Most beauty professionals spend their entire careers learning how to build confidence for other people.

But nobody teaches them how to build confidence with money.

In this powerful episode of It's A Profitable Life, Anna Manukyan shares her remarkable journey from educator, artist developer, and corporate leader to becoming one of the beauty industry's most trusted voices in financial education. 

After more than two decades helping stylists, salon owners, and educators grow their careers, Anna noticed a troubling pattern.

The most talented professionals were often the least prepared financially.

Many spent decades building successful careers only to find themselves unprepared for retirement, uncertain about investing, and struggling to turn income into long-term wealth. 

Rather than accepting the problem, Anna decided to become the solution.

Today, through Beautiful Wealth Academy, she helps beauty professionals understand money, remove financial shame, and build a future where their hard work creates lasting freedom. 

This conversation is about wealth, confidence, legacy, and learning how to make your money work for you.

What You'll Learn

• Why making money and building wealth are two completely different skills

• The financial mistake most beauty professionals make

• Why successful salon owners still struggle with retirement planning

• How Anna transitioned from beauty education to financial education

• The importance of understanding compounding growth

• Why many professionals wait too long to start investing

• How to overcome fear and shame around money

• What younger generations can teach us about work-life harmony

• Why financial literacy is one of the greatest opportunities in the beauty industry

• How to begin building wealth regardless of your age or income

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

3:10 Building a career in beauty education

7:45 Developing educators and leaders

11:20 What today's generation values differently

15:05 Why grit still matters

19:30 The evolution of career success

24:15 The financial problem nobody was solving

28:40 Watching successful professionals struggle with money

33:00 Why Anna became a financial educator

37:20 The difference between income and wealth

42:15 Financial confidence versus financial knowledge

46:00 Understanding investments and compounding growth

50:25 Why people wait too long

54:40 How money grows over time

58:15 What beauty professionals should know about retirement

1:02:00 Making your money work for you

1:06:30 The role of financial education in career longevity

1:10:20 Final advice for building a wealthy life

Build a Profitable Business and a Wealthy Life

If you're ready to get sh*t done, we're ready to help:

• Build predictable profit using Profit First for Salons

• Create systems that support freedom

• Lead with confidence and clarity

• Scale without sacrificing your health, relationships, or happiness

Learn more at:

https://milliondollarevent1.saloncadence.com/home

This Podcast Is Powered By

Salon Cadence

The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout.

saloncadence.com

MySalonBooks

Real-time bookkeeping built specifically for salon owners using Profit First for Salons.

mysalonbooks.com

Phorest

The all-in-one software platform helping salons grow through marketing, retention, and business intelligence.

phorest.com

Vish

The color management system helping salons protect profit and eliminate waste.

getvish.com

What happens when you leave the security of corporate success, launch your dream company, and then hear the words nobody wants to hear?

"You have cancer."

In this powerful episode of It's A Profitable Life, Nick Stenson shares the most personal conversation of his career.

After decades leading some of the biggest brands in beauty, Nick walked away from corporate America to build something of his own. What followed was a season of entrepreneurship, uncertainty, reinvention, and an unexpected battle with cancer that changed the way he views success, relationships, and life itself. 

This conversation is about authenticity, resilience, leadership, boundaries, and the courage to become fully yourself.

Nick shares what it was like to go from leading large organizations to becoming the founder, visionary, marketer, problem-solver, and CEO of his own startup. He opens up about launching a product line built around simplicity instead of overwhelm, navigating one of the hardest years of his life, and discovering that some of life's greatest challenges can become unexpected gifts. 

If you've ever questioned your next chapter, struggled to balance success and personal fulfillment, or wondered what really matters when everything changes, this episode is for you.

What You'll Learn

• Why authenticity is the most powerful advantage in business and life

• The difference between leading inside a corporation and building your own company

• How Nick spent seven years developing a product line built around simplicity

• Why most entrepreneurs underestimate the realities of starting over

• The lessons cancer taught him about priorities and relationships

• How to create stronger boundaries without guilt

• Why personal time must be treated as strategically as business time

• How adversity reveals who truly belongs in your life

• What success looks like after a major life-changing event

• Why reinvention requires courage, humility, and self-awareness

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

2:15 Leaving corporate America and starting over

5:40 The realities of becoming a founder

9:10 Building a product line differently

14:05 Why simplicity wins in a crowded market

18:30 Entrepreneurship versus corporate leadership

22:15 Marketing in today's world

27:40 Authenticity as a competitive advantage

32:05 Creating a business that reflects who you are

36:50 The cancer diagnosis

41:20 Hearing the words that change everything

45:30 What treatment taught him about life

50:15 The power of boundaries

54:40 The people who showed up

58:25 Learning who deserves access to your life

1:02:10 Supporting others through difficult seasons

1:06:00 What success means now

1:09:45 Final reflections on life, leadership, and authenticity

Build a Business and Life You Love

If this conversation reminded you that success is about more than revenue and growth, our virtual experience was built for leaders who want both profitability and purpose.

If you're ready to get sh*t done, we're ready to help:

• Build predictable profit using Profit First for Salons

• Create systems that support freedom

• Lead with confidence and clarity

• Scale without sacrificing your health, relationships, or happiness

Learn more at:

https://milliondollarevent1.saloncadence.com/home

This Podcast Is Powered By

Salon Cadence
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout.
saloncadence.com

MySalonBooks
Real-time bookkeeping built specifically for salon owners using Profit First for Salons.
mysalonbooks.com

Phorest
Helping salons grow through marketing, retention, and business intelligence.
phorest.com

Vish
The color management system helping salons eliminate waste and increase profitability.
getvish.com

Episode Summary

Coral Pleas built Cutting Loose Salons from a single five-chair shop to a five-location, multiple seven-figure company — and she did it by letting go. In this episode, Coral sits down with Ronit Enos to unpack 45 years of lessons: surviving a fire the day before Christmas, walking away from a multimillion-dollar partnership at 47, getting out from behind the chair, and building a partnership model that turns stylists into owners. This is the real playbook for scaling without losing yourself.

Guest Bio
Coral Pleas is the founder and CEO of Cutting Loose Salons with locations in Florida and Connecticut. Over 45 years she's pioneered a partnership model that empowers stylists to become salon owners. Her son Travis serves as her business partner, continuing the legacy.

Key Timestamps
00:19 The fire that almost ended everything
00:21 Leaving a multimillion-dollar partnership at 47
00:22 Walking on eggshells in your own salon
00:25 The $100K stylist club and setting higher goals
00:27 Gen Z stylists — the new unicorns
00:31 Why salon #2 is harder than salon #5
00:34 Getting from behind the chair
00:38 The partnership model explained
00:42 Having the courage to close a failing location
00:45 The billboard moment: enjoy the journey
00:47 Raising prices without fear

Listener Takeaways

- Your goal as an owner is to NOT be the busiest stylist. If you are, that's the problem.
- Don't open location two until location one runs without you.
- If you're afraid of it, that's your sign you need to do it.
- Your staff aren't employees — they're investors.
- Closing a failing location isn't defeat. It's leadership.
- If you don't lose 20% of clients when you raise prices, you didn't raise them enough.
- Everything that got you here won't get you to the next level.

THIS EPISODE IS POWERED BY

CADENCE BUSINESS ACADEMY
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout.
saloncadence.com

MYSALONBOOKS
Real-time bookkeeping built for Profit First salon owners. Finally: clarity and control over your money.
mysalonbooks.com

PHOREST
The all-in-one salon software built to grow your revenue through data, marketing, and client retention.
phorest.com

VISH
The color management system that eliminates waste and protects your profit on every single service.
getvish.com

ABOUT THIS SHOW
It's A Profitable Life is hosted by Ronit Enos and produced by Cadence Business Academy. Every episode is built for salon, spa, and medspa owners who are serious about building a business — and a life — that actually works. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

They opened their salon. Then an ice storm shut it down the next day.
Most people would have quit. These two sisters didn't.

In this episode of It's A Profitable Life, Ronit Enos sits down with two founder-sisters who turned a small-town salon into a thriving, multi-layered business — but not before navigating catastrophic setbacks, a devastating betrayal inside their own company, and the painful realization that they had built themselves a job, not a business.

What changed everything? They stopped being operators. They started leading.

This is one of the most honest conversations we've had on this show. If you've ever felt like your business is running you instead of the other way around — this episode was made for you.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE

→ The real reason most salon owners feel stuck (it's not money or marketing)
→ Why staying behind the chair is quietly killing your growth
→ The betrayal that became their biggest turning point — and what they did instead of staying in victim mode
→ How Profit First and financial clarity completely changed their business
→ What it actually looks like to step into the CEO role
→ The partnership dynamic that made scaling possible

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 What does a profitable life actually mean?
2:30 Two sisters, one dream: the origin story
6:10 Walking away from stable careers to bet on themselves
10:45 Opening day. Then: the ice storm.
14:20 The moment they realized they'd built a job, not a business
18:30 Their first real taste of entrepreneurship (and why it scared them)
24:10 The betrayal that cracked everything open
30:00 Taking radical ownership instead of staying the victim
36:20 Learning to lead instead of doing everything themselves
42:15 Discovering Profit First and finally understanding their numbers
48:00 Benchmarks, margins, and what financial clarity actually feels like

READY TO STOP GRINDING AND START GROWING?

You're not stuck because you're not smart enough. You're stuck because no one taught you how to lead a business — they just taught you how to do the work.

Our virtual experience is built specifically for salon, spa, and medspa owners who are done grinding and ready to actually grow.

Inside, you'll learn how to step out of daily operations and into the CEO seat, implement Profit First for Salons the right way, build systems that run without you in the room, understand your numbers well enough to make real decisions, and reclaim your time, your income, and your energy.
Spots are limited. Secure yours here:

https://milliondollarevent1.saloncadence.com/home

THIS EPISODE IS POWERED BY

CADENCE BUSINESS ACADEMY
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout.
saloncadence.com

MYSALONBOOKS
Real-time bookkeeping built for Profit First salon owners. Finally: clarity and control over your money.
mysalonbooks.com

PHOREST
The all-in-one salon software built to grow your revenue through data, marketing, and client retention.
phorest.com

VISH
The color management system that eliminates waste and protects your profit on every single service.
getvish.com

ABOUT THIS SHOW

It's A Profitable Life is hosted by Ronit Enos and produced by Cadence Business Academy. Every episode is built for salon, spa, and medspa owners who are serious about building a business — and a life — that actually works.
Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

You Can’t Grow What You Don’t Measure

What if the biggest thing holding your business back is not your talent, your team, or your effort… but your data?

In this episode of It’s A Profitable Life, we dive deep into one of the most overlooked and misunderstood drivers of success in the beauty industry: data.

Because here’s the truth:
 If you are not measuring it, you cannot improve it.
 And if you are guessing, you are leading your business blindly.

This conversation unpacks why data is not just numbers on a report. It is clarity. It is leadership. It is the difference between reacting and making confident, strategic decisions.

As shared in this episode, without data, you are simply making guesses, and those guesses are often not informed. 

What You Will Learn

 • How operating without data creates confusion, bias, and inconsistency
 • The biggest mistake salon owners make when it comes to tracking performance
 • Why the beauty industry struggles with data compared to other industries
 • The importance of standardizing data across the industry
 • How data removes emotion and creates fair, objective leadership
 • What metrics actually matter for salon owners, schools, and brands
 • Why benchmarking is critical to growth and profitability
 • How technology without proper data becomes ineffective
 • The opportunity for the beauty industry to evolve through better data systems

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction and why data matters
 2:10 Why guessing is dangerous in business
 4:20 How data becomes your manager
 6:45 The difference between creative industries and data-driven industries
 9:30 The biggest opportunity in the beauty industry today
 12:15 Why most businesses struggle without realizing it
 15:40 The challenge of inconsistent data definitions
 18:10 Why technology alone is not enough
 21:05 What data actually looks like for salon owners
 24:30 Benchmarking and why it matters
 28:15 The lack of a shared data foundation in the industry
 32:40 Industry-wide challenges and missed opportunities
 36:20 The role of organizations in shaping the future
 40:10 What Pivot Point is doing to drive change
 44:00 Research insights across education, health, and business
 48:30 The shift toward independent contractors and what it means
 52:00 The future of the beauty industry and data
 56:30 Rapid-fire insights and leadership lessons

January Virtual Workshop

If this conversation opened your eyes to what you are not tracking or what you may be missing in your business, then our January virtual experience is your next step.

This two-day workshop is designed for salon, spa, and medspa owners who want to:
 • finally understand their numbers
 • build predictable profit
 • lead with clarity instead of emotion
 • create systems that support growth
 • use data and Profit First for Salons to scale smarter

Reply EXPERIENCE on Instagram or join our email list to get early access.

This Podcast Is Powered By

Vish
A color management system that eliminates waste, increases profitability, and brings consistency to your salon.
getvish.com

Phorest
The software platform helping salons grow through data, retention, and powerful business insights.
phorest.com

MySalonBooks
Real-time bookkeeping built for salon owners using Profit First for Salons to give you clarity and control.
mysalonbooks.com

Salon Cadence
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale with systems, leadership, and Profit First for Salons.
saloncadence.com

How Understanding Your Numbers and Building the Right Team Changes Everything

What does it feel like to run a business when you don’t truly understand your numbers?

And what changes when you finally do?

In this episode of It’s A Profitable Life, Ronit Enos sits down with a powerful salon leadership team to unpack their real journey from confusion, overwhelm, and operating on instinct… to clarity, confidence, and building a profitable, team-run business.

They share what it was like in the early days when the business was driven by hustle, long hours behind the chair, and guessing instead of knowing. The frustration of not understanding financials, the pressure of leading without clarity, and the quiet fear of feeling like you should know more but don’t.

Through coaching, accountability, and learning how to truly read and use their numbers, everything began to shift.

But it wasn’t just about profit.

It was about leadership, communication, trust, and building a team that could grow together.

This conversation dives into the moments that changed everything. Losing key team members. Facing financial mistakes. Learning how to communicate as partners. And stepping into roles with clarity instead of assumption.

What emerged was not just a more profitable business, but a stronger culture, a clearer vision, and a company that no longer depends on any one person to survive.

This episode is for any owner who feels stuck in the day to day, unsure of their numbers, or questioning whether real growth is possible.

Because it is.

In This Episode

0:00 Why this conversation matters for anyone building a business
3:00 What it felt like to run a business without understanding the numbers
6:00 The frustration, confusion, and self-doubt behind financial blind spots
14:00 The moment things started to shift with coaching and accountability
18:00 Losing key team members and the lessons that came from it
22:00 How financial mistakes created stronger communication and awareness
27:00 Understanding P&L and gaining real control of the business
31:00 Defining roles and responsibilities within a leadership team
36:00 Why clarity and communication changed everything
45:00 The difference between feeling busy and actually growing
49:00 Building a business that does not rely on your hands
54:00 Creating wealth inside and outside the business
58:00 The importance of being in the right room with the right people
1:02:00 Hiring for alignment instead of desperation
1:06:00 The power of culture, trust, and shared vision
1:10:00 What they would tell themselves two years ago
1:14:00 Defining success, purpose, and long-term impact

About the Guests

This episode features the leadership team behind Elleven Salon, a highly respected salon in Huntsville, Alabama, known for its commitment to education, client experience, and team development.

Founded by Becky Dobbs, Elleven Salon has been serving the Huntsville community for over 15 years, building a reputation for excellence in color, extensions, and advanced hair services.

What makes this team unique is not just their longevity, but their evolution.

From operating as a traditional owner-led salon to becoming a team-driven, profit-focused business, Becky and her partners have redefined how leadership, communication, and financial clarity can transform both culture and performance.

Brought to You By

Salon Cadence
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout
saloncadence.com

My Salon Books
Real-time bookkeeping powered by Profit First for Salons
mysalonbooks.com

Phorest
The all-in-one salon software designed to grow your business through automation, reporting, and team performance
phorest.com

Leon Alexander, CEO & Founder of Eurisko Design, built 320 salons using other people's money, distributed Aveda across the UK, and is now disrupting beauty tech. In this episode he breaks down exactly how he did it and what every salon owner needs to do right now to stay ahead.

What you will learn:

• Why your current "wow" is already someone else's minimum standard
• How to shift from experience to PERSONALIZED experience
• The $10,000 haircut framework you can apply at any price point
• How Leon acquired 320 salons with almost none of his own capital
• The lateral thinking strategy that unlocks 10x growth
• Why retail stays stuck at 10% and the one script that fixes it
• What is coming next in beauty tech that will change everything

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 "Stop managing, start disrupting"
 01:55 Who is Leon Alexander
 03:26 The one thing that never changes in beauty
 07:12 Why Sassoon was the Steve Jobs of hair
 10:20 Today's initiatives are tomorrow's minimum standards
 11:19 From experience to personalized experience
 14:47 The $1 million haircut question
 15:20 The $10,000 haircut story
 19:23 The failure that taught Leon to move fast
 24:42 How he acquired 320 salons with no money
 27:38 Grew 5%, saved 23%: the consolidation strategy
 28:29 Why he gave it all back to Wella
 29:20 Distributing Aveda: carrying a vision not a product
 31:12 Why staff will never naturally sell retail
 32:02 The assumptive selling script that works
 34:20 Lateral vs logical thinking: the X exercise
 36:34 The empty room exercise: find your 10x opportunity
 40:05 The Chick-fil-A consistency principle
 47:28 Rapid Fire: failure, superpower, billboard, success
 49:48 What Leon is building next in beauty tech

ABOUT THE HOST

Ronit Enos is the Founder of Salon Cadence, the global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures through Profit First, systems, and leadership.
 https://saloncadence.com

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Salon Cadence: https://saloncadence.com
Vish: https://getvish.com
Phorest: https://phorest.com
MySalonBooks: https://mysalonbooks.com

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this with one salon owner who needs to hear it.

Live a profitable life. By design.

Delegation, Leadership, and the Freedom to Focus on What Matters

What if the reason you feel overwhelmed in your business is not because there is too much to do, but because you are doing the wrong things?

In this episode of It’s A Profitable Life, Ronit Enos and Nicole dive into a candid and often humorous conversation with entrepreneur, salon owner, educator, and Spark Virtual Assistant founder Heather.

What begins as a lighthearted conversation quickly turns into a powerful discussion about delegation, empowerment, entrepreneurship, and the reality of building a business while raising a family and navigating life’s unexpected changes.

Heather shares how burnout, anxiety, and the constant pressure of trying to do everything herself forced her to rethink the way she worked. Instead of grinding harder, she began focusing on systems, delegation, and empowering others to take ownership inside her business.

Together, the group explores the real challenges of hiring help, the common mistakes leaders make when delegating, and why most entrepreneurs struggle to let go even when they know they need to.

They also discuss the growing role of virtual assistants in the beauty industry and how the right systems, communication, and training can unlock freedom for salon owners who feel trapped in daily operations.

This episode is equal parts leadership lesson, entrepreneurial reality check, and reminder that building a profitable life requires letting go of control in order to focus on what truly matters.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or stuck doing everything yourself, this conversation will challenge how you think about your time, your leadership, and your ability to grow.

In This Episode

3:00 Heather’s childhood love of interviewing people and storytelling
6:00 The reality of juggling entrepreneurship, motherhood, and life
12:00 Delegation versus empowerment and why language matters in leadership
16:00 Systems, training, and why letting go requires preparation
20:00 Why many leaders struggle to trust others with responsibility
23:00 The emotional challenge of slowing down and doing less
27:00 The mindset shift that helped Heather overcome burnout and anxiety
31:00 Teaching children entrepreneurship and responsibility at home
36:00 Why hiring help often fails and how to avoid common mistakes
41:00 The real work required to successfully use a virtual assistant
45:00 Creating SOPs and documenting your daily tasks
49:00 The three question framework for deciding what to delegate
53:00 How leaders can focus on the work that creates the most impact
57:00 Building a team that supports your highest value work
1:00:00 Why empowering others unlocks growth and freedom

About the Guest

Heather is a salon owner, educator, entrepreneur, and founder of Spark Virtual Assistants, a company designed to support creative professionals and beauty industry leaders with operational support, administrative systems, and digital assistance.

With years of experience in the beauty industry and entrepreneurship, Heather understands the challenges salon owners face when trying to scale while managing daily responsibilities.

Through Spark, she helps business owners reclaim their time, delegate effectively, and build systems that allow them to focus on leadership, growth, and creativity.

Brought to You By

Salon Cadence
The global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures without burnout.
saloncadence.com

My Salon Books
Real time bookkeeping for salon owners powered by Profit First methodology.
mysalonbooks.com

Phorest
The all in one salon software designed to help beauty businesses grow through automation, marketing, and team performance tools.
phorest.com

What does it really take to build lasting success in beauty… across countries, economic cycles, and industry disruption?

In this episode of It’s A Profitable Life, Ronit Enos sits down with legendary aesthetician and Repêchage founder Lydia Sarfati for a powerful conversation about resilience, reinvention, and building wealth with integrity.

From immigrating to the United States to pioneering seaweed-based skincare in the 1970s, Lydia shares the mindset, discipline, and financial wisdom that helped her build a global skincare brand. This episode dives into retail mastery, leadership, budgeting, education, and what it truly means to create a profitable life that lasts.

In This Episode

0:00 Why this conversation has been two years in the making
 2:30 Discovering seaweed and pioneering holistic skincare
 8:00 Building a Manhattan clientele in the 1970s
 12:00 Why community is critical for solo estheticians
 16:00 Emotional resilience and post-COVID recovery
 20:00 Budgeting, financial discipline, and building a six-month cushion
 26:00 Business is never a flat line — solving problems under pressure
 30:00 Surviving a $5 million cyberattack demand
 34:00 Why retail is the butter to your service bread
 38:00 The art of recommendation and asking better questions
 44:00 Education as the ultimate competitive advantage
 48:00 How to measure team performance the right way
 52:00 Building a product company: what it really costs
 56:00 Leadership lessons from Lydia’s father
 1:00:00 Rapid fire: success, superpower, and legacy

About Lydia Sarfati

Lydia Sarfati is the founder and CEO of Repêchage, a globally recognized professional skincare brand powered by sustainably harvested seaweed. A master aesthetician, author, and educator, Lydia has trained tens of thousands of skincare professionals worldwide and has over 40 years of experience in clinical skincare innovation.

Her book, Success at Your Fingertips, outlines her journey from Poland to building a multimillion-dollar manufacturing and education company in the United States.

Learn more:

• https://www.repechage.com
  
  
• https://www.lydiasarfati.com
  
  

About the Host

Ronit Enos is the Founder of Salon Cadence, the global advisory network helping salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scale to seven and eight figures through systems, leadership, and Profit First for Salons.

Brought to You By

Salon Cadence
The advisory network for salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scaling with systems, leadership, and Profit First for Salons.
https://saloncadence.com

Vish
The color management system that turns waste into profit.
https://getvish.com

Phorest
The all-in-one salon software that grows your business through automation, culture, and client connection.
https://phorest.com

MySalonBooks
Real-time salon bookkeeping powered by Profit First for Salons.
https://mysalonbooks.com

Subscribe & Review

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another salon or spa owner who needs to hear this message.

Live a profitable life — by design.

What does it really take to build a company that lasts through economic collapse, industry disruption, and personal hardship... without losing your values or your people?

In this episode of It’s A Profitable Life, Ronit Enos sits down with Robert Reed, founder of Ergo Research, and Brock Goldberg, Chief Marketing Officer, for a powerful conversation about resilience, reinvention, and building a values-driven, family-style business.

Robert shares the defining moments that shaped Ergo’s journey — including the 2009 financial collapse that wiped out every factory they relied on, and the 2020 shutdown that forced a rapid digital pivot. Rather than folding, the company narrowed its focus, returned to its core mission of ergonomics, and rebuilt stronger each time.

Brock brings a deeply personal perspective, sharing his own journey through major health challenges and how discipline, consistency, and mindset transformed not only his health, but his leadership and life.

Together, they explore what it means to run a family-oriented company without ego, how trust and respect fuel long-term growth, and why preparation, financially and emotionally, is the difference between panic and possibility.

This episode is about far more than tools or tactics. It is about leadership, humanity, and what it truly means to live a profitable life in business and beyond.

In This Episode

0:00 Why this conversation has been years in the making
2:00 The 2009 collapse that forced a complete reinvention
6:00 Losing every factory and starting over from nothing
10:00 Why narrowing focus created exponential growth
14:00 The birth of ergonomic thinking in hairdressing
18:00 How education became a scalable business advantage
22:00 The 2020 shutdown and the pivot to digital
26:00 Why financial preparedness changes everything
30:00 Leadership without ego in family-run businesses
34:00 Brock’s health journey and redefining resilience
40:00 Discipline, routines, and consistency under pressure
46:00 What it really takes to work with people you love
52:00 Giving back and building purpose-driven products
58:00 Rapid fire questions: success, failure, and legacy

About the Guests

Robert Reed is the founder of Ergo Research and a pioneer in ergonomic styling tools. With over 40 years in the beauty industry, Robert has visited tens of thousands of salons worldwide and is the creator of The Art of the Blow Dry, a system designed to extend the careers and well-being of hairdressers. 

Brock Goldberg is the Chief Marketing Officer of Ergo Research. Over the past 14 years, he has helped shape the brand’s growth, culture, and digital evolution while navigating his own personal health journey with resilience and discipline.

Together, they represent a rare leadership dynamic built on trust, humility, and shared purpose.
Visit https://ergostylingtools.com/

Brought to You By

Salon Cadence: The advisory network for salon, spa, and medspa CEOs scaling with systems, leadership, and Profit First for Salons - saloncadence.com

Vish: The color management system that turns waste into profit - getvish.com

Phorest: The all-in-one salon software that grows your business through automation, culture, and client connection - phorest.com

MySalonBooks: Real-time salon bookkeeping powered by Profit First for Salons - mysalonbooks.com