#WINNING
#WINNING
Lynzie Smith: Success Through Collaboration and Community in Business
When Lynzie Smith transformed from a small-town hairstylist to a community-building entrepreneur, the landscape of the beauty and barber industry in Chicago took notice. Our chat with the founder of Common Wealth Collective is a deep-dive into the art of cultivating relationships that redefine the boundaries of business competition. Listen as we unravel the threads of networking and its crucial role in nurturing growth, creativity, and the entrepreneurial spirit.
The conversation pivots towards the focus on individuality as a unique selling point in the saturated realms of fashion and beauty. Lynzie shares her insights on how collaboration fosters a thriving community where former rivals become allies, supporting each other's success. Host, Mackenzie's own experiences align with this philosophy, emphasizing the benefits of contributing to the collective while simultaneously strengthening your own business ventures.
Wrapping up with the human element that underpins every business story, we explore the transformative influence of partnerships, both professional and personal. We acknowledge the pressures that come with the pursuit of success and offer strategies for managing stress through systemization, automation, and delegation. This episode is a testament to the power of genuine connections and a reminder of the collective journey towards our individual and shared triumphs in business. Join us as we continue to provide actionable insights that are not just about winning, but about fostering a legacy of supportive community relationships.
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Winning is your guide to making it in business. Join our award-winning host and entrepreneur, Mackenzie Kilshaw, and special guests in casual conversations that will educate and inspire you on your business journey. Winning will help you learn the hard lessons the easy way, with guidance from celebrated entrepreneurs and business leaders. It's fun, it's informative, it's Winning.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Hello, welcome to Winning. I'm your host, Mackenzie Kilshaw, and today's guest i L i Smith. How are you, l?
Lynzie Smith:Hi Mackenzie, I'm so good. How are you?
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I'm really good. and I have known each other. We think it's been about three years now. We've connected on so many levels, but Lindsay L is working for the company that I now work for, so we're going to be working with each other a lot more, so I'm so pumped to have her on. She is the founder of Commonwealth Common Collective Collective Wealth Wealth Wealth ealth wealth Collective, which is a community platform that's reshaping the beauty and barber industry. She has a profound commitment to relationship building and networking, and she's empowered countless entrepreneurs to unlock their full potential and achieve their desired wealth and freedom. She knows all about entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, everybody that we're talking to today, and she actually has Common Weal Conversations Conversations C Wealth Wealth wealth wealth a podcast as well, called Commonwealth Conversations, which I'm going to be a guest on. So now she's here with us too, so we're going to link that to in our l notes and make sure you guys get to listen to that. But thanks, lindsay, for being on, just like I'm so pumped.
Lynzie Smith:Me, too, I love connecting with you. Like Mackenzie shared, we've known each other now for about three years, and when your role within SalonScale the company that we now both work for, in different capacities when it shifted from partnerships into customer success, I was so sad because I loved being able to get on with you and strategize, and so it's amazing now, full circle, to be back in community in that capacity too. So I'm so excited to be here.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Well, thanks for saying that. It's funny that you said that, because when Sarah, who does partnerships, now took over and I'm like I'm going to miss L, I mean there was like people and I was like, oh, I'm not going to be able to see them anymore and like I can't just have a meeting. To have a meeting, Like you actually have to do some work at it. So I'm glad that we're back in the same round again. So why don't you start? I did their little bio but just give people an idea of who you are and maybe a little bit more. We're talking a lot today about community and relationships, but maybe a little bit more on Wealth Common Wealth Wealth Common Wealth Wealth Wealth Wealth ealth wealth, Collective and what you do there.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, sure. So I am, by trade, a hairstylist. I started my career in 2007 in a small town in Michigan where I grew up and being able to kind of, over the last 15 years, evolve as an entrepreneur into avenues that truly, at that stage in my life, were just a dream, nothing that I really saw as attainable or maybe even, at that stage in my life, even saw at all in any capacity. And so in the early part of my career, I moved to the city of Chicago right after I was licensed and I built my business first at a commission based salon. So I was part of a team and I started really really assisting, I mean, but in a very informal capacity. I talking about relationships.
Lynzie Smith:I actually came in, dropped off my resume it was only a four chair salon and I basically begged for a job. I said I would volunteer at that point, I would fold towels, I would come in on Saturday mornings and clean like anything at all, because I loved the energy of the salon and it was around the corner from where I lived in a really cute community, and one of the things that made me so attracted to it is that when I was walking by, they had huge glass windows in the front. When I was walking by, everyone was laughing, and I'm not even exaggerating. I still visually very clearly remember seeing their entire team and the client sitting in the chair, smiling and laughing, and that was my first like that's the spot. I don't care what I have to do, that's where I'm going to work, and so I literally begged for that job.
Lynzie Smith:I was able to start as an assistant in a very, very, very part time capacity and then, ironically, just a couple of months later, one of the stylists moved on to other things.
Lynzie Smith:She actually went back to school and so a chair was open and I stepped right into building a clientele, and then that continued to evolve for me into becoming a solo entrepreneur. I was independent. I started my business solo in 2012 and that grew and evolved for about eight years, and then, in 2020, I launched a community, which is now Wealth Wealth W . Collective Wealth Wealth Wealth Wealth Wealth Wealth Collective Independent Beauty Pros out as independent beauty pros and my focus in that role was to build relationships, was to connect with others who were independent, and that season I was running my business solo, I was working solo, and so I felt really lonely. I really missed the team and the community that came from a commission space and commission structure, and so I wanted to kind of outsource that and find that with my peers who are also independent, and so I launched independent beauty pros in spring 2020, right when pandemic hit the pandemic COVID, businesses right COVID businesses.
Lynzie Smith:And what's funny is I had actually been sitting on that business for about two years before I launching, and so the timing was just almost ironic because I launched prior to the pandemic really hitting, and at the time that I launched I actually thought it would be a in-person Chicago networking community where we would come together maybe once a month or quarterly, but in-person. And then, obviously, because of the pandemic, that shifted my focus virtually and that was actually for me such a blessing in disguise. It allowed me to grow and scale the community way beyond what I had envisioned initially. And then, after hosting our first large scale event in July last year in Dallas, I realized that we needed to go through a rebrand, because who we serve in terms of community building, relationship building, networking and then, obviously, business education is applicable to all business models. Whether you are a commission, ran, team-based, independent solo, a coach, an educator, it doesn't matter.
Lynzie Smith:And so we went through a rebrand at the beginning of this year and now we are Wealth wealth o wealth Common wealth Common . Collective, two words Commonwealth. I really want to bring that word wealth, whatever that definition is, to you. I want to bring that into a connection that feels common within our industry, within female entrepreneurs and really trade-based entrepreneurs who maybe don't have a college degree. So that, for me, was my big focus, and now I'm also Salon head of community engagement, with Mackenzie Solon Scale working alongside you, mackenzie. So my career has taken many, many, many turns, and all of them are really kind of based around the relationships that I've built.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yeah, and it's just crazy where those relationships take you. You meet someone today and you don't know two years, five years, ten years down the road where that relationship is going to get you totally. We're talking about that all today, and then you have to listen to 's podcast because I'm also on hers which we actually recorded right before this. So we're just on like a three hour relationship bender here. I'll call it on a beautiful November afternoon. Okay, so we start out behind the chair and I know now too, you've recently gone back to doing some behind the chair which we're going to talk about that. But when were you, did you have like an aha moment? Or when were you like I feel alone other people have to be feeling this like when, right before you, started independent beauty pros. What was that moment or that time where you're like we need to have this community and this relationship ability within all of these people that need it?
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, my pain point started actually in bridal. So I one of my areas of focus was in bridal and special events, so I would do on location services. I would travel pretty frequently and so what I was really struggling with especially if I traveled out of state I could not find support for larger, larger bridal priorities. So my first initial reason behind starting independent beauty pros was because I felt like there should be a space LinkedIn if you will for beauty and barber pros where we can just, you know, search by state or region or specialty, so that that way we could kind of connect in a very easy capacity. I love Instagram, I love LinkedIn even, but it wasn't a space designed for us. So when I first started independent beauty pros, my vision was a LinkedIn space for the beauty industry that has pivoted and evolved so much and that is actually not at all what w wealth is.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I was like do you want to have?
Lynzie Smith:that one.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, but that was initially when I first launched, I had worked with a developer who was a client of mine. I still work with her, she's still our web developer for Commo e and and and then I went through many ideations of like going through what I would want it to look like, how I would want it to be used, and last year actually in 2022, I spent most of my time pitching to Angel and VC investors and getting into that like next level of technology and app development. I'm sure we'll kind of talk about this a little bit further later, but I had a very difficult year. This year. 2023 was just an absolute shift for me, predominantly personally, and then that rippled into everything else, as we talked about earlier today.
Lynzie Smith:It's all connected, and so for me, in my role as CEO and founder of Common , and then as my role as a 35 year old woman and a partner and a daughter, there were just so many other pieces of my life that were being impacted. And so this year for me was kind of this pause of let's get some clarity, because what I envisioned in 2020 and even in 2018, when I first kind of thought through what I wanted to create, that vision has changed. And so how do I, how do I embrace that change and lean into that change and trust that change instead of, you know, white knuckle onto that original idea or that original vision that I had for myself? So it is evolved and shifted much and that is how I started was really that need for connection in the bridal category and then recognizing how if I have that pain point, lots of people have to have that pain point. And then, within the pandemic, we saw how much we need each other. So it all, just, it all just rippled through.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yeah, exactly, and you don't actually even realize how, especially entrepreneurship, whether you are like in the slant industry, we'll talk about whether you you own a salon and you have 10 stylists or you're by yourself. Right, it's lonely, yes, because who are you talking to If you're by yourself? If you don't know anyone else that owns a business, you can't really talk about your problems with them because they don't get it. If you own it and you have a staff, you're certainly not going to talk to your staff about your problems.
Shauna Foster:Oh yeah.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:So where do you go? And a lot of industries, the industries that we were in, fashion and beauty. They're very competitive and you're certainly not going to ask the other hair, the other hair salon besides you. I'm having this problem. What are you guys doing? Because you don't want to tell them you have any problems, right? So you really do feel that isolation and that aloneness.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, yeah, like I think it could be. I wanted to break that down too.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yes.
Lynzie Smith:That was actually even part of the thing is especially as independent artists. So if you're listening to this and you're not, in the beauty industry there are two predominant categories within our space and they are commission led or team based, and independent or solo. So that would be a suite or somebody who is renting a chair, and so in my lane, as an independent but with a background in commission and team, and then, especially when it came to contracted work, like bridal, I needed support. I needed more than just me. I couldn't do everything just me, and so that alone, that competition error that is so rampant in our industry that was the piece that I really wanted to take on.
Lynzie Smith:I wanted to kind of like head first, look at, like, listen, we are actually so much better together. We can just get over this make believe concept of competing with each other and instead be like hey, I'm struggling with this, is anybody else struggling with this, what did you do? Or hey, I navigated that and this is what worked for me, try this out, or hire this person. Like to me, that was really again at that core foundation of like this is silly. Let's get out of this and let's instead come together and build community and learn from each other, because it's just so much easier for sure.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Somebody once said to me when I first opened my clothing store they're like, if you put one hot dog stand on a corner, what do you think is going to happen? I'm like, well, people are going to come to the hot dog stand. They're like yeah, they're like, but if you put a hot dog stand on all four corners of that the corner, what do you think is going to happen? I'm like more people are going to come to the hot dog stands. They're like yeah, it's basically just math. Like the more, like.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I'm not going to name any names because I'm not that person, but when I opened my store, there was a few other stores around and they were like absolutely pissed that I opened sure, just putting it out there, because I'm going to steal all their clients. I'm like no, if you have a good business, your clients are going to shop with you and they're probably going to shop with me too, but they're not going to leave you. If you have a not so great business, then they're going to leave you and they're going to become my client. But that's a you problem, that's not a me problem, Right? So to me it's like the more of us there are, the better we all are, the better we all are. It's not a hard concept, but it's the most difficult concept in the world. Right, yeah, yeah. Because people just for some reason you have to hate on the other hair salon or you have to hate on the other clothing store just because you think you have to, and it's absolutely garbage.
Lynzie Smith:Or the other community or the other educator or the other coach or the other, like that concept is so broken and it is so outdated. And I think that is something I, whenever I am coaching, I really try to drive home that idea of like, listen, no one can do it like you can, because no one is you, there is nothing else. You don't need Anything else, there's nothing else that you need that is special, other than you are you and there's only one of you. So that alone debunks the idea of competition. It doesn't exist, it's not real. It's my belief. It's Santa Claus, and if we could all just move away from that, we would all be, we would all be so much better off.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yeah, and if you stay in your own lane and worry about your own self and what you're doing, you can be cognitive like I knew what brands they carried, or I knew when they had a big sale, because I pay attention, but I didn't have a big sale the same time they were having a big sale to try to steal their big sale, like I don't care, have your sale, I'll have myself, like it was. It's good to know what's going on, but when you're just worrying about yourself, you can be guaranteed that, instead of competing against them, that you're going to be farther ahead. And actually you're going to be even farther ahead if you build a relationship with them.
Lynzie Smith:Yes, right work together.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Work together. Why not rent a space and have a big, huge, giant sale for everything? Yeah, you'll get three times as many people right, like things like that is really where community and relationship comes in. Yeah, 100%, yeah, 100%, I think, if you've never been a part of that and it still is kind of crazy to me because I am so community focused and so relationship building focused it's crazy to me that people still don't see this and that we have to talk about it. Right, why is it so important, l? Well, we have to tell people why it's important, because they're not doing it, and I don't want, if you're listening, I don't want you to think I think you don't understand this, because I really hope that you do.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:But if you don't really like, the relationships you have today can take you much farther in your life, whether it's personal, career, whatever in your business. It's gonna get you so much farther, so much faster 100%, yeah, yeah. This isn't even something I was gonna bring up, but I'm going to, because you and I started our relationship over a partnership. Yeah, so IBP worked with SalonScale. That was our two businesses work together. Partnerships that's a relationship that you have that can just absolutely propel you. So let's talk a little bit about partnerships and what you. I know you like partnerships, because I know we're low on, but just let's talk about partnerships and what can partnerships do for you, and I'm not saying just in a business, but in all aspects of things.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, I mean thinking about the word partner in general. Partner is somebody that you walk alongside of. It's somebody I mean it's funny because my partner romantically Brett and I when we first I feel like we've been together for about five years now and in the earlier stage of our relationship we actually used to joke because someone within this family would talk about their significant other as their partner. And I am divorced. I was at one point married. I'm now 35 years old. To me the word boyfriend sounds so juvenile I just can't say it. It just feels so like I'm not too old for a boyfriend.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:That's fine. That was me too. I was 39 when I got married. You guys and people, I'm my 37 year old boyfriend. Like I felt, like I was 15.
Lynzie Smith:Yes, so that's for us. I now say my partner almost all the time, and at one stage I thought that word was strange. But when you think about a partner, somebody who you're really like, you are working together for something. And so when you even break down, like romantically whether you're married, you know, engaged in a relationship, whatever your title is within that dynamic, that partnership is what helps you accomplish your goals together, whether that's within your family or within your individual businesses. My partner is also a entrepreneur and so we work a lot around our goals. We talk through a lot of like what do we wanna step into next year? What do we wanna, you know, navigate? What are the things that we're struggling with within our business? So, like even that relationship, that partnership is in so much support of my individual growth professionally. And so when I think about partnerships in all capacity community or even speaking, you know, within a keynote I really break down relationship building into kind of three buckets. And that is when speaking to the beauty industry, specifically through clients.
Lynzie Smith:So if you are a hairstylist, or, again, even you on a boutique, or you have a service-based business, you have clients who need to purchase those services from you for your business to grow. That's one bucket. Then you mentioned, you know, rent a space and host a sale together. That bucket, for me, is a peer bucket. So these are your peers. These are the people that you work you know alongside of in some capacity, even if you're in different geographical areas. It's people who do what you do in some way, shape or form, who you can learn from and then maybe collaborate with, whether that is through hosting events or education or cross-referral. You know, maybe this person one of my power partners we call them within our community, but one of my power partners in Chicago was an esthetician. I was a hairstylist. We would constantly cross-refer clients back and forth together.
Lynzie Smith:So that is a peer-based relationship. So we've got clients, we've got peers. And then I talk about brands and so, again, whatever your business is, brands can look very different. So Solon Scale, for me, started out as a partner with my community, independent Beauty Pros. We first started a partnership and at the early, early stage that partnership was not, there was no monetary exchange. It was in a service of brand awareness how do I get my community in front of Solon Scale and how does Solon Scale get in front of my community? And so that started out in a very organic way and evolved into sponsorships and evolved into monetary value for my company and for my revenue and my growth. And even now we are still in a brand partnership this year and we'll continue that brand partnership ongoing as I continue to develop my role as head of community engagement.
Lynzie Smith:And so, again, it's just so symbiotic. In that capacity, s Scale is a perfect example of a brand relationship that I have nurtured over the years that has now spider webbed into so much opportunity for me in different capacities. So when, vice versa Salon solon Scale supports our community in such a huge way I mean the people I coach, the people I work with, who make more freaking money, who genuinely have so much value, you know and that's not like me doing that for them, but my connection to Solon Scale and bringing that tool into our community and then passing that along to them is very valuable. So, again, partnerships are just so necessary. Personally, professionally, none of us can do it all. None of us have the ability to do it all.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I've tried, I've tried. Yep, I used to do everything and you're like, holy geez, I'm not even good at this. Why am I trying to do it?
Lynzie Smith:Yes, it's terrible and again, I think that mentality, especially with women I mean our industry, the beauty industry, which I'm a part of is permanently female. And it's so funny because, you know, I think we have seen this kind of shift around women. You know, we've had this movement of women's empowerment which of course obviously I'm all for, and independence, and you know, boss babes and hustle and like we've had that and I've rode that wave, I have hustled, I have hustled, but in that concept I actually feel like we have you seen those memes that are like I boss-scrawled too hard and now I have a real job, like that's.
Lynzie Smith:I feel like all of us as women, we took on so much in a you know a period of time I'd say maybe 20 years or so so many of us were just like I can do it all. I can mom and I can wife, and I can run a business and I can be a great friend and I can just do all these things. And the truth is like I can't do all those things, I struggle doing all those things, and so, again, and as I shared, I'm divorced, and so it shows. It shows when you're, when you're not able to hold it all, and so in this season of my life, I don't wanna do it all. I don't even wanna do most of it. I wanna be able to take that step back. I want life that is full of ease, full of rest, full of, you know, abundance.
Lynzie Smith:I'm just not in that hustle season whatsoever, and so that requires a partner who is able to support me in the same way that I can show up for everyone else. That requires, you know, support within my team that are able to support me so that I can show up in the way that I need. And then also now for me, stepping into a team-based role with Salon Scale, like I have learned so much getting out of that mentality. That will only further value my partnership with Salon Scale in my role as head of community engagement. So again, partnerships are just fundamental, they're absolutely necessary and you can build them in every area of your life and it makes life so much more enjoyable and so much easier.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I agree. I agree literally to every. I'm just sitting here being like uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh to everything. And it took me a long time. Relationships, I knew I knew I don't know when I realized that, but relationships, I knew they're important. But the doing the things that you're good at and that you like and the not worrying about the other stuff or getting somebody else into the other stuff took me a really really long, long, long, long, long time to figure that out.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Because, especially when I first started out, I really thought I had to do everything. I'm like, well, I'm the business owner, so like I have to do everything. And also it was kind of financially Like I'm like, well, I'm not gonna pay somebody to do this because I need to. Every money, like every dollar I make, I have to pay my mortgage and I have to pay my staff and whatever. So I cleaned everything because I'm like I can't pay somebody to clean, and I attempted to do my own books, which lasted for about 12 minutes.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:And then I was like, oh my God, why am I doing this? I don't know. I have a, like a business degree, like I took accounting and finance, but like I don't know the rules and the tax stuff that you need. Like I'm like this is ridiculous. So I started paying somebody to do that and plus, I didn't like it. So now I'm at the point where If it's not in my like realm, I'll say, like if it's not in the, I like doing it and I'm good at doing it and a combination of Both of those things, then I'm not gonna do it.
Lynzie Smith:Yes, that's exactly what we kind of when I'm working with someone, especially in that role. So a lot of times when I have a Like a new client come through, whether so, we have a six-month group coaching program, and so when someone comes into that program, part of the value is one-on-one coaching with me, and so when I first am diving into their role in their business, a lot of times they are, they are beyond capacity, they are so beyond what they are capable of getting done in a day, and so and I've been there so many times, and so my first focus is so they'll come in and they want to make more money. That's almost always, you know, they want to make more money, yeah, and so I will be like, okay, all right, we're gonna get there for make more money, but first, what are the things right now that are taking up your creative space, your energy, overwhelming you? You're procrastinating. Let's kind of really assess what's on your plate right now that needs to get off your plate before we can add revenue streams. You know, I think so many, especially entrepreneurs, like so many entrepreneurs, want to diversify their revenue.
Lynzie Smith:Of course, especially after the pandemic, we've all seen the importance of having multiple streams of income, and so that's usually one of the first topics that comes up, and my, my wisdom now has allowed me to be able to say like yes, yes, of course, make more money, we're gonna put that right over here. That's a goal. But first we have to make space for that money. Money can't come in if you're, you're plate is full, there's no room. So, no matter what creative ideas you have, no matter what collaboration opportunities you have, if you're dropping the ball left and right because you're burnt out and you're overwhelmed, the money will never come.
Lynzie Smith:And for me I'm gonna get a little personal here, but I'll share for me, like my, like rock bottom, and that came from a miscarriage. I experienced a miscarriage. My partner and I have been on a fertility journey. It's been difficult, and when I miscarried my first miscarriage, I was absolutely shocked at I Was not capable. I was no longer capable. There was actually for me a season of time where doing it all was just actually no longer an option.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:There was just no grieving you were grieving, you had to grieve. You can't like go on IG live because, no, not happening.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, zero, zero and again in my role. This was actually in the peak of my career around pitching and and tech. So, again, at this stage, I had just secured my first letter of intent from a venture capital firm and I was on track and moving towards developing it out and taking what I have built and and really doubling down on the technology piece and and scaling in that capacity and it's so funny. In hindsight, I am just so eternally grateful that that is not the path I took and and that was not my choice at the time. It was actually again, I just was not able to continue down that road and thought at some stage, you know, I can pick it back up and we'll go, you know we'll move on.
Lynzie Smith:However, in that season of me being able to recognize like I can't do this anymore, this isn't working for me.
Lynzie Smith:It's not even working for me in my wellness, in my physical well-being, and so, thank God, I had a partner who was like sit down, sit down, like no more, no more of this, like constantly going, no more of this, constantly taking on new things, like and that was, you know, within our household.
Lynzie Smith:He managed so much, but then, even separately, he was the one, oh, and he still is my sounding word when I'm overwhelmed where he'll be like, do less, do less, do less, like let things come to you, as opposed to always going and and doing, and and navigating. And again, I think that is that that girl boss that we were, we were taught in that I want to say like 90s, 2000s of like we can do it all, and I think that mentality, I think it's like a pendulum, I think it's swung too far. We went, we were way too far, and now we got to kind of come back to a place of like, what do we want to do Versus what can we do? We can manage many things, but what are the things that actually light us up, that charge our batteries, as opposed to? You know, for me, same thing Accounting, not a chance. So goodbye.
Lynzie Smith:What are those things that can get off of our place so that we can actually step into, like, our lane of genius and what we really excel at, because that's that's where we shine.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yeah, and wouldn't you rather, instead of trying to literally fumble your way through doing your books and it takes you an entire day a month to do it wouldn't you rather take that time to meet with a potential partner, or meet with someone to build a relationship that could open doors for you, and don't build relationships to get farther ahead. That's not what we're saying here, but the relationships that you build, you don't know where they're gonna get you.
Lynzie Smith:Things come when you build relationships, you will get ahead, so like you don't even have to focus on that, like you just will. So when you build relationships and your intent is to just build that relationship, the getting ahead piece will work itself out, like the money will work itself out the things, the opportunity is, it'll work itself out. And again, there have been seasons in my life where I've forgotten that and I am always reminded, always reminded that when I get off track and I focus on things that are not connected to the relationships that I value, that is where I start to overwhelm myself, I start to burn out. Other things come up and if I can just get right back on track with who is aligned with me and what can I do to support them in that relationship, everything else comes in. It's like it's like a magnetic.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yeah, I feel like our we need in our own lives like a tangent button, yeah, that we can just be like and hit it and be like this is the wrong. Like I started going down this road and now I'm down here and I don't want to be down here and you know, course correct to get back, because it's so true and there are so many times when you use like think to yourself, why am I doing this, what is this for? And sometimes in the moment it's not worth anything. But if you look at down the road, sometimes you're like, okay, I don't know I'm doing this and then like, oh wait, yeah, I am doing this for that right now.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:It's kind of sucky, yes, but it's gonna get me there. Maybe you pay somebody to do it right now, maybe you partner with someone that their team can do it, maybe you, whatever you figure that out. But sometimes you got to go kind of through those crap pumps to get to the good stuff. But I think most of the time we don't even know that there's good stuff on the other side.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, I think I'm gonna kind of share a little tip on that too, because this is something as I was navigating okay, what's for me, what are the things I love? And again, we all go through different seasons. I mean, I shared with you earlier I didn't pay myself for two years, so like my revenue was very minimum and I came from a lifestyle where my income was high and so all of a sudden it was like whoa, what's happening? No, I don't just have this money.
Lynzie Smith:That has always flown through and I have to get really lean on how I run my business. And so in the building season, what I started to categorize which I now also facilitate in a three bucket capacity I like threes for some reason. But when I'm looking at my entrepreneurs that I work with and we're kind of navigating okay, this is what we wanna get to, but what do we have to kind of eliminate here first? That is always what we look at. So the first step for me is systemizing. So when you're doing it all, what can you systemize, like what are the things that you can start to put systems in place so that you can theoretically do it with your eyes closed?
Lynzie Smith:And then, when you get that down and your revenue increases and you have more money to work with, then what can we automate? Then we can pay for tools that will automate things, and it's a low cost most of the time, so you can automate whatever else is overwhelming you, and then you make more money and your plate is a little clearer. And then that third bucket is outsourcing, so hiring, getting things kind of out of the way. Who will do a better job at this than you even will Like? Then you have the revenue to support the outsourcing. So to me, those three buckets systems first, and then automation, and then outsourcing to me, that's how you scale as an entrepreneur and you clear things out of your way so that you can be creative and enjoy your role exactly, and there's some things that like especially when you're talking about the automating thing, that just come to my mind really quickly there's some things you can automate for free today, for example, your social media posts.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Like go into your Facebook business center and do all your social media posts in there, schedule them to come out. Facebook and Instagram even tell you when your audience is on there, so you don't just have to do it for 8 AM every day, you can do it. Oh, on Tuesday they're more active at 11 AM. You do it for 11 AM that day. I didn't even know this was a thing until I was in my third year of business and somebody's like are you automating posts? I'm like, no, I literally every day. They're like oh my God, what a time sucker. And then I was like that is a time sucker. I didn't even. Yeah, you have to sit down maybe for an hour to do your whole week or whatever it is, but then it's done. Yes, 100%. I was spending 10 minutes every day doing it and sometimes that 10 minutes turned into two hours because I was at work and got busy and whatever right. So, yeah, there's things that you can do, like right now, that don't even cost you money. That can get rid of that stuff.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yes yeah, oh, this is awesome. It's like that was such a no, seriously, the day I found out about that, I should preface. I actually don't think it was a thing for a while and when I first had my business because we're talking like 10 years ago, so I think that just came along but a friend was like duh, why aren't you using this? And then I felt like such an idiot that I wasn't using it. But then I did and never thought about it again.
Lynzie Smith:Yes, I love it.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Yep, that's usually what happens when you automate. You have to revisit right, like emails, things like that that you can just make a workflow so you don't actually have to send the email when somebody comes into that workflow. It sends it right and you might have to change that email every once in a while or change your offering or whatever, but that's like a once a quarter maybe thing. You don't have to do it all the time, right? Yeah, oh, I love that advice. I feel like this has gone from a relationship to like full on, just like business 101.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:But it doesn't matter because it's all helpful, right. So I had a question in my head that was like are there any drawbacks of a community or relationship? Because I did have somebody tell me once that a community only creates like just creates drama and problems and whatever. And I was like, okay, I can maybe see how someone got down that road. Yeah, the only drawback that I could ever think of is that you're in the wrong community.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, so let's talk about that for sure. I think this is kind of like a perfect, like the cherry on the top of this conversation in general, because that to me, I play with this a lot and I've had a lot of kind of soul searching myself over the last five years and so one of the beliefs I carry is that we are all mirrors of each other. We're mirrors, we're mirroring back whatever it is that we need to see, whatever we are working through or whatever challenges we might be navigating, even if we don't know it. And so when you have that experience, so if you had this person who said this to you, I love that, because to me, what that says is that is a mirror showing you something that you need to work through.
Lynzie Smith:So if you are in a space where you feel like it's drama, what is it that that's showing you in terms of what you're bringing to that group, to that community?
Lynzie Smith:And I'm telling you, I've tested this out more times than I can count in my own life around my challenges, my, you know, the things that don't serve me, my personality traits, the way that I communicate, whatever it is, whenever I have a problem with someone else, whatever that problem is with that person. If I can get to the point sometimes it takes me a little longer than other times, but if I can get to the point that I recognize that that is mirroring back to me something I need to learn it immediately shifts into a value of mine. So this person my guess not knowing them, they are probably a little drama, they probably walk around with drama and they're probably magnetizing that drama versus magnetizing that connection. And so to me that's the big piece of relationship building that we have to kind of always come back to is if you're coming into rooms, virtually or in person, ready to serve and ready to share and ready to connect, you are going to attract the people that are in that same caliber.
Lynzie Smith:If you're coming into a room with drama, you're gonna attract drama. That is what you're going to experience in that space. So to me, that's a mirror, that's a you problem.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:It's just all I have in my head is Taylor Swift. I'm the problem. It's me just going like round and round and round and like I just speaking of drama for just one second. But the people are like drama always follows me. Everywhere I go. I'm like, yeah, that's cause you're the drop, like it's you. It's that sad something, it's you and it doesn't have to be drama. That could be. Bad things always happen to me. That could be nothing goes. Nothing works out like I had planned, like any of that stuff. It all comes back to you and it's mindset. It's what you're putting out, it's all of those things right.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:It's totally also luck when people say I was really lucky. I'm just gonna go L and I just recorded her podcast and we were talking about me when I left my stores and just went to an online only and moved and had a huge life change, like the biggest life change you could have career, city, family, like literally everything happened to me in one clear shot. But people are like you're so lucky that you like, just like, got to leave your. I'm like, well, I'm not. There's no luck involved in that. I'm like that was me working hard to find someone to take over my space. Yes, you know, it wasn't luck. So the luck is a thing, too. That always drives me wild. When people are like, oh, we've been so lucky. I'm like, well, it's more hard work than luck. But okay, if you think it's luck, you go for that, because everybody else is gonna be lucky except for you.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Right, yes totally that's how it's gonna go, for sure, l? Do you have just in like general business life? Whatever you wanna go? Do you have a most important lesson, maybe that you've learned along the way, or learned during your re brand or when you started IBP? Just something that you're like it was a moment for you that you're like I need to share this with the world.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, I think for me it really does always kind of come back to that practice of when I am having conflict in any area of my life, with any situation. Again, I mean, I feel like even looking back into some of my difficult conflicts, divorce is conflict. Divorce comes with a lot of challenge and it would be very easy to point a finger and say you know, you're the problem. You're the problem in the process of divorce and, trust me, you know there were moments in that process for me that I definitely felt that someone else was the problem and not me. But after healing through that and navigating that, when I got to a space of recognizing like, what did I? What did I bring of conflict? What did I do or how did I act that was not aligned with who I want to be as a wife or as a partner. What can I take from that and move forward with my life?
Lynzie Smith:I think so many of us spend so much time and energy looking outside of ourselves and putting blame on other people or other situations or other challenges. Again, even luck, like you're so lucky or like this, it basically takes away your power and that, to me, is the thing that I think everyone should learn is that when you are wasting your precious life force, energy, blaming other people or projecting your problems onto others, you are missing the opportunity to step into that growth and really learn for yourself. You know, my ex-husband isn't a part of my life anymore, so if I was walking around wasting my time blaming him, I wouldn't be living the life that I am living now where he is. He's not here. You know, and I remember, even in our you know our communication towards the end of our relationship, I really do remember saying, like at some stage, I'm not going to be in your life anymore, so I can't be the problem if I'm not here.
Lynzie Smith:And so again, that is that that, to me, always stands out as something now that has affected my, my work life, my friendships, my you know my connections in every capacity. When there is a problem or an issue, that issue is here to teach me something. So when I can take that ownership, I get my power back and I can move forward. So that would be the thing that I think like whenever you're having an obstacle or a challenge or conflict. Think of it as a mirror. What do you need to learn? What is the showing? You grab that lesson and then move on. Move on with your life.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I love that. It's so true and it's very much whatever is important to you, what you value, and if you reflect that always, then you can hold your head up high, right? Yes, yes, yeah. Is there anything that you wish you had known? Or maybe you could tell your younger self I know. Like everything, people like ever.
Shauna Foster:I wish I knew everything but like.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Sometimes you're like oh, if only I'd known that sooner. If only I could tell myself this 10 years ago.
Lynzie Smith:Yeah, do less, that's that my partner. Brett says that to me all the time because I am such a doer and I take on everything and I just I almost love it. It's like a fuel for me in some capacity.
Shauna Foster:Yeah.
Lynzie Smith:Do you think there's a you know that's a little bit of a trauma response I definitely avoid through doing. That's like my way of coping with emotions that I may be in putting off or suppressing. And so he's been a great mirror for me and, recognizing when I am doing too much and when I'm again like kind of white knuckling something into fruition, he's the first one to be like you're doing too much, I can feel it. This is too much. Like, even if you get what you want, are you going to feel the way that you want to feel? And so for me, always coming back to that feeling, first holding onto that feeling and then taking aligned action, versus just taking a ton of action. I wish my younger self would have known to do less.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I agree, I fully agree with that also and honestly, if you are drained, exhausted mentally, you cannot be in where you need to be. What good are you doing? You're not right? No, no, not at all. Love that advice, l. Thank you so much for being on. I know people are going to want to know more about you, know more about Commonwealth. So where can they go? What's the best place for them to go to find out more?
Lynzie Smith:Yeah. So if you're a Beauty Barber Pro and you're looking for community, commonwealthco on Instagram is our handle. I love connecting through our community in that capacity, because that's really where you're not just connected with me, but you're connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs in that space. So we have a six-month group coaching program that we offer twice a year. That is the only way that you can work with me one-on-one. That's the only opportunity that I provide right now for coaching, but within that, we also have our podcast, commonwealth Conversations, we host virtual events, we've got some freebies Whatever you need in terms of supporting your business growth in community. That's the space there. And then I hang out on Instagram as well. My professional page is LSBeautyPro and my personal is L M Smith. My name is spelled a little differently, so Mackenzie, I'm sure you'll link that all in the show notes.
Lynzie Smith:But, Instagram is the easiest way to connect and hang out, and I love relationships, I love building those relationships and I'm a total fan of , c , DM DM, so send me a message and say hi.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:I was never a fan of cold ntil until until until I sold my business that way. So here we go, folks. I'm the same, though. Reach out right. Reach out Like you learn something. You connect at some L part. Lindsay, you and I even today found out more things we connected on. We became partners at a job, and now I feel like we're friends too. So I just really appreciate you being on and sharing your story and your lessons with our listeners. So thank you so much again. Thank you for everybody listening. We'll see you on the next episode.
Mackenzie Kilshaw:Thanks for listening to Winning. Be sure to subscribe to get all of our new episodes. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media and leave a rating and review wherever you listen to Winning. To catch all of the latest from us, you can follow Winning Podcast on Instagram at Winning u podcast, facebook Facebook at Winning podcast Podcast and on Twitter at Winning pod. Winning was created and is produced by me, mackenzie Mackenzie Kilshaw Music, created by Summer Furby Firby editing by Seth Armstrong. Special thanks to Shauna Foster for voicing our opening and, of course, a huge thank you to this episode's guest. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you on the next episode.
