Well, hello everybody and welcome to the business over beer podcast. am Ben Surratt I am in the frozen tundra of the biz over beer studios. It's like a whopping zero degrees as a high today. So that's why I look like Nanook of the North. But anyways, thank you for joining us and I have a very special guest today. Special guest. Who are you?

Speaker 1 (03:00)

Hi, my name is D'Aelia or Yali Milan and I am the owner of Meliora Beauty Clinique and also an education brand, D'Nielpot. And I am a podologist and a medical pedicurist.

Speaker 2 (03:14)

Medical pedicurist I can't wait to get into that I know lot about your business But for other people I can't wait for them to get into what that means But first Yali I call you Yali Okay, Yali, what did you bring for yourself to drink today?

Speaker 1 (03:26)

Yes, that's perfect.

I'm actually not a beer drinker. Don't hate me. My poison of choice is actually...

Speaker 2 (03:39)

That's

it, we're over.

Speaker 1 (03:42)

Well, I am Puerto Rican, so my drink of choice is rum. But today I have some all smoky moonshine straight from Tennessee and I'm drinking it from the jar. So it's really good. This is a Mandarin moonshine. Oh my gosh, this is not sponsored or paid, but this brand is amazing. It will get you talking really quick.

Speaker 2 (04:08)

It looks it I can't lie like you already have a little bit of Look at what you're they have gone sister. Hold on

Speaker 1 (04:12)

Look at that!

You said to be prepared

Speaker 2 (04:21)

I did. Well, as people know, it's it's it's it's I don't do dry Januaries. I do take it easy Januaries. So I'm having a N.A. to stay on brand. I've had this the past couple of episodes. It's pretty good. Juicy Mab's A.Z.I.P.A. N.A. by Surreal Brewery. They have a great story. I would love to get them on the podcast. Anyways. Cool.

Yes, not today though. Today I'm talking to you, Yali. OK, so tell me about your first. Let's go over your business. You want to do that first? OK, so what is your business like? What is your? Business called and what do you do?

Speaker 1 (04:52)

Yes.

Absolutely. I'm here based in Vancouver, Washington state, a long way from Puerto Rico. And Meliora Beauty Clinique is basically a pedicure salon where I focus more on the clinical pedicures, foot care, and really addressing the issues on the feet instead of just doing what everybody is doing, which is the cosmetic pedicures and putting some polish to hide the problem. actually address the problem. So that's essentially

what I do. I also do manicures, but I focus more on the natural healthcare instead of the artificial nails. So that's what we do at the shop. We've been open for four years now. At least with the Meliora brand before I rebranded. So I've been in business for nine years, actually.

Speaker 2 (05:49)

Four years, holy cow.

Whoa. What made you start? What made you get into just the pedicure industry? Like what made you get into that?

Speaker 1 (06:10)

It's a very long story, but to make it short and sweet, I used to work for Corporate America, just like everybody. And I actually moved from Puerto Rico to the United States to follow that company. And eventually I was not happy with the job that I was doing for the same reasons as everybody that likes to go into entrepreneurship and like opening a business. It's not the fast money, it's not, you know,

that you're going to be out of the 95 is more like having control of your time. And what I really wanted was a job with a purpose. And I felt that at this job that I had, which was corporate, my only purpose was to bring money to the corporation, but it couldn't really help the community or do anything else. So in that line of, want a job with purpose. What does that mean? Right? What, where am I going? I being bilingual, being a

quick study, can really adapt and find new jobs and just learn really quick. But I really wanted something that can make an impact and can be long lasting and actually leave some sort of legacy for my family and for my loved ones. it began this journey of self discovery, what I said that I wanted to do in this foreign land where I didn't know a lot of people. I don't have my family here. I don't have the support that I had and

One thing led to another. It's a very long story. And somehow I ended in beauty school. And I think that somehow was more thinking about I am very stressed out. So I need an outlet to really grow my creativity, to use my creativity. And then let's go from there and see what happened. But I never intended for this to be the career or the job change that I wanted. It was more like.

Speaker 2 (08:03)

You didn't expect to do this?

Speaker 1 (08:06)

No, all I thought was, well, I always wanted to go to beauty school and high school, but my mom said, no, you're too smart for that because in the island, it doesn't seem like a real career that you can have in the beauty industry. So I was never allowed to have that kind of opportunity. So I thought, hey, maybe I can check and see if they have some sort of night program and see if I can just do something different to just get the stress out until I find this journey. And that's how everything started.

Um, I started learning how to do manicures and pedicures, just a very basic cosmetic stuff. Um, and funny enough, I actually develop an allergy to acrylic, so I couldn't even do nails. Yes. And it's because it's cool that I went to it. Yes, they, they seem to be using some sort of like very low price acrylic material. So I develop an allergy to it.

Speaker 2 (08:47)

You have an allergy to acrylic?

I never knew that!

Speaker 1 (09:04)

So I was like, great, this new hobby or this new found career is not gonna happen. So I was gonna quit and my teacher said, don't worry, we're gonna talk about pedicures tomorrow. I think this is something that you're gonna like. So, you know, just give it another chance. And I said, well, I'm kind of not disgusted by feet. I used to do my grandma's toes when I was little. So I was like, okay, I'll just give it a try because I'm really committed. I want a new hobby.

And so I learned how to do pedicures. seemed very, very fun, kind of relaxing service. And everything started taking shape when I had to do a client that came to school and then you have to practice, you know, doing services. And this was an elderly gentleman who was homeless and he came to school to be a model for a pedicure. And let me tell you with the basic, almost zero knowledge that I had,

I somehow managed to clean his skin, to trim his toenails and just do the best I could with the knowledge I had and the tools and the products that I had, which were not good. And the fact that I touch him, that I talked to him, that I clenched his feet, I cannot begin to tell you how it felt. It felt like when he said to me, thank you so much for doing this. It just felt like,

The heavens open, a beam of light just came down, the doves were flying around, and there was some sort of music in the background saying, that's it. That was it. I like, I have to do this. It just felt like this was it. Like, this is the thing that I wanted. So that's how it started.

Speaker 2 (10:53)

So what? all right. Well, thanks for joining us, everybody. No.

Speaker 1 (10:59)

then after that, I started doing all the pedicures, right? So because I developed the allergy to acrylic, I still had to do acrylic points, meaning I still had to do models for acrylic gels, normal manicures and stuff like that. But I hated it. I hated it with a passion. And then I found out that there were people that hated feet. So then we started swapping points. Can you do my manicures and now do your pedicures? Cool.

So I started doing that without telling nobody. So I got in trouble. My teacher found out cause she's like, yeah, like you have to do it. She's going to slap me in the hand. And she, and I said, but I just love pedicure so much. love the transformation, even though I had no idea what I was doing. And she goes, you know, if you really like this, maybe you should specialize and become a foot care specialist. And I had no idea what that meant. I didn't even know that was an option.

you know, because you go to beauty school, you go to nail technology and licenses and then all you do is mani-pedi working at nail salon. And it's this pretty standard kind of service.

Speaker 2 (12:04)

So how long, how long were you at the school then? Like how long were you there when she talked to you about possibly doing that?

Speaker 1 (12:13)

Unfortunately, the way the state regulates this kind of licenses, I was only there for seven months. That's how fast I got the program done. But there were people that were faster than me because it's competency based, meaning that you can get done as fast as you can, depending on your knowledge and your skills. So it's not like an hour requirement. I get that. Yeah, which is good and bad for Oregon, but that will be a topic for another day.

Speaker 2 (12:19)

7.

Speaker 1 (12:42)

After the seven months, she kind of talked to me about a company that was doing like extensive training for pedicurists who would like to know a little bit more than just the cosmetic one without making you a medical professional. So when I found out about these classes, they actually had a class in Vancouver, Washington, the month that I graduated. So it was perfect. So, and they came from Canada. So I took the class.

my eyes just open and I got to see this whole new world that I didn't even know that existed. And that is a little bit of a middle person between a pedicurist and a medical pedicurist. It's kind of like I became like in the gray zone, like in the middle of everything. And it just opened my eyes to everything because I was able to recognize a lot of issues, a lot of things that I could address myself. I can recommend products, I can recommend things.

Speaker 2 (13:30)

in the middle.

Speaker 1 (13:40)

for clients and I started seeing improvement, like real improvement on our clients. So I started

Speaker 2 (13:47)

Are

you working for anybody at that point or just in sc-

Speaker 1 (13:50)

I

was I actually opened my own business, which was called the nail pot back in the day. And I was working inside a hair salon in Gresham, Oregon. As an independent nail technician, I was renting the space. So that's where I started putting all this, you know, things to the test and everything and seeing real results, which everybody thought I was a weird lady. I mean, who likes feet, right?

Speaker 2 (14:18)

Yeah, yeah. That's not something that you hear every day. When I can't lie. I thought you were weird.

Speaker 1 (14:25)

I am weird my own way, but yes, it takes a weird person to like feed, but not in that way. Exactly. so I became that foot lady, right? So people were coming to me. Can you take a look at this? Can you address this? Can my podiatrist won't help me. My doctor will know what it is. And with the limited information I had, I was able to help clients make a permanent change in their feet. that's essentially.

Speaker 2 (14:32)

No, I know what mean.

Speaker 1 (14:55)

how everything became to be. But then COVID happened and it destroyed everything.

Speaker 2 (15:02)

No, you were still in that that in that salon, right? You were still working there.

Speaker 1 (15:06)

still

remember March 12th when the owner of the hair salon got a call from the public health department and they told her that she needs to shut down by the end of the day because we were shutting down as a study. So we had to cancel the appointments. We didn't know what was going to happen. It was very scary. So what we did was, you know, close and next door there was a bar. So we kind of went there.

or to have the last drink before the end of the world, you know, because you didn't know what was going to happen. COVID really, it was bad and good. It was bad because of all the things that happened, right? But in a way it was what I needed because it gave me the time to really rebrand, reshape, and really think about what is it that I wanted to do? What is it that makes my heart sing? Eliminate certain services, include another ones, reach more education.

And even though everything sounds like very fairy tale like, there was a lot of challenges and the challenges where we were not allowed to work for weeks and weeks. We were out for about 15 weeks without a paycheck. The Oregon Department of Employment Department wasn't working. Independent contractors like us never got paid. The PPP loans run out of funds or we did not qualify for it. So

It was a really stressful time, but at the same time, it helped me reshape what Millier is now. So then the nail pot.

Speaker 2 (16:40)

So was it around this time where you were like, okay, what was that journey like that the reshaping of what you want to do? Was it the medical stuff or were you? What was that like?

Speaker 1 (16:53)

I started thinking, and this is my experience, this is not to throw shade on nobody or criticizing nobody, none at all. This is my individual experience. I started feeling that there were certain services that I was providing that I was providing it because everybody else was providing it. And why not? Right? It's a popular service. Everybody wants it. But then I started noticing that these type of services

did not bring joy to myself, did not bring joy. It felt like shallow services, like I was attracting the wrong kind of client that just wanted to look a certain way or it was just, I could not connect with them, if that makes sense. Personal level or anything like that. And I'm very personable. I love making friends. I love talking to people, as you can see.

But I just felt like I didn't connect and the services that I really wanted to eliminate but I was afraid of because again, they were popular where the nail enhancements or like full sets fills. I couldn't do acrylic but I was doing gel, nail art and all that stuff. And it's like, I kind of, I didn't want to be one of the same. Again, my individual experience.

Speaker 2 (18:09)

That had to be hard though. That had to be difficult.

Speaker 1 (18:11)

It was

extremely hard and very unpopular. Let me tell you. Very unpopular. Yes. Also, when I obtained my podologist certification, which a podologist, if you don't know what it is, actually the US does not recognize a podologist as a medical professional. So you have different levels of foot care. You have your pedicurist, which is the more cosmetic, spa-like foot service. Then you have a foot care nurse.

certified foot care nurse, is a nurse that has her license and everything, takes an extra certification. Then they can do some sort of foot care at a podiatrist office, at a hospital, elderly care, all those places. Then you have a podologist, which is not a podiatrist, but it's kind of like a step down. So we are able to recognize a lot of the foot ailments, a lot of issues with the toenails.

What can we do about it? What treatments are good? What products work and whatnot? And we are learned to like, we learn how to recognize a lot of issues. In some countries, they can prescribe medication, they can do certain surgeries, very basic, but still foot care kind of treatments. Applediatrist is the medical doctor. It's a doctor that goes to medical school, does their four, seven, eight year journey, depending, they learn how to do surgery, amputations, ulcer, diabetic care.

And so on and so on. So this is the the top I would love to become a podiatrist, but the journey is too long and too expensive So for me, it's not realistic to do that at this age and not at this point of life But I became a podologist because I wanted to be right there Within my scope of practice, of course the things that I can do the things that I cannot do and really help clients So that's how I became a podologist Yeah, so

In this process, my heart was really singing when it came to foot care, to really helping clients address those issues. And what really inspired me more or jumped me into that direction was to hear from clients saying, I went to my doctor, they didn't do anything. I went to my podiatrist, he just looked at my feet and told me to go get a pedicure. I went to a dermatologist, they refused to test my toenail for fungus. I mean,

so many people that went to the appropriate channels, but they didn't get help. So then I felt like I really want to be that person that could help them as long as I could, you know, and knowing when to then refer to a medical professional. So that's basically how it shaped into. So then when we were open, when we were ready to open, I actually just jumped right in and it was like a fresh start for me. Like we're not doing this anymore. We're focusing on this now.

and how I can rebrand. It became the process of like looking for a name and what does it mean? you know.

Speaker 2 (21:12)

So yeah, how did you come up with your name? How did you come up with the name?

Speaker 1 (21:15)

Yeah, so Meliora is actually a Latin word and it means things continue to improve. So Meliora not only sounds beautiful, it's the meaning behind it. I didn't want to be like Yali does nails or Yali nails. Like it wasn't about that. It was about conveying a message to the customer. Like we mean business and we're going to help you here and things are going to change.

Speaker 2 (21:24)

Smell your own.

Speaker 1 (21:39)

So that's basically how my Leora turned. And then the nail part is still living, but it's no longer the nail studio or the place where I do pedicures. The nail part now has become an education hub. So I also educate other pedicures to be so they can help their clients the same way I'm helping mine.

Speaker 2 (21:56)

Yeah, that's awesome. I didn't know that. That's fantastic. Half the stuff I didn't really know. So let me ask you this. I didn't realize until I started, you know, hanging out with you and getting to know you and your business more how. How competitive. The beauty industry can be. Did you get a lot of?

Did you get a lot of shit from other people in the industry about what you're trying to do? Did they try to like diminish you or what was that? What was that like with your peers in the same industry?

Speaker 1 (22:38)

Actually, it was the total opposite.

Speaker 2 (22:42)

Was it really?

Speaker 1 (22:43)

I started hearing, good, because I don't like to do feet. Everybody with gnarly feet to you. you do feet, you don't do hands. thank God. I was looking for somebody that was clean that knows what they're doing so they can help my clients. So instead of being like, who, I have had a few, but I can count them with my fingers where they're like, who you think you is, you know, kind of like that attitude, you know.

But the majority were so happy that somebody was doing it because unfortunately, feet is one of those things that is there's such shame around it. There's such a disgust around it. And if people understood that feet are just another limb and they're actually cleaner than your own hands.

Speaker 2 (23:29)

Yeah, why do you think why do you think there's such like where does that come from you think because I am that way like I am I'm not a feet person.

Speaker 1 (23:40)

I just think it comes from misconceptions and what people have seen and not understanding. So for example, we are taught how to eat well, how to take care of our skin, how to take care of our hair, how to take care of a lot of things about our body. No one talks about foot care. No one talks about how to take care of your feet.

how to identify the proper shoe, how to, know, when is a good time to start seeking help if you see something funky on your toes, right? No one talks about that. And also it's cultural. A lot of cultures believe back in the day that if you had a certain feet type or a certain size, you were noble, you were deemed ready to marry, you were beautiful, you know? So then that's where we hear the horror stories about the Chinese foot binding, for example.

Speaker 2 (24:32)

That's

right.

Speaker 1 (24:33)

Yes, which was a practice that happened over 100 years ago. I think there's still a lady alive from that era where they believe that if you have small feet, you're actually good to marry or you can be noble. So these women since little, because your feet are very multiple when you are a toddler, they start binding your foot with fabrics and gods or whatever, and then just making it into a shape.

to fit the smaller shoe size. And the consequence for that was a lot of deformities, a lot of issues, and, you know, kind of comes from that kind of cultural, you know, thinking. Also things like people that were in the military, for example, that used to get those, you know, feet terrible with fungus and a lot of things. It's one of those things that it's like nobody wants to talk about. So much so that even

medical practitioners, if they're generalists, they don't talk about feet. They don't know anything about your feet. That's why they created a branch called podiatrist. Right? So it's like a medical specialist that only focuses on feet. but I think it's that it's the lack of knowledge, the lack of education and all the things that we talk about nowadays in this era, feet are revere in other ways. They're considered more sexual. They're considered more, you know, who,

who deems, who says that a foot is beautiful or not, right? So we're starting to see all these things of like feet finder and taking pictures and selling sit pictures. So it had gone the all the way around in this era, but we're still not understanding how feet works. It's just amazing.

Speaker 2 (26:20)

I mean people are unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (26:24)

They are. They're

a subcategory for ugly feet. So I could be a millionaire right now, but I don't do that. I love my clients and I want them to show their feet. know, so it is very bizarre to me that misconception about feet being ugly, know, disgusting, ill, they stink. Well, there's an explanation for all of that.

You know, we just need to be talking about it the same way we teach people to put their moisturizer, their serums, their anti-aging stuff. We should be talking how to take care of your feet properly. Because if you think about it, feet is the foundation of our body. And I know some people might find this a little boring, but think about that. Where would you be without your feet? And the smallest deviation, the smallest deviation that can be caused by shoes, for example, can cause knee problems,

Speaker 2 (27:10)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (27:19)

hip problems, lower back pain, so many problems start at the feet.

Speaker 2 (27:25)

Yeah, yeah, I agree. Like, I learned a lot hanging out with you. No, I'm seriously like and detecting disease too with your feet and stuff like that. Like, I never I never

Speaker 1 (27:37)

of issues

Speaker 2 (27:40)

feet.

I never I never even thought about that or it wasn't one of the things that I thought about until you were like, you know, taking me to church. I know about the feet. I was like, Whoa, are you serious? Like there's so much I never thought of.

Speaker 1 (27:44)

I'm a f-

For example, 80 % of the people are wearing the wrong shoes. Nobody knows that. You know, 75 % of the knee replacement surgeries is because of your feet. You change the way you walk by having the wrong shoes. Nobody talks about that. It's crazy. It's crazy. So as you can see, that's why I'm so passionate about it. And also I was feeling the frustration of people.

Speaker 2 (28:01)

Yeah.

That's great.

Speaker 1 (28:25)

going to these medical professionals in not getting the care that they need. And again, it's not to attack them. It's just pointing out how unfortunately the topic of money and care, you know, that line has been blurred. Now certain medical professionals, if they look at you and they go, insurance is only going to pay me like 10 bucks for this, go get a pedicure somewhere else. And then they just dismiss the client.

That's why we're seeing all these foot care issues in your life. But wait a minute, they're podiatrists. Why they're not helping? Insurance, money, all that stuff.

Speaker 2 (29:05)

That is sad.

Speaker 1 (29:07)

I have so many stories of people that the podiatrists could have done something and they didn't. They chose not to.

Speaker 2 (29:15)

because of insurance?

Speaker 1 (29:17)

because of insurance, how much would they make out of that? So essentially, again, my apologies, if you're a podiatrist listening to this, this is not an attack on you. This is just an attack on the system. I have had clients that a podiatrist could have helped and they turn them away because they are focusing more on the things that are bringing money, which is amputation, surgeries, diabetic care on certain areas.

It is very, very sad. had a gentleman that if you don't mind me sharing, this is the most prominent one. is a gentleman that called me once and said, do you take over overweight clients? And I thought that was such an odd question. And I said, yes, of course. So when he came through the door, that's how, when I saw him, was like, oh, this is what he called. My man was big.

you know, and he sits down on my chair and my chair who can lift large amounts of weights will not lift him. And so I had to do his pedigree on the floor. So when I asked him what was going on, he said that he went to the podiatrist for help because due to his weight, he could not reach his feet. And he can tell that there are some funky things looking in his feet. And so he wanted somebody to

look at them and really help them. The podiatrist looked at him, looked at his feet and said, all you need to do is lose weight so then you can reach your feet and go get a pedicure. Didn't do anything, okay? No service, no trimming, no nothing, no an evaluation, nothing. Dispatch him, he started going to pedicure places and the majority of the pedicure places

are what are this what we call like the fast salons, right? Yeah, stand our pedicure chair, you have your bowl of water, and it's a fast kind of pedicure service. Well, what happened was, my dude, every time he will go to a nail salon, they will look at him and just by looking at him say, No, no service. No, because he will not fit on the chairs. Also, they didn't want to deal with him. So when I take a look at his feet, because they must be absolutely terrible if nobody wants to see him, right?

My dude only had two, no, three toenails that were thick on each foot. A little bit of what it seems like fungus on the toenail. He has calluses due to the pressure on his feet because of his weight. And that was it. That was it. This is something that the podiatrist could have taken a sample to check that is in fact fungus. He could have trimmed the toenails.

He could have cleaned the toenails. He could have prescribed him medication for the fungal infection if it's in fact a fungal infection and he could have absolutely treated the scoliosis. But my guess, cause again, I don't know. My guess is when the podiatrist look at my dude and saw that this was such a basic need and the insurance probably was gonna pay him less than $50. He said, he's not worth my time.

Speaker 2 (32:23)

Wow.

Speaker 1 (32:40)

go get a pedicure and lose weight. Wow. That is crazy to me.

Speaker 2 (32:45)

That is crazy.

Speaker 1 (32:47)

crazy. That is easy. He just one example of so many people that have been looking for help for years and nobody helps them.

Speaker 2 (32:58)

Was that was that surprising? When you started? Yeah, was that surprising for you to hear that?

Speaker 1 (33:05)

Absolutely. You why? Because in beauty schools, they tell us, this is only what you can do. And if you cannot do it, if it's outside of your scope of practice, you refer to a medical professional, right? Well, we're doing that. We're referring to the doctor, but then the client, when it goes to the doctor, they don't want to help them. So what is the client set to do? What are they supposed to do? I got into it. I have a confession. I got into it with a podiatrist once.

Speaker 2 (33:26)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:34)

because I'm taking a training with her, a medical diatrist. And she's telling us in the class that if she has a client in her office, a diabetic, for example, that has like a really bad corn or callus, insurance only pays her $15 to do that. Therefore, it's not worth her time. She's going to send her to get a pedicure. then I naturally raised my hand as a rebel child that I am.

and that I will always be. And I said, how can you do that? And she's like, what do you mean? said, why? Why will you not deem this person worth your time? You know, in our scope of practice as a pedicurist, we're not allowed to remove calluses at court, that's only allowed on their medical professional or a podiatrist. And she said, well,

And she's like, well, it's just the $15 is not worth my time. And I said, I understand that, but one, it wouldn't have taken you that long for $15. And two, isn't that a violation of your oath? And she did not like that. And I said, because if we're not allowed to remove it, you know me, I'm a rebel. If we're not allowed to remove it, and then I send them to you, which is what the law is telling me to do. I send them to you and you say, you're not worth my time.

then that client is in a limbo. Cannot go to a pedicurist to get it done, but a podiatrist will not see him. So isn't that a violation of your oath that you're not given the care that they need just because of money? Let's say that we took a break after that and she did not talk to me the rest of the class.

Speaker 2 (35:19)

weird.

Speaker 1 (35:21)

And surprisingly, other pedicures that were there with me, they said, thank you for saying something because it is outrageous. You know, I'm thinking about my mother, my diabetic grandma. I'm thinking about all the people in my family that need foot care that when they go to those doctors, they just see as dollar sign. And they determine based on their coverage if they're worth their time or not. That is infuriating to me.

Speaker 2 (35:48)

that, that, yeah. And it's, what it's

Speaker 1 (35:51)

I'm gonna

become a podiatrist, but I can't afford it, but if I would, I will see everybody. There will be lines of people.

Speaker 2 (36:01)

Let's talk about, let's talk, let's switch gears a little bit and talk about your business experience. So, you know, you started working with somebody, then you left and did you go right to opening up your place or was there something in between that that happened?

Speaker 1 (36:25)

I started renting a booth. Then I switched, as COVID made us switch, right? And then I started on my own again in a nail suite. They're very common. Now these collectives that you were in the studio and, it's just yourself. And I was doing that for three years. I'm sorry, for two years. And then I decided to open my salon because I felt that I was growing out of the space. So the idea morph into.

Speaker 2 (36:26)

your story.

Speaker 1 (36:55)

maybe I can train some people as I'm educating, right? And then have other personnel help with the maintenance of this foot care. So the idea was I was gonna see the initial client, address whatever they needed to address and then pass it to this pedicurist who was gonna be like the maintenance to go to every six to eight weeks, right? So I thought that I grown out the space, I really wanted to expand because I saw the need for this kind of service.

And it's not about the money. was about helping people. So it was like, let's,

Speaker 2 (37:29)

natural

progression of it's a natural progression

Speaker 1 (37:32)

of

business for the next step. Yes. So then I moved to a bigger salon, had more chairs and then, just started recruiting people and, it is not easy. It is not easy. I thought, I thought I can recruit a nail technician that their sole purpose is to help people. I will train them in the way I do things. And, I really wanted to be different too, in terms of employment.

because in this beauty industry, it is very difficult, if not almost impossible, to find a salon that hires employees, that is not booth renting, that provides benefits, that provides a good fair pay, and that treats them well. Usually is the other way around in the stories that we hear, where they are commission only, they get their tips stolen, or they overwork them for a mystery pay, and there's no benefits.

Or the other option was rent a space, which you become your own business, which is great. It's a great option for a lot of people. It's what's been around for a while. But again, not everybody's geared to have their own business. They just want to do this type of job because they like it, but they don't want to manage the whole admin part of it. So I thought it was going to be great, you know, become that employer that everybody wants to come and work for because she's providing everything that the industry is not.

And it did not go well. So ask me anything you want about that.

Speaker 2 (39:06)

Yeah. yeah. I want to get into that. So the, of the main, the big differences besides what you do, you know, more of the medical part of it is with that there's more time. So you don't have, so you're seeing a client for what, maybe an hour.

Speaker 1 (39:26)

Yes, initially their appointments are hour and 15, hour and 30. A lot of things to cover.

Speaker 2 (39:30)

Yeah. And then so

yeah. And as it comes with, you know, the other, you know, like you said, the stop and go over my lunchtime, you know, that to me is a huge difference. Immediately. Did you have any, did you have any pushback from clients who came in? Like, there a, okay, tell me.

Speaker 1 (39:51)

There

were other things going on. I had the salon running. I have my classes that I teach throughout the year, plus the clients that I see. Plus I was the boss. So I had too many jobs, too many hats. So it was really spread thin, which really started affecting everything. But the pushback I got from clients, surprisingly, because this caught me out of surprise. I never thought the clients will get this way.

When I started introducing new people, I got a lot of push rep from my clients. I don't want to see nobody but you. And I'm like, I understand that. However, my books are full. I really, you really don't need that much of a care anymore, meaning like treatments and stuff like that. You are already in the maintenance, which is an awesome milestones to celebrate. Therefore, I'm going to move you to my people because...

you don't need that type of care. need to see new people that have that issue and they will not bolt. They will not not take the new girls, not everybody wanted with the owner. And it was so challenging. Even though I, I'm not afraid of making this conversations and talking to the client about it, but it was very challenging to feel that, to get the feedback. And then to get back in my books, they will say things like, it's not the same.

where it's not the same quality of service. It's like, it is, it's just you want me and the conversations that we have, which is great. I love you guys, but please, we need to see more people. And it was never about the money. I never made this about being quick rich or anything. I just wanted to make enough money to pay my people fairly and what I promised them and for other people to start having that care so we can start rotating clients so we can see new ones, you know? Cause there comes to a point where

Speaker 2 (41:24)

Yeah?

Speaker 1 (41:42)

There's only so many days a week that you work so many hours a day that you work. So there's only so many clients you can see on a monthly basis. And it's like, eventually you don't have space for new clients and that's not good either. know, everybody wants their books full, which is amazing. Congratulations if you've made it there. But then you have a lot of new people that you cannot fit in that they not, they're not getting the care. So you're in that stuck in the middle.

Speaker 2 (42:09)

Yeah. So your, you know, your answer to that was to hire more people. Right. And so how did that go?

Speaker 1 (42:16)

Correct.

Not well.

Speaker 2 (42:23)

Tell

me about it. Okay. I don't want to make I don't want to make light of it. It's okay. But just tell me about

Speaker 1 (42:28)

The biggest

challenge that I faced hiring Neltex is that there's two things going on that are setting us for failure. One is the schools that they are falsely promising that if you're gonna be a Neltex, you're gonna be making six figures right away. You're gonna be making all this money. That booth renting is your only option. That you should not be an employee.

And I get it. There's so many horror stories about it. And the industry kind of made a name about that on their own. And that's something that I'm fighting against, right? Not being a good workplace, not being a good employer, la la la. I get it. But then the second part that's also against us or is very challenging for us employers is social media. I will have people tell me, I have seen what other nail techs can do. What you're offering is not enough.

And what they were talking about was videos of other professionals saying, you know, like a voiceover of like, today I made this full set of nail art and I charged the client $250 plus tip, right? And that is not realistic. I said it, I'm sorry if you're a nail technician and you're angry at me right now, but that is not realistic for every nail technician and pedicurist that is in the world. Why?

Speaker 2 (43:40)

Wow.

Speaker 1 (43:54)

because it depends where you are. depends what kind of services and the level of skill and education that you have. So for me to say that right away after school, you're going to be making $250 per full set. That is not true. Right? then I was offering $20 an hour, 40 hours a week, or even more up to 45, uh, with full benefits, insurance, health insurance, retirement, education funds. So they can continue their education.

Speaker 2 (44:06)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (44:23)

vacation time up to 40 hours and five sick days. Who doesn't want that?

Speaker 2 (44:31)

to repeat that one more time.

Repeat that for the people in the back who didn't hear what you just said. So how much an hour?

Speaker 1 (44:38)

$20 an hour for up to 45 hours a week with health insurance, retirement pay, vacation time for up to 40 hours, five sick days, and education funds so they can continue their education. On top of that, I offer to renew their license, and I also provided everything, products, materials, equipment,

everything, the only thing they needed to do was come in their uniform and come to work on time, of course, and do their services. Nothing else. No social media posting, no emailing, no. Well, they will have to answer the phone once in a while. Can you kill me for that? Come on. Right now. And still people said to my face, that's not enough. I know that I can make so much more than that. You know, I even had somebody that said to me, is the person who

recently graduated from nail school, had no salon experience, no other experience other than regular jobs, and said to me, $20 an hour? I respect myself enough to know that I'm not gonna work for somebody that pays the same as McDonald's.

Speaker 2 (45:52)

Wow.

Speaker 1 (45:53)

just like that. And I said to this person, well, McDonald's versus working here. Hmm, let's see what are the differences. I'm like, first of all, you don't get full benefits with McDonald's. Second of all, you don't get full time sometimes. You are guaranteed full time. So I'm giving you all the clients. And third, working for McDonald's, are you really polishing your skills and getting, you know, are you gonna be able to grow? I had plans of expansions. I had plans of,

having multiple locations and I needed leaders. I needed people that wanted to grow, you know? But it seems like at that time, it was not the right time for me. Very hard.

Speaker 2 (46:31)

Yeah.

And I think, you know, we talked about this before, you know, it's people, certain people in certain industries believe they deserve better and they don't need to pay their dues. Like their dues were paid when they finished their the the schooling or the education. It's like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

because you don't, may know how to do a nail, but do you know how to do a ledger? Do you know how to do a schedule? Do you know, do you know how to do your taxes? Do you know what, forms that fell out in taxes? Like, do you know what permits to have if you're going to open up your own? Like it's, there's so many things that

Speaker 1 (47:17)

behind the scenes, all so many things.

Speaker 2 (47:19)

that you know what you were teaching him and I don't think you know I don't want to speak over you but like what drove me crazy because I you were telling me about this when it was happening is like you're you're not just teaching them how to be a nail technician you were teaching them how to be a business owner and and you were teaching them the next level I I just think that and I don't want to make it a generational thing but like it just it

certain people don't, they believe that they need to make the money now without paying their dues. they like, doesn't, that doesn't apply to them.

Speaker 1 (47:59)

Correct. And it's because like any other business owner faces, know, employees see what we charge, right? And they're thinking that you come home and you have a pool full of money and you're just swimming and butterfly strokes on all your, all over your money. And that's not the truth. You know, people will say to me, well you're charging $150 for a pedicure. How can you not pay me more? Well, we're talking about that. I supply your products.

that are very expensive when we're talking about foot care. I'm talking about high quality products. I'm not going to your typical nail supply store and getting like cheap files and buffers and the whole thing. No, I actually have almost medical equipment. Okay. That is very expensive. I'm providing you not only your pay, but also the benefits that cost money. You know, it's not like I just like take a magic wand. It's like,

baby baby boo you have health care like it doesn't happen that way it costs money you know yeah plus you have the overhead you have you know and i will say this and some business owners might think i am absolutely nuts and i am i'm proud to say it there were times where i did not pay myself

Good. Okay, High five from here since you're listening to me. Thank you so much for holding.

Speaker 2 (49:23)

I want you to understand that's not what you should do. I'm just saying, you're not the only one who does that.

Speaker 1 (49:29)

But it happened, you know, and they don't get to see that part. They don't get to see that, you know. The other challenge that I face is because I educate and I educate internationally. Yeah, that's right. at least a week out of certain months or even two weeks traveling, teaching people and everything, which is great. I love teaching. didn't know I was going to be a good teacher. And maybe it's because I'm passionate about it. So there were some resentment built.

over that because it's like, you, yes, you leave and you leave us here. And so they're thinking that I'm traveling, I'm seeing all these amazing places and you know, and that in all this stuff is on the back of their money. And it's like, no, no, no, no. When I go and educate, I actually take a flight, go to my location, educate, take a flight, go home. I don't have a chance to go, you know, touring or visiting new places because I have clients, I have appointments to come back to. I have a business to run.

Speaker 2 (50:01)

from your employees.

Speaker 1 (50:29)

You know, and no, the money that I actually have to do this education comes from the education. I had nothing to do with the money at the salon. I will not touch it. So it resentment too of people seeing all these things. And instead of like striving to become that or to get to that point as I did, because I had to carve my own way, my own path, they just got resentful.

and bitter about it. It was such a wild experience because it was nothing what I thought it was. It was nothing what I thought it would be. It was very stressful. I cried so many times. I wanted to give up so many times because I just, you know, in my mind, I've been an employee for so long. In my mind, if you take care of your employees, they'll take care of your business. But that has changed. That has changed dramatically.

Speaker 2 (51:02)

That's crazy.

Speaker 1 (51:29)

You know, people are having these jobs, but it's not about taking pride of where they're working. They just want quick money so they can go spending on something else.

Speaker 2 (51:39)

Yeah, and you know, and this is part of the whole social media kick, you know, I truly believe, you know, they see these guys on YouTube, I can be a YouTuber. I can make all this money right away. And they think that that's their ticket. But it's like, no, that is like, are that is a one half of a percent of the population can do that. And they get lucky.

Speaker 1 (51:50)

Bye.

Speaker 2 (52:07)

A lot of them just get lucky into it and they fail. Look how many.

Speaker 1 (52:12)

The

social media is a full-time job.

Speaker 2 (52:14)

how

many people panicked when they found out TikTok was gonna be banned? Like, and I got stuff to say about that. But like, you know, what did you think was going to happen? This should be a wake up call and be like, what is your backup plan? And what's your backup to the backup plan? If COVID taught us anything, it's like the people who survived were the ones who were able to pivot, the ones who were ready

Speaker 1 (52:18)

Yes.

Speaker 2 (52:42)

and the ones who were creative and think in the gray. Correct. see what else is missing. but that's a different conversation. So, anyway, so you're the employee thing didn't work ultimately, right? No. So what did you Did you close up shop? What happened?

Speaker 1 (53:02)

So what happened was everything came imploding down. So when I do educations, I plan it for the whole year, because there's so many logistics that needs to be done, know, hotels and locations and here and that. So this year, this educations are, these classes are advertised a year in advance and people start signing up. So it's not something that I could get out of unless there's like a real emergency. So what happened was,

I had a couple of events and classes coming up between July and August. So I was going to be out for the most part. And what happened was the my team just decided to ask for a ridiculous amount of money, 10 grand to be exact. And when I said no, yes, because they have seen social media, they know they can do better than that.

Speaker 2 (54:00)

I'm talking about man.

Speaker 1 (54:01)

And

they also threw in my face that they're young and they don't need health insurance. So, you know, I don't need to pay for that. Yeah, they really said that to my face. And when I decided to say, look, let's break down what you don't think you're thinking, you're not making money, right? But let's break it down. So I started breaking down the value of everything and show them that they're actually making money. Now, how they spend it, that's not my problem.

Speaker 2 (54:09)

Did they really say that?

Speaker 1 (54:31)

When I said no, they decided to walk down. So they walked out on me on a full day of appointments.

Speaker 2 (54:37)

They walked out on you, I didn't know that part.

Speaker 1 (54:40)

Yeah, they put their key on the table and just left. So then, yes. So, take a second here.

Speaker 2 (54:48)

It's shit.

Speaker 1 (54:57)

Sorry, I'm on a call right now. Okay. Sorry, somebody's trying to come in. Yes. So, my gosh, that day, how can I describe it? It was so surreal. I'm going to be honest. Like I was having this conversation. I thought I had it. I thought I convinced them and made them see, you know, the benefits. Plus we're building a name. We're building a brand and like people are getting to know the brand and know that if you work here, you're good. Right. So you have other opportunities after working with me.

because you're going to be so trained. mean, the education that I have to be able to do this, I've spent over 30 grand in just education, just education. And this is not even counting beauty school. Okay. So I am giving you a path to start working with me, get to know all this knowledge so you can, you know, better serve. So it's not going to cost you 30 grand. what happened was they walked out and I just froze.

I don't know how to explain it. I just stared at the floor trying to understand what the heck just happened. So the first client came in that was not for me and I just said, I'm sorry, my team just walked out and she's like, what? And I was like, yeah, I don't know how to react to this. mean, to this day, I still don't even know how to, you know, it was just so surreal. So I had to cancel all the appointments.

I canceled over a hundred appointments because the months this happened like end of June, the months that were coming up, I was not going to be here. So I started hiring on the go.

Speaker 2 (56:37)

or you were leaving to go train or to do the educating.

Speaker 1 (56:40)

We

booked ahead. We booked two, three months ahead. So we were booked, but it was the team who was going to handle it. And, I had to cancel all that. And I went and did my classes, which was awful because I just couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen. felt so bad. had so many clients that were reaching out to me. When can I get in? When can I get in? Where can you refer me? And unfortunately the standards for beauty are so low that I just don't trust a lot of people.

to refer my clients to, you know, it's kind of, I have made a name to the point that it's like, once you're here, you kind of don't go back to other stuff. So I just didn't know what to do. And so I started hiring in a desperate fashion, you know, you want to work, come here, you know, I just like, that's how it was. As long as you had your license, it wouldn't matter the experience, you know, and it's just in a workout because you can't hire.

on the go like that. You can't be desperate. You need to have a plan. an experienced nail technicians, they're set on certain ways and they don't want to start over. They don't want to go to nowhere else. I couldn't find experienced technicians. I did interview newcomers and people that just recently graduated from school and they seemed promising, but I just didn't have the time to train them because I was going to be gone. So

I just said, OK, I'm going to temporarily close for those months because I'm going to be out. In the process, I'm still going to be hiring. I interview over 25 people. No luck. Between those, I had the one that told me that she was not going to work for somebody that paid the same as McDonald's. So another person said, I just want to rent a booth, and I just don't go without operation.

Speaker 2 (58:26)

Donald's.

Speaker 1 (58:35)

So it was just, it was crazy. And the ones that said yes, they were so green that I just didn't have the time to train them. So then in one of my classes, I actually get COVID from a student. So I am extremely sick. Yeah, I'm extremely sick. I get the long COVID. So I'm out. So I'm out June, July, August, and September, mid September. At this point, my lease is up.

My lease of three years is up and the lease owner is asking me if I'm going to renew it. I want to renew it, but don't tie me to another three years. They will not negotiate for another year. And I'm like, look, I just lost my team. I just need time to regroup. Let me renew for one year. I've been a good tenant. I've never been late. Like I behave. Let me keep it for one more year until I figure it out what's going to happen. And then I'll sign three years off. Heck, I'll sign five. I love this location. They will not negotiate with me.

They wanted three years period and they were going to raise the rent. so I just, I'm going to be super honest and raw with you. I fell into this deep, deep depression. I, I'm a very high functional person. I live under stress. Stress is my thing. You know, I know how to manage myself on the stress. It's not a healthy choice, but

you learn how to cope. But I have never been in any if I am depressed, I can be a high functional depressed person, you know, I can still work, you know, and just kind of like push the problem. Keep going again, not healthy. when you're a business owner, you can't really feel the feels at certain points. But this time, it was out of my control. My body shut down, my mind shut down. I just I couldn't.

to the point that I didn't want to take showers. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to get out of bed. I wanted to grow roots in bed. The idea of having to get out of bed and go to the bathroom was so hard. So my husband, of course, he panicked. He panicked and he's like, I can't believe that you're here. I left at 4.30 in the morning to go to work and it's 4 p.m. and you're still in the same position I left you in bed.

You know, so he didn't know what to do. I just had no energy. And I said to him, I'm done. I'm giving up. I'm closing forever. I'm going to take like a year hiatus and then just like take a break. I can't. And he said to me, no, you're not.

Speaker 2 (1:01:21)

Good for him.

Speaker 1 (1:01:22)

And me acting like a toddler, I'm like, you can't tell me what to do. I'm going to take a year off and that's it. You know, and he's like, no, you love what you do. You will, you will wither if you don't do what you're doing. So we pivot again, but this time he was holding my hand because again, I just couldn't think. And I am so grateful for him for thinking outside of the box and for knowing what I needed at the time where I didn't even know what I needed.

So we ended up closing the salon and ended up not renewing. I was gonna go back to the studio that I used to be, but unfortunately that has gone up really quick in price. So I felt like I will have to work insanely again to just make the rent. So I was like, what am I gonna do? And my husband said, it's time to go home. It's time to work from home. And I was like, no, I don't wanna do that. I mean, I fought him.

in everything. I don't even know how this man is still with me. I, Priscilla is so cute. He's so good. You met Sergio, you know, he's like the quiet mellow.

Speaker 2 (1:02:32)

He's

totally chill.

Speaker 1 (1:02:34)

Yes. so I'm really grateful that he pushed and he, you know, made me continue in a, in a time where I really wanted to quit Ben. Like I just, I just couldn't and you know that. so what we ended up doing is, we moved the shop to the salon and it's not inside my house. we actually bought an RV camping trailer and, now this is our work. I'm very excited about that. I didn't think I going to like

Speaker 2 (1:03:04)

What makes you most excited about that? Like what's the one thing that's like, man, I like of all things, I love this part about having working out of the mobile salon.

Speaker 1 (1:03:18)

Surprisingly, it's not that I'm working from home. I've never worked from home. I actually thought I was not going to like it. I do, but it's not the most exciting part. The most exciting part is, surprisingly to me, that I went back to my roots, meaning I'm one-on-one with my client again. It's no longer a big salon. It's no longer more people. It's no longer me having to manage all this. It's the one-on-one, personalized, coziness, of like personal service.

And although I will not be able to see everybody or there will be long waiting times, I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that because it's like I have renewed the love for it, whereas again about the client and not about me or about the business, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (1:04:08)

I completely get it.

Speaker 1 (1:04:10)

Yeah. And I love it. And my clients love it. I didn't know how they were going to be the reaction because I had a huge salon. It was so beautiful. I turned it around. It was a mess and I turned it so pretty. So I did a lot of work and moving out actually hurt me and broke my heart. I cry so many times. I cry packing. I cry cleaning. I cry turning the key. I mean, so many things. wasn't beautiful.

Yeah, but I'm glad that I had to happen and I'm glad that I was able to pivot and I'm glad that I had a partner to that helped me during that process because I've encountered something like this before.

Speaker 2 (1:04:45)

Amen.

Amen to everything you just said. I, know, before disclosure, I knew this story. But I have to say, too, like when you would call and you would be upset. And it was kind of funny because, you know, Sergio and I said the exact same thing. You want to take a year off? Yeah, right. Like, give me a break.

Speaker 1 (1:05:14)

You

Speaker 2 (1:05:14)

Like you'll be you'll be taking off your year and by the first hmm month You'll be chomping at the bit. You yeah, you'll be going crazy And I'm just so proud that you did You did it you are doing it and you didn't let your pride get in the way and You got back to the roots and that's the way it's supposed to be and sometimes, you know

Speaker 1 (1:05:22)

because

Speaker 2 (1:05:44)

I asked, I remember asking you, I go, do you feel now? And you were like, my goodness. Like the weights lifted off of my shoulders.

Speaker 1 (1:05:51)

Yes, for sure.

Speaker 2 (1:05:54)

I just I just can't I mean when I see somebody as passionate about what they do like you are I Root for you like then you don't you don't even understand like how much I root for you So

Speaker 1 (1:06:08)

Thank you. You know,

the whole thing hasn't been easy. I still haven't figured out like work-life balance. I haven't figured out so many other things.

Speaker 2 (1:06:16)

Yeah,

what are you working on? how are you working on that? How are you working on the work-life balance? Is that something you have been working on or?

Speaker 1 (1:06:24)

Yes. Something that I took from all this experience, all the, you know, the headaches, the crying nights, everything, the breaking hearts and everything and the disappointments and the anger really. Something that I unfortunately had to be truthful about and like really talk to myself and be like, look, this is what happened. You have to own it and how we are not going to repeat this mistake.

So what happened was last year for me was I really fell into the trap of the hustle culture. The you need to hustle, hustle, hustle. And the more you work, the more successful you're gonna be and the more things are you gonna have. And then you fall into this lie that society is telling you that you have 24 hours like everybody else and you need to be working the 24 hours to just make it to the top.

Right. So I felt for that. I felt for that. even though, you know, my 24 hours are not the same as Beyonce, but I digress. I just think it's such a BS that we're feeding people and we're stressing everybody out. Right. So then in my mind, I was thinking, okay, cool. I have the salon. my goal will be to make it run without me so I can open another one, and just become this.

place where not only clients are getting the care that they need, but also no technicians can develop their career and have a career with purpose and all this stuff. At the same time, I'm going to be educating and elevating the industry and elevating the services. And, you know, I didn't go to this day with my husband, but it's okay because this is all going to pay off. Right. So what I did was I sacrifice so much without knowing I was working so much.

so much Ben that I neglected my family, I neglected my friends, I neglected myself. And I think everything that happened in 2024 was a hard lesson for me so I can learn where my priorities should be and to understand that the hustle culture is not real, you know? And that if you prioritize work and money,

You're going to lose it all. But if you prioritize family and what's important for you and self-care, the rest is going to come. I had a great lesson by a client of mine who used to be a business owner and now is retired and sold it to his son, very successful, that said to me, Yali, at the end of the day, when you prioritize family, clients are going to respect that. And they're going to keep coming because they know that you're going to be a family person.

And at the time, to me, it sounded like, oh, that must be great. That was back in the seventies. Cool. Now I have to hustle, you know? But it is true. I neglected my family so much that I didn't even take my husband on one single date in 2024. I didn't take a family vacation at all in 2024. So I sacrificed so much. So at the end of the year, I was like, what do I have to show for?

I have my business imploded. Education is doing good, but I'm exhausted from all the traveling and all the energy that you are giving. And also I represent other companies that not necessarily have a long-term plan for me. So why am I wasting this time with them? And two, I neglected the person that cares about me, that loves me more than anything, the one that helped me get out of this mess.

You know, and it's like, I, unfortunately, I had to learn it that way because I was so focused about work. was so focused about the mission and making money and the society and that, and Eagle got the best of me. I'm just going to be honest, you know, Ooh, look at me. Somebody that can do it all. I educate. We're in a business, do pedicures. I almost lost everything. So now I have decided to.

be intentional about how I spend my time, you know, how much I do actually want to work and how much I'm actually going to get it dedicated for the family. And it has not been easy because the economy is fragile. There are so many scary things that I think about, you know, in terms of economy, things and that things going up, people, you know, you know, holding on to their money. These services are not, they are a necessity. But when it comes to

food or your food care, you're going to choose food. Like, how do I make the money to make sure I am financially stable with my family and everything, but without neglecting that important part of myself? You know? So now what I did was I reduced my days. I have, I work longer hours, but it's like on those specific days. And I am finally saying no, which

Speaker 2 (1:11:15)

Right. Yep.

Speaker 1 (1:11:40)

surprises a lot of people because I've always said yes, right? Because I care so much about what I do that I want everybody to be taken care of. And that's still true, but within the times that I said to work. it's a practice every day. I still have days that, you know, when somebody calls and they're like, this is really bothering me. No, I can't do that time. Or do you really have nothing else? And it's like, I want to get

Speaker 2 (1:11:56)

Yeah, it will be.

Speaker 1 (1:12:09)

But I have to be like, no, unfortunately, I don't have that time. This is what I have available. And then finding ways to, you know, still please people in that way. But again, I don't want to compromise that. I really don't. And I still want to focus on education, but I'm still not making it my priority anymore. So now instead of booking me booking myself every month for classes, I only have a month here and there. Like I am not doing so much this year.

Speaker 2 (1:12:39)

Yeah, good. I'm so proud. So what's the future look like for you and your business? So what what's where do you see your business in? By the way, we've been in the hour and 12 hour and 12 minutes. I know. We're wrapping up. We're wrapping it up though. But I want to know, okay, so where do see your business in five years?

Speaker 1 (1:12:56)

My

You know, even though the experience in 2024 was horrific, I am not afraid to try it again. Only with the right guidance and the right processes in place to make sure that I'm hiring the best candidates. I don't want to hire out of desperation or without a plan. That was my mistake. I did that. I just wanted to hire, train, and for them to start doing.

Speaker 2 (1:13:13)

But good.

Speaker 1 (1:13:32)

And you can do that when you are an employer, you need to have processes in place, you have to have, you need to really communicate what's expected of them. Because even though you think they're getting it, they're not, especially if they're young. Even though I'm an excellent communicator, but I just, I feel like I could have done better now looking at everything, you know, from the outside. So I definitely want to keep growing Meliora and I still want to try to have

a team. And I still want to pursue the idea of having multiple locations because this is a care that is so needed. So I'm still going to try with the education portion. I am working on some projects. So I still want to do this as well, because I do believe there's a huge need for better education, because unfortunately, beauty schools are not doing the work because we're based it. We're basing the education on a curriculum that is back in the 80s. And it's not

adjusting to modern times. So that's a challenge. So yeah, it's like, how can I elevate the industry and make sure that every no technician serves the community best, and also running the business. So for now, this year, I'm just focusing on how do I spend my time and working on those projects, if that makes sense. Yeah, I definitely don't want to give up and for people that know me, they know that I'm a dog with a bone. So when I want something, I'll go get it even.

If life kicks me, so I've been kicked, I'm going to go at it again. And that's why I drink rum.

Speaker 2 (1:15:09)

That's right.

Well, we are running out of time, but I want to give you this chance to promote yourself. Where can people find you if they want, if they're in the Vancouver area? Where can they make an appointment? Are you taking new customers? What would that look like? So I'll leave it up to you. So promote yourself.

Speaker 1 (1:15:40)

So with Meliora Beauty Clinique, I am always taking new clients. It might not be immediately, but I do have a waiting list. So I am located in Heasledale. You can go to Meliora Beauty Clinique, just the name of the business, .com to find out more about what is it that I do, the services that I provide, and make an appointment. You can do it online. You can call, you can text, all the information's on the website.

If you are a nail technician and this is something that interests you, hit me up. I also do the classes and everything. I'll be going all over. I'm an international educator, so I'll be going to Puerto Rico, to Salvador, to all over, Canada, everything. So we have all the dates in my other education page, which is the nail pot. So it's P as a Paul O T, the nail pot on Instagram. That's where I post all the classes.

So yeah, that's where you can find me. And if you just want to talk business or just somebody that you want to relate to or have a business friend, I'm here. Just hit me up on the socials.

Speaker 2 (1:16:42)

That's

That's awesome. And if you're a technician looking to go, yeah, gee, bilingual. And if you're looking like if you're a technician, like, I would say, if you want to learn from the best in this industry, and I'm not just saying that, I'm not just saying that, but like, who really wants to root for you and wants you to grow. Yali is the person to do that.

Speaker 1 (1:16:46)

And I Spanish too, by the way.

Speaker 2 (1:17:11)

I'm serious. if like have a seat, if you're serious about advancing your career in this industry, contact Yali and at least let her just talk to her. That's all I gotta say. Yeah. And buy her a shot of rum.

Of course Thank you. Yali. Thank you for the thank you for the ones who are watching and listening you guys are awesome and Yeah, we'll see you next time

Speaker 1 (1:17:49)

All right. Thank you guys. Bye.

Speaker 2 (1:17:52)

Do me a favor. Can you just say something nice about passages to success so I can use as a testimonial?

Speaker 1 (1:17:59)

absolutely. We didn't really get to talk about that.

Speaker 2 (1:18:01)

I know. We- you crushed it. I was letting you, like, speak.

Speaker 1 (1:18:06)

Like

Maybe post a question like, you want her back? Because then we can talk about other stuff. You know?

Speaker 2 (1:18:16)

Do you want who back? Do want her back?

Speaker 1 (1:18:19)

Yeah, like on social like do you want her again in the show?

Speaker 2 (1:18:24)

yeah, we could do that. I think I think you need to just do your own thing. And I'm not saying that not because I want you back, but like you need to do your own thing.

Speaker 1 (1:18:29)

hahahaha

I I thought about it, but I'm so expressed in.

Speaker 2 (1:18:40)

So here's the thing.

Speaker 1 (1:18:42)

And

then I always say, nobody wants to just listen to me, you know?

Speaker 2 (1:18:45)

So

here's the thing. It doesn't have to be difficult. What you do is you give me an hour. I can record you. And I can split it up into different segments and you can do whatever you want with it. It's that simple.

Speaker 1 (1:19:05)

Wait, what are we talking about?

Speaker 2 (1:19:06)

So let's say you wanted to, okay, let's say you want to do your own thing, right? But you don't have the time. Okay. You give me an hour.

Speaker 1 (1:19:14)

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 (1:19:16)

I can cut it up. So it doesn't have to, people think a podcast, think it's gotta be, you know, an hour long. No, it can be 10, 15 minutes long. You're just taking that, you're just cutting it up and all of a sudden you have, okay, an hour gives you like five to 10 different episodes if you want it to be.

Speaker 1 (1:19:27)

you cut it.

Yeah, okay, that's a good idea.

Speaker 2 (1:19:40)

in that way and you can release it once a month. So that's six months.

Speaker 1 (1:19:44)

Okay. Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 2 (1:19:47)

Yeah.

Okay. Hi, I'm Yali and I'm with Meliora Beauty Clinic, pedicure, clinical pedicure salon for your foot care needs. I have been a member of Passage Just to Success for over a year now and it has really Over two. Over two years?

Speaker 2 (1:20:13)

years.

Yeah. Two years. 2023 sister we're 2025. I know.

Speaker 1 (1:20:25)

Two years, two years, over two years. Hi, I'm Yali.

Speaker 2 (1:20:29)

Now we're keeping that in. That's awesome. We're keeping that.

Speaker 1 (1:20:31)

Yeah

Well, I'm going to start over just in case. Hi, I'm Yali. I'm the owner of Millera Beauty Clinique, a clinical pedicure wellness location for your foot care needs in Hazel Del Vancouver, Washington. I have been a member of Path of Justice Success for over two years. And I love it for so many reasons. Everybody there is amazing. They have so many relatable stories. They're very welcoming. And they have really

Speaker 2 (1:20:36)

Okay.

Speaker 1 (1:21:03)

helped me shape my business and grow it. And I just feel like besides having a network group, it's like a friends group. It's a friend group where I can just go and ask a question. And to my own surprise, I can see that they have been part of that journey as well. So they can give me some advice and some guidance so I don't have to repeat the same mistakes that they have done. So it has really helped me shape the business and grow it. So I'm really thankful for that.

especially for Ben. Ben has been my mentor, even though it's not an industry that he's in or he understands that well. But I love that he sees the passion in me and he keeps motivating me to keep going even on the very extreme hard times. And I come to realize that every decision that I make and everything is thinking about the advice that he's giving me and also