What Doesn't Challenge You Wont Change You

 So I used to dream that one day I would have the courage to teach my own classes. But I was so busy working behind the chair at the salon . And as a blonding & extension specialist that came with working long nights. But It did allow for some amazing transformations. ( You know the kind that make those late nights so worth it)  but it was rough.

Doing a full blonding & hair extensions service would take us way into the night & early morning. Sometimes I look back & think of my old assistant Nichole. She was my ride or die.  She never questioned our late-night hours , we were in it together. I honestly couldn't have done it with her & she would be even more supportive later as I started my journey as an educator.

So in the beginning , I would love to tell you that I became an educator so that I could help others (although it turned full speed into that ) but that's not what made me start. 

You see I live in a smaller town in Idaho. And at the time of this story  there really wasn't a lot of Education in the area for hair stylist. Moving originally from Orange County, California I started my career learning lots of diverse techniques and methods of both extensions and color. 

 One day  in the Coeur d'Alene Idaho's salon I work at , The owner told me that a local hair stylist just went to Arizona and spent $3,000 to learn how to do sew in hair extensions!  It kind of had me shook! I literally thought to myself…”sew in hair extension?  I could do that with my eyes closed! “ That was one of the many techniques I had done early on in my career.

As I thought more about it, the thought of making $3,000 to teach hair extensions seems like a no-brainer! I thought to myself wow, if a local stylist  is willing to spend that much and then pay flight and hotel, I could easily teach that for a fraction of that cost locally and someone has to buy a ticket right!?

  So my wheels started spinning. I said to my salon owner “What!? That's crazy, I could totally teach that!” 

 and she replied “Omg , you totally could!!.”

I went home that night and started thinking “ could I really teach a class?”

 I had no idea where to start or even how to find potential students. But I felt like this is something that was pulling at me.. As I felt myself getting closer and closer to getting my first class on the schedule, one thing kept stopping me… Fear. 

I started asking myself things like..

what happens if no one shows up?  What if I don't sell any tickets? What are people going to think? 

Omg I can't do this , this seems terrifying ! I'm out!

Throughout the months later I had put my dream aside. Fear completely overwhelmed any potential thoughts of this being a successful new venture . Until one day at church everything changed.

The Pastor said 5 little life changing words that I swear was  just for me… he said

 “What if you DON'T fail?'

This got my mind turning…. “What if I DON'T  fail?” I thought

This whole time I have been just focusing on all the negatives! Things like “What if no one buys a ticket ?.. What if I totally mess up?  ....what will people think?”

Now these were some of the hardest roadblocks that I had. And for no reason really! We are often so worried about what others think of us that we are frozen in our path of our own success. People often never live out our full potential because they are so afraid of what others will think .

But what I did was start to imagine.. "Yeah , What if I DON'T fail?"

 I imagined what it would feel like to have a successful class . I imagined what it would be like to free myself of being stuck on late nights & started to get a vision of who I could be. I started to imagine who I could help & what kind of impact I could make with other hair stylists!

  I left church that day with a new vision on this seemingly Impossible dream. I decided I was going to take my first step. I went home & I looked at the calendar, picked a date & posted that I was teaching a class! 

 Then.. 3 months, 2 tickets sold , and a whole lot of what the hell am I doing later.. I found myself in a moment of panic . My first 2 paid students sat in their seats waiting for me to come out and start my very first class! I was breathing so rapidly as I looked at myself in the mirror when all those negative feelings came back again… What am I doing??! … Do I even belong teaching a class? There are only 2 students. What are they going to think??

These are moments of self sabotage! These are moments of fear & your mind wants you to stay small & not take action. The most important thing to do when these thoughts flood in is navigate through these moments as quickly as possible, get to the other side and get back into action!

Try and focus on what is the truth about this situation? Am I really going to fail? No! Am I really going to be frozen and stay small? NO!

In these moments I want you to take a quick second and visualize what it would look like if it was a complete success! Imagine that this was about to be the most amazing experience & it starts this new life for you! I want you to play out the best case scenario in your mind!

So that day, I pushed those same success thoughts through my head. Then my assistant Nichole & I clinked our glasses. We said  cheers with our freshly poured champagne and took a sip of the liquid courage that was behind the bubbles. You would think I was backstage at Madison Square Garden about to stand in front of 10,000 people! But on that day, Nicole grabbed my arm. We took those first steps as we joined 2 students in my very first class .

Our lives changed that day. Nichole & I would later go on to teach sold out classes together throughout the country but we both never forgot that first one.

I share this story with you because I want you to understand that when you look at other hair stylists, makeup artists, or educators , They all have stories like this. Yes even the most confident ones!

 They all had moments where they told themself ” Can I do this?”. They all had fear pushing them back and telling them that they are not good enough, that they are unqualified, & worried about what people would think.

But you know what they all had in common as well? Despite having those feelings they built the courage to push through and do it anyway!

So if you're wanting a change in your life it's time to get uncomfortable. It's time to stand up and say I will not let fear keep me from making an impact! It's time to  share what you love doing with the world. Let today be the day you decide to go for it.

This brings us to today. After my educator journey my newest venture was creating an online course and as I started teaching salon pro’s how to start their own education I realized how important mindset is. Pushing through the fear is the tipping point to your success & the opportunity for you to finally stand tall in your purpose.

My hope is that by sharing my story it gives you a look at what it feels like when you begin to go after your dream. It comes disguised as fear & self doubt so move into your goals with belief in your heart and the courage to be brave enough to push through it.

If it doesn't challenge you , it doesn't change you.

Til next time by besties,