Becoming An Independent Educator in the Beauty Industry

So, it was a couple of months after I ... It was, it was a couple of months after, like, the new year. It was around June, I believe it was. And in the new year, I was working on my yearly planner and I decided I had to work through a lot of imposter syndrome to write it down.

I had to work up a lot of courage to do it and fight the fear of getting down on myself and failure and all those things. I wrote down and declared that that year would be the year that I get into independent education. And I had been an, uh, a brand educator for a while that, at that point and I've been ... And I ...

And I've, I've had a, a fair experience being a brand educator and teaching technique. However, I knew how passionate I was about the business side of things and what I had been able to do in my own business thus far and how much I loved sharing that information with other people. And I just felt like it was the path for me. It felt right, but it was super scary to set a number goal to it in my planner for, like, how much revenue I would make as an educator in that first year.

And, um, but I did it. I did it anyways. And, um, it was just so crazy. It's been a whirlwind how everything has worked out, but I had some fantastic opportunities at a very, very ideal time come my way in which I took full advantage of, like hardcore, way more than I, I probably should have, which little did I know would set me up for completely changing my life.

And so I set my goal in that January of becoming an independent educator that year and making a certain amount of money s- solely from education that year and, um, it was a couple of months later. I had come up with a concept for my course and what I wanted to share with the beauty industry. And I remember, like, the week that I was launching it, it was, like, the night before my first day that I was gonna launch my, my program and, like, see if somebody would actually want to invest in it and learn from me and, like, trust me enough to wanna do that, although, like, I've never done anything like it before. And I remember, like, sitting in bed with my boyfriend and telling my boyfriend, like, "If just five people sign up," , like, "If just five people sign up, like, I would, I, I would be flabbergasted that people would, like, trust me to, to, um, help them in their business."

And lo and behold, it was a week later and I had gone through my entire, like, cohort launch process and I had 85 amazing beauty professionals decide to invest in my program and trust me and go through my program and, like, actually implement it in their freaking lives and their businesses. And it was the scariest, most crazy experience of my life. I literally thought that nobody was gonna ... Was going to invest into my program at all, or trusted me enough.

And little did I know, like, that was the moment that would change my freaking life for the next year and moving forward. And I know that since the pandemic, a lot of people have been considering, like, possibly diversifying their position in this industry and considering, "What are my other options as far as, um, making an impact that are, that are not doing work behind the chair and possibly making an impact in the industry?" And that's what it's all about, is, uh, it's about the impact, right? And we'll be talking a lot about this in this ...

In the rest of this episode, so let me not go on a tangent. But because of that, I've gotten a lot of questions, people asking me like how I did it and how I started my education and how ... My advice for what they should do and, and from what I've seen in my short time being a independent educator and having the success that I've had in that short time and so that's exactly what we're gonna be talking about in today's episode. And so, um, whether you want to become an independent educator or starting a different new part of how you work and, and starting a new business, right, then I think that this episode will be so helpful for you.

So without further ado, let's get into it. Let me guess. You are a hustling, bustling hairstylist behind the chair, working so hard to build a beautiful career for yourself, one that gives you time, freedom, and energy to spend with yourself, your family, and your friends. But you feel like you're always working in your business even when you're not behind the chair.

My name's Hunter Donia and I help you automate your systems and implement really beautiful strategies so you can grow your business without the overwhelm. And this is the Modern Hairstylist podcast. So what we're gonna be talking about today is what becoming an independent educator actually looks like in today's day and age, what it takes to do it, and how to actually be successful in it. I think that there is a lot of misconceptions, um, that people have when they go into it that they are completely unaware of and I believe that people deserve to know about those misconceptions and the things that they're signing up for.

Um, I want to give people my best advice based upon my mistakes and my experience and what I've seen in other people's, um, experiences as well, being in, like, these circles now that I am. And just talking about, like, what you can do to get support and to lay the roadmap for you and, um, uh, what I did to, to get a quick start and, like, what my mentor and community and h- and all that stuff has been thus far. So first off, what's up, Caitlin? How are you I'm so good.

How are you?I'm so freaking good. I'm excited to have you as a part of this because you've been... You were one of those, you were one of those OG people who took a chance on me.

I was. And I mean, it was, it was equally as amazing of an experience for me being on the, like, student end. Um, but hearing your story too, like, it just, it makes my heart so happy every time I hear it. But, um, truly, being one of the first students was, like, a pretty magical experience.

We had a pretty amazing group. Dude, amazing group. And I thank you so much for taking a chance on me. Uh, Caelyn took a chance on me even before that on, like, little things that I tested, um, and was doing.

And, uh, I just really appreciate you being here. And, like, so cool that I have you here to work with me and help me continue to grow this education and to be helping me on this podcast and sharing your knowledge and your love with the people. I just think it's awesome. And I'll be looking forward to asking you from your perspective because you are, you are getting into your education.

You wanna serve the industry yourself. And you have, you are going to kill it because there's so much beautiful things that you're gonna be able to share with people. People are going to have their businesses changed because of you. And so I'm excited to hear from your perspective, um, uh, uh, today throughout this recording in this episode.

And, um, I think it'll be great. So, let's get started. I wanna first talk about, like, what you're signing up for. I wanna talk about what people are signing up for when they consider starting any new venture as a business owner, especially becoming an independent educator and actually making it work and, like, being successful in it.

I think that from the pandemic, there has been a lot of people who, like, online digital marketers especially, who thrive upon sharing with people how easy it is to receive passive income or to have a side hustle or to become your own boss. And for a lot of the independent pros listening to this, you know from your own experience that being your own boss, owning your own company and, like, all of that stuff, or your own business, it is no fucking joke. Like, it is no joke. If you really wanna make it work for you, it is no joke.

The amount of responsibility, the amount of education, the amount of consistent roller coasters of emotions. It is no joke. And so I'm here to tell you that my journey through independent education has been five times more that than it was being an independent beauty professional and opening up my own suite. This has been the most challenging, hardest, intense thing I have done thus far.

Like, by far, period. And I think that because, like, all of this messaging that goes out all the time from these digital marketers, it, like, gets slammed into our heads. And we're watching social media and we're seeing these people take advantage of these platforms and create their own success through these platforms and stuff like that. We see it happen all the time.

And we see the highlight reels and we don't see the, um, everything that goes behind it. And people are trying to make a sale. People are trying to make a buck. Like, they're trying to sell their own programs and their own messaging, and so they are instilling in people that, like, this is easy or that it is passive or it can be passive.

And I'm here to tell you that, like, it's completely not. If you wanna make this work for you, you have to get ready for, like, hard work. You have to get ready to open up an entirely separate new business. You have to challenge your mind to think in ways that you have never thought about before.

Like, you will change your thinking. You will have to understand marketing just 10 times harder. You will have to understand and get comfortable with sales 10 times harder. You will have to really have some crazy emotional scary decisions that you have to make and that you have to, uh, go through as far as, like, the roller coaster of all those emotions.

It's a lot. It's, it's truly a lot. And I'm not here to, you know, talk anybody out of doing anything, you know? If you want to get into education and you wanna make an impact in this industry, please chase that and do it.

Um, and if you feel like this is the right path for you and you feel like it's really what you wanna do, then absolutely do it. I just really want people to understand how intense it can be. And I'm telling you this from a perspective of somebody who, I do not have children. I am very grateful to not have, like, a lot of trauma or crazy responsibilities in my life.

I'm privileged to have all of that. I will say, my first launch, I was going through a pretty damn traumatic unexpected experience and I had to fight through that and make this work at the same time, and that was really hard. But other than that, like, I don't have children. And I know a lot of the people who want to do this, they have children.

And just that alone, like, to me, I view that as I, you have a whole other business. And it's, like, way more than just a business, you know, obviously. But, like, you already have so many responsibilities. And if you already have your own main gig of how you make a living, on top of you wanting to create this new business and ba- balance, like, your family and your personal life and all the shit that you have going on, it's a lot.

Okay? But it can be really, really worth it, because after going through all the negative side of everything, I will tell you that this has been the most life-changing, most gratifying, most, like, beautiful, magical experience ever. And I don't regret...... any of the sacrifices that I've made.

I don't regret being where I am and having to possibly take on whatever the future is going to hand me in this journey that is ... has been so crazy thus far. And I am just beyond grateful that I am here where I am today, and I'm so grateful to all the people who have trusted me. And I'm grateful for myself for putting in the hard work, not giving up, and working myself through all of, like, the crazy shit that it takes to get here, you know?

And I'm still a small fish. At-at time of recording this, I'm still a small fish. But the things that I've been able to do have been just absolutely crazy and I'm very proud of myself for them, because it has taken a whole lot of motherfucking hard work. And so if you want this to be something that, you know, is replacing income, if you want to make a massive impact, if you really want it to be, like, your sole gig eventually maybe one day, and if you wanna, like, stop doing hair one day, like, just know, in order to make this work, it's not a side hustle.

It is a whole new job. And you are learning a whole new game. Like, it's a whole different mindset. It's a whole different way of doing business.

It is completely different and new. So I'm gonna stop there. And Caitlin, what are your thoughts? Yeah, I think just, like, really understanding that it- it really is a second job.

Like, it's- it's not, like, this thing that you're gonna do for funsies, which, I mean, it will be funsies, but it is a lot of work. Like, it's- it's not just gonna be like, "I'm gonna do this with my 30 minutes of extra time every night." Like, you are going to have to put in a lot of work, especially to create whatever it is that you're trying to create. There's so much planning and thought that goes into it.

And I don't want that to sound, like, negative. Like you were saying too, like, if you feel passionate about doing something like this, like freaking do it. Like, I- I fully believe in, like, following that passion, but truly understanding that it really is going to be a lot of planning and work and, like, storyboarding and writing things down, and just so many different things. But there's gonna be so much reward in the end for it as well.

That's true. I know, like, you and I, Hunter, very much relate on this, and I'm sure most people that want to become an indeped- independent educator will relate to this as well, but like, at the end of the day, I fucking love helping stylists. It, like, sets my heart on fire. I love it, because...

I- I don't even have a good reason. I have just always loved teaching hairstrylists. It is truly unlike anything for me, and that's how I know that that's... education is where I'm supposed to be, like, that's what I'm supposed to do.

And I feel like that's probably part of where you're gonna lead with this as well, is, like, really understanding, like, why you're wanting to do this. Like, is it just because you want passive income or is it because you really want to pursue this- this extra thing? So, take it from there. Feel like I'm stealing the center of the show here.

I love that all, and you set me up beautifully, because that's totally what I would love to freaking hit on, is that, like, there is nothing wrong with wanting to create passive income for yourself. Like, I think it's really smart, actually. I think it's really great. But I think that when people think that...

when people have the misconception that something like this will be passive income, it's- it's dangerous. It's, like, not... you get into it and it's not gonna be th- I didn't go into this thinking that this was gonna be passive income. I wanted to work hard towards this, and it was something that was just...

I had a really intense why behind, and I felt like it was just the right thing for me to do. And, I mean, it has completely turned out to not be passive income at all. I'm working my ass off, and I have great people who help me. At this point, because of what I've been able to do, I have now people to help me, so that way, I can not work as hard, right?

I can take a step back and, still I'm working hard, but I'm not working as hard. I- I've put in my short-term sacrifice for my long-term term gain, and this is a long game. It's not like you're just going to, like, get set up and have a tw- a team of 20 in, like, a year, I... who...

and so that way, you can just, like, step away and, like, not do anything. And even then some, if you are going to want to get to a space like that, th- then the hard work comes into being a CEO and having a team and learning how to work with a team and- and for hav- having people help you carry out the vision. Like... but regardless, you have to have a strong why.

Because if you start with why, and, like, if you have a real passion for making a big impact, that will be the most successful business ever, right? If you start with wanting a side hustle that gets you some passive income, sure, it might work if you do it the right way, but you won't be fulfilled from it at all, and it's going to be not nearly as successful as if you were going to do it with your heart and your soul and the income was not the main goal. And I know for me, it is 100% not. Like, it really isn't.

And it's- it's important, it's important to think about the money that you'll make with this, because you have to think about how you're setting yourself u- up for your own life, and what tools you need to make the impact that you want to make, right? That's where the income is important, but as far as the why behind what you're doing, there's nothing wrong with wanting to make money. There's nothing wrong with wanting to make passive income. But sometimes, if you want to consider having a...

making a massive impact, building an empire, and, like, really creating something that you're passionate and fulfilled by, there has to be a passionate, emotional, strong why behind what you're doing, in my opinion, in my experience, and from what I've seen from other very successful people who have done this, right?So if you have a really passionate why, if you wanna make a big impact and a splash, and you feel like this is the right path for you, then by all means, fucking chase the shit out of it. And make money doing it. Like, pop off.

Like, do exactly what you want to do, just know what you're signing up for, and find the right mentorship, and don't do it blindly, and just know it's gonna be a rollercoaster, and you're starting a new business, period. So, those are my, like, forewarnings and, like, misconceptions that I wanted to get through. And let's actually talk about, like, okay, you're ready. You've, you've heard all my warnings.

You've heard, uh, what I feel like you need to be doing to make this, like, a really strategic and fulfilling decision for yourself to get into it. Let's talk about actually getting started. What does that look like? So, I'm gonna give you really tangible advice here, um, very, very tangible advice here, because I think that's what people need and what people also don't think about or realize.

People think that when they start to get into this, that they're just gonna, like, create an extra Instagram and just, like, start posting, like, what they know, and, like, everything's gonna be cool, and then they're gonna create a course, and then it's gonna be great. Or do one-on-one coaching or whatever like that. But there has to be strategy behind what you're doing in order to make it work, especially in today's day and age where our space is just getting more and more and more saturated. Like, there are plenty of independent educators out there, and if you are going to be teaching technique versus business, the technique space for the amount of education in the technique space is really, really, really saturated, like aggressively saturated.

And the business side is just getting more and more saturated. It's not as- it's not nearly as much, but it is getting more saturated as we speak. And so, if you're considering teaching technique, you really have to have a strategy bef- behind what you're doing in order to make it work. Like, it has to be different.

It has to be something that people are actually gonna want, and, like, why are people gonna choose you over somebody else? And it- and all of that comes back down to the strategy, and so let's talk about it. So, as with any business, if I started my business from scratch tomorrow, what I would be wanting to do is figure out who I want to speak to. Who is the type of beauty professional that I wanna speak to?

What part of their career are they in? Why are they feeling like they would want this type of education from me? Um, who do I feel like I can either relate to the most or who can I feel like I can help the most based upon my expertise? And with that, and these kind of go hand in hand, but at the same time, they're separate, with that, you wanna figure out what your niche is.

What is the thing that you actually teach? What is the thing that you are the go-to expert on? What is the thing that makes you special and sets you apart with that niche, right? So, if you wanna teach about the- I'm gonna give you guys a perfect example for me.

If you guys wanna teach about boundaries, that's fantastic. There's a fair bit of people teaching about boundaries nowadays, right? Me, a million- I could name other educators, but I'm not going to. You know, the thing that I notice about me and, like, the other boundary educators, right, is we all have a very different, very specific way of teaching to boundaries, and it's all comp- and it's all different.

And what works with me is, is I'm teaching people how to set boundaries with technology and automation and systems, and how to streamline your operations to support yourself and boundaries, where a lot of other boundary educators, they'll be teaching more of, like, the mindset. They'll be teaching you how to, like, like how to stay strong, and some people will go into woo-woo and, like, like, you know, talk about your abundance or your energy or whatever the fuck else. No disregard- no disrespect to the woo-woo people out there, you know? I just am so uneducated that I really don't know.

So, you have to figure out, like, what you want to teach, right, and how you're gonna relate what you want to teach as the expert to who you want to speak to and figure out who that person is, so that way, you can create a bridge between that person, what they want, where they are, and what your solutions are, what you want to teach, and what you wanna share with people. And that is the groundwork that you have to do. This is, by far, the hardest thing, in my opinion. It is the har- it's- it was the hardest thing for me.

And Britt Seva talks about a lot, like, if you wanna get into ind- independent education, spend a whole year just doing free coaching, like, one year just doing free one-on-one calls. And it's interesting because when she was saying that, at first, when I, uh, when I was getting into the industry, or I'm sorry, when I was getting into independent education, I would hear that, and I would take that so literally and to heart, and I would say, "Well, I'm not doing one-on-one coaching calls. I don't wanna spend a year doing that. That's ridiculous."

But what I was doing was I was on Clubhouse two days a d- a d- or I'm sorry, two times a day doing rooms and- and doing coaching and- and- and having conversations and learning people's pain points and, like, what they were struggling with in their business, and really discovering i- within myself, out of all the different things that I love to talk about, what is, like, something that people really need and that I really love talking about and I can talk about forever, and that sets me apart? And that took that experience, right? And so I really recommend, like, getting some sort of experience if this is a really hard thing for you to figure out, getting some sort of experience with speaking to people, coaching people, being in rooms where you can have conversations, so that way, you can explore within yourself, what do people want to hear about from you? What do you get questions about?

What are you really successful and that people really wanna know about, right, and that you can talk about and be passionate about?And that is the direction that you wanna go. But if you don't have any experience coaching or, like, any experience, like, really exploring that, it's gonna be much, much harder for you to find out what that is, and you won't have the groundwork research for you to be successful in it, right? And so, that brings me to my next point, which is proving your concept prior to you trying to sell anything.

And so, when I say prove your concept, what I want you to make sure that you do is, is that you f- you- you do the research of what people really want, right? What people would actually invest their money and their time into, um, and what they would find it to be- would find to be worth it, right? That spe- that special person that- that target market, that ideal student profile, whatever you wanna call it, that person, m- what idea, what concept is worth it for them to- for them to be a- to want to spend money on it, you know? And in order to prove it, you need to have conversations with them.

You need to even possibly not create the concept at all and sell it before you even create it, so that way you know that people will actually put down their money and put their money where their mouth is, s- before you spend hours and hours and hours and sacrifice for making this program that nobody wants to buy, right? And so proving that concept and making sure that you're not just throwing it- throwing- going in blind and hoping that somebody purchases your course or your one-on-one coaching or whatever is really, really important, and that is part of the groundwork, right? Go ahead, Caitlin. So, if I can just add on this, this part, don't sleep on it.

Like, this was a pivotal moment for me when I was doing my own market research. I was, like, blown away. I thought I had my course figured out. I thought I knew exactly what I was gonna teach, and then I got on and did all of these calls with people within my market, and I needed to do something completely different.

Like, it was, like, totally different, and, like, you wanna serve what they need. You don't wanna just, like, randomly throw something out there and hope that it, like, lands, but, like, they're literally telling you what they need, and, oh, God, it was, like, pivotal for me. So, do not sleep on the market research. Prove- prove that you have something and that's truly worth it for sure.

So- so, conti- continue. Yeah, no, I- thank you for sharing that because it's so true, and it was very true for me. I thought I wanted to create this crazy, massive, insane thing that felt so overwhelming to me, and I had no idea if people actually wanted it or if it was gonna work. And thank God I did more research and I laid down the groundwork, because it completely changed what I was gonna do, and I'm so glad.

Oh my God, I'm so glad I didn't make that monster course that I thought I was gonna make, dude. Ugh. And, like, it took a lot of, um, deep work and struggle figuring out exactly what it- it needed to be, and it took a lot of calls with, like, my- with people and, like, just, uh, talking and research and conversations, and it finally clicked one day. Like, "Oh, this is what I need to create, and this is what people really need and want, and I know how to give that to them."

Like, through my own experience and just, uh, maybe helping them adapt it to theirs, right? Thank God I did that groundwork because it totally set me up for success. So, thank you so much for sharing it. Like, it's- this is aggressively important.

Like, you can't skip this part, period. My last piece of advice I'm going to give you, right, for starting out is finding a mentor and community to support you in doing this. Like, do not do this alone, okay? I have had two extremely influential mentors thus far, one of them being Amy Porterfield, who have 100% helped me figure out, like, what that groundwork actually looked like and how to prove my concept, um, how to actually- like, where to start, right?

Like, what the roadmap actually looks like, and then once you get traction, like, where to go from there, you know? And if it wasn't for Amy and, like, going through Digital Course Academy, I would have not had those 85 people sign up the first time around, you know? It maybe would have been, like, the five people. You know, you can have people who love you and trust you and say that they are going to invest in you, but if you don't have the strategy, it's just never going to work.

And so, I would highly, highly, highly recommend that you check out Amy Porterfield Digital Course Academy. At this time that we're recording this and we're releasing this, Amy is about to launch Digital Course Academy. She only launches it one or two times a year, and I have the honor and privilege of being an affiliate for her this year. And if you sign up for Digital Course Academy, she's having a- a- uh, she has a lot of things to make sure that you're familiar with her and her teaching so you're comfortable f- before investing, but it- so that you can sign up for free for those.

I'll be sharing those resources in the show notes and stuff like that. But if you end up investing into Digital Course Academy from my referral with my affiliate, then, uh, I am offering to you guys a free one-on-one coaching call to go over your concept and talk about you specifically, being an educator and carving out that corner for yourself in the beauty industry, because it is different, right? It is different. Like, we are in a very unique space as far as education and digital, um, uh, education goes, and so I am willing and I want to and I'm passionate about helping educators who want to do digital courses or create their own online education....

Help you figure out exactly what your corner is gonna be and how to be successful. And so, if you sign up for Digital Course Academy through my affiliate link, I will be giving you a one-on-one coaching call for free with your, um, with your investment, and then Digital Course Academy will 100% lead the way for you because it has for me and it's been transformational. And Amy is truly somebody who has amazing core values and she is a great, great, great, very honest, genuine, sweet, very successful entrepreneur who knows exactly what she's talking about. So, highly recommend Digital Course Academy.

I'm gonna be leaving links for you in the show notes to check it out. And regardless of whether or not you are ready for that type of investment or that type of time and commitment f- to get this started and get, um, really serious about being an independent educator, regardless of all of that, what I want to tell you is, really, really think about the impact that you want to make. Start with your why and go from there. And you may have moments where things feel really heavy and feel like they're never gonna work, or things don't work out for you and they're unsuccessful, and I don't want that to stop you from chasing the impact that you want to make.

Because even if you just help one freaking person in their life learn a new technique and be more confident in themselves and feel better about what they have going on, it is truly such a worth it experience. And I just love getting to chat with other industry educators who are passionate about making this industry a better one and a cooler one, even more than it already is. And so, I would love to connect with you and see your progress and help you along the way in your journey, period. So, Caitlin, I wanna ask you before we close this out, is there anything besides, like, setting the groundwork, um, and making sure that you really do your market research and stuff, that you have learned from working really closely with me and our journey of, um, getting you to your, uh, education space and really getting started and stuff?

Is there anything that you have learned that you wanna share that you think will be helpful with people? Yeah. So, I don't have a lot of extra to add. I will piggyback off of what you said about, like, having a mentor and a community.

Um, I genuinely would not have been able to get to where I'm at with my own course without your mentorship. Like, you've, like, night and day changed everything for me. Uh, granted, like, there's been, like, my own personal roadblocks which has taken me a lot longer to get to where I'm at, but like, having you there to even just be, like, my own personal hype man has been, like, a game changer. So, community really is so important and just, like, having people there to keep you accountable, it's- it's really, really important to have that.

And I'll just say too, like, keeping yourself inspired and always reminding yourself why you want to do that is so important because when- when you do go through this process like I have, it's been a bit drawn out now at this point, there's been moments where I've kind of, like, lost sight of, like, why I want to pursue what I'm doing. And then, like, I have those moments of like, oh yeah, it's because I'm so passionate about this and I want to help hairstylists so freaking much and I know that I have a lot to offer. And that just, like, reignites my fire and it, like, really gets me excited about, like, producing something again. So, if I could just give you any advice, it would be to just give yourself something, anything, whatever it looks like, that will be that, like, beacon or, like, reminder for you of keeping you on track and, like, keeping you, uh, just going in the right direction and really just on fire for what you're doing.

I love that so much. I very much amplify that. So friends, thank you so much for listening to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. I hope that you enjoyed this episode, whether or not you're gonna become an educator or do a side hustle or whatever the hell it may be, okay?

We just enjoy you listening. We appreciate you listening. And if you enjoyed this episode, um, we would appreciate if you left a little five-star review on whatever platform that you're listening to this on. If you wanna get in on, um, the Digital Course Academy launch that Amy's going to be going through this month of August of 2022, we're gonna leave all the links in the show notes for you to get started.

She has, like, some really great free stuff that you can just start out with if you're not ready for, like, a whole course or anything like that. So, uh, we'll leave all those resources for you down there. And, uh, we really appreciate you and we hope that you have a blessed rest of your day and we will talk to you next week. Peace out, girl scout.

Bye bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.