Hype or Helpful? What AI Means for Your Self-Care Business

00:01 (SKYA) It was very interesting to hear his perspective on AI's impact on the beauty and self-care industry as a whole. There definitely is scary factors of - could eliminate some specific jobs - but he's like, from everything that we've seen in the history of the Industrial Revolution, when we create something that can handle more simple or kind of monotonous tasks that maybe don't require human touch, that frees up human time to focus on complex emotional tasks.

00:35 (SHANALIE) From smart marketing tools that know exactly when to reach your client,  to AI-generated captions, custom consultations, and even robot facials. It seems like there's a new headline every week, but what's the hype and what's actually helpful? In today's roundtable, we're digging into how Artificial Intelligence is showing up in self-care businesses, what it means for providers and clients alike, and where we think it's headed next. Is AI the assistant we've all been waiting for? Or just another shiny object?

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1:04 (SHANALIE) We work in the beauty industry, so clunky software is just not the vibe. Boulevard is sleek, made for beauty pros and gets you compliments – not complaints from clients. Podcast listeners get 10% off plus free guided setup. So head over to join blvd.com/podcast to claim the special offer.

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1:25 (SHANALIE)  I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Because I feel like AI is everywhere. And, there's some confusion around it. We're all still learning. I think that’s the cool thing, we’re all learning together. It’s a very new thing.

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1:38 (SHANALIE) AI is when a computer system is able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, like writing, seeing, learning or making decisions. And then we have automation, which is when you tell a system exactly what to do step by step. AI is when the system learns patterns and adapts on its own. So I think that's such an interesting difference. And most people will be asking for AI, but in reality they're looking for automation.

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00;02;04;10 - 00;02;16;02

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2:05 (SKYA) Yeah, I think something really interesting. We were able to attend the Beauty Changes Lives Round Table and the key speaker was Vint Cerf, who is the man behind the internet, and he works with Google at Gemini now – so he's very heavily involved. It was very interesting to hear his perspective on AI's impact on the beauty and self-care industry as a whole. There was a concern in his mind. He was like, there definitely are scary factors of, you know, it could eliminate some specific jobs. But he's like, from everything that we've seen in the history of the Industrial Revolution, when we create something that can handle more simple or, kind of monotonous tasks that maybe don't require human touch, that frees up human time to focus on complex emotional tasks.

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2:55 (SKYA) So allowing our service providers to spend more time in consults or have more sophisticated services. So he really put a big importance on really leaving the humans to do the human element while automating or using AI to leverage technology to free up everything else that doesn't need that human emotional element. So things like the reminders, the check in process, the collecting of information from clients or even the marketing processes – those things we can really elevate and streamline for our businesses so they can focus on those human elements. It was definitely very interesting to hear that perspective.

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3:42 (SHANALIE) There are some awesome tools that are popping up in beauty that I do think are fun and cool. So, I linked to a bunch in our notes for everyone to take a look at, and we can link some of them in our show notes as well so you can take a look. But, for example, on the skin analysis side – and folks are picking out products even – there’s tools that can analyze face shapes. And, you know, what you need and color matches. Sephora and Ulta are using these so would love to hear what you all think about those tools. 

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4:15 (SKYA) Yeah. There's actually – I think me and you tested it at a conference – there's a company I can't remember off the top of my head, but there is an AI company that is using the ability to recommend medspa treatments to customers and kind of perform like a CRM capability. So, you do a face scan,you put in kind of what your concerns are, main areas you want to focus on, and it actually generates what your potential results would look like based on getting those treatments and communicates that to the providers that are using that tool. So you can say, “Okay, I want to enhance my lips,” or “I want to try wrinkle relaxer” or whatever it may be. And it gives you that AI-generated image - you can move around and see what it looks like. 

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5:07 (SHANALIE) like a final result, almost of what you could look like? 

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5:10 (SKYA) Yeah. 

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5:11 (SHANALIE) That’s crazy. 

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5:12 (SKYA) It really is like a lead gen tool for Medspas and helps customers educate themselves on what they might be interested in. And then ask about that in consultations when they come in. Obviously they still need that human provider to be like, “Hey, this is what's going to look best. Let's do this sort of treatment plan.” But, I thought that was really interesting because before really there wasn't a tool to show, “Okay, what would my results look like with Filler, Botox or whatever it may be?” Or what do you think based on your, you know, system do I need? 

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5:46 (JOZLYN) Yeah, I feel like we've seen it in the plastic surgery world. With the before and the what it could potentially look like. But we haven't seen it in the Medspa self-care business. 

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6:00 (SHANALIE) Yeah, like I know in hair there’s lots of filters where you could do, “Oh, here’s me as a redhead. Here’s me as a brunette.” And things like that. Which honestly felt like more funzies. You know, actually using it as a tool, as lead gen as you mentioned, or for after results - but yeah what do you think Daniel? 

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6:18 (DANIEL) - Well, I had a question about that - do you feel like there's an opportunity to mislead potential clients though when using something like that? It's probably not going to show you something that looks bad. 

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6:33 (SKYA) Well so there's definitely work that needs to be done on that. I wouldn't say it's like a full 100 proof, like,”Hey, if it says you need this, get this done.” Because when I did it, I already have pretty full lips; it wouldn't be something I would recommend if I was a provider to myself. And that was something that it prompted me for. 

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6:54 (SHANALIE) Oh! 

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6:54 (SKYA)  and the results looked whack, honestly. That I would never recommend. But because I clicked fuller lips, less wrinkles, whatever. Just testing it out. It still showed me what I would look like with fuller lips [and] still sent that information to the business side of things: this is what they clicked, here is what their results looked like. So I think it can't be –  it can't replace that tool like a consultation. I think it's still kind of more just a fun piece of technology to utilize to be like – hey, here's some ideas or some ispo. And it still leaves the door open for the provider to be like, ‘no, this is what we need to do.’

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7:36 (DANIEL) Yeah. I think that's where we are in this moment – that it’s a small tool that can make things easier, but it should not be the tool – the only tool you’re using. 

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7:47 (JOZLYN) It's just a helpful - like it’s our little buddy.  That's going to help us.

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7:50 (SHANALIE)  Yeah. Yeah, our assistant. Yeah no robot filler lips yet. 

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7:57 (JOZLYN) It’s like, “How big do you want to go? We can show all of them. 

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8:02 (SHANALIE) Yeah, you bring up such great points about the consultation, too. I think one thing we all know as people working in the industry but sometimes it’s lost upon our clientele is that in the consultation, too, you get to gauge the emotional aspect of your client. What is motivating these changes or the desired result? You know, we've all experienced, you know, it's 2025. We've all worked in a business where someone brought in a picture of, let's say, Kim Kardashian or a different celebrity and said, “I want to look like this.” Right? 

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8:35 (SHANALIE) Which is a terrible way to start out. It’s one thing to admire something someone has. But, you know, we can only stretch a face so far. I can't grow the hair for you, right? We can do extensions but that’s different. So, I think, you know, the consultation is where you can really understand what's driving your client to ask for these changes and to be able to manage expectations. Because just like they threw a filter on your big lips like - you know, made it all crazy doesn’t mean now we’re going to do that just because you saw that final image, right? So, I wonder if that can be harmful for some folks. 

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9:11 (SKYA) 100% I mean, there's people putting in their pictures into ChatGPT and being like, “What plastic surgery do I need?” Like what would you do to make my eyes look better, my skin look better, whatever it might be. And it just can’t be - that can’t be the consultation or treatment planning process ‘cause it’s not going to end up well. 

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9:35 (SKYA) I think there’s just a balance. Like hey, we can enhance and improve – that’s the industry we’re in. We build off the beauty that people already have and we don’t want to replace that with something artificial. 

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9:48 (JOZLYN) I think that says a lot, because we are very much in an industry where you are hands-on with everything. Whether you're doing hair, you're giving a massage, you're doing injections, you have to be – there's no way that — I would hope that AI wouldn’t replace, you know, something like that. But when I think of that also, I'm thinking of like, you know, have you seen the videos where they put your hand in a machine and it does your nails for you?

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10:12 (SHANALIE) Yes, the robot manicure. 

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10:13 (JOZLYN) That makes me nervous when I think of the technology and where it could possibly go. So I don't know, it just is, something that always is, you know, top of mind when I'm thinking of how AI is progressing and how fast it's going. But, just making sure we keep the industry part of it within the human touch and not necessarily starting to have robots do our hair, you know? 

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00;10;34;09 - 00;10;37;25

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10:37 (SKYA) He actually spoke on the art element, which I think is interesting, and I want to hear Daniel's perspective on this, because I feel like anyone who writes, does any form of art, can speak to it well. But he's like, there's something that it cannot replicate. And what we have in like an artistic eye or the ability to look at someone and say, this is the haircut that would be suiting for your face shape. And that was something he talked about. There's, you know, businesses that are trying to create robots to perform lash extensions. He's like, there's – it's very hard to be able to have a machine look at someone and say, “This is what's going to be flattering. So I'm going to change what I'm doing for this person.” 

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11:18 (SHANALIE) Lash mapping is an art. 

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00;11;19;26 - 00;11;32;06

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11:20 (SKYA) It is very. So, it's like that human element almost can't be replicated with anything that we found. So I feel like that's something that you would have a very interesting perspective on from a creative perspective.

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00;11;32;06 - 00;11;40;09

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11:33 (DANIEL) I think I would hope that would be the case. I get a little worried, honestly, especially right now as we're seeing so many more advances with AI in the creative space. And that culturally, our standards will continue to lower, to the standard of AI generation, which will be awful and probably decimate the industry. Yeah, I don't know. It is scary. It's a weird time to be experiencing all of this. 

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12:02 (SHANALIE) AI slop is noticeable and it’s scary, right? So, I think there are a lot of folks out there that, you know, maybe they aren't a creative themselves and they see it as a tool to be like, "Oh, this is going to help me with descriptions or copy for my website.” And it can do all of that but there is a way to engage with it. And you do have to do the work up front. It does not stop us from doing the work, the research that goes into making the content good, right? It could definitely help zhugh it, help you with your summaries, fix some things along the way. But you know, the AI is only going to be as good as the prompt that you're writing. And those prompts need to be huge. You know, “can you help me make this email better?” Isn’t going to take us very far. I think it’s going to make us all sound the same and get called out for using AI right away.  

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13:33 (SHANALIE) Let's talk about how AI is popping up in the client experience now. I’m asking this because there are certain things, whether it be AI or automation, right? I do think that there are some areas that if they aren't automated, I feel like I'm not being looked after properly. So, I would love to pick you guy’s brains – what do you think? Where do you feel comfortable seeing AI or automation in your client experience? 

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00;13;57;23 - 00;14;11;19

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13:59 (JOZLYN) For me personally, I think that AI, for example, I'll use AI for a lot of different type of marketing ideas. And how you were mentioning earlier, you have to have the meat and potatoes of it already. And then AI kind of puts the finishing or the automation puts the finishing touch on it. No matter what you have to have an understanding of what you're trying to address, what you're trying to say, and then have the AI do the rest for you. When it's like checking for grammar. So specifically for that, I think if you want to make sure when you're reaching out to your clients that that information or whatever messaging you're trying to get out is clear, and it has a pop to it and it catches the eye. That's when you would use AI to help with that. Other than that, you should, like I said – you should be putting in your own information to make sure it's what you're trying to get across. 

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14:50 (SHANALIE) Makes sense, yeah. You’re the expert, right? 

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14:52 (JOZLYN) Exactly. 

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14:54 (SKYA) I agree, I think that, you know, improving on what you've already created – creating post care instructions and information that we're sending out to clients. A lot of the time, it's very lengthy, it's very wordy. Sometimes people don't even grammar check or spell check their pre and post-care forms. They just put it in or like, “okay, sweet. I copy and pasted this from a PDF or a Google doc.” I think that it is nice to be able to plug that into, you know, AI and say, “Hey, make this more concise, or clear, or easy to understand, so that the client has an easier time comprehending what we're sending to them, and it's shorter for them to read.” It's clear. So I like that kind of use of it to make it easier on the client, but they don't feel they're talking to someone that's not human. 

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00;15;43;26 - 00;15;56;17

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15:46 (JOZLYN) I also want to point out that a lot of businesses, maybe if they're starting from the beginning and they don't necessarily know a post – pre and post care instructions –  they might not even know where to start with that. You can Google it of course. And you can, you know, give me an example. But AI will build it out. And it's funny that you mention that, that some people don't check it. They'll just copy, paste it and go. Honestly, it literally says at the bottom of ChatGPT like, we're not always right. So make sure you're checking the work. So yes, always check before you make something, go live for sure.

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00;16;17;22 - 00;16;36;28

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16:18 (SHANALIE) Yeah. I think when I look at automation tapping into the client experience, just as you said the forms. I don't want to do forms when I get there. You know, and I also don’t – as a business –  I don't want to book extra time for people to just simply fill out forms, right?  I want that to be very much a luxurious experience where people are — and sometimes some of the services you provide, even with medspas they’re a little scary sometimes. Right? Or they might be lengthy. If we're doing a color correction, they might be there for a long time already.  So, to then think they're gonna be sitting and filling out a bunch of forms on color history and allergies and all that stuff like that should be done at home. So I think those are areas where if I'm greeted with a clipboard immediately - my heart is sinking or I’m like you should have just sent this to me. 

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17:11(SKYA)  - Clients are also more likely to not give accurate information because they can rush through it. 

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17:16 (SHANALIE) I mean that's a great point. 

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17:17 (SKYA) So, someone should be sitting down doing that at home, being able to give it the time it needs. Especially if you're putting in allergies, medications. There's so many things that if they're rushed and they want to get back to their service, you don't want them just flying through it and doing it in a rush. 

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17:35 (JOZLYN) That's true. That's very true. I'm one of those people that will just be like, I'll fill it out. I'll probably miss a couple things, and then -

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17:43 (SHANALIE) I don’t even know if people can read my handwriting sometimes. I’ve made the mistake of including my last name in my personal email, so I’m like “alright good luck.” Good luck with that, y’all. You know? But what about you, Daniel? 

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17:54 (DANIEL) Yeah, I think where automation and AI can shine, probably the most in the client journey, is when they’re not actually in the business. So, like, before and after – anytime you can make that part of the experience as seamless and as frictionless as possible. At least for me as a client, that is what I’m looking for. If I can book-in easy, if I can get a reminder, if somebody can tell me that I’m due for an appointment I will go back to you a million times if it’s so easy that’s key for me. 

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18:26 (JOZLYN) I also think, I mean, in my previous world, when working at the spa, we – I'm not even going to mention the, you know, the software we were using – it's just a really ancient software. But we did not have the automated confirmations and reminders.

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18:43 (SKYA) That’s wild. 

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18:44 (JOZLYN) I know. So I had a full – 

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18:45 (SHANALIE) Considering how many appointments y’all were doing everyday. 

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00;18;46;17 - 00;19;09;11

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18:48 (JOZLYN) Exactly. It would be like 200, 250 like on a busy Saturday. So I had a full team staffed specifically for making confirmation calls the day before the appointment, and it just was a waste of money and a waste of time.

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19:02 (SKYA) Well, and how many clients answered that phone call? Cause I’m not. 

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19:05 (JOZLYN) It was mostly voicemails too. 

19:06 (SHANALIE) Yeah, nobody is answering. 

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19:06 (SKYA) Cause, I’m not. Send me a text, I’ll respond, “yes.” So, that’s all just time down the drain. 

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19:13 (JOZLYN) Yeah, exactly. So automation for that is a must.

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00;19;18;05 - 00;19;36;19

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19:17 (SHANALIE) Yeah, I remember when we first started doing it when we were working together. We were like, “Oh, okay now what are you going to do?” We had all this free time for folks to really engage with the clients. Bring back the human touch. Be able to answer the calls that do come in and not feel that burden, that pressure in the back where we’re like, “Okay I have another 150 calls to go.” Can we speed up this appointment? 

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19:40 (DANIEL) So there are a lot of very well founded fears when it comes to AI taking jobs and — this is more automation when it comes to the confirmation calls and reminders and stuff – But, this is the type of thing that should be taken off of an employee's plate, because it's not like –- you don't want to have to hire who’s spending their entire day on the phone making these mind numbing calls - that’s a terrible experience. That’s a terrible – to have to do constantly. So yeah, if you can take that off and now they can do way more engaging things. They can be talking to actual clients and not just leaving voicemails all day. I think that's such an easy win. 

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20:18 (SKYA) I feel like Daniel summarized it perfectly with the – I want automation in everything that's not a direct interaction in person in the business. Let them focus on the client when they're there and then automate what they can when the client's not there.

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00;20;33;26 - 00;20;56;11

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20:34 (SHANALIE) Yeah, and one thing I want to touch on automation is like automated marketing, automated campaigns. So marketing was — it's funny now because I work in marketing – when I was still in the salon, that was one of my roles. I feel like they struggled with it so much, just based on what I had to do in the day to day. And again, bringing it back to the human side of things.  I had so many actual humans that needed my attention, whether it be something good or bad, right. Because even the folks that are, you know, pretty self-reliant and know how to handle things need a check in. And we got to keep the good people good still, right? So when you get to upwards of I think by the time we were leaving we had like 94 staff members, right? 

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00;21;17;03 - 00;21;41;15

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21:18 (SHANALIE) And we were a very small management team. But that in its own is 40 hours a week. Just like going through, making sure everybody’s good. So having tools that can automate things like marketing and send messages at the exact time that it needs to go out. And being the right message, right? Whether it’s like, a win back campaign– ‘haven’t seen you in a while;’ ‘Happy Birthday, it’s time to book.’ You know, we’re having a slower day come on in. Like, whatever it is. That goes a long way because we don't typically have corporate teams that can own the entire piece of marketing, right? We have a lot of small business owners that are really wearing all those hats and doing it all by themselves. So this is another place where automation makes it feel like a human touch, like, “hey, we’ve noticed you haven’t been in a while.” Come on back, right? So if we could take these tasks off of even the managers, then they could actually be better managers. It goes a long way. 

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00;22;16;17 - 00;22;42;21

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22:17 (SKYA) And from the client perspective, I think we have a data point somewhere that consumers are – 50% of consumers purchase based off of receiving either an SMS or email campaign that's nurturing. So it's like as clients and consumers we're purchasing based off those reminders of, oh yeah, I haven't been in or I am low on product or I do need to get in for that. And there's a 20% off promo or it’s a slow day and I can get in really quick. So I feel like it's also a benefit not only to the operators and the managers and owners, but like the clientele as well. 

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00;22;55;07 - 00;23;03;19

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22:56 (SHANALIE) Absolutely, I do think there's some things that were coached in us - in all of us probably early on in our career, like forcing people to book that appointment before they leave and as we all know that is a very difficult thing to do now. People are very different. But I get that reminder to book email and sure enough.

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23:13 (SKYA) It's shifted my mindset. I don't – I actually don't like pushing pre-booking because I think it always ends up more likely to cancel or reschedule rather than working out. So I'm like, if you need to schedule on your own time. Online booking is easy enough that you can go and do that. We don’t need to push the pre-book.

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23:29 (SHANALIE) And one thing I do want to touch – we talked about a little bit as well. Again going back to the consultation. We sat down with Leslie from PBA and we talked about things like even the Cut it Out program. Right? There is no way any type of AI or automation can call out like, “hey I think something is going on with my client. I need to support them in some way some how.’ So yeah, I think AI can definitely help us. Automation is already helping us, but remembering that it can’t come for the meat and potatoes, like the heart of what we’re doing.

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24:09 (JOZLYN) It won't have the empathy like that emotional aspect of it.

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24:11 (SKYA) It really can’t come for us. 

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24:15 (SHANALIE) I like that. AI you’re not coming for us today. 

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24:19 (SKYA) Not today, Honey. 

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24:20 (JOZLYN) We still love you AI. 

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24:22 (SKYA) Don’t get mad at us. 

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24:24 (SHANALIE) Oh my gosh. It’s here. No, but any final thoughts? 

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24:28 (SKYA) I think it’s exciting. I think it's very exciting. I think it's going to open up a lot of revenue for our providers and our business owners. Like, as things advance. I would love to see some form of the ability to highlight potential upsell opportunities to help providers say, ‘oh, this person's, you know, done highlighting treatments for, you know, half of the year but hasn't had a, you know, deep conditioning treatment or something like that’ or maybe recommend them this it compliments this well. So I think there will be a lot of advancements that help our businesses grow, and providers make more money, and clients get better results.

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00;25;10;19 - 00;25;18;25

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25:11 (JOZLYN) Yeah, I agree, I just – I see the potential. I see the potential of where AI can go. I see the potential where we could use it in so many different aspects of this industry. So just personally, I'm really excited to see where it goes, hoping it doesn't go too far in any kind of way. But yeah, I can see a lot of growth in, you know, making just everyone's lives easier,

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00;25;30;17 - 00;25;43;10

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25:31 (DANIEL) I would say, I think, if people are going to use the tools that are currently available out there, just remember to use them thoughtfully. If you're going to use ChatGPT, prompt well. Think about it. Double-check it. You know, don't just copy paste the entire response and put it into your email where it says, do you need anything else? You know, I’m sure we’ve all seen people do that. So just yeah be mindful of that. Don't use it for everything. It's not, it's not the savor.

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00;26;03;25 - 00;26;18;23

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26:04 (SHANALIE) Yeah I definitely agree. I think you know I shared with the group – I don't know if, if you heard me say this earlier but they've had you know had some new releases – like Gemini has had some new releases where there are full on like news reporter looking AI people giving news reports, so. I would love to see, you know, especially around social media, just as we have to say, “Hey this is paid promotion.” We gotta say this is AI. You know, start being upfront about where we are actually using AI so we can hold everyone accountable.  I think that's where it becomes a little dicey with what’s out there. So be cautious, Y’all. I think there's going to be, you know, a lot of folks that get confused about what the news headline is because it’s AI-generated content and whatnot. So, hopefully we'll get some more guardrails in. So you can do this thoughtfully to Daniel’s point. 

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26:59 (SHANALIE) Yeah, thanks everyone! This was an awesome talk. More to come. To be continued on AI. 

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