#322: How Servant Leadership Can Transform Your Business

It's episode number 322 with the Brandi Brown, the founder at the Exchange. Guys, if you have ever had a salon or a brick and mortar and then turned to online sales and live selling, this is the episode for you. Brandi is so forthcoming with what's worked for her. What didn't work with her, how she's built an amazing team and company culture and a great community around her brand. You're definitely going to want to take notes for this one. She is dropping the heat today. Give it to my friend. I hope you love this episode with Brandi Brown, the founder and CEO at the Exchange.

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works, from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley. Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat.

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Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast this week. I've got one of my, like, OG Boutique friends here today. Can I call you an OG Boutique friend? Brandy Brown from the Exchange is here. You've been a part of the Hub since the Hub was not yet the hub, right?

Yeah, I think so. I think I actually paid for a membership for years and never opened one email. I'm the worst. I'm the worst.

Yeah, well, I always love our opportunities to chat. We've had a couple recently, but we always get to run into each other at market too. And you have such a big, like, thirst for life and thirst for this business. And your energy is always so contagious. I love that about you. So I'm excited to get to share that with people today. Welcome to the podcast.

Yay. Thanks for having me.

You bet. All right, we have to start this off, give people the backstory. Just kind of quickly share where your store is at. You're online live selling, you've got storefronts. Give us a little bit of the backstory about how it started and where it is right now. Okay.

So I was a salon owner. I actually bought a salon, took it from like 3 to 10 hairstylists. Quickly having friends, family in my chair, everyone was like, oh, I'm making this, and now I'm selling this. Would you mind if we, you know, put some in your lobby? And me, being the people pleaser that I am, would always say yes. And to escalate and make a very long story short, my retail space started to overtake the salon area. It was like I was pushing salon products, you know, in with the stylist and the retail space, and the waiting area was becoming non salon products. So my. My hair stylist really just came to me and were like, hey, what are we doing? You know, it was. It was a wake up call for me. And so I quickly decided and there was like a long time of physical, just ailments and hur hurting from being a service provider. We all know that those. Anyone who's in a service providing job, there's those physical, you know, things that are going to restrict you from being able to grow the amount of income. You know, you can only do so much hair, you can only do so many service services to render the type of income that you want to provide for your family. And so I quickly learned that I could sell more than I could physically do. And so we decided to open up the Exchange. We opened it up as a vendor style store. My friend had just done this about 5 hours away from Dublin. And so I went toward her store and discovered quickly that this was something that I was passionate about, that I wanted to bring to our town. I knew so many people who wanted to be a type of entrepreneur, but didn't have the means or the space or the areas. And so very quickly, we had around 53 vendors to make up the exchange. And what would happen again, this is super escalation from like 2013 to 2016, every time a vendor would leave, it was like survival of the fittest. And so one of you know, the girls would say, hey, I want those four booths that just left. Or, hey, I want those six booths that just left. And so we took it from the 53 vendors to the 6 and then eventually down to 3 to 4 that were mainly doing the retail side of boutique. Clothing, accessories, jewelry, things like that. So in the meantime, we had opened up a second location and we decided that it was not going to be a vendor style store. And that easily progressed from, you know, the second location to online. One of my clients that I had done in the salon, she actually wanted to open an online boutique. And I was like, no, you don't need to open an online boutique. You need to come work for me and you can, you can help me, you know, join e commerce. And so we kind of learned Shopify together and she still with me. So I think eight. This will be her. Wait, yeah, eight years. I actually did her hair for a wedding and I'm trying to think how long that was before that. So, yeah, like eight years. She may be on her ninth year. I'm not 100% certain. I need to find that out so I can reward her. But so we learned Shopify together and we launched Shop the Exchange Co. Not to be confused with dot com, that cost a whole lot more at that time. And so we did co and we took off and we yelled shop the Exchange co from every corner that we could, you know, printed it on any type of merchandising. And it was crazy because at first it was like one online order a week, you know, and then like one online order a day to five online orders a day, to, you know, 50 online orders a day. And it's just progressed and progressed. So here we are in 2021 and. And our retail store, our ShopExchange Co site is actually, you know, almost outperforming our two brick and mortar stores. So that's where we are.

I love that. Fast and furious. I have so many questions that pop up as I hear that. So the, the E commerce side of the business. Is your merch your second location? Is your merch your first, your original location. Do you still have hairstylists there as well?

No. So I actually, I did have hairstylists at the time. Whenever I merged, my best friend wanted to come with me and I had even signed a contract with the girl that bought the salon from me. Salon. I said salon that I would not take any hairstylist with me. I had no intentions whatsoever. But my best friend actually came up there to visit one day and she was like, brandy, we can have a salon up here. I mean, it was this huge 9,000 square foot space with a loft area. Used to be a furniture store before that. It was a bank. There's still, like, crazy massive safes hidden in walls. It's, like, the coolest thing ever upstairs. The building has so much culture and so much backstories, but. And I was like, no. Like, how would we do the plumbing and how would we do this? And she was like, if you'll let me work here, I'll do the salon side of it. Like, I'll get this thing fixed up. I'll map it out. This is what we're doing. And I was like, okay. And so quickly, the salon area went up top. There were six stylists, and over the years, that dwindled from six to four, four to three, three to two, and me. And again, physically, lots of issues. And so now I have very few people that absolutely will not let me. I think if I was dead, they would visit my graveside, like, hello, Time to get some hair color. They will not let me give them up. I'm like, y', all, you really need to find someone else. I promise you, they'll do just as good, but they will not let me go. So, yeah, there was a salon up there, but now that's our live area where we do our fit videos, our conference area, two offices. And so the exchange has taken over all spaces of life.

Got it. Is there still vendors in the. In the first location?

Yes. Yeah, yeah, there are there, so six people there who've been there from the beginning, and they are just amazing. It's not a hobby for them. You know, if people call all the time, we're like, we're. We're really not that type of store anymore. We are a full retail boutique. Like, you would never be able to tell if you visited our store that there were vendors in there. I mean, all of their stuff runs through Shopify. It's done just like the store. And there's just a report at the end of the month where they get their payout for their merchandise.

I mean, it's.

It's so amazing. And we are family. I mean, thicken. I mean, through everything. We vacation together. We have holidays together, and three of them actually work for me at the store. So this is their livelihood just as well. And they are like. They are. They are my people. They are my tribe.

I love that. That's. And that's always a question is, how do you manage inventory? How do you manage those relationships? So I love that they are, like, they're a part of the community.

Yes, they are. They are there for the good and the bad. It's a marriage. I Tell you, we fight like we're married, too. Don't worry. At the end of the day, we still love each other. And I think you have to have those relationships for your business to fully thrive, because they're personally invested, and so they're always going to make sure that everything is done in the way that Brandi would do it, because they know I'm not gonna lead them the wrong way.

Right. How do you feel like you set the tone as a leader? Like, culture is so important. Right. Culture is what makes people stick with you. And we're living in a world where turnover in the boutique world is like a revolving door, but that hasn't affected you. So what do you think, like, our strategies or traits you have as a leader that's helped create that sticky culture that you have?

I don't know, Ashley, you got me stopped there, because I don't. I don't.

I don't know.

I'm definitely. I don't play a boss figure. My girlfriends, my boutique besties, they get on to me a lot because I work alongside of them. And there are a lot of people that don't have that mentality. There's nothing that they will do, have done, will do in the future that I will not stand alongside of them. I mean, there's times that they're doing the pretty work and I'm in there cleaning the bathroom or, you know, cleaning out the fridge. I'm a caretaker by heart. I really love to get in there and love on my people, so I want to relieve things off of their plate every day, but I. I just kind of leave them that again. They're not doing anything that I haven't done that I won't do with them. And for a lot of boutique owners, you know, I know that they have to separate those lines between employees and family. And looking back, I should have. But then my turnover rate is not as high as theirs. You know, I do have those friends that say, well, that that's your first mistake. You're saying that you guys are doing this together, but they work for you. You're the boss, you know, And I even had one girl, and it was so funny. We were on a retreat, and she said that what finally clicked for her was her dad said it was Lisa. Oh, my gosh. Lisa Rose. I can't think of the name of her boutique, she and her partner, but she said that her dad said, well, sweetie, the thing here is you sign the front of the check and see, they signed the back of the check. So there's the difference between you and them. And I looked at her and I said, so how did you say that to them? Like, did you make an announcement? Did you, like, stand on the table at the meeting? Like, how did you clarify this? And, you know, we all laughed about it. But for me, I don't have that. I don't know. My girls are. I'm so passionate about growing them as people, and I feel like that that's my calling. Like, I always wanted to be a teacher, but then I wanted to be a hairstylist, a real estate agent, a stay at home mom, a pretend stay at home mom. Like, I wanted to do all the things. And I really still don't know what I want to do when I grow up, but I know that one day I want to get the text or the phone call or the letter or them just to show up and say, hey, remember that time that we were sitting there crying and you were crying with me and we. I was dealing with this loss or this breakup or just an emotional, you know, just clarity and slap in the face that this clicked for me. And you taught me that. And it, you know, has taken me this long for it to show up in my life, and I love that. So I've had some clarity that I am a teacher at heart and that I am teaching these girls life lessons. And for me, that's so important. Like, I don't care what goes in the checking account every day. Those girls are family to me. And I'm such a crybaby. I'll get upset, but they are my heart. I mean, I have one daughter who is as different as night and day. I'm colorful and loud and she's hoodies and black and she's a musician. So, like, her space is her space. You know, don't, don't come in. That's her safe space. And I love my girls that work for me because they're bubbly and loud and I don't know, they just give me life that I am, that I seriously want to show up for every day. And I think that's why I do, you know, show up at my store six days a week because I want to be with them because that's where life happens. And my storefront is so lively and they're there and I want to be there with them. So I guess I answered that. But I just lead by example. I don't know. You know what I think?

You know what I think it is like in hearing you say that. And I see this on two sides of the coin. I see this as like, you being a leader in creating culture for your team, but also you building community for your customers. But it all comes back to what, like what I'm hearing you say is you're a servant leader.

Yeah.

Like, servant leadership is not leading from the front, standing on the table and telling people what to do, but it's leading from behind.

I don't even like being the forefront of our lives. I hate it. My manager, Dana, is like, hey, you could really help us this week if you'd show up for a couple of lives. And I'm steaming clothes in the back. Like, I really don't like being the face of my business. But for some reason, I mean, obvious reasons, I do know that when I show up, the. The sales do go up and I need to be doing that more. But I love nothing, nothing more than being with those girls and just being the example that I wish that I would have had not, you know, growing up. Because there's so many life lessons that you, you know, learn from other people and living among them and truly having that servant's heart.

So, yeah, you've truly invested in people. I think that's a common thing. I just want to pause and make sure everyone takes home. Today is when you invest in. In the best for other people, not you're investing for what you can get in return. The world is a new place. Yeah, right. You give with a servant's heart, not you give expecting to always return. I think what goes around comes around always.

Yeah.

In that case.

Yeah. Well, my church, one of the big poster we have is serve people. Serve people. And I know that there have been so examples in my life where someone has sat me down, you know, and had one of those hard truth conversations. And I found myself being able to do that with those girls and say, hey, you got to get over yourself. Like, you're. You're being really selfish here. Whether it's relationship with their parents or with their boyfriend, you know, soon to be husband, their husbands, you know, I'm like, you gotta start. Stop nagging. What you nagging about? Like, you know, just doing all of those things. And we have church at work. I mean, it's insane. Insane. I mean, there are days that girls come in and I'm like, what's wrong? Nothing. I'm like, everybody stop. What's wrong? You know, and there comes the waterworks, and we're all sitting there crying, and it may be 45 minutes later and the door is still locked. I'm like, I don't care. This is what's important right now. Like, the Lord made this moment where we could all come together and learn something together. And we're gonna pause and we're gonna reflect on this, because at the end of the day, again, I don't care what's in the checking account. I just care that those girls know my heart and that they have seen my heart expose. Because I'm the most transparent person you will ever meet, and I'll tell them the ugly truth so they get me and I get them.

I love that. But at the same time, that's a lot of energy, right? That's a lot of energy that you. Every single day.

Yes, exactly.

Serious question for you, though. Like, you're the caretaker. You've got your arms wrapped around all these people. How, at the end of the day, do you still protect your space? How do you still protect, like, your heart, your time? Like, you say there's. Or we say. I say there's space between employees and leaders, right? For a reason. So you can protect yourself. But when you have that, like, servant leadership heart, sometimes it's. It's easy to get overwhelmed or it's easy to be drained.

I'm drained a lot. Overworked a lot. I have really bad anxiety. But, you know, I just pray every night, Lord, just give me the strength, you know, to be able to take whatever is dished to me that day and to not run out of the right words for them. I often push my own wants and needs to the side, but I am learning, and I have this year delegated and let them lead. I really am stepping back. That's who I was, and I'm still doing it. But now, whenever Covid happened and my girls had to go home, you know, for an amount of time, that almost killed me, too. I mean, we were just talking about that this weekend. Someone, one of these people that will not let me give up doing their hair. She worked for me from the time she was 15 until she got married and started her teaching job. And I was actually doing her hair. She just had a new baby, and so the baby was crying, and we were dealing with this, and she was the new mom. And, you know, she was sitting in my chair, you know, just crying because her infant was crying. Her sister works for me, so her sister's in the office, you know, taking care of her baby. They get paid to do all this. Sometimes I look back and I'm like, I did nothing today, but I don't care. And so we were sitting there and you Know, I told her it's okay for her to cry. Like, she's gonna be fine. And, you know, I was sitting there thinking back on Covid when those girls left, and I was talking about how exhausting it was to be like, are their parents upset because they're here working? Do their parents think I'm selfish? They're here. You know, I finally had to fight through all that mental fatigue and, you know, decide when it was right to send them home and decide when it was the correct decision to bring them back. We won't get into all that, but, you know, and with them not there, there was a lot of quiet space in that building. And, you know, I was doing things that I had not done by myself, not that I hadn't done in a long time, but that I had not done by myself, like. And it really gave me the chance to figure out some problems, some things that maybe I could do a little more cost effective. And so when we were running leaner, we were running a little greener, if that makes sense. And so having them come back, I really about worked myself into the grave at that time, you know, because for me, I didn't know if we were going to make it or not. You know, we were making it. And I remember calling. I remember sitting down with my husband and saying, I need you to call. Called the bank, and he was like, for what? And I said, I need to know, like, what we have in our house. And it was a really hard conversation, especially for someone like me, who's so independent, because he does. He has a corporate job and that pays the bills, and I'm doing my own thing. And we really just don't get into those things because he trusts me, and I provide what I provide. And that's just one of those things that we don't get into much, so it doesn't affect your home life. And so I remember sitting him down, you know, and thinking, I need you to call the bank. You know, if this goes awry, if we don't bounce back from this, like, what do we have in our home? You know? And I remember him calling the bank, and she's one of our customers, and she was like, brandi, you're gonna be fine. And I'm like, but I need security. I need you to let me know, like, if we need to do a second mortgage, like, if we need to take out a loan, you know, what are those options gonna be? And every day, the Lord was so faithful. I mean, I would show up and walk into that building with the lights off and say, alexa, you know, play Bethel music or Alexa, play the best worship there is, you know, and just sit there and thank God. And it was like, with no one in there and everyone at home and my employees, it was like, brandy, you have so much to be grateful for. Like, it being taken away was the best medicine. And I think that a lot of people, if you interviewed them, would say, Covid was the most horrible thing. But if you made it to the other side, it definitely changed you and who you are and who your business is. Because, you know, and even with the hub, I know, you know, inside, like, we really can't share those things because no one gets Boutique life unless you're part of boutique life. And, you know, it's really hard to brag and say, you know, 2020, 2021 was the best year for my business when, you know, that a loved one didn't get to say goodbye to their dad, you know, because they lost them due to Covid, and they don't have that closure. And so we can't say, yay, we made it. That was awesome. And that sucks. But having those people, you know, and being able to celebrate those small things, I've never celebrated my team more. I do that a lot, and I am very good at that. But Covid made me say we got to celebrate the little things. Like, we survived this week. We're celebrating survival, you know, more than celebrating thriving. So. So I know that I just took you on a whole nother rabbit hole, but I'm so grateful. And the Lord was so good to us during that time.

So, you know, I think about. I think about everything happens for a reason.

Yes.

And something good comes from every bad situation if you choose to look for it.

Yes.

Which is what you're saying.

Even. Even now, I will tell my girls, like, my customer service, so many positions were made and they. They were given raises and different things. And so we have a full time customer service girl that, you know, answers every email, every text. And some days, you know, she's Dr. At her wits end. And, you know, I'll hear her say, you know, Ashley Alderson. I swear, like, I'm gonna kill her if she messages me one more time. I'm like, but, Vic, do you know how grateful we are to have Ashley just aggravating us? Like, there is so much to be thankful there and we need to wake up every day and say, we get to deal with Ashley today, you know, instead of wishing and Ashley would message us. And so the positions that were made in our company just from surviving that and then just having an entire. Just a projection that we had never seen before. I had girls drop out of nursing school, you know, and say, this is what I want to do. I'm going to be here. And we had a lot of, you know, very transparent conversations about if this company is going to grow, I want you guys to be here with me. You're the fit. You've been here for five, six years. I'm growing. I want you to grow with me. And I said, you know, we're not at the point to do, you know, shares or buy ins, but we will be. And I want to be able to offer that to you guys. I want us all to grow as individuals and as a company. And you guys have been here. You're the four. Four runners of my store, and I want to share that with you. And I think giving them that investment, we've never even had, like, paid time off, you know, never paid vacations, things like that. And it was just like, they would show up at times when they shouldn't have. They would stay late. They would even look at me. I'd say, get off the payroll. And they're like, I've been clocked out an hour, you know, But I think if you take care of your people, they will take care of you. And the same with our customers. I just think that that culture. I'm a giver. My parents get on to me all the time. My husband does, too. He'll say, you know, we can't keep some of that money you earn. But I just think that, you know, the more I give, the more the Lord's gonna bless.

So.

Yeah.

Oh, Brandi, I love that. I love it. So one of the things you did in the last year, I mean, since all of this has unfolded, you came back from COVID Yes. And you started to show up live.

Yeah.

And now, like, all of a sudden, like, I've watched your growth progress, and I just, like, I feel like the proud mom in the corner just like, just like watching this unfold for you. But talk about that process. What do you think as you came back from COVID and you're like, okay, we've got this, like, now we have new opportunity in front of us. Are there systems or processes or things that you put in place that have helped you start to take those steps to scale?

Okay, so before COVID we were going live. So we just like the boutique club. I love to blow money. So we actually paid for comments. Sold. Are you ready for this? We Paid for comments, sold for three years and did not use it once. Not lying.

I think there's others listening that have done that too.

I'm not. Yeah, I am not exaggerating. So, yeah, I'll just say that to get to the point. So we play around with going live but not using comments. So we would just go live in our group, live on Facebook, and we would get, you know, 10 to 12 viewers. If we hit the time, just correct, with no consistency, you know, we might have 31 viewers or 51 viewers. And because we were so sporadic, there was no plan before the live. There were no things that we did, you know, every time consistently. It could just be my mom on there. Okay. And so it's almost like a spirit, you know, of defeat would come over us. Like, we're not going live again. I mean, literally, Anna, she watches every live. You know, it's just Anna, guys. And so we can just call Anna. We can just FaceTime Anna and show Anna. You know what, we have new arrivals today. And then when Covid happened, we knew that we had to go live every day. We were watching other boutiques. I have a group of friends that are from, you know, the Million group that we got together, met out in LA in the middle of COVID rented this huge house. We're like, how are we gonna survive it? You know, again, the most amazing, transparent women. And none of us are on the same scale. So you've got some that are making a million a month, you've got some that are making 600,000amonth and some that were making 60,000amonth. But the thing that we shared in common was our transparency and being a cheerleader. Like, it excited me so much when one of my friends hit a million a month. I mean, I was buying stuff, you know, to help her hit that. Never, never, never once, you know, any jealousy whatsoever. It was almost like to see that it just kept giving me hope. And the girls under me, the girls above me. There's one in the group that was doing a million, and now she's back at 600, you know, and it's just like every one of us cheer together and help each other. And we were talking about going live and showing up every day. So there were times that me and my daughter would do bingo from home. We would give away prizes the whole time, not make one sale. Some of my girls would go up there at night when, you know, again, the store was closed. There were no employees there, but they would take it upon their own. Not paid. Go to the Store and do trivia. Like they would drink wine and do trivia and do all the things. And so we started getting very consistent. We were like, okay, this is what Ashley has been preaching for a long time. You know, keep showing up. Well, then we discovered how personal people were. There were maybe some lonely people, you know, that we to them.

I don't.

Know what we were, but they were looking for us to be there. I mean, we were their people. They were our people. And so then we started Facebook ads. We'd all piddled with ads. I've used several people in the hub, and these amazing girls that are so transparent, you know, offered up the information of Brandi. You really need to get into Facebook ads, and you need to look at Facebook ads as investments. And I was like, okay. I had been seeing it wrongly the whole time. You know, I would boost a post for $50, and if I didn't make 2 or $300, I really didn't see the profit there. I also did not understand a customer's longevity, you know, and that customer being lifetime customer. Even though Sarah preaches that all the time, I have the beautiful planner that is still beautiful that I haven't written in, you know, very much, because we're busy. We're busy. So I got into educating myself as far as Facebook ads. Longevity of a customer. You know, if an ad cost me $80, I would freak out. And I'm like, but why did it cost me $80 for this one customer? You know, and one of the girls who's so smart, she was like, Brandi, but what if that customer spends $150 every month for the next nine years before you lose her? Was that $80 worth it? And I'm like, yes, you're right. Why did I know this? And so got into Facebook ads and again, was educated that you're not talking to the three people that are on there, right Then you're not Talking to the 30 people that are going to see it that day when your Facebook ads company comes in and takes it over you' into the next 12,000 people that are going to meet you. And so I really started preaching that. You know, I showed up, I got my girls excited. I really invested in them. I was like, listen, I'm somebody, you're somebody. And we're about to do this thing. Like, I'm telling you right now, I want you to start walking into the room like you are who you are, because you're awesome, and I'm so proud of you guys. And it was almost like projection, like, I would never say that to myself, but I would say that to them. And it's like they had a little pep in their step, you know, and so they started showing up for, for the job that they wanted to have. And our lives blew up. You know, we went from having a live that did a thousand dollars, you know, to a lot that did five to $6,000, you know, and grew and grew and grew. Um, and so we started being consistent every day of the week. You can find us here. You know, I am a guerrilla marketing person. Everybody that meets me, they're like, your social media, like you blow it up. And it's not that I do it that way for any reason. It's just how I do everything that I do. I'm a little over the top, I'm a little extra. And so, you know, if we went live, we were texting it out, we were sending it on postscripts, we were downloading it, we were emailing it out, we were tagging our friends, we were doing giveaways. And our live sales have changed our E commerce. I do feel like that live selling, it's like, you know, the quote the seed you plant, the fruit is not the seed you plant today, you know, kind of thing. It is, but you just don't see it until it shows up and you're like, ah, that's it. That's the thing we were missing. And so when we got consistent, our fans started being consistent and they started tagging their friends and they started sharing. It was like they weren't sharing or tagging before because we were inconsistent. They couldn't count on us. And so it's like a relationship built with our customers. And now we're up, you know, 200%, up 150%. And it's, it's just insane. I mean, it is insane what has happened in our company and it's just insane what's happened in our employees lives and being able to, you know, offer them extras and different things and just to see them grow, like, I really just love seeing them grow more than me. I know that sounds silly, but I.

Do, I love that. It speaks volumes though. I mean, that's been the theme of this entire call conversation is again, servant leadership. And what it's continuing to grow, what fruit it's continuing to grow for your company. If you could go back in hindsight, I'm even thinking like all the way back, thinking about your journey to where you are now and live selling blowing up. I'm sure there's also some salon owners listening right now. Boutique owners with a salon thinking, take me all the way back there. Are there other things in your journey you would go back and go, okay, if I could do this again, this is what I would do. Here's what I wish people knew about that point in my journey. Start with the salon piece. Like, if you could change anything back then or things you wish you would have known way back then, what would you have changed at that point?

I would still do hair. No, I'm just joking. But really, I would. No, I'm totally joking. Boutique life, like, today, my daughter. I don't know, it's. It's crazy, because when I began, I look at, like, Diana from the red dress, you know, and those were different times. She's not fighting the algorithm. You know what I mean? Like, I look at Laura, I look at Kelly. Like, all those people that started when Facebook was the place to be. It's so hard now. You know what I mean? And so if I were to go back and be a salon owner again, I would tell them to invest in their people, to invest in their hairstylists, you know, to give them opportunities to grow. I think everyone wants to be their own boss. I think everyone wants to be able to scale their, you know, finances. And so I would tell any salon owner today to invest in those people because, you know, you're depending on their service to define your income. And so you're gonna have to work a lot harder, if not smarter, you know, so go in and educate those girls, allow them to sell retail, you know, give them a commission for that, and just invest in your people. I really think that if you can put a system, you know, into house that fully shows that you're invested in them, that you're going to scale quickly, because that's one of the things that I know that I did when I purchased the salon that I had. And I know that when I chose to sell it, it was the right decision, because I no longer had the heart that I wish that I would have kept, because I could have been successful at that. I mean, I. I'm a seller. I don't understand why, but I've always. Like, in fifth grade, we were selling raffle tickets. I mean, I 100 and go back for 100 more. You know, I would be at the front of Walmart, and everyone would say, you can sell ice to an Eskimo. And I don't know why. I just think that if I'm passionate about something, I'm really over the top. I used to be called dramatic, but then we realized it wasn't, you know, dramatics. It was more passion. And so I wear that on my sleeve. And anyone who knows me knows I'm gonna get really passionate. I'm gonna cry about some things, we're gonna laugh about some things. And I think that salons who are going into the boutique industry, I know I have a lot of friends. I've actually been helping, you know, some different people who I was friends with outside of the hub, and I've brought them into the hub, locally here in Georgia and other areas. And, you know, they're like, what are you doing? How's this going? And not now that I've pulled away. I only pulled away from salon life or being a hairstylist because it's my therapy. It's just because of physical issues that I have. Not for any type of income or things like that. It's just because I physically cannot do that any longer. But I think that you can have a great mix of both. And I think that anytime that you have a multi purpose, when my salon stylists were thriving, the amount of traffic that came through, when one would leave, my manager would say, you really should feel that salon chair. And I'm like, but I don't want to. I don't want to manage those girls. You know, I don't want to be over them with the state board, you know, just all those tedious things that nobody wants to deal with, like, take your trash out, throw the hair away. I don't need a $500 fine over this. And she said, well, I'll manage them. Because, you know, that's like an additional 20 to 40 people a day. So I want them in the store for the traffic. And I think that there are a lot of people that are doing both and are super successful. And again, if you position that correctly, you're going to be very successful.

That that's perfect. Are there other steps along the way? Like, as you think about people watching your journey unfold today that you wish you would have known about sooner? Let me think.

I think that going back to the whole part about showing up for those that are watching, that you don't really realize the impact that you're having on people, you know, everybody's watching. And I think you have to show up for both. I think you have to show up for the girl that is looking at you as her superstar. Like, she wants to be like you, and I think that you have to own that. And that's been very hard for me, I know we've talked about it. I reach out to you all the time. I'm like, I need to be coached as a person because I get this weird, like, freak out moment when someone, you know, comes up to me, super excited to meet me for who I am. And it's almost like I'm not proud enough of myself. I don't even know that that's the word, Ashley. That's what I need to be coached on. It's like, I freak out. We call it imposter syndrome. Because I feel like an imposter, because they just think that I'm this energetic, hyper person who's never ill, moody, or hungry. And I am. And I want them to know that too. But you know, they'll be like, oh.

My gosh, you're the girl from the exchange. And I'm like, like, hi.

And they're like, we shot with you all the time. And I'm just like, oh, my gosh, you're so sweet. And my husband's like, brandy, say thank you. And I'm like, but I don't know what today he's like, you just say thank you. You say, thank you so much for supporting my small business. But it. I just freak out, you know, And I would say if I could give anybody that piece of advice, we are doing more. We. We are shattering the glass ceilings for our daughter, for our friends, daughters, for our nieces, for kids. I mean, just in the school system, you know, social media, you know, they're being led by all of these people that just are not the best influence for them. And if, you know, if they are taking the time and they're noting who you are, I think that that is definitely ordained and that we need to own that experience and, you know, shine that light on them and give them their time. I know you always do that. You know, when you bump into somebody, you. You'll stop and, you know, give them. You don't freak out like I do. I mean, I'm the most awkward about things like that. And I just think that business aside, that I wish that I had that self esteem and that if I gave myself enough credit to celebrate my own life, like to partake in my own life, it's just a strange concept, I'm telling you. Very, very, very strange. And I think that if I could go back and do anything, it would be to accept who I am, to allow myself to, you know, accredit that and to be proud of myself and to celebrate those small things. I celebrate my team all the time. But, you know, I don't ever take that time to, you know, just really go into the aspect of going. Going forward with who you are in your business growth and letting it be your personal growth, too.

Yeah. Brandi, you're. You're. This is not strange. And you're not alone. Like, I. I feel like Eric and I just had this conversation the other day, so I'm so glad. You and I, we're gonna of things have couple a coaching session. Just like we're going to.

I'm gonna be your beta. Okay. I'm gonna be it. Start with me, please.

Yeah. I. So two things come to mind when I hear you say that. The first is I had. I like the word humility is a big trigger word for me. And I think it's because it was something that was important to my dad, who was like, my rock.

Yeah.

And so just like, if you weren't humble, you were just a jack wagon, right? Like, humping humbles, everything. Yeah. And so I went through a lot of long period of my life where I deflected compliments.

Yes.

Like, you're saying when people come up to you and you're just like, yeah, I don't know what to do with my hands. But really what I had to learn was it's not about me.

Right.

It's not about the compliment. It's about them.

Yes.

It's about accepting, like, the gift they're trying to give you. And when you deflect a compliment, like, you're deflecting it and saying your compliment wasn't enough because you weren't willing and able to take it. So you just have to be able to look at them as if they have a sign around their neck saying, make me feel important.

Yes.

And the most important words you could possibly say are thank you.

Yes. Yes.

And accept it.

I see my daughter all the time. You know, even something as small as someone saying, oh, my gosh, you look so pretty today. And why, if we know we look amazing, like, we took four hours to get ready, when they say that, we go, you know, No, I don't. You know, why is that so hard to. Why is it so hard to allow someone to give us a compliment?

It's.

It's something that we need to kill. I tried seriously to preach that to my daughter, and I'm the worst example for her to look at, because I don't do that. And so I really have made that a niche specific. Whatever's going on, to give a compliment and to take the compliment, you Know, to truly, you know, if a waitress walks up to our table and I can tell she's awkward, I was like, hey, I just want to let you know, like, you are absolutely beautiful. You know, they're just like, yes. Gosh, you're gonna make me cry. I'm like, no.

Like, you are gorgeous.

I just want to tell you that I can give and give and give the compliments, but when you try to give it to me, I don't know why. It's so. It's so strange. And my girls, they'll tell you. My storefront girls, they know. I mean, we have signs that are registered. People laugh. Like, if they ever come behind, they're like, I'm dying at that. And it's like the compliment. Like, if a lady has a bling and ring on her finger, you let her know that you are obsessed with that ring on her finger. Like, if she has cute shoes on, you let her know you love those shoes. We're not salesy. We are not salesy. It's a hangout at our store. I mean, people love coming into our store because we have the ultimate girl gang. We're just fun. So I still need to work on me, but they're doing an awesome job.

Well, I. I've got one more tip for you. I'll give it to you in a minute. But the story popped in my mind, and I have to tell you because I know you'll appreciate this. With daughters. The other day, I was at a barrel race with the kids, and my daughter Hadley, who's 11, was hanging out with this group of girls, and they're all sitting on their horses. Hadley turned around, and she's like, mom. And she's yelling at me, and I perk up, and I come riding over there, and this, like, sweet little girl, she's probably 13, she looks up and she goes, that's your mom. And Heather's like, yeah. And she goes, I thought she was 18. She doesn't look like she could have kids. And I just died laughing. I was like, thank you. You're the best person ever. And literally, this is what my daughter said. She goes, my mom actually has a lot of wrinkles. She just wears a lot of makeup.

Girls gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Oh, my Lord. Okay, that's my daughter. Thank you for that. Appreciate the compliment.

Right?

But the tip I want to give you. Thinking about this. The other day, Eric and I were having. Having this conversation about how some. Some people that we have the opportunity to speak with that have Growing businesses like yours, a common theme that we hear is exactly what you're saying. And I categorize it as almost like survivor's guilt.

Yes.

Like you're. You feel like you're in this place to have achieved these wonderful goals and dreams, and you almost don't feel worthy of being there.

Yeah.

And so we were talking through this the other day, and we were like, you know, really, it's not about being the survivor and being there, but it's about showing other people that it's possible to get there. And it's not about. Again, it's not about us. Like, we. We so often, like, want to feel guilty because we think it's about us, but it's not. It's about the fact that. Celebrate that we got here so that others can see that they can get.

For sure. Yes. And I think it'll be so much easier if I lived in a different town where nobody knew me. I mean, I would be rocking it. You hear me? Like, windows down. But I think when you live amongst the people, it's really hard because they see me at the school with no makeup on, you know, mascara that's from yesterday, my coffee in hand, taking my kid into school, tardy because life and, you know, and then I'm on live like, hello, people.

Hi.

And that's not who they see every day. I'm not that girl. I'm either like all in or all out. I could seriously be doing lawn care or look like I'm, you know, going on a pageant stage. So I was never the popular girl in school, but I was always the popular girls hype. I mean, like, I am a true hype girl and I always have been. I mean, my best friend, she was a dancer. I mean, she was a pageant queen. I mean, I would get excited about going over and helping her, like, fill her pictures in manila envelope envelopes and mailing them out to all the things when she was dancing, I mean, I was just going crazy in the crowd. I mean, homecoming, different things. Like, I was there for those girls. I've never been a spotlight girl. It's just so strange for me. And I don't even consider myself a spotlight girl now. I get really awkward. Cannot formulate the correct sentences. I don't know what happens when I go to speak. Like, I'm an eloquent writer, but when I go to speak, it's just like, word vomit. Can't come any. I'm just dumb. I don't know. So it's awful. So I really have to Pray over that and just say, lord, whatever I say, however it comes out, you know my heart, you know what I meant to say. So just let them. Let that formulate for them. Be like, I know what she was trying to say. I get it now.

It lands.

Yeah, it lands. Yeah.

At the end of the day, you've created all the community and culture around simple being you being authentic.

I hope so. And I think that that is one thing that our business, you know, just Instagram is so curated, and now the Facebook is getting so curated, it's like reality TV has now come to social media. And those that are thriving are those who are being their most authentic self. And for me, I think. And I'm not saying I. Business. Business is thriving. I'm saying from a point that it was not thriving was when we were trying to be perfect. And we. We are just at the very beginning of trying to be authentic. Because, again, we have to see these people everywhere we go. So we can't get on there and act crazy and do all those things if that's not our nature. You know what I mean? We just look like frauds. I mean, we do. And I'm a very serious person. People always say, oh, my gosh, you're so funny. I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm not fun. If you ask my husband or my kids, they would say, say, who did you meet? Like, that's not my mom. She's not a fun person. And I don't know what that is or what that looks like for any boutique owner, but I think that I love broken people. I love transparent people. Like, if you've had this beautiful life, I don't even want you to sit by me because we have nothing to talk about. I know that sounds crazy, but if you're a realist and you've been dealt some stuff, you know, and you decided that you're going to overcome those things and, like, I want to be your person and I want to know about those things. I'm a big me too person. I mean, I'm like, oh, my God, me too. Like, we're going to be besties now. Like, I love that lifestyle. And I think that once you resonate with your true, authentic self and you start showing up in that, like today when we hang up, I'm going live in my VIP group, not even caring. Probably going to throw this off. Like, hair's going to be in a ponytail, Wipe off some of this makeup. Because I think that one of the reasons why our business has not thrived is because we try to make everything so curated and everything so perfect. And once you can truly accept, they don't care. They just want to talk to you. You're not so important that you can't go imperfectly. You know, just go in, talk to your people. That's all they really want. They want to know who you are, what you can serve them, how you're going to get it to it, how you're going to get it to them. You know, they don't. They don't really care for all that filler. They really don't. I mean, every consumer has a need and they just want to relate to people and they want to feel important, you know, and that's something that we truly pride ourselves in is having our repeat customers. I think that in 2021, acquiring new customers is getting very hard. You know, the iOS updates, all of that. It's very scary. Acquisition is very hard to pinpoint. But I think if you take care of the people, you always say it, you know, 80% comes from 20%. You preach it all the time, but it's like, we want more, more and more. But if we would just stop and say, these are our people, we're going to keep serving our people, we're going to keep loving on our people, your business is not going to have anything to worry about because they know you're there. Yeah.

Servant leadership in a nutshell. Brandy Brown from Shop the Exchange. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I feel like our time together flew by and thank you for being such a huge letter for the Boutique Hub. I appreciate you so much and your friendship and all that you do to give to others in our community as well.

Thank you.

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