Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / Embracing the Digital Pivot with Tekoa Hash

Transcript

Embracing the Digital Pivot with Tekoa Hash · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

• 0:01
  Hi.
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  This is Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady host of the small Bizchett podcast.
• 0:06
  I want to serve you.
• 0:07
  This pandemic has been so hard on America's small businesses and on just America in
• 0:12
  general.
• 0:13
  If you're ready to start your dream business, boy, do I have a great offer for you?
• 0:17
  I am giving away 1000 copies of my best selling book, become your own boss in 12 months.
• 0:23
  Over a hundred thousand people have this book It has been printed in multiple languages
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  around the world, and I wanted to find a way to serve America small businesses in this
• 0:33
  pandemic.
• 0:33
  And so I am giving away a 1000 copies of my book.
• 0:37
  All you have to do to get your copy is head over to begin my biz dotcom slash free offer
• 0:44
  to, you know, sign up for your copy.
• 0:46
  All you have to do is pay shipping, and we will mail one out to you.
• 0:49
  I am so excited about this.
• 0:51
  I wanna serve you.
• 0:52
  Grab your copy today.
• 0:56
  Ending small business failure.
• 0:58
  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with a number one small business expert, Melinda
• 1:04
  Emerson.
• 1:05
  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
• 1:09
  you need succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's the small biz lady herself.
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  Melinda Everson.
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  Hi.
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  I'm Melinda Everson's small business lady.
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  America's number one small business expert and I would like to welcome you to the small fish
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  chat podcast.
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  Now it's time for me to introduce my next guest Tacoa Hash.
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  Tacoa is a creative director and change agent for beauty creatives.
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  She has 25 years of experience as a dot connector in the entertainment beauty, sports,
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  and entertainment industry, Chico is the founding partner of the technique agency, a
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  management firm for beauty creatives that grosses 7 figures annually.
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  Technique represents celebrity beauty professionals in TV film, and the entertainment
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  industry.
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  She's also the founder of Global Beauty Tribe, a digital platform for beauty creatives of
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  color.
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  And any more information you wanna know, you gotta go to the techniquegroup.com.
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  Takehold.
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  Welcome.
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  Welcome small business chat podcast.
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  Thank you, Melinda.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  Glad to be here.
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  Now you know you are a beauty creative because you are fabulous, girl.
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  I love the glasses.
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  Alright.
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  Now let's jump into this.
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  Tell me how you went from high end makeup artists to running one of the hottest agencies
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  for hair and makeup creatives in the entertainment industry.
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  How did you make that transition?
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  Or put the brushes down?
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  Like, how did you do it?
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  You know, there were 2 things.
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  The first thing was as a makeup and beauty creative hairstylist on TV and film sets, you
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  are to be seen and not heard.
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  And I knew that, and I rode that wave and I adhered to it, but I also knew I had more to
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  bring to the table.
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  So after about 15 years as a professional makeup artist, I saw that I was afforded
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  opportunities that other black brown creatives were not afforded.
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  And my plate was overflowing, and I decided I'm gonna put friends on, whether they are a friend
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  or not, if I believe in you professionally, artistically, I was sending work your way.
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  So after several years of doing that, I said, you know what?
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  I think I'm missing out on a lot of money because when you're when you're closing deals
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  and helping to you know, close a gap in terms of the needs that production's needed, and you
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  can bring valuable people to the table, I was missing out on that piece of the pie.
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  And so I just really wanted my peers that I had grown up with that I had learned from and grown
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  with over the years to have the opportunities I had been afforded.
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  So that was really the main reason.
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  Secondly, I was tired of the brushes, and it wasn't hard for me to put them down at all.
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  I got a lot of footing in TV and film, but I've had a lot of success in reality TV shows, which
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  can be very toxic and it did and it it didn't agree with my spirit.
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  So that, along with wanting to be a business woman kept me from really wanting to continue
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  to pick up the brushes.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  So so your business, how does it work?
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  You book other hair and makeup professionals on these shows and and and sets and all that kind
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  of stuff?
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  So, yes, so to date, we have 65 combined hair stylists, makeup artists, manicures, and
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  wardrobe stylists, signs are an agency across all major platform where TV and film is big.
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  And so, really, our business has grown by word-of-mouth.
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  From strong relationships that I had when I was a makeup artist and people really wanting to
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  see me win and giving me an opportunity.
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  So, you know, to date, you know, right before COVID, I think we had 12 shows running, had
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  just finished three shows.
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  So Word of mouth has been our way of of getting disopportunities.
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  Alright.
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  So when it comes to growing a business, I believe everyone is in sales, and the product
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  is you.
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  Now do you agree or disagree with that?
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  You know, I do agree.
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  You know, one of my first bosses that was my boss as a makeup artist, I didn't know anything
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  really about makeup other than I loved it.
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  My skill set wasn't there.
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  And when she tried to convince her bosses that I was worthy of being hired, she said skill set
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  can be taught.
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  Personality can't.
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  And I really do believe that clients come to us because they believe in me and they believe in
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  my business partner and our leadership.
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  So, yes, I agree.
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  I love it.
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  So tell me, how did the pandemic affect your business?
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  I heard heard you say earlier that you guys had 12 shows running.
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  All of a sudden, and you're talking about network shows like stuff was stuff stuff was
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  taping.
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  And all of a sudden, they said shut the country down.
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  Yeah.
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  Within 72 hours, we lost all of our shows.
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  It happened very quickly, and it was difficult to see that people were gonna be out of work.
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  And because these these jobs literally help feed their families and really mix their dreams
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  come through, We hire people that were the underdogs who never thought they'll get an
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  opportunity in TV and film.
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  And then these opportunities, whether the paycheck matched or not, really has helped
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  propel their careers.
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  So it happened really quick, and we noticed, like, you they all you know, everyone says you
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  need to have multiple streams of income.
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  We did not.
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  99% of our business consistently.
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  So it literally there's no more money coming in.
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  But when you are a small business, with a small staff, and you don't feel like you have the
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  resources to build and create other avenues.
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  It just didn't seem possible because we're so hands on with our clients and the artists that
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  we represent.
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  So what did you do?
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  We dug in the crates, and we saw all the holes that we have been wanting to fix and talk about
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  and it just didn't have the time to do it.
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  And so it really gave us an opportunity to restructure our human resources, restructure
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  our contracts decide now that we don't have any business and we're still somewhat afloat.
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  Who do we not wanna go back to?
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  And it it really empowered us.
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  And so we were planning a real conference because we do event planning as well on the
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  side, but one of our clients wanted to host a women's conference.
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  And so we decided to do it virtually.
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  And it was a huge success and the experience that we gave that thou and plus people that
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  attended really created another avenue for us.
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  And since that event midstream last year, we've done 10 virtual events.
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  And now it's, like, another Avenue stream.
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  So that's so that's one revenue stream.
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  Yes.
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  But did the crisis make you look inward Like, were you really, like, okay.
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  Is this the business I should really still be running?
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  I did you do that?
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  Yes.
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  So I was on complete burnout before the pandemic really thinking, is this the business
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  that I even want?
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  Because I was drained from giving clients so much and not feeding enough into myself So it
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  really allowed me to step back and say, hey, work on yourself, work on your spirit, work on
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  the time that you spend with yourself, and then I started showing up better.
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  Even with the stress of not having income, I started showing up more confidently, more
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  calmly, not panicking about the money that wasn't coming in.
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  So definitely went inward.
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  And I think our whole team did too.
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  So everyone had to make this move to, like, this digital first strategy.
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  Right?
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  And you guys are hair makeup artists.
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  Yeah.
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  So I'm sure you were scared to get in there, anybody that close.
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  Right?
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  So what kinds of things did you do?
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  And what would you say are your top 3 suggestions?
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  Because there's people out here still trying to figure out their digital pivot, and that's
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  probably the reason why I wanted you to be on because I really wanted you to talk about,
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  okay.
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  Here's what we did, and here's what you might wanna think about if you had to think of 3
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  things that you did that really organized your digital pivot in a way that served you, what
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  would they be?
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  Now, Melinda, you and I have had very frank conversations about this, and you know I don't
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  feel like I'm personally where I should be in the digital pivot.
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  But, you know, because I am a service business, we do it better for clients than we do it for
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  ourselves.
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  And so for Tacoma, the brand, still working on that, But for technique and for the clients
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  that we represent, it's like really, really understanding who your core audience is.
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  You know, really figuring that out, being really authentic with who you are, not the
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  fluff.
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  You know, and I think those are two core things.
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  And being consistent, with the content.
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  You know, I'm not great at it, my personal self, but I push our clients to.
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  We have a calendar for their post, and we really talk about it.
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  We go over it.
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  And so those are the three things that I feel like in this time where everyone is suffering.
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  And even if you haven't lost money, you've lost loved ones.
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  You've seen people that you care about, supper.
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  It's really being authentic, and I really feel like that's where our power is.
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  That's so awesome.
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  That's so awesome.
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  Listen.
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  I'm gonna put a pin in that This is a small business chat podcast.
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  We are talking with Takoa Hash, and we're talking about your digital pivot.
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  Stay with us.
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  We will be right back.
• 10:12
  In terms of efficiency, platform, speed is excellent.
• 10:15
  To have access to some financial tools like Plastics, it's really helpful.
• 10:20
  We've gotta go procure our ingredients.
• 10:22
  Gotta get them organic certified to produce the corrugate cardboard and the packaging, manual
• 10:27
  factors gotta do a trial run, production run.
• 10:29
  And we've gotta start paying people fast, and we need to pay them with cash or a wire and
• 10:35
  plastic come down and fills that void for us.
• 10:39
  Welcome back to the small biz chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
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  America's number one small business expert.
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  And I have been talking with beauty mogul, Takoa Hash, and now we're gonna be talking
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  about how to avoid burnout in the future.
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  Sometimes, when your resources is limited, you think putting more time into your business is
• 10:59
  gonna fix the problem.
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  And that is And I'm a recovering workaholic that can tell you for a fact.
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  More time is not the answer.
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  You have to make sure as a business owner, you're focusing on your high value activities.
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  But to go, I don't wanna put words in your mouth.
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  I wanna understand what do you think was your most valuable lessons learned in 2020?
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  Really, you know, this term is usually used, but self care, really taking time for myself,
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  not waking up in the morning picking phone answering the first email or text that comes to
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  me, really, really taken time for myself.
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  And I see that my my support system, my business partners, my clients that are used to
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  me picking up the phone at any time, they've really respected those boundaries.
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  So We have to set them for ourselves
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  so that other people will.
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  Excellent.
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  Excellent.
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  Now what do you find keeps you motivated in in fired even even though we're all, you know,
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  still at home a lot of us.
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  Mhmm.
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  I wanna say purpose.
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  Purpose keeps me inspired.
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  It's not it's not money because I've walked away from money many times in my career, but I
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  found that when I stay in line with my purpose and what I'm supposed to be doing, even, you
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  know, when the money is not flowing in, it's easy for me to stay the course.
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  And I gotta be honest, Melinda, as a black woman that didn't have any start up money.
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  I've seen hard times, more times than I care to admit.
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  So this wasn't the the financial part wasn't scary for me because I know it's like to be
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  broke.
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  You know?
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  So, you know, we're resilient people, and so that's kinda lean to my advantage.
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  I completely can relate.
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  So what's next for the technique agency?
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  I'm gonna say technic productions is next.
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  You know?
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  You know about this.
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  And it's been a dream for a long time, but not having the capital to produce the content that
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  we wanna produce, mainly in the lifestyle and beauty space, being able to get that off the
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  ground is a bit beaten.
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  Just finished a huge project for Nordstrom's for Black History Month, and I really am
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  inspired by the, the, the virtual conferences that we've done all up under the technique
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  productions umbrella, in a great city.
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  Our headquarters is still in New York.
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  Now we have Lakes in Atlanta with me living here.
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  So it's a perfect segue for the experiences we've had in TV.
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  Awesome.
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  Well, thank you so much.
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  I really appreciate all of your valuable insight.
• 13:25
  Thank you all so much for joining me for this episode of the small business chat podcast.
• 13:30
  If you want more information about how to start a grow a small business, head over to my blogs,
• 13:34
  succeed at your own boss.com, to get more information.
• 13:38
  Now the mission of small business chat is to end small business failure.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, small business lady, your host, and I'll leave you with this.
• 13:45
  You never lose in business either you win or you learn.
• 13:49
  God bless everybody.
• 13:50
  Good night.
• 13:53
  Thank you for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
• 13:58
  For more resources and small business success strategies, visit succeed as your own boss.com.
• 14:05
  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to the podcast and join us next Wednesday.