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

Leisha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

Although I believe this can look so different from person to person because we all define “success” differently so I think it’s first important to look at what success means to you personally and create goals and benchmarks that align with that path. As for me, I think success is a lot about finding harmony within my life, my business, and my relationships, to allow these things to flow in and out in a way that allows me flexibility, peace, creativity, and joy. More specifically in terms of being an entrepreneur, it takes a lot of thinking outside of the box. If you did what everyone else did, then you wouldn’t really have your own vision or purpose and that always show through but rather it’s about being able to find inspiration and craft a different way of doing something. It often times means putting yourself out there and taking risks that may not go as expected, I have done this very thing with my own business because it didn’t yet exist in my industry. So I thought, why don’t I just create it? Which is really a loaded question and honestly, is a bold thing to do because starting something from the ground up is no easy feat at all and requires you to be adaptable in so many ways. But I had a very clear “why” and “purpose” for what I was doing and I started to receive creative drop-ins for how I could transform this idea into an entire business that I could build a legacy from. So I created “The Traveling Hair Stylists” to travel within the country and provide temporary coverage to stylists going on a temporary medical or maternity leave. It is hard though and I have been meant with people telling me no, debt, and uncertainty through these growing stages which is why in order to be successful in business, you also have to adapt and have a lot of faith through the process because there will be moments of doubt that sneak up on you. Once you get that one breakthrough though, it’s really such a rush and you start to see the pieces align which is why I’m circling back to my response in the beginning about harmony. There will be times that you might have to give a little more in one area of your life as long as you at some point pour back into the other areas, then that’s when you have found the true power of success by seamlessly growing a business and taking care of yourself and the people around you.

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 am Leisha and the founder of The Traveling Hair Stylists, this is a service where we travel directly to you and provide temporary coverage for your clients, space, and rent, while the stylists is out on medical, maternity, or temporary leave. What we do is extremely unique because we are the first in the beauty industry to provide services in regards to temporary leaves. The beauty industry is made up of quite a but of self-employed stylists and having insurance or benefits as a self-employed individual is so difficult because when you are out of the salon, you still have expenses to pay that are not typically covered. Currently in the states, we only have 11 out of 50 states that will provide any kind of compensation help to self-employed individuals. Along with this, we are a service based industry with a clientele, so when a stylist is out, their clients have to go somewhere which can result in retention issues. What we do aims to solve all of these problems because we work closely with the stylist to be as much of an extension of them as possible and care directly for their clients in their space which allows for the most seamless transition because their clients are already comfortable since they don’t have to change anything and this maximizes client retention for the stylists. We also act as a “Sub-leaser” so we cover 100% of their re-stocking of products and rent which is huge for a stylist during this time. I am extremely proud to be pioneering a team to provide these services because our industry deserves a reliable resource and stylists deserve time to heal through a surgery or take a proper maternity leave to care for a little one without worry of losing clients and money. I am also proud to have a position that has allowed me the flexibility to travel all over the country and meet some really amazing people in this industry that I respect and love so much!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Be where your clients are! Networking and building connections in the right places is in my opinion the best and quickest way to build an audience and find clients. I am in the beauty industry and have been in it for 14 years so I know where stylists are seeking education, where they hang out in the digital space, and how to speak to their needs. I put myself in industry FB groups and engage, I am not only consistently posting on my social channels but being social on those channels by reaching out to followers and engaging in posts. I also am always surrounding myself with stylist groups and educators to continue to expand my circle, I reach out to be apart of podcasts to spread the message of what I’m doing and building trust. It’s really about putting yourself out there and authentically connecting with people.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

So many, I love to read and listen to podcasts! Ones that come to mind for me are “Building a Story Brand” and “Marketing Made Simple” both by Donald Miller, these books are essential for getting clear on your messaging and how to craft that to market to the right audience. I also really enjoy “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin, this book is so good if you feel like you have been coasting a bit or lacking inspiration. I also recommend anything book or podcasts related to Mel Robbins, her content is so helpful for mindset and self growth and I find so many of her tips are helpful if you are working with people, growing a team, or just even wanting to be a better leader. Lastly, I enjoy listening to a lot of content by Gary Vee, he always has a very relevant way of looking at marketing and is always on the pulse of social media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thetravelinghairstylists.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetraveling.hairstylists/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559308833934

Image Credits

@chasingfather
@taylorforrestphoto