Send us Fan Mail

You blame the economy. You blame your competition. You blame your coaches, your clients, your suppliers, your staff.

When you look at the one consistent factor across all of it, it's always the business owner.

In this episode I walk you through the exact 10 problem framework I use to diagnose what's actually going wrong in a beauty business, the same process I use with my own clients, so you can stop guessing and start focusing on the one thing that will actually move the needle.

→ Why an inconsistent brand is quietly killing the trust you need before anyone will buy from you
 → The free strategy for getting your content in front of people who don't already follow you
 → Why volume in your marketing means nothing if it's not creating connection
 → The gap between engagement and actual enquiries, and what it means if you're stuck there
 → Why "it's too expensive" is almost never really about the money
 → The two reasons clients don't rebook, and which one is costing you more
 → How to be fully booked, six days a week, and still have nothing left over
 → Why cash flow and pricing are two separate problems that get blamed on each other
 → Why overwhelm in your business usually means a systems problem, not a hours problem
 → The one question I watched every seven figure business owner in the room answer the same way

If you've been blaming everyone and everything except yourself, this is the episode that changes that.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

You can be fully booked. Working six days a week. Getting new clients every week from your marketing.

And still have nothing left in your bank account.

That is not a revenue problem. That is a pricing problem.
In this episode I am walking you through the exact step-by-step process inside the Profitable Pricing Calculator, the same tool I have used with over 400 business owners to help them stop running a business that looks successful on the outside while quietly falling apart behind the scenes.

With the national minimum wage up 4.75%, Payday Super now live, and EFTPOS surcharge fees no longer passable to consumers from October 2026, your profit is already shrinking if your prices have not moved.

→ Why most beauty business owners are charging prices they have no idea are profitable or sustainable
→ The three ways to increase profit and why two of them will not work if pricing is broken from the start
→ How to calculate your exact breakeven cost per hour, per minute, and per service
→ The 80% capacity rule and why basing prices on full bookings sets you up to undercharge
→ How to work out real product costs service by service rather than relying on BDM estimates
→ What the calculator shows you that your accountant and bookkeeper will not walk you through
→ How to factor in GST, EFTPOS surcharge fees, and your tax bracket to see what you actually keep
→ Why 30% profit should be your floor and what to do if your services are nowhere close
→ The client who added over $100,000 in revenue in one year
→ The client who four X'd revenue and went from 5% profit to 32%
→ Why the businesses that do not fix their pricing now probably will not be here in twelve months
If you have been avoiding your numbers out of fear or shame, this is the episode that changes that.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

Most people think success comes from one big moment.

It does not.

I made over half a million dollars in my personal brand. I helped build a multimillion dollar business with my family. I turned $1,800 of ad spend into $81,000 in ticket sales from a single conversation most people would have never thought to have.

None of it happened by accident. It came down to six specific things.

In this solo episode I am walking you through all of them. Including the story of the billionaire I was too scared to message for four years, the moment I threw my phone across the room after finally hitting send, and exactly what he said in his reply that changed the way I think about relationships and value forever.

→ Why upskilling in the wrong thing keeps you stuck no matter how hard you work
 → The single conversation that turned $1,800 into $81,000 in ticket sales
 → What eight years of posting a Brahman bull on Facebook taught me about building a cult following
 → Why your personal content will always outperform your business content
 → The hero offer strategy that helped a client make $24,000 in her first month after relocating
 → Why I stopped networking and what I do instead to build relationships that actually open doors
 → The billionaire mentor story: four years of imposter syndrome, one message, and what happened next
 → Why copycats are always behind and what genuine innovation looks like across industries
 → The two AI systems I use to build SOPs without typing a single word
 → What happened when I took a month off in Vietnam and watched my business fall apart

If you are in the struggling season right now, this episode is your way through. These six things are not magic. They are repeatable. And they are available to you right now.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

If you worked for another company and every single year you worked harder, took on more responsibility, and never once received a pay raise, you would quit.

So why are we doing it to ourselves?

This is the final episode of the 2025/26 financial year, and I am not sending you into the new year with another motivational pep talk. I am giving you five habits that will actually change how the next twelve months feel: in your bank account, in your calendar, and in your body.

Because if another financial year passes and you are still overwhelmed, underpaid, and running your business from memory, the problem is not your revenue. It is your habits.

→ Habit 1: How to review your numbers weekly and set aside GST, tax, super, and leave before you spend what is not yours
→ Why "save 20% for tax" is dangerous advice and how to calculate the right percentage for your structure
→ What Payday Super starting 1 July 2026 actually means for your cashflow
→ Why leave entitlements quietly cripple businesses that are not preparing for them every single payroll run
→ Habit 2: How to give yourself a proper pay raise and why being the last person paid in your own business leads to burnout
→ Habit 3: The weekly saving method that means Christmas, equipment upgrades, and team events are never a financial emergency
→ Habit 4: The Sunday CEO reset that took me from reactive and overwhelmed to clear, intentional, and in control
→ Habit 5: Why time management is not your problem, and what self-management actually looks like using ClickUp and Google Calendar
→ Why your brain is for creating ideas, not storing them, and how to build the system that finally gets things done

You do not need a new business. You probably just need new habits.
If you know another business owner who is constantly overwhelmed, underpaid, or carrying their entire business around in their head, send this episode to them.

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

Connect with Bookkeeper and BAS Agent
→ Books by Auri: https://booksbyauri.com.au/

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

IMPORTANT UPDATE

*Please note that some of the stats from Fresha will be incorrect as their surcharge fees have changed since the time of recording.

Fresha have changed their fees from

In-person 

Previously: 2.29% + $0.20 per transaction (plus additional $0.10 tap to pay authorisation) 

TO NOW: 1.29% + $0.26 per transaction (plus additional $0.10 tap to pay authorisation).

Online

Previously: 2.29% + $0.20 per transaction 

TO NOW: 1.59% + $0.28 per transaction

"Will all my clients leave?"

That is the exact question I see business owners ask in Facebook groups every single week. And it is the exact reason most of them never raise their prices, even when their business is barely breaking even or running at a loss.
In this solo episode, I am giving you the real strategy I have used with over 400 business owners to confidently raise prices without losing the clients who actually matter.

→ How to calculate your break-even hourly rate and find out if you are actually undercharging
→ Why your real costs are rising 20 to 30% even when inflation says 3%
→ The new EFTPOS surcharge law coming this October and what it means for your profit
→ A real breakdown of payment provider fees that could cost you over $8,000 a year in the wrong choice
→ Why hitting $75K in revenue means you legally need a 10% price increase
→ The services that almost never make money in this industry, and what to do instead
→ Why copying your competitor's prices is quietly destroying the whole industry's profit margins
→ The exact way to tell your clients about a price increase without sounding apologetic
→ Why losing a client after a price increase is usually a sign you are doing it right

This is the reality check I think a lot of you need right now, especially heading into end of financial year. If you have been putting off this decision out of fear, this episode is your sign to stop waiting.

Purchase the Profitable Pricing Calculator here 👉  https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

It is 9:00 PM on a Friday night and I am sitting in the podcast studio.

I am supposed to be packing for Bali. But I need to talk to you first.

The last six months have been the hardest season I have gone through in business. A retreat that barely broke even. A podcast studio that cost ten times what I budgeted for. A $7,000 credit card balance just to cover wages. Months of $20K revenue against $19K in expenses. And in the middle of all of it, finding out I was a top five finalist in the Seven News Young Achievers Awards for all of Western Australia.

I felt like a fraud. I felt like a failure. And I almost gave up.

This is the episode about the messy middle. The part nobody posts. The season that breaks you before it shapes you.
→ How I financially overextended myself and what I would do differently
→ The 1:00 AM anxiety spiral that forced me to finally face the numbers
→ What I did in 48 hours to start releasing the pressure without it all falling apart
→ The five-day turnaround where a bucking bull sale, unpaid invoices, and three new clients all landed at once
→ Why I think I have outgrown the role I have been forcing myself to stay inside
→ The life path number, Chinese zodiac, and human design profile that gave me more clarity than six months of pushing through
→ The 6/2 human design profile and what it finally explained about the way I work, burn out, and recover
→ The one mindset shift that matters most when everything is falling apart

If you are in a hard season right now, this episode is for you. Not the polished version. The real one.
Do not give up. You can pivot, adapt, and reassess. But the only way you truly fail is if you stop.

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

She applied for Big Brother ten times.

Ten rejections. Ten "not this time." Ten times she came back anyway.

And she eventually got on.

That is the entire PR philosophy in one story. Keep going. Stay in the room. 
Your no is someone else's not yet.

In this episode, I sit down with Heidi Anderson: PR strategist, keynote speaker, author of Drunk on Confidence, and one of the most genuinely unfiltered and practical voices on pitching yourself and building media credibility I have ever had on this show.

This is not a vague conversation about "putting yourself out there." This is a real, tactical, laugh-out-loud hour of actually learning how to do it, including a live build of a full PR strategy for a brand new fictional facial service called the Milk Maintenance Facial. Yes, really.

→ The 20-20-20 formula for pitching: research, write, and pitch in the right order 
→ The biggest mistake people make when sending a pitch, and it is not what you think 
→ Why nobody cares about your product until they know your story 
→ How to find the scroll-stopping hook that is already buried in your content 
→ The pre-launch, launch, and post-launch PR framework most people get completely wrong 
→ How to leverage a media feature so it keeps working for you weeks after it goes live 
→ Why "miles in the saddle" is the only PR strategy that truly works long term 
→ The deathbed framework Heidi uses when fear is louder than ambition 
→ Why Heidi was rejected by Big Brother ten times, and why she kept applying anyway

If you have ever thought your story is not interesting enough, your business is not big enough, or you need to wait until you are more ready before you start pitching yourself, this episode will dismantle every single one of those beliefs.

Your story is already worth telling. You just need to learn how to frame it.

Connect with Heidi Anderson: → Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_heidianderson/ → Website: https://heidileeanderson.com.au

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

She built a salon she was proud of.

She hired a team. She signed a lease. She showed up to treat clients the morning after egg retrievals.

Then she ended up in hospital with a heart rate she couldn't bring down.

And she was still thinking about work.

In this episode, I sit down with Tamika Sharp, founder of Skin and Beauty Collective in Perth, for one of the most raw and honest conversations this podcast has ever had. Tamika has been publicly documenting her IVF journey, and in this episode she goes even deeper: the miscarriages, the diagnoses nobody caught at first, the financial pressure of spending $40,000 on fertility treatment while running a salon and never paying herself a wage, and the hospitalization that finally made her stop.

This one is for every woman holding everything together on the outside while quietly falling apart behind the scenes.

→ Six rounds of IVF, three miscarriages, and the financial and emotional toll nobody prepares you for 
→ Running a team through egg retrievals and laparoscopic surgery 
→ The silent endometriosis and killer cell mutations her first clinic completely missed 
→ The doctor who told her she was too stressed for a baby to implant, and why that became her turning point 
→ Selling the fit-out, going back to solo trading, and finally taking home a wage 
→ The beauty industry's quiet truth: business owners paying their staff more than themselves 
→ Rosacea, post-pill acne, and the skin conditions that aren't being treated at the root cause 
→ What coming out of chronic burnout actually looks and feels like day to day

Tamika was 26 years old when we recorded this. She had already been through more than most people face in a decade. And she still showed up and gave everything.

This episode will stay with you.

Connect with Tamika Sharp: → Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skinandbeautycollective_/ → Website: https://skinandbeautycollective.com.au

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

She applied for awards twice and went home with nothing. No trophy. No feedback. Just the bill.

Then she won Australian Clinic of the Year, only the third WA business in history to ever take that title.

And now? She's building an entirely new awards program so nobody else has to go through that process blind.

In this episode, I sit down with Rachel Diaz from Love Beauty Skin Clinic and Elke Richter from Skin Inspired, two of the three founders behind WASSABA, the brand new Western Australian Skin, Spa, Beauty and Aesthetics Awards.

This conversation goes way beyond awards. It's about what's been missing in the WA beauty industry for years: a place to be recognized without flying to Sydney, a community that actually supports you, and education that goes deeper than "just post more content."

In this episode:
👉 How a joke at a national awards night turned into a real organization within months
👉 Why the founders can't enter or judge their own awards, and why that matters
👉 The difference between a "fluffy pink clinic" application and the one that won Australian Clinic of the Year
👉 Why it costs $20K to $30K to take your team to national awards, and why WA needed a local alternative
👉 How WASSABA gives feedback to every applicant so you can actually improve
👉 Categories for cosmetic tattooists, body sculpting clinics, makeup artists, and spray tanners, groups that are usually left out
👉 The Profit and Planning Summit on June 17th covering pricing, end-of-financial-year prep, and brand strategy
👉 Why awards aren't about validation; they're about reflection, visibility, and knowing you're on the right track

Whether you've never entered an award in your life or you've applied and walked away empty-handed, this episode will change the way you think about putting yourself forward.

And if you're in WA and haven't looked at WASSABA yet, this is your sign.

Connect with WASSABA:
www.instagram.com/wassaba.official
www.wassaba-official.com

Connect with Rachel Diaz:
www.instagram.com/lovebeautyskinclinic

Connect with Elke Richter:
www.instagram.com/skininspired_

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/

Send us Fan Mail

100 episodes.
$500 in my bank account when I started.
A $25,000 contract I had no idea how I was going to pay for.
And a rebrand I've been sitting on for over 12 months.

This is it. The full, unfiltered story of how Beauty Industry Leaders went from a post in a Skool community to 25,000 downloads across 1,247 cities, and why the next 100 episodes are going to look very different.

I'm not holding anything back in this one.

I talk about the woman who tried to bully me out of starting this before I'd even recorded a single episode. The $680-per-episode cost of audio-only production when I could barely afford food. Splitting my grandma's meal prep containers into thirds just to make it through the week. Breaking my mic three weeks after it arrived. Recording in my studio apartment with blankets draped over the wardrobe to kill the echo. And the 150+ retakes per episode that nearly broke me.

But I also talk about the friendships that changed my life. The guests who made me cry. The moment I realized long-form content was my superpower. And the identity crisis I've been quietly battling for the last 12 months, wondering if I'd outgrown the very brand I built.
This episode is where I share what's next.

I'm announcing the rebrand. I'm telling you the new name. And I'm sharing why this evolution has been the hardest and most necessary decision I've made since starting this podcast.

In this episode:
→ The full origin story of Beauty Industry Leaders, from the first idea to the first download
→ Signing a $25K contract with nothing in my account
→ The podcast agency journey: what worked, what didn't, and why I brought everything in-house
→ Building a $30K studio on a $3K budget
→ My top five episodes and what each one taught me
→ Why storytelling outperforms strategy content every time
→ The content funnel: short-form to long-form to community
→ The 12-month identity crisis I never talked about publicly
→ The official rebrand announcement and what it means for you
→ And a tease of the family business docuseries that's coming next

If you've been here since episode one, thank you. If this is your first episode, welcome to the most honest version of this podcast I've ever put out.

Here's to being a little bit delusional.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
→ Profitable Pricing Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/profitable-pricing-calculator
→ Breakeven Cost Calculator: https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/breakeven-cost-calculator
→ ATO Industry Benchmarks: https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/small-business-benchmarks/in-detail/beauty-services

Connect with me and join the Beauty Industry Leaders movement:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/
→ https://beautyindustryleaders.com.au/

If you have any questions about the episode, have a burning question you would like me to answer on the show, or want to join our movement of ambitious beauty leaders, connect with me and the rest of our incredible community on Instagram:
→ https://www.instagram.com/sammykennedycoach/
→ https://www.instagram.com/beautyindustryleaders/