Episode 5: Get Yourself Out There & try, and practice all the things | Chantel and Tasha Davis
Part 2. of a very open and honest conversation with Tasha Davis. This episode you will hear me struggle through articulating my thoughts as I work through sharing stories of my past and speaking about insecurities I've never shared publicly. We over came some audio and connectivity issues and I feel graced to be able to share this experience with Autie Hair Coach, Tasha Davis. Thank you for listening and please let us know what you thought of this episode where ever you listen to podcast.
Transcript:
Tasha: I'd like for you to talk a bit about your wellness journey and why you chose to intertwine that with your cosmetology career.
Chantel: Mm. I've seen and have loved,the effects of products on your hair. I've loved hairspray. I don't know if it was, seeing it as I was a little kid, like when I saw hairspray and was. . I have a little bit of modeling experience and also, you know, I remember the hairspray and I'm like, wow. and different types of hairspray and the shine, and then there's all these other products.
And, my mom had always taken me to really expensive hairdressers. That was the thing for her. I didn't know the difference. It was like middle school, right? So I don't know why I was needing that. It might have been trying to give me something nice.
but how I felt having these regular products around me and just seeing what they would do, it was like I'm attached. Like I love it. I would feel confident. Amazing walking out of salons and I was always so insecure, right? I felt like I was shrinking constantly as a young person.
So my happiest memories, as a young person, were getting my hair done. And how that made me feel. And I always had this connection to these products and these brands and I remember Joico and KMS and it all felt very fancy next to the store bought stuff.
I also was really active. So when I started like physically active in sports, when I started working in the holistic supplement industry, my knees were shot and I had trouble moving around as a young 27 year old. I, my joints were just not good. So I started getting involved in, using supplements and products and then supplements for my skin and changing my diet.
And for a while it was really about hacking my acne, in a natural way. And, when I started making money and it was living on my own, I saw a dentist who extracted a crown in a really bad way, which I think, I mean, it doesn't matter, but I suspect that's how I got mercury poisoning. or developed mercury toxicities when they took out a crown cuz I, it was a horrible experience and I wasn't protected.
When I later started developing some health issues in my late twenties, they wanted to take my thyroid out and, I already have had this, all this experience of using cleaner hair products and products. And was, I said, No, you can't take my thyroid. I'm gonna go figure out what's going on,So I started interviewing people, women who had the same I, I don't know how I found them, but I would ask them all the questions and started seeing these common denominators in health which opened up. I can't go get my thyroid taken out cuz there might be something I'm doing or did that caused it that I could do.
So it kind of empowered me to go down like this other type of journey and, realizing that. The health issues I was having had to do with the mercury, which is really neat. So they're over here saying, it's your thyroid. And I'm over here like, but I have like, this other thing that could be causing it to be outta wack, and My blood work is proving its' due to having this other thing.
Hi guys. So that part of the interview, Tasha Davis got really choppy and I cut out so bad. That you couldn't hear what I was saying? He was, sounded like I was underwater
we're talking about. Me finding out that I had, toxicity levels of my blood, the doctors saying they wanted it potentially take my thyroid out. Without any other explanation other than. That it. Seemed like a good idea because. There was. Something that could turn into something else, but.
There was no indication that it would. Which is very strange. What is strange to me and caused me to kind of want to go down that. Explorative path down. Detox and potentially. Reading myself of these levels that were adnormal. And, getting my health, like fully back.
I think it was really deciding to pivot my career. And that got me thinking about. Products. hairdressers use. And.
Examining those a little bit further, like what was common still in salons and in the hair world was no longer what was common to me because I had this experience in the natural body care industry for 15 plus years. Kind of looking at both of those. Like what, w what are the options for natural products To professional hairdressers and. Yeah.
I think there is no for sure way. To know. Where the mercury toxicity had come from. I was making assumptions. And. What really began to sit with me was just trying to live. The healthiest way. From my longevity.
And it wasn't until. I thought about going back into hairdressing. And pivoting my career that. I began to hear common denominators with people who had already been cutting hair for 15 plus years. Having certain health issues. And a lot of endrocrine issues. Which made me wonder if these large hair companies. Are creating products that could be disrupting. Andrew. systems. And that question. Is what led me to want to find alternatives for my potential clients. That's it. And back to. Our episode with Tasha Davis.
Chantel: Have some health issues and that it's stressful. You know, a lot of common denominators with regular products and women having health issues and that was what I observed. So in deciding like, what products am I gonna use on my clients , well, am I gonna use what I'm using? And really wanting to, it's not about me be like, what's gonna be best for them? And this was before I got outta school. I'm like, I wanna cut men's hair. I wanna cut different textures of hair. So it's not gonna be one brand that I think is clean. And then there's gonna be people who my sister can't handle fragrance, you know, for example. And, It's common to be like, Oh, no, parabens and Phthalates but what about lavender? What if somebody's allergic to lavender? So I was already thinking like, I wanna explore different lines, not just for what society is right now, saying ingredients that aren't acceptable, but really for the Individual, the many different clients I, I wanna have in diversity.
It's like, cool, it's gonna give you this result, but what if you're allergic to it? .
Mm-hmm. .
So if I'm like, I already have that ready, I'm gonna have options for people and that was fun for me. I, I think that answered the question.
It did kind of like, No, it did. It's a long story.
Tasha: No, it did. And I, you know, I think that health and wellness and cosmetology are like a perfect match for each other. Because if you aren't feeling well on the inside. It's difficult to look good on the outside and vice versa. so no, I think it's a great match. I was just curious how that came, what was that connection for you? Yeah. Interesting. I know that you, majored in journalism and broadcasting, so I find it interesting now that you're looking at podcasting. What inspired you to start Hair Stories?
Chantel: The social me, you know, it's really hard for me to do. it's funny to say, it's like a paint people say like, And like, it's still hard for me to run, and then I take off running, and look fine doing it. You know, like you run and it's like, no, this is so hard for me. But creating content on social was really hard and I thought Maybe I can. Create in a way, that comes more natural for me. And share that. I'm so used to stepping outside the box and being totally uncomfortable that it's now become like I, I was a shy person. And then from job training and having to train people and speak in front of people, I just do it, you know? So I started thinking, I'm gonna try lives and I wanna make 'em five minutes only, and I want, it's gonna be the best five minutes and people are gonna tune in for five minutes and I can keep it to five minutes.
And so Drew Shaffering and I did a, did a live, and I was like, Oh my god, no, Like five. What was I thinking?
Tasha: That's no time.
Chantel:That's too short. Yeah. but not knowing anything and kind of just being like, let's do lives cuz I should practice it. I had no goal but to be like, get yourself out there and try. Practice the things, cuz I felt like, a child. I felt really like why is this so hard for me? I, resist it. I would rather, climb a mountain than do these things. And yet people go, Oh my gosh, you're like, are so good . I'm like, you're so natural. And, I don't see that.
I don't feel it inside. And that's what's so neat is like my assisting experience, I was often out outside of school, was often in a complete something is happening in here and I look like. when I'm like, Oh my God, . And that I noticed that and people would be like, No, you're very, you didn't look stressed.
And I was like, That's cool. That can work in my favor when I feel like I'm panicking and I don't wanna look like I'm panicking. so I forgot what I'm talking about. .
Tasha: You were telling me about what inspired you to start your podcast?
Chantel: So those little lives that I was just messing around with people, people were like, You, you should do that. Do you podcast, you should be podcasting. So, I also have a small deodorant business that I, I keep separate from my hair stuff right now. and a customer had talked to me on the phone a few times. It was totally about deodorant, just. Business stuff and writing cuz we're both the nerds and love to read.
And he was working on a script and he had said, I think you should be podcasting. I think you should be doing maybe voiceovers. You should get your voice out there. And I was like, Okay. Like maybe he's being flirty. But I've always thought that, you know, I've had random people tell me this but I find it exciting if I can make, if it could be a job, because I love hearing stories and this is new for me, talking so much. I would rather hear the story and that, that makes me feel like I've connected to, this might sound super cheesy, a purpose. And like, am I supposed to just be capturing stories as my purpose? And so
people have been telling me that. So I finally was like, Well that's see cuz I'm trying so many things and it's real hard to take care of myself financially right now. .
Mm-hmm. .
Just to be honest. You know? And some people are like, that's a weakness telling people you're struggling, you know? And it's like,
Tasha: no, that's a strength. I think that's a strength. Yeah. Cause everybody's struggling. That's the thing. And so part of, I think what makes a good podcaster, or even movie star or model or whatever is for people to be able to relate to you.No one's gonna spend time listening to you if your content is not relatable. So struggling is relatable because we all are in some way, right? That's relatable. I don't think, I don't see that as a weakness at all, I see it as the opposite. I think it's a strength.
Chantel: Thank you.
Tasha: And I agree with them. I think you have a, I think you have a radio voice for sure. .
Chantel: Yay.
Tasha: I do. So I do wanna go back and revisit, You asked me a little bit about social media and whether or not I was in a space where I'm growing for clients and I definitely also wanna touch on pay, cuz you, you touched on that, you didn't go real deep with that, but you touched on that.
Hmm. so I just moved to Georgia. I've been here a year and before I got here I was, in Indiana, I had owned my own salon for the last 10 years before I moved here. I haven't worked for another person. Now we're pushing 12 years since I've like, had a job. Right. and I've gotten very spoiled by that because there's a lot of things that I can do and say when I work for myself that I could never do and say if I was working for someone else.
So when I moved to Georgia, I was dead set that I was not going to go and apply for jobs at a hair salon. I just didn't wanna do it. so I decided that I was gonna move into a suite where, so we started in a storefront trims on a whim. I had a storefront for seven and a half years and I ended up moving it into suites. and so I had two separate suites. Now we're just down to one. My business partner is in the one in with share it when I'm in indie working. So, but I decided I was gonna do the same thing in Georgia. I'm gonna move to Georgia, I'm gonna get suites. I was nervous about it because 90% of my clients don't look like me.
I'm moving to the south and so I don't know how that translates. Like how am I gonna find clients right? . so I ended up opening a Sweden Midtown right off of the Georgia Tech campus. I love, love, love the location. and it feels like I've gone back to my, like, I had gone back to my roots because my first job was on campus at the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana. So being, you know, that close to the college campus, I was seeing a lot of students. It was, again, very diverse. and so it felt like kind of a homecoming. What I did not factor in is that being in Atlanta, the traffic is, well, you can relate to this. You're in LA or near la?
Chantel: LA County. Yeah.
Tasha: Listen,I am a small town girl, the city, I love the amenities of the city. But in my day-to-day life, when I was in Indiana, my storefront was half a mile from my home and then even when I moved into the suites, it was less than two miles. So my commute is like seven minutes and that's with me stopping to grab a cup of coffee on the way to work. So I went from that to moving to Atlanta and living 20 miles from my location and then having to commute into Midtown Atlanta, in the middle of the day. So it was taking me 45 minutes to an hour one way. I did it for eight months. But one day I pulled into the parking lot and parked my car and I burst into tears.
And I had a full book that day. and I just realized that I think it was in that moment that I realized that this was not working for me. Like, as much as I wanted to work for myself and like, don't wanna have to work for someone else and da da da, but driving into Midtown was just not it for me, even though it was a beautiful location, the people were amazing and welcoming and it was, all of that was fantastic.
But that driving an hour one way, working all day, and then driving another hour back home, I just, No, I'm, no, I can't do that anymore. So I started looking and I ended up in Peachtree City, Georgia, which is an adorable little town. If you, any of the listeners, if you visit Georgia anywhere near Atlanta, you have to visit Peachtree City.
It's this cute, I keep calling it a little town. It's not really, it's not really that little, It's actually pretty large. But, it has small town vibes. it's a golf cart community, but not in the way, not in the way that like Florida, like with the old people and their golf carts. It's all like young families.
It's, the community was founded by Delta Pilots because Delta, you know, Atlanta's got the busiest airport in the world and Delta's home base is here. And so this community was founded by Delta Pilots. So it's families and it's, airline employees and it's film industry. Cuz apparently Atlanta's like the new Hollywood or something. I don't know. The film industry's huge. I didn't know that. So, I got online just in case anyone's looking and kind of interested in the method to the madness for finding a place to work. Right. so I knew, like you said, you gotta worry cuz we got bills. And let me tell you, Atlanta is way more expensive than Indiana.
The cost of living here is much higher. So I had sticker shock after, you know, I did my research, but I did my research. I was planning to move, I decided to move in 2019. So that's when I was doing my research in 2019 and early 2020 to move here. That did not factor in the pandemic. So I'm looking and I'm like, oh, it's only 20% higher cost of living.
but that didn't factor in covid. So the cost of living is actually more like 40 to 60% higher depending on, you know, and so you've got bills, right? Like we gotta pay these bills. And my husband, I've always made more money than my husband. He works, he works a full-time job and got three or four side hustles and he makes money, but I've just always made more money than him.
That's just, the way it's been and so anyway, my method for finding a place where I could work and make money and still work for myself, So I googled salons that were south of where I live because I wanted to be going in the opposite of direction of traffic in morning. So I found a few like large size towns in south metro Atlanta, and then I pulled up their demographics. Because I needed to know who could afford me. cuz I got Bills, , you know, we all have bills and people, you know, they might, they wanna complain about what things cost and all of that. But like, if you're complaining about how much I charge, you're just not my client. And honestly, I don't charge that much a haircut with me. A what I call an express cut with me, is 30 minutes and it's $30. It's not that expensive. but I generally charge $70 an hour is what I'm charging right now. I, how I kind of came up with my price list. So, and you know, these are the things that I think that we should be sharing with each other.
There's of course, people that charge way more than I do, and God love 'em. am not a fufu person. I'm not gonna wear makeup when I go to work. I wear my hair dreadlocked because I hate doing my hair. Like I, So the people that are gonna pay $300 an hour want to see you look in a little more fufu, I imagine.
I don't know. I'm not doing that. so I google the salons, or I'm sorry, I Google the towns first, then I look up the demographics cause I need to figure out who can afford me. So the average income in Peachtree City, I wanna say is like $139,000 a year. They can afford to pay my prices, like way, afford to pay my prices.
So now I'm looking for salons in Peachtree City. and so I googled a bunch of salons. I looked at their social media, I looked at their websites, I looked at their reviews. I did random drive-bys. and I found one that I was particularly interested in. And it's funny because their website is, well I'm not gonna say too much cuz , but I, their, their online presence is not fabulous.
But this is proof that your online presence... While , it is important to your clients. It's the number one thing. Mm-hmm. And the reason I know that is because, you know, not to brag, but I feel like my websites look really, really good. Right. I've worked really hard on them. the salon's website is just okay for me.
and there's social media like is not curated like a lot of, so you know, it's just not. in the top 10%, visually, aesthetically it's not. and I say that with no shade at all. It's just what it is. and so I'm thinking as I'm looking at their salon, I'm like, Well, one, I could help them, right? Like they, if they need help with what their social, their, the aesthetic of their social media, their website, I can help with that. Can't help you find followers. I'm an old lady. I don't know how to do that, but I can help you with what it looks like aesthetically. so I call the salon. the owner of the salon happened to answer the phone. We had a chat. Long story short, we're the same person. I'm just about 12 years older than her. She's me 12 years ago when I was opening my salon. and so we decided to, I forget what she calls it. It's not a partnership. There's a word that she uses for it. We think it's fate that we found each other. I came along at a point where she really needed a hairstylist, specifically a color specialist, and she came along at a time when I really needed to work somewhere and did not want to work for someone.
So I work independent inside of another salon. She's allowed me to put my logo and things on the door, So I, advertise my business, my location, all of that, and I make money in someone else's salon. so as far as pay goes, I don't know what they're charging now. I know that when I started behind the chair, in 19 96, 95, I was making $6 an hour or 50% commission, whichever was higher. And so I just decided that I was gonna have to make commission because at that point I was a single mom. I wasn't married to my current husband yet. I was a single mom. You know, we got bills to pay. so I just decided that I was going to hit commission. And then I went to every class if it was about selling retail, if it was about blow drying, you know, whatever class I was taking every class trying to master my craft as quickly as possible so that I could start hitting that commission, which I did start doing pretty quickly despite being terrible at hair so if you're, if you're fresh outta school, my suggestion is to find a place where commission is an option and then bust your butt to get people in the salon looking for you specifically. You know what I mean? So I, I, yeah, I would recommend going to a Walk-in salon that's commission based. preferably. Have you heard of Destroy the Hairdresser? Have you seen them?
Chantel: I think I've heard of 'em.
Tasha: So I don't know a ton about them, but I know that our philosophy is very, similar in the way. So I don't know if they're destroy the hairdressers where you live, you or any of our listeners, but I would definitely look up, Destroy The Hairdressers' because their philosophy is it's commission based but you set your own schedule. You basically work for yourself. You set your own schedule, you take vacation when you want, yada, yada, yada. But you wanna be in a commission based walk-in salon. If you're fresh outta school, you need to make some money and you're gonna be hungry for a while. You know, it takes time to build, but it doesn't take much time to build. It just depends on how much time you're willing to dedicate. And I always say show up every day when you're scheduled, even if you don't have any clients on your book. Cuz you never know who's gonna call. I can't tell you how many times I've gone into the salon to this day because like I said, I'm new. I don't have a client base here and I still go whether I have a client or not. I go and it's very, very rare that I leave there and I haven't done anything. It's very rare, but you have to show up.
Chante: I love it.
Tasha: I dunno what other, That's you guys. . I'm sorry that was a lot, but I wanted, I wanted to make, make sure I touched on those things.
Chantel: You're paying for your chair inside that salon right now, like a monthly, chair fee.
Tasha: So what we're doing, what we've worked out is when clients book with me through my booking app, So you've found me on social media or the internet or however you found me, and I still maintain, I have a booking app because I still have a brand, you know? You book through my app, then I tip out the salon is what we call it. So I, whenever I make money, I just tip her for allowing me to be in her salon, use her water and her electricity and, you know, so I tip the salon. when I don't have clients that book through my booking app, I'm available for them because they needed a stylist.
So I'm available to work in their salon for a commission. I did negotiate probably higher than normal commission for myself, because I'm old and have bills. But I think it's important to, no matter how old you are, to ask about whether or not commission is negotiable. because like I said, we, we all have bills. I'm like, Yeah, I want you to be able to pay your bills at the salon, but also I need to be able to support myself. You know what I mean? So I would definitely ask about, negotiating your commission. So no, I don't pay a chair fee necessarily. Not like booth rent, but when I do clients for this salon, I take a commission from that. They keep the rest, so that's their booth rent. if I book through mine through my app, I tip them. If I don't do anything, nobody gets paid . Cause there's no money to pay, you know? Yeah.
Chante: That's great. That's a great relationship.
Tasha: Yeah. Yeah. And I think though that there are probably lots of salons out there.
It's really about like connecting with, talking to the owners and ask them what they need and be honest about what you need and see if you can come to some sort of understanding and some sort of working relationship that works for both of you. You know what I mean? It doesn't hurt to ask. The worst they can do is say No. And I really, if it's not gonna work for you, don't do it. Go down the street, there's another salon, half a block away, I promise. Go ask someone else. But your perfect place that works and fits for what you need and the money that you need to make gets out there. but just understand you're not gonna make it on the first day. You know, it's gonna take some hard work. Hand people your business card. I still give people my business card when I go out to eat at a restaurant, I, I'm a really, I over tip always, no matter where I go. so I leave a really good tip and a business card, you know, come see me.
Chantel: I like that.
Tasha: If I go to the bank, I put my business card in the, you know, I don't go to the bank very often anymore cuz you know, virtual, but anywhere where I, you're talking to strangers, give out your business card still or use Popl. I'm using Popl now. I'm getting a little more, you know, future, whatever, wherever the future's headed. I have so many more questions for you, but I'll, I just ask, what you would like the cosmetology world to know about you.
Chantel: To know about me. I think something that was brought to my attention is that you can't tell my niche by my social or anything that you see of me online. And, I can't fix that right now, you know, so that, so maybe verbally saying, saying it is, I don't have a niche. I think I'm really good at like precision cuts and I like to think I'm, the cutting is very where I'm at.
Mm-hmm. .
And that if somebody was like, This is gonna make you a million dollars, just do precision nicheing, I'd be like, Well, I gotta consider that cause I wanna like, you know, I could use that to help me do the other things.
But personally, I really wanna work on textured hair and know how to work on textured hair. I have a lot of respect for straightening and the chemical straightening. but no interest in doing perms or chemical straightening or color. even though, You know, I've gotten, I do color and people say they like it.
I mean, I really, if I could just cut and work on, you know, fine tuning myself with textured hair and that would be great. I also lov doing short hair and we didn't talk about it, but that, I think that's the binary conversation. we could totally save for another time.
Tasha: I feel like there's still more conversations to be had here.
Yeah. Like, maybe we just pick a topic and talk about that , you know?
Chantel: Yeah. Like, even working, working for ourselves could be a topic, right?
Tasha: Mm-hmm.
Chantel: and working for other people could be a topic.
Mm-hmm.
I'm here for it. I'm here for it. Just different conversations and then I'm here for it. Hmm. Even just our passions, right? Like, so I think that's the thing is like, I don't know that people are gonna see, be able to get that anytime soon by looking at my social media, it's, I would hope to get better at it and then actually have every person I'm working on, like represented somewhere. But I get in the zone and I don't take pictures. I'm still working on capturing footage and, what I was doing right outta school, or actually before I graduated and got licensed is nowhere. You know, I, I had to sign an NDA and there's no like, I helped here, you know what I mean? so that's interesting and I'm okay with that.
And I think like this getting social is a practice and. . It's just getting comfortable sharing with myself. And I was like, Wow. The fact that you asked, I mean, no one else asked to also interview me. It was like, I'm like, this is the universe. Just go with it. You know? And again, I felt like it was telling me, just practice showing up.
Cuz there's, and I, I got a lot from this and I think, like, I do feel inspired. I haven't met anybody. I know everybody can talk about so much, but I haven't met anyone yet where I'm like, Wow, we could really have 45 minute segments. Just, you know, either I just, you know, doing it mutually is cute, actually about fun.
Um mm-hmm. , you know, just one topic cuz Yeah. I, I find it very interesting and I like it that we can really, we have a lot to dig out in our perception or, Yeah.
Tasha: So I like it. I like it. Yeah. Yeah. I hope that we, I, I would, I'm just, I would like. Have another conversation sooner than later. I'm gonna put that out there.
You let me know. You don't have to tell me right now. Hit me up later. Cause I know today's been a lot. You know, it's been, I don't know how long we've been on here. I feel like my thing says 50 minutes, but I swear it's been longer than that. It feels longer than that.
Chantel: We're coming up in an hour and a half.
Tasha: Oh wow. Wow. Thank you. And I feel like we've barely scratched the surface, so.
Chantel: Yeah. I mean, I feel that certainly about you. I, I feel like, which is good because now I have even more questions that came up that I can ask at a later time. And I'm excited to get this over to you and you get to just Yeah. We get to share notes on editing. I'm gonna stop it and say thank you and then cuz we have about, I think we're gonna still be able to hear each other cuz we have to let this upload. So we should sign out. Okay. It was such an honor speaking with you. Thank you.
Tasha: Same.
Chantel: I feel it was an hour and a half, but I feel invigorated for the rest of my day. Like you were like a really good shot of espresso.
Tasha: Awesome.
Chantel: And I'm awake, so thank you.
Tasha: Thank you so much. I appreciate you Chantel, and I look forward to chatting with you soon.
Chantel: Okay. Bye.
Tasha: Bye.