Stop doing $10 an hour tasks in your business.

Stop doing $100 an hour tasks. 

So, what are the tasks you should be doing in your business? 


The $1000 an hour tasks. 

Now let me momentarily backpedal because I already know what you may be thinking…

“$1000 an hour tasks…what are those?!”

“I don’t have the revenue to stop doing $10 and $100 an hour tasks; I’m just barely keeping up!”

“I know I need help, but I don’t know the first place to look.”

Well, sit back, pull up an earbud, and fire up your notes app because in this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, I’ve got you covered on all things hiring a VA.

If you’re not familiar with the term VA, it stands for virtual assistant and let me tell you; they are a game-changer for the burnt-out, overworked, run-ragged business owner.

(Even if you’re not burnt out, you can still use a VA because they help you continue to stay sane and help you sustain growth as you scale your business!)

Virtual assistants are the key to setting yourself free from tasks that don’t fall within your zone of genius (aka the $1000 an hour tasks) so you can pass off the to-dos that take you forever to cross off to someone who can do them in mere minutes thus saving you a ton of aggravation and getting you a massive return on your investment.

However, as you get searching for a virtual assistant, you’ll find there is no shortage of potential hires to choose from.

In this episode, I’m sharing with you my top tips, tools and resources for finding your perfect fit VA, getting them set up and ready to roll, and creating a system so they can help you achieve your mile-markers for success.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How you and your business can benefit from bringing on a virtual assistant (VA)
• What a VA is and what types of tasks they are equipped to handle 
• What to consider concerning pricing, hours, and hiring locally, domestically, or internationally 
• Tips for finding and working with your perfect fit VA 
• Resources for where to begin searching for virtual assistant help

References Mentioned in Episode #085: How to Hire a VA and Reclaim Your Time

• Check out sites such as Hire My Mom, Cloudpeeps, Upwork and Freedom Makers to find a VA 
• Find international VAs in the Philippines 
• Use tools like LastPass, Canva and Google Drive to collaborate and share access to materials 

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

There’s an old sentiment when comes to business relationships and how it predicates your success…

“It’s all about who you know.”

While this is true to a degree, because knowing who influences various areas of your community is essential in knowing how to leverage your relationships to be mutually beneficial, what’s more important is how well you’re getting to know people. 

How much effort are you putting into nurturing your relationships?

What are you doing to invest in your existing relationships to make them stronger as well as develop new relationships?

Now, if you’ve listened to even a few episodes of Spa Marketing Made Easy that feature guest interviews, you’ve probably noticed a pattern: all my guests are people I’ve personally connected with or met and developed a relationship with before having them on the show. 

Whether it’s meeting them through my coaching or mastermind groups, business events, or working relationships, our connections are what drive our conversation forward. 

And in this week’s episode, I’m talking with another one of my connections made through my coach, Rachel Perry, who is also a coach herself, as well as one of the sweetest and funniest people I’ve had the opportunity to chat with. 

Today we’re exploring the benefits of business relationships both with clients and with other business owners, and how the power of relationships isn’t so much about the who, but rather the how in how you approach developing relationships with everyone within the sphere of your business. 

Whether you’re brand new in business, you don’t own a business but are working to grow your clientele, or you’re well-established, but looking for new opportunities to expand in your career, this is an episode you won’t want to miss. 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why investing in finding and nurturing entrepreneurial relationships is important and necessary 
• How to create stronger client relationships that make a client feel valued and how that benefits your business in the short- and long-term
• Simple ways to keep track of your relationships and why you should be keeping track
• The differences in approach to developing relationships with clients vs. fellow business owners 

References Mentioned in Episode #083: Exploring the Benefits of Business Relationships with Rachel Perry 

• To learn more about Rachel, click here to visit her website and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram 
• Tune into Rachel’s podcast, Making the Leap 
• Listen to Episode #008 of Spa Marketing Made Easy: Grow Your Clientele With Gift Card Marketing

To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community.

When I speak with aesthetic experts who have recently taken the leap to start their own aesthetic business whether it’s as a solo practitioner or a spa with a team of aestheticians, one of the most common questions I get asked is, “how do I build a business that lasts?”

We’ve all heard the stats: 20 percent of small business businesses fail in their first year and 50 percent within five years. 

It’s not exactly a hopeful statistic when it comes to longevity, and that’s why I love to share stories like those of my guest on this episode of Spa Marketing Made Easy, Shannon O’Brien. 


Shannon is an industry vet with over 17 years of experience where she has started and grown not only a successful day spa in Tahoe but has also moved on to a new area, launched again as a solo practice and built it up with a team and a boutique to boot. 

She knows what it takes to build a business from the ground up, scaling her team and services, and building a brand that will be successful for the long haul, but this journey didn’t come without its bumps in the road.

In this episode, Shannon and I are getting vulnerable on what it looks like to navigate the entrepreneurial journey through tough seasons of life and how you can find beauty in the breakdown to help you build your business to the vision of success you hold, and even beyond your wildest dreams.

Today, Shannon is the founder of iSugarUniversity where she is bringing sugaring education and community to the online space, and I’m so excited for you to hear her inspiring story of how she arrived to where she is today.

I know her story will give you hope, especially if you’re in the midst of a rough patch of life or business, but even if you’re not, her story is a case study in the grit and perseverance needed to succeed, and is chock full of takeaways that will help fuel your growth personally and professionally.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Shannon’s evolution as an aesthetician who owned a successful day spa and moved to a whole new city to start over 
• How Shannon discovered sugaring, how it compares to waxing, and why it’s a beneficial treatment to be able to offer your clientele 
• Shannon’s top tips and mindset shifts for navigating difficult seasons of life and business-ownership to build the dream you envision for your life
• Why finding your focus is one of the most critical entrepreneurial skills you should develop 

References Mentioned in Episode #082: Finding Beauty in The Breakdown with Shannon O’Brien of iSugarUniversity 

• Learn more about Shannon’s iSugarUniversity and Sugar Tribe by visiting her website
• Connect with Shannon and iSugarUniversity on Instagram and Facebook 
• To keep the conversation going, ask questions, and connect with other like-minded aestheticians building thriving careers, click here to join the free Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast community. 

Silver linings, looking on the bright side, glass-half-full…however you coin the idea of optimism, what you’re actually doing is choosing to be positive. And yes, positivity is a choice.

While being positive isn’t a marketing strategy per se, when embraced and embodied, the power of positive thinking has true, scientific evidence of improving not just our day-to-day lives, but long-term happiness and sustainable business success.

Tune into this episode to hear:

• Why mindset is a critical piece of success and happiness in life and business
• My personal story of how positive thinking has directed my entrepreneurial journey and my approach to taking on challenges and struggle for beneficial outcomes
• The science behind positive thinking and the tangible numbers to prove how impactful it can be in your business
• A simple practice you can begin doing now to immediately begin shifting your mindset into a place of positivity and possibility

To join the Spa Marketing Made Easy community on Facebook and receive more marketing insights, support, and feedback, click here.