ep. 015 • Challenging The Henna Hierarchy

Click here to instantly download a PDF version of the transcript.

Chelsea Stevenson: Welcome to the Hennapreneur podcast. The exclusive podcast of its kind, dedicated to giving you an honest look at the reality of making a living as a henna professional. I'm your host, Chelsea Stevenson, professional henna artist and business strategist. I teach budding henna artists and seasoned henna pros alike how to build vibrant, profitable businesses doing what they love. I went from being the girl who could barely piece together a fluid design to being owner of the most celebrated henna boutique in my city. And with years of experience growing my own business and helping others to do the same, I'm here to spill all the tea on what it takes to be a bonafide hennapreneur. Our show starts in just under 60 seconds, but first, here's a quick shout out to my sponsors.

This episode is sponsored by the Hennapreneur eMagazine! Whether you're just getting started, you're ready to go pro, you've got a solid business, or you're ready to scale, Hennapreneur has a free downloadable e-magazine that's ready just for you with insights on how you can better build your business in that phase of the game. Each volume features articles specifically for that particular part of the henna journey. So head on over to hennapreneur.com and download your free copy today!

All right, let's get to the show! Hey, hey hennapreneurs! This is Chelsea and I am so excited to be back with you again for another episode here of the Hennapreneur podcast. You know, I had such a great time last week just relaxing and enjoying some time with my family. I don't know about you guys. You know, some of you, some of you are here in the US, others are, you know, overseas in the UK or in Canada or other places. I know we've got some listenership a little bit of all over, which is really exciting for me. So, hey world! Hey! Um, but here in the US we just celebrated a holiday week and so it was really nice to be able to disconnect a little bit and just spend some time with the people, you know, who mean the most to you. So that was really great.

I hope that you guys enjoyed your week last week as well. This week I am back and I am at it big time. Let me tell you, I am super excited to connect with you today over a topic that, you know, sometimes it gets me a little bit riled up and I'm going to try my best to reel it in. I'm going to try my best to keep, you know, keep my feelings in check and keep my thoughts in check. But, this is something that I call the henna hierarchy and it's been something that I wanted to chat with you guys a lot about. Um, and actually last week, had I shown up to podcasts last week, this would be what we would be— would have been discussing. So I'm excited to talk to you about it today. But let me back up and I'll give you a little bit of insight as to what inspired today's episode.

So, recently I had the opportunity to meet with a number of henna artists and in meeting with them, um, many of them work in the specialty arena, and we'll get into what that means in just a little bit, but the majority of them work in this specialty arena. And there was an artist present who I love her and if you're listening, you know exactly who you are and I love you and I hope that you are doing well. Um, but there was an artist who was there who was present inside of the group and she was wanting to make a transition into specialty work, into bridal work, specifically. And as we were having conversation she said something to the effect of, "...but I'm just a festival artist." And when she said this, I have to be honest, it really kinda hit me, and it hit me in a way that made me say: yeah, I want to have some conversation with that larger Hennapreneur community about this because we— sometimes we can be unfair to ourselves and sometimes we can be unfair to one another.

And I feel that this henna hierarchy is, um, is perhaps doing us more harm than good. So, let me— with that, let me go ahead and jump right in. So if you— as of the time of this recording, as of the time you hearing this recording, you also may have noticed that I was live on Facebook earlier teaching a class about the three most common types of henna artists. Now, if you didn't have the opportunity to check that out, you can head over to the Hennapreneur Facebook page, um, and there is, um, there's a lesson there. It's just a live session where I went live and I was talking about the three most common ways that henna artists work in our industry. And within those three most common types of henna artists I identified: A. The Festival Artist, B. The Everyday Artist, and C. The Specialty Artist.

And inside of that video you can hear all of the goodies about what that exactly means. I kind of break down some of the behind the scenes of what all of those, um, what each of those capacities looks like, how that work is, how those people get paid and some of the pros and cons of working in each of those capacities. And so what I wanted to — kind of just tying this all together — what I wanted to highlight today is this concept of the henna hierarchy. And I feel that, in general, inside of our industry there tends to exist this thought that in order to be a henna artist, you kind of have to choose where— like, what type of service you're going to offer, where you're going to fit in your market, and depending on what service that is, you may be seen to be more or less skilled, more or less efficient, more or less talented than someone else based on the service that you offer.

And I struggle with this a lot because of comments like this one that I heard, "Well, I'm just a festival artist. I'm just a festival artist." Um, and when I hear language like this, this means to me that there is, um, I'm going to call it— I'm going to go so far as perhaps to call it a sense of shame. A sense of not feeling good enough. Not feeling accomplished enough. Not feeling talented enough or worthy enough. Um, because when we use that word "just", we're minimizing the thing that we do. And so when we talk about, you know, the differences between a festival artist, that everyday artist, and the specialty artist, um, I think that it's really worthwhile for us to identify what makes each of these capacities different and what makes each of these capacities special.

Um, because, you know, someone who is a festival artist is no less talented than a specialty artist who's working on bridal bookings or a specialty artist who's working on prenatal bookings. Likewise, you know, the specialty artist who's doing those bridal bookings is not more or less talented than that person who's servicing private appointments on an everyday capacity. Who's working out of a coffee shop or who is working out of a local salon and, you know, just doing those quick designs. I really struggle with the concept of this henna hierarchy. And while it's not something, maybe, that's being discussed a— I struggle even with this because I feel like when I first came into the industry, there was a lot of conversation about, uh, "I want to be a bridal artist," or like, kind of, uh, people within the industry would set bridal artists apart.

And even today you can see that there is some segregation, if you will, between bridal artists and everyone else. And I have a lot of feelings about that, but that's fine. I also understand that there is a need for a space for the specific instruction of those artists who intend to specialize in any type of particular service, be it bridal work, prenatal work, boudoir work or you know, whatever work it is that they're doing. Um, and so I understand why there might be that separation between the— you know, this type of artist versus that type of artist. But what I dislike and what I would like to see less of inside of our industry is the placement of these different types of skill sets on a totem pole, if you will. That is incredibly uncool to me, just being frank.

Um, and so I want to take just some time today to discuss why each of these skill sets is necessary for our industry and what makes each of these people talented. What makes each of these people unique. So let's start with the festival artist, okay? So, festival artists— in general, festival artists have an incredibly specific skill set and I feel like it's one that's largely undervalued and underappreciated in the henna community as a whole. Um, I think that many times when people look at the designs that festival artists are creating, they look and they think, "Oh, well that's pretty basic. That's pretty simple. That doesn't have a ton of detail." um, or whatever. Um, but oftentimes also it's those festival artists who are creating designs that are— yeah, they may have simple elements, I'll give you that. They're also some of the most clean designs that are out there.

And there's a reason for that. Festival artists are skilled in a particular way. They have an eye for creating designs that cover large areas of skin with minimal time. So they're quick. They're neat. They're organized. The way that they build their designs out is done in such a way that you can create a lot of coverage in the least amount of time and with the maximized amount of profit. This is something that really kind of gets me because when I hear from artists things like, "Oh, I'm just a festival artist," which, you know who you are love and I hope that you never use that language with yourself again. You already know. Um, but you know, when I hear language like this like, "I'm just a festival artist," what that means to me is that these skills, these very unique skills, are being totally ignored.

And in general, when I look at the way that the henna industry treats festival artists, I feel like they're kind of, like, brushed off to the side. I feel that many times when we look at festival artists, the industry looks at them as being less than, and it's not by chance then that those same artists begin to regurgitate things like, "I'm just a festival artist," and this is really unfair to me and I really dislike it. I find it, um, I find it incredibly distasteful. Those festival artists who are working largely have the capacity to outperform more, perhaps, specialized artists. Um, definitely they have the capacity to outperform most event artists, those people who are working in events and that can be the everyday artist or it can be the specialty artist. These artists are incredibly skilled and they have that eye for something that most henna artists do not.

If you don't do festival work, you typically are a lot less quick. Um, you typically are a lot less strategic in the way that you place your lines. Again, festival artists tend to be the most clean, um, but they're also covering the most area and they're maximizing the most profit. Like, you— if you're working in a festival capacity, you have to know how to hustle. And, um, this is something that I think is not— people don't give enough credit for. The next type of artist that I discussed in our class is that everyday artist. That's that person who is likely mobile who is servicing one-on-one appointments. This person may have a home studio or they may be working out, again, out of a coffee shop or out of a salon. These artists are those artists who are working with the public, be it on a per-piece basis or based on an amount of time.

And I think that many times, most henna artists, will kind of try to avoid being in this space. And I find that particularly interesting because I— uh, it's my understanding, it's my perception at least, that the henna community likes to either choose to go the festival route or choose to go the specialty route and then we kind of, like, ignore the fact that you can make a pretty substantial, significant income just working with everyday appointments doing casual henna. And so, um, it's interesting to me because I feel like many times the community will least identify with being this artist. And, um, I dunno, I— the, you know, the jury's out on what that actually means. I'm— I have thoughts but we're not even going to get into that. So the everyday artist, for me, when I look— when I think about the everyday artist, that everyday henna artist who is successful, if you will. That everyday henna artist who is booking clients consistently and so forth, that person, when I look at them, I look and I see another very unique skill set.

And that is specific to marketing because you have to remember, we — at least those of us who are living in the West — we are dealing with a culture where the use of henna isn't traditionally, if you will, used for a regular beauty regimen. And so if you're an everyday henna artist, if you're servicing individual appointments, if you're servicing those casual henna appointments regularly, if you've got consistent income, then you are really doing something right with your marketing; with your branding. Because if you weren't, there— we don't live in a society and a community where the need for our services would otherwise have your books filled. You know, it's not like a nail tech. It's not like a hairstylist. Someone who, you know, conventional Western beauty embraces these things as regular practices that you get done every two weeks. So, if you're that artist who's doing these casual everyday appointments and you are seeing those clients every two weeks or your books or otherwise, you know, generally full, that means something about the way that you're showing up and the way they representing your business and your brand.

And so I find it really interesting that artists kind of shy away from going down this particular road, if you will, in our industry. And I think that many times it, if I had to put money on it, I would say that many times it comes down to the fact that we don't feel confident in our marketing skills. We don't feel confident knowing that we can sell our services even in, again, you know, a cultural community where henna is perhaps not seen as being a regular standard of beauty, a regular item or a regular service that you would go and seek out. Um, and so when I see those people who do identify as being that everyday artist, I'm always very, very intrigued and very interested to hear from them and to hear about their experience as a henna artist and to hear what it is that they're doing that makes them fe— or that they believe is making them to be successful, that's causing them to be successful.

Typically when I have conversations with henna artists who fall into this category, they do have a mind for business that is just very different from the henna artists who I find who fall into the other categories, if you will. And that's not to say that those henna artists who are festival artists or specialty artists are less business savvy than the everyday henna artists. Not what I'm saying. However, there is a competitive edge, if you will, in those other scenarios in that a festival artist can show up at a festival and the festival has done advertising and there's going to be foot traffic. So it's kind of a matter of, show up — make sure that you show up in the right place, one, of course — you show up to the right place with the right target market, it's present and so forth, and as long as you have well-represented your business, people will stop and get your hen— their henna done with you and all you had to do was be there. And the specialty artist typically is building services around a unique, um, and very specific time in their client's life. Be it a engagement or a wedding or a pregnancy or postpartum period, whatever that is. That specialty artist is also capitalizing on a very specific time in their client's life. Um, a milestone, if you will. And so the artist who is working in that capacity, again, has kind of a captive audience in that there is some urgency around booking those services because they— it must be done and it must be done within a certain amount of time. And so it's a matter of finding the right artist within that time frame.

But the everyday artist, the casual henna artist, that artist who's just doing the, you know, doing the services based on, you know, providing self care or just offering services based on people wanting to get henna done on a whim, etc. These artists, they don't have those edges. There's no— there's not an urgency. There's not a milestone. This is thos— this is that person who is servicing the public just because they were able to get the public interested. And so, for me, again, when I have conversations with the artists that fall into these categories, typically, that is why I feel that I tend to find that these are the artists that are the most business savvy and the most efficient in marketing their businesses because they have developed a skill around how they present themselves to the public, how they market themselves to the public, and then how they can use persuasion methods, if you will, use marketing methods to convince the public and to sell the public on their service. And so that's an incredible, incredible advantage. Then, of course, we have the specialty artist. And the specialty artist, again, is that person who's offering something like a bridal— bridal services or henna crowns or boudoir services, things like these. These artists of, course, one cannot deny, if you have specialized in a service you are likely spending a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of energy, in educating yourself on those services specifically.

Um, these are people who are likely, you know, attending conferences specific to that skill set or registering in classes specific to that skill set or who are practicing, you know, extensively, specifically for that skill set. Because when you're— when you specialize in something that's kind of a requirement. That's par for the course. So of course it can be said: yes, many times those specialty artists are the m— are more advanced, perhaps, when it comes to the technical skill, um, specifically as it relates to their specialization. So let me say that — because I will tell you, it's common also — if you take a bridal artist and you remove that bridal artist from the bridal booking and put them into a festival scenario, I've seen many times where artists wh— who excel in the bridal capacity totally flop in a festival setting.

So, um, it's not to say that the skill set is so advanced that it means that it will carry over into every area, if you will, of our industry. No. But they are extremely talented in what they do within their arena, the arena of their specialization, right? And so the specialty artist also has that unique, um, that unique strength or skill set. The specialty artist is looking to see: How can I maximize this booking while also providing the fine detail that's needed? How can I balance this on the body? When we think about specialty work, we largely are talking about either work that's being done on areas of the body that are typically not addressed in a festival and everyday sort of setting, which means that these are artists who are working on, many times, vertical surfaces. You know, if we're working with prenatals or even if we're working with henna crowns, you're working with a very different type of surface than if you're working with the, um, you know, the hands that you might be doing at a festival or an everyday appointment. These artists are, again, you know, largely talented. And they tend to have much more refined skill sets. And when we think about the detail that might be included in their work and just the elevation, if you will, of the artistry that's created in their work, oftentimes it is that specialty artist who's going to produce pieces of work that show a more elevated skill set in terms of complexity and just technical, um, technical execution. But as we've heard, every single one of these artists has their own skill. Every single type of artist has their own value, has their own benefit. And so for me, I struggle when I hear things within the henna community, within our industry and I — and uh, sometimes these things are said outright and sometimes they're simply implied — but I struggle when I hear things like, "You know, well so-and-so is— they do— they just do this type of work," or "They just do that type of work," or um, "Well, that's a bridal artist, so...." Blah, blah, blah. And I don't think that we do any service to our industry as a whole when we classify ourselves in these ways while also making the implication that one type of artist outdoes the other. I just don't. And so I kind of want to open up the floor for some discussion, if you will, about if you have these sorts of thoughts. If you as a henna artist have experienced feelings of inadequacy or perhaps you feel— express feelings of or felt feelings of superiority, based on the type of work that you do. Because if that's the case, then I— in either scenario, then I want to, uh, kind of invite you to unpack why that might be.

And I want to invite you to also change your mindset. We are all artists and it doesn't matter the environment in which we're offering the service. If it's at the festival, at the fair, at the coffee shop or at the bridal booking, it doesn't matter. The bottom line is that we are artists and we are here to provide the world with a service and that service is unique to each and every one of us. All of us have our skill set. Each and every one of us has something about us that's unique, um, which is why our clients ultimately choose us versus the next person. It's that "you factor". And so I really hope that you'll take just a moment to just kind of consider if you carry any of this hierarchy baggage with you. And if you do, can we please just check it at the door?

Like, can we just— can we move into 2020 leaving some of that behind? Because I would love to see more henna artists affirming one another and I would love to see more henna artists also acknowledging one another for the things that we do well versus separating ourselves into these little categories which, again, I understand that there's a time and place for everything. There— certainly, the festival artist is going— there will be a time when a festival artists will need to, you know, collaborate with other festival artists, will want to learn with other festival artists. And the same, you know, for those who are specialty. And the same for those who are everyday artists. Of course, I understand that. However, when we think about the henna hierarchy and just the way that we associate one's celebrity, if you will, in the henna community and one's value in the henna community, I would love it if we could remove what type of work that person does from the table.

And so we're not— when we think about, you know, which henna artists are best performing, if you will, I would love it if we could stop making that always in the context of who's where on this proverbial totem pole. Like, I would love for us to be able to get rid of that mentality. So I'm going to leave a question open to you guys and I want to invite you to join me inside of the Hennapreneur Community on Facebook where we can talk about it a little more, but I would love to know: Henna artists, hennapreneurs, have you ever felt like you were judged in some way? Have you ever felt like you were classified or categorized in some way, um, be it positively or negatively based on the type of work that you do? If so, I'd love to hear your story inside of the group and I'd love to know what that classification made you feel, how it made you feel. If it, uh, if it was for better, for worse, neutral, whatever. I'd love to hear how that made you feel as well. Because, of course, ultimately I would love to see us dealing with one another and treating one another in ways that are going to uplift and affirm and support versus making our fellow artists feel less than. So with that, I'm going to jump off of here. I'm very much looking forward to hearing from you guys about your experiences. All right. Bye for now!

Hey babe! I wanted to give you a quick thank you for tuning into the show today. That was super cool of you to hang with me all the way until the end. Of course, I've got all the links that you might need from this episode inside of the show notes that you can find at hennapreneur.com/podcast.

If you enjoyed the show and want to stay in the loop with Hennapreneur, be sure to subscribe to the podcast too. You'll get all of the new episodes as soon as they come out. I'd be so grateful if you'd take the time to rate or leave a review on Apple Podcasts while you're there. That tells iTunes that, "Hey! Hennapreneur is about something good!" and it helps us to reach more artists who would love the show. All right, that's all for today. I'll be back soon with another episode but for now, let's get back to work, hennapreneurs!