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

Michelle, appreciate you joining us today. Growth is exciting, but from what we’ve seen across thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs it’s also dangerous if costs aren’t watched closely – sometimes costs can grow out of control outpacing revenue growth and putting the viability of the entire business at risk. How have you managed to keep costs under control?

To date, I still use some of the free resources I took advantage of when I was first starting out as an eyelash technician. It’s important to keep costs down while trying to scale your business. Using free advertising sites and social media platforms are great ways to promote your eyelash biz.

Expensive websites and fancy business cards are not necessary at all, in my opinion, but if you choose this path you should wait until you start to see a return on your initial investment. Word of mouth is the best referral system you could have and it’s free, so when starting out, price your services slightly under your more experienced competition. This will attract new clients for you and start some word-of-mouth buzz about you and your business.

Lastly, install free lash-sets for your family and friends – they will surely appreciate it and they will be walking billboards, advertising you and your business.

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.

My name is Michelle Greene and I am an entrepreneur at heart. I got into the beauty business as an eyelash artist back in 2010. A friend of mine was doing lashes in Montreal and I asked her to teach me the craft. In 2010 I got certified as a professional eyelash technician and started my own lash company. Since then, I have trained and certified dozens of new lash techs, got a degree in psychology, launched my life coaching practice and I wrote a book about my life and overcoming the grief of losing the love of my life to Covid 19.

What sets me apart from others in my industry is experience and longevity. I have watched the eyelash industry grow and change over the past 11 years and I make a point to be up to date with all things eyelashes.

I want potential clients/followers/fans to know that I am exceptional at what I do and I will transform your look with a set of my luxury lash extensions.

Shelly Lash Artist

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Right before the recent global pandemic, I was working on getting my psychology degree, part-time online. At this time I was working from home as a self-employed eyelash artist. Because of the global lock-down, I, like most in the beauty business, had to shut my business down indefinitely.

I had a brand new psychology degree and decided to make a huge pivot in my career, so I got certified as a life coach and started a Coaching practice from scratch. In 2021, my husband of seven years died from Covid 19 and I once again had to pivot from living a life as part of a couple, to going through life alone. As a part of my grieving I found the courage to tell my story in a book I wrote and released in 2022 called IT WASN’T LUCK! An Inspirational Story of Love and Loss.

These are two ways that I have had to make a pivot in my life and my career.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Taking lots of photos and videos of my work and posting to social media is the main way that I built my audience when I initially started in the beauty business. I promote my business every chance I get. Not only on social media but I make a point to talk to strangers that appear to be open to new beauty trends. Paid ads on social media also helped to build my audience, the trick is to be very specific about your target market.

Promotion of your business is how you will build your audience and your band.

Contact Info:

• Website: msmichellegreene.com
• Instagram: @theofficialmichellegreene
• Linkedin: Michelle Greene
• Twitter: @greene_growth
• Other: Let’s Talk Mindset Podcast https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/JsUf0RALqzb IT WASN’T LUCK! (Book Link) https://www.amazon.ca/WASNT-LUCK-Inspirational-Story-Love/dp/B0B8R37F5T/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1682894526&sr=8-1