Service or Sacrifice. Which One Are You In – with Sam and Jen

[: 00:00:00

can be from finance, 'cause if you are sitting in depletion and you can't do the things that you wanna do with your team or afford- Yeah or again, it all comes to finance.

[: 00:00:10

Mm-hmm but you are there to build everybody up- Mm-hmm ... who is coming on that journey with you.

[: 00:00:18

it means that your business will feel overwhelming. It will feel annoying. Yeah. It will feel hard.

[: 00:00:27

And so just identifying that our role as leaders is actually to serve. Mm. To serve those who we are supposed to be leading.

[: 00:00:40

is the most important pillar of a small business. Like- It is the most important.

[: 00:00:43

[00:00:52] Samara: that targets document that we have-

Yeah ... never has that been more valuable in my life.

Because I have gone, from being a salon of 14 to being a salon of 12, 8, 7, 6, now 3, and I know inside out what I need. Yeah. And I'm not making decisions based on what my ego looks like from the outside. Yep. I'm making a decision what it makes profitability-wise for me, and right now I'm in the best place.

Before we dive in, just a quick little love note from us. If this podcast has ever made you laugh, cry, think, or feel seen, please hit that subscribe button. It's the easiest way to keep the magic going and it helps us land more incredible guests for you.

Go on back, your girls, subscribe now and let's keep rising together.

[: 00:01:38

Good morning, Samara.

[: 00:01:44

[00:01:45] Jen: Jennifer.

Yeah, only if I'm in trouble.

[: 00:01:48

[00:01:49] Jen: But I did

have a lengthy conversation with someone recently about your evolution from Samara back to being Sam again,

and just

what a

nice

process that

has been.

Yeah. '

Cause it matters what you call it.

[: 00:01:59

It

was so weird

just... I'd

never ev- I have no- I haven't gone by Sam

for so long, but now I sign everything off Sam.

[: 00:02:06

[00:02:07] Samara: Cause Lee calls me Sam, the boys call me Sam. It would feel so weird if my children called me Samara.

[: 00:02:12

[00:02:12] Samara: So it was just always Sam for them. So now it just feels like I've t- kind of taken my name

back.

New evolution, new label.

[: 00:02:21

[00:02:21] Samara: Shall it be.

[: 00:02:22

it be.

[: 00:02:23

[00:02:24] Jen: Cause labels are important. We've spent a lot of time talking about that over the weekend. So we wanted

to dive into...

leadership?

[: 00:02:33

[00:02:33] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:02:34

conversation with Jen last week where I was just like, "It's not where I wanna go." Yeah. Like, I just wanna... You

know, finances,

for me

feel very, uh, familiar and safe and very structured and very easy to teach. Yeah. It's so... It's such a structural thing to teach a finance course.

[: 00:02:53

it's still a very found-

foundational pillar, for sure.

[: 00:02:56

said to me yesterday, "What

are other things

apart from finance you need for a business?" I'm like, "Finance." "And what else?" "Finance."

[: 00:03:03

[00:03:03] Samara: And what else?" "Finance." I'm like,

because

everything comes from finance. How you run your culture

can be from finance,

'cause if you are sitting in, you know, depletion and you

can't do the things that

you wanna do with your team or afford- Yeah

or again, you can't, you're not leading your team to be able to kind

of create those finances

And it

all comes to finance.

So I know- I- ...that's

important,

but I... And

I'd said to

you,

"I don't know how much I wanna teach on culture because I think I've always

had a

good culture 'cause I know how to lead."

But then I had situations that kept coming up through the week that was like, "Oh, no, you definitely wanna have a conversation about this."

[: 00:03:35

for us as Salon Rising has changed-

[: 00:03:43

[00:03:44] Jen: over

the years because I

think,

and I don't th- think you would mind me saying that, there was elements earlier in your con- in, like, the way you, um, address culture that perhaps were a little bit aligned with fear.

[: 00:04:00

[00:04:01] Jen: You know what

I mean?

[: 00:04:01

[00:04:02] Jen: And I think, too, it's that,

uh, the, I think the leadership conversation- And, and again, outside of work, this conversation has

been coming up so much. That leadership piece is- Yep ... where it

kind of came into,

that we s- sort

of stepped

into that conversation

when

I walked

in the door.

I was like,

"I just had

a silent car ride, and I have had a complete

epiphany about this." Yeah. And it

sort of sparks that conversation again.

[: 00:04:27

[00:04:27] Jen: yeah. Yeah. Because

I think that's

where it's at ick

for you, was that whole feeling

of like you didn't really like the connotation that it brought to your mind from where it used to sit.

[: 00:04:36

think, Do you agree? ...again, I

think all of

the things that you and I have, have talked about lately, and funny

enough,

a lot of these topics are coming from church.

Yeah,

agreed. You

know, you and I will go

to

a s- service on Sunday and,

and then it

just starts to spark these conversations to our values and things like that. So,

you know,

one of the, what... Uh, there was this beautiful sermon yesterday and we're, that were talking about, like, labels that you have- Yeah

on

yourself,

and labels

and your languaging.

And even that, you know, as

you were saying the word leadership and culture, sometimes

those labels

don't feel right.

[: 00:05:10

[00:05:10] Samara: The word culture at points

I feel like, as you said, you know, in, it was such a buzzword, and it is such a buzzword. Yeah. And I just don't, I don't feel like

the word culture,

I think some people even as they're listening to this is like, "Oh, yeah, the

culture." But it kind of brings up

this

negative

feeling about it.

Yeah. Because it's just like you've

either got it right or you've got it wrong,

And that absolutely can happen, but I think the

more important piece

is where it comes from- Agreed ... and what's happening and

why. And

if we just take the word culture out of it

and we say

how it feels

to be within your space, how it

feels to be within

your presence, how

it feels to be within a group of

people, that's

really

what

it all comes

down to.

Yes. Culture

is

just how it

feels,

And I feel

like

we

really need to s- it's the

same thing with leadership. I think sometimes leadership can feel like-

But it- ...leadership is going like, "I

am the leader and

the

point. Yeah. And

not

realizing that the leader shouldn't be here. The leader's almost serving and

raising.

[: 00:06:10

[00:06:11] Samara: And I

think leadership feels

like

this.

That word

boss feels like

this. Yeah.

Whereas all of that actually should feel like

this. Yes.

Like, that

actually

should sit at bottom level, and you're there to rise everyone, um, and to lead everyone differently. But I don't, I think it has a connotation about

it that

it's front, high-

[: 00:06:30

[00:06:30] Samara: bigger.

I think it has this ego piece or it can have this ego piece around it.

[: 00:06:35

almost sit separately-

[: 00:06:41

[00:06:41] Jen: as two

separate identities. Yes. So that, uh, you know,

the culture of

an environment as in the feelings that... Because feelings

change.

[: 00:06:49

[00:06:50] Jen: You

know? But the,

the overarching feeling

that a space

provides- Yes

to know that it,

it's like

a container that can contain changes

and fluctuations and feelings within it, right? Yes.

[: 00:07:00

[00:07:00] Jen: Whereas that leadership, like you said, it's not necessarily that- And this has been... It's not an opinion

that everybody agrees with, and I think it's sometimes good to have that,

that

you're not

there to shout the orders from the top-

Mm-hmm

but you are there

to

build everybody up- Mm-hmm ... who is coming on that journey with you.

[: 00:07:18

[00:07:19] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:07:19

you know, we've

been having these conversations more and more and more, but come with what you came to me about the other day, and then we've just kept having these conversations.

[: 00:07:32

So I,

I,

And again, it

was something that we had gone over in a, in a weekend

of, like,

looking at that difference between service and sacrifice. Mm.

And so just identifying that

our role as leaders is actually to serve. Mm. To

serve those who we are supposed to be leading.

but

when

we talk about boundaries

and things like that, when boundaries get crossed, when you're feeling

that

feeling of resentment, you've actually stepped into sacrifice and not service.

Mm. You know? And so it's looking into that whole idea of almost reverse

engineering. Mm-hmm.

Like, what would, um,

the ideal

situation be?

Like, what would

nirvana be?

If this was all

operating how I would love it to be... You've been talking to Trace as well

about nirvana. Um, if it was all, like,

sitting in front of me, how do I reverse engineer

and come back

from that- Mm

to,

to get

to the point where

I am-

Mm ... that I can lead

to get to that,

right?

[: 00:08:31

So,

and

then situations coming, kept

coming up for me as

Jen- Yeah ... and I

were talking

through this.

So there is

a business that I go to on the reg, and I'm not gonna say it because I go there on a reg, and that would be next level oops.

Um,

but there is a business that I go to on

the reg, and you can

feel

that the energy, the feelings

in the space, I'm not gonna say the word culture, is out.

[: 00:08:56

[00:08:57] Samara: Yeah. It's really palpable, and you

have these beautiful humans

that I really, really

love that almost just, you know, don't wanna

be there.

[: 00:09:06

[00:09:07] Samara: And they have to show up for that business with what they do. They have to show up. Like, there is no option in their job to show up with what they're doing. And funny enough, if those humans weren't in that business, I would not, my business would not be there.

[: 00:09:22

[00:09:22] Samara: yeah.

There's a couple-

of in particular individuals that if they weren't in that business, I would also not be attending that business.

I wouldn't go for what I'm going for. And

I

also

know who leads the place.

[: 00:09:36

[00:09:36] Samara: there is obviously a leadership position, a top of head of that. And

it was just

this epiphany o- like the other day when I rung you and I

was

like, oh,

and you can

feel how

the rest of the team

feel about

this person.

[: 00:09:53

[00:09:54] Samara: It's so

evident.

In everything. Like I can

just literally walk in and be

like, "Ugh."

And if

I look at it from the outsider's point of view, the person in the leadership role does not service

her team.

[: 00:10:06

[00:10:07] Samara: She

does not, she's not there to serve them. She's there to serve herself,

and

she is a boss, and she's there to serve herself.

Yeah.

And

so her team

are, like,

floundering, wanting to

be appreciated, wanting to be looked after, wanting to be cared for, wanting to be seen as equal, and none

of them are.

Yeah.

And they're all

the

same age. And I just

think

you

are

going to lose

incredible team members, this business as a whole,

unless either this one vacates

and someone comes in that actually cares about their team, or one by one every single person

will leave.

Person will leave,

[: 00:10:42

[00:10:42] Samara: At which

point, one by one, also will everyone that attends that business.

So, and

I just,

it

almost kills me 'cause

I feel like I go there and try and bring the team up. You know, try and do... I'm

like,

"What could I do this week to do something nice for them?" Because they are such amazing humans, but they're not being led in service by this, this leader of who it meant to be.

Yeah. So I

just watch them all

exhausted, and then they watch this person flit in a- in and out of the business who

is not

in service to them at all.

And it really got me

reflecting the other day, I was like, "I have to leave because I've gotta

go and get coffee

for my team."

And for me, I'm not bringing

coffee to

my team

in order

for them to love me.

[: 00:11:22

[00:11:22] Samara: My

behind the scenes was those two women

who are working for me worked

so hard this

week.

[: 00:11:29

[00:11:29] Samara: And they were here until 9:30 with me that night before. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. and they're both exhausted. What can I do-

A- That

[: 00:11:36

have done for you- Yes ...

in the service of you and your business.

[: 00:11:42

I do in, uh, like, how can I get up

10 minutes earlier so I can make sure that I...

And I don't even

drink that coffee. I bring my coffee from home.

[: 00:11:53

[00:11:53] Samara: I go in service

to the two that I know that Indy would love this and Laura would love that.

[: 00:11:58

it's

really important to say here that

you don't have

to buy-

No ... the

affections

of-

of

[: 00:12:08

in, I, and this is really important, this

is a boundary part, right?

Yeah. The

other

point

of this

is

on, f- and again,

Please don't

think that I am

in ego and I'm like, "I'm the best leader in the world."

Yeah.

I'm

not. I have

had team members leave, and I look

over my life at points where I wasn't

in the position to be complete service to my business.

[: 00:12:30

[00:12:31] Samara: I was ... I had to be in

fight or flight for

myself, and it affected my business massively.

If

I can't be in service

to my team,

because at that point I should've been in service

to my manager, and then my manager is in service to my team. Yeah. But I couldn't

even do that.

So

at that point, again,

if you've got a manager in

your business,

you have to be in service to

your manager.

[: 00:12:52

[00:12:53] Samara: And your

manager is in service

to your team, and your team are in service to your clients.

And I can see areas in my business

over time dramatically where I was hands-off,

or I thought I, I didn't, I wasn't realizing that this

was my role.

[: 00:13:08

okay

to recognize that at a time

you haven't done what you now see would be ideal-

[: 00:13:18

[00:13:19] Jen: and to

learn from that and grow from it, and also accept that there will

be times

where you still-

[: 00:13:24

[00:13:24] Jen: will not be

able to

perform to that.

[: 00:13:26

[00:13:26] Jen: Because that is being human.

[: 00:13:28

it's like being the perfect

mother. They, it doesn't exist.

[: 00:13:31

[00:13:31] Samara: does not exist.

It doesn't exist.

Yeah. One minute I'm like sh sunshine and rainbows, the next minute I am screaming like- Little blessings ... the entire

Burleigh's gonna send me to child services.

So it doesn't exist- Yeah ... but it does mean that

I can

recognize it- Exactly ... and be like, "How can I do better?"

[: 00:13:49

[00:13:50] Samara: Um,

and I think when you're in that period of, of serving your team better,

you

can see, "

Oh, this is why it's working."

I think when you

are in a

good

place, it's

really reflect on why the place is

good.

Yes. Why is this good right now? What am I doing different? And as Jen said,

it doesn't have

to be bring them coffee. I

was on my

ass on

Friday, night. I was so tired, and I'm back to being on the floor full time, which I love,

but the salon just

needed an overhaul.

[: 00:14:18

[00:14:18] Samara: And there is

no time

anymore for overhaul in the salon.

There

is ... We, all three of us, are fully booked.

When someone else is in, they're fully book-

Like,

when Ton... So I've got a casual that works. Ton

or Court comes back in, they're fully booked, the salon's booked.

Yeah.

So

there's things

that aren't getting done like,

you know, restocking the shelves and, you know, um, like, cleaning out the back, making sure everything's organized- Yeah

like that- and getting all the bowls out- That, deeper- ... reset ...and

doing all the deeper stuff. Yeah. That

reset. Doing the

color tubes and everything.

That I was like,

"Okay, I'm just gonna..." Like, all, all I

wanna do,

was, like, 4:30, quarter to 5:00, all I wanted to do was go home. I didn't. I stayed until about quarter to 7:00 and filmed myself

doing it, so that was good 'cause it kinda

kept me accountable.

Yeah

which sounds

so

dumb, but if ever you feel like, I need to do this

and I need to do this for a purpose,"

film yourself making the

content because then you've got content- Yeah ... out of

it. But I put my book on

in the background, and I just did what the salon needed to do. Because

when they

come in

tomorrow-

[: 00:15:13

[00:15:14] Samara: the salon is done. Yeah. All the towels

are done. Like that w- that

It'd gotten so much that every single cape

was in the

back room.

[: 00:15:21

[00:15:21] Samara: It's

like- Yeah ... but if, if everyone starts

again at 8:00 and we're booked

from 8:00, how

does anyone

get on

top of this-

Yes

without them feeling overwhelmed?

So thi- ''

[: 00:15:30

not

starting from the start line.

you're starting from behind

[: 00:15:33

it's things like that

of

how

can I be in

service to my team that's actually in service to my business? Yes. They don't owe me to do that. They owe me no more time than what they do already on the floor. And obviously if they had the time they'd to do it, they would do it.

But it's

like

how can I be

in service to my team so that when they

start, they

feel really good?

[: 00:15:53

I think that's

a really

big

thing to remember,

is that they're only required

to do

what

you

are paying them

to do.

[: 00:16:05

[00:16:05] Jen: That is the only requirement that they have.

[: 00:16:08

[00:16:09] Jen: So

at any point to expect more than that is unreasonable.

[: 00:16:14

I think it's

very different if

they're not booked.

If they've, it's-

Oh, yeah. No- ... if they're not booked- '

Cause

[: 00:16:17

[00:16:18] Samara: within

the time ...You

still reserve the- time- ... of what you're doing. what you are

paying

them for. Yeah.

But I

don't

expect them to do above and

beyond that, and they will at times. Like Indy stayed a couple of weeks ago and did it, and she was like, "Do not pay me for it."

And I was like, "You are absolutely off your head if you think that- Yeah ... I'm not going to say thank you for that in that capacity. I'm not gonna pay you for that extra hour that you stayed."

And it,

and

they

in turn are

in complete service

to my clients, and they also appreciate it. Yeah. So because they

can

see that I'm here in service to them, what do you need?

How can I support you? How can I love you? And my business has absolutely flew these last few weeks because- Yeah

there is that

different energy of me being like,

I

can

manage being in service to my family

and

being in service

to my team-

[: 00:17:04

[00:17:05] Samara: when both of those feel,

feel

right. Yeah. And

the energy

is just

as reciprocated.

Yeah. I have,

you

know, I can say that in my

life, right? Because I've had both

that didn't work. yeah.

yeah. And

I have this

incredible partner who's in complete service to my family, so I can be in complete

service

to my family,

and I have this wonderful team that

does the same.

[: 00:17:25

[00:17:25] Samara: So it's more so just, I think it,

the reason why we wanted to have this conversation was like sometimes we need

to recheck and say, "Where am I sitting right now in service to my family, in service to my team, in service to my friendships?"

[: 00:17:40

[00:17:40] Samara: Where am I

sitting? Because

I think so much of this culture has become

me,

self, my self-care, my self-love.

Yeah. My

how can I

protect me and my

energy? How can I look after

myself? I've gotta put myself first,

and we forget that that's not how we're not, we're meant to operate. How- Yeah ... you know? Like

I

know my

joy comes from when I can do things for other people.

[: 00:18:04

I would still

say that it is important to protect yourself.

[: 00:18:12

[00:18:13] Jen: And when we say this, it's not

implying that you should have no boundaries- Nope ... or you

should be a doormat.

Nope.

That it, it's quite different

things. Yeah. And I think we've gotta be careful not to take those things at face value-

[: 00:18:24

[00:18:24] Jen: because I, it's

so easy-

I think it's- ......to go to extremes,

right?

It's

[: 00:18:28

[00:18:29] Jen: right. It's so

easy to just- It's your-

not

[: 00:18:30

It's

yeah. It's your capacity.

[: 00:18:34

[00:18:34] Samara: you have to look at your own capacity, because

You can't do

things in service for others if you're going to be

a detriment to yourself.

[: 00:18:41

Exactly right.

[: 00:18:42

boundaries have to be in place. Yeah. Because if you don't have boundaries

in place, it's

like I've got

a

friend at

the moment who's going through a lot,

and

last

night I was

just like, "I just wanna go to bed." Like, I can't wait to go home, go to bed, and I ran into her and found out what she was going through, and I was like, she needs more than...

She needs support. She needs some food. Yeah. She needs me to help her.

My

capacity, I was low and

I

was tired,

but my

capacity was still

there to help.

[: 00:19:11

[00:19:11] Samara: Whereas I am aware that the rest

of the week it's not, 'cause I'm at work.

[: 00:19:15

[00:19:16] Samara: So

they're my boundaries

that are set. I'm not gonna pull

off work because

I have, because I need to be there.

But my capacity last night was to be there, because I

wouldn't have

settled anyway if I

knew that I couldn't give back to her. And

I then still made

sure I was in bed by 9:00 and asleep.

[: 00:19:30

[00:19:30] Samara: So I think the thing is, is

you have

to have,

you're gonna have to have your capacity set because your business can't falter before it, friendships or your

family- Yes ... those things

can't falter from it, so

you've gotta kinda

know where the

walls sit. I

[: 00:19:42

I decided to pull

the pin from going down to

AHFA's in mainland- Mm-hmm ... because

I

was

absolutely at capacity, and if

I had pushed the capacity to

fit that in,

then

my

family and my business and my friendships and myself would've actually suffered for that.

[: 00:20:04

sometimes you need that reality check- Yeah ... of

[: 00:20:07

[00:20:07] Speaker 5: like,

[: 00:20:07

like,

you have to have

that reality check of why am I doing this?

[: 00:20:15

[00:20:15] Samara: And I think that's a thing,

too, is like just listening and checking in with yourself-

Yeah ... at

those capacity

points when you're in service.

Why am I doing

this? Yep. What is it for?

What am I going

to achieve from it?

What... And not what am I g- it's what I'm gonna gain out of it in training perspectives. Yeah. When it comes to

friendships,

it's completely different because you put yourself out there a little bit more to help your people.

Yeah.

But what am I going to...

How can

I do this, you

know, is

this going to fulfill me or is it gonna

deplete me?

[: 00:20:46

[00:20:46] Samara: And

I think we think we've gotta do all of these things or show up for all these things or look at all these things, whereas

funny

enough,

you'll see me not at many events at all. Like, you generally

won't- No, I know.

I have-

see me at anything industry, and it's

because

my

capacity for it is

low. Yeah. And I used to love it. I used

to be at everything because I was probably, that was all my ego wanting to be at everything and wanting to be seen and wanting to show up-

[: 00:21:12

don't know that that was all ego.

[: 00:21:14

you were

[: 00:21:14

[00:21:15] Samara: excited- I love

[: 00:21:16

[00:21:18] Samara: Oh, I think

there was a bit of ego in that. There was a

[: 00:21:20

[00:21:20] Samara: There

was definitely a bit of ego.

But

I just don't...

I think

there was

a l- ego

on everything.

I think I've been stripped from my ego, to be honest. And I look back-

Really?

[: 00:21:29

[00:21:29] Samara: I look back five years ago I, you know, when we've had conversations with Sherelle, and, you know, I've been saying, like, "Get your ego out,

in check"-

I still think a lot of the

things I did

were in ego. And I probably- Really? ... would look back and still think, yeah, I just... And it's not, it's to prove it to myself, not to others. But

my,

That's good ...like,

you know, it was

like, I wanna... I don't know. I, I think ego plays a big part, and again, something that I've had to really reflect on and really check into and really hold myself accountable of like, why am I doing this?

[: 00:22:00

don't

ever wanna get to a point where I'm not challenging myself to do something else, though.

[: 00:22:04

[00:22:05] Jen: Do you

know what I mean? Like-

[: 00:22:06

but like, it's

like,

again, though, you have to check yourself at that point and go-

[: 00:22:09

sometimes I- ... what am I-"

I spill over my capacity- Yes ... with

that drive to

just do something else and just find- Yeah

something else, and just think it's like sometimes you just gotta stop-

[: 00:22:17

[00:22:23] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:22:24

But if I, again,

same thing,

so if you had have

gone to-

[: 00:22:36

[00:22:36] Samara: it's

that conversation

if you had have gone to mainland-

[: 00:22:38

[00:22:38] Samara: totally

would've

dropped glass balls ... you would've

[: 00:22:40

[00:22:40] Samara: For sure ... and

it

was just like sometimes

you need to have those

thought processes of like,

what is this, go- how is this

gonna fulfill me?

Or-

Yeah ... how is this

gonna deplete me?

[: 00:22:49

there were glass balls already that would've dropped, and then I'd made that call,

like

really late in the piece like, "No, I'm not gonna go."

And then my son was really injured.

Mm. And I would've been away- Mm ... for that, and

that, would've really, really messed, not just only with my capacity, but with

my values.

Mm.

So I think that it was a timely conversation, and I, I think

it's

really import- this is where we always say it's so important.

I knew

that I could have that conversation with

you, and you would

highlight my glass

balls for me and make

that decision for me.

Do you know what I... Not for me, Mm ...not tell me what to do, but just to be like, "Hey friend,

this

and this." It's like, "Yeah, thanks. Needed that." Mm. You know what I mean? Mm. But

then there's other things, like I'll work,

um,

I think

I'm working a seven-day week this week, but I'm really

excited by what

I'm doing this week. So

I'm, uh,

like, yes, that's gonna push to the edge of capacity, but

it's worth doing- because I'm

excited

by it. Mm. Do you know what

I

[: 00:23:46

If you're not, if

it's not

lighting you up,

and it's the same with how you're in service to your team.

[: 00:23:52

[00:23:53] Samara: Um, again, the other night I said I was depleted, but I was like, "I'm gonna do a few things." And then as I did it,

I felt more lit up, and I was like- "Okay, I can do this. Like, this is going to be complete, in complete service to my team.

This is gonna be great." And even today I walked in, I was like, "Oh, I love that everything's done, and this really helps me next week, and I feel really on

top of it." Yeah. But there'll be situations where that's not

gonna happen every week.

No.

[: 00:24:16

[00:24:16] Samara: I can't, you know, at some times I'm gonna have to be in service to my family because

on those nights

might

be footy.

[: 00:24:23

[00:24:23] Samara: and

might be, you know,

You

know, Alba's got youth on, and

the boys have got footy on, and Sadie's

got something on,

and I have to be in service to my family.

[: 00:24:32

[00:24:32] Samara: But

there will be other nights

where the salon has to, I have to be in service to it as well. Because

it's that

juggling and that balancing act, and I

think,

as you

said,

it's...

I think that we go through periods, if you feel like you're in sacrifice, so for example,

if you're sacrificing yourself constantly to your business-

[: 00:24:52

[00:24:54] Samara: it m- yeah,

it

means that your business will feel overwhelming. It will feel annoying. Yeah. It will feel

you don't wanna be there.

It will feel hard. It will

feel

like

you don't,

like

you're like, "Oh,

all I'm ever doing is

working." Yeah. And

I really wanted

to change that narrative of being like, okay, how do

I

love what I do? Yes. How do I love each day?

I

don't want to spend my life getting

through Tuesday to Friday so I can have Saturday and Sunday. Because sometimes

the more-

[: 00:25:24

down to

labeling as well, don't you

[: 00:25:26

Agreed.

[: 00:25:27

[00:25:27] Samara: Agreed.

But sometimes I'm like,

the weekend was more hard than what my work is at sometimes. Yeah. Because we have so much on, and I'm actually more exhausted by my weekends.

So how

can I be, how can I enjoy my Tuesday to

Friday in the salon? How can my salon bring me as much joy as what my weekends do?

[: 00:25:44

[00:25:45] Samara: and I think that having a look at whether you're in service or whether you're in sacrifice, and where you can actually clean up your boundaries. Yeah. Where you can actually clean up those, like, you know, where

have you gotta

take care of yourself in what capacity? But

I do think that

instead

of going,

"I'm

in complete

sacrifice to my business, at which point I have to put all the boundaries in, it has to be me, me, me, me, me, all I've got to look after is me.

It's like, okay, how can we flip the switch to being like, where is it actually,

where are you actually struggling

with this? 'Cause we're

having

that same

conversation with Trace,

you know, when you're saying- Yeah ... that reverse engineer.

So

if your team

is struggling,

say, with retail, you, it's like, where's the utopia in that?

Yeah. Like,

if you looked at your business

in six months' time

and your retail was, what is that perfect number for you?

and how do

you reverse engineer-

that backwards

so

that you

can actually not just go, "Okay, this week we just wanna get to $500 retail."

[: 00:26:46

It's- ...that's, it's that same thing again because it's, and we've said this, like, it's about service.

[: 00:26:51

[00:26:52] Jen: It's not about

pushing-

[: 00:26:55

[00:26:56] Jen: or convincing or- Yeah ... s- it's just, it's just about service.

[: 00:27:00

Like retail's never

been stronger, and some will say, "What do you do?" I'm like, "All three of us are just so focused on the service part.

How can we help? What do you need?" Yeah. And because I'm really strong in it, because I am showing the service,

all of my team

is. Laura is, Indy's incredible. Like, but

every- It's like, you

know,

everybody's lifted. Yeah.

Everybody's

doing- 100% ... everybody's in full service. It's like how can we take care of each other and how can we take care of our clients?

But I feel like it's also because I'm like, how can I take care of you guys?

[: 00:27:39

[00:27:39] Samara: What do you need from me? How do you... And one of the most beautiful questions my partner asks me constantly is like, "What do you, how can I take care of you? What do you need of me this week?"

[: 00:27:48

[00:27:49] Samara: And it's really easy for me then to give to him so much because he is, his first priority is me, and in this business, my first priority is them.

[: 00:27:58

[00:27:59] Samara: So that the clients are their first priority.

You know? And if it ha- happens

any other way from that, it doesn't work.

They are not in service to

me.

I am

in service to them. To

[: 00:28:08

I need

to quickly address, something that came up that we were discussing about, and I mean, we started this conversation saying that we've

genuinely feel like one of the foundations

of

any business is, finances.

Yes. You know? Yep. Like, it's the most important thing.

It's not the, it's one of the pillars that are- Yes ... the most important things. Obviously, there's other things that stand around it, but if you don't get that part of it, it makes it really

[: 00:28:33

is the

most important pillar of a small business.

[: 00:28:35

[00:28:35] Samara: Like- It is the most important. So- Anyone that wants to come with me, to

me with anything else, I will stand, that will be the hill I die on. Yeah. Finance is the most important part,

the

very pinnacle

you have to get right before everything else can flow from it.

[: 00:28:49

knowing-

[: 00:28:51

meaning you have to be

profitable.

No,

no. No, I'm not meaning... It just knows- It's

understanding-

understanding your

finances ... your finances. Everything else

flows from that.

[: 00:28:59

I

had an interesting conversation this week or last week or whenever it was, it all blurs into one now, about, um, with another business owner around these things and, you know, financial conversations with team members, et cetera.

And the, the thing that I really loved is that I had stepped out to go onto a call, and as I came back in, I overheard my team speaking to this person about the situation. Mm. And explaining

how

By guiding them to understand finances- Mm ... from a staff member perspective, it means that they have a completely different understanding and view- Mm

of how a business operates. Mm. And these are people who have worked, like some of my team have worked in multiple different places- Mm ... but have never understood those fundamental foundations of what was actually

opening the doors.

[: 00:29:53

[00:29:54] Jen: And

without

that, they didn't-

necessarily have an appreciation. Mm. You know, there's, there's, there's too much separate.

And it was an interesting conversation I had, you know, today. We've got the boys in the salon because

in New

South Wales it's a, um, public holiday today. In Queensland it's not.

[: 00:30:10

[00:30:11] Jen: So Richard's

[: 00:30:12

[00:30:12] Jen: Richard's little boys are in the salon with us today.

And I was having this conversation with someone who has always only worked as a team member, who has never owned a business, like, "Oh, it's so unfair."

And I was like, "Yeah,

no, it, but it would've been really crippling, like business-wise, to have so many..." Like,

that would've been over a month worth of, um, weeks." Because in Queensland we have another public holiday next week. Like, and she's like, "Oh,

I

guess I didn't think about it like that." Mm. It's like,

no, you don't. Mm. So I think that

not only

i- is the financial understanding and financial literacy really po- important from the leadership perspective, but it's actually something that does need to flow down to everyone. Mm-hmm.

Not the

responsibility, but an actual financial literacy understanding.

[: 00:30:55

That's the same thing, right?

Your...

you want your team to be performing- Yeah ... so

you have targets put in place. Do they know why-

Yeah, exactly ... they need to hit those targets? Do they

know or are they just

going, "Well, they expect me to hit this much money." '

[: 00:31:09

to- make-

Do they know- ... all this

money, to make all these things.

[: 00:31:12

[00:31:12] Jen: Like, yeah.

[: 00:31:12

they know why they

need to reach that?

Yeah. And

do they know how you're going to support

them when they hit over that? And

never for

me has... I was having this conversation with Jen and Rich this morning, never has for me, I'm like,

that targets document that we have-

Yeah ...

never has that been more valuable in my life.

Because

I have

gone, guys, from being a salon of 14 to being a salon of 12, 8, 7, 6, now 3,

and I

know

s-

inside

out

what I need. Yeah. And I'm not making decisions based on what my ego looks like from the outside. Yep. I'm making a decision what it makes profitability-wise for me, and right now I'm in the best place.

I do not, I am...

And I also

haven't made that... I've made that deci- decision

financially, but I've

also made that decision with

my team. Yes. I

haven't

just said, "This

is what I'm doing and you guys are gonna suffer for it," I've said,

"This is where the outcome looks like at the moment. What do

you guys think?" Yeah.

And they're like, "We are happy."

[: 00:32:12

your capacity

with, with

this?

[: 00:32:14

they're like, "No, we're good." Yeah. Because it

means

that they get to financially be more

abundant from it.

So they're happy

with what it is as

long as they are... And I am making sure that

Anytime that I, they can have an hour off, I just give them an hour off.

Yeah. If I

see the week and I'm

like,

they can finish by 4:00 or they can start at 8:00, or they can finish by 8:00- I take that hour at least

every fortnight.

Yeah.

I just put it in because I know there are days where

they're working over, so

I need to make sure, I need to make

sure at

those times

it's not feeling overwhelming for them- Yes

because

they know they have

this hour

here, there,

everywhere.

[: 00:32:52

we as leaders-

work to

recognize our capacity. Mm-hmm. And that is something that we need to instill- Mm-hmm ... in those who are in our service-

[: 00:33:02

[00:33:03] Jen: so that they have that skill and capacity as well.

[: 00:33:05

[00:33:06] Jen: You know what I mean?

[: 00:33:07

[00:33:09] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:33:10

is

where Jen and I's head is at the

moment.

[: 00:33:12

[00:33:13] Samara: Just

like,

just

full on,

Just reflecting on these pieces as our businesses evolve and change. Yeah. And, you know,

everything

feels like that at the moment. There feels like this big shift, you know. I've just gone through a huge season that's completely different.

Yeah. And I'm not stepping into the next season holding anything that I was. I'm gonna take all of the learnings,

but I'm also ready

to

really evolve differently based on, on what I want from life.

[: 00:33:42

[00:33:43] Samara: Um, and how I can support and love other people, how I can be in service and not in sacrifice.

[: 00:33:48

[00:33:49] Samara: And

really assessing

where that is.

[: 00:33:51

spot, for sure.

[: 00:33:55

[00:33:55] Jen: Yeah.

[: 00:33:56

I hope any of that lands or resignates 'cause... Resonates. Regs- eck.

Resonates. We don't

[: 00:34:04

[00:34:05] Samara: Yeah.

Resonates. Resonates.

Um, because there were just some

big aha moments. Yeah. And I think

when you

listen to things

like this,

it

generally

doesn't happen straightaway.

Like, Jen and I have had these conversations progressively over the last few weeks. Yeah. And then

all of a sudden something

will happen. I'll witness something, and I'll be like, "Oh, they're in sacrifice, not in service." Yeah. And as Jen's, like, landed s- put stuff in my head, then it landed for me, and then same vice versa, as you and I have had l- little conversations.

And then I'm like, "Oh,

yeah." And you know,

just again, those really rich conver- like, relationships like you and I have- Yeah ... are so important because it's just those little, you know, little pieces of information every now that something will land for you that you're like, "Oh, I

didn't realize

how much I needed that."

[: 00:34:49

[00:34:50] Samara: Um, and I didn't realize how much I need to actually- Just look at those different things, but it's the same with the labeling that, you know, it's-- I feel like more of that's gonna land in for me over the

next week.

[: 00:35:01

uh, and again, with business and just

like

I thought back through the many years that we have had, and it's so easy to label team members- Mm-hmm

as

the person that is

this or the person that is that.

[: 00:35:15

[00:35:15] Jen: And then how do they ever strive to be anything other than that-

Mm

if that's what we've

labeled them? Mm. You know? Like I've really, really thought about that-

[: 00:35:21

[00:35:22] Jen: a lot recently. So-

[: 00:35:23

and too much, and I'm done, I think I'm over it, and it's... And then all of a sudden you go this, through this new evolution and things feel different that you almost need to like take that

label off,

put

that new label on, so

that you look at it

through a different lens.

[: 00:35:47

[00:35:48] Samara: Um, and I

think those

things are really dropping at the moment too, in, in many different

aspects.

[: 00:35:53

[00:35:53] Samara: Yeah.

[: 00:35:54

that's-- I feel like that's where we're gonna wrap up for today. Yep. , Again, guys, just another little

chat, chat with the crew today.

Just the two of us, but we will have more guests coming back again soon. And yeah, thank you so much for listening. We really hope that you get something out of these chats, 'cause I feel like we've got a new drive and purpose coming into all areas, including the pod. Yes.

[: 00:36:19

[00:36:20] Jen: Talk soon, guys.