Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christine Braneli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Christine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

As a licensed chiropractor and fitness instructor serving women in the gym and my. private practice, I kept feeling the nudge to open a new business. I love chiropractic and helping others be more healthy, but it was an itch that wouldn’t go away. I wanted it to be something different from health&fitness where it could feel more fun and light-hearted. (healthcare can feel burdensome as a provider when you’re helping people out of pain)

In 2014 it came to me. After creating a successful weight loss coaching program inside of my private practice, my patients were still “feeling frumpy” after losing 20-30 pounds and asked me for advice on how to wear their hair, how to apply makeup, and how to dress to show off their new figure. Being a chiro who loved all things beauty and fashion, it was fun for me to help with the makeup and styling, but I realized there wasn’t a place for women to go in my Seattle suburb for a woman to get some zhuzh. That’s when my beauty salon was born.

I took a risk and and opened a blowdry bar that was no cut/color but offered hairstyling, makeup and eyelash services. Everything from the neck up to help a women feel confident and beautiful. As the visionary, I hired the talent to do the beauty work and ran the business end of things. i had zero experience in the beauty industry except being a consumer and this both helped and hurt me.

I had a vision to create a space for women that would be elevated, luxurious, yet attainable so all women could get a taste of what it’s like to feel better in their own skin.

Bella Blowdry & Beauty Bar opened in May 2015 on the day of my son’s high school prom. He proudly promoted prom hair and makeup to his classmates and we were off and running. Bella became a brand name as THE place to go for wedding hair and makeup, weekly blowouts and all things beauty if you were in the north Seattle suburbs.

Bella became my home. I fell in love with the beauty industry and found myself wanting to be there more than my private practice. I didn’t have to wait for an insurance company to pay for services and clients were happy. I loved seeing someone walk in the door a little slumped and leave, walking tall and taking a selfie in the parking lot. I found my groove building my team, casting vision for how we would serve the community and making sure we delivered 5 star service.

I worked every wedding I could, making sure everything went smoothly. I met dozens of photographers who came to take “getting ready” photos for the brides and bridesmaids. I learned a TON and attended trainings and beauty trade shows to learn more. It was the work I felt I was meant to do.

Then 2020 came and we had 19 weddings cancel for that year alone.

When we were finally allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, I could only have one employee working because of how my state determined what 25% meant. The beauty industry shifted after 2020 in a big way. Many stylists who used to be employees in salons decided they wanted to be self-employed. Hiring became a huge challenge, and because I wasn’t licensed to do any of the services myself, I was struggling.

I had to dip into my retirement investments to keep my doors open from 2021-22 and made the gut-wrenching decision to sell the salon. It was where I wanted to be working into my retirement but it didn’t pencil out.

The lessons learned were not lost. I took them with me into a brand-new online business after I sold,

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a chiropractor and former beauty salon owner, turned certified image consultant and visibility coach…helping women in business shine from the inside-out so they show up beautifully on camera, on stage, and online.

I’ve been a business owner and in health and fitness for over 30 years and have over 16k hours of helping women look fabulous in my former beauty salon. During the pandemic, I made the difficult decision to sell my salon and shifted to working online.

I was brand new to online work and decided to combine my expertise to serve women at the intersection of health, business and beauty.

As a coach and consultant, I help female entrepreneurs and licensed professionals (doctors, therapists, real estate agents,etc….) who are in the over 40 club feel confident on camera and look fabulous doing it.

If they are the face of their business or brand, being on camera is a must in today’s digital age but so many in this age bracket resist it.

If they want to speak on the Ted stage, they’ll be on camera. If they want to land a TV spot as an expert in their field, they need to feel confident on camera. And of course, if they want a YouTube channel or to be on social media, it’s all about being on camera.

Women over 40 didn’t grow up with a phone in their hands and most of my clients feel awkward being seen online. Some of them don’t even have profile photos on LinkedIn when I meet them because they don’t like how they look in photos.

This is where I come in.

I teach how to engage with the camera so it feels more natural. I style them in a way that’s authentic to who they are and is also in alignment with the message of their business and brand. I do it in a way that makes them feel confident and captivating so they’re not concerned about how they look and can focus on being visible and serving their audience.

I was not always confident on camera so it’s easy for me to relate to them but I also watched women in my former salon act awkward when a photographer was taking their picture or when we took pictures for our social media. No matter how beautiful they looked, they didn’t know how to engage the lens when it was pointed their way. I listened and learned from the photographers and ended up coaching them alongside, so they would look as natural and radiant in the picture as they did in real life.

I want women over 40 to know that unless they have a background in modeling or acting, it’s normal to feel awkward in photos and videos but it can also become natural.

I’ve created a method that helps any woman look and feel great on camera.

One of my very first clients has gone on to build a 6 figure online business since working with me. Some have finally recorded their first social media videos and digital courses others sought me out to help style them for brand photoshoots.

Seeing my clients getting out there on camera to serve others is what I’m most proud of because the ripple effect of my work helps others in countless ways; people in the world are getting healthier, wealthier and happier because my clients are finally more confident being visible.

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

My size doesn’t determine my worth. This lesson was a doozy.

One of the major reasons that I didn’t feel confident in photos and videos was that I didn’t like how I looked. I nit-picked every detail of myself from a hair out of place to a ripple in a blouse that might make me look bigger to how my waist looked. All of it.

Then my daughter was diagnosed with anorexia…moderate to severe, where her liver and kidney labs were looking grim. During the treatment process for her, I met with her counselor and nutritionist privately to learn how to support her in her healing journey and came face to face with my own beliefs and body dysmorphia.

Prior to her anorexia, I took myself from a healthy size 6 to size zero, believing that I’d be a better role model for health in my private practice and also that I’d feel more confident in my body….but I didn’t.

It was in meetings with my daughter’s healthcare team that I began the process of unlearning that my size determined my worth. That doesn’t happen overnight and learning how to think and speak kindly to yourself is HARD if you’ve been your worst life-long critic.

This lesson is deeply woven into my work today. I want women to know they don’t have to lose weight before a brand photoshoot and their message is needed now. They’re allowed to want to lose weight, but do it for health reasons, not vanity. If it’s for vanity and you don’t love yourself now, you won’t love yourself when you’re smaller.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My underlying mission is to be a living example of what’s possible for my kids. They are both in their 20s and I’m deeply proud of their accomplishments but they haven’t lived long enough to experience all of life’s curveballs. When life changes (as it does), I want them to know they’re never too old and it’s never too late to shift, reinvent themselves and make an impact on the world. Ultimately, my goal is to leave people better than I found them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://christinebraneli.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinebraneli/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinebraneli
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinebraneli/