Building a right-sized business
Did you know what you wanted to be when you were a little girl? Were you told to go for it by your mom and dad or another adult in your life? Were you told that you were smart, brave, courageous, and beautiful enough? In a world in which we often hear the opposite this week's episode is sure to inspire you with hope and encouragement. Our guest Lyndsay Heck is a young successful hair stylist and business owner. Early on in the podcast, Amy and Melissa share some of their personal experiences with beauty regimens and the myth of aging gracefully. They share how their hair and skin care routines and products have evolved over the years. After introductions, Lyndsay starts off being real and vulnerable with her nerves about being on a podcast her first time.
Lyndsay shares with us her journey from growing up in her mom's and then a friend's salon, to going to cosmetology school, paying her dues as a stylist in a big-time LA salon, coming home and learning the business in a booth rental model and as a commission-based stylist in someone else's salon, to finally taking the leap into opening her own salon.
Check Lyndsay out!
www.Theroomhair.com
https://www.instagram.com/hairbylyndsayheck/
https://www.instagram.com/theroomhair/
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[00:00:00] Melissa: Hi everyone. Hi Amy. I'm so excited to be here with you. Since Monica joined t k P, like I don't think you and I have done a podcast, just the two of us and a guest.
[00:00:11] Amy: I know. We have like super fancy microphones now and I have my headphones on, like we're just being professionals and stuff, but I know this is special. I'm glad to see you. You look so pretty and on point. I'm just like, ooh. Get it girl.
[00:00:26] Melissa: Yeah. Yeah. I figured I can't really invite my hairdresser to the podcast without like putting a few curls in my hair.
[00:00:32] Amy: Yes. I do love your hair. Like I know I've told you that and I'm not just saying that. It's so pretty and I know I told you it reminds me of my sister, like, your texture and everything is just like super on point. I feel like you don't have to do a lot for it to look good.
[00:00:48] Melissa: Going like silvery gray blonde is way better in your fifties because I was getting it darkened and I would drive out of the parking lot of Lindsay's place and then like halfway home, like a white strip would start occurring down the part. I'm like, okay, no more brown. I did my years looking like Laura Engels. I'm going blonde, I'm going old lady blonde.
[00:01:12] Amy: I love that. I'm impressed cuz I'm still like unbelievably vain with my hair. Like, in terms of just letting that, and people say, oh, well your hair's blonde. Like, you don't really see it. I still see it, you know, I still see it and I'm like, eh, I'm gonna just ride it out as long as possible. I would love to just like, I have that powder, but that can only go so far, you know? And then I use like the dry shampoo and I'm like, oh my gosh.
[00:01:39] Melissa: Yeah,
[00:01:39] Amy: I look like a nightmare.
[00:01:40] Melissa: Well, like I'm short and so like when I was using that powder, it would always end up like in my husband's armpit or something from leaning on him.
[00:01:47] Amy: That is so funny.
[00:01:47] Melissa: That's like no bueno.
[00:01:49] Amy: I know. I would see like the dark powder, like on my forehead, like I've been like on the stage or something.
[00:01:54] Melissa: Yeah. Let's like sweating down your face.
[00:01:56] Amy: Totally. Totally.
[00:01:57] Melissa: Exactly. We talked about this on another podcast of kind of like the whole Justine Bateman, like aging gracefully thing. I saw my social media feed, like Minnie Driver talking about her hair going gray. Just like all this aging gracefully stuff. So like what's your take on that? I mean, I know you said you're vain, which I sort of disagree with, but you know, is it like live in that live, do you think we all should age gracefully?
[00:02:19] Amy: I love when women in those kinds of positions just do whatever the heck they want because it is so much work being a woman. It is so much work and it is so expensive. So anytime, I mean anything you can cut back on that you are just at the Zero fucks mode, then I say go for it, because I'm sure I will get to that. I gave up doing my nails over a year ago, and it's been very freeing. I mean, I look at them, I'm like, gosh it would look so much better if they were painted and manicured, but I'm like, I don't care, like at the end of the day, would it like complete my outfit? Maybe. But am I gonna go every three weeks and get this stuff on my nails? I'm not, you know?
[00:03:06] Melissa: Until about 47, like a few years ago, my skincare regime was ivory soap and like neutrogen moisturizing lotion with SPF. You could buy it at the drugstore. It was like 20 bucks for 90 days. I have now passed over into this weird world of like a house payment worth of skincare, and I'm really not sure it's showing up. Like I think I might rather have a lake house.
[00:03:31] Amy: Good skincare or lake house? Pick your choice.
[00:03:35] Melissa: I think I'm gonna go back to ivory soap and get a pontoon boat.
[00:03:39] Amy: Maybe like when we turn 60 or something. It's the same. And I know we've talked about this, my big cost these days is my medical skincare. I've always used oil vallee or ponds. Okay.
[00:03:51] Melissa: You have like lasers and aliens like, shooting rays into your face.
[00:03:56] Amy: I have like a brigade that comes out of these bottles that are just like, we're gonna work on all of your sunspots and all of your wrinkles. And it's just the amount of money. But then I think, you know what, if this is important to me right now, I'm doing it. I will hit a wall eventually, and once that wall is hit, then I'm just gonna go off into the sunset with my wrinkles and such.
[00:04:19] Melissa: Like when you're living in a van down by the river, because we have no retirement.
[00:04:24] Amy: Then nobody will. Yeah, exactly. But I'll have my good skincare.
[00:04:27] Melissa: This is like the perfect lead in to our guest today because today we have Lindsay Heck, she is my hairdresser. She's a stylist. You know, she's like a beauty person. She's a lot younger than us too. She probably doesn't have any skincare routine. Yeah, she has a baby. So like you don't even get to go to the bathroom by yourself for a few years. So I just wanna introduce Lindsay. She is the owner or a co-owner, I believe, and founder of the room salon in Plymouth, Michigan. And I've known her for about eight years now. I think if you can even believe that. So, hey!
[00:05:01] Lindsay: Hello! I'm, So excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Also I don't wanna say I'm nervous, but I'm like, well, first podcast like this is cool, but crazy, so.
[00:05:11] Amy: Aw, well, welcome. We just pretend to know what we're doing most of the time and we love you. You mentioned that your son Walker is, Taking a nap so we have to work efficiently because I'm sure he could get up at any time. Melissa and I definitely remember those days. And Lindsay, that's actually when Melissa and I met when even before her son Miles was born and right when my youngest son, Cole was born. So we remember those days that you're in. They're long, they're difficult. There is hope and you will get there. You will get there. And when people say, enjoy it, I'm like, that's such bullshit because you wanna enjoy it. I wanted to enjoy it. But I didn't, really it was like, did I have moments of enjoyment? Yes. When they were sleeping. Tremendous joy. Okay. But it was such a, it was like a scary time because the goal was to keep them alive and well at all times, you know? So when people are like, oh, enjoy it. I mean, I get it now because they are like older and stuff, but savor it. How about savor it? Savor it. How about that?
[00:06:18] Melissa: I don't know. Like I can give a firsthand account though. I think keeping your three boys alive, I mean, it was just a little more than like the rest of us. Like we would go to like the mom's group thing and like Rocco would be gone. He was a runner. It was like, Amy!
[00:06:33] Amy: Right, exactly. And Lindsay, I don't know if you noticed this, but when you take out your little one and you wanna like wear something cute, maybe have a little makeup on and your hair, and I would do that for those times I'd go out and I would just come home literally looking like I had been through a car wash because the amount of sweat and running and just worry was just like wasn't even worth it.
[00:06:57] Lindsay: I had trendy outfits and then I'm like, let leggings and let like athletic wears just. It's just the safe, easy bet. It's just what we do right now.
[00:07:07] Amy: There's cute stuff too. I feel like there's like really cute stuff for moms and stuff like that. So I'm curious, Lindsay tell us more about the room. I love that name. Is it is like beauty something you always wanted to be in or tell us a little bit about that.
[00:07:22] Lindsay: It's called the Room Hair and Design and I co-own it with my actually best friend Ariel Colton. And my mom was a hairdresser well before my sister and I were born and she actually sold her salon to one of her best friends when she found out she was pregnant with my sister. Kind of took her some years to be able to have children, so she just wanted be like fully into it. But I still was around the salon atmosphere with her friends. Like I remember in my childhood mixing up color at a very young age just because that's what we did. That's what was fun. So always around the salon atmosphere. And literally in the sixth grade, we had like a career project, and I did it about being a cosmetologist. And ever since that I went to cosmetology school in high school. I went to Dundee High School and we had a co-op our junior and senior year. So I did that. So I got to graduate a few months after high school, take my state boards, and from that moment on, I have been doing hair. I don't remember a time where I didn't think about doing hair or didn't expect that to be my future in my career. So kind of just like second nature almost with me.
[00:08:30] Melissa: I feel like not everybody knows what they wanna do or sometimes they know and they get talked out of it or you know, it doesn't meet everyone else's expectation. But I just feel like since the moment I met you, that you're just very clear about who you are and what you wanna do and what you'll put up with and what you won't. And it's not necessarily typical for young women. Like it takes some of us a long time to have that kind of focus.
[00:08:52] Lindsay: Yeah, I didn't really have a plan B or even like thinking back even a second career or option I would rather. Do. I just remember when I first started actually working in a salon, like as an employee, I felt weird that I was getting paid for it. I was like, oh my God, people pay me to do this. This is like insane. And I feel like those like moments, I was like, oh, this is what it feels like to like love what you do. Like, yes, of course some days you don't want to go in, you'd rather go to the mall or go here or go anywhere. But like for the most part, I'm very lucky that I am happy and like actually very comfortable.
[00:09:32] Amy: That's incredible. And you mentioned, so your mom was a business owner. She had her own salon, and then your sister, is your sister a stylist as well?
[00:09:42] Lindsay: Nope. So, it was more of my mom and like her best friends. My sister went to school and she did like graphic design for a while, so she's definitely creative, but not in like hair or anything. We won't let her touch anyone's hair.
[00:09:56] Melissa: I can kinda relate to that sort of like losing time and being like, wow, I get paid to design things and pick out color. When you find that sort of zen of like, I would just do this even if I wasn't getting paid. You know, that's where you're supposed to be. But then there's also, I mean, I can say cuz I'm an artist and designer and now I, you know, run an agency, there's this business aspect, like, how have you warmed up to like, you know, negotiating a lease and possibly hiring and growth and marketing and all the other things that come on top, the thing that you love to do?
[00:10:28] Lindsay: My real, I'll say like my real first job as a hair stylist, so backstory, I lived in California for a little bit about four years, and it was after I got my license, but license is by hours and I needed more in California, so I couldn't work as like a working stylist. So I assisted out there and it was that typical like california movie where the stylists were mean and I swept hair and shampooed and I was like, what is this? Like maybe I don't wanna do this. This is awful. Like not fun. But then I found someone, Jennifer Holden still love her to this day and she like took me underneath her wing and like actually helped me become a stylist. I was just an assistant though. So I moved back to Michigan, just had my fun time in California, when I moved back to Michigan, I kind of got a little bit more serious and I reached out to a friend that was a stylist and he booth rented in a salon in Myland, Michigan. And Booth renting it's a mini business. You have to do everything yourself. You pay rent and everything else is like on you. So starting out that way as a stylist kind of just forced me to be more aware of like the business aspects of that. Probably wasn't the best of it. Definitely didn't charge as I should, just because it's awkward at first, I didn't know what to do really. So that was a couple years of living and learning and a lot of mistakes and all that good stuff. And then I went to a commission salon where I built my clientele. That's where I met Melissa at, and then eventually I was like, all right, I'm ready. Let's do this. And I can a hundred percent say I can stand behind that chair 24 hours a day, do my thing, and then the business aspect comes in play and I'm like someone help. I dunno what to do. Is this right? Is this illegal? Like, I don't know here. So that was definitely having like the whole business of course I had a partner, so we definitely bounced. And she was a manager at a salon before, so there was like give and take, but that's where my parents came in. My parents have owned businesses since they were 19. More in the food catering and restaurants, but they were my big support on how do I run my books? Do I do a paycheck? Like what do I do here? I was very lucky to have that. Cuz I can honestly say if I didn't have them to ask questions and guide me, there probably would've been a lot more mistakes and money and books and contracts and all of that stuff where I still feel like I'm lost in, but we just take that day by day.
[00:13:03] Melissa: Well, I mean I've been watching you, you know, I followed you from the salon that you mentioned and you know, came to the opening weekend or something there in Plymouth, you know, when you open the building and I think you're doing a fantastic job and I have been a business person, I don't know, maybe twice as long as you or something. 12 years? And I'm still learning that stuff. And I think that the main thing I've learned is like, delegate. I don't have to be the bookkeeper, I'm the creative director.
[00:13:31] Amy: Yeah, that's so true. And it can be hard, especially when you're starting out and you're cutting costs and you know, don't want to have like extra expenses going out the window. It's really important to be able to say okay. Can I really do this? But it seems like nowadays they really, things can be easier in terms of selling and with social media and stuff like that. I feel like that's like a really good way to advertise and sell, which isn't something that Melissa I'm sure you didn't exactly do that when you were starting out is social media and stuff like that. So you've had really important mentors it sounds like, with both your parents being entrepreneurs. And that sounds like such a gift to really learn how not to do things from your parents. You know, they taught you. So I'm curious with as Melissa said, your business seems to be right sized for you, for where you're at with your life. Did you and Ariel make this conscious decision to create this space? Because of the lifestyle that you two are in right now, or how did you come to that?
[00:14:40] Lindsay: I think what brought us to it is at the time when we first decided to open the salon, we were both just had boyfriends. But we're at that time in our career where it's like, are we gonna do our own thing or do we keep working commission and commission's a sticky situation when it comes to money and bosses and whatnot in the hair industry, I feel. And we kind of were just like, okay, let's, like, let's do this. Let's try to find our own place. And my dad actually found it on Facebook Marketplace and I was like, downtown Plymouth, this is too good to be true. And we looked at it, actually, it'll be four years in May, and we're open that June, so we're almost on four years. But I think our initial reason why we did it was we saw how hard we were working and how much our owners were taking from us. And hey, if that's your path and you do commission, there's nothing wrong with that. But I feel once you are established as a stylist, that's when you should have freedom and you should be able to have your creative way you wanna do things. So we both decided that, okay, let's open a place. When we first started, Due to both, like, you know, we weren't single but newly dating my husband and her fiance at the time. I think we worked, if not seven days a week, probably six. Because there was no one telling us that we couldn't work. So I truly think we worked so much that first year, almost year, cuz our year mark was covid happening. So that was a nice little business, you know, first year. So that happened. But you know, we made it through it all was good. And then we got back in the salon. I think we were allowed back in and and we worked a good month and that was like us trying to figure out how can we work now, like what are we allowed to do cuz of covid rules and all that fun stuff, but still working crazy. And then I found out I was expecting, and it was a surprise baby, best thing ever, but it was like, oh my gosh, like I own a business, I run my own show. It's not like someone else can take my clients. So it was this huge thing on like, okay this is amazing. This is awesome, but this is a whole different viewpoint now. of course I loved what I was doing. I didn't wanna stop. Luckily my husband, my family, they're all super supportive. And it took me, Walker turned two in February, it probably took me a solid year at like his first year of life to realize like, I don't have to work five days a week. I don't have to miss out on the baby stuff that I want to be there. And you know, your little kids are only little for so long. When they're in school I'm sure I'll behind that chair six days a week again doing it full-time. So that made me really figure out what was like right size for me. And obviously some people might not think like that and that's absolutely fine. They might, you know, have a daycare set up or anything like that. But I was one where I really wanted to be there with my babies and raise my babies without losing what I've created over the many years of doing it. So it was finding a sweet spot and it took a while, obviously. But I feel like Melissa would even say maybe in the last, like almost year, I've really, I have my days that I work, I have my hours that I work. I'm still flexible. I love my clients. I've had the same clients for a long time in the grand scheme of things at this point in my life. I'll always choose my babies and my family right now.
[00:18:22] Amy: Wait, you keep saying babies.
[00:18:24] Lindsay: I know, I keep saying that cuz I want are more kids.
[00:18:26] Melissa: Are you- wanna tell, you wanna tell us something we don't know about?
[00:18:30] Lindsay: As of right now, no just walker. But I want more babies. So, you know, hopefully in the future, whenever that time is that's in God's hands whenever that is.
[00:18:40] Melissa: I like to say like as an outside observer, It seemed like you were really smart about scaling even before the baby or before the wedding or before the house. The room is like a very small little salon and you and Ariel each have a chair. And I have worked with a couple beauty businesses, barbershop, a salon, a makeup artist and there's this pressure, I mean, I think in all industries, but also maybe more so in that industry of like, have a bunch of chairs and have a line of hair product and be a like talk star and you know, like do all this stuff. even if you pull it off, it's incredibly hard to maintain. And then if you decide to have a baby or a wedding or build a house or have any work-life balance, you've now committed to way more than you can keep. So I just, I felt like this is something she could share. I mean, we have in The Kindling project, community, a lot of women who wanna start a business or maybe they have a side thing, like they make cupcakes, but they wanna have a bakery. And I think this idea of right sizing it from the beginning, like you're just a good example of it. I don't know if it was conscious, but like, I've been watching and I kind of compared you to other clients and I'm like, this is wise, because you can always grow. I mean, you're still young. You can grow and grow like you can have a chain of salons or whatever.
[00:19:59] Amy: Right. I think that's really, I intuitive also, Melissa, that you, Lindsay, were around the industry from the beginning and there must have been some sort of foundation planted that maybe this is more of a marathon as opposed to a sprint. You know, because a lot of times when we become moms, if that's our path, there's so much learning and like you said, you know, whatever God's plan is in that department of more kids, but you will have to stay fluid because just when you think you've got things down, It changes. The baby's routine changes they get to school. I remember when they started school, I was like, oh my gosh, freedom. Now did I have a little bit? Yes, but it was nearly nothing that I thought it was gonna be. I mean, parenthood is just a game changer all the way around. And it can be hard when a woman who I think a lot of our listeners are overachievers, perfectionists, want the best, making money doing all these things and to say, okay, this is what I'm gonna prioritize right now. And it takes some, you know, getting up, skinning our knees, getting back up and finding what really works best for us. And I do really support what you said about, you know, being with him while he's growing up because, You know, there's really that time you don't get back.
[00:21:21] Lindsay: Yeah. And we're really lucky with mine and my husband's work schedule, my mom is with him one day a week and the rest of the days he's with either I or my husband, Nick. But I was gonna bring it back to when Melissa was saying like watching me over the years, like keep it right sized. I think I have a different outlook than some stylists, obviously it's my like career and my job, it pays my bills. It's what I do to make a living. I don't know if it's just like my character, my personality, but I would rather not open the door to new clients all the time, new clients, higher prices, all that stuff. Cuz I really do enjoy looking at my books and like, oh my gosh, like, oh, I have Melissa, like, yes, I gotta have fun with her hair today and like, love doing color and whatnot. But, I've also known her for eight years, so it's like that friend I get to see every few months in the salon and I get to talk to, and if I open my books to new clients all the time and always bringing in that, I get really like sad and upset when my longtime supportive clients like ask for an appointment and I'm like, oh, I can't do that day. Oh, nope. How about a month from now? Because I feel like it's almost not fair because I limit my schedule to add more to it, if that makes sense in a way.
[00:22:42] Melissa: We all wanna have service providers in our life that like become, like this extended family. Like I can always count on Lindsay, or I can always count on, you know, I really love my dentist Adidi and she's my friend and we go to happy hour. But like, I know her, right? Like I, she's a person in my life,
[00:22:57] Lindsay: you know sometimes I wish I can just like, eh, Screw it. I need to make more money. Like, who cares? But I don't work that way and I know some stylists do, but I just would rather have really good clients that trust me. I know them. I know their hair, which is so awesome. I know it's like a cliche thing that says like, stay with your stylist. But it's such a, it's so easy when you know someone's hair. It's a big difference.
[00:23:23] Melissa: I had like a photo shoot or something recently, and I think you were getting married, so, I mean, good excuse. I went to someone else and they couldn't get my hair to curl. They were using a flat iron and they kept doing it, and then they, and then it kept like laying flat and I, and she's like, well, does your hair curl? And I'm like, yes it curls like what?
[00:23:40] Amy: And you know, One of the things, Lindsay, that you were talking about, what I hear is that predictability right now, especially with your little family, you it probably helps knowing what you're walking into every day. You're already raising a toddler. That's a job in itself. So to know that you're gonna have for the most part, a predictable day. I could see where that would really be more calming, like in the background as opposed to, you know, going, working with your clients and then, you know, maybe the day will come where you up and get some maybe higher paying clients on certain services or whatever. But that's a nice thing about your industry. You can always build on it, you know, you're, it's always buildable, so that's definitely a nice thing.
[00:24:25] Melissa: I think you and Ariel like have established a set of priorities that I can see where. You'll hire yourselves, if you add a chair, you're going to pick somebody with the same value system. Right.
[00:24:38] Lindsay: We've only had one other employee there and we ended up kind of ending that. And, you know, I hate using the word fire, but you know, you know, that's our thing. We do have two chairs available and we, number one, want them to be good at hair, but we want nice people. We just want kind people, nice people, and it's hard to find out there like it is a struggle. I'm like, what is going on? So we're just kinda, as much as we would love to have other stylists in there and the door is always open, we don't wanna ruin what we have and take away from, I feel like our clients can come in literally and their pajamas or dressed to the nine eating Jimmy John's in the chair and it's just a relaxed environment and everyone's there's no like expectation or anything like that, which I like. There's no, it's just everyone's, oh, been here before.
[00:25:27] Melissa: I think we've all been to that salon where you feel like, oh, I didn't dress up enough, or I have to sit up straight, or, Like, I gotta do my makeup before I get my hair done.
[00:25:38] Amy: I, you know, I'm curious, Lindsay, as a busy mom of a toddler and as a business owner, what are some of your challenges?
[00:25:45] What are some of the day-to-day barriers that you experience as you know, wearing those hats? And I'm obviously you're a wife, a daughter, a partner, all these kinds of things.
[00:25:56] Lindsay: Like the typical cliche answer, separating work and family life, trying to find, you know, I say I have a balance, but I don't think we really ever do fully have a balance. Or maybe we do when I'm not there yet. But I think my number one thing that pops in my head is, My husband works seconds, so he starts at 4:00 PM and leaves work at 2:30 AM which allows us to not have, like to depend, really on daycare, babysitters. But that's a struggle. Cause some days when I am at work, I'd obviously like he's home with Walker and I'm like, oh, I wish, like I had a better balance on like finding time with all three of us together. His schedule days did recently change, so we do get weekends together now, which has been like life changing. And if anything ever does change in the future with his schedule or mine, I think I've learned you need that time as a family. But also to stay relevant at work in education. And sometimes I don't wanna leave my family on the weekend, but I need to stay relevant on education and classes and you know, just cuz I'm a mom right now doesn't mean I don't want to be a better hair stylist in the future and all that. So really it's just finding balance on not giving something a hundred, well, I guess giving everything a hundred percent and not driving yourself crazy.
[00:27:18] Melissa: Right.
[00:27:18] Lindsay: Doing that.
[00:27:19] Melissa: I had this friend who described it to me one time about work life balance and she's like, there's no work life balance. There's just filling buckets. And I was like, what do you mean? And she's like, well, when there's a leak in the family roof, I have to put the bucket under that leak, there in the business roof bucket under that. I'm moving buckets around wherever there's a leak. And I was like, that's kind of a good description of work-life balance cuz sometimes work-life balance is like, it just feels like another like crappy thing they tell us mom's like, you can have it all go on a date with your husband. And I'm like no. We really actually need to clean up the dog poop off the patio. And it's not a date. Exactly.
[00:28:01] Amy: Yeah. I think that's one of the myths really, that society tells women, and it's, I mean, we could talk about this for hours, but to have it all, I mean, I think as women we have to define what all really looks like it, you know? Because I don't think, you know, you can give all to your family, you can give all to your business or your work all to yourself is usually not what happens. You know, you're giving your all, but then that bucket is, your bucket is kicked over on in the backyard, you know? My whole thing about having it all it's a myth. It's fake news. And I don't think it's something that, okay, here's a little insight. From some other old, older, some women who have been around the sun a few more times than you, Lindsay, it's okay not to have it all. All is what fills up your bucket or up your cup. You know, oftentimes I talk about how we actually are showing up. You know, how do we show up for ourselves or for, you know, our kids or our husbands, coworkers, whatever. But we have to show up for ourselves first, and that is so hard to do. I'm talking to a mom as a, with a toddler. I get that. But man, if you can learn how to do that early on, You are gonna have more sustainability in your industry and as a wife, as a mother, because you will find yourself, you know, holding these bags and they're yours and they're empty where everybody else is like, you know, skipping free and, doing great things. So just remember that, you define what your all is.
[00:29:35] Melissa: She's our resident therapist. So, okay. I wanna go back to staying relevant. Like we want the fun tips. Tell us like what's new in hair, what's new in beauty.
[00:29:44] Lindsay: So it was so funny when you guys were talking about skincare. I think it's, I think it's just this time with skincare, like I feel like even 12 year olds have like an intense skincare. but when you were talking about that I was like, I think it's just, it's not like that we're getting older, like, oh, skincare. I just think it's such like a thing right now. So I just had to put that out there cuz I have young clients in my chair and I'm like, oh my gosh, you do that? Like, like Botox starting at like 20 and I'm like, what? okay, not for me, but man. I always see all the fun trendy stuff. Like do like, okay, we have to bring it up. Mullets. What do we think about mullets? They're back. They're fully back.
[00:30:24] Amy: Oh, I can't wait. Miles is gonna want a mullet, I guarantee. Miles.
[00:30:28] Melissa: Our intern, Marielena at Memora, and she works with T K P, she's got a mullet and it's like, it's this total like eighties mullet where it's like shaved under here and like short.
[00:30:39] Amy: Yeah. It's like Pat Benatar.
[00:30:40] Lindsay: Like it's a thing. Like boys and girls are doing it. I remember the last time you were in, we were talking about like Elise and her haircuts and it's like they can just do like all these cute, choppy styles and it's just so cute on them.
[00:30:52] Amy: I was just gonna say I have, Melissa mentioned three boys and two of them have mullets. Well, one, one is had mullet, he'll probably get another one. But my oldest son, Rocco has one. I mean, they love it. They just, they think that is just the cat's meow.
[00:31:06] Lindsay: I secretly dig it. I dig it. I like 'em obviously, like some do mullets and they're like out of this world, but there's a way to have it. And it's good. It looks good. On the women's side I still feel like, Like color-wise, everyone just loves and which is my favorite that lived in like balayage look still, which is my all time favorite to do. Even like how Melissa was saying, she's like working with her like grays and her silvers and going more blonde. I think a lot more, even like my clients and just friends, clients and just in the industry, most people are trying to work with what is happening on their head. And I think trends are one, one kind of a thing. And also going into a salon eight years ago, six years ago, even, all the techniques are so different, so much like there's like time consuming. There's so many more extra steps now in all these colors. So you do see prices going up. You're now in the salon instead of an hour and a half, realistically, almost three hours, some even more. So you pay for that higher price, but it lasts you such a longer time. You're not going back in six weeks, you're going back in three months. And I think that lived in Look has just been around for a few years now, and I truly don't see it ever going away. I don't, I think it is here to stay. I mean, obviously I have my clients that do every six weeks, but I would say the majority is really kind of in that, enhancing what they have or kind of keep it more natural but adding a few things here and there with color.
[00:32:42] Amy: I like that too, in terms of like people just going with what they have. When I hear that, I hear people accepting what they have and just going with it and just being okay with it. The thing is though, for a lot of us, gen X women, even if we come back, cuz I do this, I set my appointments now. At least six to eight months out. But the issue is just when the gray starts to come in, even though I don't need the highlights and stuff like that, it's just getting that gray coverage. So do you have any suggestions or tips for us ladies out there? What secret can you tell us?
[00:33:18] Lindsay: There are, gosh, trillions and billions of products out there. And it's so hard cuz what works for me wouldn't work for Melissa and what works for Melissa, what, you know, things like that. But my like ride or die product line for the last, gosh, probably like seven years? It's called J Beverly Hills. It's my color line, but I, and they have a product line as well, and Melissa can swear by this, they have a conditioner called mask. If your hair is dry, if it's brittle, if it's the dead of winter and it's staticky. This is the holy grail of moisture conditioners. It is the one product on my shelf that I can give to anybody. And I know they're not gonna be like, oh, it didn't really work.
[00:34:02] Melissa: I also like have a really dry scalp.
[00:34:05] Like I would use like those really stinky dandruff shampoos and go to the dermatologist. And like, I would use it even if it was bad for my hair because it fixed my scalp.
[00:34:14] Lindsay: Other than like that specific like product, if just one that's like important for everyone and not even a specific brand is a heat protector. Heat's like the number one, damage to anyone's hair. Obviously if you're bleaching your hair every two weeks, that's gonna fry it off. But realistically, if you're straightening, curling, blow drying your hair every day, every other, it's the heat protectants that's. Gonna be your best friend. Stop that. Damage and split ends.
[00:34:41] Amy: Ah! Thank you for all those reviews. Gosh, these are good things to know. We love to be in the know. Just a few final questions. Lindsay, what would you tell your younger self, knowing what you know now?
[00:34:52] Lindsay: To do it, it's all gonna work out. The long hours, the not so great bosses, the shitty schedules. It'll all just stay focused on what you love and it's all gonna be good.
[00:35:05] Amy: That's awesome. So just do it right. Just do it.
[00:35:08] Melissa: Another thing that we like to do at the end of the podcast is you know, everyone gives a shout out to someone or something that has been meaningful to 'em. So, I don't know. Do you wanna go first lindsay? You have anyone you wanna give a shout out to?
[00:35:21] Lindsay: Since we were talking about like the business in life, I guess my shoutouts would be probably to my husband because he makes sure that I'm still happy in what I'm doing and has never once asked me to like well, you're a mom now. Are you sure you wanna run a business? He has always been super, super supportive of me and he juggles his schedule so I can keep what I've built. And he's just super supportive in that way and I always have to shout out my mom because she is right behind him doing the same thing. So, Yep. She's like, if he won't do it, I will, so.
[00:36:03] Melissa: You're really lucky to have a supportive family. I know not everybody has that, but it's a crazy gift.
[00:36:08] Amy: My shout out this week is going to be to my twin brother because my twin brother has my youngest son, Cole, with him in Austin this week for his spring break. And he is taking really good care of him. Cole, who I can't even really get out of the house. Hopped on a plane and is gonna be working at this GP Moto Motorcycle event that my brother works at every year, and Cole is just beside himself, having the time of his life. So I'm very grateful that my brother is hopefully all of the good things, teaching him more about safety, motorcycle safety, and gun safety. Oh God, help me. So, yep, the shout out is going to my twin brother Timothy. So. Melissa, what about you?
[00:36:49] Melissa: I think my shout out this week is to my daughter Elise. I don't know if I've given her a shout out before, but last night we just had the sweetest conversation. She's about to graduate from high school. As you guys know, and she's decided to go to Grand Valley State University and like she's just having this major mind shift. Like she showed up as like this little adult in the family room last night and she was just, I'm gonna be moving out of your house soon and I wanna talk to you as much as possible before I go. I was just like, my heart was like, Breaking, but I could just see, I could just see us like, not changing roles, but, you know, we're evolving. Like, she is gonna move out of my house and she's aware of it now and she's like, I just wanna thank you for being, you know, good mom and being there. And I just like, oh. You know, we just live for that moment. Right.
[00:37:42] Amy: Lindsay, I just wanna say you have truly been an inspiration and you are a fire starter. That is for sure. We're so grateful that you're part of our kindling project community and the success that you've had at a young age is definitely gonna be inspiring for our audience and hopefully a little bit of kindling for those women who are putting it off when their kids get older or outta school. And it might not be perfect or all at once, but there's definitely no time like now. So we wanna just say a huge thank you for your time. Go put your feet up. Even if Walker, like just the dishes, the laundry, everything will still be there. Give yourself permission to put your feet up until he wakes up. There you go.
[00:38:24] Lindsay: Thank you. It was so fun talking to you ladies. I love this.