Starting a lash business | PROFITABLE business ideas for moms at home
Julia: A little bit of a depression for a week thinking about life, what should I do and then I decided to just drop everything that I was doing to concentrate on one service and grew into this really big global empire that it is today. Unknown: Hey guys, Linh: It's Linh Podetti here and welcome back to my channel where I help you to achieve time freedom. So you have more time for self, family, business and life. Now in this video you're
going to be hearing from Julia Mann who is the founder of Lash Tribe. She started her eyelash training company and is now dedicating her life to helping you start a business from home. Julia Mann is a founding member of the Australian beauty collective and she has won numerous awards and is known as the expert in the eyelash industry. Now what you're going
to be able to learn is years of experience as a mom working from home, and they have to build a successful company. Now you will learn how to know your numbers, how to systemize, how to even outsource and staying motivated as an entrepreneur. Hi, everybody, and welcome to another episode of my own YouTube channel. It's Linh Podetti here and today I thought I'd do it a little bit different. And I invited my
friend Julia Mann as well as my supporter and client who's been supporting Outsourcing Angels mission for so many years. I'm really appreciative to have her here today to actually help you guys think about 'What can you do in 2021?' Because a lot of people want to start a business. Maybe you're a mom, and you've got kids. And we're both right, the same. And I thought it would be really cool to just learn more about your story. And then we could actually inspire people to start something next year.
How are you enjoying? Welcome! Julia: Absolutely. Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to help out a little bit wherever I can. Linh: Yeah, awesome. Yeah. So I want you to share with the everyone's journey, like when you're used to working in a corporation and decide to take a leave, what was that turning point like into getting to business? Yeah, Julia: So I actually moved to Australia about 17 years ago.
And in order to stay here, I had to study something in the beauty field like skilled migration. So I started in the beauty industry in hairdressing. Then I went become a beauty therapist, I worked for different salons hairdressing salons and beauty salons for or for many, like for about 10 or 11 years. And then I
just got a little bit sick of working for other people. I felt like my entrepreneurial spirit, which was pushing buttons a little bit too much at times, with managers and things like that. So I actually decided to start my own home salon. Wow, what is it now? About 11? Yeah, about 10, 9, 9, 10-11 years ago, I don't exactly remember the exact number. Just from I went to do mobile hairdressing, and then I stopped doing hair. And then I worked when I fell pregnant with my first, which is now almost 10 years ago, I decided to work from home and opened up a little home hairdressing studio and beauty. And then I got rid of the hair and just went into the beauty.
And yeah, it was just like a natural progression of wanting to do something while I was having kids, and staying home and kind of working around my baby. Like when she was asleep, I was going to take clients on and when the clients were gone, I had to feed and yeah, it worked well for the first six months or so. But then I didn't realise that children don't really like to have a schedule. So I have you know, I just kept plotting along while they were in care and stuff like that had a second and kept working from home and didn't really get anywhere. Like even though it was nice and fun to work from home around my own schedule. My husband sat me down one night and decided we had to crunch some numbers. Now I loved having
people over doing beauty services, buying the best products, providing really good quality services, but I was not a numbers person. So when my husband sat me down and said, Julia, I don't think you're making any profits. I'm like, Nah, I'll be right like I put my little blinkers on and I just wanted to do my own thing because I was happy with what I was doing. And I didn't want to work like 24 seven. So it turned
out I was actually making a loss in my business for the past two years before that. And so I guess that was kind of like the breaking point for me to actually wake up and decide what do you want to do? I was in my mid 30s then and I thought I can't keep doing what I'm doing for the rest of my life just pretending to run a business and I was a bit of a I like to call it a jack of all trades you know how you say a jack of all trades. I was a jack of all trades when you're Linh: Running your own business in business like that. So it is because you're running. You're a self employed person and you're just running everything yourself.
Julia: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was playing business. I mean, you're not really in business unless you knowing numbers and you're making a profit. And I was not making any of that I was playing business, you know, house Wi Fi at home, having kids and doing a bit of beauty here and there, even though I felt like I was working quite a lot, but I didn't know how to actually make money with it. And, and I never had anyone teaching me that because I was always working for other people.
And then I decided I'm going to do my own. And I had no idea how to even do it. Even though I pretended that I knew it. It felt like good to say, I'm running my own home salon. But
yeah, if you don't make a profit, like what's the point? Linh: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so did you did have the freedom, a bit of flexibility, but you weren't making the money that you're after? No, Julia: I was losing money. I was losing money giving nice treatments to lovely ladies and had great chips every day, basically.
Linh: And then, so what is your current business now like, to share with the audience what you're doing first at the moment. Julia: So, um, when my husband sat me down to go through the numbers, I was in a little bit of a depression for a week, thinking about, like, what should I do, and then I decided to just drop everything that I was doing to concentrate on one service, which I'm still doing today, obviously, a lot more evolved, which is eyelash extensions. And so I concentrated on that I took a coach, I did a mastermind, where we actually kind of met through as well. And, yeah, it grew into this really big global empire that it is today, I have a training academy in Brisbane Bulimba, in one of the best suburbs. And I train people from all over the world as well, with online courses. And pre COVID, I was travelling a lot like LA, Canada, anywhere where I could go and train others and also speak on stage. And that just all came about by making the
decision to actually concentrate on something and get help with that business side of things, which I had no idea about. And I grew up with, like a really good online following as well, which really helped. Linh: Yeah, if someone's watching this right now, and they're like, I really want to start something, what would your recommendation be? Julia: Get some help, first of all. So Well, before you do
that, I would sit down and really kind of start to create a business plan. It doesn't have to be a huge business plan, as some people have today, with hundreds and hundreds of pages. It's something that evolves as well. But you need to know kind of where you want to go. And then you have to work backwards and think what do I need? What do I require, in order to get there, whether it's knowledge, whether it's money, whether it's a help from other people, if you don't have that knowledge, and then find people have that knowledge who can help you and you are going to have to invest time and also a lot of the time some money to actually yeah, start just happened overnight. Linh: Yeah, yeah. And I love that you also didn't just go
'Okay, I'm not gonna do this beauty business and I'm gonna start something, some business that will make me money.' You basically stuck to your strength and knowledge and expertise in that industry. But you just went and niched right into that very niche. I guess it's your fault around, you know, making sure that you're doing something that you are, you know-how to do expertise and passion. And the point about niching, too, I'd
love you to elaborate on that. Julia: Yeah, well, for me, it was actually quite hard to decide what I wanted to niche because I was doing so many things. Like I said, I was a jack of all trades. I did hair did makeup. I did beauty therapy. I did lashes. I did cosmetic tattooing, everything. And so what I actually did, and
I learned that from Gary Vaynerchuk. Yeah, it's like, yeah, how do you know what you should be doing? And I asked 10 of my best friends and family and said, "What do you see, when you look at me? What do you think I'm really good at?" And every single person says, "Well, it seems like you're really loving the eyelash extensions. And when I see before and after photos, that looks amazing. And you're always really great and passionate about teaching whatever you feel really passionate about right now." And I'm like, all right. Linh: That is an awesome tip is basically you can't see it because you're blinded by your own thing. And then other people
can see that. So yeah, the first tip I love is that you ask people around you. Julia: Yeah. Ask good people, not those that are jealous.
Linh: Oh, yes. Yeah. So you ask people that? Yeah, and especially the people that want you to succeed, you'll have people that don't want you to succeed. And, okay, did you have to ask people that are already in business or anything like that it was kind of just general. Julia: And well, through the industry, I was already connected to quite a few people who had their own businesses. And that's they were really good friends. So I asked them, of course, as well as my parents, because I wanted to know, and I said, "You always teach people about whatever it is, like, eating healthy or weight loss in that sense that anything that I'm really passionate about in that moment", they say "You really need everyone else to know about it."
Linh: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, also. So let's set some expectations because people might think, okay, cool, I'm going to learn and then I'm going to pick a niche. And it's not as simple as we said, ABC, because, yeah, I guess what were some of the ways that you maintain your motivation and hustle through, you know, I'm pretty sure when you went from serving all these people doing different things to go one, and you probably got nervous, right? Like, "How do I say no to these people? What if I lose that money or something?" So I guess what was some of the mental talks you had to do or motivation, Julia: Oh, there was so much because I actually came in at a really good time, I reckon it would be a little bit harder in my specific niche now to start something because it's getting more saturated. But I'm sure there's lots of other ways and other niches that would work the same way that mine did five years ago. I grew quite quickly. And I think I had lots of growing pains in the sense that I wasn't prepared for what was to come. But in terms of motivation, I think for me, it
was really building that community that kept me going. I built a really big now it is like almost at 30,000 people globally, called Lash Tribe, on Facebook. And it's a free group where give lots of value. And lots of my other trainers are giving their two cents as well, daily, and people are there to support one another. And I think just going back there daily, and
reading what struggles people have, and what they need help with is kind of what kept me going. Because I always wanted to create value and help people in their journey, whether it's lashes or business because I teach both. Linh: Yeah, well in that group are they all students of you or are they people that are interested in lashes? Yeah, like who come? Julia: Yeah, so we opened it up to anyone who's interested in learning about lashes, or anyone who is already in the lash industry. So it's a global free support group, basically, for anyone who's already working as a lash tech or wants to work as one. But they're not just my students in there. It's just
literally anyone who wants to be in it and have like a really supportive community with the correct tips and anything there they need support with even just to vent or rant about a client or, you know, just everyday stuff that we have as entrepreneurs, because it's quite a lonely journey sometimes, and having that online support has really helped me to stay motivated, and everyone else to stay sane. Linh: When you're doing it not for the money, you're doing it to really help people it's going back to serving these people or seeing the result you bring to people that are motivated. Why? Because the journey a lot harder. Um, do you also teach the students not just how to do lashes, but like marketing or how to actually grow that business? Julia: Yeah, so I was the first in the world to launch a lash specific business course. So I did that in 2016. It's being overhauled at the moment because things are changing so drastically in the social media space. And I'm really big on 'How to' videos so I created online courses created all the 'How To Instagram' 'How to Facebook ads', and blah, blah, blah, but it's all changed now. So we're overhauling everything.
But I did that because there was nothing there like that lash specific because with beauty everything is very visual and people needed to know how to take good photos of the amazing work and then actually sell it because doing lashes and being amazing at lashes and winning competitions because you're great at that is one thing, but then to actually run a business and make money with that is a completely separate thing. Yeah, and a lot of people in our industry because they are amazing, they are creative, and they are very talented in what they do. They just don't know the business side of things that well so yeah, that's what I started teaching in 2016 Linh: That's really thoughtful of you. Yeah, because you've ultimately you've been there you know that like what not to do Yeah, and I think it women are watching right now they probably wondering how do you do that with keep like, Oh, you know, maybe it's some excuses started to pop up already. 'I knew that
would be nice. But now I just had a baby' or now 'I just I've got three young kids', whatever it is, I guess some tips around how you manage your work life balance with business Julia: Yeah well anyone who I talked to so many people about that and how do you do it all? Well, first of all, I have Outsourcing Angel. I have a full time VA I think we've worked together now for like two years. On Manny in coming up too long. Linh: Yeah, it feels like a Julia: three year full time episode. She's like a mini me but not in person. And I have video editor now, who works part
time for us. And I also have someone helping occasionally with web stuff. And then I have obviously someone else that manages our shop because we run e-commerce as well. So it's a really small team, but it's very, I'm getting very systemized. I'm actually reading a book I can recommend to everyone. Linh: I really read it and I'll be telling everyone as well.
They've done it. Yeah. Julia: So I'm reading that. I've read it now. And I'm systemising everything at the moment, which really helps. Now forgot your question. What was actually it was like, Unknown: How do you balance it with? Julia: Yeah, well You need, you need systems in place, which I only realised up until like a year and a half ago because I was just like, go happy, go lucky, try different things. But really, it's also about having a really supportive network of family and friends. And someone who is able to take the kids
when I am away because I was travelling a lot. Obviously, now I'm not. And I think I will probably stick to not travelling as much anymore because I enjoy being home more. I've done all the big travelling and doing all that. But really, it's about
planning out your day and just working around it and stop making excuses that because everyone has the same amount of hours in the day. And if I can do it with two kids, and you have one you can do it better than me. Yeah. Like people say, "I don't know when to start. I'm falling pregnant soon. I wonder
for pregnancy." And I'm like, there's any further there's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That's not Sunday. Yeah. Choose one and get started. Linh: Now, okay, so take it back. Like what makes you so
motivated? Like you're such a hustler? I'm always seeing like, a world is travelling doing this. And like, how come you never wanted to stop? You know, sometimes as a woman, you maybe you get married and have kids, you just kind of want to like, chill. I relate to you too, because I'm just like, constantly going, right? But yeah, what make what makes you keep going? Is it something to do with you? Yeah. Julia: Look, I'm not gonna lie, there's definitely days where I go, I don't want to go anymore. I just want to sit down and watch Netflix. And then I will actually allow myself that day to watch Netflix because you need your downtime, sometimes as well. But I have literally no other choice to keep going. It's
my own business. If I don't keep going, my team can't keep going. My family is not provided for. But I'm very lucky because I actually enjoy what I do. So when I work and wake up, I don't go, "Oh, I have to go to work." I go, "Oh, I have to make a plan of what to do first, but I enjoy it." You know what I mean? So
making plans and kind of setting yourself goals as well. And I have like, for every new course that I'm launching, I get a new workbook. And as soon as I've launched something, I try and come up with another idea. So it's about like, strategizing as well and sitting down maybe every now and then to just literally think about ideas and just brainstorm. Yeah, but you gotta you got to be very, I don't know, you just got to just keep going.
Linh: Because I think once you have built a team, then you realise it's not something you can just can't be bothered tomorrow. It's like you have to run. And then I think the other thing is because you also committed to learning, you're always doing courses and learning new things, then you can't wait to implement something new, and then implement, the more you learn from that. And then your next thing, and that's why it's an ever evolving process, right? And you become a better person, would you say? Julia: Yeah, that's definitely another thing that keeps me motivated. I think if I wasn't having coaches or being part of a mastermind, it would be a lot harder for me, because then I would feel very lonely, but I'm able to come back and we have like three monthly meetings like a mastermind, where we can see others that are in the same boat in person. Now again, we are able to catch up because borders are open as well. And it was
online, obviously for the for the last few months. But it's all about hanging out with the right people and having the right support. And everyone has such amazing ideas. And you don't know everything like I don't know everything and and I'm happy to always learn from others. And that really gets me excited. And like you say I want to implement it. And I get so
many ideas by just chatting to a group of people for two or three days. It's amazing how you recommend it. Yeah, love it. Linh: Okay, so what's on the horizon for 2021? Like, are you launching Anything? Anything new? Any new projects? Julia: Yeah. So I was just talking about that at another podcast. I did. And everyone, I guess we don't know what's going to happen, right? Is everything going to stay open? I we're not allowed to work anymore. So my focus is really to concentrate on making our existing online courses. So much better value, and really pushing the marketing button on that to just get more people involved in building their own businesses from home.
Because I feel like a lot of people were laid off and lost their job. And obviously Australians are a little bit in a better boat. But I we're supplying these causes to anyone in the world. And I know that a lot of people in Canada are shut down again in the US. And so this is the time where people
can start to focus on something new, and build their own little home business. In that time. They can't do any work. They can learn online and start practising on like friends and family. Linh: Yeah, that's such a great idea. I mean, the more value you
can give to existing people, the more they of course, even spread good work for you. They are your salespeople. Yeah, I really love that. So how do people connect with you? Where do you Where do you hang out online? Julia: Well I'm everywhere. With marketing you need to be everywhere. Um, well we're mainly on lashtribe.com.au If you are globally and you want to check out any of our courses, if you're already our lash technician, you want to try any of our products we also have lashtribeshop.com which is Australia based. But we ship worldwide we've got trainers in
Canada. Once Canada is back open because they're just shutting down again. But once they're back open you can get in contact there with Lash Tribe Canada and myself. I'm on Lash Tribe anything Lash Tribe. Oh, we have a YouTube channel as well with
lots of free videos. It's lashtribe.tv Linh: Awesome. We'll add all the links in the description below. But thank you so much, Julia. Oh my god, I learned so much. And it was so fun. It was like, yeah, it's like, you know, girls lunchin' and thank you so much for being here, Unknown: Cheers.
So there you have it. I Linh: hope you've learned a lot of takeaways from this interview. Now my favourite takeaway is the fact that she kept on going, you know, even though she didn't have any experience in running her own business. She kept hustling and learning and trying to seek out help. Now you too can also achieve that just by following her advice. Now I'd love to hear in the comments below. What was your favourite takeaway? Now if
you want to hear more inspiring stories to help us that a successful business from home, then do check out these videos here.
2021-03-05 21:22
