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

Liza, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

As an entrepreneur I think we are already more comfortable with risks than what the average person is. Starting a business at all is a risk. However I think sometimes we loose the gusto. We get so caught up in seeking guidance, asking opinions that we loose that little thing inside us that says “just go for it!”. But to me, that little voice is where our magic is. Don’t get me wrong, having mentors and wise counsel is great. However, at the end of the day, our gut is the most important guide we can have, in my opinion. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense, but in my experience the times I listen to it, is when things turn out the best. For example, I had owned my salon for about 6 years. My passion has always been around owning a business, not the art of doing hair, I couldnt wait to lean more into it. I really felt called to stop doing hair all together. I met with some mentors of mine, shared my salon financials and he told me that my business just wasn’t ready yet. Now this is a very successful business owner whom I have the utmost respect for. He was trying to help me through his experience and his mistakes. I tried to listen, I really did, but I just couldn’t shake this feeling that it wasnt the right thing for me. Deep down I knew it was time. So despite being told by, not just him, but other people I respected that it wasn’t time. I decided to listen to my own intuition. My business grew by 43% percent that next year. By listening to my gut, focusing on my passion, I was able to see clearly all the other decisions that were needed to be made and support my team in a whole new capacity. I empowered my team and helped them grow and reach their goals, which in turn created massive growth within my business.

Liza, 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?

I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. As a child I would have lemonade stands, sell homemade jewelry, one time I even collected frogs and tried to sell them as pets. (That one didn’t go so well). In junior high I began to struggle. At 14 I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I struggled in school to be an average student. As i began high school it became clear the college route wasn’t going to be for me. However I still held this dream of being a business owner so I began contemplating what that could look like. I began researching dual enrollment programs in the field of cosmetology. Every school I went to had me feeling more and more defeated, nothing felt quite right. Then I went to an Aveda Institute and it was incredible! It was everything I wanted, great education while learning in a fast paced, high end salon atmosphere. There was one problem. It was an accredited college. So with the support of my parents I “dropped out” of my freshman year and began ferociously studying for my G.E.D. and passed! I started at the Aveda institute shortly after my 16th birthday.

I enjoyed doing hair but what I truly fell in love with was the ability to make someones day. The relationship a woman has with her hairstylist is truly special. I have been there through marriages and divorces, pregnancies and loses, celebrations and failures. I have seen people come into the salon sad, angry, depressed and leave with a smile on their face. Women with low self esteem look in the mirror and cry because they feel beautiful. It is a truly remarkable career.

After being a stylist for 10 years I made the great leap into entrepreneurship opening a salon. I believe the number one priority as a stylist is to love and care for their guests. As a salon owner I decided to revamp my definition of my guests. Instead of my guests being the people walking through the door for a service, I decided my guests would now be the stylist walking through the door to work. While yes, life is short, it is also too long to go to job you hate everyday. I set out to create an environment where my team feels genuinely loved and cared for. I believed that by doing that the stylist would then, in turn, make their guests feel the same. This belief is one I still hold dearly after 9 years in business and it has served me, my team and our salon guests well.

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

I am a huge believer in self development and I am fascinated with human behavior. If you are like me you are likely familiar with different assessments such as DISC and the enneagram. I am a high D, enneagram 8. I am direct, all-in, fast passed. I make decisions quickly and move on. I have done a lot of self growth to ensure I am not overly aggressive or short with people.

As a new business owner, things were tough. I was desperate for employees to help my business grow. In an effort to make that happen I began letting things slide. I wanted stylists so badly that I began to let go of some of the standards I knew I wanted. I made hires I knew I shouldn’t make, I waited too long to fire. I didn’t share constructive criticism out of fear that my direct approach would hurt someones feelings. I began questioning myself. I trusted other people more than my own intuition. Then one day I woke up and didn’t like where things were. It was no longer fun. I had let the pendulum swing too far. I quickly recalibrated and got to work setting things back on track. It took time and it got messy. Some people quit when they realized things were changing, some people got fired because they couldn’t raise the bar. It was uncomfortable.

Everyone needs self development, but you can not lose yourself. We are all created with unique set of gifts. They are intentional, by design. No one else has your perspective, no one else can do things just the way you can. That is your superpower. We are not meant to be all things to all people. There will be people who don’t want to work with me. There are people I don’t want on my team. Guess what- thats okay! As long as I stay true to who I am and my mission I will attract the right people. That’s what’s most important.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Managing a team and maintaining high morale comes down to one thing. Trust. I am continually working on cultivating trust with my team. Here’s how you actively build trust:
-Do what you say you’re going to do
-Admit when you are wrong. Don’t try to hide it, own it.
-Be quick to give credit to your team.
-Be as transparent as possible. Don’t hide your struggles, share them when appropriate.
-Remain positive.
-Don’t gossip.
-Hire and fire as necessary.
-Take the time to explain decisions that people don’t like or agree with.
-Let people be safe to question or disagree with you. Don’t shame or shut down someone’s vulnerability.
-Give constructive criticism, people need to know what is going to help them rise to the next level.
-Remember, you don’t know what you don’t know, create space for your team to share their thoughts, ideas and concerns. Then take their suggestions when possible.
-Don’t ask someone to do something that you won’t do.
-You are the standard for everything so keep the bar high.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lghowardsalon.com
• Instagram: @_liza_carden
• Other: @lghowardsalon – Salon IG

Image Credits

first photo of just me- Shyla Murphy