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This one is different. I'm auditing your business.

Eight areas, five statements each, one point for every yes. Client retention, client attraction, revenue, cancellations and no-shows, occupancy, retail, client spend and branding.

It's the same diagnosis I run with my one on one clients. Grab a pen, be brutally honest and add up your score out of 40. Whatever you score lowest on becomes your plan: one area a month, starting now, so you head into 2027 with a plan instead of the same problems.

I also open up about hitting 100 episodes and the real reason BBS exists.

In this episode

• Why most businesses that are busy one month and dead the next have a retention problem
• The rebooking script that tells clients when to come back (instead of asking)
• Why your automated text is not a follow up
• KPIs for solo operators, and why you should be paying yourself a wage
• Booking fee vs deposit (they're not the same thing)
• Knowing your occupancy, retail percentage and average client spend
• The 5 second branding test
• How to turn your score into a month by month plan

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Terri from TK Lashes and Brows opened a shopfront salon at 23. Then COVID hit, she lost $30,000 in the first month and her accountant told her beauty would be first to close and last to open.

So she went home. Just brows and lashes, a separate studio entrance and set hours. She made more money than she ever did in the shopfront.

Terri joined BBS after hearing me speak at Salon First, where I told her to just put her prices up. She did it that week and didn't get a single complaint. She's implemented 4 to 5 modules and is now fully booked with a near 100% rebooking rate.

We also get into her brow take that has the mappers fired up and why I want her raising her prices in December, not January.

You can follow Terri HERE

In this episode

• Why a 6 figure shopfront made less than a home salon
• Raising prices $10 to $20 with zero kickback
• Going from "rebook online" to rebooking every single client
• 10 clients booked into a lash lift launch in 3 days, at full price
• 30 minute brows without mapping, and why it makes her more money
• Why December is the best month for a price rise
• Terry's advice: back yourself sooner
  
  This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
   
  Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Trigger warning: this episode mentions domestic violence, human trafficking and alcohol dependence if these topics impact you please skip this episode or skip to 18.26 minutes.

Our 100th episode is a collab with Brooke Cherry from the Beauty Boss Frequency podcast. Couch, uggs on, tarot cards out.

If you run your business solo and feel behind because you're not hiring, teaching or launching a product, this one is for you. We ask: do we actually want bigger businesses, or have we just been taught that bigger means more successful?

I share the lash ladder I climbed (salon, head educator, a 250 person conference, a lash line) and why every move out of alignment made me more insecure. I also get honest about BBS right now. Our biggest month yet, two years and a lot of tears to get there.

Brooke shares her golden water ritual for leaving clients' stories at the salon and why one appointment can be the only thing a client gives themselves all month.

We finish on the part most people skip.. the work on you. Your self-talk, rewiring your brain and the question my husband asked me on the drive home.

You can find Brooke here

This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
 
Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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I'm going back to ground zero and it scares the sh*t out of me.

In this episode I share why I'm starting a second podcast and a mindset course alongside Beauty Business School, the fears that came up (capacity, burnout, "who do I think I am") and the question my husband asked that stopped me in my tracks.

Then I take you through three moments from my own business where growth was on the other side of fear: being the first in my area to bring in deposits (and losing clients for it), doubling the BBS price and stepping into the next version of you before you feel ready.

Plus a catch up on Tamara Reid's personal branding intensive, 25,000 downloads and next week's 100th episode with Brooke Cherry.

In this episode

• Your nervous system will try to keep you safe, which means keeping you small
• Do the scary, aligned action: the deposits that lost me clients kept the ones I actually wanted
• Confidence comes after: 90% of students since doubling the price are doing the work
• Your why has to be bigger than the failures that are coming
• The next version of you is going to cost the old one

This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
 
Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Chelsey Gardener came into the beauty industry in her 40s with nothing. A marriage that ended, a stretch of being homeless and no family to fall back on.

Two years ago she was doing lashes from home with a handful of clients and no plan. Today she's the CEO of Baddie HQ on the Gold Coast. Chelsea's story is going to BLOW your mind. She's gone viral on TikTok, gets recognised at the shops, hosts her own podcast and is building a beginner lash course. Let this be the episode to show you anything is possible babe.

Chelsey's podcast: Baddie After Hours
Chelsey's Instagram: Baddie HQ
Chelsey's Tik Tok: Baddie HQ

In this episode:

• Why one lash set made her feel like she could take on the world, and why she wanted to give that feeling to others
• The rebrand that changed everything (her old logo "doesn't show who I am")
• Why I tell you to date your brand instead of picking a colour palette
• How one event and hearing that 20K months were possible flipped her ambition
• Why TikTok works for her: her clients book on a feeling
• 4am starts, a supportive husband and the discipline of knowing what you want
• Why clients always have money; they're choosing where it goes
• Her one piece of advice: back yourself, it's okay to be different

If you've ever felt too late, too different or too far behind to build the business you want, start here.

This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
 
Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Memberships are the fastest way to predictable revenue in a beauty business. Set them up wrong and they become a liability you can't see.

Kimberley sits down with Karl Margrain (co-founder and CEO) and Jo Blundell (co-founder and CRO) of aglow, the only dedicated membership platform built for clinics and salons. Karl has spent 20 years in payments. Jo spent five years building Timely into a household name in beauty. Together they've helped around 1,000 salons across Australia and New Zealand move from feast and famine bookings to recurring revenue.

This one also comes with a backstory. Kimberley publicly called Aglow out for leaving sole traders behind. Their response is the reason they're on the podcast.

Inside this episode:

• Why filling next week's calendar is the wrong problem to solve
• The credit-based membership trap: balance sheet liability and chargeback risk
• Packages are not memberships, and why discounting them backfires
• Member vs non-member pricing and how it protects your margin
• Perks that add value without cutting your price
• Who handles failed payments, cancellations and awkward conversations
• The three membership models: subscriptions, treatment plans and the treatment wallet
• How the treatment wallet makes the credit model safe for salons and clients

If your income rises and falls with your calendar every week, start with 10 members.

Find aglow at getaglow.co or @aglow_app on Instagram. Send BBF on Instagram to get the pricing and retention frameworks Kimberley teaches inside Beauty Business Foundations.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Getting clients through the door is the easy part. Keeping them is where most beauty businesses lose money.

If your clients stay for two or three appointments and then go quiet, that is not bad luck and it is not the economy. It is a gap in your client journey and it is showing up at the same point every single time.

In part two of the client journey series, Kimberley breaks down the 10 areas that decide whether a client stays with you for years or leaves at the seven month mark without telling you why. This is the same review she runs on her own businesses every three to six months, straight off the back of a Beauty Expo panel with Emily (The Cosmetic Industry Coach) and Kelly (The Skin Queen) that sent her back to her own gaps.

Inside this episode:

• The 5 second rule: what someone decides about your brand before they ever message you
• What people say about you when you are not in the room, and how to control it
• Why "who is this for" is a business decision, not a marketing exercise
• The identity your clients are actually buying (it is rarely the treatment)
• Greeting and entry: why hugging a corporate client was the right call
• The nervous system moment that makes someone feel safe enough to spend money with you
• How you speak to clients, and why second-guessing yourself out loud kills your authority
• Educating at the start, not the checkout, so you never feel like a salesperson
• The feeling they came in for, and what happens when you miss it
• The details that carry the brand: colours, music, scent, snacks, robes

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This is the FREE RESOURCE I promised

"I need more clients" is the number one thing beauty business owners say to Kimberley. It is almost never the actual problem.

Most of the businesses she works with sit at 50 to 60% booked. That gap is not a marketing problem. It is an optimisation problem, and it is far cheaper to fix than finding new people. Katie added $10,000 a month to her business without a single piece of external marketing, purely by looking at the clients she already had.

In this episode Kimberley walks through the five numbers that move a beauty business from 50 to 60% booked up to 80 to 90%: your rebooking rate, your retention rate, your average client spend, your visit frequency and your retail percentage. She covers what to do before you touch any of them, which is pricing, and finishes on the client journey, which decides whether any of it sticks.

If you are constantly chasing new clients, this is the episode that tells you why.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This one was meant to be about optimising the client journey. It turned into a full debrief instead.

Kimberley is a week off the back of Beauty Expo, still tired, still processing, and she recorded this one exactly as it came out. What travelling every two to four weeks for a year actually costs. Why she was nervous going into Sydney again, and what made this year completely different. The students who walked into expo, got overwhelmed and went home.

Then it turns into something else. A woman walked up to her at the Circadia awards and said she joined Beauty Business School four weeks ago, binged the content, put her prices up, moved into a new clinic and is now booked four weeks in advance.

Kimberley pulls up the number she says most coaches will never show you. The industry average completion rate for an online course sits at 12 to 15%. Beauty Business School sits at 31%. She talks through what that number does to her head, why she ties her worth to it, and what the students who finish have actually gone on to do.

If you have ever paid for an event and left feeling worse than when you arrived or bought a course that is still sitting in your logins, this is the one.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Rhiannon Davis packed up her Queensland salon, moved her family to East Gippsland, and opened Skin Bar by Rhiannon in a town of 1400 people. She took 38 bookings in the first three days.

She did not arrive with a client base. She did not know a single person there. She built the demand months before she unlocked the door.

In this episode we pull the whole launch apart. The waitlist she opened on a whim that hit 11 signups on day one and 92 by launch. The local Facebook groups she posted into three times a week. The emails she sent to strangers about who she is, before she ever asked them to book. Changing her location and SEO while she was still trading in Queensland. And the decision most people get wrong: she did not run an opening special. She raised her prices.

Three weeks in, her book runs into October and her clients are rebooking.

If you have ever told yourself your town is too small, this one is for you.

You can find Rhi on instagram HERE

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This one was by request, and there was no plan.

I had a tarot reading at a castle in Ballarat with a woman who did not know my name, could not have looked me up and proceeded to describe the exact thing I had not been able to put words to for six months. Then I had a second reading in Bali four days later and she said almost the same thing word for word.

So this is the full debrief. What was said, what I have actually done about it and the business decisions that came out of it.

I talk about the comparison spiral I have been stuck in, the trap of believing I have to keep giving more value to be valuable, why I doubled the price of Beauty Business School after teetering on it for far too long and the decision I made to stop travelling to speak unless I am paid.

What we cover

• The comparison spiral and why comparing yourself to someone 11 years ahead of you is a trap
• Starting over in a new field still means putting in the reps. It does not accelerate just because you have experience elsewhere
• "The universe has put you in a waiting room and you're not allowed to leave"
• Why simplicity is the thing standing between where you are and where you want to be
• The value trap: constantly adding more so you feel worthy of the money
• How over-delivering robs your clients of proving to themselves that they can do it
• Why 600 members was the wrong goal and 200 engaged members is the right one
• Doubling the price of BBS, and the two aligned clients who signed up within 48 hours
• Redesigning the ideal client by looking at the best people already inside the community
• Releasing control, and why controlling every outcome was the thing keeping her stuck
• The decision to stop speaking for free
• The one filter she now runs every business decision through: will this add more work for me?

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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I have never sat across from a guest and forgotten my interview questions before. This episode did that to me.

Lilliane Caron has run the same salon for 45 years. Not a franchise, not multiple locations, one salon that now has 16 rooms and sees around 2,000 clients a week. She's waxing third generations of the same families. Then at the same time build one of the biggest waxing supply businesses in Australia (which is also in the UK and USA)

In this episode she tells me how it actually happened. Buying the business with money her family trusted her with. Making sugar wax at the back of the salon at night. Driving to massage parlours to teach the girls how to wax because she needed a bigger audience than one front door at a time, then coming home at 4am with wads of cash to fund her product development. Getting her products into pharmacies and supermarkets, then getting deleted after five years and learning the hard way what retail loyalty really looks like.

She also shares the client complaint that could have ended everything and instead became the reason her clients now fall asleep during Brazilians. That story alone is worth the listen.

We talk staff retention (she keeps her team for 10 years in an industry that struggles to get three), why she runs her salon like McDonald's, what she'd tell anyone starting a product line today and the part nobody posts about: how lonely building something really is.

If you've ever felt like you're too far behind, too unqualified or too unsupported to build something that lasts, this is your episode.

You can find Lilliane's incredible products here: https://caronlab.com.au/ 
Stalk the Smooth and Tan salon here: https://smoothandtan.com.au/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Rebecca MacArthur is a solo therapist specialising in Brazilian waxing from a studio behind her house in Helena Valley. Two kids, eight and a half years of working from home and a business that had gone from busy to boring.

Four and a half months after joining Beauty Business School she is on track to double her income, she has a minimum of five people on her waitlist and she has not added a single hour to her week.

In this episode Rebecca walks through the whole thing: failing business class in year 12, winning State Therapist of the Year twice, burning out in a high pressure salon, learning connection in a salon she still gets emotional about  and finally sticking a sign up across the road from a school.

What's covered

• Why a home-based business is not the lesser option (lower overheads, more control, better wage)
• What "ticking along" actually looks like, and why steady is a warning sign
• Getting specific about the ideal client, and why that was the single biggest lever in her business
• How to market an intimate service like Brazilian waxing without putting vaginas all over your feed
• Two Brazilian specialists, two completely opposite marketing directions, both working
• Rebooking, retail, and the client journey lessons she carried out of two very different salons
• Trusting the process before you have proof it works
• Why the goal does not have to be a team, a second location, or education

Rebecca is what I call a silent assassin. No live calls, no noise, just implementation.
You can fine Rebecca here: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccamacarthur.wax/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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My students are getting 30 to 60 new clients within days or months, at full price, with no discounting. In this episode I pull back the curtain on exactly how we do it inside Beauty Business School.

You'll hear the real numbers behind three students: Rhi, who moved to a town of 1400 people, put her prices up and booked 38 clients in three days with a 90% retention rate. Kayla, who consistently brings in 30 to 60 new clients from her offers. And Shanna, who built her audience before she ever opened and hit 69 bookings in her first three months.

Then I break down what they all have in common: visibility, community and multi-channel marketing. Plus the ideal client work that has to happen first, how to build an offer that solves a real problem and why your email list will out-convert your Instagram every time.

This one comes with a warning. If you have to go and find 30 new clients every single month, something is broken in your retention, not your marketing. Sort the client experience and the rebooking first.

There is no get-booked-quick scheme. There is a plan. This is it.

What's covered:

• Why "I'm for everyone" is the reason you're struggling to fill your books
• The three student case studies and the exact numbers
• Visibility, community and multi-channel marketing (the pattern behind every result)
• Why small town does not mean small prices
• Building an offer that solves a real problem instead of discounting
• Optimising the clients you already have before chasing new ones
• Signature premium service as the starting point for every new client
• Social media is visibility. Email is conversion. Ads are volume.
• The 3 emails a week structure: social proof, education, community
• Posting in Facebook groups to educate, not sell
• The seven days of my own launch where nobody bought
• Why gratitude for one new client changes your energy and your referrals

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Email marketing outsells social media 3 to 5 times over, and most beauty businesses are barely using it. In this episode I break down exactly how I get 28 to 45% of my list opening every email (the industry average is 12%) and how email made me $3,600 in one week while I was in Bali not posting a single thing.

What's inside:

• Why "I don't want to be spammy" is costing you sales, and the real reason people unsubscribe
• The 3 emails to send every single week: social proof, education, connection
• How to turn a client story into an email people actually want to open
• Me-centric vs you-centric content, and why community is the thing that sells
• Why your email list is business insurance if you ever lose your Instagram
• The lead magnet that got 90 downloads and booked out brow tattooing with zero discounts

If your booking system is collecting emails and you're doing nothing with them, this episode is your kick up the ass.

Want the exact email templates I use? They're inside Beauty Business School.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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The wrong hire will cost you more than no hire. 

A team member who talks behind your back, ignores your processes or treats your business like "just a job" does damage you'll spend months undoing. So the vetting happens before they walk in, not after.

If a team member is anywhere on your radar this year, even 12 months away, listen to this one first.

In the episode I break down:

💋 Why skill set is the worst reason to hire someone
💋 The pre-screening questions that filter out ChatGPT applicants before you waste a single interview.
💋 My random phone call test, and what being greeted with "What?" tells you in the first second.
💋 The new Australian law that makes it harder than ever to remove the wrong person.
💋 Why you should never hire at 100% capacity. 

Remember If it's not a full body yes, it's a no. That rule alone will save you thousands.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Rachel Kitto built a product business, sold 10,000 units and then watched it collapse when her manufacturer swapped ingredients and went into receivership. She rebuilt it. It collapsed again. What she created from the wreckage is Salon Snack Co, a snack brand made exclusively for the beauty and hair industry that has never been done anywhere in the world.

In this episode, Rachel and I sit down in person to unpack the whole story: 17 years as a hairdresser, quitting the industry for three months, going mobile, building The Nourishing Bodyco and killing it twice before landing on the idea that changed everything.

We get into:

• The toxic salon culture that made her quit and why we lose amazing people from this industry
• Killing the same business twice and how she knew when to stop pushing and pivot
• The gap in the market nobody else saw and why niching down made Salon Snack Co explode
• Her first viral post, the troll comment with 1,000 likes and how the beauty industry rallied behind her
• Why client experience matters more than ever in a world full of AI
• The mindset rule she lives by: the faster you can fail, the better

If you're in the messy middle of building something right now, this one is proof that the collapse is not the ending.

Find Rachel:
Instagram: @salonsnackco
Website: salonsnackco.com.au
Join the Salon Insiders broadcast channel on Instagram for behind-the-scenes co-creation

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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How do you grow a beauty business without burning out? After my ADHD episode blew up my DMs, the question I got most was how I manage it all without medication. This is the answer.

I used to think the 2am spiral was why my business worked. The anxiety, the can't-switch-off, the hyperfixation. I called it ambition. It wasn't. It was burnout, and I hit it twice. The full breakdown kind, not the tired-on-a-Sunday kind that takes a long time to come back from.

In this episode:

• What burnout and adrenal fatigue actually do to your body: brain fog, getting sick constantly, numbness, never feeling present in the room
• The nervous system work that pulled me out, built up slowly: yoga, breathwork, then journaling
• Simple habits that changed everything: phone outside the bedroom door, tech off before bed, app blockers, seven to nine hours sleep, magnesium, a nightly brain dump
• How slowing down took me from $10k a month to $30k, then steady at $20k for two years
• Why the pace was never the success, it was the thing quietly costing me everything

You can work less and earn more, even as a solo beauty business owner. You just have to slow down to speed up.

If you run a lash, brow, skin, hair, or nails business and you're running on empty, this one is for you.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Gry Tomte has run HÜD for eleven years and has two clinics that are booked out six months deep. She looks like she has always had it figured out and she is the first to tell you she hasn't.

Gry is one of THE most grounded people I have had the pleasure of interviewing. This interview will rewire your brain. I had a mindset of what a multimillion dollar business owner would be but Gry shook me to my core. Gry told me about how she hit a million in revenue and felt flat. She was sitting on a call crying, sure the business was sinking because the books had gone quiet. It looked like a win on paper and felt like nothing. The number was never the point.

This woman is beyond words. She shares moments that will stop you in your tracks. This year Gry lost her husband Zed, killed in a home invasion. The way she talked about him wrecked me. He was the man who fed her, watered her, told her he would live in a tent with her if it all fell apart. When she lost him she nearly sold the whole thing, but you will have to listen to hear the rest of Gry's story.

This is Gry, all of it. The brains, beauty and heartbreak.

You can find Gry on Instagram HERE.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Want to sell more expensive services without slashing the price to get bookings?

If you've got a $500+ package sitting on your price list that nobody's booking, the price isn't the problem. The launch is.

High ticket services convert slower than a $60 brow dye. That's normal. The mistake is launching it the same way you'd launch a flash sale, then deciding it doesn't work for your business.

In this episode, Kimberley breaks down:

• Why high ticket packages need a longer runway before they sell
• The self belief check before you put a price on anything
• How to seed a new service for weeks before launch so clients are already asking about it
• Early bird bonuses that build demand without discounting
• What to say when a client goes quiet on price

If you've got a premium package, a series treatment or an in-house course you've been too scared to put a number on... buckle up babe!!

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Renee Andrews has seen the behind the scenes of over 120 salons. She's managed social media accounts, watched what converts and what doesn't and built her own business to the point where she was flown to Budapest to keynote for Kevin Murphy with under 4,000 followers.

Renee is the founder of Salon Society and one of the most practical, data-backed social media educators in the beauty industry. In this episode, she brings the kind of clarity that most salon owners desperately need but rarely get, and she does it with warmth, zero fluff, and a lot of real talk.

We cover:

• Why vanity metrics are ruining your marketing mindset, and what to track instead
• The one question to ask every new client that will tell you exactly where your bookings are coming from
• Why AI search is already sending clients to salons, and how to make sure yours is one of them
• How to make content that attracts your ideal client without reinventing the wheel every week
• Why fully booked salons still need to keep showing up online
• How Renee turned a publicly difficult moment into one of the most defining chapters of her business journey, and what emotional resilience actually looks like for a business owner

Renee is the kind of guest who makes you want to open your booking system and your notes app at the same time. This episode is equal parts strategy and soul.

Find Renee at @salonsocietyaus on Instagram or on her website .

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Everyone's got an opinion on giveaways. Half the industry says they attract the wrong clients and don't convert. The other half keeps doing them anyway and wondering why nothing sticks.

In this episode, Kimberley cuts through the noise and breaks down exactly why most giveaways fail. Spoiler: it's not the giveaway. It's the lack of strategy around it.

Covered in this episode:

• Why visibility, not bookings, should be your actual goal
• How to design a giveaway that filters in your ideal client and naturally filters out everyone else
• Choosing collaboration partners who actually share your audience
• What a real follow-up plan looks like, including how to convert people who didn't win
• Building a retention plan so new clients from the giveaway actually stick around

Whether you've done a giveaway before and felt like it went nowhere, or you've been too scared to try one, this episode gives you the full picture so you can do it right.

Retention Ebook:

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/ebook-rebooking/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Why Discounting Is Killing Your Beauty Business (And Why Strangers Pay What Your Family Won't)

My daughter started doing press-on nails. She is gentle, she is talented and she told me she wants to charge full price for her services once she is trained. I told her to do exactly that.

Then she asked if she could charge me. And I hesitated.

That hesitation is exactly what this episode is about.

I have spent years telling beauty business owners to stop discounting, to charge their worth, to hold the line with family and friends. And the second my own daughter picked up a nail file and started practicing on me, I felt that same pull that I know you feel. The "but she's my kid" justification. The "I'm paying for her course, so surely..." logic. The very thing I coach against, sitting right in my chest.

In this episode, I am owning it completely and using it to show you why this pattern is so much deeper than pricing. It is a self-worth issue, and it is costing your business more than you realise.

In this episode we cover:

The real dollar figure you are giving away each year when you discount even one client by $20 a week (spoiler: it is over $10,000 if five people are getting it). Why gratitude for your early loyal clients very quickly turns into resentment, and what to do before you get there. The specific messaging problem that happens when friends and family refer you at your discounted rate, and why it builds the wrong kind of clientele. Why the stranger who finds you on the internet and books without question is the most important evidence you have that you are worth your prices. How to have the conversation with friends, family, and long-term clients when you are ready to stop discounting. The friends and family policy that actually protects you, and the script to make the transition without drama.

The question that changed how I look at this:

Would you walk into your friend's workplace and ask them to stay back late, earn half their wage, and not be able to afford their groceries this week? Of course not. So why do we let people do that to us, and why do we do it to ourselves?

If you are sitting on a roster right now where some clients pay full price and others pay what you were charging three years ago, today is the day that changes.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Your nervous system is running your business. And not in a good way.

If you've ever made a decision from a place of panic, said yes to the wrong client because you were scared of the quiet, or doom scrolled for an hour and felt worse after, this episode is going to hit close to home.

Kimberley sits down with Sherri Ponisi, breathwork facilitator, former hairdresser of 20 years and ex-salon owner, to talk about what's actually going on in your body when you're stressed, burnt out and still trying to run a business.

In this episode:

• Why fear is just an emotion stored in your body (and what to actually do with it)
• The difference between burnout and needing to slow down (they are not the same thing)
• Why doomscrolling is making your anxiety worse, not better
• What breathwork actually is, explained simply with zero intimidation
• A grounding exercise you can do in your car after a horrible phone call
• How to audit the people around you the same way you audit your business
• Why the decisions you make when your nervous system is dysregulated are almost always the wrong ones

If you've been running at 100 miles an hour and wondering why nothing feels right, this episode will make a lot of things click.

Find Sherri at @connectedbeingco on Instagram and her podcast Connected Combos wherever you listen. www.connectedbeingco.com 

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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What if the thing you’ve spent your whole life trying to “fix” is actually your superpower?

In this deeply personal episode, Kimberley opens up about something she’s never fully shared before being diagnosed with ADHD and autism as an adult while navigating motherhood, business, burnout, perfectionism and the pressure to keep it all together.

From feeling “different” as a child… to struggling with self-worth, hyper-fixation, comparison, relationships, and running multiple successful businesses this episode is an unfiltered look inside the mind of a beauty business owner with a “spicy brain.”

Kim shares:

• The emotional moment that led to her diagnosis
• How ADHD + autism actually show up in women
• The business superpowers no one talks about
• Why she chose not to medicate
• The hidden battle between hyper-productivity and burnout
• The mindset shifts helping her stop fighting herself

This episode will either deeply trigger you, deeply heal you… or both.

And if you’ve ever felt “too much,” “too emotional,” “too disorganised,” “too intense,” or like your brain works differently to everyone around you this conversation might change the way you see yourself forever.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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If you are always looking for clients.. You have a retention problem.

It costs five to seven times more to find a new client than to keep the one already sitting in your chair. And if you're aiming for a 70% rebooking rate, you're losing two thirds of your clients within three months. The maths doesn't lie.

In this episode, Kimberly gets real about what's actually keeping beauty business owners on the hamster wheel and it's not the economy, it's not the algorithm, it's not the slow season. 

It's the fact that most salons are not building the kind of experience that makes a client genuinely unable to imagine going anywhere else.

This one is practical, honest and a little bit feral recorded live from the caravan with a dog, a cat and zero apologies.

If your books aren't as full as you need them to be, start here.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Jordan didn't need more clients. She needed to stop working herself into the ground for results that didn't match the effort.

Within four years she went from 60+ hour weeks, a team she resented managing, and burning out every Christmas, to 32 hours a week, books closed, waitlisted, and consistently hitting $20K months doing only the one thing she loves. Brows.

She let go of lashes even though they were 60-70% of her income. She let her team go even though one of them was her best friend. She closed her books even when salons around her were shutting down and she felt the pull to fill the gaps.

Every single decision was terrifying. Every single one paid off.

And what makes this story hit different? Jordan didn't have some overnight breakthrough. She had resistance at every level and she did the work anyway. In her own time, at her own pace, until the identity finally caught up with the strategy.

Here's the truth: the strategy was never the hard part. Believing she was worth it was.

This is what it looks like to go from busy to profitable. 

The difference wasn't talent. It was the decision to stop holding herself back.

If you're working too many hours for an income that still doesn't feel worth it, this one will hit.

You can find Jordan HERE

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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The world as we know it is shifting and Kimberley isn't here to sugarcoat it. 

In this episode, she gets honest about global uncertainty, what it means for your beauty business and where your real power lies when everything outside your control feels like it's on fire.

The short version? Economic downturns destroy businesses. They also make them. Which side you land on comes down to mindset, strategy, and how you choose to show up.

What's not in your control: the economy, inflation, interest rates, global chaos. Stop living in the "what ifs".. that's where anxiety lives.

What is in your control: how you think, how you serve, and the experience you create. Make your salon a sanctuary. Be the brightest light. Let clients escape the heaviness of the world the moment they walk through your door.

What works right now: value-adding over discounting, problem-solving content, and building a community people actually want to belong to. Stop assuming your clients can't afford you, offer the full experience every single time and let them decide.

The next year will be defined not by what the economy does but by the choices you make inside your business every single day.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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This episode of the Beauty Business School podcast is a real, unfiltered look at what it actually takes to build a successful beauty business.

I sit down with Carmen McNamara, founder of Skin Fairy and Little Sunshine Spa, who shares her journey from waxing in her bedroom at 15 to running multiple thriving businesses. But more importantly.. she pulls back the curtain on what most people don’t talk about.

We dive into:

•  Why business is never a straight line (and why that’s normal) 
•  The reality of building, growing, and sometimes struggling in business 
•  Leadership, team culture, and what it really means to run an A team 
•  The importance of client care over quick wins 
•  Money, mistakes, and why so many salons go under 
•  Showing up online authentically (even when it’s uncomfortable) 
•  And the mindset shifts you need to actually make this work long term 

This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s the truth behind the scenes hard moments, big lessons, and what it really takes to stay in the game.

If you’ve ever thought “this feels harder than it should”… this episode will remind you that you’re not alone and you’re probably a lot closer than you think.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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After THAT post went viral… we need to talk.

In this episode, Kimberley opens up about the real story behind a post that shook the beauty industry and what it revealed about bullying and projection in business.

From being sent private messages and conversations to navigating the emotional aftermath, this is an unfiltered look at what actually happens behind the scenes in the beauty industry and how to handle it without losing yourself in the process.

This isn’t about calling people out. It’s about calling the industry forward.

Inside this episode, we dive into:

•  The reality of bullying in the beauty industry (and why it’s so common) 
•  What to do when you find out people are talking about you 
•  How to separate projection vs. truth
•  The emotional regulation tools every business owner needs 
•  How to set boundaries without adding fuel to the fire
•  Leading with integrity.. even when it would be easier not to 

If you’ve ever felt judged, talked about, or misunderstood in your business… this episode will hit home.

Because this isn’t just about one post.
It’s about changing the way we show up in the industry, together.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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I need to say something that might annoy you a little bit…

You don’t actually hate selling. You just hate how it feels when you do it.

When it’s awkward… when it feels forced… when you can literally feel yourself cringing mid sentence because it sounds like you’re trying to push something onto your client… so you avoid it.

You don’t bring it up, you don’t lean into retail conversations in your salon, you just hope your clients will ask. And when they don’t, it turns into “my clients just don’t buy retail” or “no one can afford to buy retail products.”

But that’s not actually what’s happening.

What’s happening is no one has shown you how to sell retail in a salon in a way that feels natural. In a way that actually feels like you. In a way that builds trust with your clients instead of feeling like you’re pushing products or trying to increase sales in a forced way.

Because when it clicks, retail sales don’t feel like selling at all. It feels like you’re just talking. Like you’re recommending products as a beauty professional. Like you’re genuinely helping your clients get better results between appointments.

And that’s when clients start buying retail. That’s when your salon retail sales increase. That’s when your revenue grows without needing more clients or more appointments.

In this episode, I properly break down:
💋 Why your salon retail sales aren’t increasing
💋 What’s actually missing in your retail strategy
💋 How to sell retail products without being pushy or salesy
💋 The simple shifts that will help you increase retail sales in your beauty business

If you’re a beauty therapist, lash artist, brow artist or salon owner who wants to increase retail sales, boost salon revenue and feel more confident recommending products to your clients… this is the episode you need to listen to.

If you’ve ever thought “I hate selling” or “I don’t want to feel salesy,” I think this is going to completely change the way you see retail in your beauty business.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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In this episode, I sit down with Emma, a registered nurse of 14+ years who completely changed her life in 2021 when she discovered the power of cosmetic medicine and skin - first as a client, then as a practitioner. What started as a $1,000 bank balance and a dream turned into a thriving solo clinic in Redcliffe, a $75,000+ revenue increase in just 12 months, and signing her very first commercial lease.

But it wasn't always this way.

Before joining Beauty Business School, Emma was juggling two jobs six days a week, second-guessing herself constantly, and wondering if she should just go back to nursing for good. The financial pressure was real. The self-doubt was real. And the path forward felt anything but clear.

Then she decided to bet on herself and everything changed.

In this episode we talk about:

→ Why Emma left a high-level nursing career to start over in beauty (and why she has zero regrets)
→ The reality of marketing an injectable business in today's regulatory landscape in Queensland
→ How she grew revenue by over $75k in 12 months while raising four kids
→ Leaving her nursing role entirely and going all in on her business
→ The identity shift that happens when you level up and why it's supposed to feel hard
→ What's next: a brand new commercial shopfront and her first overseas trip (hello, Bali retreat!)

This one is emotional, honest, and full of real talk about what it actually takes to build a beauty business from scratch. Grab your fave drink and get ready to feel all the feels and get seriously inspired.

Find Emma: https://www.instagram.com/bae_aesthetic_studio/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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The Moment Every Beauty Business Owner Dreads… A Client Complaint

That sinking feeling when your phone lights up with a message from an unhappy client.

Your heart races.. Your brain spirals... And suddenly you're questioning your entire business.

Sound familiar?

In this episode of Beauty Business School, Kimberley Haworth breaks down exactly how to handle complaints like a true CEO without spiralling, people-pleasing or burning your business to the ground.

Because here’s the truth…

One complaint won’t destroy your business but how you respond absolutely can.

Inside this episode, Kimberley walks you through the exact framework she teaches beauty professionals to handle complaints with confidence, emotional intelligence, and strong boundaries.

You’ll learn:

✨ Why complaints aren’t always a bad thing for your business
 ✨ The biggest mistake salon owners make when replying to unhappy clients
 ✨ How to regulate your emotions before responding
 ✨ The difference between emotional complaints vs factual issues
 ✨ When to stand your ground (and when to take responsibility)
 ✨ The exact structure for a calm, professional response that protects your reputation

If the thought of a negative review or unhappy client makes you want to hide under a blanket… this episode is for you.

Because when you know how to handle complaints properly, you stop reacting like a stressed therapist…

…and start responding like the CEO of a serious beauty business.

This might just change how you handle complaints forever.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Awards in the beauty industry can feel intimidating… like something only the “big salons” or “industry elites” go for.

But what if entering awards could actually grow your business, sharpen your strategy and build serious credibility?

In this episode, I’m joined by Nicola from Red Lipstick Effect, an industry powerhouse who has helped clinics win 30+ beauty industry awards and judged some of the biggest awards in Australia.

Nicola shares her journey from a shy beauty therapist to becoming one of the industry's leading award experts and breaks down exactly how salons can start entering awards (even as a solo operator).

We talk about:

✨ Why awards are actually a powerful business growth tool
✨ The biggest mistakes salons make in applications
✨ How to know if you're “good enough” to enter
✨ The real reason the same businesses keep winning
✨ Simple strategies to make your application stand out to judges
✨ Why the process alone can transform how you run your salon

If you’ve ever looked at awards and thought “that’s not for me”  this episode might change your mind.

Because sometimes the thing holding you back… is just putting yourself out there.

You Can Find Nicola Here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolalelievre/
Website: https://nicolalelievre.com/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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You’re hunting for the “one thing” that will change your business. Here’s the truth:

 “There is no one marketing trick that is actually going to get your business to where you want to go.”

Social media? Podcasts? Ads? “If you are relying on one sole source of marketing in your business, I can guarantee you at some point it’s going to fall flat.” When it does, you have nothing.

The real trick isn’t a trick. It’s showing up, being seen, solving a problem. “If you are the best-kept secret in your town, that ain’t helping no one.” 

Build trust. Connect. Educate. Be founder-led. 

“Your ideal client is hanging out there looking at other businesses because they don’t even know you exist.”

And yes... you need to sell. “The only person who can stop you from doing new, incredible, insane things is you… You are here to solve a problem.” Your products, your services, your expertise — that’s the solution.

Stop waiting for the one thing. Step into visibility. Solve the problem. Sell. 

Thats the trick.

Madi Cured Masterclass: https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/madi-cured-collab/

You can find Madi Here: https://www.instagram.com/madi_cured/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Chantel didn’t need another qualification. She needed structure behind her brilliance. Within three weeks she took her retail from $300 a week to $3,000 a week.. not by posting more, discounting or hustling harder, but by niching properly, tightening her messaging and actually implementing.

And what makes this even more powerful? Her business isn’t built on wanting to make more. It’s built on heart and family. She got into skin to help her own family. She treats from the inside out. She leads with integrity. 

The systems didn’t replace that, they amplified it.

Here’s the truth: if you’re not willing to implement, what’s the point? No one is coming to save your salon.

This is an identity shift from busy to profitable, from guessing to ownership, from passion without structure to purpose with power.

The difference wasn’t talent.

It was ownership.

If you’re ready to stop winging it and start building something that actually supports your life and your family, this one will hit.

You can find Chantel HERE

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Look, business isn’t supposed to feel safe.

It’s messy. Brutal. Sleepless nights. Crying kids. Living off coffee and still showing up.

If you think anyone hits $20K months without falling flat on their face first… this is your wake up. 

So, what does it actually take? The 10 traits that push people past $20K.

Some are brutal. Some will make you squirm. Some will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about yourself.

Curious? Good. You should be.

Listen here and find out if you’re ready to play in the big leagues.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Kayla didn’t grow her salon because everything went right.

She grew it while everything was falling apart.

Ever feel like your team is slipping through your fingers just when you need them most? That was Kayla Carlton’s reality. From losing staff during maternity leave to stepping back into a business full of uncertainty, she faced the kind of challenges that would make most salon owners freeze.

But Kayla didn’t just survive, she rebuilt. 

With the right systems, leadership strategies and mindset shifts, she transformed her salon into a thriving, organised space where her team thrives, clients rebook consistently and her business hits record months.

In this episode, we dive into Kayla’s journey of heartbreak, resilience and ultimate triumph. Learn how she:

• Navigated losing key staff while juggling maternity leave
• Implemented systems that keep her salon running smoothly
• Built a team she can truly rely on, while still loving the treatments she does

Whether you’re struggling with staff retention, scaling your salon, or trying to reclaim balance as a salon owner, Kayla’s story is a masterclass in leadership, strategy, and building a team that sticks.

Fast forward to now, KS Beauty is having its biggest months ever, with stronger retention, a supported team and a business that runs without constant stress.

If you’re tired of holding everything together alone, this episode will feel like someone finally understands what you’re carrying.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Mums, can I just say it? Running a business and raising kids is HARD. The guilt. The “I’m failing at everything” feeling. I feel this hard my loves!
 

In Episode 64 of the Beauty Business School podcast, I get real about what I am currently navigating and how I tackle this as it comes up:
 

🌸 Why “balance” is a myth and presence actually matters.

🌸 How to be a mum and a beauty business owner without burning out.

🌸 The small, crazy moments with your kids that actually mean the most.

🌸 Letting go of guilt for wanting BOTH a thriving business and a happy family.

Click the link below to listen to this trust me its going to give you a real look at building a multi 6 figure business as a mum.
 

You’re doing better than you think.

Questions I Answered on the Podcast:

1. Do you ever feel like you have to choose between being a good mum and a successful businesswoman? What does that conflict actually sound like in your head?
2. What's the moment in a typical week that makes you feel the guiltiest, and why?
3. If you stopped right now, truly stopped, what would fall apart first?
4. When you’re away for work or traveling, what do you fear your child will remember about you?
5. Where do you wish someone would step in and help, but you don’t know how to ask?
6. What version of success secretly terrifies you because you’re not sure you could hold it all?

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Can I be honest for a sec?

If you don’t plan 2026, it will plan you.

And spoiler: chaos usually wins.
 

In the latest episode of the Beauty Business School Podcast, I’m walking you through exactly how to map out your year so you’re not:

❌ Throwing random specials at the wall

❌ Posting content with no direction

❌ Wondering why everyone else seems “luckier” than you

This episode is your roadmap for:
✨ planning your entire year by quarters
✨ choosing only FOUR specials (yes, that’s it)
✨ creating visibility without burning out
✨ setting goals that actually convert into money
✨ stepping into the CEO version of you (not the overworked technician)

Grab a pen. Pause when you need to. Download your FREE planner HERE

It’s strategic, practical, slightly unhinged (you’re welcome) and honestly one of the most important episodes I’ve recorded.
 

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

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Where should your education budget actually go?
 

Every January we start planning…
What courses we’ll do.
What conferences we’ll attend.
What education we’ll invest in.
 

But not all education is created equal and not all of it deserves a spot in your budget.
 

In this episode, I’m joined by Tiarne McKew from The Lash Summit to break down how to assess education properly (beyond certificates or hype) and how to think about ROI in a way that actually supports business growth.
 

We cover:
🌸 How to tell if an event or course is actually worth your money
🌸 What ROI in education really looks like (and what it doesn’t)
🌸 Why some rooms create real opportunities — and others don’t
🌸 How to stop investing in education you never implement
🌸 How to make smarter, more intentional decisions with your education budget

We also accidentally touch on socials along the way.. because let’s be honest, it all connects.
 

Find Tee & Lash Summit: https://www.instagram.com/thelashsummit.australia/

💋 To attend Lash Summit - use code BBS for $52.50 off 💋
https://mrslashcoaching.thrivecart.com/lash-summit-australia-2026/

Before you book the next thing, Listen to this first.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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I Stopped Working Nights & Weekends and My Business Didn’t Die

(Contrary to what the beauty industry told us)
 

The beauty industry has quietly sold us a lie, Let’s say it out loud.

“Clients only want nights and weekends.”

I bought into that… until I didn’t.
 

And yes… some people told me my business would fail.
Spoiler alert: it didn’t.
 

In this episode of the Beauty Business School podcast, I share how I slowly stopped working nights and weekends, lost a few clients, gained better ones, and built a business that actually fit my life.
 

We talk about:

• Why nights and weekends aren’t as “necessary” as we think
• How to shift your ideal client and marketing to reclaim your time
• How to change your hours without freaking clients out or losing trust

If you’re craving more flexibility in 2026 but scared to step back, this one’s for you.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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What if building a bigger beauty business isn’t actually the answer?

In this episode, I’m joined by Beauty Business School student Sarah Pegg, owner of The Lash Hub in Bundaberg, for one of the most honest conversations we’ve ever had on the podcast.

Sarah shares her full-circle journey from being fully booked, pregnant, overwhelmed and managing a team… to making the brave decision to downsize, simplify and build a business that actually supports her life.

We talk about:

• The pressure to scale just because your books are full
• Motherhood, burnout and running a business with an empty cup
• Why trying “the big thing” helped her realise it wasn’t what she wanted
• People-pleasing, guilt and learning to choose yourself
• Pricing properly, profit clarity and finally feeling financially safe
• Letting go of the idea that success has to look a certain way

This episode is our gift to you to stop chasing what you think you should want and start building a beauty business that actually feels good to run. You didn't start to feel STUCK.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This episode is literally me unpacking my entire year. The wins, the royal f*ck ups, the burnout, the pressure, the stuff no one sees on Instagram and the mindset shifts that actually changed how I show up.

I share:

💋 What actually happened behind the scenes this year
💋 The emotional shitstorm that nearly took me out
💋 The business decisions that brought me back
💋 What I learned about burnout, boundaries, nervous system regulation & leadership
💋 The truth about sponsorships, pricing myself, rejection & resilience
💋 The pivot that exploded our enrolments
💋 The moment I felt the proudest (yes, I nearly cried again)
💋 What 2026 is going to look like for Beauty Business School

Consider this your little nudge to reflect on your year, tidy up what’s not working, and back yourself moving forward.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This week’s episode is honestly one of the most powerful conversations I’ve ever had on the podcast. I sat down with Naomi from Beauty Business Evolution. 

This episode is PACKED with the kind of “oh my god… THAT’S why I’m burnt out / undercharging / struggling to convert” clarity that genuinely changes businesses.
 

Here’s a little taste:

🎀 Why so many women burn out

🎀 The permission led sales strategy (this is GOLD)

🎀 The ONE thing every beauty pro should master

🎀 What actually attracts high-paying clients

🎀 Money triggers & confidence

🎀 How to explain your value without sounding salesy
 

Honestly… this episode hits different. You’re going to be obsessed with this one.
 
You can find Naomi here: https://www.instagram.com/beautybusinessevolution/

Naomi's Consultation Blueprint: https://www.beautybusinessevolution.com.au/the-5k10k-consultation-blueprint

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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I’m finally sharing a part of my story that I’ve avoided talking about for years. I open up about my experience in the beauty industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and the incredibly difficult decision I made not to receive the vaccine because of my hypersensitivity to medications.

I was told by industry leaders to “leave this alone” because it’s too divisive… but I’m recording this episode anyway. Not to change anyone’s mind, not to sway opinions, but to bring more emotional intelligence, understanding, and compassion into our beauty community.

In this episode, I talk about:

🎀 Why I stepped away from the industry for six months
🎀 The internal battle between being a “good girl” rule-follower and honouring my health
🎀 How judgement and division hurt our beauty community more than any policy ever could
🎀 Why I believe differing opinions should never lead to discrimination
🎀 My commitment to helping create a more inclusive, respectful, and supportive industry moving forward

This episode isn’t about politics, medicine, or convincing anyone of anything. It’s about acceptance. It’s about humanity. It’s about remembering that behind every decision is a real person just trying to do their best.

I close the episode with the message that sits closest to my heart:
Our industry thrives when we hold space for each other. We don’t need to share the same views to show each other respect.

If you’ve ever felt judged, misunderstood, or pressured to hide a part of who you are just to “fit in,” this episode is going to land deeply for you.

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Madi Cured shares her journey from starting a home salon to becoming a viral sensation in the beauty world. Maddie went from practicing nails on her bathroom floor at 13, to starting her business from home during COVID and now runs a cult following nail business with over 550 people on her waitlist.

Madi shared how she figured out the right pricing for her services, the strategies that helped her content go viral, and how she deals with trolls and online negativity.

We went really deep in this episode:

🎀 Mental breakdowns and burnout - “When I first started doing all the content creation… eventually, yeah, I had a full mental breakdown.”

🎀 Charging your worth as a nail tech - “I did a $50 price increase… if they leave, they leave. I’ll get new ones.”

🎀 Navigating haters online and turning them into viral content - “I now have a folder… My Favourite Hate Comments. Sometimes I sit there with my mates and laugh.”

🎀 Building a business that thrives on social media virality and client trust - “I have clients who’ve never met me, and that’s like our fourth appointment… they’ll say, ‘I saw you were talking about this.’”

Madi is proof that being yourself, showing up consistently and standing firm in your worth can build a business that doesn’t just survive.. it thrives.

If you’re a beauty business owner trying to attract your dream clients, charge what you’re worth, and grow with confidence, this episode is a must-listen.

You can find Madi here: https://www.instagram.com/madi_cured/

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Babe I was triggered by a forum post that said, “Just go and look at your competitors and base your pricing on what they said,” so I have done a whole damn poddy that dives deep into why competitor based pricing is one of the most damaging things you can do for your business.

When I seen the post “Everything in me was like died and resurrected. I was like, ‘The resurrection was, I’m going to course correct this.’” so here it is in this episode we cover:
 
🎀 Fully booked doesn’t mean profit.
🎀 I have helped so many business owners… who were fully booked but not earning any money.
🎀 Numbers are unsexy. People want to stick their head in the sand. They’re scared of them, quite frankly.
🎀 Your numbers are your success. They are something you need to track every single week or day.
 

If you’ve been guessing your prices, copying competitors, avoiding your numbers, or wondering why you’re still broke even though you’re booked out… this is the episode that finally tells you the truth on how to fix that.

Here is how you figure it out in a really simple way:

1. Write out all your monthly expenses (wages, bills, products, subscriptions - everything).
2. Add 30–60% profit on top (yep, actual money left over).
3. Add GST 10%
4. Divide it by the hours you work each month.
 Pro tip: Don’t base it on being 100% booked. The average salon runs at 70–80% capacity most of the time.
5. BOOM!! That’s your hourly rate

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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In this episode of the Beauty Business School Podcast, Kimberley sits down with James Vivian, a business expert who’s rebuilt clinics from the ground up and knows what it takes to thrive in the beauty industry.

James shares the hard truths no one talks about: late nights, burnout, and trying to do everything yourself. He’s faced the chaos of running a clinic during COVID, managing clients and staff, unitl he realised that creating systems and structure is what keeps a business running.

They dive into:

🛠️ How to build a business that actually works, even when life gets chaotic
 💬 Turning client experiences into loyalty, it’s not just about the treatments
 🔥 Navigating ethical marketing and APRA guidelines
 🧠 Avoiding burnout and showing up for your clients and team
 🤝 The power of community: leaning on peers, mentors and other business owners when times get tough

James shares insights on growing your salon, keeping clients for life and building a business that supports you as much as your clients.

Follow James on Instagram: @JamesVivian

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

Send us Fan Mail

Ever feel like December is meant to be your biggest month… but you end up exhausted, overbooked, and kinda over it?
 Same.

This week on the Beauty Business School Podcast, I’m breaking down how to make December your most profitable (and peaceful) month.. without burning out or working longer hours.

You’ll learn:
✨ How to sell smarter with retail + vouchers (not harder)
✨ The easiest way to pre-book your Jan to March calendar
✨ Why December is secretly the best time to raise your prices
✨ How to end the year calm, confident, and cash-flow positive

It’s part mindset, part strategy so you can finish strong and actually enjoy Christmas. 🎄

Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 

https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.