State of the Industry, Your Mindset, Inflated Success of 2020-2022 (LIVE Recording)

I have been hearing a lot of shit over the past couple of months and weeks, just, like, that has to do with mindset, that just has to do with, like, our feelings around our business. Um, and I've experienced them myself, and luckily, I'm a part of these amazing programs where I'm able to be with these other amazing entrepreneurs who are doing wild things in their business. And we're all able to collaboratively, like, analyze what the state of the world is, and the state of consumer behavior is, and be able to bring that back to you. That's what I love about being able to do with this program, is bring back to you what I'm learning from these, like, seven-figure, eight-figure entrepreneurs that I get to, like, have these amazing conversations with.

I'm like a small fish in these groups, and I love to be able to learn from them and then give it to you guys. Um, and th- uh, that's what I'm going to be translating into a fair bit of this presentation today. And what I, what I want your intention with this is to be, is that this is your reset, okay? As far as your feelings around your business right now, right, or as far as what you're tracking with your business and your numbers and how you're comparing yourself and all those things, I want this to be your reset moving forward.

I want you to understand that you are exactly where you're supposed to be right now, and that times have changed, and times are really different, and times are changing really quickly, and that, um, we need to be showing up for ourselves in a different way because of that, okay? So, if y'all are ready to get into this... 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. So, I'm gonna ask you again, stop saying yes. In the comments, say yes if you're getting less new client requests than you're used to, just in general.

All right, cool, thank you very much. So, majority of you, it's a yes, right? You are not alone. You're not alone.

Obviously, there's a lot of people in here who are saying yes. There's a lot of people in here who are saying no, who just went through PVP and who just increased things and changed things around, and so they're dealing with a different type of perceived value now, and that's setting a new standard for their business. But a lot of you are dealing with new standards for yourself, right? And this is because of the state of the world, it's because of the state of the economy, and it is what it is.

Our numbers from 2020, 2021, even, like, early 2022, those numbers are inflated. Business was easy back then, and a lot of us started our businesses back then in 2020, 2021, right? Or s- or went out on our own, et cetera, et cetera. And our numbers, those numbers that you think about, the success that you had, the money that you brought in, the clients that you had, the client requests that you had, all of those numbers, they w- were inflated numbers compared to how now the economy is starting to normalize and balance back out.

And so, I don't know about you guys, but, um, this is happening not just within our own industry, this is happening in all types of industries. And so, like I said, I'm bringing this back from, like, my, my entrepreneur mastermind groups, and they are people doing all sorts of different things, and we are all collaboratively agreeing that those numbers were skyrocket record wild numbers that nobody could even imagine, because of the p- that state of the world at the time. So, I want you to think about, like, if right now, if you're differe- if your numbers are different right now, right? And if you're like, "I'm not getting the new client requests that I'm used to," et cetera, et cetera, "And I feel like I'm failing" and, "I was doing so well and now I'm not.

What the fuck's going on?" Just know that y- it's not you. There's nothing wrong with you, there's nothing wrong with what you do. You haven't done anything that's going to make your business a disaster, and your- the rug's not coming out from underneath of you.

It's not you. It's the current state of the world. It's the plate and circumstances that have been handed to you right now. And we need to stop trying to compare ourselves to those numbers and stop expecting those same numbers, and understand that this is your new baseline, okay?

Where you're at right now is the new baseline. So, when I know, w- I know that a lot of us, right, we saw this path of tr- uh, this trajectory of growth, right? Maybe, like, three years ago, two years ago, and we were like, "Holy shit, if I keep growing at this same rate, this is where I'll be in a year or two." So, you plan for that to happen, and maybe that's not happening, and you're like, "What the fuck's going on?"

So, now you're really down on yourself. Now you're, like, d- double guessing every da- everything, and you're like, "I have to change things up. What the fuck's going on? I'm a failure."

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. How nice does it feel, instead of to compare yourself to all of that, how good does it feel to just be like, "This is my new baseline. This is where I'm starting, and it's only up from here, and I'm no longer comparing myself to the past." Am I right?

Does that feel good? Yes? Less pressure? Do we feel better about that?

This is how our mindset needs to be moving forward, okay? We have a new baseline, and we're operating with our goals in a different way, and that is okay. You guys are brilliant. You guys survived an insane, wild event in the world and in the industry.

You guys are here, right? You guys are here. I love that Kristen just said, "This new baseline feels sustainable." I just went over a lot of goals using this in the past couple of months.

I just set out a bunch of goals for my own business, and if it were, like, six months ago without this new understanding, I would have looked at my goals and been like, "Oh my God, this is, like...... so much anxiety. I wanna give up. I wanna quit.

This fucking sucks. But when I realized, like, this is the new baseline, this is the new standard, it felt like a breath of fresh air. It felt so much more sustainable. It felt so much more attainable.

And so I love that you shared that, and I want you guys to feel the same way about your business right now. Okay? So, no more panicking. No more freaking out about what was then and what is now, because all we have is right now, and you can only move on from here.

So, this is your new baseline. Whatever's happening in your business right now, this is what you're gonna par- compare yourself, how you're gonna compare yourself moving forward. My next thing that I wanna share with you, and it's some tough love and it's some tough news, business is unpredictable. S- being a CEO, being an entrepreneur, owning a business, the nature of it is unpredictable.

It is volatile, and this service industry is, can be very seasonal and go up and down. Th- it, i- i- it is unpredictable. We as human beings, we love predictability. It gives us a lot of comfort.

It gives us a lot of safety. It makes us feel like everything's gonna be okay. And I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm learning this more and more and more and more, there's no such thing as predictability in business and being an entrepreneur. There are, like I said, baselines, right?

There's, there's things that, there's trends, there's things that you can track. But as we've seen, things change really fast and in different ways. And the more that you are looking for safety, the more that you are looking to get back to where you were, right, the more that you're looking in the past, or the more that you're wanting the future to just stay the same, the harder you are making it for yourself to show up for yourself, believe in yourself, and actually take steps forward in your business. It's just, causes anxiety, it causes stress that does not need to be there.

So, instead of feeling so fearful of the future or wanting everything to be cool and the same and to stay the same, instead, I want you to focus on more trusting yourself and understanding that you are a smart, beautiful, amazing human being who has gotten this far. You have been through some shit in your life. You have been through some shit in your business. You have put in wild work and created beautiful things in your life thus far.

You are smart. You are able to pivot. You can make things work. If tomorrow, if tomorrow you needed to make an extra $500, I guarantee you that you are a smart, beautiful human being, not to mention a smart, beautiful, possibly majoritively woman in this group who are fucking badass and take on the freaking world more than anybody else does, who are absolutely capable of making that happen for yourself and figuring out how to make that happen.

So, instead of trying to look for safety and predict these, w- predict the future and trying to make everything the same, trust yourself that if things do change, and when things do change, because they will, that you will be able to show up for yourself and take care of yourself. Trust yourself. You have to. Okay?

Here's my next lecture. Okay? Now that we have gotten, now that we are clearing the baseline, now that we're starting from scratch, and now that we're understanding that predictability is not reasonable anymore, now that we are understanding that we have to just get more curious and be open to testing and be open to experiencing and trusting ourselves and our future and a deep knowingness that this is exactly where you're supposed to be right now and you will fucking succeed and take care of yourself, I want you to understand the importance of tracking your fucking numbers. Tracking your numbers is the only way that you will be able to actually test the efforts that you are making towards growth.

Exactly. Anna says, "Numbers do not lie," and they're not freaking wrong. The numbers will tell you the real story of what's going on. We just assume so much shit.

And I, I cannot wait to s- share with you guys what I'm gonna share with you guys later, but we assume so much shit, because one of our clients, right, one of our clients tells us, "Oh, well, I really hate filling out forms," and, um, "I really hate having to not pre-book my appointment," or, "I really hate this new session pricing shit," or, uh, "I don't have any money to spend anymore," or whatever it may be. We take this one pers- one thing that this one person says, and we think that it's our entire reality, and we think that every single one of our clients and every single human being on the planet thinks the exact same way. Or we think that we did something completely wrong and that we have to change everything, and everything's wild and crazy. The only thing that will ever tell you the truth is your numbers.

Okay? The only thing that will ever tell you the truth is your numbers. You may think that, "Oh, I changed something on my Instagram, and now that's not getting me as many clients, or maybe that is getting me as much clients or more clients," whatever it may be. You're not gonna know unless you track your numbers.

Okay? So, for a business to truly scale, it's critical that the CEO concentrates on eradicating as many non-income-producing activities as they can, because there's only one of you, and you are the only one who's gonna be able to make the biggest impact in your business with the actions that you take. So, this will allow you to get e- to dedicate your attention to the tasks that hold the highest potential for driving significant growth. This is what you guys have done in Previs-a-Pathway.

So, if you don't automate, if you don't delegate, if you don't lean into, uh, maybe alternative and forward-thinking innovating bo- innovative booking strategies, if you don't have these forms, right, if you don't have automated emails, everything as systematized as possible, it is going to hold you back.... from actually focusing on the things that are making you the most money, and giving you the most energy and time and wealth back into your business, right? So that's why it's so important to understand that automation is absolutely essential for your business, and Fortune 500 companies completely agree with me. More than 80% of business leaders reported accelerating their work process automation within the past year.

Within the past year. Nothing has changed. We've been ahead of the game, okay? If y'all have been here from the get-go, 'cause I know a lot of y'all on this call have been, if y'all have been here for a little bit, you guys, we've been ahead of the game.

We understood that this was coming, and now it's time. Because other companies, they understand that this is where you should be focusing on, automating, systematize, and leaning into innovative processes, and that's why we're here at Modern Hairstylist Movement, that's why you took PVP. Most organizations, 97% believe that business process automation is crucial for digital transformation, and keeping up with the pace of change in customers' needs and wants. Say "needs", say "needs" if you have seen your clients wanting and expecting more than they have ever had before.

Say "needs" in the comments, right? In order for you to keep up with that pace, you need to be focusing on this shit, and you need to keep it in your business, okay? So automation and systems are essential for your growth, and if you let one person who tells you that they don't feel like filling out a form, if you let that one person control your entire narrative for you, how you run your business, and you're like, "Oh, I have to stop, uh, getting forms, and I have to stop having people book online," then you are truly holding yourself back from your actual potential of growth, and you're letting your clients run your business instead of yourself. If there's any doubt, 'cause I wanna- I wanna address this.

I'm sorry, y'all. I'm like- I'm like ranting today. If there's any doubt that systems and automation and processes and the way that we do shit is not what your clients want or is holding you back from success, I just ran a survey across 500 women in the United States, all who get their hair done at a salon, of all different ages, okay? 500 women in the United States who do go to a salon to get their hair done, of all ages, okay?

71% of them prefer to book their own appointment online instead of calling the salon. 71%. Everybody say "71" in the comments. 71% of women of all ages, I'm talking all fucking ages, okay?

They prefer to book an appointment online. I want you to fucking guess, I want you to guess, how many people in the comments, all right? I want you to guess, what percentage of those women are willing to fill out a consultation form online prior to booking their first appointment. Just guess.

And I know some of y'all saw my class at the Modern Hairstyling Summit, so I know some of y'all know the answer. 95%. 95%. Everybody say "95".

And I'm not fucking playing. Of all ages, dude. All ages above 65. The last thing I want to share with you is the only person you should be comparing yourself to is...

Who? Who is it? Tell me. Who's the only person you should be comparing yourself to is?

Period. I had another person ask me, they were like, "Oh my God, I'm seeing, like, these people who are getting 20 new client requests in the- in the MSM Facebook group, and, like, I'm not getting anywhere near that." It's like, this person has a whole different niche. They've been in business for this long.

They started this really high-level shit so much longer ago than you did. Like, they have a whole different circumstance. They live in an entire different area. They have nothing to do with your baseline and your success.

You have your own baseline. You have your own baseline. You have your own journey. That's the only one that you should be comparing yourself to.

That's the only one that you should be measuring yourself up against. Things may be different, and we may want things to be like they were before, but that's not the case anymore. So now we just need to stop feeling like we want everything to be predictable and safe and the same, and we have to start thinking and understanding that where you're at in your journey, right now, is beautiful, and it's where you're supposed to be, and you can only go up from here.

End of transcript. © 2023 Hunter Donia LLC.