Billie Jean Bolden, IMAGE Pro and Serial Entrepreneur, Shares Secrets for Salon Suite Success

Inspired by her grandmothers who sold candy and snacks to kids in her neighborhood growing up, Billie Jean Bolden has built her own empire tending to her clientele in a triple salon suite and making sure they not only get the best service in her studio, but that they are equipped between visits with the right products and the right knowledge to always look and feel their best.

Billie Jean is a native of Greenville, SC where she is a devoted wife, a proud mom, and a serial entrepreneur. She is a licensed cosmetologist, certified cosmetology instructor, and the proud owner of Billie Jean Styles LLC, a luxury salon suite & boutique at IMAGE Studios in Greenville, South Carolina. 

Follow Billie Jean at Instagram @billiejeanstyles

The VIP Suite is the official podcast of IMAGE Studios, created for independent beauty, health, and wellness professionals who want to grow their businesses and thrive in salon suite life. Hosted by Director of Education, Matthew Landis, each episode shares real success stories, marketing tips, and business strategies from top beauty entrepreneurs and wellness leaders.

Episodes are sponsored by GlossGenius, the all-in-one salon software. Learn more at glossgenius.com. Episodes are also sponsored by Elite Beauty Society, providing business and long-term career support to beauty & wellness professionals. Learn more at elitebeautyins.com/IMAGE.

Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Connect with us on Instagram @imagestudios360 and visit imagestudios360.com for more information about IMAGE Studios luxury salon suites. New episodes drop every two week. Subscribe to hear how beauty and wellness professionals like you are building powerful, independent careers.

Transcript

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Matthew Landis: 0:00

Welcome to the VIP suite. The podcast exclusively designed for independent beauty, health and wellness professionals brought to you by image studios the luxury leader in the Salon Suite industry. I'm your host, Industry Expert and certified business coach Matthew Landis. Each episode will bring you insightful interviews with solo entrepreneurs who forge their own path to greatness from sharing inspiring stories of triumph to practical tips and strategies for growing your client base and building your brand. This is the place to thrive and take your business to the next level. Joining me for this episode is Billie Jean Bolden, someone who has become a good friend to me that we've never met in person, someone who was one of the first people to attend my image pro business courses. She is a native of Greenville, South Carolina, where she is a devoted wife, a proud mom and a serial entrepreneur. She's a licensed cosmetologist, a certified cosmetology instructor and the proud owner of Billie Jean styles, LLC, a luxury Salon Suite and boutique and if you don't already, follow her on Instagram at Billie Jean style. Come to our podcast Billie Jean,

Billie Jean: 1:09

thank you for having me.

Matthew Landis: 1:10

Now you are many things. You're a mom, you are a proud wife, a serial entrepreneur, a licensed cosmetologist, a cosmetologist instructor, a business owner, what else should we know about you?

Billie Jean: 1:26

I'm also a member of a charity, a scholarship foundation that's in honor of my father in law, who passed away. It's called the G Man Scholarship Foundation. And so we have already raised over like$20,000 to send kids to help with their college tuition. Oh

Matthew Landis: 1:45

my gosh, tell me more about that. How did it start? So

Billie Jean: 1:48

my father in law, I actually never got to meet him. He passed away before I met my husband, but he loved children. And but he was dyslexic. So he struggled with, like his reading and his writing. But he was really big on pushing children, for education, for asking questions in the classroom, to learn he was big on entrepreneurship and a lot of things like that. And so my mother in law, she came up with this foundation to honor him. And to come up with every year we give like two students money for college.

Matthew Landis: 2:27

Wow, that is so cool. I have seen some of the photos on your Instagram. And yeah, and how do people donate? And how do people get involved?

Billie Jean: 2:36

So people can there's actually a link, we have a website, it's called G Man scholarship.org. And so people can go there, click on the link, they can donate that way. And then we have about one to two events each year. And that helps us raise money for the scholars as well.

Matthew Landis: 2:53

You're not only a successful entrepreneur, you have your salon you in fact you rent two studios right at in Greenville.

Billie Jean: 3:02

Well actually I moved from having two studios. So now I have the biggest suite in this location. I have a triple suite now.

Matthew Landis: 3:12

Fantastic now I started teaching our image pro business courses about the same time that you studios you were one of the first people to attend our classes. And I have seen your success just like blow up it's really incredible and so inspiring to see what what sort of secret sauce Do you have a superpower?

Billie Jean: 3:38

Honestly faith like it's my first thing anything that I feel like is laid on my heart I just do it and even when it seems impossible, I think that makes me want to do it even more. Because people ask me all the time like how how are you doing this? Or you know, like how can you afford that or like you know how many days are you working then like just trying to figure out how I do it. But honestly just faith and then just having so much support from my family is amazing also because I'm the only girl my husband and I have five boys so they treat me like

Matthew Landis: 4:12

I have so that is a lot of testosterone to Rodeo that's incredible. You know again, I see so much on your Instagram and if you don't follow Billie Jean, follow her on Instagram. I tell everybody it's Billie Jean styles. Because you inspire me so much and I do see you know you how faith plays a really important part in your life how community plays an important part in your life and family like what I love about you know following you is I see how great you are at business what a great artists you are but all just an all around person.

Billie Jean: 4:48

Thank you.

Matthew Landis: 4:49

Where does that come from?

Billie Jean: 4:51

I got a credit my parents like like they are just my parents are amazing and I'm the baby of my family and as well, so I'm just like a spoiled girl, I just have to admit it, like, only girl in my household and I'm the baby of four, and my siblings are 14 to 17 years older than I. So I not only have my parents there I have, like parents, so they just kind of taught me like hard work, dedication, you know, doing what you have to do. But still, you know, trying to have fun and live

Matthew Landis: 5:28

your Instagram is Billie Jean styles, and you do really amazing work. Not only make other women look incredible, but I'm sitting here looking at you with those earrings and that animal print. And you have incredible style, like, what inspires you? Um,

Billie Jean: 5:48

um, honestly, like, we talked about Instagram, I have an addiction to that thing, like, I'm on there all the time. And I see things and I treat it like a book like some people view social media as like, oh, no, it's too much. You know, I don't want to be on there that long. But it for me it is it is a huge tool. And that either it's for fashion or leisure or for work. And I just save things for like fashion. And now you can shop on Instagram, you know, so I get a lot of inspiration from that. My grandmother's were very fashionable ladies. They were local, like candy store lady lady. So I got like, a lot of that like business sense. And that like savviness from them. Did you say candy? Yes. So they both of my grandmother's lived on the same street. And so my my father's mom and my mother's mom and one sold like candy and snacks to the kid. And then my other grandmother she sold like snacks and like sometimes, you know, even like she'd make like little slushies and sell them and a lot of that entrepreneurialship started as a kid, you know helping them out and then they swapped things a lot. So I'd have to go from one grandmother's house to the next. So they can exchange thing that kind of bartered I learned that even from them.

Matthew Landis: 7:12

That's how cool is that? And of course every kid's dream grandma owns a candy store. Yes. You got to Yeah. Snacks and candy. A habit sounds like the perfect childhood and you're learning all these great entrepreneurial lesson. Let's talk about business. For a minute. How long have you been in the industry,

Billie Jean: 7:33

I have been in the industry for over 12 years, it seems like longer than that I started assisting while I was in cosmetology school. I think that played a big part in my success, being able to not just listen to what and learn like the fundamentals because in school we learn more about safety, sanitation, passing board, those are the main things is that you want to know how to pass your board so that she can go on and then you are in that state board haircut. But you want to work with someone who's seasoned and experienced. And it's kind of doing their own thing so that you can see things in a better light as far as the business side of it. And just the culture like creating a salon culture. I definitely learned that from assisting

Matthew Landis: 8:18

and nobody wants that state word haircut right. I you know, I can relate, I learned so much more about life and in business from my mentor than just doing hair and working in a salon and assisting. So I think there's so much to be said about mentoring, you know, younger talent and bringing the next generation of artists on board. What motivated you to go independent

Billie Jean: 8:47

i Well, at the time, I was actually a single mother of two, I had a 10 year old and a six year old. And I wanted to make sure that I was the parent who showed up to everything. I didn't want to miss games, I didn't want to miss plays or anything that they had going on. I wanted to make sure that I was there and that they didn't look up and no one was there. Because I kind of went through that as a child because my parents like my mom worked two jobs and my father worked jobs. And he also he volunteered a lot in his church and he was a sponsor for AAA, Alcoholics Anonymous community. And so they couldn't make it to a lot of things that I had going on. And I just wanted to make sure I was like, okay, when I have children, I want to be there at everything. I want to make sure that I have the choice, you know, to be there. And so I said if I were independent, I can make my own schedule and I can be there for my children as much as possible. And so that was my main motivation and being independent was to be able to say, you know, without a doubt in my mind, they had transportation to and from their events. and that they had someone supporting them.

Matthew Landis: 10:02

Yeah, you know, I think that's such a big factor for for so many of our image pros and for independent professionals, a lot of reason people go into this industry really is for that flexibility and the freedom because we are more than our career, we are more than our trade or skill. And you seem to have really found a great balance in all that applaud you for that. Thank you. So tell me a little bit about your your, you've grown up so much your business has grown so much in the last, what, two and a half, three years? How did you build your clientele.

Billie Jean: 10:35

So when I started doing cosmetology, when I started taking on my own client, MySpace was still around, and it was kind of phasing out. And then Instagram came in. And I was like, Okay, I've done literally everybody's hair on my MySpace page. And I was even kind of getting into makeup too. And then I was like, Okay, well, let me start networking someplace else. And then so I started networking on Instagram. And so that really helped me just being able to take advantage of platforms that are free and using those and then gaining my clients information, like you never want to meet somebody had them do or like you'd have a walk in, and they you don't get their email address, or their phone number, you want to make sure you hang on to that. So that you can send them an email or a text, even if it's not to promote your business, you can just simply say, Hello, just wanted to check in on you haven't heard from you in a while. And then they may say, oh, you know what, I need to look a haircut, because sometimes you just get busy and you just don't. And sometimes that gentle reminder is just like, Oh, she's checking on me, which I think it's important to be personable with your clients. So just kind of focusing on building relationships with them, but also making sure that I was taken advantage it taking advantage of platforms that were free and available to me, gosh, that's

Matthew Landis: 11:54

so smart. You know, a lot of our pros I know struggle with keeping up with their social media, and you do a fantastic job keeping up with it and creating content. And I've even seen since I've known you and looking at some of your content before I've really seen the content itself, the quality of it just get better and better and better. And it was good before but it's it's their level I agree with Oh, yes. So what are some, you know, tips and tricks that you have to attribute to that. So

Billie Jean: 12:23

one thing I did was I got a business coach, I've always I kind of view people that I follow on social media that are teaching so much. And I'm putting out a lot of information. And like I said, I look at it like a book and I save things. But I think it's really important to have a mentor of your own, or some type of a business coach no matter what level of success you're at, because they can see those holes that you can't see. And so those things that you hate doing, like for me, I was like, I'm not designing any graphics, you can forget it. And so at first I was hiring somebody to do that. And then I got a business coach, he was like, No, I'm gonna teach you how to do Canva. It's, it's easy. All you need is about a few staple graphics. And then you can just change the words out. And I was like, she just doesn't understand that I can't do it. Like, I really was like, I can't do this. And then when she showed me how to do it, I was like I was paying for this like I couldn't, how easy it actually was, I think making sure that you have somebody kind of to look at the certain things that you're doing. Even look over your finances your budget, like, Hey, you're spending too much here. And then you have this big goal to do this. Well, if you stop doing this, which is unnecessary and start actually doing your own graphic, then you could have the money to afford to have this amenity for your clients or you know, to take that vacation that you need so you don't get burned out.

Matthew Landis: 13:50

I am a huge fan of coaching. I am a business coach myself. I'm a certified coach. And one of the great things about being a coach is I get coached a lot and I've hired a lot of coaches. So I think that's a really smart way to go about it. And I had a marketing coach as well for a bit and I learned so much from her how to plan how to create content. It's really incredible. So and I agree with you having somebody in your corner to kind of see what you can't see and to kind of help you with that I think is incredible. And even hearing listening to you. I feel like a lot of our pros it can feel really overwhelming. Absolutely. What I love about listening to you is how calm and peace you are with this. I'm sure took some work.

Billie Jean: 14:39

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, it took a lot of work because one thing that I was doing I'm so passionate about my work. I'm passionate about my face. I'm passionate about doing the hair itself, the art form of it, but I'm also passionate about how do I look online like when people go to book me, is it a seamless experience? When my clients leave here? Do they feel empowered? Or do they just feel better overall. So those type of things, just trying to create experiences overall, and paying attention to my whole businesses as a whole it all it can be unhealthy because I'm constantly thinking about it. So I had to get to a point to where, where a lot of stylists are like, Girl, I hate the admin part of it. I just want to do hair, I don't want to go fix this booking site up, I don't want to do intake forms, I just want to do hair. And that's for me, I love the admin part of it. If I'm honest, a little bit more, I had to find that balance because I would be doing stuff and my husband be like, people will be talking to me, and then my husband, like, they're talking to you. And I'm like, okay, and then I'm in my phone. And he'll say his joke would be, she can't hear you when she's on Instagram. And I would say I'm working. And so it took him a while to realize like, oh, no, she's really working. It looks like she's, she's having fun. But she's working.

Matthew Landis: 16:07

And I love that you're always thinking about your work. I think that's one of the the blessings and curses of entrepreneurship. It's like I it's never like I never leave it.

Billie Jean: 16:18

Like you actually have to call you have to say, Okay, now this day, I get to turn it back home. Monday is like my Netflix day. But it's so hard to not say, Oh, let me just make sure my website is correct. I make sure everything's up to date, right click. And then next thing you know, I'm sucked in. And I'm doing a lot of a lot of work for, you know, my business. And then I have to say, Hold on a second, like this is your day to like binge watch. Don't think about business today. So it took time to get to that point so that I can enjoy and have other hobbies outside of hair. What do you binge watch right now I'm watching the Spanish version of Queen of the South. It's so good. And now I can't scroll and watch because it's in Spanish. And I have to read the caption. And I'm already 60 episodes in.

Matthew Landis: 17:07

So you have to put your phone down, I have to get to ask you what sort of tips and tricks you have for turning off. And that sounds like one of them watching in Spanish?

Billie Jean: 17:15

Yes, watching. Otherwise, I watch everything with my phone in my hand.

Matthew Landis: 17:21

I'm going to switch gears here for just a second. One of the questions I like to ask is what success means to you.

Billie Jean: 17:27

For me, I value peace, above all, above money above anything, I have to have peace and a peace of mind when I'm at a point where I'm doing something that I love. And I'm also able to kind of invest in someone else, whether it's the time or resources so that they can eventually get to where they value, they see themselves as successful. And I'm able to pour into other people that success to me when I can be doing what I love to do helping someone else get to where I am and to just no tormal in it. Like not saying problems won't come here and there. But to say you know what? That happened today, but I'm okay. So for me, that's just what I value a peaceful home a peaceful salon space. And that's what I love about image is it's just amazing here, zero complaints.

Matthew Landis: 18:22

So one last question. I feel like I could just talk to you all day.

Billie Jean: 18:27

I know, like face comment.

Matthew Landis: 18:29

I cannot wait till the day we actually get to meet in person and I know it's gonna be like a you know, an old friend that I've known forever and just know it. Yes, I feel it. So my last question before we go is what does the future look like for you

Billie Jean: 18:45

so interested in you ask that because I always have I keep a note in my phone and it's titled The next phase and some way or another I get the answer whether it's a sign or I have a client who will just say hey, you know, God told me to tell you this and I'll be like, like, it's just amazing. My next phase I thought about having more people come in and work with me as far as replace my behind the chair income and say hey, you know what, I'll have one style of come in and then eventually I'll cut back on my days and then I have another stylist and between the two of them on commission. That's my income behind the chair. And then I can travel. That's what I really love to do is to travel with all of my children, my husband, my parents, and now I am just thinking that I'm going to focus on my retail it's been on the list but it's never been at the top because I just I just see where there's a need for clients don't know what to get. And I do have retail here available. I have an entire section or a wall dedicated To that, and I'm big on educating them on what to use, as I'm styling their hair, and, you know, sending little reminders. But I also want to be able to, for those people who can't get in with me who visit who visit my space, you know, online in the online world, I want for those people to be able to shop with me too, because maybe they can't get in, you know, maybe they're in California, they're in, they can't come to South Carolina. But I can say, hey, let's do a Virtual Console. And I can recommend these products to you, not just for sales, but just to kind of make sure that my name goes on, and I am actually helping someone else along the way.

Matthew Landis: 20:42

You know, I was not expecting the conversation to swerve to retail. But you know, I love you think of everything. Retail is, is a favorite topic of mine. I think that it's one of the most overlooked ways of income. It's so interesting, because I see so many pros that are looking for a side hustle or other ways to make money and and I feel like it's right there in front of you right there. And I have you have a captive audience in your chair. And I know that a lot of people are nowadays say, Oh, well, people are buying stuff on Amazon and online. And I just feel like my clients would rather buy it from me. And I love your whole way of looking at it. Because not once to do talk about selling retail, you talked about getting what your clients need to them in their hands. That's it. That is such a different mindset when it comes to retail, because to me, it's not about it's not about selling, it's about prescribing. And I know better than they probably do, what's going to work best for them and to help and that's the thing with sales, right? You're always trying to solve a problem. Our clients wouldn't be in in our studios in our if they didn't have a problem they wanted to solve. And that's really kind of what we're doing. If you're not recommending retail, you're you're only solving or temporarily solving the problem. You're not not looking at it long term.

Billie Jean: 22:08

Wow. Yeah, that's true, like, but I let them know that your regimen at home is the biggest part. You don't go to class and then not do your homework and pass you have to do something at home. Same thing, when you come in system to the salon, you can't just come in here for a color or care cut. And then in between that nothing,

Matthew Landis: 22:31

they're gonna love it, whether it's hair, or skincare, or whatever it is that you do in your studio, they're just gonna love it more. And if they love it more, they're gonna love you more true. I mean, it's pretty simple math. Any last words of advice for our professionals listening to this podcast,

Billie Jean: 22:49

I would just want to say keep going no matter what, especially now a lot of times and this summer, it can get slow because people vacation a lot. And they just kind of like well, I'll see you in August or September, you know, but don't get discouraged. This is a perfect time to think of other ways to earn revenue behind the chair. You can you know offer services to other stylists and whatever you're really good at whether it's teaching them a skill, or you can offer retail as we just touched on to those clients who are saying hey, I'll see you in about eight weeks you just say cool get the shampoo and conditioner though. So when you come back in eight weeks, then your hair is gonna still be in good shape. I tell people all the time I can make my my money in add ons alone. Just make sure that you are looking at your home your overall don't get let the slow weeks fool you. Think about what you can do and not what's going on.

Matthew Landis: 23:49

Well really, Jane, thank you so much. If again if you do not follow her follow her on Instagram at Billie Jean Stiles. Where else can people find you?

Billie Jean: 23:58

My website is Billie Jean styles.com And there's a little bit more information on there about myself and yeah, Instagram.

Matthew Landis: 24:06

Thanks to Billie Jean.

Billie Jean: 24:08

You are so welcome.

Matthew Landis: 24:09

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of The VIP suite. I'm Matthew Landis and I hope you found the insights and inspirations shared today truly valuable for your journey as a solo entrepreneur, an independent beauty health or wellness professional. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe to the VIP suite on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss an opportunity to connect with our vibrant community and discover more incredible stories and strategies. We love hearing from our listeners. So if you have any questions, topics, suggestions or you want to share your own success story, feel free to reach out to me at Matthew at image studios three sixty.com And remember dear listener, you are the heartbeat of the beauty, health and wellness industry. Your dedication and passion make the world a better place one client at a time. So keep shining, keep growing and keep making a positive impact. We'll be back with more engaging conversations and valuable content In our next episode, until then, take care stay inspired and continue to create your very own VIP suite. For more information about becoming a part of the image studios luxury Salon Suite community, visit our website at image studios three sixty.com