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Discover the remarkable stories behind successful startups on 'How I Became...'.
Join me, Kelly Yefet, as we dive into the journeys of extraordinary founders, marketers, investors, and industry experts. Uncover the breakthrough moments, challenges, and strategies that propelled their ventures to greatness.
Each episode delivers inspiring narratives and practical insights for entrepreneurs of all stages. Get ready to be captivated by the untold tales of innovation, resilience, and triumph in the world of startups. Tune in now to fuel your own entrepreneurial journey.
Interested in marketing and growth support for your business? https://www.kellyyefetconsulting.com/
kristen gale (00:00.43)
And we're live. Hahaha! Yes!
Kelly Yefet (00:05.754)
I'm so excited. I'm so happy to have you on.
kristen gale (00:08.715)
I'm delighted to be here. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Kelly Yefet (00:11.554)
Welcome, Kristin, to the How I Became podcast today. I am so excited to have you on the other side of the screen, an esteemed entrepreneur, a motivational force known for your groundbreaking strategies, both.
kristen gale (00:23.038)
Okay, cool. Sounds good.
Kelly Yefet (00:39.718)
business and personal realms with a career defined by vision, purpose, core values. You've earned global recognition, including accolades from the Entrepreneur Magazine and the Franchise Journal. And notably, before reaching 40, you secured your spot on the top 40 under 40 on Canada's list, which is very cool.
kristen gale (01:00.142)
I'm sorry.
Kelly Yefet (01:01.838)
And of course, what brought me to you is that you are the CEO and founder of the 10 Spot, which is a trailblazing beauty bar chain. And your entire journey is just so celebrated, especially here in the Toronto community, as it is a Toronto-based business that I know has rapidly grown. And I'm very excited for you to share your journey, the pivotal moments, the invaluable lessons in showcasing the resilience and the relentless pursuit that you've had.
pursued this entire journey to get to where you are today. So with, well, it's all, you know, you do. You're welcome. Thank you for coming on today. And maybe we'll start there with the journey to get you to where you are today and how you started the Ten Spot a few years back.
kristen gale (01:35.158)
What an intro, thank you. Not sure I deserve all of those wonderful sentiments, but that was fun hearing them, thank you.
kristen gale (01:55.566)
Yeah, many moons ago now. It's like 17, I think it's going on 18 years in August now. So yeah, it's been a while. It's been my entire adult life basically. Cause I was 24 when I started the 10 spot. So I just, I lived in New York city when I was younger and I saw these nail bars and they were, they're really popular. I ended up, I lived above one. And when I was back in Toronto, I felt like, what if I did this, but just not,
Kelly Yefet (02:00.39)
Wow.
kristen gale (02:24.778)
Like the one that I lived about was kind of disgusting. So what if I could did this, but I took the great things about this industry. So the, the fact that you can get an amazing service, um, and you can, you know, get all polished and pampered and, and look, you know, look and feel more confident in yourself really is what it's about. And, um, and what if I just married that with the high end spa market, which is a little bit more about, you know, like guest care and, um, and they have the higher price points.
And so I was like, what if I just did that and took the middle of both of those markets, took the great stuff about the lower end salon market, took the great stuff about the higher end day spa, luxury spa market, and left out the parts that I wasn't interested in as a young 20 something person that just wanted to be in and out and looking good and have more of a thing to do, more of a social spa experience. And then carve out a little niche in between those two categories and have impeccably executed services.
Kelly Yefet (02:56.83)
Totally.
kristen gale (03:23.566)
have clinical cleanliness, also bring in a vibe that's a little bit more friendly and laid back and youthful and not as intimidating and make it more of a social spa experience. So you could come with your gal pals, come with friends, come with your group of people and maybe have a martini and a glass of wine and listen to some great music and watch some great movies and then get polished head to toe.
waxed and all that stuff. And so that's what I did. I didn't know anything about the spa industry, other than being a patron on occasion. And I didn't know anything about aesthetics. I didn't know anything about business. I didn't know anything about finance, marketing, any of the things that normally people should know before they're diving headfirst into starting a business. But typically I find entrepreneurs don't.
Kelly Yefet (04:16.658)
Totally.
kristen gale (04:21.882)
Which is probably a good thing too, because you don't know how hard it is until you're sort of right in it and having to deal with it. And yeah, started with that one location. It really took off. I think that the market was ready for this. And this little niche that I thought I was carving out ended up being not so niche. And it's really what most women want is to get their monthly maintenance services done in a spot that...
you know, values their time as well as their, you know, their experience and the fact that you're, you know, you're paying money to do this and you you're, you're really voting with your wallet and making sure that you're getting the value in terms of the experience as well as the outcome. And then did a couple more locations really bootstrap took the savings from the from that first location and then put it into the other locations. And then started franchising at about I think we were
six years in. And I realized this was, this was something, this was, I had four locations by then and they were pretty popular. And I thought, what if I could give this, this business concept that was doing well to other women. And the other thing for me was that it was not just that the business concept was fun, my life was really fun. I was loving being my own boss, being an entrepreneur.
Kelly Yefet (05:21.038)
Oh wow.
Yeah.
kristen gale (05:46.062)
not being tethered to somebody else's schedule, getting to live my life on my own terms, having that un-earned, sorry, untapped earning potential that being an entrepreneur can give you. I'm not going to somebody, I had a couple jobs. I had three of them prior to starting my business. Two of them I was fired from, one of them being an unpaid internship. So I did not like the corporate world. I did not like being told what to do. And I didn't like asking somebody. I didn't like...
Kelly Yefet (06:06.608)
I want to get into that as well.
kristen gale (06:14.902)
asking someone can I have more money, you know, it should be based off of your own merit and the work that you're gonna put in. So I love that aspect of entrepreneurship and I wanted to give that to other people and then I wanted to grow the brand and I thought this was a perfect way to do that was through franchising.
Kelly Yefet (06:35.25)
So much to unpack there. But an incredible start to the story. And I'm gonna try to keep my questions in order of what you just shared, but we'll get lost. So the first one that you started, you had an idea. You're like, I'm gonna test this thing out. Where did you even start? Like, how did you choose the location, say Toronto versus you were living in New York, location within Toronto? Like, how did all of that come to life?
kristen gale (06:36.892)
Yeah, sorry.
kristen gale (06:47.927)
Yeah.
kristen gale (06:51.534)
Mm-hmm.
kristen gale (06:59.694)
Yeah. Yep. Very serendipitously, I must say. So I had actually, I was living in Toronto. So I had moved back from New York City by that time. I'd actually lived in Montreal after that and then finally landed in Toronto. And I was working as a graphic designer, which I love, love fonts, colors. My God, it's like my dream heaven is just to be.
Kelly Yefet (07:06.299)
Okay.
kristen gale (07:25.986)
dicking around on the computer and Canva now, like don't even get me started. It's like my favorite thing of life. And so I was working as a graphic designer, but the company got downsized. I was on the chopping block. I got fired on the Friday and I decided to go to brainstorm with a friend of mine. Be like, what am I gonna do with my life? And
Kelly Yefet (07:28.798)
Well, it's my favorite.
kristen gale (07:50.49)
I had always known that I was going to be an entrepreneur at some point because my dad told me you're going to be an entrepreneur. He's like, that's the best way. He didn't actually say that. He just said, it's the thing you're going to do. He was an entrepreneur. So he very much believed in this and he felt like just find something that you loved to do and then make it into a business. Cause you can make a business into anything. You know, you love baking, make it into a business. You love cleaning people's teeth.
Kelly Yefet (07:57.288)
Interesting.
kristen gale (08:16.062)
Love being a dentist, well, like be a dentist, but like have your own, you know, your own practice. Yeah. And so I didn't realize it at the time. And I don't think he articulated it this way. I certainly didn't take it this way when I was eight years old. But really what I found out later was this was the key to loving your life. Having that freedom, having the thrill, having the control of being your own boss, of being an entrepreneur is really for me, like the fundamental.
Kelly Yefet (08:19.151)
make a business, yeah.
kristen gale (08:44.79)
base level thing, the biggest thing that I can do to impact how much I love my life, because it's a giant chunk of your life is working. And especially if you're going to spend that time working on something that's your baby, working on something that's going to benefit you, working on something that lights you up and that you're excited about, you really don't, I'm not gonna say that it doesn't feel like you've ever worked a day in your life, but it's pretty damn close to it.
there's, you know, I can probably count on two hands the number of days I've hated in the last 17 years of, you know, in my job, because the rest of it, I really, like I'm obsessed with my life. I love my life. I love what I've gotten to create in the, exactly that, the freedom and the thrill and the earning potential that came through that. So I...
Kelly Yefet (09:19.259)
Impressive.
kristen gale (09:38.466)
thought in that moment, well, after I like cried a bit about getting fired again, thought what if I don't go look for another job that I'll probably end up not doing so well in because I just have a very entrepreneurial spirit and thought what if I actually lived out my, did the thing, like thought of a business idea and went for it and did the plan A that I thought I was always gonna do because in my mind,
If it didn't work out, I would be exactly in the same place that I was currently, which was unemployed, probably with some more debt. But as you know, I didn't like I was I was a young person. So you kind of don't even think about that as much or I did. I didn't at the time. And so I thought if that's my worst case scenario is this thing doesn't work out and then I've got to go get a job and be stuck, you know, in the corporate world, then why wouldn't I just go for my plan a right now if that's my plan B and my worst case scenario. So
Kelly Yefet (10:15.014)
Yeah, right.
Kelly Yefet (10:30.526)
Probably.
kristen gale (10:38.466)
that I decided to go, I love a brainstorm sesh. So I asked my friend Craig, would he go do a little brainstorm sesh with me? And he said, yeah. And we decided to meet, he had recommended this little pie shop on Queen Street West. And I was pretty new to the city. So I hadn't actually been down in that neighborhood. I live more downtown. So when he suggested Queen Street, it was not what it is today. So I feel like every...
everyone knows Queen Street. I mean, it was like in Vogue magazine's top 50 neighborhoods, you know, back in the day. But it's about way, way back, 17, 18 years ago, it was not what it is today. So it was very up and coming. There were just a couple, there was a little hotel, a boutique hotel, the Drake Hotel had just opened up there, but it was brand new. There was a couple little cafes, like the one that I met Craig at. There was a little...
Kelly Yefet (11:18.843)
Right.
kristen gale (11:34.466)
Japanese paper place that was adorable. And I ended up getting lost on my way down there and went too far down. So I actually ended up seeing more of the street than if I had just like beeline it and got there. I mean, there was no, you know, Google maps. I was kind of just like looking at street owners. And when I arrived, I walked in and I was like, Craggers, like, dude, I know what I'm doing.
Kelly Yefet (11:47.109)
early.
kristen gale (11:57.77)
I mean, I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm gonna have a store on Queen Street because this is the most adorabous little street I have ever been on. I would love to just have a cute little storefront like these guys do, just where I can come in every morning and greet my staff and greet my customers and it'll be so cute. And then, so I was like, done, like we're halfway there. We just have to think of what I'm gonna do in my cute little store.
Kelly Yefet (12:02.32)
Crazy.
Kelly Yefet (12:09.2)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (12:20.102)
Done. We just have to eat pie now. Yeah.
kristen gale (12:25.822)
And then that's where the idea, we brainstorm a bunch of different things, and then that's where the idea for, hey, I lived above this beauty bar, and that thing when I was there morning, noon, night, because I lived above it, and I'd have to walk up the flights. So I thought, what if I did that, and just did it differently? I saw I was always busy. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I saw morning, afternoon, night. That thing was printing money. And I thought, if it was doing this well, and it's disgusting, it was carpeting.
Kelly Yefet (12:42.814)
because you saw it was always busy and like, yeah.
kristen gale (12:55.438)
So it's a magic carpeting and like callus shavings and toenail clothes, like it was an unsavory place. But they did great services and you know, the health and the hygiene things were just not at the forefront of people's brains at that time anyway, to you know, to give them some credit. Like it wasn't even that it was, people weren't in that head space then. So yeah, that's what I did. I rode my little bike home after a little sesh. I was super excited. And then I knew...
Kelly Yefet (12:55.531)
Ugh.
Kelly Yefet (12:59.454)
Woof woof woof. Yeah.
kristen gale (13:24.682)
What I wanted to do, I knew where I wanted to do. I knew I didn't have money for it. So I had a little line of credit. It was for $35,000 that I was going to use towards going back to graphic design school in New York City. That was sort of my primary plan. It was like a plan in the making as I knew that I wanted to go back. So I had this line of credit that I was gonna use, not like that would have at all covered.
years of grad school in New York City. Financial wise, I wasn't as savvy as I maybe am now. It was a great dream. Glad that it didn't work out because it wouldn't have worked out. And so I knew that I needed money. I knew banks gave out money and that I would need to get a loan. And so I just went on the Royal Bank of Canada website and I...
Kelly Yefet (13:56.839)
It was a nice dream.
kristen gale (14:16.374)
looked up some of the loans that they had to offer. And then of course they say you need a business plan. And then there was a link to a business plan template and an example. And so I downloaded that example and then I just started to fill it out. And I was super excited. I ended up writing it all night long until six in the morning. Skipped some financial parts of it cause I just didn't know how to do that. And I was like, well, I'll be able to just tell them how great the idea is. And I'm sure they'll go for it.
And so wrote that until six in the morning and then got a bit of sleep and then, um, went, rode my bike, dropped it off of my bankers. Um, and by banker, I mean like the guy that started my RSP the year before. And then I, I don't know what I did the rest of the day, probably slept again. And then, um, and then I went out on my bike again and I went up and down Queen street to go and try to find a space. And that day I knew that just from.
being on that like really sort of, you know, going up and down the street, I knew that I wanted to be on the south side of the street because that was the side that was sunny and most people were walking down that side. So then I honed in on that side and I started to just go in and out of every storefront and restaurant and say, hey, I'm gonna start this, you know, nail bar concept. Do you know of anybody that like has their space that's gonna go up for lease? Are you maybe gonna be leaving?
Kelly Yefet (15:43.166)
Alright.
kristen gale (15:45.942)
going out of business soon and I could take over your space. I got a lot of nos and a lot of, you know, who are you? You dumb 24 year old twit. What are you even talking about? And finally, one woman said, yeah, my landlord actually has a couple of buildings on the street and the lingerie store, I think, is moving to another location. And I think their place is gonna be up for rent soon.
Kelly Yefet (15:54.866)
Totally.
kristen gale (16:14.966)
So I ran down there and it's like slammed open the door. Hey, are you leaving soon? And she was kind of rude and said like, well, you're just gonna have to wait and see if a sign goes in the window. So I ran back to the other lady, said she was being a total BITCH. Do you think that I can get your landlord's contact information? She's like, actually, I just saw him walk into the building next door because he owns the restaurant.
So I was like, amazing, thank you. So I run into the restaurant, bust open the door and I yelled like, I need to talk to the owner. And I'm sure he's freaking out that, you know, I'm an angry patron of his restaurant. But anyway, I ended up connecting with him and I was like, hey, I think I want to rent your space. From my uneducated assessment of how much square footage I need, I think this is gonna be great. And, no dude.
Kelly Yefet (16:45.63)
Thanks for watching!
Kelly Yefet (17:05.674)
Right, of course. You haven't like measured, you just like found a spot and you're like, I'm gonna make it work.
kristen gale (17:09.986)
didn't realize I needed to do that, okay? I just thought this looks big enough to put some pedicures and manicures in it. Why would I even think that I'd need to measure it out and see what distances space and legal requirements for hallway measurements? But I, yeah, and then we went in, we looked at it together. I got to go back in there and be like, found him to the lady. Actually, I'm not even that, I'm not.
Kelly Yefet (17:16.318)
Totally.
Kelly Yefet (17:21.416)
course.
kristen gale (17:36.734)
I'm not rude, I can't be, I talk a big game, but I actually in real life, in my head I was sassy. And so then ended up renting the space. I signed the lease with that 35K. So I paid the first and last month's rent. It was $5,000 back in the day. I think it was even less actually. Yeah, I know. Rent's are not like that anymore. And then thank God, ended up getting the loan a couple of weeks later.
Kelly Yefet (17:39.612)
In your head you did.
Kelly Yefet (17:52.592)
Wow.
kristen gale (18:05.454)
because I didn't realize it's a bad idea to sign a commercial lease without having money in the bank. So yeah, so I did that and then ended up finding a contractor, learning where to find estheticians to get them hired, learning where to get supplies and sort of things that I need to do services. So a lot of just asking people.
finding, hey, I'm opening up a beauty bar, you sell beauty supplies, what things do you think I need? And working on initial orders with people. And like everyone, I find that when you ask people for help, they love giving help. They love showing their expertise and their knowledge, they love passing that on. And so that's just, I've always just been a person that's like, hey, I don't know how to do this. Like, I don't know what that word means. I don't know how to.
You know, what, you know, like help me figure this out. Yeah, exactly. So that's the, it was wild. It was so fun. It was a really fun little magical time for sure.
Kelly Yefet (19:02.194)
anything.
Kelly Yefet (19:06.106)
What a wild, like...
Kelly Yefet (19:13.434)
Looking back, are there things that, did it all just kind of like fall into place perfectly or are there things that you wish went differently or that you would have changed because this sounds kind of almost too perfect.
kristen gale (19:24.05)
It was, it was, it was, it was very magical, but I very much believe that, I think people have different, you can call it whatever you wanna call it. You can call it like the universe or God, or like, they, like even just energy. But I think if you are on, if you are excited about something and it feels like the right thing, and you go at it with enthusiasm and intensity and speed, that you will then be, you'll either,
hit a rope, like you'll hit a brick wall and be like, this doesn't work and like time to shift, you know, reverse and shift gears and do something. Or you'll blast through that and you'll just be given like, you'll pick up more momentum and more speed and, and sort of, so that's really what that time felt like. It wasn't that it wasn't a ton of work. It was so much, it was long nights and early mornings and like just putting in massive amounts of energy and effort. But because it was
I felt like I was on the right path. It was fueling me. So it was giving me more energy. It was giving, it felt effortless because it was something that I was loving doing versus hitting those roadblocks all the time. So it was, I would get on the phone with someone and just be excited telling them about this.
awesome nail bar concept that I had that was going to be cheeky and funny. And I'm calling, you know, the manicures quickies and, you know, like all the dumb, dumb stuff that I, that I had thought of that I was excited about. It was just like, you know, spilling this out to people that, you know, I'm And so then one guy was like, Hey, you're probably going to need a contractor. And I was like, what does that word mean? He's like, it's the guy that, you know,
Kelly Yefet (21:10.362)
Right. Who?
kristen gale (21:15.522)
does the construction. I was like, oh, I didn't know they had a name for that, but love it, yes, I do need that. And he's like, my best friend from high school is a contractor, so I'll put you in touch with him. So I was like, great, this is, I'd rather work with somebody that you trust and that you like. So I called him up and said, hey, I'm a friend of Mike's, I heard you do construction and I've rented a space and I'm gonna get some money soon, I think, hopefully, so I'd love if you could build out my space for me.
Kelly Yefet (21:27.442)
Wow.
Yeah.
kristen gale (21:44.15)
He's like, wonderful, do you have your drawings? And do you have your layout plans? And I was like, I don't. I guess that's something you do require. I thought maybe we could just free it. I just tell you where I want things and what I want them to look like, but I was like, good idea, I need that. And he's like, my sister does that. So I was like, great, give me your sister's name and number and this would be perfect, because then you're working with her and we're all working together. So it was really just this.
Kelly Yefet (21:50.022)
What?
Kelly Yefet (21:58.327)
Yeah, figured it out.
kristen gale (22:12.706)
this serendipitous, very synchronistic kind of things happening all the time. So yeah, that one was good. I've had other patches of life where, you know, there's steeper learning curves for sure, but definitely that first location was a very magical, fun time of mine.
Kelly Yefet (22:23.902)
I'm sure.
Kelly Yefet (22:32.178)
I wanna get into some of the days that you can count on just two hands, but before we do, the horrifying moments, because I think every entrepreneur has those and it's about getting through those days, but before we get into that, so you have the four and then you decide to transition or to start franchising. Why four, why franchising, why was that the right move versus, you know.
kristen gale (22:37.186)
The horrifying moments, yeah. Not really, yeah.
kristen gale (22:46.167)
Yes.
kristen gale (22:53.623)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (23:01.39)
an alternative.
kristen gale (23:02.57)
Yeah, yeah. So it was, it was good. I did the one. And that went really well. And I was like, Okay, this is a thing. I think I can do another one of these. I wanted to do another one. And so I built I built that one out at the other end of the city. So in Leslieville across town in Toronto, and that one, there were more there pain points because I was
wiser to, you know, certain things, but not wise enough. So a great example is, oh God, it was terrible. I knew that I needed a designer. And so I wanted a really great design company to do it. And I ended up negotiating a rate with them for, I think it was like, I forget the exact number, so I'm gonna butcher it. But basically they were speaking in,
dollar per square foot to design the space. And I thought they were talking total dollars. And so, and it wasn't until getting that initial invoice and we'd already, you know, I was moving at this like clip speed where they'd already started to do stuff where I was like, Oh my God, getting that first invoice and realizing that like the error was on, you know, it was a miscommunication error, but I'll, I'll take accountability for it. And so it were just things like that, where there was some, some of these. Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (24:22.738)
That hurts.
kristen gale (24:24.503)
things that just work.
However, got through that and same sort of thing. It was a bit of a slower, whereas initially that first location, we were in the right spot at the right time with the right offering. And we really gained this huge call following and notoriety right off the bat. In the Leslieville space, I wanted cheaper rent. And so I ended up being down a bit of an alleyway thinking, oh, it's like New York City, like, you know.
You can be like, oh, you got to know where we are and go off the beaten path. And that's just not how this city typically works or didn't, you know, I think that would have been like 16 years ago. And so we just ended up missing the mark in terms of just not picking the right real estate for what we needed. But I'm also very big, everything happens for a reason person.
Kelly Yefet (24:56.963)
Right.
Kelly Yefet (25:17.682)
Mm-hmm.
kristen gale (25:17.83)
So it's funny now looking back where those things very much felt like mistakes and not great things to happen. But now looking back, I know I've learned these lessons so that my franchise partners don't make those mistakes. And I know that like, hey, when like, let's check this contract and make sure that we're all talking about the same things. Let's make sure that when you find a space, you're not gonna be like, you are not gonna be off the beaten path is better to wait.
Kelly Yefet (25:26.898)
Yeah.
kristen gale (25:47.138)
for, you know, wait until your perfect space arises for you, than it is to jump the gun and say that like, oh, well, you know, I'm sure that it'll be up and coming soon enough, because that just, it's just not the right play, for us at least. And so there's a lot of things where I've, you know, I recognize the value of those earlier learning lessons and that the learning lessons were done on me and not necessarily on our franchise partners, which is great. And so,
I built up that location in the interim. I ended up meeting a boy, fell in love, and I sold my house and we went to Hamilton, Ontario, had a baby there. I got married, had a baby, and then decided that I wanted to do another location and that I would do it in my new city that I lived in. And so I also thought that at that time, too, my then husband were not together anymore, but.
Kelly Yefet (26:35.635)
Mm-hmm.
kristen gale (26:43.198)
still love him to death dearly. And in fact, probably love him more now that we're divorced than I did when we were married. And I think he'd say the same thing for me. And so we, oh, oh yeah, I have a Cinderella divorce. And so he actually knew, he had a friend that was in franchising. And by this time, my ambition was to have 10, 10 spots, because of course, Chris 10, 10 spot, 10 of them, how could I not? And so he,
Kelly Yefet (26:47.774)
I'm sorry.
Kelly Yefet (26:52.609)
That's a happy ending then.
Kelly Yefet (27:06.972)
Naturally.
kristen gale (27:12.566)
had a friend in franchising and said, hey, this is maybe instead of just bootstrapping and doing another location and then doing another location, this is a good concept. And this is something where enough time is going to pass, other entrants are going to come in and I won't be the leader in terms of the growth numbers. And it's very obvious, it's very expensive to build up the locations yourself. And so he's like, what if you thought about the world of franchising? And I didn't know anything about it.
So we went out for a dinner with him and he told me all about it. And for me, it was this instantaneous like, yes, this is the way I wanna do this. I went into it thinking that this was just gonna be about growth and faster growth and being able to dominate the market earlier. What I learned in that dinner with him was like this was actually gonna satisfy a need in me and a want in me that I was sort of struggling with for over the last,
So by this time it was about, I think I had, I think it was like five or six years in by the time I decided to do this, but it was lonely and daunting and scary doing it on my own. And when you are an entrepreneur, and especially because I was so young, so I was like 20, you know, 24 when I started. So between the ages of like, you know, 24 and 28, like this, I didn't have the same problems that my friends had, you know? I like, I'm like, am I making payroll?
Am I, you know, did I just overspend? Like, do I need to invest in, you know, new equipment? Do I need, you know, there were all of these different, different stresses that I was dealing with that I felt very alone in. And even having a husband, you know, at that time, it's still the same thing. Like, he has his job, he has his career. This is all on me. And I felt when I had that dinner with that guy,
learning that like you actually have now instead of it just being you doing this thing, you bring on these franchise partners that are building this business with you. You are all in the same industry. You are all in the same business. You are all trying to grow this thing and grow your individual locations and have them be as great as possible while expanding the brand and having, you know, having a growth for everybody and everybody benefits for this and your incentive, you know, structures are all aligned. And for you guys, like this feels
Kelly Yefet (29:16.687)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (29:31.854)
Right.
kristen gale (29:35.442)
amazing. This is what I want to do. I want to grow the brand. I want to not be alone. And I also want to be able to offer other people, other women, this wonderful world of entrepreneurship. And also this business model that I didn't, this was not an intentional thing. This was one of those like, wow, this ends up being great. Is that the business model is very conducive to a
Kelly Yefet (29:36.475)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (30:00.347)
Right.
kristen gale (30:04.098)
work-life balance. So by this time I had a baby and that little dude came with me everywhere. He came to site visits with me. I brought him to the office and I was able to do this because it was A, my own business and B, the industry that we're in is, you open at 10 a.m. because that's when people are coming in for their appointments. It wasn't that I had to be there.
other businesses that I could have gone in. Like I could have opened up, you know, a pizza joint and be like, okay, I got to be there until three in the morning because I'm serving drunk kids, you know, pizza, or I've, you know, I could have done a cafe and bakery where I've got to be up and out of the house by 4 a.m. Because I want to make sure that I've got my fresh baked croissants and biscuits for my, you know, customers that are coming in at six, seven, eight a.m. So it's, it's something where I realized like.
Kelly Yefet (30:55.207)
Yeah.
kristen gale (30:58.326)
this actual, you know, this beauty bar thing that I've built is a great, it's a great business model for women and women that want to have it all because it's not just about just your career. And it's not just for me, it's not just about just my career. My life is not just about just my kid, my career, my life is not just about my husband. It's about, and not just about all about me, it's all of it.
Kelly Yefet (31:12.306)
Yeah.
kristen gale (31:27.33)
Like I need all of those things to be feeling fulfilled in and that I want a great career. I want a great business. I wanna be a great wife. I wanna be a great mom. I wanna have my bucket first be filled up so that I can give to other people. So I've just found that it's been good for that.
Kelly Yefet (31:33.671)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (31:50.962)
It's so special to hear you say that and that as an entrepreneur, you've built something that allows you to have a bit of that work-life balance or balance, whatever you want to call it. And even when I heard you on some previous podcast and your energy and enthusiasm is just what really pulled me in. And I think that must completely get like dispersed through the company culture and that seems like what you're nurturing at the 10 spot. So I'm curious how
kristen gale (32:00.019)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
kristen gale (32:10.483)
I'm sorry.
kristen gale (32:18.102)
Mmm. Mm-hmm.
Kelly Yefet (32:20.462)
um in your own life clearly like your personality is your personality and you're bubbly and whatnot but how is it important for you to pull that through to your to the franchisees and the staff and everything in terms of like thinking about bringing your baby to the office and meeting people like is that part of the culture that you want to empower these other women who are running their businesses to do the same or how you know how does that translate?
kristen gale (32:46.574)
Yeah, so I would say that one of the very best things I ever did as both a CEO and then also bringing this same thing into my life was that we were at a point in the business where I think it was about 20, I don't know.
2012, something like that. So I had the business for a while. We also had a bunch of franchise locations and we were getting to a point where finally we weren't reactive because that's the first phase of business usually. Like it's almost like you get to do these phases of business from being reactive to being proactive to finally getting to be strategic.
Only through earning that because like it's all a business when you first start is going to be reactive. And then, you know, once you're like, okay, I know what I'm doing, kind of. I can now foresee the issues that I'm going to run into. So I can be more proactive. Um, and then if you're lucky, then you get to be in this place where you're strategic, so you're really seeing. I'll, you know, a further distance out there and.
we got to this place where I saw, okay, now I'm not just putting out these fires and I'm not just one step ahead of these things. I can actually see that we need to come up with a purpose and core values and really define our vision, really set out what our goals are going to be and make sure that we've got the right people in place to do that. And so I was able to be.
strategic about the direction that we wanted to go and how we were going to get there. And so it was also too where we had a bunch of locations and I knew that because we were still small enough that my like beliefs and my personality and like what I wanted the business to be and what I...
kristen gale (34:49.782)
started it out to be and what I, what it grew up into being, I really wanted that to be communicated through all the locations. And of course, it's a franchise. And so the thing that made us popular were these sort of fundamental things and the way that we ran the business. And that I knew that if we got to a certain size, that would be much harder to implementing control. And the way to do this in business is to come up with your purpose.
and come up with your core values and come up with your vision so that you are then able to communicate this, not only to the locations that exist already and be like, hey, remember this feeling that you had and remember this work ethic. Like now I'm gonna articulate all of that so that we all are on the same page, we're all using the same language, we know that this is what we're about. And then anybody knew that we bring in, whether it's a new franchise partner, whether it's a new head office staff, whether it's new institutions or guest coordinators, we're gonna let them know this is the shit we hear about.
These are the behaviors that we want. And if you earn into that, great. Like we're just not for you. But if you are, like come on board and you're gonna love it here because we are going to say we're about this stuff. And then we're actually going to really be about this stuff. And you can trust that we're gonna own this and we're gonna fulfill on what we say that we're about. So we...
Kelly Yefet (35:46.947)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (35:55.111)
Right.
kristen gale (36:14.698)
Actually, another shout out to my ex-husband. I was trying to think of the purpose statement. And I knew that it had to do around, I knew that our purpose was exactly what we were already living from like day one of what we had set out to do. And when we opened up the business, like what it was fulfilling, it was making people feel put together. And when you feel put together, you feel more confident. And when you feel confident, you do.
Kelly Yefet (36:17.65)
Hehehe
kristen gale (36:42.51)
great things in your life. You love your life. You, you know, nobody that feels like a total dump truck and, you know, is just like, oh, I've been wearing sweat and nothing wrong with stuff pants. I wear sweat pants. I wear yoga pants probably 95% of the day. But like when you feel like you're, you know, on top of your game and on top of your, you know, stuff and, and that you feel like you've, you're, that you, when you're concrete, yeah. And when you, I'm looking for a word, self.
Kelly Yefet (36:46.782)
Thank you.
Kelly Yefet (37:06.418)
like conquering it, like.
kristen gale (37:12.234)
Oh my God, what's that? I can't think of the word, sorry. But you feel integrity, self integrity. When you feel like that you say you're gonna do something and then you do it, that builds up your confidence. When you're looking put together and polished, that builds up your confidence. Those things really contribute to then what you're gonna do with that. And for me, that's what it's always been about. Like it started with my belief and my belief is like, I wanna live
Kelly Yefet (37:16.978)
It will come to you.
kristen gale (37:42.762)
my best life ever, 10 spot jargony terms, which I owe to my ex-husby is like, you wanna live your life at a 10. And like, oh my God, like how did this blinding flash of the obvious, like yes, how did you sneak that 10 in there? And he's like, yeah, cause you want like you make people feel like a 10 and I'm like, oh, I like, I need to pay this guy for copywriting. He should have like royalties on it. But so, and that was exactly it. It was like, it was such a great, again.
Kelly Yefet (37:54.06)
That is perfect.
kristen gale (38:12.642)
felt like it was really meant to be, because of course we're sneaking in the 10 word there, but that's really what it was, is that it was that we were there to make people feel like a tag, not necessarily look like a tag, because what people look like, that's like, it's so subjective, but when you get your nails done, when you're, nobody even has to see it, but when my underarms are like all waxed and free and hairless, actually I have laser nails, so I don't even have to worry about it, but I feel great, and I feel great on the outside, and it makes me feel great on the inside. And so for us, it was,
Kelly Yefet (38:16.259)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (38:24.798)
Totally.
Kelly Yefet (38:36.35)
Totally.
kristen gale (38:42.114)
when we make people feel like a 10, they then can live their best life ever. They can live their life in a 10. And so we rolled that out along with our core values. So what we exist to do is we exist to make everyone feel like a 10. So with every service that they come in, with every interaction, with every product recommendation, it's really with that aim in mind of making people feel awesome about themselves. And
I think that when you have that as your, like the base of what you're doing, of like why you're waking up and going to work, like you're not there just like scrubbing houses and waxing, but JJ, like you're there making somebody feel great about themself. And it's a totally different way to approach life. It's a totally different perspective. When we actually rolled out the...
Kelly Yefet (39:28.882)
Sorry.
kristen gale (39:38.77)
out the core values and our new purpose and vision statement. I went to all the locations and I gave a presentation and I was like, hey, this is, there's a little analogy or an allegory of it. And there was a guy that, there's three bricklayers and they're all laying bricks. And a guy goes up to the first one and he's like, what are you doing? And he's like, what does it look like I'm doing? Dum dum, I'm laying bricks. He's like, okay, goes up to the second guy and says, hey, what are you doing? And he's like, oh, I'm building a wall.
And then he's like, oh, interesting. And then goes up to the third guy and says, what are you doing? And he says, I'm building a cathedral. And to me, this is so, I love this. I don't know where it came from. Whoever made this allegory or analogy up, I love it because it's exactly that. You're laying bricks, but it's not really what you're doing. Like if you know in your heart and your soul, like you are building a cathedral, you're doing something that is meaningful and important in life, this is all the difference.
Kelly Yefet (40:37.166)
It's such a true point. Like for me having my eyebrows done, it's not just about having your eyebrows done. It's like now it's one less thing that I'm thinking about. I'm not like constantly, you know, fixing them or whatever. It's like, okay, maybe that person is, the physical thing they're doing is removing a few hairs, but like you are actually setting me up for that whole week to feel really confident in that, you know,
kristen gale (40:42.367)
Yeah!
Mm-mm. Yeah, yeah.
kristen gale (40:55.015)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
kristen gale (40:59.158)
Yes, yes, yeah.
Kelly Yefet (41:03.006)
presentation to then get that promotion or whatever it is.
kristen gale (41:03.87)
Yes, yes. And it's also, yeah, and it's also those like little moments of joy where you're like, you know, you're fixing your rear view mirror and you like catch your brows and you're like, hmm, look at those, I look cute, you know, or when you get your nails done and you're on your phone and you're a little tippy tapping away and you're just like, hmm, look at my nails, it looks so pretty, you know, it's like, it sounds dumb, it sounds like laying bricks, but at the same time, it's not. It's about like having little moments of joy, little...
Kelly Yefet (41:16.413)
Totally.
kristen gale (41:32.13)
little aesthetic pleasures that, you know, when I'm typing on my laptop, I just love looking down at my fingers and my rings look cuter on my thing because I love, you know, the pretty color of my nails. And it's, again, sounds dumb, but it's actually, you know, life is tricky and life can be hard. And so if you can just find moments of joy, moments of pleasure, moments of things that bring you, you know, some happiness and make you feel more positive and more, you know, more.
give you more energy and give you more joy, like you'll spread that, you know, like you will spread that infectious little joy and infectious little thing and you'll, you know, maybe hold the door open for somebody because you're feeling a little pep in your step or you'll, yeah, right? Or, you know, or you'll just, you'll, you'll take a moment to have a conversation with the barista instead of being, you know, buried in your own thoughts of whatever. And it's like, I think that that's really the
Kelly Yefet (42:13.266)
You want them to see your nails as you open the door.
Kelly Yefet (42:18.839)
Totally. Yeah.
kristen gale (42:28.13)
The really, when it gets going, it just snowballs into making somebody else and stay better. Maybe saying something that triggers another thought in their head that's like, oh, that's so funny that this person said this to me. I was just thinking about doing this thing. It's like a little ripple effect of amazingness. So I like that our business gets to be sort of one of those starting points of those cascades of creating.
you know, creating somebody's life to be better. It's a cool thing I get to do for sure.
Kelly Yefet (43:02.246)
bit better, yeah.
Kelly Yefet (43:06.302)
When I talk to, obviously through the podcast, I'm talking with a lot of entrepreneurs and what I hear often is that having a co-founder makes a world of difference because you have someone that's just like in the trenches with you. So I know in the beginning you didn't and I know like throughout you didn't, but having the franchisees as you've said, it kind of helps build that up. So how do you, these people, they're not your co-founders, but you're stuck with them.
kristen gale (43:16.334)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
kristen gale (43:27.967)
I'm sorry.
Kelly Yefet (43:35.102)
for hopefully a long time as they build out their, that's the goal. So how do you assess if this is someone that you want on your team for the long run? Is it like an interview process? Is it a-
kristen gale (43:37.154)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's the goal. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
kristen gale (43:47.942)
Oh yeah, for sure. So we like to think that we're not selling our franchise locations that we're awarding them because we really want to have somebody that's as excited about what we're doing as we are. And knowing that it's, yes, it's a business. Yes, it has to make you money. Yes, it has to, you know, like this is your life. And so it's gotta be something that you wanna be doing. You wanna be in this here with us, but I...
This is why we, so we have a process just to answer your questions. So if somebody is interested, they fill out a form, we get back to them, your first session is with me. So I do a brand overview intro session because I wanna make sure that this candidate likes me and likes what I'm about. Cause like, if you don't like this and this is annoying, like this is not, I would rather repel you.
Kelly Yefet (44:34.827)
You're stuck with that. You're stuck with you.
Kelly Yefet (44:40.155)
Yeah.
kristen gale (44:40.958)
You know, so that we, you know, I would rather repel you and have people be really attracted to me, to the team. So I make sure that all of our leadership actually does our franchise process. So I'm the first interview, I talk about our core values, I talk about why I'm in this, I talk about, you know, this is, I talk about our purpose. And so, you know, if this is...
To me, it's like, if you're just doing this as like an investment, this isn't gonna be for you because, A, this is a business. Like you're an entrepreneur if you go down this road with me and we'll give you a car. Like we'll give you a bright, shiny, you know, orange McLaren that's sassy and fun and all the bells and whistles and it looks great, but you're the driver. And so you can stall it, you can crash it, you can, you know, take it on the auto bond super highway of life and, you know, kick ass and take names.
with it and win all the races, but it's still, it's business. And so that is gonna be up to our franchise partners. And so I wanna set that expectation upfront, and especially things have changed since COVID because costs are higher and labor is, it's also to just generation-wise, like it's a different mentality out there. And it has to be about creating value for your employees, creating value for your community, creating, it's a neighborhood beauty bar.
So you've got to want to be that face of the business. And so I make sure that that's very clear. And then we have our CEO and president does the operations deck. So you learn all about how we get you from knowing nothing about the industry, knowing nothing about running a tensile, knowing nothing about running a beauty bar to be fully comfortable, open and operational and what that process looks like, as well as what our ongoing support is like.
And then my brand officer does the marketing deck. So you learn all about our marketing programs, all about the local, all about the national stuff. And then there's a couple more steps in between there, just to make sure that they're a fit for us. And it's a very quid pro quo kind of thing. And then if we find that we're both on fire and like, yes, let's do this. And yes, we like the market that you're in, then all systems go, let's do this.
Kelly Yefet (46:36.925)
Yeah.
kristen gale (47:06.634)
Sign an agreement, pop the champagne, and let's start looking for your space.
Kelly Yefet (47:10.302)
That's incredible. What a process. How many franchise do you have, or how many 10 spots, I guess, in total do you have today?
kristen gale (47:17.858)
So there's 45 that are open and operational all across Canada. And then we've got a couple in the United States. And then in franchising, it's funny because we then have a bunch of additional franchise agreements that are signed. So I think it's somewhere in the realm, like the total would be like 75. But people will get a bunch upfront. So like our Minnesota franchise partners, they have two locations. They're looking for their third, but they actually own all of Minnesota. So they have.
an agreement to do eight of them. But it's on a schedule, right? So it's not like open all eight in year one, it's impossible, but it's, you know, open one within this timeframe. And then, and then we work together with our partners till, you know, till they get all the ones that they want open open. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's exciting. Thank you, Routh, yeah. And that's really what our focus is on today for the brand is just filling out the rest of Canada and just making sure that we've, you know, we've got.
Kelly Yefet (48:00.766)
That's incredible. So big growth in the US coming with the
kristen gale (48:16.45)
We're servicing all the markets we need to be servicing in Canada. And then, and then focusing our attention on the U S because it's such a, um, it's, you know, the U S is big and we're already there and, uh, and the potential there to, um, to really have an impact. Um, and, uh, and see is really fun. Actually. Oh my gosh, my ex, I was like, I need a new vision statement. Cause it was just to be like the biggest and best beauty bar and the, and the business and so.
I called him and I was like, I need, like it's something like this. And he's like, what about, oh, what was the line? Cause I'm perfecting it. But it's, he's like, what about growing the beauty of your impact when community and when, you know, beauty bar at a time. And it's like, oh my God, how are you so good at this? You've managed to weave in beauty with like impact and the beauty of our impact and using it in a different way. I was like, you're brilliant at this. Like quit your day job and become a computer. You're hired, all time. Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (49:00.487)
at a time.
Kelly Yefet (49:07.442)
So good.
You're hired. Yeah, that's so funny. Okay, we're coming to our last two questions. So the second and last question, as you've kind of, the majority of your career has been as an entrepreneur and as a founder. So I'm curious, what are some myths that you've heard? Maybe it's from the franchises or maybe it's just from other entrepreneurs that you've met along the journey. What are some of the myths that you've heard that just aren't true as a founder?
kristen gale (49:18.082)
Okay.
Kelly Yefet (49:40.086)
or as a franchise owner.
kristen gale (49:42.306)
I would say it maybe isn't a myth for specifically fanners or franchises, but I think for a woman, potentially, again, this is not, I'm always like, you have to be so careful. But like my experience, what I have seen is that it's like, oh, having it all is bullshit. That this is, it's impossible and you have to just, you can't actually do it and you're just gonna end up being like.
Kelly Yefet (50:00.079)
your experience.
kristen gale (50:11.294)
run ragged and exhausted and tired and whatever. And I think that can totally be a true statement. And I've had periods of that, and I've had a period in my life where it very much felt like that. But I think that, and so what I'm really actually extra passionate about right now is that concept of taking life and instead of being reactive.
And it's such as being proactive to actually get very strategic about life. And I think that it requires, it's sort of the same thing that a successful company needs to do in order to really sort of scale their success and scale their, their growth is they have to get strategic. They have to know their purpose. They have to know their values. They have to set goals that align with those, with what they actually want.
And they have to know that this is what I want. And then they have to say, I can't do the other stuff. I've got to say no to the other things, but it doesn't matter that I'm saying no to those things, because what I really care about for the future, instead of just what I care about right now, what I care about for the future is like these things, and then I have the behavior sets in terms of my core values in order to keep me aligned and on track with those things. And it's that the commitment and the prioritization of it. And then that sort of like structure of accountability that
It seems like that is so like, and the discipline to do it. And it feels like, oh, discipline means it's so structured and rigid, but actually discipline is, is the freedom that gets you to that freedom. And so I find that what I, what I'm really interested in and, and what I'm actually building a course around is exactly that is like building a life that is strategic, that is aligned with what you really want and that you can then have it all.
Kelly Yefet (51:49.231)
Yeah.
kristen gale (52:05.866)
Because if you know what you want is, and what I want is I want to have my best life ever. I want to live my life at a 10. And to me at a 10 isn't like I want to free dive, base jump in a squirrel suit off of a thing. That's not it. But my life at a 10 is like, I want to be a great wife. Like I want to have a best friend, connected, awesome, sassy, fun relationship with my husband. I think that, you know, we are
Kelly Yefet (52:09.64)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (52:17.918)
Thanks for watching!
Kelly Yefet (52:25.031)
Yeah.
kristen gale (52:34.846)
We are born alone and we will die alone. And if you can be another person's person in life and make that not, like not make them feel alone and make them feel like I got you, we are in this together. Like we are each other's life hacks. You're gonna make me better. I'm gonna make you better. I'm gonna give you value. You're gonna give me value. And at the same time as me creating value for you, I'm getting the high of, you know, doing stuff cause you know, making people feel great is makes me feel great. And so I think.
That's a huge priority for me. I wanna build a great business. I want it to be successful. I want my partners to be successful. I wanna have a successful life. I wanna be able to live on a sailboat one day. I want our guests to know, to feel like if the tens about went away, it would really fricking suck. Like that to me is that thing of like, and I have businesses like this. Like if this business didn't exist, or if this...
Kelly Yefet (53:24.316)
Yeah.
kristen gale (53:32.886)
doctor that I have, I couldn't go to them anymore, that aesthetician I couldn't get my slate. It would impact me in not a great way. And I think that is exciting to think that we are that place for a lot of our guests and that we are that place for our aestheticians because they're, especially with aestheticians, they go to school to do this set of services and they can do that set of services at a crap place. They can do it at a great place. They get their pick of litter.
Kelly Yefet (53:43.591)
Yeah.
kristen gale (54:01.994)
And so for them to choose to do it at the 10 spot means that we are valuing what they do because they go to school for a long time. They train for a long time. They have very specialized knowledge in the skin and nail health and foot health, all of, you know, they have this expertise that nobody else really has. They're not like for people to know your skin.
Kelly Yefet (54:02.094)
Yeah.
Kelly Yefet (54:19.891)
Right.
kristen gale (54:23.094)
that's you've got a dermatologist, but unless you have a skin condition that's like really causing you upset, and then you're gonna go to your doctor, he's gonna try to solve it. Then you go to like get a specialist, like nobody else knows skin like estheticians do. And they have that value. And so for me, I wanna do a great job in my career and I wanna fulfill on the stuff I'm working towards. And of course I wanna be a great mom. I wanna like show my kid this is what life can be like. And this is, you can have a fun life. And
Kelly Yefet (54:34.534)
Yeah.
kristen gale (54:52.094)
and be that role model and sort of set those guidelines. So for me, I think that it's this, we've gotten into this habit of like, we need to be run ragged, we need to not be filled with energy. And I think that if you're strategic and you're doing the things that align with what you really want, you get fed energy. And that energy is what helps you get all the stuff done that you need to get done in life to make yourself have a great time at this little weird ride that nobody really knows what the hell we're here for.
Kelly Yefet (55:12.69)
Totally.
Kelly Yefet (55:21.574)
Totally, I love it. And I think this nicely leads into the last question, which is, as you know, the podcast is called, How I Became, and every guest names their own episodes. So, How I Became, fill in the blank. Yeah, so thinking about your journey and your story, you could update it, you could send me a note, but how Kristen became, fill in the blank.
kristen gale (55:32.926)
Oh god, pressure on.
Can we just do like a working title so that like I can then change it if we need to? Okay, yeah.
kristen gale (55:48.634)
Mm, it's definitely like how I became the gal person, but like just how I became someone that lives their life in a tent, that became, you know, someone obsessed with their life. But yes, life in a tent is definitely the thing I'm about. So how it works with the sentence of how I became, workshop that one, but definitely, I'll try, yes.
Kelly Yefet (56:02.751)
Oh, I like that.
Kelly Yefet (56:06.896)
Life out of 10.
Kelly Yefet (56:10.994)
I'll massage it. Maybe we'll send it to your ex-husband and he'll like make the perfect title for us. I love it. Okay, well, Kristin, thank you so much for coming on. I had so much fun chatting with you. My cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing. So I really appreciate your time today.
kristen gale (56:16.342)
Brady, we need you. Yeah, exactly.
kristen gale (56:24.705)
I'm sorry.
Awesome. No, I loved it. Thank you so much. I yeah, I really appreciate that you that you're making this podcast and that you're inspiring people It's what you do matters. So thank you for doing it
Kelly Yefet (56:37.982)
Thank you.