Transcript Below

Christine Byer:

So today I’m doing something a little bit different. I’m going to be interviewing industry movers and shakers, and the first one is my Beauty Biz coach, Lori Crete. She is a celebrity Esthetician. She is a highly sought-after speaker. You will see her at all the skincare shows motivating women all over. If you are a Beauty Business practitioner or a female business owner, you will love this presentation. She’s going to share six ways to pull through this crazy economic time and thrive on the other side, and Lori is a cool head for crazy times. Check out what she has to say.

Lori Crete:

Hey everybody, it’s Lori Crete here. Christine, thanks so much for having me today. I know Christine introduced me, but I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. I’m an 18-year licensed esthetician. I’ve owned a spa, I am a small business owner in Los Angeles, one of the most saturated beauty markets in the world. I ran that spa successfully for 17 years. So I am still a working esthetician. I gave up my business, sold it in Los Angeles in 2018. Now I’m renting space in a med spa. Still hands on in the treatment room, and I also have an online business academy for beauty practitioners. It is called the Beauty Biz Club and I have a top-rated podcast on iTunes called the Beauty Biz Show. So, I stay pretty busy.

And today Christine asked me to come on and share with you guys some things that I do to stay sane when the world seems so uncertain and in so much chaos. Now my life before becoming an esthetician and a small business owner, I was a flight attendant. And I was directly and deeply affected by September 11th. So what I’m sharing with you today are truly things that I had to step into in my life to remove the anxiety that was so much associated with what I was feeling during the time of September 11th.

I want to give you six tools that you can use to overcome disruptions in the flow of normal business operations. And at this point I think it’s become normal life operations. So it doesn’t matter if you follow Christine because you’re a licensed practitioner or if you just are somebody who loves to get your hands on beauty knowledge and tools. Whether you are in the beauty industry or not, I feel like we could all use some support and guidance from other women. So I’m excited to share that with you today. And then I want to talk a little bit for the beauty industry people or the small business owner, how I plan to navigate my business in the upcoming months, once the doors are open and I’m allowed to go back into the treatment room and honestly, I miss my treatment room so much right now.

All right, so what I would like to do is tell you, first, how you should be treating your business right now, small business owners and beauty practitioners and beauty professionals. I think that it’s really easy to show up when times are good in your business, right? And the way I want you to start looking at your business right now and how I plan on navigating my business over the next few months is, I’m going to look at my business just like I would any other relationship that was important to me that I wanted to devote time to.

So I think it’s really important for us now to recognize, this is life. Business, doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re in, will always be cyclical. It’s history repeats itself and the way you need to choose to look at your business right now is just like you would a marriage, right? In sickness and in health, for better or for worse. So just keep that in mind as you navigate through this time. You must treat your business like you would any relationship that was important to you that was going through a difficult time.

I think it’s so important though to give yourself time to grieve because really right now we are, a lot of us are going through the five phases of grief and sometimes we just have to shut down for a little bit. But when I step into that mode, I almost set the timer for when I have to start showing up again. Right? Give yourself permission to be sad because things are changing and sometimes it’s hard to let go of the past, but also, set that time aside for when you need to show up again because it’s social distancing not social isolation.

So treat your business like you would any relationship that was hugely important to you and know that it will go through good times and bad, in sickness and in health and you still have to show up. Sometimes you just must stop in life and pivot or take a sharp right turn and start to do things differently. And I think the steps that I’m going to share with you today will help you understand how to do so.

1. Keep Your Mind Healthy

So step number one is MIND MANAGEMENT. This is something that you have to be highly aware of right now. Mind management, and that is kind of what I just mentioned and what Christine said, “give yourself a little bit of a break.” Know that it’s okay to feel sad, know that it’s okay to feel a little bit of anxiety, but set that timer and say, “okay, now I’m going to manage my mind.” And how I’ve been doing this every morning is I get up, and I have one of those Bemer mats in my spare bedroom, and I lay on that mat, and I turn on the TV, and I watch some sort of a YouTube meditation type guided video depending on what I need that day. Sometimes I need a little bit of energy, sometimes I recognize there are still things I have to be grateful for. So sometimes it surrounds gratitude, sometimes it surrounds positive thoughts.

So mind management. And there are so many tools out there that will help you recreate the scenarios that are going on in your mind and shift them and help you get to a better place. And honestly, if your mind is not healthy, you’re going to have a hard time operating at all right now. Isn’t that the truth?

I am more for a guided meditation because I have such a busy brain that if I just sit there silently listening to music, I’m doing a grocery list or planning my day. So, mind management, you have got to try hard to keep it healthy. I’ve been literally going out in my backyard and it’s funny when you take the time to just not be rushing. I’ve noticed flowers that I’ve never seen. I’ve lived in this home for four years. So, take the time to go outside because vitamin D helps us and you’ll start to notice things, beauty that you’ve never seen before. And those little things can really help keep us healthy upstairs.

2. Time Management

And then the second one is good for any human being, but it’s something that a lot of small business owners are so terrible at. And this right now, this time that we have on our hands is gifting us the opportunity to start to look at and start to create time management as an asset in our business. So TIME MANAGEMENT is an asset in your business. This means, use this time wisely. Almost home-school yourself. Set aside segments of the day to work on all of those things that forever you’ve been so busy that you’ve said, “I should do this, I should do that, I should do this.” Now, set aside the time and turn that shit into a must and if you don’t know where to start, here’s what I tell everyone, in the morning, write down one thing you want to accomplish, just one thing you want to accomplish and then give yourself three action steps. And I’ll start… here is a simple way that I use this.

When I sold my business in LA and I moved to the desert, I felt like I had so much to do to reopen a business and I had been so rushed for so long that I was just coming off feeling really frazzled. So okay, what’s the first thing I need to do to get my treatment room open? I needed to paint. So I wrote that down one morning. Get the treatment room painted. What did I do? I went on Pinterest and I picked out the paint that I wanted. Then what was the second thing I did? I called my painter. What was the third thing I did? I scheduled him and got it set up. It doesn’t have to be this mind-blowing thing that you accomplish. The tiny things will help you step forward into the bigger things. Once the room was painted, then I got to order all my furniture.

So it starts like a beautiful domino effect when you start to look at time management as an asset in your business or in your life. And you start to map out what you have to have done in this tiny list in the morning, I call them intention lists. One thing you have to get done, three steps to get it done will help you, it’ll help your mind stay healthy and it’ll help your business. Like I mentioned earlier, it’ll help you sprint back into work, not crawl because you feel so beat up and you got nothing done.

And most of the times in my life where I’ve had to slow down and I didn’t use the time properly, I didn’t turn time management into an asset, I looked back, and I regretted it after. Right? You go, “I was so busy worrying about stuff that I didn’t get the things done that I needed.” And then you go back to your business with regret and feeling more overwhelmed. And I do believe that people are going to run back into our businesses because A, I’ve been through a failing economy before where I ran a beauty business. And my business never did better than when we were in the failing economy because we have this gift as beauty practitioners of helping people not only look better, but feel better, and that’s what they’re going to be dying for when all of this is over.

3. Resource Management

Okay, so this is another thing that I haven’t really heard anyone talk about, but it’s something, I don’t want to be an alarmist, and this may sound a bit alarmist, but it’s something to be aware of. And that is, number three is RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. I find that we waste a lot. We waste a lot in our treatment rooms. Whenever I do my sunblock, way too much comes out. All over my client’s face, all over my hands.

We overuse stuff and I’ve talked to several product manufacturers and they’re worried. They have limited resources right now. So, for those people up there who own small businesses or estheticians that think you have put everything on sale right now, I’d be very careful because people want to buy these things. They’re not going to buy them as crazy as they did before. Maybe right away people are going to start purchasing more based on need, but your clients are going to need their skincare. So you want to make sure you actually have it on the shelf to sell it to them. Unless you need instant cashflow. I would be very aware of your resources and step into resource management. These manufacturers are like, “well I only have a limited number of pumps.” Well if you don’t have pumps either they’re going to be really creative or we’re going to be on a shortage for a while.

Something to be aware of. Be conscious of usage, be mindful about the fact we might run low and have to be creative. And honestly when we have to become creative, we’re really going to need each other. So it’s important to be around those who get you, who support you, and who are small business owners. We get real creative. So I’ll talk about that in a second.

4. Kind Communication

The fourth thing that I’ve been sharing with people right now, people are highly sensitive and highly emotional, and it is our job as professionals to step forward and really practice KIND COMMUNICATION. I know clients are triggered right now; they’re offended maybe by something you put online. I’ve been really careful about what I’m posting online.

And, communication with people. I’ve seen people attack each other at the gas station, at the grocery store. So try to just really practice kind communication right now and even when you see somebody else being triggered, don’t fall into that craziness. Kind communication. And this is also in our marketing tactics right now, which should not even really be tactics. I’m telling everybody, your marketing right now should really be based on transparency, truth, communication, and not so much tactic. Again, I’m going to say this, people are not going to buy because they want right now. They’re going to buy when they feel like they need something. So, start to think about maybe what you need as a human and start to relay those messages to your clients. Shift and relay them a little differently. I know when I’m getting email marketing messages right now, anyone who seems to be on autopilot is annoying me, honestly as a consumer.

I am listening to the marketing messages that people have consciously taken the time to shift to speak to our culture right now. Those are the people that I will buy from first when I need something, not the people that are just out there going, “buy from me because I’m desperate, buy from me because I’m a small business.”

Businesses marketing skills don’t change. They shift with a culture and our culture has changed. So, something to keep in mind is that kind communication should be showing up everywhere, including your marketing messages.

5. Find Your Tribe

Number five is, make sure you are getting support from those who lift you up. You have to work really hard right now to keep your vibration high and those who lift you up.

Okay, so support from those who lift you up. You right now have to protect your energy and that means turning off the news a little bit, allowing yourself time to feel the pain that many of us are feeling right now. But also you have to make an effort to be around those who make you feel better. And it’s one of the things that I’m the proudest of, that root for beauty practitioners that we have is one of the most positive spaces or places that I’ve seen in the beauty industry.

And one of the things that I’m the proudest of are the type of women that I attract in my group. And those are women who are going to lift you up when you’re down. We show up for each other and you need to have that in your life right now. People need to have that in their life. So FIND YOUR TRIBE, find your community and I know people have been saying that forever, but I feel like now more than ever, that is so important for your mental health and really your success when this is over.

So, protect your energy, stay engaged. Don’t get caught up in the chaos because energy is contagious. And honestly, I’ve been going on the news here and there and I’m not finding out anything I need to know. But don’t just sit on the news, listening to the depressing part of it, take action and try to help the community. It’s the best thing we can do right now. And then find your support system.

A lot of times our husbands and our significant others and our family have looked at the beauty industry as a hobby. So find people that understand that this is a serious career. I feel like the small business owner, right now, is sacrificing so much to heal this country. And the large corporations, many of them are just able to continue as necessary, but I feel like especially beauty practitioners can’t go to work anymore. Sorry, we don’t know when you’ll go back to work. I feel like we’re sacrificing a lot to heal the world. But isn’t it funny because that’s really what we do every day, we heal clients.

So one thing I do know, a positive note on that is, it’s going to be so much easier for a small business owner to get back in the game than it is that these larger businesses that have had to lay many people off. So know that it takes us only 5 to 10, a handful of clients, to get back in the door to get our gears cranking again, and it’ll be much easier for those of us who have sacrificed right now to pick up the pieces and to get going again that it will the large corporations.

6. Take This Time to Learn

Number six is, just take this as an OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN. Take it as an opportunity to learn, the beautiful thing that comes out of these chaotic times is wisdom and knowledge and awareness. So, take the time to learn, to grow, to evolve, to meditate. And give yourself permission and space to come out of this situation as a better human being and a better business owner. If you can do that, it will change everything for you.

Listen the beauty industry is something I stepped into and I allowed it to heal me during a time of my life when I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do. I look at the beauty industry as a gift. So if you can use this opportunity to become a better human or a better business owner, you are, again, going to sprint right back to your old life and not crawl out of the situation, feeling so depleted and beat up.

So I guess the way that I would like to wrap this up is really, again, by saying, “treat your business right now like a marriage or any relationship that’s super important to you and know that you have to work on it in good times and in bad.” And also, your communication right now, make it transparent related, situational, type shares. Be truthful with your clients. It’s okay to share, “hey, I miss you guys so much.” And don’t make it about sales tactics because that will actually repel people. I’ve witnessed it myself. Anyone who seems to be on autopilot selling to me, I don’t want to be on your list anymore.

I want you to step into this with compassion, not greed or a scarcity mindset. That’s what I’m asking of my girls who keeps saying, “What do I do? What do I do?” If you can embrace and embody that and remove money from our life right now, which a lot of us just have to do, then people are going to flock to you when you open your door up because WE ARE HEALERS, and if we show that side of ourselves right now in a different light and form, wow, what a massive client attraction magnet.

Christine Byer:

Yeah, exactly. The message is, keep working on your face even in this crazy time. I’ve always been spouting self-care, so it’s like just keep working on yourself. Take this time to pay more attention to your skin. Well thank you, Lori. You already told us what you would do, the six things. I’m just so appreciative to you because you are really a cool head in crazy times and when I’m able to plug back into my support system, I always hear what I need. So thank you for coming on my channel today. Such an inspiration.

Lori Crete:

Oh my gosh. You know it’s funny because, I’m glad that you had me, and I think during these times are when the true leaders are born. It’s easy to lead, when everything’s going perfectly. But to be able to show up for people when everyone feels so scared and uncertain, it’s really given me this crystal-clear identity or crystal clear awareness of what my mission is. And it truly is to help women. And I know some people that have followed me, they think, “Oh Lori must have unicorns flying around her life because everything goes perfectly.” But no, I have learned to power up during exceedingly difficult times. And I love that I can share that with people. Even maybe to give them the confidence or the certainty that they need to get it together and to use this time as a gift.

For those of you who feel like the world’s crazy and people are treating you unfairly. Remember the kind communication. It works. If I made anyone feel a little bit better or gave them the understanding that this can be viewed as a gift, then oh my gosh, I’ve done my work today. So, thank you for having me here. I totally appreciate it.

You can find more information about Lori and the Beauty Biz club at www.beautybizclub.com.

About Lori Crete

A finalist for American Spa Magazine’s Women in Wellness Mentor of the Year, Lori Crete is a highly sought-after industry expert and licensed celebrity esthetician. Owner of Southern California’s Spa 10, she is also the founder of The Beauty Biz Club®, a success-based society dedicated to helping beauty practitioners around the world fill their schedule, increase profits and break through the 6-figure mark.

Quoted as “Top Celebrity Esthetician” by Guthy-Renker and labeled a `Beauty Guru’ by ExtraTV.com, she also is the creator of a highly rated iTunes podcast, The Beauty Biz Show™ with Lori Crete. She has been featured on KESQ Health and News, MTV, ABC, CBS Evening News and Fox 11. Lori also leads the Beauty Biz Workshop Retreat™, a sold-out 2-day event fostering community and guidance for beauty business practitioners.

Whether you see her in her spa, the classroom, on the web or on stage, her mission is to inspire the people around her to live beautifully.

Want to learn more from Christine Byer and other Estheticians? Check out the Christine Byer Beauty Club