PODCAST SHOWNOTES

Welcome to a fresh episode of the podcast. You're tuning into an episode in our special end-of-the-year series where we're taking a deep dive into the health of your personal styling business. In these four episodes, we'll explore how to assess key areas of your business, including your business model, your pricing, your marketing, and your sales skills in order to identify what's working, what's not, and where to make shifts for major growth and success in 2025.

But a quick heads up before we dive into today's episode. This series was created for personal stylists running transformational personal styling business where the focus isn't just on helping a client buy some new clothes or do a one-off styling service but on guiding them through a deep identity-based style journey. Whether you're already thriving and at six figures or beyond or you're feeling a little stuck, these episodes will provide clarity, perspective, and actionable steps to ensure your business supports the life you want and the client you love. Let's get into it.

Welcome to the Six Figure Personal Stylist Podcast, the ultimate no-BS business podcast for ambitious personal stylists ready to build a six-figure and beyond personal styling business.

You won't hear the typical snoozefest business advice that most personal stylists get told all of the time. Nope. Instead, I'll be sharing business-building strategies that will help you create a killer personal brand, a cult following of loyal personal styling clients, and make a ton of cash while creating lasting style transformations for your clients.

I'm Nicole Otchy, your host and a former personal stylist of 14 years who built a lucrative styling business in three major cities, but only after spending years trying to crack the six-figure styling business code without burning out. And now I'm here to tell you how to do exactly the same. Let's get into it.

Welcome to this very exciting episode, the first in the series where we're talking about profit power moves, how to audit your personal styling business for the new year. In this episode, we're going to talk all about your business model. The big question we're asking is: Is your business model serving you and your ideal client? Today we'll break down how to assess whether your current model supports your life goals, your business goals, and your client's needs. I'm going to give you some steps to take to ensure that you are on the right path. So let's dive in.

First things first, why is your business model so important? Well, your business model isn't just about what services you offer or how much money you make, it's about how your business functions on a deeper level, how it impacts your lifestyle, your energy, your ability to serve your clients in the most meaningful way possible.

Think about this. Does your current business model support the lifestyle that you want? Are you working crazy hours just to keep up? Are you always thinking about work even when you're supposed to turn it off? Or are you finding that sweet spot where you're earning great money and you still have time and energy to live your life?

One of the key mistakes I see stylists make is building a business model that works against the life they want, not for it. Oftentimes this happens because they have done a program or they've heard from somebody else that they should just take someone else's business model or they're given somebody else's business model and a program instead of being given a framework to assess what business is going to be right for them.

Oftentimes a lot of the things I see coming out of stylists’ businesses is that it is really way too complicated and it doesn't meet the market where they are so it's really hard to sell those services. Maybe you've set up a system that's profitable, but you're burning out because you're overworked or perhaps you're doing the opposite. You've structured a business that's light on work, but your revenue isn't where you need it to be.

Here's the thing. The business model should work for you. It should support your ideal lifestyle and give you space to truly thrive while serving the clients you're passionate about working with. This is especially true for those of you who are running transformational personal styling businesses because the work you're doing with people goes so far beyond just this transaction that you need to be in a good place to guide your clients through the long-term identity-based style child journey you're going to take them on.

You have to be in a good place emotionally, physically, and financially really in order to be fully available to your clients and your business model is going to be the way that you get your clients the deepest transformation possible and how you build your name as a stylist because the experiences that people have with you as a result of your business model, as a result of the services you have, the upsells, the downsells, the different price points, all of that is related to somebody's experience working with you, and that is what gets word of mouth going, that's what gets you amazing testimonials, and that's what gets you to that 40% client repeat rate that I talk about so often on this podcast, but it eludes so many stylists because they either don't have a business model or they have an outdated one.

How do you know if your business model is aligned with the type of life you want and the kind of services that are going to get you there? This is where we really need to talk about transactional and transformational business models because lots of people don't even realize that they want to do transformational work but they're in a transactional model.

Transactional models, this is a podcast episode we did earlier, I will have it linked in the show notes, but transactional models focus on high volume, quick task-based services, things like a quick closet edit, a shopping session that's a one-off, or a one-off styling session, or maybe you do a lot of special event styling for clients that are coming to you fresh.

You often, in these types of models, don't have a style discovery process. The stylist isn't really having any type of extensive back and forth with the client, and you're likely working with more clients, but over a very short period of time. It's efficient, it's fast, but it also can lead to burnout because you need a lot of clients to hit your income goals.

It also tends to not give stylists the type of gratification and the energy boost that they need emotionally in order to keep going when business gets hard, because business is going to get hard in any business model. You're going to have to pivot, you're going to have to change, but that shouldn't be the day-to-day. It shouldn't constantly be not sure why this thing isn't working.

On the other hand, a transformational business model is all about working with fewer clients, but at a higher rate. Lots of people are doing this, or saying that they're doing this, but they don't have the business model to back it up. They may have a high price point, they may work with the clients for three or four weeks, but when I look into the business model, it's only that. It's a price and a bunch of appointments that don't have any real clarity or flow from one to the other to get the client to a transformation at the end.

So because the focus is on delivering a deep long-term transformation, you're needing to have some elements to this business model that's very different than a transactional one. Because you are the guide on the journey that aligns their identity with their external style, this model is going to require more time, more energy, and more personal investment in each of the relationships you have with your client, but it's incredibly rewarding.

That means that you have to have the systems and the touchpoints, and you have to have the questions and the space within the container for the styling service for the client to act as a true partner and have time to reflect on what is happening in the styling experience.

Guess what? This type of model is so much more profitable because you're charging for the depth and the value of the transformation that you provide and it requires more of the client so fewer stylists, when they fully understand what a real transformational model is, see that they are over functioning in a transactional model or in the model they had that they might have thought was transformational because there is a lot of codependence in that relationship between the client and the stylist.

The stylist always feels that they have to over give, over deliver, whereas in a transformational model, you absolutely have to do your best work, but you cannot in a transformational model do your best work without the client meeting you as a partner halfway. That is set up from the minute you get on a sales call with people because you're asking questions of the client or the potential client in a way that makes it clear, “We're partners here. You have to do this at least 50/50 and meet me where we are or else you're not a good fit.”

Meaning the stylist in a transformational business model—if the model is truly transformational—needs to be able to come to the call as an expert and as someone that's not just looking to make a sale but is trying to see “Is this person ready for what the tools and the experience I'm about to give them?” That is a very different feeling than “Am I going to close this sale? I need another client.”

What happens in this business model is it's easier actually to close clients because all of your marketing is so easy to come up with from a transformational model because you're just sharing the reality of the experience the client has because it's set up to get results.

When you have a process and a system that's set up to get results, not just for a few clients, not just once in a while, but all of the time because you know how to ask the right questions, because you know how to assess clients, because you know what to say in your marketing, when that happens, it's a whole different ball game because you aren't just hoping this person hires you because you need to make money.

You are in full control. You are an expert. You are, in many cases, I really consider a lot of the stylists that I work with to be thought leaders. They're going beyond just being stylists, and they are true experts and partners with their client because they have a process and a way of going about the work that really does command, with all the integrity in the world, the prices that they are charging because the experience is worth it.

What are some of the common gaps in business models that lead to a stylist burning out? Especially for stylists who are trying to offer transformational experiences, but maybe are stuck in a transactional framework, they don't even realize that, one of the major gaps that I see that I have to work on with people is overworking for too little profit.

This is often because the stylists actually never sit down and run their numbers. When stylists really work with me, I make them sit down with this calculator that I created in order to see how many clients do they actually need a year in order to hit their goals. They are shocked. Often they're shocked because they came from other programs that told them $2,500 or this amount of money, or that amount of money for this many hours, sometimes like 40, 50, 60 hours, is an appropriate rate.

But that's not true because when you do the math, they're making $2 an hour at most and often, this average amount of time that a styling service takes is really just like best best-case scenario. They're really working much harder when they sit down and realize how long it's taking them.

When you are overworking and you have too little profit, you're basically offering premium-level service but your pricing isn't reflecting that and it's also not reflecting it in the client experience because if you have to take a lot of clients in order to make your life work or in order to make this a legitimate business, which is what I see a lot of stylists doing, then you're going to be pouring so little time into each client that there's going to be an energetic realization from the side of the client that this is not what they thought they were getting.

Because even at, say, $2,500, if you have to take six clients a month to make that work, to hit six figures, which most stylists would, if that's what they were aiming for, then you are not going to have the repeat client rate. I see a lot of stylists that come into me and they're like, “Oh yeah, I'm making $100,000,” “I'm making $200,000.” But when I look at their schedule, it's bananas, and when I look at their repeat client load, it's terrible.

If you're saying you’re a transformational stylist, people should want to stay with you for a long time. If you have low repeat client rates, that's a very good sign that you're working in a transactional model and something has to be fixed because true transformational models usually have, more often than not, almost all of your clients coming back because they have so much sunk cost with you, so much emotional sunk cost.

You should have styling software so that you have their clothes in their closet on your computer at all times in order to make them a lookbook at any given point. This is why you need to be a professional and have the things that professionals have because when you have them like software for styling, you can command a certain level of perception and pricing and your clients become much more reliant on you because they see you as an expert, not just as someone getting them a few cute outfits.

If you haven't already, this would be a great time before we go into the new year to take a look and see how do your numbers break down. What is your hourly rate even if you do a package when you look at not the easiest client, but the worst client or the most average client you work with in a particular package?

How many hours does that take you? Then take those hours, divide it into the price of the service, and we're going to get your hourly. If you're looking to hit $100,000 or more and you need to take more than 35 clients a year, we have a problem. That is not going to work. We have a bigger problem if you don't even know that, so definitely take a look.

I would say if you're wondering what service to do this with, do it to your mid or high-tier service because that's what you should be selling all the time anyway. Another gap is working with clients who don't really value premium services. This is so big.

So often, stylists tell me that they like working with me or in my programs because they feel like they've done all the things. I work with stylists who are already in action. They're already really successful. But basically, they’re like, “I need somebody else to tell me which of the 90 things I'm doing is the right thing, is the that’s going to get me results,” because there isn’t one right way.

But when I talk to them and I find out what their life goals are, it's very easy for me to see which of those services, which of the packages that they have are going to make sense for where they want to go. Really for the legacy they want to leave and for what they want to be known for because all of that is relevant.

If you are trying to offer more of a transformational experience, but you're attracting clients who just want a quick fix, there's a mismatch, they're very slow to get back to you, that can happen with clients, sometimes they just have stuff going on, but you may feel like they're not super invested in this, and you may have moments where you're like, “Why do they even come to me? I don't even understand.”

You'll end up feeling like you're chasing clients or you're constantly justifying your prices in your process. What I see here is a lot of stylists will go back and forth and they'll start to create lower priced offers as if that is the problem when really their marketing just isn't hitting the right audience or they don't even know who the right audience is that's going to actually value a premium styling service.

Honestly, this just isn't a sustainable option for stylists building a business nor is it very fulfilling. So there's a solution and there are enough people in the world to fix this, it's not a place you have to stay. This is where your business model can really make or break your success.

When you don't understand that the way you're marketing needs to connect to the services that you have, the way that you run those services, and the people that you're talking to, when that is all not connected, there is a business model problem, sometimes just a lack of a business model.

You need a model that attracts and supports the type of clients who are invested in a long-term journey and are willing to pay for that transformation, not just once, but multiple times because true transformation, this is why this business model is not just fulfilling to stylists emotionally and psychologically, but actually is the true way that you get clients actual transformations that are deeper is you work with them over time.

You don't just work with someone, give them eight outfits or a season full of clothes, and say, “Okay, you're a different person.” People don't change that drastically from one season to the next, especially when it comes to their visual identity and what they can handle when they look in the mirror.

I talk about sales triggers a lot in my program. Sales triggers are important for you to know because when you understand them about your particular market, it gives you a lot of information about what kind of service is going to be right for your client and what kind of service is going to be best for your energy type because both of those things need to meet up in order for the business model to work.

When personal stylists don't get that the highest level, the most common sales trigger, this is not the only one, it's not the one that everybody should be speaking to, but just sort of the most general sales trigger that everybody pretty much that goes to a personal stylist is dealing with is they're in some a kind of transition.

It may be an internal transition that the stylist is not aware of, or it's literally one that the stylist is aware of because the person can say, "Oh, I just got a divorce. I just had a baby." They're an identity transition that we all understand. They're between one place and another.

Again, that doesn't mean they're all going to want to have a transformation, but the ones that do because they're responding to transformational marketing, they're in this position where they want to hire you because they want you to lead them into the next level of themselves.

They want you to guide them into not just making their inside and their outside right now match but the person they want to be. They're saying, “I want to hire you because I'm not exactly a seven-figure CEO yet but I want to look like I am and I want to feel like I am so that I get that life.”

That's true for dating, that's true for people who want to accept their bodies. That's true for a lot of things. If you ask the right questions, people will tell you where they want to go. What they're not just saying is make my right now insides match my outsides, but my one-day insides match my outsides today so that I can act like that person in the world.

Then within everybody's different niche, you have different depths or reasons or more specific sales triggers for hiring a stylist. When you get that, everything changes because now you're very clear what the person that's coming to you is seeking and you can get them the results that they really want and make sure that your business model works for them and the services you have make sense, not just for right now, but for the long term because when you're dealing with someone in that in-between phase, they're going to need you season over season to fully step into their identity.

Then the question becomes, “How do you want to work as a stylist?” If you're not in a fully transformational model or you suspect you're not, how do you move from a more transactional model to a more transformational one that supports long-term client growth, which means more income doing less because you don't need as many new clients and gives you a more rewarding, profitable business?

I think the first step is to assess your current client base and your pricing structure. Are you charging enough, like I said, for the time and energy you're investing in each client? Are you attracting the kind of clients who really have shown you, not that they just got a few outfits and that got them a few compliments, but that they value the deeper identity-based work that you're passionate about?

Or are you settling for clients who just want quick solutions who just happen to have the money? Because you can feel like your back is up against the wall and you have to accept that, but you have a lot of control and you have all the control, honestly, in who you call in when you master marketing for transformational clients.

We're going to talk about that in a couple of episodes, but for now, let's look at your business model and how it impacts your lifestyle because this is the second thing that's going to really help you look at, like, “Is this business working for me?”

The thing about this is that when you start out, and I work primarily with established stylists, so anywhere between two years, and I've had clients that have been in business for 25 years, what happens is we can get very stuck in a business model that doesn't reflect who we are now, but really reflects either when we first started, like the way the world was, how it was back in 2015, 2017, which the online world is so different, or it reflects the person we were.

I see a lot of people that kind of maybe went into styling and they were like, "Oh, I didn't know this was a career. I'll just try to figure it out as I go.” That's how most of us get here. But at some point, just because a bunch of people bought a service that "felt like a lot of money to you" let’s say, $2,500 or $1,500 or $1,000, I don't know how much it is, but whatever that number is, you may still be doing and delivering that services from the place and the mentality and the mindset of the person you were when you got started, not the person you are now, not the expert you are now.

So really taking some time to say, “Do I really want to be working nights and weekends if that's how you started? Do I really want to be doing a service that's in-person versus virtual? Do I want a six-part service? Do I want longer services? Do I want shorter services?”

If I've always attracted a certain kind of person as you've always attracted working professional women, but they're not really doing it for you anymore, why are you staying with them? Is it because you're like, “Well, I know it and I seem to get some clients that way?”

There are enough ways of being a stylist that you can take your success in one area with one market and move it over to another, not really reinventing the wheel, even though it can feel that way. When you look at the business that you've built and the success you've had, that's amazing. But does it give you what you need it to today as the expert you are now, not the person you were when you started?

Because you should be changing just like your clients should be changing and their wardrobes should be changing, same for you in your business. Is it giving you the time? Is it giving you the energy? Most importantly, is it giving you the financial freedom to enjoy the life you want?

Is it giving you the level of independence that you really should be having if you say that you own a business? Because I know a lot of stylists say, "Oh, I started, and my kids were little, and I was doing part-time, but now their kids are like 12 and able to make their own dinner and their own lunch, and they're still not all in."

The question is really like, what do you want for yourself? Because no one's going to do it for you, and it's way worse to look back at your life and think, “Huh, really wish I had gone all in, now nobody needs me anymore and I didn't build the business I wanted.”

That's a real thing I talk about with clients often. If you started out thinking this would be part-time or this wouldn't be a side thing or whatever, it's okay to decide you're going to go all in now. It doesn't have to stay that way and nine times out of 10, it can't stay that way for us to stay in integrity with what we want.

That doesn't mean you have to work 40 hours a week. As a matter of fact, I don't want anyone working 40 hours a week. At most, I want stylists working 30, hopefully less. What happens is that we convince ourselves that we have to keep our business small because we don't want to get overwhelmed when really we just don't know how to run a business.

Because if we did, we could be doing 20, 30 hours and making double, three times, five times what most stylists are making now. Finally, do not be afraid to refine and adjust your model. This may mean increasing your prices, cutting back on one-off services, or being more selective about the clients you take on. It's about creating a model that reflects the depth and the value of what you offer or what you want to offer because you get to change it at any time.

It also needs to give you the freedom to thrive. Your ability to work as a transformational stylist is directly connected to your ability to take care of yourself financially, psychologically, and emotionally, and your business needs to support that. It has to. It's all connected.

I know there's a lot to think about, and so if you've been wondering about how to implement these shifts in your business, I am so excited I'll be talking about it more, but in February 2025, I'm going to be launching my group program again, the Income Accelerator specifically designed to help stylists who are in the transformational world or want to move into that world, refine their business models and take their income to six figures and beyond.

There is a link to the upcoming program waitlist in the show notes, and if you're ready to transform your business and finally create a model that really supports your client transformation and your personal goals, you're going to really want to stay tuned for more and join the waitlist.

That is it for today's episode of the Six Figure Personal Stylist Podcast. I hope you are walking away with some clarity on whether your business model is serving you and your ideal client. In our next episode, we're going to be talking all about pricing and services, so stay tuned for that one.

If you found this episode helpful, I'd love for you to leave a review or share it with another stylist who you know could benefit. Don't forget to check out the show notes for any links or resources I mentioned today. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next episode.

Thank you so much for hanging out with me. It turns out that social proof is actually pretty important. So if you could help me out, I'd so appreciate it. If you just had a quick free moment and could leave me a rating or review on the podcast app, that would be killer. And even better, if you wanted to share this episode on Instagram and tag me, that would totally make my day and it would bring so much more awareness to the podcast and would help other stylists just like you who are looking to build lucrative styling business because the better each of us does, the better all of us do. Thanks for hanging out with me and I'll chat with you next time.