How to Prevent Instagram Burnout w/ Jamie Dana

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.

Hello, friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. I am really freaking hype, as I am whenever I have one of my cool freaking friends on this podcast. Um, I am just so honored and privileged to have such amazing connections in this industry and to have met such beautiful educators who are inspiring the industry to do really awesome things and giving us all permission to be human beings and also grow our businesses at the same time.

And that's exactly what we're gonna be talking about today with my girl, Jamie Dana. What's going on, Jamie? How are you? Yay.

Oh, my gosh, I am so excited. When you asked me to do this podcast, I was like, "Heck, yes." Like, I was like, first off, I just wanna hang out, and I feel like doing a podcast is kind of hanging out, but- Dude. um, the fact that I get to share with your audience today is so exciting.

So, thank you for having me. Dude, we are so excited to have you here, and I know that the listeners are gonna be hype about it as well. And I w- I'm really excited to talk to you because, you know, you are the Instagram queen, right? You're the Instagram master.

That's, like, what the tea has been since the very, since the get, right? Since the beginning. Since you started to really start doing anything. Yeah.

Yes. OG. OG. Yeah.

Um, and, and you know, Instagram and social media has just evolved so heavily over the past couple years. Um, and I think that especially in today's day and age, it can just feel really heavy for a lot of people, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah.

And you have been really beautiful and transparent about talking about this and your own experience with it on your own Instagram, which I think has been so bold and so comforting for so many people, especially us hairstylists where- Mm-hmm. we have so many jobs as a hairstylist, right? Yes. We are the business owner.

We are the marketer. We are the person who's taking care of the finances and the guest experience and, and doing the actual hair. All the things, right? And so, in today's day and age, it's really great to see, like, such an inspiration like you be really v- open and vulnerable about this, and to be sharing tips and tricks and, and, uh, a lot of education and guidance on how we can move through that heaviness and uncomfortability.

Mm-hmm. And so, I'm really excited because I think that's kind of the direction that we're gonna be going with you today, right? Together- Yes. for the people listening.

Yes. Yes. Yeah, I think it's, uh, it's been crazy. I mean, you know, obviously the last two years have been so challenging for our industry.

And it's, as I talk to people even outside of the hair industry, I'm like, "Yeah, the hair industry got hit so hard." I was like, not only were we, you know, shut down for however many months. For some places it was a month. For some places it was, like, seven months, and loss of income, and, you know, not being able to support our families or support ourselves, and not knowing what was gonna happen, and then being shoved back into the salon and worrying about your health, and, like, all this stuff.

And then, on top of it, having to take care of our clients and hear their stories, and they're unloading onto us, and, like, us becoming mini therapists who are not trained to be therapists. Mm-hmm. And just, like, all of that, like the heaviness that the world was feeling, I feel like we felt it so much more. And then you layer on top of, like, Instagram being like, "Okay, cool, so now we're gonna add in this and this and this and this and this."

And it's just like, oh, my gosh, like, it feels so overwhelming. And, you know, my job, uh, as an educator is always to be really in tune with my audience, and just what's going on in the industry and, like, what's really happening and how are hairstylists feeling? And so, uh, if you follow me on my stories, you know I love to do my polls. I love me a good Instagram poll.

Um, and I had asked my audience, I said, "How are you feeling?" And the word that kept coming over, uh, uh, coming up over and over again was overwhelmed. "I'm feeling so overwhelmed, burnt out, exhausted." And, you know, obviously for me, I've taught Instagram strategy for the last six years.

I've taught like, "Here's what you should do, and here's how you can grow your business, and here's how, you know, you can have all of these awesome things." And while, yes, you can have that with Instagram, we also have to recognize the other side of, like, "Yes, I wanna grow my business, but how do I do it in a sustainable way?" Yes. And not burn out, and not feel just so overwhelmed by it.

And I think, you know, our industry, like I said, was hit so hard. And the burnout in our industry has been so evident, um, on so many different levels. And adding Instagram as one more thing that you have to do just didn't feel right to me, um, to be the person that was, like, teaching, "Here's all the strategies, and here's the, the five tips you need to do." And it's just like, it just didn't feel good anymore.

And so, I've been transitioning out of, you know, here's all the things you need to do, and how can, A, can I show up and support you, um, so that you don't have to do all the things yourself? And, and we've worked towards that with just different things that we've offered. But how can I show up and support you to give you permission that you don't have to do all the things? And how do we find a strategy that works with that and aligns with that, right?

So, to me, that's been my mission the last year for sure, um, just going through my own journey of being burnt out, um, and just hearing from so many stylists too. Yeah, dude, 100%. I love... One thing that you said within all of that beauty was, um, growing your business, but still in a sustainable way.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I think that, you know, there's a couple different things around that right now. I feel like I'm seeing a lot of, um, influencers, educators, et cetera, et cetera, talking about, like, you know, you have to work freaking hard to get to where you wanna go.

Which I think that it's, it's true, right? It's true. Right, right. You have to have short-term sacrifice for long-term game, in my opinion, gain, in my opinion.

Yeah. However, that doesn't mean, like...... kill yourself. Right, right.

That doesn't mean, like, work your ass into the ground to the point- Right. where you can't even show up because- Got it. you're so burnt out. It's like the eff- and if you're just making these efforts from such an empty cup, the- Yeah.

efforts aren't gonna be efficient, and then you're just- No. gonna lose at the end of the day. And, and so it's really important that you do have strategies and systems, just like you are sharing with people, and, like, I'm sharing with people too, in just a different way, right? Totally, yeah.

Um, to keep things sustainable and to be able to grow without losing, you know what I mean? Yeah. It's like, if you're gonna put in so much hard work, you want to have something to show for it at the end of the day. Yes.

And working your, your complete ass off, it, it almost- Yeah. it almost does the opposite versus, you know, getting you to where you wanna go. Would you agree with me? Oh my gosh.

And I think on that point, it's just like, for what? You know? Literally, for what? Yeah, y- y- you work your ass off for, for, to get there, and maybe you achieve it, and maybe, and maybe you're like, "Yeah, I hit my goal and I did all the things."

And then where does that leave you? Right. Um, and I think for me, I've definitely gone through seasons just in my own business and as, w- when I was a hairstylist and now being a full-time educator, so many different seasons of like, "Cool, we did it. We did the thing."

And yeah, I'm proud, and, and oh my gosh, we got there, but now I feel so burnt out because I pushed so hard. Mm-hmm. And so now asking myself of like, "Okay, how do we kinda refine that balance?" I don't think you'll ever have 100% perfect balance, but how do I recalibrate?

Right. And, and find ways to be sustainable with that and, and not have it be so burnt, like that, that burnout, that just, that feeling, that loom, that, or that, that, feeling that just is kinda sitting on your shoulders that's just like, "Ugh." Like, "I just feel so done." Yeah.

And like you said, you can't pour out from a cup that's empty. You can't. Yep. Um, your clients aren't getting any of you, you're not getting any of you, your spouse isn't getting any of you, your kids aren't getting any of you.

You're not showing up for anybody, especially yourself, um, when you're in that kind of space. So, yeah. For sure. And there are ways to- Hm.

make it easier. So- Yeah. I think that's really important. But- Yeah.

But before we get into ways to make it easier, right- Mm-hmm. I, I want to, um, also talk about how I feel like the pressure to have to be on- Mm-hmm. Instagram and, like, have to do this or that or the third on Instagram is- Yeah. really, really, um, it's a, it's a feeling that all of us have because- Yeah.

we are just getting preached to over and over and over by all these different people that, and just social media in general, and just comparing- Yeah. ourselves, right? Right. Making this own narrative for ourselves that we have to do this in order to be successful, right?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I will say, from my personal opinion, that, you know, I think Instagram is a really fantastic way to grow your business, no matter what niche you're in, um, you know- Yeah. and with a certain target market and et cetera, et cetera.

So it's a really great way to accelerate your growth and make a really, uh, great business for yourself. However, that doesn't mean that you have to show up and feel the pressure to do all the things and post, like, twice a day and be in your stories every single day- Yes. and post all the Reels and do all of this shit. And I think that we have this, like, really awful mis- misconception that's really toxic that, you know- Mm-hmm.

we're never gonna be enough and that we have to do this to be successful. 'Cause I'm a firm believer that if we really, uh, you know, s- take a step back into, like, reality and out of social media bubble world- Yes. Yeah. and we look at, you know, how businesses grow and how, like, you talk about, right, the follower experience goes, right?

Mm-hmm. Um, if you, if you step back and you look at the follower experience, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it doesn't matter if you're posting every single day. Hmm. You can have things and- things set up to where, you know, if a new follower does come onto your, onto your profile, that it just does- Yeah.

the work for you, right? So- Yeah. So would you want- mind, uh, diving a little bit deeper into that so that way we can just talk about- Yeah. strategy right off the bat, and- Absolutely.

how we can, you know, show up without, you know, burning ourselves out on Instagram? Totally. Yeah, and, and before we dive into the follower experience, uh, one of the things that you said is just comparing yourself to people on Instagram. And it's just so easy to do, because it's just, it's a subconscious feeling.

And I think what I like to remind hairstylists is, is the people, the feeds that we have as far as our hair content goes, right? We're following other educators, we're following other, other businesses, we're following other salons, other stylists, and a lot of times, we're following the best of the best, right? And it's so easy to see in your feed all day long all of this incredible hair and these videos and the Reels and the funniness and the, you know, all these people doing all these things and the classes. And it feels very easy to start to compare yourself of like, "Oh my gosh, they're posting this and that and I need to do this, and then they're doing this on their stories.

And like, I feel like shit, because I'm not doing any of that stuff." And I just wanna remind people before we jump into this of like, remember who you're following. You're not following the hairstylist down the street. You're not following, you know, the, the other person that lives a town away.

You're not following other people like you. You're following the best of the best, and their strategy's gonna look very different from yours, right? Especially if you are trying to build your clientele and to, uh, try to get more clients, right? You don't need 100,000 followers.

You don't need 10,000 followers. You need people who love you for you and want to work with you as a client. That's what you need. And so, when you see people, you know, posting Reels every single day and, you know, on their stories 24/7, their strategy's probably different than yours.

And I just wanna remind people that. It's like, it's so easy to get in that trap. And myself included. Like, I follow people that recommend posting three times a day and carousels and, and Reels and all this stuff, and I'm like, "Yeah, but their strategy's different from what I'm doing."

and that's okay. And I don't need to burn myself out to keep up with them or to just this perceived con- misconception that, like, that's what it needs to be. I don't need to do that. I need to do what works for me and what works for my audience and what works for my strategy and almost put blinders on to the fact of, like, that's what everybody else is doing.

So I just want to remind people of that because it is really easy when we follow the best of the best. And I also want to, uh, mention my dogs are totally gonna bark in the background. We have workers here in our house. They literally have not been here for, like, a month, and then today they were like, "We're gonna come work on your house."

I was like, "Cool, cool." So just, just a little heads up, you know. There you go. All good, all good.

I- I- w- I do want to just throw in here quickly if this is okay. Yes, absolutely. 'Cause I lo- I love everything that you just said. Yeah.

I talk a lot on this podcast about, and just with my students and my programs and stuff, I talk a lot about intention. Mm-hmm/ Yeah. And, like, having a why and a reason- Yes. for the moves that you're making in your business.

Yes. Yeah. And that goes also, very much applies also to Instagram, right? Yeah, yeah.

And everybody is gonna have a different intention, everybody has a different goal, and I love that you talked about, like, the best of the best or educators or influencers. It's like they have a different goal than you do. Yeah. Like, if you're trying to grow your clientele, like, the educator is not trying to go- grow clientele.

They're trying to grow, you know, their hairstylists- Yeah. who are talk- Right. who are, who they're talking to, right? And so- Yeah.

And they may have help, and I love that you, that you talked about that. We all have different intentions, and I love talking about, like, I love that you said putting blinders on and, and staying focused on your own road, your own mission. Like, that is what's gonna make you the most successful, so I love that. Absolutely.

Yeah. All right. Cool. So let's get into the follower experience 'cause I feel like this is one of those things that is a way for you to not have to feel like you have to be on Instagram because I don't know how many times we've been told, uh, you know, you need to post every single day or you need to show up on your stories or you gotta post this many reels a week, and it can feel just so like, ugh, like this, this overwhelming task that never gets done.

And then we feel guilty for ourselves for being like, "Okay, well, I didn't get that done, so now I feel like crap because I didn't," you know, and it's just this constant cycle. So I like to c- call this the follower experience, and basically this is the experience when somebody lands on your Instagram page and this is gonna help them determine whether they want to click the follow button and, and invest in following along your journey or not. And here's the thing, we don't need everybody to click the follow button. In fact, we actually don't want everybody to click the follow button.

Every single person that lands on your page is not right for you. So how do we get more of the right people to click the follow button who will eventually turn into clients and customers? And this really works no matter what your goals are with Instagram. Whether you're trying to build a clientele and get more clients, whether you're trying to open up a salon, whether you're trying to go into education, no matter what it is, this is something that we want to make sure that we have set up because this literally is our, our maintenance plan.

This is the thing that allows us to have a sustainable Instagram so that even if you're not posting, even if you're not posting on your stories all the time, even if you're not sharing all the time, if somebody lands on your Instagram page, they're gonna know, hey, this person is for me or this isn't the right person for me, and that's really important. So let's get into it, the follower experience. So there are, uh, a lot of different elements when it comes to your Instagram page, and so often I land on so many stylists' pages and I'm like, "Ah, they're missing a key element here." And so the first one is, is this is basically I want you to think about your Instagram page.

If you were to land on your Instagram page, would you click the follow button? Would you know what services you specialize in or who you help or where you're located, where, you know, what you do? Would you know that from looking at your Instagram page? So obviously when a client first lands on the Instagram page, they're first gonna see the profile photo, they're gonna see that quick profile photo.

So what does your profile photo look like? Is it a clean and clear photo of you? Is it kind of blurry? Is it not necessarily blurry, but is it, like, really distracting?

Like, is the background really clean? Is it gonna be something that is branded to you? Is this gonna be something when somebody lands on it, it's your face, they can see you? Um, a lot of times I land on stylists' pages and it's still photos of hair.

This was something that we used to do back in like 2015. Guys, no, no, no, no, no. Gotta be a photo of you. It's gotta be a nice clear photo of you.

If you don't have one, go take a quick selfie. Go grab your ring light, go, go in natural light, take a photo of you, get a clean background, make sure that it looks really good, clean and clear. That's really important. Um, another thing that I would recommend, there's like psychology behind profile photos, but have it be a photo of you where you're looking at the camera and pretty much smiling.

Smiling is a big one. Um, it just immediately helps people feel like they can trust you, like they know you, um, so that's just a fun little psychology tip. So first they're gonna look at your profile photo, then they're gonna go onto your username and/or that searchable username and your bio. And in your bio you need to make sure that it shares who you serve.

So for me, mine says, "Helping hairstylists use Instagram to attract dream clients," 'cause I'm an educator. It says, like, Jamie Dana, hair educator. That is who I serve. So if somebody's coming to my page and they land on it, they immediately know, hey, this girl's gonna help me do this goal.

This is what she's gonna help me with. Um, if you specialize in a certain type of service, like maybe you are a, um, a w- a wedding stylist, right? So, you know, serving brides in blah, blah, blah, blah area, right? Or helping brides have, feel the most confident on their wedding day or, you know, helping blondes have healthy, uh, natural lived-in hair, right?

Whatever that might look like. It could be an I help statement, it could be, um, just what you specialize in. I specialize in blank, blank, and blank. But tell people what you specialize in and how you can serve them so that when that person lands on your Instagram page, they're like, "Oh...

This person's for me or hey, you know, I, I, that, that person's not for me, they specialize in lived-in blondes and I have curly dark brunette hair, like, probably not the right stylist for me. Cool, I'll go find somebody else. This will now help you start to attract more of those dream types of clients and customers, which is really important. So in the bio, that's just the basic information, we gotta have who we are, what we do, what we specialize in, and location.

Gotta have location, especially if you are trying to grow your clientele. Um, so often, I see stylists that don't have a location in their bio, and it kills me. I'm like, oh my gosh, like, I can't, I can't, ah, it's so much. Um, so that's why, yeah, I, I think a bio, having all of that information is really important because people are gonna skim that really quickly and know, again, who, who is the right person for them.

And then from there, they're gonna check out your Instagram Highlights. So Instagram Highlights are such a really cool way to showcase who you are, what your services are, your salon, all of that information. And I like to look at my Instagram Highlights almost as, like, tabs on a website, right? So if I was to click on a tab on your website, does it have, like, an About section?

Does it have, um, maybe pictures of your salon or photos of your work, right? So Instagram Highlights are such a really cool way because people are just gonna, like, quickly tap through them, uh, at least the first five, they're gonna kinda take a look and see like, okay, what is this person about? So some things that I like to have, and this is actually a secret of mine, not a secret, I teach this strategy, but, um, if you go over to my Instagram page, the very first or second bubble is gonna be a Start Here Highlight. And what this is, is it's literally me talking to the camera saying what I do, so that if somebody were to land on my Instagram page, they can find out in, like, five or six slides who I am, what I specialize in, how I can help them, and if I'm the right person for them.

Because again, I don't want the wrong people clicking the Follow button, I want the right people clicking the Follow button. So I would encourage you to go check out the little Start Here Highlight on my page, um, because it shows you, hey, I'm Jamie, this is what I do, this is who I serve, these are the programs and services that I offer, these are the ways that I can help you. And maybe for you, it's something as simple of like, hey, I'm Jamie, I work at this salon, uh, I love, you know, making women feel beautiful and confident, uh, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, and, and the ways that I do that are through these special services. Uh, you could even do things of, like, sharing five fun facts about you, like, it doesn't have to be structured, it doesn't have to be, like, super crazy, but just sharing a little bit about you.

Because when we think about it, clients are looking for somebody to have a relationship with, right? They're gonna sit in your chair for, like, two, three, four, five hours, they wanna make sure that they're gonna like you too. So, um, having a little Start Here Highlight is just a fun way to kind of introduce you. It could also say About You, but I like Start Here because it's just, like, a really quick, easy way of, like, you're literally telling people where to go from the second that they land on your page.

Um, other ideas you could have would be, uh, information about pricing, um, policies that you have in the salon. I know, uh, Hunti's a big one on policies and boundaries of just, like, how you like to be communicated to, how people can book appointments. Um, explain that and again, it could be you talking to the camera, it could be graphics that you make in Canva, it could be literally a blank background and you type it out on your Instagram Stories with the text. Like, it doesn't need to be complicated, but share that process with people because sometimes maybe a client has never booked through a booking system and has never gone through a system like that.

They've always just called up the salon and booked an appointment or texted their stylist. So explain how you like to be, um, communicated with and what are those boundaries? I think that that's really important. Other ideas are, um, a salon tour.

Um, I think for me as a client, I wanna see what the salon looks like, like, what's that experience gonna be like? What, what does it feel like inside? So a salon tour, um, again, could be photos, could be videos, it could be something that you just take, you know, really quickly, it doesn't have to be super complicated, um, it could be selfies that your clients have taken, there could be client reviews on there. There's just so many different things that you can do with your Instagram Highlights but I want you to be thinking about if I was a client and I landed on my page, what are gonna be some things that help me understand how I can book an appointment with them?

What the information is that I need and what's gonna help me, uh, know exactly what to do next kind of thing So Highlights are great, um, and then of course, what they're gonna do after that, once they've read through your bio, they've looked at your profile photo, they've kind of tapped through your Instagram Highlights, then they're gonna go either watch your stories if you have stories up or they're gonna scroll your feed. And usually people do, like, a really quick, like, one, two scroll and then they're gonna decide whether or not they're gonna follow you. And I think when it, when it comes to the follower experience, I want you to now think of the follower experience when you land on someone else's page and I want you to think through your mind, what are the things that you're looking at, right? Like, probably you quickly s- look at their bio, you might look through some of their highlights, you might tap through a couple of their photos, but I want you to be just analyzing, okay, what are the things that I'm looking for when it comes to deciding whether or not I wanna follow a page or whether or not I want to invest in this person's journey?

And I think what we don't realize so often when it comes to Instagram is people are literally investing their time and mental energy and following our journeys and so how can we then show up for them in that way? And I just think that it's something that's really cool, you know, every time we get a new follower, like, that's another person investing in you, that's another human being that's saying, "I want to hear more from you, I want to learn more about what you do and I might even want to invest in you by coming and seeing you for your services." So I think so often it's easy to take away the human side of Instagram and that's why it can feel so overwhelming because we just look at numbers, we look at data, we look at likes and comments and, and follower counts, and we forget that there's actual human beings behind those likes and comments and followersYes. Yes.

Oh, it's so good. I could tell. I was like, "I know you wanted to say something right there," 'cause yes. Dude, uh, if you're listening to this, um, right now Jamie and I are on video and, like, she's just been watching me, like, mouth, like, "Yes!"

Yes. Like, the whole time. Um, everything you said was fantastic. So the whole time that you were talking, um, especially when you were talking about, you know, being very clear about who you serve and what you do, right?

The whole time you were talking about that, I was thinking about Donald Miller's, uh, Building a StoryBrand book. Yes, yeah. He talks about how, you know, when, when, uh, customers, consumers, clients, whatever you want to call them, go onto people's websites or people's whatever- Mm-hmm. they should n- n- they should be able to figure out, like, what you do and how to spend money with you, like, very quickly.

Yes. Like, fast. Yes. Yeah.

And if not, especially in the day that we live in, uh, or in the, in today's day and age, right? In today's day and age, if somebody can't get what they're looking for, like, in .5 seconds, they're ju-... It's real easy to press the back button or to scroll away or to go somewhere else now with, like- Yeah.

with just a swipe of the finger, right? Yeah. So I love that you talked about, you know, creating a lot of clarity in the foundations and fundamentals of what your Instagram bio actually looks like, and then therefore taking away the pressure of feeling like having to, you know, post all the time, because all- a lot of the information and the value that you're giving is in the bio, it's in the Instagram story highlights. And let's be real, I mean, if I'm looking for a tattoo artist- Yes.

I'm going on the tattoo artist's page and I'm just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. Yes. Because it's such a visual thing that I'm shopping for. Mm-hmm.

Yes. And so I'm not, like, I'm not, like, l- you know, like, clicking through every s- every one of his posts. I'm like... Or her post.

Yes. Or their post. Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm just looking at the visual work.

And so therefore, you know, the- the thing that's actually gonna get somebody to follow is not you posting every single day and the captions and everything like that. It's going to be those fundamentals, those story highlights, the bio, the title, everything that you just said. Would you agree with me? Yeah, absolutely.

And I always think about it too, of like, yeah, when was the last time you looked for a tattoo artist, a brow person, a nail artist, a, a restaurant? Like, there's so many things that, like, we do on Instagram all the time and we're like, "Why can't I get followers?" Like, "Why doesn't anybody book with me?" And it's like, wait, think through what you're doing.

Like, what makes you click the follow button? What makes... H- how are you searching for somebody? What, what made you be interested in going to that tattoo artist or clicking the follow button to see more of their work, right?

So I, I think if we can just kind of reask ourselves those questions, like, "What made me comment on that post?" Yeah. "What made me, uh, like watching that person's entire set of stories or whole video or reel or whatever," right? We can ask ourselves those questions and it's like, oh wait, it just becomes so much more easier to re- um, what is that?

Re-engineer? Is that the word I'm looking for? Whatever. You reverse engineer.

Reimagine? Reverse engineer. Yes. I was like, "That's definitely not it."

Okay. Uh, yes. Reverse engineer what's gonna work for you, for sure. Well, well, I like to s- Ac- actually, I just spent a whole freaking, a whole lot of time with my members yesterday, um, going through marketing and stuff.

Mm-hmm. And we were talking about, like, really analyzing and studying, like, the client's journey, right? Yes. Yeah.

And, like, that's exactly what you're doing there, is, like, at you- Yeah. as a, as a user of the- that platform, like, like, if you notice yourself, like, doing certain things or behaving in certain ways, like, take note. Like, it's like, oh, okay, well, if I'm doing that as a human being, then most likely- Yeah. there's other people out there that are doing the same thing, so how can I take that, that, uh, observation and apply it to what my own Instagram strategy is, or what my own- Yes.

marketing strategy is at the end of the day? So I think that's very smart, 100%. Yeah. Okay, well thanks for sharing all that value.

Go ahead. Of course. If you're gonna- I was just gonna say, yeah, and I think w- you know, there might be somebody listening that's like, "Well great, now I, like, set up my follower experience, but, like, what about those people who are following me?" Yeah.

"Like, how important is it to be posting," right? And I think yes, on one hand, it is important to make sure that that follower experience is set up. I would say, like, that is most important. And then once you have that, then you can set up a maintenance plan.

Um, and it doesn't have to be every single day. It doesn't have to be, like, so many times per week. It could be really one to two posts a week. Um, valuable posts that, you know, have great captions.

It could be showing up on your stories one to two, three times a week. It doesn't have to be something so crazy. Um, I think that, again, it's so easy just to see people pumping out content. And in fact, I know I've done that myself where I see other educators, like I, I follow a friend of mine who posts, like, three or four times a day, and I'm like, "Dang, girl."

Like, and her stories are all built out and they're amazing, but her strategy's different, and how she sells her education is different than the way that I sell mine, and that's okay. Um, and she's wildly successful and I'm so proud of her and I'm, like, inspired by her, but it's just a different strategy. So I think once you can figure out what's gonna work for you, find something that's gonna be sustainable, find something that feels good to you. Um, and that doesn't mean ghosting your Instagram and, like, literally never posting again.

Like, no, you have to show up, uh, occasionally. Um, but finding even ways to make it sustainable through tools, like there's Planoly. I use that. Um, I have a resource that is really helpful that helps just give people ideas every single day so you don't have to think about it.

Like, there are ways to make it sustainable that don't have to feel like this overwhelming giant thing to do every single day, 'cause then you're just never gonna do it and then you're gonna get burnt out, and then you're gonna feel guilty and sad, and then you're just gonna spiral and, you know, yeah. We don't want that. Mm-hmm. So, um, yeah, I mean, there are ways to do it to, uh, to help you show up easier, for sure.

A- absolutely. Um, I love all of that so much. Thank you so much for sharing all that amazing value. And so, I mean, going back to the, the spiral.

Mm-hmm. Going back to the burnout. Going back to those feelings. Yeah.

Right? Yeah. Um, like, tell me about, you know, you talked a little bit about how you have experienced, like, your own version of Instagram burnout- Yeah. in the past, you know, two years, right?

Yeah. So, I mean, just so that way, you know, we can m- make the listeners know that it's, like, freaking everybody, um- Everyone. would you mind sharing a little bit of what that experience, like, looked like for you, just so that way- Yeah. people don't feel alone?

'Cause I think that could be really powerful.Yeah. I think that's the big thing too, is, it is really easy to see Instagram from the outside and be like, "Wow, Jamie's just killing it. Oh my gosh, she's so successful," or, "This person's doing all these things."

And yet we don't know what's going on behind the scenes, you know. Um, we don't know what goes into all of that and how people really are feeling. And yeah, I mean, there definitely was a place, you know, 2020 was hard and challenging and we had to completely reimagine our business because I helped hairstylists get clients on Instagram while salons were shut down. So getting clients on Instagram was, like, not a thing.

Um- Right. so, you know, helping stylists show up on Instagram and support their clients during that time was what I shifted my focus to. But yeah, I mean, I hustled hard in 2020 to just, uh, make sure that I was showing up and helping people as much as I could, 'cause I, I wanted to. I was like, "Oh my gosh.

Like, our industry's, like, bleeding out. Like, how do I, how do I help?" Um, but because of that, then it led to a lot of just, like, "Oh my gosh. Like, I am done.

I can't." Um, and, and I used to teach show up on your stories. Like, never let it die. Like, I- Mm-hmm.

always had the stories up. I always had something that I was posting. Um, and, and it wasn't every single day on Instagram. Uh, that was a long time ago that I was doing that.

But I mean, still showing up a couple times a week and, and on my stories all the time. And I had to give myself permission to be like, "It's okay to not be on all the time. It's okay to not share every moment. It's okay to take breaks."

Um, and so one of the things that I've implemented, and it's been so helpful for me, is taking the weekends off of Instagram. Uh, at least the business profile. So logging out. I don't answer DMs, I don't, uh, re- res- respond to comments, I don't post on Instagram, I don't share on my stories.

And sometimes it goes longer than that. Sometimes it's like Friday to Monday and I'm like, "Yeah, that counts like in the weekend." You know? Um, but that's been, like, so helpful for me.

I'm not scrolling the feed, I'm not seeing what everybody else is doing. Mm-hmm. I'm just turned off. And in the same way that we wouldn't expect employees in a business to be, you know, logged in 24/7.

Like, we don't realize that that's part of our business and, like, it's okay to, like, not be- Yes. in our business and no one's gonna die. No one's gonna ... I mean, we've even had things where, like, people email us, like, customer service stuff, like, in the DMs and I'm like, "Okay, first off, the email is ...

Like, no, that's not where you go for customer service." "Uh, but also, you're not gonna die." Right. "So, like, if you're gonna come after me 'cause, like, I wasn't in my DMs for two days, like-" Right.

"... no, you're not my customer anyways. Like, I don't, I don't want you a part of my circle because that's not the type of people that I wanna attract," you know? Yes.

Um, so anyways, I think, I think it's important to realize that, like, a lot of us have felt that this last year, the burnout. Yep. In general, in our industry, specifically with Instagram too. Mm-hmm.

Yes. Um, and it's okay to take a break. And if you need to take a longer break, like, that's okay too, you know. Your Instagram's not gonna die.

The algorithm's not gonna punish you. You know, your, your clients aren't gonna stop coming to you 'cause you stop posting. Like, you have to do what works for you and what feels good to you, and sometimes that literally does mean taking a complete break, logging out, um, going outside, doing other things, um, and not feeling like you have to be on all the time. Yeah, dude.

Yeah. You know what I heard out of all that? Is like, boundaries. Yeah, yeah.

Like setting, like setting boundaries for yourself, right? Yeah, 100%. I actually quite honestly, like, it's, it's, it's ... I, I preach about it all the time and it's something ...

I preach about it because it's something that I struggle with- Mm-hmm. is separating ... Because we are solopreneurs, like, all of us. Yeah.

Yeah. Even, even if you are in a team salon, like, you are your own br- like, walking brand. Yeah. The success of your career rel- like, relies solely on you at the end of the day.

And so that's a lot of weight. And I think that I- Mm-hmm. have a really hard time, and hairstylists have a really hard time, separating themselves- Mm-hmm. from their business.

Yes. Because they are two separate entities and- Yes. and at the end of the day, yes, you are the one who is representing your business, right? Like, you are the business.

However, you know, what ... You, you are your own human being as well too. Mm-hmm. And I like that you talked about- Mm-hmm.

you know, like, I, I think that we need to start using, like, Instagram, social media, whatever it may be, as, uh, we need to look at it as a tool and- Yes. and a very tangible, physical thing that can be turned off. Yes. So you can go be your own human being, right?

Yes. And go, like, spend some time with yourself, your family, and your friends, and- Mm-hmm. and it's really hard to set those boundaries, especially because, you know, social media has its own mission of getting you addicted and like, making you feel like you have- Oh, yeah. to be up on there all the time.

Yeah. But once you start doing it, once you set those personal boundaries for yourself, and like, uh, Jamie would ... Like, like, you were sharing, um, like, once you set up the foundations and the systems to where, like ... And the maintenance plan, right?

Yeah. To where you are nurturing that platform where you have the things set up, right? The system- Yeah. set up to where you don't have to be present all the time to make it work for you.

Right. That's when you can really live a life full of abundance and actually reap the benefits of being a hairstylist and using social media to grow your business in that way. Would you agree with me? Yeah, absolutely.

Because I know that if somebody were to land on my page and it's the right person, they can get all the information that they need and I didn't have to share or post it or anything- Yes. about it, right? Because it's like, they can find it. Great.

That's perfect. And it works in the background. It, it becomes almost like a evergreen kind of machine working in the background, which is awesome, but yeah, at the same time, I think setting those boundaries for yourself and just giving yourself permission to be like, "It's okay. I don't have to do it all.

I don't have to show everything." Um, there's so- Mm-hmm. much of my life. I almost feel like ...

I was talking to a friend the other day. Uh, I was talking to Piper the other day, actually. Mm-hmm. Hendy, I know you know Piper.

Love me some Pipe. Uh, Piper DeYoung. Yes. Uh, she was on the podcast actually, right?

Not too long ago. She has done a lot of work with me. She's come into my membership. Oh, okay.

But she is definitely gonna be on the podcast sometime too. Perfect. Okay, well, listen uh, w- wait for her episode. It'll be great.

Um, I- I'm already pitching her. No, I'm just kidding. Um, but yes. So- ...

anyways, I was talking to my friend, Piper.And, you know, she was saying, she's like, "Man, like, I was sharing a part of my life that I've never shared about on Instagram." And she was like, "It's so weird. It feels like you're like Hannah Montana, like living two lives."

And I'm like, "Yeah, it really is that way." Because, and not that I don't want to share those things on Instagram, but it's also important for me to have things that are for me too. Yes. Um, and- and things that feel sacred to, this is something that's for me and I love doing it.

And maybe one day I will share about it, and maybe I won't, and that's okay too. And like just having that, like it's, it is separate. Like your business and life really are separate. Mm-hmm.

We, especially as hairstylists, get very mixed up in and having it be all intertwined, especially when it comes to like texting back clients and DM, blah, blah. And like I love that what you teach helps stylists not have to do all of those things, but- Mm-hmm. Yeah. It- it can be separate and I think that it's healthy.

It's- it's healthy to have a little bit of separation between that and just, and just finding what works for you. Um, yeah, I would encourage you to take the weekends off of Instagram if you don't already. It is so helpful, um, for those of you listening, like yeah, it's just, it's been something that's been really helpful for me. Yeah.

Um, just to kind of have that reset, for sure. I will completely agree. Um, with, with, I have, I've been str- uh, you know, it's always a struggle, right? Mm-hmm.

But I've, even just recently I've been like trying really hard to like keep my phone, even my whole-ass phone, like in the d- Yeah. in a different room. Like I can't even touch it. Yeah.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Um, so Jamie, you did talk ... I love everything that you shared.

Thank you so much. Mm. Like this has been- Thank you, yes. freaking amazing and I think that- Yes.

you know, you listening to this, I hope that you can like take a deep breath with me right now, ready, like ... Mm. Exhales] It's okay to give yourself- Yes. some permission to- Yeah.

live your damn life and not be obsessed with being on Instagram all the time. Yes. Um, but you have created some resources, as you do, Jamie, to help these freaking beautiful hairstylists out here- Mm. um, with preventing burnout and to make showing up on Instagram and growing their business easier, right?

So I would love to hear, you know, where people can find you if they don't already freaking know who you are. Um- Burnout. and, uh, and how they can work with you and how they can get into those resources and stuff. Absolutely.

So I always tell people the best place to start is my YouTube channel, 'cause I've got a lot of content over there, tons of free ed- like hours, hours of free education. If you like Netflix and you like to binge things, uh, YouTube is the place to check it out. So YouTube's got a ton of free education and for those of you who are feeling like, I want to post on Instagram, but I feel like coming up with ideas all the time is really hard. Or like, I feel like I'm only posting hair photos, or I feel like, ugh, like I just, I wish somebody would just tell me what to post.

Um, I have a little resource that I created called Social Stylist Plan. It's 27 bucks, one time, it's not like a subscription or anything. Um, but it's literally gonna walk you through all the content you need. If you want to post every single day, five days a week on Instagram, uh, it'll help you do that.

But if you only want to post one to two or three times a week, it's gonna literally lay out, okay, this is what you're gonna post next and this is how you do it. And the strategy in there, there's a training in there that walks you through how to basically create your next three to six months worth of Instagram content, schedule it out, and just do it so you don't have to think about it. So like you literally can sit down for three hours and schedule out your next three to six months worth of Instagram content and it would be like posting almost every single day. So if that's something that is interesting to you, it's 27 bucks.

You can check it out at socialstylistplan.com or you can always check out the link in my bio. Um, but yeah, I, my goal is to just help you be able to show up on Instagram easier without burning out, without the overwhelm. So, um, lots of resources over there.

You can check me out on Instagram and then, and I would love if you'd send me a DM after this. I always love connecting with people who listen to podcasts and know where you came from. So please, if you're listening to this, send me a DM. I'd love to connect with you.

Dude, thank you so much. If you're listening to this- Yes. make sure to go and check out those resources. Check out Jamie if you, I mean, if you haven't, if you don't already know who Jamie is.

She's freaking awesome and, and Jamie, we really appreciate you as an industry, you know, pivoting and making sure that you're showing up for us in the times, in the ways that we need it right now. Like I love that you even said like the resource that you're offering, it is for, it, you can change it based upon what your business looks like, right? Absolutely. Like whether you want to be the person who's showing up every single freaking day or you want to be the person who's posting once a week.

Like it'll work for you and that is really special and important, uh, nowadays, really, you know, focusing on how everybody has such a different, uh, experience, right? Yeah, absolutely. So thank you so much for joining us, Jamie. Thank you.

We love you out here, girl. Thank you for having me, honestly. Yes, I love this. Um, thank you so much for listening to this, my friend, whoever's listening to this, wherever you are.

If you enjoyed this episode of the Modern Hairstylist Podcast, then we would very much appreciate if you left a five star review wherever you're listening to this so that way we can share love with even more like-minded beauty professionals such as yourself. And, uh, Jamie, again, thank you so much. You're freaking amazing. We'll have to do this again sometime soon.

Absolutely. And peace out, girl scout. Bye.

End of transcript. © 2022 Hunter Donia LLC.