Phorest FM Episode 334: Results May Vary: Ildi Arlette on Receding Trust and the Capacity to Keep Going

Episode Transcript

[00:00:00] Ildi Arlette: The three pain points that come up on those group calls of, like, if you had a sneak peek of what we have done for 25 years, what are we all talking about that everyone’s missing, would be three things. The first would be the problem of isolation. The second one is a serious amount of overwhelm. This business brain does not turn off.

So isolation, overwhelm, and then guesswork. Yes, we are all making it up as we go along in life. That is tenfold in business, which is a travesty because for centuries people have been doing business through bartering, through trade, through cash, through trading coins and salt, and, um… But that is the problem, Alex, is we’re isolated from each other.

It leads to questioning yourself and self-doubt, and we’re trying to provide a place of certainty that is, again, born from something that’s sustainable. 

[00:00:54] PhorestFM Intro Music/Theme: We have an obligation to the industry to serve, that we serve it in the right manner. Being a business owner ain’t for the weak. The expectations are just different.

It’s always a wake-up. When you’re born into something this special, you can’t help but fight for it. 

[00:01:06] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Cead Mile Failte. 100,000 welcomes to the PhorestFM Podcast, brought to you by Phorest Software. I’m your resident host, Alex Billows-Springer. Joining the show today is Ildi Arlett, an award-winning business leader and the founder of Results Continuum Inc.,

a full service consulting, training, and human resources company specializing in the medical aesthetic industry. Seasons were first introduced on Phorest FM years ago. Initially, I’ll admit, purely for the sake of organization. In the long run, though, they’ve also given the show a more sustainable cadence.

Borrowing from the world of events, it pays to have a world-class team organizing the Phorest Summit. Seasons introduced production cycles to the podcast. Dedicated stretches to pause, gather and integrate feedback, explore new avenues, commit to a direction, and move forward with intention. And over time, this has allowed the show not only to [00:02:00] solidify its identity as a space where innovative ideas, methods, and bold perspectives are celebrated, but also to ensure we meet whatever moment we collectively find ourselves in with the right conversations I often think of the show primarily as a solo operation, at least on the producing end.

But the more I sit with that thought, the less true it becomes. The reality is that it takes a collective effort to mirror back the truths of our community. To that extent, allow me to briefly mention that it’s taken the trust of previous and current managers at Phorest, of every guest we’ve ever invited and/or had on.

It’s taken collaboration by means of a co-host for nearly half of the show’s existence, a team for everything that relates to the visual identity, another for all that encompasses sound editing and mixing, another for getting the episodes into your hands through Phorest’s social channels, and of course, you listening, and that’s whether you’re tuning in for your first or three hundredth episode.

I say all this because leaning into community [00:03:00] is offered as a key resource for navigating much of what is explored in this conversation with Ildi today. But I’ll get back to that. For the past nine seasons, Phorest FM has been steadily putting down roots, growing slowly but steadily like the trees in the Phorest Forest.

Every episode’s been its own brand of fertilizer, carrying insight, knowledge, lessons, new ideas, and stories. Every episode is also teaching me something as a producer and host. And of course, I hope it leaves you with something valuable as well. And if we’re going to meet the moment we’re in right now, and there’s a lot to contend with, shape what’s next together, then we need as many voices as possible joining the conversation.

And for that, we need your help. Here’s how. There are a couple of upcoming episodes that will tap into the realm of case studies and calls for submissions will be posted soon. We’ll also be releasing an episode tracing back the history of the Phorest Summit. So if you’ve ever been to the summit or you’ve been to the summit multiple [00:04:00] times, you want to share, you know, a story that stood out to you from the summit, get in my DMs.

I’m going to need to hear your stories as soon as possible. And we’ll also bring back the concept of a season finale entirely reliant on submissions from the community. So if you’d like to contribute, make sure you hit that subscribe or follow button to stay informed. That said, if the idea of contributing to an episode is not your jam, every bit of engagement helps the show reach more folks in the industry.

In that realm, writing and reviewing Phorest FM on Apple Podcasts is the best way you can support the show, followed closely by leaving a comment on or about the episode you listen to. You can do this on Spotify if you listen there. You can also always leave a comment, share on social media and tag Phorest.

We’re currently at a little over a hundred ratings and fifty reviews on Apple Podcasts with an ambitious goal of getting that reviews number up to three hundred and fifty. The link for that is in the show notes. Now, many guests of the show have over time stressed just how much language matters [00:05:00]and how the words we choose shape culture far more than we realize.

Another common conversation theme is around how being intentional can change the trajectory of a career, a team, or a business. And another one, unsurprisingly perhaps, so many owners don’t just want success. They want businesses that reflect their values, their voice, their vision of leadership. Ildi Arlett is a business consultant, certified coach, and former clinic owner with twenty-four years of experience.

A multi-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award and a past recipient of the Forty Under 40 Award, she’s known for helping owners go from second-guessing and making it up as they go to building profitable, in-demand businesses with strong systems and confident, service-driven teams.

The insider clarity and scale of experience she’s gained from working with over four hundred and fifty medical aesthetics clinics, spas, salons, and wellness businesses across Canada and the US means she knows what works and what doesn’t, bringing faster, more sustainable results and taking out the guesswork.

Her clients include physicians, nurses, spa and salon owners and managers, and practitioners looking to simplify operations, strengthen leadership, and scale with clarity. Through Clinic Transformations, her signature offering that combines private one-to-one coaching with results-driven group services, Ildi guides clinic leaders through her proven three-step RCI process.

She shows you what you’re missing using what your clinic already knows and has. This would, of course, align perfectly with how we approach this conversation, bringing light to what’s unsaid or maybe just not normalized. Together, we unpack some of the things business owners in both the aesthetics, clinics, and hair and beauty sectors are carrying right now: the pressure of rising costs, changing and sometimes challenging team dynamics, uncertainty, overwhelm, and the quiet erosion of trust that’s changing how people make decisions.

But we’ll also look at what’s in our power, what we can do about it. So why value has to become something people can see and feel, why avoiding [00:07:00] discomfort can become a disservice to clients and patients, hence the stronger long-term skill that is needed is building capacity. How service matters deeply, but maybe more specifically even, how small human gestures can always be relied on for the potency of their effects on retention.

We also talk about understanding the difference between getting inspired by and comparing yourself to someone else’s journey or success story and finding what’s sustainable and true for your business. We talk about what salon and med spas can learn from each other about want, need, trust, and repeat business.

And finally, but certainly not the least, how trust is built and how it can be rebuilt amidst the erosion

Ildi, thank you so much for joining me on Phorest FM. This has been a long time coming. 

[00:07:47] Ildi Arlette: Yes, excited to be here. 

[00:07:49] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Bring me up to speed. We spoke in f- I think it was, like, early December ’25. What’s been happening on your end since the start of [00:08:00] 2026? Like, how would you describe any of the– or how would you describe the fabric of the conversations you’ve been having since the start of the year?

[00:08:08] Ildi Arlette: Uh, I would say they’ve been 

[00:08:10] Alex Bélisle-Springer: intense. 

[00:08:14] Ildi Arlette: Intense. Intensity has been the theme here for quite a long time. You know, I’m talking with clinic owners and with salon owners, and, uh, business is generally good. Some are great, some are in trouble, and- Mm … I- I’m here for all of it, uh, ’cause that’s what we do. But the conversations have been intense around, um, reacting to what’s happening around them.

Mm. There’s so much happening in the world that people literally didn’t have to think about before, that somehow is trickling down and impacting them business-wise and personally. 

[00:08:52] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And, and when you say, like, obviously, like, around the world, but you work a lot with, um, businesses in Canada and the US. Is it [00:09:00] around what’s happening within the industry, within the world in general, or, like, specific to the US and Canada kinda thing?

[00:09:07] Ildi Arlette: Specific to North America. So-any given year, my clients are half in Canada, half in the US, working with medical aesthetic clinics and some salons, and I would say beauty business. Even as far as, like, acupuncture clinics and that, again, I would say beauty and wellness. But definitely, um, med spas have been my biggest client group.

It’s just- Mm … that’s what kind of precipitated our discussion, right, is to say how- Yeah … are these similar and how are they different? And I’ve been doing this for 25 years this spring, so it’s been a long, long time to be able to finally reach some height at the top of the mountain and- … have a vantage point of what’s going on.

And I think to answer your question, I mean, examples would be literally last week I had a, a conversation with a clinic owner who said, “Ildi, we’re starting to notice that less of our clients are converting after a consultation [00:10:00]because budget is an issue, and they’re specifically mentioning gas prices.”

[00:10:06] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:10:06] Ildi Arlette: Um, so, like, the cost of gas is ridiculous, the cost of- Yeah … whatever, living. And so where before I used to get a generic, “How can we do consultations better so more people go on to a service or a treatment?” Now people are getting really specific about sharing financial stresses with their service provider to say, “This is the reason why I can’t afford it.”

[00:10:31] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And that’s big 

[00:10:32] Ildi Arlette: It’s huge That’s 

[00:10:33] Alex Bélisle-Springer: really big 

[00:10:34] Ildi Arlette: It’s huge. I think another theme overall, and you and I talked about this as well, is what we call the trust recession. Mm-hmm. So yes, some people think an economic recession is happening, and that’s very, very real. Uh, yet how do we then explain that, you know, many of my clients are doing well financially, revenue and profit.

Profit’s always a tough one, right? Yeah. Revenue is how much [00:11:00]money you make. Revenue is after you made that money and paid everything and everyone, what is left to put in the bank? So, you know, I’ll often get the question, “How can we be making this money, but I’m going into my bank account on my app and I’m dying ’cause there’s nothing there?”

Or they’re not paying themselves, right? Yeah. So the trust recession is really- Around just a lack of trust where something that somebody expects or has always relied on happening now drastically changed, and they can’t trust that process, number one. The other part I like to sort of tell through my yogurt tub story, which everyone of my friends are rolling their eyes somewhere, Alex going, “Oh, no, she’s gonna tell the yogurt story.” I won’t. Now I need to know. So my family’s been buying the same family size tub of yogurt since the beginning of time. My parents bought this brand. I buy this brand. Okay? Yeah. So my husband does the grocery shopping.

I send him to the store. He comes home, like a good partner, with the yogurt. I go to open it to do all the cooking that you and I chat about doing, that I love doing. 

[00:12:09] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yes. 

[00:12:10] Ildi Arlette: Open up the lid, I peel off the foil, and there is a third of the container missing. There’s… It looked like a third of the container was empty.

Like a whole bunch of yogurt was missing. I’m looking at it going, “It’s the same brand, the same container, same size, 2%. Where is the rest of the yogurt?” 

[00:12:30] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:12:31] Ildi Arlette: So what I used to buy and get is somehow different than now. So I tend to go to the benefit of the doubt going, “Maybe this one little yogurt was at the end of the yogurt filling line-

and they just didn’t have enough.” They had- they didn’t have enough to put in, and I got the last yogurt on the line that day. That’s okay. Everyone else got their yogurt but me. But then I am, like, very persistent, [00:13:00] so I said, “John, next time you go, buy two containers of yogurt.” Doing a side-by-side comparison now.

It’s now in, like, full-on investigation. 

[00:13:09] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yes. 

[00:13:10] Ildi Arlette: And I open them up, and both of them have less yogurt in them. So some people are calling this, like, the shrinking econ- the shrink economy. 

[00:13:18] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Right, yeah. 

[00:13:19] Ildi Arlette: Less value. Um, when I told this story to my client, she, like, raised her hand in the group, and we have a, a, a group thing a couple of times a month, and she said, “That happened to me with my kids and the granola bars.

I buy granola bars.” She’s got two kids. There’s six in a pack, three for you, three for you. No family wars. But now they’re weighted the same price, maybe a bit more, and there’s only five granola bars. 

[00:13:47] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And how do you split five between two? 

[00:13:49] Ildi Arlette: Big family dilemma. Like all the parents out there, let’s go home, email your complaints.

So the point is that things drastically change. But the other point was she says, “I’ve been buying [00:14:00]this same brand for five years.” Like, her kids are, like, six and nine. I’ve been buying the same brand. Same thing with the yogurt. So what I got that I got used to, all of a sudden it’s not the same.

And I think that that concept of trust recession has actually crept into salons and med spas, where the complaint, or really the reality I hear from the owners and the providers are, you know, people are price shopping. Yes, they’re price shopping- Mm … because a cauliflower is like $15 and there’s only… You know, it’s insane.

Yeah. So that is actually happening in real life in clinics and salons, and they’re finding that that is changing their conversions, right? Mm. The number of people calling or coming in and saying, “I’m interested,” versus the number that go to treatment or to a service. It’s a really big deal. And what it means is actually a, a couple of things which [00:15:00] is both good and troubling, ’cause people are like, “Now what?”

We cannot control the price of- Yes … is whatever you’re buying, cost of living, and you can’t control that part. And I know we say this, but, you know, I’ll… Let me just try and explain this. We’ve really… The person who is now more… Everybody’s more cost-conscious, period, including the people with money. 

[00:15:22] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Right.

[00:15:23] Ildi Arlette: So in fact, some would argue, you know, the more money the person has, the more they expect. So we’re talking about this thing called value, which is like steam. I can’t hold value. Mm. Like, people are like, “Give them more value,” and then people perceive that to, like, more polite. It’s so 

[00:15:39] Alex Bélisle-Springer: suggestive. Yeah, 100%. Or 

[00:15:41] Ildi Arlette: give them a glass of water.

Like, okay, and I’m not against any of it, but there’s wa- there’s steam- There’s water and there’s ice. I can’t really hold the steam. Water I kind of get. I need something solid. I need the ice. And so what we help clients with, and I think the [00:16:00] place I’m trying to make an impact in our fields, is how do you give tangible value?

When you say value, how do you answer what, so what actions will we take today? Mm. And people are in a trust recession looking for action over words. That right or wrong, your website, your social media, your menu, your branding, it absolutely, yes, it matters. And your brand was great, your website was great, everything was great, and I got to your salon, and some person on the front at the phone, and I’m waiting, like, four minutes.

Do you know how long four minutes is? A long time. 

[00:16:36] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:16:37] Ildi Arlette: Yeah. And it’s not the quiet, serene bestie crew energy that you had on there. It’s something really, really different. So there’s the trust recession already a question in the guest’s mind. 

[00:16:50] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:16:50] Ildi Arlette: What we need to find tangible ways, so if I said, “What are your values?”

That’s nice. You can all do the mission statements, whatever. But then how are you gonna show them? [00:17:00] So if actions speak louder than words, what is kind of what I say living in your heart and your mind about how you wanna demonstrate that- Yeah … that is sustainable. Which sustainability energetically and financially is super, super important.

What’s interesting, if we go back to the yogurt for a sec, the guy said to my client, “I would pay $5 more per yogurt container if it was now see-through and I could see the value that I’m getting.” Isn’t that crazy? But I- I mean, 

[00:17:31] Alex Bélisle-Springer: it makes sense. I get it. 

[00:17:33] Ildi Arlette: Yeah. It starts to question. Yeah. It starts to question, to go, “You want $300 to cut my hair?

You want $1,200 to make me look more like Cindy Crawford?” Like, what… Okay. Yeah. Prove it to me. And that’s the tough part, is for those of us that have services, I think the two general questions that all of our guests and patients and clients are asking is, like, how much is this, and will it work for me?

Mm-hmm. So while [00:18:00] before and after pictures are awesome in both fields- 

[00:18:02] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah … 

[00:18:03] Ildi Arlette: how do you prove the value that you’re getting? And as much as possible, without having to, like, hire anyone or take a course- 

[00:18:10] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah … 

[00:18:11] Ildi Arlette: proof. Show proof of where the value is. 

[00:18:16] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:18:17] Ildi Arlette: Um, and I generally find people know what’s living in their heart and mind.

Communities like Phorest and other professional communities are great. You, you know, you and I talked about this. I really believe in the magic of a group. 

[00:18:31] Ildi Arlette: gathering together in, like, in person, online, even, like, through your podcast, and hearing other people’s ideas. Because even if you think, “Wow, we can’t have, we can’t have these electric massage chairs while people are waiting.

They’re $4,000 each,” I’m like, “Don’t get rid of the idea. What about it inspired you, and what could you do?” Where’s what we call the through line? Yeah. And the through line, if you look at your body, is actually [00:19:00] through your mind and your heart, which is where I believe business lives. 

[00:19:03] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm, that’s a really interesting, um, point.

Like, I was telling you before we started recording, I was working on an episode. Uh, there was a point in the episode where I was talking about, like, understanding what the f- like, what your feelings, like, say to you essentially, and to not label them necessarily bad or good. And, um, even if there’s frustration or anger, like, what does that, what does that mean?

What’s underlying that? What need is it speaking to essentially? And if you can, um, and if you can identify that, then, you know, you’ve got, you’ve got a point of action that you can make then. ‘Cause if you’re just stuck in the emotion or the feeling, then, you know, that’s not gonna help you. But if you can identify the need, then you know where to go.

Well, if- And I feel like with the through line, it’s a bit, it’s, it’s a bit similar in that way, so- 

[00:19:49] Ildi Arlette: It’s so true actually what you’re saying. I mean, you’re a very self-aware individual. Some people are, some people are not. And so the thing is that it’s really difficult. Some people know what they feel [00:20:00]they wanna do in their heart, and then eventually it’s gotta come out.

So we like to ask questions, and I, I want your listeners to like really get something from this. So questions you might ask yourself is, what is the feeling? And if that feeling were personified and demonstrated in an action, what would it look like? And really start to see. And if someone’s artistic, go ahead and draw and write it.

If somebody wants to just brainstorm with a colleague, fine. Yeah. And the other thing I just really want to encourage is over the years, uh, you and I talked about this, this all or none thinking. Mm-hmm. Maybe you can’t do the full-on massage chair while people wait, uh, it, it’s not a no. It’s what version of it can we do?

What impact are we hoping that it has? “Well, it would just be such a great way for our guests or our patients or clients to relax.” Okay, what are other ways? So take your answer and figure out now. Unfortunately, people are… I would say all or none thinking is the [00:21:00] death of us. There is $43 million in between.

It’s not your fault that you don’t know, but you’ve gotta go and find out how, and that means being around in the right community. I think- Mm-hmm … Phorest represents one of the best. 

[00:21:16] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Oh, well, I appreciate you saying that. I mean, it sounds like you have, you have a very, very rich community as well, and that there’s a lot coming through in those groups that you, you hold as well and, and, you know-

facilitate. So that, it’s actually something that was coming up for me. I was wondering, you know, you mentioned some of the businesses that you work with in both sectors, um, are doing incredibly well. And, and yet there’s also a whole cohort who are, you know, s- experiencing real, real challenges, like we just spoke about.

So in these groups that, um, maybe group calls or maybe Slack channels, um, has there been collaboration in sharing what’s been working? 

[00:21:59] Ildi Arlette: There has, and there… And we do encourage it. The interesting thing is that for everybody listening, if they’ve ever listened to a podcast, taken a course, been part of a group or, like, a Slack channel, even if they’ve had a coach, which I’ll come back to.

I mean, like, you know I have this pet peeve with someone calling themself a coach versus a certified coach, or a real consultant versus someone who’s a consultant. We’ll come back to that later in the… Anyone who’s heard ideas, one of the challenges in business all around is sometimes we pick the wrong models.

By accident, unintentionally, we are creating a wave of inferiority and feelings of incompetence by the following. If I go to podcasts or success stories, we really are picking people where there should be a disclaimer that says, “Results vary.” 

[00:23:00] Ildi Arlette: results not, these results may not be typical. We’re picking, like, the home run, ultra- ultra successful people who have made it, and I had the pleasure of listening to many of your podcasts.

I really find the guests so interesting, and you’re an awesome host. And this one person said, and she was amazing, she said, “If I could do this, and I’m in, like, small town Americana, anyone can do this.” Right? In fact, um, that is inspiring, and that’s what I really loved her making that statement. She dropped, like, big time revenue numbers, big time milestones, huge accomplishments, a massive forward goal of how many salons they’re going to have.

Right. I mean, it was well over 100. Mm-hmm. And, uh, how does the person sitting at home that is, like, struggling to go, “How are we gonna make it to September? ‘Cause the summer’s gonna be slow,” how do they receive that going, “I’m not doing enough. What can I do?” So I always say, like, find somebody who’s done [00:24:00] what you want to do, but also who is someone more like you.

So I do find that if you’re in a rural location, no problem. Like, find out what’s happening in downtown Toronto and downtown Montrea- of Montreal. Um, we were talking about… Or downtown New York. But let’s, let’s find out what’s happening in small town Idaho, small town Oregon- Yeah … small town Florida to go, how are other people doing business that way?

So I would say be careful of the models that we’re looking at. Um- Yeah … just, but I think ultimately in our business, we’re here to help people in beauty and wellness who really want to be profitable, in-demand businesses with a positive everyone sells culture- And we’re showing them how to do a number of things, really use really, really simple systems, um, deceivingly simple, to keep their teams growing, to keep the business growing.

Yeah. I think the three pain [00:25:00] points that come up on those group calls of, like, if you had a sneak peek of what have we done for 25 years, what are we all talking about that everyone’s missing, would be three things. The first would be the problem of isolation. So people feeling like, “I am on my own. No one’s coming to help.

Somehow everybody else but me is advantaged.” Mm-hmm. “I’m dis- and, and I’m really feeling alone in this.” Um, and so group helps to solve that. We have a group program. There’s a community. There’s, there’s all kinds of things. The second part, so I’m alone and isolated, the second one is serious amounts of overwhelm.

This business brain does not turn off. Yeah. And that actually links with isolation ’cause one of the biggest comments I hear from med spa, salon owner, whatever, is, “Ildi, my,” fill in name of partner, family, roommate, cousin, “They’re just telling me to, like, chill out and take it easy, and why is this on my [00:26:00] brain all the time?

But I can’t turn it off. Is this normal?” Mm-hmm. “Is everybody also laying in bed, um, having thoughts on a Saturday, Sunday, Thanksgiving, uh, Eid, Easter,” whatever. 

[00:26:14] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:26:14] Ildi Arlette: So that actually makes people feel more isolated because their partner may go to, like, a 9:00 to 5:00 job going, “Why don’t you just turn this off at 5:00, Ildi?”

So that is- Mm … even more isolating, but there’s a lot of overwhelm, and the overwhelm is often because even when we hire someone to help us in our business, we underestimate or we simply don’t know the amount of work it’s gonna take from us to make a team or even, like, a one-hour-a-week virtual assistant successful, that so much of that success depends on what we do first.

Yeah. So they’ll say things like, “How come I’ve hired people, but I’m still doing most of the tasks? How come my payroll is, like, my biggest cost other than maybe my rent, and more work is [00:27:00] not getting done? I just have more things to do and more people to take care of.” So isolation, overwhelm, and then guesswork.

Mm. I mean, yes, we are all making it up as we go along in life, unless there’s a rule book y’all wanna tell me about- … to order, and I will order it now.

Definitely like, yeah, we, we say like no one knows what we’re doing. That is tenfold in business, which is a travesty because for centuries people have been doing business through bartering, through trade, through cash, through trading coins and salt and- Mm-hmm … um, but that is the problem, Alex, is we’re isolated from each other.

[00:27:41] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:27:41] Ildi Arlette: Right? We’re in a group- Yeah … in school or we’re in groups in certain things and, and then we’re like, “Wow, I’m really guessing at what might work.” It also doesn’t help that going onto like even 60 seconds of social media in your professions [00:28:00] will absolutely result in you not feeling like you’re doing enough or like you’re missing something.

And- Yeah … social media lets me connect with people. Um, it lets me lose 45 minutes at a time in like all of their recipes and other people’s recipes. I 

[00:28:17] Alex Bélisle-Springer: l- I literally just set up- Right … an automation on my phone yesterday to be like anytime I open Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook, ask me how long of a timer I wanna set, because just the like l- the app limit thing doesn’t work for me.

So now I get like I open the app, it reduces the volume automatically, and then also pops up like my timer so I can select- … the amount of time that I wanna spend. Honestly, it has been working so far. 

[00:28:48] Ildi Arlette: That’s a really handy app. I need that app where it comes and grabs it out of your hand and tells you to focus back on whatever I need to- Yeah

be 

[00:28:54] Alex Bélisle-Springer: doing. Yeah. 

[00:28:56] Ildi Arlette: So I, I do love it for those reasons. Like, um, you know, I’m really into antiquing and thrifting at the moment. Mm-hmm. I just love it all and, um, yeah, it, it is a connection. But the rest of, uh, the rest of it is we’re really being trained and almost preyed upon with these negative hooks to say, “Here’s- Yeah

what you’re doing.” And guilty party here, guilty party here, um, I pay attention to those too because if I want to get views, that’s great. Like, I’m happy to say most of our business now is through referral. Mm. Word of mouth of people who have felt supported, got a result, whatever they needed, saying, “Yeah, go and have a chat with them.”

But I really empathize to say, what is the business owner being exposed to? And that brings some pressure to get the community right. That’s why you want to be in larger communities like, like yours, like Phorest. 

[00:29:50] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm-hmm. ‘

[00:29:51] Ildi Arlette: Cause you are going to meet people who have micro businesses all the way to, like, huge New York Times, um, goals and lists.[00:30:00]

[00:30:00] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:30:00] Ildi Arlette: And I just wanna try and normalize, you know, the big fish, little fish. It is really important if you’re listening to this and you’re a big fish, to go into the small ponds. I am telling you, there is innovation happening at small clinics and small salons that is so exciting it gives me goosebumps.

[00:30:20] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:30:20] Ildi Arlette: And it is okay to be a small fish, “I’m starting out,” or, “I’m smaller,” and to go and swim in some bigger waters with bigger fish to have a look around. 

[00:30:30] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:30:31] Ildi Arlette: Then go back to your place and decide. Uh, but it’s hard to do alone, Alex. Yeah. And I think that’s why we have groups, we have all kinds of things.

But have you noticed there’s so many different styles of business? 

[00:30:45] Alex Bélisle-Springer: 100%. So many 

[00:30:47] Ildi Arlette: different 

[00:30:47] Alex Bélisle-Springer: styles. 

[00:30:48] Ildi Arlette: How, how do you know which one to be? So the human being is advised, be who you are. I’m in my mid-50s and I’ve got a decent idea, but I’m still figuring it out. 

[00:30:57] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Aren’t we all, though? You know? Yeah. I don’t think we ever [00:31:00] stop- 

[00:31:00] Ildi Arlette: Yeah

[00:31:00] Alex Bélisle-Springer: trying to figure it out. That’s 

[00:31:02] Ildi Arlette: the thing. And, um- I was 

[00:31:03] Alex Bélisle-Springer: listening 

[00:31:03] Ildi Arlette: to your podcast with your founder. 

[00:31:05] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:31:06] Ildi Arlette: And, you know, if, I mean, 22 years later, what I loved about what he said is business is an evolution, and because all entrepreneurs by default are the, we’re the most impatient people on the planet, um, it- Passionate.

[00:31:22] Alex Bélisle-Springer: But, but yes, perhaps. Well, 

[00:31:24] Ildi Arlette: take what you want. Take what you want and multiply the time it’s gonna arrive by three to 10 times. So if I wanted it in three months, it’s, you’re looking at anywhere from 12 months to 30 months for this thing to arrive. Alex- Mm … my clients sometimes are so tired out from trying or just really bad advice coaching and so on, uh, they’re just…

It leads to questioning yourself and self-doubt. Mm-hmm. And we’re trying to provide a place of certainty that is, again, born from something that’s sustainable. [00:32:00]

[00:32:01] Alex Bélisle-Springer: I, there’s, there’s so much that you shared that I was just, like, making connections with in my head, and I don’t even know where to start right now.

But- Great … the, the, the one thing that really, really, um, is speaking to me, like, I guess the loudest is how- How you were speaking about growth, right? And how, like, we, we’ve been conditioned to look at it and, and… Not growth, sorry, success. It’s very interesting work to figure out what success and growth, sustainable growth- Yeah

um, looks like for you outside of, like, the pressures of, “Oh, well, you should be here,” or, “You should do this,” or, “You’re,” you know, “you’re in this neck of wood, you should be at those numbers.” Maybe you’re… You know, and I’ve, I’ve spoken to a lot of businesses that, um, that are certified B Corp, and it’s definitely not profitable.

I guess, like, the definition of their success or their growth, like health [00:33:00] of growth differs. Yeah. And I think that’s a really interesting thing to think about because I think that once you are very clear on what feels right for you, when you’re, when you have that clarity, everything else becomes easier.

[00:33:15] Ildi Arlette: Yes. It’s true, and there is the clarity word, which is, it’s so attractive, that word clarity. It’s magnetic. Mm-hmm. Everyone, everyone within your community and mine, uh, wants an answer to what… “Ildi, you’ve been doing this for so long. Tell me what you see works. Tell me what to do.” And I just wanna confirm there are definitely a set of answers that are, they should be given quickly, clearly, with tangible examples, and for us, we’re known for our tools.

We don’t talk about using something we call spending dollars in your business for your clients, guests, or patients. We give them to you. We teach what it is, why to use it, how, what if, and here is the tool. So if, if [00:34:00] you get around people who are willing to do that and not, like, upcharge you for every tool you get kind of thing, there is definitely a bucket of certainty.

[00:34:10] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:34:11] Ildi Arlette: Then there are variables. Mm-hmm. And no person in their right mind… I am a certified coach. I’m also, like, a real consultant. I have errors and omissions insurance in case the advice I give someone doesn’t work. Thank goodness it’s never been, uh, triggered in 25 years. But that’s, that’s- Yeah … the difference between that or, “I opened three salons successfully here,” or, “Three med spas,” or, “One…

I did this. I went from zero to a million in eight seconds. Come follow me.” Now, because I don’t wanna say anything bad about that, I just wanna raise people’s awareness to say, um, I too thought that I was cool for school after some early successes, and there is no question both those people, like, I’m giving them a standing ovation.

But to advise [00:35:00] somebody else, if you owned one salon or one med spa or three, and to ad- to advise what I’m liking is someone who says, “Here’s how I decided to compensate or pay my staff. Here’s the pay structure that worked for us.” I also wanna know what now in hindsight would make it even better. Mm. What do you wish you would’ve known at the beginning?

Like, asking intelligent questions. The challenge is they know only that experience, and to really answer that well, you have to see a lot. In my early days, and early days was, like, the first 10 years, um, that’s where I spent time looking at these things deeply. And you really need to have what I would just call a larger sample size, like any good research, to be able to ethically advise.

But it’s okay. Hey, if you owned one or two med spas and you want to advise someone else, advise. Say, “Here’s what I did.” But then that’s the skill of the coach. The consultant or advisor tells you, helps you analyze, tells you what to do. The [00:36:00] coach asks you questions to guide you through a decision. And that’s, by the way, our definition of anyone who cuts hair, injects a needle, does a facial.

You’re simply there to help someone move through a decision. You don’t … To be an injector, a stylist, a esthetician, you don’t get to do that skill you love and are so passionate about if you can’t start with another human being and sit and say, “Hey, my job’s to help you move through this decision. Let’s do this together.

I’m happy to report there’s amazing ways how.” So in the bucket of certainty, great. But then reflect on how sustainable that is for you. I see people going into major debt to learn from other people or do things where they didn’t assess the risk. So if we’re tell- I’m telling you, spending dollars are it.

And just for anyone listening, like, DM me. As everybody knows, it’s me on the other end- … and I have a colleague, [00:37:00] and we will send you back and say, “Here’s what a spending dollar is. Great. Here’s how you use it, what, how, why, and what if.” Make your own. You don’t need us to do this. But then there should be a set of questions to say, how can you see yourself using this?

What do you think to make it even better? What can’t it do that you wish it could that is super important on your end? Like, it’s okay to ask people why does that work? Give me proof. So there’s the certainty. The uncertainty part, that’s really the coaching skill, and you need a lot of experience to do that.

[00:37:34] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm-hmm. 

[00:37:35] Ildi Arlette: So the thing with clarity is how do we get clarity when the nature of the human being in the business, running the business, or working in it is literally anatomically constantly evolving? Then our environment, economy, social structures constantly evolving. So what you figure out is that while clarity is one [00:38:00] thing, I would like to propose that it’s actually building the capacity to live in uncertainty 

[00:38:08] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Ooh, yes.

Yes, yes, yes, yes … 

[00:38:11] Ildi Arlette: to feel safe, right? That I can rely on you, you can re- I’m not saying, and you know, I think people listening to me or who go and look a picture of, of me, even though I said I’m way more fun than I look, um, they can tell, like, you know, I’m a pretty structured person. I also have a super open mind.

You have to in business. But all those clients who succeeded, they built their capacity to be uncertain what’s happening in their business versus swallowing the, “Why don’t you just start a membership and then you have recurring income?” 

[00:38:43] Sam Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:38:43] Ildi Arlette: Y’all, ask those people their success rate of their clients.

You’ll never find out the truth. And ask them how many clients. So if they say, “My clients have an 80% success rate with that method,” I wanna know how many clients you have. Okay? So there is a [00:39:00] lot to question, and I want to give people certainty and self-assurance back that if you don’t believe it, you are allowed to ask for proof.

You’re allowed to question, will it work for me? But the nature of the whole thing is this constantly moving, shifting thing, so the person who wins is the most adaptable. They build capacity, especially if you’re a leader in a salon or med spa, the capacity for uncertainty, the capacity to be disliked, a whole other podcast.

[00:39:31] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Oh, yeah, 100%. 

[00:39:34] Ildi Arlette: Capacity to reduce your probability of avoidance because this thing becomes bigger than you, so you spend a lot of, most of your time and life avoiding tasks. 

[00:39:46] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Hmm. 

[00:39:46] Ildi Arlette: Um, open your capacity to ask good questions- Yeah … your capacity to walk with someone through a decision, your capacity for waiting, that this thing is awesome and your passion to do it, but annoyingly, [00:40:00] it is taking so much longer, and there’s only so much we can speed it up.

All this capacity building. So I always say the clarity, even the capacity to understand that clarity is a temporary state, and that’s all right. 

[00:40:17] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. So 

[00:40:17] Ildi Arlette: That means we revisit. We revisit often, and it’s time and energy, and it’s one of the reasons people are a bit tired out because that constantly revisiting to say- Am I still gonna get the yogurt in the container?

Am I still gonna get the dip? Do I have to buy one bag of chips or two bags of chips for my awesome yogurt dip? ‘Cause you’re not sure. And it, it is funny ’cause it’s chips and yogurt, but what’s not funny is, like, the exhaustion, the, the mental wear-down of needing to be that vigilant, where I never had to think about it for 32 years, and now it is four texts to my husband at the [00:41:00]grocery store and reporting back to my clients for how it’s going.

[00:41:05] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Oh my God. Yeah. Right? But I mean, it’s interesting because, like, the revisiting part, something that was coming to mind when you were mentioning that, like, we know how to do that in certain other aspects of our lives. Like, if I If I think of some, some of the folks I know, um, you know, and their parents who’ve been in relationships for like, say, 50 years, if you ask those folks, um, you know, “What’s the, what’s the secret of, like, you staying together?”

It’s revisiting, you know, the commitment, revisiting what they want, revisiting the life that they’re building together. Like, we know how to do this in certain specific aspects of our lives. And it’s- Or do … I think it’s like… Or do we? I don’t know. Maybe we need… Yeah. 

[00:41:52] Ildi Arlette: I think, like, I’m gonna say, so first of all, my parents were married, I think, 60 or 62 years.

That’s, like, unthinkable to me. Unthinkable. [00:42:00] I’m like, “Really? How? Why?” I have so many questions. Loving, loving people, okay? They were married for that long, and I asked them how. But to our point earlier, both of them will say, “The person I married is not the person I live with now.” Again, that evolution- 100%

adapting to the new version of that person. Same in business, friends, same in business. Your business today in the month of June is not the same as it was in December, is not the same as it was in September. Your viewpoints have changed. The economy has… So much has changed. So it’s the capacity to be the through line, sit with a bit of stillness.

Now, I just have to have a tiny disclaimer. When I talk through the, talk about through line, Alex, and, like, you know, heart, my thing, I’m not… I don’t do yoga. I, I have no- It’s just, like, I am not a… I am business, all business all the time. But people will say, “But I can feel the heart and generosity in your message.”

And that is [00:43:00] because I made the mistake in early business of being all business- Hmm … and thinking that I could out-hustle, outwork this thing. It turns out I was completely wrong, and I have had the privilege of doing that in my business with a lot of other business owners, like hundreds. I’ve trained thousands, but I’ve worked for multi-year contracts with hundreds of these businesses.

[00:43:23] Ildi Arlette: And so I got the humble lesson to go, “Actually, it’s not all about the metric. It’s not all about the, uh, revenue per chair, the revenue per square foot, or per room in a clinic.” In fact, for a clinic, if you never know your revenue per room, you will… Your life and business will be absolutely just fine.

But in that 62-year marriage, not only would they say, “I’ve been married to the same person and different versions mutually,” but I learned this statement- Not that long ago, I would say maybe four or five years ago from a [00:44:00]therapist. I am a big therapy proponent. I think everybody should run, not walk. 

[00:44:04] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Agreed.

[00:44:05] Ildi Arlette: Respecting that I wish it were more affordable and accessible to people. 

[00:44:09] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Also agreed. Again, I 

[00:44:11] Ildi Arlette: learned this term called normal marital hatred. Normal marital hatred. And every married or partnered person I’ve said that to, literally no one, Alex, said, “What do you mean?” So can we please normalize that there are feelings of resentment, even contempt in this, and it’s the capacity to hold also a bit of an obligation to go, “Okay, I’m holding it.

Now what do I do?” Mm. So you don’t have to know how, but you do have to learn how to navigate it, which means that the people that you’re around that you seek help from and the communities that you’re around, if someone tells you, “No, a good marriage doesn’t have that,” they’re wrong. But that’s the thing that how many businesses have I [00:45:00] worked with where they’re like, “Ildi, I’m coming to you because I’m successful.

Here’s the revenue. Here’s what my team’s doing.” They have every checkbox checked, Alex. And, and, and I say, “And so?” And they’re like, “I am so unhappy.” Tell me more. I’ve… Ultimately, they have ended up building a business that they don’t like. Not even, like, enjoy. They don’t like. 

[00:45:26] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:45:27] Ildi Arlette: So in there, I wanna normalize that if somebody listening to this is like, “Wow, what I thought I was getting into, I built it and now I get it into it.

Where do I go to post the hatred reel?” Not the highlight reel, but, like, the hardship. The hardship. I watched a documentary about Ralph Lauren the other night. Confession, it’s my third time watching it. 

[00:45:52] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Okay. I’m gonna have to put that on my list then. 

[00:45:55] Ildi Arlette: Amazing. If you’re… Yeah. It is worth a watch. I’m a big 

[00:45:58] Alex Bélisle-Springer: documentary fan, [00:46:00] so.

[00:46:00] Ildi Arlette: Documentaries, art, fashion. But also there’s Anna Wintour who was an editor at Vogue for 100 years, you know, saying Ralph was a really at home guy. He wouldn’t be out at the parties. He was always with his family. They’re very cliquey. That’s what really, that interests me other than, you know, I’m in my mid-50s, so in the ’80s if you got a Ralph Lauren anything, you were obviously it.

[00:46:24] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Right. 

[00:46:24] Ildi Arlette: Like, shirt, right, Alex? So don’t call me for fashion advice. But for what he said, and he is, you know, he was in the last year of his entire career, he said every single show, every single collection was difficult and painful. And he said, “If I’m being honest, there isn’t one that I look back on that didn’t produce serious hardship.”

“And often,” he said, “the enjoyment that I got out of it was only in hindsight.” [00:47:00] Which also means who’s gonna sit with you to go hindsight, what is that? How do I do this? 

[00:47:04] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:47:05] Ildi Arlette: That’s what spaces like yours and mine are for, is who will sit with you to go, “Okay, I don’t know how to do this, but I know I’m supposed to find out.”

‘Cause it’s just heartbreaking and soul-crushing, the hardship I hear, to the point where really only my closest clients know this, but I’m happy to share it with your community. I’ve been consulting for many years and coaching for many years, but recently in the last few years, the intensity with which my clients are bringing forward their problems clearly required me to up-skill into even higher levels of actual technical coaching skills for me.

[00:47:46] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Hmm. ‘

[00:47:46] Ildi Arlette: Cause I’m like, “You know, if I wanna show up to be really helpful, these are new topics and new ways.” 

[00:47:54] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:47:54] Ildi Arlette: So it wasn’t like, how can you help us make more money? Um, there were a lot [00:48:00] more complexities and intricacies. So picture a cotton tablecloth, which is still woven, versus lace. They’re two different skill sets, both amazing crafts, but they’re two different things, and it requires more out of softwares like yours, out of businesses like mine, and it requires more of the people who I just, standing ovation and hats off who are really trying their best with, like, two staff, 20 staff, 100.

It’s some hard, hard work. So can we please normalize that it’s difficult to maybe not swallow the total manifestation pill, that we’re gonna sit cross-legged and zen it out ’cause our nervous system needs a break? Yes, it does, but it’s not all that. Remember, all or none. 

[00:48:48] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[00:48:49] Ildi Arlette: It- Yeah. You know- 

[00:48:49] Alex Bélisle-Springer: There’s 

[00:48:50] Ildi Arlette: power in 

[00:48:50] Alex Bélisle-Springer: naming the things that- Look- 

[00:48:52] Ildi Arlette: Yeah

no one showed us how to run a business. Let’s normalize that. I feel isolated running my business, trying to be no, no one showed me [00:49:00] how to be a leader or run a team. Normalize it. I’m guessing at what I’m doing. Normal. 

[00:49:06] Ildi Arlette: This is overwhelming. Normal. So you don’t have to know how, but you do have to want and work to find out.

So pick your tribe and community very, very closely, and if there’s something niggling in you that doesn’t quite feel right, like, really listen to that and move on. Ask others, “Who did you get help from?” Mm. “What made a difference? How did it help?” But the real magic question is, in working with that person or community, what do you wish would’ve happened?

You might hear that my wish for what has happened is your primary need. Then move along. Thank you, and just continue to ask other people. 

[00:49:48] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. I think this is a perfect segue to talk about the, uh, relationship or, you know, what- salons and med spas can learn from one another. Like, obviously, w- w- [00:50:00] you and I, we’ve, we’ve talked about this in, uh, in our first, very first call together.

Um, but you work with both med spas and salons, and you’ve talked about how much more they have to learn from each other than most people would expect maybe. Um, what do you think is the root cause of those two sectors not already learning as much as they can from one another? 

[00:50:24] Ildi Arlette: Yeah, it’s a great question.

Um, the root cause is actually I think elitism. I’m sorry that some people won’t like this view, but it’s elitism from the med spas who are mostly run by doctors and nurses to think that they’re better than salons. And specifically how I have heard that for over 25 years is the following. When they explain what their business is, sometimes even online, like in public, never mind to me privately or to a patient, they’ll say what they do and then they’ll say, “We’re not a salon.”

Like, it’s a derogatory reference. In the back of my mind [00:51:00] I’m like, “That’s a giant mistake.” I’m making an X with my hands and arms. That’s a giant mistake because, friend, would you like to see the revenue that my salons are doing? Killer. Like slaying. Be quiet. Okay? Number one. Then two, sit down because salons are in the business of need, at least the haircut part.

Med spas are entirely in need of want. Everyone can go home and be quiet. And I have had to sometimes on a whiteboard, in the old days a flip chart- … and nowadays digitally, show side by side haircut with color or balayage or extensions on repeat every year, even if it’s twice a year, like filler’s often twice a year at a med spa side by side, and they’re like, “Wow.”

And then you… That’s a lot of money. And what I love [00:52:00] to do, because I do love to hit a point home

With audiences in med spas, and everyone starts with the, “We’re not a salon,” trying to use it like a differentiator, is I’m like, “Actually, when I go to my salon, I can have a beverage, alcoholic or non-alcoholic. I’m offered a beverage. I’m greeted.” They 100% of the time, call me and address me by my name.

[00:52:30] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm. 

[00:52:31] Ildi Arlette: They 100% of the time talk about what med spas fancy call the treatment plan, which you just try and get to know me and say, “How often do you have time to come back, Ildi? And how oft-,” you know, the habits of a plan. Spa- salons are doing that way better than a med spa. But what my favorite part is if there’s, in a med spa, seven practitioners, three, 10 in a room.

I just ask people to raise their [00:53:00] hand if they spent more than $300 on their hair in the last six months, and, like, everybody’s hand goes up, or most people. And other people, “Who’s over 300? Who’s over 500?” Alex, as you know, people have whole hair plans where I want to be blonde by December, and we have to do this in stages.

I don’t see any difference than that or a treatment plan. But because it’s medical, they like to get a little high and mighty about it. Mm. And I’m like, “Why don’t you all sit around in the same circle,” the magic of group, “and ask each other, ‘How do you greet your guests? This is how we greet them. How do you greet your guests?

Um, how do you treat repeat visits?'” So almost no matter how dismal a salon’s bookings are, rebookings, meaning my next appointment before I leave this appointment, almost no matter how low they are, statistically it is better than a med spa. 

[00:53:57] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Interesting. 

[00:53:58] Ildi Arlette: Very interesting. [00:54:00] Conversion-wise, much higher for a hair salon than for a med spa.

[00:54:04] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And do you think that is, if anything, like, purely related to the distinction you made between, like, being in a business of need versus being in a business of want? 

[00:54:16] Ildi Arlette: Primarily, yes. And I think people, especially in med spas, they’ve lost sight of it. They forgot that this is a choice. Salons will tell me the same thing.

They’re like, “But Ildi, there’s a salon on every corner.” Med spas say, “But Ildi, there’s a med spa now on every corner.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’ve noticed there’s also a donut and pizza place on every corner,” which by the way, I have no complaint about. But, you know, I have a client who is in a small town, and, uh, four years ago when we started working together, she, um, was the only one in town, and now there’s nine.

Nine that we can see. We don’t know who’s doing what, where of the ones- Mm … we can’t see. She did reach her [00:55:00] first million after two and a half years, and she’s well on her way, and I just stood there and said- Continue to have a mindset of service, of hospitality, of sticking to who you are. Try to resist, build your capacity for the patients to not reinvent yourself, a very expensive, tiring exercise, and she did it.

And I said, “Plus, we have to let people go and try the other pizzas to sometimes go, ‘Actually, the one at Phorest was the best. It was my original favorite.'” Like, we forget that we’re serving humans, and part of buying and decision-making and experience is having a reflective experience to try different things.

Again, sit there and say, “What’s this like now?” And then get to decide. Otherwise, there is this gross, pushing, convincing, persuasive energy which actually makes no one in [00:56:00] either field really, really love it. 

[00:56:02] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. But 

[00:56:03] Ildi Arlette: the wants and needs is a huge, huge, um, distinction. I think that, um, another major difference is…

Well, one commonality is team dynamics. Everyone’s struggling with team dynamics. That’s also a whole other pod cast. 

[00:56:19] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yes, 100%. We’ve definitely had a lot of conversations around that in the past year or so. Honestly, last year, I was looking at all the episodes we published and I was like, “Wow, there’s a very huge theme of leadership and team dynamics here that I didn’t intend for.”

Like, it just kind of happened. 

[00:56:37] Ildi Arlette: It’s interesting you say that because when I started in my career, I actually started out doing customer service training for luxury hotels and restaurants. So that’s where I learned my eye and my skill for hospitality and service. And then I got into serving med spas accidentally because somebody asked me to do a service excellence workshop.

So again, what are the tangible actions [00:57:00] we can take today, where actions speak louder than words, to serve our guests, patients, or clients and keep them coming back and be the raving fan? So I was doing that, and there just happened to be people in med spas in the audience that said, “We loved this. It applies to our clinic.”

They were going from medicine to private pay, so we couldn’t keep them waiting for half an hour in the room and all the antics that we see in medicine. We had to now… I tell people if, a really interesting question is, if you got to run your salon or med spa or spa like a hotel, what would you implement?

What would you do if you ran it like a hotel? Now, people aren’t gonna stay overnight, but you know what’s interesting to me is you can go to a really fancy hotel and get pretty unforgettable service, and you could go to like the smallest place and it’s like, “Wow, let’s make a reason to come back here. I- I’m compelled to actually re- leave a review, this is so good.”

Mm-hmm. And that’s what I love [00:58:00] about, uh, and try and correct when people say, “We’re just a small med spa. We’re just a small salon or spa,” I’m like, “You’re probably winning,” because the big ones have all kinds of problems that like reps and vendors in the industry, they might know people a long time, but they don’t get to see what we see, which is behind the curtain.

Behind the curtain at every place there is almost no exception, is chaos. Uh, when I say that, I mean there’s just two kinds of chaos. There’s the organized chaos, and then there’s a toxic kind of chaos. Some places don’t have a lot of toxic chaos, but the chaos meaning all the moving parts of all the levers behind that curtain on Wizard of Oz, people have the same levers.

They might be different sizes or places, and it’s still some human being behind the curtain trying their best to run it, feeling a bit fraudulent, like they have to fool the world [00:59:00] That’s what I am here to tell you, like, another time statistically is the human being is so genuinely perceptive that regardless of economy, regardless if you’re in a big city, small town, what background you came from, um, service is service and hospitality is hospitality, and people don’t expect downtown New York in, in, you know, rural Oregon.

Um, but they know good service. They know human connection. They know when someone’s trying to help them move through a decision versus trying to sell them. Yeah. And so the good news is that’s access- accessible to a lot of people. I also wanna encourage your listeners, like, if that resonated, then go back to your roots.

If that was mom or grandma or whoever that was in your life, Mrs. Waller, your teacher, or Mr. Harris, like, if that was, like, your church or your… I have no idea what is from your past. [01:00:00] Go back to that. Like, remember that. What was so great about that? And start verbalizing it. Start writing it out. Start a chat group.

DM me. We can have a support group. We’ll bring chips. Yeah. We’ll bring dip. 

[01:00:15] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:00:15] Ildi Arlette: We’re s- right? 

[01:00:17] Alex Bélisle-Springer: It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s fascinating, yeah, and the things that you discover when you do that kind of exercise, um, can be really surprising. Like, I was in, in a, um, a space holding and facilitation course over the course of, like, three months.

Um, and, um, one of the first exercises that we were invited to do was to think about our own stories of belonging- 

[01:00:41] Alex Bélisle-Springer: and, um, and to write out also, you know, w- what belonging feels like, tastes like, looks like, um, you know, all the senses essentially, and, and, and to remember those early, early stories of, like, when did you feel welcome?

When d- [01:01:00] when did you not? You know, and what… why, why was that? Um- I love it. Yeah. It’s, it’s really… it’s, it… they’re f- they’re fascinating- I think people often- … kind of interrogations. 

[01:01:09] Ildi Arlette: Yeah, and also what is, what is the term welcome for you, and what is it for me? Exactly. 

[01:01:15] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:01:15] Ildi Arlette: I think… and you know, if you have any bit of a group, even two people in your team, like you and one other person, sit down and actually talk about that.

I think, like most people will say, “Ildi, we’ve wanted to redo our wel- welcome experience for our guest, patient, or client. We’ve been- I’ve always wanted a better welcoming experience,” but often I feel, Alex, what we’re doing is giving people permission- Where they’re like, “This is what welcoming is to me. This is what I want it to be like.”

And they often give descriptors, but remember friends, you wanna take the words that you’re using that might represent feelings or concepts, and asking yourself, if that were an action or a reality that you could take a picture of, what would it look like? [01:02:00] And let yourself do that. So, you know, do it. But then they’re like, “You know, I would love to…”

And I’ll, I will give you a real-life example. They’re like, “I would love my clients to come in and just, and feel at home.” And I don’t mean to spoil the end of the story for everyone, but Luxury experiences definitely have a visual appeal, but you can have the best visual appeal, if this second part is not in place, you’ve lost it.

Where luxury places ultimately end up making people feel at home because they look so closely at the detail of the guest to anticipate needs. 

[01:02:40] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

[01:02:42] Ildi Arlette: Anticipating needs in winter is what for your exiting guest when they leave after their treatment or service? I don’t know, you tell me. Where you all live, you tell me what that’s like.

Anybody who comes in, so this is what the person said, if they come in between… I gave them options, and I’m like, “Pick your favorite or what inspires you,” ’cause you [01:03:00] do need to hear examples. She said, “Anyone who comes in between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM, we have a basket at the front, and they- it’s all separately packaged, but they get to take something with them ’cause they probably, like, lied to their boss and snuck in here at lunch hour.”

Right? 

[01:03:18] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:03:18] Ildi Arlette: Like, story, right? Yeah. And what I loved about it is not that action, although you could take a picture of that. So just to finish, ’cause people will write me to go, “What were they?” They were Kind bars because my client likes Kind bars. If you’re gonna freak out about a nut allergy, don’t do Kind bars, do something else that is, like, single serving, throw it in your bag, pocket, jacket, or purse that you could have in the car to go, “This thing saved my life right now ’cause I’m starving, and I did lie to my boss to be here to do whatever.”

But what I loved about it is I said, like, “Tell me, tell me what makes that important to you?” And she said, “I just remember before I started this [01:04:00] business, when I worked with someone else and it was really hard to get time off, what I had to do to go to a doctor’s appointment, dentist appointment,” she didn’t have the luxury of leaving in the day to get her hair cut or whatever, “but I always felt like I was kinda sneaking around, and I skipped having lunch.”

So there was always something there. Notice that she didn’t do, like, food service all day, friends, right? She just said that particular time. But what was so interesting is when she went back to her team to say, “Hey,” like all actionables, “starting next Monday, we’re gonna experiment for two or three weeks and just have this basket at the front.”

She’s very, like, visually aesthetic in particular, so the basket was underneath, so it was up to the front desk person, the receptionist, to bring the basket up and say, “Alex, in case you’re on your lunch or dashing out, feel free to pick something.” So she explained to her staff what it was, how they’re gonna do it, when they’re gonna do it, and why they’re gonna do it.

[01:05:00] Mostly she answered the question of what makes that important to her, ’cause she wanted to do a bit better. Her staff understood. They tried the process. They refined it a tiny little bit. Do you wanna know what the feedback was? This is just after two weeks, it took a long time sometimes to pick. If there was more than one kind of thing.

There’s more than one kind of thing, Alex. They’re like, “Should I have the chocolate covered, uh, raisins or should I have the chips? I don’t know. Am I allowed to take two?” So sometimes that held things up, but to your point about all or none earlier, they didn’t throw it out. They’re like, “Great, why don’t we have some seasonal things or whatever?”

Problem number two, this is for real, Is because they bought it in bulk from, like, Sam’s Club, Costco, whatever. 

[01:05:47] Ildi Arlette: Staff got into the boxes. It was me. That I’d be, like, sneaking four bag of chips and, and they were, like, little singles. That was a problem. It was like [01:06:00] Halloween every day, and there were, like, treats.

So I’m like, “How would you refine it?” So they worked it out. They didn’t say, “Oh, that didn’t work. Oh, that whatever.” 

[01:06:09] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:06:09] Ildi Arlette: But it’s really interesting that that one story or gesture got the thinking going that it does not need to be a monumental big deal- Mm-hmm … of how are you gonna serve people and what’s important.

But what’s also interesting is about eight months later, um, someone said at the front, “Oh, I was hoping I’d be offered,” they called it a goodie, “a goodie, because my friend who referred me here said, ‘Oh, they offer you goodies when you, when, on your visit.’ She didn’t tell me I only get it when I leave.” And then another client said, “This reminds me of when I was a kid at the dentist and I got to pick something.”

[01:06:47] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yes. Yes. 

[01:06:48] Ildi Arlette: Right? I 

[01:06:49] Alex Bélisle-Springer: got to pick, like, cards. 

[01:06:52] Ildi Arlette: I know. Like, hockey 

[01:06:53] Alex Bélisle-Springer: cards and stuff. 

[01:06:55] Ildi Arlette: Exactly. And so- So 

[01:06:56] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Canadian. 

[01:06:58] Ildi Arlette: Totally. I [01:07:00] mean, that’s exactly it. This was in the US, this client. But, you know, hearing these stories, if someone goes, “Oh, I would never do that,” great. Pick your own. Make it better. If you wanna tell me client retention strategies, yes, you can absolutely invest $20,000 in marketing and digital support for client or patient retention, or you could try human gestures that you experiment with to see what sticks.

Now, this is a number of years ago. They don’t do that anymore. They do other things, and they still go, “Do you remember when we used to do that?” So they replaced it with other things, and caution, they didn’t replace it with bigger, better things. 

[01:07:41] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:07:41] Ildi Arlette: But I will tell you, my client made great revenue and profit, and she could afford to get a bigger space, so she did.

If she were here and we said, like, “Tell us the impact of going to a bigger space,” she would quote me, “Bigger space, bigger problem.” But she said, “I’ve built the capacity for [01:08:00] it- Mm … which means I have a normal amount of, ‘Oh my gosh, what have I done?’ And let me go sit in the circle. Let me be guided through what to do, be around good people, good communities- 

[01:08:14] Ildi Arlette: and we find out.” There, there is no, like, magic shortcut. Um, and I, I just wanna say I’m not sure people should call me if they want one. I do have a list of certainties. Here’s what works, here… And that is accessible to anyone. But I really worry when someone says, you know, “I just spend four minutes a day on this, and it worked.”

What I wanna tell you is it’s probably true, but it’s for such a tiny percentage of people- Mm … it may not be a good solution for you to invest the energy in. 

[01:08:47] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. So Hildy, um, I’m gonna bring us to a close, but before I do, I was thinking about doing a quick-fire round of questions because we went in so many different directions, obviously all [01:09:00] tied to one another.

But, um, I’m thinking this could potentially round things up really nicely. So yeah, I say we give a go. My first quick-fire round question is, are you ready? 

[01:09:13] Ildi Arlette: Ready. 

[01:09:15] Alex Bélisle-Springer: When you think about where both sectors are right now, aesthetics, you know, being on the rise, growing at an incredible pace, and then the salon industry also facing some real structural, like, headwinds, how would you describe the growth path of each sector?

[01:09:32] Ildi Arlette: Um, I wanna say that rapid growth doesn’t equal a healthy business. 

[01:09:40] Alex Bélisle-Springer: What is something you consider, uh, a mistake that you see owners make in the current context, perhaps in response to uncertainty or fear or their lack of capacity to hold that? 

[01:09:54] Ildi Arlette: One of the big mistakes is prioritizing and implementing perks in your [01:10:00] workplace versus some solid structures.

Like culturally, here’s what we do, here’s how we pay, here’s how you get more pay. Hmm. Then people want that structure and clarity more than the perks. Both are ideal, but have the structure in place first and then dress it up with the perks. 

[01:10:20] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Love that. At what point does avoiding c- discomfort become a disservice to the client or patient?

[01:10:29] Ildi Arlette: Um, when we know what would help them, but we don’t say it. So sometimes it’s difficult to be honest because of all kinds of pressures. When we are friendly to say, “We’re here, come back anytime,” but the person came in with a primary pain point, and they’re leaving without a solution. They might be leaving with an invitation to come back, but we really didn’t help them.

And basically, when we avoid making recommendations because we’re uncomfortable with that, [01:11:00] when that’s the whole job, to help someone through a decision. 

[01:11:03] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. Okay. And then the last two, I guess. Um, that’ll bring us to five. I think that’s a good number. We talked about the trust recession.

What does rebuilding trust actually look like in practice for the aesthetics sector and for the hair and beauty industry? 

[01:11:22] Ildi Arlette: That one’s easy. Actions over words. Show them, do it, don’t talk about doing it, et cetera. Actions over words. 

[01:11:33] Alex Bélisle-Springer: And the last one. Looking ahead, what gives you hope about where both sectors are going, and what would need to be true for that hope to be warranted?

[01:11:46] Ildi Arlette: That’s such a good question It’s a, three things came to mind, Alex, and it is, it is actually related to you and Phorest that people listening to this, I, I really want them to know, and they don’t [01:12:00] see the invisible work that you do and Phorest does to bring content like this to them. I, I just want everybody to know that while Alex and I are here for a certain time on this podcast, it is hours of work behind the scenes from Alex and his team, as well as Joe, my contact at Phorest, who spent time getting to know us.

Um, he does what he said he was going to do. Um, there is so much work that goes into doing this. All you need to do is provide software, but you’re doing so much more. And, and I wanna thank you for it, and I wanna encourage people to stick around this community. Is… That’s really my, my hope, Alex, is I am holding out on the goodness in people to s- no matter what hardship is happening around us, to still tell the difference between right and wrong, good and bad, even if it’s according to their definition- 

[01:12:59] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Mm

[01:12:59] Ildi Arlette: and [01:13:00] wanna do the right thing, like humanity, serve people, give them value in concrete, actionable ways, try and be more ourselves, like build capacity. All my money and chips are on the human continuing to evolve and be present and not overshadowed by what’s happening outside of ourselves and around. Um, and these communities that you’ve built, we’ve built, um, community doesn’t need to mean, like, we’re besties.

We might talk like once a year, once every two years, but we know we have a place to come back to where questions are allowed, uncertainty is allowed, unclarity is allowed. 

[01:13:43] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah. 

[01:13:43] Ildi Arlette: All these things, and we’ll know, you’ll know, all of us will know when we get there ’cause it, it literally feels right. 

[01:13:50] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Yeah.

[01:13:50] Ildi Arlette: That’s what I’m holding out for. 

[01:13:53] Alex Bélisle-Springer: I mean, couldn’t have asked for a better ending for this. Yeah. Um, thank you for the flowers. I really appreciate it. It means so [01:14:00] much. Um, and, and honestly, yeah, huge shout-out to Joe because I don’t know if, how many people know this, but he has been one of the most consistent people in Phorest recommending amazing guests to feature on the podcast.

And, um, and it’s always just been in a pure kind of like, I believe in this, this show, I believe in the conversations that are happening here. And yeah, I mean, I, I tell him all the time, but I, yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s truly a pleasure to then be able to connect with the people he puts me in touch with, including yourself.

Um, it has been such a pleasure both, both times we’ve been on calls together. I’ve, uh, uh, including this one. Um, it’s just like I I don’t know. I feel like I l- get lost in time, and I’m like, wow, this is- That’s me … this is what it is. This is the golden nuggets. 

[01:14:57] Ildi Arlette: So true. It’s just, uh, it’s really been, uh, [01:15:00] my pleasure as well, and thank you so much for having me.

[01:15:03] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Amazing. Well, thank you. No, like, like honestly, thank you for the time. Um, and, um, and I wanna extend the invitation to anyone listening to get in touch with you to learn more about your community as well. Um, so in that regards, where can people find you online, Ildi? 

[01:15:20] Ildi Arlette: The best place is Instagram, and it’s Ildi, I-L-D-I underscore Arlett.

Can just type in Ildi and you’ll see me on there, and that’s the best way. Um, I would say go to our website if you want, but that just links you to me. I, I probably shouldn’t give my phone number, but I am comfortable giving it. Send me a quick DM, and I would love to hear what has resonated with someone here that maybe gave them a bit of an anchor of hope or an inspiring idea.

Because, you know, the people that you and I get to work with, Alex, and the people in, you know, the Phorest and, and [01:16:00] we get to work with, brilliant, brilliant minds. They just simply need a space that brings that out in them. So I would love to hear from people about what they’re thinking and what’s on their mind.

[01:16:10] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Absolutely. Get in, get in those DMs. Thank you. 

[01:16:16] Ildi Arlette: Totally, and it’s me there. It is actually me and my colleague, and we’re there, so anytime. 

[01:16:23] Alex Bélisle-Springer: Ildi, thank you so much for making the time to have this conversation with me. I appreciate it, and I already know just how much this is gonna resonate with people listening, so I, I really appreciate you.

Thank you. 

[01:16:36] Ildi Arlette: My pleasure. My pleasure. It was great to be here. Great to be here. 

[01:16:41] Alex Bélisle-Springer: If there’s one big takeaway I’m leaving this conversation with, it’s that need for building capacity, building capacity to hold uncertainty, to adapt, to ask better questions, and to keep showing up in ways clients can trust. If you’re ready to stop second-guessing and start growing, no matter [01:17:00] whether you’re scaling or starting fresh, Ildi’s there to walk the path with you.

She has created and hosts exclusive, confidential med spa mastermind groups providing direct access to her live learning sessions and bimonthly calls, specific Q&A on problem-solving and growth strategies, and a space to share best practices. In the show notes, you’ll find a link to connect with Ildi for a 30-minute focused conversation designed to help you see what’s really happening inside your clinic and, of course, what’s next.

If at the end of the call you want more hands-on help to implement what you uncover, you’ll be able to discuss how you can work together. And as always, thank you so much for spending the past hour or so with us. 

The PhorestFM podcast is brought to you by Phorest Software. More than software, we’re on a mission, together with our community, to build a stronger industry. 

[01:17:53] ALEX Bélisle-Springer: This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z, Montreal’s cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed.

Great music makes great moments.