Build, Sell, Scale: Salon Business Strategy for Freedom | Ashley Gill

What if selling your business wasn’t failure, but proof that you built something valuable?

In this episode of the Wickedly Branded Podcast, Beverly Cornell sits down with Ashley Gill, owner of Fibre Salon in Henderson, Nevada, to talk about what it really takes to build a business that can grow, sell, and stand on its own.

Ashley became an entrepreneur by accident at just 19 years old, but 26 years later, she has built and sold multiple salon locations and recently opened her fifth. Together, Beverly and Ashley unpack the evolution from being deeply embedded in the business to building a team, systems, and structure that allow the business to thrive without the founder doing everything.

They also dive into the realities many women entrepreneurs face, from being underestimated in male-dominated spaces to navigating profitability, leadership, boundaries, and work-life balance. Ashley shares why numbers matter just as much as creativity, why selling can be a strategic success, and how trusting yourself is the first step to trusting your team.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that building a business is not just about working harder. It is about creating something sustainable, profitable, and aligned with the life you actually want.

Key Marketing Topics

1. A Sellable Business Starts With Strong Systems

If your business cannot function without you, it becomes harder to scale, sell, or even step away for a vacation. Ashley shares how building systems, training a trusted team, and creating structure allows a business to operate with more freedom and less founder dependency.

2. Profitability Is Part of the Brand Strategy

A beautiful business is not enough if the numbers do not work. Ashley and Beverly talk about why entrepreneurs, especially creatives and service providers, need to understand margins, profitability, and financial decision-making if they want long-term success.

3. Client Attraction Does Not Require a Million Followers

Beverly reminds Ashley that marketing is not about vanity metrics or chasing every platform. It is about choosing the right channel, reading the data, staying consistent, and attracting the loyal clients who actually convert.

Follow Ashley 

https://www.fibresalon.com/team

Dare to be Wickedly Branded

Transcript

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Beverly 0:11

welcome to the Wickedly Branded Podcast. I'm Beverly Cornell. I am the host and also the fairy godmother here at Wickedly Branded. And we are here with Ashley Gill. She is the owner of Fiber Salon out of Nevada Las Vegas. How's the weather there today in Las Vegas?

Ashley 0:25

It's gorgeous. Sunny, 80 degrees. This is the best time of year here.

Beverly 0:30

Okay, so actually tell me a little about your story, how you became an entrepreneur, why salon work and how your journey has been, because I, most people I interview say that the journey is not from A to B. There's a whole lot of ups and downs that happened along the way. So just tell me who you got here.

Ashley 0:45

Yeah, I would say it's definitely not from A to B. I don't even know. There's some numbers in there, there's some symbols in there along the way. It's, it's a scattered journey. so I, I actually became an entrepreneur. Accident. I, I guess

Beverly 0:58

I would were I love that. Yes.

Ashley 1:00

Yeah. But 26 years later, I'm still doing the same work, so I guess it stuck. I was 19. I didn't know what I wanted. I wanted to play and have fun. Yeah. And my mom said, this is a great career path. It's something that even if you didn't continue it, you could always fall back on it. You could have a family with it because it's flexible. Entrepreneurship is not, but that's fine. so I jumped into my apprenticeship with her and I fell in love. I fell in love with making people look and feel beautiful. I fell in love with the personal connection.

Beverly 1:28

Yeah.

Ashley 1:29

I started doing extensions and I loved the drama and the change that went along with that. And then shortly thereafter, she decided to close her salon for, personal reasons and, I fell into a space with a friend of mine and we just put together a salon and then a few, I know it was crazy. It just, you're at that age when you're young, you just say yes. Oh. Although technically I'm still doing that and I'm 25 years later, so who knows?

Beverly 1:54

That's a bravery of a 19-year-old kid. I know

Ashley 1:57

that Impetuousness, where you're like, I can't fail. Obviously this is gonna work. Yeah. and then a few years after that, I built another salon, and then I built another one and then another one. And so here I am, 24 years after I built the first one. just having opened my fifth salon location, the other four I've sold along the way, which has been, a really great experience. And I think that that's a component that we don't think about a lot as well either is this entrepreneurship and. We're doing this and we're working and we're progressing, but the sale is not a failure. The sale can be your success.

Beverly 2:30

Yeah.

Ashley 2:31

and so that's been an interesting journey having sold my previous locations. But now, I'm in Las Vegas, as you mentioned. I'm from California originally, and I, I just opened that fifth location back in November and it's been great. It's been really amazing. Yeah. I've pulled back from being behind the chair a lot to be able to, navigate the needs of a very large salon space that I've now opened.

Beverly 2:55

the essence of an entrepreneur is to build things. So having salon does not surprise me because I feel like once you've started a business and built it and you've seen it grow, that you are like, okay, I need to do that again and again. 'cause it's a really fun feeling to build something. meaning that I wanna more and more so I'm away from all the daily things. And so I've been able to pick and choose on what I wanna do. And I'm in my Oprah era now. That's why I'm going. These kind of things. Love

Ashley 3:19

that.

Beverly 3:20

But, it's been interesting to see the evolution in my own business to possibly doing that. I can't imagine building a whole nother business, but I do believe that probably it would be a lot easier to build a second business versus a first business.

Ashley 3:33

it's like having children. They say that the, the second, third kid that just gets easier. I don't know that it does. and it depends, I, I think each business that I have built, and when I say built, literally trenching, cement, I, I mean from a gray shell. I love construction. it's an addiction of mine. I've started getting into building some houses too.

Beverly 3:53

I'm not surprised. It's, it's, I call my lighting jewelry like I love.

Ashley 3:58

Okay, I love that. And I'm stealing it, by the way.

Beverly 3:59

Yes, totally. I

Ashley 4:00

love that so much. Yeah, so I,

Beverly 4:02

and it literally jewelry hold that. It's like crystal and stuff,

Ashley 4:05

I love it. Yeah.

Beverly 4:06

Jewelry. So you,

Ashley 4:07

it's so fun.

Beverly 4:09

It's not surprising because it's a beauty, like you No,

Ashley 4:11

absolutely. And I think when you love the aesthetics of things That building it is just, it goes along with it. But it's interesting the, the selling component of your business, because I do think that, when I sold my first location, a lot of people said, oh gosh, was it just too much for you? And I said. No, I needed to pivot and make space to do the next one. And then a couple, I opened one, and then sold two years later, another one. So I had two simultaneously at one point. Okay. And again, the, the feedback when I sold the other one was, gosh, we, we felt like that was a lot. I was like, no, no, no. I, I, I made money.

Beverly 4:45

It's interesting. It's a women

Ashley 4:46

a purpose. This was a purposeful choice that I did

Beverly 4:48

this, a women's perspective. Because when you told me that, I did not think for a second, it was because you felt, yeah.

Ashley 4:52

It's so funny. then there is a difference, right? So the feedback between a female and a male, definitely, and I think that generationally too, it was definitely much older clients because I'd mixed bag of like men and, and women that would come back and say, oh, is this a lot for you? some men have been giant cheerleaders and they're like, build another one, do another one. Why aren't you doing more do three at once?

Beverly 5:11

Yeah.

Ashley 5:11

but I do think a big part is generational because definitely some older people, you. The generation of like my parents and maybe the generation after, after them, you get a job, you stay in that job for your entire life. You're committed to that forever. Yeah. So when you change, there's some kind of potentially negative catalyst that has happened that creates that change versus look, this was my choice. Yeah. I wanted to pivot. I came from California to Nevada 'cause I wanted to make more money, let's be honest. and again, this was a choice, but I think one of the biggest things and the hardest things was selling a business is. Removing yourself from that business. Because if you're so ingrained in that business, when you sell it, you're almost setting up the buyer to not succeed. so it's really, the more. You are an intricate part of the success of your business, the harder it's to sell, for sure. So you're so smart to start to pull away Yeah. A little bit. or, or pivot your

Beverly 6:05

Yeah.

Ashley 6:05

Your connection or what it looks like, right?

Beverly 6:07

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I just, I feel and my husband isn't gonna retire from the military in four years, so the idea was like we retired together and figured that out. In how we work. So that it fits our lives. Right. So there's some of that too, but, Yeah. I think that when you get to a certain point in your business, you do need to think about what the exit strategy is or the legacy strategy is. I have two sons, both have expressed a little bit of interest in the business. So is it like, is this gonna be something I pass down? And if it is my brand is so girly, what do we need to do to shift it? If that's the case,

Ashley 6:36

right.

Beverly 6:37

it's very feminine brand. I work mostly with female founders. That's a thing that. I understand the most as a female founder

Ashley 6:42

of course,

Beverly 6:43

but hopefully I'm, I'm, I'm raising boys that are very aware and sensitive to all that too, so maybe it won't be even a big deal. But I, it is something to consider when you build a business and when you've sold several of them. I imagine there is a different kind of thought process even going into the business than your initial first one.

Ashley 7:01

Absolutely. I think when you build your very first business, oftentimes it's, it's, you romanticize it a bit, right? You're like, I'm so in love with this. You pour your heart and soul into all of them. But it's different with the first one, because this is gonna be your baby forever.

Beverly 7:14

Yeah.

Ashley 7:14

And you can't imagine your life without it. But then when you start to sell your businesses, every time you build a new one, that's what you're looking at. What is the profitability? What is the exit strategy? What is gonna happen on the opposite end? And so you're. Your roadmap changes and the destination changes as well, of course. because you are going into it a little bit more eyes wide open with, I, I know at some point this is gonna sell.

Beverly 7:37

Yeah.

Ashley 7:38

and I think that was a struggle for me, for sure, for a while, is accepting the fact that. This is something that I do regularly. I build and I sell. and I had a stylist when I first built this one location and he said, I've done some research on you. I wanna be a part of everything that you're doing. I'm super excited, but I understand that you always seem to sell your businesses and hearing it from somebody else, I was. Oh, that's my business model.

Beverly 8:02

This is like the thing. Yeah.

Ashley 8:03

Isn't that amazing? I guess that's what I do.

Beverly 8:06

Yeah.

Ashley 8:06

but it was interesting because then he said, I just like the opportunity to be the first person you come to when that time comes. So it was a beautiful conversation. It was wonderful. But it's, it's funny that that's a whole different entrepreneurship business model of just going into it with this is my intention is to sell. I'm gonna build it, I'm gonna grow it, I'm gonna make it float on its own and then package it up with a nice bow for the next person.

Beverly 8:29

So I wanna talk about that a little bit. There's a couple things that you said that are interesting to me. One is, you said this is a very large salon. When you say large, what does that mean? Compared to your, your first one, for example.

Ashley 8:40

every commercial space has different square footage and different nuances. So this one has more square footage than I've ever taken on. I like boutique size businesses. I think that the important. Part of the business that I create, the hair salon that I create is the care and the way that we feel like a home and a sanctuary to our clients. by the nature of the business, the bigger you get, the harder that is to do. And so I've always looked for commercial spaces that we're of a certain size. the situation with this most recent one was, it was a great situation that was literally handed to me. And so it's definitely more square footage than what I have historically done or tend to seek out. it also has

Beverly 9:20

shares more people to

Ashley 9:22

meet. It means more.

Beverly 9:23

Yeah,

Ashley 9:23

exactly. Because you wanna maximize your square footage, right? I don't want empty space that isn't gonna be making me money. I love what I do, but it, again, it's a business. it also has spa rooms and I have had other locations that have had estheticians, but this one has more spa rooms than what I'm used to. So it's a pivot. it's a bigger baby and it's a different baby.

Beverly 9:42

Yeah. And then, the other question I was thinking about is before we got onto the call, we were talking about how this is really the first generation of female founders. my mom was a nurse. That was one the option. She had four options. She could be a nurse, a teacher, a librarian, or stay at home with her children. And this was the seventies, right? Early seventies.

Ashley 10:01

Yeah.

Beverly 10:01

And this is this generation that has happened over the last 20 years or so. Like I, I remember the nineties and eighties, it was like working mom, like corporate Barbie kind of thing. And now it is. And I remember my mom trying to flex too at that time as a mom raising me. She was a nurse and she'd worked in the hospital and she worked nighttime sometime and she worked emergency room and she eventually left that to do home care so she could do visits during the day and be home when I got home and do paperwork. So she found a way even then. To support her home life. a lot of women are doing that. They want the flexibility, so they're deciding to just screw corporate. 'cause it's not, it doesn't allow you a lot of flexibility and I'm going to open my own business. But what I found when I became an accidental entrepreneur, just like you in some ways, I, I married for love and when I did that, I had to totally change my trajectory. 'cause I was a VP of marketing for a tech startup. Then I was like, I can't do that every three years in a new place. that's gonna be a lot of networking and that's a lot. And so I said, I'll just do some freelancing. Created A-J-J-O-B for myself essentially. And, I was just gonna do the job, Ashley, and then I got so big that I had to hire somebody. Then I got so big I had to hire somebody else. And then I got so it, it, we did so well that I was pushed into higher levels of business. Fortitude, we'll call it. Yes. but in that process, the very flexibility I was seeking was a very thing that was keeping me up at night and stressed out at, in the, at three o'clock in the morning and not able to go on vacation. 'cause this phone was attached to my hip. And being on social media, now what we do is 24 7. Social media is 24 7. So it's there's always something going on. So there's, it became a prison in many ways. And I didn't know enough to set my boundaries early enough. I said yes to everyone.

Ashley 11:54

Yeah.

Beverly 11:54

Because I was trying to be helpful and all these things. So I think women are, in a unique situation right now in time in availability to, to have flexibility in our work. But also I love it because you're one of the first people I've talked to that talked about how like. Like the profitability and the money side of the business, not just the relational impact side, which is super important. You could make it half a million dollar business, but if you're not profitable, it doesn't matter, right? Like it means nothing. Absolutely. So this idea of profitability and how important it's, and I will say I'm raising my hand, and I'm totally guilty of this. In the very beginning, I didn't really look at my numbers because I'm a marketing person. I don't like numbers. I like the story it tells, but I don't like the numbers. And so I hired an accountant that, but I just. did them bare minimum. And now I'm doing forecasting and now I'm looking at profitability now. So I have become more sophisticated in that. But I. I feel like that is a level of sophistication That women just are starting to come into. And even with that, like funding, things like that has always been so limited for women that's been a challenge as well. Like even if they wanna grow in those ways, VC funding, angel investing and things like that has not been as available for women as it has been for men be, despite the numbers suggest that women owned businesses are far more sustainable and more profitable than male businesses. So it's so interesting to me. But these are things that we are encountering as women, like we're the first ones to do this thing. We are the first ones to create opportunities for ourselves and to demand more that just having a business. what has been some of the biggest challenges that you've faced in that you think it's maybe unique more to women or to your general experience?

Ashley 13:35

I would agree with definitely like looking at numbers and profitability side of things. Especially when you think about, I own, I've own hair salons. So we tend to employ more artists or artistic, creative minded people. Yeah. And oftentimes you have, I think there's some crazy statistics that like every day, 300 salons across the country, clothes or something wild like that. And not sell clothes. And I think a big part of it is, and women, we're forced to be reckoned with, but we go for things. and we tend to sometimes be a little bit less analytical. Not all the time, but looking at profitability and profit margins and all those things. And planning out doesn't always happen. we're like, oh, we, the income is this, everything's good. But really looking like you said, it, being profitable is huge, and especially when you're dealing with creatives. So I think a big part of those. Yeah, of course. look at your room, of course. but a big part of that is A lot of times we jump into industries, we jump into businesses and start businesses because we're very good at what we do. I was excellent at extensions, and so why would I not own a business that does extensions?

Beverly 14:33

Extensions and having a business is a

Ashley 14:35

big difference. But that's what happens a lot in a lot of businesses is like, I'm really good at my craft.

Beverly 14:42

Yes.

Ashley 14:43

But when you are an entrepreneur and you own a business, the number side of things is. Is intricate like it, it's an intricate part of success.

Beverly 14:52

Yeah.

Ashley 14:52

And yes, we can all measure success differently, but at the end of the day, success is being open and thriving. Financially thriving. you could throw in work life balance and all the fun stuff that you talked about, that's important too. But that's probably a much d different conver much more different conversation. and so I think, I come from parents that are accountants, so I had both sides running through my veins. I'm definitely creative, but I had the numbers drilled into me and I had a great number support system. So I think that has been a. Not lesser challenge, but I am also dealing with creative, so teaching that to them. And that's a huge part of what I love to do in my salon spaces, is show people their numbers and this is how you know we can create a formula suc for success. Nice. As being a woman in a space of building and construction and building out spaces, I would say, unfortunately that has been a huge challenge along the way. I remember meeting with one when worker one subcontractor, and I've worked with great contractors, but some of the subcontractors I had challenges with, and every time it was always like, honey, if you just calm down. Then maybe you will see. and it was, very condescending to call me honey in a work environment. this was 20 years ago. I, I think it, it's gotten less and less, which is fabulous. I love to see that change. And it's not because of any other reason than you would never speak to a man in this way.

Beverly 16:18

Absolutely.

Ashley 16:19

That's all. and that, that's been a huge challenge, in just legis. It's so frustrating because it's, you're just taken less seriously in certain aspects of creating the business. because you're just automatically put into a compartment of, she's female. She's a woman. And so she can't possibly know what it takes to, Put in shampoo bowl. I've done this five times. I actually do, I can diagnose where the leak is coming from. Not because I went to plumber school. I probably should have with so many hair salons. Yes,

Beverly 16:50

you should have,

Ashley 16:50

but my experience of 24 years of dealing with a lot of water situations, yes, I can diagnose it. And so I think that's such a hard thing that hopefully will continue to progress. Just being taken seriously in, in that realm. even with, as you're talking about with funding and banks, and again, it's gotten so much better and it's changed so much, but in the beginning it was, is your dad gonna co-sign? Do you have a husband who will, guarantee this lease? Or, I purchased a commercial property. and the person I purchased it from was great. I occupied it. I've been at a salon in that space for a while, and I, so I knew him as my landlord and it was a wonderful experience, but everybody else that I dealt with along the way was like, hun, can you afford this? It's a hair salon. I'm like, I don't think we'd be sitting here if I couldn't.

Beverly 17:40

Good for you.

Ashley 17:41

I just, It doesn't feel good. it's, it's an icky part of doing business. As a woman being question, it's really unfortunate being questioned consistently being questioned. Yeah. We're always feeling like, again, is your dad gonna co-sign? Oh, you're single. You don't have a husband.

Beverly 17:55

Yeah.

Ashley 17:56

No, I don't for much of my life because my whole life has been my business.

Beverly 17:59

Yep.

Ashley 17:59

In all honesty,

Beverly 18:01

that's your mistress, by the way. yes,

Ashley 18:02

yes.

Beverly 18:02

yes, yes.

Ashley 18:03

My businesses are my mistress.

Beverly 18:04

Interesting. I feel like I, I really haven't. Had I was 35 when I started my business. Maybe having the age. I wasn't treated the same as you in that sense. But it also was, it's been 15 years, so maybe a little bit more time has passed. I haven't had that kind of experience in this, in my career. I did some of that. Yeah, our directors, copy directors talking a ton. Some of that, yeah. But in my business, I haven't had much of that. And it's interesting because even with my very feminine branding. I have a lot of male clients because they're attracted to the very bold, clear way I communicate.

Ashley 18:41

Yeah.

Beverly 18:41

so I have, an NFL pro football player as a client, but as manly as they come. and it's funny to me, like how they are attracted to my brand, but I do think it is because I'm so clear and I'm bold in the way I present the brand. So it just depends on how you come across. Like you get to do that. And

Ashley 18:58

I think it's changed a lot. I really have to say that because definitely in dealing with all the same things that I dealt with in the very first location, let's say. The communication and the support, and that condescending nature has definitely disappeared. and age could, like you said, age could definitely have been a part of it. I was 22, I was very young. And so it was hard to be taken seriously. Of course.

Beverly 19:22

Little ahead about it.

Ashley 19:23

Yeah. No, literally that has been told to me more than once. Yes. Yes. but I think it's a beautiful thing that now. female entrepreneurship and success and the support of that is being celebrated. and I love seeing that because it definitely has progressed a lot in the last 25 years, which is beautiful and I'm so grateful for that.

Beverly 19:43

I feel like all the systems were created for men by men, and so now that women are at the table, We're creating systems for women by women and that is what has evolved so much is that, that works for you, but it doesn't work for me. And that's okay if I get to now create this new container, what it looks like for me. It can be whatever I want it to be, which is

Ashley 20:02

sure.

Beverly 20:02

So wonderful, but So challenging at the same time. 'cause you're building it all from scratch, right? what is this gonna look like?

Ashley 20:09

Absolutely. And change is hard for on all sides of the table, right?

Beverly 20:12

Yeah. Absolutely. So what has been the greatest joy of the work you do?

Ashley 20:17

Oh. I, there's so many things, but I would say the first thing that pops into my head is seeing people that I nurtured, mentored, and supported in the early stages of their career, thriving today. Whether they're still with me and participating in the businesses that I own, or they've gone off and done their own thing. creating the next female entrepreneur.

Beverly 20:39

Yeah,

Ashley 20:40

just gives me, I get teary eyed. it just gives me this feeling in my heart that I'm like. This is what I'm doing, this is why I'm doing this. and, and it's not just about female. it's anybody. But just giving people the support and the strength and the knowledge, because education's such a huge part of my career. I've educated for multiple large global haircare companies, and I just feel like education's so important, never ending and just seeing that, Thrive and grow in somebody else. it's like raising children. I, I see the beauty in my, I have two boys, so I see the beauty in my two boys that they've gotten older. One's 22 and one's 15, and, and the men, the young men that are becoming, I feel that with the. The stylists and later salon, other salon owners I've raised

Beverly 21:23

same

Ashley 21:24

way. And I love it. I do. I get teary eyed. I just love it.

Beverly 21:26

Yeah. that's the thing that I think is so powerful about women, all businesses probably too, but specifically for women is this ripple effect that they have.

Ashley 21:33

Yeah.

Beverly 21:34

cause they are more mentors. They are more nurturers, they are more, relational in the work that they do, that they can affect their teams affect their families, the families affects the community. there's this. A beautiful impact that can happen when a woman, and this is why I do what I would, my, my why is totally tied to that, Ashley.

Ashley 21:54

Yeah.

Beverly 21:54

If more women own businesses and more women have legacy and wealth and power, and they have a seat at the table, then we'll live in a more soulful world.

Ashley 22:01

I agree.

Beverly 22:02

Absolutely. So that ripple effect is the most powerful thing that I believe we can have. And I have team members who are, they're in their mid twenties. They're not young, but they're in their mid twenties. And I do think of them kind like my children and I'm so proud of them when they do stuff and I'm hard on when I know I see their potential. Right. They have there's so much to it and. I, I know other business owners too, who actually went in Vegas, camp Bow. Wow. Anita, she owns Camp Bow. Wow. There, she's been a client of ours for a while. She says all of her people on her team are like kids and she actually sometimes has to push them out the door Yeah. To go be independent living beings. you can not see here. You're gonna, you have more to you than here. and she's like hard on them, like tough love too, you need to move on because you have so much more potential to do this thing that you wanna do. We're holding you back. You're too comfortable here. You need to go do the hard things. Yeah. And I feel like women's particularly, that is something that we are very good at with our teams for the most part. but we all live in this like duality, as women of being a fierce, business owner Barbie, and also being the nurture feminine side of us that is a little bit more caring and relational. and trying to balance that with what society expects from us. There's just a lot of layers to the expectations that we carry as women.

Ashley 24:24

Absolutely. I think that, that can be one of the biggest challenges that we deal with is being able to carry all those expectations and how do we navigate them? How do we balance them and how do we not let them crush us, right? But on the flip side, it's also one of the most beautiful things and what makes us. Amazing as female entrepreneurs is all of these things because we do learn to navigate them. And we do them quite well and we can, the ability for us to be able to juggle multiple things as women is such an asset when it comes to being an entrepreneur, I feel like. and being able to navigate things and pivot. but having that nurturing side with the powerful side, my mom used, tells me all the time, she's you are such a stallion. When you were young and it's turned into, and then seeing you as a mother, the nurturer came out. So having that nurturer and stallion together is your recipe for success.

Beverly 25:13

Yeah.

Ashley 25:13

but I think that's a beautiful thing that makes us very special as female entrepreneurs.

Beverly 25:18

We talked about before we went live that, On the recording about like work life balance, like how, 'cause salons have like long hours. They're on the weekends, they're at night. And I imagine for you, just like social media is 24 7, I'm not saying there's like a hair emergency 24 7, but we all, anybody who has hair believes that their hair is an emergency.

Ashley 25:37

Yes,

Beverly 25:37

actually, as we're sitting on the call, I'm thinking about, I'm glad I curled my hair today 'cause I'm on the phone with somebody who actually curls hair for, like nose, hair. and I'm actually having an okay hair day today, so

Ashley 25:45

it looks great.

Beverly 25:46

It

Ashley 25:46

looks lovely.

Beverly 25:47

Thank you. But I look at that aspect of it, and you have to always be on, right? 'cause you have to be dressed and you have to look nice and there's a whole presentation to what you do. How do you balance that with the work and the home life and that gives you the, freedom as well as the profitability.

Ashley 26:05

It's hard. Like I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. It is hard. It's 24 years later, it's. It's a challenge. It's very hard, and I have had many tearful nights of I'm failing everybody, right? You start to feel that way. I'll get teary eyed talking about it, but I think that, In some ways social media and our phones being little computers and per 24 7 access to each other has really made it even harder.

Beverly 26:29

Yep.

Ashley 26:30

Because when I first opened the salons, we had a landline phone. And an answering machine. We wrote our appointments down on paper. And so if there was a hair emergency. After hours, we would get it the next day. But now if you don't respond in the middle of the night, people feel somehow that you are not there for them. Yeah. So this. All hours access that we now live in has really created a very challenging situation for having that balance. Yeah. So putting in your own boundaries is really important. And when you're nurturing a team, it's even harder because you're also carrying all of their juggling as well. I have a hard time with relationships, to be honest. I would love, I want a partner. I wanna have, a beautiful marriage and all of those things. but it does make it a challenge. And you look for somebody that maybe has this. Similar life to you, but then you both are doing that. So then how do you both juggle it, right? You live that? or you're like, you know what? Maybe it's just easier if I'm by myself. And then you feel lonely. And entrepreneurship is lonely in a professional sense, especially when you're leading a team. Yes. and then you add in being single. Is even more lonely. So it's hard. And I think that it's something that I'm constantly trying to work on because I don't know where that balance lies and the balance shifts when my boys were young and. That the balance was a certain way. They had certain needs. Now, if they've gotten older, they have different needs, but I have needs. So I think it's something that we always have to continuously look at, pivoting what that balance looks like. And it's different for all of us, but I don't know. You tell me. I'm like, how do I do this? It's hard. it's just,

Beverly 28:04

yeah.

Ashley 28:04

you have to turn it off at some point. I'm going on vacation with a friend of mine and she told my team when she was here for our grand opening, she was like, unless the building's on fire, Ashley needs to be able to go on vacation. And I said, actually, if the building's on fire, that's when you don't call me. There's nothing I can do. Call, just call 9 1 1. But being able to turn off. But being a good leader puts systems into place.

Beverly 28:26

Yes.

Ashley 28:27

Puts a team together that can function without you. Yeah. This kind of goes back to when it comes time to sell.

Beverly 28:32

Yep.

Ashley 28:33

it's all intertwined where you're creating a functional, Machine. So to speak, that can continue to function with or without you. Does it function a little bit better with you? Probably, but it's not realistic for us to be working 24 7. That's not good for us in so many ways.

Beverly 28:50

Earlier today, we were talking on an interview about trust. Once you trust yourself, you can trust others and systems to help you. Yeah. But you have to find the trust in yourself as a business person. And sometimes that's the hardest part. I understand. Because that means that. You like your decision making has to be good. that you trust that you're making the right decisions, that you trust, that you're making the right people on, that you trust that your product or your service is the best out there and why, like, all that stuff needs to be part of you. and until I trusted myself, Ashley, I couldn't trust my team and I couldn't trust the systems that we were building to hold with you. But now that I trust myself. It's a whole different game. It is an entirely different game. It's like it's a quick yes or no. It is. I know what's gonna work and what's not gonna work. but sometimes I'm like, oh, let's try that. that's a good idea. Let's, I am more game to try stuff too that maybe I wouldn't before. but I have an amazing team too, so I've been able to like. Really trust them. They've been with me for four years, three, like a long time. That's awesome. To be able to, to give, build that trust. And there's one of the team members, I can't even imagine building this company without her. she's such an integral part of some of the soul of the business. So there's so much to that and I trust her implicitly, and she has said. The one thing I think over the last three years that I've learned is to trust myself because you trust me so much. So by trusting her, it has built the trust in herself, which has been interesting because she questioned. But I do think that it's about trust in so many ways, trusting you, your business, your clients, your staff, your systems. And then once you have those in place, you can start to step out and let. Them figure it out, go on vacation and see what happens. Yeah. And like it, it, and those moments are good for them too. Like it's good for you to have Absolutely.

Ashley 30:34

It's again, it's just like your children. Yeah. until you give them the some responsibility, they'll tend to rise the occasion you offer them. Yeah.

Beverly 30:42

Yeah.

Ashley 30:42

But I totally agree. I think businesses should function the same way. With or without you there. and it is, the letting go part is a big part of that for sure. I think, obviously you have a period of time where you're building all of that.

Beverly 30:56

Yeah.

Ashley 30:56

and I'm in the first year of this location and so I definitely, I told everybody, I was like, this is, I'm gonna be intensely hands-on for the first year. And then I do pull back and it doesn't mean I'm gone. It just means that you all have the strength and the skillset and the training and the systems to succeed, even if I am. doing something else, what, whatever else. building another one. I don't know.

Beverly 31:18

Yeah, exactly. I love that for you. I dunno, I'm to the point where I'm not sure I'm gonna do this again, but, I say that

Ashley 31:24

every time

Beverly 31:25

I wanna build something, but I don't know if it's gonna be a full fledge business. It might be something different, but that I can imagine right now.

Ashley 31:31

but the world now is amazing in that you can do that. Yeah. it's not black and white when it comes to business building. there's so many opportunities and ways and what it can look like.

Beverly 31:41

Yeah. I think. One of the things I written my own methodology and one of the things I was thinking was I could sell that methodology to other. Branding companies and then I am mentoring them as opposed to actually, just one, like the impact I could have would be far more. So there's all kinds of opportunities in this world. It's just do you claim those opportunities for yourself and what does that look like for yourself? How,

Ashley 32:03

does it resonate with you?

Beverly 32:04

Yeah. And I think that you've built so much. You've built this. I'm proud of you. I don't even know you, but I'm proud of you.

Ashley 32:08

thank you.

Beverly 32:09

And I just think it's amazing that you've been able to do that. And obviously you've worked really hard. Obviously it matters to you, obviously, you know your stuff, right? And that is So important when you do this work. but it's just, it's so nice to see women succeeding in doing those things. So just keep doing that. 'cause we need to see more women doing those things, Yay. so I, one question I always ask every single, person who's on, I actually, I'm the fairy godmother. I actually have a wand. And

Ashley 32:37

I love it.

Beverly 32:38

I can't make your hair really pretty, but

Ashley 32:39

I can,

Beverly 32:40

maybe solve a marketing problem is if there's one thing I could wave my magic wand today to help you with regarding marketing, what would it be?

Ashley 32:46

Ooh. Interesting. That's a great one. I need like a, because I've been doing this for so long and marketing has changed so much, what I need, like a simplified crash course in digital marketing. It's a wild world out there.

Beverly 33:00

it really is. And it changes every day actually.

Ashley 33:02

And it changes every day. and it's great because it's limitless. I am loving learning and diving into all of that. especially because I'm in a completely new region. And so it's. Even more important than any of the other locations along the way. but it is, constantly changing and it's wild. And it's so good though, but it is confusing.

Beverly 33:22

So where do you, are you TikTok or are you an instagramer? Who, what are you

Ashley 33:26

We're literally doing all of it. But what I have recently done, so my salon babies as I call them, and I mean that in not a Conde way, but in an endearing, loving and mothering way. we are doing a, the babies takeover TikTok.

Beverly 33:38

Fun

Ashley 33:38

because it is so much more intuitive for them.

Beverly 33:41

Yep, absolutely.

Ashley 33:42

And so we're doing that. we do the Instagram, we have Google, we do Google ads, we do all the things. I'm a networking person. I love to meet people. I go out, I'm doing all the things with the Chamber of Commerce. I love that. but it's, Digitally. Yeah, we're doing everything posting on Nextdoor. We're doing all the things.

Beverly 33:59

I, it's good to have a presence everywhere, but I would go all in on one. Yeah. That way you can keep up with the algorithm that way you can, you like know in the back of your hand because you can see how it's changed and you're measuring and you're in and you're there. So the one thing I would say is to really, if you're doing all the things. If there's one that you love more, if you're like to tell stories or that TikTok is perfect for that, if you like more of the aesthetic, then Instagram's better for you. Yeah. you can decide. But the thing that, is to do content and then really the numbers don't lie. Look at your analytics, just like you do for your business and what is moving the needle, and then go all in on that thing. Honestly, that is where you need to be. That's what you need to do. And then just every month, like what, what hit this month? Hit, let's do more of those kinds of things. don't, it is a science project because it's tricky. Yeah. But look at the data. 'cause the data will tell you what to do. So as tools change, your analytics may change, but that will be the indicator that this is changing. And look at what we're seeing here. this hook is better than this hook, or this is better than this. Like you'll start to see some patterns and those are the patterns you follow. The other thing is, If you have competitors, this is a little secret I do all the time, is I run their, social media channels through chat and ask them what they do. That's really good. Oh,

Ashley 35:16

okay.

Beverly 35:17

Do a few things of my own, maybe with my own twist on it, but I have the machines measure and tell me kind of their secret sauce and then I can either add a layer or I can, but I usually always do my own spin on it. But that is something else that you can do to give you some information that might be helpful for you.

Ashley 35:36

I love that idea. That's great. 'cause I think we can learn from each other.

Beverly 35:39

Oh yeah.

Ashley 35:40

why not?

Beverly 35:41

There's enough business for everyone. You don't have

Ashley 35:42

to. Oh, a hundred percent. I completely agree. I don't,

Beverly 35:44

yeah. There's enough business for everyone. I'm not worried about that either. oh yeah,

Ashley 35:47

absolutely.

Beverly 35:48

But

Ashley 35:48

that's a great idea that chat man, that's a life changer.

Beverly 35:50

it is. I'm already a fire mine, but I'll, yeah. It's very sassy once in a while and I'm like, no, not that way. Go back to fire. That's not what

Ashley 35:57

I wanted.

Beverly 35:58

Yeah.

Ashley 35:58

That love

Beverly 35:59

hate relationship too. Wander too far. Yeah, exactly. You wanted too far down the road, yeah. But,

Ashley 36:03

oh, that's a great idea.

Beverly 36:05

I do think that might be helpful for you In doing some of that because I feel a lot of people just do it willy-nilly and they're not putting that. Extra analytical side to it. And that is where the magic is. Is that what is working, what is not working? And if it's not working, try something else. If that starts to work, then you have it just gives you the ability to like tweak the levers a little bit to be able to find something that maybe works a little bit better for you. So that's, but I would go hard on the thing, whatever it is. The TikTok babies do it like go hard, even if it's just for 90 days. Yep. To see. How you do and if that's the place you love, and if it's not, try another one. But you can have a presence. But I would, it becomes exhausting actually doing all of them.

Ashley 36:48

Yeah, it does. I think, the Google situation is such a blessing. it's a lot to deal with. But gosh, it has driven so much business.

Beverly 36:58

So the thing you need to be worried about now is a EO Yeah. Optimizing for that. Okay. Because, SEO is dying the way it used to go. Yeah. So Google is great, but, doing frequently asked questions, some of those kinds of things on your website Yep. Having videos about your questions is great. those kinds of things, that's gonna build content in a way that the AI bots will like and will feature you up in the little snippets at the top of the pages. So make sure you're doing that. And then the GEO, which is the geographical based on, making sure you're mentioning your location and where you're at, and make sure that's consistent across all of your. Sites and everything. also is important for the algorithms. There's so many things that feel, so those things, it is complicated and I've been doing since I've been doing marketing for almost 30 years, cause I was like 10 when I started. Yeah, of course. the, the education and my master's degree and what I went for as far as communications. So many of theories still apply, but every single tool has changed. Every single one actually.

Ashley 37:52

Yeah.

Beverly 37:53

And I know with too, Brazilian blowouts were a thing and now it's cure to treatments and like things change and every single industry, but. Like every single tool, like you still at least use scissors. Yes.

Ashley 38:03

Fair enough.

Beverly 38:04

We do not use anything anymore that we did before. there's a few things. Yeah. But it's just so different than it was. And like you said, my younger team members are way more native to Instagram than I am. I was a Facebook Twitter girl, so that and LinkedIn. But that is like where I love to exist, where they are more so they are able to give me like. Do that. I'll just say, do whatever, and they'll gimme ideas for videos and I'm like, yeah, I'm not doing that.

Ashley 38:30

Yeah, I, Right. And then that's why I tell them like, we're still authentic to our brand. Like I love the suggestions, I love the feedback, and I like that the creative juice is flowing in your head, but let's be authentic to our brand.

Beverly 38:39

Yeah. But I'm not doing that. Just so we're clear.

Ashley 38:41

Yeah. So that's not gonna happen.

Beverly 38:43

Yeah. But

Ashley 38:44

Thank you.

Beverly 38:44

Yeah. exactly. Do go right ahead. But I'm not doing that. Yeah. So I know my limits, but again, I have been able to trust myself and know that's not authentic to me. And if that was Someone else, then they should do that thing, not me. Okay.

Ashley 38:57

Absolutely.

Beverly 38:57

and the other thing I think to remember. And you have a large line by, you don't need a million followers. You don't need to be a TikTok viral star to be a successful business, you need a hundred really good customers. That's what you need. So don't get distracted by numbers that are just vanity. Do the numbers that actually convert and do the thing you want them to do. That's the numbers that matter. And if you can get, one, 200 people who love your salon, you will have a very successful business. So that is the other thing I think for so long, everyone's I need all these followers. I need. Yeah. And it's almost. And people were buying them, and it just becomes really icky and gross and whatever. So really be you. Do you and the right people will come to you? 'cause they'll recognize themselves or they'll think, oh, I want that. They'll, that will resonate in a way that is really powerful. So don't get distracted by so many fans or so many this, just make sure that people are engaging. There's impressions that you're being seen. Those kinds of things are just. As important than the number of people who follow you. It's nice to have lots of people who love you, don't get me wrong. Sure. But it's not the goal.

Ashley 40:04

But again, we're in business.

Beverly 40:05

Exactly.

Ashley 40:06

Not an it's not a popularity contest necessarily.

Beverly 40:08

Absolutely.

Ashley 40:09

Yeah. And that is something that I love about social media is that you don't have to have a ton of followers to actually have it translate into financial success.

Beverly 40:17

Yeah.

Ashley 40:17

It's, and it's just like building a team. when I'm hearing you talk about this, I'm thinking about like when I'm building a team in a location. Because at first sometimes you're like, I'm not getting any responses I need because it takes a little while it does to get the right team together, but. When you're strong in your brand and who you are.

Beverly 40:33

Yep.

Ashley 40:33

Your people will come to you.

Beverly 40:35

They will,

Ashley 40:35

and the team will build. and the clientele is similar is what I'm hearing you say?

Beverly 40:39

Yes, absolutely. A hundred

Ashley 40:40

percent. Yeah. I love that.

Beverly 40:42

it translates very well to that space.

Ashley 40:44

Yes.

Beverly 40:44

The last question I ask everybody is, what does it mean to you to be wickedly branded? And how do you show up as wickedly branded?

Ashley 40:50

Oh, I think that trust and strength in who you are and who your business is the first thing that comes to mind when you say that.

Beverly 40:56

I

Ashley 40:56

love that. I think that, yeah, definitely knowing who your niche is, who your target client is, who your stylist is, that you want to be working in your salon and what the aesthetic of your salon is, of your socials, of your website. Just your entire branding is, is. Is you. And I am my branding. I think that's something that I feel very proud about.

Beverly 41:19

Yeah.

Ashley 41:19

Is that I live authentically my brand every single day. I don't put anything out there that isn't something that I'm not doing myself

Beverly 41:26

well. And that translates right to the success you've had when you are show up as yourself no matter where you are. Then,

Ashley 41:32

yeah,

Beverly 41:33

makes it easy. 'cause you're not exhausted by who am I here? Who am I there? Yeah. Like we have enough decisions to make. We have decision fatigue as it is, and cognitive overload as it is. You don't need to add the extra layer. So when you can take off some of that and be truly yourself, this is something we talk about with our clients all the time.

Ashley 41:48

Yeah.

Beverly 41:48

When you show up as yourself. That stuff melts away and now you have more room for creativity, more room for new ideas, more room for other things because you, you stand very tall in who you are. There's no, no thinking about it anymore. no. Watering it down or making it fit somebody else's construct of corporate speak or something. It is you. And it sounds like you, and that is where the magic, I think, lies, is really leaning as hard as you can into your brand, which is you and how you show up, and how your philosophy and how you live life, and how you approach business and how you approach the thing that you love. Hair and skin and all those things. So that is, that's you. That's who you are.

Ashley 42:28

Absolutely. And it helps keep the fatigue away too. That burnout doesn't happen when you're spinning your wheels trying to be something or someone you're not.

Beverly 42:35

Absolutely. And I can't say it's gonna be a hundred percent fatigue free, but it will be less. I promise you it will be less. Because I think people spend a lot of time thinking, what about my competitor? What about this and other people? And they get caught in this competitive trap, this competitor trap, and then they, I have to do this and I have to do that. And that's not you. So why are you doing that Like that? Don't do something that's not you. They'll add an extra layer of something that's not necessary. And even the go all in on one tool, that is something too, like you don't have to spread yourself so thin. go in and go hard and do the thing that you love and do it well. And that will be the thing. You'll get enough fans in that space to. Help you with the business. It just depends on what one you're gonna be on. So that is it. That is it. I love that. Okay. How, what advice would you give to our listeners to be more wickedly branded? To be more authentic, and to be.

Ashley 43:22

I think you have to be vulnerable. I think you have to be vulnerable and you have to be really ready to know yourself and you can't know yourself and know who you are, and then envision building it out from there. 'cause your brand exudes from yourself when it's authentic, right? but to be able to figure out who that is and what that's going to look like, you have to know yourself and you have to be vulnerable.

Beverly 43:42

And that's why I think branding and identity are so intertwined.

Ashley 43:45

Yeah.

Beverly 43:46

So I feel like that. And knowing yourself and trusting yourself is just the key part of it. Absolutely. I love that soundbite. Ashley, thank you so much. Where can people find you and your salon and make appointments to come get their beauty on?

Ashley 44:00

Oh, amazing. So we're located in Henderson, Nevada. We're on Eastern between St. Rose and Coronado. You can head to our website, fiber salon.com, and it's F-I-B-R-E-S-A-L-O n.com. That's the easiest way to find us. And we're on Instagram too, fiber salon.

Beverly 44:17

Awesome. So the Camp Bow I work with is the Henderson one,

Ashley 44:20

so it's actually, I was thinking as you're talking about, I think it's right down the street.

Beverly 44:23

Eastern, it has to be

Ashley 44:24

Eastern is a large street, but I think it is on Eastern. It's just on the opposite end of Eastern. Yeah. I think I know exactly where that is.

Beverly 44:30

Yeah, that's funny. Yeah. So Anita is the owner there. Okay. If you ever run into a chamber event or something. Yeah, I definitely know her. She's super sweet and super nice. Oh, wonderful. I could even make an introduction if you want, so you have a friendly face on the strip or whatever. So it's up to you.

Ashley 44:43

I would love that. Yeah, that would be great. I always love meeting new people.

Beverly 44:46

She's super nice. She's feisty, so watch out.

Ashley 44:48

Okay. We like feisty. We'll

Beverly 44:49

feisty. That's fine. She like part-time in Orlando. Her husband or her, her fiance now works out of Orlando, so she lives part-time there and then part-time in Vegas. So she's a busy girl, but she's super cool. You'd love her.

Ashley 45:01

Amazing. Yeah, I would love to meet her.

Beverly 45:03

Perfect. Okay. So I will do the introduction for you for sure. Thank you. so to my listeners, this is just a great episode to remind you that going all in on yourself and really trusting yourself can be so profitable in so many ways, and that you can build a business. And then build another business and then build another business. If that's what you want to do. If you don't wanna do it, don't freak out, don't do it. But what I do know for sure is that your work matters. You have impact and you can shape people's lives and your message matters. And the more you lean into who you are authentically and show up as yourself, the more impact you'll make and you'll be more successful. And if you. Ever feel like you don't wanna do this by yourself, you, that you feel alone, you feel stuck. There are people like Ashley and myself who would love to help you, with your businesses and with marketing and with branding and with your hair and your skin. There are people who can help you. 'cause I do think that confidence is part of it and, that showing up as yourself can. When my hair is dyed and I don't have my gray hair, boy do I feel more confident. So there are ways that you can do that through her business as well. So I would welcome you to connect with her, chat with us on LinkedIn, ask her questions. We love to hear from you. but until next time, I really want you to dare to be wickedly branded. Yay. Awesome.

Ashley 46:13

was great. Yes. Thank you. So fun.

Beverly 46:15

Good.

Ashley 46:16

so fun.

Beverly 46:16

What was your favorite part of the conversation or favorite question?