We were lucky to catch up with Colleen Meheen recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Colleen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you identified some of your key partners/vendors and how you made those relationships work?
Having owned a few businesses over my 40 years of life, I believe what provided me the greatest benefit and most consistent growth, were the partnership and collaborators that I connected with in the industry niche I was passionate about developing. Finding these key connections is an art in and of itself, but what I found most amazing, was that when I was most authentic, and the most clear on what I was wanting to achieve, I managed to connect to those like minded professionals that could support me in equal measure to me supporting them. This is a crucial point….that both parties get equal value, equal benefit. When this value share is a 50/50 split, and every one wins in the equation, you will quickly realize how fast and efficient your businesses can grow.
Step one is to best define, as crystal clear as possible, the art of defining your goal as a business. If this is wishy-washy or unclear, you cannot find the right avenues to express your intent, and cannot connect to the other professionals in that specified arena of influence. Second, get after it. Just start creating your magic at the highest level, getting it out there, getting images, video, portfolios, reviews, Ideas are amazing, but can’t move until actualized in a tangible way. As a stylist, I kept imagining ideas of beautiful concepts I wanted to create with others. I developed palettes, inspiration boards, purchased products and materials to support the idea, even without any potential collaborators or clients. I did this because its what I love, and what I know is my clearly defined gift as a human being.
As I definitively finalized the emotional story, the colors, styles, shapes, accessories, I was connected to a large venue account looking to promote a smaller venue in their resort. Now, I was prepared for this, as I was clear on my goals and taking action, so I could immediately supply my content and quote immediately for review. Long story short, I made a great relationship and had an amazing experience building this image story with a large brand that has become a collaborator over time!
Be prepared, be honest with what you can produce, surround yourself with ideas, industry knowledge and options to stay masterful in your field, and before you know it, you will have your team of collaborators and referrals at the ready.
Colleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
First and foremost….I am an artist, a creative. As a young child, all I ever cared to do was color, sculpt, design and imagine. As time moved forward, I would always find myself painting murals for friends, styling interiors for myself and others, crafting projects to add beauty anywhere that I could. I could lose myself in fields of flowers and nature landscapes for hours, forgetting the idea of time altogether. This is what guided me into an industry that could facilitate all the things I love, and bring them together in a symphony of stories and emotions. Weddings and events are an ideal platform for romantics like me. I simply love beautiful things, and these industries provide ample room for curating spectacular sensory vividness to express a wide spectrum of styles and personalities.
My greatest talent in this specific niche, is that I am exceptional sensitive to the emotional cadence that each sensory detail triggers. What this means is that I can actually feel color, feel fragrances, feel visual ques that can highlight a very specific emotional expression. Even more specifically, any client or brand that is wanting to communicate their story, with the goal of provoking a very intentional emotional response, can know that I will translate their emotional touch points very accurately into images, colors, textures, fragrance, movement and dimensional depth.
Why this means so much to me personally, and to the clients I collaborate with, is that they “feel” known. In an industry based on the premise of love, celebration, joy & whimsy, to feel seen, heard, known and understood by vendors that are assisting in communicating their story is paramount. This is where I take the most pride, when I know that my clients love what I have designed in response to their inquiry and our various interactions! To experience a client truly mesmerized in seeing their dreams, to see themselves come to life through other creative dimensions of design, is truly a sacred and magical thing.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
In this moment of time, after some creative international experiences that demanded a truly authentic re-connection with life and purpose, I believe a talent in pivoting throughout all aspects of a persons life, is a skill that will yield tremendously for those that can master it. I have a feeling that the creative personality might be able to undertake this theme with a bit more ease than the more structured and logically minded personalities, but all of us can learn how to redefine our goal, utilize whats present to be of value in reconstructing ideas, and pivot in a dynamic way, as to actually benefit in even greater ways than if the transition was not required.
I opened a luxury day spa in my early 20’s. Having no background in business, just simply in love with the idea of helping others relax, restore their minds and bodies, and be surrounded by beautiful products…..I dove in head first. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as sometimes ignorance can assist in moving forward without being stuck in the mud of overthinking and over analyzing every possible outcome. I started the business doing everything, as many small business owners do. This was initially very important, as I needed to know the foundational structures of the entire brand in order to grow and manage, delegate and improve over time. The spa was located in a very popular, very expensive region of Colorado, the heart of the Rockies surrounded by 6 of the worlds leading ski resorts. This is a major advantage as to the foot traffic and exposure, yet an extreme challenge in infrastructure costs and sustaining quality employees.
Over 5 years, I developed an amazing culture of women that worked alongside me in developing the brand….but as the 5 year lease renewal came to bear, the prices had sky-rocketed. I weeded through my financials repeatedly, looking for ways to honor my clients with balanced pricing, as well as pay my employees a livable wage. I could not find a way to stay profitable.
A pivot point arrived and I had a choice. Do I close up shop, and get a job working for someone else? How do I sustain the momentum of what I had created, without adopting a lease that would tie me into a budget crisis? After a long meditation with myself and discussions with trusted friends and family, I quickly came to realize the highest yield income streams were the wedding groups coming in for hair and makeup, nails, girl time, etc. These were also the elements in the spa atmosphere that I enjoyed the most. I realized that I could freelance my talents in styling and makeup artistry, create a kit to travel with and meet groups at their hotels or rentals and bring the beauty to them!
This changed everything, as I no longer had overhead, yet was bringing in consistent income as a mobile spa, mobile beauty service provider. As I built relationships, reputation for my talent, a portfolio to put online and on social media, I knew that pivot point had yielded such a positive new reality, better than I could have ever imagined. I now can choose my schedule, take as much time off as I desire, be very selective of the clients I work with, and charge for the value that I know I can create!
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Funding and capital are always some of the biggest decisions of business ownership, and can be one of the largest stressors for business owners. As my husband and I were looking at options for me in launching the spa, and in time my wedding and event brands, we knew that large amounts of debt were not our best option in relation to the other aspects of our lives, and our well-being. We both have made every effort to live debt free, so with this goal in mind, I wanted to procure monies that could somehow keep me from owing large interest to another.
We spoke with our bank, and they had mentioned a HELOC loan or a “Home Equity Line of Credit”, which was money borrowed against our homes equity. What was so attractive about this option, was that it allowed me to borrow what I needed, when I needed it, with multiple draw options for convenience. You can draw from a home equity line of credit and repay all or some of it monthly, somewhat like a credit card. Most HELOC’s have adjustable interest rates. This means that as baseline interest rates go up or down, the interest rate on your HELOC will adjust, too. This kept my draws relative to what I needed, as I needed it, and I could pay it down as soon as I was bringing in income.
This funding source gave me complete control over my investments in the business, and was easy to pay off over time as my business grew. I feel this was the only way I would have gone, as large lump sum loans and massive interest rates can quickly become impossible to manage with new business fluctuations. This option is not available to everyone, if they don’t own a home, but if it is an option, I would highly recommend it as a funding source for new businesses or growth of a stable business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.gypsypoetry.com
- Instagram: @puregypsypoetry @summit.petal.poetry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colleen.meheen
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenmeheen/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleenmeheen
Image Credits
Love Pris Photography