Elevate Springfield featuring Jessica Kocurek: Elevating Through the Power of Positivity, Passion, and Expansion

Summary

In this conversation, Jessica Kocurek shares her journey from a small-town girl in Edinburgh to a successful salon owner in Springfield. She discusses her early passion for the beauty industry, the challenges of building a clientele, and the leap into entrepreneurship. Jessica reflects on her education, the evolution of the beauty industry, and the importance of community engagement in her business. She also highlights the role of social media in marketing and the lessons learned throughout her career. In this conversation, Jessica discusses the significant growth of her business, Willow and Birch, highlighting the expansion from a small space to a 20,000 square foot facility. She emphasizes the importance of customer service and community involvement, detailing the diverse services offered, including spa treatments and alternative hair solutions. Jessica shares insights on the mindset required for business success, the balance between personal and professional life, and the importance of positivity and giving back to the community.

Takeaways

• Building a clientele required creativity and hard work, especially without social media.
• The beauty industry has evolved significantly over the years.
• Jessica emphasizes the importance of mentorship and continuous learning.
• She faced challenges in finding the right location for her salon.
• Community engagement played a crucial role in her business success.
• Navigating the business world required learning and adapting to new challenges.
• Jessica's journey reflects the importance of resilience and determination in entrepreneurship. Expansion from 2,200 to 20,000 square feet was necessary.
• Alternative hair solutions have become a significant part of the offerings.
• Mindset is crucial for business growth and overcoming challenges.
• Community involvement is essential for personal and business fulfillment.
• Positivity can help overcome negativity in business.
• Training for alternative hair is not typically covered in cosmetology school.
• The importance of customizing services to meet individual client needs.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're going to bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your life, your business, all of it. Time to crush those goals, time to get after it. Let's go. You are listening to the Elevate Springfield Podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10X coach, speaker, and mentor, here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through, and together we're going to Elevate Springfield. We're coming to you again from beautiful downtown Springfield in the Big Dog Construction Studio. Hey, we've got so much going on in Springfield right now. Make sure you are participating. Get out there, network with folks, be a part of the community, support local businesses, support local nonprofits, and let's go, we can all grow together. So, hey, another great episode for you today. We're gonna get right to our guest. After the break. Hey Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Roofing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities. From quick dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial, they are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. All right, and we are back. Hey, joining me in the studio, another uh downtown mate here, I guess. Jessica Kasurik from Willow and Birch. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

I am doing so good. Yeah, we're just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Literally. Like a block away. Right across the plaza.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

Made for an easy commute for you down here.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Very much so, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

Yeah, appreciate you coming down.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, thanks for having me. I appreciate you asking.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Yeah, looking forward to, of course, learning all about Willow and Birch. But uh, let's start by learning a little bit about you. Tell us about your background.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Oh my gosh, yeah. Okay, so I grew up in Edinburgh and I still live there. So very much a small town girl. After high school, I went to hair school in Chicago. And then after I completed my program there, which cosmetology is a little different. It's not in years, it's in hours. So it was a 1500-hour program at the time. And so about 10 months. And then I moved back home and started working as a hairdresser in Taylorville, actually. And then in 2010, I was crazy enough to say, I'm 22. I'm just gonna open a salon. I had no idea what I was doing, but you know, it's definitely grown. And over the last 16 years, it's evolved into way more than what I ever could have dreamt it would be. I remember, you know, when we built out the first space and it had five stations, I'm like, this is gonna be great. Like I just need to find four people who will work with me and we're gonna be here forever. Right. And boy, was I wrong on the be here forever. We have grown so much through the years, but yeah. So I mean, I I've always had a passion for the beauty industry and hair and makeup and all things girly, but it wasn't like a decided thing out of the gate that I was like.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

So, like when you were in in Edinburgh at high school, did you know at that point?

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Or I loved high school. So I was like that person, right? Like right now, I'm planning our 20-year high school reunion. I was our class president. I was a great student. I had straight A's. I was at the top of my class. Like I loved school and all the activities that came along with that. So if there was a club, I was in it. If there was a sport, I was in it. So I think a lot of people thought that I would want to go to college and have that experience, right? Because I very much enjoyed school and I had always wanted to be a teacher and coach volleyball. And so that was kind of my plan. And then when I was in high school, the No Child Left Behind act hit. And my high school English teacher, who I worked with very closely because I was our class president and she was our sponsor. She was like, you know, I really think you should explore other options. Like you'll be successful, whatever you do. Pick something you love. And I still thank her to this day. And like I would not have changed my mind had she not said that. And when I got out, you know, now there's a teacher shortage, but when I got out of college or high school that era, you couldn't find a job as a teacher. I mean, there were, there were none available. I have multiple friends who have teaching degrees that do not use them.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

And so I'm so thankful that she was like, you know, maybe you should explore other things. And so that was beginning of my junior year. And I'm like, okay, well, the only other thing that I have ever wanted to do was be a hairdresser. But everyone had always said, like, well, you're really smart. You probably shouldn't do hair. You know, like, and I would say if you go back, you know, people listening today might be like, well, that's weird. Like, why would you not want your child to do hair? Because our industry is viewed very differently now, especially in the post-COVID era than it was 20 years ago. You know, 20 years ago. And I'll go back even further, 30, 40 years ago. You only went to hair school if you didn't have the option to go to college or you were pregnant. Right. Those were like that was a thing. Yeah. It truly was like, well, you you could go to hair school and that would be something, you know? And so I remember it being kind of like a weird junior senior era because you have all these events where you're like putting what your future plans are, right? Like they're announcing you at senior night and you're like, I'm going to hair school. And I was like, all in. But it taught me very quickly that whatever I did, I was gonna have to be fully convinced it was the right choice for me and literally not care what anybody else thought. So all in.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

I really was because it was, I mean, multiple people, guidance counselor calling me down, like, are you in a fight with your boyfriend? Like, why are you throwing your life away? Like, what's going on? And I'm like, no, like I'm really smart. And if I do math and I only charge $20 for a haircut, let's say, make more than you do as my praise counselor. Right. I only have to do five haircuts a day. That sounds like a really easy life for me, you know. So it's interesting now, but yeah, back then it was kind of wild. So, anyways, that's kind of how it all started.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

And I think that's really cool that you were at that point, even in high school, like that. Hey, this is my target. If I just did five haircuts a day, I'd be making more than that. I think that's really cool.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

For sure. I I think I've always been wired a little differently. My mom often tells a story that my second grade teacher was like, How do you deal with her? And my mom's like, What do you mean? Because I was a very good student. I would, I had good, I mean, I wasn't getting in trouble, right? And the teacher was like, She just always has a new idea and she always wants a project and she gets done with her work and then she wants me to give her something else. And my mom's like, so give her something else, you know. Like, but that's not how traditional school is outlined, really. You know, I mean, it's like, this is what we're teaching. You sit quietly until it's done. And I was very bored for a lot of schools. I loved, you know, coming up with ideas of ways to do things differently or be inspired by something. And I think I just was wired that way from the get-go.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

So I think it's funny that completely true how that is in school. But when you flip it, like in the workforce, it's exactly what you want in people. You want people to be able to, hey, I've got this done. What's next? What can I do? How can I improve? What can I do? I mean, that's how you want to be as a business owner, that's how you want your employees to be. Right. But you're right. In school, it's all right, you got done now, finish, just wait.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Just wait. Yeah, finish and wait. And it's the act exact opposite. But it's interesting because it depends on what kind of career you're in, what you want, right? There's a lot of fields and a lot of careers where they want you to just do what you are asked, and that's only that, you know. But I think when you get into small business or entrepreneurship, especially, you're constantly thinking what is next. And you want people that will feed that around you, you know? And so you're so right.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Like I don't want everybody to be like, okay, I'll just sit and wait for the next client to call, you know.

SPEAKER_02 8:11

I'm good for a little bit. No, keep pushing. Let's go. So you headed off to Chicago. So what school did you go to up there? Was like Paul Mitchell or one of the ones up there?

SPEAKER_00 8:18

It was the Aveda Institute. Yeah. And so that I chose to go there because at the time we only had one school here in Springfield, and it was nice. Like the education was great and still is to this day. But I really wanted to go experience like being out of my small town, and which is kind of wild because I think back now, the fact that I just at 18 moved to Chicago, lived in a studio apartment, walked to school every day in a neighborhood I didn't know. Like, what people just don't do that anymore. You know, Chicago is like. I can't even say that people did it then. I was just like, yeah, I'm moving to Chicago, it's gonna be great. Yeah. And it was, I had a great experience. It was neat to meet people from all walks of life. And I had made some like lifelong friends there that happened to live more downstate. Like one of my best friends lives in Champagne and we still get together every few months and connect, you know. But I just had a great experience. It was short, but I got what I needed out of that. And then, of course, I had friends who were at college campuses and I went and visited them. And um, you know, my boyfriend at the time went to ISU. So I went there and I still was able to like explore the college life, I guess, but it just wasn't really something I wanted. And when I came back, I did take some classes for a while because insurance at the time was very different then. So you couldn't be on your parents without being a student. Right. So when I was doing hair in the beginning, I took classes at Lincoln Land and which I enjoyed. I took an accounting class, I took a marketing class, I, you know, did uh things that benefited me and in the business I was building. But then the law changed that you could be 26. 26. And then I was like, okay, I'm done taking classes. But yeah, I mean, again, I always have enjoyed learning. And even as a hairdresser and into my career, I've continued to constantly seek education and mentorship because I think it just develops you so much and it it helps kind of broaden your horizons on what's out there and what's available and challenges you to think differently. And so yeah, I mean, I took classes for a while, you know, more traditional education, but I've continued to do education my entire life. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

Yeah. No, with for those out there that might not be familiar, you said 1,500 hours. So a lot of people are more familiar with the college model where it's credit hours. So with this type of program and a lot of licensure programs, it is clock hour. So 1500 clock hours means you are physically in for 1500 hours, whether that's in the in lecture or in the salon or whatever, it's 1,500 clock hours, physical hours in the studio.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yep, you clock in, clock out. So it's very much like a job, and it'll be interesting to see how the industry even changes here in Illinois because they just passed an apprenticeship model. And so that's gonna be really interesting. It's more hours, but it's on the job training. So similar to like an electrician or a plumber, or you you don't go to plumber school, right? You be an an apprentice and you get those hours and then you sit for the exam. So they've just passed that, which IDFPR has to write the rules. Right. All the things that take like forever to make it happen.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

But very much regulated.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Yeah, but you know, the traditional school model for hair school is 1,500 hours. If you go every day, like a really good student, it takes about 10 months. If you don't go or you take a summer break or you take a week off for vacation, it could take you like a year, but it's still a pretty quick program for sure.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

Absolutely. Yeah, and there's some states that are even a little bit lower than that. I know I was out in Utah. I think theirs is a little bit lower. I was doing a site visit at a school there. I was helping with their accreditation, and it was kind of a cool process. But yeah, I think theirs was I think theirs might have been 1200 hours.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Some states, oddly enough, have lesser hours, but then your state board situation is different. So here in Illinois, we only have a written state board. It has nothing to do with your practical. But even like neighboring states, like Missouri, Michigan, you have a uh technical state board exam. So it's very interesting. Like every state's different, what they monitor. Illinois just does a written, which you just go sit for the exam anywhere, you know. But yeah, it's really interesting how every state is so different for something that you would think would be very similar. It's not at all. And then moving from state to state, like whether or not your license carries with you, depends on the state you're going to. Right. Like California, no reciprocity is legal. So, like if I moved to California, I would have, you can't just pay the money and get a California license. I would have to go through training and take their state board exam.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Go through the whole program like that.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

I don't think you have to go through school fully. I think there's like a like I've been licensed in another state. Oh, okay, an alternate license, but you still have to sit sit for the state board. And the problem is that your training doesn't prepare you for a different state's state board. So it's all just very different and stuff you wouldn't really think about until you're in this world and you know.

SPEAKER_02 12:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

But here we are.

SPEAKER_02 12:45

Yeah, absolutely. So you come back, you start up in Taylorville, right? So tell us about that first spot, you know, kind of your your thought process behind it.

SPEAKER_00 12:53

Yeah, I worked in a really small salon. It was called Contemporary Cuts. It's no longer open, but I worked there, it was on the square in Taylorville, and I loved it. The people I worked with were great. I built a clientele very quickly. The I would say the last like quote, hairdresser from Edinburgh from my community had kind of like quit doing hair for a while. So it was like right about the time I started, she had quit, and it was like we knew a lot of the same people. So I got a lot of those clients and then, you know, I went out and took. I mean, thinking back now, it's actually comical what I did to build my clientele, but I made flyers that I printed off at home on neon colored paper. Yeah. So, so 2007, right? So I took them everywhere. I put them on people's cars at Walmart in town. I took them to my school and had the receptionists put them in um every teacher's mailbox. I took them to all the other neighboring schools like Taylorville and South Fork. And I went literally everywhere I could think of, all the little businesses on the square and just took them everywhere and it was like for $5 off a service. And I had so many people come out of work. It really did because at the time, and it's hard for people to imagine, and I tell my staff this constantly like when I built my clientele, Facebook wasn't a thing. Facebook came out when I was in hair school and I couldn't get it because I didn't have an email that was associated with the college, right? So it was like I had been working for a year or two before I was even like, quote, approved to have a Facebook page. So that was not a way that you grew your business. You know, it was all word of mouth. I had a referral program and I would ask people to send me their friends and family, and I would give them a credit if they sent me someone, you know. But yeah, so I quickly built my clientele. I mean, I would say within six months, I was booked. I worked five days a week and was booked open to close. And I loved it. Um, and I loved the people I worked with, but everyone I worked with worked part-time. So I was alone a lot at the salon. And that was the only part that I didn't love about it was that the salon owner worked just a couple of days a week. She had kids and was running and doing that scene. And so I just didn't have anybody there with me all day. And after a couple of years of that, I remember thinking, like, you know, I don't know that anybody has ever raised their prices here. And unless I work more hours, I'm not ever gonna make any more money. And like I mentioned, I'm all I've always been like, okay, well, what's my next goal? What's my next thing? And once I was booked and I did that for a couple of years, I'm like, okay, well, what's next? Because there's gotta be something that will continue to motivate me and like push me towards the next thing. So I ended up working on a business plan. Like I was 20, 21. I think I started like working on a business plan, working on what that would look like, kind of imagining what it could be. And my biggest thing was like I just wanted to work with people. I wanted a team of people around me. And most salons in Taylorville are more of a booth rental structure. So each person's independent and you just rent your chair from the salon owner.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

That's what you were at the time.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

And that's what I was at the time because that was just what it was, right? And then I would say on the flip side of that, larger salons in Springfield and bigger areas were more of a commission structure. And I just remember thinking, okay, I think I want that because I want to be able to have everyone be on the same train, right? We're working the same goal, we're working towards the same thing. We're here together, we're in it together. And so that was kind of the start of my thought process of owning a business. I wasn't unhappy there. I didn't hate my job. I didn't hate the people I worked with. I loved them and I still do. I mean, I still see them from time to time because I live in the community stuff. So I just I knew that I wanted something more, like that wasn't gonna be fulfilling for me in the long term for my life for sure. Absolutely. So I made the decision that I was gonna open the salon and with the help of my grandpa, I asked him for help on like how do I get funding? Because I have no money, right? I'm 21. I mean, I I'm making good money, but good money to you at 21 is not the money needed to start a company, right? So I remember being like, I need to get a loan and it's not a secured loan. So how am I gonna do this? And he was like, Well, I can help you. And and my my grandfather definitely did very well and invested his money well and very easily could have just written me a check and said, here you go. But did he do that? No. No, he did not. He made me give a presentation to an old golf buddy of his, CM Poe, who worked at the growth corp. I think it's like SBA growth corp. Absolutely. Okay, so I had to go there and present to this board of people, like my business plan, my goals, what I wanted to do. And of course, it's still like me alone, it's still gonna be an unsecured load. Like I'm releasing a space. I need money for flooring and paint and chairs and product. And so a guy was there for the presentation. He must have been on that board or something. And he was like, come see me at Marine Bank. And, you know, at the time I was like, oh my gosh, he's gonna get this alone. So I went and my grandpa ended up co-siding for me to get it. But I remember being like, oh my gosh, this is it. Like, we we got it. And and I'm so grateful that I had to go through all of that because, you know, back then I was like, oh my gosh, why is he making me do this? Like, I'll pay him interest. But I was so thankful that I went through all of it because it made me think about how am I gonna present things to people in the world of business, right? The world of hair, I felt solid. Right. Right. Like, I mean, I could talk to a hairdresser about anything or I could talk to my clients about anything, but it was a very untapped world for me, navigating all these guys in suits, right? And it was like so intimidating. But it was a big uh thing for me to present that and put all my documents together and have presentations. And then later on in life, I mean, I had to do it multiple times. I did it for you once, I think, actually. Yeah, it's C C C. So it's like it's interesting how things that at the time you don't realize what they're gonna do for you and what a difference it makes in the way that you view things and think about things.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

So I bet that was so valuable. Having to go through that because you really do. A lot of people don't think about over over the course of their career. You really need to have multiple talks for yourself. You need to be able to tell what you do and how you're making an impact and what you can do in 30 seconds, in five minutes, in an hour, and all that. So that that was a ri probably a really great learning experience for you.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

Very much so. And and I remember doing it, and I still remember being in the room. And I remember going into there in that office out there, and I don't even know if it's still there. And there was like all this cool stuff on the walls, cool things about business and charting. And I was like, I just remember kind of looking around, like, what am I doing here? Like, this is not and and you know, my grandpa was so proud to take me there. And I think it was for him kind of a moment with his golf buddies of like, yeah, yeah, yeah. She did good, didn't she? You know, and it's like ultimately, nothing I said there was going to get me a loan or not, because no one was giving me a loan without his signature to to back it if I fault it, right? And I remember when we signed, he said to me, failure is not an option. Like he literally, he's like, okay. And before he signed his name, he said, failure is not an option. I'm like, okay. And I've like jokingly kept that with me for years, you know? But it's so funny to think back, like, oh my gosh, I had no idea what I was signing up for. I had no idea what I was doing. I literally was just winging it. And at the time I really felt the pressure. Like, if I don't nail this, like I'm not getting this loan. Well, then in hindsight, it's like I wasn't getting that loan regardless without him, you know. But but it's it was such a great life lesson. And I'm so thankful that he made me do all of that because it very much, I don't know, just shaped my my mind in the world of business and navigating that.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

And it was put a little pressure on you right away, you know?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

And I think I've always thrived under pressure, right? Like the more pressure there is, the more I rise to the occasion. I guess. No, that's the way it is. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

A little pressure, a little uncomfort, you know, getting out of your comfort zone really pushes you to grow.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

It really does for sure. So we got the funding. I ended up signing a lease, and our first location was out next to Bella Milano. So we were out west in that strip mall there. Um, and it was just a little 1200 square foot spot with five chairs. And now at that time, so we fast forwarded a few years, we got a Facebook page. I had Facebook at that point, and pages had just hit the scene. And I was like, I'm gonna make a Facebook page for my salon. No other salons really in town had one yet. And I was posting photos of my dad hanging drywall that were terrible, right? I would never post that photo now. Okay. But I was just posting everything that was going on, like things are coming along, and it was not a good photo. But we were kind of one of the first salons to be documenting anything on social media because at the time I was 21 when we were doing the build out 22. And most of what I would consider to be like long-standing salons, successful salons in Springfield at the time, had been open longer than I'd been alive. So their owners were on year 30, 40 of ownership. And I remember going, like once we got open, one of the first things I went to, they were all celebrating 25 years of business, 30 years of business. And I'm like, hi, I'm 22. I stood up and I said, Well, I'm 22 years old. So we're about four months in on this, you know? And so I it was just really kind of like a whoa, I am in a league that is not like I am I'm new here, right? You know, it's how I felt. But so, anyways, we were one of the first businesses to kind of like tap into that. And I think we had been. Open for I'd have to do the math, but maybe a year or two when Instagram hit the scene. Yeah. Which is comical when we look back now because it's like we were putting fill the hair we were doing didn't even look like the hair we were doing, right? Because you put all these filters and everything had a vignette and every it was just like hilarious.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

But you know, I think that's a good point. That a lot of people, when they're getting started on social with their business, are so afraid to that it has to be perfect that it they don't start. Oh, yeah. So I mean I think that's just a great way to you just have to get out there and start. You just have to do that. You might look back and say, man, that was trash. But you just got to get started.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

And you know, and that was the thing too, is that like I was treading waters that were very unknown, right? Because no one was documenting at the time, the only real social media type thing out there was some people were doing YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Right. And but even that was pretty fresh. Like, you know, so it was just a different world. So we started utilizing it, but the following and stuff didn't come until later because people didn't have it, right? Right. It was only college kids that had it at that point, and very few outside of that. It hadn't spread into other age ranges or groups of people quite yet. But yeah, you really just have to start doing it, you know? And it's like, I didn't think about it then because I didn't know any better. Right. And it's hard to not, you know, then I I didn't have anything to compare it to. Now I can imagine if I was starting a business today, the amount of time and effort I would spend thinking about what my digital brand was going to look like.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

Right, because you see all this per, you know, quote unquote perfect stuff out there.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

And it's just like and you don't, you know, you don't want to take a wrong step because how quickly people say the one wrong word and their whole entire thing they've worked for is gone. You know, you they it kills you before you even start. So yeah, it's interesting how thinking back, and I don't know that I've ever like actually sat and thought about that, but yeah, the stuff we were posting was not pretty. Yeah. And we were not gaining clients because if you were coming based on that hair, you were not gonna be pleased. So it's a different world now. But yeah, I think putting yourself out there is scary no matter what, but trying to do it without comparing yourself to others is even more difficult, you know, in a time where there's so much content thrown at your face 24-7.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

So that first spot out west, did you end up going with the commission structure like you thought about?

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Yep, yep. And so I did some research very, very briefly to figure out how I should structure it and went with it. But I didn't know. And obviously it's changed through the years based on the more you know and how to make a business profitable and what that looks like and all the different variables of it. But uh yeah, we opened up there and I I literally remember saying to my dad, like, I just gotta find four people. Surely four people want to work with me. You know, like I can convince four people to work with me and then we'll be full and we will just be like, good to go. And he was like, Okay, yeah, like you got this just, you know, it was just kind of like a weird time. And so within three and a half years, we had added a spa room and I had more than five hairdressers. So I wasn't doing hair five days a week anymore. We were sharing stations and on top of one another. So we did another build-out and we moved like a block further west to a standalone building that's like behind uh advanced dental care kind of like in that parking lot. There was a car dealership there. So it was 2200 square feet, but it wasn't a strip mall. So it was laid out a little differently, and we were able to have 12 stations and a spa room. And again, I was like, well, never outgrow this. We have so much room now to continue to grow. And boy, was I wrong. So within three years, we were open six days a week and we were shifting. So people were working either like nine to three or three to nine, and it was absolute insanity. And we were all on top of one another. And I was splitting up shifts and trying to find more chairs to have around a table for people to process in. I mean, it was, I mean, it's a good problem to have, right? But I remember being like, oh my goodness gracious, like this is crazy. So I started looking for other spots. And, you know, at the time, everything out west was so expensive. And I'm like, I'm gonna be in the same problem in three years. I'm gonna get a 5,000 square foot spot and maybe I can squeeze 20 stations in there, but then it's like, where do I grow from there? And it's like I was eating my profit every three years because I was doing a build out every three years. And it's like the second one, when we went from the first spot to the second spot, I just funded that by cutting hair. I literally just didn't pay myself and I just paid for the build out so that we could have it. So I never got another loan in any of the build outs because I just did hair to pay for it and just like basically didn't pay myself so that I could put it into the business. And when we moved downtown, we ended up finding a space. And it's kind of like a really weird kismet type of story. I was looking for spaces, and like I told you when I came here, I grew up in this building that your studio's in and grew up downtown. My mom worked downtown for years and was almost a fun thing to be sick and have to go to the doctor because then you got to come to work with your mom, you know, be like a sinus infection, and you'd like to take a nap and then go get soup from the feed store and you know, all the little things that made downtown so nostalgic. And I had always loved downtown, but when I first opened, downtown buildings were full and expensive, right? Right. So out west was like where you went because the strip mall owners were like, we'll paint for you, we'll put flooring in. And it's gonna be really inexpensive. And it was for me to get started, it was actually very affordable in our first spot. And then our second spot, it wasn't bad. But then, of course, you fast forward seven years into owning a business and we're in 2016, 2017. The economy had changed, the growth out west had changed, everything was looking very different. And downtown was really on like a rebuild. DSI had hit the scene and they were out trying to find people to come down. And so I had looked at a building actually on the plaza here on like the Adams Street side, and went and looked at it and it just it was gonna need so much work. And I'm like, I don't know. And it didn't have a working elevator, and that's a huge expense. It was just like, I don't know, but I really love it down here, but I don't think that this is the building, you know? And I was a celebrity bartender for the art association and an event over at Arlington's, and a girl who owned another business down here was like, Hey, I want you to meet this guy. And I was like, Okay. And it was Chris Nickel, who owns multiple properties downtown. And he was like, Hey, I heard you might want to come downtown. And I'm like, Yeah, you know, I looked at a couple spots, but just haven't found the right one. He's like, there's this building I really think you should see. And meanwhile, a girl who worked for me or still works for me at the salon, her dad was affiliated with a bank at the time and had been involved in business and had said, I think she should look at this building. So it was like coming from multiple angles, we're like, you need to go look at this building. And so we went over to look at it. And Chris was awesome. He's like, hey, you know, if you want to buy it, I'll I'll set you up with the right people because there's TIFF funding available. If you just want to rent, I'll buy it. As long as I have a renter, I'm happy with buying another property. Or if you would be interested in purchasing it together, that could be a great partnership. And I'm like, okay, well, I don't just want to rent it because I've done that now and I've dumped money into properties, but I'm also like terrified to just own a huge building on my own. So we ended up actually purchasing the property together. And it's been a great partnership. He's awesome and so easy to work with, and we get along great, and he kind of handles salting the sidewalk while like I keep the business there. So it's a mutually beneficial deal. But nonetheless, we saw the building. It had been vacant for five years. And for those who are, I would say from Springfield, it was Robert's Brothers for a lot of years. And it actually closed the year I was born in '87. And it's like I, of course, did like a deep dive on the history of the building. And yeah, they had been there forever and they were known for their customer service experience, which is something like Willow is very much built upon. So I thought that was really cool. And yeah, they closed in 1987, which was the year I was born. And so then I think some other things were there throughout some different stores and things. And then it most recently was the Illinois Surveyors Museum, which I didn't realize Abraham Lincoln was a land surveyor.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

In all the Lincoln sites I went to as a child, I never knew that until I saw the murals that we had to paint over all over the walls. But so that had been there and then it had been vacant for five years. So we got a 20,000 square foot building for nothing. Literally. I mean, not nothing, but basically nothing. You know, half of what the museum had bought it for. Right. So uh it was just pennies to the dollar as far as space. Now, of course, old buildings come with, we'll call it character. Right. Right. Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. We're sitting in an old building, right? Uh-huh. And nuances, like we're recently, like we're in the process of staging, we've replaced our entire HVAC system and we've had to do things with water and plumbing, and you're just navigating some different things, but it's it's worth it to me to have the community down here. So we made the jump in 2017. And before we moved downtown, because obviously that's a pretty big jump coming from being a business out west to then come downtown. And I had two maps on the front desk. And so when people would check out, we would make them dot where they live and then dot where they work. Okay. Okay. So it was like Springfield and the surrounding areas. So 80% of our clients lived outside of Springfield. Okay. And 70% of our clients work downtown. Okay. So our average client, let's just say, lives in Rochester, works downtown, and then was driving out west to us to get their hair done to then go back to Rochester. Okay. And that was like drastically so. Now, of course, the landscape's changed now. Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:19

I mean, that's a huge number at that point.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

It was insane. And so I was like, okay, we're going to do this because before I make this decision, although financially this seems like the right move, there's going to be challenges. There's going to be parking. There's going to be these things we're going to have to work through. And so before I bite off all this, I need to make sure that this even logistically makes sense. Right. And so when we did that, I was like, okay. And I remember coming up to the front desk multiple times a couple of weeks in. You know, I'm like, I want everyone to dot this map. And it was like getting to a point where the outskirts were a solid dot. I started to give one big solid dot. Downtown was a solid dot. You know, and so, and and we when once I saw it on paper, it all made sense because we had clients every single day being like, I'm sorry, I'm running late. If they had a five o'clock appointment, let's say they get off downtown at 4 30. It was taking every bit of 30 minutes for them to get from downtown out west, right?

SPEAKER_02 32:04

And it does take a little bit. If people don't come downtown often and try to go out west after it, it does take a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

There's no fast way to get there, right? Because even to get from here out to the interstate, you're f at five o'clock, you're 10, 15 minutes. You know? And so it was it was surprising, I guess would be the right word. Cause I I just assumed more people lived in Springfield that were seeing us, and that wasn't the case. And then I didn't realize how many people at the time were working down here.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

So I was surprised by both numbers. Like you said, that both numbers.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

We were like, you know, a lot of my staff is from surrounding small communities. So I knew we had clients coming from outside of Springfield, but I guess I just didn't really realize that it was that much. So once I saw it on paper, I'm like, okay, that solidifies it. And so we started the build-out down here, and it was a lot. Our build building here is 20,000 square feet. So we went from 2200 to 20,000. And you just don't have one doesn't have enough furniture.

SPEAKER_02 32:58

That's almost a 10X, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:00

I mean, it really is. And it was crazy. I mean, it was like, what are we doing? We'll never use this much space, right? Well, nine years later, we occupy literally every square inch of the building. I mean, we I mean we've expanded it in so many different ways. But and that was the goal. It was like, if we're gonna move again, I want to be somewhere where we can be literally forever. We can restructure it, we can make renovations, we have all these different rooms we can utilize for different things and it might look different, but if we need more than 20,000 square feet, then we need two locations, right? And so that was where I was like, if I'm moving again, I'm moving to where there is so much room, people will be like, this is nuts.

SPEAKER_02 33:39

So I love it though. I love it. And I mean, it's so cool that you're able to really kind of build on the legacy of the building too. Like you said with the Roberts Brothers stuff and how they're so much into customer service. And then you're building a business right here that's long standing here that's focused on customer service, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

It's it was neat. When we moved down that first year, they had an upper story tour, which our building's three levels. So the basement level underground is our spa, and then like shopping and retail, and uh the nest is actually moving down to the first floor, and then upstairs is all salon services. So we have an upstairs, obviously. And so during that time when we had like just moved in, they had the upper story tours and people were going from downtown business to downtown business and anything upstairs. And there was a poster with the history of that building. I still have the poster because it was like set up in our building for people to come and see.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

But it was just really neat to see how it was. And when it was Roberts Brothers, the building burned down in the 70s. So the building's not as old as what you would think it is, right? So it had been there forever, but when they rebuilt it in the 70s, it used to be three stories above ground and now it's just two stories above ground, but very, very tall ceilings. So like the building's the same height, but it's just two stories and they have this open atrium in it, which is kind of a cool feature.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

That makes a cool feature too.

SPEAKER_00 34:57

Yeah, it's neat. It's it really has like a lot of character that you just don't get in a strip mall. And so we've been very happy there for sure.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

So you're taking up every square inch of that place now. You said you got the spa downstairs. So what all is involved in the spa?

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Yep. So the spa's in our lower level, and we try not to say that they're in the basement, but sometimes, but sometimes it's like the the elevator, of course, says spacement, right? And so we're like in our lower level, just because it makes it sound uh like a not so scary. So we have eight treatment rooms down there. So we have estheticians, we offer um facials, waxing services, lash services, body treatments. Stevie does microblading, micro shading, so like a tattooing of the eyebrows, nails, so manicures, pedicures, gel and gel X. That's predominantly the main things, eminence facials, which are all custom. But it's a different world down there. It's very zen and spa-like, dim lit and quiet, right? And then you go up to the salon, and that is not the operation. So it's kind of cool because you get to experience two very different scenes, if you will. But yeah, it's it's like an ongoing joke. If you work in the spa, you're like really quiet and sweet and soft spoken. And everyone who works down there is just like so.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

You do have to talk very much in a slower area. They do. Just nice talk.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yes. And it's like they're all wonderful and so talented. And Stevie, I think, has has been selected as the Illinois Times best esthetician, like five years in a row at this point, you know. And we've really grown that side of the business. And we, of course, primarily were a salon, right? And we were built around hair services, but the spa world has really elevated since I hate to even continue to say since COVID, but it's changed. I mean, our industry drastically changed after COVID. When you told people they couldn't see their hairdresser for 12 weeks, people were losing their marbles, you know, and we were 100% closed. So I think it's an interesting shift in the industry because it's how people think about beauty and aesthetics and salons, and it's just different. And that even goes as far as their hair regimens and skin regimens. And I think skincare really hit the scene because it was something that you could do at home. So once like that all happened, we've seen a huge rise in people's care about like taking care of their skin, their eyebrows, how it adds structure and shape to their face, and how they change their look and their time is spent more on health and wellness of the skin and having your skin be healthy and not need to cover it up. Right. Right. And so our skincare side of the world has just shifted so much. We use eminence organics. So it's all very customized using plant and fruit enzymes and extracts, and it's all very natural approach to skincare and everything's customized. So when you book a facial with us, you're not booking a anti-aging facial or an acne facial. You're booking a 60-minute custom and they choose products based on your exact concerns you want to target because most people don't have just one concern, right? Like I need anti-aging here, but then I'm really dry on my cheeks. And then I feel like my nose sometimes gets oily. Well, I don't want to pick one concern, right? And so that's really the beauty of that. And the spa side has just continued to grow. And so many new services have hit the scene in that world too. It was like eyebrow laminations had a moment. People are doing lash lift and tint to where they don't have to wear mascara because their lashes are now tinted dark, and there's just a lot of things that have changed and shifted, and that side of our business has grown a lot.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

So with those individualized services, those customized services, has that drawn more into the industry? Are you guys some of the first ones to kind of get into that?

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Or yeah, I think that uh a lot of that is determined by your skincare line, right? So Imminence is very big on customizing it for the person. And of course, you can have like labeled, I mean, they of course spas have this type of facial. We just prefer it to be custom because I think that's kind of how we've always operated, is like we want it to be customized and unique to you. So we find that we get the best results that way. And sometimes we'll do like a seasonal or a promotional facial. They have a strawberry rhubarb mask and a chocolate mask. And so we've done things for Valentine's Day where you can get a chocolate-covered strawberry hydrating facial, which is really for all skin types, right? So we've done things like that that showcase or target, you know, showcase specific products or target a specific concern. But most of the time, if we're doing that, it's something that's pretty generalized that like anyone can use, right? Like a stone crop recovery facial at the end of summer. And stone crop's like a cousin of aloe. Okay, that's what I'm gonna say. What's stone crop? I've never heard of that. Think of like aloe, Vera being it's it's in the same family. So it's very healing, very calming, soothing. And that's a a big sector of the brand is based around that concept. So just things of that nature that are gonna be a little bit more generalized. If we promote something, it's usually something that everyone can experience and enjoy. Whereas otherwise we stick to the custom options just because it's very much targeted to you and your needs.

SPEAKER_02 40:07

Absolutely. No, I I can attest. I've got two teenage daughters.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:10

And they're both very much into the skincare routines and everything. And that has grown significantly over the last few years. I'm about to bring them down sometimes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

I think, you know, social media plays into it so much too, right? And there's there's so many products and so many things, and a good skincare routine is so important. And with all the things out there, it's nice to have a resource, like to have an esthetician who's very knowledgeable about all the layers of the skin and looks at your skin under a woods lamp and says, Okay, you like I know you think you're oily, but you're actually not. You're overproducing because you're dehydrating your skin on a different level. And that's the difference of having a professional be involved versus the latest, greatest YouTuber who is whatever, right? So I think that that's an important factor too. But yeah, I mean, our staff down there is we have the best group of people. And I will die on this hill. I am so grateful for the team I get to work with every day and the spa group. They're amazing people. They're so talented. It's it's wonderful down there. And you can feel that energy when you go down there. It's like, my God, everyone here is just so pleasant, right? Like down in the spa, everybody's just like a delight, you know? And so, yeah, if you haven't been, definitely just bring the girls.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

Yeah, I will bring them over, no doubt about it. So you have a retail spot as well, right? Retail area.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

So when you walk in the front door, everything is our boutique area. So everything from professional products, of course, to uh clothing and accessories and gifts and candles and all kinds of stuff. So we have a lot of people that just come in to shop. And I've always said this like, you don't have to leave your hairdresser. We love that you love your hairdresser. Like, don't feel compelled. We're not trying to steal you, right? Like, but we have so many things to offer that aren't a conflict with maybe something you already have, someone you already have a relationship with. So people come in to shop all the time. People stop in just to check out what we've gotten. And a lot of the downtown foot traffic will pop in on their lunch hour and stuff like that. But yeah, so we've got a wide range of things to choose from. We also have our little library there so people can bring a book and take a book. And that's kind of a fun little thing. Our clients really enjoy. And then also on the first floor, we have moved the nest down there, which the nest is our alternative hair studio. So wigs, toppers, anyone who's needing additional hair, right? For whatever reason. Could be a medical reason, could be one of the many forms of alopecia that people face. So lots of different reasons for it. But uh if you're experiencing hair loss, that's the area where we do those consultations. We have tons of wigs and toppers in stock. So you could leave us something today, which is really nice, especially for people who are starting treatment and don't have time to order something and they need to be able to take it right then. So that's all moving downstairs. It was upstairs when we opened it last fall, but it's grown in such a short amount of time. So we're kind of expanding that down. So we have a dedicated room for uh the wigs and toppers. And then upstairs, where that was, is gonna be more just extensions and like early stage toppers. So yeah, it's kind of it's kind of wild. It's been a wild ride for the last year, I would say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:09

But so with that stuff, do you learn that type of stuff in cosmetology school or is that a completely different skill set that you've learned over the years doing something else?

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Yep. So we started doing training for alternative hair probably around two years ago now. So I've taken multiple master classes with John Renault, which is the brand that primarily we sell. And so it's actually totally different from doing traditional hair. So especially when you're dealing with synthetic fibers, whether synthetic, HD, HD meaning it's heat friendly. So you can use a hot tool on it, synthetic, meaning it's a straight synthetic, so you can't touch anything hot to it, right? Even like if you're gonna take something out of the oven, you don't want to have it on because the steam could sender, right? So it's technically made from plastic, is what a synthetic fiber is, and they like string it out and make hairs with it. It's the most incredible thing, really.

SPEAKER_02 43:58

But not good for heat though. That's the when you're

SPEAKER_00 44:00

start yeah any of that plastic it yes yes and then we also of course have human hair fibers so it really just depends on the person what they need but working with those fibers is just different when you're cutting plastic you can't cut it like you would cut human hair because it would fray right right so it's like everything has to be very blunt but you don't want it to look blunt so that's a different skill set just utilizing different tools and styling is very different because when you can't just use a curling iron and do what you do you know you're pulling out a steamer and I'm rolling roller sets and I haven't done that since hair school. Right. So I mean just it's very interesting all the things that it requires and how you think about it is different. But then there's so many other factors too as far as cap construction, base materials, how it fits the head, because that's really the most important part is you want it to fit the client to perfection. So I think all of that is stuff that you don't learn in hair school. You know, in hair school you you briefly talk on synthetic care pieces maybe that you would add in for an updo or something but at least my school education that was not incorporated. Maybe some extensions I think with more modern day schooling they're adding in hair extensions because that's such a wild thing. Yeah. So but just not the same as the wigs and and toppers and even now we're getting into hair replacement. So um hair replacement is a in essence a topper that involves adhesive. So think like a toupee and if you follow toupee queen on on social media you watch her bond those for people. So they are pieces that like they don't take off each night right they're keeping it on from like they might come and see us every two to three, four weeks and we'll remove it. We clean the head, we clean the piece and then rebond it. So we have some people do it with most people are doing it with tape it seems thus far, but we do have some bonds that come in too. So that's a whole different side of it as well. And so we have a private room for that that is just a one-on-one room then we have like a semi-private space that we have the nest in. So there's multiple stations but it's kind of secluded from every cool line of the business. I guess I didn't realize that you had that line that's it that's a much newer addition. We had had a client who's had alopecia her whole life and she asked us a couple years ago if we could get her a wig because the person she was typically ordering from wasn't available to continue doing it. And so I was like yeah but I don't even know where to begin. And so I had reached out to a friend that was in a salon owner group with me and asked him, because they did wigs like where did you get your training? And he said I looked up John Renault and they had a class at a hotel nearby years ago and they went to that. So I looked up the company saw when their next class was and kind of dove into that world and their education's exceptional and the quality of their pieces is so good. Just the cap constructions, the materials that they use, how it feels on the head is so different than other brands and just has a very luxe feel. So we've been really happy with that. But it's it's an entire different world. I bet I bet it and it's been it's been kind of a wild ride. We did it just thinking oh this will be great. We can obviously help our client and then we have clients all the time who are diagnosed with different forms of cancer and are losing their hair and we've always offered chemo cuts for free. So like if you're about to go through chemotherapy and you want to in essence be in control of that, we will either cut it very short so that what you're seeing isn't tons of hair on the pillow or some clients are like just shave it off. I know it's going I want it gone, you know? And so we've always offered that as a complimentary service. So then this just takes it a lit level further and we can make sure that they have what they need as they go through treatment. So that's been kind of a fun thing too for sure.

SPEAKER_02 47:33

So so cool. Well from booth rent in Taylorville to a 2000 square foot facility just about a block away from where we're sitting what would you think are some of the main things that spurred that big growth over the last 20 ish years.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

Yeah I mean I think so much of it is is just mindset and and constantly looking for the next challenge I guess I don't do well sitting still and I don't mean like sitting in a chair because I love to watch a movie or things of that nature. But I don't do good when I don't have like a project to work toward or a project to work on. And I think sometimes it drives people around me crazy because I'm like how can we make it better? And they're like it's fine, quit. You know and I'm like, but if it could be better, you know and they're like stop it because I think that like I mentioned earlier, I'm just kind of wired differently. Like my brain just is constantly thinking of new ideas and new things and I I've I've done much better through the years as a business owner and I'm gonna say leader harnessing that and utilizing the people around me to discern those ideas so that I'm not just like changing things for no reason. Right. Because I mean I think sometimes for years I was just constantly like this is fun and exciting and like wanted something new. And now I've I've been a little bit more methodical especially in the last few years about okay, what is our actual goal and what are we trying to achieve with this and will this change get us there or will it not right like what is the problem? How can we fix it? And if there's not a problem, is it worth fixing right or or you know making it a problem in with a result that will be better or is it just going to be a change that's going to keep us here. Keep us right. So it's really just about I've always been somebody who looks for what the reasons why it will work, not why it won't. And by nature humans don't think that way right most of the time we think about why we don't want to do something or why we shouldn't do something. And that's like our most human brains are wired that way to keep us safe, right? Like we don't want discomfort, we want to make the right choice and I think that I've always trained my brain and fed my brain with very positive things and positive ways of thinking so that when I see things, I think of why it will work or what the best possible outcome would be, not the worst, right? And some people might say that's naive, but I very much feel that if you believe in something and you look for the good, you will just find more good to see. It doesn't mean that you don't think the bad things exist. It just simply means I'm I choose to not think about that and waste my time and energy on it.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

So and that's a that's a powerful mindset shift too. And it's it really is it's hard. It is hard. It is hard. But we talk a lot a lot about that in 10x is taking what you thought was impossible and making it possible instead of saying you know I could never make that happen or something. Well how could we make that happen? Because quite frankly most things if you throw enough time, people, money, impact, action behind it, you can do it. It just may take more than what you think think you're capable of but you got to flip that through it and it usually does right.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

But I think that often we underestimate what we're capable of. Yes. You're gonna say you're capable of doing something you've already achieved. And outside of that if you can't think beyond that then you're just gonna be where you're at and that's okay. I mean the there our world our society is built on people being comfortable right like we need employees to work jobs. We need people to do the jobs that the state that need to be done right you need things filed. You need things here you need people that are that are comfortable working in a factory producing the items that we need in our everyday life right not everyone could live with what some would think would be like my life would be very stressful. Right. Like how do you manage all of these things? That is very much like just how I was made for lack of a better way it is how I was made was to like think the way I think and then how I harness that and train it and how I've developed my brain to use that for good, I guess I would say through the years is, you know, the part that I would say is challenging. It's very easy to want to just like fall into the negative, but I'm constantly feeding my brain with things that are positive, whether it's a podcast, whether it's people that I can aspire to be like or or learn from I listen to stuff while I drive that's very positive and just challenges my brain to think differently about things. So it's all about yeah for sure.

SPEAKER_02 51:48

You have to have that very high belief lid to be a successful entrepreneur. You got to be able to believe that you can do those things.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

You do and you have to believe it so deep that no one can tell you that it's not going to work. Right. Which is very hard and like even when I was young when I opened the salon I mean I had most people like are you sure you want to do this like that's a big risk and you're already so successful and you're doing great. Like why are you taking such a risk? You know, I remember when I got the loan I had a couple people say to me like gosh that's a lot of money Jessica like what if it doesn't work out I'm like it will fail not an option.

SPEAKER_02 52:20

We already know that. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 52:21

So I mean I remember being like what is wrong with these people I was so delusional in my thought that this was going to be great that there was nothing anyone could say to me that was going to tell me otherwise. And it's not for a lack of problems, right? I mean we have had issues with AC, issues with water, issues with all kinds of things and it's in all three locations. It's not just the old building I mean we would have hot water issues in our first location we just kept adding hot water heaters. I mean it was crazy. And it's like to think now to think back all the challenges we've overcame in 16 years and the amazing team that I have and the incredible success we're having it's like I am so grateful but I do owe that success to just literally being able to be like nope, you don't have anything nice to say I don't want to hear from you. Exactly. Sorry. Yeah like and I mean that's it's really the only thing that gets you through. And if you want to own a company and you don't think that way, you're gonna have a really tough time.

SPEAKER_02 53:13

Right.

SPEAKER_00 53:13

Because there's bricks thrown at you every single day.

SPEAKER_02 53:16

No doubt about it.

SPEAKER_00 53:16

Literally every day.

SPEAKER_02 53:17

And I've I've shown it on the show multiple times, but I wear this every single day my my no negativity allowed bracelet be positive on the other side that's amazing. Just a friendly reminder every single day no negativity in here.

SPEAKER_00 53:29

Right. And it I mean it's hard it is hard to keep it out of your life because most people talk about their problems. Yeah exactly and I'm guilty of it too. We all do you know like it's and misery loves company. So when person starts talking about their problems you're like my problems are worse, right? And then it's like the next thing you know everybody's miserable. We all have problems, you know but the reality is is that everyone has them and the people that'll rise above them are the people who can shift their mindset to be like, okay, I'm just not even gonna ask like that's happening. The world's on fire. Actually there was a meme going around on social media not long ago and it was like a Barbie who looks like she's been through H E double hockey sticks. Okay. And like the world is on fire behind her. And hairdressers were posting it a lot and it was like you know this is me. Would you like a highlight you're just like delusional about what's happening around you behind you. And it's like you're like hi I'm here to do your hair at the building's burning down. Right. But that's kind of how you have to be and especially in business you have to be able to drown it out and be like this is what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 54:25

So come on spitting some fire here today, Justin come on let's go. So so much great business stuff. Let's flip over to the personal side for a minute. What are some ways you elevate your life personally?

SPEAKER_00 54:35

Well I think I mean I think we've touched on it really it's really just about I think for me, I don't feel fulfilled if I'm not working towards a goal. So I have a really hard time separating my personal life from my professional life. Both great people do yeah that it's not two different things in my world so it's definitely for me it's definitely more about finding happiness in my life as a whole and my work is a huge part of what I do and not because I have to but because I want to right so I love working I love my job but I also really love my kids and I love my husband and I love my friends and my family. So it's really finding a balance between that but I don't know that it's a balance as much as it's like just making time for all of it. Right. And like choosing wisely where I want to spend my time and and spacing it out to where I can try to be as present as possible. Right. You know, when I'm not working I try to sure disconnect a little bit so that I can swing on the swing outside or go for a golf cart ride or go do the family stuff that's necessary. But I think that you know it's funny my husband and I just had this conversation because people will often ask like well where's your next vacation and he's in sales training and the person's like you guys need to take vacations and he's like nah I'm good and and we really don't ever go on vacation. And it's not because we can't leave our jobs right I could leave the salon for four months and I have an amazing team. They do not need me right I don't want to because I built my life to love my life right I love every aspect of it. I don't feel the need to get away and and it's not that I wouldn't enjoy going somewhere and we do go places, right? Like we're planning to go to Branson for holidays and take our little boy to the Polar Express, which I'll find that'd be great. You know, so I mean we do go do things but it's like I don't have a burning desire to escape my life. I very much love what I do. I love the people I surround myself with which is by design right I give time to the people that fuel me in such a way. And so I think it's a matter of finding what makes you happy and then utilizing that in every aspect of your life. And I very much have done that, you know, and of course it doesn't mean you don't have bad days. It doesn't mean that stuff's not hard sometimes but I love the outcome of it. I love seeing my staff grow. I love seeing a happy customer I love it. I literally love it. So then outside of that it's like I I feel so lucky I have an amazing husband and he's also an entrepreneur and works a full-time job too and he's kind of we're joking right now we're like past like ships passing in the night you know he and a couple of his buddies started an ice company and they supply ice for like all the fares didn't even know this was a thing. Okay. It's it's wild actually and they've acquired another ice company and they are expanding it's in Edinburgh their manufacturing facility and everything. So that's kind of a cool thing to see happening and he's just starting that up so we keep joking we're like passing like ships in the night, right? It's like dropping the kids between us. But it's we're in such a fun season of growing all these things and seeing all these people around us grow and really just like loving every minute and trying to make time for a date night everyone's like you know but we call that the 10x super life being extraordinary in all those different areas.

SPEAKER_02 57:41

You don't have to be balanced between personal and professional life there is no balance right it's a myth crazy there is no balance. You can be great in all these things.

SPEAKER_00 57:48

Well and it's crazy it's crazy to think that it would be it's crazy to think that you're not gonna be able to be an entrepreneur who is constantly pushing towards new things if you clock out at four o'clock and you don't work anymore. And it's not like oh I have so much work to do. I'm buried in work. It's like I'm gonna think about this or I'm gonna look for this or I want to get these things off my checklist so tomorrow I can start fresh with a mind on this item. I don't ever think of it as like ug I have to do this. I get to do this and my mindset around it is like how lucky am I that I have flexibility that I can take my kid to his pre-K open house at 8 a.m on a Monday and it's fine. Right. Or how lucky am I that I get to do things that I love with people I love whenever I want to. Right. But that's such a reward of working hard, right? And setting up your life in the way that you want it to be and really not caring what anybody else thinks about it. Come on let's go. Yeah I think it's it's very I feel very blessed to do what I do and to have the people in my life that I have for sure.

SPEAKER_02 58:48

So phenomenal stuff today Jessica let's uh close with these last couple of things. Yeah let's give the audience a piece of advice you can give up for both it could be the same thing because we just kind of touched on it but a piece of advice one on the personal side one on the professional side to help them elevate their life or business.

SPEAKER_00 59:03

Yeah I think um really the biggest thing and I would say it really counts for both is to look for the positive in everything. And if you focus on the good it gets really hard to see the bad. Yeah. So I think that would be my number one. If you're focused on the good it's really really hard for the negative to win.

SPEAKER_02 59:19

No negativity folks. And is there anything we can all do community wide to help us elevate Springfield and the surrounding communities.

SPEAKER_00 59:26

A huge part of my company and just my life is like as busy as I am, as busy as my husband is, we are still super involved in the community. I'm on the school board I my husband's on the township and the county board and I help with the Christian county pageant and we donate to tons of events. So how successful you are is in my opinion only marked by how much you give back to the community. And sometimes it's in time sometimes it's in donations for events sometimes it's in sharing ideas or support or helping make an event happen. But I think just being a part of the community that you're in whether that's where you live whether it's where you work and truly dedicating yourself to something outside of your individual life and your individual work that gives to the greater good around you. So join a board join a group join something that gives you a cause to give back to in some capacity.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:22

Come on well so much great stuff today. Remind everybody where they can find you learn more about you learn more about Willow and Birch all the things.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:29

Yep so Willow and Birch is on all social media platforms. So on Facebook, on Instagram of course our website is willowandbirchsalon.com and pretty much between those three spots you can find about everything you need to know about us but we're located right downtown on the old state capitol plaza right on Washington Street. And yeah, there is really something for everyone. So if you haven't been in come in we we don't expect you to leave your hairdresser that you love. We don't want that we very much have a service to offer for everyone and even if you just want to come shop and check us out and see what we have, you know the holidays are around the corner and holiday walks will be in full swing. So it's a great time to come explore downtown and see what all is available for sure, including Willow.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:14

And no more weird filters on Instagram, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:16

Yes, yes. Now it's like we're so crazy about it. Now I'm like do not filter anything because people edit so much and now we're into a whole different era with AI. Oh yeah. It's like people bring us AI photos. I'm like that is not her hair. That is not real. So yeah it's very much it's kind of a wild world but now we're like do not edit it. Do not do anything to it that we want them to look exactly real how they are in real life.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:38

You know absolutely yeah well thanks for having me. Yeah appreciate you spending some time with me this morning it was fun. Yeah phenomenal stuff so all right well we're gonna let Jessica get back to Elevate in Springfield but for the rest of you we'll be right back. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service and fair, honest pricing every time. Whether it's trimming removal or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbor's trust, Sangman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangamintreeService.com. Sangamon Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust. Looking for personalized insurance with hometown care, David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agent's here to help you protect what matters most your family, your home and your dreams. Whether it's auto, home, life, business, David and his team are proud to serve the Springfield community with trusted advice and reliable coverage. Local service, real relationships, peace of mind. Call today or stop by their office. They can build your dream protection plan together. Call 217-726-6343. Well thank you for joining us today everybody appreciate you making us a part of your day hey don't forget while you're out on social, check ours out. You can check my personal one out at RobertFarrell at everywhere. Check out those Elevate Springfield pages, those big dog business coaching pages as well. Check us out over on YouTube. Give us a subscribe give us a like or a follow on any of those channels we would certainly appreciate it. So hey take what you learn today you bring the discipline and follow through and together as right y'all we're gonna elevate Springfield. Be great