Keri Mills, The Happy Hairstylist: How She Built A Thriving Salon Suite Business In Record Time

Keri Mills is a successful hairstylist who built a thriving business at IMAGE Studios in Laguna Hills, California. She started her career at Supercuts, which provided valuable business experience, before moving to a high-end salon. Keri then decided to open her own suite at IMAGE Studios, which gave her the freedom to tailor her business and services to meet the needs of her dream clientele.

Keri is killing it in her business using strategic marketing, focusing on platforms like Yelp and Google where clients are actively searching, rather than relying heavily on social media. She also emphasizes providing an exceptional client experience, treating each person like a friend and making them feel comfortable. Keri's relatable personality and storytelling ability have also helped her build a huge following on TikTok, though it isn't what actually built her clientele.

Looking ahead, Keri is excited to share her marketing expertise by teaching a class at the upcoming Premier Anaheim hair show. She credits much of her recent success to the support and guidance of the IMAGE Studios community, including fellow stylist, Julee George, whom I interviewed in Episode 10. 

Keri's passion, business savvy, and commitment to her clients have allowed her to quickly build a thriving independent salon suite business.

Transcript

Matthew Landis: 0:01

Welcome to season three of the VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios. 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. In each episode, we will bring you insightful interviews with solo entrepreneurs who have forged their own path to success, from 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 Salon Suite business to the next level. Hello, listeners. I am so excited for this week's guest, Keri Mills is a superstar on Tiktok with over 230,000 followers, and she made the transition from working at a national chain salon to building a full clientele of her own and image studios with lightning speed through tenacious and strategic marketing strategies that went beyond the usual social media path. In fact, it's not her star power on Tiktok that built her business at all. Take a listen to my great interview with the smart and savvy entrepreneur to hear how she did it. Joining me on the VIP Suite podcast today is Keri Mills, The Happy Hairstylist from Laguna Hills, California. Welcome to the VIP Suite, Keri thank you. Thank you for so much for having me now. You have built an incredible business in a very short amount of time, and so I really want to hear more about how you did that, but first we'd like to know a little bit about you and your business before we start.

Keri Mills: 1:41

My journey began. I went to school at Paul Mitchell, The School, which was a great, you know, place to to get a lot of opportunities. But I kind of realized after school that I didn't know how to use a pair of clippers, or I needed, I needed a job with education. So I started working at Super Cuts, which was a really great place to start, because it gave me a lot of education, and a lot of it had a built in clientele and healthcare and and all this stuff. So it really taught me how to run a business and how to they, like, they were very focused on the numbers and like, what you're how much you're bringing in, and how much you're selling and all this. And really focus on cleanliness and keeping, you know, your space clean. But you know, through this, I kind of felt like a little bit boxed in. I worked with my best friend who got actually diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and that kind of, like gave me, like a kind of a new look on life, like watching him go through that, I decided to, like, go off and try something new at like a high end salon, which ended up being very, like, toxic for me, and just wasn't really, I wasn't. I think my enthusiasm for hair seemed like it was a little bit of a problem, and one day, I just decided to quit, and I didn't know what to do. And so I was like, What should I do? And at the time, I was doing Tiktok, and I was having some success with that and but not really bringing in tons of money. But I wanted a place where I could do that, I could focus on, you know, making content and also doing hair. And my husband's like, Why don't you open your suite? And I was like, Well, I'm not a business person. He's like, Well, what do you mean? You've, you know, you worked at Super Kids, you've managed salons, you've done education, like you, you are a business person. So that's kind of like, what brought me to, like, starting to think of, like, maybe I should do my suite. And then I came and I, like, looked at a bunch of different suites, and I was like, so worried about being, like, isolated in a suite and not having anyone around and, like, because a lot of them are very boxed in, where all the doors are closed and you're walking through these hallways. But then I came to image studios that it was like, like a brush, breath of fresh air, like it just with all the glass and everything, like it just felt like a salon where everybody's, like, doing their own business. And that really drew me in. And I was like, I can kind of do whatever I want here. Like I can really tailor this business to be, you know, a place where I could do education, I could do Tiktok videos, I can I can work on customers. And so that's really what kind of brought me here. Well, that's exciting having all that freedom ahead of you. So how did you begin to sort of distill the magic and decide what direction you wanted to go in? I think I like, I still don't know, like, I mean, I just, I want to do it all like, I have so many different directions. And I think that's what I like so much about having my own space in my own business, is I can go in any of those directions, so I don't really feel burnt out like I I can do, you know, I also work at the beauty school part time, just one day a week, and so I I can do that. I can, I can. I can take the days off that I want to, you know, travel or whatever I can I can work on people's hair. I don't have to be like, boxed in by what services I can provide. I can do anything, and I can charge what I think I'm worth, you know, and I think there's, there's a lot of magic to that, like, you have to be disciplined, but you you just have so much opportunity to, like explore who you are as an artist. Like, if I'm have downtime, I'm making videos, making content, and, like, putting on wigs, and, like, you know, like, just making all my skits and stuff, and it's just, I mean, I've grown so much as a stylist, because I figured the best way for me to do business, like, when I'm doing a color, the way I know best is my way, and that seems to work, you know, out for everybody like I don't. I'm not. I'm not micromanaged by people telling me, oh, you have to, you have to apply the color this way, or you have to mix it like this, or you can only use this brand. It's like I have 11 different brands in my cabinet that I use, and probably more than that.

Matthew Landis: 5:36

I love it. I love having that opportunity to do everything, all that flexibility and adaptability. And you said, as an artist, which I really appreciate, I used to have a huge color cabinet with, with, you know, two or three different brands. And, you know, I had demi permanent and semi permanent. And, of course, permanent and, and I love, love trying different things, because they did really feel like I wanted to have a broader palette to work from. So all that adaptability, all that flexibility. You know, a lot of our pros are multi passionate people, so they have a lot of different interests. You mentioned creating content. Many people thrive at this, and many people struggle. In fact, I would say more people struggle with it. What do you think that the secret is to finding your way through social media and marketing?

Keri Mills: 6:29

Something that a lot of people do is they think they they think that you have to do reels or like, you have to just put a lot of content on Instagram every day. And that's really not like the secret to marketing your business like that's really like Instagram I look at as like being your portfolio. Is it? That's where you can showcase your work, or you can kind of get to know your community or your audience on, like, a little bit of a deeper level. But that's not what draws business, at least for me, in my in my journey, I don't like, let me. Let me read you some of these, the statistics here. Let me find this page. So I this is all brand new clients that I have gained, and I get most of my people from from Yelp. Honestly, that is the social media that I use most, because that is where people are actively looking for hairstyles. When people go on Instagram, they're not necessarily there to find hairstyles. Like, if I was going to book a massage after this, I'm not going to Instagram to book my massage, I'm going to Google, and Google is going to bring up a Yelp page, and then from a Yelp page, then they're going to look at your portfolio, which is Instagram. So that's like, it's kind of like a third tier, you know, like, so in all of my brand new people that I've gotten, I have gotten 132 people from Yelp, which is 40% of the people I've gotten my referrals are 106 from Google. I've gotten 70 from Tiktok, which I have 230,000 followers on Tiktok. I've gotten six new people. Instagram, I've gotten four, and next door, I've gotten three.

Matthew Landis: 7:55

So 230,000followers on Tiktok, and you only got six clients?

Keri Mills: 8:02

Yeah, wow. Because, because that's not what they're looking for. When they go to Tiktok, they're not there to find a hairstylist. They might see me and they might think, oh, someday I want to get my haircut by her. And like, like, a lady yesterday, she's like, Yeah, I saw you on Instagram or whatever. And she's like, I put you in my calendar back in March. And it's like, but I that doesn't you know. And now she's coming in the next the following January. So it's like, that doesn't do me any I mean, that's good. I I'm not saying that Instagram is not a way to find clientele. I'm just saying, like, I need clientele when I have my business. I didn't have clientele because, like, what from when I made the jump from going from Super cuts to this high end salon? I didn't really tell anybody, because I just assumed that people weren't going to want to make that $75 jump, you know. Luckily, like, there was some people that found me and followed me, but like, I was using my wallet to, you know, thinking like, Oh, if I only want to spend 25 like, I'm not going to go and spend 100 but like, little did I know they would. Yeah, I'm looking for people on Yelp, because that's where they're actively looking for me and Instagram, they're not like they might, they may put you in the back burner and say, one day, I'll go to her, but they're not searching for you on there. One of my I don't want to say pet peeves, but when I'm doing my coaching, a lot of people are very passive marketers. They post, they have a website, but they don't really actively look for people, or help people actively find them. And I think that's the key. Is what clients are actively looking for somebody like you, they're looking for your skill set. They're looking for what it is the magic that you create, the artistry that you create. The real question is, how are they going to find you? And I love that you have said two things that really stuck out for me. One was, Well, Google and Yelp, and then also referrals, because research shows the two thirds of new clients still come from referrals. Two thirds, yeah, referrals is 32.8% of my business. Yeah. So far. What happens with thereferral, right is they're gonna first go to Google to see where you are, are you? Are you near me? And that's yeah. And then they're gonna look for reviews, they're gonna go to Yelp, and then they're then they're gonna go to Instagram, then they're gonna see what you're all about.

Matthew Landis: 10:15

You know, for people listening, I think, free yourself from the mindset of Instagram, where, you know, a lot of the people in this industry, they really beat themselves up for not being better at it.

Keri Mills: 10:28

And I think, like Instagram, if you want to be like, get a lot of followers. Like, that's great, like, but a lot of followers. Like, just like I've proven on Tiktok, I have 230,000 followers. But like, John the truck driver in Tennessee might be a follower, but that doesn't help my business. You know, he's not going to come in. You know, it's, it's, you really need to be putting yourself in front of people that are near you, that are in local, you know, like, and that's what Yelp does. Like you can, and you can kind of do that with Instagram, but you can't really see through Instagram, like, who's actually converted to clicks on your website, where is, as Yelp you can and you have to put money behind it. I mean, like, people think like, oh, I'm my business isn't doing well, the first thing I'm going to cut out is the marketing. Well, no, that's the way you should be putting all your money behind is the marketing. Because that's Yelp works for a reason. You know, like, it's a company and it's thriving because it works. And you may hate Yelp, and I hate Yelp, but back to the matter is the clients trust it, and they see reviews. People want referrals. They want to hear from other people. They don't want just like, of course, my business is going to say I'm the greatest hairdresser in the world. But do other people, people who have actually come to me say that, and they know that Yelp is a platform that is very hard to fake reviews. Like some of my real reviews don't even get posted. They trust that that's legit. And where Instagram, it's kind of like That's after they've already found you through Yelp. Now they look at my Instagram and, and I gotta say, like an Instagram with the back of a bunch of people's heads is not going to be as engaging to clients as an Instagram with stories and and funny things, like some people said, I, you know, I found you through Yelp, and I looked at your Instagram, and I saw that you were funny, and I thought, well, if she messes up my hair, at least she's funny, you know. And so like, I would say 50% of what I post is hair, but mostly like, and I post all hairstyle stuff, but like, I try to make like, engaging stories or interesting, like, things about me, or, you know, like ways they can kind of get to know me the person, because you're going to be spending three hours with me like you don't want to like someone you can't talk to or relate to. If you see that this person has a personality and they're funny and they're interesting, like, that's who I want to spend that time with. You know, there's, there's talented hair cells everywhere, but not all of them can. You know you don't vibe with all of them. You hear people review a place in person, they often will tell you more about how they felt than than the actual result.

Matthew Landis: 12:50

And you know, Maya Angelou is famous quote, people will forget what you did, but they will always remember how you made them feel. And I think that's like, a huge one for me.

Keri Mills: 12:59

Like, that's where I get the client retention is like, I'm very like, mindful of how I treat the person in my chair. Like, when before a client comes in, I always think, okay, my best friend is coming. Like, I don't ever think of them as like, I'm the stylist and you're the client. And we have this, like, there's this wall between this, no, we're best friends. And like, when you whether I'm trimming your bangs or I'm doing a whole transformation, like, you're my client, your guest in my home, or your your friend. And I always say in the beginning, like, if there's anything you don't like, like, let me know I don't take it personally. Like, and I always tell everybody the price up up front. Like, I make sure that we're all clear there's no surprises, because that's a huge one where you see, like, I'm Yelp when people complain, it's because they were surprised by the price. I try to, I try my best to, like, make that person feel hurt and comfortable. And I'm not using language that makes puts them down. Like, I'm not saying, like, oh my gosh, you have so much hair. With all this hair, I can't believe how much hair you have. Like, that person feels like shame, you know, like, from all the like, I'm sorry for something I can't control, or like, you know, oh, your hair is really dry in the ends. You need a treatment. Like, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tell them that. Like, I try to build them up. They're here to feel better about themselves. I say things like, wow, I can tell you really take good care of your hair. Like, you know, people say my hair is really thin. Oh, I don't think it looks thin. I think, I think it's great. Oh, you know, it's been falling out with COVID. Oh, that's so common, you know, like, just, just words of like, affirmation, things that make people feel like they want to be here, like people with curly hair, I say I understand that you've had trauma with your hair, like every single person that has curly hair has had some kind of trauma. So like, I am going to listen and take it slow with you.

Matthew Landis: 14:34

And I love that you also mentioned the consultation, because the consultation is the most important part of any service, I think, is making sure that you're on the same page, not only in what it is that you're going to do, but how much it's going to cost, what the maintenance is, what sort of take home products that you're going to recommend, all of those things are baked in at the beginning, and then there are no surprises at the end. It's like, here's everything we talked about, here's everything we did, and this is what it costs. And I think, you know, communication is key.

Keri Mills: 15:05

Oh, totally, all the time, I mean, and especially like, when I'm responding to people, like, let's say they found me on Yelp or something. I am I always respond in text, overly nice, like, I do it like, you know, hey, what, what? How much would this cost? Great. Thank you for reaching out. I'm so happy I could be here, blah, blah, blah, you know. Or, like, I overdo it, because it doesn't always translate as that, you know. Like, sometimes it comes off like, if you just respond like, Oh, it's this much money, it kind of comes off rude. I overdo the niceness, because it doesn't, when people read it, it doesn't always come off as overly nice, but it just comes off as, oh, this is a nice person. Like, a lot of people have come to me like they, they they looked at me through Yelp I responded, and then they said, oh, sorry, I already booked with someone else. And I said, Oh, I'm so glad that you found someone else. If you ever need any services in the future, I'm here for you. And then they'll come back and be like, hey, you know, like, later, maybe I will need some services. What about that hairdresser that was really nice, you know, like, and I think that's important that you you maintain that, like, we're okay. And if someone says, I don't like my hair, it looks like awful, you know, can I come in and redo it? I'm not going to be like, well, it was your stupid hair, that it was the problem that, no, I'm going to say, Absolutely, come in. Yeah, I'm not even question their opinion. You know, yes, come back in. Let's do it tomorrow. Let's get you because my job, I'm going to thrive as a stylist when my clients look really, really good. So I'm like teaching them how to style their hair. I'm showing them the tricks and the flips and the how to use the blow dryer, how to pinch the hair so it goes with what they want. I'm not giving them styles that they can't do at home, because when they look good, I look good. I want my clients to always be have like the best hair in the room. I

Matthew Landis: 16:45

I love that. You want to do right by them, too. love it. And you know, I used to own a salon, and of course, I did hair for many years. And a lot of times people might have a complaint or want something different. And I, you know, it doesn't help to argue with people. And in the back room, people would say, Well, I did what she said and I and I would have to say, I know, but she doesn't like it. Make It Right. That's really, at the end of the day, she doesn't like it.

Keri Mills: 17:10

I think I like as a stylist, like, if someone doesn't like their hair, that's my fault. That's not theirs. It could be the best haircut I ever did, but if they don't like it, then that's not a good haircut. And I need to take responsibility of that, even though, you know, even though I was like, Oh, I didn't realize her hair was gonna, like, soak up the the toner as fast well, that then I need more education. Like, that's not because her hair is the problem. Oh, well, her her hair, you know, it just was breaking off or whatever. That's because I'm not educated enough to, or I don't have enough experience to to predict that's going to happen, and that's that's a me problem, not my client's problem. I had all these mean clients at the beginning of my career, you know, like, I'm the worst clientele. Now I have the best clientele because everybody's happy, but I love that.

Matthew Landis: 17:52

You also approach it from putting your ego aside. I think that's really tough, and sometimes you do have to set boundaries, and once in a while, people test those but I have found over my 30 year career that 98.7% of the people that I've ever worked with were good people, and I wanted what's best for them. There are some that aren't, but the vast majority, you know, if I put my ego aside and I say, what is it that this person is really asking of me, and what is it, how can I make this better, then we can work it out? And I'm not saying 98% of my clients came back because it was a mutual love connection, but there were only, like 1% that were really we both hope we never see each other again, but, but you do have to set your ego aside, because this business, it's very rough on the ego. Yes, you know, we get pumped up a lot. Our egos get inflated big sometimes, because people tell us how great we are and how wonderful are, but they can just as easily be popped with a simple pin prick of somebody not liking something, and that can be very deflating at the same time. So I wonder for you, when that happens, how do you handle that?

Keri Mills: 19:07

I think it's just like, I try not to take it personally. Like, it always hurts when someone doesn't like my work, but at the end, and because it's personal, like, this is my we spent three hours working on this, and then it's not quite right, and it's like, like, and sometimes I don't know how to fix it. Or, like, I need, you know, like, I need a breather, you know, to consult another styles or something. And I mean, when, when someone doesn't like their hair, I already know, like, there is never really a surprise to me, You know what? I mean, like, it's, it's always like, Yeah, I kind of, I felt that too. And I just try to, like, apologize, like, I just, I'm confident that I can get there, like I can, I can get to what they want, yeah, and sometimes it's just like, I make mistakes. I'm a human being. It's not something that's very common. And most of my people, I would say, 99% of my people, leave. Half they give me a hug before they leave, because I changed their lives, you know?

Matthew Landis: 19:58

So let's switch gears. It's a little bit. You do have 232,000 followers on Tiktok. How did you become a big Tiktok and Instagram star?

Keri Mills: 20:12

I don't know about the star, but so I started, like, on Tiktok with my own, like, just personal channel, and I had put out, like, a couple of videos, like, I put a video of me and my son, like, when he was really little, of like, he said, like, mom life. And it had, like, it was like a fast motion video of me sitting on one side of the couch, and he scoot over to me, and I scoot over the other side of the couch, and he'd come over, and it was just like this, back and forth. And I got like, 250,000 followers or views. And so I was like, pumped. And I was like, I can be I'm gonna do this. And so I started putting on, like, Mom videos and and I started noticing, like, some of them that would kind of hit viral, that I would get a lot of comments about, like, Oh, you're not a good mom. And like, why would you get away from your son? He just wants to love you. And I'm thinking, oh, like, I can you? Can you can not like me. But calling me a bad mom is not something I can deal with on the daily, especially as a new mom. So I was like, what else could I do to how can I how can I use this platform? Because obviously I had one video go viral, so I'm clearly, like, really good at it. So like, I'm gonna make it one about hair stylist, hair styling, and then people call me a bad hairdresser. That's fine. Like, just don't call me a bad mom, because I know I'm good mom. And like. So then I just started making it like. And then Theresa Van Dam, she had a lot of like, stories and stuff. And I was watching her content, I was thinking, like, I have a story to tell. Like, I this has happened to me, but like, you know, and she started to kind of just inspire ideas. And so at first, my very first videos, I was really focused on making videos for the stylist because I wanted to sell education. And my husband does marketing. He's a, like, a genius marketing person, which I owe, like so much of my success to him, because he's without him, I would just be standing next to my sign waiting for walk ins or whatever, and when, but, but so I was like, thinking when I went into Tiktok, I want to use this as a way to monetize, like, I want to make, like, passive income, or like, you know, make, make some kind of income off of it. So I really tried to gear it towards the stylist and and I think it's just like, you get success on Tiktok by like, having engaging content that tells a story, like, you have to even, even with hair transformation videos, like, there's a story attached to that, and it has to, like, kind of incite a reaction, like it has to either be funny or make people mad or make people, you know, sad, or, I think, you just need to be a good storyteller. You can't just have a template with, like, a bunch of clips of you on the beach or whatever. Like, it has to, has to engage people and people, and it doesn't have to be a short video. It doesn't have to be a long video. Like, some of my highest viewed videos, I have one of, like, 8.6 million views, or something like that. It's, it's, uh, you know, it was one of the longest videos I ever put out. It's just, like, engaging people, and then, like, knowing, like the triggers like this, the one that has eight points of the million views. It's about someone's mom, and like, everybody's like, Oh, the mom. And they all want to tell me their story about the mom, you know, and and so it's just like, finding that way to relate to people that like can incite a reaction or like, and not just just, you know, a small group. It's like everybody like my content. A lot of the early stuff was about the type of people that we have come into the slot. Like, I had the dad joke guy, and it's like, Oh, he's so funny. And, you know, like everybody knows that guy. I had the mom staring over the shoulder, wanting to help. It's like, I think we've all can kind of relate to that. And I don't know, I just started trying stuff out, and it just started hitting and as I changed directions with it, because at first I was trying to get stylists, so I was doing a lot of like, kind of like poking fun at the customers a little bit. And now I want to get clientele, so I want to, like, make fun of my customers. I changed my content a little bit to be more educational and more kind of making fun of myself. And Tiktok doesn't so much like that, so they don't really push me out as much. It was just finding like, what people want to laugh at. Like, people don't go on Tiktok for, you know. I mean, I like to go there to kind of lose myself. You want something funny, you know, or something something stupid, like, the best videos are ones that make you laugh. And I feel like, like, with my tic tac toe, I tried to, like, just put one joke in each video. Don't over joke. It like, don't put like, six jokes. Like, just stick to one joke and make six videos and just make them, like, short and sweet.

Matthew Landis: 24:33

That's great. That's really great advice. And I think, you know, one of the things, I've watched some of your videos, and it's all done with love, and it's done with humor, and it is, you know, really authentic. And I think that's what really comes home for me. And I think, you know, even if you're sort of poking fun at clients or or other hairdressers or people, if it's done with love, and it's done with effect, like the joke dad, like.

Keri Mills: 25:00

You know, we love the joke, dad, and like, I'm very, like, mindful of how I go about it. Like, I don't just, like, sit and spew in front of a camera, you know what? I mean, like, a lot of people will sit that client I just had was a jerk, you know, like, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to I'm going to write a script, and I'm going to, like, really think about, like, how, what am I going to, like, how am I going to make this into, like, a good story, and I'm going to have, like, my lighting, and I'm going to have my wigs, and I'm going to have my, you know, like the casting that goes into it, like, I put a lot of time into it, so it's like, but I really try to be mindful of how I present myself, because I don't want to come off as, like, just a whiny little brat or whatever, a lot of fun of myself, like I'm awkward and I'm weird, and that's like, people can relate to that. It looks like you're having fun, and you really open up to people. And I think that's what people respond to. It doesn't feel forced, it doesn't feel contrived. It feels really genuine and lovely. So, you know, great job. Yeah, it's like, I'm not trying to be like, Oh, I'm the best hair sales. I'm not. I'm the happy hairstylist. Nobody can tell me. I'm not that.

Matthew Landis: 26:07

You are the happy hairstylist. So what makes you happy? What what things in your life, besides doing hair, besides your clients, besides your business, what other things make you happy and bring joy to your life?

Keri Mills: 26:19

Gosh, everything, like just my my family, my kids. I just, I really enjoy watching them grow. I'm very active in their school. I'm like, you know, making all the props for the school musical, and I'm choreographing part of it. And like, I got, I help out in the library, in my son's school, and I'm the room parent for my daughter. And like, just, they bring a lot of joy. There's nothing like coming home at the end of the day and being like, Mommy's home, you know, like kids running to you, like no one else does that for me, they really fill me up. And I would really like to teach, I mean, that's hair too, but I I really enjoy going to school. I go there one day a week and just teach the students my what I know about hair and like, the response I get from that is really good. They're like, wow, you're, you know, you teach in a way that I really understand and and I like to really break things down to, like, easy level, because sometimes I think the educator will come by and be like, they're like, What should I use? I'm like, they're like, six in, and they're like, Okay, and they use that, and it's fine. But like, when I teach, I really like, go, Okay, let's get the formulator, you know, like, let's go, like, match the color and talk about how much gray percentage, and why do we want to put this in our formula? And why? How can we add this much in? And really, like, force them to do it. And maybe it's uncomfortable at the time, but they always come to me later, and they're like, Thank you, you know. So like that I get, I really get full from that and and I like to, I'm an artsy, crafty person. I'm always doing art like I, I'm, I sometimes when people are processing I will do art on the floor with their hair like I'm just, I can't turn it off, you know? Yeah, I'm just, I'm just very creative and inspired by everything. I just wrote a song yesterday about how many tote bags I have because we're moving and I have 10,000 tote I didn't even realize I was a collector, but I have so many tote bags that I had to write a song about it. I don't know. It's a surprise. I haven't dropped it yet. I can't give you some people, okay, a stop. You'll see it on my my Tiktok soon.

Matthew Landis: 28:26

Okay, so what is your Tiktok handle?

Keri Mills: 28:30

The_happy_hairstylist on Tiktok, and then for Instagram, it is also. It's@the_happy.hairstylist.

Matthew Landis: 28:42

And they can also look up your name, Keri Mills.So what are you looking forward to? What's what's coming up, what's coming down?

Keri Mills: 28:55

So I am teaching at Premier Anaheim, which is the big hair show. I'm really excited about that. I'm basically, basically teaching the things that we talked about here how to market your business, like a lot of the techniques and things, because it's not just, you know, Yelp, I also have done a lot of things within the community and stuff to market my business. So I'm, I'm really looking forward to that. It's like, a huge kind of deal for me. So, yeah, it's going to be February 23 at 4pm at at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Matthew Landis: 29:27

Keri, that is huge. I am so excited for you. So are you going to be in one of the little ballrooms, or where you where are people going to find you? I've been to premier Anaheim. I only live about an hour and a half away, so I don't know exactly where the classroom is, but I think I'm assuming it's going to be like in like, I think, like last time there was, like, an education hallway, you know, with all the classroom.

Keri Mills: 29:48

I don't know, I don't know all the details yet, but I just know my time slot is 4pm so it's called the Suite Life is the name my class.

Matthew Landis: 29:56

I think that is so wonderful, and that is so exciting. How long have you been at Laguna Hills IMAGE Studios?

Keri Mills: 30:03

A year. It was a year in December.

Matthew Landis: 30:06

And you have already built this incredible business. You've done it so quickly. So the owners there, Barry and Wendy fast, they nominated you to be on the podcast, because they are so proud of you and how quickly you have built this incredible business, and I love that you track those numbers, and so you know where people are coming from. You know what's working, and that has really paid off, and that is something to be proud of.

Keri Mills: 30:31

Yeah, and it's really good to have, like an app that can do all that for you. Yeah, an online book is huge with the customers.

Matthew Landis: 30:39

And what app are you using? I'm using GlossGenius. They provide that for me for free.

Keri Mills: 30:44

I absolutely love gloss genius, and I didn't ask that, you know, I sort of assumed that that's what it was, but it wasn't a setup. I was just really curious. It's incredible. And I think, I think it's great. Like, I It's definitely you need, I think that's 100 like, so many hairstyles don't know their numbers. And it's like, how do you not know what you're making? Like, you have to know that in order to, like, grow your business. And so many of us just, like, wait until we're being a counselor and then just hustle really hard and turn it like, make up for it, but it's like, if you if you know where you're going and you're headed, you can see your growth. You can plan ahead, and you can kind of use the email marketing and their text message marketing within the app to, like, get more customers. Because I don't know, marketing is like a circle, and the first circle is like, your friends and family, and then their friends and family, and then you know, and that's the easiest circle, is the people that you already know. So like, GlossGenius really helps to like, I can, I can plug into my app, like, tell me all the people that haven't been here in six months, and it makes me a list, and then I just send them all text messages, where, where you been, you know. So it's, it's, it's helped a lot.

Matthew Landis: 31:58

That's really cool. And you have another pro there that is a marketing genius. You have Julee George that you work with there in Laguna Hills. She's great.

Keri Mills: 32:07

She she like, was, you know, when I first moved into IMAGE Studios, I had my basket of bread and I went around to every studio, and I was like, I knew, you know, and she's like, if you need any help, let me know. And she's like, she's like, with pricing and stuff like that. And she's the one that really told me, she's like, you're not building your clientele. You're building your dream clientele. So make sure that you price for it, like, like, you don't want to be the cheapest hairstyle, so you can get clients you want to price what you're worth. And you know, you can always go back down and price, but price where you want to be. And she said, she's like, where do you want to what do you want to make in a year? I was like, oh, maybe 100,000 she's like, that's a good start. And I'm like, start, you know, like, and she's, she's killing it. She's, she's doing way more than that.

Matthew Landis: 32:47

You have a good group of people there. Well, I'm excited for you, Keri. I hope people will check you out and look for you in Anaheim, at Premier Anaheim, and also looking for you on Instagram and Tiktok. And is there anything else that we should know before we go?

Keri Mills: 33:02

Yeah, join me at Premiere Anaheim. And I'm, if you see me, come up and say hello, I got a little something special for the first 50 people that say hello to me and and just a little like, like friendship.

Matthew Landis: 33:13

Alright, well, thank you so much for doing this interview today. It has been such a pleasure. I'm going to go deep dive in your Tiktok. First of all, I'm gonna have to download Tiktok because I'm very late to that party, but anyway, I look forward to seeing you again and having more of these conversations in the future. Thank you, Carrie.

Keri Mills: 33:33

Thank you.

Matthew Landis: 33:34

Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of The VIP Suite. I'm Matthew Landis, and I hope you found the insights and inspiration shared today truly valuable for your journey as a Salon Suite entrepreneur and independent beauty, health or wellness professional, don't forget to follow us on Instagram at image studios 360 and 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 to discover more incredible stories and strategies. We love hearing from our listeners. If you have any questions, topics, suggestions, or want to share your own success story, feel free to reach out to me at matthew@imagestudios360.com, and remember 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. We'll be back with more engaging and inspiring conversations in our next episode. Until then, take care. Stay inspired and continue to create your own VIP Suite. For more information about becoming a part of the image studios luxury Salon Suite community, visit our website at imagestudios360.com