Showing Up for Yourself and Your Business Through Tough Times with Nina Tulio

What's the tea, friend? My name's Hunter Donia, industry business educator for hairstylists, but my friends just call me Hunty. 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.

Hello, my friend. Welcome back to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. Oh, my God, we have a really cool, amazing, game-changing leader in this industry up on the podcast today. We have Miss Nina Tulio.

What's the tea, Nina? How are you? I am so good. I'm so pumped.

I love chatting with you. You know I love you. I love your energy. So, I can't wait to get into it.

And thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Yeah, no, thank you so much for your time. I w- at the time of recording this, we had Jay on last week, and I know that you guys are besties and you guys- Yeah.

have a podcast together and work together very often. And, I feel very similarly f- for you in the same way that I feel for Jay, because I met you guys in the same - when you guys were, like, together and you both have just been such a huge part of my journey, especially in the beginning of what I'm doing now, because I was able to, like, look up to you guys and see- Mm-hmm. what a, what an excellent example of being some sort of change in this industry looks like, like being some sort of mentor to people within th- i- this industry looks like. It w- it's such ...

Y- you guys lead from such a authentic, genuine, caring place, and it just means so much to me, and it's what I strive and then how I strive to show up as a mentor every single day. Mm-hmm. And so, um, I just have such, such respect for you. And so, just the fact that you're down to come on here and have this conversation with me, I'm just like so honored.

So, thank you for being on the podcast. Thank you. Oh my Go- Listen, you're gonna make me cry, what, in one minute in? Like don't even start right now.

You know I'm a crier. I'm a Pisces, so- Yes. we can cry all day. But I ...

Yeah, you know, I appreciate that. Thank you. And I think that you are a very, very special person. And so, I love chatting with you and I love getting to know you.

I love that we were able to meet in person at Sola Sessions. Yes. And I got to hug you. And I think your authenticity and your message is very important.

So, right back at you. I, I just think that you're an amazing person, and I'm just ... I'm honored to be here chatting with you. So- Thanks, Nina.

thank you. I appreciate it. So, the topic of today, and which I wanna chat with you about, which I think you and I are gonna be hav- have some great conversations around, is showing up for yourself and your business when shit is difficult, or when things aren't working out the way that you wish they would ha- they would. Right?

And, I know that somet- this is pretty time relevant, and I feel like it's been time relevant over the past like three, four years. Damn, we have had some crazy, crazy times. And, you know, I've been able to hear of you speaking about this topic in the past in really beautiful ways, and, um, being able to address this and inspire people in beautiful ways. And so, I think that I would love to start this conversation off with asking you, Nina, if you'd be down to, if you're open to it, in your journey within your career, is there any specific time where you have been struggling, or where you felt like it was like impossible for you to keep going in your business?

Well, many times. I think that the one that always stands out to me, and listen, you know, and I'm, I'm probably 12, 13 years out from this happening, and it still gets me choked up because I feel like ... You know, when you go through something really traumatic, and it has ... the past few years have been really traumatic, I think, you know, there's a lot of expectation to heal overnight, and it doesn't happen that way.

Now, there's a difference between healing and being resilient, and, you know, really bouncing back, and, you know, letting all of the screams out and kind of diving in to, like, letting the emotions flow and really feeling it, but then finding that why within you and jumping right back and getting on the horse. Now, that doesn't mean that there's still healing going on underneath. So, I would say the time for me that was hands-down the absolute most difficult was when recession 2009, so 2009, 2010, I moved into a, a new salon during the recession, a bigger salon. I more than doubled my rent.

Wow. And it was so risky. And I remember my mom telling me, like, "What are you doing?" I was $90,000 in debt at the time.

My fault. I was spending a lot of money to fill a void, but I was also spending a lot of money on marketing that wasn't working for my business. I was just kinda throwing money out there just to, you know, hope that things would stick and get me busier. But, it was a lot deeper than that.

And so, when the recession hit, I was broke, and I moved into this bigger space. Um, my landlord took a risk on me, took a flyer on me because he really believed in me. And I remember just literally trying to get the space redone. I had, I had to borrow $5,000 from my best friend Gus, and he gave it to me no questions asked, and I had my friends and family come in and redo the space 'cause I had no money to do it.

And it was such a scary time, because I knew that if I stayed in the location that I was at, which was in more of a residential spot and it was very small, that I wouldn't be able to grow. And so, being in debt and ... Oh, man. Being in debt, and then having to sell my house to keep my business, it kinda a- it all happened at the same time.

And I just kept thinking to myself, you know, you have a team of people that are relying on you. You know, when you're a salon owner, and when you're an owner in any business, you ... your responsibility is to them.And the thing that kept hurting me the most, ugh, still, see, still gets me emotional.

The thing that hurt me the most was that I knew that if I didn't continue and I closed my doors, I would disappoint them. Not only would I disappoint myself, because this was always a dream and goal for me, but I would disappoint them. And so, I chose to sell my house to keep my business. And, you know, I had creditors calling the salon to threaten to take out my furniture.

It was bad, it was really bad. And at the end of the day... And I prayed every night, "God, please give me a sign. Please help me, please support me, please guide me."

Like, I was sick, I wasn't eating. I lost probably 10 pounds. I was in a horrible relationship. It was super abusive.

It was like all the things wrapped up in one. And then I remember saying to myself, "What is it that... Why did you do this in the first place? Wha- what is it that, that prompted you to open the salon?

What is your why? What is it that's going to make you get up every single day?" And you have to dive in and tap in a little bit deeper into that. And I kept saying to myself, "You're not a quitter.

You've never been. You're not gonna quit. You're gonna push through." Like, I literally would have to talk to myself like, "You're gonna push through.

You're gonna get up today, even though you don't want to. You don't want to get out of bed, you don't want to eat. You have to do this not only for yourself, but for your team." And that was, that was tough.

That was hands down probably the hardest time in my life. And as you can see, it still rattles me. And, you know, it's so... You know, we're moving, we're in 2024, so, you know, 2009, 2010, there is still a lot of, um, healing that goes on, even all those years later.

So, that was it. That was the toughest time. Damn, dude. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

What do you think that... So you said that, you know, you really had to lean into your why, right? Mm-hmm. Do you think that that is truly...

And maybe you can either expand on that or you can talk about other, other things that got you through. Sure. What do you think... Do you think that that is, like, the main thing that was able to get you through what was going on at the time?

Well, well, it was that, it was reconnecting with the why, but it was also proving to myself that I could. It was also a r- I had a very, very deep belief in myself that I could get out of this mess that I created. And the one thing that I want everyone to know, because everyone's gonna go through very rough times, the biggest piece of advice I have for you, and what I learned for myself, is that you have to take accountability when your business is doing great, and you have to take accountability when your business is shitty. And the biggest thing that, aside from the belief in self and aside from reconnecting with my why and really, like, looking at myself and saying, "You started this to create something big and started this to create something that could bring people together and create a community within your s- you know, your salon space.

Get, get back to that." But the accountability side, I think, is the hardest but the most rewarding. You know, you... And I talk about this a lot, you know, when I'm out and, and speaking and sharing messages and things, but you have to be able to hold that mirror up in front of your face and say, "You know what?

I screwed up. And you know what? It's okay. And I got myself into this mess and I know that I'm gonna get myself out of it."

And what do you have to do? What is the plan? What, what pivot can you make? 'Cause there are some times th- the pivots have to really come.

And I would say those three things, it's, you know, accountability, it's, it's diving into the why, it's the belief in self, but there's also a big part of awareness, you know? And we're all gonna make mistakes. I mean, that's not even... That's the biggest one, but there were so many mistakes I made as a salon owner.

The first year I was in business, I was, I was down $800 in my bank account. And I think it's this constant... You have to tap into that accountability side, but you also have to have a very deep belief that you can. Yeah.

And it's, it's hard to tap into, and I think being resilient, there's been so many stylist owners that have been super resilient over the past couple years because of what everybody has gone through. And we get tested. And, you know, like you said, "Oh, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," and I'm actually very grateful that I went through that because it allows me to show up the way that I do. It allows me to speak on this so candidly.

It allows me to show up on Instagram and, you know, when I'm meeting people in person, and be so real and raw, authentic about it. I have no shame about what I went through. You know? And, and, and it was my fault.

Like, I'm the one that got myself into the mess, but I feel like it truly is my purpose and my passion to show up and talk about this, and I'm really grateful for those moments, and it also keeps me very humble and very grounded. Yeah. Yeah, speaking about shame, um, I feel like also, like, when you're in those circumstances, the shame can be super debilitating by itself. Mm-hmm.

Like, that itself can make it, make you feel completely defeated and y- like, not make you wanna face... 'Cause you have to face it. Sure. You have to confront the shame, I feel like, in order to continue on in the right direction and steps moving forward, right?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the shame, I mean, there's so much m- m- shame around money. You know, there's so much shame around, um, how we show up, what we have. S- there's a lot of, uh, superficial conversations, there's a lot of, uh, surface-level things that happen, I think, not only in our business, just, you know, in life in general.

And I think th- there's a... Society says that we're supposed to be a certain way and we're s- supposed to be here at a certain time and we're supposed to make this much money and all th- and there's a lot of pressure that comes along with that. And I think a lot of that is driven by ego. Mm-hmm.

And when you learn to... You know, because the conversations that I had with myself early on were led by ego.Mm. Like, you know, you can't, you can't look weak, you can't look like you're being defeated, you can't look like you are losing, you can't look like you're failing, you can't, we can't look like.

You see that? You can't look like. Well, who am I looking like? To what?

To who? Other people? Am I gonna look like that to other people? So when you're concerned about what other people are gonna think and you're concerned about what the outside is gonna say, it's a lot of ego.

And I lived in that space just because I also didn't wanna disappoint people. That, that's a big part of just who I am as a person and I think a lot of us can relate to the people, people pleasing mentality. Totally. But when you move out of the ego and you really sit in self and you really start to think about you and what matters to you and what is important to you and what makes you feel good and how you can honor yourself and your own goals and dreams ass- not even worrying about what the world puts on you and you let that pressure go, I think that's part of the accountability side, as hard as it is and the shame that comes with it, and I did feel shame.

I mean, I didn't really wanna tell too many people that, yeah, I had creditors calling. You know, I am broke. You know, my, my inner circle of friends, I'm so fortunate, I have a group of about six friends that I've been friends with for over 25 years, and so they knew what was going on. You know, my family knew what was going on.

It's good to have that support system. There was shame there, but I also felt like in order for me to push through, I had to stop giving a shit about what everybody else thought and wanted me to be, and I had to lean into who I really knew I was. And that was a big shift for me in terms of my turning my business around, 'cause there is good news to this story. I did end up turning my business around.

It was positive. I love that. I feel like being a salon owner and feeling that responsibility for your team and opening that environment for them and having a strong why for those other people as well, right? That makes it, I mean, that digs the hole 10 times deeper, you know?

Mm. And makes it that much more intense. I have a lot of independent stylists who will tune into my podcast. Sure.

That's the majority of my audience. And I think that, I think that it's a different ... It's like, it's not that one's, like, more or less. I just think it's a different type of hard because I think that we all too often don't believe ourselves- Mm-hmm.

to be that same level of worthiness- Mm. of taking, taking that seriously as far as, like, what's in stake. You know what I mean? Right.

Like, as an independent owner, it's like you don't have these other people who you're like, "Oh my God, if I lose the business, then I'm, like, g- I'm gonna be taking away these people's livelihoods," right? But also, like, i- if you're just by yourself too, like, you should be taking that seriously as well, I feel like. You should be look- looking at yourself as that worthy, that you are ... that this business that you've created is something that you have super strong why for and that provides you a lot of things.

And, and it's, I think it's worth having to work through some of the uncomfortability or the shame or the confrontation, even if it's just for yourself, right? Oh, absolutely. I mean, you're- you're own- you own a business. You know, you still took a leap of faith and bet on yourself with the hopes that this is gonna happen, whether you have a team or you are a solopreneur.

And you know, I, I speak to a lot of independent educators and I think that it's ... it can be more isolating, you know- Yes. because you don't have ... At least when I came into my salon, like, I had someone to show up for.

Right. I had to be good for them. I didn't have a choice. And when you're by yourself, you, you are by yourself, so when you show up, you show up for me, myself, and I.

And you don't have that camaraderie of a team or, you know, you're in the back mixing color. And, you know, those things really help kind of get me through it. When you're by yourself, you are by yourself and you only have yourself to look in the mirror. Yeah.

You know, it can make it even a little bit more isolating. And so I think this pertains either way because I think we all can relate to pain and we can all relate to struggle in some way, shape, or form, and I think the point of it is that when you really start to take accountability for all the good things and the bad things- Mm. whether you're a solopreneur or you have a team, shit changes. Yeah.

Right? You know, you really have to step up. When you're a solopreneur, you don't have anybody stepping up for, you don't have anybody showing ... you, you don't have anyone to show up for, so- Right.

you have to be forced to show up for you. That's where the belief really has to come in, like, "Wow," you know? Yeah, is it easy? Can I just walk away from this and close my doors?

But there has to be a sense of honor there and a sense of integrity within yourself to say, "No, I took a leap of faith and I, I trusted myself and I believed in myself enough to do it, so I'm not gonna walk away when times get tough. I'm gonna pivot." Right. "I'm gonna create a new plan of action.

I'm gonna look at what worked and celebrate it and continue to implement it, and I'm gonna look at what didn't work and I'm gonna throw it in the trash and pivot." You know? So I think it ca- it's so relative, you know, whether you have a team or you don't have a team. Totally, 100%.

I completely agree with everything you said. Now, my other question, I know that we haven't gotten to, like, the turnaround. We haven't gotten to- ... like, the triumphant, you know- Right.

how we got here and what the end of it looked like. We're in the trench still. And maybe this is the open, right? And maybe this is the opening to that.

But my ... You said that you took a big risk within that time when finances didn't look really great, when, like, there weren't really great logistic indicators of you taking that leap to then double the size of the salon, but in your gut, like, you knew, you know, like, "This is what ... Like, I would not be able to grow unless I was in this space." Looking back at that, and maybe, you know, we all have to t- especially as business owners all the time, we have to take risks all the time.

Sure. You know? And something this past year I, I've learned a lot, actually, about taking risks. Like, I always want everything to be so perfect and so calculated and so, like- Mm.

amazing before I actually take the jump into it, and I just learned this past year that, like, that's just not reality and you just don't know what's gonna happen until you actually freaking do it, you know? So with that being said, you know, this risk that you took, do you regret it? Do you have any advice for people, um, as far as, like, risk-taking such as that goes?That's a really great question, and I think that you, you really hit the nail on the head.

You have to trust yourself and you have to listen to your gut. Your gut will never steer you wrong, but a lot of times we just ignore it because then the fear comes in, the ego comes in, the doubt comes in, the imposter syndrome sets in, and we let that triumph over our own internal compass, which will never steer you wrong. And so, even in times of true desperation for me, I knew in my gut that if I, you know, it's kind of like if I stayed, it was gonna be a disaster, so it can't get worse. You know what I mean?

Like, I have to do this. And I think when you're thinking about taking risks, and you're right, like, does everything have to be calculated and curated and strategic? You know, I believe in cases that there is a component to it, but there also is that feeling that you have to have within yourself that you know that if I don't do this, how am I gonna feel? If I don't take the leap, am I going to miss out on a really big opportunity?

And I learned, this is a really good exercise, and I learned this from my mentor. I've been so fortunate to have two mentors, and Ray has since passed, but Robin and I, and she'll always be my mentor. I mean, we're, we're talking now probably 25 years with her, you know, too. And they taught me everything I need to know about business, everything I need to know about, you know, leading people and caring for people and being compassionate.

And when she would make big decisions, she said, "Neen, this is what I want you to do when you have to make a big decision and, and you're gonna take a risk, or you're gonna jump and you're gonna do something where you feel like, hey, I'm jumping without a net here. Write down, of course, write pros and cons, but you wake up one day living in the full fact that you're, let's say you're not gonna take the risk. So you live the full day." Okay, um, for me, I'll use my example as, as moving my location, right?

I'm not gonna do it. So I'm gonna tell my landlord that I'm gonna stay where I'm at. I'm gonna sign another year's lease. I'm gonna not be able to expand my business 'cause my business was, my salon was maybe five, 600 square feet.

I'm gonna stay there in the residential area where we don't have exposure, and I would live in that for the full day, and I literally would tap into how it would make me feel. And then I maybe would take a break, a day, and then the next day I would wake up as if I was actually going to take the leap, and I lived the full day, "Okay, I'm gonna sign my new lease, and it's for three years, and it's more than double what I'm paying, and I'm gonna have to rehab it, but it's in a better location. It's in a, it's in an area where there are other businesses, jewelry stores, you know, tanning salons. It's more, um, more traffic, and there's more space, and I can hire more people and I can grow and I can..."

So I didn't live in the risk of it. I lived in the every day of what it would look like for me to be in that space And if you're, this is really, really good advice, and I love paying this stuff forward, and this is stuff that she taught me 20 years ago Yeah. um, that I still sit in. So if you're, if you're in that conflict stage of, "Should I do it or should I not do it?"

And I'm a pretty big risk-taker when it comes to business. Live one day with, with your answer being, "I'm not gonna do it," and then live one day where you are going to do it. And I'm telling you, listen to the feeling that your body, l- your body will tell you inside what the right thing is to do. Block out all of the noise and listen to it.

Yeah. And truly, that is how I've made my decisions for the past, I don't know, when she first told me that, maybe 20 years ago, 15, 18 years ago. I still do that exercise. That's so excellent.

Yeah, it's so good because you're, when you, when you put the ego down, put the guard down, put- Right. all of the things, like all of the negatives, like more money, more rent, bigger space, things to take care of, you know, you put all of those things out there, well, shit, no one's gonna make the decision to go. Right. Right?

So you have to put, put the guard down and, and let the ego take a break and really listen to your gut and your feeling, and I'm telling you, it will never steer you wrong as long as you're in tune with what is going on internally. What excellent advice. I love that so much. I love, like, that tangible exercise.

I saw on social something recently that stuck with me about, like, listening to your gut, your intuition- Mm-hmm. versus when it's your ego. Mm-hmm. 'Cause sometimes I feel like you can't tell the difference, right?

Like, sometimes it's like, is this my ego and my fear, like, creeping in and, and trying to push me in this urgent way? Or is this my gut and my intuition, like, is this my compass inside of me? Yes. And the, they said that when it's your intuition and your gut, it feels much more in, in flow.

It feels a little bit more natural. It doesn't feel as forced, versus when it's your ego, it feels a little bit more urgent. Hmm. Like, it feels a little bit more like you're being pushed into it, or you, like, you have to make it happen in a quick way.

Mm-hmm. Um, it's out of, like, scarcity, right? And I think that exercise is such a beautiful way to test out those feelings, you know? Absolutely.

I, listen, I love what you just said, and it just, like, hit me. When you really think about it, the ego is external. The gut is internal. Yes.

So we need to really pay attention internally. And I give this piece, I give this advice to everyone who, who is struggling in a business. The answers that you need to revive your business or turn your business around or whatever that looks like, it's not externally, it's internally. Yeah.

It's within you, but it's also within the four walls of your business. So if we let the ego drive us, that's external. That's, "Well, the clients aren't coming in." That's, "Susie cancels all the time."

That's, you know-We don't... Our, our marketing isn't working because, you know, no one's reading the magazine that we put it in, or no one's seeing our ad on social media, or the receptionist always books me with the wrong people. That ex- That's external. You know that shit, right?

Yeah. That's external. But when we're... And it's very hard to do this exercise, but again, when you are accountable and you hold that mirror up, everything has to come from within.

And so I love that you brought that up, because I think it's so incredibly powerful. And you know what? I'm probably gonna do a Reel on this shit, because I feel so inspired of the things that we're talking about. Period.

It's just so, so tangible and so relevant, you know, for being a business owner. Yeah, I mean, even in the short time that I've had my education business, and then even before that with my suite business, like, every time I felt in my gut that- Mm-hmm. the swing was, like, the one that I should take, and I did it, I don't regret it whatsoever. And then even then some, right, even then some, you learn so much.

Right. Like, and I talk about, like, if you sw- if you take a swing and, like, it doesn't turn out the way that you want it to, then guess what? You get to learn so much, and then there's no such thing as failure at the end of the day. Hmm.

Because you learning that lesson was so essential for whatever your next version of you is going to be, or whatever your next goal is that you- Tell 'em. would like to achieve, right? Yes. So important.

Like, live in the... I live in the thank-you phase. Like, I don't, I don't, I don't live in regret. I don't look back.

Right. So, I think it's so important. You know, decisions I make, and my husband's like, "How do you live like that?" And he's always like, "Well, maybe we shouldn't."

I'm like, "I don't have time for this shit." "Like, I move, I move forward. I, I don't have time to look back on what happened." I think living in the thank-you phase and in the gratitude phase, even if something doesn't work out the way you wanted to, you know, I've conditioned myself to say thank you.

Yeah. "Thank you for the message. Thank you for the lesson. Thank you for the guidance.

And now let me move in a different direction." Totally. Another thing I think that you touched on a little bit, and I have been talking about this so much recently, I talked about it with Jay, was how we are living also, like, in social media, and we're looking at everybody else for, like, our own- Mm-hmm. definition of success.

Mm-hmm. And I think that we also think everything is supposed to happen for us so quickly. Yeah. Right?

Like, like tomorrow, like it's just supposed to happen for us. And sometimes I don't think that we're fully ready to... We haven't learned the lessons or had the experience that we needed to experience to be able to be ready to receive the things that are out there for you, that are possible, and that are going to come for you as well, eventually, too. Truth be told.

Right? Period. Okay, so then I wanna ask you, Nayene. So, we went...

So, we, we doubled the s- the salon size. We had creditors calling us, trying to take our sh- our cute furniture from us. What the hell? So rude.

So then, what happened? Like, what ended up happening? Like, what's the end of the story? Well, I know you guys have been, like, probably on the edge of your seat.

Like, "Did she ever get out of the trench?" Like, "What happened?" Uh, yes. You know, after I did all the work on myself...

And, and listen, I've been in therapy since I'm 20 years old, so I also believe in the power of therapy, and I have done all the things. I'll try anything. And so that was also very helpful too. And the good news is, is that when I started to take accountability, I started to become very clear on my brand.

See, part of the problem too was that I didn't really have a brand. I didn't really have a brand message. I didn't have... I didn't have a brand.

I had a brand personality, but I didn't really know how to communicate that to people. And so when I became clear on myself and my vision for my business, I became more clear on my brand. So, what I started to do was... I literally was like Waldo.

I was everywhere. Yeah. I became a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Best thing I ever did in my life.

And if you are listening and you're from Pennsylvania, the, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce is, like, the biggest chamber of commerce. It's huge. PA represent. Yes.

I'm wearing my Eagles jersey right now. I know. I saw that. I love that.

It's, it's a very, very big chamber. And so I joined the chamber. I also then joined the Women's Business Council, so I was on their board, which was incredible. Like, such a game changer for me, because it was my target market client, but I also met, like, some of the nice women ever.

And then I became the VP of programs, so I ran their programs for them, which I absolutely loved, and it got me in front of people who also had the same mindset. So, put yourself in the room with not only people that you wanna do business with, but people you aspire to be. And so, I went out. I was at their marketing events.

I was at their networking events. I was at their snowball events. I was involved with the community. I was volunteering, and I brought the team along.

And we were committed to going once a month to these events and being more social and being more community-driven. And we, you know, we did at least two or three community events that were all for nonprofits. Giving back was a big part of our brand and still is a big part of my brand today. And I just went gangbusters.

Yeah. I was out everywhere all the time, and I really moved the needle from being this little tiny salon that no one really knew, to being a salon that was in front of everybody's face. Yeah. And it was a lot of work.

Not gonna tell you, you know, I worked around the clock. My team also worked very, very hard. And yeah, so the good news was that we grew. So, after I got over the hump, at year...

So, this was all happening before year four, and in year four. Year five, I was able to pay back my friend Gus his $5,000. Oh, hey. And year six, we were able to grow 20 to 30% year over year until I sold the business.

That was about five or six years later. Nice. And so the business went from barely making a profit, I mean, like 1% would have been kind.... to making a 17 to 23% profit then year over year until I sold it.

And so, I tell you that because I want you to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. And when you believe in yourself and you are accountable for your actions, both good and shitty, when you put in the work and you're consistent, that's the thing. I was consistently showing up all the time. I'd pop up random places and people were like, "How the hell are you here?"

Like, "What?" I'm like, "I need to be in the room." You know what I mean? I need to be in the room of ...

People wanna know who we are, I need to be there. Don't ever give up in that way. You know, just be consistent in your approach. If things aren't working, you don't change the goal, you change the approach.

And that's exactly what I did. I just kept pivoting, "Oh, this isn't working? Boom, I'm gonna go left. This isn't working?

Boom, I'm gonna go right." And so test yourself. Try new things. You know, put yourself out there in ways that you haven't before and everything honestly was very gut driven for me.

Yup. Joining the chamber was very gut driven for me and it opened doors for me that I could not even imagine. It made relationships with women who still are supportive, like through Facebook and sending me messages all these years later. And so again, I'm gonna say it loud and proud for all of the people who don't believe this: this business is built on relationships.

Period. Period. I love it. Period.

What a beautiful way to wrap up this episode, Nin. You just killed it. That was freaking awesome. Thanks, bro.

People who listen to this are gonna be like, have a fire lit under their ass. I'm obsessed. Thank you so much, Nina, for joining us today. Please share with the people ...

We're gonna leave it in the show notes and stuff like that, but where can people learn more about you, find out about you, hang out with you? I live on Instagram. So, listen, and I respond to every single one of my DMs. I truly want you to know that you are supported.

I love to serve. It truly is my mission and purpose in my life. Slide into my DMs, ask me questions. Even if, even if they're questions that I've, people ask me very personal questions like, "How do I get out of debt?

What do I do?" I'm not, you know, a financial advisor, but I can tell you kind of what worked for me. Please slide into my DMs. I'm more than happy to support you in any way.

You can also check out my website, ninatulio.com. I have a lot of free resources there. You know, of course, you know, I live in the pricing and profit lane, so check out all of that stuff.

And I just want people to, I just want people to really live their absolute best life in whatever that looks like for them, and stop allowing the noise and the comparison and the expectation and the pressure- Mm. to, to, to rob them of that joy. I think the more we quiet our, our minds, the more clear we become, and the more that we can move with that gut and that intuition as opposed to moving with ego. So I just want everybody to do well and live their best freakin' life.

Amen. I love it. Thank you so much, Nine. And thank you, my friend, for tuning in to the Modern Hairstylist podcast.

Hope that you enjoyed this episode. If you did, I'd really appreciate it if you left a five-star testimonial wherever you're listening to this. It will allow us to reach more beauty professionals just like yourself. And we will catch you in the next episode.

Peace out, girl scout. Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2024 Hunter Donia LLC.