Leadership Hacks to Level Up Your Business FAST with Natasha Cornstein

We didn't have to figure out everything in one day. And a lot of times when you have business challenges, you're not going to figure it all out in one moment. But it's about keep moving. If you get overwhelmed because there are so many things to fix or so many decisions to weigh, just keep going. It's when you paralyze yourself or your team with indecision or fear. Fear that you get really stuck.

Natasha, welcome to the earn your happy podcast.

Lori, thank you so much for having me. I've been looking forward to this.

Oh, my goodness. Well, whenever I get a chance to talk to a woman who is such a cheerleader for other women, such a leader, I get so excited because I not only want to emulate that, but I want to learn from that. And I just feel like it's the best conversation because it's, it's. My favorite conversation is like, how can we do what we love while also lifting other people up? Because I feel like that's the sweet spot in life and I feel like you're living that.

I couldn't agree more. I think that when I think about what I love most, it's that purpose of not just living my own life, but bringing people along and making sure that whatever we're doing, whether it's in Blushington or my personal life, that the boat's rising for all of us.

I love that. So you, you have so much going on with Blushington, so many exciting things. And if you guys don't know what Blushington is, I have been to them. I have experienced it. I even did a little activation back in the day where there was a Blushington at a Lorna Jane event. It was wonderful.

Yes.

Helping run.

It was great.

So tell me just for a minute because I'm going to get to the backstory as well.

Sure.

But just tell everyone who's listening what Blushington is.

Absolutely. Blushington is a destination for beauty services, getting ready all under one roof. And we always approach beauty with. It's not really about having to look a certain way, but it's about taking care of yourself, enjoying these beauty experiences, and that ultimately confidence looks great on you. So we at Blushington have the most incredible professional artists. We do blowouts, we do makeup skincare services, we curate our retail products so you never have to guess or wonder if you're getting the right product. So really it's luxury accessible beauty and convenience all under one roof.

It's amazing.

I've.

I've used it before events, especially when traveling, because it is One of the most challenging things, to travel and be like, who knows someone here? Okay, you do makeup, but who's gonna do the hair? Like, okay, you do hair, but who's gonna do the makeup? So it is. It is really phenomenal.

I really appreciate that. And we really wanna make people's lives easier. I was blown away by this statistic, but there is a statistic. And when I thought about it, I was like, yes, that's my life. That women spend 16 of their lives on their beauty routine.

Oh, God.

Can you believe that? Right? So at Blushington, we all understand that time is our most precious commodity. So if we can get that blowout and makeup done in one appointment, it is a huge time saver. Because I agree with you, the running around isn't good for anyone.

The running around, but the figuring out for me is the worst part. Like, the figuring it out. Like, especially, like I said, if you are someone who travels and a lot of the women I know travel and they need their makeup and hair done.

So. And you want to trust who you're seeing.

Exactly.

That's really. And it's such a personal relationship when you're talking about your makeup artist, your hair artist, and that's so important to us. At Blushington, you want amazing makeup, amazing hair, but you also want amazing people.

For sure.

That's. That's. I think what's made Blushington so successful is. Is our people.

Yeah, it's such a. Like, it is an intimate moment. And also, you're. You know, women can be very self conscious about their hair and makeup, and so it can feel like a big risk. And by the way, my makeup was awesome. It was amazing. So I'm very grateful because it does. It does feel risky. So I love that you guys put so much effort and care into who your hires are, which is awesome. And I'm sure, you know, feels so good to be able to also have home for those people as well, to be able to, you know, all get to work together under one roof with such awesome core values, which we can talk about too. So I want to back up, though, because we just found a common ground that I absolutely love, is that we are both from the Midwest, so.

Born and raised.

Born and raised. And for all my Midwesterners who listen, we actually have so many of them because I attract Midwesterners.

I love that there's. There's nothing like a Midwestern gal.

I feel, you know, I'm partial because I'm one, and when I get to meet another one, I'm like, oh, I just feel like I know who you are and I love that. So. But what I want to know is what are some of the core values that you feel you saw, you grew up with that were positive? We'll go there first. That were positive that you've been able to carry into what you're doing now?

First of all, growing up in Cleveland, Ohio was incredible. I mean, I can so huge shout out to my city that always gets dis, no matter about what or where or who. But Cleveland has my heart. It was such an amazing place to grow up. What did I love about it and what do I keep with me every day? One of the first things is work ethic. There was just an extraordinary work ethic growing up in every facet of every profession. Whether it was somebody running a restaurant, working in the kitchen of a restaurant, the teller at the bank, at the car wash, sitting down with musicians or CEOs, whatever profession it was in, there was a tremendous work ethic. And what do I mean by. You know, some people say, well, work ethic just means working hard. It means so much more than that. It means being present, being forthright. There. A work ethic comes with more than just the hours you put in. It's how you treat your co workers, how you treat your customers. And growing up in the Midwest, there was that. I found that tremendous focus on hard work, but on also the. The kindness and respect that you gave to one another. People really took the time to say hello, as basic as that sounds, and mean it. Hi, how are you? You know, that's everywhere you went.

I love that. Is there something that you had to let go of in order to. That maybe you saw growing up or the mentality around you that you had to like, really work through in order to become the woman that you are today?

I have to tell you, I grew up in an incredibly special part of the Midwest. It's called, called Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It is one of the most diverse communities in the Midwest. So I had the opportunity from right out of the gate. First of all, my family, my mother was the first in her family to move to America. My father, born and raised in New York City and grew up and went to Cleveland Heights High School, which was just this extraordinary school that has, you know, this diversity of thought of backgrounds. And so whereas I know many of my friends from the Midwest, maybe grew up in a very insular community and had to really sort of open their eyes and mindset, I had the very good fortune really not only at home, but in Cleveland. Heights to have just this very worldly experience in the Midwest. So a pretty exquisite combination. So I really don't feel that I had to sort of shed my past. It was just going to such a different level coming to New York City.

Oh my God, I bet. So tell me about, you know, you've, you have had multiple careers. It's like honestly you guys, if we could just do a podcast on everything that you've done that would will do a part 2. Tell me how like the transition from where you started to getting into the beauty industry.

Absolutely. So I first of all again started in the Midwest, college in the Midwest. I won a fellowship that brought me to New York City. That was something I had dreamed of and I'll never forget and particularly maybe your Midwestern or small town listeners will understand. But I asked my, I told my dad how scared I was about going to the bright lights in the big city. And when I got off the airplane, he was standing there. I will never forget that. And we got that yellow taxi, drove into Manhattan wide eyed and I said, daddy, I don't know if I'll, I'll be okay here. He said, you, you can't imagine what you'll be able to become in this city.

Oh my God.

That's going to be. Yeah, I mean I, it's emblazoned in my memory and it really is a city where anything is possible. It doesn't matter where you're from, how you grew up, what you have, what you don't have. This is a city to me where anything is possible. And so came did an extraordinary fellowship. Then one door just opened after the next. And that's why I tell everyone your next hello can be your future. The dots of my career are all connected because of conversations I had, not because I was trying to get something out of the conversation or make a connection. It was just being a listener, which I feel funny because I'm talking so much, but I love to listen and it's in those one conversation led to a next that led to a next job. So, so I was an associate producer at Fox News. I started on the overnight assignment desk. So if you're not familiar with the overnight shift, for anyone listening, that means I went to work at 11pm and came home at 8am oh God. Yeah, it was tough. But it's how I got my foot in that newsroom. And so even if it means, you know, sometimes taking a step back to take a step forward, forward. I had a great job, but it was my dream to go into the newsroom. So I took a major pay cut. I took daytime hours into an overnight shift. But then I got this incredible opportunity. I was there during 9 11. So for anyone that worked in news or remembers that time, it was, you know, it was one of the most tragic and horrific times in the history of our country. And the news was just so crucial to the country understanding what was happening, coming together. So I went from Fox News to working with my husband, which was extraordinary. We were, yeah, we work. I always say we were kids. I'm in my early 50s now. But we got to work on building his business together. And it's where I learned a lot of my business skills just from listening to him. He represented NBA athletes. He was one of the first to bring them to the United States. And he did all the business. I did the off the court. But we traveled the world and I really learned. I really learned a lot of my business skills from my husband, who I admire so much. Wow.

I. I feel that same way. I've gotten to work with my husband. I still do, but really worked with him earlier on. It was incredible. And we argued a lot, especially the beginning. Did you guys argue at all or were you good to go?

You know, I have to say I am a little more fiery temperament. And. And my husband is definitely very even keeled.

Okay.

So I think we were a good match for each other. But yeah, of course, you know, just like in a marriage or in, you know, a relationship, if anyone tells you it all is going like this and it's all smooth, you know, be a little skeptical. Be a little skeptical. Sure, we, we argued, but at the end of the day, it was. We were doing it for our family. We were having so much fun. And we really tried to make a separation so that although it was sort of 247 work, we made sure that we went out with friends. We're both very close to our families. We love to travel. So there was a lot that we did just as a couple that was not work. What I will say is we loved our work. So it really all blended together.

Yeah. So, you know, you have a couple beautiful things that you've mentioned about your dad and the ability to, you know, I was thinking about nature versus nurture and how much he was able to kind of like change for you in that one sentence of you're not going to believe what's possible for you in this city and how powerful that is. Is that one of the things that really, like how, how much do you think that that actually impacted the way that you pers. Like, showed up in that city and what happened for you?

I think it gave me so much confidence when I. When I didn't have it, you know, it really sort of opened the floodgates for me. And it's also, I think, really defined my leadership style of really nurturing talent. And that doesn't mean I'll be very candid with my team and about. This is a path I see, or maybe this is a path we should consider going in a different direction. But my general messaging is that anything is possible, and that is so important in leadership, but also in retention of talent, really. And that's one of the things I'm proudest of. And so there's really this sort of intersection between, you know, you can't tell someone, be confident, and then they'll be confident. If it was that easy and it worked that way, wow, would it make life a lot easier? But it's certainly. You want to open that door to having that belief, and. And then it has to come from within, has to come from surrounding yourself with great people. But it. It really. It set the stage for. For my life here. It's.

It's so beautiful. I'm like, can we all just thank your dad, because we got to borrow that? And I just feel like that is such a beautiful sentiment and such a reminder that what we say can be so influential on people that we can actually change their entire path. And I think that is so important for people to hear that everybody listening has that ability in somebody's life that you could change someone's life with what you speak into them.

I.

That is so beautiful.

Absolutely.

Okay, so then your husband, I want to know, you said that, you know, you learned some of your biggest business lessons from him, or what would you say are a couple of the biggest lessons that you learned watching him?

I would say the number one lesson that I learned from my husband is that a great negotiation means that everybody walks away a little unhappy. And when I heard that at first, you know, I said, I don't understand what that means, because I. I am type A. I am competitive. I like to win. And he said, you know, as you negotiate contracts, as you negotiate with vendors, you're negotiating in every aspect of your life in conversation. He said, the best negotiations end that way. And I said, it took me a while to understand that, he said, because at the end of the day, it's not about squeezing out the last dollar. It's about building partnership, building that relationship, being able to return to do business again. Together having the integrity of your negotiating style and your reputation. So I think that watching my husband and how he built relationships and how he was such a trusted resource to people that you didn't look at it as adversarial. So that was one of the biggest lessons. The other lesson that I took from my husband, and that's been really important, particularly when the pandemic hit, was to get to know your competitors and to develop positive relationships with your competitors, that there's room for more than one brand, or in his case, more than one agency. And so I really took that to heart, and I think it's really helped as I built my own personal success in business and the success of Washington is understanding that there's room for more than one company, that it's. We can learn from each other. And, you know, if we have time, I can tell you about the Beauty and Wellness forum I put together before when the pandemic hit.

Yeah, I mean, girlfriend, we have time.

So, no, I would just say, you know, this was just as an example of that. I sort of flash back to March 13, 2020, when we wrote to our 100,000 plus customers and said, we're doing a quick close, we're getting, you know, disposable brush sets, we're getting HEPA filters, and we'll see you in two weeks. And I woke up Sunday morning and I said, not only are we not opening in two weeks, we may never open again. And if I'm feeling this as a CEO, what must my competitors be feeling? And so I reached out to 20 CEOs in beauty and fitness and wellness. And I said, let's get together and figure this out together. And so every day we, on every subject matter that was impacting us, we brought on an expert effort in lease negotiation, in how to access the PPP funding, in crisis communications, in inventory, you name it. The group grew to 100 people. And I really think that together we were able to accomplish so much more, retain so many more jobs, really help each other with our pivots. And so I actually credit my husband with helping me to develop that mindset and have it become such a natural instinct to want to build relationships with all of my peers, whether we're competitors or not.

That is such a great reminder. I was taught that pretty early on, and I think it's been a superpower. And I love that you, you know, in times that are really uncertain and really scary, I think what the people who step up and lead or get communities together to figure out how to help they're always the ones that I've interviewed or talked to that have not just made it through, but they thrive so much on the other side. And I just think you, instead of, you know, acting out of fear, it's so easy. I understand you guys, everyone listening. It's so easy to let fear consume you. That's why what you did by building a community around you of people who are like, hey, we're going to focus on what to do, what action to take, rather than sit in the fear. It's really, you know, it's really easy to turn the news on and just be like, whoa, the world is bad, Business is bad, this is bad. Where if you get in a room of action takers, you're like, well, what could we do? How could we learn from this? Where do we pivot? And that's the difference between people who get stuck or lose their businesses or the people who pivot and change. My husband and I did the same thing. He actually got a bunch of people together and he did like a bunch of webinars on business and trying to figure out what we can do. And that kept our hope really high. Being in, like, like leading that, but also being with other leaders. So that was huge. I love, love, love your story about that. That was like, you guys, I was reading her bio earlier, earlier, and I was like, that is so cool. Like, that speaks volumes about who you are. So, okay, I want to know. We're talking about Blushington, and I want to know what the biggest challenge is in turning Blushington into a scalable franchise ready brand.

Were. That's such a great question. I think the beauty of Blushington becoming a franchisor is that we had been in business for over a decade, so in some ways, the transition to becoming a franchisor was a really natural step for us. We had a proven business model, we had incredible training. We had learned from our mistakes. So. So for franchisees, I think that's an extraordinary opportunity to walk into a business where the mistakes have been made. You know, we finance the mistakes. Yeah, we could become franchise ready. I think one of the biggest challenges was really understanding and learning the industry. And as I've been in franchising, which is an extraordinary community and way of life and business opportunity for individuals to become their own bosses to create generational wealth. I think that for us, first we had to do a lot of learning. And I would say to anyone listening, you know, if you're interested in something, read as much as possible. You don't even have to Invest in buying a book. But if you have the resources, buy the books, go online, listen to podcasts like yours. We became students of franchising during the pandemic. We interviewed as many consulting firms as possible, as many franchise specialists. I wanted to come out the gate being the best we could be, knowing everything we could. And so it doesn't mean, and I think this is important. Just coming back to what we talked about, about the fear piece of things, you know, we didn't have to figure out everything in one day. There. There was no way you could do that in the face of a global pandemic. And a lot of times when you have business challenges, you're not going to figure it all out in one moment. But it's about, keep moving. Don't get that fear, get you stuck. If you. You get overwhelmed because there are so many things to fix or so many decisions to weigh, just keep going. It's when you paralyze yourself or your team with indecision or fear that you get really stuck. But coming back to just your question about Blushington and franchising, it was really crucial that if we were going to go out as franchisors, we had to understand the industry inside and out. And so we had to really become students. And we were very, very patient and continue to be patient. We reopened our corporate store, the franchise model, in 2022. We started franchise sales in 2024 because we wanted to know with 100% confidence that we were ready and that we were prepare to set our franchisees up for success. So as much As I want 100 doors open yesterday, have to be very patient about, you know, knowing that we were ready. And I felt In January of 2024, it's go time, and we've sold our first three franchises and, you know, many, many more on the horizon. But, you know, that's. That really takes a lot of learning and a lot of patience to do things right. That doesn't mean slowing down or stopping. You keep going, but you have to be, I think, thorough and prepared. And that curiosity, being thorough, being prepared, that's helped propel me in my career.

So for anybody listening who maybe doesn't fully understand franchising, it is essentially from my understanding of everything you get to buy in, you pretty much get a business in a box. Not to downplay it, but you get, like, playbooks, guidebooks, training. This is how things are done.

This is how.

This is how the store is laid out. This is how your people are onboarded. This is how they're Trained like it is, like start a start to finish playbook. Is that correct?

You described it perfectly. And I think the beauty of franchising is that yes, you are walking in to, in the case of Blushington, a beautifully, in my opinion, a beautifully developed brand. Down to every detail. On finding your real estate, on building out your store, on the color of your tissue paper, on extensive training, ongoing marketing. You really get to step in. It's this very symbiotic relationship because the franchisor is exactly what you just said, Lori. It's a business in a box. You're being handed the playbook, yet you get to be an entrepreneur, an owner. You're setting your own schedule, you're creating wealth for your own family with all of the support of this national brand and seasoned leadership team. And so it's been fascinating to see who has come in. We've had thousands of inquiries to become franchise owners and we're really starting to see a pattern of who's interested. And it, what we've seen is it's women really my age, sort of early 50s, that have climbed the corporate ladder. They are, you know, financially independent, but they've really had it with a crowd, scrummy boss or office politics or commuting. They want something of their own, but they don't want to start from scratch or with that risk or sort of, they know necessarily sure what they want to do. And the other candidates we're seeing are just incredibly brilliant women that maybe had a business career for five, 10 years and then off ramp from their careers to get married to start a family. And now the children are going back to school and they want to be more than mama. They want to reclaim some of their business identity, but they want and need the flexibility. And that is a really beautiful aspect of franchising.

I, you know, as you're speaking, I'm thinking about, I have a skin and gut supplement, so a beauty and wellness company. And I will say one of the hardest part, on top of everything that you described, hiring, bringing on team building something out, creating, you know, your systems and all of your playbooks, is getting brand recognition. Like, yeah, so just being able to buy into a brand that most people I know have heard of at least if not used it, you couldn't pay enough money for that. Like imagine the marketing dollars that you would have to put into your brand new business. We're just saying the major perks of franchising, if you want to be a brick and mortar owner especially or business owner, it just takes off so much of that pressure. When you do think of the dollar amount that you have to put into marketing alone to get out there, if it's not a skill set, if you're not a celebrity, if you're not already an influencer, like you have to be good at marketing if you don't already have a name.

I think that's such an excellent point and I think you are an expert on franchising. I think you're explaining it, you are, you're explaining it so beautifully. And yes, I mean it is such a game changer to walk into a brand that has brand awareness, but not only brand awareness. So much love for the brand.

Yes.

You think about Blushington, you know, whether it's the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Allure are amazing customers like you and so many extraordinary women out there that know and love the brand. You know, you can walk into a franchise that maybe doesn't have the recognition and then, wow, you have a huge climb. But Blushington, and I'm so grateful for this is a very beloved and known brand.

Yeah, it's really. I think people don't realize how cool it is to be able to buy into something like that. Where you, you know, you even said to be connected something, something that makes my ears perk up for women when I'm thinking about who is good candidates for things like this is being able to have access to the leadership team of people who are like, they operate in excellence. Like you're going to learn this. This is going to be so much fast growth that's built in and it actually, it works. It's not like guessing, it's not like I might hire this coach and maybe they know a little bit about this. It's like this is what we're learning and this is what you're going to do and this is a proven path and it works. So I think that's really exciting.

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Most thrilling parts of becoming a franchisor and selling our first three units. Our first unit is opening in Boca Raton and was purchased by an extraordinary woman, Dr. Karen Diaz Mike, who comes from a background in social work and she's a real estate broker and is just a a force to be reckoned with and is now opening Blushington. And our second franchise owner who purchased two units. Her name is Courtney Frs in Houston, Texas. She was an oil and gas trader. She has an exceptional business background, step back to get married and start a family and just such a powerhouse. But the beauty really for me as the CEO of Blushington is not only yes, they get to work with our leadership team, but we get to work with these exceptionally talented people. And so we're being very patient about bringing on the right franchise partners and it's so important that they share our core values of excellence, as you mentioned, and of inclusivity beauty. Because one of the origins of Blushington when we started with makeup applications was to be a destination for women or customers of all ages, background skin tones. And when we went into adding blowouts to Blushington, it was crucial to us that just like on the makeup side, we were a destination for all that we know how to handle all textures of hair hair. And I think that truly sets us apart in this express beauty blowout space in particular is our training and having the inventory and the desire to have customers with all textures of hair. We spend a Tremendous amount of time and resources to build an expertise here and it's one of the things I'm proudest of. So as we bring on our franchise partners, our blushington owners, it's just essential that they share our commitment to excellence and to inclusivity.

You know, I have a lot of friends who have done franchising or own, have owned franchises, but you, you really are a partner. You're. You are married. So yeah, it's very, it's important that you, I love that you do such a in depth, like, vetting process to make sure it's great for them and it's great for you guys. Otherwise that doesn't make a great partnership. So I want to know, what's your advice for women who want to start something but might feel underqualified or like it's too late?

Oh, well, take both of those thoughts and throw them in the garbage. It's never too late. Let's start with that. We are living longer. We are looking at age very differently in this country. I mean, when I thought about 50 growing up, that was somebody that was very old. But now when we're have much more longevity, I think it's never too late from an age perspective. And I also think in the environment we're living in. When I was coming up in business, there was really this notion you go to college, you graduate and you rise within one company and then you retire. And there is such a different mentality towards career. Now, I certainly didn't take that path, albeit it was sort of the path that was really suggested at the time. But I think what's beautiful for people in life right now is that it is accepted to pivot. It is considered something respected and that there's, you know, it used to be, oh, if they're changing things, what's the issue? So again, it's never too late. And in terms of, you know, being under qualified, if you feel that way, then change it. I can't say to someone you're qualified or under qualified, but if you feel that way, like I felt that way in 2020 about franchising, I said, well, I can't just tomorrow go out as a franchisor. I am under qualified. Five years ago, I had to read research, ask people for coffees and phone calls, make sure I was leaving no stone unturned. So, you know, my two messages to everyone that's joining us for this conversation is it's never too late. And if you feel under qualified, do something about it.

I love that we are the only ones who can make that feeling in ourselves go away? Because when I have felt underqualified, it's because I was. Yeah, it's because I was like, I don't know some of these answers and. Right. You know, I. I always ask myself the question, I'm like, what do I need right now to. To not feel this way? What would I need? Like, where could I start? And so I think sometimes we can get so overwhelmed with the big picture of, oh, my God, I'm so under qualified, I don't know anything. Okay, well, what would start to make you feel more qualified? Well, to learn generally, what is franchising? Why do people franchise? What does it look like? What's a good franchise versus a bad franchise? And all of a sudden you're like, empowering yourself.

Absolutely. There. I mean, there is this age old adage, and. And it's true, knowledge is power, but don't mistake that for having to know everything.

Yes.

I have always worked very hard to surround myself with people that are smarter than me, that have subject matter expertise. So, for example, when we became a franchisor, there are some really foundational, key, key pillars to being successful in franchising. It starts with real estate. Well, I am not an expert in real estate. I can tell you I know what's worked, what hasn't worked. But we created an advisory board at Blushington, and I brought on advisors for myself that know more, infinitely more about their subject matter. So I have an. A member of our advisory board that's an excellent expert in landlord and tenant relationships, knows every landlord in the country, has all of the software. Her name is Jess Bruner. She has her own company now. She's just extraordinarily, extraordinarily talented in real estate.

She helps people find locations.

Absolutely.

Of just Blushington or of all. All things.

She has tremendous clients. I mean, she has the Blackstone Group. She has the restaurant tour. Sam Fox, I think. Are you Arizona Lori?

I'm in Newport beach, but I was in Newport Beach.

Okay. So Sam Fox is a really famous restaurateur from Arizona and she has worked with every major consumer brand. So she's on Blushington's advisory board. Jessica Bruner. But she works with all different companies. But it's so crucial. And I want every franchisee to be successful. And that starts with finding the right location so she'll really validate the locations. I have an advisor that is our franchising expert. She was not only a franchisor, she's been a franchisee. She is at a company called iFranchise that helped us transition from becoming a corporate model and she stayed on our advisory board and we have that for marketing, for human capital, for product development. So again, I, I didn't mean to be harsh, but it's. You do have to educate yourself if you feel under qualified and then go out and find the people that can help you learn and fill in the missing pieces for you.

I absolutely love it. And I just like in, in transformation sometimes, sometimes like saying things to people in such like, I want to make sure it's a good delivery that doesn't offer transformation. So I love that you're like, no, we gotta change it. And it's, it's true because it was so true for me. So how do you balance being a CEO, a mom, a wife, and what does success mean to you now?

I'm not a huge fan of the word balance. I get asked that a lot. Okay. Because I think, I think balance, at least for me, you know, I find that word stressful.

Oh yeah. It's like this for me. And that's just how it's always going to be. Up and down.

I have one extraordinary son, an incredible husband. We're together 25 years. September 20th is the anniversary of our first date. Thank you. And our son just finished our. His freshman year in college. You know, my family is my number one priority and they know that. And so when there are days where blushington is the priority, then blushington is the priority. And my team knows I have their back. I'm fully invested in their development. I will be there for them. But there may be a day when I have to be there for my family. And so I think it's a, for me, the way I look at this is about prioritization. And there are days or hours or minutes where there might be trade offs. And what is the priority for that hour or day or week or long term? So I sort of look at it more in terms of prioritization than I do in balance. I have boundaries. For example, my family is Jewish. We celebrate Shabbat. So my team knows that come six o' clock on Friday, you're not reaching me. And my family knows that come six o' clock on Friday, it's our time together. And so I would encourage people, you know, and yes, sometimes things get in the way of that, but that's the commitment we try to keep to one another. And my team understands it and my family understands it. And I think it's, you know, life is hectic. Whether you're sitting in the CEO seat or you're starting your career and you're commuting, we're all busy. But I think if you can find rituals and if you could, that's been very important for me. I love tradition. I love ritual. It helps balance things. For me, that's a little bit how I look at balance.

What are some of your favorite rituals and traditions?

Well, I mean, number one favorite tradition is celebrating Shabbat. And if our, those that are with us on the conversation may not have celebrated Shabbat, it's the time of rest. So from sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday, it's a time of rest, reflection, family. People can celebrate it and, and be very strict about it. And there's no electricity, no electronics, they don't drive. We have a very modern adaptation. For us it's about dinner on Friday nights, lighting the candles, saying some blessings and some song. So that is my most important ritual in my life. I would say another ritual is I read every single morning. I spend the first hour of my day reading and I go to hard news sites, I go to franchise sites now business, fashion, beauty. I want to know and be up on what's happening and really also what's happening in the world and getting a balanced viewpoint, I think that's harder and harder to come by and I want to be thorough in my knowledge and understanding. I don't want to get my news from sound bites or some algorithm of social media accounts. So I would also encourage everyone we're chatting with today is read and, and read from all different points of view. So reading is really important to me. Prayer is a ritual. So I pray every night. I've said the same prayer to my son every night for the last, it's going to be 20 years. So I would say those are some of the things that are most important to me. Now if we talk beauty, I, I think self care is, you know, I'm obviously in the beauty industry but getting my blowouts, getting my makeup done helps me to feel beautiful and confident. I'm going to give a shout out to Alana and Christina who gave me this gorgeous blowout and makeup today.

Gorgeous, gorgeous. I was just thinking like I'm obsessed with her hair and her style. I actually love wearing a little pin bat. I'm like, you're my, you're my girl, you.

I love his clips, I love clips.

It's so.

But I think that's really important and it's different for all of us. You know, my, my husband and my son Would say, you know, watching NFL Sunday football and being on speed dial all day is their Sunday that they can't live without. And by the way, I love football. I always say beauty by day, sports bar by night.

Oh, I love it.

Yes.

Yeah, we're huge Packer fans, so.

All right, well, I won't hold that against you. It's fine, it's fine.

We're the best.

We know it, but we have. Okay. So talking about tradition or things in life that you can look forward to, we made a commitment as a family that we are going to visit every single NFL football stadium. So, yes. Going to a Packers game is like on our. Do you call it a bucket list? A wish list?

Okay. If you go. Because we know everything about it. You have to talk to me first. I will get the low down routine.

Okay. All right. We want to do the full on experience.

It'll be the full thing. It's going to be amazing. We'll, we'll. We'll connect you with people.

We'll.

We'll tell you where to park.

Love it. Perfect. These are the important things, by the way. Yeah. This is the, this is what it's all for.

You know what I mean?

It's.

I love, I actually love. There's a. Depending on what time you're listening to this, there's a viral reel right now that's. That says, I almost forgot this was the whole point. And it's, it's something like that your family is doing or, you know, it's. It's just like these little moments that just like what you're doing. I, I really admire the way that you are living. I'm working really hard on this with my husband right now to find the things that are important to us, to really be so intentional in our life. Because obviously the older you get, the more you start to realize, wow, this is going really, really fast. And.

Yes.

And we got to enjoy all of it. And work is a big part of that, too. So how do we incorporate life with work, with family, with, you know, intentional connection? And it makes everything better, I think, for a long time. You know, in the beginning, when you, when you said the balance thing, it's like in the beginning, I had to. I almost had to not have balance. I had to go so hard to kind of break a pattern, break out of a family pattern, change my identity, like, make a spot in the world, like you're building your career. And I didn't have a lot of those things. I didn't have the friends. You know, we didn't put a lot of quality family time on the books at that point. And so that wasn't balanced for me. It didn't feel great. But it also got me to a place where I wasn't struggling anymore. And I could now say, hey, now what's important? Like right in my life. So I think that it's not easy when you're in it, but it's so worth it because you will get to look back and create these beautiful rituals like you guys have.

I will say, and again, I'm a mom and it was so crucial to me to learn how to say no. And I've gotten much better at it now because what you said is, you know, words for everyone to live by. It goes so fast. And my husband and I made a decision quite some time ago that unless it was something that it was a non discussion. For business, we learn to say no. Yeah. Because you're running constantly, then you miss it. When I was in my early 20s, Lori, I had a friend who was in her 70s and I tell this story all the time because she would say to me, the journey is the destination. And I, I didn't, I. What does that mean? She said, I don't understand what that even means. And, and it hits you at a certain point and you realize, oh, it's not about rushing to get somewhere. It's not about making this amount of money. It's not about having this many accolades or having X or Y or Z accomplish. It is about each day of your life and you never get the day back. And that's something I, we've instilled in my son from the beginning. We're going to have terrible days and very difficult things. And I lost my father at the beginning of this year. I don't want to cry on your show.

Sorry.

But I say, you know, you'd never get the time back. And I can sit here and say to you I have no regrets because I put the time in. I prioritized that time with my family. And so people think it's the big splashy parties. I remember when I was driving myself crazy making big birthday parties for my son, when in reality that special time was putting the pillows on the floor and at the time a CD player and listening to music together or doing a dum dum lollipop, tasting and unwrapping 20 lollipop. It's those small things. And as you get older you realize it doesn't have to be the big perfect party. It doesn't. It's the Moments that are quiet, unplanned, tender, that make up the quality of our life, I think.

I think for sure.

Yeah.

That's really, really beautiful. Thanks for sharing that about your dad. My. My husband lost his dad in 2020 and he said the same thing because we had started prioritizing family for quite a while. And he said, lori, the one thing that makes this feel even somewhat tolerable is that I don't have regrets. Like, I just feel like I spent all the time I could and like, being able to say that rather than the opposite is like, I know for my, you know, whatever happens in the future, I feel like that's the thing that helps you be able to. To deal with everything a little better.

So. Yes. So I would encourage everyone that's with us today. It's very easy to say, I'm too busy or I can't or it's just not the right time. Stop yourself when you hear yourself saying those things. When it comes to family. Mm.

Mm. I love that. That's amazing advice. So we're going to end on the last question, which is what does it mean to you to lead a female focused business? And how have you built a team that reflects that?

Being the CEO of Blushington has been the privilege of a lifetime. I work alongside two extraordinary female co founders, Steffi Cohen and Nikki Marin. The general manager of our corporate headquarters is this exceptional woman, Jacinda Perez, who actually comes from a franchising background and has taught me so much about franchising. And then our extraordinary advisory board I mentioned to you are all just powerhouse women in their own right. And then our artists, who are predominantly women and our customers, who are predominantly women. So at Washington, we are in the business of making people feel beautiful and confident, and that's just not our customers. It's also our team. And so I have felt and continue to feel a huge responsibility as the leader of a predominantly all women team to make sure that they are seen supported and that we are in constant conversation about career goals. And if you were to ask me what I was proudest of in my tenure as CEO at Blushington is the retention rate that we have amongst our team. Our makeup artists and hair artists have been with us for years. And this is in an industry and really most industries now are seeing turnover. And I think it is because of the commitment we've made to listening to one another for understanding that people want to be constantly learning and constantly growing. I have something called the trifecta of excellence and that if you're excellent in your craft and your artistry. If you're excellent in your sales and if you're excellent in the energy and collaborative spirit, you bring to Blushington, that whether you're with us a day, a month doing artistry or three days or on a full time schedule, the door is open so that we can support one another's growth. And I think that in particular, when you are leading a team of women and understanding how multifaceted their lives are, their responsibilities at home and their dreams, that being there to truly support them and not just give lip service has been just crucial to being successful in leading this all female team.

That is such a beautiful answer. I love that so much. Thank you so much for coming on the show. This has been so much fun. I've just loved learning about you, learning from you, and this is such a epic opportunity for people. So where can they reach out to you if this is something they're interested in learning more about?

Well, first I just want to say thank you, Lori. I'm a huge admirer from, from afar, so I can't thank you enough for having me on and I feel the same way. I really loved our conversation and learned from your questions and comments. If you are interested in joining Blushington and becoming the owner of a Blushington franchise, you can find us on Instagram at Blushington and DM us and you will get an answer right away. You can also go to blushington.com where you can fill out a form to learn more about franchising and you'll actually be speaking with me. We are at a stage where it is so crucial that we choose franchise partners that share our values. And as you said, we're getting married. So I want to know who who I'm marrying. So I'm actually doing those calls personally. But come stop into our headquarters in Blushington, New York City. You can see us this fall at Blushington, Boca Raton and Blushington, Houston is opening a little bit later in the fall. So all those ways you. You can find us.

Yeah, such that is such a huge opportunity especially, especially to be able to chat and work with someone in your leadership, which is very exciting. So I will also connect all of that in the show notes you guys, if you are interested. So it'll be. You can scroll down on this podcast. You'll be able to look at and access everything there as well with links and I am so grateful for you, Natasha. Thank you again for coming on.

Thank you so much for having me, Lori. I loved our conversation.

Oh, me too.

And you guys I'm so grateful for you. Share this with a friend who maybe is looking for her next opportunity or just wants some motivation. And until next time, earn your happy.