We're Talking About: Servicing Henna Parties and Being Scared About Going Live on Your Henna Business' Page
Ask Me Anything!
You’ve got questions, I’ve got answers!
In today’s Ask Me Anything!, we’re tackling the following questions submitted from hennapreneurs like you:
[01:46] I feel super awkward when doing henna parties. I’m not sure how to behave, whether I should chime in during conversations or just keep my head down and do henna.
[10:38] When you're working at parties, how do you work on feet or other body parts that are not comfortable to do while sitting at a table? I'm losing clients that want henna on their feet or their back, but I shake in different positions and the clients also don't stay very still.
[15:42] I want to go live or post videos, but I'm nervous to put it all out there like that. Were you ever nervous or do you have any tips on how to get over it?
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+ Read the transcript here
Chelsea: Alright! Hello, hello, hello, hennapreneurs! Welcome! Welcome to our final Ask Me Anything for the month of September. Super excited to be here. Alright. I'm going to share this feed over into the Hennapreneur community because y'all already know how we do. Super thrilled to jump in. We had some good questions that came in for today's session. So we're going to answer those and then I'm going to bail and actually might go take a nap today, if I'm being honest. So let's see... Let's share this over into the group. Perfect.
Alright, so, um, if it is your first time joining me for one of these live Ask Me Anything sessions - Hi, my name is Chelsea Stevenson. I am a professional henna artist and business strategist based here in Baltimore, Maryland. I'm the founder of Hennapreneur and henna artists all around the world, hire me, trust me, look to me to give them info on how they can grow, expand, develop their henna businesses. And I love it. So, today- and twice every month, I come live here on Facebook and do a live Ask Me Anything session where I answer questions all related to business, to henna, to branding, to what it takes to run a henna business. So, um, today we had a couple of questions that came in that were actually really, really great. So we're gonna jump right in. And, uh, yeah. Then, like I said, after that, I might bail and go take a nap. We'll go- we'll see, we'll see what the day provides me.
So the first question that we have here is, this hennapreneur asks, "When doing henna parties, I feel super awkward sometimes. I never know whether to chime in or to keep my head down and henna on everyone is usually very nice, but when you're the 'hired help', I'm not sure how to behave when you're not in the conversation, but not completely out of it either."
I love this question and I love this question specifically because it asks- well, there are, there are a couple of reasons. First, it gives you a little bit of insight to like, the actual day-to-day work of a henna artist. I think that a lot of times we think about working and we consider that one-on-one appointment where you are having the conversation with the client, or you consider like, um, when you're at an event and you're doing things per piece, and you're just like working, working, working, and it's just head down. But when you're inside of a party setting, the dynamic really is different. And, um, and so I love being able to share a little bit about what that looks like for me. Aside from that, this question gives a lot of insight to, um, kind of the thought process and our own perception around the role that we play when we're doing our work. And this is really important because the way that we see ourselves and the way that we, um, the way that we choose to show up in the capacity, right, of our profession, our, um, our role as the service provider there, that also speaks to the brand experience that people are having. But it also speaks to the way that we feel and think about ourselves. And so, um, I love the fact that this hennapreneur used the words hired help, and actually put it in quotes because it's something that I'd like to unpack today as well.
So, um, to answer the question directly, when I am working a henna party, I play a little bit of a balance. Honestly, most of the time that I'm actually sitting and working with the guests at the party, I'm paying the most attention to the person who's sitting in front of me. So I like to kind of have my ears open for the things that are going on around me,inside of that party environment, but the person sitting across from me has the majority of my attention. So, um, even though it is a party setting, and even though there are lots of different people doing lots of different things, I want to be, um, most aware of the person that I'm creating for. And so I try to ask questions about their relation to the party, perhaps, how do they know the host or, um, what do they do for a living, or if they enjoy the whatever that, you know, so-and-so brought in, or the cupcakes or whatever, you know, making a comment on how beautiful the decor is, whatever that is. But I first try to, um, uh, build- establish some sort of conversation around them and how they fit into the dynamic of the party. It's always great to do this, especially, um, because you never know who exactly you might be sitting across from. You might be sitting across from the host's, you know, sister, or their cousin, or their neighbor, or their friend, um, their coworker, whatever. And you never know what sort of connections you might make there. So I always try to first identify where it is that that person fits into the dynamic of the party as a whole. Then aside from that, I do like, again, I kind of have the other ear listening to what's going on around the room. If, um, if I find that there are gaps in conversation with that person who I'm actually creating for it, then I might kind of echo something that's happening elsewhere inside of the room to try and kind of like tie that in and, and, um, encourage conversation to happen.
I think that it's really important - and you guys, this is something that I cannot stress enough - I think that is really important when we're sitting and creating for someone that there be that open exchange that there be that, um, um, communicating that there'd be that connection taking place between you and your client. I feel, and I feel this very strongly, I feel very strongly that your best work happens when you're able to connect intimately with the person who you're creating for. I believe in co-creation. Um, I say this to my clients. I say this to my friends. I teach this to my students. I believe in cocreation. I believe that you, as the artist are creating a thing, but it's inspired by the person who's doing- who's wearing that art, right? Um, it's inspired by that person who's actually going to be wearing that design.An d so, um, I want to encourage you guys to always first make sure that you're connecting with that person.
Now, in terms of like, how often or how frequently to chime in on what's going on in the room. I respond as the energy in the room, kind of leads me to do.
So let's say, for example, I'm working at a corporate event. When I'm working at a corporate event and things are, um, you know, there's different vendors there. Typically, when you're working in a corporate event, there are different vendors. There are other people who are offering different services. There may be a different vendor who's there like, with food offerings. There may be different vendors, maybe massage, or it may be a caricaturists or it may be whatever, right? Typically you're not the only person. And so in that sort of capacity, I like to kind of keep myself limited to my table. And that's where I do really want to make sure that I'm making connections with each person. I want everybody who I sit with to have an experience that they would be able to share with someone else, right? I don't want them to feel like an afterthought and I don't want them to feel like I kind of just rushed through them to get to the next person. A corporate sort of setting is different in that way.
Um, however, if I were to switch this and let's say I'm a, you know, servicing a birthday party, for example, or a ladies night, the energy there is very different, right? It's a lot more intimate. These are people who are gathered, you know, in their home or they're gathered in another space where the people who were there were invited very intentionally and not so much just because, um, they were meant to be there like a corporate- like an employee appreciation sort of event, right? And so in that capacity things are a little bit different.
There, everyone's a lot more laid back and people have let their proverbial hair down, right? That's a situation where you can be a lot more intimate with them. And so that's where I really do have my ear kind of scanning the room. I'm listening. Am I hearing inside jokes? Am I hearing someone say something a little bit funny, a little bit petty, a little bit shady, right? If I- if there is something that's said that causes interruption in the room, they're laughing about it. I'm likely laughing about it too. Like I'm not going to hide myself away because I'm there to service the party. On the contrary, they hired me because they enjoy my work and they enjoy my personality, that personality that they saw come through on social media, on my website and the email exchanges that we had up into that booking, right? And so they're hiring a person. They're not hiring a machine. And this is where I kind of want to pause and move into that second piece, um, and that is how we perceive ourselves, right?
Yes, you're hired to do the job. You're there to offer ex- you know, excellent henna services. You're there to make sure that everyone gets designs that they're pleased with. You're there to make sure that, you know, everyone's having a wonderful time that the guests are being served in a safe way with, you know, great quality product and all of those things, right? All of those things go without saying, but also, if they just wanted henna, they could have found henna with anyone, right? If they just wanted henna, they could have ordered cones online. If they just wanted henna, they could have, you know, there are so many other ways that they could have had henna done. Um, if they chose to hire you, it's because they wanted to engage with you. And so you don't have to feel like the "hired help" in the way that, you know, that might require you, like, huddling in the corner with your head down and just doing henna.
Never of course, are we, um, at the party and like just chitchatting and not doing the work, right? With the exception, if no one's sitting at your table, then obviously that's something different. But while you're there, you are there to offer the service. You're there to be, um, you know, completing a job. So do that while completing that job. But like, there's nothing wrong with taking a break, taking a sip of water, laughing at the joke, offering some sort of rebuttal or, um, you know, engaging and including yourself in that conversation and including yourself in that atmosphere.
One of the things that I'm most complimented on in the reviews that I get back from my clients, um, be it for private appointments or for parties is that: "Chelsea brings a certain energy." "Chelsea has a certain vibe," "There's a certain energy that she brings to the space." And that's what people are looking for when they hire you, too. It's not just the service and you're not just the help. You're there to improve, um, and to elevate that experience both by way of the service you're offering and by the energy that you bring. And so if your energy is hiding over there in the corner, they will not be able to benefit from that. Allow yourself the space to showcase your personality, allow yourself the space to engage with your clients and make connections. People want to do business with people, right? And so if you're there, it's because they want you there. So you don't have to feel like, um, like you shouldn't chime in, or you shouldn't have anything to say, or you're meant to be like, seen, but not heard. That's not a thing that we do.
And honestly, if you had clients like that, I really don't think that you'd like to work with them on an ongoing basis, right? We want to be sure that we're working with people who bring us joy as well. And so the best way that you can do that is to show up as yourself authentically and then allow for them to fall in love with you. And that's where those referrals come from. And then, birds of a feather. You already know how that goes, right? So that's my answer for that. Okay.
There's another question about parties. Another question about parties, unrelated, but similar. So, um, this hennapreneur says, "Oh my gosh, I have so many questions. When you're working at parties, how do you work on feet or other body parts that are not comfortable to do while sitting at a table? I'm normally just doing hands and wrists because of that and I'm losing some clients that want henna on their feet or their back, but I shake in different positions and the clients also don't stay very still." This is a really great question. So, um, typically when I'm working at parties, I have my setup. My expectation is that I'm going to be doing hands, arms, wrists. There's always that person who has a different request. There's always that person who wants to have their foot done, or their back done, or their shoulder done, or whatever. And that's inevitable. So, you are the business owner. You get to choose, right?
And this is something that- where- this is why setting expectations with your clients is really important. If you are open and willing to do additional body parts at a party, then you can do that. Set that up inside of your contract. My services include, you know, henna designs rendered on the arm, shoulders feet. Like, whatever that is for you, if you are the type of artist, who's like, "No, I want to go to the party and I only want to do designs on the hands, that's it," then include that also in your contract. When I'm at the party, I will be rendering services on- you know, for designs on the hand arm, wrist, that's it. Like, make sure that you have those sorts of expectations really clearly outlined, clearly defined for the person who's actually doing the hiring - the person who's paying you, right? Um, and then once you're at the party and you receive those sorts of, um, those guests that are asking questions or asking or making requests for things that go beyond what's been agreed upon, then you can say, "You know what? Today I'm only doing X-amount," or "Today I'm only doing this sort of piece," and you can create the- you can set those boundaries. But it's super important that those boundaries first have been discussed with the person who actually hired you.
You don't want to go into a situation where you've been hired and it's been kind of left open, and then you get there, the guest is asking you for a piece on their shoulder. You're telling them no, and the host is now looking at you sideways. That's not a situation that you want to be with- that you want to be in. It's super important that you always have very clear expectations with your clients from the jump.
Now, what's interesting to me about this question is that she said that I'm losing clients because I'm not offering services on these other body parts while at parties. And that- when I read that it tells me that this person is not being paid in advance. So we need to chat about that. There are two different ways that you can run, um, a party type of event or a private event.
Um, there are two different ways that you can choose to be paid. One, you can be paid per guest or per design, or you can choose to be paid by the hour. If you're being paid by guest or per design, then, um, the best way - which is what it sounds like this person is doing, but she's also not being paid until after, it sounds like - um, the best way to go about doing this in either case, honestly, is to be paid in advance. So if you're going to choose to be paid per client, um, which to be a hundred percent transparent, this is not something that I recommend. I strongly encourage all hennapreneurs to be charging by the hour, but that's neither here nor there.
If you choose to be- to book your parties, book your private events out per piece, then you still want to make sure that you're getting paid in advance. So have some sort of system in place so that your host or hostess who's actually doing the hiring can account for the number of people who are going to be there so that you have a dollar amount. You give them that dollar amount. You secure payment before you go and render services. Now, the beauty of this is, if you are offering henna services, you know, on different body parts, perhaps you have different price points for that and so you can allow for those, um, those guests or those clients, um, at the party to go ahead and pay in advance and you know what you're going to be doing when you get there. So that allows you to show up prepared. So you're not just there with your table. You know: I'm going to be doing a shoulder. I need to bring a high chair. Or whatever it is that you need for yourself.
Um, now on the flip side, if you are- if you're there and you're getting paid after the fact, you've now opened yourself up to a whole lot of potential loss time, and time is money. So, just like in this case, where you're losing clients, because you're not willing or able or comfortable to do designs on those different areas of the body, that all could be resolved had those things been addressed on the front end. Um, so I can't express enough how important it is for you to, um, to set those expectations with your clients at the forefront. Um, but then also, get yourself paid before you actually go there. Always get paid before you actually render services. Okay.
We are, like, on it! We are on it! We've got a couple more minutes before we hit the half hour. There's another question. So we'll go ahead and jump into this one and then we'll wrap up, okay? Unless you guys have any questions here live, if you do, you're welcome to drop them in the chat and I'll be sure to answer them before I jump off. So the last one I have here in advance is, this hennapreneur says, "I want to go live or post videos, but I'm nervous to put it all out there like that. Were you ever nervous or do you have any tips on how to get over it?"
Oh, yeah. Yes! Yes. Okay. So this- this is me ge- I'm going to be vulnerable, okay? Are you guys ready? Because this is going to get- I can't believe I'm about to say this on camera, but I'm about to say this on camera. Okay. So, um, yes. Yes. A hundred percent. When I first started doing live video, especially, I would be very nervous. Very nervous. Um, I don't have a fear of public speaking. Um, so I wasn't nervous in that way. It was more like the commitment to: oh gosh, if I've said a thing, then I've said it and it's done. Like, it's out there. There's no taking it back. And that was the part, it's the commitment that used to get me. So in that way, yes, I can definitely relate. Um, and even still today, I get really, I get really excited when I go on live. And when I, you know, when I speak with you guys or when I go on live for Cardamom & Clove Henna, and I g- you know, I'm chatting with my clients and I get, I get really excited and I do get nervous. You guys, I sweat. Like, I sweat profusely. It's so bad. Literally, there are days that I'll get off after an Ask Me Anything session. I'm like, "Oh my gosh! What's even happening." And I have to go, like, change shirts because I sweat so much. So it's a normal reaction. And I, um, I've been going live for now years and years and years and it hasn't, like, "gone away". So, um, I say that, in part, to be a little funny. And then I say that also, because I want you to know that it is- like, that response is normal. Um, and it's totally okay, but you ha- you should, like, if you feel called to do it, you should definitely do it anyway.
And let's be honest, one of the best things that you can do for your business is choose to go live. Live video? Oh my gosh, live video - across all platforms - delivers the best in terms of like, um, its placement in the algorithm, in terms of how much views and engagement you'll receive. Live video delivers the best. And, um, that's just, that's just organic reach. Once you start getting into paid advertising, live video is like a goldmine. So, um, I want to encourage you definitely to post the videos. Now, what things you could do to kind of get over it? So, okay. If going live is enough is enough to like, make you want to throw up, don't go live. Record the video first. Just prerecord it and upload it and get used to doing it that way. Um, but the second piece is just do it. Practice it. Practice it.
So, you know, you're here, you're inside of the Hennapreneur Community, right? On Facebook. Go live in there. Go live talking about your design. Literally just opening the gate, giving yourself: okay, I'm going to go live for 30 seconds. For 30 seconds I'm going to get on and I'm going to show this design that I did. For 30 seconds I'm going to go on and I'm going to explain the difference between henna and jagua. For 30 seconds I'm going to get on and I'm going to share about, you know, this piece that my friend and student did for me. Like, whatever it is. Like, you can do this however looks authentic to you. Um, even if you're popping in on your business page and saying, "Hey, 30 seconds just to say thank you for the people who are following me right now." Like, give yourself 30 seconds. And in that 30 seconds allow yourself to, to, to just unfold.
What I will say is, it can be very helpful, especially as you're developing content with live video, it can be very helpful to have talking points because if you're anything like me, my brain goes way faster than my mouth does, and so every so often I'll find myself getting derailed and kind of go over here and whatnot. So, if you are like very cautious of that, or if you're nervous about saying something that might be embarrassing later, or, "Oh gosh, why did I go there? Why did I do that?" Have a couple of- like, a Post-it note. And this is something that I will do, especially when I'm doing- when I'm delivering live trainings and things like this. Or even if there's something that I want to update my audience about, right?
So like on Cardamom, & Clove Henna, there was a series of videos that I put out. One of them was about, um, getting ready for a party. How to get ready for- like, planning a henna party. And there were lots of different points that I wanted to address. Well, I'm the type that I'll get into story mode and I'll go way over there and then have to come back. Like, you don't want to do that, right? And so for things like that, where I'm creating content to educate my audience about how I can best serve them, I'll make sure that I have a Post-it note with just a couple of talking points. Maybe that's three talking points or five talking points. No more than that. But just enough so that you can keep yourself on track that, "Oh, I wanted to touch on this, this, this, and that," and then go live.
Um, I think that one of the biggest things for many of us is like that fear around, um, you know, "What do I look like?" "Am I camera ready?" "Am I duh-duh-duh-" Like, let all of that go. To be honest, people do not care about what you look like when you go live. They care everything about what you're actually saying when you go live. They care everything about the value that you're providing. So, definitely, definitely, take advantage of live video. And again, you're welcome inside of the Hennapreneur Community. You're there, if you guys, if you're watching and you're not a member of the Facebook group, join the Facebook group, we're freaking awesome.
Um, but I mean, this hennapreneur is there. Go live inside of the group. 30 seconds. Tell us about a thing that you did. And just do that to build that muscle, um, that muscle of speaking in front of people, right? And what- you know, delivering - what's the word I wanna use here? - delivering content around the thing that you do. And the more you talk about what you do, the easier it is to do it. Um, so there's that. Okay.
So... Oh gosh! We, like, killed it. So we're right on time. We're right at the half hour. So, I don't feel that we had any questions come in here live. So I'm not going to stress about that. I am going to actually jump off of here and I do think, I really do think y'all, that I'm going to take a nap today. Like, that doesn't happen, but I feel like that's what's happening today.
Um, okay! If you haven't- Oh! This is one thing. Before I go, if you haven't, I asked a question last week where I wanted to know if I were to take you behind the scenes in my own henna business; If I were to take you behind the scenes of Cardamom & Clove - how I'm running a near six-figure henna business - What things would you want to see? What things would you want to learn? What things would you want to know? There were lots of comments on that thread. A lot of them had to do with organization. A lot of them had to do with, like, how I actually do the things inside of a day. Um, but I'd love to hear from you guys, too. If you had the opportunity to hang out with me at the henna boutique or hang out with me over the course of a day, or a week, working inside of Cardamom & Clove Henna, what things would you be interested in learning?
Um, because there's a thing that I'm working on for you and I'm telling you- okay, I'm so hyped about this because- here I go! This is why I need talking points because here I am about to spill tea that I wasn't going to spill, but here I am about to spill it anyway.
I'm working on a thing for the Hennapreneur Community. And it's a thing that I haven't done in the past. Like, it's brand new. And it's a thing that if you couldn't go on retreat, if you couldn't afford to join us inside of the pro membership, if you- hell, I mean, if you've wanted to get closer with me inside of Hennapreneur, but like... you're going to be hype about this. Um, but that's all I'm going to say. So here I am vaguebooking.
I'm getting off of here so I can go for a nap, okay? Alright. But yes, if there's anything that you would love to learn from me, I would love it if you'd drop that for me in the comments or go back to that post from the other day, and you're welcome to elaborate there. Alright! I will talk to you guys later, and yeah, I hope you guys are having a great week. Alright, bye!