An Entrepreneur's Success Story w Britt Seva MUIYB Podcast

like, wow, my event wouldn't have been possible had you not done these things. Thank you for doing that for me. And then he in return can thank me for things that I've done too, but really appreciating like what we both bring to the relationship and how that dynamic facilitates this life we're building together. But it does have to be a very open conversation. And I know talking about money is hard, especially in a marriage and a partnership. And we've had to learn to be really confident in that.

All right, Brit, can you hear me okay?

Yeah, you sound good. Can you hear me?

I can— yeah, you sound good.

Sorry about that. This has happened once before too, so sorry.

Welcome to freaking technology.

I know, right?

Yeah, so we're rolling. So this is like unlike any other show that I've done in the past. Like, we're just rolling and we're just gonna start talking.

Love it.

And, uh, I gotta ask you first, the event you had was off the hook. Like, do you run events like that regularly?

Mike, that was my first one.

Bullshit, really?

Yeah. But you know what? I'm all in, babe. Like, I have no other way. I go all in on everything that I do. And so I knew, I was like, if I'm bringing Mike Michalowicz and all these amazing speakers, I gotta go big. And so I just rose to the occasion.

Okay, so thanks for stroking my ego, but it was you, it was you. It was like Britney Spears was here. So like, people were losing their shit over you.

I know.

You had a bodyguard and people were like, ah! I think one person, that was me who fainted, but one person fainted. Why are you in this space? It's hair salons, why this space?

I'm a former hairstylist myself. I had a very short run. I was only behind the chair for about 18 months. I'm actually a failed hairstylist. So what I found was I loved the marketing and the business side of it way more than actually like opening and closing the shears. Okay, so that, that's actually rare in my industry is most people love the creative aspects and they love formulating and cutting hair and all of that. But they have no clue about business, right? They have no business sense. They don't know what a balance sheet is. They have no idea how to market themselves. And that was my jam. And I didn't realize—

you were into the sheets.

I geek out over numbers. I'm such a dork. And I love like technology and all that kind of stuff. And I had no idea how rare that was. But it's incredibly rare in the beauty industry. And so when I I did realize that I had this very unique skill set. I doubled down on it and that's how I became a business and marketing coach for hairstylists.

There was what, 400 people at that event?

450. Yep.

450.

Yep.

At that event, uh, you're teaching them the business behind their salons.

You got it.

Why, why do so many people enter the business thinking that the business is going to run itself? They don't have to worry about the business side.

Isn't that so funny? And I'm sure a lot of your clients, you probably see a lot of the same thing. I think business sounds like fun and sexy and people are like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna be my own boss. And they think about all the creative aspects, but they don't realize that's like 10%. 90% is like the hard work and the making sure the ship keeps sailing and all of the other stuff that's maybe not so fun. And I think that that gets overlooked when we're just so blinded by the fun and the excitement of being our own boss and running our own business.

Yeah, I guess that's it, right?

Is that why you started? Completely. I wanted to be self-made, and it seemed like being a hairstylist would be easy. That's honestly why I did it. It's not like I was super passionate about the industry. It almost felt like the easy option. And boy, was I wrong. But I was enticed by the idea of being my own boss.

You had a difficult start. That's actually a horrible choice of words, not difficult start, but you had a lot of responsibility early on, making your start more difficult. I did. You're 18 years old you're having your first baby.

Yep.

And when did you start the business?

When did I start my business as a coach or when did I become a hairdresser?

No, no, the first business, the salon.

I was 21. So my now husband, my boyfriend at the time, but my husband and I welcomed our daughter when we were teenagers. So I was 18 when I had her. And, you know, I didn't have this super supportive family who was like, no worries, just we'll figure this all out. It was like me and him and we had to make it work.

Oh, your family's like, oh, you're on your own now, Brett. Good luck.

Yep. Yeah, you chose to be an adult. Yeah, which at 18, who really is an adult?

It's like, thank you. Oh, by the way, here's your high school diploma.

That was exactly it. And, and, you know, nothing against them. I'm sure they made whatever decision that they felt was best. But so we had to make it work. And so everybody around us, it was like, oh, Chris and Brit are having a baby. Oh, it was like, it was like that sorrow.

Yeah.

And it puts such a damper on us welcoming our first child. And it's not that we didn't have all those feelings as well. But for us, we chose we chose to have it like light our fire. And I think for both of us, it was like, man, we are now in charge of this beautiful little human being and we've got to create this incredible life for her. And so we chose not to be that story of, oh, like the teen parents who couldn't make it. We were like, oh no, let me show you. Let me show you what is possible if you are driven and inspired and you're willing to do the work.

Is that wired into you to say, I'm going to prove you wrong?

100%.

My wife was 21 when our son was born. So same thing. Uh, you know, by the time I turned 30, all our children were born and same thing. And it was like, ah, I have a kid and so young. And, um, so I started buying into it. I'm like, yeah, I'm too young. And am I missing the honeymoon? What'd you do? I mean, did you feel that way?

100%. And recently, like in the last year, my husband and I have a lot of conversations about like, look who's laughing now because he and I are now at a place where our daughter's going to graduate high school in 2 years. We still have a lot of We have a lot of life left ahead of us and we get to do some amazing badass things with it. Yeah. Yeah.

But do you get that feeling like when you go to the high school, like you're going to the high school graduation.

Yeah.

Some people are like, oh, you're awfully old to be a high school student.

Right.

Awfully young. That's what I used to get.

Totally. I get it all the time. And I used to be really awkward. Like when we were doing playdates, right. We get together with like other parents and they're like, are you the nanny? Are you the babysitter? Yeah. Who are you representing in this deal here? Nope, I'm the mom.

It's weird because you're forced to hang out. Now, do you have other kids?

We do. We have a son who's 5.

You have a son who's 5. Okay. So they have a 10-year, 11-year difference.

They do. And it's awesome. It's amazing.

Is it? Why is that?

Because there's no, there's no power struggle. They're like, in the strangest way, they're like really close because there's no competition. They're at such different stages. He loves going and cheering his sister on playing softball. She's a competitive softball player. So he lives for cheering for her. And she just thinks he's so cool. Like he's into really different things. Things at a really fun, exciting age, and they just have a, they have a really great dynamic. There's nothing to bicker about because they're into such different things. And we also, we got the benefit of kind of raising two only children. Like, our daughter was our whole world for 10 years, and that was amazing. And now he's gonna get a lot of that. She's gonna take off in, you know, 2 years, 18 months, and he's gonna get a lot of that too. So it's, it's ended up being wonderful.

I wouldn't trade for anything. Now, do you have any siblings, Brit?

I do. I have two sisters and a brother.

And what's the age difference for you all?

I'm the oldest and there's 3 years between each of us.

Okay. So you grew up in the same household.

Yes.

Sibling rivalry, maybe.

Totally.

And then, right. So there's this age gap, but, but now you're raising kids the whole time while running a business.

Yeah. And that's, that's a struggle. I mean, that's really difficult. And I think that's one of the things, like, I don't know if you experienced it, Mike, but that's one of the things that people don't talk about. I think people like from the outside will look at me and they're like, wow. And she's a stay-at-home mom that makes money. And it's like, No crazy, I'm like killing myself to do all the things. It's difficult to run a business and raise a family and keep a marriage intact and do all the things. It's not, it's not as easy as I think people perceive it to be.

Um, this show is called Open Your Business. I get all up in your business. Are you, are you the, are you the breadwinner?

I am. Okay, big time.

Now this is really, could be an ego punch to some people. I don't know your husband, but for me, I would be like First of all, you're making more money than me. Second of all, you're raising the kids. Like, to me, that might be difficult to swallow. Has there ever been like any kind of like ego challenge?

100%.

Okay, okay, so good. So your husband's a man.

Exactly, exactly. Very much so. And he's a fireman. So, I mean, really, really, but really all in because the dynamic in his work culture is that a lot of fire wives don't work. They just stay home and take care of the kids. And we have a very different—

They're the ultimate providers, right? Ultimate provider.

And protectors. Yeah, exactly.

Okay, so you're the breadwinner. How's your husband dealing with it? What? He gets ribbing. I guarantee he's at the firehouse. And they're like, oh, you know, your wife get that for you?

100%. He pulls up in his brand new truck. They know he didn't buy it from— I mean, of course, like all the things, right? All the things. Yeah. You know what, I got really lucky. And we have— we've been together for about 20 years. And we've chosen to really be partners. And that doesn't mean it's always been easy. I remember when we bought our— when we bought our house, I was like, we did this, like, I'm so proud of us. And the first thing he said is, well, no, you did this. And it was like, ah, man, because as much as I see it as a partnership, like, I wouldn't have built any of this without having an amazing partner like him. There is still that dynamic of my wife is the breadwinner. It's like, it is still so ingrained in that, and it's something we have to work through.

Yeah, so how do you work through it? Like, So he says it's your house, you bought the house. Like, how do you— you can say no, no, it's our house, but how do you— how does he own that belief?

It's something that we constantly, constantly work on, and we have good years and bad, I think, in working on it. But I'm constantly reminding him and appreciating the things he does that make all of this possible for me. And, and the word partner, like, we have really embraced that probably in the last 2 years. And I have to continue to affirm that, like, Wow, my event wouldn't have been possible had you not done these things. Thank you for doing that for me. And then he in return can thank me for things that I've done too, but really appreciating like what we both bring to the relationship and how that dynamic facilitates this life we're building together. But it does have to be a very open conversation. And I know talking about money is hard, especially in a marriage and a partnership. And we've had to learn to be really confident in that.

And your house hasn't burned down. So no.

So, so far so good.

So, so your house has been protected. So tell me about the early years. So you're 18, you have your daughter, it's you and your husband and your daughter now, and you don't have an events business. You're trying to, how do you scrape by at that age? And your parents aren't supporting. Like, what do you do?

It was difficult. So we both worked jobs. He at the time was working 2 jobs. So he'd work overnight, he'd get up at 2:30 in the morning to go to work. He'd work overnight and then work something for the bulk of the day. And I was working during the day and daycare and all the things. But we both fairly early on knew that we wanted to be in control and in the driver's seat. We also weren't in a position to go to 4 or 5 years of college. And so we both chose trades. I chose to be a hairstylist. He chose to be a fireman. And we, I mean, leaned on the things that people, I think, have a hard time leaning into. Like we had to do the food stamp thing for a minute and we had to do, we had to do the things that we had to do to get to where we were going. And I always like to share that part of my story, even, even though where it's sometimes painful, like we shared a car for many years and it was a 1993 Mazda where the windows didn't roll down. Like it wasn't A cute car. It was a beater.

What color was it? Give me some details.

Let me paint a picture for you. It was dark green, oxidized. So the whole hood is just a hot mess. The door panel on the passenger door, if you open the passenger door, the door panel falls off into the street.

Yeah.

Oh, it was just epic, epic. So everyone's climbing out the driver's side. So it was such a good look. So we wrote that.

You and your husband are sharing. What's your husband's name?

Chris.

Chris. So you and Chris are sharing this?

Oh yeah.

You're— were you on food stamps at the time too?

Uh, not at that time. We'd actually recovered. We graduated from there.

Oh, you graduated. Oh, that's graduation.

That was graduation, was the '93 Mazda.

So, uh, I don't know anything about that experience. Um, I've been broke, but I haven't been impoverished. And maybe, maybe you were experiencing an impoverishment. Um, some people say stuck there. Did you slip into that, or did you grow up in poverty and how to get out of it? Like, I'm just curious how you navigate that so quickly.

It's a really good question. I always try and be very careful how I explain my childhood because I don't— I do believe that I was raised well to the best of my parents' ability, and I didn't experience a lot like trauma or anything like that as a kid, but we barely got by. My parents didn't own a home. We moved around a lot. My mom volunteered at at the dance school so I could take lessons. So I, and I started working and helping to support my family from the time I was 15. So I always knew that money was tight. And so navigating things like that wasn't totally foreign to me. And to be honest, when we had our daughter, we were through the hospital, we had her out, we were given a lot of resources to find help. And we just, I always say like, I'm very scrappy. I'm just gonna figure it the heck out. And so I knew that I could do it. And I think that's the thing is like my belief in my life and my business is I was put on this planet to be phenomenal. So as long as I continue to find resources and ways to make that possible, it will continue to be my reality. And so I'll just do what I have to do to get to where I want to be, if that makes sense.

Yeah. Oh, I get it. I mean, so, you know, so my exposure to you in person was walking into that room, the massive event, the excitement. There's a green room. People getting makeup on, there's bodyguards. Like, I'm like, oh my God, this is so big. I think some people may see that of you and say, oh, that's been Brit's life, her entire life. How do you, do you feel comfortable sharing and do you actively share your past experience? Or is that almost like, like people may see that as a placation? I don't know. Like, how do you manage that?

I'm just starting to share a little bit more about like my past experience in my life. I don't know if that was a thing for you too, but I think it took me a while to be comfortable sharing like my entire story. I don't know.

Totally.

Yeah. I think there was something about being a business coach that I felt like I had to appear like I had it all together. And I just, if anybody else is listening to this and they feel that pressure too of like, oh no, you need to be the whole package and you need to look like you have all the answers and you've got it all figured out, like let the air out of that room because sharing your truth and your actual story is, I think, I think the most respectable thing that you, that you can do.

Totally. Right.

Right.

I think the fake it till you make it is total bullshit.

Agreed.

Yeah. Do you still have a picture of that lime, lime green oxidized Mazda?

I'm sure I could pull one up somewhere.

God, what a great opening picture that would be.

I know.

Wouldn't it be better next time you have a big event, you pull up in that? Everyone pulls up in limos.

Oh my gosh, yes.

Do that.

We jokingly told my daughter, she's 16 now, we were like, you know what you're getting for your first car? The Mazda.

Mazda. Are you buying her a car?

We did. We bought her a car. She has a beautiful brand new Subaru, which is amazing. Like, it's amazing to be able to do those things for our kids now. That's amazing.

Yeah. So now do you have the flip fear? Because now you've achieved a pretty significant degree of financial comfort, I presume.

Mm-hmm.

Is that true?

Completely. Yeah.

Okay. So enough that you can buy your daughter a car. Is there now a fear of the reverse happening? Now, she may not be scrappy. She may be soft. You may be entitling her. What's your thoughts?

Completely. It's a very real fear that I talk about all the time. I talk openly with her about it. We have a really good, honest relationship. But raising a millennial is It's crazy. It's insane because they have been raised very differently than, you know, generations previously. And there is a little bit of entitlement. And I do see a little bit of a lack of work ethic. And that being said, we run a household where you do chores and you're not paid for them. And we try and instill a lot of those values. But, but we are not paying for her to go to college. She'll have to figure that out herself. Student loans or I don't know if she chooses to go to college or whatever it will be. But we've told her, we're your parents and we're here to support you. But we found a lot of value in the struggle and learning to do things ourselves. So that is going to be our expectation. Expectation of her is that, you know, you're a child right now. When you graduate, we look forward to seeing what you're going to do with the next stages of your life because we're not going to be the safety net for everything. She's going to have to struggle a little bit.

What's your thoughts on colleges? I mean, did you— you didn't go, right?

No.

Oh, lay it on me.

Lay it on me. I'm anti-college. And I know that that is so not the popular opinion. I think that— so I graduated high school in 2002. Okay, and I think even at that time it was, it was, uh, great. So where are you going to college? It was like the expectation and you put— got put into the college machine. I watch all those kids I graduated college with. A lot of them aren't doing a whole lot.

Yeah, you're kicking their ass, right?

I'm kicking their ass. So it's like, you spent 5, 6 years. I hope you had a great time because now you're in mounds of debt. Some of you have cool jobs. A lot of you are still trying to figure out what the hell you're doing. And so it's hard for me to advocate like, okay, that's what you need to do. Now if she says she wants to be a physician's assistant, she wants to be something where going to college is Right. Part of the game. Abso-freaking-lutely. But going to get a communications degree, I'm just, I'm not sure I buy into that idea.

Yeah. They have an entrepreneurial degree at colleges, which is shocking.

You're kidding.

Yeah. There's certain colleges you can graduate with a degree in entrepreneurship.

And what is your thought on that?

It's redonkulous because—

thank you.

No, it's so stupid.

Like, it's called life experience, man.

Yeah. That's the definition of entrepreneurship. The definition of entrepreneurship is not the education through schools, it's the education through, you know, hard knocks.

That's it. I'd rather her take an internship, work somewhere for free for 2 years, see what life is all about, and call that her education, you know?

But, you know, I fall into the trap that if my kids don't go to college, I'm compromising them. And it's their societal pressure. So all my kids have gone to college. I can't say they derive benefit from it. You know what, I take it back. They got one interview because they had a college degree. They got an interview. It was a $200,000 cost to get one interview.

That's it.

In high school, what were you picked as? Like, were you picked as most likely to succeed? You know, what was your clique and all that stuff?

Probably most likely to have a good time.

Were you really?

100%. I don't think anybody would have said Brit's gonna be an amazing businesswoman. Like, people, people will come across me on LinkedIn from high school now and they're like, Holy shit, you, you have blown me, blown me away. I don't think that anybody thought I wasn't like a loser. I wasn't going to be ultimately successful either. I just, I don't know, I was lost. I was super lost. I was a very free spirit for sure.

Okay, so no one picked you to be the dominant one. And how many kids graduated in your high school class back?

About 350.

So you graduated what, '98, '99?

2002.

Oh, that's what you— duh, because you said 2002.

Okay.

Yeah, I just feel awfully old right now, so I'm trying to push you down a little bit.

Oh my gosh, get out of here.

2002, I had like 7 grandkids by then. So, okay, so you graduated 2002, uh, there was a couple hundred kids, you said?

Yeah, 350.

350. Oh my gosh, it's a big class. Um, are you in touch with anyone anymore, like, like regularly? Do you have like your 2 or 3 friends you're still in touch with, or—

Yeah, my very best friend, uh, she lives a mile from me. So we still, we still keep in touch for sure.

So let's talk about her story. So your best friend, she graduated with you. If you liked each other, you must have been similar to some degree.

Yeah.

What's her story? Did she go to college? What did she do?

Went to college. She's a teacher, but she's a traditional teacher, right? So we're now, we're both educators, but I educate in a very different way than she does.

Okay.

So she teaches, she used to teach high school, now she teaches elementary school.

Oh, cool.

Went and got her master's, still paying for that college education. I mean, complete opposite and makes a teacher salary.

What's her name, by the way?

Caroline.

Caroline. So I bet you people say to Caroline, Caroline, you are a contributor to society. We need you so badly. Thank you for your doing. Here's your $40,000 a year salary and the tons of debt. They go to you, they go, hey, Brit, you kind of got an ego going on because you're super confident, cocky. This is what outsiders are saying, in my opinion. Insiders are like, holy shit, this is magic. And you're making $400,000, probably more than that. Is that true? Like, the judgment placed on you versus Caroline, I bet you, is dramatically different. It is.

You've probably felt that as well. It's a really interesting dynamic, and it almost makes it difficult to talk about success. There's almost— I don't know if you've ever felt success shamed, but I have for sure.

Yeah.

And that's something that people don't often talk about. It's— you're almost— I'm not embarrassed of my success, but it almost becomes this, like, Voldemort, like, he who should not be named. Like, you can't talk about how amazing you are. Yeah.

So how do you deal with it?

Britt? I mean, we try and keep it— we do keep it very humble. Like if you came to our home or you were welcomed into our house, it's not flashy. There's nothing like overly and overtly crazy, but it's awkward. I mean, it's something that my husband and I talk about all the time. We call ourselves the anomaly. Like sometimes people— I don't know if you've ever had this, Mike, but people ask almost like, like, like questions, like they're trying to figure us out or they're totally, totally— oh my gosh. And it's so odd and uncomfortable. I'd almost rather somebody ask me directly my net worth than these like very strange, like questions to try and figure me, figure me out. It's like I've become this unicorn creature that nobody's, nobody's quite sure of. And when people say it's lonely at the top, I don't feel lonely. But I understand because there's very few people who actually know what it's like living life as an entrepreneur.

Oh, totally, totally. I bet you if we typed in your name right now, Britton, you know, you type it in, and then you type, you'll see all the common searches. Mm-hmm. They'll say Brit Savva net worth. I bet you in there—

guaranteed.

Yeah, guaranteed. And I bet it's one of the top searches. Sure. Um, everyone wants to know that, and, uh, admittedly I was the same guy. Like, I, I wanted to know that about everyone else until you started experiencing it.

Yep.

And it's like, oh, net worth is actually someone's contribution to society as opposed to how much money they're making. But when you're not making the money, it thinks you think net worth is how much money they're making.

Isn't that wild? I had, I had somebody ask me the other day how I knew I was successful. And I remember the very moment where I felt it. I was in a hotel room. I was about to speak on the largest stage I had ever spoken on before. And I was like looking out the hotel room window and it was like this feeling that came over me of this is the moment, you know, when you've made it. And it had nothing to do with money. Like the money was not even a part of the equation. It was like, I looked at my lifestyle and my peace of mind and the opportunities I was given, and I felt like I was making a tremendous impact. So when you say it's like the impact you have on society, that, I mean, to me, that's the, that's what success tangibly feels like. It's like an impact net worth, and, and that's what feels successful, at least to me.

How about worry? Do you experience much worry, anxiety, fear today?

In some ways I do. I feel like, I wonder if you feel this too, I would love to know your take on it, but I feel like I've taken on this huge responsibility of choosing I'm choosing to uplift my industry. And so the pressure on me to continue to do the work I need to do to make sure I'm owning my promise, I feel anxiety around that. I don't feel anxiety around like, what if I lose my business? Or what if I don't make enough money? I don't have any anxiety about that because, because I have the mindset of I'm going to create an amazing life so I could lose this business today and create something else tomorrow. I don't have fear around that, but I feel like I have taken on tremendous responsibility to help people uplevel their lives. And that, that stress actually gives me some anxiety.

Oh, I can see that. So that anxiety must be different though, than when, when you and Chris were surviving check by check.

Completely.

Right. That's survival anxiety.

Right.

This is impact. What do you call it? Impact anxiety?

Like, that's interesting. I guess I would call it impact anxiety. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Because I'll tell you, those, those, it was mostly women. So I got to be careful. There was men in the audience too. At your event, predominantly women, and they were hanging on every word you said. What if they fail to do what you told them to do? Because you told them the honest truth, how to grow the business. You told them how hard it would be. You gave them direction. What if they fail to do what you do, what you say to do?

I would love to say I don't carry that weight, but I do. I just want people to succeed so badly, which is such a shame. And I remember you standing on the stage, Mike, and saying Often you'll be invited back to events multiple times, which I have you on my radar for the next year.

I was trying to stage it. I was trying to stage it.

Well done. Well done. You planted the seed. I took it. But you said because a lot of people will sit there, hang on your every word, be so excited. Two years later, they've done nothing.

Oh, it kills me. It was predictable.

It's predictable.

What percentage of your audience do you think did nothing from what you taught them?

My answer is upsetting. Probably at least 60%. Yeah, I think easily, easily.

I'm with you, if not more. Yeah, I'm easily— I, my guesstimate for my speech is about 90% do nothing. 100% are jacked up for about 10 minutes, uh, then by the end of the day, uh, they're like, oh, that speaker guy was pretty good. And by the next day, if, if 10% are taking action, that's a pretty good It is unbelievable because sometimes I go back to the same events, it's the same people, they're there 3 years later and they love you just as much. Yeah, they're like, oh, I loved your speech. I did jack shit about it.

Right, right, right.

You almost saved my business, but I didn't do it, so I'm dead.

By the time they get on that plane headed home, they're already back to the business they left from. It's crazy.

Yeah. What's it like running an event business? Is that what it is now? Is that what you consider it?

What do you consider it? Isn't that interesting? I'd be curious to hear what your journey's like too, but it's really evolved. I just want to be a one-on-one coach. I just wanted to pop into salons and help you fix your shit. Oh yeah, completely. I never imagined this. It's hard to say that this was the vision. It's amazing and it's exciting. It's very humbling. It's very surreal. I always say I almost feel like I live two lives. So in my personal life, people call me Brittany. So I feel like Brittany lives this one life where she's seen as the girl she always was, and then Brit can stand on a stage and empower a group of men and women. It's very interesting. Interesting. It's an interesting dynamic to, to run this events business. And it's stressful. And it's hard. And, and you know, it's so funny, I always joke, with that big event that you came and spoke at, I was convinced nobody would come. I was like, we're gonna put all this work into it. No one's showing up. What a waste of time and effort. Well, turns out it ended up being kind of a big deal. But, but it's, it's, it's stressful and exciting and humbling all at the same time.

What's it take? What's the cost to put on an event of that size?

Oof, that one was about $200K.

Mother effer. See, people don't get that.

Yeah.

I mean, it was exquisite. You had a dedicated facility. It was actually in a business park, which was atypical, but that means adequate parking, beautiful venue, food, stuff like that. But people are like, oh, it's probably cost you $20 a head. So maybe $8,000.

Isn't that crazy? $200 grand. Yeah. Yeah. And there's probably extraneous expenses I'm not even calculating into that.

But I'm sure, I'm sure. You said Brit when you're on stage, Brittany, your friends. What do you actually own that self yourself when you are on stage? Are you calling yourself Brit? And when you're offstage, Brittany?

Mm-hmm.

Bullshit. Really?

You are? Yeah, totally.

It's like an alter ego.

Yeah. Yeah. And it's actually been very, very freeing for me, I think, as an entrepreneur too, because then I feel like I have a, like a space to, like, I'm just gonna be Brittany right now. I'm just gonna spend my whole weekend as Brittany and just do my thing and take off my hat.

And cool.

It's ended— it kind of happened by accident, but it's ended up being really freeing and really wonderful.

Yeah. Do you have employees?

I do.

I have a team of 16. And how many events do you do a year?

Uh, we only do one large format event a year, and then we'll do 2 or 3 smaller ones, maybe a room of 60, 100, something like that.

And do you generate revenue any other way?

Yes. Digital— I have a digital membership. That's where the majority of my revenue comes from. And I think that's a big misconception about events too, is that they're not necessarily huge profit winners. They can be, but often you're selling something additional or offering additional opportunities. It's— I can't say that that's like my most profitable piece. That for me is a part of like my marketing funnel. That's awareness. It creates funnel retention. Retention. Exactly. But, but that's definitely not where the majority of my revenue comes from. Online education, private bookings, coaching, things like that.

What's the membership cost for a typical member?

So $59 a month or $699 for a year.

So it's inexpensive.

It's inexpensive. And I wanted that. I wanted a really low barrier to entry. And then there's additional things you can do. You can become an elite member and there's additional add-ons.

Okay, so you can upgrade. How many members do you have at the $59 level?

I think right now we have about 4,500.

Okay, well, okay, that's significant. So just comparatively, our company, Prop First Professionals, we charge $5,000, our minimum annually. Yeah, we only have 450. So you have 10 times the size, but interestingly, you're 10 times less expensive. So our revenue—

exactly, very similar, similar. And I think that's good for people to hear and know too, because there's nothing wrong with either of our offers, but we are speaking to a very different market in the way—

totally, totally—

we're doing that.

But I'm wondering if you have better opportunity because you have, you have 4,500 people are engaged and you can sell them or introduce them to other things or do events. You can get 450 people to your events. I can get, you know, 100 if I'm lucky because, you know, so it's interesting. What's the future look like for your business?

Oh, I'm working on my first book, which is very exciting.

What's your book gonna be about?

It's going to be about my hairstylist success system. So there's several different facets that I see in stylists needing to have a really successful business. There's a mindset piece and there's a business knowledge piece and there's a growth plan piece. So understanding how all the pieces fit together and how to put them into place in your business.

That's great.

I'm very excited about that. But I really want to continue doing what I'm doing, at least for now. And it's hard for me to almost project forward. I feel like I'm so, I'm so in the moment in my journey. I used to try and be like, where am I going in 5 years? Where am I going in 10 years? And that would stress me the heck out. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy just kind of listening to my audience and being in the moment. I really love what I'm doing right now. And so if I can continue doing this for the next decade, I mean, I'd be stoked. It'd be incredible.

Has the pandemic screwed plans up for this year?

Okay, so for me, I've been very fortunate. I'd be curious to hear how it's been for you too. But as an educator, it's been amazing. I feel like a lot of people are like, okay, why didn't I do all of these things?

It's true.

Before, right? So people want to be much more business savvy. My industry, some of my stylists haven't been working for over 16 weeks. So my industry has been largely unemployed, which has been difficult for them. But it also gave me a really great opportunity to show up and step up and and, and speak to them and learn, learn about what they're going through and be a really good resource and support. So business-wise, we're doing great, but I am having to constantly pivot and, and, and speak to what my industry is experiencing at this time too.

Yeah, now we're recording this in mid-June. Do you— are they starting to open up again as states open up?

They are, and each state is doing its own thing. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is incredibly conservative. I know there's some states like Utah barely even closed. Arizona has been open for a long time.

So Arizona's injecting people with COVID just to get wild, right?

Just see what happens, right? We'll just see how it goes. But, but it's been, it's been interesting. And because everybody's in a different place, I'm trying to speak to all the audiences. It's tough. How's it been for you?

Similar. So we had to actually go virtual for a couple of events. We have standard events, and that was, that was difficult to do. People enjoyed it. But you got to be— I got to be very careful about people's words versus their actions. We haven't lost any members. I'm sorry, we've lost some members right in the beginning of the shock. They're like, I can't be in this.

Yes.

I think they were always— I think they were floundering, to be honest with you, Britton. They left. But then for our virtual event, we haven't lost anybody. But now we have to do another virtual event, our big one. It's in September. We got pressure from our sponsors saying, are you doing this or not? And we had to say, you know what, we're going virtual. And I'm a little bit nervous about that. I'm nervous about the retention. It's a retention move, you know?

Yeah. Yeah, and virtual is not an easy alternative to live. People are like, oh, we're going virtual, this is gonna be great. It's like, have you sat in what was supposed to be a large-scale live event virtually? 'Cause it's not the same. It's not the same at all. And it's like, how do we navigate this new normal and when can we get back to actually connecting in person? It's gonna be interesting.

It's gonna be interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing how it's gonna come out, but I think there's gonna be a new business norm.

Me too.

And I wonder, hair salons, are they gonna be affected in how they render services going forward? Permanently, you think, or is this just— what's your sense?

I do. I don't think that— I think everybody keeps saying like, I can't wait to go back to normal. I think, I think the old normal doesn't exist anymore. I think we're stepping into a new normal. And I mean, for my industry specifically, disinfection, sanitation, the way that we keep things clean has always been important, but we got a little lax, and that we own it. We got a little lax. And so stepping back up to making sure that everybody really is protected and that we're making sure that everybody Stay safe. You know, I hope the masks will go away. I don't see that happening for 18 months to 2 years, especially in an industry like mine where you're face-to-face with somebody. I think it's gonna be a minute. So I don't know what the normal will be, but I think that what we experienced in 2019 and previous, I think that's gone. So we'll just kind of see where we head with it. A lot of stylists are moving more to the studio suites. Are you familiar with that? Where it's like one stylist essentially in like a 12-by-12-foot room. Working by his or herself.

I'm not familiar with that. Oh, okay. So is it just rooms lined up next to each other?

Imagine cubicles. Yeah.

Cubicles. Okay. No, I was not familiar with that.

No. That's becoming increasingly popular because then it limits the exposure. But I mean, what a sad isolating world we'll be in if that becomes the normal. But it's very possible we're heading that direction.

You can tell I don't go to the salon. Look at this. This is called COVID hair.

No, it actually is looking great.

You think? I look like a Civil War general, for God's sake.

But it's working. It's working though. It's a thing. You're making it a thing.

I need to trim this, this insanity. Hey, as a quick aside, even though we're recording this, if you want, and only if it serves you, I would do— if you want to do a virtual live event, I'll do a free appearance. I'm selfishly promoting Fix This Next.

Okay.

Yeah. So if you want, I'll email you offline. Okay. Yeah. So, Britt, for someone who's entering this industry now that they want to start their own salon. Any tip or suggestion you have for someone entering this? Any, any entrepreneur starting up in this new reinvention we're going through?

This is the time. So I always say what's made me so successful as an entrepreneur is I see the world in gaps. When, when the water recedes and everybody else is like, oh no, this is too scary, I'm getting out of this, which I feel like a lot of people do, especially in times like this where the money isn't coming so easily and it looks like it's gonna be a little bit hard. The people who were never really in it are pulling out. I'm watching salon owners close their doors. And it was the ones that were not really in it up until this point. And they were in it when money was coming pretty easily. And now it's hard. And so they're gonna leave. Perfect. This is the opportunity for those who want to take it seriously and want to step up and truly create a beautiful life for yourself. This is the time, like, when everybody else throws up their hands and says, I can't do it. This is when those of us who are down to work hard, like, dig in. And so if somebody wants to be a successful stylist now or a successful owner, this is your chance because it's never been easier to stand out and do more. This is, this is the time, man. I'd go all in for sure.

You got me jacked up now. I want to start a salon.

Do it. I know a great coach who can help you. Let me know.

I will. I feel like I'm making the 100%ers now. I mean, I'm in. Tomorrow, hair salon, forget it.

Right, right.

Britt, where can people learn more about what you got going on?

I am all over the place at Britt Sieva. So Britt Sieva on Instagram, Britt Sieva Social Media on Facebook, and then BrittSieva.com.

Britt Sieva. We'll have the link in the show notes. Britt, thank you so much for sharing what you did today.

Thanks so much, Mike. I really appreciate it.

Take care.

I'll see you. You too.

Bye.

Bye.