#11: The Power of Perseverance with Anna Phillips, Founder of The Lash Lounge
The next time you put on those beautiful lash extensions, you’ll think of Anna Phillips.
She not only founded The Lash Lounge, which now has over 100 open locations, but also brought the entire concept of lash extensions to America.
On this week’s Scale with Joy show, you’ll remark at Anna’s honesty about the trials that come with scaling a business.
Because no matter what the gurus tell you, there will always be major challenges while scaling. Especially when you are doing things differently.
In this episode, learn how Anna:
Moved past the natural, yet impossible, tendency we all have to make everyone happy while continuing to scale.
Went from feeling overwhelmed, to releasing control of her business to others
Learned to rely on the C-Suite executives she brought into her company while still remaining the heart and soul of her brand.
Now focuses on what she truly loves, which is working specifically on the products and services Lash Lounge offers.
Check out The Lash Lounge here or on Instagram @thelashlounge.
Are you ready to up level in your business? If you've already had massive success in your company and you're just ready for that next iteration, check out my free masterclass at www.scalewithjoy.com. In this short but very powerful training, I share exactly how to break through to that next level of exponential growth in your business and spoiler alert, it is not another program or formula. It is a custom approach for you based on your business and the very same strategies that I've used over and over with my own private consulting clients and national brands.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:00):
This is the Scale with Joy show episode 11: scaling with sanity.
(00:09):
Welcome to the Scale with Joy show, a podcast about scaling your company while living your most purposeful life because here's the thing, there are no rules to say you can't grow a massively profitable empire and have joy in the everyday. My name is Laura Meyer and let's get started.
(00:35):
Today's guest, Anna Phillips, actually invented a category that many of you know as just part of your everyday beauty routine. Years before it was popular with the Kardashians and all of the TV celebrities, the lash extension category simply didn't exist. Anna invented it. If you have gone and gotten lash extensions from anyone, she is the one that brought it to America and made it popular. Her concept, The Lash Lounge now has over a hundred locations and she grew it at a very fast speed. Today Anna speaks candidly about how difficult that was, how quickly she needed to reinvent herself as a leader, as an innovator, and the different roles that she held in her company in a very short period of time. Because Anna invented this category, there were many competitors coming up quickly behind her as she was shifting and adjusting. Now Anna talks a lot about her current role and how she sees the future of The Lash Lounge, but at the same time being so honest and so transparent about what it really took to get the company to the place that it is today.
(01:50):
If you've ever looked at a company like The Lash Lounge from the outside and you thought, hmm, that was probably pretty easy of them. They created something that everybody wanted, and it was smooth sailing. You're about to find out that it really is never that easy. And if you're going through anything in your business right now that feels incredibly difficult, you're going to find Anna incredibly relatable and helpful. So I can't wait for you to meet my friend Anna. For a period of time, The Lash Lounge was one of my clients for both brand strategy as well as sales and marketing campaigns and I got to see the inside of the genius that she has created. I can't wait to share it with you next, Anna Phillips.
(02:31):
Hi and welcome back to the Scale with Joy show. I am here with Anna Phillips. She is the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of The Lash Lounge. They are the category inventor. She started this whole idea of lash extensions. So ladies, for those of you who are looking in the mirror, whether you got them at Lash Lounge or not, you can think Anna because she is the one that brought it to the United States and scaled it to over hundred locations. So thank you Anna for joining us today.
Anna (03:02):
Thank you so much Laura. I'm really excited to be on here.
Laura (03:06):
Yeah, absolutely. So let's start out by just sharing your journey. You started The Lash Lounge. How long ago was it?
Anna (03:13):
I started the lash lounge in 2006, it really was what I call a little bit of a light bulb moment. I had my own individual room doing beauty services and I got to the point where my eyelash extension services, the demand for them grew beyond what I could do and provide by myself. So I came up with this light bulb moment where I thought, you know what if I just had an eyelash specialty salon, there was nothing like it at the time. My husband that I was crazy, but he's always been willing to, you know, let me try things out. And so, we opened up the first location in 2006 and then I opened up two more in the next consecutive years. So I started with three right away.
Laura (03:58):
And so where are you today in terms of amount of locations open and then where do you expect to be in the next few years?
Anna (04:06):
The first three were my own salons. I still own three salons. I took the leap into franchising in 2009/2010 so we started selling franchises. It was a very slow growth until the recent years when we've really have taken off, I would say about 2018 so about two years ago we went from, oh like about 24 salons sold to over 400 and of those 400 we now have about 110/115 open already across the US so where we're hoping to go of course is at least 200, I believe our goal is 200 by the end of next year.
Laura (04:49):
That's incredible. I remember when we met, I think you were probably only at maybe 15/18 locations and during that period I actually worked on your brand strategy for about a little over a year helping you get going with some of the overarching brand elements and then also with some of the programming and it was really incredible to watch you grow even during that period and when I was coming on, that's when your CEO started, that's when they hired a president, president became the CEO. This was a really busy time for your company.
Anna (05:24):
Yes. As I've noticed, you know, in business you always have these ebbs and flows and even challenges and then you know, you get through it and you're like, okay, that's, that's cool. And then you come up to the next challenge. So in 2017 I made the decision to bring on partners and that was really made because we were growing, we weren't that big, but I knew if I wanted to remain a contender in our vertical, in the eyelash extension space and franchising, I was really going to have to hit the gas pedal with franchise sales and growing the brand. And ultimately, I think a lot of founders that start their businesses and then they turn them into franchises, I think a lot of us get to a point where we realize that we can run a business with a blindfold on. I could, I can open up an eyelash salon and run that very easily.
(06:15):
But a franchise system is a totally different animal and different business concept. So that was when I decided I really need to bring on some partners who are steep in franchising. I did that in 2017, from that point on we started selling and like I said, we went from about 24 units sold to over 400 within two years, so that was like drinking from a fire hose. It's a little bit like when you start your business and you think you know what, I'm going to build all of the tools and the resources and the and everything that we need right now. It doesn't take long to grow out of that and realize, Oh, I need to build something else that allows us to scale.
Laura (06:57):
So I feel like we built things to allow us to scale up to 50 and then up to a 100 and then up to whatever with the fast, fast, rapid growth that we had in the last 2 years, we were flying through those changes and trying to create new processes and systems and resources that were scalable beyond 300/400 units sold. And that of course you were one of the godsends that we had during that time as well as you know, me being able to find some fabulous C-suite, so CEO and then my president that came on and now is our CEO was formerly with Molly Maid and is just phenomenal and knows how to run a franchise system with that many units. It is like drinking from a fire hose. I don't know how else to describe it. And you just kind of have to hang on for dear life and go with it. And then surround yourself with really, really smart, capable people.
(08:00):
Yes, and you know, I know Dave Kyle, I know Meg Roberts, the people who are the talent on your team and they are phenomenal. I've learned so much just by watching them lead and very much experts in how to grow a franchise. And during that time, what were some of the things that you struggled with? Because I think some people are listening, right? Whether they're just customers that are curious about The Lash Lounge or they're people who are so inspired by your business story. You see from the outside, you got funding, you have talented help. This is great. You're living the dream team, right? There's a rainbows and there's butterflies flying out of everybody's butts. But like what was some of the things that you don't see? Like what are some of the things that were really challenging that maybe not a lot of people might know about that stage of growth?
Anna (08:54):
Absolutely. I think its kind of like the behind the curtain stuff. I love that you asked this because I find there's so many small emerging franchise systems or even business owners who think, you know what, I've got this great concept. I think I'm going to franchise it and, and I always think kind of, if I could have told my myself back then what I know now, would I still do it and I obviously I believe I would have, but just approached it completely differently. And here's why: so everybody that gets started, their goal is to sell a ton of franchises and open 'em up and everything else will, the fact of the matter is when you grow fast, your focus is almost required solely to be on keeping up with the growth. And in a franchise system, you have sort of this bell curve.
(09:48):
So for instance, our business is a brick and mortar. It's a salon. So you have to find a retail space and you have to build it out and you have to set it up and everything else. So from the time that our franchisees are looking for a space to the time they actually open, it takes about 6-9 months on average. So during that time there's, you know, a variety of onboarding. Well usually, if a system is growing kind of at a nice steady pace, you're going to have people at different stages in the game and the business life cycle. Some people that are looking for new real estate, some people who are building out, some people who've been open just recently and others that are open for years already. And so to a degree, it's kind of like having multiple kids.
(10:34):
You know, the older kids can help the younger kids and then they, and so, and that's the general, you know, idea. Well when you grow this fast, it is like having, what is it quintuplets all at the same time.
Laura (10:48):
So, you were octomom. you were octomom of the business world.
Anna (10:51):
I think so, yeah. And so it is like having that many very early, you know, owners that are going through the same process at the same time and we are growing as fast as possible and just kind of trying to keep up, creating new systems that will scale. And when I say new systems, it's everything from, you know, our website. We had a fabulous website, but it wasn't, it wasn't ready for a 100 locations right away. We couldn't scale it that fast. We had to completely revamp the website. We had to revamp our POS system, we had to connect, we had to find all of these other, and when you do that, then you have all these other software providers and, and vendors, suppliers that have to also connect in and you've got to figure out how to make that all work.
(11:40):
We were literally building the rocket ship as we were flying it into space. So there was just trying to stay on top of that, keep everybody happy, which was a challenge and also help them be successful while we were spread extremely thin. So you add that in with also I think just from a business perspective, I know a lot of, a lot of businesses are fortunate enough to come in very well capitalized. Whether they have it on their own or they have resources, private equity or family funding or anything else, they're able to start from fresh. But I would say that that typically is not the norm. And from myself it was not the norm. So we were, you know, trying to build this machine on a shoestring budget if you will. So all of the fabulous people that I have around me right now, I haven't been able to afford them until recent years.
(12:35):
And so there was a lot of work to be done for myself specifically. I carried every hat from marketing to ops to finance to the janitor. And, and then also, you know, had to make sure that we were paying the bills and we were able to keep up with everything. And we're making the right decisions. And sometimes when you're so exhausted from just working and financial stress and everything else, sometimes you just want to crawl under a rock and not make a decision, you know? And so there was a whole mental aspect of it that certainly took its toll on me over the last two years. I feel like I've come out of that, but I look back now and think, gosh, if I knew then what I know now, I probably could have approached this totally differently or at least been prepared for it, you know, whether it was financial or mentally or work-wise in terms of the amount of help that I had.
(13:36):
The best way to answer this is when you grow really fast, yes, sure, it's fabulous. But it can also very quickly expedite the demise of a company if you do not have financial structure, you don't have the right people or even access to the right people and you don't have, you know, a strong concept that can make it through to, and all of those pieces is like the moons have to align a little bit for you to really be able to pull through that major growing pain and come out in the rainbows and butterflies field. I don't even know if we have found that rainbows and butterflies, the field yet, but I feel like we're much closer than we were.
Laura (14:26):
I think it's in the back of your distribution center. I think I saw it there.
Anna (14:28):
Yes, yeah. I need to find that portal, the weird portal to the, yes.
Laura (14:36):
It's the fake door in the fake wall in the back of your distribution center. That's where I last saw it.
Anna (14:43):
AKA the bathroom.
Laura (14:44):
Which by the way, there is a process on how to get there. There's a process for a process and that's in the manual about processes. Yes. So and I watched you create all of this and I also watched you really struggle in those moments of letting go and the company growing faster than you've been able to keep up with it in the past. And then you're still trying to keep up. It's almost like chasing a train that's going a hundred miles an hour and you're just running behind it and yelling wait, wait. For those people who are listening, and they think I really want to grow my company, I really want to scale it. And then they realize that in that moment they've gotten everything that they wanted, and it maybe wasn't exactly what they were envisioning. Like what are some of the key lessons or key takeaways that you could give to somebody who might be in that situation?
Anna (15:38):
Such a great question. So for me, creating this business as the sole owner, funding it personally as we go and being really responsible for everything in terms of every department and whether we were successful or not successful. You know, I had a small staff, that's what I could afford at the time for a very long time. And they were fabulous, but I couldn't afford, you know, the C-Suite staff until, until recent years for sure. So there was still a lot of decisions and just everything that I still had on my shoulders to create. And so for years I had to be so in tune with every detail and I had to know my business inside and out because I couldn't afford to even make a bad decision really. I couldn't afford to, you know, potentially make a mistake that could cost us while you have to balance the being able to make a quick decision.
(16:41):
But the right decision doesn't always come together. But that was really what I was dealing with for so many years. I live in Texas, I'm based out of Dallas Fort-Worth, which is where our corporate office, you know, was originated from. And I brought him partners who are based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. And as we continue to grow, we started having our team kind of split between the two remote offices, which is fabulous that we had that, but it also creates a bit of a challenge in terms of just learning how to communicate and being able to find that flow, that rhythm where you're not, you don't have a whole lot of overlaps and you don't have a lot of gaps that you guys are running through. So growing the business and starting to hire more executive level, more experts that have been in the franchising industry and have been at those, you know, 100, 200, 300-unit systems and they kind of, they're a little bit like a crystal ball.
(17:41):
They know what's coming, they know how to be prepared. They'd been through some of these rough patches before. It wasn't like a new learning experience for them, like was for me, but finding these people and passing off the Baton to the different departments and all the information that we had built and created. That was like, if you could imagine giving a child a lollipop and then trying to take it back away from them. It was a bit of a tug of war that I would say over the last year, so this is the struggle that I have found myself in is just feeling comfortable and confident that the person I am passing the information off to was capable, was of taking it and was willing and also had the drive to do it and was aligned with me in terms of the best interest and how it was delivered and how we, what we did with the resources and the information in terms of supporting our franchisees.
(18:44):
That was always my, you know, first and foremost, my main priority was making sure that we had their best interest in heart. So passing that information off and feeling like I could just let it go. That's a skill. And I believe I have figured that out for sure. And just some degree from a control freak, I would say I would put myself in that category. It sounds bad, but I think, you know, a perfectionist and a control freak. I think all of our founders probably have a little bit of that in them. And we've had that. I know we've had that conversation. I think that's a prerequisite to be a founder actually. So, you know, when you have those characteristics, releasing control is like a 10-step process, you know? But then once you do, my gosh, the freeing part, but I will tell you that once I released control and passed it all off to a degree, for me, I had to personally kind of just not, I had to stop contributing or looking at that like whether it was marketing or whether it was , you know, whatever it was, I had to stop sticking my nose in it altogether.
(19:58):
Otherwise I wanted to contribute. And by way of contributing, I wanted to dictate, you know, so I had to completely shut off and I had to be okay with that. And I had to really focus on what my little corner of the world was now. And so what I have gone through was this being overwhelmed to, now I have the right people, but I've got to release the control. I've got to release it to them to releasing it and then I went through this whole feeling of, well, where's my place now? What do I do? You know? And what am I important to this brand anymore? I mean, do they really need me? And so there's a little bit of this identity loss that you go through as well. And what I realized is, you know, we as a founder, there's so much of our identities that are wrapped up and connected with the business that we create in so many ways.
(21:00):
And if we are ever thinking that we want to grow this business to sell it, someday, we're going to have to disconnect. It's like letting your kids go off to college, right? You have to prepare yourself because that day is going to come unless you want to go to your grave and still have your business. But the biggest thing as I look back over this last few years has been that I've been kind of forced to emotionally disconnect my identity from the business that I, this baby that I had built, which has been a good thing. And the best thing is that I've been able to step back and be able to focus on what I loved, loved, loved, and got into this business for in the first place, which is really the whole innovation side. Like focusing on the products and the services and the future and what, how do we enhance our customer experience?
(21:57):
How do we create an awesome place for technicians and people who want to work at The Lash Lounge? How do we provide new services, how do we provide new products, all of that stuff that used to make me wake up early and pop out of bed and run to work? You know, because I was excited. All of that is now back on what I focus on. So it is finally kind of come full circle. But I will tell you, I think I've, I've been through every emotional stage, you know, known to man for sure over the last few years. And that has been because of the growth that we've had in the last few years.
Laura (22:40):
Yes. So much good stuff in there that I'm going to pull out and just highlight, but one of which I think is what you're talking about is just the founder's heart. What it means to be a founder, what we give birth to when we create a company. What happens when its pace outruns us and I know Dave and I, who is your CEO have spoken and we both agree that when you pull a founder out of a company, it loses its heart and soul and what you've done is found that place back again where you can't farm that out. You can't hire a sweetie sweet executive who's going to create new products like you could. That's going to focus on what is happening in the world of lash extensions like you can, you can try. It's pretty hard. It's a little bit easier. Not that that's easy in itself to find somebody who knows franchising.
(23:40):
Are you ready to up level in your business? If you've already had massive success in your company and you're just ready for that next iteration, check out my free masterclass at scalewithjoy.com or head to the link in the show notes. In this short but very powerful training, I share exactly how to break through to that next level of exponential growth in your business and spoiler alert, it is not another program or formula. It is a custom approach for you based on your business and the very same strategies that I've used over and over with my own private consulting clients and national brands. That's scalewithjoy.com also available in the show notes. Now back to the show.
(24:21):
Whether or not a company opens and closes. So some people who are listening to this because of the pending recession that we're in and not sure how long that will last, they may be in a place where they've lost the identity of themselves because of their business going under and some people might be listening and they feel like that loss of identity would be secure if they grow their company. And what you're saying is no, at a certain point we get to find out who we are outside of what we do. And that's really hard for a founder. It's like saying to somebody, you know what? This kid is no longer your kid. I'm their mom now, and that's a really difficult place to go through. And then what I hear you saying is that when you can get to that point of trust, which I think there is a balance there. I will say from my own experience, prior to you having experienced executives come in, we both had the experience of people coming into our company thinking that they knew more than us and it was not good for the company.
(25:29):
So I think the fact that that's earned over time is not a bad thing at all. And somebody really shows you what they're made of over time because many individuals will come into a company and tell you all the things that they can do, but it's really what they demonstrate about themselves over time that makes that possible. Right. And makes that trust possible. But in the process, whether you're hiring your first employee, right? So some people might be listening to this and they're hiring their first person beyond a VA or assistant somebody who they're really going to hand responsibility off to. Or somebody like you who's bringing on partners that are very experienced executives. You know, I think we go through that shedding process either way.
Anna (26:14):
So true. I mean, you hit the nail on the head there. I think all of us, especially if you've hired anybody, you all hire in hope for the best. Of course, you know, you do all your due diligence. But I have never met anyone who hasn't had at least one or more experience of bringing on someone who either told them or shared, you know, felt like they knew more or knew how to do it and it didn't quite work out. And over time you get a little bit more jaded, a little bit more consumer, just protective of your business and everything else. And when you finally, I think the trust is earned and exactly how you said it. And that should be something, I think people coming into a business as you know, whether it's a C-Suite level or otherwise, someone who's coming into a business should understand as well that you've, you really need to show, If you want to work here, you need to show that you deserve it, you earn it and that you also, you know, value the founders background and vision for the business.
(27:27):
And I think together you will end up finding the right path. I feel very much like, in fact you know, I think I've shared this before in an interview. My CEO that I have right now Meg Robert, she's absolutely fabulous and just so smart. I watch her just talk and she is beyond unbelievably, in fact, she makes me feel very inferior many times. But I realized that she is the brains of this company and I'm still the heart. And you know what? You need both to live and survive.
Laura (28:00):
Yeah. She's the perfect person to be running your company right now. It's really fun to see and see her both talent and passion for what you've built to really neat. And so before we were brainstorming about what topics we wanted to cover today, and one of the things that you brought up was this idea that fear and joy cannot coexist in a business. And little did we know that we'd be recording this in the midst of a pandemic when we actually brainstorm that idea. And I said, I love it and I called you a couple of weeks ago to find out how you were doing. And I said, my gosh, Anna, you're really calm for somebody who has a 100 brick and mortar locations that you can't provide the services. Um, some people can pivot online depending on the types of services that they provide, but lash extensions, you have to be pretty close to do a good job. And what is it that you've learned about fear and joy that has allowed you to rise up as a leader in times like this?
Anna (29:07):
So I mentioned earlier that you know, in business what I have, what my experience has been and what I think is pretty common is just challenges and adversity. It's inevitable. There is no business where it's just going to be smooth sailing all the time. It may come in the form of a personnel conflict, an employee conflict. It might, in our business, it could come into, in the form of a conflict with our franchise owners, it could come with a conflict of, you know, legal or supplier issues or financial issues no matter what. You have to be able to, I wouldn't say embrace it, but be okay with it because the sooner you are, the quicker you're going to get through it. And I think that that mindset has helped me realize, you know what? Yes, I don't think this type of pandemic where everybody has been closed down, businesses have been closed down, has happened since the Spanish flu in the early 1900's so this is unprecedented times, but I know that we're going to get through it.
(30:14):
I don't, I think I shared with you too, I don't believe in my heart that this is the end of the world. I don't, I don't think any of us feel like that is coming yet. So if it's not, then we're going to get through it. It's just a matter of kind of buckling down and doing what we need to do, make sure that we have everything, all of our ducks in a line. So what I have learned too is I would say definitely, uh, going back to also just being through the whole gamut of emotional, you know, ups and downs and highs and lows and stress and no stress over the last few years especially I've, you know, as a business owner you have stress no matter what, when you start growing at rapid pace, it amplifies that stress and everything else by, you know, times 10.
(31:04):
And what I found for myself was the things that I worried about that kept me up at time. He started stacking up, stacking up, stacking up, and I was, I got to a place personally where I just, I have never been a depressed person. I've always been a very optimistic glass half full, you know, happy. In fact, I believe I heard this a long time ago and I always felt like this spoke to me and it was how I wanted to lead. And it was a saying that said, you know, as a leader, whether you're a manager, you're leading a group anywhere or a business owner, you no longer have the luxury of having a bad day. And I've always kind of operated like that. You just, you know, you've got to always put a smile on and keep going. And for the first time ever over the last few years I found myself not even wanting to get out of bed, which was a little bit debilitating for someone who's happy most of the time.
(32:03):
I got out of bed one Sunday and I went to church and don't, you know, the sermon was like as it usually is, it hit home specifically for the situation that I was in. And the message that the pastor was talking about that day was fear and joy cannot coexist. And I tell you what that is like, it's been imprinted on my mind ever since. And I realize all of this stress and everything that I'm worried about, all the things that I'm fearful of, are we going to make it, do we have money? Can we pay payroll? Are we going to grow? Are they going to hate us? Are we going to support them? Are we going to, everything was fear and it was causing me to be so unhappy and to the point where I had lost the, even just the joy of, of being a founder and running a business, especially the business that I love, I didn't find any kind of happiness, in anything that we did for a long time.
(33:05):
Once I kind of, I think had this aha moment of why I was feeling this way. That was the beginning of kind of taking the measures to come, you know, do full circle. So that is also, I would say that that is part of the reason why I say when I pass things off to people, of course I want to make sure that they're, I've made sure that they're qualified and they're the right people, but I have to kind of just step away. I just have to step away because I can't, I can't allow all of that stress and the worry and the fear to weigh on me and keep me from doing what I know I should be doing and where I'm really going to add the value. That has been, I would say it's been about a good two years, well probably a year and a half to two years in the making where I've kind of done this full circle or the really cool thing I think with this whole, considering our circumstances and then pandemic.
(34:04):
In fact, I'm sitting in our, in my house, I've been home for the last two or three weeks now with our kids. My husband's working out of the house too. We're all ready to strangle each other, but at the same time, you know, I mean, it's been the most family time that we've ever had. And so what I have realized is I am now in a point where I've been able to pass off the worries, but also I think when you're really worried and you're stressed out, it restricts you from being able to move forward or even make decisions, smart decisions, fast decisions, whatever it is. And so then you end up getting in your own way and you end up hurting the business, ultimately.
Laura (34:48):
You have to have this conversation with yourself in the mirror at some point and go, okay, I need to, I need to back away and I need to just trust. And in the people that I've hired in the partners that I brought on in, you know, in whatever it is, I need to trust that it's going to be handled. And I think that is when you start being able to release all of the stress and find again that joy, that spark that brought you in to making this business in the first place. Whatever it was that attracted you to this business or got you excited about building it in the first place, you're able to step back and find that, at least it was for me. And then also I think all the things that get sacrificed along the way. I know I am not the only person who probably works 20 hours a day or has, you know, and, and doesn't see my kids or doesn't see my husband and travels a lot and all that stuff. You know, that was my lifestyle for very long time. And now here I am sitting at home for 3 weeks and we're actually, I'm loving it. Like we're having so much fun together and it's a whole different, it is a work life balance that I haven't had in well over a decade for sure.
(36:14):
I'm sure some people are at home feeling that same way. Like, wow, being with my kids for 3 weeks, like yes, we are. There are moments where I feel like, I don't know if I have 2 little boys at home or 2 golden retriever puppies, like I can't tell by the way they act. But you, you do, you realize like, wow, this is actually really nice. Like I like my family home with me. There's a part of that and I think what I hear you saying really is that when, when you get to that point of burnout, when you get, I've been there before as well, when the line that you crossed going into burnout is miles behind you, you are so far beyond it. It's hard to find joy in anything and you end up kind of hurting yourself more and the people around you more by keep going.
(37:02):
And when you're an achiever and a founder personality, it's hard to see that until you get to a point where you realize it's just not working anymore. And you've done just an incredible job moving through that challenge, which I do not believe is unique in any way to you. I think it's something that you've experienced other people experience and that point of moving through it onto the other side where you find joy again is something that is hard to learn without experiencing it. So, what is next? Like what are you most excited about in getting reopened? What's brewing inside of you? What are you noodling? What are you inventing? What are you cooking up that you just can't wait to get going once you all open again?
Anna (37:55):
Yes. So, so exciting. It's, the funny thing is that I feel for the first time in a long time that I actually have had the headspace to get excited and to be, to think about it, right? Yes. All of this time sitting at home, working on all this stuff that we need to work on and anything that has also kind of taken that backseat and you know, like updating an operating manual, that kind of stuff that we're working on. But I think what I'm really excited about is for our business, one of my big initiatives this year, who's actually revamping all of our retail product lines. So coming up with new products that kind of, I am super excited. I'm really, I'm thrilled to see where that's going to lead us for the lash lounge. I think with this pandemic and the situation that we're in, it will provide us even the possibility to have some online sales if the day ever came that we found ourselves in this situation again.
(38:57):
You know. So I like the fact that what we're building also provided a second revenue, a flow from a different avenue, building and cultivating the lash lounge culture. Again, when you grow really fast, it is super hard to just keep your culture, the culture that you had, that foundation that you built your business on and the core values and everything else to keep that, you know, in focus for everyone and to make sure that everybody is, it feels like a family and that they're all, in the same tribe and everything else. So I feel like that is probably where I can be the biggest asset. And then, you know, one of the funny things that I realize is as a founder, when you are, when you're interviewed or if you are being truly utilized to represent the brand the way that a founder should, because they're the most inspiring.
(39:59):
So whether you're talking to media or you're, you're providing an interview or you're talking to you know, the people that work in your system, your franchise owners or the staff or anyone else, they are all looking at you to say something inspiring. For the longest time I felt like I was really focused on creating training and information and education and all of that stuff. And at the end of the day, they just really want some kind of inspiring nugget to fall out of my mouth. That is what my role is. And so what I have started doing in order to inspire others, I think you have to be inspired yourself.
(40:44):
So I've really started, you know, recently I've started meditating, which is something I understand, successful people do. So here I am, I'm a little, I'm a little behind. But you know, for me to sit still is like, you know, you have to strap me down. So meditating, reading quite a few books, listening to a lot of podcasts, being inspired by others so that I can help inspire our system in our team and everything else. Cause that's, that really at the end of the day that ultimately a founder should be able to evolve into that role where they are able to just provide the vision and the inspiration and let the people around them grow the business.
Laura (41:34):
That's so, so good. I'm, it's so great to hear you say that and it's so great to hear you get into that place again where funny enough, I think as founders, when you grow through something like you have, you end up back where you started, you end up back in love with your product. You end up back in love with their culture and the mission and the vision and the heart of the company and you end up back in this place of being inspired. And inspiring other people and for all the other founders that are listening and for myself, I know that's where I'm happiest. And it sounds like that's where you're happiest too. So, and I thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for just sharing your story. I know so many people loved hearing it.
Anna (42:19):
Oh my pleasure. Thanks for having me, Laura.
Laura (42:24):
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The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.