“I Can Do It. I Promise You, I Can Do It”

[Music] hello everyone welcome to the 21 hats podcast I'm your host Lauren Feldman this week Dana White takes us along for the ride sharing the remarkable opportunities and the daunting challenges she's confronting simultaneously in a one-on-one conversation we catch Dana at an emotional moment after a triumphant trip to Germany where she expects to open salons on multiple military bases she's just returned to Detroit only to learn that the team she's counting on is showing serious cracks even as she's signing contracts with the military getting ready to roll out her franchising plan and courting Newfound investor interest in funding the development of her salon management software those cracks have shaken Dana and left her questioning her approach as a CEO ultimately she talks about those moments many entrepreneurs experience in the cold of night when things aren't going well and they realize this is all on them in those moments Dana confesses I'm scared and I feel alone even in Good Times owning and running a business can be a lonely Pursuit our hope is that these weekly conversations will let owners know they are not alone in facing challenges same thing with our daily newsletter the 21 hats Morning Report which highlights the most important news of the day for business owners and which you can subscribe to at 21h hats.com where you can also find transcripts of our podcast episodes and lots of other articles and interviews joining me this week on the podcast is Dana White who is CEO of paral Boyd a chain of hair salons based in Detroit the episode is titled I can do it I promise you I can do it welcome Dana White we haven't spoken in a while Dana in part cuz you've been traveling the world how are you I'm okay okay what's going on I have no idea what's going on what do you mean I have I have no I I have I don't I don't know what's going on well let's start you you've just been traveling I have where were you I was in Germany and you were there looking at a military base I was looking at like five or six or seven wow yeah and how long were you there six days wow so is that what you're not sure about or did that go well what can you tell us about that so there are great things happening and there are some not so great things happening andc it's because of both of these things that I don't know what's going on I see right like what is going on right now how is it that you win them over in Germany I mean win them over like when I tell you they are like how many does she want oh by the way Fort Hood can be ready Fort Brag is a go like oh and by the way don't forget we want all of the I mean they are Beyond impressed with me and they're not bringing me on base to um bid on these contracts as if I'm a contractor they're bringing me in like I'm Starbucks it's and so that's what I had to learn was the difference right there are there are salons on bases that they put the contract out and you bid on them and you just keep bidding every time your contract is up Starbucks doesn't have a contract and neither will Peril boy that's how interested they are in having me I've surpassed that process and that's huge the people who were working with me that know this company apist the Air Force Army and Air Force exchange they don't do anything with deliberate speed except work with perly boy and they're moving quickly so that's one thing that sounds pretty great right exactly that's amazing you come back and you have a 7 a.m. debrief call about how you did such a great job and left such a great impression on that trip okay great so then you're franchising and yes that process has slowed down not because of the work I'm doing in you know military stuff that stuff is easy it's just looking and talking that's it but at this point but it slows down because your Midtown location is doing decent numbers better numbers than they've ever done because now you're down to one location but your team is falling apart I get back on Thursday I get a resignation letter from Ashley wait that's that's your operations manager your key person yep my operations manager and I get a and and I get a on on Saturday I got a resignation resignation from my manager and it was emotional it was emotional resignations it wasn't this is a bad company it was Dana we don't think you like us from the manager the team's morale is low because they just want you to law them where's Dana and so get on a conference call with my manager and operations manager and my question was as the owner well if my team does not feel appreciated one why am I hearing this after resignation letter has been given and two was why wasn't I told before well why should I tell you and then Ashley she did interject and say it's your duty that's your job to let leadership know how your team is doing so this is what I'm dealing with and so I'm like you know what I need a strong manager I need I need a team not to mention there is the tech technology piece of per boy that's starting to percolate investors are coming to me they're like yeah the military opportunity is great yeah the franchising is great but we actually want to talk about this technology piece you've got going on because there's these two black guys that have just developed this barbershop app called Squire and yeah they just raised about $750 million and yours is more robust than theirs so let's start getting this going and I'm like oh my goodness so how is it that I'm at the precipice of all of this opportunity I I could potentially get the entire show of the military that their hair studios and their sty League salons will be Hair Studio by per Le boy plus per Le boy salons on base the whole show when I talking 15 we're talking Global I've got franchising on deck and I've got this Tech piece that I've got three investors on the table talking about funding me in quarter 1 of 2022 but I got an operations manager who I'm going to be putting into a more administrative role and I've got a salon wait wait wait wait I thought she resigned she resigned until she talked to me oh so that's the when we talked she was like I can work from home but I've got to be here for my girls and I I can do the payroll I can support you administrative wise I've got a stylist trainer who has a personal life that might not be conducive to the growth of this position for him he might just need to stay where he's at right because even being in Germany with me disrupted things a little bit I've got a stylish trainer who is beyond talented who was a hit in Germany but he's got a personal life that is more suited to where he is and less to where he's going they've already got me planned to meet with commanders and Admirals and you need people on who are going to be working with you who aren't going to say I can't go cuz I got a concert to go to on Saturday which I've heard you need people are going to be ready and in all fairness to my stylist trainer okay so let's unpack it yeah let's try you know I I gotta tell you my initial reaction is I'm hearing a lot more great stuff than bad stuff that's my initial reaction as far as the the bad stuff it seems to me that it boils down to two main issues one is the Workforce that you're dealing with and you've talked to us about that in in in the past uh people who are not necessarily uh as professional as you would like them to be uh or expect them to be and have a right to expect them to be and I think you thought that Ashley your operations manager was was really helping with that and that's that's the second issue that I see which is you had placed a lot of faith in her you thought given her tremendous experience in the industry she's brilliant she's brilliant to me you thought she was the key person who was going to help you make this work and and I understand you're saying that she feels beat up it's it's hard for me to understand just from the the little bit we've discussed here how someone with the vast amount of experience she has could be struggling so much with the issues in in one hair salon what do you think's really going on there I think first and foremost she's a mother which I think is great um and I think there are things in her in her role as Mom that need her right now it's not that she's not been doing her job let's that's not that's not it I think what it is is her role as mom is much more needed and it and and it's demanding like even in her resignation letter the very first part of the email was all about what happened with her daughter's tooth and what was going on and so when you were you at all prepared for this did you realize she was struggling before you got the letter when I tell you out of nowhere we talked the day before I left for Germany and we were laughing about how we should get to know each other better because I didn't even know what her partner's name was so when she said yes Jade is sick I didn't know who Jade was I was like Jade I was like wait have I was like don't be rude who is Jade um and she started laughing cuz she said I thought the young man coming in here and help helping with all the maintenance was just the maintenance guy I know it was your fiance and she's like we need to talk more this was the Thursday before I left and so she said I love working with you I love talking to you and that refuses me to deal with what I have to deal with in the week to answer the other part of your question I think there's a number two to it in addition to the demands of her of her of her job as Mom we are in a very challenging hiring period right now but I I think I think what saddens me and i' I've shared this with both of them um and I think what it really saddened me and it it did bring me to tears I said Christina why didn't you talk to me I didn't feel I could that blew my mind because she has my cell phone number I was very communicative with her we started having bi-weekly meetings I was I even josed around and laughed with her it wasn't like I was this distant person um but she said yeah I know I just didn't feel I could do it and I can't really articulate that now maybe if I wrote it down and told you I could articulate it better what and so what bothered me what made me sad not bothered me what made me more sad and I'm I still have reservations is the fact that neither one of them considering report trusted me enough to talk to me first that hurt because I I poured into them I not PED in like I made them no I I talked to them I engaged with them I you know I'm not really wanting to share my personal life because I don't want them to take that on because I do realize that they're creatives and they will but and they care and they're good people so I don't really talk about my personal life but I shared my hopes and dreams for the company I shared my vision for the company I shared how I felt they could be a part of that if they choose I supported them as mothers I talked to them about their families and their children um I didn't mind if Christina needed to bring her son do you think they both appre appreciate the opportunity that stands in front of them and in front of par Boyd at this point in time I think they do I don't think they I think Ashley grasp it but Ashley's chosen her first job which is to be a mother I think Christina does I don't really I think she does but I think she wants something from me it's not my place to give and I think she needs to be a stronger manager I think a stronger manager no you know what that's not Jana's job to feed me like this Dana's job is to make sure I have everything I need to do my job that's it my job is to make sure that you have a company to grow in my job is to make sure that if you are having issues in your personal life as far as child care that you have a position that you can pay to have the appropriate chakra that's my job right to grow this company um and I don't think they realize that because who looks like me that they can reflect on that does it every owner is an owner of a salon that collects Booth rent they're not getting military contracts they're not franchising and so they are proud of me they're excited for me and they want to be next to me and she said we sell them on the vision and then no Dana well then why well what Vision are you selling them on why is there expectation Dana so I think they get it I just think they want more of me and I I think that's the other thing I'll say to you is this Lauren Dana has grown up Dana the problem Dana has is Dana was not if the Mi if there was a mixed message about Dana being a CEO it came from Dana because Dana has not been the clear-cut CEO Dana's been the nice owner Dana's been the friendly owner Dana has not been a clear-cut CEO and I'm still not a clear-cut CEO would have moved a little differently I think what are you thinking you would have done differently if you were a clear-cut CEO I think a clear-cut c maybe I'm overthinking this but I think a clearcut CEO like for the example with the stylist trainer after the third or fourth time where the sign has been that this person may not be ready clearcut CEO would have moov just pivoted the nice friendly owner is like no let's give him a chance let's groom him this is an excellent opportunity this is somebody I care about he's good at what he does he's he's oh my goodness like Talent abound so let's just and and and on top of that I've met so many people in this industry who aren't good people and he's a good person and I see so much in him and his potential and his and his in his way you know and and and he shined in Germany right and but again my advisor said yeah that might be his potential but that's not who he is and he's built a life around who he is not who he's going to be and what you're offering is who he could be and that don't Jael with his life I need someone who's going to say yep I can be in Fort Brag next week for 4 days training not well I can't cuz I got a concert to go to well I I I can't D I mean I gave my word I said I'd be at this concert my advisers were like a clear-cut CEO would have started looking to replace that person after all those signs came through and I've been the friendly owner like no no no let's give them a chance you guys don't see what I see so one of the things I'm not hearing here is what I feared when you first mentioned mened the resignations which is that these are all people looking at you or looking at the company and saying I just don't believe in this I don't think it's going to work I don't want to be a part of it and I'm not hearing that at all not at all they they've even said the opposite I think that's that's important it sounds like it's pretty clear that you need an operations manager um you're going you you know know you've got so much work to do I'm sure there's plenty for Ashley to do in a new administrative role that I don't see that as a problem am I right that your real issue here the thing that you have to solve first is bringing in somebody who can be a real operations manager I need someone who can be a strong manager on the floor of my salon I need a strong that just gets you that just helps you in one Salon that helps me in one Salon but I think an operation manager will be needed when we start rolling out these locations and I need somebody who can travel I need someone that when I call I know I know when they're working there were days I don't know when Ashley's working and I would call and my call wouldn't get answered but but aren't you at that point now I mean you've sounds like you've got the green light for locations all over the world I understand that's not going to happen tomorrow but don't you need somebody getting ready for that I agree and that's why I was saying I because I don't have anybody in mind and because I haven't really put it out there and this just happened yeah I need somebody now but you know oh where am I today and and maybe Ashley is that person until I find that because since we don't need to go to a location maybe when it comes time for me to go to a location we will have you know onboarded that person and then it can just be a smooth transition um um who knows maybe here's what's beating them up I think them wanting me or at least the salon manager wanting me is because Ashley's an hour away and can't be in the salon as often as she needs to be she can't give that so there leaves Christina looking at Dana like well why can't you know why aren't you here for me I think the staff is beating them up I think the Staffing challenges are beating them down people calling off not coming to work having a hard time hiring I think it's beating them up an issue that businesses all over the country if not the world are dealing with right now here's an example that Christina gave me that she said it might seem small but it turned into something big we B two new flat irons that the stylist trainer had recommended that we use considering the new technique we were going to use for curling hair and he was training them on we were they were working they were fine and then both of them shorted burned a customer's hair it was handled the customer was fine because she was a regular she trusts us she understands it was the flat iron one of the girls quit because of that she said her license was in Jeopardy and she said I can't work for a company where these are going to be the flat irons that they use the stylist Trader has been using that brand of flat irons for years they were just two flat irons that shorted why is that indicative of an entire brand of flat irons and that you can't work in a company that uses they shorted and I've had that happen before flat iron short and what you do is if there's extra ones you go to the back you get some other ones and you keep moving but this this is is an example of these are the things that are beating the managers down again though I wonder it sounds like not everybody in the business understands where this business is headed if that stylist understood it's hard to imagine her walking out the door over a flat iron given the opportunity that's there Lauren we have told them we have shared it with them it's not real to them yet listen they've never seen anything like it before especially for people that look like them I don't work at Great CBS This is for white men this isn't my world and that's the thing when it is real for you it's going to be too late when it becomes real for you when when you have a stylist trainer that is committed to being behind the chair and they're 70 no retirement and here it was 20 something years ago Dana was trying to set you up so when you are 70 you can work behind the chair at your leisure because I know you love it but if I can't get this Workforce to see it or if they don't believe in their ability right or if their personal lives don't allow for them to to bridge that Gap what do I do well you can continue on the path you're on and I think a lot of those things are going to become more obvious if you're if you're continuing to spend time on military bases around the world and then start opening salons on them that will register I think if the uh if the software package comes together that seems to me that will register and I also think this is all important in terms of hiring the next operations manager you have a much bigger story to tell now than you did when you hired Ashley this is an incredible opportunity for somebody and obviously I don't know your industry but there have to be other people with experience similar to Ashley's out there who would leap at the opportunity I agree and the opportunity to work with someone that isn't a right like you know what I mean you're not dealing with and and even Ashley said this isn't you like she's like no I every time I talk to you I feel better right and she knows I support her but I can't and she can't in good faith continue on in her role knowing that her job is Mom comes first and right now her daughters really need her and she's over an hour away and so now I this is an amazing opportunity for somebody who knows the business what I would love and my adviser said this might be hard to find is someone who has the business acument of an operations manager that knows the industry oh my goodness I don't care if you're green white black green I talked to my mentor and he was like well do you think part of her issue is because she's white I said no because she's smart as I don't know what it doesn't matter what her color is and in her position let's stay on that for a second cuz you have talked about how important it is for everyone involved in your salon to know that it it has been it is it will be blackowned and I think you know that's been true of customers it's been true of employees did that did bringing in an operations manager who isn't black have cause any problems is that in any way part of the the issue here oh yeah it cost it cost not problems but it caused you know a beat to be missed with the customers CU as soon as they saw her they thought I didn't own it anymore but what about with the employees and the management issues that you're talking about yep the employees felt well what does she know about our hair and so again that's a challenge that I'm breaking through even on Military basis and that's part of the reason why this is happening you know when you have a contract on the military base with the salon if it's a white operator in the salon now all of a sudden that that Salon serves white white people if it's a black operator now they serve black people they are convinced that when we put data in there it's going to it's going to service everybody and they're right especially with the stylist trainer I I brought on board right he can do it all I literally had a girl quit because you know she said I don't know what Dana was trying to do by hiring a white manager maybe she thought she would look more professional if she hired a white manager but they don't know what's going on and I'm like what why do you think I would hire white people to look professional who am I looking to I hire people to get stuff done so it's a mindset and that's the biggest challenge that's where my doubt comes in that's where the tears have Al I mean uh have fallen because am I is my business strong enough to defeat a mindset let me ask you this it strikes me that given all the things that you want to do your One Salon in Detroit might be almost irrelevant to the future success of paraly Boyd you're going to have an incredible Hing challenge as you open salons around the world but I think it's going to be of a very different nature I I'm imagining that at each of those military bases and you describe the you know remarkable size of some of them they're going to be a lot of people who either you know are civilians who live around the base or are spouses who live on the base it seems to me you're going to have a lot of people to choose from to staff those sh shops and the experience you're having in Detroit might not be at all representative of what's going to happen when you go Global does that make sense it makes absolute sense you know we've been talking about Staffing we talked about it in Germany Germany was hit really really hard with covid and we talked about it when I went to Fort Hood the reason why keeping Midtown open because that has been something I've chewed on should I close midtown um I've had some people say yes absolutely however I'm franchising and when you're franchising you need an open model to show people that this works um I thought about closing Midtown and finding the money to open in a more viable Market um my dear friend April Anderson of good cakes and bakes she said why do you doubt what you're about to do and she said don't answer that I know why because you think what's happened to you in Detroit is indicative of what's going to happen in every Salon you open you feel you're multiplying Detroit and it's not the case Detroit has beat you down she's in Detroit too by the way and she's in Detroit yep she's here and she's like even look at Detroit versus everybody it's we're proud to of the struggle we're proud of that and she's like and that doesn't bold well for business at all and she said if you were in New York um even in Dallas the you know the headquarters for um Apes the Army and Air Force exchange that will be hosting me on these bases they said if you were in Dallas you you're customers you couldn't keep the doors closed like people were are jammed in salons that want to be like yours right I I think in as much as Detroit has served me I I made I if I could go back to November of 2011 and just sit down in my dining room table in Brooklyn with Dana and say you know what yes Detroit deserves you but Detroit may not be ready for you when I opened Midtown there were women who wouldn't come to us cuz one they thought we were a white Salon because we were so nice and two that they couldn't afford US are they ready and and the answer is no they weren't ready here right but if you're on a military base that's the only Salon there they get ready because they're like oh my gosh this is amazing finally for us finally something that is for us um and they don't want to struggle they don't want to go off base to get their hair done they want to get their hair done on base if you had the the right operations manager and the right manager of that Salon I don't think you'd even know about exactly the issues that you're raising but it's it seems solvable I mean if you listed the operations manager job on any service and just listed requirements for experience being you know working at one of the national chains having experience you know overseeing the operations of a certain number of salons is your expectation that you would get a lot of resumés out of that it it seems obvious to me but am I wrong no I don't think you're wrong I think before I do that I need to be a stronger CEO I need to and that's what I'm working on right now talking to my advisers and saying what does my job look like at this juncture not in five years and they can help me with that as of today this is what your job looks like as the CEO of perly Boyd and what working on the business looks like as a CEO this is what you talk about this is what you know this is what you don't know what are you not clear on what are you not sure is your job I'm too nice Lauren and I don't mean that I'm so nice that's not what I mean earlier you said that one of the advantages of working a paral Boyd is that you don't have to work for a well exactly and I'm I'm I'm the now are you saying that maybe maybe you have to change that a little and that's not comfortable for me to say but it's true I need to be a little bit more of a I think and and the is a hard word because I need to I I need to have a little bit more Edge to me let me give you an example I have an assistant we had a call schedule for 4 o'clock get on the call eight minutes into the call oh I'm sorry I have to go my car is ready nice Dana oh okay okay yep go ahead and go and call me when you can no not anymore excuse me we have a call schedule and I have notes that need to be covered for this call are you telling me we're not having this call yeah I I I I got to go get my car I gotta go okay and then pivot and get ready to find the next person well I'll get to it after after 7 o'clock tonight okay that's Dana okay no I need that email sent three hours ago and it's just an email so what Dana's been doing is sending the emails herself but I don't think it's about being a or having an edge I think it's it's about demanding professionalism exactly thank you I need to be a better demander of professionalism especially with all of these opportunities let's take a quick break I want I want to talk about that when we come back but I want to hear from our sponsor work better now which connects entrepreneurs with virtual assistance you might want to listen to this ad when it comes out Dana uh when we come back we'll talk more about all the things that you have on your plate and how you uh prioritize among them I'm here with Rob Levan co-founder of work better now which provides businesses with highly talented virtual assistance Rob I've noticed that owners tend to have certain questions about virtual assistance for example what exactly can they do yeah Lauren we get this question all the time uh because people really know deep down that they need an assistant but they're not exactly sure how it works works and what they can do for them I would say that our clients use our assistance in one of two ways they will either use them much like I've been using my assistant for the past eight years as an executive assistant handling my calendar which takes up so much time email management database file management personal tasks creating documents for me and then a lot of our clients basically operationalize our assistance so we have assistant with titles like project manager marketing associate operations manager and customer service representative I think some owners worry they'll spend more time managing their assistant than it would have taken them just to do the test themselves how do you respond to that right right right this is a deadly trap not only with assistant but really with any employees which is oh I can do it faster myself and the reality is you might be able to do it faster yourself of course it's impossible to grow your business if you're doing everything yourself I was very much uh of a similar mindset and what I did with my assistant is I basically told him what needs to be done and had them document it I hate documenting tasks but I know the processes are so important now we have a manual full of my uh tasks I only had to tell him once that he can follow time and time again and if he's out somebody else can follow and also think about it this way if you're a business owner making something like let's say $200,000 a year which is about $100 an hour you're basically paying somebody to do administrative work at $100 an hour if you're doing these tasks yourself that makes a lot of sense what does it cost the cost is $1900 a month and as you know Lauren we are offering 21 hats readers and listeners $150 off per month for 3 months just by mentioning the word Lauren there are no contracts also very important for people to know can you promise a return on that investment if you're not getting a return something's not going right all of our clients are not only getting a return with the first assistant they've hired but many of our clients are now on their second third and fourth assistant where can we learn more work better now.com and again when you sign up for a 15-minute consult just mention the word Lauren we'll make sure to give that $150 off for each of the first 3 months thanks Rob and we're back so Danny each of these by itself would be a great opportunity you have all of them piling up can you possibly work on all of them at once not by myself well no but can you oversee all of them at once I think so and and and can I be honest with you you always are thank you there there are people on these teams that care about me and their care is starting to impose and their care is feeding my doubt for example well I don't know if Dana can do this let's stop doing this whoa whoa whoa Dana is more than capable of saying when it's too much for her to do and that has always been a struggle I've had people for some reason have looked at me and already put my Line in the Sand oh she can't she can't do more than this this is too much for her well let Dana and I'm fairly intelligent and I have a high emotional IQ right I'm very in tune with myself let Dana tell you when that line is are you hearing this from your franchising uh consultant because I assume they're aware of all the other things you have going are are they concerned yes they are and but I'm not I'm not upset or frustrated with them because honestly it comes from love when I tell you Chris is my godmother like love her and she wrote a long email and and she's not wrong but talk to me first right let's have that conversation first hear what Dana needs here what Dana can do before you all surmise that this is what we need to do for Dana you said it best all of the issues that I have are solvable they're not looking at it that way they're like well they're saying they're solvable but you know let's get it there's this this franchise box that they have for perly Boyd and and I don't blame him it's worked for several franchises and there's been several times and they've been really good about understanding that this is a little out of the box and in this situation I'm going to need them to understand that this too Falls outside of the box with modifications right so let's manage this but talk to Dana first that I've watched three emails go by and all they've heard is what I've said is the issue they haven't talked to Dana about how I'm gonna handle it is this happening because you guys have laid out a timeline and you're falling behind and just not able to keep up with what they thought you were going to do when you set out to franchise yes and they believe that the reason why the timeline is slow is because of the military it is not the timeline has slowed down because one there are things that are culturally that need to be addressed and handled on the back end this franchise needs to be a lot tighter than you know okay we're ready to award and let's go no there are things on the back end that need to happen two I need this salon to do better and and this is what's wonderful about them they said that in the email but they came to that decision without talking to me first my delay in franchising is not because I went to Germany it's not because I visited bases that's a day trip right my delay has been because one whoo we open a franchise and and there's this technology piece they they're really like uhuh no no no no no she doesn't need a technology piece they don't see what I see if we don't have this technology for a Walkin only hair salon there's going to be a weit and then none of them are going to sell we need the technology to support what we're doing and I can start a whole other company have a CTO which we've already talked about who can help me with this so it's not Dana doing it and we can roll these out with franchises and we can roll these out on on bases wait you're operating your salon in Detroit without this technology and we're struggling there's weights but you're talking about waiting on franchising and on opening military bases until you have software developed no no nope because that's not the phase that we need just to be operational isn't going to take long the primary reason for the delay in the franchising is because midtown's not tight Staffing shortages ups and downs Hills and Valleys and why do I know this like you said because my leadership team isn't tight I need a strong manager I need a strong manager can pick up the phone call my operations manager have it handled what do we need from Dana we need this from Dana and go what is the most important reason for having operations tight in Detroit as it applies to France Ching is it because franchisees who are going to invest in uh paral boid have to see an operation that's working yes and have you shared this with your franchising consultant nope nope that's they've shared it with me in the email I see and I don't disagree but I would have preferred them have a conversation with me first there was a lot of deductions made a lot of conclusions that were come to and I'm thinking no talk I mean they haven't talked to me in depth they've heard the problem but they haven't heard about how I want to go ahead and solve it this is my plan well there doesn't seem to be anything lost because they put it in an email they maybe they felt this was the most efficient way to start the conversation exactly especially with you traveling um maybe Jeremy did did have some impact in that sense this was the way to get the to to raise the issue and it doesn't sound like they are unwilling to have the conversation that you want to have no they're definitely willing again you have to understand this is a franchise consultancy that cares these aren't people that are just trying to control everything and no these are people who are truly invested not only because of the work they're doing with me and you know the relationship but these are just good people who are invested in Dana and care about Dana like Chris my um strategic implementation person she's she's like my godmother like I see her on the screen and I'm comforted I love Chris I just feel handled I feel managed I don't like that all right we're almost out of time let's prioritize what do you need to do and where where do you need help if you need help you need let me list a couple of things and you can add to it you you need to get the operation the way you want it in Detroit I need need a strong Salon manager and they don't have to if they have industry experience great if not fine they my strongest managers have ran restaurants are you the person to hire that strong manager or do you need an operations manager first whose first assignment would be to hire that Salon manager I need to hire that person with someone so you needed the operations manager first no I think I believe right now Ashley and I could hire a strong manager together I see you have so much on your plate and you have so much opportunity have you thought about trying to structure your business so that you are offering these key people you hire uh participation in the uh results that you expect to get absolutely and can be glad to do it would love to do bonuses profit share something right and as well as offer them opportunities to grow in their craft and to grow in this industry because again this isn't just being the manager of One Salon in Detroit this is an opportunity to be manager of a very important Salon in Detroit that's going to be a model for salons all over the world and that could lead to all sorts of other opportunities if done well correct yes the kind of opportunity that someone might move to Detroit to take knowing that it could lead to another job in Atlanta or Brooklyn or or Germany Lauren the Fort Brad contract is done the Fort Hood contract will be done in February or if not by the end of this year and I'll be ready to go in February this is happening if if if I had a license to operate in Germany I could be on two bases in six months like this is happening next trip Kuwait Fort Campbell my very next trip I'm leaving for Fort Campbell on Monday they're ready yesterday when do you think the first base will be open sometime in 2022 because command is already signed like I get the contract in a couple weeks and that still takes time you got to get permitting that takes 45 days have there been moments in the past couple of weeks dealing with this where you had serious doubts oh moments you mean like hours and days and dreams really are are you sleeping at night yes I'm sleeping at night thanks to jet lag woohoo but let me tell you what gets me through prayer gets me through and the four tenants that Jay taught me one it is what it is two deal with it three you are operating with a good and Noble purpose you did not open the salon to hurt people you did not do ABC you did not bring on these manager ERS to make their life hell you brought on these managers to create an opportunity for them in the future and help help you build now that's why brought them on and guess what when you get in my way you I'm having problems with number four though I'm having because that's that demanding that's where that demanding professionalism is at number four right I'm having trouble with that I'm not like well maybe no I need to be a little bit more on number four all right well that might be a good topic for a subsequent podcast get some input from uh from some of our colleagues I'd like to get input from your listeners especially after this episode you know after I and I you know what Lauren I thought I was going to cry yesterday morning I was in Te years Laura has text me how's it going today like because it has been and that's just in my that's just in my business life you know I'm a person and I have a personal life right and so that's a whole other episode where you know it's you know my engagement whoa right it's like that's a whole other you know toron is amazing but still you know I was going to say that's that's going well right it it's going healthy which means he may not be ready oh and it's not a bad thing it's a beautiful thing you do have a lot going on Dana I have a lot going on and then I found out that my payroll provider hadn't been paying my payroll taxes even though they took them from me oh so there's a legal hold of an exorbitant amount on my account they haven't taken the money but there's a legal hold until we get this sorted out with ADP and paychecks you guys took the money why didn't you pay it found out one of the reasons why it's because they had the wrong EIN number they're like oh our bad you think so that's why you know that I'm when I tell you I'm dealing with a lot I'm dealing with a lot so yeah the tears have thrown fall yes there's been doubt yes I'm saddened by the fact that the support I have around me even in my stylist trainer is gone yeah when you lose somebody like Ashley and and even though she's not a complete loss yet there's a modification I still laid in bed in the dark at 5:30 in the morning and read that email and the feeling in your ears in your chest and you first think what did I do you realize you didn't do anything right even at her words it's not you right you still go through that when you then and I said when you asked me at the beginning of the episode what's going on I don't know I don't know what's going on because I I'm on the PRP with all this opportunity and then there's all of this as Laura would say right Laura Xander would say there's all of this all right we'll have plenty more to talk about in coming episodes but thank you Dana as always for for sharing so openly and honestly what you're going through you know I leuren one more thing I just I'm scared and I feel alone it's chilly it's like cold why do you feel that way yeah I mean the thermostat in my house is at like 75 so I know it's not really cold but I I'm scared and I feel alone and I know I'm not the only entrepreneur that feels like this no but that's how I feel I feel like especially with how quickly people can not be who you need to grow your company how you know how quickly you know you can have that key employee that turns into that key ex employee that can happen in an hour right how quickly it can go um you realize that all there is is you you're not going anywhere right um you know you have people you can talk to you know of course Jay's amazing Laura is awesome um and other entrepreneurs and and you keep that Circle small because like I said in the entrepreneurial Community I'm in they kind of they're comforted by your your struggle um but that's where the loneliness comes in where you're like wow who can I talk to that's been through this who knows how cold it is it's it's chilly um and how scary it is because you don't know if you're spinning your wheels you don't know if you're doing all of this in vain you don't know if this is a waste of your time and in this current climate time is a very valuable resource that's not given to everybody I can't tell you how many people have died in my news I got get off social media because everybody's dying so that's how I feel it's scary because I'm giving so much time and it's it's lonely because who will stand next to you today and support you today the support I thought I had last week I don't have today I don't have that and that that's what makes me emotional I'm sorry Lord I hear you I hear you that's what scares me cuz I'm I'm like little Dana and I'm I'm like alone and this opportunity is so big and Lauren I can do it I promise you I can do it it's in me but I really believe that I had the support of these people and I don't and now I'm standing here and it's cold I I thought I had it and I don't and I'm alone and I'm okay I'mma do it right I'm Jay's menty listen I was like Jay gos is my mentor I'm gonna do it I'm going to stand up I'm going tighten my bra strap and I'm going to go I'm GNA be all right I'm going to be okay I think so too thank you Dana White you're welcome Lauren Feldman wait wait don't leave yet if you have a question or a comment that you'd like the 21 hats owners to address send it to me by replying to your Morning Report or by email at Lauren 21h hats.com that's L ren21 hats.com do it now before you forget and don't be afraid to tell Jay what you really think you can take it and if you got something out of this convers ation help us reach more business owners tell a friend subscribe and review us wherever you get your podcasts follow us on Twitter subscribe to the morning report at 21h hats.com this episode was produced by Jess Theron founder of blank word Productions okay now you can leave thanks for listening everyone