The VIP Suite at IMAGE Studios with Matthew Landis

Grace Schafer, The Hair Lab, Decodes the Science of Success

• IMAGE Studios • Season 4 • Episode 27

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Grace Schafer is not your average hairstylist. A red hair enthusiast, cutting specialist, wedding artist, and certified extension artist, from IMAGE Studios in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she has carved out a unique niche in the beauty industry by combining her passion for theater, science, and hair design. With a keen eye for color theory and a commitment to educating her clients, Grace has built The Hair Lab into a thriving independent business that challenges traditional salon approaches.


In this inspiring episode of The VIP Suite podcast, Grace shares her journey from commissioned stylist to independent business owner, revealing the mindset shifts, challenges, and transformative moments that have shaped her career. From helping clients through personal struggles to mastering the delicate art of red hair formulation, Grace demonstrates how creativity, scientific understanding, and a genuine desire to empower clients can lead to professional success and personal fulfillment.

Find her on Instagram: @thehairlab.ges and TikTok: @gmistster

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.

This episode is sponsored by GlossGenius, the all-in-one salon software designed to help independent professionals book appointments, accept payments, manage schedules, and build strong beauty brands. Learn more at glossgenius.com.

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.

Matthew Landis:

Welcome to The VIP Suite, the podcast for Salon Suite professionals who are building bold, brilliant businesses. I'm your host. Matthew Landis, former salon owner, business coach and lifelong advocate for entrepreneurs in the beauty and wellness industry. Each week we spotlight industry MVPs, from hairstylists, estheticians, nail and lash artists and a wide array of solo entrepreneurs who arecreating success on their own terms, you'll hear strategies for marketing, client, growth mindset and overall Salon Suite success, plus honest conversations about what it really takes to thrive. This season, we're going even deeper into growth, grit, community and all the messy magic that comes with carving your own path. So hit subscribe, turn up the volume, and welcome to The VIP Suite where independent beauty and wellness pros come to shine. Hey, IMAGE Pros, your business deserves booking, payment and client management tools as elevated as your space. That's why GlossGenius's, top rated salon software is included in your lease at all inclusive locations, giving you everything you need to grow your business with less busy work with one flat 2.6% payment processing rate, you can save 1000s on hidden fees. Clients can book in just 30 seconds with no app downloads or logins. On average, businesses see a 27% + increase in revenue within the first year on GlossGenius. So sign up today with coupon code IMAGEPRO in and select your location to start making the most of GlossGenius. Joining me today on The VIP suite is Grace Schaefer in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Welcome to the podcast, Grace,

Grace Schafer:

Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew Landis:

Well. Thank you so much for being here. Grace is, according to her Instagram, is a red hair enthusiast, a cutting specialist, an extension specialist, a wedding specialist, and as I just recently found out, also does wig design, which I'm absolutely fascinated with.

Grace Schafer:

Yes, it is. It is a really fun way to bring my passion for theater and performing together with hair, and it allows a little bit more like, creativity outside of the chair, doing period pieces and just like, hey, can you make horns out of hair? Like, can you do that? Just things like that. It's just, it's fun, things I don't get to do behind the chair every day.

Matthew Landis:

Red hair enthusiast. Now that's the top of your list. So I'm really curious about that. Tell me more about your red hair enthusiasm.

Grace Schafer:

Well as a fake redhead myself, I don't know how much you can tell, but I have been red for about five years, and I absolutely love red hair formulation. There's just something about it, like balancing red and orange and gold to find the perfect combination for everyone. This might be a hot take. I think everyone can be a redhead. What kind of redhead you are is dependent on your skin tone and all that fun stuff. So that has always been really fascinating to me, and it's a very delicate process, because if you add a little too much red, like if I add too much red into my formula, I look terrible. I have to have a very orange based red hair color. So it is been a really fun and just like, really fun thing for me to focus on. I find a lot of I just find a lot of joy in it. And I think the red hair gives a certain type of, like, extra bit of confidence and fun energy.

Matthew Landis:

Well, there's a whole psychology behind red hair. You know, I read a statistic once that there are more CEOs, women, CEOs and executives with red hair than any other color.

Unknown:

Well, I guess there must be something to it. Then, okay, I love that. I did not know that.

Matthew Landis:

You know, I was a blonde hair specialist, so I know that sort of passion and interest in really sort of problem solving and figuring it out, I did a lot of red hair as well, and red hair is a lot more difficult than people think. So what are the challenges when it comes to formulating red hair?

Unknown:

I get a lot of people who are very fair, and who those fair clients who want to be red, not making them too red, if that makes sense, using more gold and copper versus actual like fire truck engine red, the just trying to, trying to do the balance between everything and making it fit their skin tone the best, just a little bit too much red. Red is a very powerful color, and really likes to take over a formula if you add even just a little bit too much. So finding that delicate balance is really important.

Matthew Landis:

Yeah, I think when we think of red hair, we're thinking of orange hair, we're thinking of golden hair, usually, so it sort of gets painted with this, you know, broad brush as red. But there are so many, so much nuance when it comes to red. One of the challenges I always had is making it not brown out. What? Yeah, the tips you have for not browning out. Especially the mid shafts and the ends.

Grace Schafer:

Not being afraid to use an intensifier. I think that was something when I first really started getting a larger red hair clientele. Honestly, after I went red, it was like I had all of all of a sudden, all of these thread heads in my chair, which tends, tends to happen you reflect your clientele. So I think for me, like finally getting the confidence to be like, I'm gonna take 744, and it's gonna be okay, um, you know, it's it's gonna give it that extra kick that it needs, so that it's not immediate, either immediately browned out or doesn't fade into brown in the next three days. When you wash it, I mean red, red and orange fade the fastest. So it's, it's important to almost leave them feeling like, almost like, really vibrant, or almost too vibrant, so then they can have that longevity as they live with it for the next, you know, six, eight weeks.

Matthew Landis:

Well, I can tell you really love a challenge, because you have all of these other specialties as well. So what I'm getting from this is you're not someone who likes to just sort of coast.

Grace Schafer:

No, I get bored really easily. I really like to have my hands in everything. I would definitely classify myself as like a jack of all trades. I love to kind of have a hand in everything. I've got like eight hands, one and is in is in each thing? Um, yeah, I I have found that if I stick with one thing for too long, or do the same thing for too long, even that, I think that happens to a lot of stylists behind the chair, where you get kind of caught up in the in the mundane, and you have your touches and you have the same clientele, I find that that can be uninspiring sometimes, and you just kind of get in that rut, that creative rut, and it makes you not it dulls your fire a little bit. And so, you know, learning new skills and taking education classes and and doing wigs and doing red hair and bridal and like having such a variety in my day really keeps the flicker alive.

Matthew Landis:

So tell me a little bit more about your business.

Grace Schafer:

The Hair Lab is my business. That was a name my dad and I came up with. I was always really fascinated with the science behind hairdressing. Hairdressing, of course, is so creative and artistic, but it's also very technical, and looking at the science of it, if you're stumped with a problem, the science will always bring you home like as long as you understand the science properly, you can pretty much overcome any issue, whether it's an issue a client is having with their scalp or with their the ends of their hair, or with their color. The science of color theory, and the science of the science is always going to bring you home and be able to solve any problem. And I really try my best to educate my clients on the science and tell them why. So for example, with let's say someone has really straight hair, and they're like, Well, my hair doesn't curl. And I was like, Okay, well here's why it's not curling. I'm gonna explain to you how this works. Your hydrogen bonds in your hair get broken and reformed into this, into the curl. And while they're hot, they're still pliable. So if you brush your hair while it's hot, it's not going to stay right. And so explaining why it works and and why I'm saying, Hey, don't brush your hair until it's cooled down. Because I could just say that, and they could be like, okay, but I don't know why I'm not supposed to do that, right? So just, I think that knowledge is power, and knowledge equals trust, and trust equals respect. And I want my clients to feel like they can trust me. And I think that just comes from sharing my knowledge with them, and that, in turn, solves a lot of problems for them at home, and that's what keeps them in my chair.

Matthew Landis:

I don't think a lot of people know that aren't in this industry, in the beauty and wellness industry, and this goes for estheticians and nail artists and anybody sort of in this creative line of work, there is so much science behind it. There's chemistry and physics and architecture and, you know, gravity, those are all things that are really important in understanding the work that we do, which is so fascinating. So tell me a little bit more about what made you decide to go independent into business for yourself.

Unknown:

I worked commissioned for the first six years of my career. I've I'm approaching eight years in the hair industry, and I worked commissioned for six years. And I think it's something that as a beginner stylist when you're in your first like five years of your three to five years of your career, I think it's really important to do, and it really allowed me to build my clientele and not focus so much on inventory and balancing my books and doing all of that, because I do all of that myself now, and it's it's a lot, and I. Know that as a beginner baby, I would not have been able to do that. That would have been way too much. So I think it's like I did it for a long time. I grew out of it and the numbers, I'm a numbers. Gal, I'm a science and a numbers gal, the numbers just didn't sit well with me. You know, making, I made like, anywhere between 45 to 50% commission in my commission time and and that's before tax. So at the end of the day, out of $100 I'm seeing probably $35 after tax. That doesn't sit very well with me. So at the end of the day, it came down to, I want to see more from my work, because that's it's it's worth that, and I'm willing to take on the inventory, the balancing of the books, the ordering all of this stuff, responding to everybody, dealing with all of the all of any issues that come up because I don't have a manager I can send them off to anymore, right? So even if I was making the same amount of money, which is not true, but even if I was, the perks of having full control, of choosing what I want to carry, what services I want to do, what I want to advertise, when I want to go on vacation, when I want to perform in a show or take on a wig designing gig, I just can do that. And there were just it was really hard to say no, specifically to image, especially, it was really hard to say no to that.

Matthew Landis:

What was so hard to say no to image about so

Unknown:

I had kind of already had it in my head that I wanted to be independent. I'm Chair rental was not super appealing to me, mostly because it was just, I'm like, if we're gonna bite the bullet, let's just do it. You know, get a get a room, right? So I was looking around, and so I'm from West Michigan, a lot of it's not as trendy. That's typically a little bit behind in terms of, like, comparing to New York or California, you're a little, we're, we get things like, a year or two later, right? Which is normal, totally fine. But looking at all of the other sweet spaces in town, I just was like, it's this, more of the same. It's white, it's old school, it's white, as in color scheme, like it's beige, it's it's basic, and there's nothing wrong with that. If that is your if that's what you like, that is totally okay. That's just wasn't something I was looking for. And I got a message from Zach Duggar, who runs our location, and it was like, Oh my gosh, this was, this is what I've been looking for. It's editorial, it's clean, it's luxurious, it's new. Like, there is. It's the first location in Michigan, hopefully not the last, and it's the first location in Michigan. And I was like, no one's done this yet. I mean, it's kind of a fatal flaw. I want to do things that people don't do, or I want to be the first one to do it, and sometimes that's a fatal flaw, but no one's done this yet. And it's, it's clean, it's fresh, it's new, and it's it's very editorial, and that's what I wanted, and it that is the feedback that I've gotten my clients. They walk in the door and they're like, this place is nice, you know? And that's exactly what I wanted. So it was really, really hard to say no, in your partnership with gloss genius, I love gloss genius. I've been using, I use that at my previous salon as well, and I just love it. The perks the landlord, the location, is phenomenal. It's at a great spot in Grand Rapids, so, and it's across from a Starbucks. That's just a fun little perk. That was just like, okay, that's just the cherry on top. I was already committed, but that's just a fun little cherry on top to it, but it was, it well, all of that considered, it was very, very hard to say no to that.

Matthew Landis:

That's a great endorsement. And, you know, I've been with IMAGE since the before the first one was even built. And one of our biggest goals was always to make things sexy, because this is a fashion industry. So we wanted luxury, luxury, and we wanted our branding and everything that we do to be sexy and fashionable. So it's nice to hear that. So let me ask you a question about mindset Yeah. So have you experienced any sort of mindset shift since you went independent as a professional?

Unknown:

100% Yeah, totally. I think also, especially after, like, my first six months of of business. And it was kind of, it was, there was that first six months of transition period. I have a very good friend of mine who is in sales, and she would always, she's always talking me up whenever we're out at the bar, whatever, anyone who gets a compliment on her hair, she always says something. Or when she introduces me, she'll, you know, she will say what I do and and she'd always say, yeah, she's a business owner. And I'm like, Ah, am I? Though it's kind of very imposter syndromy And she and there was one thing that she said to me. I was like, I don't know if I like, am. I though. And she was like, well, think about it, a restaurant lease is a building, but that doesn't make them any less an owner. And I was like, You're so right. And I just had this, like, after I got through that little bit of imposter syndrome, it was just like, Okay, watch out world. Here I come. Like, I had a much easier time creating boundaries and knowing my worth and knowing what I was willing to take and what I was willing to bend over backwards for, and what I wasn't willing to bend over backwards for, whereas before I was like, I will do whatever, like, I will take whatever I'll get yelled out in the salon, whatever, like, it's fine, like, I'll just deal with it, and I have my confidence is is much better, and it the the mindset shift. It is interesting that you asked that, um, because that has been a huge thing in the last like year and a half.

Matthew Landis:

I've had those moments too, where, you know, I've started a new endeavor, and it takes a while to own that new identity and to be like, Yeah, you know what? This is, who I am? Yeah, absolutely. Period, end of sentence, period. Hey, IMAGE Pros, your business deserves booking, payment and client management tools as elevated and modern as your space. That's why GlossGenius is top rated salon software is included in your lease at all inclusive locations, giving you everything you need to grow your business with less busy work. With one flat 2.6 payment processing, you can save 1000s on hidden fees while offering your clients a smooth checkout experience. Clients can book in just 30 seconds with no app downloads or logins so you never miss an opportunity, plus AI powered marketing and automated wait list helps fill your schedule so you can focus on what you do best. Managing Your business has never been easier with unlimited appointment reminders, forms and waivers built into booking, payroll and time tracking, performance, insights and goal setting tools and more, on average, businesses see a 27% plus increase in revenue within the first year on gloss genius, no extra cost, no extra setup, just a powerful tool to help your business thrive. Your IMAGE Studios membership includes the best technology to support your success. So sign up today with coupon code IMAGEPROALLIN and select your location to start making the most of GlossGenius. What's the most surprising or meaningful transformation that you have helped a client with?

Unknown:

So I had this is, this is one that sticks out to me. I'm I haven't thought this is a great question. I haven't thought about this in a long time. A family friend of mine, his mom, who has, she has Parkinson's, and she's also she has cancer. I believe she is in remission now, but at the time she came and she she had gotten this beautiful wig, just this insane, like human hair, full like lace all the way around, just this amazing wig. She had gotten it, and she was, she had asked me to just like, kind of cut it, style it, teach her how to style it. And I sat down with her, and we just, like, talked through all of that and and I was like, Hey, you get the best of both worlds, because you literally get to pop your hair off and do it and then put it on your head. I can't even tell you how many times I wish I could do that. Just pop my head off, my body, into my hair, and cut my hair even, and put it back on so sitting down with her and getting to do that, and the fact that she's a family friend, and her son is a good friend of mine, and so it was just really cool to be able to do that for her, and it meant the world to her too. And so it was just things like that. I just just, I just like to help people and bring people joy and to make them feel confident and beautiful. And I was able to do that for her in a time where time where she was really struggling. And that's just like everything to me.

Matthew Landis:

Those kinds of experiences can be very humbling, I think, because we take for granted what we do on a daily basis, and then when we have the opportunity to make a difference for someone like that, it means the world to us. And you never know what anybody's going through on a on a daily basis. I always sort of bristle at when people say, Oh, you're like a therapist, and I'm like, I am not a therapist. I do not want that responsibility, no. But we often, in a way, I get the comparison, because we hold space for people, and we do change lives in really profound ways that sometimes we're not even expecting to do. Yeah, yeah. Thank you sharing that is there a client of yours that has challenged you in a way that has changed the way that you work?

Unknown:

Okay? The first person who comes to mind, she is, she's awesome. She I started doing her hair when her hair was long, and now she's got this, like, think, like, boy band, soft mullet, just like, has really helped her come into her identity as a queer individual, and that transformation like her, and she's gone on a full health journey to her hair. You. To like, not grow. It was dry. It just wasn't do anything. And she went on a journey with herself. And in turn, I got to see how her hair just chant, oh my gosh, just the way it changed. It's growing like a weed now, and it's so healthy and hydrated. And with that too, like having going from here to here and like to then the chin and the cheekbone, and then getting really short, and kind of just dipping one toe at a time and having her come back every time be like, Okay, I'm ready for more. I'm ready for more. I'm not ready for more. I'm ready for more and like, and just changing it and just kind of adapting to whatever she was most comfortable with, I think was a challenge, but such a fun one, because it just kind of made me stand back and think it takes you out of your your routine, out of your muscle memory, of of doing the same formula, same haircuts on people, and just kind of makes you step back and be like, Huh, okay. And it has just been so fun to be able to play with her, play with her hair and her style. And she's really found something that she loves now, and it's the soft like boy band mullet, and it's, it's been

Matthew Landis:

I love those clients that really challenge us awesome for her. to do more. And you know what? Sometimes, frankly, I'm not in the mood. I Good. I love having to sort of pause and take a deep breath and go, okay. You know, this is my seventh haircut today, but this is going to be the one that is going to really set me apart. And let's do it. What is one lesson that you wish you had learned earlier in your career?

Unknown:

Don't think about it too hard. Just like, don't it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. Take a deep breath. Don't think about it too hard. You know what you're doing. Relax.

Matthew Landis:

I give this advice all the time because, you know, I moved to New York about five years into my career, and I worked for a big corporate company there, and I had to go through their training program, and it was so intense, like it was, and they really made you sweat. And when I say sweat, I mean sweat. I would I would break out in a cold sweat, until one day I was working on my mannequin head, I think, and I was just trying so hard to be perfect, and I wanted it to be perfect, because I wanted to prove that I could do this. And I just couldn't take it anymore. So I just looked up from the haircut, and I just was like, looked out the window and I watched the world go by, and I thought nobody outside this window on this salon gives a what is going on in here. They don't care. This is just a haircut. It is just a mannequin head. This is not the world, and I will survive this. And so I just take a deep breath and and do the best that I can. And that was such a watershed moment for me. So I'm really glad that you shared that.

Unknown:

Yeah, it's, it's such an important lesson. And I try and give it not to make a pun, I try and give myself grace. Of course, I think we, as we all should. I'm 25 when I started my career, I was 19, and it's even to learn. I'm so grateful to even learn the lesson that I learned as as young as I am right now. I know, I know there are so many people who don't learn that until they're older, and I'm just grateful to have come to that point, because I think it is detrimental to your mental health, to constantly overthink things, and to be so hard on yourself, and of course, I am sometimes, but then it's just kind of like, hey, it's gonna be all right. Don't think about it too hard. You're gonna be okay.

Matthew Landis:

You know what? It's just hair. Yeah, it is.

Unknown:

It's just hair. It probably will grow back, right? Yeah,

Matthew Landis:

Hopefully. There were times in my career where I had to remind myself. I went into this to have fun. Yeah, this is supposed to be fun. So if I'm not having fun, then we have a problem. I have a problem.

Grace Schafer:

Why am I doing it?

Matthew Landis:

I need to get back to the reason that I went into this and that really helped guide me. What is a philosophy of yours that sort of guides you?

Unknown:

I think this is something I say a lot, and anyone who knows me, who listen, who is listening to this will hopefully giggle, is, I always say awareness is the first step, just being aware, and even if like you, even if you made a mistake, you said something you shouldn't have, or you're noticing a pattern of like behind the chair, I'm noticing I'm falling into a rut. Being aware of that is the first step to growing and I. I hesitate to say the word fixing it, but like, improving it. Yeah, that is, that is something I always say. If a friend's like, well, I don't, I don't know, but I did notice this, and I'm like, well, awareness is the first step. And that's, and that's that, that's that that is something that does really drive me, and something I do kind of live by.

Matthew Landis:

That is so simple but so powerful. You know, I listen to a lot of Eckhart Tolle. Do you know who he is? He wrote a new earth and the power of now. He's a spiritual guru. He talks a lot about awareness and consciousness, and we are not our thoughts, but sometimes when we are having anxiety, just being aware and saying to ourselves, you're having anxiety like this isn't real, that that can sometimes really help, and we can get back to being present and letting go of thoughts when we're just aware that they are thoughts.

Unknown:

Yeah, absolutely. That's huge. That's huge.

Matthew Landis:

I have to tell myself all the time, I am not my thoughts, I am not my, I am not my thoughts.

Grace Schafer:

I love that. I am not my thoughts. I'm not my thoughts.

Matthew Landis:

This has been great. So if you can revolutionize one thing in the beauty industry, the beauty and wellness industry, what would it be?

Unknown:

I feel like there's a lot of this is like a hairstylist. Worst Enemy is like TikTok, right?All of this, like hearsay about a lot of things. Like, over information. There's so much information on the internet. I love the internet. The internet is great, but it is. There's so much information and which represents so much confusion for clients. And I think if I could revolutionize anything. It would just be a way to, like, quit the quit, the BS and quit and just like, have clean, clear information. And like, a solid way, a solid way to, like, get that out to people and that. So the word just kind of all on the same page. And I think there are so many people out there who are motivated by brand deals and by money, and people who are not licensed and who are like, this is what's good for your hair? And I something like says, Who? Where's your certification, where's your schooling, where's your license. I want to see it, you know. And I think that is confusing for clients who see these people with these big followings who have no credentials, and then people with credentials who don't have as some there are some people, some styles out there who do have, have those big followings and those big numbers, but there are a lot of hair stylists that don't, and it's just hard to figure out who to trust, and it just makes everything very confusing. So I think if I could revolutionize anything. It would be that just to try and filter that a little bit better.

Matthew Landis:

It seems to be one of a philosophy of yours, that you that you provide that for your clients. You mentioned that earlier, explaining the science, explaining the reasons, and sort of cutting through the noise and providing a sort of space for your clients to understand and get a better understanding of what they need, and that's so important. And I think one of this also goes back to owning your identity. And you know, I am the professional, I am the expert. I am here to help you. I am here to tell you what what the truth is and what the science is. And I love that you are able to do that and that that's so important to you.

Unknown:

Thank you. Yeah, it I think also, too, I love to create that space of like, I'm going to give you some knowledge, but this is also a safe space for you to ask me questions. If you don't know how to curl your hair, I'm not going to look at you and be like, you don't you know? Like, I'm never going to do that. It's a place for exploration and curiosity and for learning things, and there's, there's no like, there's no such thing as a stupid question, and my book, unless we I've already told you and you didn't listen the first time, but, but there's no such thing as a stupid question. And I think that, again, it just comes back to knowledge. Is power, knowing why I'm telling you to do something, not just that. I'm telling you it's really important to create that space for learning. Just in general, you know.

Matthew Landis:

You're such a smart, cool, easy person to be around that I am sure that your clients absolutely love you, and they probably want to do right by you. They're like, you know, Grace told me to do this.

Unknown:

They do and almost to a fault where they're like, Look. I know I told I know you told me to do my bangs, but I didn't do them today. Don't look at them. And I'm like, relax. It's you're a human. I'm a human. My bangs are I'm like, my bangs are slick today too. So it's okay, um, you know, yeah, they I, I'm sure every hairstylist says this, but I really do firmly believe I have the best, most wonderful, kindest, most supportive clientele. They are just so wonderful, and they challenge me. They're so kind and just open and, like, thirsty for knowledge and like, I just, oh, I just love them so much.

Matthew Landis:

Well, you said this earlier, that we do tend to attract people like us. I think that you can say that in the mirror and probably say that about yourself as well.

Unknown:

Hopefully sometimes right,

Matthew Landis:

If you weren't in this industry, what else would you be doing?

Grace Schafer:

If I wasn't in this industry? I probably would have ended up pursuing musical theater, which is what I wanted to do before I did this. If it was eight years out after high school, instead of being here sitting talking to you, I'd probably be, uh, miserable and broke with a musical theater degree and no job. Not saying that that happens to every musical theater performer, but that's probably where I would be. I'm just knowing myself. I'm very I am very hard on myself, and I just know that I would not have been successful in doing it professionally, because it I love what you said earlier about like loving what you do is supposed to be fun. If you're not loving it, if you're not having fun, then why are you doing it? And I even lost that with performing for a long time, up until kind of recently, I was reminded why I love to do it, and if I had done it professionally, I would have lost it and never found it again. I think that's that is the only thing I probably would do. And even there are some days where I'm just like, what if I quit? What if I quit my job? What if I sold my business? And just like, quit, and then you come back down to earth and you're like, No, you can't do anything else. Like, what else? What else would you want to do? You know, but there are always those days where you're like, quit, you know? So I don't, I don't think I could do anything else, to be honest.

Matthew Landis:

Let me ask you, who is your rock?

Grace Schafer:

Probably my boo. He is amazing. Ethan is his name. He's amazing. We've been together seven years. I met him while I was in Costco, and he has seen the entire journey. He has seen the whole thing. And before I moved into Image, he and I were searching. We were house hunting. And of course, the market is awful, right? So that didn't go very well. And then the the plan was, the original plan was we would get a house, and I put a she shed out back, and I would have a studio in the backyard. I was like, I'm just never gonna leave my house, and that's okay. But that did not go as planned, obviously. But I got to a point of like, I don't want this economy and this this market to rule my career. And I went to him, and I said, Look, I know we're taking a break from house hunting. And I said that I wouldn't go independent until we have a house, but, like, I kind of want to do it anyway. And he said, Okay, you can. So go for it. Why? Why not? What do you you know, what? More or less, what are you waiting for? And I was like, Okay. And then off, off I went. So he has just been so supportive. And just he brings me out of that, like, when I get in that space of, like, negativity and getting down on myself, he is really the one to be like, but like, you're really good at your job, so you're fine. You know, he really just, he brings me back down, and just really evens me out so I would not be where I am without him.

Matthew Landis:

Well, that's wonderful. And, you know, we're so lucky to have people in our lives that we can rely on and and give us that sort of those pep talks. And I have my husband, Steve, and I'll give a shout out to him, because we've been together at least. We're in our 13th year, and, yeah, I never thought that I wanted to be married or or tied down, but it's actually given me a lot more freedom to insecurity, and it's been a wonderful thing. And I'm so glad and happy for you, and that's wonderful. Thank you very much. Now, one last thing, what sort of advice would you give to somebody that wants to go independent and run their own business, like what? What's important?

Grace Schafer:

Honestly, it's not that scary. It's not as scary as you think it. Is it? I would do it again. I'd start another business. It wasn't that scary. It's, it's scary looking at it, but when you're in it, it's really not that scary. And it's, it's hard, but it's also not that hard at the same time, because ultimately, the happiness that you have and the freedom that you have just is so worth it. It is so so, so worth it. So don't be scared. It's not that bad.

Matthew Landis:

That was perfect. All right. Grace. Where can our listeners find you?

Grace Schafer:

You can find me on Instagram @thehairlab.ges, and on Facebook as The Hair Lab, and then on Tiktok is @gmistster

Matthew Landis:

Well grace. This has been so wonderful. Thank you so much for joining me here on The VIP Suite.

Grace Schafer:

Thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun.

Matthew Landis:

Thank you for tuning into The VIP Suite. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and follow us on Instagram @imagestudios360 for more inspiration from our community of independent beauty and wellness pros. Interested in renting your own luxury studio or becoming a franchise owner? Visit imagestudios360.com to learn more and take the next step toward building your dream business. Until next time, here's to beauty, health and wellness and building the life that you want.