The Elevate Podcast

Need help getting your marketing off your plate? Book a complimentary 20-minute Brand Audit with Megan, where she’ll take a look at your social media, website, and overall marketing and give you actionable feedback for your business. If you’re ready for more hands-on support, you can also chat with her about working together.

Book your complimentary Brand Audit here: https://calendly.com/meganheurich/audit

In this episode, I’m talking about why working out has become one of the most important parts of how I show up as a business owner. Exercise builds discipline. It clears your head. It improves your energy, confidence, focus, and ability to handle stress.

And all of those things directly impact the way you lead your team, make decisions, solve problems, and grow your business. We spend so much time looking for the next business strategy, but sometimes the biggest upgrade your business needs is you.

If you want to become a stronger leader, think more clearly, feel better, and bring more energy into your business, your workout might be a bigger part of the equation than you think.

Supporting pdf: https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/p4BLQWFL

What Actually Motivates Your Team? Have you ever offered your team a bonus, incentive, promotion, or opportunity you thought they would be excited about, only to receive a lukewarm response? The problem may not be that your team is unmotivated.

The problem may be that you are trying to motivate everyone the same way. Some employees are motivated by money. Others care more about freedom, security, recognition, professional growth, or the opportunity to lead.

When you understand what each person genuinely values, you can create incentives, rewards, and career opportunities that actually mean something to them.

In this episode of The Elevate Podcast, Patricia explains how to uncover your team members’ primary and secondary motivators, why compensation alone will never motivate everyone, and how to personalize rewards without creating an unfair workplace.

You will learn: How to identify the six primary team motivators Why the same reward can excite one employee and disappoint another

How to have better conversations about compensation and career growth

How to create personalized rewards while maintaining consistent performance expectations

Why you should keep each employee’s actual scores instead of only assigning them a label

How to use a universal reward system that gives your team choices without giving up control of your salon’s finances

Patricia has also created a complete Team Motivation Assessment Toolkit to accompany this episode. It includes a 30-question assessment, instructions for building it in Google Forms, a private scoring guide, six detailed team profiles, a scoring worksheet, compensation ideas, and a customizable Reward Bank framework.

Stop guessing what should motivate your team. Find out what success actually looks like to each person.

Supporting pdf: https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/7DQJdicK

We spend years chasing revenue, growth, bigger teams, bigger goals and the next level but at some point, we have to ask what all of that success was supposed to give us in the first place. Because a business can look incredibly successful from the outside while the woman running it is exhausted, overwhelmed and barely participating in her own life.

In this episode of The Elevate Podcast, we’re redefining what it actually means to elevate. We’re talking about why your health, strength, relationships, energy, time, finances, confidence and happiness deserve KPIs too and why your next level might have nothing to do with making more money. Maybe you don't need a bigger business. Maybe you need a bigger life. If you've built something you're proud of but secretly wonder, "Is this really what success is supposed to feel like?" this episode is for you.

Accompanying PDF: https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/MYoWfrum

Most salons spend countless hours training their teams on consultations, technical skills, customer service, policies, and procedures. But there's one area that often gets overlooked, and it could be costing you thousands of dollars in lost guests.

In this episode, we're talking about guest recovery and why every salon needs more than just a redo policy. You'll learn how to create a clear system for handling unhappy guests, train your team to navigate difficult conversations with confidence, and turn complaints into opportunities to build trust and loyalty.

I'll also share why guest feedback is one of the most valuable training tools you have, how to identify gaps in your systems, and the role playing exercises every salon should be practicing. Plus, I've created my Guest Recovery Playbook, featuring 25 real world guest recovery scenarios you can use to train your team.

If you're an Elevate Insider, this resource is included with your membership. If you've ever wondered why some salons lose guests after a complaint while others create lifelong loyal clients, this episode will show you the difference.

Download the guest recovery training guide here: https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/Rk7VxLbh

Success in business isn't just about better systems, stronger marketing, or hiring the right people. More often than not, the biggest barriers to growth are the beliefs, fears, and emotional patterns we carry with us every day. In this powerful episode of The Elevate Podcast, I sit down with my personal coach, Jeffrey Combs, owner of Mastermind Seminars, to explore the inner work that every salon owner needs to do if they truly want to build a thriving business and a fulfilling life.

Jeffrey has spent decades helping entrepreneurs identify the unconscious patterns that keep them stuck. Together, we discuss how anxiety, self esteem, fear of rejection, codependency, people pleasing, and limiting beliefs influence leadership, pricing, hiring, team culture, sales, and decision making.

Whether you're struggling to grow your salon, constantly feeling overwhelmed, or simply know you're capable of more, this conversation will challenge you to look beyond the surface and begin transforming from the inside out. If you're ready to stop repeating the same cycles and start leading with confidence and clarity, this is an episode you won't want to miss.

https://goldenmastermind.com/

Choosing a salon is one of the biggest decisions you'll make in your career, yet it's also one of the least understood. Too many stylists accept a position because the salon looks beautiful, their friends work there, or the commission percentage sounds appealing without asking the questions that truly determine their long-term success. In this episode, I break down how to reverse engineer your career before you ever step into an interview. We'll discuss how to create a clear five-year vision, identify the leadership style that's right for you, understand how your environment influences your habits and success, and why surrounding yourself with high performers can dramatically change the trajectory of your career. We'll also uncover the biggest myths around commission, average ticket, pricing, product charges, and earning potential so you can evaluate opportunities based on real income not just percentages on paper. You'll learn the questions every stylist should ask before accepting a position and how to recognize the green flags and red flags that often determine whether a salon will accelerate or limit your growth. And if you're a salon owner, this episode is just as valuable for you. You'll discover what today's top talent is really looking for, the questions ambitious stylists should be asking during an interview, and whether your salon is positioned to answer them with confidence. We'll discuss how your leadership, culture, compensation structure, education, career paths, and ability to develop high performers all impact your ability to attract and retain exceptional talent. If you want to build a salon that people choose because of the opportunities you create not just the commission you offer this episode will challenge you to see your business through the eyes of the next generation of stylists. Whether you're just graduating beauty school, considering a career move, or building a salon that top talent is excited to join, this episode will give you the framework to make intentional decisions that create long-term success. Because the salon you choose or the salon you build doesn't just determine where people work. It helps determine who they become.

I recently made the decision to let go of my salon suites—and contrary to what many people expected, it wasn't a difficult decision at all. In this episode, I'm sharing the real reasons behind the choice, how I evaluated the numbers, weighed the stress, and looked at the true growth potential of the opportunity. I also dive into one of the biggest traps entrepreneurs face: allowing ego to influence business decisions. Have you ever kept something because you were afraid people would think you failed? Worried about what others would say? Held onto a revenue stream simply because it looked successful from the outside? We'll talk about why those are ego questions—not business questions. I'll also share lessons from the transition process, the disappointment that came with it, and the reminder that people will always make decisions based on what's best for them. As leaders, learning not to take that personally is one of the most important skills we can develop. In this episode you'll learn: • How to know when it's time to let go of something in your business • The difference between profit and opportunity cost • Why stress should be measured just like revenue • How ego can cloud decision-making • Why "looking successful" and being successful are not the same thing • The leadership lessons that come from releasing what no longer aligns Sometimes growth isn't about adding more. Sometimes it's about having the courage to let go of what's no longer serving your future. Because the next level of your business may require you to stop carrying what you've outgrown.

This episode breaks down the truth most people avoid.

Growth and leadership have nothing to do with what’s happening around you and everything to do with what you’re willing to take responsibility for. When you stop blaming your team, your clients, your circumstances, and your past, you step into real power.

In this episode, we go beyond surface level mindset work and into the spiritual side of personal responsibility. You’ll learn how your external world is a direct reflection of your internal leadership, how your ego keeps you stuck, and why ownership is the fastest way to transform your business and your life. If you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated, this is the shift you’ve been avoiding and the one that will change everything.

The elevate insider:

https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/mfWaCmoz

The Salon Owner Blueprint & My Salon Owner Community: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/blueprint

12 Week Training Program: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/training 

1 On 1 Coaching: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/coaching

Socials:

Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opulentbeautypro/

Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricia_nowakowski_obs/#

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@opulentbeautypro/featured

The beauty industry is facing a major shift and most people are not fully understanding what is happening. Federal changes to student loan accountability are putting pressure on beauty schools to prove their graduates can actually earn enough to justify the cost of education. At the same time, apprenticeship programs are being pushed forward as an alternative, especially in Illinois. But what does that really mean? In this episode, I break down the facts behind the new federal regulations, how they impact cosmetology programs, and what could happen if schools begin losing access to federal funding. I also walk through the Illinois apprenticeship bill, including the legal requirements around pay, supervision, training hours, and the often misunderstood 180 hours of supplemental instruction. Most importantly, we are having the conversation no one is having: Are apprenticeships actually solving the problem, or are they shifting the cost and responsibility from the student to the salon owner? If you are a salon owner, stylist, or someone considering entering the industry, this episode will give you the clarity you need to understand where beauty education is headed and what it means for your future.

https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondthechairco?_r=1&_t=ZT-96M1yqWuebt

If your books aren’t full, it’s probably not a marketing problem. It’s a retention problem. In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly what we’re implementing inside my salon to increase client retention, grow average tickets, and create consistent, predictable income behind the chair. We’re talking about strategic add on messaging at the beginning of the week, how to structure your first, second, and third client visits to build loyalty, why most stylists are rebooking wrong, and how to use treatments to create real client attachment. These are simple systems, but they completely change how your business runs when you actually implement them. If you’re tired of constantly chasing new clients and ready to finally feel booked and stable, this episode is for you. TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTh3uopsu/ The elevate insider: https://opulentbeautypro.mykajabi.com/offers/mfWaCmoz The Salon Owner Blueprint & My Salon Owner Community: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/blueprint 12 Week Training Program: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/training  1 On 1 Coaching: https://www.opulentbeautypro.com/coaching Socials: Business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opulentbeautypro/ Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patricia_nowakowski_obs/# YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@opulentbeautypro/featured