Brave, crazy or both? Those that know me, know i don’t do things by halves….
November lockdown saw me signing a new lease. I had the opportunity to take over the shop where I was currently located and thought it would be a great idea. Little did I know that 3 days later we would be going into lockdown 2.0.
Despite being 7 months pregnant I actually welcomed the “time” to close, I thought YES 4 whole weeks to completely refurbish the entire shop, turning it from a salon to a clinic. I decorated every single room with limited help (due to social distancing). I had 6 walls re-plastered, replaced some flooring, had air conditioning fitted throughout, new signage, new coffee area, all without causing disruption to my clients appointments. The good news is when it was time to re-open in December the clinic was ready…..
Unfortunately I couldn’t have the “opening party” I wanted but don’t worry this is pending. When we can, we will definitely have a party to celebrate.
December saw me having to re-book over 211 clients, being so fully booked already this was near on impossible so between myself and Lucy we worked so many additional hours, trying to fit in as many clients as possible. We managed it and boom…… lockdown 3.0 hit which meant closing our doors for 3rd time right before Christmas. To say I was gutted was an understatement.
On a happier note, myself, Jamie and Archie had a lovely, quiet Christmas and New Year and we made the most of it being the last one just us 3. This lockdown at the time was only meant to be for a couple of weeks so I wanted to use this time to “rest” “take it easy” and “put my feet up” which I was constantly being told to do haha and I did exactly that.
January come around very quickly and I found myself desperate and becoming quite anxious about the next announcement. I just wanted to hear the words… you can open! Unfortunately as you know, that wasn’t the case, not only that… schools were now closed too. I felt sad, numb and quite frankly what the f*ck are we going to do. I’ve got this amazing clinic and a queue of people wanting their treatments and there was nothing I can do. Financially this was going to be tough too.
I know we had to close to keep the r rate down and to stop the spread and I will always follow the guidelines to keep everyone safe but this time round I was really really upset. Not only for my clients, but also for Lucy and Jodie too! Lucy, yet again has had to find herself another job and Jodie is sitting tight, continuing to study and waiting for our doors to re-open 🙁
In reality, I had two choices… flop or fly and after taking on the shop there was no way I was going to flop, so outcome my pen and paper and my survival strategy began. I also had to remember that despite lockdown my “why” hadn’t changed. For those of you that don’t know the reason behind my business, my why, is my son / family. And seeing this on paper just made me even more determined to make sure that although I’m not physically in the clinic working, my business needs to stay afloat / alive, ready for when we do reopen.
There is a famous quote I like “if the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, never the goal” and that is so true.
So my plan and how I’m surviving;
-Home school Archie (easier said than done) I absolutely take my hat off to any teachers out there. We have to do phonics, literacy and maths every day and some days are just soooo hard. I’ve cried, Archie’s cried and we’ve cried together. I feel guilty for shouting at him… like how difficult is it to write “she”….. But then I have to remember he is only 4 and actually for his little age he equally has to deal with so much change. I found that routine is still very much needed so we still try to get up, have breakfast, get dressed and be ready to start our day for 9am / 9.30am. Even though by 10am Archie will be back in his pants! There is no computer or Ryans World (this kid drives me mad) until after Archie’s lessons are finished and this definitely helps. Archie has come up with so many excuses as to why he can’t do school work and it honestly makes my heart melt. I have to remind myself I am not his teacher and we are muddling through this nightmare together. I have such a good relationship with Archie I do not want this “school” malarkey to come between us. We do our school work and then we play, go for a walk, bake cakes, watch films and do whatever Archie wants to do. I hope if you are home schooling, you are surviving and not taking it too seriously, just do what you can and if you need time out…. Take it! I can now relate to the saying choose your battles.
-Work wise, I am probably busier than ever in terms of social media. My focus for social media is to push educational content so people are fully aware of the process and what the treatment entails ready for when we reopen. I am still offering free online consultations and it’s been so lovely speaking with you all, I love talking about our treatments and the results and getting you all ready for when we re-open.
I am continuing to watch and take part in lots of webinars, I have been a guest speaker for Lynton Lasers Virtual Tattoo Removal Masterclass and I am being a guest speaker for Reynolds Training Academy Industry Week at the end of February. I just love to help, support and empower those around me so this is the perfect opportunity to do just that.
Myself and Nadia at Beaute Elite Permanent makeup have launched our business bootcamp helping small businesses to grow their business and what it takes to be successful. The uptake for this bootcamp has just been incredible and we are now in the stages of developing that further… watch this space!
I am also collaborating, networking and finding lots of different ways in which I can gain exposure, more will be revealed soon.
Oh and not forgetting all of the content planning sessions that I have been doing with Zoe Cairns at ZC social media to ensure my knowledge is up to date.
Lockdown 3.0 has certainly given me the time to look more closely at my business (behind the scenes) and to use this time wisely to ensure the foundation of my business and the structure of my business is strong. With the clinic being so busy and being a mum they are all ideas that you kind of push to one side because you just haven got the time. Whereas now I am turning those ideas into reality! I set myself goals and I work to achieving them.
So many people say to me – how do you do it and I guess what I want to say is you have to have balance, there are days where I am 100mph and I take full advantage of those days haha and there are days when I don’t even want to get dressed and do you know what, that is ok too! Archie laughs at me because I go upstairs to “get dressed” and come down in lounge wear and he tells me that I’m not dressed properly haha. I just make sure that on the negative days because believe me I do get them I just don’t stay down for long.
Amongst school work and working, I am also 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant today eeek and the pregnancy has been quite challenging so when I can I have been taking the odd bath, the odd nap and watching lots of Netflix series in-between everything else.
One thing I have found really important throughout these trying and testing times is having a business support network and I don’t mean friends and family. For me these are like-minded people that will help you, encourage you, support you and also tell you it’s ok to have a day off. I have so many ladies to be thankful for. Nadia for her daily check ins and love, Tawa for her weekly goals, Zoe for her ideas and for keeping me accountable, Steph for a voicing board and for crying that our clinic is left sitting there empty haha just to name a few. It is so important to collaborate where you can so if you are not bored and have read down this far, tell me who your support network is? I want to hear from you and if you haven’t got one…. Let’s get you one!
I cannot finish this blog without thanking Jamie; he has been furloughed throughout January and February so has massively helped with taking Archie out for his daily walks (I have suffered with SPD for the last 3 weeks) so walking has been really difficult. He has also been supplying me with food and drink throughout each day and also doing most of the dinners and clearing up so for that I am truly grateful. It took some getting used to at first with him being here every day (sometimes he is worse than Archie haha don’t tell him I said that) and although some days have been hard and challenging I am truly grateful for the time we have spent together in our little family bubble.
I like to think I just wing each day
- Have we done some school work – yes
- Have we got dressed and eaten – yes
- Have a I done a little bit towards making my business a success – yes
- Have I done any house work – no but that can wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day, or the next day
- Have we survived the day – yes wahooooooo
I hear some of you asking about re-opening: In terms of re-opening, one thing for sure is we will be ready… BIGGER THAN EVER and as soon as Boris gives me the date I will be contacting you all to re-book those appointments and hopefully it will be for the last time.
One of my February goals is to write a blog…. Here it is!
My next goal for February is to sign off and have my baby…. Pending!
And on that note I will leave you with this;
- You don’t have to be perfect
- Having a bad day is ok
- Small steps are also progress
- Asking for help is strength
- Be such a beautiful soul that people crave your vibes
- When you focus on the good, the good increases
- If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours
- Don’t wish for it, work for it
- If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal
- Be the girl who just went for it
- If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, its real
- Just start. Don’t worry that you don’t have all the answers yet
Stay Safe
See you soon
Lots of love
Amy Xxx