Beauty Business School

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I'm going back to ground zero and it scares the sh*t out of me.
In this episode I share why I'm starting a second podcast and a mindset course alongside Beauty Business School, the fears that came up (capacity, burnout, "who do I think I am") and the question my husband asked that stopped me in my tracks.
Then I take you through three moments from my own business where growth was on the other side of fear: being the first in my area to bring in deposits (and losing clients for it), doubling the BBS price and stepping into the next version of you before you feel ready.
Plus a catch up on Tamara Reid's personal branding intensive, 25,000 downloads and next week's 100th episode with Brooke Cherry.
In this episode
Your nervous system will try to keep you safe, which means keeping you small
Do the scary, aligned action: the deposits that lost me clients kept the ones I actually wanted
Confidence comes after: 90% of students since doubling the price are doing the work
Your why has to be bigger than the failures that are coming
The next version of you is going to cost the old one
This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
 
Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.
Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 
https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Chelsey Gardener came into the beauty industry in her 40s with nothing. A marriage that ended, a stretch of being homeless and no family to fall back on.

Two years ago she was doing lashes from home with a handful of clients and no plan. Today she's the CEO of Baddie HQ on the Gold Coast. Chelsea's story is going to BLOW your mind. She's gone viral on TikTok, gets recognised at the shops, hosts her own podcast and is building a beginner lash course. Let this be the episode to show you anything is possible babe.
Chelsey's podcast: Baddie After Hours
Chelsey's Instagram: Baddie HQ
Chelsey's Tik Tok: Baddie HQ
In this episode:
Why one lash set made her feel like she could take on the world, and why she wanted to give that feeling to others
The rebrand that changed everything (her old logo "doesn't show who I am")
Why I tell you to date your brand instead of picking a colour palette
How one event and hearing that 20K months were possible flipped her ambition
Why TikTok works for her: her clients book on a feeling
4am starts, a supportive husband and the discipline of knowing what you want
Why clients always have money; they're choosing where it goes
Her one piece of advice: back yourself, it's okay to be different
If you've ever felt too late, too different or too far behind to build the business you want, start here.

This podcast is sponsored by aglow.  aglow is the only membership platform built for clinics and salons to manage your memberships and your members. Missed payments, cancellations, contracts, the lot, handled by real people,
 
Think of them as an extension of your team. Try it free at getaglow.co.
Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 
https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Memberships are the fastest way to predictable revenue in a beauty business. Set them up wrong and they become a liability you can't see.
Kimberley sits down with Karl Margrain (co-founder and CEO) and Jo Blundell (co-founder and CRO) of aglow, the only dedicated membership platform built for clinics and salons. Karl has spent 20 years in payments. Jo spent five years building Timely into a household name in beauty. Together they've helped around 1,000 salons across Australia and New Zealand move from feast and famine bookings to recurring revenue.
This one also comes with a backstory. Kimberley publicly called Aglow out for leaving sole traders behind. Their response is the reason they're on the podcast.
Inside this episode:
Why filling next week's calendar is the wrong problem to solve
The credit-based membership trap: balance sheet liability and chargeback risk
Packages are not memberships, and why discounting them backfires
Member vs non-member pricing and how it protects your margin
Perks that add value without cutting your price
Who handles failed payments, cancellations and awkward conversations
The three membership models: subscriptions, treatment plans and the treatment wallet
How the treatment wallet makes the credit model safe for salons and clients
If your income rises and falls with your calendar every week, start with 10 members.
Find aglow at getaglow.co or @aglow_app on Instagram. Send BBF on Instagram to get the pricing and retention frameworks Kimberley teaches inside Beauty Business Foundations.
Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 
https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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Getting clients through the door is the easy part. Keeping them is where most beauty businesses lose money.
If your clients stay for two or three appointments and then go quiet, that is not bad luck and it is not the economy. It is a gap in your client journey and it is showing up at the same point every single time.
In part two of the client journey series, Kimberley breaks down the 10 areas that decide whether a client stays with you for years or leaves at the seven month mark without telling you why. This is the same review she runs on her own businesses every three to six months, straight off the back of a Beauty Expo panel with Emily (The Cosmetic Industry Coach) and Kelly (The Skin Queen) that sent her back to her own gaps.
Inside this episode:
The 5 second rule: what someone decides about your brand before they ever message you
What people say about you when you are not in the room, and how to control it
Why "who is this for" is a business decision, not a marketing exercise
The identity your clients are actually buying (it is rarely the treatment)
Greeting and entry: why hugging a corporate client was the right call
The nervous system moment that makes someone feel safe enough to spend money with you
How you speak to clients, and why second-guessing yourself out loud kills your authority
Educating at the start, not the checkout, so you never feel like a salesperson
The feeling they came in for, and what happens when you miss it
The details that carry the brand: colours, music, scent, snacks, robes
Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 
https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.

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This is the FREE RESOURCE I promised

"I need more clients" is the number one thing beauty business owners say to Kimberley. It is almost never the actual problem.
Most of the businesses she works with sit at 50 to 60% booked. That gap is not a marketing problem. It is an optimisation problem, and it is far cheaper to fix than finding new people. Katie added $10,000 a month to her business without a single piece of external marketing, purely by looking at the clients she already had.
In this episode Kimberley walks through the five numbers that move a beauty business from 50 to 60% booked up to 80 to 90%: your rebooking rate, your retention rate, your average client spend, your visit frequency and your retail percentage. She covers what to do before you touch any of them, which is pricing, and finishes on the client journey, which decides whether any of it sticks.
If you are constantly chasing new clients, this is the episode that tells you why.
Are you looking to level up your salon in 2026? Every beauty business owner needs Beauty Business Foundation, this is the KEY areas you need to have a successful beauty business. Want to learn more? 
https://beautybusinessschool.com.au/beauty-business-foundations-2025/

Loved it? Leave a five-star review, it helps more beauty business owners find the show.