like at a desk, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But you did have this interest in beauty and care
Speaker 1: which I feel like is something that you know, you
Speaker 1: go to a controlling dad and you're like, hey, I
Speaker 1: want to work in the spa beauty industry and he's like,
Speaker 1: what is that. It's woman's stuff. It can't be good,
Speaker 1: it can't be lucrative police but it made it was
Speaker 1: like the whenever I'm helping someone and coaching them through
Speaker 1: like a pivot or trying to figure out how do
Speaker 1: I make a career that I love out of a
Speaker 1: couple out of like the job history that I have,
Speaker 1: which I don't love. And it's like not exactly like
Speaker 1: there's not like a lateral like a connection, you know,
Speaker 1: but for you, there's enough there, like you know, the
Speaker 1: admin side and healthcare and spas med spas especially, it's
Speaker 1: not that different people aren't using insurance cushit call for
Speaker 1: the most part, no, right, but and it like it
Speaker 1: worked for you and it has been working for you.
Speaker 1: But Okay, I'm gonna leave it there. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break and then we're going to come back
Speaker 1: because I want to talk about what's next for you
Speaker 1: because you at the next level.
Speaker 2: Okay, all right, all.
Speaker 1: Right, okay, Va family are back, and my cousin Anna Banana,
Speaker 1: I mean sorry Anna, Victoria Woodruff and Victoria such a
Speaker 1: whole name out there. So you've been in this job
Speaker 1: for over a year now, and obviously it's a stepping stone,
Speaker 1: like you're kind of like front of house in the
Speaker 1: in the MET'SPA space. We're interfacing with customers and all
Speaker 1: of that. But like, so what do you want for
Speaker 1: yourself now that we have like the little we have
Speaker 1: like this ember you know this, like you can imagine
Speaker 1: like building a fire. You've struck this ember now and
Speaker 1: your job, like your career is starting to kindle, it's
Speaker 1: starting to smoke. You know, we got a little bit
Speaker 1: of a flame. Now it's about how can we keep
Speaker 1: building that flame. And even though you have a job now,
Speaker 1: you're happy there. It's great, that's great. I'm always talking
Speaker 1: to women about never getting too comfortable and always sort
Speaker 1: of keeping your eye on the next opportunity and what
Speaker 1: that's going to look like for you. So talk to
Speaker 1: me a little bit forget him your cousin and more
Speaker 1: of like a coach. What do you want next?
Speaker 2: I think, No, I want to move up in the
Speaker 2: SPA space. I realize I like to do the operations
Speaker 2: side of it. You know, I'm great speaking to people,
Speaker 2: but you know, I have more fun, but I find
Speaker 2: more enjoyment and doing like the operation side. So it's
Speaker 2: like the ordering getting things done. There's conflict with schedule,
Speaker 2: there's conflict with the guests. Baby, I'm very good at that,
Speaker 2: very strategic managing people. To me, I really do find
Speaker 2: enjoying it with that, and I feel like the people
Speaker 2: that I do work with, they feel confident or comfortable
Speaker 2: enough with me to tell them their issues and we
Speaker 2: can address it, you know, as me to be.
Speaker 1: So together. One of the things we did do that
Speaker 1: My first thing was when you came you guys, actually
Speaker 1: the reason you're here is because you came over what
Speaker 1: was it last week? Week before? It was last week,
Speaker 1: and I was like, let's just want your day off.
Speaker 1: Let's get together, let's sit down and talk about what's next.
Speaker 1: And the first thing you wanted to do was your resume, right,
Speaker 1: And I was like, how to how to hold up
Speaker 1: before we do the resume. It's really important to know
Speaker 1: what you want so you can tailor your resume, you know,
Speaker 1: to a job. And I feel like we spent that
Speaker 1: excuse me that afternoon on LinkedIn stalking people in the
Speaker 1: SPA industry and trying to figure out what are some
Speaker 1: job titles that sound juicy, even if they are like
Speaker 1: a few levels beyond what you could be doing now,
Speaker 1: just like have like a finish line or have a
Speaker 1: you know, something that you can work toward. I mean,
Speaker 1: I learned a lot about the types of jobs like
Speaker 1: director of operations, SPA manager, SPA director director.
Speaker 2: I think those are like the main three that I saw,
Speaker 2: but there's like a lot of spot owners obviously.
Speaker 1: Did you ever hear back? I think you sent some
Speaker 1: DMS like cold to some people.
Speaker 2: Yeah I did. I think if you are not message me,
Speaker 2: but they followed me back or what do they call it?
Speaker 1: Connected with?
Speaker 2: You were connected? Connected? LinkedIn? Connected? That makes sense.
Speaker 1: I'm getting to you.
Speaker 2: I had.
Speaker 1: I had to twist your arm to get a photo
Speaker 1: on there.
Speaker 2: I because I hate that photo.
Speaker 1: It's such a gorgeous photo. Y'all. Go connect with Anna
Speaker 1: and Victoria Woodruff on LinkedIn if you're in the spot
Speaker 1: industry med spot and listening, Gone and there. She only
Speaker 1: has twenty two connections, y'all. She's lonely.
Speaker 2: Why you called me out like that?
Speaker 1: Because you're so pretty in this picture? I can't stand it.
Speaker 1: I took it. I told her she had two years
Speaker 1: to take a better one. I took this headshot back
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. I said, you had two three
Speaker 1: years to pick a better headshot, and you don't have one,
Speaker 1: So you know what you're gonna do. I'm stuck with
Speaker 1: the image upload and when you get a better one,
Speaker 1: you can fix it. But done is better than perfect. Okay,
Speaker 1: So what and if people are listening on like pictures,
Speaker 1: but I thought pictures were bad, especially if you're a
Speaker 1: woman of color, people can like, you know, have bias
Speaker 1: against you. But I do believe in having a photo
Speaker 1: on LinkedIn as a hiring manager. I just feel like
Speaker 1: it's a well rounded image and let's just be let's
Speaker 1: keep it one hundred. Anna, you're going to be in
Speaker 1: the Beauty and MEDSPA space show. You're cute, like, I
Speaker 1: don't care how like in politically unpolitically corrected is two
Speaker 1: or politically incorrect. It is to talk about the impact
Speaker 1: of like your look and your presentation. It really matters.
Speaker 1: And I think that people who were reviewing LinkedIn profiles.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying put it in your resume, not all
Speaker 1: about that, but at least for LinkedIn, like show that
Speaker 1: you know you are well presented, that you present yourself
Speaker 1: well because I do believe in your industry, it's a
Speaker 1: bit of that image is probably going to matter. Mean,
Speaker 1: let's give it one hundred. Is that how you feel it?
Speaker 2: Me is correct? You're correct.
Speaker 1: You don't have to just say I'm correct.
Speaker 2: No, I mean it's one hundred percent true. Like if
Speaker 2: you're working or you are coming into a spa and
Speaker 2: you want to look a certain way. When don't you
Speaker 2: want this staff to look, you know, put together. They
Speaker 2: look like they take care of themselves. That's just what
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: Can you be doing your crystals in your boobs and
Speaker 1: where you be putting those crystals, the crevices and the
Speaker 1: belly button. It's to live here. Just be packages of
Speaker 1: rocks coming to you.
Speaker 2: Guys would just call it rocks. It's like they're crystals.
Speaker 1: There's another envelope of rocks for you and listen, shove
Speaker 1: it in your It was part of my healing journey.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I still have them.
Speaker 1: I hope you charging charging in the moonlight.
Speaker 2: They're charging.
Speaker 1: Didn't you tell moon water one time? She drank moonwater.
Speaker 1: It's a full moon. Put some water on the deck.
Speaker 2: Oh my god. Yeah, and it was delicious. It was
Speaker 2: very refreshing. The next day it so.
Speaker 1: On your LinkedIn. Okay, we got you a photo. You
Speaker 1: have your experience on there. You started to connect with people,
Speaker 1: which is great. You need to be connected. And this
Speaker 1: is my advice for anyone listening to Even if you
Speaker 1: and right now, Anna, you only know the people who
Speaker 1: work where you work, right but the industry is so big,
Speaker 1: I'm like, how can you get connected to more people
Speaker 1: in your space? So the work that we did that day,
Speaker 1: it may feel like not that big of a deal.
Speaker 1: But even if someone sees your name on LinkedIn, even
Speaker 1: if they don't connect with you, even if they well
Speaker 1: maybe they don't, but even if they don't respond to
Speaker 1: your DM, but they do connect to you or follow
Speaker 1: you whatever, you're going to show up in their feed.
Speaker 1: And I've learned you're going to show up in their
Speaker 1: feed a lot for two weeks after they connect with you.
Speaker 1: So once you start adding people like start, I would
Speaker 1: say sharing something on LinkedIn, it doesn't have to be
Speaker 1: like here are my thoughts on the met's boss base,
Speaker 1: but share an article about the industry, share an article
Speaker 1: that you find interesting, or follow like thought leaders in
Speaker 1: your space. There's got to be like some I know
Speaker 1: there's so many like influencers, but also there's probably some
Speaker 1: great names in the business of the MEDSPA industry that
Speaker 1: you could be following so that you can really like
Speaker 1: I want you to be nerdy. I want you to
Speaker 1: be like in on the MEDSPAT space. I want you
Speaker 1: to be passionate about it. That is what's gonna give
Speaker 1: you that extra something special when you go into an interview.
Speaker 1: If you show up and you're just like, here's my experience,
Speaker 1: I'm very happy to be Yeah, everyone's got a great resume.
Speaker 1: This job market it's tough, and it's tough in the
Speaker 1: sense that it's for me, it's normal, Like this is
Speaker 1: how a job market I feel like should be. It
Speaker 1: was Craig Krai back in twenty twenty one. Everyone was
Speaker 1: hiring right, and you could get a job like that.
Speaker 1: But now it's more like corrected in the sense that
Speaker 1: there are good jobs out there, but there's also a
Speaker 1: lot of good candidates and it's a.
Speaker 2: Competition and is insane exactly On LinkedIn, I think for
Speaker 2: certain jobs, I saw there was like three hundred and
Speaker 2: thirty two app like applications for that one job, and
Speaker 2: I was just like, it's just brutal. Yeah, it's like
Speaker 2: the dating pool.
Speaker 1: And this is where you start to differentiate yourself with strategy.
Speaker 1: So one thing is when you see hundreds of people
Speaker 1: have applied, you can add your resume to the mix.
Speaker 1: But if you're not like a shoe in, like a
Speaker 1: perfect resume, perfect candidate, like for the role when you
Speaker 1: really want it. I feel like less is more when
Speaker 1: it comes to applying right now, like really center in
Speaker 1: or home in on jobs that you want, jobs that
Speaker 1: are cool, not just any old job, And that may
Speaker 1: mean waiting longer to find the job. You're not so senior,
Speaker 1: like you're you know your entry level right now, and
Speaker 1: the next step up for you. We're hoping to get
Speaker 1: you on a path to like maybe assistant SPA manager
Speaker 1: or at a startup SPA, maybe a maybe straight two
Speaker 1: SPA manager or whatever, but somewhere on the back the
Speaker 1: back of office, back office whatever, back off the oup side.
Speaker 1: But those types of roles are fewer and further between,
Speaker 1: and because they're juicier, right, they probably pay more you
Speaker 1: want a salary and all that, Like, they're going to
Speaker 1: have more competition. So that's why I'm like last week
Speaker 1: when you were here, I was asking I was impressed
Speaker 1: because you knew some names of other spas in the
Speaker 1: industry and that, But I want more. I think you
Speaker 1: should really like get more into the industry. What could
Speaker 1: that look like? What are some ways you could start
Speaker 1: investing more and learning about the men's SPA space and
Speaker 1: getting in networking opportunities, so you can meet other people
Speaker 1: in that space.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of spa conventions. There's a lot of.
Speaker 1: Are they in New York?
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's there's plenty plenty in the city. Are you
Speaker 2: going to go to I forgot the name of it.
Speaker 2: It's like, I think it's French. But the biologic rushes
Speaker 2: they have, how do you say that it's French? So
Speaker 2: it's like biolog what's here?
Speaker 1: But I call it br BR Hey, I I that's
Speaker 1: the fancy brand. I'd gotten the free samples when I
Speaker 1: come to your spa.
Speaker 2: Yes, so that's a brand. They have a lot of
Speaker 2: conventions or just trainings and then we peop so they
Speaker 2: have trainings like that and then they come to the spa.
Speaker 2: But like there's a there's a lot in the city.
Speaker 2: There's so many. The beauty field or space in New
Speaker 2: York City alone is like its huge. So just going
Speaker 2: there and meeting people, I think that's the next step
Speaker 2: that I want to take, because I want to take
Speaker 2: this seriously, Like I found my niche and something that
Speaker 2: I really enjoy love. I talk about it all the time,
Speaker 2: you know, because I'm passionate about beauty, not towards myself,
Speaker 2: but other people. I feel like everyone's to feel themselves
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: So but here's one thing that I do on my
Speaker 1: coaching calls. I will sit here and watch you until
Speaker 1: you do a thing that maybe is a little thing
Speaker 1: that you know you haven't done yet, but you just
Speaker 1: need someone to be an accountability partner. I want you to.
Speaker 1: I want to search for like an event that you
Speaker 1: could sign up for right now, and I'm gonna I
Speaker 1: know you're on your phone, you have your laptop next
Speaker 1: to you. No, okay, So I just literally googled MENSPA
Speaker 1: events New York and there's a whole list. March third,
Speaker 1: there's the International Aesthetics, Cosmetics and SPA Conference in New York.
Speaker 1: And there's not the only one. There's like an open house,
Speaker 1: there's a blueprint for success and esthetics. I think some
Speaker 1: of these will probably target people who want to work
Speaker 1: as an esthetician, but you want to focus on where
Speaker 1: are some opportunities to be in a room with the
Speaker 1: ops people, people who are like on the business side
Speaker 1: of SPA. I really feel like that's going to help
Speaker 1: set you apart. I think in like the you know,
Speaker 1: the cosmetics and Men's Boss kind of space, I think
Speaker 1: people think first of the worker bees who are doing
Speaker 1: the services and all that. That's fine, but there's not
Speaker 1: much room for growth there unless you're really spectacular at
Speaker 1: your job. You bring in your own clientele, you know,
Speaker 1: you become valuable that way, and your you know, in
Speaker 1: your in your space, you need to sort of get
Speaker 1: you have more of a you know, career trajectory, you know,
Speaker 1: but you need people who can I think mentor you
Speaker 1: show you the ropes, you know, challenge you get you
Speaker 1: into a job where it feels like a big shoes
Speaker 1: for you to fill, and that's how you start to
Speaker 1: learn and grow.
Speaker 2: I'm going to save that event.
Speaker 1: No, we're not going to save it. You're in a
Speaker 1: register and you're gonna ask your job to pay for it.
Speaker 1: Did you know that? No?
Speaker 2: I did not.
Speaker 1: I'm a little bossy, but yeah, So this is a
Speaker 1: type of event that I feel like your job should
Speaker 1: pay for. Your job is a big brand, they got money.
Speaker 1: I think you should make your case like, hey, I
Speaker 1: really want to like, you know, get some new ideas
Speaker 1: for the spot. I want to get some ideas for
Speaker 1: you know, and just show you can show them the website.
Speaker 1: You can make a little you know, write an email
Speaker 1: and just make a case for why they should cover
Speaker 1: your attendance, and uh, pitch it. I want to see
Speaker 1: how much it is first recruiting one oh one, how
Speaker 1: to attract, engage, and retain a great team. Ooh, I
Speaker 1: love this workshop. Not because you're gonna don't think of
Speaker 1: I don't think you should think of doing workshops. Just
Speaker 1: based on what you want out of your career. Do
Speaker 1: it based on who's going to be in the room.
Speaker 1: If you go to a recruiting workshop, who's going to
Speaker 1: be there. Recruiters, managers need to recruit people, people who
Speaker 1: are pops possibly hiring right now. Yes, you need to
Speaker 1: be in that room, baby girl, I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: like the Toddler and Tierra stage mom right now. Smile, sweetie,
Speaker 1: like doing the choreo in the in the in the wings. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you on the exhibition page yet?
Speaker 3: The exhibition page, like the workshops page where you can
Speaker 3: pick No.
Speaker 2: I'm still registering. There's so many mercy listen woman, listen.
Speaker 3: Here.
Speaker 1: You mean my sessions are usually forty five minutes and
Speaker 1: this is way over an hour already, so you need
Speaker 1: to fire in the belly. You're going to be an admin,
Speaker 1: you need to be like type in ninety nine words
Speaker 1: per minute. What are you like reading the questions carefully?
Speaker 1: I don't do that. Don't just think about you, think
Speaker 1: about like who could be in the room like that?
Speaker 1: Eleven The eleven forty five panel discover the path to
Speaker 1: Empowered Leadership business Management. That could be great for meeting
Speaker 1: people who are in leadership positions and also, like you know,
Speaker 1: start putting yourself in the space where you want to
Speaker 1: become a leader.
Speaker 2: Right. Maximizing performance with your current SPA software. Oof, the
Speaker 2: software needs help?
Speaker 1: Ooh, the software one's going to be good, you know what,
Speaker 1: because there's going to be full of SPA edmins. Anna,
Speaker 1: you gotta go a lot? Is exciting. Which one were
Speaker 1: you saying, that's the one that you mentioned three fifteen
Speaker 1: to four thirty Maximizing performance with your SPA software. Mm hmm, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's perfect because you need to be nerdy about shit
Speaker 1: that people don't want to be nerdy about. That's what's
Speaker 1: going to separate you. I'm really excited. This is the
Speaker 1: kind of way that I love to end a coaching session,
Speaker 1: even if it is a little painful for me to
Speaker 1: sit here breathing while you breathe and type things into
Speaker 1: the internet and sign up for a thing because I
Speaker 1: mean it sounds simple. But were you planning to sign
Speaker 1: up for this conference today?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: Right, Like it's like you've taken a big step and
Speaker 1: these are like I'm so I think we got so
Speaker 1: lucky with the timing because this is an few months.
Speaker 1: This is exactly what you need. Like it's almost even
Speaker 1: more important than I mean, you're going to finish that
Speaker 1: healthcare degree, health care admin degree. This is the year.
Speaker 2: It's just it's just cost sleep, That's all I'll say.
Speaker 1: But you're paying your own way one yes, and you're
Speaker 1: doing this. Proud of you mm hmm. But this is
Speaker 1: the kind of education that it's going to specialize you.
Speaker 1: Like you're in like a generic healthcare admin program, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: this is like the continuing education where you're going to
Speaker 1: find your niche.
Speaker 2: Yeah I think if I'm a niche and like, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: we use it, we'll take advantage of it. And I
Speaker 2: was like thinking, I'm gonna definitely put this one on LinkedIn.
Speaker 1: Oh, I'm so excited for you. Are you excited? Why
Speaker 1: am I the only one?
Speaker 2: I'm just I'm just a tabit hungry, this will say,
Speaker 2: go so am I I.
Speaker 1: Sent I sent you home with chili in a box
Speaker 1: of corn bread, so.
Speaker 2: I didn't even have time to eat it.
Speaker 1: Yet I'm glad you said, because you probably would have
Speaker 1: been belching on the show. I would that time that
Speaker 1: chially got a kick. Okay, but when you come over,
Speaker 1: do I not feed you?
Speaker 2: You feed me and you somehow like I always have
Speaker 2: something packed on my way out.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for coming on Brown Ambition was.
Speaker 2: A pleasure, babes. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I wasn't sure what we were going to accomplish, but
Speaker 1: I do feel like we took the first up last
Speaker 1: week in terms of like getting you more comfortable with
Speaker 1: LinkedIn and connecting with folks. And now I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you're doing the thing that is so you're doing the
Speaker 1: thing that so many especially women, know that they probably
Speaker 1: should be doing but aren't doing it, and that is
Speaker 1: why they're staying stuck. And it's actually shoving yourself in
Speaker 1: the rooms like buying your way in getting an invite, whatever,
Speaker 1: in the rooms where opportunity can happen. You need to
Speaker 1: create so much of like the job search and your
Speaker 1: career it's as much a strategy as it is putting
Speaker 1: yourself in a position where exciting opportunities can happen to you.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense? Like, it's hard to describe, but
Speaker 1: there's an element of I don't know what the exact
Speaker 1: thing is going to be, but if I put myself
Speaker 1: in this room, things can happen. Things.
Speaker 2: May you have to make it happen. To make it happier.
Speaker 1: Exactly, you got to put yourself in that space, and
Speaker 1: it sure ain't going to happen if you just stay
Speaker 1: at the front desk at the spa you're at now
Speaker 1: and never branch out and sort of dip a toe
Speaker 1: into the wider industry.
Speaker 2: I agree.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I'm very proud. I'm so proud of you. You.
Speaker 1: Thank you a year since moving ou you're about to
Speaker 1: be a year in your new apartment. You got your
Speaker 1: own bills paid, yo, you got savings.
Speaker 2: Yeah? How that credit score looking? It's good? Yeah.
Speaker 1: Anyway, I'm super happy for you on your journey. You're
Speaker 1: doing just so amazing. Do you feel proud of yourself, Like,
Speaker 1: do you feel it like I have done a lot?
Speaker 1: Or do you judge itself harshly?
Speaker 2: I judge yourself harshly, like I see the difference of
Speaker 2: how I was like two years ago, but like at
Speaker 2: this point, I was like, we gotta keep going. I
Speaker 2: want to. I really want to put myself on the
Speaker 2: back and be like you did it. So I'm just
Speaker 2: in a transition, but I am very happy of how
Speaker 2: far I come along.
Speaker 1: Just walking through your story with you, it just reminded
Speaker 1: me you've come so far. Hunt like, you've come so far.
Speaker 1: Thank you, and I just need to get you to that. Yes,
Speaker 1: we're going to get you to the next, the next
Speaker 1: once you get this, I feel like the next role
Speaker 1: is going to be so pivotable, pivotable, pivotal once you
Speaker 1: get into the right title and like more of a
Speaker 1: high higher level, more the admin side. It's just it's
Speaker 1: it's an easy path, not an easy path, but it's
Speaker 1: a it's a path that you want to be on,
Speaker 1: and there's nowhere, there's no way you're not going to
Speaker 1: continue to have that great career if you just like
Speaker 1: get on this next sort of you.
Speaker 2: I gotta get on the train.
Speaker 1: You're Oh, You're so great though, and I'm so proud
Speaker 1: of you and I love you so much.
Speaker 2: I love you too.