How PBA is Standing Up for Beauty Pros Everywhere

00;00;00;20 - 00;00;26;03 (Leslie) - Beauty professionals really are on the front lines in so many ways of finding out things about our clients, whether it is something like domestic abuse, or skin cancer, or an illness. And so what the training does is help the licensed professional understand what to look for in your client. Are you noticing specific changes in behavior? Maybe they used to be really open and now they're not, whatever the signs might be.

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00;00;26;03 - 00;00;32;15 (Leslie) - So it goes over what you could look for and then more importantly, what to do about it.

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00;00;34;21 - 00;00;56;13 (Jozlyn) - Today's guest is Leslie Perry, Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association, a.k.a. PBA. She got her start in her mom's salon, where she fell in love with the power of connection and care. And after building a career in corporate marketing and communications, Leslie returned to the industry that shaped her, now leading the PBA with deep experience and an even deeper passion.

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00;00;56;13 - 00;01;26;06 (Jozlyn) - In this episode, she shares the PBA goals of the year and highlights, Cut It Out, their impactful program that trains beauty professionals to recognize and respond to signs of domestic abuse. And it's a powerful conversation about advocacy, purpose, and the role of our industry and what it could do to make real change. We work in the beauty industry so clunky software is not the vibe. Boulevard is sleek, made for beauty pros and you get compliments, not complaints from your client.

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00;01;26;13 - 00;01;56;13 (Jozlyn) - Podcast listeners can get 10% off free guided setup so head over to joinblvd.com/podcast to claim your special offer. Hey, this is Jasmine Miller jumping in with a quick update. Shortly after recording this episode, Congress officially passed the 45B FICA Tip Credit, finally providing tax fairness for salons, spas and barbershop owners. We are so grateful to the PBA and everyone who worked so hard to make this happen.

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00;01;56;17 - 00;02;15;23 (Jozlyn) - Want to know what this means for your business? Head to probeauty.org and click the advocacy tab. Tons of great info and FAQs there to get you up to speed. Thank you, Leslie, so much for joining. We have the beautiful Leslie Perry here with us and we are really excited to chat with you and all that you're doing.

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00;02;15;26 - 00;02;19;23 (Jozlyn) - Tell us a little bit about yourself and essentially what got you into the industry.

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00;02;19;29 - 00;02;46;28 (Leslie) - Well, first, thank you for having me. Just a pleasure to be here. I was born into the industry, literally. So my mom was a hairdresser and a salon owner for 35 years. And I remember being a little girl, watching her do her client's hair, watching the transformations take place in the salon, and then found myself helping, helping in the salon, learning how to fold towels correctly for my mom's salon, because there's a way every salon has a way.

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00;02;47;01 - 00;03;03;11 (Leslie) - And then kind of graduated up so that when I was in high school, I was working there as a receptionist and learned the ins and outs of the business side of the industry from that point. My mom didn't want her kids to go into the industry, like a lot of parents don't want that for their kids for whatever reason.

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00;03;03;11 - 00;03;24;25 (Leslie) - And so I went on and got my bachelor's degree and started off in corporate America, but always felt this calling to come back into professional beauty. And so in my thirties, I listened to that calling and did an apprenticeship and got my license in esthetics and opened a bridal makeup and skin care business in Michigan for about ten years at the time.

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00;03;24;25 - 00;03;29;18 (Leslie) - And all of that kind of led me eventually to the Professional Beauty Association, where I am today.

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00;03;29;21 - 00;03;34;22 (Jozlyn) - I love that you start off young and you're like, ‘I want to go back to this for sure. Like, this is where my passion is.’

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00;03;35;02 - 00;03;56;27 (Leslie) - It was it's a passion. And I never understood when people would talk about, as I was building a career, saying, find the thing you love to do, and then figure out a way to get paid for it. And I never thought that was actually something that could be a reality for me. I just thought, ‘No, I'll pick the job that pays well and then I'll have the means to do the things that I want to do on the side or something else.’

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00;03;56;27 - 00;04;13;18 (Leslie) - And then when I finally just listened to this, like internal calling that I felt to go into professional beauty, that's when things started to make sense. And when I did find ways to get paid to do the things that I love to do. And still to this day, I don't feel like I go to work. I really don't.

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00;04;13;19 - 00;04;23;14 (Leslie) - I feel like this is my life and I love what I do. I love the people that I get to do it with and for in this beautiful industry, and can't imagine doing anything else.

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00;04;23;14 - 00;04;38;12 (Shanalie) - I absolutely love that. Like it's in your blood, it's in your nature. Like it was a calling for you. I think that's very similar for a lot of folks that are in the industry. And it's keeping us here. It's that passion that's one thing that's so beautiful about the people that we get to work with.

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00;04;38;25 - 00;04;52;19 (Shanalie) - So the PBA has an incredible, outreach and they do so much for our community. But, if there's listeners that are listening and maybe aren't familiar with all the things, can you walk us through who the PBA is, what you do and what you're focusing on?

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00;04;52;25 - 00;05;21;12 (Leslie) - Sure. Our mission is pretty simple. It is to keep professional beauty professional. And, by that we mean helping to fight behind the scenes, whether it's, you know, states trying to deregulate the license that we've all worked really hard to achieve. Or, through education, through resources, through legislation, again, at state and federal levels, what can we do to make sure that we're setting up the industry, the salon owners, the licensed professionals, the manufacturers, distributors, everyone who participates?

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00;05;21;19 - 00;05;39;07 (Leslie) - How do we set us up for success? As the world evolves, as the economy evolves, as client expectations evolve, we want to stay on the front end of that and help our members understand what that means for them and where the business is going so that we have an industry for years and years to come.

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00;05;39;14 - 00;05;56;26 (Jozlyn) - Absolutely. And with the PBA, I'm sure you all have like key priorities for this specific year, even though, you know, we're halfway through the year but still very much goal-oriented. I'm just curious of what some other industry professionals can be expecting from you in that they can pay special attention to for this year and what you all have planned.

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00;05;56;27 - 00;06;14;02 (Leslie) - They can expect to see more of us because we still really are kind of a best-kept secret. And we don't want to be a best-kept secret. We want everyone to know that we exist because we exist to help them make their careers even better. But sadly, a lot of people don't recognize that or don't know that we exist.

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00;06;14;02 - 00;06;34;10 (Leslie) - And so our biggest focus for this whole year has been to be more visible in the industry at industry events, and making sure that we have someone there to support the events, to support the industry so others know what we do. And a lot of what we do, associations: What is it? What does that mean? What does an association do? It’s a big word.

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00;06;34;12 - 00;06;50;21 (Leslie) - I never heard about it at beauty school or what they do. I like to think of us as your best friend that you might not talk to every day. You might not even talk to every month. But it's that kind of friend that when you do get in touch with us, we pick right back up where we left off.

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00;06;50;28 - 00;07;08;17 (Leslie) - And if you have a burning question and you don't know what the answer is or don't know where to go, come to PBA first, because chances are we do know. Or if we don't, we have friends, because we have lots of industry friends and partners who probably do have the answer and can speed up the time that it takes you to figure out the answer.

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00;07;08;17 - 00;07;17;12 (Leslie) - So you get back to doing what you love, which is what you went into the industry for, to help people, to make them look better, to make them feel better and not worrying about your business.

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00;07;17;27 - 00;07;34;01 (Shanalie) - I love that. I think there's some misunderstandings around the role state board plays. I think a lot of folks think, ‘let me call up state board and they're going to support me here,’ and they're like, ‘we're here to help you get your license. We're going to take your money every year to make sure you’re following sanitation rules.’

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00;07;34;03 - 00;08;00;04 (Shanalie) - Yeah, Yeah. So it sounds like the Professional Beauty Association is really that lifeline that we all need to have that safety net, like, ‘hey, these things are happening in my salon. Is this okay? Is this what we're supposed to be doing?’ And you are really that guiding light with this program. So it's incredible. You know, one thing I also want to highlight is this isn't just about sitting in an office typing up, ‘oh, sign this petition.’

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00;08;00;04 - 00;08;04;04 (Shanalie) - You guys are up on Capitol Hill making noise.

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00;08;04;09 - 00;08;04;16 (Leslie) - We are.

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00;08;04;16 - 00;08;07;03 (Shanalie) - Talk to us a lot about that experience.

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00;08;07;03 - 00;08;32;02 (Leslie) - We have an incredible, small but very mighty government affairs team. And Mira and Katie are incredible women. They're soldiers and they're so knowledgeable of everything that's going. I'm always amazed at their ability to track bills in all 50 states and at any given time. At the beginning of this year, they were tracking 4 to 500 bills to see where does that go? What does that mean for us as professionals?

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00;08;32;02 - 00;08;53;06 (Leslie) - What does that do to the industry? What is our take on it? What's the PBA position? Do we need to activate and get our advocates contacting their state representatives? We have been going to Washington, D.C. frequently, which salon owners are probably, if they're not familiar with PBA, they probably are familiar with the FICA Tax Tip credit that we've been fighting for for many years.

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00;08;53;06 - 00;09;04;04 (Leslie) - And we're getting closer and closer than we've ever been. But that is boots on the ground, and that is going to offices of senators and representatives and fighting on behalf of what's right for our industry.

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00;09;04;12 - 00;09;06;15 (Shanalie) - Absolutely. Can you shed a little light on the FICA Tax Tip credit?

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00;09;06;25 - 00;09;29;27 (Leslie) - Sure, sure. So our salon owners, of course, have employees, they pay taxes for those employees, employment taxes. Tips are for the employee only. The business doesn't take the tip. 100% of tips go straight to the hairdresser or a dietitian. The way the law is written now, the salon owner still has to pay employment taxes on those tips, even though it's technically not revenue for the salon.

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00;09;30;05 - 00;09;51;29 (Leslie) - So in the 1990s, the restaurant industry was able to pass a tax credit for their industry only. That's all we're seeking is equality in just different industry. It's the exact same credit that we're seeking and we've been fighting for since the nineties. It's a long time coming and fingers crossed, we can find that finish line this summer.

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00;09;51;29 - 00;10;10;19 (Shanalie) - That will be huge because, I know even when I was managing salons, we had so many fun restaurants and I would meet up with managers and we would be in the alley like, ‘Oh my God, I'm going through the same thing.’ Like, there's so many similarities in the industries that it's wild is we don't already have this in place.

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00;10;10;19 - 00;10;12;18 (Shanalie) - Like, it's crazy. Yeah.

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00;10;12;19 - 00;10;28;27 (Jozlyn) - So I know that you work with multiple different types of people within the industry, whether it be a stylist, whether it be an owner, a manager, or even like the educators. I'm curious of what you feel you would want everyone to know about this industry, even like misconceptions of the industry and things that you're talking about with these individuals.

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00;10;29;00 - 00;10;56;14 (Leslie) - Career in professional beauty is just that. It is a career. It is an incredible career. It isn't something you fall into because you were too dumb to go to college, or that idea of this beauty school dropout kind of thing. It takes it takes brains. It takes a background in knowledge, in science, in human anatomy, in chemistry, in math.

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00;10;56;14 - 00;11;19;23 (Leslie) - I mean, the skills that get used every single day in professional beauty. I mean, it's almost like, you know, you combine engineering and science, and all of these different components and then it comes out in beauty. So that's my hope. What we fight for every day and what keeps me going at PBA is this desire to transform the perception of the industry from the inside out.

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00;11;19;23 - 00;11;42;03 (Leslie) - Because even inside the industry, sometimes we look down on ourselves and think differently or think less than of ourselves. My mom was a perfect example of that. Like I said, she was a hairdresser for 35 years. So when she introduced herself, she would say, ‘Oh, I'm just a hairdresser.’ She was a salon owner, an entrepreneur, a smart businesswoman who employed 12 to 15 stylists, plus receptionist, plus support staff.

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00;11;42;03 - 00;11;59;05 (Leslie) - I mean, it's huge. But she saw herself as just a hairdresser because when she was coming up, that was what it was told to her, that she wasn't smart enough to go on to college. So. ‘Oh, just and you can probably do beauty school. You know, anybody can do that.’ And in fact, it's not anybody can do it.

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00;11;59;05 - 00;12;20;14 (Leslie) - It takes grit, determination, you have to work so hard to build your business and it's also worth it. And you can build an amazing career when you decide if you want to step out from behind the chair, inside the treatment room, and get into managing or owning a salon or working in sales or working at PBA or others.

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00;12;20;14 - 00;12;29;02 (Leslie) - So, a company like Boulevard, right? Like there's so many opportunities that the license is just the very beginning of an incredible career.

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00;12;29;02 - 00;12;55;21 (Shanalie) - Yeah, that's such an important point because, I think a lot of people don't realize how our industry is such a safe home to so many marginalized people, like women, the LGBTQ community, people of color, even immigrants coming in. You know, it's a great skill that you could pick up and be crazy successful. I've had the pleasure of working with folks that reach upwards of one person doing 500,000 on their own.

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00;12;55;28 - 00;13;14;11 (Shanalie) - And these are a lot of people who grew up with nothing, right? Where maybe they didn't go to college because of financial reasons and not anything to do with IQ or smarts or emotional intelligence or any of that. And now they're like living completely different lives because of this. And they're having fun, sipping cappuccinos in between clients.

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00;13;14;11 - 00;13;26;10 (Shanalie) - You know, we're all like having a great time in this industry. So I love what you said there because it is a very serious career path if you take that on

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00;13;26;13 - 00;13;46;22 (Leslie) -  And it doesn't happen overnight. And I think sometimes with some of the the new students coming out of cosmetology school, there is that kind of perception that, ‘Oh, okay, all I need is Instagram and TikTok and like I'm going to hit it big. Something's going viral. The brand is going to hire me, and all of a sudden I can just sit back, relax and make deals all day.’

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00;13;46;27 - 00;13;48;12 (Jozlyn) - Best case scenario.

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00;13;48;12 - 00;13;49;05 (Leslie) - It could happen

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00;13;49;05 - 00;13;51;08 (Shanalie) - Highly unlikely.

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00;13;51;18 - 00;14;18;11 (Leslie) - I think this majority of us right there is a period of time, of years really, that you do put in blood, sweat and tears and lots of weekends and nights to build that book of business. But it does pay off. And when you put in, I mean, I look back at my current think if I hadn't done all those things and learned the hard way most of the time, because that's how I tend to learn, making lots of mistakes and failures which turned into opportunities to learn and grow.

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00;14;18;11 - 00;14;41;10 (Leslie) - That's what gets you somewhere and sets you up for success. Truly is having that just, the grit about you to put in that effort. This industry makes it so possible and so welcoming with open arms to say, if you want to do this, you can do it. And people surrounding yourself with the right people and again, coming back to surround yourself with us at PBA to help you build that career of your dreams.

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00;14;41;10 - 00;14;54;18 (Shanalie) - Yeah I love that it's what you put into it, you know that's what's cool here. And,  it's one of the few industries where men, women, everyone, we're all paid equally, right? We have that like level playing ground.

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00;14;54;18 - 00;14;56;06 (Jozlyn) - It’s based off of talent.

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00;14;56;06 - 00;15;06;08 (Shanalie) - Absolutely. And yeah, what you put into it. How hard are you going to drive this? How hard you're going to be out there looking for your clients building, connecting, doing all of that?

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00;15;06;08 - 00;15;08;22 (Jozlyn) - And the skills that you're going to learn.

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00;15;08;22 - 00;15;17;24 (Shanalie) - It's like empowerment, what we have there. So I love what you said. Everyone needs to know about this for sure.

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00;15;17;24 - 00;15;46;09 (Jozlyn) - Okay, so you're running a beauty business, which means you're wearing like seven different hats, right? Boulevard's all-in-one client experience platform lightens the load. Think seamless scheduling, automated marketing, and built-in ways to make more revenue. Less stress, more success. For a limited time, we're offering podcast listeners 10% off plus free guided set up. Get started at joinblvd.com/podcast.

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00;15;46;09 - 00;16;09;05 (Leslie) - You know I don't apply makeup to someone or skin care, but working with licensed professionals or our members, helping them achieve their goals and dreams or seeing—we have a program specifically for students called our Beacon Student Program, which we just graduated almost 200 students in June of this year, but seeing them achieve their goals.

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00;16;09;05 - 00;16;31;06 (Leslie) - So one of those students, about two years ago graduated, went on to now own a salon. He's working with one of our brand partners, going to multiple shows, traveling the entire country. He's a brand representative for a brand, doing all these amazing things because of what he learned at Beacon. And to have them come back to you and say, ‘You changed my life.’

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00;16;31;20 - 00;16;33;21 (Shanalie) - That’s like everything.

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00;16;33;21 - 00;16;50;01 (Leslie) - I get to feel that way still every day at PBA. When we hear from our members who say PBA made an impact, that connection you made or that one email you signed or that tag in the post on social that led me to this, which led me to this. And it would have never happened without you at the center of it.

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00;16;50;01 - 00;17;15;03 (Leslie) - And that's what we get to do because our industry’s also one built firmly on connection. And we're outside of the medical realm, we're the only industry that touches people for a living. And so to have that sense of connection, even if you are working at Boulevard and you're behind the scenes, not touching clients, you are still touching lives through the way that your software works to bring clients into a salon environment, right?

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00;17;15;03 - 00;17;20;00 (Leslie) - It's no other industry gets to have that kind of feeling.

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00;17;20;02 - 00;17;45;19 (Jozlyn) - It's honestly one of the reasons why I stay doing what I do. It's that rewarding feeling of like, yes, I am helping someone, whether it just be a small little snippet into their business story versus, you know, helping them along the way, whatever the case may be, you're still helping. And that's the rewarding part of it. Because I know that there's so many resources out there and some people come to you like, ‘I don't know what I'm doing, like help me understand how to run my business.’

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00;17;45;19 - 00;17;50;29 (Jozlyn) - I'm like, yes, let's talk about it. Let's see what you're doing now versus what you could be doing. So I completely understand that.

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00;17;51;08 - 00;18;15;19 (Shanalie) - I love that. I think, for us at Boulevard too, we really want our technology to almost be in the background of things so that people can focus on the people, you know, because that's the most beautiful part about what we do. Just as you said, we're touching people, and you get very personal with people very quickly. You'll be surprised with two appointments in and you're discussing what they're talking about in therapy, Right?

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00;18;16;03 - 00;18;25;14 (Shanalie) - My childhood trauma, my this, that like, you know, everything about them, like from dogs names to kids names. So all of it, you know.

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00;18;25;14 - 00;18;26;29 (Jozlyn) - …vacation next week.

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00;18;27;05 - 00;18;47;04 (Shanalie) - I thrived on that because my experience was more on the management side, but I would have the occasional yap. I'd be sitting in a station with someone getting to know them. And until this day, I haven't been managing salons now for almost six years, but I still talk to the clients. I still have personal numbers checking in, you know, all of that.

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00;18;47;04 - 00;19;03;04 (Shanalie) - So these relationships really stay with you for a lifetime, regardless if you're doing the hair or not. So it's a very powerful industry for sure. Now, let's jump in to Cut it Out. So Cut It Out is an incredible program that PBA has now created. Can you walk us through exactly what that is?

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00;19;03;04 - 00;19;27;00 (Leslie) - Cut it Out has actually been around for more than 20 years. It is a program that helps train licensed professionals, whether you're in hair, skin, makeup, barbering, whatever area of the industry you are provides training and resources to you to understand and recognize the signs of domestic abuse. So there are trainings that you can take online for free.

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00;19;27;00 - 00;19;53;01 (Leslie) - There are free resources that you can order that will be sent to your salon, barbershop, place of work that you can put out. We also, in the training go over how to use those resources so that they are there in ways that clients feel safe taking them, because that's that's a huge part of domestic abuse is helping that person feel safe and heard and figuring out what steps might they have available to them to get out of a really bad situation.

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00;19;53;07 - 00;20;27;12 (Jozlyn) - I mean, automatically everyone thinks when you go to your style is even a massage therapist or an esthetician where you're in that intimate space. So much can come out during that time, especially when you're very hands on with, you know, a client or customer. So you create those unique relationships during that time. So how does Cut it Out help with training individuals on how to address specific situations or how to even note that there should be this is a red flag or this is something that might need a little bit more addressing?

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00;20;27;21 - 00;20;30;17 (Jozlyn) - How do you all train them to see that?

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00;20;30;17 - 00;20;57;19 (Leslie) - Beauty professionals really are on the front lines in so many ways of finding out things about our clients, whether it is something like domestic abuse or skin cancer, for example, or an illness, or you're noticing signs of like hair loss or things on the skin aren't quite right. That's all our body telling us something. And so what the training does is help the licensed professional understand what to look for in your client.

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00;20;57;19 - 00;21;29;04 (Leslie) - Are you noticing specific changes in behavior? Maybe they used to be really open and now they're not, whatever the signs might be. So it goes over what you could look for. And then more importantly, or not more importantly, but very importantly, what to do about it. A lot of the professionals who have gone through the training have said that they really appreciate having that because now they know how to handle it, because when someone gets in the chair or on the massage table, when you're comfortable, you start sharing things.

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00;21;29;14 - 00;21;55;15 (Leslie) - And even though we joke about, oh, we're hairapists.It's therapy on top of getting your beauty service. We aren't trained psychologists or licensed therapists. Right? So what do we do with all of the stuff that we find out every single day? And so that's what this training is designed to do, to help the professional understand, recognize it, and then what do I do with it.

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00;21;55;15 - 00;22;12;02 (Leslie) - Do I bring it up? Do I tell them to go to the restroom where I know I have the materials, where they could pick that up very quietly and take that on for them and help them in that way? What resources are available in my particular area and region where I could also direct them to get the professional help that they need?

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00;22;12;10 - 00;22;40;11 (Jozlyn) -  I can only imagine with the type of support these service providers, hairstylists are giving to their clients, they would probably also need internal support for themselves. I just remember for myself, being a manager at a spa, I would get all the stories of whatever is going on in someone's life. So I can only imagine for hairstylists, it's probably more intense for them as well as understanding exactly how to address it.

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00;22;40;11 - 00;22;50;12 (Jozlyn) - But I'm just curious if there's anything internal that you are that you all offer for suggestions or advice for them to take care of themselves as well, to not have that burden of all this information that they're getting.

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00;22;50;21 - 00;23;09;01 (Leslie) - It is challenging to not take it on yourself when you're hearing that all day and you're taking the energy from your clients all day. And some of it's really positive, exciting news that they're sharing. And then others like our Cut It Out program, right? Might be things that aren't as positive and exciting to take on, but either way it is a lot to take on other people's energy and what do we do with that?

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00;23;09;01 - 00;23;42;10 (Leslie) - And so we actually work with educators in the industry who focus on things like burnout and how to avoid that mental health awareness. Partnering with L'Oréal and Daniel Mason Jones on the Head Up program. And then another resource that we have through PBA, we do have a virtual mental health counseling available to our members as well. So if that's something that you just need to talk to someone in that service in addition to having actual counseling, it has like emergency type services too, where you're like, I've like now this exact minute moment in time, I have to talk to someone to, like, unload what just was loaded onto me.

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00;23;42;10 - 00;24;06;04 (Leslie) - That's another resource that we provide through PBA because it's huge. And I think ever since the pandemic, we as a society are recognizing the importance of taking care of ourselves and our mental health. And what to do with that. It really brought out a lot and that there is a need to focus on that because it's, you know, like holistically, we can't be good if we're not physically, mentally, emotionally.

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00;24;06;04 - 00;24;11;01 (Leslie) - Like all of that has to be in line to be able to serve our clients. And we can't do that without support ourselves.

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00;24;11;06 - 00;24;18;28 (Jozlyn) - Yeah, and you think like, you know, everyone has their own lives as well, that they have things going on i addition to their career area.

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00;24;18;28 - 00;24;25;00 (Leslie) - Not just clients, right? They've got their family, their friends, their own stuff happening. 

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00;24;25;00 - 00;24;39;00 (Shanalie) - I know you touched a little bit when we were talking about the support that you can even provide to a professional who's also maybe experiencing abuse, whether it be in a relationship or somewhere else. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

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00;24;39;00 - 00;25;11;13 (Leslie) - Yes. So in addition to the Cut it Out training that we offer to anyone, licensed professionals, we also have grant funding available to licensed beauty professionals who may be experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse themselves and need to get out of the situation. They need funding to be able to do that. Or maybe they did get out of it, but now they just need some funding to get started again in a new salon environment or to get working again or pay for a little bit of child care while they get their job and get themselves back on their feet.

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00;25;11;13 - 00;25;20;04 (Leslie) - So that's another resource that we provide industry only to help those licensed professionals that may sadly be facing that themselves.

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00;25;20;16 - 00;25;40;10 (Shanalie) - I think that's a very important piece. I think a lot of people don't realize that once you leave a situation, you are more than likely rebuilding a new life, either you might be leaving a city, maybe a state even for some folks, maybe leaving a job, a full book of clients like you never know what that could look like when you're walking away from an abusive situation.

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00;25;40;10 - 00;25;57;19 (Shanalie) - So I think that's like major that they could reach out to PBA and get some additional support. I feel like PBAs is the gift that keeps on giving, so I love talking about all these resources because I don't think everyone really taps into it as much as they should.

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00;25;57;19 - 00;26;16;21 (Jozlyn) - What you just mentioned in regards to, even being able to help with some type of child care, because I always think it always takes a village to raise a child. So knowing that they have that support there with that, you know, with being able to help with child care and just anything that has to do with the babies, that's really important.

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00;26;16;23 - 00;26;43;15 (Leslie) - I think sometimes we forget. I even forget it's not as simple as just finding a job and finding a salon home that fits you to work. So we are working with a partner right now to help a young stylist who did leave a situation very recently and is trying to find a salon home and has two little kids. And so her childcare ends at 5 p.m. Will salons want you when you start out to work at nights and on weekends?

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00;26;43;15 - 00;27;02;22 (Leslie) - And so it's a struggle for her to find childcare because leaving the situation she lost, as sad as it sounds, she also lost a support system that she did have because Dad did provide some support to take care of the kids. And now that that's gone, she's trying to do right by her kids and provide for the family.

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00;27;03;00 - 00;27;18;27 (Leslie) - And how do you do that in, you know, when you don't have childcare? And so that's something I don't have all the answers yet. But it's another thing that PBA's is working on behind the scenes right now that we hope that we can launch something in 2026 nationwide that can help with childcare issues to offer for working parents in the industry.

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00;27;19;02 - 00;27;34;24 (Shanalie) - Yeah, look at PBA being our village. Honestly, that's huge. What kind of feedback have you received from folks going through the Cut It Out program, whether it be training or receiving services themselves? We'd love to hear what they're feeling going through it.

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00;27;35;15 - 00;27;58;06 (Leslie) - So commonly we hear, I'm just so glad that it existed because I had a feeling that clients may be experiencing it, but I didn't know for sure or I didn't know how do I bring it up or do I bring it up, or what resources could I point them toward? Because I didn't I just didn't even know. So the training provides even just that baseline of awareness.

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00;27;58;17 - 00;28;24;27 (Leslie) - When you have the awareness, you can then decide to do something about it. Also knowing that the resources exist. And we also hear when stylist order the resources and they'll say, I don't know where they're going, people are taking them. I don't know who, but they're taking them, and so they'll reorder those resources as well. So it just that's another feel-good factor where you might not even know who you helped, but knowing that you are helping and that you've taken it on yourself in the role that you play in the life of your client.

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00;28;25;05 - 00;28;42;13 (Leslie) - To be able to be a lifeline for them is just incredible. And then a couple of years ago, one of the stylists who was facing a situation herself, who did receive our grant funding, sent in a beautiful video of what it meant to her, and we were able to share it at our North American Hairstyling Awards that year.

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00;28;42;14 - 00;29;02;03 (Leslie) - But just that it really gave her her life back. It gave her the opportunity to show her kids that you don't have to stay in a situation that's bad for you, that she felt like she could show her kids that mom is strong and mom is confident and we can do this and we are going to get through it together.

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00;29;02;03 - 00;29;25;01 (Leslie) -  And there are other people that we don't even know that care enough about us to have this program in place, and this funding in place to help me rebuild my life and give me my life back. When you get feedback like that, you're like, okay, that's why we do it. This is why we do all of the things and why we, you know, continually work the hours and put in all of the effort because we can change people's lives.

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00;29;25;01 - 00;29;43;24 (Shanalie) - Yeah. Breaking the cycle, like that's major. Helping one person, it can impact so many lives, so that's incredible that the outreach here that you've been able to accomplish through this program. For folks who are listening in and maybe want to get involved with either PBA or Cut it Out, how do they do that?

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00;29;43;24 - 00;29;44;17 (Shanalie) - How do they find you?

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00;29;44;24 - 00;30;04;14 (Leslie) - Easy way is you can find us on all of the social channels. But we are @probeautyassoc, not the easiest to remember. If you search pro beauty you'll find us. And then for the resources, go to our website. It's just probeauty.org and all of the resources are there on the website.

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00;30;04;14 - 00;30;19;01 (Leslie) - It's like one of those websites, too, and there's a lot. So my other advice is if you're not finding what you need and you're just at the point of frustration trying to find it, just reach out to us, send the email, give us a call, send us a text message and we'll get back to you. We don't use the chatbots.

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00;30;19;01 - 00;30;37;09 (Leslie) - We actually have humans behind it. We have the human connection point, but we want you to reach out to us. That's what we're here for. And it's never when people reach out, sometimes say, ‘I know you're busy, I'm sorry to bother you. It's never a bother.’ We want people to reach out. That's where we exist for. We exist to help you.

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00;30;37;09 - 00;30;44;05 (Leslie) - And so I just encourage everyone to reach out, check out the website, the social media, our DMS, too. We answer our own DMs, too.

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00;30;44;05 - 00;30;52;00 (Shanalie) - I can vouch for you. Like everyone I’ve interacted with at Pro Beauty has been insanely wonderful. Like so smart.

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00;30;52;01 - 00;30;53;06 (Leslie) - We have a really great team.

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00;30;53;06 - 00;31;15;24 (Shanalie) - Oh my God. When I sat with Myra for just like an hour, I felt like I went to law school. I’m now a lawyer, like, Legally Blond. So, yeah, you have an incredible team there. We are so thrilled that we could support at Boulevard. I know even Matt has joined you all over Capitol Hill to do the FICA fight, as I like to call it.

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00;31;15;24 - 00;31;18;29 (Shanalie) - Yes, this is incredible. But any final thoughts, Leslie?

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00;31;19;00 - 00;31;40;13 (Leslie) - It really is a privilege to be in the professional beauty industry. And all of us who have chosen this as a career have to remember that it's a privilege to serve people. Sometimes I think, again, not to make social media the enemy of everything, but sometimes it is like you see, maybe client bashing or people who get frustrated and airing out those frustrations.

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00;31;40;13 - 00;32;03;26 (Leslie) - And we forget that the reason that we have the careers that we have and we get to do what we love to do every day is because of the client. And I get that we all have those frustrating days. But if we can all come back around and refocus and recenter ourselves through connecting with other like-minded professionals, whether it's through PBA or, you know, clients of Boulevard that come together and support one another. Wherever you find

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00;32;03;26 - 00;32;16;27 (Leslie) - that connection to remember why we went into this. Because it really is the best industry and just a privilege to serve people, to make them look good, feel good, and feel like they have the confidence to take on the world because of what we do for them.

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00;32;17;13 - 00;32;24;11 (Shanalie) - So true. We're so lucky to be part of this community. I love that. Leslie, thank you so much. This is so wonderful. 

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00;32;24;11 - 00;32;29;21 (Leslie) - Thank you so much. It's was a pleasure.

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00;32;29;21 - 00;32;53;06 (Jozlyn) -  This ad is brought to you by Boulevard, the beauty industry's most loved client experience platform. Sign up and see how easy switching softwares can be. Onboarding is simple, supportive, and is actually kind of fun. Today's listeners can save 10% and get free guided setup. Simply head over to join blvd.com/podcast to book a demo and get started.

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