What its like owning a bridal beauty team

Behind the scenes of a Bridal Beauty Business Owner

Hey Girl Hey, I constantly get asked the question of how do you do what you do. Or if running a growing wedding hair and makeup team is hard and i’m hear to give you a peek behind the curtain and dishing out a few tip of how to manage it all.

“It takes a village”

If your new around here let me first start out by saying i have the best right hand girl who helps on the back end of my business to make sure that things run seamlessly. Shelby is my Social Media and Communications manger and from Instagram, Facebook and helping out with emails from time to time the business never misses a beat. The honest truth when you run any kind of business is that you cant do it all by yourself. Trying to do everything and wear all the hats in your business will lead you straight to burn out.

Shelby is one of the 5 people that i have help me on the back end of things but she is my only full time office help who is also a member of my bridal team. My other staff members are freelancers that i check in from time to time when i need to save myself time and have others do the work that i necessarily don’t need to do myself like graphics, flyers, a few pr task, book keeping, and accounting. Business tip to anyone looking to grow their business is to hire out even if you have someone to help you on task a few times a month because time is our currency.

“Being a business owner you wear all the hats so staying organized is a non negotiable”

I think that its so funny to me how when it comes to anything that has to do with my business i become super ocd. The organization is to an entire different level. But if you ask me where that one cute top i love so much i literally have no clue what happened to it lol, But seriously in order to run an efficient and successful business of any kind you need to be organized. A few of my ultimate favorite apps or softwares that helps me operate and manage my hair and makeup team , assistant and freelance office staff. are Asana, Google Calendar, Zoom, HoneyBook.

Asana is great if you have multiple projects going on at once. You can break them down into smaller task and assign them to a team member. They can mark the job as complete. Google Calendar is literally life y’all. This is how i send out wedding details to me team members and book consultation calls with potential clients. Zoom, omg has been such a game changer for me.

As an online educator, last year i started to take on one on one clients who needed help with the back end of their business and video meetings where i can share my screen, record webinars and masterclasses has been ever thing plus more for me so if you do a ton of videos content for your business i highly suggest to check it out.. Lastly Honey Book is like the ying to my yang. It does everything i need it to all in one. But creating a simple system and work flow im able to have any of my other staff members to log into our honey book and communicate with clients, send files, take payment without them having to leave the platform its seriously amazing but dont take my word for it. You can try it out free for a full week just to see if you like it.

TRY HONEY BOOK NOW!

The Clients Experience is Everything

When i attended cosmetology school in 2012 at Paul Mitchell the words under my name said “day maker” an i don’t take those words lightly, which is why im huge on customer service and experience.. Regardless of if my team an i are available for your date or not you will still receive the same level of responsiveness and guidance the same way as if you were one of our booked clients.

Giving or clients guidance through the entire process is Key

While everything on the back end gets handled accordingly we are always front and certain by guiding our client through the entire process leading up until their big day. It’s our job as the pro to take the clients hand and walk them step by step through our process.The lovely bride feature in this photo above is one of our many destination brides Dacia. From coordinating via email on the best dates to plan for a trial run while she was in town for her final venue walk through and tasting is the number one time that i always suggest for a trial to our out of town brides. If all else fails i had plenty of brides fly in from out of the country a few days before the wedding and we accommodate the best we can with our team to set a trial up during those few day plus its a huge bonus to look photo ready during your rehearsal dinner photos lol

Being flexible with our clients is a must especially when over 50% of them are in a different state and sometimes a different country. Letting them know that we have their best interest in mind in how we build that trust. During this Beauties trial i took a few photos that she showed me and asked her if i can cook something up special just for her. From communicating with her leading up until her trial she completely trust me to do whatever i had in mind because she knew that we were already on the same page of what she wanted for her big day.

We’re Your chaos Coordinators

So normally im not really big on coffee..unless chi tea lattes counts then never mind lol. I get a bit OCD a.f when it comes to creating a brides timeline. Our bridal beauty team is made up of timely, talented and highly trained hair and makeup artist and based upon a brides final head count will determine the number of stylist we bring on a wedding and the amount of time we allot for each bridal member.

I read the timeline, then re-read it then again 3 more times just to make sure that everything aligns perfectly and then we send it over to the bride to view. When hiring a Bridal Beauty Team it is our job to help the bride round up all of their ladies so assigning each bridal party member with a time slot for styling take the ease, stress and overwhelm away from our client which is why we are day makers :)

We do more than help you look picture perfect, We help you create memories.

We take pride in helping our clients make their day the up most best best not only being a resource in providing them with list of amazing vendors vendors that they may need to cross off their to-do list.But we make their days by helping them create memories that they can look back on years and years from now to see how stunning they looked in their wedding photos. We understand that choosing your hair and makeup vendor can be a huge investment but it comes with a piece of mind for precious moment like the photo above when Dacia did a first look photo with her father (que the water works) what a precious moment that will always live on to look back on.

Customize-able Beauty based on your personal standards

Here at Alter-Image Bridal Hair and Makeup we are all about diversity and looking like the best version of your everyday self but that goes for your bridal party as well. It’s very important to me not only as a business owner but as someone who has family and friends of many different colors and shapes that we represent everyone. During the inquiry process brides recognize the fact that we constantly include images of ladies who look like them and tell tell us how much they appreciate it. over 75% of our brides have a mixed race of bridal party members and after viewing our social media they express who they love the customize in our beauty standards so that everyone feels comfortable with their services.Not only do we want to make sure that the bride looks perfect but we want to make sure that girl girl tribe looks and feels the same.

You Glow Brighter when your Happy

We provide confidence and timeless natural beauty that your entire squad will love.

These are just a few of the things that i learned to embrace and enhance when designing my business to become better and better over the years. Our team is beyond amazing and they go above and beyond to make sure that everyone feels confident in the way that they look. Its a continuous journey to better myself, and the way that i operate and manage my team and the best piece of advice to anyone who is looking to start a bridal beauty team or any job in the wedding field is to go for it and highly invest in the best education..

If you haven’t already checked out my freebies over in the education section of our site make sure to head over there now for free educational downloads and webinars.

Chat with you beauties soon

xoxo-Jasmine

Photos from today’s blog were shot by Shelby Stewart of The Wedding Click

How to scale your wedding industry business online

How to grow your Bridal Beauty Business

Hey Beauties im taking on a MASSIVE project and that means i need to get laser focused on whats important. I’ve learned from the first time that ive expanded my business that the number one thing i needed to do was to take a step back so that the foundation of my business was set up properly and what all of my ducks were in a row.

This is going to be a big project for myself and my team and what needs to happens at this time are a few important factors for anyone growing there business to asked themselves.

_What do you want your life to look like a year or two from now

-How often do you want to be working

-What income goals do you have for each month

-And what are you major goals in business you want accomplished and by when

By knowing the answers to these questions you will save yourself a ton of time by only working on projects that support those goals. If you struggle from time to time of putting way too much on your plate then now would be the best time to scale back on those projects and only focus on task that will move you closer to your end goal.

How to be more productive with your time

Being productive with your time an energy is going to play a major factor in this season of grow and you need to make sure that you are using your time wisely.

“ Time is the one thing we can not get back after its wasted”

You need to write out all of your goals that you have for yourself for this year and map them out. i suggest making a big plus sign on a piece of blank paper and in the top left write urgent. In the below section write out not so urgent. in the right top corner write out important and in the below section not important so you know the major task you need to focus on.

This will help you create your monthly goals list so you can break down your weeks to get more done in less time.

Create a Simple System

This is my number one favorite part of the business creating systems so that they flow smoothly. Without systems you lack organization and a clear plan of action. I have a few base systems that every business need to have in order before they start to scale so it makes your life simple and you save a ton of time when things start to grow rapidly.

-System for new inquiries to go through

-System for new hires to go through

-System for Booking new Clients

I love to keep everything simple for my clients by keeping all of their details from contracts,booking details and payments. I do this by using Honey Book because all of my task can be put on auto pilot so it runs while i sleep.

Try Honey Book for One Week Free

If you are currently running your business while juggling a 9-5 than honey book is a must have for your business. With the link above if you decide to use it in your business it only $20 bucks a month. Its basically your personal assistant but way cheaper than hiring one.

Lastly You need to keep your head clear

“Business is 80 mindset and 20% strategy”

What you think to yourself will basically come true. So if you think you are not capable of doing something than you will prove yourself right. A few ways that i love to keep my head clean while working are

-Starting my day off with a morning routine

-Listening to podcast

-Meditations

-Visualization

These are all helpful things that you can do in the morning/mid-day/or night to make sure that you are operating and running your business from a mental state of abundance and not scarcity. If you are in a mental desperate state of mind because bill are due and you need to make an extra $500 for the month any post you create from that energy will give off a desperate vibe and turn clients off.

Anytime you go to do anything in your business check in with yourself and see what you need in that moment to reach your goals an operate from integrity and things will happen for you naturally. If these tips are of any help for you so far make sure you check out today newest and last podcast until the end of march.

What can one full year of growth do for you and your business?

The Un-Sexy Reality of Personal Development

Photo by Kelsey Halm

Let’s chat personal development. I feel like when i first stumbled across this part of the world a few years ago when i was in 11 grade it was something that wasn’t really talked about a ton. As i get old and surround myself with other business owners and listen to some of there major struggles of trying to grow a business i know for me if it wasn’t for personal development i would not be where i am today.

From over thinking everything

Being a people pleaser

Saying yes to way too many things

And trying to operate while in my comfort zone

Did nothing for me, where i was trying to be in life and the goals i set. We live in a world or instant gratification and we say that we are “ready” for the things we ask for. But in reality we are not yet mentally prepared to take on the new work load we are asking for because we only operate in our “now” instead of what we are working towards.

5 apps you need as a busy entrepreneur

The top 5 apps you need as an entrepreneur to save you from burnout

As entrepreneurs we must try an save our sanity as much as we can. Now how do we do this you ask? But being smart. You need to set aside one day each week where you focus on planning for the week. If you are thinking to yourself right now that you don’t have the time do do this than you might have a bigger problem on your hands.

Time management and organization are not sexy topics i know, but the more you do these things you will come to realize that you can create a heck of a loot of free time to maybe focus on your busy more or even take up a new hobby that you kept telling yourself that you don’t have the time to do for the last 3 years.

Let dive in shall we?

1.Google Calendar

I believe all cell phone, laptops and tablets can access this app. You you are not currently time blocking set time aside today to map out the rest of this week. I love time blocking because it keeps me up on my game and on task. If you still currently work a 9-5 make sure you add those times in as well and work you day around it. When it comes to time blocking here are a few things that you can use as guidelines.

• Add in breaks, time to relax, learning or downtime

• Give yourself more than enough time to get your task completed ..be realistic and stick to staying focus on your work during that time block

• Put a slight buffer in between task so if you happen to run over your not cutting into another tasks time frame.

2.Asana

If you have no clue what asana is their are a ton of videos to view over on YouTube. I am not an affiliate of there program i just love it for its features. If you listen or watch me regularly on my Facebook lives than you know i always talk about writing out your goals and breaking them into smaller ones to achieve them faster. Asana has been my buddy when it comes to those goals. For example if i want to get a sponsorship as an Instagram influencer i could map out my game plan using asana. Id label the project as sponsorship and break it down of every single little task i would need to do in order to make that happen and work backwards

8. Land sponsorship

7.Company views my social media account

6.Pitch myself to company

5.Post and show up consistently only as influencer

4. Gather images for platform

3. Plan out topic content to post about

2 Update Instagram platform

1.Brand a personal brand

3.Planoly

If you liked how simple i just made that check list for a sponsorship and your saying im terrible with my consistency then boom i just solved you problem. Planoly is amazing i have used the paid version and the free version an i’m totally sticking with the free version for my team and i to utilize. Gather a few images for the week or for the month and upload them into your grid. Once you have you images loaded you can move them around and plan out how you want your Instagram grid to look with everything post for the month. Place your images now here comes the not so hard part. Creating your captions.

When creating caption you want to give someone a reason to come to you page. Now to my wedding friends stop saying “Another gorgeous bride” or to my hair and makeup girls “ Makeup by me on this stunning beauty” what does someone post to that? They might comment “Beautiful! or maybe drop some emojis. If your behind on the education of using Instagram for business vs. a business page these comments do nothing for you. Especially if you looking to land a brand deal…you need engaging comments. This is why you need to tell a story, connect with the reader, give them a tip or show your personality a bit. These are all things covered in my social media for creative course that comes out soon!

4.Every Dollar

Okay where are my Dave Ramsey fans at? If you didn’t know im all about being financially smart so this app is just that. You can get the app by itself or join the finical peace university like i did to get the modules and lesson to help you and your family plan for the future. i am not a sponsor however id love to be one lol

As small business owners the number one reason tat businesses fail is because of bad money habits. Lean to track you money daily, weekly and monthly. I’ve made this apart of my DAILY checklist. Knowing your numbers will do wonders for you and your bank account so start a personal and business budget. add up what your yearly expenses will be and get to it.

5. HoneyBook

Not gonna lie this one is my favorite. Ive been using honey book for over 18 months now and im mad that i have not started using it sooner. This baby is an all in one system that makes emailing your clients, sending invoices, contracts and collecting payment a freaking dream.

I can assign task within honey book to my team members and it even syncs up with quick books to make taxes at the end of the year a piece of cake. Now unlike the other apps i am now a new member of the honey book educators program and i do get a few special perks that i can share with you.

This platform is normally $40 bucks per month which is huge saving but the team is letting me offer any of my readers 50% off the entire year….yes the entire year! that’s only $20 bucks a month and its basically your own personal assistant once you set up automation. But i don’t just want you to take my word for it.

Honeybook is letting you try out the platform with a free week trial if you use my link below!

Start your FREE WEEK TRial!

2020 will be here in the blink of an eye and lets start the year off right! What do you want more of? More money, clients,free time? It all starts by planning for it. Don’t let you ego get in the way by making you think you don’t need to put the work in. We must stay relevant with today’s time as what methods use to work back in the day like handing out cards and word of mouth are slowly fading and we need to leap up or get left behind. I’m so proud of you for reading all the way through now lets stay connected!

Proven ways to shift your mindset

Daily habits to implement into your life to shift your mindset

When it come to your mindset, It can be your most helpful tool or the most hurtful tool that you can use within your personal situations or business life.

If you are someone who is constantly thinking of the worse case scenarios of what could happen you need to stop it right now! How can you say you want a positive and happy life when your constantly thinking of the negative.

Change your Language

It’s amazing how the simplest of things such as changing your language can help you in many situations.Have you ever said out loud “I cant do this” or “im not smart enough” These are all harsh things that we are saying to ourselves on a daily basis. Other then saying something like” I can’t do this” maybe change it up and say something like “ This will take a bit of work to do” Just but changing it up you re no longer limiting yourself of the things you “can’t do”

Start a Morning Routine

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? Is it grabbing your phone and scrolling on social media before you step out of the bed? If so girl you need to switch it up. I no longer sleep with my phone near me at night time. If i want to pick up my phone i have to physically get up and out of the bed to walk to where it is.

The very first thing i do when i wake up is to do a quick 5 minute yoga or stretch and then head out on a quick power walk. If the weather is not agreeing with me i do a quick workout in my living room then take my dog out. After i took sometime to get the blood flooding through my body i sit down in front of my diffusser take a few deep breaths in to smell whatever essential oil i’m using fro that day (lavender is always my personal favorite) I dive right into 15 minutes or yoga or a nice meditation session.

This is a great way to focus on the goals you have for yourself for the day or just to clear your head and create space for what you need that day.

Give your self a positive self talk

Now you maybe rolling you’r eyes at this as you read it but let me tell you this. During most of my set backs and struggles when i’ve felt like ive fell off track of my goals i give myself a quick pep talk other wise non as affirmations to give myself a quick reminder of why i am actually where i am for a reason. Where i am today is actually the person i need to be to get to the next level of success in my life and business.

I challenge you to :

Create: 5 power things that you can say to your self or write down in a journal of how amazing you are and speak your current struggles away as if they where never a road bock

Ex: “I have money flowing to me from many directions” or “Clients love to work with me because of the energy i create through my photos”

These simple tasks can create a major shift and can even become your secret weapon.

And of course! I had to save the best for last…

Self Care

As a licensed cosmetologist Self Care, Wellness and Health are all tied into my job tittle. The way that we feel on the inside can boost us up or hold us back. As service providers we are always worried about our clients and making sure they their needs are always met. But when it come to our needs, our stress, nutrition and over all taking care of our selves it gets put on to the back burner.

you may work a part time job while juggling to make your business take off and by the time you come home and try to work on your business your tired so you call up the closest pizza delivery place. Or you may get home and your little ones are yelling at the top of their lungs and all you want to do is take a nap in the peace and quite. I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND. These are the most crucial time that you can hop in the shower put a few drops of your favorite essential oil and sock in jut a few minutes. Say a few words to yourself or out loud of what will help you in the moment an tackle the rest of your night.

When it comes to being a business owner it has many rewards but in order to reap those reward you must “do the work even if you don’t feel like it”

Take a few minutes to make a better food choice for yourself that will help boost your energy. Or take those extra minutes before you go to be to do yoga because your back has been killing you for the last 3 days and you know you need to do something about it. I see focusing on Wellness and Health countless way that can boost up your levels of self care. Think of if as a preventive method now so its not a necessary method you have to do from neglecting your health. This will help you look and feel amazing and save you tons of money from unwanted doctors visits.

How to create a productive work space at home

Yeah ladies i’m back again with a super helpful post. As some of you may know if you follow along with me on social media that i’ve recently moved upstate less than 2 months ago and the very first thing that i needed to do for myself was get my office space set up. Now since moving My boyfriend an i have down sized a good bit which is perfect because that eliminate the problem of unneeded clutter in my office area. I went with a medium size corner in our living room and its been working out perfectly!

Now i think of a work space a bit differently then just a desk that holds my stacks of paper and clutter. But i think of a work space that keeps all of my senses in-tuned. This maybe because i’m a cosmetologist and i’m use to spas, salons and zen like spaces so of course i needed those important factor in my home as well.

1. Office Location

   Choosing the location of where your wanting to set up your office is the most important task. You want to consider a few things when choosing your spot. Lighting, Space, Outlets, and comfort. I choose to go with an area that was close to my patio door to bring in a decent amount of natural light into the area. I’ve down sized the amount of notebooks and binders i use for work to keep a high amount of space open as well as choosing to keep amount of decor of off my desk top.

   Next make sure that your work from home office space is near an outlet to plug in you desk top or lab top while working. Lastly comfort should be your number focus aside from location. Make sure you can efficiently work in the space chosen and that the space is suitable for your needs. Which brings us to number 2!

2. Set your own working standards

   Meaning what is it that you need in a work space. For me i am easily distracted (squirrel brain) an minimal is better and a quite space is even better. The only things that i have on my desk at the month are flowers for a bit of color and greenery because i personally love them. Minimal motivation quote decor to push me through my day with my roll on essential oil that help with stressing, relaxation, and focusing because my mind likes to go a mile a minute. My work binder pens and a good book mostly.

I tend to need more space when i work because i like to spread things out. I use to have a tons of cute decor for my desk but when i actually worked it all got in the way and the functionality was not there at all!

3. Get Organized

I swear when it comes to being organized in work im beyond type A my binder as countless colored tabs and over 100+ clear pocket protectors filled in them. All of my files for my clients that live online in one space has been transfer into printable pdfs that i save an store in my binder. The platform i use makes is so easily and convenient to use without any needs of having a paper trail for contracts, invoices, client files, sending documents and collect payment for easy for me.

By using this platform it reduces the amount of documents i need to print out because they are are stored in a cloud and now backed up in paper form encase internet is not accessible. To check out the platform Honey Book and get 1 free week trial

FREE WEEK TRIAL

4. The Aroma

Now i worked at a space, Salon, Blow Dry Bars, Retail and they all have there special fragrance that you use in the air to promote whatever feeling them like all by smell. Its all about using your 5 senses here people. but were only focusing on sight,sound, and smell.

Did you know that certain smell can help you be more productive while working. I tested it out with a few of my favorite oils in my diffuser.

Hands down lavender was the one that made me feel like the energizer bunny. Lavender is known to help keep you focused as well as keep you calm and relaxed which is a crucial need for me. I love changing out some of the scents in my diffuser as each smell does something different for you. My second favorite is citrus. While working you want to make sure that your working efficiently as well and time blocking task out.