EP 11: Stepping Into Action in Your Business with PMU Expert Sheila Bella | RealSheilaBella
Welcome to Ready Set glow, a podcast where I interview the person behind the brand. We're gonna talk about what it took to get started, the lessons learned along the way, and the advice they have for you on your own journey. I'm your host, Mary Harcourt, founder and CEO of Cosmo glow. Today, we are chatting with Sheila Bella, she has built herself an empire coming from a world of permanent makeup. We're going to talk to you about how she transitioned from behind the chair into cheering on others, and helping them to earn more income and live the life they dreamed of. We're gonna break down the steps needed to hit your goals, and learn a little bit about why consistency is so important. If you're wondering what's next, after you're fully booked, this is the episode for you. And we're going to talk about why failures can be your biggest sign in finding the right path for you. Please join us on today's episode. Sheila, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here. Let's talk about you. Let's meet you. Who are you? What are you about?
Sheila Bella:Ah, I'm mom. I have three boys. Mmm hmm. Happily married. I live in Los Angeles. I live in Lulu lemons all day. No matter how much money I make kids will forever be on my feet. Yeah, and I love alkaline water. And I feel like I just described the most boring like suburban mom. Like every mom in the Southern California area. I just described her right now. So yeah, I guess I'm like every mom. It took a lot to get here into this dreamy homeostasis like, honestly, like, I'm so blessed. Like, if you listen to this podcast, and you are basically like what I just described, we are the dream. We have iPhones, you guys, we have beautiful healthy children, we have Wi Fi, we have cars that work we have our health. You know, we have like we have our happiness kit. So I just want to acknowledge that like as basic as that all sounds, we are our ancestors greatest dream. It's insane.
Mary Harcourt:That is so true. And so beautiful to think about that as well.
Sheila Bella:Let's think about that. Because like if there's one thing that I wish for my children, most of all, it's for them to grow up grateful. have gratitude.
Mary Harcourt:I love that. Well, you you have an amazing little empire that you built for yourself. It's pretty impressive. You have a podcast you run which was listening to you today. So I highly recommend all that. I know what's the name of it let's everyone knows how to find you.
Sheila Bella:pretty rich podcast perfect.
Mary Harcourt:And then you also built a seven figure PMU business and on top of that also built a seven figure online business. So let's talk about how that all happened.
Sheila Bella:So I built my permanent makeup business. Let's let's start there. Because I feel I feel like none of us, if you're in the PME industry grew up thinking that we were going to be micro bleeding artists because it just kind of like found us like most people that I talked to are in this industry. We all relate it kind of found us. I think it's really interesting now that there are going to be little girls or little girls now who say one day I'm going to be a brow artists. I think that's starting to happen now. So the same way that it probably found you have found me I found myself in between husbands. I was going through a divorce at the time I was single and I was I had this newfound lease on life because that relationship was very, very difficult and emotionally draining for me. So I found this new lease on life. I got a job as a server at Dylan's Irish pub on Hollywood and Vine, selling avocado fries wearing a schoolgirl outfit. I was just selling like beer. And I thought that a rich husband was going to come and rescue me from all this. That was my dream at 28 years old. And long story short, I suppose management caught on that this girl was not here for the right reason. And they let me go. I was fired from that job. I was really bad at it. I didn't have a heart of service. They were right to let me go to say I would have let me go to I probably they probably let us let me stay a little too long. But I remember the lesson that it taught me it was the moment that changed my life. When I was first let go, I felt so low. I was confused. This job was supposed to be you know, my reset button and here I was I couldn't even keep that up. I lost it. And I remember you know after I was given the news that it was going to be my last day having so much shame feeling like Such a loser. A ton of embarrassment? You know, but yeah, I did feel shame. And I know Brene Brown says shame is a bad thing. But it was a good thing for me that day, Mary, it was a good thing for me that day I used it
Mary Harcourt:if you have to. And I think sometimes feeling those makes you feel alive. It doesn't always feel good. And so you're searching for what? How? What's going to make me feel good? Because this, isn't it?
Sheila Bella:Yeah, exactly. It was like, Oh, I'm in an achy space. I don't like myself. Well, I need to figure out how to be a better person. So I can like myself. And yeah, for the first time in my life, I felt rage, like real rage. Well, after two weeks of being self destructive, then I felt rage, I decided that I was sick and tired of people not respecting me and me not respecting myself. And I wanted to get out of that feeling of being in that body as quickly as possible. So I found a five day permanent makeup training, because it was five days and I said, in five days, I'm gonna get out of this body, I'm gonna get out of being a loser, because I'm going to have a skill. And the reason why I chose it was honestly marry my goal was it to make seven figures. Not at all, if you would have told that girl that at the time, my goal was to make $100,000 a year and that would have been like a dream. So I was at the time, you know, looking for a permanent makeup studio to or I was looking for a vocation. So the woman that did my permanent makeup at the time, she had a brand new Toyota, I had a used one. She had a three bedroom house in Simi Valley. I had a studio apartment, she had a studio in Simi Valley that was open four days a week, full time. I just got fired from a serving job. And I couldn't keep up. I was like, this woman is doing better than me. She's doing better than me. She had like two girls that she put through college, and now they're in college. And I said, I can't even take care of myself. She took care and raised to humans to hold adults on their own. I want to be able to do that. So I just wanted to be better. I just wanted to be better. So I was like, Teach me your ways. Antoinette Parfitt, Teach me your ways I took her class, and in five days, gave me a foundation. But obviously you you don't know what you're doing. My initial goal was not to make multiple, seven figures. But oddly enough, look what happens when you apply yourself. Look what happens when you use that anger for good. Look what happens when you actually let shame in? can sometimes it can be useful and try to do something about it. You can you also you too, for the price of shame can create a multiple seven figure business in three years. I am shocked to this day, I'll never forget when the numbers from my CPA came, Oh, you made $20,000 This month, what no way, was on top of the world. And then went to 30 and 40. And then 60 I was having months when I was making 60 grand. And then I remember I hit 100k and then I'll never forget the day I hit 200 It was so overwhelming. And it just goes to show that you shouldn't be scared of a failure because those failures, those low points in your life, or your teachers, it really are those moments that are so magical, it'll show you what you're made of. You don't even know what you're made of until you you have to you know I read something the other day, every every strong person is strong because they had to be I love that.
Mary Harcourt:I also was listening to something today and there was a Mark Cuban quote which I thought was really great. Where effort is the one or as a thing effort is a thing you control in your business and it's so true. Because if you give it your all you're gonna get so much more than giving just a little bit. So how did you transition from doing services to more of an online identity?
Sheila Bella:Oh, the second part of this story Yes, was another was another low in my life and all of our lives actually when Coronavirus came around in remember that 2020
Mary Harcourt:That everyone remembers that we're still going there was this
Sheila Bella:pandemic Mary It was crazy. Okay, so before that, let me backtrack a little bit. Um, I had an event called the pretty ambitious Summit. That was my first live event that I had worked on for a year promoting it, putting it together, designing it, getting the speakers, et cetera, et cetera. I worked on it for a year, and I thought it was going to be a small retreat of like, 20 people. Anyway, again, another thing, let me show you what you're made of, if you actually try, I sold 400 tickets to this live event. And it was the entire industry was coming to this live event in Santa Monica, California. And the date that I stupidly chose because I'm not a psychic. I didn't, I didn't couldn't read the future was March 13 14th, and 15th of 2020. So that's March 13th 14th, and 15th of 2020, march 11. I think at like, 10pm, there was a state of emergency, you couldn't gather more than I think 100 People at it shut things down. And yeah, the world was ending. As far as I was concerned, it was so scary and so freaky. And I had to call off the event at middle of the night, the day before. And there were already people here that had flown in from different parts of the world. It was the darkest, most devastating, most embarrassing point in my life in my then career that I could think of, it was so dark, it was so hopeless, because people were upset. They were demanding their money back. Right. And rightfully so, because they're panicked. I was panicked. Because my salon was closed. My girls were all out of work. Because we couldn't open we were so afraid of the unknown. I think all of us were, I didn't know if the world was going to open up and when and even if it did, how we were just in this fear bubble. I was so devastated. I hid for like, a good two, three weeks, which is a lot for me.
Mary Harcourt:That's a huge gut punch. I mean, that is a punch, and you're trying to figure it all out. I had a salon in California at that time, she we closed that same week, and we had no idea how long it was going to last. Was it a week? Was it three weeks? Was it three months? Who knew it was gonna go this long? And it was the fear of the unknown. You know, people come across the news telling you as of today, it's like, no, what about my weapon?
Sheila Bella:Yes, all these people were dying. And yeah, and then you're like, oh, how petty of me is like, you know, like care about my freaking event where people are, you know, are dying. And this thing was very real. This was my event, baby, I feel like it happened. I played it in my mind so many times over and over again, all the little bits and pieces. I mean, I had performers coming. We were in rehearsals, like that night, I had all of these surprises and activities and speakers, and just all of these things, these like pre parties and post parties. And I still feel like it happened. I played it in my mind. So many times, I just wanted to create something to uplift the industry to inspire them, and to equip them with business knowledge, and to connect everybody to this beautiful, memorable experience. I mean, I was mourning the loss of that baby, that event baby, and you know, all of the fear of the unknown. And so that's why I hid for about two, three weeks. And then I remembered who the fuck I was. But I it took after crying and growing and growing. I was like, Okay, this actually, I'm built for this. And it kind of knew it the entire time, I was crying my eyes out that I was built for this moment. Because my industry needs me right now. Because I'm the one that walks out of the house in flames. I'm the one I identify with that. And so when this was happening, and I was like cowering, like under the I was I just hit into our pilot coats, who I was like, and then all of a sudden I rose from the coats and I was like, Wait a second. And so good thing I identify as a survivor and a leader. I was like, Well, what am I going to do? Wait for my salon open? That's not in my personality. So I found a solution. I realized that, you know, opportunity doesn't go away. It just changes location. It just shifts. Opportunity doesn't go away. It just always looks a little different now. And so I saw the opportunity online, I saw the opportunity for creating something valuable through my laptop as to create something valuable for people. That's how you get paid. That's how you get rich, is if you serve people, you figure something out for people. So I recognize the problem. The problem was money. Everyone's problem was making money. Not that now that their salons were all closed. So where was the money online courses because everyone seemed to be taking online courses at the time. So I said, Oh, let me teach you how to make an online course, because I've made several. So I created a course called Online Course workshop. I like horse names that are very direct to the point that you know what it is without, you know, having to Google it or anything like that, read the description. So I created this thing called Online Course workshop. I sold it for $76. And I sold a ton, I sold it before making it, I knew that people needed it right now, I didn't want to have to make something I felt like it would take way too long, we were in the midst of darkness to help people. So I did all the marketing for it first, and I sold a ton of them. And what I did was, I presented each module live. And I did it one week at a time. I said the first week of May, will be module one, it'll be live class, module two, second week of May 3, fourth, and so on. And what I did was I just recorded the live classes. And now it's a free standing course that's actually very impactful and very jam packed full of information. I had time. Nothing but time. I mean, you make it seem so easy, but really, it's about doing it. Yeah. And it's just about accepting that it will never, you'll never feel ready. You will never not be scared. Just accept it. And just know that you just need to move with the fear. Like the fear is gonna be right there next to you. You just kind of like take it with you. You don't have to wait to like until the fear goes away. You don't have to wait until like, you can let go of the fear. I think the trick, psychologically is to just move with it be like, All right, let's go. You're never gonna go away. And from that, I created another multi seven figure online business called pretty rich bosses. It is my mentorship program now. We are 3035 Boss Babes strong all across North America. And also overseas. We have some international employees, but I have that many people on my team. Just two weeks ago, we had an in person retreat. Because you know, I said I created this business through the pandemic. So we have had a remote team for how many years now about two years, we've all been working less has been working remotely for the last two years. So two weeks ago, I rented this ginormous villa in LA. I felt like a drug villa. I felt like okay, there's cocaine in the walls for sure. There's gotta be I mean, this place was massive. It slept like 30 people. It was insane. I had the most amazing bonding and team building experience of my life. It was absolutely incredible to connect with these women face to face, and to have a bunch of team building exercises and deep conversations and experiencing true connections and just tons of laughter. Tons of laughter It was so incredible.
Mary Harcourt:I mean, it's a beautiful thing. What an honor. What do you feel like the people that went to your event left feeling they went to this couple days in with you a deep dive and they left feeling what
Sheila Bella:you know, afterwards? Obviously, we got people's feedback. And the words that I kept hearing over and over again, was, there are no words, there are no words, it was a weekend of repair. Because a lot of times as women, you know, we repair others, we nurture others, we're nurturers, we're givers, we're givers of energy, we're givers of food and milk and shut up just all of these things. We just give, give give, but it was a weekend of receiving and repair and in all aspects emotionally, spiritually, physically, we really held out our hands, and we were open to receiving. And it was such a beautiful experience and a reminder to that women to me because I haven't met with women in this way in a while. I don't know what you guys, but like this type of intentional, it's intentional, right? Because like I can't stand small talk, but like we were there for that purpose. Wow, women are amazing. We have this amazing power to heal one another, to heal one another to embrace one another to carry each other through the darkest times of our lives. We need that. I mean it guys when I go out there and I'm like collaboration over competition, like that weekend we lived it. Right and it was also very evident to me through that weekend. I was like wow Well, we are the real deal, you guys. This is amazing. Women are amazing.
Mary Harcourt:So what if somebody's listening to this and going, Oh my God, I need this are you having another one is it all the way till next year.
Sheila Bella:So we actually have an in person retreat for our members, our next level members of pretty rich bosses. It's basically the same thing, magical connected weekend where we do deep dives have real conversations, we strategize your business, we mastermind with each other, and we have a lot of fun. And we do it twice a year for our next level members. So pretty rich bosses, like I said, is my mentorship program where we teach beauty entrepreneurs how to make more money, and scale their businesses. So whether you're just starting out, and you want to full clientele, and then once you get there, you've built a name for yourself, we teach you how to scale that, because you can't just go on and on and grow through renting your time for money. So we teach you how to grow with team, we teach you how to hire, we teach you how to delegate tasks. So you can spend less time and the chair just doing the clients that you really want to see. And it's just about working smarter, not harder. And why Listen to me is because I've done it, I did it with Sheila Bella Microblading, were at the peak of Sheila Bella Microblading, I had two locations, one in Beverly Hills, one in North Hollywood and 15 artists. And like I said, now my team is 35 strong. And when it comes to building teams, getting you to a point where you can build a team in beauty. I'm your girl.
Mary Harcourt:I love it. I mean, it's such valuable information. I feel like sometimes we come out of these trainings, and we're so ready to hit the books, and we want to do social media. And we want to do all of this. And it's great. Because once you just want to be so busy. And then once you're so busy, you try and figure out how you can be not so busy. Obviously, we're mainly beauty industry. And we all identify with those long hours and multiple clients in a row and kind of overworking ourselves. So what do you what advice do you give people when they're in a beauty industry, and they're just feeling a little bit stuck? They're in a place where every day feels like they're going through a rotating door. And they have to take the clients because they're so busy, but also they're asking what's next? What's the next step for them?
Sheila Bella:Yeah, I have a lot of the I know a lot of those people, I can't imagine lasting 30 years just doing services. It's just not me. It's for some, it's for some people, but it's just not for me. You know, I think the whole reason why people get into the beauty industry to begin with is because they want to be their own boss doing bunny ears. They want freedom of time. But then they quickly realize once they get there, that actually it's just like any other job for the most part. Because you answer to the clients, you go there you go to the studio, and you perform the service when your client wants you to not when you want to when they're available. You know, you make a ton of exceptions, you know that they're like, Oh, are you sure? I need to pick up my kid at 330? Can you do it at 530? And it's already dinnertime. Right? So we take these appointments all the time. So yeah, if you're feeling burned out, I would ask yourself, why you feel like you have no options? Why do you feel like you have no options? Is it because maybe you're afraid to change? Maybe this discomfort is actually very comfortable. So I would challenge whether or not you're actually uncomfortable. Maybe you say you're uncomfortable, but maybe you're acting like it if you're not doing anything about it. And also if you're feeling burned out like it's just like a revolving door. Same thing. It's like Groundhog Day. It's just like brow after Brow Lash after lash. I think it's a I think it's a disservice to your clients to be there if you're not into it anymore. And you're not giving your best because there's a lot of people, a lot of women in this world I think service providers who just got out of Microblading certification or last certification, who have that vigor, who have that excitement, who want to do better. And I think a lot of people think that hiring it's like having quote unquote servants, or something like that. But hiring people is is a gift. It's a win, win, not having servants. It's giving an opportunity to somebody that is very deserving. You're not going to give an opportunity to someone that isn't deserving. But there are a lot of people that need opportunities that need a break that you could help. If you have a full busy salon. You could help someone in your area who might be a single mom, that's down on her luck, but is looking for a new lease on life. Just took her certification and you could I do, essentially give her clients your like hoarding all the success, like stop hoarding the success, like, share the success, right. And it will not only help somebody out and change their legacy and their children's lives and children's children, and so on and so forth. But it's also going to help you make more money, and free up your time. It's just like a win win for everybody. That's, I think that's why my company works so well, because everybody has their roles that they're actually good at. When I hire somebody, it takes me like a couple of weeks to assess what they're really good at. And then I create a position for them based on those
Mary Harcourt:gifts. I agree with that fully. And you bring up such a good point. So you mentioned earlier that you love to give value. But I think so often in the salon industry, and in the hiring process, we think about it from what do I get from this? Why do I want an employee to come on board, and we don't spin it in a way to offer a value of share this access, you're so busy, that you are able to give some clients to someone else. And not only is that client going to have an amazing experience, but that person can have a better chance at having a better income and having a strong career and having a stable job to come to. It brings up such a great point of making sure your focus is right, you're adding value to that person and sharing that success. I love that. Well you talk a lot about making more money, and everyone wants to do that. So how do you help people just make it happen
Sheila Bella:through setting goals executing on a strategy, it's pretty, it's pretty simple. For me at this point, it really is making money is pretty simple. It's about understanding what your goal is, and breaking down what you have to do to get there. But not just like, oh, okay, if you want to accomplish something in the next six months, okay, here's your list, we have to break it down by the second how to make this money by this second. So let's say for example, your goal is to make $10,000 a month, let's say, for the sake of calculations, we'll make it very simple. So $10,000 a month, let's say you have a training academy, the quickest way to get to $10,000 a month is through high ticket sales. So it's not just through, you know, services that cost like $250, here or there. Let's say you have a training academy, and you charge 2500 per student. So now you know, in order to get to 10,000, you need to have four enrollments per month, which means you need one enrollment per week. So now we have to figure out how to get one enrollment per week. So let's say you work five days a week, how many potential customers you have to speak to in order to get that one enrollment that week. So how many conversations do you need to start every day? And so and so it gets really, really granular. And so let's say for every 10 conversations that you sales conversations, you have you convert one person. So if you need to have 10 conversations within a five day period, then you need to have two conversations with two different potential clients a day. So you have to have one new conversation by noon. And then another new conversation by 5pm, essentially, and you'll have your client, your student a week. So it's all about understanding that data. Now I just gave you just a really quick example of how this works.
Mary Harcourt:But it's so valuable. And I love that you say the conversations 10 A day break it down morning and night. Because then you start thinking about well how do I get that one person? What do I need to jail? Do I need to advertise more? Do I need to run an ad? Do I need to market myself? Well, you you know, how do you get that one person but it makes so much sense to do it in reverse. So it all adds up to your exact goal.
Sheila Bella:I it's so it's so simple to me now, because I've done it so many times. But I see business as a as like a video game. It's like a It's a video game like this thing I'm holding up my phone for those people can't see. This is just a it's just a video game. It's a printing money machine. Everybody touch your phone, touch your phone right now hold it in both hands. This is your money printing machine. Respect it and understand that you you hold the power if you know what to do, if you know what to do and that's where I come in because I told I told you just in the beginning of this podcast like I felt like the Biggest Loser on the planet. How is this blonde Asian bimbo making seven figures I don't get I don't get it, but I still feel like I'm my 28 year old self and that, you know waitress outfit. I still feel that way. Sometimes, but the reason why is because Has of strategy and moving through the fear, moving with the fear and stepping into action every single day, having been clear about what your goals are, and what it will take you on an hourly basis, on a second by second second basis to get there having that clarity. And I've done that for myself. And that's why we do it for 1000s of people in our program every day.
Mary Harcourt:It's a wonderful information, you do really break it down. I mean, it is that simple. But I think sometimes you have to have it explain to you exactly like that in the small little chunks. Yeah,
Sheila Bella:I didn't know this. Yeah, you didn't, you didn't know this we had. So what would I have paid for somebody to break this down for me, for my older self, to go into that 28 year old and be like, listen, you're gonna save so much time, Sheila Bella, I mean, that it's priceless information. And that's exactly what mentorship is, you talk to somebody who's ahead, and you need people who are doing better than you who are where you want to be to be in your corner, that's the closest thing to a shortcut you'll save, you'll have much better richer life experiences. If you just let that in your life.
Mary Harcourt:Absolutely. I agree with that. 1,000%, maybe even higher, because it is so true. They've been through the exact same steps. And you can get there and you're gonna get there. But you can also take the shortcuts and learn from their mistakes and go, Oh, I'm not gonna do that I heard about this, I'm gonna choose this path. Well talk to us, what's your secret for social media structure because you are a social media queen.
Sheila Bella:So my secret for social media structure is is no secret. I'm sure everyone talks about this as consistency over perfection. And the best way I can describe it is you should really lean in on the newest features first, whatever the newest features are use them, because they tend to get the best engagement. But before you even get super granular about that, and like super nerdy about what the newest features are, just focus on being consistent. If your goal is $50,000 a month, just focus on being consistent. You'll get there and just knowing what to do. And it's more than just social media. It's about how to how to turn your followers into paying customers.
Mary Harcourt:And so what's your secret for that? You can't leave us hey,
Sheila Bella:you know what they say? Is that violet, what is up Gary Vee say hold on. He says I don't want to mess this up. And when it comes to sales, Flintstones will win over Jetsons any day. It's not about guys, like stop freaking pretending you don't know what to do. Stop it. It's not another email sequence. It's not this brand new website that you have to pay for and develop. You know, what to do. You need to sell, you need to convince people you need to have one on one conversations with them. Flintstones, over Jetsons any day, it's not this new technology. It's not an ad guy ads guy that you're going to hire. It's right under your nose. You know what it is? You've known it from the playground, in preschool it worked, then it's going to work now.
Mary Harcourt:Absolutely. And I'll throw that in. Even if you are building a book, one of the things that I always did was follow up with your favorite clients. If someone comes in, you have an amazing service, they were great. You want to see them back, make sure you send them a text message. Hey, I really enjoyed meeting you today. Here's your before and after. Here's our link to get booked in for next time. And that helps you cultivate the clients that are in your chair that you're excited about. So you get to take that personal connection and just concrete it by following up with them. And one by one, you start inviting back the people that you love. And all of a sudden your book is full of people you love, but it's based on that connection. So how far in advance do you plan your social media? When we come to consistency? Do you feel like you're a little bit more impromptu? Or are things more planned out?
Sheila Bella:Oh, for me, it's planned out. It's 100% planned out. I have my content ready for the next two weeks. Now when I first started doing this, I didn't. What I can advise you to do because it worked for me is to put it in your calendar when you're going to create content or make it a habit. If it's not necessarily in your calendar. Like I have a habit of you know, picking my wedgie. You know, something like that. So, you know, first thing in the morning or something so I make it a habit to create content. I noticed too, that I developed this habit like years ago, when Instagram first came out. I would sit down in my car after dropping off my kids at preschool or daycare. And after I dropped them off, I would sit in my car and I would write a meaningful caption. I would write a blog I would it would be my writing time in the car for like 30 minutes, and that practice lead to success. I didn't know why I was doing it at the time. I didn't have an online business necessarily at the time. But you know, I built an audience. And I think that's the most valuable thing is, people aren't going to come to you and follow your page if you're not consistent.
Mary Harcourt:Well, and even if it's around the same time every day, because you're dropping your kids off at preschool, you'll have that consistent time. So you're getting that consistency, how long does it take you to grow your following?
Sheila Bella:Um, it depends what you mean, by grow your following.
Mary Harcourt:You have quite an impressive Instagram page, we heard your COVID pivot where you started to transition into more online things. Was this something you started since the day one of your PMU business? Is it something that you pivoted when you did online courses, you change to say, Okay, I'm gonna like really just take on marketing, I'd say I really
Sheila Bella:leaned into consistency and posting consistently, maybe about a year and a half before the pandemic started. Oh, wow. So it's fresh, fresh. Yeah, I'd say maybe two, maybe even two years before the pandemic started, I posted a picture with a long caption. And I remember, I started doing that thing that influencers do, which is post a picture with a long caption. And I did it every day. And then I would post a quote, and I had no idea why I was doing it. I just had a feeling that in order to be relevant, I needed to, I needed to do that. And I didn't know how I would use it. Having an audience is very valuable. Focus on building an audience, especially if you don't know what to do yet.
Mary Harcourt:Every entrepreneur has times they look back and think, Wow, that was a lot to go through. But they move forward from it. And you learn the most incredible lessons, would you say that's the pivots that you went through with having your salons close with COVID. And then we talked about your event being canceled? Or is there something else that really highlights as that was the moment it hurt, but going through that made me who I am today,
Sheila Bella:my biggest takeaway, and I really hope that my children will follow suit the same way is you need to be okay, with not everybody knowing your side of the story. Because if you spend time doing that, it's so it's such a waste. And it's such a testament to to how insecure you are, it doesn't matter what people say about me, I know the truth, my life experience in this house with my kids and my team. And you know, the money we're making, and the school they go to, and the high fives I give the teachers and things like that doesn't change because of a rumor about you, does it ultimately change might hurt people to wish you ill or for people to misunderstand you. But you cannot cannot make it your life's mission to be an understood by everyone. You have to be okay with people thinking you're the bad guy. Because I don't have time to waste energy on that. I don't want to waste energy on that. And by all means, I use the word waste with intention. It's a waste.
Mary Harcourt:That's great advice. Yeah, absolutely. Great advice. This is my like that when I become powerhouses because you do learn that and even hearing somebody say it, you're kind of like, oh, yeah, that's true. And then the next time it happens, you adopt that and choose to work past it. It's again, learning from your mentors and getting all of their lessons and applying them and seeing how much further you can go that much faster. People that are doing services, and identifying with the fact that you came from the PMU industry as well, you did it and all of a sudden transitioned and you live to talk about it, what's a big sign and maybe something that applies to their life, a big sign that it's time for them to start thinking about something else they can do aside from just services all day, every day, what's like the moment where you, you kind of hit that point of wondering what's next when these things happen.
Sheila Bella:I mean, there's a lot of signs. Maybe not seeing daylight anymore is a sign because you're just like, I've lived that life too. You know, but honestly, for me, it came when I missed out on milestones in my kids lives. I knew there was another way you know, your priorities change. It's not just about browse and making money, you start realizing that you can work smarter, not harder, because when you first build your business, you're like, Go Go, go. I want to get to my first six figures on it gets my first 100k Let's go 200k Yeah, let's go let's go go go go go, go go and then you have that moment where you realize there's a cost here in other areas. That feeling of you have this you have this sinking suspicion that there's more to life than just brows and lashes and beauty. You're probably right. Yeah, and it's time to scale. It's time to hire. It's a with that as a win win for everyone because you hire equal, the workload is shared. They all live fulfilled lives, too.
Mary Harcourt:Absolutely. So what's new for you? What's new for Sheila and the pretty hard bosses? What's coming up for you? Do you just want to touch as many lives as possible? Do you have any new courses coming out?
Sheila Bella:I do, I do have new courses coming out. I am working on a permanent makeup trainers marketing course, it will be applicable to both the brow trainer and the lash trainer. And it will teach you how to sell out your courses. So I am currently working on that I'm really into it. I am also hosting the AAA M virtual event. So for those of you don't know, the American Academy of micropigmentation is an organization that has been around for 30 years. And they are the board of permanent makeup professionals. I am the board president of the ACM. So we're having our first virtual event next month, with 30 different speakers speaking on 30 different topics. So I'm really stoked about that. And I'm also really excited for this new house that I'm in because I've been very, you know, open about it on social media platforms that when I first started my business, I invested reinvested all of my money into expanding the business, that I never bought a home. I just kept reinvesting back in the business. And this is the first time I have become a home owner at 40 years old. And I love this house. It's beautiful. And I can see everything and it just feels so there's lots of natural light, it feels so white and airy. And
Mary Harcourt:well congratulations. That's a huge feat. That's amazing. And to be able to look back and see how far you've come. So you offer courses, mentorship trainings, you're gonna help people get to the next level make more money, where can they find you,
Sheila Bella:you can find me on Instagram at real Sheila, Bella, sh, ei LA, you can just type my name on YouTube, and I have my podcast there. That's also a video podcast. But not all the podcasts are on YouTube. A lot of the ones where I get really vulnerable and pour my heart out or like, give a lot of strategic things too, are live on Apple podcasts on Google podcasts and on Spotify. So you just type in my name Sheila Bella, or pretty much podcast and you'll find
Mary Harcourt:and then where do you recommend people start with you? Or should they come and start listening to the podcast? Do they buy a course? Do they get mentorship? Is it kind of one size fits all ala carte? How does that work?
Sheila Bella:So I actually suggest that you text me, I have a morning motivation Text group that's coming up. And we're going to call it the daily nudge. So it's your daily dose of positivity of just nudging you in the right direction of It's just like having me in your pocket every morning just to whisper you can do it. And so many more. So if you text me at 310-388-4588, and you text me daily nudge, I'll sign you up for my text list. And you can actually tech you can actually talk to me, I will text you back. As myself. So if you have any business questions or anything like that, you just want to say hi,
Mary Harcourt:awesome, I love because of the daily nudge, it's so good. We all need a little reminder that you can do it. And not every day is going to be perfect, but keep on going. And you're gonna get there. And just like you can look back and see how far you've come in just a short span of time. So I love that you have a daily reminder a motivator. You've been such a voice in the industry. I actually started following you quite a long time ago. And it's been so great to watch you blossom. I feel like you're such a good energy. You're so motivated, how you have so much energy to just get everybody to keep going. It's so nice, but we need that. And it's something that I started with you so long ago where it's like, Hey, I watched you go through your transitions, your health scares, you're the birth of your babies. It's just so cool to know that you are a light in the industry. And now we can all have daily reminders of a little daily nudge of encouragement. It's so great. That wraps up today's episode. For more information on our guests. You can find them at Mary harcourt.com under the episodes tab. You can always find me on Instagram at Mary Harcourt underscore in app the cosmic glow light. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and many more to come