Finding A Mentor In 2022

Show Notes

How do you find a mentor in 2022? 

That is a question many stylists ask and I am here to help you find your first or next mentor. 

Visit my website: www.kristenlumiere.com
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What is Reviving the Stylist?

You're tuned into Reviving the Stylist, a business podcast for hairstylists looking to build a dream career that creates financial freedom and flexibility. I'm your host, Kristen Lumiere and as a stylist I've had my share of successes. Building a successful six plus figure business working only three days a week while being able to prioritize my family, travel and buy my dream home. I know it doesn't sound easy, but if you put in the work, I guarantee you'll see results. No matter what your goals are. I'm super stoked that you're here so I can help you crush them. Let's start today's episode.

Kristen Lumiere 0:00
If you're tuned into Reviving the Stylist, a business podcast for hair stylists looking to build a dream career that creates financial freedom and flexibility. I'm your host, Kristen lumir. And as a stylist, I've had my share of successes. Building a successful six plus figure business working only three days a week while being able to prioritize my family, travel and buy my dream home. I know it doesn't sound easy, but if you put in the work, I guarantee you'll see results. No matter what your goals are. I'm super stoked that you're here so I can help you crush them. Let's start today's episode.

Welcome back to another episode of Reviving the Stylist I am stoked. I'm either excited or stoked if you've listened to a lot of podcast episodes of mine, you know that I'm either like really excited to be here, I'm super stoked to be here. And that's just I don't know, those are like the two words in my vocabulary that I feel like animals need to go and jump into a thesaurus just to like, expand. But I swear that those two words are just, it describes me the most, it describes exactly how I'm feeling right when I'm creating. And also like just how inspired I am to be able to be here to be able to create this podcast create these episodes that just support other stylists, I can't tell you how many times I have had someone reach out to me, and right now the podcast is fairly new. But when I first created it, it took a little bit time to kind of get people to start to listen. And, you know, it's kind of like you, you're building on a platform that you've never been on before. So of course, it's gonna take time. And you know, you may think that I have a fairly large amount of followers on Instagram. But that doesn't always translate to other platforms. And what I have noticed is that if you actually deliver incredible value, if your goal is to help someone, then you're going to receive those lessons or those followers or whatever it is for those people who are actually searching for your services. Now, I wanted to kind of jump in on this episode, with something that I have had a lot of stylists reach out to me and ask because finding a mentor, in 2022, I mean, heck, even just the years before, is really difficult. And I think a lot of stylists, you know, think about mentors, as someone who is in the business, maybe is an educator or is you know, I don't know, just a salon owner or something like that. And I will tell you that almost none of my mentors, people who I view as my mentors, were actually in the beauty industry. Now I definitely have friends or people that I like highly respect their opinion, highly value their advice, but I wouldn't necessarily call them mentors, those are people that we kind of are on the same playing field, we may we have different experiences. But we both come together and we share advice and we share you know things with each other that will uplift and help each other. And one of the people who I feel like that is actually Jamie see pretty little Umbreon Instagram, I feel such a kinship to her. And I just love her so much. And she's one of those people that I feel like I can call up randomly and just be like, Hey, how are you doing? What's going on? I want to like, you know, chat with you. She's seriously just one of those people that I really love and really respect. And, you know, there's so many other people that I can name off that I really love and respect and value. But when it comes to you, I want you to think a little bit about like finding a mentor. So finding a mentor is really, really important. And like I said most of my mentors have not been in the beauty industry. Now there was a period of time where I did have a coach who mentored me towards owning a salon. And at that time, I would definitely have viewed her as a mentor of mine. But in a slightly different capacity. I had a specific goal, I found someone to help me reach that goal. She definitely helped me get there but at the time, it was not ready for salon ownership. So I did not pursue it. But when it comes to mentors for me, they are someone who has extended and expansive knowledge in a specific area or just you know, being able to pull from their life experiences and help me through difficult transitions or helped me through difficult times. Whatever it is, they are there to mentor me through through those struggles that I'm dealing with. And for you, you absolutely need someone who is able to do that for you. Now, if that's something in your personal life, or if that's something in your professional life, then find someone who meets the credentials needed to get you through and also uplift you and show you a better path and where you were going or what you were doing at the time. For instance, if you need a mentor in the industry, like you're struggling, and you're not exactly sure what to do, or where to go, or maybe you're feeling like you're burning out, and you just need someone there to help you through and show you a better path, then I'm going to tell you exactly how you can find that person, and what to expect when you find them.

Now remember, I told you that I had a mentor that was helping me gain the knowledge I needed to then open a salon Now this was a few years ago, this was probably back in 2019, maybe 2018. And what happened, I had no idea how to open a salon, I had no idea what to do what to expect. And I got a phone call from summit salon. And I don't know if you have heard of Summit salon, but basically, it is a business education company for salon owners that I believe is sponsored by L'Oreal. Basically, everything under the L'Oreal umbrella is summit salon, and they are the business side of it. So I got a call from one of the sales associates or someone there and they were like, you know, we are going to have a summit salon event here in Dallas, and you've been interested in the past and going would you like to go. And I thought to myself, at this time, I was just behind the chair working three days a week super successful, but I wanted to expand it I wanted to grow. So I decided to take the jump spend $3,000 Just kind of on a whim didn't really like have it saved. I'm not really like the saving type when I decide to do something. Like for me, if I see something that I feel is valuable. I want it right then instead of saving months and months and months to try and get it and maybe you're like that, or maybe you're the opposite. And you're like No, no, I gotta save I got a plan. But for me, I'm very spontaneous in basically everything that I do, I have to decide that day, if I'm gonna go like do something, if I'm gonna go hang out with someone, I'm not like, okay, let's plan it for two weeks, because I'm like, I honestly don't know where I'm going to be in two weeks what I'm going to be doing, you know, I can't commit to that. So that's just kind of the person that I am. But they called me I decided to go to it. And when I went, I received a wealth of information. And at the end of it, they were like, you know, we actually have business coaches that can help you more for $1,500 a day. Now, I want that to really sink into you right now, in order to receive the help that I needed on a deeper level. I had to spend $1,500, a day or a session to go and receive that help. And it was valuable, valuable help, extremely valuable. And I did actually do it. I spent probably about $4,500 on these business sessions from this coach. And it definitely opened my eyes, it helped me so much. And it got me kind of ready for where I was wanting to go.

But I know you as a stylist, cannot spend probably $1,500 for a eight hour session of business. Now, maybe you can actually maybe you're like, Yeah, I can spend that. But would it be worth it for you? The answer could be yes. It also could be No. And that's kind of where the scary part of it is. Because that's a frickin lot of money. Right? That is a lot of money to spend on a session that you're like, is it going to help? Or is it not mean for me to even spend any amount of money I'd be like, yes, it's going to help. Now the reason I spent that $1,500 per session about for for three sessions is because I went to this events. I got the help I was looking for now Yes, I did have to go out on a limb and have a $3,000 investment in this. But I did it and at the end of the day I was so thankful for it because what it actually did was helped me from taking a horrible turn in my business and going in blind on something that I have never done before. And when I was at that point in my career, I was actually looking to open up a 2000 square foot space rented in a place called BKV, Texas, which is outside in the hill country of Austin. And the actual rental was probably going to be about $10,000. And at the end of it, when I learned all of that I did all of my business sessions, I decided actually not to do it, because it was not financially possible to me at that time. But I would have never known that unless I spent that money doing all of those things in that mentoring in that coaching to achieve that answer that I needed. So I spent $7,500, to avoid essentially 100 plus $1,000 mistake now that's with the rental, that's what the build out, and maybe even more for build out. Because I'm telling you right now, when I bought lumir house, it was about $400,000 for the building another $400,000 for the actual renovation. And then I had contractors on top of that, that were probably another $100,000. So all in all, about a million dollars was invested into this building. And I can't even imagine investing that amount of money into a space that I did not own, or a space that I really just couldn't afford. Now, I'm thankful that I was able to do cash out of pocket for lumir house. But if I had a loan that I had to then go and pay off on top of rents, at the time where I was at, it would not have worked, and I probably would be bankrupt at the end of it. Especially think about everything that happened to salons in 2020, I would not have survived. And there was definitely a kind of higher power, I do say, you know, Jesus was looking out for me because I would have made a huge mistake, and it would have cost my family everything. So now that we have kind of determined that maybe $1,500 a day on an eight hour mentoring session or coaching session for you probably isn't realistic, and maybe it is like if you are it would be willing to do that then more power to you. But if it is not, what is realistic, then I want to talk to you a little bit about finding a mentor in 2020. Someone who will be able to help you through your business struggles help you through those tough decisions that you are dealing with in your business. Now personal mentors, that's something that can be you know, a family member, it can be a friend, or it can be someone that you look up to someone who you value their opinion, it can really be a lot of different people. And mentors can also be someone that you don't necessarily know. But you follow on social media, I definitely have had people on social media that I viewed as a mentor for a really long time. That didn't necessarily know. So for me, when you are looking for a mentor as far as the business side goes, the only way to really do it is investing in an educators online course.

or going to an in person class. Those are kind of the two options. And I suggest investing in an online business course. Because then you're going to be able to jump in collect the information from them, they're going to be able to mentor you through that course if they're a great mentor. If they are wanting to be a mentor, they will mentor you through their course and help you further. But I know for me and my students especially in revive and the Lumiere Lab, which revives my business course. And the Lumiere lab is my technical course, I make sure I mentor all of those stylists as much as possible on an individual level. And that's why I only allow a small amount of people into my courses at a time. So for instance, revive I only allow 200 people into that course at a time. And we're actually launching it this Monday. But when I open the doors to only 200 people and 200 people can sound like a lot. But when it comes to online coaching, it really isn't because the majority of business educators who have an online program receive over 1500 people into their courses at a time now compared to 200 people that is a huge difference. That's 1300 people more than what I accept him to my courses. And it's because I really, really value like that boutique experience. Now There are a lot of people that really thrive in a larger group like that, and a 1500 plus group. But for me, I like to keep it small, I like to keep the experience a little bit more intimate. So that way I can get to know my students on a deeper level and actually mentor them. I was part of a community of hairstylist for a really long time. And when I first joined, I absolutely loved it. The educator was kind of like the first real business educator in the beauty industry who decided to go all business and didn't start from technical. And I needed a lot of that business help. So I joined and really what my favorite part of it was, was the actual camaraderie within the group. The feeling of being a part of like a community was really incredible. And that educator at that time really invested a lot of their time and effort into mentoring stylists. They had like specific days where they would come in, and Coach stylists specifically do a lot of lives, answer questions. And then as things kind of progressed, as their specific education started to get larger, they actually took a step back, instead of it being 100% them and focusing on mentoring the Silas and they grew their company, to where they had other coaches who did that. Now, I definitely see when you're expanding a company and going bigger how that is necessary, because you can't do it 100% on your own. But at the end of the day, for me, I valued that like intimate experience so much that it was just not worth it for me to continue anymore when it wasn't them, who was giving me that education or that mentorship that I needed. So I decided after that experience when and this is like years after that experience that I decided to keep things small. But I knew that I wanted to keep things small, because I wanted to mentor the individual. And when you have 200 people in a group, they're not online 100% of the time when each other is there. So there's never 200 people online, there is like maybe no 15 or 20, sometimes like 30 or 45. That's typically the max. But think that is an easy number to be able to go in and mentor I do it all the time at my in person classes, and online is a much easier capacity to do it. So when it comes to finding your mentor, I definitely suggest doing your research, really looking and seeing who is out there and who connects to you go on their social media, consume their content, read every caption that they have, what speaks to you, when you look at that educator. And if it speaks to you in the right ways, then I suggest investing in that educator and that mentorship. Now one of the ways to really see if someone is going to be a good mentor, or a great mentor is to look in their actual comments on their posts. Are they commenting back? Are they engaging with the individual? Are they doing it on a deeper level other than just liking their comments or responding with emojis only? Is it something where they're actually trying to connect with every person in their comments? Now for me, I definitely tried to do that. But when times get busy, it can be hard. So I wouldn't go in and think that someone's going to get back to every single comment, but just look and see, are they starting conversations? Are they engaging, send them DMS, like on their stories, or go and message them see if they actually message you back. Because if they do, then they're taking time out of their day. And they're not too busy to do that. So that way that they can respond to you and engage with you. So that's definitely something that I would suggest 100% is just to make sure that they are the right mentor for you make sure that they're engaging. So go check their comments, consume their information, make sure that they are actually connecting with you see that they're engaging with their community. They're just not posting because I will tell you right now, my biggest pet peeve is when I go and I see like a stylist post something. And it's really great. The caption is gray or the educator, post something and everything is on point. But I go into the comments. And let's say there's 50 comments, and there is not a single response to any of them. Now, if that happens on one post, I totally get it because I too have posted and then forgotten about it and forgotten to respond and then posted it again. And that's definitely something like we're all human rights. But if you go on multiple posts, and you see that they're not messaging back, they're not commenting back. There could be a little bit of a superiority complex going on there and you just have to be really careful because there are a lot of people out there claim that their education is great. But they aren't actually a great educator, if that makes sense. And for me, a great educator is someone who actually creates change in their students lives that they say they're going to. That is what makes a great educator, it isn't the person who makes the most money, who has the most stuff, or who does the best color or the best, whatever. It isn't those people, it's the person who actually creates the change in the stylist who are investing in them. And there are a lot of people out there who are incredible mentors and incredible educators. But there are a lot more people out there who are not, who maybe are writing their instafamous or who are maybe saying that they're the best, but at the end of the day, they don't know how to teach, they don't know how to educate, and it is your job to go and make sure that the person that you're investing in who you're saying, I want you to be my mentor is someone who is actually going to mentor you, because the last thing that I want is for you to invest your hard earned money into someone who is not going to give you back 175% of that investment in their mentorship, in their support in everything that they have. So that is 100% My suggestion that you do you do your research, you go in, you do your investigations, you find someone who actually connects with you, because that's really important for me.

All right, so we're at the end of the episode, I hope that you learn something valuable. I do think that every single person out there needs to have a mentor, it doesn't matter if they are in the beauty industry or if they are not in the beauty industry. What matters is that you actually get what you need. And you get the support that you desire to make the changes in your life or in your business that are necessary for you to thrive. So I'll see you next week. For another episode. I'm actually getting ready to go to Vegas this weekend to teach both of my technical and my business classes there. So I'm really stoked to do that. I love being in person. Again, I can't even describe how incredible it feels to actually see people's faces, and teach them and actually one of the really cool things is that my best friend is actually my hair model. So it's gonna be super fun because she has naturally really curly hair. So I'll be able to show a technique that gets better results in less time I'll saving a lot of time on your application with a textured hair model which is going to be super awesome. So I'll see you next week on the podcast. Enjoy the rest of your day. And I'll see you soon friends. Thank you so much for joining me today on Reviving the Stylist. If something really resonated with you during this episode, take a screenshot share it to your Instagram story and let me know what you love most don't forget to also send it to a friend so that way they can reap the incredible things from this episode too and leave me a rating and review. I'd also absolutely just love to connect with you outside of the show too. So you can find me on Instagram at Kristen dot Lumiere that's L u m i e r e or my website, Kristen lumiere.com. And before I go, I just want to leave you with one reminder. It isn't about living to work. It's about working to live and that is my goal for you friend, because you deserve it. I'll see you on the next one.