042 - Taking Action on Big Ideas: Carin Ekstrand's Path to Creating SalonLynk

Welcome back to another inspiring episode of Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations! Today, I’m joined by a very special guest, Carin Ekstrand, a longtime member of the Stylist Soul Tribe and a visionary from Sweden who’s on a mission to revolutionize the salon industry with her groundbreaking software, SalonLynk.

In this episode, Carin shares her incredible journey from starting a salon in her backyard to creating a powerful booking software designed to address the unique challenges faced by salon owners and stylists around the world. We dive deep into the inspiration behind SalonLynk, the development process, and the unique features that set it apart from other booking systems.

Carin also opens up about the importance of taking action on big ideas, even when the path forward isn’t clear. Her story is a testament to the power of integrity, perseverance, and trusting your intuition.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover how Carin’s experiences as a salon owner led her to create SalonLynk, a customizable booking software designed to improve the client experience and simplify business operations for stylists.
• Learn about the unique features of SalonLynk, including specialized booking options, online consultations, and automated policy enforcement, all aimed at making the lives of salon owners easier.
• Carin’s insights on taking action, overcoming fear, and following through on your ideas, even when the outcome is uncertain.
• The power of community and support within the Stylist Soul Tribe in helping bring big magic ideas to life.

Connect with Carin and SalonLynk:

• Follow SalonLynk on Instagram: @salonlynk
• Have feedback or ideas for SalonLynk? Fill out the feedback form here.
• Check out Carin’s beautiful backyard salon on Instagram: @frisorcarin

Let’s Stay Connected:

• Follow me on Instagram: @lisahuffhair @stylistsoultribe
• Visit the Stylist Soul Tribe website: stylistoultribe.com

Don’t Miss an Episode: Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on your favorite platform. Your support helps us reach more stylists like you who are ready to elevate their business and their lives!

We’re celebrating one year of Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations! 🎉 To mark this milestone, we’ve created six exclusive Starter Packs packed with powerful episodes, masterclasses, roundtables, and content from the Stylist Soul Tribe Vault. Click here: https://stylistsoultribe.mykajabi.co

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Transcript

1:09

Welcome to Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations. I'm your host, Lisa Huff. Over the last five years, I've coached hundreds of hairstylists and beauty industry professionals, helping them work their dream schedules exclusively with their dream clientele and earn their dream income. income, all while fostering genuine connections and lifelong friendships inside the beauty industry. And this podcast, we dive deep into abundance, manifestation, business building strategies, and creating a life that you are truly proud of both behind the chair and at home. Are you ready to embark on a journey of personal growth, success, and sisterhood, then hit that subscribe button now and get ready to experience the pure magic of Silas Old Tribe Conversations.

lisa: 1:55

Hi, friends, welcome back to Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations. Today I am joined by a very special guest probably safe to say our most international, the most geographically, I think, furthest away from me out of all of our Stylist Soul Tribe members. And of course, Karen is coming in all the way from Sweden. Sweden. She's been a member of Stylist Soul Tribe for three years now and she's here today to share a special project, you could call it a big magic idea, that she has been working on and wants to start sharing with industry. It is called Salon Link. It's a new booking software that she has created aiming to transform the salon industry and client experience worldwide. Hi Karen, how are you doing today? Hi Elisa, I am so happy to be here with you today and to have this opportunity to talk to you. Absolutely. Yeah, we were on a Soul Tribe call and Karen's been working on this software for a while now. We'll dive into her story and our last Soul Tribe call I was just asking her like, what's the plan for when this launches? And she was like, oh, the Software engineer is still working on it, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, yeah, but we got to get this out in front of people, Karen. You got to start getting on podcasts, things like that. I'm like, I'll be the first one. So hopefully you guys continue to see more of Karen and more of Salon Link. But I just wanted her to tell her story. We're chatting a little bit before we hit record. And I know everybody, you've never been on a podcast before, have you, Karen? No, first time. Yeah, so everyone gets a little bit nervous coming on and she was asking me what are we going to talk about? What are we going over? And I was like, I would just love for you to tell your story. And what I find really inspiring about Karen and so many other people inside of Stylist Soul Tribe and so many people that I have on this podcast is just their ability to take Action on an idea that pops into their head. I think it's so common for ideas to just strike us, all the time and very few people actually make them happen. They just think that's like a far fetched idea. So here, Karen, why don't you just explain a little bit about your story, your kind of salon setup, things like that, joining Soul Tribe, and then we'll get into the fun stuff, the big magic idea, and we'll dive into Salon Link. How does that sound? Very good. Awesome. So I started my own business back in 2019. I became the first time mom 2018. And that's when I wanted to shift things and start to do things my way more. So we actually built a salon in my backyard. Yeah. It's a beautiful salon space in her backyard. You'll have to check out her Instagram. It is so beautiful. Thank you. I'm very happy with it. And it's gotten very, it's private because it's only me there. And shortly after I had opened up, COVID hit and people started to cancel their appointments. So I looked into the education. Things and groups and all of that because that's when everything started to become more available online. And since I'm in Sweden, we don't have a lot of things like that here. Yeah. At least not what I know about. So it became natural for me to look out of Sweden. Yeah. And I found it. So many, I did so many things, you know me by now. So I'm doing like everything. And I wanted to actually jump on a different course or group program than Stylist's Soul Tribe. But they had their doors shut, so they didn't take on any more. stylists at that time. Okay. That's when I actually found you. And what were you just searching or how did you? Don't remember. I have been thinking about this. Yes, I don't remember. I what was the name? Where everybody gathered and talked about. Clubhouse. I was a huge Clubhouse listener back then. That must have been the first time then. I've heard you. Okay. Probably. Can we also just take a second to go back in time and think how wild that was? Like, during COVID shutdown, we were all on Clubhouse so much. And how insane to have people from across the world getting on this app to speak in real time with strangers they don't know. But it was such a cool little community. I am like so nostalgic over clubhouse. I wish that I know it still does exist, but not in that special way that it did. I remember I was doing 75 hard. It's like a fitness challenge back when clubhouse was really popping and I would get on it every single night. Cause I had to do two 45 minute workouts a day for 75 hard. I would get on it every single night while I was outside walking in my neighborhood and I would be like. Panting. Out of breath. So exhausted. People would be like, is that girl crying? Why does her voice sound like that? But I was just walking miles on Clubhouse. I remember one time I was walking my dog and it like saw another dog and it was like barking like crazy and I was up on stage talking on Clubhouse. I'm like, my neighbor thinks I'm crazy. The dog's going nuts. There's 30 people out in this Clubhouse room. It was such a funny time. So I didn't know that's how we originally connected, but that makes a lot of sense. I think that I. I can't swear that it was like that, but I think Were you in MSM and PVP before? Yes. Okay, so I know a lot of people found Hunter, and I'm referring to my good friend Hunter Donia, who's been on the podcast, multiple times now at this point. So yeah, you probably found Hunter on Clubhouse and then spoke with people inside of his course and then found your way over into Soul Tribe. Love that. So that's how I and then you had your doors open. And I was very excited to get in there because I have, people are asking me all the time if I find it to be very saddening to work by myself. If it's lonely. But I feel like I have my tribe girls. Yeah, they are family now it's so tribe 13 I'm talking about a special group. A very special, or I don't know, but for me. Yeah, I do know, and it's a very special tribe, yeah. So I have my, my colleagues from another part of the world there and I love them dearly and I hope to be able to meet them some, someday because I have never met them or you in real life. which is so crazy because I feel like I know you better than I know a lot of people in my regular everyday life. It's just wild. Yeah, so they are family to me. Love that. So I'm. I'm like, I'm cancelled most of the things right now. Both due to Salonlink and I've also become a certified high performance coach. I'm doing, I'm, I want to focus on that more. Yep. So I felt like I can't do all of the other education stuff. So I have pulled out from a lot of things, but I'm never quitting. Stylists don't try. Thanks for saying that out loud. That's funny. But no, there's a space and a place for it. And I've been on my own education journey as well. And I've had mentors come and go and come back again. And I've tried new things. And yeah, you're just the time for you right now. You listen to your intuition. And right now that's. You're just staying focused and that's the thing is you have a lot of things going on. Karen works behind the chair how many days a week? I've actually just switched to three days per week. Love that. How many was it when you joined Soul Tribe originally? I'd love to know that. All of the days. When I had classes. Seven? Really? I was so new, so I was like, when do you want to come? I could work whatever day you wanted to. Hey, you're like, it's in my backyard, just come. Yes, just come. It's, I will see you, if you want to come at 10 p. m. it's okay, if you want to come at 6 a. m. it's okay. Because I feel like, We all have to start somewhere and it can't be all perfect the way we want, wanted to be with a dream schedule and everything from the start. Until you start to grow that clientele, yep. It could be if I had some other income, but yeah, this was like, this is my real job and yeah, so I did that. So I worked every day. Okay, and now we're down to three days a week behind the chair. And you love that schedule? I do, but I want to, I've talked to you before. I want to, actually, I want to move somewhere warmer. I'm trying to scale back from my behind the bar business. This is partly how I figure out Hopefully how to do it. I think a lot of people listening can relate to that too though. I mean everybody at some point is going to be looking for an exit strategy. Some people think, no, I can do this until I'm, 60, 65, that works for me. I'll just keep raising my prices. Scaled on my, hours as my body can allow it, but there are a lot of stylists, I'm sure, listening to this, and Soul Tribe or not, that are thinking like, yeah, I'd love to eventually do something else, and you obviously know my story in that I had a similar feeling like that. I've hit the point now where I've realized how much being behind the chair still does mean to me. I thought that I'd maybe at this point, once something else was bringing in enough income, I wouldn't want to be there. But I have found the perfect balance of that. But I think a lot of people can relate to that. And it's really inspiring watching you and I'm really grateful for you to come on and share that is just the direction you're trying to go. And we're all, we all start somewhere and you're figuring it out. And hopefully this is, a big part of your exit strategy, but I think a lot of stylists can relate to that completely. So tell us a little bit about. When the idea initially dropped in, because I'm trying to think back and remember it too, and I will, hopefully you don't mind me sharing this, Karen has tasted a few things. She's known that she's wanted something beyond Behind the Chair. That's what I call the white space stage. And then, again, my lingo is Big Magic, because that was my own story. And I tasted a lot of things before it was Soul Tribe 2. I was doing YouTube. I was blogging. I was selling Monat for a little bit. I was trying a lot of different things to bring in. Another source of revenue and eventually the sole tribe idea came in and it stuck. And I've been growing that ever since. When did the idea initially drop in about this software? I've had since 2019. When I first started, I became independent. Yeah. That's when I, because back. I had a seven years where I wasn't behind the chair. I was actually inspecting cars, but before that online booking didn't exist. That's what I had. That's my background. Okay. And then when I wanted to open up again, I was really scared about starting a online booking because I felt insecure with, not being able to put people exactly where I wanted. to have my perfect days and to have everything go good together. Yep. I think that's a normal fear for a lot of people. Yeah. And so with all of my courses and business building and everything, I felt okay, this is a direction, even if it's scary, I have to try it. The worst thing that can happen that it's, I will pull it back if it doesn't work. But I actually find it very relieving. Totally. I can't imagine being without it. I don't know if I can think of one single person that has overcome the fear of online booking and then went back to not having it at all. I think there are some people who still like a lot of freedom and they much prefer to pre book. They much prefer for sometimes their clients to reach out to them. But I don't know, I think everyone is so fearful to initially open it up. You're so scared somehow something's going to glitch, you're going to double book, something's going to happen, people are going to book the wrong time or something like that, but then you realize it's no, this is actually life changing how much you go back and forth, text messaging, emailing, phone calls, just send them the link and let them find it themselves. Yeah. Definitely. So I started with something here. We don't have the same things in Sweden that you have in the States. That's to be like transparent with everything. So I started to search because I didn't want an open booking, if people can go in, search for my town and hairstylist and then, in my face, because I wanted to, because I'm specialized. And you're in your home, right by your home, yeah. Yes, that's you. Privacy. I only, I want to, since I took all of the classes and courses, I want to live, work with lived in hair only. And That's why I, now I dropped it, um. What you're saying, you want to make sure that new clients coming in are in alignment with your services, yeah. Yes, and that I want to be able to not have anyone booking. Just anybody, yeah. Just anyone, yes. Oh, I want to have the specific. persons that are right for my, that are a good fit, at least everything you can with an online consultation. Yeah. Sorry. That's how I started to figure out, because we only back then had, I think, two different booking systems here in Sweden, where you could be hidden and only have a booking page, but not be up on their search function. I want to say that's fascinating, because I use Vegaro, I know Square is really popular in the States, I'm not sure if you can get access to either of those in Sweden, but I think back when online booking started, that was like a selling point was, oh, we'll add you to this, directory of salons thinking, oh, this is like a marketing thing for me. But it's interesting. I think more sophisticated stylists would rather let their own intentional marketing do the work for them and be a little bit pickier with the clients that come in. Yes, definitely. So that's how I started and then I wasn't very happy with that first program. So I think I have switched booking software. I think this last time was my fourth, third or fourth time. Yeah. And I want to say everybody has good stuff. All of them have good things going on, but none of them do everything I want them to do. So I know we have, talked in Soul Tribe 13 about things, things come up because we are family and we talk about everything and including booking problems and problems with cancellation stuff and having a good, Maybe you don't want to have two new extension clients after we've stopped because that will kill your day. And so I have found that we have very similar problems in the States as I figure out we also have in Sweden because I want the same things that my soul sisters want and nobody provides that. At least not, every, one software doesn't provide every single thing that you need. Exactly. So that is what we are trying to do, and that's a huge thing to take on. It is. And Honestly, we probably, for the first release, we will have, I hope, the most of the things that we are having included. Yeah, most of the features that you want. I think we will have them there. But then also we want this to be a booking software for, salon owners and stylists. So if anybody has any inputs or so, I have asked around. I've asked in stylist tribe. I've asked my and every time I get an answer, I write them down because we take it seriously. Yeah. And we want to keep on doing that even when it's there. So if, is, if Lisa Huff wants a special feature for your salon, we want to help you accomplish whatever you want to do. And I think that's what makes us special when you look at other providers, at least here today, because I have been sending emails. software booking system. And I've actually let them know all of my very good ideas that we will provide already like a couple of years ago, because I think I've been with them for one and a half or two years. Yeah. So I've given them everything. And then when I haven't heard anything back, I reached out to them and I was like, Hey, is everything is anything going on? Are you working on what are you working on right now? And they are always answering me like we will up, we will send you an email if anything gets updated. Okay? So basically don't count on it. And I just wanna say for you, Karen, it probably does give you perspective of how much goes into providing all of these features. So to empathize with those companies, especially once you grow to a certain point, it's probably very hard to make everyone happy. What I find so cool about just you as a human and what you're doing is you found problems and you're like, there's got to be a way to have a solution for this. So I'm going to seek that out and I'm going to continue. That's like a core value. It sounds like of this company is continue providing solutions. So obviously you are not a software engineer. Like you had the idea, but how did you, what was your next move to bringing this to life? I actually for real thought about becoming a software engineer. I was like, yeah, because I have, I know my way around computers, but I can't do any of that stuff. To be honest, you know me and everything I have going on. I was like, no, it's not going to be, I have to be realistic if this is going to happen. If it's a big if, then it's not going to be, I'm not going to do the programming. I have the ideas, and I have the, I would say I know what the industry wants. Yes. And what I can also see that a lot of stylists have the same or similar problems. Common threads, yep. Yeah. So I, I am married to Tobias, and Tobias works at an at. a IT company. Okay. And he doesn't do any programming or so he's, but he has a lot of international colleagues at his work. There's a guy, it's a young guy named Kane, and he is from England. He has lived in Sweden for one year. And he Talk to Tobias about I want to do something else. I want to do something more. I have free time. And he doesn't have free time right now. He did back then, before Karen entered the picture. Yes. Yeah. So Tobias told him about my wife is a hairstylist and she has this idea and she would really need, I don't know, do you know somebody? Is there, is it something that you could see yourself? being a part of or so he was he is very optimistic with everything. Like I have, because I talk to him we sync weekly, mostly, and I come up with new ideas and I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm adding this to the pile, but is there any way we could have this little extra thing in? And he's yeah, probably. Yeah. No, that can't be done. It's just, Some things are more difficult to implement than others. So that's why we have to, we can't start with that. We have to go there maybe in a year or so to look at this in the long run. Totally fair. So that's Kane. So it just happened by fate, it sounds and so for anybody listening, I think that's just the power of saying your ideas out loud. Like a lot of people will just say, I got to sit with these ideas quiet in their head and it brings me back to when Kim shared her idea inside a soul tribe really well, I have a connection. Reach out to this person. Just. Never enough. And she was even scared to reach out, cause she's oh, I don't have all the answers, I don't have everything. But it's like, why not just plant a seed? I'm so woo about it. But if somebody connects you with somebody else and your paths cross I can't guarantee that's gonna be a home run hit every single time, but explore that. Yes. And then, I don't know if you remember, but we had a, the monthly call with Soul Tribe XIII. Yeah. And it was just me and you there. Do you remember? Yes, and that was another weird timing thing. Oh, really? Yeah, especially for Soul Tribe XIII, we have some tribes that the members are a little bit less active. active. But I don't know if there's ever been a time that Soul Tribe 13 has just not. And everybody ended up having something come up. They couldn't make it to a monthly call and it turned into a one on one with Karen and I. Yeah. And so we got to really dive into that. I agree. That is crazy timing. Definitely. And that was the kickoff, I think, for something because we really dove deep into that. Yeah. So I'm very grateful for that. And about the universe and everything happening for a reason. Yeah. I really got that time. That was very special. Wow. Amazing. We keep calling it, we keep referring to it, Salon Link. It's spelled L Y N K, if anybody's looking it up. And of course I'll have everything linked in the show notes. What's Salon Link? Today when we're recording this, I don't know when this podcast is going live, but today when we're recording this, it's August 2nd of 2024. When do you, what stage are you in right now? I know you're obviously open to feedback. I know there's a link in bio of salon links, Instagram asking for feedback. What kind of solutions do you want out of a booking software? So you're definitely open to that. What stage would you say this developmental process is in, and when can people expect for this to hit the industry and be on the lookout? We want to have it by the end of the year, hopefully. That's what we're aiming for. But of course, I can't give you any dates or months, even. It's ready. It's We have been working on this for, is it half a year? I think right now. Kane has been working on it for a long time and everything is, it's, that's very powerful as well to actually start to see he's showing me on the syncs, how everything, okay, now this is working and now we have this in place. So now we have actually started to work. We have a lot of functioning Or a lot of functions working, but now we're working on the how everything is going to look, more of the design and stuff. So it's very I don't know, I don't have the ability to say if we are halfway there. Yeah, it's hard to tell. I would guess so, by now. Yeah, we are halfway. And then can we just touch on this too? Because I know people listening probably wanted this too. I remember when you first told me, oh, I found this guy and he's a engineer and he's going to help me, create this or he's a programmer or whatever. Legality wise, how do you have this set up? Because my sirens go off for that. Wait a second. What do you mean? Who's investing into this? What is this going to look like? Like a partnership just always makes me nervous. But in this situation, Yeah. This could not exist unless it was a partnership. Cain could not come up with this software on his own without your input. You could not come up with this on your own without his programming. Like, how have you aligned this business partnership and what does that look like? Just because I know that's where people sometimes get tripped up. We are, yes, and we were very mindful of this because from the start we wanted my husband also to be a part of it because he has a lot of good ideas and inputs, but it's it's gonna be, Like what you said, legally or legal wise, it's it's better if it's the more simple it is, and then we own the company 50 50. Love that. Everything that goes in, everything that, that sometime maybe comes out from it, it's easy to split it up. Amazing. And that's how we have set it up. Incredible. Yeah, I think it's, we like everything to be simple, yeah, and obviously you can't predict the future, but it seems like it's an incredible working relationship right now, and I'm really excited to see. And I feel in a podcast like this, it's very rare to hear somebody's story in this early of a stage. Usually people are not sharing this until it's well created, it's tested, it's out, it's ready for the market. But I think there's something really powerful and that we don't get to see the not enough is this in between or these early development stages and getting to here. And I'm even excited for you to watch this video back, Karen, and five or 10 years when hopefully salon link is the biggest software in the market, in the industry, it's going to be really cool to come back and see what your thought process was around it. And so I'm just a big fan of documenting. the journey when you're in it. So I'm grateful for you to even share that. I know it's a little bit of a personal question what I just asked there about the legalities of it, but I know we just come up with excuses in things to not take action on ideas and I already know that was in the back of a lot of people's heads because it was in the back of my head too. Thank you for sharing that. So you're not exactly positive when it will be available. We will definitely put Instagram and website inside of the show notes. Karen is looking for feedback right now and there will be a link for that where you guys can fill out a form and share everything that you're looking for in a booking software. Is there anything Karen that you can explain right now that you know is very important to you starting out that People can expect with Salonlink, once it does go public and hit the market. It's what makes us different from everything else. Yeah. I would say we will have the a lot of booking systems today, or softwares, they have, what you said, they have similar functions. And of course we will have all of that, because you can't do a booking software without, yeah. Because you have to have what, the basics of it, that's just simple. And then, simplicity is something that comes to mind, because we want people, or the customers of the salons, not the salon owners, but the clients. We want the clients to, to have a nice experience and a simple experience. To not to have to do a hundred clicks just to make a booking reservation. If that's not what the salon owner wants. That's another thing. So we will have. the possibilities to customize a lot. Yeah, because it's also going to be different if you are specialized as a barber or if you are a stylist who works like me as a low maintenance stylist. It's we, I think we demand different things from our booking softwares. Like me, I really, I need the Online consultation first. Yes, that's one thing because I'm taking my own experiences and what I have a struggle with today. I'm having a lot of subscriptions to a lot of different things because I'm doing forms. I'm doing and I'm also doing the booking software. You've got your website hosting. Your form, place that fills your forms out like you said, your email software, some people pay extra for text features, some people have their online, obviously your online booking, but then sometimes it's an additional charge for emails and all of these things, and you're right, it becomes a lot for a one person show. Yeah, behind the scenes. And then you have to log in to everything, and you have everything in different places, and I know when I started to do, to scale and to do all of this extra things, It was like, oh, what was the name of the thing again where I have my emails now? Yep. So we want, or I want, that's my, one of the things that gonna make us different from everybody else. That we will have that, we will provide that within Salonlink. We're hoping to take the form sites, the emails, marketing, all of the things. Yeah. Love to have also that it's from start, we will have it, it's going to be simple, of course, but it's going to be functional. And It's for me as a stylist and as a business owner, it's a lot of things, it's a lot of moving things and you need to keep track on. It's not just the fun stuff about being behind the chair, it's all of the other stuff. And for that to work and to be integrated within the booking system, that for me is a dream. Totally. And when I talked to my Soul Sisters about it, they were like, if that could work, that would be amazing. It'd switch, yeah. Oh, I think that's, and then we wanted to do, the waitlist thing to have that integrated as well, and to have the booking, Or the software to feel like, to text, of course text remind, but then if you have a, if you have a waitlist client for a specific day or specific time and that becomes available, you as a stylist don't need to do anything, the software will do it for you. Hopefully, hopefully. That's probably some advanced tech because that doesn't exist yet, but that is the goal is working. Absolutely. Yeah, that's Kane, that's where he really shines. Yeah. Wow. And then I know something that we already have in place is to have specific bookings, specific times of day. Because as a lived in hair specialist, I don't do any haircut only's anymore. But then sometimes, when times are when, like this month, it's or the last month of July, july in Sweden, it's really calm. It's January and July, and I wouldn't mind doing some haircuts. But not over the whole day. I, yeah, you don't want a day full of haircuts, but you would sprinkle'em in. Yeah, I could have, yeah. And I could figure out to have a starting point at the first CU as the first customer and the last, and nothing in between. Because the worst thing in the world is, let's say you're working from 10 to six and a haircut books at 12. Yes. And we can't get a long three hour session and we can't get a four hour session and we can't get a new extension install in. Yes, I think that is a str and I think that's what really holds people back from initially starting online booking is that control of if someone says they want a haircut, even if I have the whole day full, I'm going to give them the first time or the last time and not in between. And so I love that you're trying to make sure that happens because that's something that you need to be a Booked and busy hairstylist to know that's a struggle. Yes. And that's, I'm really happy that we have that in place. And then, what I talked about before, that's also working if you have a, if you have a new client with a hair extension installation. And maybe you don't want two of them at the same, on the same day, then you can add that too, for specific services. Yeah. One of these a day. Yes. And I, the way that I do my online booking is I just have one new color client session and it's four hours and it's overkill a lot of the time but that's how I like to work. I talked about this years ago back when I was on Brit's podcast and she referred to it as a margin for magic and so I've always used that like little quote because I would rather finish a client an hour early. Fold towels, tidy out my salon. There's always things I can be doing on my phone. That's just me personally. So if I had a feature where I could mark that there was only one first time client per day, because I know it's just mentally and emotionally, it's exhausting. Brand new, putting on, it's showtime. This is a first impression. We really have to wow somebody. It is a different feeling than a client that you've been doing for 10 years. It totally is. So I love that feature as well. And then we actually, we got a, an idea from, a lot of these are for, from Stylist Soul Tribe members. Yeah. And another one that I hadn't thought about I can't remember the name of the person who gave me this idea. Shout out to you, you'll know when you're listening. Yes, definitely. And it was the negative buffers. Have you thought about that? No, I don't even remember if I've heard that conversation. Was this in Marco Polo or inside the Facebook group? No, it's, it was just, I asked in a post on Facebook. Okay, yeah. In the group. And I got a lot of answers. So I have written all of it down. And so I summarized it. And it's, When you have, you have, maybe if you have a haircut client that hasn't too much hair or, she always wants the same trim. And if you're normal, Haircut appointments is 45 minutes or one hour. And you need 15 minutes less for her. I love that. Yeah. I don't think I saw that inside the, I don't think I saw that comment. And I've never heard of that or thought of that. But the moment you're saying this, I'm like, Nikki, my client Nikki, I can, she has such fine hair. She's someone who does wear extensions sometimes. Lately she hasn't even had extensions in. She had me take them out. And I can cut, I can shampoo cut and blow dry her hair. Like. 15 minutes. It dries instantly. She has such thin hair that, boom. But I need an hour for everyone else because some people with hair like mine, it takes an hour just to blow dry my hair alone. So I, negative buffer time, I've never heard of that. Oh, because we have the positive buffer time, of course. Yes, and 15 minutes for length and density or whatever. And then we also Amazing. We have that customizable to the client. So if So once someone is marked with that, all the services you can just take 15 minutes off of. Yes. Or add. If You have very Yes, you would just need it. A lot of it. Yeah. So to all of your times. We can add that too. Obsessed with that feature. And I think I also wanted it to be like, if I don't want that with the haircut but I might want it with the, because you know when some people, I'm not naming any names, wants to come in and do some color. They want to know what color you use, how many times, how many minutes will they process for, what are you doing now, what will the toner be like, all of these questions, but when they're doing a haircut, they are very in and out quick. Yeah, so that's going to be also customizable to if you wanted to set it up like it's for Lisa's hair color but not the color. I love that feature. It's a lot of customization, if you want it, but also that's the thing too, because not all of the stylists wants all of these things. Totally. But me, when I, from, at least in Sweden, I, and when I talked to the others in Soul Tribe, I realized that it's similar in the States, where if you want an extra feature, you usually have to pay extra for that. Yeah. And we are going to have, it's going to be simple. You're having everything with also payment solutions, or you're having just without the payment, but you're still going to be able to have all of the features and you can do whatever you want or as much or as little as you want, and you're hoping not to have that cost on the extra. No, it's that we're struggling with it right now to figure out it's the text messaging because that costs extra. Oh, yeah. And that probably costs per text message that you send. Because that's what I was gonna say. That's if we could all wave a magic wand, we would love how about we keep it at the 25 a month, everything else costs, but we get all the features. But I have to assume from a tech standpoint that does get complicated. But again, I think that's the power of just having someone who's in the industry and experiencing these problems themselves, having a big weigh in on what needs to happen here, you're gonna be looking out for those, common, Oh, I wish that I could have this without having to buy another software, purchase another thing, all those, all that jazz, yeah. And one. One last thing that I feel like it's really special to me. I, I've been in MSM and PDP and everything with Hacker and he has taught me how to enforce my policies and everything. He taught me the, why do you have a policy if you don't, if you're not going to use it. So I've been very good at sending, late cancellation fees and everything to my clients, but I hate to do that. But it's not a charity work. It's a real business. So I have to think for the business part. And that's what I also want to do. That's not in place right now. So I don't know. I'm trying not to say all this out loud, but this is what I want one day. Yeah. Huh. And it's when a client wants to reschedule or cancel within your, or without, when it's closer to whatever policy you have set up. 24 hours, 48 hours, whatever. It's gonna pop up like a here you have to pay this and then you can do that so it's gonna enforce your policies for you. You don't have to do anything about it, you don't have to, of course, people can still be upset with you for sure. But it's, if everything is there, it's, we want the whole business part for salon owners and stylists to be more simple. Yeah, it sounds like you're really prioritizing automation too, which is amazing. Because that's the thing is, there's the concepts of these things, but then there's the actual enforcing them. Not just once, but regularly. You may have an off day and just decide I'm not even, I don't have the energy to even send this invoice or say this to this person. So I love that automation for those tricky emotional things is worked, and I think that's really smart. Yeah. So it's I feel like that's it's gonna be, I'm very happy to hopefully someday present this to the world as a finished, or up and running, I should say. After a few updates, after, as it continues to evolve, I think that's going to be really rewarding and exciting. And I'm excited to watch it grow and take life as well. So like we said, right now, Karen's in the stage where she is very open to feedback. So we'll leave that link. Is there anything, Karen, you would say? Salon link not included because you have taken action on quite a few big magic ideas now that I've known you and I just notice in people that there are just some people who are action takers and there's some people who wish they were action takers and I empathize that they aren't but they just will sit on the idea, will sit, will dwell, will want perfection. What is it that makes you just push through and bring things to life, and go for it? I think I've actually, it's just, I realized this just, I don't know, a couple of months ago. It hit me, I listened to a podcast with Brandon Richard, and he talked about integrity. And integrity for me, because I have had clients tell me like, you have such a high integrity. And I was like, doesn't that mean what I share with others, or tell the stuff about myself or so? But it's that too, so I had to Google it because I didn't want to, I didn't want to ask them. Yeah, it said it's when you say you're gonna do something, you do it no matter what. I have come to the conclusion that's what brings me and my husband. That's our like, very glued core values. Core value, yeah. Point that we have. I've always been like that. It's, if I say I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it. And. So I'm also careful with what I'm saying that I should do or don't, or not. But as an example, when I was young, very young, I don't know, 16, I think. Yeah. I have dreamt about having a piercing, a belly button piercing. Yep. Huh. And I was so scared of everything with needles. Huh. So my mom and dad had said no forever. They're like, no, you can't do that. But in Sweden, when you're 16 years old and you have your parents permission, it's okay to do that. I got my bellybone 16 too. It's the same laws here. That's funny. Keep going. And then my mom was like, yeah, sure, you can go do that now. And I was like, Are you sure? And she was like, yeah. You were almost hoping she was like, no, you can't. Yeah. So I actually I had to go do it then. Because that's the integrity. You said you're going to do something. Wow. So I think that, that's it. That like I, I'm doing what I'm, what I want to do. And sometimes I listen to the podcast with you and Hunter, talking about your woo, and everything. Yeah. You know me and all of my angel cards and crystals and everything. Yeah. Parents pro woo. Yes, very. And. Sometimes you have to realize that it's not what you said, it's not the time for it right now. So a lot of ideas I have. I have kept for a while before starting to, or like I have an idea, but I really don't know how to start or what to do with it. The coaching thing was that for me. Yeah. I, I had a coaching group here in Sweden of stylists, similar to what you are doing, but in much, much smaller groups. And I felt like that's the, I wanted to better myself as a coach. I went and did the coaching. The coaching program, if you say so, yeah, education program, whatever, yeah. And that took, I don't know, maybe eight months before I really started to do that. So it's, sometimes it's just, it takes longer and I'm okay with that too. And I'm a quote I love is that, Action creates momentum, and what I think I find very inspiring about you and why I love coaching you is you will take action, and you did coaching for a little bit, you're not currently coaching right now, there are some people that like, that would crush them, they would stop bringing things to life, they would stop creating things, and I'm so attracted to, and drawn to, and relate to people who I'm Just try and go for it and go for it, and there is no failure. There's a lesson learned that teaches you what the next thing is going to be for you. And if there's one thing I wish I could just inject into people who don't have that naturally built into their DNA, is just start taking action. You're gonna learn what you need to learn that may have nothing to do with what you're doing right now, but it's gonna lead you to where you are. I think people sit stagnant for too long out of fear. Fear that it's not going to go how they expect it to go. They're going to look stupid. They're going to fail. Something is going to go wrong. And I'm just want to, I hope you know how strongly I feel that about you and want to commend you for having that in you because it's really fun and exciting to watch. And I think you see results and it's going to continue through the rest of your career to reward you from being that way. Yeah, just have to call you for that. Thank you. Yeah, and that, that was what happened when I did the, it's a high performance coaching. So it's a very different type of coaching that I'm doing now. And I actually quit the other thing. What you said, like some things when I did the high performance coaching education. that it came to me when I had my certificate and everything. It was like, this is what I'm supposed to do. Yes. And I started to think about how should I shift from the other classic coaching to high performance coaching. But then when My students dropped off. It happened by itself. And I was supposed to like you go universes conspiring with you. Yeah, I felt that so strongly then that this is it's supposed to happen and that's with some clients to in the salon behind the chair business. Sometimes they leave, but it's, there's a saying, it's it's either you, win or you learn. You never say. Yep. It's like winning or learning. Yep. I think it's so much about your mind, your mindset and thoughts and everything to have that work for you instead of against you. I completely agree. And an affirmation that I have to consistently go back to is what is for me, won't miss me. And I think you just saying that deep knowing that like you're on the right track. Sure, things are going to be a little confusing, sometimes overwhelming, there's always going to be challenges that present itself that you have to work through, but deep down, intuition, gut, like you just know you're where you're supposed to be, and whenever I'm starting to lose sight of that, what I consistently go back to in my head is what is for me will not miss me, I don't have to fight for it, I don't have to it is, I'm learning. at the speed I'm meant to be learning at, and I'm exactly where I'm meant to be. I love that. We are definitely cut from the same cloth on that. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. Thank you, Karen, so much for coming on. I love this kind of, mindset turn that we took at that, and I was just thinking man, we need to do a few different podcast episodes together, because this is bold. I love this. Thank you so much. So thank you so much for coming on and for sharing. Like I said, everyone, I will put all the links for all the things salon link inside of the show notes inside of the description. Make sure you give them a follow on Instagram. Make sure you fill out that form with any and all feedback, because even if your feedback feels like silly or like it's not something that Karen hasn't already thought of, just realize that filling out that form, you're getting added to their email list. You're going to know the updates. You're going to be in the loop of what's happening. in supporting a big magic idea from a stylist who's just like you, who's brave enough to like, bring something to life. And I think that alone is beautiful and something to get behind. So thank you again for coming on. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Lisa. Yes. For being here today.