We recently connected with Veronica Rogers and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Veronica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

It’s fairly normal in the start up years of a business for the owner to work another job. That’s exactly how my story was! I opened Black Swan Beauty in October of 2018 and worked another job, for someone else, until July of 2021. In the spring of 2019, I started work at a functional medicine facility owned by a husband and wife team. Up until that point, the majority of my jobs had been in the salon, free lancing, and in retail cosmetics. Starting in the medical field was new — I was a blank slate on how the entire system operated. The visionary for the team was Dr. Ellen and from the second I met her, I was so drawn in. She owned a beautiful company, was kind, empathetic, maintained a healthy family and marriage, and her very presence commanded the respect of her peers and her employees. She displayed a level of kindness that created loyalty in her staff and could be firm when it was needed. Dr. Ellen was both understanding of her personal situations and held her staff to a high standard that they needed to uphold — and this was the first time I had seen all of those characteristics so perfectly balanced in an employer and a boss. So many of us have worked in environments that did not promote growth or where your voice wasn’t heard and you left feeling defeated, yet despite working full time for Dr. Ellen and building my business I left each day feeling invigorated, cared for, and valued. Watching her as a leader shaped me into the leader I am today, and showed me exactly how I want to run my business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Veronica Rogers and I own a beauty and bridal hair and makeup company. I opened the company back in 2018 with the vision of creating an experience for our clients that allowed us to enhance their own personal definition of beauty with no regard to the individual preferences of the artist performing the service — in other words, we create beauty that’s right for YOU. Beauty is such a subjective preference, and something I think looks incredible on myself, could make someone else feel over the top and another person feel under done. This idea was born because of struggles with my own appearance from a very young age that continued throughout adulthood. My primary struggle was with severe acne– and while speaking with a former employer who was also a makeup artist, she informed me that people would rather see my pimples than look at a bunch of flesh colored bumps on my face. The feeling that comment made hurt me initially, but stayed with me for years after. It took me a long time to understand that at the end of the day, her opinion didn’t matter. It’s my face, my preferences, and my beauty. No outside force should tell you how you should look based on their preferences and create feelings of inadequacy. There’s so much negativity in the world already, that your hair and makeup get to be the cherry on top of your day. That experience and my own struggles allowed the birth of a company that provides hair and makeup but focuses on how we make our clients feel first and foremost. This core value set us apart as a company from other beauty providers in the area — we don’t just provide a look, we build relationships, we enhance confidence in all aspects, and we allow you to step into your day feeling your most beautiful — whatever your idea of that is, our team is adaptable and moldable to help you achieve that vision.

Since opening in 2018, our team has expanded to depths and levels I used to think were far fetched dreams. We proudly house a team of 11 talented hair and makeup artists and while our primary service area is central Indiana, we recently expanded into the greater Nashville, Tennessee area as of April of 2022. We provide our artists ongoing education, employee retreats/appreciation events, and allow our artists to have a voice. We strive to create an environment that promotes growth and value with our team and our clients. As of 2022, our team has serviced over 200 weddings in the Central Indiana area alone, allowing our artists to operate as a well oiled machine on wedding days. They are comfortable with timelines, can de-escalate situations when nerves are high, and come prepared to be your biggest hype woman and best friend for the day!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

Creating relationships is such an underestimated skill in business. Your employees are the relationships that you harvest and nurture day in and day out — equally or more important than your clientele. As a business owner, CEO, leader, manager, or a solopreneur with the hope of building a team, your emphasis should be on curating relationships with your staff that create loyalty. I have a totally transparent relationship with the people on my team — meaning I will always be up front and honest with them, and I ask my team to have the same courtesy. I used to think the line between “boss” and “employee” had to have a stark contrast to it, and as my team developed, I learned how important it is to have a team that not only sees you as a source of authority, but also who can see you as a person. If you’re having an off day, as we all do, sharing things (within reason and comfortability) can be beneficial — it allows your team to understand if you might be less enthusiastic or slower to respond, that you’re a human being and creates a sense of closeness. In the instance that your employees are having a similar day, they can express that to you and you can give them grace where it’s needed. Many people are apprehensive about this because conflict can always occur with staff, and while that’s true, maintaining an open and respectful dialogue at every point throughout your business allows you to minimize the chance that conflict will occur, and when it does occur, it can be handled routinely. The evidence that someone is a good leader is not found when times are good, it’s found when times are challenging.

I express to my team that I will always be flexible when I can be and provide them with 100% of attention when I’m listening. If there are instances that I cannot be flexible, I will always hear the employee out to their entirety and be sure I explain the reasoning behind my decision fully so that the two of us can be on the same page. When making a decision that effects the whole team, I often bring the team to weigh in on this decision and allow them a voice in their place of employment. This ongoing mutual respect and communication, allows morale to stay high throughout the year — it avoids the “pizza party” approach to employee appreciation and loyalty.

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

I had a difficult time in the initial stages of my business both with raising prices and paying myself. It pains me to admit that I did not pay myself a wage at all until I left working for another employer and started working for Black Swan full time in July of 2021 — just a few months shy of our 3 year business anniversary. This belief came from a place of lower self worth as well as not understanding my market at the time. Prior to July of 2021, I avoided paying myself so that I could invest back into the company, into team education, and education for myself to be a better leader. I learned throughout my time with a business coach that my dividing my time between my business and work for another employer in order to avoid paying myself was hindering the business more than it would have if I had less standing revenue in the business bank account and could devote 100% of my time and attention to Black Swan Beauty. Leaving my employer was difficult– I adored my team and my boss at the time, but it’s a decision I made and have never looked back on. I spent 2.5 years watching my team take home a paycheck while I took home nothing, and to be completely honest and real, I almost felt like I didn’t deserve it. It took lots of mindset coaching to get around that thought process and realize that the time and money I have invested as well as the risk I take by being an employer entitles me to make a living wage.

I also had to step outside of my belief that people “wouldn’t pay” the prices I wanted to charge. I firmly believe that a business coach is a must as an entrepreneur and she helped me pull that belief apart layer by layer and stand tall in my confidence that people will pay our price because we are worth it. Redefining my confidence as an individual and a business owner allowed me to cast aside decision paralysis and step inside my decisions easily from every aspect of employees to pricing and beyond.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blackswanbeauty.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackswanbeautyindy
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/blackswanbeautyindy

Image Credits
Curious Courtney Photography Korie Austin Photography Alison Mae Photography Stella Rae Photography