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Chelsea: Hello, hello, hello, hennapreneurs! Okay. I am checking on my laptop here to make sure that our stream is good. And then if so, then I'll share this feed over. Perfect. I see us here. So I'm going to share this feed over into the Hennapreneur community. And then we are going to dive into our la- our first - our last - our first Ask Me Anything! session for the month of June. Let's share this over and we will get started. Okay. So, let me start off by saying, first of all, hello! If you are new to me, if you're new to Hennapreneur - Hi, my name is Chelsea Stevenson. I am a professional henna artist and business owner, business strategist, here in Baltimore, Maryland. Um, and twice a month, every month, I come live here on Hennapreneur to do a live Ask Me Anything! session where you can submit your questions in advance.

If we have time then I take questions live here as well. Um... But yeah, we talk about all things henna, business, and branding. So let's dive in! I also want to take a second just to acknowledge, hey guys, last month we didn't have Ask Me Anything! sessions. And I realized, after the fact, that I really didn't do a good job of communicating why. Last month I was taking away, if you will. I took off for the month, if you will, for pretty much all work purposes because we had the month of Ramadan. So I apologize if that wasn't clear, but that's why you missed me through the month of May. Anyway, so with our sessions this month, we have this week session and in two weeks, we'll have another Ask Me Anything! session for June as well. So I have a handful of questions that came in.

I think, honestly, some of these questions are a little easier. Some of them are a little bit heavier, so I'm not sure how we're going to do on time. But if in the meantime you have any comments or questions that you'd like to ask or add in, you're welcome to drop them here. And I will follow along on my laptop and make sure that we cover them as well. So the first question that came in, um, actually was very straightforward, straight to the point. "How much for a beginner kit or what's the cost of a starter kit?" To be clear, I don't sell starter kits. Um, I don't sell starter kits or like, uh, having a kits. So I don't have, like, an answer for you in terms of how much it costs with Hennapreneur. I will say, most times if you're looking to purchase the materials to start up, that I can speak to. Many times,

if you're looking to start, um, by working as a henna artist, you're- the first thing, obviously, you need to know how to make your henna paste. So in order to do that, you're going to need to purchase henna powder, essential oil, some sort of liquid. You can use water if you don't want to make a purchase. You could, in most cases, use the tap water, or distilled water. Um, and some sugar components as well. So, many of the items that you'll need you actually likely have at home. There are some more technical- I say "technical", and I feel like it's probably not the best word, but items that you'll need to also use the product that you're making, right, that you might not have. So you might not have things like cellophane paper or carrot bags at home.

Like, these are things that are a little bit more specialty items that you would purchase for a reason, right? So, if you don't have those sorts of things, then you would need to grab them. But I will say that the cost, in general, to get started with henna, to make your first batch, is typically under about 30 bucks-ish. 30 bucks, depending on where you are in the world and the type of quality item that you're purchasing, the quantity as well. Of course, it's going to speak to that. So I'd say definitely to get started making henna, you're looking at somewhere between like a $30 to $50 investment odds are it's not going to cost you very much though to get started. The big thing though is making sure that you do know how to mix your henna paste fresh, because if you're not working with fresh, natural henna, then you shouldn't be working with clients at all.

That is a safety risk, which we can talk about if you guys have questions about it. But if you are looking for a recipe, I have a recipe that you can download and I'll put the link for that for you in the comments. Okay. So, uh, the next question was, uh... "My state has been has been closed since March and is only slowly beginning to reopen. Can you share how you've been keeping your business running even with the shutdowns?" I love this question. I think it's a really good one. So, okay. So... Yes, I'm happy to share. Um, my state is in a similar place. My state officially closed services out on March 23rd. But I actually had stopped taking clients back in February. And so I worked out the contracts and the bookings that I already had that were already existing up through March.

And actually my last client was like the day before the shutdown, which... So it worked out well for me. Um, but in terms of how I, well, my state continues to be shut down. We just, um, on last Friday, last Friday, the governor said, "Okay, personal services can reopen at 50% capacity." So, technically, officially, I should be able to open and take on clients. I've not yet taken clients. I've not yet opened my scheduler. And I'm happy to chat about that too. So, can I share what I've been doing to keep my business running even with the shutdowns? Yes, absolutely. Um, for me, running Cardamom and Clove... All right, so let me preface by saying, Cardamom and Clove has worked, has been around for... I'm going into 10 years, right? So, with 10 years of business, I have a lot of traffic.

I have a client base that already kind of, uh, that trusts me, that visits me, that promotes me. And so I see that and I feel like some of what I might share comes from- because it comes from that place, I'm like, I want you to take it with a grain of salt, especially if you're someone just starting out. Um, but, I digress. Right. So I just want to- kind of for transparency sake, like, you know, that that's like the place that my business is in. So for me, when the- once the shutdown hit, the first thing that I did, of course, was announced that I was no longer going to be taking people at the henna boutique. That this was not something that I could, you know, I could even do legally at this point.

Um, and, uh, I didn't... Yeah, I actually immediately went into talking with my clients about how I could continue to make sales or continue to service them. Like, that's not- I just said, "Look, we're closed," and that was that. In the interim, you know, you have to get creative. And so, for me, this has looked like a couple of things. One, I have a long-standing sort of reputation, if you will, with my client base that- wherein I do a lot with education, I do a lot with community and my clients, and my customers know that I'm a homeschooler. So they know that I'm an educator. So the first thing that I did during the shutdown was I started to teach classes that I wasn't always teaching before. I taught them before in the capacity of like, as a homeschooler, working with other homeschool families.

I started to- I had a class that I would teach that was all about the culture and history of henna. Henna culture and, like, exploring henna around the world. So, it was taking on like a social studies, sort of, um... social studies slash art slash cultural studies, sort of positioning. And this was a class that I would teach. And so I started to teach that class to the local homeschoolers, but then also I started to teach that class online to other friends because my clients were then making referrals out to their friends saying, "Hey, you know, my henna artist is teaching this class. It's really fun. You have a child who's now home or whatver." So this was something that I started to do. So teaching teaching was a way that I was able to keep my business going throughout this shutdown.

I did sell product. So, I sell... I'm not a fan, honestly, if you guys- if you know me, I've been very transparent about the fact that I'm not crazy about retail. Um, I'm not really a fan. I'm not really a fan of, like, doing the packaging and sending the orders. Like it's not, it's not what excites me about life., right? So, um, but because of what was going on, I started to receive request sfrom my clients saying, "Hey, we know we can't come to you, but like, can we purchase your cones?" And so I've been doing that, selling henna cones, when I would get a request for them. And then aside from that, I also just started delving into what other creative things I had. So, one of the things- it's so funny because it's totally, it's not related to henna at all, and yet my clients have really enjoyed it.

So, um, I- this is som- like, I'm nervous about it. I'm shy about it. You guys, like, I- I kind of want, like, the earth to swallow me. So I- One of my hobbies - and this has been a personal hobby for me for a long time - is to make nails. Like, in another world maybe I would be a nail technician, but I - and it's funny saying this as a henna artist - but like, I don't have any desire to actually do other people's nails. Like, it's the hygiene piece. I don't know. Like, whatever. Don't hold me to this. Bottom line, I'm like, "Ah, I don't ever want to do anyone else's nails," but I love doing nails for myself. But as a Muslim woman, like, we don't wear polish on our nails except like- that's a whole 'nother thing, whatever. So, bottom line is, I had a personal hobby that I used to create starting back in like 2018, I would make custom press on nails for myself.

And so I started just making more nails, making more press on nail sets, and because the nail salons were closed, my clients caught wind that I was making press on nails. And so then they were purchas- they started to purchase press on nail sets from me as well. So actually now, as businesses are starting to reopen, I have- I've got, like, this inventory of press on nail kits that will now be in the henna boutique, and that are selling online right now. So it's, um, I know that it sounds- like, I feel like it sounds kind of strange, like it's not related to henna at all, but at the same time I know my clients, right? Because you have to know your ideal clients. My clients come in well-manicured every single time I see them.

So it shouldn't surprise me or surprise you that it would be interesting to them to have this person who they were already visiting for services who's now offering a service or offering a product, I should say, offering a product that they couldn't get because their nail techs were closed. And so that was another way. It was a creative way that I was able to also bring in income for my business, even though the business officially was not, is not, open, right? Soomeone said, "Uh, so can I purchase cones from you online?? There is a link. You can purchase cones online. Ena, welcome! Hey, good to see you. I was just talking about nails. I was just talking about nails. And actually, if you don't mind, I'm going to put you out there a little bit.

Ena is a nai- a professional nail tech. Not like me, a professional nail tech, but also a professional henna artist. And so she and I, uh, she started doing press on nails as well. Um, and I think much to, much to her satisfaction as well and to the satisfaction of her clients. So, um, I, I, I love this question about how I managed to keep my business running even with the shutdown. You have to get creative. You have to get creative. You have to think outside of the box. We're business owners and you never know what's going to come your way. You never know what circumstance is going to pass by you. And so you have to be open and willing to explore what other skill sets you have. For me, that's like from the front- like, from Cardamom and Clove's perspective, like we started there.

But I'll tell you, even in the downtime, I've had clients who- a lot of my clients are also business owners, right? So I'll preface with that, or who know people who are business owners. And so, because I have the reputation that I have, because I've been public, I've been visible, about the things that I do and the things that I know how to do, I started to have conversations about, "Hey, if you need help with setting up the back office of your business, if you need help with your marketing strategy, if you need help with creating promotional materials, if you need help with all of these different things, technical things, building websites. These are skill sets that I have, right?" Like, as a business strategist, these are things that I know how to do. And so one of the things that for me kind of took me off-

I shouldn't say it caught me off guard, but I was very thankful for the fact that my community trusted me because of the reputation that I have through my business. Um, so when I said, "Hey, I can't do henna right now, but I have these other things that I can do - How can I support you?" Or "Do you know anyone else who could use this help?" And by making myself available to do those other services that perhaps typically I wouldn't do, I was able to still maintain income through my business. So, again, you do, you have to get creative. You have to be willing to put yourself out there. I, um, for those- of course, there's the students inside the Accelerator. We have group coaching calls and during those coaching calls, a lot of the time that we've spent- Giving you, like, a little insight behind the scenes, right?

A lot of the time that we've spent over these few months of the shutdowns, is having conversations around how you can monetize the skills that you already have. How you can monetize those skills that, you know- You have to understand, we're business owners. And we think of ourselves as business owners in the context of henna, but you have to be mindful also of the other skill sets that you've developed in order to run that business, right? Like, it's not that, "Oh, I just do henna," and that's it. You are someone who has learned how to do henna. Who's learned how to manage a social media platform. Who's learned how to perhaps, you know, set up a scheduling system or who's learned how to do X, Y, Z. You know, the list goes on. You guys are very multi-talented, multifaceted people, and you have skill sets that go way beyond drawing on someone else's skin.

So, uh, for us, I've been, I've been encouraging the students inside of the Accelerator, and consulting clients that I've had throughout this time, I've been encouraging people to reach beyond and look beyond what they're known for and dive into those other skill sets that they also have, because they're also likely skill sets that can be monetized. Here, like I said, here, officially as of Friday, I could open up the henna boutique at 50%. I still haven't opened it up yet. I'm still making arrangements, if you will. I want to make sure that I'm doing things in the right way and the best way I want to keep everyone safe, um, myself and my family included. So I'm still working in those extra capacities. Um, but that's how I've been able to keep things going.

And I say that with, you know, reminding you guys, you know, I do, I have a physical location. So that means that there are expenses that have to be paid. It doesn't matter, um, to include the rent, right? And so that's how I've been able to manage those, how I've been able to manage that. Um, so yeah, that's my transparent answer. I don't know. I hope this is helpful. Um, but whether, you know, whether your business is 10 years old or two years old, or two months old, you have skills available to you. You have skills that you know and so don't be shy to monetize those skills. Don't be shy to look outside of henna itself. You, you, you can do the things. Karen, hey! Welcome! I'm so glad to see you here. Okay. Um, this next question is, "I'm a henna artist having more than 10 years of experience. I used to do a big summer festival as a vendor in Toronto.

I'm thinking of joining a big organization like About Faces-" Which, if you don't know About Faces, it's like a contracting platform. "-or any others, if you suggest, or anything else." Um, so based on what I'm understanding here, you're wanting to know if I think that this is a good idea, and if I would suggest any other platforms, so I'll answer it in that way. Um,

So, you can, Steph, you can definitely, I think it's worth- I think it's important to put your business out on as many platforms as possible. If you're able to join a collective like these, uh, About Faces, there are some other companies as well that are in Canada and the UK and the US where, basically, these are entertainment companies who they will secure the contract. They will get paid from the client. Then they pay you a fee. They pay you your fee, whatever fee you guys agree upon. And then they take, like, they take a cut. I think that's fine if you are okay with that. Like, if you're okay with having someone else manage the booking platform, manage the booking process, literally, when you're working with these companies, you basically just get a contract from them. They'll contact

you, say, "Hey, are you available this date? Here's a contract." If you're available, you sign the contract and that booking is now yours. And then you go. The downside of arrangements like these is that these companies don't allow you to advertise your own business. So when you go, you're going on behalf of their business. Some people have a problem with that. Some people don't. I don't have a problem with that. I work with a handful of entertainment agencies like these who will book, you know, perhaps they're booking, like, a corporate client, or perhaps they're booking, whatever, they're booking whatever event. And they'll contact me and I'll sign the contract with them. When I go, I'm working on behalf of their company. If people ask how can they book me, I direct them back to that company. If they ask where they can leave a review, I direct them back to that company. I don't take any of the credit as the artist on behalf of Cardamom and Clove Henna. I take credit as someone who's contracted through their business. This takes- Uh, if you're going to do this type of work, it takes integrity because please understand that there are going to be times that you will go, if you're working in this capacity, this sort of arrangement, there will be times where you will go to a booking and that client will say, "Hey, I really liked working with you. How can I book you specifically?" And it takes integrity because you're going to have to say, "You can't

call me. You need to call them." And a lot of times where things get messy with these sorts of arrangements is when the artist doesn't have that type of self control and they give their own business information out, and in doing so, you're breaking the contract that you have with that person, with that agency who booked you. So, if you choose to go in with one of these larger organizations, or if you're choosing to go in and, and, uh, work with them in a contractor capacity, make sure that you do the things that make you feel comfortable taking on that work. The first thing that I'm going to say about this is, make sure that you're paid at a rate that makes you happy because there's no- like the one way

this goes down south very fast, is for you to accept the booking at, I don't know, let's say you accept the booking at some dollar amount that's less than what you're used to working for, or maybe has you a little bit on the fence. And then you start to feel resentment working with that company. And then that moment, when the client says, "Hey, I want to book you." Then it becomes much harder to point back to that company. Make sure that when you go in and you have that arrangement with the organization, that you agree upon what that fee is going to be, and that it's a fee that suits you. And if it doesn't suit you, feel okay with walking away as well. Now, I'm going to play the devil's advocate here a little bit because,

as someone who also will contract out, occasionally I will contract out to other artists, right? There's something that you should understand, that business is a business, and they're spending the time and the money and the effort to market their business in enough of a way that made them visible enough to secure those contracts, right? So it is- they are totally within their right to have a fee that they're taking off top. Many times they're charging som- for henna artists, many times they're charging like $150 an hour, and they may be paying that artist $75 an hour or a $100 an hour. So they're taking a significant cut from what they're actually receiving from the client, but they're in their rights to do that. They have the platform and they did the work to be visible enough to capture those clients before you did,

right? And ultimately you, as the artist, you are getting a phone call that says, "Hey, come make money," and you didn't have to do anything. You didn't have to do any work to secure that contract. So, I wanna kind of give you also that side of the coin because it's important to keep in mind. Again, for me personally, I like working with organizations like that so long as they have good communication. So as long as I'm getting paid on time, so long as I see that they're taking care of me as a contractor and not taking advantage of me in any way, I think that it's fine. And, um, I- if you, I mean, you asked if I have a suggestion for other companies, I'm not going to suggest any particular companies. I think you should do your homework on them.

If you reach out to these entertainment companies and want to engage with them, make sure that you, I mean, if you can even chat with some of the contractors who they're already working with to see what that relationship looks like. Make sure that when you speak to the agents that are there, get a vibe for them, see how you feel talking with them. Do you- are they respectful with you? Are they cutting you off in the middle of sentences? What does that look like? And remember that you can request the contract. You can review their contract and that doesn't require that you sign. So do your homework on them first. Make sure that you're comfortable working with them. And then if that's the case, then go ahead and proceed. And if not, then that's OK too. You get to walk away. You, I mean, it's your business.

You get to do what you want. So, uh, okay. Last- and this is another, this one is a little bit heavy. Um, okay. Uh, bottom line, "So we all know what's going on in the world right now. I'm not sure if I should say something on my henna page about it or not. What do you recommend?" So this one I kept until last because it is a little bit heavier. Yes, we all know what's going on in the world right now. And this question has, I've gotten so many private messages that are especially- I've gotten so many emails about this issue specifically about whether to say something, what to say, "Do I say something?" "Chelsea, what do I say?" I'm not going to- Listen, I'm not going to tell you guys what to say. And I'm not going to tell you guys what not to say.

You are business owners. Your job is to represent your business to the best of your ability, right? We all know what's going on in the world. We all know that social justice is always an issue that should- personally, I believe social justice is something that should always be at the forefront of our minds, right? Like, when you're living in the world you have a particular moral compass. Like, that for me is something that's close to my heart as a black woman. I can't hide that. That's always, that's a part of my experience in life, right? Okay. Should you say something about it on your henna page, yes or no? That's totally up to you. This is the feedback that I've been giving people. When I get this question in private and I'm just going to answer it here. Like, like so as well.

We have to understand: One, again, you are the business owner. You get to call the shots. You get to say what you want. You get to do what you want. You get to represent yourself and your business in whatever way that you want.

When it comes to managing a public perception, right? Public perception. You're not writing that story. The public ultimately is the one who's writing that story. Your audience is the one who's going to decide what you're doing, what you're saying, and if they agree with you, okay. So this is another piece. And that has everything to do with branding and brand values and core va- Like, when you're building your brand these are things that you need to be considering, outside of what's going on today. Like, this is core foundations of branding, right? You need to have these things in place. So if equality, if equity, and if justice have anything to do with how you feel as a person moving through the world today, and especially if those are things that you talk about in any capacity inside of your business, then now is probably a good time for you to put your words, and your money, where your mouth is.

What does that mean? You get to decide. Also, you need to understand that, whatever you say, and the things that you don't say, and the things that you do, and the things that you don't do, all, they all leave space. They all create space for the public to make a decision about you. So public perception is always based on those things: your words, your silence, your action, and your inaction. All of those things are going to inform the way that people perceive what you're doing and what you're saying. So should you speak up about what's going on in the world today? Maybe, maybe not, whatever you choose to say or whatever you choose to do, make sure that you're doing it and that it's something that you can stand behind. That ultimately is what I feel. Personally, personally... And I'll tell you this, even from the consumer side, right?

If I just take myself back, if I remove myself from a business strategy, all of this, right? Just from the consumer side, I'll let you know, as a consumer, I'm a conscious consumer. I always look at what the companies I'm doing, uh, I'm doing business with are promoting, what they're sharing, what they're saying, what they're... whatever. So, of course, right now, as a black woman, like, I am absolutely aware of who is saying and doing what. And that's definitely informing where I'm choosing to spend my money. Not everyone operates that way. Some people don't care. Some people are very passionate about it, more passionate about it than I am, right? So, from the consumer side, of course there are going to be people who are looking specifically to see who is saying what, and depending on what you've said, that might be the tipping point for whether or not they want to partonize your business.

And that's fine. Like, they're within their rights to do that. And you, as the business owner, you're in your rights to be silent. If you want to be silent or to be as vocal as you want, you can be full on Ben and Jerry's vocal if you wanted, and you're in your rights to do that. Also, I will say... And in fact, I was just having a conversation with my dad about this earlier today, I will say, I would prefer, I would prefer for businesses to just be upfront about where they stand because it makes it easy for me as a consumer to choose where I'm going to spend my money. Like, and that's not just in terms of business and that's not just in terms of commerce, like, in general, if someone has a belief system or a value system that doesn't align with mine, I'd prefer to just know it upfront so that I can move on with my life, right? I would prefer that versus, like, tiptoeing on the middle. So, from a personal standpoint, that's what I say. From a business standpoin,. I, I want you guys to

be aware of, to be aware of the culture that you're building around your brand, okay? And I'm not saying... I'm not- Obviously, I think my opinion is clear on what I believe is right and I'm trying to remove that as much as possible. So you guys are going to have to bear with me. I'm trying to be as, like, neutral in this piece of advice as possible.

If you have a belief system that says whatever it says, whatever it says, right, and you're willing to stand behind that belief system inside of your business and outside of your business, then I think that now's a great time to share what that belief system is.

Period.

And then understand that when you're sharing that, you are creating a culture around your brand. You are creating a culture around your business and you are going to attract similar people. And you're going to repel people who think opposite from you. And so that is what branding does anyway, okay. Please understand that, like, outside of social justice, outside of human rights - notice that I'm not saying politics, because this is not a political issue, it's a human rights issue - outside of all of that, when you're building your brand, you are creating it in such a way that it should attract the right people to you and repel the wrong people from you. That is what an efficient branding strategy does, okay? So, right now, with everything that is going on in the world you may feel like it's uncomfortable and indeed, for many of us, it is. You need to consider whether this is something that your brand should speak up on, and make that decision based on your belief system, right?

And then understand that also, whatever it is that you put out or that you don't put out, it is going to build a culture. Um, and it's going to either attract or repel people, whether you wanted to or not. I think, from a branding perspective, honestly, this is the hardest part of building a brand. You do have to be intentional at every step. Not just right now, not just in today's social climate, not just- no, all the time, as a business, and especially for us, we are oftentimes- we are single individuals who are operating our businesses. So we're actually personal brands operating

through a service-based business.

And when you create a personal brand, people are looking at you. You are the face of that. You are the mind behind it. You're the soul behind it. And so if you are, um... As you're building your brand, regardless of, you know, what's happening in the world around you, the things that you do and the things that you say speak to that brand experience, and that is hard. And that's why I'm not going to tell you, "Say this," "Don't say that," "Do this," "Don't do that." It's not my place. That's your place as the business owner. That's your place as the person who's curating that brand experience. That's your place to decide. So if- you know, it's go- I'm gonna, I'm gonna throw the ball back in your court. I recognize this is, I feel like this is a long winded answer, and it's also not a direct answer at all.

And that's intentional. This is for you. Now, if you are like, "Okay, I feel like I want to say something. I have questions. Should I-" You know, maybe perhaps you've crafted a statement and you're like, "Hey, can you put eyes on this? I want to make sure that I'm not out of bounds here," or something like that. Or if you want to have conversation, if you want feedback about those things, you're welcome. You can post them inside of the Hennapreneur community, inside of the Facebook group. It's a private group. It's just us business owners there. And I'm happy to give you feedback on it. And I'm sure that there would be others inside of the community who would be willing to share their thoughts as well. Um, but I'm not going to spoonfeed anyone what to do or what to say, because that's not what I'm here for. My job is to empower you and to, to, to, um, educate you about the things that you're doing. And ultimately this is- it's, it's, it's a decision that you're going to have to make for yourself. So

that's what I got. All right, Y'all. That's the last question for today? I didn't see anything new come in in the chat. So I'm going to wrap it up here. Um, if you guys do have, like, if anything does come up, please, you're more than welcome. You're welcome to leave them here in the comments. We can chat about it inside the Hennapreneur community, it'd be my pleasure. Um, and yeah... I thought... There was something that I wanted to add. I don't even remember. I think I just shared about us being out in March, or excuse me, in May. Ah! Workshop. I have a question for you guys. I know- Listen, last month... Was it last month? No. Obviously it wasn't in May. It was in April! It was in April. We did a live weekend workshop, which was a lot of fun. And I'm thinking about doing another one this month, but I'm not sure if this is something that you guys would like to do. If you guys would be interested in another weekend workshop, let me know. Let me know in the comments. Uh, I'll put a poll up. Um, but if you'd like for me to organize it, I'd be happy to do it. But I'm like, let me make sure that the want and the need is there. Um, okay. I'm gonna get off of here. I will talk to you guys later. Bye!