How I Went From 0 Clients to Booked Solid for 3.5 months

So, I was 19 years old, and I decided to make a massive shift and move an hour and a half away from my hometown, where I had been working in a salon since I was 16, where I had been growing my clientele, I was, like, a month booked out at a time, and where I had built my entire base, and move in with my boyfriend. And I had to completely start from scratch as far as my clientele went. And I started at this commission salon that was, like, in this rural-ass little town in my Amish-ass Pennsylvania. And I was doing all the things.

I was, like, posting on the social media. I was handing out my cards at the mall every day. It was ridiculous. I was, like, asking my clients for referrals, and nothing was working.

It was, like, painful. It was painfully slow growth. I literally was reconsidering my entire job and career choice at that time. Like, it was bad.

And, like, thank God, I was, like, 19 and I didn't have a lot of responsibilities, because I was not making the money that I needed to make, right, because I had no clientele. And I remember all my mentors, like, not mentors even, I wouldn't even call them mentors, b- just the more experienced stylists there, and the salon owner, they all just told me to be patient. Like, they all told me, like, I have to wait, and I just have to go to the mall, hand out my cards, ask for referrals, like, I just have to keep on keeping on, right? And I was just, like, so pissed off that I didn't see any return on my, on m- on my efforts that I was making.

And it was a really defeating time for me, and, I don't know, I just really... I really was down on myself about it. I would go home and I'd be really upset and I would be f- asking myself if I made the right decision, not because of, like, moving in with him, but, like, because of, like, completely leaving my entire clientele base and, like, having to start from scratch, and it was really difficult. And what ended up happening after educating myself, after doing the damn thing, after, uh, changing my environment and going into a space where I knew that I was gonna be able to create a very curated experience based upon real business theory, I blew my shit up, and I was triumphant.

It was the beginning of all that we have now, and the reason why I'm talking to you right now on this podcast. And so, what I wanna share with you today, my friend, is, I wanna share with you exactly how I went from being barely a week booked out at a time, to booked out solid three and a half months ahead with five new guest requests a week. And so, Caitlyn's gonna be kind of interviewing me today, asking me about my journey. I'm gonna be spilling you all the freaking tea today.

So, if you're down to do that, then let's get it popping, let's get it started. What's the tea, friend? My name's Hunter Donia, industry business educator for hairstylists, but my friends just call me Hunty. And I'm Caitlyn, the CMO for Team Hunty, here to offer additional perspectives and kickass marketing advice.

Whether it be growing your clientele, making more money, or automating and streamlining your systems, in the next 20 minutes or so, you'll be hearing realistic, actionable strategies to create a beautiful career for yourself behind the chair. So, if you're ready to get into it, welcome to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. Hey, Hunty. Hi, Caitlyn.

What's the tea? What's the tea? The tea is, honey, I am having a beautiful day, uh, today. I'm really excited to be talking to you, and I'm really exp- excited to be spilling all my tea.

It's gonna be great. I'm so excited to have you here on the Modern Stylist H- Podcast, and I'm so excited to interview you. On the Modern Podcast Hairstylist. I can't even- ...

get my words right. It's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine.

Oh, yeah. I'm clearly a, I'm clearly, like, a natural at hosting a podcast. No, you got it. Um...

All right, well, so we're gonna be chatting a little bit about how you were able to, like, essentially, like, really quickly build a clientele, which, been there, done that, it's hecking stressful, but I am super excited to hear all about your story. Let's kind of just, like, start out, like, from the very beginning. Like, you said you went to a commission salon and the whole, like, uh, business card at the mall thing wasn't doing it for you. So, like, how did you get started?

What did you do to get started? Okay, can we just talk about the business card at the mall thing for a second though? I was so pissed that this didn't work. Like, I didn't get one client from doing that, like, literally not one.

And I'm, like, I, you know, I was, like, this, like, rambunctious, like, little, like, 19-year-old, like, very, like, eager, motivated kid. At the time, I was, I was very, I was very business minded, and I had really good sales strategy and knowledge because of my experience educating for a brand. And so, I really knew how to sell, right? I knew how to sell, but I didn't know how to market myself, and I always knew it was the missing piece.

Like, I felt like there was something missing. I was like, I know once these bitches are in the chair, I will blow them away and I will make so much profit and I will serve them so well and they will always come back to me. Like, I was so confident in my, in my client experience, right, and my sales strategy, but I was so incompetent in marketing and I didn't understand it inside and out. And so, I would go to this mall and I would, like, look at all of the people who I thought were my ideal client at the time, and I'd be going up to them and I would have conversations with them, I would be super conf- I mean, it was scary as hell.

It was awful. I hated it, and I'm so glad that we don't have to do this nowadays. But, um, but it, it was scary as hell, but I did the damn thing, and I kept on consistently doing it, handing out my cards, and it didn't work. Like, literally, not one person, even if they said that they were excited and they wanted to book with me, not one person booked with me from those efforts, which was crazy.

I just thought it was wild. So, what happened was, I just was really down on myself and everything was like, okay. Like, it was, I was very slowly building. Like, it was, like, barely a week out at a time, right?

And eventually, pandemic happened. Pandemic happened, and the salon shut down. And I was like, "Okay, like, what the hell am I gonna do with my time?" Right?

And so what I ended up doing was I di- I dived really deep into business education for hairstylists. And not only business education for hairstylists, but also just got really obsessed with just business theory in general. And I read a lot of different books, and I learned from a lot of different people. And I was able to find this confidence and this, like, this, like, just new knowledge of how exactly I can effectively speak to people, get eyeballs on me and my business, and how to actually sell to them and get them into my chair without me even talking to them personally.

And with modern-day marketing strategy, you know, with social media. So what I did was I came up with a really, really strong marketing system, and I didn't even know that I was doing it at the time. I was just, like, kinda following the advice of all these experts, right? And I was just...

And I just built this, uh, quote-unquote, "target market," right? I built this ideal client. And I was really... I think I just naturally was understanding of pain points because of my experience in sales training from being a brand educator.

I already knew how to solve somebody's problems and how to speak to solve somebody's problems. And so I took that sales knowledge, and I applied it to my marketing things that I was doing and my ideal client. And I already understood that I needed to make sure that I understood what those pain points were of my target market, right? So then I, I made this ideal client profile, and then what I did was I, I showed up in the places where I knew my ideal client profile was hanging out, you know?

I wasn't going to be spending a bunch of time, you know, on Facebook and, and talking to moms and all that stuff, because... And going into, like, local Facebook groups and stuff like that, 'cause that was not my tea. I, I knew my person was not living there. My person was all over the Instagram.

Like, that was my person, and so I spent all my time on my Instagram. And I just went HAM. I went so HAM with posting and speaking to people's pain points, and solving problems, and educating, and giving people real advice that they actually wanted to hear, and using really strong hooks to get them to pay attention, and just showing the F up, and being authentic, and telling my own story, and, like, being exactly who the F I was, and showing up consistently as well too, right? Like I said, just showing the hell up, but doing it consistently, and doing it systematically, and approaching my marketing and my social media specifically, like my Instagram specifically, very intentionally.

Very, very, very intentionally. I unfollowed everything that had to do with hair besides my business educators and mentors. I unfollowed anything that didn't have to do with my local regional area, where I knew if I was spending time scrolling, commenting, and liking, I would be growing my business in one way or another. So I, I didn't, I didn't know who all these fricking hair influencers were until I got into education, and I started doing this, and I started creating relationships.

I had no idea who the hell anybody was, 'cause I didn't follow anybody. I didn't follow Behind the Chair. I didn't follow Beauty LaunchPad. I didn't care about these influencers.

I cared about growing my damn business in my local area. So I followed my clients. I followed my ideal clients that I knew lived in the region. I followed, like, local small businesses, and I created relationships, and I went HAM creating those relationships, and I would, uh, uh, be genuine, and I would leave comments, and I would attract people to me by putting myself in front of those other people.

And I made sure every single second that I spent on my damn phone during the workday was spent growing my business and pushing me towards my goals. So, fast-forward, I open up my salon suite, and I did it with barely any clients at all from my commission salon. Not to mention, my commission salon was about, like, t- twenty minutes away from the salon suite that I was gonna be working at. And because of all of the knowledge that I had, uh, because of this, like, brand that I had built on social, I got slammed when I opened up that suite.

And I was so scared, biggest pit in my stomach. A huge risk. I did not have the clients to open up a suite. If somebody told me that they were in the situation that I was, I would probably advise them not to do this.

Like, literally. But it was the best decision I ever made. And because of all of that effort that I put in, because of how much I educated myself, right? And because I had a system to follow, I blew my shit up really fast.

And it was all people who I absolutely loved working with, and it was services that I absolutely loved doing, because I had branded myself as a low-maintenance color specialist, and I was speaking to the specific person in all of my content that I knew would want my type of service that I specialized in. So I blew my shit up, and it was amazing and fantastic, and I am so grateful for all the hard work that past me put in, 'cause that was tireless work. Like, that was no-fucking-joke work. I was really passionate about it, and the passion is what fueled me and kept me going.

But damn, I put in a lot, and I thank my... I'm grateful that I put in all that work, and I'm also grateful that I had great mentors, and I knew where to find the education. And that's why I, today, am trying to share that same education with other people, and do it in a way that makes sense, and that translates to an ADHD brain or a squirrel brain, you know, that hairdressers a lot of the time have. Because in my own experience, I have...

I, I... The only reason why I was able to learn all this shit was because I was so naturally passionate about it. And like I said in our previous episode, I believe, I said, "I never got into this industry because I was, like, visually..." Into things.

I wasn't, like, an artist. I got into it because I loved the relationships, I loved the business side, I loved, like, the theory and the science and all that stuff that went behind it. And so that side of me was really passionate about learning all this business stuff, and it's the only reason why I was able to actually learn it and it was actually b- able to stick in my head. If you are an artist, if you're a creative, and even if you are a passionate business owner, but sometimes, like, you just aren't really getting it or you feel like you're not getting to where you wanna go, I understand you and I get you because let me tell you, honey, I was not a good student in high school.

Like, at all. If this is a topic that I'm completely not passionate about or I don't feel like doing or whatever it may be, my ADHD is kicking in full force, completely distracting me. And so I understand the experience of feeling like you're just not getting it or putting in results or making efforts and feeling like nothing is working. And so I'm really passionate about taking the experience that I have and the, uh, the crazy efforts and, and spaces that I show up in and where I have, what I have learned and where I continuously learn and translating it and sharing it with people in this industry because I'm so passionate about it, and I believe everybody deserves to understand it even though it's really hard.

So thank you so much for interviewing me today, Caitlin, because I'm really excited to be spilling even more tea about this shit today. It's gonna be great. So that's super interesting, and I... It's fun to hear it back too, because you and I, um, during, like, the shutdowns and stuff like that, we were in a lot of the same classes together, and I, like, I got to watch your progression as well, like, as a stylist watching another stylist.

And it was just really, like, inspiring for one, definitely, but also just, like, really cool to see, like, it happen in real time. So super fun to hear it back. I mean, it's been, like three years now. So looking back at it now, is there anything that you wish you would have done in addition to what you did, or is there anything you wish you would have done differently?

Share that with us, please. So there's a couple different things that I wish I did differently, and looking back, the reason why was because I, I didn't build all that I built from a place of long-term vision. I built it from a place of scarcity and, like, wanting to get this shit done right now and just doing what I thought, well, l- like, I had to do. And it ended up biting me in the ass, because when you work really hard to get this up and running, and when you realize, like, how much work it, uh, can actually be and you have to, like, keep on maintaining it and maintaining it and maintaining it, there comes a point where you're like, "I can't continue to do this sustainably if I don't figure out how to streamline it as much as possible."

Like, when you are, like, going out of your way to create an excellent customer experience, to be an above and beyond hairstylist in today's day and age, y- there's a lot of responsibilities that you have, which is hence why I teach streamlining and automating your business, because this is... Like, what hit me was I was like six months into suite ownership, everything was going really great, but I was so overwhelmed and so busy, I couldn't even imagine if I had more responsibilities or children. Could not even imagine. I, I, I, I, I don't know.

I don't get it. And so what I wish I did from the very beginning, and I think that this is maybe why this doesn't work out for a lot of people when they do follow, like, marketing plans or educators or anything like that, is because we don't learn how to systematize it. We don't learn how to make it something that is easy. We don't create documented systems from the very beginning that allow us to show up and not get overwhelmed and get, like, paralysis from actually going ahead and doing the damn thing, right?

Creating a system, a documented system to follow step by step by step would have avoided a lot of stress and a lot of, like, long nights working after, like, a long day of working , um, you know? Like, working a long day at, at the salon and then going home and then working all freaking night, right? On my marketing and, like, doing my shit for my business. It would have saved me a lot of time and it wouldn't have made me get to, like, a breaking point where I, I had to change my entire business so radically or else I would have, like, died.

And I don't... Again, I'm gonna say I could not imagine doing this shit, doing, or putting in all the hard work that I did if I had kids or other responsibilities. It'd be impossible. And so what I had learned was if I had a documented system and standard operating procedures from the very beginning, which is what we have now, then I wouldn't have burnt myself out so quickly and I would have been able to just k- make this a continuous thing without having to work so hard to make it happen.

So it's one thing to figure this out and actually get it working, and yes, that might take a little bit of short-term sacrifice for long-term gain. However, it's another thing to figure out how to continuously do it sustainably to then get to a point where you can scale and then you can delegate to a social media manager, which is what I eventually did, and where I furthermore learned, furthermore learned how important it was to be very intensely clear on having that documented system, very intensely clear of what your, what your standard operating procedures are for your marketing, exactly who this person is that you're speaking to inside and out, your attributes, pain points, and your objections, figuring out, like, what your everything was and documenting it and being organized with it. If you ever wanna get to the space where you're still bringing in all those new ideal clients but you're not the one who is doing all the marketing, you have to make sure that you're systematized first, and you need to have that documented first. So I'm gonna be teaching everybody how to do that in our chief marketing hairstylist workshop that we have coming up, which you can learn more about in the episode show notes, or, uh, you can go to hunterdonia.

com/marketing and, uh, we'll take care of it there for you. In literally less than four hours I'm gonna show you exactly what I wish I would have done , uh, using the, the experience that I have and the experience that I have n- that I had growing my clientele and using the experience that I have now of systematizing and automating and all those good things. So that is what I wish I would have done. I wish I would have s- uh, created a documented system that I could just follow step by step from the very beginning that supported me in showing up sustainably where I wouldn't get burnt out.

I love that. So, with that taken into consideration then, like, if, uh, this person listening to this episode right now, if they are wanting to put a system like this into p- into place, what do you think the most important thing is to consider when trying to put something like this together? I think the most important things to consider is making sure that you have a very, very, very clear idea of who your ideal client is. If I ask you who your ideal client is right now, listening to this, my friend, you, if I ask you who your ideal client profile is right now, would you be able to recite, like, paragraphs of information to me about who this person is?

Because that's what I can do right now. I can tell you exactly who this person is and I could not stop talking about them because I know them like they are, like, my fricking best friends, my sister, my child. I know exactly who the fuck they are, you know? That is wha- that is, that is how clear you need to be about this person to really make your marketing work.

And using real data and feedback to make that person, to understand what that person actually is and who they are, is going to be extra important, because then you understand not only do you know this person, but you know this person actually exists in real life , right? And, uh, and you're speaking to somebody's real thoughts and somebody's real data and feedback too. So, I think that that is absolutely the most important thing. And we, we talked about this in, a lot, in, in the last episode, and so if you haven't listened to the last episode yet, highly recommend that you do.

But it is the most, i- absolute most important thing, is understanding who that person is, having a documented space where you can go back and always look at those things, and then take those things and have documented content pillars and blocks and themes that you can always go back to for ideas to make sure that you are speaking to that person consistently and you're never running i- out of ideas on how to speak to them. Amazing. I love it. I, now, I know, like, you and I are very, like, we love Instagram.

But do you feel like, where, where do you feel like the best place is to grow a clientele? Like, do you have a definitive answer for that? What I do, what I will say is, is that I think that we are in such a lucky era where we can use all of these digital resources that are now out there and these digital communities that are out there and these things where we can reach people so much faster and effectively in a much more curated way. We are so privileged and blessed to have those things now.

However, that does, just because Instagram is really cool and that's where you like to hang out, or whatever it may be, that does not mean that you should be showing up on every single one of those platforms. The question, "Where do you think the best place to grow a clientele is," or, "What do you think the best thing to do is," is completely dependent on who your ideal client profile is, and based upon the real data and feedback that you have solicited, what data and feedback tells you where they're actually showing up and then where they are shopping for new hair stylists, or where they will happen to stumble upon new hair stylists based upon their search terms and where they would go to search, et cetera, et cetera. And so again, like, c- understanding your ideal client profile, that's why I say that this is the most important thing, is because all these questions that I get asked all the time about growing your clientele, it all goes back to that. That is where all your answers are.

That's where all your answers are. But we oftentimes don't spend enough time actually doing the research, getting the data, and documenting all of those things and then making those decisions strategically. So, my tee is, is, i- it completely depends on you. It completely depends on you.

I know that my ideal client profile only is showing up on Instagram. I know, I know that is the most effective place to find them. And I know using Instagram is going to allow me to curate a very specific vibe and space f- specifically for that person that will ensure me that I get more ideal client requests. Not just client requests, but ideal client requests.

And being on every single platform and being, like, omnipresent is really fantastic and great if you have, like, a team of five . Like, I'm not saying that you shouldn't take advantage of every single platform if you can. Like, being omnipresent is a really beautiful idea and it's great for companies to consider. However, you're one human being.

You're one human being. You cannot expand your efforts until you have absolutely understood and streamlined and optimized the first effort first. Like, you, if you're gonna, if your ideal client profile is showing up on Instagram, you don't wanna start going over here and then going over there and also doing this and also doing this, because your efforts are gonna be spread way too thin and your efforts are not going to work. You have to first figure out the platform that that person is showing up on, go all in on it, figure out how it works, make sure it works, streamline it, systematize it, and then you can expand from there.

There was so much tea that was just spilled now. Um, I'm, like, reeling. That was, that was so good . Thank you for touching on that.

I, uh, it was so good. Like, especially understanding where your ideal client lives. I know I've sat and, like, vented about this myself. But, like, stop wasting your efforts in a place where they're not gonna be showing up anyway.

Like, put your energy where it's gonna be most well-received. So, love that. Okay, so I think that that was a sufficient enough interview. Thank you so much, friend, for coming to the Modern Hair Stylist Podcast today .

Stop. Is this your impression of me? How am I doing? Was it good ?

I love, I, the enunciation of friend. "Hello, friend. I hope that you're en- are you with me enjoying this, friend?" I do say that shit.

Why do I say it like that? I love it. It's one of my favorite things. So, okay, this is your podcast.

Please wrap it up for us with a bow. Thank you so much, Caitlin, for being the interviewer today and taking over for me today. I really appreciate it. I think that it really, um, allowed me to, like, get out all the things that I needed to say in this episode.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, my friend, who is listening to this right now. I really appreciate you for tuning in. And if you appreciated this episode, if you want to blow up your own clientele and get more ideal client requests into your chair and feel confident in showing up consistently on social media and knowing that your efforts are actually going to work for you and you're gonna get a return on them, then you can join us in Chief Marketing Hair Stylist, which is just our four-hour workshop where you're gonna build your entire marketing system from the ground up off of real data and feedback.

And I'm gonna be holding your hand every single step of the way, giving you templates and step-by-step. And I'm gonna be there live with you. I'm gonna be there freaking live walking you through all the steps where I can answer all your questions. And we're gonna have a community of peers who are doing the same exact thing with you to give you feedback.

And it's just gonna be so freaking lit. And so, if you wanna check out more about this, then you can go to hunterdoniell.com/marketing or you can check out the link in the show notes. And I'm looking forward to seeing you there.

So, peace out, girl scout. I'll see you in the next one. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.