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

Alright, Kelly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

For me, growing has been about keeping an open honest relationship with anyone who comes into my salon space. When you promote conversation in keeps things easily understood. When running a business, understanding you need boundaries and keeping policies affective, can get scary. I whole heartedly think I have made the connects I have because of my honesty with everyone. If a client comes in and wants something but I do not believe it is in their best interest then I express that. When I have open vulnerable conversations with clients, it not only shows them I care about them but I am not afraid to be honest with my opinion. This is return builds trust and the is everything in the beauty industry.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was originally from the medical field. I endured a permanent back injury and had to transition into a desk type lifestyle. After about 3 years I was bored out of my mind. I decided to take a lash course to give myself something to do with friends on the weekends. It exploded. When I took time to educate myself and perfect the craft the business made itself. I have taken time to truly understand the needs of my community when it comes to beauty enhancements. I take pride in being able to provide natural lash enhancements along side of impeccable waxing services. The relationships I have build has truly taken my business exactly where it is. My girls keep my a float and I love each and every one of them for trusting me with their beauty.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When it comes to social media the key is consistency. Instagram for example has been a huge outlet for not only growing my business in my community but showing my personality to others across the world. The algorithm is getting to know you each and every day. It is analyzing your posts, what you gain traction on, who’s stuff you like, what pages you prefer to follow and so much more. So when you feel like not posting, make a way. The internet is constantly learning you, if you give up you will in a sense have to start over. When the views start to come and the followers begin to grow, keep going. Find the motivation in what others what to see in order to carry your content. Let the internet work for you. Let the exposure tell you what people want to see from you. Find your color scheme, make your posts stand out. For instance, when my people see something green they instantly think of me. My whole business is built off the color green, in my salon and online. Even in my everyday personal life, green is my go to color. That was the reasoning in choosing it for my business because it comes natural for me. You can’t force success, find what comes easy to you and let it flourish.

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

I do have additional income aside from the lash & wax studio. I offer custom t-shirt designs for other lash artist and business owners at shopkellymade.com — I slowly started to build my coaching platform to help others gain a hold of what they want their brand to look like and share how they can grow on social media. I too will be launching an ebook to help other start up businesses like myself get over the hurdles easier with my knowledge and expertise.

Contact Info:

• Website: shopkellymade.com
• Instagram: kellymade.mb
• Other: business card: poplme.co/kellymade

Image Credits
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