Secret Salon: How Megan Reinvented Herself at 35 and Opened a Salon Without Telling Anyone

What if you left a six-figure corporate job to chase a dream—without telling your family? That’s exactly what today’s guest, Megan Eilts, did. At 35, she walked away from the tech world and secretly built The Collective, a brand-new community-driven salon in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois—all before even enrolling in beauty school.

In this episode, Megan shares:
✨ The moment she knew she had to leave the tech industry
✨ How she secured a salon space with zero financing
✨ The challenges (and advantages) of opening a salon before becoming a licensed cosmetologist
✨ Her vision for The Collective—a space built on education, collaboration, and community
✨ Why she hasn’t told her family yet (and how she plans to reveal it!)
✨ The power of trusting your gut and taking risks when everything aligns

Megan’s story is a powerful reminder that success isn’t one-size-fits-all. Whether you’re dreaming of a major career pivot, salon ownership, or simply need a dose of inspiration, this episode is for you!

🔗 RSVP for The Collective's Open House & "Pour & Preview" Event (Feb 26): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqaCQs6OAkLP1QgIkx8xLw4yjGBQlycOBsUpuW3cRpJjr__A/viewform
📲 Follow Megan & The Collective on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecollective.normal/?igsh=MXJ5ZGh1ZG80ZDVzaQ%3D%3D#
✨ Learn more about Stylist Soul Tribe: stylistsoultribe.com

If this episode resonated with you, screenshot and share it on Instagram—tag me @lisahuffhair and Megan @thecollective.normal so we can celebrate your big, bold moves together! 💫

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Transcript

Audio Only - All Participants: 0:00

welcome back to Stylish Soul Tribe Conversations. I am joined today by Megan IELTS. Megan is a local, to me, new salon owner of The Collective, which is a community first salon in the Bloomington Normal area. So those of you that aren't local, I know we have listeners from all over. we are located in central Illinois. I saw the collective's Instagram back in the fall, and I thought that the concept sounded cool. Then Megan reached out to me to speak at her upcoming Porn Preview Night. We hopped on a call to discuss collaborating, and she started sharing with me that she is not even a licensed cosmetologist yet. She's a tech world corporate job dropout who decided at the age of 35 to go to beauty school, and that no one knows that she's opening a salon, not even her family. And so we were on the zoom call last week and I was like, wait a second. What are you talking about? you need to come on the podcast. We need to talk about this. And she said, she would love to. So hi, Megan. Thank you so much for joining me today. Hi. Yeah. Thank you. thanks for that awesome intro. It's certainly been a whirlwind, but excited to be here with you today. Yeah. I'm so, so excited to talk. I think there's been a narrative, I've said this so many times on the podcast, there's been a narrative in the cosmetology, er, beauty industry, of, it's almost like your parents are disappointed if you go to school. Why don't you go become a corporate person with security? Go into tech, that's up and coming. Do this, do that. And I know myself, and a lot of people included, like when we said, Oh, we want to go to cosmetology school. Maybe our guidance counselors were like, okay, if that's what you want to do, parents, grandparents, whatever. And so as Megan was talking to me, while I know that intro sounds dramatic, I was, I felt so proud of our industry and how far we've come. So I would love for you to share your story that you started sharing with me. I'd love to go even a little bit deeper, on here today of what has led you to this. yeah, sounds good. So it is, definitely a non traditional route and, you know, that was actually one of my fears when I decided to do this because I was like, will I be respected by professionals? Will people want to rent from me? Like, I can't give you the, you know, hands on technical guidance that you're gonna need. But I can do everything else. I'm a great business owner. I've spent my career in, corporate marketing and recruiting. I know how to bring people on. I know how to advertise. I'm a very social person. and so I was like, I think I can do this. And then also, I want to go back to school myself. because I'm just ready for a pivot. so, Rewinding, I started back in recruiting almost 10 years ago, actually, a couple of years out of college. I started with agency recruitment, which means that I'm recruiting. people to work mostly contract roles. essentially hiring people to work for clients of ours at the company. it's very fast paced. You're making like 50 cold calls a day. You have really intense metrics. so I did that locally here at Bloomington. at a local Aerotech office and, did that for two years and, then got recruited to go work, at Google, actually, in Austin, Texas, so I moved and there I got exposed to the tech world. it's everything that you see, like, On the internet, on videos, anything that anyone talks about, there's snacks, there's nap pods, people bring their dogs to work, we're fed three meals a day, you can even take one home for dinner, like, it is everything like that. So when you got there, were you like, lit up? Like, was that exciting to you, or how long did it take for that to wear off, or what was that vibe like? Imposter syndrome is what they call it, and it's very, very real, You know, I grew up in, you know, I'm, I wouldn't say that like we were broke by any means, but like certainly like, you know, I have a blue collar majority family. We have lived on a median salary, and, you know, sometimes times were tough. And so like, this opportunity literally doubled my salary. I was making over a hundred thousand dollars in that role. Plus you get all of these benefits, you know, all of this free food. So like, it's, it's great. And actually, I never even had been to Texas prior to moving for this job. I had a girl from college who had an extra room in the townhouse. She was in, I moved in with her for a couple of months until I found a spot that I liked. and then I, the first day in the office, I just remember being so nervous. but also, you know, it's in the 13th floor of this high rise, like in Austin, right off the riverfront. So it's just like. The sweeping views of Lake Austin, all this stuff, you know, and it's just like, there's hundreds of people bumping around the office and, yeah, there was definitely imposter syndrome, but it was so rewarding, and really just, like, honestly took me to a level in my career of being challenged that I hadn't experienced before because Everyone that you work with is like, so, so smart. the interview process there is so intense, and it's not anything traditional. Like, you're not just walking through your experience or saying, you know, like, tell me about a time that you had a conflict and how did you resolve it? They're asking you questions like, you need to hire 50 software engineers in Manila in the next six months and you only have two other team members. How are you going to do it? And so they're testing your critical thinking. they want you to ask questions and then provide an answer of how you would do it and what your goal target would be and all of that kind of stuff. But it's just such a different way of interviewing that there's not necessarily right or wrong answer. They're just judging your critical thinking skills. so, yeah. So, it was awesome. You're about to be your salon owner. I mean, the salon is just about ready for people to start getting serviced there. What are some of those questions, just because there's a lot of owners in Stylist Soul Tribe and in this community. What are some questions you're going to be asking people in this industry? Yeah, so, you know, for me, like, I don't, I trust your technical skill. Like, if you're in Laysames, like, I just have to do that. I'm also, of course, going to look at your socials and see what your portfolio looks like. But my questions are more around, like, How do you want to grow your business? What marketing efforts have you tried so far? Are you motivated to like build your book or are you comfy where you're at? are you interested in community engagement and involvement? Cause that's a major pillar of this salon. do you have what's your pricing? Because we're going to have a minimum pricing for every service that everyone has to be at. and so I'm going to be focused on the business side of things. And, really like how can I help support you from that side? And not in terms of giving them metrics, like obviously I'm just a very independent owner. Yeah, rental space. but I want to be a resource for everyone. And that is where it's going to be a bit unique. You know, like I'm not directly competing with you for clientele right now. So like my main motivator is to get people to the salon so that I can continue to have renters, and then, you know, be able to go back to school myself. so those are the kinds of questions I'm gonna be asking. business mindset? How do you want to grow? What have you done? Yeah. Values, values and efforts thus far on the business side of things. because I really, really am looking for those, business minded and stylists. Okay. So what made you go from being in Google and also in Texas to where you are now. How did this idea present itself? The layer of nobody even knows you're opening this salon is such like a fun, added talking piece in. So continue telling the story. Yeah. Yeah. So, ended up, the Google role was a contract. So then I went to a permanent role at Facebook. So still in tech, was there for two years. Is that also in Austin or did you move? No, I moved to Chicago. Back to Chicago. So I lived in Chicago. They put me up in corporate housing. I was in a high rise right by the mart. Like, awesome experience. and I really loved it. but then COVID hit. so I relocated back to central Illinois because we were going to work remotely. and ended up getting a job with a start up. after I was pregnant with baby number two, I returned to work at my startup and three days later was laid off. this was the end of 2022 and tech just started seeing waves and waves of layoffs from Google to Facebook to, you know, Amazon. We've all been hearing about it in the headlines and stuff. It's massive. I mean, to the tune now of probably a million people that are in like non engineering positions have been laid off. So anyone in like marketing, HR, And what do you think that's, COVID trickle effect? Is that the rise of AI? Is that a combination of everything? what do you blame that on? Yeah, I think it's a combination of both, but also I think that, leaders got greedy. the executives understood that they may be overhired and overpaid at the beginning of COVID, Yeah, that really changed everything in the work dynamic and then they had to cut costs because they have these empty buildings now because people are having to work remotely because of the restrictions and shutdowns. And so I think it all played into it. But then it became copycat behavior. Like, I think that one company did it. So, you know, they were like, oh, let's all cut the costs and it'll be more understandable. We won't get bad guys doing it. Yeah, pressure from the board members and other executives of like, okay, well, if they can skin the fat, like we need to also. And so all of that happened. And so needless to say, then, ever since I got laid off from that. Start up. I have not been able to get a job back in tech. I have applied to over 2, 500 jobs since December of 22, and we had less than 10 interviews and to go from recruiting to that. I mean, I am kind of woo woo. Don't you kind of think that like maybe that's happening for a reason? It's probably not a direct account to like your skill or yeah, we need to get the job like Yeah. To me, I'd be like, clearly I'm supposed to be doing something else. Yeah, no, I definitely started to feel that. It actually happened a couple of times over the last couple of years. I just wasn't getting interviewed for the job that I wanted. I wasn't, I've been forced into a 50 percent pay cut, all of this stuff. And then I interviewed for a supervisor role last year, and ended up being the runner up candidate after a six week, six step interview process. They did luckily offer me a contract role, but still I was like, oh, this is just another sign. Like, This feels forced now. I'm no longer in a city. They're making you come back to the office. Like this just is not happening. And then in the last year, we've had a loss of life, a lot of loss of life in my family on both sides. but that got us all to talking, you know, to family members and stuff about. stories and, and whatever. And actually, my aunt shared with me that my grandma on my dad's side actually went back to hair school at the age of 48. And so, yeah, so like, you know, unfortunately, I never even actually knew her myself. She, she passed away before I was even born. But I think it was just. You know, I've moved back to my same small town, all of this kind of is, is happening. And so I'm like, okay, I'm pulled to do something different. And I knew I wanted to be my own business owner. And I always knew I could be, I just didn't know what it was going to be. and so then I was like, well, this kind of like, feels like a nudge. and then also, you know, I've done cosmetics in the, in. my past. I worked at Clinique when I was in high school and college and you know, it's really gratifying feeling to, to help people make them feel better about themselves and I went to school for fashion actually. I was going to be a buyer so I even just And I mean it's all just that creative kind of energy, yeah. Yeah, yeah. and my jobs have not been creative. Like, they've ended up being, very type A, regimented, production based jobs. And I'm kind of just burnt out. The balance that you have, I'll bring to this. So then, what, opening a salon, where did that idea come from, and why does nobody know, and how did you find yourself in this position? I wanted to enroll in hair swapping. school last year, but financially, I just was not in a place to be able to afford it. and so I needed to continue to work, but I'm just not enjoying it so much anymore. and so I needed to come up with a plan though, like my parents are like, okay, you have two kids, like you can't just go to school, like, what are you going to survive off of? Yeah, no, all of this. So I got to thinking and started exploring spaces and I actually went to tour this building. Oh, gosh, it was probably June of last year, May or June of last year for the very first time. It's a cool looking building. It's like an A frame building. It's a really neat space. I haven't drove by it in person yet, but the videos that you share, I'm like, Oh, yeah, that would, I would feel a pull to that building too. And so, you know, I had to kind of create a plan and that's kind of like the thing with my family. Like, everyone's a very hard worker. I grew up. where, you know, the men are the providers, like, that's just how it is, but, like, the women work too, and, we never have had, like, massive cushions, we don't have, like, big investment accounts, we haven't had, like, that generational wealth passed down. Absolutely, yeah. and so, thinking of all that, like, I was like, okay, well, I'm really gonna, like, have to have, like, my ducks in a row to present this to my family, because they're gonna think I'm absolutely crazy, and so, still to this point. They don't know. and so then, I toured the building. I ended up going back, a couple of times to view it. And then I almost pulled out because I actually did get an interview to go back to work at Metta. And then I bombed one of my slates, one of my interview slates. It went so bad. And I was like, okay, this is just another sign. I have to go to the Lulu side of it. I really think that that's where the, what this is. Yeah. And, my kid's dad has been like really supportive. about it. And he was always just like, Megan, you can do this. Like, just get out of tech. Like, you know, it's not working for you anymore. Like, you need to be your own boss. And so he's been actually a really, supportive person in this all. But, so he does know, but, not, not many others. And so I just knew I had to have my books. I didn't have my ducks in a row. And I wanted to do all the research. I had to make sure that I was going to have a case for like, the financial side and like how I was going to be able to pull this off. And so if you don't want to go this route, I can even edit this part out. How, if you can't afford to go to beauty school, how are you affording the salon? Do you not, do you want to throw that or no? No, we can, we can. So, and I couldn't afford to go to beauty school because I couldn't afford to be without an income is what it was like. I couldn't, I couldn't afford the cost of school. I couldn't afford to not have income while I was in school. and so I actually landed this opportunity happened to be perfect because the landlord for the building is It's the owner of Superior Drywall and he bought this office building that was honestly like very disheveled. It was like tan and gross and there was carpet and all the things and, so he had tore it down, down to the framing and then re drywalled everything but left everything else blank. So it was a blank slate. He was willing to finish all of the finishes at his expense. So the flooring, the lighting, the paint. And now I've coached so many stylists through. obtaining salons, purchasing existing salons. I have seen anyone from cashflow, 10 grand to get a salon open to take three to 400, 000 in loans to make this happen. That is huge at a gut. I'm sorry. So in alignment, like, how do you say no to something like that? That's kind of what I thought as well, and I knew it was a smart business move. and then, to take that another step, so he covered all of that cost, right? Like, the only thing that I do have to pay for, but he is letting me pay over the length of my lease, is for the mechanical upgrades for the, ventilation. And then for the additional plumbing that had to be run for the shampoo sinks, but he put in the two bathrooms at his expense. He did the flooring, finished the drywall, wrapped the beams, and I got to pick all of it. except for the interior floors. Your vision and your branding. You told me you hate the doors. Your vision and your branding is so pretty. I can't wait to see it in person. It's such a pretty space. Thank you. Yeah. So all of that aligned. But then even on top of that, the broker that was working with me to look at this space, let me know about a small business grant. so through the local, small business, economic development committee, in town, they were accepting applications for a, Rent lease or a lease grant, a commercial lease grant. And so I applied, I had to submit my business plan, which was 85 pages. They like worked really hard on it. You have to put everything in thorough. and then, you know, I had to show my tax returns. Like I had to show a lot of this stuff. There was a lot of paperwork that went into it and like a multi step approval process. and so that got approved. So on top of me not having to pay for any of the cosmetic upgrades, I also was able to get that lease grant and I don't have to part paying rent until I take over the keys, which isn't until next week. So I will have that awesome buffer. Yeah, to do it. So it really made sense. I knew that. And I hope that the space is going to be enough. not just the space, but you know, what I have to give it from a business perspective. Brianna, the concept, the mission, the vision, yes. Yeah, unique things that we'll sprinkle in throughout the year. will be enough to attract the stylist that I need in the timeframe that. the grant covers. from a business perspective, it really was like the perfect situation because I'm not financing anything. I've paid out of pocket for all of my equipment, all of my furniture, the supplies that will need to come that I'm providing. All of that will be out of pocket and I will not have any loans tied to this. It's so freaking cool and that's why I, the people listening, it's so interesting. I've had such a unique position of seeing all these different salon owners grow into salon ownership and I find it so fascinating from the outside looking in the ones that just flow and the ones that hit their head against the wall again and again There's one person specifically, I won't say her name, but like she has been wanting to own a salon for so long and she had this opportunity, this one space, she was like, Oh, I'm so scared to do it. I'm so scared to sign the lease. I don't know if it's the right move. I'm so scared to make this decision. And she decided to go for it. she was like two weeks in, turns out there was a big plumbing issue, her landlord retracted the lease, but what I find is that so much of it is just out of our control, and sometimes you just have to listen to that initial gut pull, and it's either gonna flow and it's gonna work, or it's not, but so many people get stuck in that situation. Who am I to do this? Why would I do this? I can't do this, And I think I was taking those steps. who was in your corner? I mean, you said your kid's dad, your family didn't know about this. Was this just you in your own mind scheming this up the whole time? pretty much. What is your process? Like, where did you come up with all of this? So, I think just in general, like, I have a very strong business acumen, and I'm just generally curious about things. But I will look anything up, like, literally anything up on the internet. And I just started researching, so I like, went to look at it, and I think it came to, cause I, you know, with the layoffs, like, I was like, okay, what is AI not gonna be able to replace? What do I enjoy doing? I like, Gabbing with people. Honestly, I like to make people look and feel good. I still want to be a business owner. So, oh, here, let's go do it. and so I started researching, like, what would it really take? And actually, there is pretty low barrier to entry to being a salon owner, compared to a lot of other things. Like, I also would have loved to like, own like a brewery. I'm like a craft beer girly. I have a feeling you're gonna say like a coffee shop or something because I sometimes daydream about something like that. So that's interesting, but that's probably much higher overhead. No, yeah, that would be cute if I wanted to open a coffee shop, but I don't know enough about coffee. I love craft beer. I love sports. So just like a sports bar, a microbrewery, something like that would totally be up my alley. But It is so much more money on the front end, the capital that I just don't have quite frankly, and it takes a lot longer time and you have to worry about payroll, you have to hire people, there's just so much more involved. but I also wanted something that wouldn't, you know, suck the life out of me and a restaurant would. I've waitressed on the side like my full life too, and I know what hard work it is and though I really enjoy it, it would, Just strain you. And so I was like, I need something that's gonna be flexible. I want my kids to be involved in athletics. how do I find something also that's gonna be flexible to what I can make as the routine? And so, you know, it all kept leading back to opening a salon. and having a place that, you know, once I've got out of school, that I can come home to, that I'm still the boss of. I think that's really kind of what all went into it and, how I got here. I love your brain. That's so neat. So do you know when you're starting cosmetology school yet or no? no, tentatively it'll probably be, like, maybe late fall or the beginning of the year. I really want to get things going smoothly, make sure I have, steady, consistent renters and don't have that risk before I give up my income. Pour yourself into them. So are you saving a spot for yourself or if it just filled up, you would let it fill up? No, I just let it fill up like, I mean, I'm at least a year away, a year and a half away from being behind the chair myself. So no, I'm not saving a chair for myself. I will work my remote job on site from the salon, be able to pay off the debts and things that I have personal allies and then set a nest egg to basically be my income while I'm in school, is kind of my goal. So that's where we're going with it. And when you reached out to me about speaking at this, event that you're doing, you said you really want the culture to prioritize education. So tell me more about your vision with The Collective. Also, I love the name The Collective. I had a program for a little bit that I called The Collective. I've just loved it since then. So I'm really attached to that name as well. so like, yeah, what's the vision with that space? Yeah, so in general, coming out from outside of the beauty industry, there's such a stigma, and you can go into some salons and you just feel that, like, it's catty, like, there's just people that hate each other, they're just full of drama, like, that is not what I'm about, like, the collective. honestly, there's actually, as I found out, a lot of salons across the U. S. named this, so it's not really that original, unfortunately. but, the meaning behind it, for me, at least, is, basically, Bloomington Normal continues to grow into this, melting pot of people. Like, we're getting more people from California coming to work for Brivian. We have more people transferring from out of town and out of state to go to ISU or Wesleyan. and so we're getting to be a more diverse school. community. And there's not really like a space where people can all come together of different hair types and backgrounds. And that is like my ultimate goal is to get stylists of very different specialties and get you under the same roof. I think everyone deserves to have a nice, beautiful space to get their hair done in. and you know, traditionally that's not always been the case for some, some groups of people or, or hair types. I want that piece tied with like community engagement and kind of collectively all coming together as one group, to kind of be the efforts here. And so we'll have that huge community engagement pillar. They'll do be events to do throughout the year. And, you know, I've got some rough ideas, but essentially I can't make any of my stylists do this, right? Like they're independent. they're not with me. So in exchange, I'll just give like a booth rental discount for participating in events So i'll take Maybe like 25 to 30 off your following month's rent if you participate in this event And so you're incentivized to go and participate get your face in the community and So I think that's, that's really what it came from and what I'm hoping is like, it's collective, low key, comfortable, relaxing, space and that's, you know, not falling into that stigma of, of the drama I don't even know what to say. Uncomfortableness that sometimes or even just the old school feeling of salons, even if there's not drama, but even just everyone knows what we're talking about. You've been in them there and I do. I don't know a lot of so I do hair in Lincoln. I now live in the Bloomington normal area. They're like 30 minutes apart from each other, so not far, but I don't know a lot of stylists in Bloomington, so I can't speak to it itself, but it does feel like central Illinois is behind on everything. So I love this kind of new age, new vibe. Really forward thinking, really community driven space. obviously, I'm very content and happy where I still do hair very minimal. Where I'm at, but like, I want to be part of anything. I can't, events, tell me if you're doing it. Like, and if it works out, I would love to do it. So, obviously, I wanted to just share that with people. So, we have this, a couple questions I wanted to ask you. How many chairs do you have? Remind me. so six, potentially eight. My original floor plan, I'm kind of having to turn around a lot, so we might be doing four double sided, but at least six, yep. Okay, six chairs, how many shampoo bowls? Three. Content space, tell us about that. Yeah, so, that's another thing, and I might offer this out even as like a rental, for other stylists too, like you don't even have to rent from me, but if you want to rent the content space, you know, for like an hourly rate, you can come in and shoot content, and that would be for like three people. flat lace products. if you want to bring in, a model to do, quick hair shots you can do that too. it's not going to be anything, overly, fancy but there'll be, a backdrop and some props involved, the correct lighting, and it'll be designated space, Other than just, taking before and afters, in your, natural lighting, that obviously does great, and those are the shots that you want, but I think there is a way, with people who are business oriented and wanting to make more out of their career and get time. outside of behind the chair so much. There's so many ways to make money on the internet now, and you know, affiliate marketing, all of those things, and I'm here to like consult my members on that aspect, and not just, you know, pushing products or increasing prices. Like there's other ways to supplement your income while still giving you your creative freedom to be behind the chair when you're, you're wanting to. Love, love, love. So we have this porn preview. What's the date again that we're doing it? February 26th. So it's a Wednesday night, 5 to 7. The first hour will kind of just be open house, walk through, enjoy a beverage, a mocktail. A mocktail if you, prefer. and then the last probably 45 minutes to an hour or so, you and I will, will chat and, allow you to do your thing. I think the reason, I wanted that from day one, is that I am invested in the education piece because I can't teach you myself. So, I'm aware of that. I'm not going to, pretend that I know anything about the technical aspect of being a stylist. but I do know business and I'm willing to invest in the things that my team is asking for. I will stay humble in that fact, and I will never pretend to know more than I do, in that space. And so having you be a part of this first night is kind of just like my first, proof of the pudding, if you will, that I'm willing to invest in people, that know things that I don't, that know the industry, that know the technique, and things like that. Cool. I am so excited. So how many people are available to come? Yeah, so the open house, it can be as many as possible for that first hour, but then we do need RSVPs, so I know, how much drink and food to accommodate for, but then also, for, the panel discussion, I would say probably max. It's 25 to 30 people, so it is going to be pretty limited, just because I want to make sure everyone's comfortable and has room. there is an RSVP link, on our Instagram page, in the bio, but also we have, a highlight reel that it's in, just fill that out, it's a quick Google Doc form, And this is mostly for stylists, less so than for clients. I know Open House, anybody can come, but is that more so your intention? Correct. Correct. I should have clarified that. So this one, we will have a client like open house or, brand opening type, event in April, but that will be more like maybe like I'll have a vendor or two in there. and you know, you'll get to come in and mingle with your stylist at that point. but this is really just for beauty professionals in general. So I still would be open to having like a nurse injector who wants to get out of a med spa or, you know, it. massage therapist. I could have room for we do have one esthetician signed already. I'm not going to release her info because she hasn't announced yet. But, we do have one esthetician who will focus on facials and basic waxing. so I need to do a little more research into that. It does require different ventilation. the ventilation adjustments that I have done may accommodate for one. I have had someone reach out about that, very recently, actually. and so I'm going to do some more research, but, more than likely it will work. brows, lashes, facials, and then ideally a nurse injector or a massage therapist would be great. And it sounds like the space is going to grow and evolve around who the founding, renters are. Yeah. right now I'm not set on what the makeup looks like. I have a lot of flexibility in the design of the space, to have multiple. So I would say I'd have like Three more spots for non stylists. and then like there's a whole basement in this facility too that, There's room to grow. We'll have a break room. We will have the content space. I'll have my office down there. so, you know, there's lots of options depending on who signs. and I'm willing to be flexible with that. Anything else that you want to talk about that we haven't mentioned yet that you think is important to share? I think just, reach out, come and see this space, feel free to reach out to me personally, now that you know who I am, you can reach out to me on Instagram or Facebook or message the salon page and I'm the one who manages that. I think the biggest thing to know is I'm always open to feedback. This is a learning experience for me, and I am humble enough to know that, that I am willing to hear anyone's ideas, especially out of those who become founding members. this is your opportunity to kind of help put your stamp on something too, and hope that you'll want to stay long term. I'm willing to hear everyone's ideas and, You know, typical millennial manager, I feel like, and also I don't want people to think that, I'm going to give you chores or anything like that. I am paying for cleaning service. I'm paying for towels and laundry service. something else I will be providing actually, Hannah. Night with always flourishing photography. She is kind of made her name in the central Illinois area recently with branding shoots for a lot of people and she's done several stylists recently, but That is something that I'm also including in your booth rental fee at my cost is we will do actually four different professional branding shoots this year. So on a quarter, and that's like almost a 4, 000 value that I'm really so, you know, I'm willing to invest. in the things to make this lawn successful. I just need people who have that same approach and mindset to come join me. And not majority of my listeners are not local, so I do hope this hits some local people. But I would say even the people who are listening to this that are just in the industry, different state, we have different countries that listen in. But what Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations is all about, I'm assuming you can reach out and just DM Megan if this is inspiring to you, if you want to get into the industry, if you want to open a salon for the first time, if you want to pick her brain. I just love highlighting people who are like doing it and walking the walk right now just to put it out in front of more eyes because I think when those connections happen, we all kind of flourish from that. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that there's so many tools that people don't think about that can be a resource, like even chat GPT, you guys use it. There's so many unique marketing tools. and you know, they can make it a lot easier for you to make money outside of being behind the chair. I feel like I am strong in, the business aspect of things and happy to answer any questions for anyone that may have them. Awesome. Cool. All right. Well, I will leave Instagram. I will leave the form for the open house with all the details and thank you, Megan, for coming on and sharing your story. So this is going to drop, this episode is going to drop on Wednesday, if that's cool with you. How do you feel? Honestly, I kind of am because I just don't even know how to, like, bring it up at this point. I think I might just, like, invite them to dinner and they'll be like, Hey, will you meet me at this place and give them the address and then show it. I don't know. You should film that. That's funny. You know what, it kind of reminds me of the TikTok trend where people have babies and don't tell their parents yet and then the parents get there and the baby's already born. Yes, this is, a very, You know, it's as much of a commitment, maybe not an 18 to life commitment, but it's a pretty big commitment, and one that certainly costs more right off the bat, but, yeah, it's, I think there's something to, if you knew that there was going to be people planting doubts in your head. Or fears or anxieties, like I think there's something so fucking cool about you just saying I'm going for this. I'm keeping my head down, I'm keeping my mouth shut and I will show you guys all when it's done. I think it's the coolest story ever. So I hope to, obviously I'm local to you, so I hope to be clapping you on at the one year, five year, ten year anniversary of the salon space because it is neat what you're doing. Well, I appreciate that so much, and, I've really enjoyed, talking about this, but yeah, that's my personality, I'm kind of just a go for it kind of gal, and, if it messes up, it messes up, but I'll figure it out along the way, and so this is just, another example of that, Certainly keep, you posted on how the reveal does go and look forward to seeing you later this month. Awesome, so excited. Thank you everybody for listening. Like I said, everything, that we talked about today will be listed into the show notes. thank you again, Megan, for being here and I will talk to you all next week. Bye. Awesome, bye.