How Stylists Create Consistent Paychecks (and Stop the Feast-or-Famine Cycle)

Burnout isn’t a badge of honor, and inconsistent income doesn’t have to be part of the job.

In this episode, Lisa sits down with business coach and industry educator Mandy Zehnder to talk about the systems that create real stability behind the chair: budgeting your business, setting aside taxes, paying yourself consistently, building cushion, and pricing with intention so your schedule can actually support your life.

Mandy also shares her story of leaving the industry during a hard season, coming back with a “failure isn’t an option” mindset, and how running her business on a budget ultimately protected her family when life threw a major curveball.

If you want more income, more freedom, and a schedule that doesn’t require nights, weekends, or constant hustle, this conversation will shift how you think about your business.

Episode Links:

• https://www.mandyzehnder.com/
  
  
• https://www.instagram.com/mandyzehnder_edu/
  
  
• https://www.stylistsoultribe.com/
  
  

 #hairstylist #salonbusiness #stylistlife #boothrenter #salonsuite #pricingstrategy #stylistburnout #beautybusiness

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Transcript

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When I first started, I actually totally flopped. I was good at it, but couldn't build a clientele. Became a single mother in my first year of business, and I would get paid. Then I would pay my bills, and then I couldn't afford to buy diapers, and I thought, oh my gosh, I can't do this. Like maybe this is just a hobby. Got a nine to. Five worked at a local credit union. I actually learned a lot about money, and I think that's where I fell in love with business. If I wanted to go back behind the chair, I knew that I was gonna have to do things a lot different. I hadn't run my business the way that I had. We probably would've lost our home. 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, all while fostering genuine connections and lifelong friendships inside the beauty industry. In 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 Stylist Soul Tribe conversations. Hello friends. Welcome back to Stylist Soul Tribe Conversations. I am joined today by Mandy Zender. Her and I connected for the first time a few weeks ago, a month ago. We have a coaching client in common. Maddie, shout out to you. Maddie has been in Stylist Soul Tribe for well over a year now, I believe. She was talking about on a soul tribe call this ad strategy that she was doing and it was working really well for her. I was like, will you teach a masterclass on that? she was like, I would love to, but I actually learned it from a different coaching program that I'm in. So let me connect you with Mandy. And I'm like, I would love to connect with Mandy. So we hopped on a Zoom call. Few weeks ago, a month ago. I have no concept of time anymore, but I remember telling Mandy like, shoot, I wish we were doing the podcast right now because just us getting to know each other, it was already a great conversation. So, she's gonna do a masterclass in the Soul Tribe community. I'm gonna do a masterclass over in her community and I just wanted to have her on the podcast. You guys know I kind of use this podcast. Selfishly is like a way to get to know people, a way to form deeper connections. So we're just gonna have a fun conversation. So Mandy, go ahead and say hello. Do a quick little intro and then we'll just dive into it. I love it. First off, thank you so much for having me. Huge honor. I love what you're doing in the industry. And Maddie, yes, huge shout out to Maddie. She spoke so highly of you, and so I also couldn't wait to meet you. Yes. But yeah, I am Mandy Zender. I've been in the industry for coming up on 21 years. I've been an educator for a major hair brand for 10 years, and now I actually write their business curriculum that they teach nationwide and. It's been a huge honor'cause there have been ups and downs and I wasn't exactly planning on being a business coach. It kind of happened and it's been the biggest blessing and gift and so, so fulfilling as I'm sure you know. Yeah, we get it. We totally get it. And when Mandy and I were talking on our last call, I realized. Honestly, I think our coaching principles are very close in alignment. The more and more I dig into your content, there'll be some people where I'll see it and I'm like, okay, different strokes for different folks. That's not really how I would coach to something, and I definitely think that there, I believe in having lots of opinions and. Hearing, you know, the ins and outs and having open discussion. So I honor and appreciate and ask people to come on with very different opinions, but I was just trying to come up with some talking points for today and I'm like, we are pretty in alignment with a lot of the things that we coach too. So I just think it could be a fun, powerful conversation. So why don't we, I know I got a little bit of it, so I almost was tempted. Should we go with your story or should we not? But I really like to hear people's stories'cause I feel like it tells me so much more. About the background, why they coached, how they coached. So we don't have to take a ton of time on it, but I'd love for you to rewind back whatever feels appropriate to you when you started in the industry, wherever kind of the big turning point was. I know you said I went into education and then being a business coach kind of fell into your lap. Tell us more about how that came about and just kind of what's made you who you are. And then I'll like start to unpack and pick your brain about actual coaching. Things. Yeah. So been as stylist for 21 years coming up. when I first started, I actually totally flopped. I had the talent, right? You have this natural gift, it's this beautiful art that you're doing, and. You know, and we were doing like the whole Kelly Clarkson. Yep. I can't believe that came back around. What year was this? What year did you graduate? Cosmetology? Oh five. Oh five, okay. Okay. Oh yeah, that was, that was it. Uh, there was like some big bangs happening back then. That was the bangs get the anxiety. You had like. Rinsing the red foil over the blonde foil. The pink absolutely Uhhuh. I was good at it, but couldn't build a clientele, right? I didn't know how to market myself. I didn't know how to really put myself out there. Life happened along the way. I became a single mother in my first year of business. So I had this little four month old baby on my own, and I'm in this commission salon, and I would get paid and. Then I would pay my bills. And then I couldn't afford to buy diapers. And I thought, oh my gosh, that I can't do this. Yeah. Like everyone was right. You know those people who are like, it's not a real job. Job school. Yeah. Oh yeah. And I was like, oh my gosh, they were right. Like maybe this is just a hobby. And maybe for those of you listening, watching like you have felt that before, maybe you're feeling that right now that you need to go get a nine to five. I did. I went and got a nine to five, worked at a local credit union. I actually learned a lot about money and we would walk alongside of businesses who were struggling and I loved seeing them, go from struggling to thriving. And I think that's where I fell in love with business. Yeah, I still did hair on the side'cause I loved it. But my business plan then was that I was gonna marry a rich man with good health benefits and just do what I want and raise my babies and go back to doing hair. But I married my childhood sweetheart for love. We met in the second grade and you know, there just, if we wanted more, I knew that it was on me. And if I wanted to go back behind the chair, I knew that I was gonna have to do things a lot different. So I did. I went to him one day and I was like, look. I know this is in me. Mm-hmm. Like this is in my DNA. I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. Like we were made to do this. And so like, I'm going back to the industry and I had no clientele like my mom and my mother-in-law. Yeah. Like a handful maybe. And I knew, like I said, I had to do things different. So I started to implement. marketing strategies that would, so when you went back in, this was like you were independent then you weren't in a commission salon. So you knew it was like sink or swim. Correct. Think or swim. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Like I went back full, rent out the gate, didn't have the clientele. And you know what? That you ever hear like it takes four to five years to build a clientele. That's what they told me in school. And I'm like, I don't have four or five years. Like I need to put food on the table now. I had had a second child by then, So I started to do things a lot different. I marketed myself in networking groups. I create outta curiosity. Yeah. What year was this when you went back into it? I'm just trying to get a lay of the way. So this was 2012. Okay. Okay. So like the, when you say groups, this was like, Facebook was newer back. I mean there was Facebook groups. Instagram, was there much Instagram in 2012 or No? Lisa, you're making me feel old. No, there wasn't a lot of Instagram. I really started growing my clientele around 2016, so I, that was the wise of Instagram. It was, but I'm like, was I just not aware in Instagram? But no, 2012 was like. MySpace is now over, but you know, Facebook was kind of the main thing. I don't know what year Instagram started, I'm guessing 15 or 16, maybe a little bit earlier. It was, yeah, it was because I did end up learning how to market and gain clients. I'm kind of a rebel, so whenever I was like, oh, this will bring you clients, I'm. Yeah. Okay. Social media is gonna bring me clients. Yeah. So I did teach myself about social media And tested it. And I was able to gain clients. But before I really got comfortable with that, I was, you know, marketing myself in these networking groups. I was getting out in the community. I remember dragging my salon chair to a fall festival. Amazing. Clients right there. And I was bringing in 10 to 15 new clients a month. Amazing. Right way. Mm-hmm. And that was just like pounding the pavement really. It really was. Yeah. I took on the mindset I refused to fail. Like failure was not an option. And I truly believe that failure is only truly failure. If you refuse to learn its lesson, there's a lesson in all of it. What I'm hearing you say, and I feel very similar. I don't know if I heard the exact four to five years, but I understand that thought process, for me, it was intention. I graduated cosmetology school in 2011. I really didn't start taking my business serious until 2016. We were more worried about my husband's job. We were moving around, I was having kids. It just wasn't a priority. And then I kind of had that same moment in 2016 of like, why don't I like try to do something with this? Why don't I like really put some intention behind this? And I believe, and I still believe this when I'm coaching people,'cause I see it, I don't know if you could put a date or a timeline on it. I think it's an intention and it's that moment, like you said, of this. This failure isn't an option I'm going to to do this. When it comes to marketing, there's like passive things you can do. There's like maintenance things you can do, but when you get that itch like deep in your bones You're very much like every single day I'm going to find humans. I'm going to put their butts in my chair, I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna kill something, I'm gonna drag it home. Like I am going to make this happen. And that I think is the biggest difference. And I relate to that and I remember that. And I can see it in coaching clients now when they have that. And I can see it when they're lacking that for different reasons. Lack of confidence, lack of belief in themselves, whatever. But I am hearing it was really intention that happened in that moment. Yeah. Yeah. And then building systems around those internal Totally. Yeah. Right. Like how do we get intentional about how we run and operate the business that is going to produce profit. And not just, you know, for the gain of money. Obviously we need it and we want it and we're gonna build profit. Everybody has their certain goals, but I also, I wanna make meaningful money. So I wanna build systems that are gonna set my family financially free. Totally. But also. Allow me to serve my clients so, so well, everything is done with intention. You're so on point, you know? Mm-hmm. Like their experience, all of it. Yeah. What was a blessing for me was, you know, it started to grow and I was, you know, working five, six days a week and then I, then I had to address boundaries, you know? Because I was coming in early, staying late. The money was good, but I was never seeing my kids. I was Well, and it's that like, next level, next level, like people say, I mean, you, you dream so big. Oh, all I want is a full book. And then as soon as you get it, you realize that comes with a whole new slew of challenges. So then I really had to take a look at, okay, how can I scale this and mm-hmm. Scale back my schedule. Like, how can I scale the money and scale back the schedule? And so I really looked at my pricing structure, creating a formula for knowing how and when to raise my prices so that we're not just. Price gouging clients are just winging it in our finances. And so I was able to get down to where I was working three days a week, nine to 2:00 PM I was approached to be an educator for Kenry professional love that was unexpected. Mm-hmm. And ended up being a huge blessing. Like I just loved meeting stylists from all over. The team of educators is just. So passionate. They just care so deeply about what they're doing. So I did that for a long time and then I started teaching them what I was doing in my business and that turned into me presenting at, you know, Henkel. And it just kind of snowballed. And yeah, it was actually my husband who was like. You should be a coach, and I kind of put it in the back burner. And I'm gonna fast forward and wrap it up really quick. But one of the other things that I was very intentional about was putting my business on a budget. I really liked the income from the nine to five. Right. Yeah. I liked the consistent revenue knowing predictable income. Yeah. So I created. A budget that allowed me to automatically put my income into salon specific budget to know what I have to set aside for taxes. Mm-hmm. What I can pay myself. And I started to evaluate and structure a salary for myself. Yeah. In December of 2019, that saved our bacon because I had a career ending back injury. I'm actually no longer behind the chair. I, there was a period of time I couldn't walk and the word paralyzed was used and Wow. I thought I was gonna be behind the chair until I was arthritic or blind or something. You know? And if I hadn't run my business the way that I had mm-hmm. If I'm being totally transparent, we probably would've lost our home because I was sick for months, but I was still able to pay myself for months because of how I ran the business, and I was able to pay rent at the salon for months to try and hold my spot. Then COVID hit and it was just this snowball effect, so, That led me to, I got multiple opinions and it was determined that I was to not work behind the chair anymore for multiple reasons, if I wanted quality of life is kind of what they said. And I thought, well, maybe I should coach, like maybe my husband is right. Maybe I could, you know, do that. Because I was already teaching business classes. I was already writing business curriculum. Totally. And. I thought, but my limiting belief was I'm a big believer in practicing what you preach. Yeah. And how am I supposed to lead and teach stylist if I'm not actively behind the chair myself and my son plays football, and one night after the game I'm laying in bed just thinking about like mm-hmm. As you as one does. Yeah. It hit me. Oh my gosh. All of those coaches on the football field, they coach from the sidelines. Yeah. They're not actively playing, they're not actively playing football right now. No. Right. So it that was maybe they did before. There's also a lot of coaches in history that have never played the sport before. You know now, I mean, not as a true, strong athlete. They just have a lot of education on it. That's fascinating. I like that. That kind of mental switch that you had, that's, that was the flood game. That was all I needed. And part of me feels guilty for not trusting, that whisper that got put on my heart before that, but it really was. And so I just, again, moved with intention, took everything that I learned in, building my business from the ground up behind the chair, and applied all of those same principles and. It's been, yeah, it's been such a joy and such a gift that When did you officially start the coaching business? How long has this been happening for? So it started back in 2021. I had a handful of one-on-one clients. I did launch a group coaching program October of 2024. We just celebrated our one year anniversary. We have helped hundreds of stylists welcomed hundreds of stylists into the program. And what I've realized, Lisa, and I'm sure you can Relate to this, and I'm gonna try to not get emotional on your podcast. Okay. If you do, the most fulfilling thing about being behind the chair is that transformation when you can change the way someone feels about themselves. And what I've discovered through coaching is I get to get that same joy. It looks a little different. Well, and don't you agree? I say that I, I say it in a joking way, but the people who have been listening to this podcast for a while have heard me say it. It hits different. I remember in the beginning when I took my business very serious, turning somebody around and getting the text message after and getting the post on social media, oh my God, Lisa's the best. I love this. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That was an incredible feeling. I was hooked from the moment I got it. Then it started to fade slightly like the, the hair, what didn't make quite as big. When you are actually helping people, like you said, not lose their house, sustain injuries, build business systems, their husband can get laid off from work and they, you know, they're okay. Raise their prices again and again and say, oh my goodness, I'm making, you know, three times what I used to make. I'm working way less. I get to be at my kids' things. That hits different than hair. It really does. And it is a thrill and a dopamine hit like you would never understand. So I understand why you feel emotional about that, because coaching is so incredibly fulfilling. Getting to be with people. I mean, It's incredibly fulfilling to make people feel beautiful and change their confidence with themselves. But it is another level of, for me, deep purpose when you get to make that kind of impact. So I completely understand. I wanna go back to when you were talking about business budget. I think there's a lot of stylists that need to hear that word alone. I would like to unpack that and then I wanna talk about what a business budget allows you to do is to. Grow some cushion, which allows you to then start paying yourself a consistent income. And I know for myself personally, I don't know when you started doing this, but for myself personally, for a long time behind the chair, I just ran a really simple equation and it was 50, 30, 10, so I'd take or. 30, 50 20. So I'd take 30% I'd run my numbers for the week. Let's say for even numbers, it's a thousand dollars for the week. I'd put 300 in my tax savings account. I'm not in the 30% tax bracket. That was extra cushion. That was a number that made me feel comfortable with. I'd rather save aggressively. I'd put 30 in the tax savings account. I'd move 50% into my husband and i's. Personal checking account and then 20% would go back into the business. I was able to run a pretty lean business where that equation worked for me for a very long time. But like you're saying, there was times that Ryan and I's paychecks back then would be really good. He'd be like, dang, you made some great money this week. And then we'd go on vacation and I'd make nothing. And then there'd be weeks where we had tons of cancellations and it fell apart. I remember the moment it switched for me. I'm trying to think of when I switched to a true paycheck. I wanna say it was maybe when I went S corp and I started running payroll and doing a salary. Maybe it was before then, but I remember I started giving myself a very humble salary in the beginning. A number that I knew we could survive off of, Compared to what some of my highest weeks had been in the past versus my lowest weeks, it was like, okay, at least if we're making this regularly, if I ever need to give myself a bonus, I can do that. But I guess can we get into the nitty gritty? Because now I pay myself a set salary, same exact amount every week. It's just an auto draft that comes out. I've given myself a few raises since I started doing that. I still pay myself a very humble amount and I can take owner draws whenever I need to. But I guess, can we talk about the nitty gritty of the stylists that are. Some people run an equation like I was doing, but some people. Have it super mixed, whatever's left over is theirs. I hear a lot of people say, oh, I don't really ever pay myself consistently. I just take the money outta my business account when I need it. And I agree with you that that structure in those systems and that consistency is so important. So how would you quickly, you know, go from budget to building up that cushion to setting that up? And I'd love to hear your perspective on that. At first, if you're brand new to the industry, right? When I first went back to Booth renting, there wasn't cushion. Like it was week to week, sometimes day to day. So really understanding that first and foremost, immediately, yes. Saving for taxes. I've met Too many stylists who they, you know, just dread tax time. They're paying back taxes. I mean, it's just, Scary. That's not something I ever wanna have to deal with. Yeah. Yeah. So, and that's money that you never, ever touch. And then I highly agree. Paying yourself a lien amount mm-hmm. Is going to be huge. So we recommend kind of as a standard to set aside about 15% of all service revenue to go to taxes. Then 10% to savings. I actually recommend that stylists pay themselves about 30%. And then you also wanna have. 20% for rent. You wanna set aside for miscellaneous business Expenses, and then back bar. And so every week when you really put this like pen to paper on a spreadsheet, we're looking at that 30% of service revenue plus all tips on top of it. Starting to see what your average is. Yeah. Every week, you know, what is your average every week, and then take a little bit less. If you're at a point, like at one point I had a goal that I wanted to pay myself$700 a week. That's what our family needed. And a lot of stylists, you're right. They will look at their personal bills and then pull whatever they need for personal bills from the business. And then there's no profit margin in the business for a rainy day or anything. So my goal was 700 a week. So if every week I would go in and if I only made say 650 I would take the full six 50. Once I started hitting that 700. That's when I would only take the 700. So anything above 7, 10, 7 20, 7 50, whatever it was. You just let it start to accumulate, build. and then you said it, you understand based on your personal bills? Okay. What do I need to have for six months emergency? If I can't work for six months and I wanna pay myself$700 a week. What is that number? And that's what needs to stay in there. And so being able to stop. Just looking at your business account, like let's say you have$5,000 in your business, instead of just looking at your business account and going, okay, as long as it doesn't get under$2,000, I'm good. Mm-hmm. But actually being able to look at that account and say, oh, of that 5,000, I know that$3,210 and 15 cents. And for me to be able to pay myself, God forbid something should happen. Totally, totally. We did a masterclass a while back in SEO Tribe. Annette led it and she does YA, you need a budget. I don't know if you're familiar with like their software, but she did a really cool masterclass and a cool feature in YA is it puts an age to your money, which was really fascinating. So like once you build up savings, the software would show her your savings is. Four months old. So like you, this money will last you for four months if nothing continues to come in. And so that's kind of what you're saying. I love it. That's six months of emergency fund. And I think that just switching your mindset to that and just saying, I want consistency, I want stability. I do think our jobs can be so. Feast and famine. If you end up with a ton of cancellations and it does take some self-control, when you have a really good week and 30%, maybe let's use your$700 for example, maybe 30%. One week is like, I don't know, 950. It's so tempting to be like, oh yeah, gimme that extra two 50. Like, I wanna spend that. I wanna use that. But I think deciding what that number is, deciding what works for you and your family, and really sticking with that. Unreal. Once again, you take a vacation or like you said, a horrible event happens where you have to take time off. But I love when we get to on vacation'cause my husband doesn't get paid time off, but at least like my paycheck stays the same and hits on Friday every single week. Doesn't matter. Yeah. You know what is going on. So yeah, I think a lot of people need to hear that and I think people just are stuck on like, how do I even begin to do that? So I appreciate you really breaking that down. I think that that's extremely helpful. Anything else on that specifically? Paying yourself a regular salary. I think it feels good to me, but I will say planning for profit in advance. Like looking ahead, you know, a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now, like are you planning to do this? Or are you actually pouring into retirement? Mm-hmm. And what does that look like? Where does that profit come from? And I think that's a great opportunity to leverage retail sales. Mm-hmm. And being able to, that's what I use to fund my retirement, and I was able to also interest that. Set up to autopay because I was monitoring my numbers under, you averaged out your retail? I averaged out my monthly sales. Okay. And what the profit margin was, right? Mm-hmm. So what was my take home? And I would take 50% of that take home. Mm-hmm. So I could replenish what I had purchased. Mm-hmm. And yeah, I started to average and I was able to fund a retirement account. And you know, again, so often stylists are just living in the now. Yeah. and you're so right when you say, you know, when we have like a$900 week. Like, let's go, you know?'cause when you do live beneath your means. Yeah. When you do pay yourself humbly mm-hmm. And you do sacrifice, maybe you don't go out to dinner as much, maybe, you know, you're trying to pay down to whatever it is. Sometimes you just wanna yolo a little bit. Yeah. You know what I mean? But when you sacrifice in the now, you're gonna be able to, you know, make your money work for you for the long haul in the discipline it takes to start doing what we're talking about. Typically goes along with the discipline it takes to do other great habits in your business. So what I find is when someone goes to this moment of, okay, I'm gonna start. Running things this way, their business also really starts taking off at that time. And that modest$700 a week, whatever you decided it was, your regular paycheck was gonna be, before you know it, you've got quite a big cushion in there and you're like, is it time to up that to eight 800 a week? Yeah. Is that, and that's such a better feeling to say, I'm gonna give us a true raise, honey, let's go out to dinner. Celebrate. I earned a raise, like a true paycheck salary raise than just these like quick purchases, a pair of shoes, extra coffees, a dinner out. Yeah, I agree. And I think it's that separation of business finances and personal finances, which I, I know for us it's a no brainer, but it's still. So co-mingled for so many stylists. So I do think it's really important to talk about. Love it, love it, love it. Okay. I'm trying to decide should we dive into a little bit of schedule talk? I know we're at 30 minutes. I what I noticed, I was going through Mandy's Instagram right before we got on. I always just do like a few talking points and I think one thing. We are also very, very, very in agreement with my cycle of success, my coaching principles. I always say dream schedule with your dream clients while earning incredible income. Like that is just what I was able to build for myself and I just think it's so good. Why would I not pass that along to everyone else? Yeah. It seems like you and I are similar on how we feel about our schedules, so I see like in your bio, not working nights, not working weekends. What's your take on that?'cause I'm so on the same page and I wanted to kind of jam on it a little bit. Yeah. How often do stylists feel burnt out? I talked to a stylist today Who is working four days a week. And she's completely burnt out because her four days a week feel like six days a week.'cause she's cramming everybody in. And she's not able to, you know, even bring in Dr. New Dream clients because she's, you know, she's so jam packed. And she has that emotional connection about, raising prices. And that's a whole nother. Topic, but they go hand in hand. They do. They work is such a small schedule like you and I are talking about. You have to start charging higher prices and there's a formula to get to that point, but you keep going a hundred percent. So really understanding that. But it's, look, I believe in building a business around your values. And so if your value is to be home to tuck those kids. You know, in bed, if your value is to be home in time to cook dinner, I want you to build a business around that. I always go back to Chick-fil-A, right? Like They have Sundays off, which of course everyone thinks of Chick-fil-A. Like, oh, I'd like to go there. Oh my gosh, they're closed. Yeah. But they didn't build this massive business and then decide to take Sundays off. Yeah. They started with their values and built a amazing business around it. That's what I want stylists to do. And so when you think about services. You know, thinking about what sets your soul on fire to do behind the chair. Like when you look at your schedule and you see that service, you're like, yes. And you kind of get lost In the service. You know, you need to go find clients who want that service And build a book of those dream clients so that you can truly love what you're doing every single day and I want you to do it in a timeframe. Mm-hmm. That works for you to be able to. Live life a little. Yeah. And be able to enjoy the moments we, our mission statement here mm-hmm. Is we love moms in the industry. I have a heart for moms because I was a single mom in the industry. But you know, when you teach a mom or woman, like we are woman run, but when you teach a woman to run a profitable salon business, she can be present for life's most meaningful moments and still provide. Yeah, and I think it just takes people who have done it, who know it can be done. To have these conversations openly again and again and again because I just know when I was in it before I realized that that was possible. You just, you hear these old, outdated, you gotta pay your dues. You have to be available for people. You have to, and there is a layer of truth in all of those little bits. But I agree, and I know when I started coaching and could see people earning. 180 grand a year, working two and a half days a week. Like it's mind boggling what this industry can provide for people. Yeah, that I, I'm the same as you. Once you look at it and you take a step back, you're like, this is truly a math equation. What do you want? Start with what you want. Let's reverse engineer to get there. We may have to fill in some gaps and do some work to, it's not like you can snap your fingers and just, you know, entitlement work, whatever you want, charge whatever you want. There's definitely some strategy to all of it, but what I think is so important for people to hear and know is it's possible, it's so incredibly. Possible. And I think a lot of people still don't realize that'cause they were in that same position you and I both were, where you're like, I need to go get a real job because that's not what this is. And seeing that little bit of strategy, that little bit of attention, what that can provide for people is just truly life changing. So yes, I'm just as passionate about that as well. and building around what is important to you. And if your kid's coming home, which I know we said we both, I think I hear mine upstairs. Yeah. if that's what's important to you, building around that, pick what it is you want. See it crystal clear, and then that's the finish line. It doesn't matter if you get there in a year, three years, just keep moving until that's what you hit. So yeah, I think we're very much in alignment on that. Yeah, I agree. Okay, so we are gonna have a couple exciting masterclasses coming up in the future. So Soul Tribe members listening, Mandy's gonna be teaching a masterclass in February, correct? about Facebook ads. Very excited for that. Where can everybody find you, Mandy? I'll obviously link everything in the show notes, but give us a quick little rundown of how you support stylists and how people can reach out to you if they want to do so. Yeah, so I hang out mostly on Instagram. You can find me at mandy zender edu and would love to chat with you, connect with you there. And I do a website, mandy zender.com. You can check out all the things there as well. Okay, I'll put everything in the show notes if you guys want to check that out. Thank you again, Mandy. I'm. So grateful to have gotten to meet you and I'm glad that we can kind of pour into each other's communities and I am always just out here trying to make other friends in the industry that get it, that are doing it. So thank you for the work that you do. thank you so much for coming on and thank you in advance for pouring into my community. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much Lisa, and I cannot wait for my community to meet you and it's just been a joy to chat with you today. Thanks for listening, friends, everything will be in the show notes and I'll talk to you guys all on the next episode. Bye.