We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Betty McCain a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Betty, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

It’s real funny story how I got to open up Blade & Arrow hair salon. Let me start by saying I had already had up another Salon business and it has been thriving but something inside told me I would love to have a second hair salon business and change the messaging to be luxury sustainable eco-friendly and a low toxic nontoxic salon space. I had pitched this idea of opening another salon with one of my stylist, because during Covid, we were closed for so long we would take hikes to pass the days and weeks by and we would talk about what would be like. She definitely wasn’t ready and neither were we because it was such uncertain times.. but years went on and my other business was doing very well after all of that shut down and this epiphany happened, where I re-pitched the idea of opening up another Salon to the same stylist Friend. This time I had intent, regardless if she was on board or not, but I knew it would be too big of a task to take on a second business like this by myself.. my idea was to open up a clean business where we could fill safe to work in nontoxic, low, toxic and using sustainable business practices, including the products that we used. I had learned a brand new method of doing business and I wanted to try it on a brand new business not just changed over my other existing business..
I wanted something more luxurious as an upscale in an area with a little bit more traffic so that I could have a new environment myself. It was amazing that she was on board this time around and gained the confidence to want to take on this type of ownership manager role.. I fortunately had had experience opening two other businesses so by the time I got to this place in my life with the experience, I knew exactly the steps it took to execute this idea into practice.
We had no idea how quickly we would find our dreams, Space, and within months we were opening our doors.. financially I knew exactly where to spend money and where to hold out in the very beginning of opening another business. I was so lucky I had that experience and I learned many lessons along the way. we found a space within two months of me pitching this idea to her and we thought it could take one or two years to find the right space so we didn’t have the mentality that it was happening tomorrow but low and beholds this opportunity came, and we jumped on it I pitched the idea in February and here in June we were already opening up our doors. It was a whole lot of work and took every second of our time but now I reflect back it was 100% worth it. Understanding that ideas can become reality it’s just a matter of putting in the time and doing the steps and having the money at the right time as well.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been doing hair since I was 18 years old. I wasn’t born into a family of wealth and knew that I needed a career to get me through life and something very creative. I spent the first seven years of my career working for various people until I landed in a situation that really taught me how to work efficiently in this Salon business and life. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to be a business owner and I had the leadership qualities that I thought I could handle this type of job and and the responsibilities that came with it. Life is always giving you signals when the timing is right and I had an opportunity that I took in the back of my mind. All I said was it’s kind of like just taking a big risk and what’s the worst thing that can happen, and I knew that I could handle the worst of it, which meant I was ready. Of course, opening up a business when you’re 27 years old, you have a lot to learn and it wasn’t as profitable the first few years until I put in a little bit more work on myself and my management skills to be an even better leader. After nine years, I moved my business to a much bigger space and that was when I was ready to take on a real business that would be then producing more profit, but then also managing many more people. I was definitely ready..
That was my beginning journey and it served me well. I got to a moment in my life where other things were happening and I realized I was ready for even more than just having one business but then having to and I wanted a business that I could feel good about working in What the messaging was about health sustainability and choosing chemical products that were better for our health Blade & Arrow hair salon is the outcome of those thoughts when I pitch this idea to my now business partner, she was apprehensive at first., but I knew deep down. She would be the best business partner, and that I knew I didn’t want to do this completely alone for many different reasons, but I love the idea of doing this with somebody who had had a business in the past and knew what it took and was ready for that next jump in their life. I can honestly say we’ve had such a good partnership that this business is thriving and we are only two years in. The fact that we created a vision that we stuck with and were able to easily share ideas and execute without issues because we used really good communication and neither one of us are afraid to speak our feelings if we don’t like something in a good partnership is difficult in business sometimes again having a clear business outline is key having a clear vision of what you want to execute and putting the money out there to understand what you can afford. Again, coming from a background, where money was not an abundance for either one of us we knew executing this business. What was important to us and what our end goal was.. We’ve learned how to do the marketing create a vision and share this with our customers and it has gone so well.!
I knew I made the right choice in moving into this next direction of life. Business ownership 2.0.!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Some of the bigger lessons I’ve had to learn as a manager owner boss babe, your reactivity to everything that you are faced with is a direct link to the reaction. I have learned to listen feel the feelings inside, give myself time and space to then respond to others..instead of making impulsive regrettable moments as an owner/communicator. I’ve learned that take the time to make an honest feeling, or thought in those moments that my reactivity does not results in something that I regret or more reactivity, our body has signals and as an owner, sometimes our feelings can get in the way of what we would really want to say in the moment, so give yourself a moment to think before reacting too quickly. I have what I consider my non-negotiables, which are just something like the basic rules that everybody knows something like being late is not acceptable.. creating clear boundaries have the set in stone so that people who come into your space as an owner understand that they can’t take advantage of you or that the rules aren’t always changing. Communication is everything and clean and clear communication without the reactivity gives for better management. I also set the bar very low for my expectations for people as a elevated position. I assume nobody is going to live up to my expectation. Therefore, my expectations are much less. This mental way of doing work has only helped me not be as reactive to those who don’t live up to my expectations within my business.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the lessons I have had to unlearn is that change is inevitable. You have to be willing to pivot when the time is right.. this means you have to constantly be doing research within your field of expertise. Understand when technology is doing you a favor in your business and letting go of old habits or ways of doing business that are just too comfortable for you but are actually not serving you financially or helping you see higher profits.
You could have been doing something for 100 years and it may be working, but is it working in a way that would be serving the younger generation coming into the workforce? Or is it serving the potential of new clients in business that you haven’t seen yet? Understanding that we are always evolving as humans which means our businesses need to evolve with us and understanding that change can make us feel reactive, but sometimes very necessary for growth..

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bladearrow.com
• Instagram: Blade__Arrow