It all begins with a decision.
So what are you waiting for? So many times we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day that we put off the things that are most important to us. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed, we get so stuck, we do not know where to begin. Sound familiar? Like anything worthwhile, like any journey, it begins with taking the first step. It’s amazing what can happen once we make the decision to take that first step.
Whether its improvements we want to make in our lives, our relationships, our salon, our career, our health, our business plans, or our skills, it all begins with the first step.
Think back to the day you chose to go to beauty school, or college, or open that salon, or attend that advanced academy. You made a decision, and you took action.
Lights, camera…Action!
Ideas, dreams, goals and plans are only words on a piece of paper, until we choose to take action, to execute on them, to take the first step. Which goals, dreams and plans do you have sitting in a notebook or laptop somewhere you have not taken action on? What are you waiting for? Today is the day to take that first step.
If you are serious about igniting your passion and turning your dreams into reality, we offer one-on-one coaching and mentoring to help you craft the ultimate plan to begin your journey. If you are ready to take that first step, click here. We look forward to dreaming with you.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas, Nina + Gordon)
“Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”
Napoleon Hill
Meet Danielle Valiente, a super passionate salon owner, stylist, Paul Mitchell educator and blogger taking the social space by storm to get closer to her goals and dreams. Danielle is such a great example of delivering value through engaging content on social platforms and as she adds value, she is getting the attention of the likes of eHow and Lucky Magazine. Danielle took some time out of her super busy schedule to share her thoughts on how she is using the social web to empower herself and her community. Enjoy.
Nina: What are your current goals as a salon owner/session stylist, etc?
Danielle: My current goals as a salon owner are to continue building our brand and salon team. I set goals every year and work hard to reach them. As a session stylist, my goals are to continue to grow my portfolio, my contributions to Lucky Magazine and my video blogging.
Nina: Which social platform are you focusing on to reach that goal?
Danielle: Do I have to pick 1? Currently I use: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube as my main platforms. They each offer a little something different for reaching my audience.
Nina: Why those platforms?
Danielle: I’m focusing right now on building my YouTube presence. I love sharing education and information with people, so I’m using YouTube to bring my blogging education to life.
Nina: How did those platforms help you get closer to your goal?
Danielle: Currently I am one of Demand Media and eHows video talent. Every few months I create a series of how to videos that help hair stylists and the general public learn to do specific techniques related to hair styling.
Nina: What have the results been?
Danielle: eHow just added me to their YouTube page and within that day I already had hundreds of views.
Connect with Danielle on the social web and see all the cool stuff she is doing to build her brand.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. “
Margaret Meade
The social + digital web has allowed us to share, engage and connect like never before. One of the coolest platforms to do this is our fave hairbrained.me. A community of the worlds most talented artists sHairing their passion, art and minds.
Hairbrained is a great place to be inspired, learn new things, connect with mentors, find images and videos to share on your own social pages, and a way to socially network with the best and brightest in our biz.
Co-Founders Randy Taylor and Gerard Scarpaci are two of the most passionate hairdressers in the world. They created this space for our community, and they do it for the love of the hairdresser. They do it for us. Awesome.
Click here to become part of the hairbrained.me community, and begin sHaring your passion.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
PS: A big shout out of LOVE to Randy, Gerard and Kelly for being awesome, and working their asses off so we can all be more connected through our passion for art, education and each other. You guys (and gal) ROCK!
It seems every few months, our community is falling in love with a new social platform, and right now, its without a doubt Instagram. Are we surprised? Absolutely not. Instagram was made for creative, passionate people, it was made for you. Awesome.
Fun Facts
Everyday, in the US, 7.3M people are jumping on Instagram to share their “day in the life” moments. That’s more than who access Twitter everyday via mobile. Wow.
Normal is the most popular filter, at 45% of all photos shared, which seems so funny to us, why would you use Instagram if you are not going to put a super cool filter on your pics? Hmmm. Kelvin is the least popular film, kinda makes sense as its the last option. Poor Kelvin.
Top 100 Hashtags
1. #love (we heart)
39. #hair (big opportunity)
65. #awesome (we are totally guilty of using this one a bit too much, but hey, its awesome)
87. #foodporn (awesome, lol)
96. #nails (wow)
98. #beauty (double wow)
Out of the Top 100 people/brands followed on Instagram, with Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber being #1 and #2, there is an account called “hairpost” with almost 800,000 followers. Another confirmation on how in love the world is with hair and beauty on the social web.
These are a few of the cool stylists and salons we are following. Who are your faves to follow?
Are you using Instagram to share your passion and talents with the world? To become more discoverable on the web? Post your username on our Facebook page, we want to follow you.
If you are looking to better understand the social platforms and how they can help you ignite your passion and live your dream, click here. We look forward to hearing from you.
(shared with LOVE from your passionistas Nina + Gordon)
PS: Fun facts discovered on WEBSTAGRAM, thank you, we heart you.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
Harriet Tubman
PASSION
pas·sion n.
A powerful emotion, such as love, joy.
Intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.
Boundless enthusiasm.
SQUARED
squared v.
To raise (a number or quantity) to the second power.
We all understand what passion means, quite frankly, I think our industry invented the word. One of the gazillion awesome things about hairdressers (you) is the beautiful passion that you have for your art, clients, team mates, community and business. But what does Squared mean?
True Story
I will never forget the day, many years ago, when my incredibly awesome mentor and hero, John Paul DeJoria, said to me “I would rather have a passionate bitch working for me than someone who doesn’t care.” I love that man, always have, always will. I took it as a compliment. And he meant it as one. I have always stayed true to my beliefs. My passion has served me well. Yes, at times it gets me into trouble, but I will always be me, and if at times, people see that as being a “passionate bitch”, so be it. I care. And that means more than anything.
Do I Have to Do Math?
Squared has many meanings. The math one is what trips me up sometimes, and when I’m tripped up, I call Gordon (which I did last night), and he clears it all up. But this is not about a math lesson, this is about understanding the power of taking our passion and multiplying it via the social web.
Social Squared
The social platforms we play on are allowing us to share our passion like never before. And big stuff, big changes and shifts can happen when people around the world have the ability to connect and engage. In the old days (10 years ago), we did not have the ability like we have today to engage people and share with people. Today, we can get online and educate and inspire the world. This is powerful stuff.
How are you using social platforms to share your passion? To live your dream? To make your dent in the universe? Click here or hop on over to our Facebook page to share your story. We want to hear from you.
