Phorest FM Episode 115: Charlotte Bradshaw & Leslie Healy On The Power Of Networking
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Phorest FM Episode 115: Charlotte Bradshaw & Leslie Healy On The Power Of Networking

Networking has long been recognised for its many benefits in the business world. It has the power to help you build awareness of your products or services, learn about people you might never have known otherwise and/or meet potential future employers or employees. Knowing more people is usually an advantage: itโ€™s easier to share information and when your network comes together, the power of influence of said group is redoubtable.

To discuss the power of networking in the hair and beauty industry specifically, this weekโ€™s episode features two women with years of experience in the trade: Salonetwork founders Charlotte Bradshaw, who has worked in the industry for the past ten years and Leslie Healy, who hails from a twelve year background in the corporate world.

Guests

Charlotte Bradshaw

A qualified Chartered Accountant with over 23 yearsโ€™ experience managing the finances of numerous companies, Charlotte brought her skillset to the Dylan Bradshaw brand in 2000 and since then, working in tandem with the creative side, has secured a successful position for the Dylan Bradshaw brand in Ireland and international markets.

Charlotteโ€™s financial and business expertise is the driving force behind Dylanโ€™s creative vision. Having steered the commercial growth of the Dylan Bradshaw brand over the past 19 years, Charlotte has overseen the brandโ€™s diversification into retail and developed what has become Irelandโ€™s leading hairdressing education facility, the Dylan Bradshaw Academy.

Charlotteโ€™s continued success has resulted in requests for her consultancy services to salons around the country and she is regularly sought out by business and industry forums to act as a speaker at  events.

Leslie Healy

Coming from a background in the travel industry, Leslie moved into the Reward, Incentive and Loyalty industry, primarily focusing on sales. Her natural aptitude for operations became very apparent and she moved into the operational side of the business. With Leslieโ€™s experience in managing client campaigns she moved into the role of Operations Director and transformed a company who outsourced all of their promotions into a company with a self-reliant in-house operations hub, allowing the business to expand.

Having nearly 20 yearsโ€™ experience in the service industry, Leslie started her own Creative, Marketing and Loyalty agency in 2013. This business was a huge success and she moved from a start up to a well-established company with a multi-million euro turnover.  Leslieโ€™s success has seen a demand for her to work on a consultancy basis setting up in-house operations systems for companies, both here and in the U.K. 

Transcript

Killian Vigna: Welcome to the Phorest FM podcast, episode 115. Iโ€™m Killian Vigna.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: And Iโ€™m Zoe Belisle-Springer. This week on the show, weโ€™re joined by Salonetwork founders, Charlotte Bradshaw of Dublin Hair Salon Dylan Bradshaw, and serial entrepreneur Leslie Healy to discuss the power of networking in the hair and beauty industry.

Killian Vigna: So, grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, relax and join us weekly for all your salonโ€™s business and marketing needs. Good morning Zoe.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Good morning, Killian! Interesting topic today.

Killian Vigna: The power of networking, yeah, yeah.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah! Whatโ€™re the first three words that come to your mind when I say โ€˜networkingโ€˜?

Killian Vigna: Oh, I have to say if you asked me this about two, three years ago, the first three words would have probably been dread, fear and anxiety. But, I like to think Iโ€™ve come a long way since, but you know what I mean. Youโ€™ve probably been in the same situation at your first networking eventโ€ฆ Thereโ€™s just so many people there, and you donโ€™t know where to go and when youโ€™re on your own, itโ€™s quite hard.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, not even just the first one. Even last year I was speaking at a conference in Seattle, and it was the first time I had that kind of pressure, speaking at a big thing, and I didnโ€™t go into the speakersโ€™ room because I was too terrified to meet and talk to people. I was standing in corners revisiting my notes or awkwardly looking at the agenda to figure out where I had to go next. Itโ€™s just mad; it does have that impact on you. Now, bear in mind, I did get a grip over myself and managed to pull it off throughout the day and everything and do my talk, and everything was fine. And yeah, I donโ€™t know about you, but Iโ€™ve learned over time, especially with the podcast and such and being at the Salon Owners Summit and all those things, there are two things that I try to remember.

No matter what happens โ€“ online is totally different โ€“ but at events no matter what happens I have at least one thing in common with everyone thatโ€™s there; the venue, the food, the whatever is happening on the day. Whether itโ€™s a conference or someone speaking or workshop, whatever it is. And two, I donโ€™t always have to do something. Sometimes you can just sit back, relax and enjoy and some people will make the first move for you. So itโ€™s not always that big of a pressure that you have to put on yourself, and I suppose networking online is even easier.

Killian Vigna: Yeah, I find it funny that your solution is to sit back, relax and chill and embrace it. I found with mineโ€ฆ I get so jittery that Iโ€™ve realised instead of trying to calm that down, just embrace it and use that energy and run around and talk to everyone.

Introducing Charlotte Bradshaw & Leslie Healy [02:45]

Killian Vigna: But, absolutely, even since setting up this podcast, itโ€™s improved how we network with people so much. Youโ€™re just so much more comfortable talking to people, and speaking of which, without further ado to chat about the power of networking in the salon industry with the pleasure of being joined by two women with years of experience in the trade. Salon Network founders Charlotte and Leslie, welcome!

Leslie Healy: Hi, guys!

Charlotte Bradshaw: Thanks for having us!

Leslie Healy: Yes, thank you for having us.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Pleasure to have you, thanks so much for being with us on the show.

Killian Vigna: So, Leslie, Charlotte, speaking of networking and meeting people and building those relationships, how did you guys meet? Because you both come from two different backgrounds, am I right?

Charlotte Bradshaw: We do, we do. We come from completely different backgrounds, and itโ€™s actually, Iโ€™m one of these people who really believes in faith. And Leslie was a mom, actually, in the school that I would see quite regularly, but never, ever, ever had a conversation like, โ€œHi. Hello. Goodbye.โ€ Never had a conversation, and I had set up Salonetwork, not what it is now, it was a slimmer version of itself, and I had it set up, and I needed help. And I was actually going to interview somebody to give them a job, to give me a hand, and I was on my way into the school and Leslie was in her car, and when I came out, she was still in her car. And I thought she was waiting to go back in to meet the principal or something. My story, โ€œYou going back in? At least itโ€™s your turn now,โ€ type thing and sheโ€™s like, โ€œNo, my car is broken down.โ€ So Iโ€™m a real believer in faith. I ended up talking to her as we waited for the AA, and sheโ€™s normally really glamorous coming up to the school because she was always very corporate.

She had a successful business, and I just said to her, โ€œHow come youโ€™re not going to work?โ€ And she was like [crosstalk 00:04:28]. Civvies, she was in her civvies, she was actually in workout gear, and I was like, โ€œOh, I havenโ€™t seen you all dressed up in a while, whatโ€™s going on?โ€ And she said, โ€œOh, I sold my shares,โ€ so I just sort of, โ€œWhat do you do?โ€ She was like, โ€œOh God; I donโ€™t want to go back into corporate, Iโ€™d love a startup.โ€ I was like, โ€œOh my God. You need to come around to the house for a cup of tea.โ€ So I came around the following day for a cup of tea, and I explained to her what I was trying to do with Salonetwork, and the rest is history!

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Geez, thatโ€™s a really cool story, I didnโ€™t expect that at all!

Leslie Healy: Very romantic [crosstalk 00:05:04]!

Charlotte Bradshaw: Itโ€™s a very romantic story. No but Iโ€™m one of these real, true believers in faith and my husband kept saying to me, because the person I was meeting was in the hair industry and he kept saying โ€œI donโ€™t think sheโ€™s the right fit, I donโ€™t think sheโ€™s the right fit,โ€ and then lo an behold I had this conversation. And the funny thing is, both of us had the same car, the same year. And itโ€™s never broken down since [crosstalk 00:05:26].

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Wow!

Leslie Healy: Never broke down since.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Love it!

Charlotte Bradshaw: Iโ€™m telling you, itโ€™s faith. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So thatโ€™s howโ€ฆ

What do we mean by โ€œnetworkingโ€? [05:31]

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Well, so listen, youโ€™re both in the field of bridging the gap between salon owners to create a network of individuals working together, but what does the word โ€˜networkingโ€™ mean to both of you?

Charlotte Bradshaw: Okay well, Iโ€™ll go first because I like to talk. So for me, I do a lot of networking events because, and like you said earlier on, you get nervous when you go into a room, and you donโ€™t know where to look, and you get really self-conscious. So when I go to a networking event I kind of think, look Iโ€™m taking time out of my day, I really donโ€™t want to do this, Iโ€™m really embarrassed, Iโ€™ll just go in, Iโ€™ve got a bag full ofโ€ฆ Not a bag full, but a handful of business cards, and I just basically walk in the room. I try to not go with somebody because I find when you go with somebody you kind of hang on to them for a crutch.

So if you go on your own, you have to walk in. So I just go over to the person whom Iโ€™m most frightened of, looking at in the room, and I will just go over put my hand out and go, โ€œHi, Iโ€™m Charlotte. This is what I do, who are you?โ€ And I just break the ice that way. And I think sometimes when you come across quite confident like that even though I have imposter syndrome myself, but I think sometimes you come across quite confident when you walk into a room, put your hand out and shake them. You know, people are very nice because theyโ€™re all in the same boat.

But I think that networking, for me, is brilliant. Iโ€™ve met the most amazing people at networking events, people that you wouldnโ€™t meet in your everyday life. So I think itโ€™s a super thing to do.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: What about yourself, Leslie?

Leslie Healy: I think would have been like Killian where I would walk into a room and tremble and say, โ€œOh God, I really donโ€™t want to talk to most of these people.โ€ [crosstalk 00:07:10] just because I was nervous about approaching, but I haveโ€ฆ I started in the last couple of years going to a lot more networking events. Iโ€™m putting myself out there, in situations that I wouldnโ€™t normally. And it really, really does work. You do make fantastic contacts, and it is the only way to build your business. And build yourself. And build your own confidence as well.

Killian Vigna: It is interesting because as much as you worry about how people are going to react to you by going over, everyone is kind of in the same situation where theyโ€™re waiting to be approached.

Leslie Healy: Absolutely.

Killian Vigna: So by being that person that can approach someone, youโ€™re probably going to, instead of talking to one or two people, youโ€™re going to end up talking to five or six.

Leslie Healy: Exactly. I think you do look unapproachable if you stand in the corner.

Killian Vigna: [inaudible 00:07:56].

Leslie Healy: Iโ€™m looking over at this spacey person standing in the corner [crosstalk 00:08:01]. You just have to put yourself out there and bite the bullet. Youโ€™ll reap the rewards, is what I would say.

Becoming part of a hair and beauty networking group [08:10]

Killian Vigna: Okay, so letโ€™s take it online for a second. Well, not necessarily online, it could be groups as well, but itโ€™s easy to tell someone you need to be part of a networking group, but what does it entail? How do you find your way into one that feels right for you? Does it come down to culture?

Charlotte Bradshaw: Well, I think what you should do is tryโ€ฆ There are great ways of looking for different network events, whatโ€™s going on. And if youโ€™re industry-specific and, for me as you said earlier, my husband is Dylan Bradshaw, and Iโ€™ve been in the business for 20 years, and sometimes I think the hairdressing industry is a little bit discombobulated. And also, the beauty industry, when you put the whole industries together like hair and beauty, thereโ€™s not a huge amount of support out there for the industry, hair and beauty as a whole. And there are such talented peopleโ€ฆ I should say, actually before I go any further, my husband is the hairdresser, not me. Iโ€™m an accountant, so I look after the business side of the business. Heโ€™s the hairdresser, so sometimes people would say, โ€œOh, what do you think I should do with my hair?โ€ Hence the why weโ€™re not on camera at this point.

So for me, being in the business in the last 20 years, I notice thereโ€™s a huge gap in the market for support. So before I went in full time, I went full time into the salon 10 years ago, and prior to that I worked as a financial contributor for the hospitality industry for a guy who had pubs, clubs, restaurants, and I worked for him for 20 years and if I ever had a problem with the restaurants, I had the Restaurants Association and if I had a problem in one of the pubs or clubs, I had the [inaudible 00:09:45] Association.

Now, in hairdressing and beauty, they donโ€™t really have a one-stop-shop for anything, and I just felt there was a huge gap in the market. Because if you think about it, the amount of people that are in the hair and beauty industry in just Ireland, letโ€™s forget about the UK and the rest of the world. Just in Ireland there is an abundance of people. And theyโ€™re all doing their own thing. So can you imagine if you are on a platform, say for example every single one of us in the business, whether itโ€™s hair or beauty, whether youโ€™re a salon owner, an individual, a freelancer, we all need insurance. And weโ€™re all doing our own thing going to individual insurance companies, and there are hundreds of insurance companies out there, and weโ€™re going out, and youโ€™re bantering with them to try and get your insurance reduced, and all of us have been hit by huge insurance costs recently.

And just for that alone, can you imagine if we all came together in the hair and beauty industry, like the whole load of us together? And went to the likes of Aviva or Axa or one of those big companies and said, โ€œOkay, thereโ€™s me, and Iโ€™ve got an army of 20,000 people behind me, and weโ€™re all looking for insurance.โ€ I guarantee you, if you went as a group, you would get a much better deal than weโ€™re getting at the moment. And thatโ€™s what Iโ€™d like to achieve with Salonetwork; itโ€™s to build an army, build a tribe here, get everybody working together instead of as individuals.

Killian Vigna: I think a really good example of that, though, was the recent tax hike there in January and we covered that on the podcast. About getting salon owners together to, I suppose, voice as one because two, three, just a handful of salonsโ€ฆ the governmentโ€™s not going to hear that. But by getting everyone together and having those networking groups where you can reach out to everyone and say, this is whatโ€™s going on, we need that support.

Leslie Healy: Correct.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Yeah! Look, do you know how it is? Do you remember a couple of years ago they did something with the old-age pension, I think they reduced it by a tenner, or they did away with some voucher they were getting. The old-age pensioners were out, and they were striking up Kildare Street banging on doors. Itโ€™s an Irish thing, predominantly they go, โ€œOh, itโ€™s your luck, or itโ€™ll be grand,โ€ but if you can imagine, if we got every single person that was affected, it was only hairdressers because the beauty industry was always 13-and-a-half-per cent. The hairdressers were the only ones that are affected by the 50% increase in January. If you can imagine, if we got all of those people together and put them on the street and marched up to Kildare Street, they would take notice.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, definitely. So, when we talk about networking, whether it be online or at events, what concretely would be the benefits? Like, do you have any success stories that you could think of that stemmed from the networking part of the connection?

Charlotte Bradshaw: Iโ€™ll give you one example recently. So for us, weโ€™ve got 36 staff at the moment. I think weโ€™re at 36. And I just worry about the young people coming through, not necessarily just as staff, but I just worry in general about young people coming up today because of the influence of social media and all the outside interferences. And I worry about peopleโ€™s wellness, mental health and part of the site on Salonetwork we have courses and stuff like that for wellness. Just for keeping your mind clear and your body clear and I met a girl at a networking event who owns SpectrumHealth, herself and her husband.

I took her number, went for a coffee and said, โ€œLook, youโ€™re missing a huge trick here, people in the hairdressing industry and the beauty industryโ€ฆ Theyโ€™re stressed, theyโ€™re anxious, it is a stressful job, and younger people coming through are having issues with anxiety and stress.โ€ I just felt that there was a gap in her market for something to do with wellness for the industry. So, anyway, she came back to me recently with this app, and itโ€™s amazing. I just put it into the salon. Itโ€™s an app. Basically, the staff download it; the company pays for it, the staff download it andโ€ฆ Want for a better word; itโ€™s a wellness app. So, there are recipes, menus; you can measure your weight, your exercise. You also have a call with a psychologist once a week, if you have any issues you might to talk about that you donโ€™t want to talk to your boss about.

There are loads of different options. There are options to book a course, to go on for mindfulness, loads of different things. And that came out of a networking event where I met Angela; it was super. Super event. We just put it into the salon, we launched it on National Wellness Day and the staff are delighted about it. So, thatโ€™s just us looking after our staff, and Iโ€™m sure loads of other people can do it. But thatโ€™s available on Salonetwork, but I definitely think younger people coming through now need a little bit more help than I did when I was growing up.

Killian Vigna: Itโ€™s like that information overload, I think thatโ€™s similar to a book that youโ€™re actually reading at the moment, Zoe, where thereโ€™s just so much hitting us all at once that itโ€™s like youโ€™re not actually understanding things and youโ€™re getting overwhelmed. I donโ€™t know if thatโ€™s whatโ€™s being covered in the book, but thatโ€™s kind of how I feel sometimes, is that thereโ€™s so much information youโ€™ve access to, itโ€™s fast and hard, that you almost forget to sit back and take a breath. Like Zoe does before her talks.

The benefits of online and offline networking [14:57]

Killian Vigna: So you guys are predominantly on the online networking area, do you recommend there should still be a mix between going to real physical events or should everything be moving online? Because like you were saying with younger people, the Millennials and stuff coming on, weโ€™re always online, so itโ€™s almost removing that personal aspect?

Charlotte Bradshaw: I do think itโ€™s very important to still have face to face interaction. I think itโ€™s very easy to get to know somebody online, but do you get to know the real person? And I think you only get to know somebody well when you have a face-to-face meeting. So, I think, yes online will be predominantly there, but for Salonetwork, down the road, we will have events that we will be hosting, which will be a fantastic opportunity for everyone within the industry to come together as this community and network together.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, bringing the online relationship back to the real world, I suppose.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Exactly. Because theyโ€™ll know each other, theyโ€™ll probably know each other from being on Salonetwork. As we all know, you only show online what you want people to see. You donโ€™t show the real you all the time. So I think this will beโ€ฆ When we do host our events, itโ€™s going to be a fantastic way not to be the one standing in the corner, because youโ€™ll have an idea of who these people are already. So you donโ€™t have that, I donโ€™t want to walk into this room on my own because I donโ€™t know anybody. You kind of know people, and itโ€™s going to be a hell of a lot easier.

Leslie Healy: Also, people invest in people. And you canโ€™t get your personality across online all of the time. When you meet somebody face-to-face, people get a different understanding of who you are than you are when youโ€™re online.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Itโ€™s going to be everyone from their own industry as well because theyโ€™re always going to have something to talk about. So itโ€™s not like walking into a networking event where it could be a corporate event, thereโ€™s something slightly in there that you might be interested in, or you do want to network with people. Itโ€™s going to be like-minded people that youโ€™re going to talk to.

Killian Vigna: Yeah, itโ€™s definitely a real benefit. You were saying, where youโ€™d meet on the app, and then youโ€™d meetโ€ฆ arranged to meet up or say, โ€œIโ€™m going to this conference, do you want to meet up beforehand?โ€ Thatโ€™s such a good example because we saw, with the Salon Owners Summit, I know I saw it myself where weโ€ฆ I think Iโ€™ve attended three of them at this stage, but we do this pub crawl and stuff the day before we let salon owners become meet other salon owners or managers or staff because some people bring their teams, other people will arrive on their own. So the first year I went, I met a group of people who were there on their own for the first time, and then the second year they arranged to go to it with people from that same group that they were in the previous year. So, they met at the event but then moved it online, kept in contact and then arranged to go to the next one together.

And then we have the #30Days2Grow campaign whereโ€ฆ This is salon owners from all over the world, and some people ended up arranging to meet up off of it. So you can mix both elements in, donโ€™t just keep it online, donโ€™t just keep it in physical. Mix both.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Absolutely!

Leslie Healy: Absolutely.

The doโ€™s & donโ€™ts of salon networking [18:02]

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Iโ€™m curious about this one: how should someone actโ€ฆ Would you say that there are rules and things that you should be doing when you join a networking group?

Charlotte Bradshaw: Most people are voyeurs; they look. As in, they donโ€™t participate. Iโ€™m one of those people. Iโ€™ve got social media, and I very seldom post anything to it, my personal one. But Iโ€™ll be on it, looking, because I love to see whatโ€™s going on, but Iโ€™m not one of those people who post. Because there is that element of, maybe somebodyโ€™s going to slag me off if I put something up, or maybe if I put something up, itโ€™s not right. Again, as I said, I have the imposter syndrome where I think if I put something up, itโ€™s going to be wrong or itโ€™s not going to be good enough for whatever. So, there are so many people, but I think when you go to a networking event, and itโ€™s face-to-face you canโ€™t hide because youโ€™re there. Itโ€™s different when youโ€™re online; youโ€™ve got the keyboard warriors, somebody who will post stuff because theyโ€™re behind the keys and you canโ€™t see, a bit like us today.

But then when you go to a networking event, youโ€™re actually on the floor looking at people, so thereโ€™s nowhere for you to hide.

Leslie Healy: From an online perspective on networking, I think the main thing is, donโ€™t be afraid. Because your opinion matters, no matter what. And itโ€™s never going to be wrong because itโ€™s your opinion. So, I think itโ€™s come out of your comfort zone and make your opinion known and show people that youโ€™re there and you want to be involved. Because the more you put yourself out there, the more people are going to approach you.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: On the flip side of that, then, would you have any top three things that you shouldnโ€™t be doing? Say online, in a networking group?

Charlotte Bradshaw: I think one of the main things is donโ€™t be slagging other people off!

Leslie Healy: I was just going to say that.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Like, you know, if youโ€™re standing in a room andโ€ฆ youโ€™re not going to stand in front of somebody and go, โ€œOh, you think youโ€™re amazing,โ€ or this, that, whatever. But then I find people online will say it, itโ€™s just nasty, and itโ€™s like they have their bowl of courage this morning, and theyโ€™re sitting at a keyboard, and they feel they can say what they want. And they donโ€™t realise that even though theyโ€™re on a keyboard saying what they want, theyโ€™re talking to a real person. So, itโ€™s quite hurtful. I think they need to be very careful about what they are posting or what they are saying if theyโ€™re a part of a networking group because the world is very small and I can guarantee you, if youโ€™re posting something against somebody else on a networking group, you are going to come face-to-face with those people one day. Thatโ€™s one of the things I would say anyway.

Leslie Healy: Yeah, I was actually going to say the same thing. Just donโ€™t slag anybody off would be my main thing.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Participation is another one. I think what you must not do is constantly talk about yourself. Nobody wants to hear a know-it-all. Somebody whoโ€™s constantly telling you, โ€œOh my God got something amazing coming up, I canโ€™t tell you what it is. Keep posted to my Insta feed or my feed, and Iโ€™ll let you know in weeks to come.โ€ I think people just getโ€ฆ

Leslie Healy: And donโ€™t not comment. Do comment and make them nice, like please everybody else up. As we said from the start, Salonetwork is a community for the hair and beauty world, and we want to create that sense of community for everybody. So letโ€™s look after each other. Letโ€™s pick each other up. Weโ€™re not in competition with each other, so letโ€™s help each other.

Charlotte Bradshaw: You see, thereโ€™s plenty to go around and Iโ€™m not always saying this, if I give an e-talk thatโ€™s one thing I always say, Iโ€™m a big advocate of passing it on. If somebody does you a favour and you do them a favour. I did a favour recently for somebody, and she was like, โ€œLook, I canโ€™t pay you,โ€ and I was like, โ€œLook, I donโ€™t want to be paid, but if somebody asks you for a favour, pass it on.โ€ And Iโ€™m a big believer in trimming down the ladder for somebody, so for example, if somebody needs a hand to do something, just give them a hand. Iโ€™m sick of listening to all these women goingโ€ฆ Iโ€™ve been at these network events and women going, โ€œOh Iโ€™m such a big advocate for women supporting women,โ€ and then you ask that said woman for a favour and they basically say no.

That really bothers me. I just think, donโ€™t pretend your something youโ€™re not. I think thereโ€™s room in this world for all of us to make a difference, and thereโ€™s a thing we have in Ireland where, not everybody, but some people have this attitude where they like to see you doing well, but they just donโ€™t like to see you doing better than them. And itโ€™s a terrible attribute that we have here.

Leslie Healy: Itโ€™s a true one, though!

Charlotte Bradshaw: I think people need to help each other out. I think to trim the ladder down, help people get a step up, or if you can help somebody, pass it on. Do a favour for somebody. Thereโ€™s plenty to go around, and I just think this thing that we have where we donโ€™t help each other, especially when it comes to business, it just bothers me. Itโ€™s just one of my pet hates.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, I love the pay it forward concept, Iโ€™ve been applying that to my life for a while now. I think it came from the movie โ€œPay It Forward,โ€ I was in high school, and it just had a mega impact. And it does make a world of difference, you know? Do a favour to one person and then pass it on to three and then, at some point, you create this ripple of goodness in the world.

Leslie Healy: Yeah, absolutely.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Yeah. Yeah. And thereโ€™s not enough of it!

Zoe Belisle-Springer: I agree, yeah.

Killian Vigna: Oh, God, just had a fear of karma. What if I do something bad, thatโ€™s going to come right around and smack me.

Leslie Healy: [crosstalk 00:23:23] Totally believe in karma. I so believe in karma.

Charlotte Bradshaw: I live my life on karma. [crosstalk 00:23:27] It really does, trust me. It really does.

Salonetwork announcement [23:31]

Killian Vigna: Well, Charlotte and Leslie, thanks a million for joining us on the show. Before you leave, for anyone that does want to find out a bit more about Salonetwork, or get involved, how do they go about doing it?

Charlotte Bradshaw: Okay well, first of all, our website is www.salonetwork.com, itโ€™s free to register. Itโ€™s a couple of pieces of information, and once you register you have your login and then once you get in, thereโ€™s aโ€ฆ You can build your CV first of all. So you can go on and tell people where you work, where you have worked, what courses youโ€™ve done. And then you have your little profile, and then weโ€™ve got a feed so you can share. Weโ€™ve got some great people, very artistic people sharing their work on the feed and itโ€™s great to see it from all corners of Ireland. And then we have a job section, so if youโ€™re looking for any vacancies, if you own a business, or youโ€™re only starting off, and youโ€™re a sole trader, and youโ€™re looking to get an assistant, we have a job section.

We have an events section, so if youโ€™ve got something coming up and you want to post it, itโ€™s a commission for your platform, and then we also have a courses section. So if you want to upscale, or you have courses that you perform, you want to put them up to sell them to people. All of that is free. We have memberships where you can upgrade, and when you upgrade to memberships, we have downloadable documents: terms and conditions, policies and procedures, contracts, all that kind of stuff. And we also have a list of suppliers.

So Iโ€™ll give you a quick example, orders cost seven, eight grand a year? On our list of suppliers, we have a fantastic [inaudible 00:25:01], Doyleโ€™s theyโ€™re in Drogheda, and they offer a 10% to upgrade to the individual membership and a 20% discount to our Salon memberships.

So say, for example, I upgraded to a premium member, and I get 20% off my orders, which is like 1600 Euros in a year. It costs me 5.95 to upgrade, so Iโ€™ve gotโ€ฆ Iโ€™m 1100 quids in. So thatโ€™s just a little example of what it is. Everything else on the siteโ€™s free, so I mean you can access all these suppliers. You donโ€™t get a discount if youโ€™re not upgraded, but the suppliers we have onboard are fantastic.

Leslie Healy: I think one of the biggest things at the moment, though, as well, if you were to upload any events or courses that youโ€™re putting out there, you have to pay to put them up or you get charged a commission. We donโ€™t charge any of that. So youโ€™re targeting all the people within the industry that you want to target, and itโ€™s totally free of charge. So itโ€™s a bit of a no-brainer, to be honest.

Killian Vigna: Sounds like a win/win.

Charlotte Bradshaw: Itโ€™s a greatโ€ฆ Weโ€™ve only just launched; weโ€™re only a few months out in the market. Weโ€™re hoping toโ€ฆ Weโ€™re going to the UK at the end of the year, then hopefully further afield next year. So, fingers crossed all goes well. We get support behind us!

Killian Vigna: Thatโ€™s fantastic.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Best of luck with everything. Sounds great!

Killian Vigna: Guys, thanks so much for joining us on the show and best of luck with Salonetwork.

Leslie Healy: Thanks, guys!

Charlotte Bradshaw: Thank you so much!

Inside Phorest: reflections, upcoming events & final words [26:22]

Killian Vigna: So that was Charlotte Bradshaw and Leslie Healy of Salonetwork, and I believe, Zoe, you have an announcement yourself too.

Zoe Belisle-Springer: Yeah, absolutely. Just before we wrap up this episode, we have been working on something on the marketing team at the moment, with Valerie Delforge. I donโ€™t know if you remember, but Valerie Delforge hosted for us last year, six masterclasses. One was around managing staff; then you had managing your salonโ€™s operations, motivating team, HR, recruitment training, handling difficult staff and becoming an exceptional salon leader. So those webinarsโ€ฆ Weโ€™re working with Valerie at the minute, to re-package them in a way that youโ€™ll worksheets and workbooks to go along with them. And weโ€™re going to create an email management course for you to be able to access this on a weekly basis. So stay tuned for that. Weโ€™re going to have a promo video on YouTube, and weโ€™re going to talk about it on social media as well as here on the podcast.

And I suppose thatโ€™s all we got for this week guys. So as always, if you want to share your thoughts on this episode or have any suggestions, please send us an email at phorestfm@phorest.com or leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. We genuinely love feedback and are always looking for ways to improve the show.

Otherwise, have a wonderful week, and weโ€™ll catch you next Monday.

Killian Vigna: All the best.

Related links

Salonetwork: a free social networking platform that connects professionals from the hair and beauty world with creative and likeminded people

 

This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Great music makes great moments. Montrealโ€™s cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Tune in every Monday for a mix of interviews with industry thought-leaders, roundups of our most recent salon owners marketing tips & tricks, all the latest in and around Phorest and what upcoming webinars or events you can join.

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