Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Boosting confidence one bride at a time with Holly Carter

Transcript

Boosting confidence one bride at a time with Holly Carter · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Holly: With the weddings, because it's, it's real people,
• 0:03
  you're making a difference.
• 0:04
  It's a lot more than skin deep.
• 0:06
  It's not so much about the products is what you can do with
• 0:10
  them and how you can help people.
• 0:11
  And it helps me.
• 0:13
  Be more empathetic.
• 0:16
  Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
• 0:18
  speaker, and blogger, and you're listening to the Wedding Pros
• 0:21
  Who Are Ready to Grow podcast.
• 0:24
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:27
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:31
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:34
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
• 0:38
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:40
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:43
  Today, I'm chatting with bridal hair and makeup artist Holly Carter.
• 0:47
  Holly joined my Wedding Pro Members Lounge in April this year, and she
• 0:50
  is one of the most driven, proactive wedding pros I have ever met.
• 0:54
  Having been in the wedding industry for 15 years and full time for the
• 0:57
  last four, I know that Holly faces many of the same highs and lows
• 1:00
  in business that you do as well.
• 1:02
  So I wanted to bring her onto the podcast today so that she could
• 1:04
  share her journey and hopefully you can learn something from it.
• 1:08
  Holly, welcome to the podcast!
• 1:09
  Hiya!
• 1:10
  Holly: Oh, that was a really nice introduction.
• 1:12
  It makes me feel a little motivated.
• 1:14
  Becca: Good!
• 1:14
  Well, hopefully we're going to get into some good conversations.
• 1:17
  I'm so excited to be chatting with you.
• 1:19
  I know you listen to the podcast.
• 1:20
  So how does it feel to be on the other side?
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  It's amazing.
• 1:23
  Holly: It's yeah, it's not something you generally think you're going to do.
• 1:26
  So it's, it's really good to have the opportunity to, to be on this
• 1:30
  end of it rather than listening.
• 1:32
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 1:33
  Well, I know you've got loads of great stuff to share, but before we get into
• 1:37
  that, I would just love for you to share a little bit of your journey, because I
• 1:40
  think so much of what we do in business comes from where we've come from.
• 1:45
  And I think it's good to share that with each other just so
• 1:47
  we can see the experience and how you've got to this point.
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  So.
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  Take me right back to the beginning.
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  How did you end up working in hair and makeup in the first place?
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  Holly: Okay, so do you remember back at school when you had to
• 1:59
  do those tests that told you What they thought you were going to do.
• 2:05
  Mine.
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  Yes.
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  Mine actually came up with makeup artist before I even thought about it.
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  I mean, I was always artistic.
• 2:14
  I always got lost in doing anything arty, but I wouldn't have said that
• 2:19
  I would have thought, Oh, I want to be a makeup artist because I.
• 2:22
  My mum liked wearing makeup, but you know, she wasn't massively
• 2:26
  into fashion, that kind of thing.
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  It wasn't where it came from.
• 2:30
  And my dad's a GP, my mum was an A& E nurse.
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  So, the kind of medical side of it was always in the background, but not for me.
• 2:40
  I knew I didn't want to do that.
• 2:41
  So, where the kind of the two came together is that...
• 2:47
  I saw you could do special effects, so I always kind of thought about going
• 2:53
  into the special effects side of it, like with Casualty, Holby City, you
• 2:58
  know, like the more, I wouldn't say gory, but where my dad and my mom were
• 3:03
  both medical, that was like a natural, a natural thing, you know what I mean,
• 3:08
  like it was easier for me to relate to.
• 3:11
  In a way that I could put the two together, does that make sense?
• 3:14
  Becca: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
• 3:15
  So you decided, you fancied the idea of special effects and that
• 3:19
  really gory like cuts and bruises and all that kind of thing.
• 3:22
  So is that what you trained in?
• 3:23
  Holly: Yeah, so I wouldn't say gory, like not so much like the chopped off
• 3:29
  limbs, although I do know how to do that.
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  Because I am quite squeamish, so that's where it, it was a bit confusing for
• 3:35
  me, because I, I loved how it was, I suppose almost the artistic side
• 3:39
  of creating the cuts and bruises.
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  Because I used to see my dad's medical magazines lying around and see like,
• 3:46
  Some of it was really gross, but others is like, Oh, that's, if that's fake,
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  when you saw it in the telly, like, how did they do the two together?
• 3:52
  That's really clever.
• 3:54
  So I, after school, there wasn't anything like that around.
• 3:59
  There were no courses that I could find anyway at 16 cause I, I would
• 4:03
  left school straight away cause I, I liked art and that was it.
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  So I was like, well, what do I do?
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  So I went to college and did art.
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  And then got a job as an apprenticeship in business, which was again,
• 4:14
  nothing to do with the art.
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  So a bit all over the place at the beginning.
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  And then when I'd been a business apprentice for probably
• 4:22
  three, four years, I knew I.
• 4:25
  didn't want to do that.
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  It was, you know, the classic office job and I just didn't
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  really know what I wanted to do.
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  So I started researching special effects makeup courses and one came up in
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  Cambridge and it was called media, media hair and makeup or something like that.
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  So the first year was the more fashion beauty related stuff, which
• 4:48
  was actually really interesting because it went through all the
• 4:50
  influences from kind of the Egyptians all the way through to present day.
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  So all the different fashion that went with it and what influenced
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  the different looks, which was always fascinating actually.
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  And then the second year was the special effects.
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  So you had to do the fashion and beauty stuff before you got
• 5:07
  onto the special effects bit.
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  So that's kind of how.
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  The journey started to go a slightly different way because if I wanted to go
• 5:16
  specifically into the special effects, the only thing I could do at the time was
• 5:21
  to go to university and do prosthetics.
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  And although I enjoyed making the prosthetics, it was more the kind of
• 5:28
  cuts and bruises that I enjoyed doing.
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  Cause I thought it was really, really clever.
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  I mean, to, to give someone like a bullet wound in their head, it sounds crazy,
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  but it was, it was fascinating to do.
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  So.
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  Yeah, that's the beginning.
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  Becca: But you're definitely the person to know when it comes to
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  fancy dress for Halloween then.
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  If you can make it look like I've got a bullet wound in the front of my head.
• 5:52
  Holly: Yeah, if you don't want pretty Halloween, then yeah.
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  I'm not one of these ones who do, you know, the really amazing creative stuff.
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  I'm creative, but in a more subtle way.
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  Which is, I think, where it's pushed me into the bridal, where
• 6:06
  the bridal stuff comes out.
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  Becca: So that's where I want to go next then.
• 6:10
  So you're going to college, you're thinking about doing special
• 6:12
  effects, you're talking about cuts, bruises, blood spurting everywhere.
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  How on earth did you go from that to suddenly wanting to work in weddings?
• 6:23
  Holly: Exactly.
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  So, so after that, you kind of, like a lot of people do, they do,
• 6:28
  they do a course and they think, right, I'm going to have a job now.
• 6:31
  Which obviously it doesn't quite work like that.
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  So back then I think it was kind of 2006 that I qualified And I don't think, I
• 6:41
  think Facebook could only just come out.
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  I remember because I lived in student halls because I wanted to kind of do
• 6:48
  the uni experience without the uni.
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  And so I remember sitting in the kitchen with the girls I lived with
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  and this Facebook thing had come about.
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  So there wasn't, it was only just starting with social media.
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  So that wasn't how I found out about things.
• 7:02
  And I started doing kind of test shoots and I worked in a makeover studio.
• 7:10
  Do you remember those ones in London where you'd go and get your hair and
• 7:12
  makeup done, have your photos done, and they tried to sell you about
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  50, 000 photos at the end of it?
• 7:17
  Becca: Yes, we've all been through one of those.
• 7:20
  Holly: So I, I think I might have even gone to one and then
• 7:25
  thought, Oh, I can do this.
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  And actually it was.
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  Probably one of the best things I could have done because you
• 7:32
  are doing eight to ten faces a day, all ethnicities, all ages.
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  So that was very quickly.
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  How I learned to do everybody.
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  And I think you can't really call yourself a makeup artist if you can't do everybody.
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  And actually at the time I wasn't really doing hair and I actually hated
• 7:52
  doing hair because we only learned a tiny bit with my course at college.
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  So that was interesting.
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  And then I think I must've done quite early on.
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  I did a friend of a friend's wedding because she, I met
• 8:07
  her through my office job.
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  And I remember, I remember that first wedding I charged 60 for hair and make up.
• 8:18
  including the trial.
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  Becca: Wow.
• 8:23
  Holly: So I really, you could tell, you know, my confidence levels there.
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  I just, I didn't have a clue.
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  I didn't know what I was doing.
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  I just knew I could do makeup and I could do hair.
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  And she was like, how much do I owe you?
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  I was like, Oh, 60 pounds.
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  So.
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  That kind of, the bridal thing started quite early on, but I didn't
• 8:38
  really know anything about it, or even think that it was an option.
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  I, at the beginning, I just didn't really know what I was doing, where
• 8:48
  I was going, and it was kind of like a rabbit in the headlight.
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  I
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  Becca: think lots of people will resonate with that though.
• 8:53
  I think a lot of people I chat to end up in the wedding industry.
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  Almost by accident, like not many people plan to work in this industry,
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  but often we get asked by a friend of a friend or we just kind of stumble
• 9:07
  upon it and we don't know what to charge, we don't know what we're
• 9:09
  doing and we just kind of get started.
• 9:12
  So it sounds like that's what happened for you.
• 9:14
  So how did you then go from just doing one random person's makeup
• 9:17
  at a wedding to starting getting more regular wedding clients?
• 9:20
  Holly: So I then decided I would train in hair.
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  I did a hairdressing course.
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  Very quickly decided I couldn't cut or color hair.
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  It was definitely more the creative side of it.
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  But that gave me the confidence in hair and putting hair up and stuff because no
• 9:37
  one else in the salon wanted to do that.
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  So it was me.
• 9:41
  Who did any kind of bridal or special occasion hair up work and I thought,
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  Oh, okay, so I could do the makeup and I can do the hair and I think I'm, I
• 9:50
  might've done someone's wedding from that when they came to the salon as well.
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  So it started to trickle through.
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  Then I ended up working at another makeup studio, but doing hair as well.
• 10:01
  And I did a few celebrities there too, because they worked with like the
• 10:05
  pantomimes and so they would do the.
• 10:09
  the posters for all the pantomimes and I would do the hair and makeup for that.
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  So it was just constantly building that confidence.
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  And I also actually started assisting on fashion shoots and
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  I assisted a hairstylist solely.
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  And so then, again, the hair then started to match the confidence with the makeup.
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  So I think, from once I had the confidence, and then more of the
• 10:35
  Facebook was coming out, and, things like that, I just, I suppose I just
• 10:40
  generally started taking on and being asked to do more weddings.
• 10:45
  So it was quite an organic build up, really.
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  And it wasn't till, maybe, probably in the pandemic, That I actually thought, right,
• 10:55
  this, this is what I'm going to do now.
• 10:57
  So we're talking quite a long time between, so when did
• 11:01
  I finish my hairdressing?
• 11:03
  I've got a Facebook memory the other day, and I think it was about 10 years ago.
• 11:08
  So from doing that all the way up to weddings now, it was 2020.
• 11:12
  I thought, right, I need to sort out my website.
• 11:13
  I need to get proper branding.
• 11:15
  I need to do this, that and the other.
• 11:17
  And obviously, you know, what happened with COVID, it was the catch up.
• 11:20
  So from that, that moment on, it was just like.
• 11:23
  Bang, bang, bang weddings.
• 11:25
  But what I haven't mentioned was all the way through, I always had like a
• 11:30
  part time job in an office, always.
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  So from COVID, obviously I couldn't work at all.
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  And I was working at a minor injuries unit, again, back to the
• 11:40
  injuries and the special effects.
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  So it must've been in there still somewhere.
• 11:45
  I was getting so booked up from COVID that I actually left my part time job
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  because I had enough weddings to make the same amount of money and a lot more.
• 11:55
  than I was from my part time job.
• 11:56
  So yeah, I think that's brought us up to present day.
• 11:59
  Becca: It's been a bit of a journey then, really.
• 12:00
  It's been a kind of a marathon, marathon, not a sprint, and you've built your
• 12:04
  confidence, you've built your experience, you've got to COVID, which is a turning
• 12:08
  point for a lot of people actually in life and in business, and you thought, right,
• 12:12
  I'm really going to go for this now.
• 12:13
  How did it feel to take that leap into quitting your part time job?
• 12:17
  Because you've said, you know, I've I've got the money there, I've got
• 12:20
  clients coming in, but I know because I've spoken to a lot of people that
• 12:23
  do it, that that feels like a really scary thing to do, to let go of that
• 12:28
  guaranteed income and go part time.
• 12:31
  How did you reconcile that in your own head?
• 12:33
  I think...
• 12:35
  Holly: Definitely, my husband helped because he, I met him when
• 12:40
  I was earning peanuts, pretty much.
• 12:43
  Yeah.
• 12:43
  I mean, he supported me mentally and emotionally, but my whole,
• 12:49
  you know, people don't say journey, but it is a journey.
• 12:52
  And I spoke to him about it and I said, look, this is what my
• 12:56
  income is from my part time job.
• 12:57
  And this is what I can potentially do.
• 13:00
  You know, with just, just the weddings full time, I can give it my all, and
• 13:03
  he's seen that I'm motivated, I'm, I'm a very self motivated person, like, I
• 13:09
  don't, I don't like to rely on other people either, so that was my kind of
• 13:13
  drive, like, if I'm gonna do this, I don't want you to support me anymore,
• 13:16
  I don't, I, I want to show that I can do this, so I think that definitely
• 13:19
  helped, and I thought, well, I know what I've got coming up, and I know I've got
• 13:23
  next year, those bookings are there, I thought, if I don't do it now, and also,
• 13:27
  when I was, Doing my part time job.
• 13:29
  I couldn't focus on either properly 100 and I knew I didn't want to continue
• 13:38
  in The office side of it because my brain was elsewhere constantly and I
• 13:46
  just thought I've got to do this and I spoke to him I said right I'm going to
• 13:49
  leave and he went like okay go for it and that was that was kind of it and
• 13:53
  I've never looked I've never ever looked that was the best decision I ever made.
• 13:58
  Becca: And I think that so often is the case, so many people are so scared about
• 14:02
  doing it and making that leap, but once they've done it, there's no regrets,
• 14:05
  because now you're all in, it's all or nothing, you haven't got that backup plan,
• 14:09
  it's like, right, I need to focus now, and I need to make this work, and now
• 14:13
  I've got the time to make it happen, and I think having a supportive partner or
• 14:16
  supportive friends and family around you at that time, Is super helpful as well.
• 14:21
  So when you look over the kind of the whole journey, as we've said,
• 14:24
  and particularly the last few years where you've been full time in the
• 14:27
  business, what would you say have been the struggles along the way?
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  Because we like to keep it real on this podcast.
• 14:33
  We don't want to pretend everything's perfect and rosy.
• 14:36
  So where have you found it difficult in your business?
• 14:39
  Holly: Definitely when I wasn't sure what kind of area I wanted to go into when I
• 14:45
  was younger, I was never the cool kid.
• 14:47
  You know, I, that's why I feel like with make up and...
• 14:51
  Not always.
• 14:51
  A lot of makeup artists and hairstyles, you know, it's something they've always
• 14:55
  loved, something they've always done.
• 14:57
  They've always resonated with hair and makeup, like they
• 14:59
  obsessed with makeup products.
• 15:00
  That wasn't me.
• 15:01
  I wasn't that teenager, you know, I had frizzy hair and glasses
• 15:05
  and spots, you know, I wasn't...
• 15:08
  That did...
• 15:08
  It wasn't what drove me to do it.
• 15:10
  It was the creative side of it.
• 15:12
  So I think when I was working out what I wanted to do and when I started assisting
• 15:16
  in fashion shoots and things, and all these glamorous people around me, and
• 15:19
  that wasn't me, that was a real low point.
• 15:21
  Cause I was thinking, well, I don't, what else do I do?
• 15:23
  I don't know where I fit in or what do I do?
• 15:26
  And I think.
• 15:27
  With the weddings, because it's, it's real people, you're making a difference.
• 15:32
  It's a lot more than skin deep.
• 15:34
  It's, it's not, it's more than, it's deeper than skin,
• 15:38
  is what I'm trying to say.
• 15:39
  It's, it's not so much about the products.
• 15:42
  It's what you can do with them and how you can help people.
• 15:45
  And it helps me to show that I get it.
• 15:49
  Yeah.
• 15:49
  It's a lot more than that.
• 15:51
  And you can kind of, you can be more empathetic.
• 15:54
  And use your skills in a different way rather than for beauty
• 15:58
  aesthetics and things like that.
• 15:59
  Becca: And I personally absolutely love that about you and about your
• 16:03
  business and the way that that comes across on your Instagram.
• 16:06
  Because at the end of the day, people getting married,
• 16:09
  we're just regular people.
• 16:10
  We're not celebrities.
• 16:12
  We're not necessarily glamorous.
• 16:13
  We're all in our own skin.
• 16:14
  We all have our insecurities.
• 16:17
  And actually, you know, we're still the same person on our wedding
• 16:20
  day as we are any other day.
• 16:23
  And I like the fact that you talk about that and you talk about how
• 16:27
  we're not trying to be someone else, but we're just trying to be the
• 16:29
  most confident version of ourselves.
• 16:32
  Holly: Yeah, I think that's, I do try to, it's been like a light
• 16:36
  bulb moment in the last year or so.
• 16:38
  And like that, that's why I do it.
• 16:39
  I do it because I want to give people confidence.
• 16:44
  The amount of my brides who are so terrified of walking down the aisle.
• 16:49
  And by the time I finished with them, you know, I, I chat, you know, throughout
• 16:53
  the trial, throughout the whole process.
• 16:55
  I am bigging them up that it's okay, like, what you decide is okay.
• 16:59
  This is your wedding, this is your choice.
• 17:02
  And by the time they're ready to walk down the aisle, they've forgotten
• 17:04
  they've even, they're worried about it.
• 17:06
  Because they feel...
• 17:07
  So good about themselves and that is so addictive.
• 17:11
  It's so, so addictive because it's to, to give someone that confidence, not
• 17:16
  even from, you know, the hair and makeup is, is like the bonus bit on the side.
• 17:21
  That's how I kind of put.
• 17:23
  Everything together.
• 17:24
  I've always been very into how we feel and why we feel it and, you know, how our
• 17:31
  brains tick, which is why I'm constantly desperate to learn the next thing.
• 17:35
  What can I do with that now?
• 17:36
  What can I, why do I think that?
• 17:37
  Why do people think that?
• 17:38
  Why do they do that?
• 17:39
  It just, it all helps so much to bring it all into one service.
• 17:44
  So, yeah, I'm glad that comes across.
• 17:48
  Becca: Yeah, it definitely does.
• 17:49
  And I think, as I said, I think that's a real USP that you have, and I'm sure
• 17:53
  your brides just feel so much better after they've spent time and work
• 17:57
  with you on their wedding morning.
• 17:58
  Now, I know because I see your business journey, especially over
• 18:01
  the last year, that In business, we have highs, we have lows.
• 18:05
  We have days when we think being a business is the best
• 18:07
  thing in the whole world.
• 18:08
  We have days when we just want to quit and go and work at Sainsbury's.
• 18:11
  It really is an emotional roller coaster.
• 18:14
  When you're going through those ups and those downs, what is it that keeps
• 18:17
  you going and keeps you sticking at it?
• 18:19
  Holly: I I read reviews, I look at what I've got coming up, I look at
• 18:24
  how I can improve things, I try, like I've had, it's, what, it's November
• 18:29
  now, it's a natural lower point in the wedding industry, and I try to just
• 18:35
  use that in a positive way, rather than focus on negatives, because You
• 18:39
  can use it in both, in both ways.
• 18:41
  You could sit and think, oh no, what's going on now?
• 18:45
  Like, I haven't got anything this month, or I haven't got anything
• 18:47
  next month, or what's coming up.
• 18:48
  I don't know how it's going to work, but you have to keep
• 18:51
  pushing at the development and You have to be very self-motivated.
• 18:57
  You do, you know, with, with all the different things that we have to do
• 19:00
  now with social media especially.
• 19:02
  I know I enjoy that side of it because it gives me something else to do.
• 19:07
  I mean, I've been unofficially diagnosed with ADHD and it explains so much
• 19:11
  'cause my brain is a hundred miles an hour and I love to hyper focus on
• 19:15
  things, but that, I use that as a.
• 19:18
  As a positive for me, that's brilliant.
• 19:20
  If I didn't have it, then I wouldn't be where I am now.
• 19:23
  I wouldn't be so thirsty to do the next thing and the next thing and the next
• 19:28
  thing, okay, sometimes I need to be pulled back a bit, as you will know, Becca.
• 19:32
  But, it's, I find that the way to deal with it, like.
• 19:37
  The lows, you can turn them into highs as well.
• 19:39
  It doesn't mean we don't have them, it's just how we use the lows to
• 19:42
  motivate us into the next bit.
• 19:45
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely, and I love how you said about reading your reviews.
• 19:47
  I think that's a really simple thing that lots of people can be doing, especially
• 19:51
  this time of year when it's quieter, when it's miserable outside, when it feels
• 19:56
  like the world's against us sometimes.
• 19:59
  actually just taking a moment to think, actually, I do make a huge difference
• 20:03
  to all of these people who I work with.
• 20:05
  And to just take a moment to stop and reflect on that, I
• 20:08
  think is absolutely massive.
• 20:11
  Do you have your reviews online?
• 20:12
  Do you have them printed out?
• 20:13
  Do you have thank you cards?
• 20:14
  Where'd you go to look at them?
• 20:15
  Holly: All three.
• 20:16
  I have, I've started putting them like drip feeding them on my website.
• 20:20
  I have them.
• 20:21
  Yeah.
• 20:21
  On Google.
• 20:22
  I have, a thing up in my studio with all my thank you cards up.
• 20:26
  And actually my brides love to see that because it's like validation for them.
• 20:30
  They've made the right choice So everywhere I look that that's
• 20:35
  And I'm the kind of character that I do need validation.
• 20:38
  I think a lot of us do.
• 20:40
  I like to feel like I'm making a difference.
• 20:41
  So just seeing that, even when I go and tweet my website, the reviews are there.
• 20:45
  So I see them and it's like, Oh, okay.
• 20:47
  Yeah, you are doing the right thing.
• 20:48
  You're doing the right job.
• 20:49
  Carry on.
• 20:50
  You are making a difference.
• 20:51
  It's not just, I think with hair and makeup, it can sometimes be
• 20:54
  seen as a vanity thing, but it's not because a lot can be said for.
• 20:59
  how something makes you feel.
• 21:01
  So yeah, it's, it's definitely looking at those helps a lot.
• 21:07
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:07
  I love the idea that you've got them all up in your studio.
• 21:09
  If you are listening to this and you've got handwritten thank you cards, get
• 21:13
  them up, get them up in your office, get them up somewhere where you see them on a
• 21:15
  daily basis and remind yourself that you are awesome at what you do, even when it
• 21:19
  feels like things are quiet and difficult.
• 21:23
  Now, Holly, you said, Just a minute ago about the importance of investing in
• 21:27
  yourself, keep learning the new things.
• 21:29
  As I mentioned earlier, you joined the Members Lounge back in April.
• 21:33
  You are one of the most driven people that I know.
• 21:36
  You show up all of the time.
• 21:38
  You're always looking to improve yourself.
• 21:40
  Why do you think as a business owner, it's important that you invest in
• 21:44
  education and community and that side of
• 21:46
  Holly: things?
• 21:46
  I think because you can learn so much from people.
• 21:49
  I mean, I, I often put a question up.
• 21:52
  And people will kind of like, oh yeah, I think that, but they wouldn't
• 21:55
  necessarily put that up themselves.
• 21:56
  I'm quite, I suppose I've learned to be quite open with everything really.
• 22:02
  I, I kind of, I do overthink things, but now I've got better
• 22:06
  at just saying what I think.
• 22:08
  So it kind of opens up conversations that other people may have been thinking,
• 22:12
  but not necessarily wanted to discuss.
• 22:14
  So I've found a lot of positivity with doing that.
• 22:18
  Because it, it just, it makes everybody realise, me included, that
• 22:22
  I'm not on my own in thinking that.
• 22:24
  And we don't have to be so proud and think that we've got
• 22:28
  everything figured out if we don't.
• 22:30
  Because someone is thinking or feeling the same as you.
• 22:34
  So, having that kind of online community and...
• 22:38
  Access to knowledge and training is so important, and we didn't have it before.
• 22:45
  I mean, as I said, back when I was first qualified, Facebook had only just started.
• 22:50
  There was no...
• 22:51
  There was nothing.
• 22:52
  So, it's, it's really important.
• 22:55
  Becca: Yeah, and I think the wedding industry, sometimes it can
• 22:58
  feel like quite a lonely place.
• 22:59
  I think being self employed in general can feel quite a lonely place, because
• 23:02
  although on a wedding day there's lots of people around, day to day we're in our
• 23:06
  offices, in our houses, in our studios, doing our own thing, and it's really easy
• 23:11
  to get inside our own head and think.
• 23:12
  And do that whole comparisonitis thing.
• 23:14
  Everyone else is more successful than me, look at what everyone else is doing.
• 23:18
  I'm not doing as well as everyone else.
• 23:20
  So I think that vulnerability, that showing up, that being part of a community
• 23:24
  and sharing how you're feeling and asking those questions is huge both for
• 23:29
  yourself and for other people as well.
• 23:32
  So if people are thinking, you know, how do I do that?
• 23:36
  How do I be vulnerable?
• 23:37
  Won't people look down on me?
• 23:38
  Again, how have you got past that feeling?
• 23:41
  Holly: I guess as you get older, don't you, you just think, I don't
• 23:44
  care, I don't care what people think.
• 23:47
  And I think as soon as you get on any kind of positive reaction,
• 23:50
  it spurs you want to do it more.
• 23:53
  So the more I've seen that just kind of saying what everyone else is thinking
• 23:58
  in a, in a positive way, that's enough to just to make me do it more.
• 24:03
  And I think it's important that we just, it's like anything, isn't it?
• 24:07
  Talk about it.
• 24:09
  We now, as a generation, talk about things a lot more, and that,
• 24:14
  that way you do feel less lonely, regardless of what it's about.
• 24:17
  And I think the best way, really, to make yourself feel better, is to
• 24:22
  look back at how far you've come.
• 24:24
  Facebook memories are, are great for that, because you, I look back and see
• 24:29
  pictures I've posted, even four or five years ago, and I think, oh my god, like.
• 24:34
  Really?
• 24:35
  Is that what?
• 24:35
  And now look at me now.
• 24:36
  Like it's, it's crazy.
• 24:38
  That's, that's definitely helps to look back rather than forwards.
• 24:41
  If you look forward, so you can get overwhelmed, but if you look back, it's
• 24:44
  a bit like, it's kind of a kick up, up the bum in a good way to say, right,
• 24:47
  stop, stop feeling sorry for yourself.
• 24:49
  You are good at what you're doing.
• 24:50
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 24:51
  And it's the only form of comparison that I accept in business.
• 24:55
  Don't compare yourself to other people, but compare yourself to the person
• 24:58
  you were a year ago, three years ago, five years ago, 10 years ago.
• 25:01
  And that's one of the things I love about doing these episodes and looking
• 25:04
  back on people's stories because it's a reminder of how far you've come from
• 25:07
  that person at the careers office who's told you should go into makeup and
• 25:11
  you're thinking what to where you are now with a successful hair and makeup
• 25:15
  business that's growing all of the time.
• 25:17
  That's something to be incredibly proud of and I'm sure you feel proud of it.
• 25:20
  Holly: I do.
• 25:21
  And it's funny when you say the comparison to yourself, I.
• 25:25
  I'm only competitive with myself.
• 25:28
  So I, it was last year's wedding industry awards and I applied the year
• 25:36
  before and well, two years running the first year I won highly commended.
• 25:41
  So I was like, right, I'm going to enter again and I'm going to win it.
• 25:44
  And I did because I didn't care about anyone else.
• 25:47
  I wanted to beat myself.
• 25:49
  I didn't look at anyone else who was entering.
• 25:51
  I didn't think, well, they're better than me.
• 25:53
  They're worse than me, whatever.
• 25:54
  I want to be better than I was the year before.
• 25:57
  And I did that.
• 25:58
  So I think that is so true.
• 26:00
  You just be competitive with yourself, not anyone else.
• 26:04
  Becca: I completely agree with that.
• 26:05
  Absolutely love that.
• 26:06
  Now, one of the other ways we've worked together recently, Holly,
• 26:08
  is through my wedding pro agency, and we've been working together on
• 26:13
  building you some email automation.
• 26:16
  It's been a lot of fun.
• 26:17
  I've loved building it for you.
• 26:19
  I've loved getting into the tech and doing all of that stuff to help your
• 26:23
  couples, to help you as you go out to wedding shows and all that kind of thing.
• 26:27
  But I also know that it's an area of business that people struggle with.
• 26:31
  Outsourcing can feel difficult because you're giving a little
• 26:34
  bit of your business to somebody else and letting them run with it.
• 26:38
  So having gone through that experience, what would you say to other people
• 26:42
  who are considering outsourcing other parts of their business?
• 26:45
  How have you found that?
• 26:47
  Has it been hard to let go of it or has it been nice to just sit
• 26:50
  back and let other people do stuff?
• 26:52
  Holly: Probably a bit of both.
• 26:54
  I think until you know exactly what it is you're struggling with
• 26:57
  and why it's difficult to let go because you can say, Oh, I need help.
• 27:03
  But if you don't know what exactly that help is...
• 27:06
  Then how can you outsource?
• 27:07
  I mean, when you helped me do the email setup, I knew roughly what
• 27:15
  to do, but I knew that for me to do it, it would take so much longer.
• 27:20
  I knew what I wanted, I wanted it to say.
• 27:22
  So that was brilliant to work with you with that.
• 27:24
  So you, you're still involved, but not almost wasting time doing something
• 27:29
  that somebody else could do for you.
• 27:31
  You can still be in control, but.
• 27:34
  in a back seated way.
• 27:36
  And I think that is definitely a key in how I would go moving forward.
• 27:40
  So you still, you start in control, but you're giving someone
• 27:45
  else the work, so to speak.
• 27:48
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:49
  And I can tell you for a fact, from my own perspective, that outsourcing can
• 27:53
  become a little bit addictive as well because you realize, Oh, actually I could
• 27:57
  just pay a bit of money and someone else can do this for me really quickly and
• 28:01
  save me the hassle of doing it myself.
• 28:03
  And that is something that I do more and more and more each year.
• 28:06
  Holly: Yeah, I definitely feel like I would probably be going that way.
• 28:10
  It's definitely addictive when you realize what you can release and where
• 28:13
  you can spend your energy elsewhere.
• 28:15
  That's, and having my biggest one, Before going to a, a human
• 28:21
  like you is the CRM system.
• 28:23
  That was a game changer for me and I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do that.
• 28:27
  And cause it's, it's a fast to set up, but you can get people to set that up.
• 28:31
  You know, well, had I known that or thought about that, then I probably
• 28:33
  should have done that, but yeah, definitely is worth, outsourcing where
• 28:37
  you can, there's, there's different levels of control you can release.
• 28:42
  So, yeah.
• 28:44
  Becca: Yeah, and you never lose creative control entirely because it's
• 28:48
  your business at the end of the day.
• 28:49
  But yeah, there's definitely something to be said for outsourcing
• 28:52
  tasks, either to an automated system or to another human as well.
• 28:56
  Now, Holly, as we bring this to an end, I know there'll be people
• 28:59
  listening to this that are maybe newer in the wedding industry.
• 29:02
  Perhaps they're even aspiring hair and makeup artists.
• 29:04
  Perhaps they want to get into weddings.
• 29:07
  When you look back over your years of experience, all of the
• 29:11
  different things that you've done.
• 29:13
  What would be your new kind of tips for people looking to get
• 29:17
  into this world of weddings?
• 29:19
  Holly: I would say don't be intimidated by where others are,
• 29:24
  because you can never stop learning.
• 29:28
  When I was Maybe a little bit younger again, before
• 29:32
  things were really accessible.
• 29:35
  I thought, well, I've done my training now.
• 29:36
  I don't need to learn anymore.
• 29:38
  yOu know, arrogantly thinking I don't need to keep learning.
• 29:41
  I'm I'm done.
• 29:42
  Whereas actually you, you never stop learning no matter where you are in
• 29:46
  your journey, whether you're right at the beginning or really established.
• 29:51
  You need to continuously learn and see where you can improve and what you can do.
• 29:56
  And I mean, since I've invested in things, you know, training, whether it's
• 30:03
  free or paid or just chatting to other people, just investing time, it's my
• 30:09
  business is the return is, is just crazy.
• 30:13
  It's huge.
• 30:14
  So yeah, that's what I would say would be the biggest thing
• 30:19
  that I would tell people is.
• 30:21
  You just, you never stop learning, keep learning all the way through.
• 30:25
  Becca: And I love what you said at the start of that about not being intimidated
• 30:29
  by other people in the wedding industry.
• 30:30
  I'm a big advocate for new people coming into this industry because there's
• 30:35
  enough work out there for everyone.
• 30:37
  And actually I think it's important to remember that whether you've been in
• 30:40
  the industry 15 years or whether you've been in the industry three months.
• 30:44
  Everybody has to start somewhere and it's okay to be learning and it's
• 30:48
  okay to ask those questions because you wouldn't be where you are now,
• 30:52
  Holly, if you hadn't started all those years back, you know, doing that first
• 30:57
  wedding of a friend of a friend and kind of dipping your toe in the water.
• 31:01
  Holly: Yeah, exactly.
• 31:02
  It is an intimidating thing.
• 31:03
  It's like everything, it's a saturated market.
• 31:06
  You can do, everyone can do everything all the time now.
• 31:10
  And it's just working out where you fit.
• 31:13
  And just going with it and not, not being worried.
• 31:18
  of where that, that journey is going to be.
• 31:19
  Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:20
  Now, Holly, I always end my podcast with the same question.
• 31:23
  So I'm going to ask it to you now before we close.
• 31:26
  And it's this, what's one thing you personally wish you'd known
• 31:29
  sooner in your own business?
• 31:32
  Holly: I would say having a brand is, is important, working out what you want to
• 31:38
  give the industry and what's your feel, what's your ethos, that kind of thing.
• 31:43
  And I think since knowing that it's really helped me.
• 31:47
  drive my business in the right direction.
• 31:49
  And we, we all need to try different things out, but knowing that and focusing
• 31:54
  more on that to start with, I think would have helped me come to where I am sooner.
• 31:59
  Cause it's all, you work it out as you go along, but having a
• 32:03
  bit more of a focus, definitely.
• 32:07
  has helped my business in the last few years.
• 32:09
  So knowing that sooner would have been, would have been good.
• 32:12
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 32:13
  Such great advice, Holly.
• 32:14
  It's been such a pleasure having you on the podcast.
• 32:18
  Thank you for being here.
• 32:19
  If people want to find out more about you and what you do, where's
• 32:21
  the best place for them to find you?
• 32:23
  Holly: My website is Www Carter hair and makeup com and my Instagram is
• 32:30
  Carter hair and underscore makeup
• 32:35
  So, that's, yeah, that's the best way to, to find me.
• 32:39
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 32:40
  I'll make sure I link to all of those things in the show notes with
• 32:43
  all of the underscores included, and I'm sure if people wanna reach
• 32:47
  out to you and just ask some advice, are you happy to chat with people?
• 32:51
  Holly: Absolutely.
• 32:52
  Yeah, definitely.
• 32:53
  I'm more than happy to chat.
• 32:54
  Yeah, go ahead and, and come say hi.
• 32:58
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 32:58
  Holly, thank you so much for being here.
• 33:01
  It's been an absolute pleasure.
• 33:03
  Holly: Thank you so much for having me back.
• 33:04
  It's been fab.
• 33:06
  Becca: I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Holly as much as I did.
• 33:10
  She is just fabulous.
• 33:12
  She is so driven.
• 33:13
  She knows what she wants and she is the kind of client that I love because you
• 33:16
  set her a task and within five minutes she started on it and she's making headway.
• 33:21
  If you want to find out more about the Members Lounge and being part of that with
• 33:24
  Holly and myself, of course, then I'll put all of the details in the show notes.
• 33:28
  I'll see you next time.