Brazen and Bold: Real, Raw, and Radically Honest Conversations for Entrepreneurs and Small Business Leaders

What does it really take to lead a team that shows up, performs, and actually wants to do well for you? In this episode of Brazen and Bold, Heather sits down with Bonnie Bonadeo — CEO and founder of SOS Leadership Academy and a 35-year veteran of the beauty industry — for one of the most practical, real, and eye-opening conversations about salon leadership we have ever had on this show.

Bonnie breaks down the difference between ownership and leadership, why most salon owners have hit a communication ceiling without realizing it, and how emotional intelligence is not a soft skill — it is your most powerful business tool.

You will hear a live role play of a real difficult conversation, learn the difference between a behavior issue and a performance issue, discover why asking one simple question changes everything, and find out what resistance versus refusal looks like on your team and how to handle both.

If you have ever thought I just cannot get my team to care, this episode is for you.

Connect with Bonnie:

🌐 SOS Leadership Academy: SOSleaderquiz.com

🌐 Beauty Leadership Lab: beautyleadershiplab.com

📺 Podcast: SOS Small Biz Success on Spotify and YouTube

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

What are the most successful salon owners doing differently right now? Heather Harris and Lucy Randall of Spark Pro Global share what they're seeing inside nearly 60 salons across the U.S. and Canada. They also preview their ICA Fall Atelier classroom, Out of the Office, Into the Business.

In this episode:

•⁠ ⁠The 3-question delegation test (What am I best at? What do I love? What makes the most money?) that freed up 15–20+ hours a week •⁠ ⁠Why speed is the new currency, and how to reach clients before they book somewhere else •⁠ ⁠Why email marketing isn't dead, especially now that clients are stretching appointments by 2+ weeks •⁠ ⁠How Heather's salon grew retail-to-service from 4% to about 20% with KPI snapshots and monthly 1:1s •⁠ ⁠The Monday "weekly pulse" report that catches slow leaks before they cost you a month •⁠ ⁠A live, real-time look at delegating to a Spark Assistant mid-recording

Join us live: ICA Fall Atelier, New York City. Monday, October 5, 2:30–4:30 PM. Three salon owners in the room will win three months of done-for-you KPI reports from a Spark Assistant.

Can't make it to NYC? Book a discovery call with Heather or Lucy at sparkproglobal.com.

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Heather sits down with Kati Whitledge — entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and founder & CEO of MYA — for a conversation that moves from cold, hard business numbers straight into one of the most honest personal stories the show has featured.

Kati spent 16 years as a salon owner before recently selling the business, and built MYA out of a problem she saw firsthand behind her own chair: getting the right client in front of the right stylist is the single biggest lever for retention, referrals, and revenue. MYA has since helped beauty professionals generate more than $38 million in revenue for its partner salons, spas, and med spas — Heather and Kati dig into the real mechanics of how it works, including live case-study numbers from real salons.

Kati is also the author of From First Date to Forever and hosts Beyond the Technique, her own podcast with more than 700 episodes since 2016.

Partway through, the conversation turns personal. Kati opens up about her recovery from addiction — including food addiction, which she calls "the friend that never let me down... until it wasn't a good friend to me" — and the daily, non-negotiable routine that keeps her grounded: faith, structure, and a philosophy of taking life one day at a time rather than trying to white-knuckle forever.

This episode covers:

•⁠ ⁠How MYA's matchmaking technology works — from lead magnet to booking to automated retention •⁠ ⁠Real numbers: cost-per-lead, conversion, and a case study of a salon that went from 15 leads a day to 35 in a single day •⁠ ⁠What it actually took to leave 16 years behind the chair and bet everything on a tech platform •⁠ ⁠Kati's recovery story, and the daily non-negotiables that keep her steady •⁠ ⁠Why "regimented" isn't the same as "rigid" — and how routine becomes freedom

🌐 MYA: www.joinmya.com

📸 MYA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/join_mya/

📸 Beyond the Technique Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondthetechnique/

Follow Kati:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiwhitledge/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Heather sits down with Laura Watkins — hairdresser, salon owner, Aveda educator, and the voice behind Mental Girl — for a conversation that starts with a simple, disarming line: "They probably wouldn't guess that I'm mentally ill."

Laura has been licensed in beauty for over 21 years and holds an MBA, but her path has never been just about the business side of the industry. In 2015, after years of running at full speed, she was diagnosed with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder. Over four years — through multiple medications, a global pandemic, and ultimately a course of electroconvulsive therapy — she fought her way back to a life she describes as fully hers again. She's now three and a half years free of ECT treatment.

Rather than keep that story private, Laura turned it into her mission. She's the founder of Mental Girl (@mentalgirl502), a community built around honest, stigma-free conversations about mental health in the beauty industry, and the author of the memoir Something Feels Off. She's spoken at ICA, Aveda Congress, and Serious Business New Orleans, and continues to advocate for building emotional-intelligence and self-care education directly into how our industry trains its next generation.

Laura is also the owner of Pure Salon Spa in Louisville, Kentucky, and travels nationally as an educator for Aveda — proof, in her words, that recovery and a thriving career aren't mutually exclusive.

This episode covers:

•⁠ ⁠Laura's diagnosis, her four-year journey through treatment, and what finally worked •⁠ ⁠Why "good stress" (achievement, success) can cost your body as much as bad stress •⁠ ⁠What it actually means to build a strategic self-care plan — and why waiting until burnout is too late •⁠ ⁠Founding Mental Girl and turning her hardest season into her life's work •⁠ ⁠Leading a salon team through their own mental health struggles with empathy and healthy boundaries •⁠ ⁠Why she believes mental health education belongs in cosmetology school curriculum

A heads-up: this conversation is a genuinely honest one about depression, mental illness, and recovery. It's also, in Heather's words, one of the most impactful conversations she's had on the show.

🌐 Pure Salon Spa: https://www.puresalonspa.com/

📸 Pure Salon Spa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puresalonlou/

🌐 Mental Girl: https://mentalgirl502.com/

Follow Laura:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mental_girl502/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Heather sits down with Ameet Kallarackal — founder of Glammatic and author of Dice Theory — for a conversation that starts as a soul-level connection at an Intercoiffure event and goes absolutely everywhere from there.

Ameet shares the origin story that changed the course of his life: an amusement park roller coaster at 14, five rides in a row, and the realization that he didn't have to be the person he thought he was. That single moment sparked Dice Theory — his practice of intentionally introducing randomness into decisions to break out of the patterns his past experiences would otherwise dictate for him.

Along the way, Heather and Ameet cover:

•⁠ ⁠Dice Theory — why letting chance make a decision can actually increase your freedom •⁠ ⁠The teenage roller coaster story that started it all •⁠ ⁠Building Glammatic, and helping salon owners grow with less effort •⁠ ⁠Merging last names into a new legacy: Kallarackal → Kalaroo •⁠ ⁠Growing up between two worlds, philosophy, and finding his own ideas •⁠ ⁠Why confronting mortality (and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal) might be the key to living more fully

This is 90 minutes of the kind of conversation Heather says she rarely gets to have — unfiltered, a little uncomfortable at times, and impossible to stop listening to once it starts.

🌐 Glammatic: https://www.glammatic.com/

📸 Glammatic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glammaticpro/

📖 Dice Theory Book: https://dicetheory.org/book/

Follow Ameet:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ameetkal/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

What if the next level of your salon isn't about working harder, booking more clients, or adding another location—but becoming less essential to the day-to-day business?

In this episode of Brave & Bold, Heather sits down with Ronit Enos, bestselling author of Profit First for Salons and founder of Salon Cadence, for a powerful conversation about what it actually takes to build a profitable salon that gives you your life back.

Ronit shares how she went from being deeply involved in her businesses to building a salon that could operate without her—including leaving for three months to be with her son and discovering that her team didn't just survive without her, they thrived.

Heather and Ronit unpack the five phases of business growth, why so many owners get trapped in the "warrior" stage, how to develop leaders who can make decisions without you, and why people and profit have to grow together.

They also dive into AI, virtual assistants, creating a luxury mindset, protecting your time, and building a business around the life you actually want to live.

Because being booked solid isn't the same thing as being free.

If you're a salon owner who feels like everything still depends on you, this episode may completely change the way you think about growth.

🌐 Salon Cadence:

www.saloncadence.com

🌐 Ronit Enos:

www.ronitenos.com

📸 Salon Cadence Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/saloncadence/

📧 Email:

[email protected]

Follow Ronit:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saloncadence/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Meet Shelbie Moser — owner of Lightning Hair Lounge in Saxonburg, PA, red-specialist-turned-mindset-coach, and proud mom to two mini pigs. Shelbie built her salon into "the bougiest in Butler County," but the real gold in this episode is what's underneath the glow: the burnout that nearly broke her, the weekly budgeting system (yes, 12 checking accounts) that transformed her finances and bought her first rental property, and the six daily "pillars" that keep her from running on empty. If you've ever told yourself you're the exception to burnout, or you're not totally sure where your payroll money actually is right now — this one's for you.

🌐 Lightning Hair Lounge: https://www.lightninghairlounge.com/

📸 Lightning Hair Lounge Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightninghairlounge/

📸 Healthy Wealthy Happy Hairstylist: https://www.instagram.com/healthywealthyhappyhairstylist/

📰 Newsletter: https://lightning-hair-lounge-lifestyle-co.kit.com/the-list

Follow Shelbie:

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelbiemoser/

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelbie.moser.3/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Shelby Bills started at the front desk of Graeber & Company at 19 with a marketing degree and zero salon background. By 25, she'd bought out her boss. Over the next twelve years she bought out every remaining partner — and today she's the 100% owner of a 61-year-old Boise institution with 32 team members, 22 chairs, a facial bar, and her fiancé's coffee shop and wine bar attached.

In one of Heather's favorite episodes to date, Shelby pulls back the curtain on how she did it: the two-day audition and four-day onboarding immersion every hire goes through, the "five-star experience" standard she rebuilt from the ground up, the 90-day personal-professional-financial coaching cycle that keeps her team, and the single KPI she watches every day. She also gets honest about the part nobody wants to hear — that your business results are a direct reflection of who you are, and that "if you want more, more is required."

Equal parts tactical and transformational, this conversation is for any salon owner ready to stop being the bottleneck and start designing the business — and life — they actually want.

In this episode: •⁠ ⁠From front desk to full owner — how the buyout actually happened •⁠ ⁠The two-day audition + four-day onboarding system •⁠ ⁠Rebuilding the five-star guest experience for today's client •⁠ ⁠Why she killed double-booking and bundled her pricing •⁠ ⁠The one KPI she tracks every single day •⁠ ⁠Radical accountability and the mindset shift most owners resist •⁠ ⁠Designing your calendar around your life, not the other way around.

https://graeberandcompany.com/

https://www.instagram.com/graeberandcompany/

https://www.instagram.com/boisehairstylist_careers/

Follow Shelby:

https://www.instagram.com/shelbybills_/

https://www.facebook.com/shelbybills/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Chet Pope is the self-professed "numbers guy" in one of the beauty industry's most unique power couples — co-owner and CEO of NAHA-winning Salon 27 in Mesa, Arizona, PBA board member, ex-punk-rock roadie, and yes, a perfume entrepreneur on the side.

In this episode, Heather sits down with one of her very first "beauty besties" for a refreshingly honest conversation about the side of the salon business most owners avoid: the math.

Chet shares the one number every salon owner should check weekly, why the menu you copied off Instagram is probably bleeding money, and how he rolled out parts-and-labor pricing without losing his team. He also gets into building a retail culture that never feels salesy, the treatment add-on that lifts tickets 40% in five minutes, and how "true AI" (not just automation) now handles 65% of his salon's call volume.

Equal parts practical and candid, this one's for every owner who does great hair but freezes when it's time to look at the spreadsheet. Because as Chet puts it: if you're not progressing, you're dying.

In this episode:

• The #1 number every salon owner should track weekly • Why your service menu is probably built wrong • Parts & labor pricing — and how to get your team on board • Building retail culture through education, not pressure • The 5-minute treatment that adds $80 to a ticket • Real AI vs. automation in the salon • Adapting to a new generation of stylists

🌐 Salon 27: http://www.salon27az.com/

🌐 Fragrance Gang: https://fragrancegang.com/

📸 Fragrance Gang Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fragrancegang/

📸 Salon 27 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/27thesalon/

🎵 Fragrance Gang TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fragrancegangdecants

Follow Chet:

📸 Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/chetpope/

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon

Tammie Axworthy has spent 30+ years behind the chair — but it's what she did outside the salon that's turning heads. A Goldwell National Team artist who recently took the stage in front of 1,500 people at the Color Sphere show in Milan, Tammie sat down with Heather to unpack how a decade of frustration with subpar foils turned into Beautifoils, her own product line.

She opens up about the "left foot down" moment that kicked off her entrepreneurial journey, the emotional rollercoaster of building a business from scratch, and her mantra for handling failure: pivot quick.

If you've got an idea you haven't given yourself permission to chase yet, this episode is your push.

🌐 The Hair Boutique: https://thehairboutique.salon/

🌐 Beautifoils: https://beautifoils.ca/

📸 Beautifoils Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beautifoils/

Follow Tammie:

📸 Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/tammieaxworthyhair

Branding and consistency are everything.

Let Spark do the work for you—from setup to weekly execution.

👉 Talk to Spark » Spark Pro Global – sparkprosalon.com

Spark Links:

📸 Instagram: @sparkproglobal — https://www.instagram.com/sparkproglobal

🔗 LinkedIn: Spark Pro Global — https://www.linkedin.com/company/spark-pro-global

Heather's Instagram:

📸 @heather.tantrumsalon — https://www.instagram.com/heather.tantrumsalon