Hello, and welcome back to The Real Mom's Playbook. I'm your host, Lisa Autry. I'm very excited to welcome our guest, Crystal Childers, owner of Crystal Cosmo and the Beauty Lounge Fresno. She is one of our amazing shoutout sponsors that help make this podcast possible. So thank you so much, Crystal and welcome.
Hi. Thank you for having me.
So today's topics are all about elevating, taking your business to the next level and balancing it all. Crystal and I have known each other, gosh, almost our whole lives. We went to school together, but also we've been working together pretty exclusively the last three years, and I've been able to see her transform into the amazing business owner she is today.
And this is really an evolution and it's really a transition of stepping into your best self. So let's talk a little bit about your business, Crystal. First off, what do you do?
Well, I am a cosmetologist in the state of California. I specialize in Brazilian waxing and eyelash lifts. And then I also just opened my own full service salon.
So that one was so exciting for me because three years ago, ladies, we were talking about it and she's like, this is what I want to do, I'm going to make it happen. And through each hurdle, I always like to say hurdles, right? Because it is one hurdle after another to make your visions possible.
But it was so exciting because one day she reached out and she's like, guess what I got? I got a studio space. It's going to be so amazing. You had your grand opening, what was it, in May of last year, of 2022?
May this year.
No, we're in 2023 now.
Oh my god. I'm going to be doing that until May of this year again.
You'll be doing it until about May. Yeah. So she launched it around eight months ago, and she had the grand opening and her booths are filling up. She's got private suites. It is so amazing.
Let's relate that to legacy. So what is the legacy and your mission in your business?
I feel like I have multiples, you know, like there's so many sides of me, you know, the mom side of me that wants my legacy to be for my children and have something to pass on to them, even if it's just my work ethic.
Hey, that's a big one.
And then there's, you know, the business owner that wants my team to succeed. And the business owner in me now, I'm still learning to grow Into that new role of responsibility. As I work my own business and manage the salon, I still very much feel like I'm just one of the girls in the salon, right?
So I'm just like, I knew my struggles starting out. I know my struggles still to this day, and my big thing is to be a good support system for other women because in my experience, especially in the beauty industry, there's a lot of women, a lot of different types of women, and not everyone is out there to support you.
And I think we all need to stick together. I don't think that another woman offering the same thing as you, or you know, whatever is so much competition. I think it's something that should be celebrated. That's another big thing.
That is huge.
And that's really a legacy by saying, Hey, we can all come together. We can all do very similar things, but the way in which we do them is unique and we can all rise together. That's what I loved when you said you wanted to start a salon. You're like, I don't want just a booth for someone. I want an experience and I want a journey.
If you are in the Fresno area, and I believe she has a booth or two left, get in there because she offers classes for her contractors. And so there's always ongoing education and you are really saying, Hey, we can all continue to rise together. And that's huge legacy. And that's a mission in business, especially in this industry, that it's pretty cutthroat. There is a lot of women that are after one another because they want to be the best. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to be the best and always doing better in your business, but not at the expense of other people. And you don't have to do it at the expense of other people. But I absolutely love that because her salon is so different.
It's not just a booth rental. It is what you can provide them in that experience.
In December, you had a fun holiday boutique that was so fun.
Yeah.
You had a bunch of vendors come in as well as the booth renters, they were there as well. And so it was just a fun experience for people to see your beautiful salon and just enjoy the holiday together, huh?
Yeah, it was really cool. It was really awesome to see that sense of community come together. We weren't offering services in the salon, but just offering the private venue and it was awesome. So many people were so excited to be able to shop all their favorite local vendors and not be out in the freezing cold.
Yeah. And I was so mad. You know, I'm seven months pregnant and they had a cool like drive-up bar and I was like, man, I am missing out.
So we're thinking about, you know, rising together and legacy and really what your mission and business to take your salon to another level. But let's take a step back because you couldn't have done this had you not put certain components in place. And that's really what the intentional transformation is all about.
And you know, we've been working together for a few years, but what were some things that you had to do in order to rise in your business?
Oh man, I have had to do so many things. I just realized so when I first became licensed, you know, I was a single mom and, you know, just struggling to make ends meet.
So when I started, it was overcoming the fear of failure. When I first started my first couple years of licensure, I want to say first three years of having my license, I actually only did beauty services part-time. And a lot of times that was out of my home. It wasn't until like three years in, I was working full-time, you know, as a customer service agent. Then I started renting a chair part-time in the salon and it was, you know, my boyfriend actually that eventually was just like, Crystal, you're happiest in the salon.
I'm tired of, you know, seeing you exhaust yourself this way. Like you just need to go for it. And I had always, you know, a single mom, I was terrified and we had just moved in together and, you know, the fear of failing again was what was holding me back. But he actually helped me to see that I was capping my potential, staying in my comfort zone.
Oh, yes.
And I'm somebody that has always kind of been like in survival mode. So I feel like I've always stayed in my comfort zone. I've always been afraid to kind of go out and push the limits too much.
So that was my biggest thing was stepping out of my comfort zone and, you know, realizing that even if you do fail, it's not necessarily a failure. It's something that you can learn from. And I've had to do a lot of that.
Any business owner has, though, Crystal, in order to get where you wanna go, look at how many successful entrepreneurs have had to fail, that's how you learn and grow, right?
Yeah.
What do you hope to achieve ultimately, because I mean, you've stepped out of your comfort zone, you've scared yourself so many times, and what do you hope to ultimately achieve on this journey? Where do you see yourself in a few years?
Man, you know, right now my goal is to get the salon up and running at full capacity and to a point where, you know, it's pretty much running itself. I'm still working out the kinks and doing all of that, so I just want to get everything running pretty smoothly and build the business in that way.
Like right now, I'm really focusing on building our outreach, not just, you know, for me or the salon, but my girls themselves. And helping to build their name in the community and everything so that hopefully eventually all of that does come together very cohesively and can get going smoothly.
And then ultimately, I guess my main goal would to be towards retirement. Being able to have somebody manage the salon for me and have a residual income that way so that I can live on my farm and milk my goats and make my cheeses and my, you know, soaps.
I love it. Multi-passionate, that's what we are around here.
I'm like, I just wanna work really hard so I can be my normal hippie self.
I thought it was interesting how you're saying you're trying to get the name out there for the people that are renting under you too. What I've noticed is on her Instagram, The Beauty Lounge, Fresno, that's the salon name, she's always sharing when people post on their personal Instagram, the renters post on their Instagram, hey, I have these openings.
She's always sharing that. And I love that because you can only be as successful as the weakest person on your team. And when you look at your salon as a team versus, oh, this is just a renter, that's helping you elevate your business to another level of saying, Hey, we're all in this together and we are doing this thing together, building this empire together. Well, you want to just be on your farm and you know, live the hippie life. That's the ultimate dream. But right now, how are you balancing it all?
A little chaotically. You know, that was one of my goals for the new year, is actually working on finding that balance and not exhausting myself in the process.
So I've gone forward with actual business hours, that I will be present in the salon and that is booked or not, I'm in the salon during these hours every day. And then that way I am forced to stay on task. And if I don't have someone scheduled, then I should be working, you know, on all my media and doing, you know, the sharing and doing all of that.
So my main focus is to be able to cram all of that into those business hours so that my business isn't taking away from my home life anymore because we do that a lot.
Well, business is a baby. And when you're building a business, it's fussy and it takes all of your time. But as you start going on this journey, I love the idea that of you establishing those office hours and saying, Hey, whether I have a client or not, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be working my curriculum because Crystal offers courses. Or I'm going to be working on my social media because ladies, our business is so, all encompassing. It's not just the service that you provide, it's the outreach that you make.
It's the emails that you send to say, Hey, we're having specials in order to get people in your seats or on your table. And then the financials of it, we're getting ready to head into tax season, oh my gosh, that's a whole full-time job on top of that. Like having that balance by saying, having those boundaries, that's huge.
How many hours were you working last year compared to what you plan on working this year was a big difference, right?
24/7. Lisa, I would literally catch myself responding to appointment requests at midnight, no, I need to sleep. And then two, like my kids, you know, mom, can you play this with me? And I'm like, okay, just five more minutes. I've got to finish this post. I don't want that anymore. Some days I'm jealous, you know, like my fiance gets to have like hobbies and I'm like, man, I don't even know what that is, like what I would even do.
I feel like I don't even have enough time for it and you know, it's my own fault. So that's what I plan on working on now is setting those boundaries and taking care of myself and my family.
I love that because so many of us get in this realm of work, work, work that all of suddenly forget what is fun and what do I enjoy?
So one of the questions I was going to ask you is how are you making life fun? But that's going to be your journey for this year. Is that your word of the year is fun, making it fun?
Maybe. I hope so. It sounds a whole lot better than last year's word of the year.
And what was that?
I have no idea.
Grind.
I think it was just work.
And that's the whole thing, you're getting into a position now where you're feeling more secure in your business. I mean, you have two businesses essentially. One is.
Yeah.
More actively involved. And another one is you're overseeing, you're supervising and you're being the CEO of this enterprise.
And that takes a lot of grit and grind. And so this year, you know, balance is going to look different for you. I think you're headed on the right route, starting with those office hours and saying, this is when I'm here, this is when I'm fully present.
You and I have talked about this before but we both have ADHD, and it's so easy to chase everything and want to do everything, but if we don't have that strict focus, we're not going to accomplish anything. And that's a problem for so many business owners. And that's why so many don't make it long term, we have to be on five different social media platforms. We have to be doing all of the things when instead if we just did one thing really, really well. And last year your thing was launching that salon successfully. And it's a beautiful place to be. If I knew anything about hair, if I could have any of those qualities, like I would love to be in that place because it seems like such an awesome atmosphere.
And that's really what a business owner and each booth renter is a business owner in of itself.
Right.
That's really what we desire. We desire another home. So your journey this year is going to be seeking fun and how do you seek fun in your business? But where else are you going from here? We gave a little sneak peek that you're going to be offering courses.
I just saw your curriculum last week. It is so beautiful. Tell us a little bit about that.
Yeah. So, I mean, I went to school thinking I was gonna be a hairstylist, you know, and I did, I did hair. I just very recently handed off my last, you know, few hair clients that I've kept over the years.
But, um, I really fell in love with waxing and skincare. That's where, you know, I found my niche. And so, you know, learning to make that transition and finally being able to commit full time to that was really great this last year. As my own business owner, you know, just focusing on waxing and stuff and just remembering back, like, you know, in beauty school, Brazilian waxing, which is what my main focus is in my business was not taught to students for obvious reasons.
It's a very, you know, um, intimate and tricky area. For liability reasons, it's not taught. So you either have to just kind of go out there willy-nilly or, you know, find another course or something that you can do. But even still live demos and stuff that I attended, it was like, man, okay, yeah, I saw someone else do it, but can I do it?
You know? And so my focus now with my courses is to help everybody go out there confidently to offer these services. Because I was not confident at first, you know?
And then especially with Covid, I know like here locally at least our beauty schools have had to really cut back on what they're even offering to their students because of all the new safety guidelines and stuff. And so they've had very little waxing experience at all at this point.
And so I just found that, you know, it's very necessary and hopefully that, you know, we'll get some confident waxers coming out into the industry here soon.
Well, and this is not something that people want to go into the industry willy-nilly about because there is so many safety protocols.
And that's what I liked when we were looking through your curriculum and when we were talking about it last year. You were like, there is so many things that people can do wrong that could be hazardous and dangerous.
Yeah.
So having that curriculum in place to be able to have people go out confidently and offer it confidently because there was so many things you can do in the beauty industry and really niche yourself, but it takes that confidence in stepping outside that box and seeking help, right?
Yeah.
I'm really excited because you're going in so many different directions. So how many booths do you have left available for rental?
I think I have two more hair stations. And then the two lash stations are just rented part-time right now, so there's availability there a few days a week, as well.
I love that. We've talked about I'm gonna be going there at some point and offering a lesson for the business owners. And so it's really fun to see all of these ladies continuing their education even while building their businesses.
And you want a good balance there, ladies. You don't want to just say, oh, I'm a business owner now. I don't need to learn anything. We're always learning and we're always growing.
Crystal, how can everyone reach you and either take part in your services, watch your journey, or rent a booth from you?
Well, like you said, we have 10,000 platforms that we're on, so, you can find me Crystal Cosmo, I think it's Crystal dot Cosmo dot wax on Instagram or Facebook.
And the salon itself would be the Beauty Lounge Fresno, and that's on Instagram or Facebook as well. We're on Google and even Nextdoor.
She has built her business into this amazing empire.
If you are currently in your beginning stages of building your business, know that you have grit, you have the ability to get where you want to go. You just have to have that vision in mind, and be able to make it come to fruition. Crystal had a lot of hurdles along the way, but she never let that stop her.
And now she's talking about another salon In the future, she is going to be offering course and curriculum and helping other people elevate their business as well. And her business is still growing and getting bigger.
So thank you so much for coming on Crystal, this was so amazing and we love seeing your legacy, your mission unfold, and what your vision was for your business.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Well, we will see you guys next time. This is The Real Mom's Playbook. I'm your host Lisa Autry.