ep120 Leslie Perry

Show Notes

Today’s guest is pretty cool—not only because of what she does, but because of the impact she’s making in our industry. She’s the Executive Director of the Professional Beauty Association (PBA), and she brings a unique blend of experience as a licensed aesthetician, makeup artist, and former business owner.

Before stepping into her role at PBA, she ran a successful cosmetic and skincare business in Michigan and spent 15 years in corporate communications and community relations in the health and wellness space, including with the YMCA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State and a master’s from Saginaw Valley State University. Let’s get into this week’s HeadCases with Leslie Perry!

3:48 Leslie Perry’s Background and Bridal Consulting

5:29 Transition to PBA

23:27 Challenges and Opportunities in the Beauty Industry

41:26 Beacon program and Student support

50:51 Personal Stories and Industry Impact

51:41 Rapid Fire Questions and Personal Insights

Complete Transcript

Chris Baran 0:00
How great would it be to get up close and personal with the beauty industry heroes we love and admire, and to ask them, How did you learn to do what you do? I’m Chris Baran, a hair stylist and educator for 40 plus years, and I’m inviting all our heroes to chat and share the secrets of their success. Hi, welcome to another episode of head cases, and today’s pretty cool guest because she is the executive director for professional beauty Association. You know it as a PBA. And Leslie Perry is a licensed aesthetician and makeup artist. And prior to her role at PBA, Leslie owned a cosmetic and skincare business in Michigan, and she spent 15 years working in corporate communications and community relationships for various organizations in health and wellness industry, including the YMCA. Leslie has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and a master’s degree from Saginaw Valley State University. So let’s get into this week’s head case. Leslie. Perry Leslie, it is such a pleasure and honor to have you on here, and I just have to say, Welcome to head cases. And I’m excited about this.

Leslie Perry 1:23
Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity, and I’m equally excited,

Chris Baran 1:28
yeah, because I think the last time we were at a gig together was for high performance, yes, and while we were zooming, but I have to say that’s when we saw you there, and we listened to you talk to the people, and we just said, we have to have you on head cases, because, you know you’ve got so much to offer, and by the way, you’re damn good speaker. I got to

Leslie Perry 1:49
say that. Thank you. Oh my goodness, thank you. I appreciate that. So

Chris Baran 1:53
we always start off, and we always want to know that, and because people that don’t know, I mean, I talked about who you were in the introduction, etc. But people always want to see where they are in the hair industry. Did they were they hairdresser? Were they into it? What? How did they get involvement with your involvement with the PBA? So give us a little bit of your hair story and how you got into the industry.

Leslie Perry 2:15
I was born into it. Chris, literally. So my mom, yes, my mom was a hairdresser. She was a salon owner for about 35 years. So I grew up in the industry watching my mom do hair. She had hair. She had the kitchen salon for a time, and then did purchase the salon and owned a salon. So I I worked in the salon. I swept a lot of hair, I folded a lot of towels, sorted a lot of perm rods. You know, that was back in the early 90s, and I knew how to sort those perm rods and and took care of a lot of retail. And then my sister ended up becoming a hairdresser as well. She’s still a hairdresser in Michigan. I have several aunts and cousins who are still in the industry. And then myself went a different route. Thought that I was supposed to go to college, get a degree work in corporate America, I did that, and felt a little bit of my life getting sucked out of me every day in that environment, sometimes and always felt this pull back to the family business, which was beauty. And so in my 30s, actually, I made the decision to do an apprenticeship at a salon, and got my license in esthetics, started a skincare and makeup business, and I did that for about 10 years in Michigan, and worked on brides just about every weekend for for a good period of time, and loved every minute of it. And then that all led me to the Professional Beauty Association. Well,

Chris Baran 3:39
I mean, wow, I think eventually that was the tightest one, I think, of all the people that were on here that usually by this time we’re halfway through. But I have to ask you this, within your bridal consulting business and doing a lot of brides, did you ever have a lot of Bridezillas that were on there?

Leslie Perry 3:55
I honestly did not have Bridezillas. I did not have Bridezillas. I will tell you what I found, and I worked alongside my sister, so she did hair, I did makeup. What we found is that a lot of times it wasn’t the bride, but there was someone else in the bridal party who was the Zilla factor, whether it was a bridesmaid, a sister of the groom, a mother of the bride, some but someone, there was always one person in the party that gave you just a little bit extra, let’s

Chris Baran 4:25
say, yeah, yeah, the grief, the grief level, got turned

Leslie Perry 4:30
up and a little bit when you’re working with your sister, this really cool thing happens where you can speak to each other with just eye contact. And so when we found that person who was winning our chair. We just made the right eye contact with each other so we knew then, hey, this is the one. Just be prepared and give a little extra customer service patience when you have that person in your chair, older,

Chris Baran 4:52
older, younger sister. She’s younger. I’m the oldest.

Leslie Perry 4:55
I have a we have a brother in between us. He did not go into beauty. He did not go into beauty. Not going to beauty,

Chris Baran 5:01
did he? Did he bully the bully you too, while you guys were growing up? Or was he the Savior for

Leslie Perry 5:06
you? Or both? You know, he both? It’s interesting. My brother and sister and I are very close, especially as adults, but growing up, like any siblings, we had our fair share of fights and squabbles, and I’m the oldest, so I wanted to get my way, and I was the built in babysitter having to take care of these two kids that were driving me crazy at times. So

Chris Baran 5:28
never got paid.

Leslie Perry 5:30
Never got paid. It was just expected.

Chris Baran 5:34
Yeah, so tell us. So how did, how did the PBA gig come around, like, what? What happened in there? I’m curious, yeah, how did it? That’s a pretty big it’s a big leap, yeah, as a leap, but that’s a big job. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of elements in it. So how did that happen? What was the transition like, and where did it? What did it come from? When

Leslie Perry 5:57
I had my business I was living in I grew up in Michigan. So lived there most of my life, and I was a PBA member, and I became an advocate for the state of Michigan when I had my business. So I was involved in the Government Affairs side and helped with legislation and took action when there was legislation happening in the state of Michigan. Then fast forward to about seven years ago, and my husband and I felt this calling to move. And we had lived. Both of us are from Michigan, had lived their entire lives. Felt a calling to move across the country to the southwest, where the sun shines almost every day. So we are we now live in, in Phoenix, Arizona, and lo and behold, yes, you are in Yes, you are here in the Southwest, and the Professional Beauty Association headquarters is in Scottsdale. And so I’d been living here for about not quite a year, and job opportunity came up, and I thought that would be perfect for me, so I applied for the position, and then ultimately, didn’t get that role that I applied for. But at the same time, the education manager role became available, and they decided I was the right fit for that role. And the rest is, is history of Ben here ever since, yeah, oh,

Chris Baran 7:13
that’s awesome. So you know on that I can’t even imagine. Well, first of all, I can’t imagine I’ve been involved in corporate life before, and it’s a different animal. It is. Then, then behind chair. And, you know, everybody’s kind of, you know, and I want, I don’t want this to come out wrong, but I think when you’re in a salon, and everybody’s friends sometimes, and, and, you know, it’s a pretty good vibe, everybody’s creative, you know, everybody’s cool with, you know, our whole job is about being creative, and things shift, and sometimes in in corporate, that doesn’t happen all the time. You know, we have some people that want it and some people don’t. But what was, what was the, what was it like getting into it? What was it like? What’s it maybe tell us what the give us the idea on the role. What does the role entail at PBA? At PBA, your your, your role within so.

Leslie Perry 8:07
So my role now is executive director, and so getting into this side of it is a great blend of pulling on the skills that I learned while I was in corporate America, but also pulling on the experiences I’ve had as a licensed professional, as a business owner, and pulling from the experiences that my mom had as a salon owner. So it really is like at PBA, we have several of us who are licensed, who have been either hairdressers or estheticians. Some still do that occasionally on the side, or handle clients on weekends or weddings, that kind of thing. So it pulls like working for PBA is like this really beautiful blend of using some of the skills that you might need in a corporate America kind of role, but really a twist on it. It’s more creative still, it’s more comfortable. It does feel like working for PBA, for me, feels more like a salon environment, where you come in and we all talk to each other, we all know more about each other’s families. We I hate saying that it’s like, Oh, it’s my work family, but it really is like a work family where we deeply care for one another and we deeply care for all of the professionals who work in the industry. And so it’s, it is. It’s a beautiful blend of using skills that you have in your right brain, your left brain, and putting it all together.

Chris Baran 9:25
You know, I think that, first of all, thank I mean, for everything that you and PBA do. I just want to say thank you, because, you know, I can remember, you know, in Canada, I came from Canada and I and I remember moving from central Canada to the coast and and I was like that. I’d always been the creative part, but I had never really had the inkling to get involved with any groups. I just found sometimes that they just got a little too stuffy for me. And, and I found that going to some of the meetings, etc, that they’re not that at all. Yeah. Know what like can but here’s the reason why I’m bringing up this questions, is that the people listening or watching right now, they may or may not, I’m sure they’ve heard of PBA. They’re associated. No one is that it’s involved always, and they’re probably getting if they’re I know if you’re getting members, you’re getting emails from them, etc, but like, what are if somebody didn’t know and doesn’t know what PBA is? Give us a broad scope of what are, like, what’s the app? I’m trying to picture it as if it was, you know, how you see that org chart and there’s bubbles around them. What, in a nutshell is, are in those bubbles?

Leslie Perry 10:37
So we exist truly, to keep Professional Beauty professional, and that means not just the licensing that we’ve all fought hard for and worked really hard to get a license in the profession that we choose to be in, but also from an education perspective, a resource perspective, helping others outside of our industry, consumers, Government, legislators, understand the true power that is within Professional Beauty and the economic powerhouse that we really are. So that’s why we exist. And you talk about those buckets within that keeping professional professional, we have the arm of government affairs, which sounds big and scary, but really that is it’s are we have a team that works with every state, with the federal government to make sure that legislation that’s introduced is benefits us as an industry and benefits us as the professionals working in the industry, and then fights against legislation that might be introduced to deregulate, for example, or things that that are, you know, cumbersome to us or don’t make sense for the industry. So we have that arm. We have a whole charitable arm. So we have, you know, this year, beginning of the year, the fires in California, our Disaster Relief Fund was, you know, very visible, because we raise money. Thank you to all the brand partners and individuals who donate so that we can then give that money back out to professionals who’ve been affected, who lost everything in a disaster, whether the fires, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, you name it. So we’re there for that, and then we have a whole education side and resources and

Chris Baran 12:08
things. Can I just pause you there for just one second because I heard this, and I don’t know if it came back to you, and quite frankly, I can’t remember where this came from, but this is why I think that the charitable work that you guys do is so important, because I had, and I wish I could remember the person’s name, and they told me that somebody, and I believe it was during the floods, and that they couldn’t get help enough help right away from FEMA, but they did get help from PBA. And I thought that was just a tug on my heartstrings, just a little bit when we know, I mean, and I’m not saying anything against FEMA, because, I mean, I’m sure they’ve got, sir, hands filled with everything. But when, when people have a second source that they can do to, I’m sure we can’t give them through, through through PBA, what FEMA can give them in hundreds of $1,000 for house, but we can help them just emergent emergency stuff so they can eat and have a place to go and so on. And I, I didn’t, I don’t know if you knew that, and I thought it’d be something that would be, you know,

Leslie Perry 13:18
pleasant to hear. For you, it is pleasant to hear. And I heard that also during the California fires, I had an opportunity to go to California and meet some of those salon owners and stylists who benefited from the disaster relief fund, and some of them were saying they FEMA just didn’t come through, so they’re living with family or friends, but PBA was able to support them with even $1,000 right to buy food, to pay for shelter, if you needed it, whatever you just need in that moment to get you through. We were able to do that. And we, I, we have an incredible team. You would think we had, you know, dozens of people behind the scenes that run that we have three that are able to when that goes into action. They just have everything down to such an incredible science, essentially, of getting that money out quickly, because they know how much it matters to get it money in the hands of those who need it quickly and not have as much red tape, because we don’t have to so Exactly.

Chris Baran 14:16
And I just and look for people listening and watching right now. I don’t this isn’t meant to be huge plugs, and this isn’t about all of that, but this is just coming from me, just off the top of my head, right now, how important this is, and as if it happened to us, like if we had the disaster happening to us. And I know that we’re in a hard time right now with, you know, people are sometimes themselves, being able, you know, listen, I It’s hard getting from month to month, you know, anything that that we can do, like dollars, even individual dollars help, you know, so, anything that you can, that we can all do to help with all of our fellow hairdressers and contribute to PBA, PBA and their their disaster relief, I think, is really. Important. So, so I cut you off before that’s okay and but we were just, we just kind of wrapped up on the charitable side, yes,

Leslie Perry 15:08
and so another side is resources and education and things that help you run your business. So I like to think of us as like your best friend, the person that when you need advice, or you don’t know where to turn, or you have questions and are afraid to ask someone else, that’s who we are, and you and step into that role of helping you make your business more effective and doing the homework for you so you don’t have to. Because my guess is most of us that go into this, whether if you’re a hairdresser, makeup artist, aesthetician, barber, nails, you go in because you love to help people feel good, and you love the creative nature of it. You don’t go into it because you want to run the business and worry about how to file taxes, where to get insurance, all of those questions. So we’ve done all of that homework for you, and an arm of what we do is having resource providers for you that we’ve vetted, that we trust, that you can trust too, that we know take care of beauty professionals in particular and make sure that they understand the business of beauty and not just business in general. And then we have our events, which I know, and I see in the background, a North American hair styling award sitting there, but Naha is one of our exclusive events that we do every year celebrates just the incredible artistry that exists in our industry and the inspiration behind it. So we love that, and that’s coming up in June every year

Chris Baran 16:34
we have last year it’s sold out. It did

Leslie Perry 16:37
for the first time ever, and it was. So, you know, it was

a great thing, and also, like, a really stressful thing, because then there’s people, of course, who waited and they want tickets and can’t get them and can’t understand, you mean, I can’t, I can’t come to Naha. I’ve always come to Naha, and so that was the hard part. So this year, we are telling everyone, please get your tickets the advance. Get them in advance. We really want to share. You know, we want to have a full house again, and we want everyone who wants to be there to have that opportunity to be there and share on your friends and see, I mean, some of the incredible artistry is, oh my gosh. Where these ideas come from. Chris, I I’m always amazed every year where I think, Oh, it can’t get better. It can’t and it just continues to blow my mind with some of the work.

Chris Baran 17:27
And, you know, and what I like about what I love about Naha is that you have the full gambit. Because I know people that what they do all the time, and they specialize in in commercial hair, like Runway Hair, that things that, that that you want every day in the salon, and it’s just pushed the notch and the color is pushed, the styling is pushed, excuse me, and it’s so beautiful. But they also allow us creative nerds that really want to go off way off in left field and real crate avant garde stuff. And I know that’s my, you know, if I probably would be in therapy for something else if I didn’t have that, but, you know, I’d be in an underwater Spoon Bending thing that my psychiatrist would put me into. But I find that when it when you can have take hair in any direction and and sometimes you might have, you know, I know some of the pieces that I worked on have taken weeks or months to make it just a source of an outlet, and just like painting or anything else, except you’re using our sources, as opposed to a different medium like paint. So I just you know, you guys have and always been adding on everything to it. So thank you for that. Well,

Leslie Perry 18:49
one of my favorite things that we added last year, as you’re talking about where you get your inspiration is for the hair stylist Of The Year category. We invite each of them on stage during the show, before we award that category for them, to talk a little bit about where the inspiration came from, like, why, how did I create these five images, and why these five and what, what went into the creation of this particular collection. And it’s, it is such an incredible part of the story, and of really understanding what someone was going through and why they created the collection. And it’s not just it goes so deep then, right? That’s where the artistry, to me, really comes alive, where it’s, yes, they’re beautiful images, and it’s amazing and creative, but it’s so much deeper than that, and that’s what we get to celebrate with. Naha, yeah. And

Chris Baran 19:38
I think there’s, you know it, I don’t care if people, if you’re listening right now, if you’ve only been in the business for a year, is just to do something. I mean, I think I had entered Lord knows how many times before, and I had the great you know, I before there was Naha in Canada, where there was Canadian award. Started, and, and, and that sort of was the groundwork for a lot of us as Canadians to get into that field. But here’s what I why I am saying that is, yes, there is everybody can get into social media, and you can be, you know, good at what you do right now, but if you really want to make your mark on the world of hairdressing, so that the people in the business really know who you are, see your creativity and applaud you. I’d highly suggest everybody that’s out there just, you know, get a mentor, somebody who’s been there with Naha before, pick their brain, you know, and and just like anything, there’s that the term fail is just first attempt in learning. And remember that the first time you do it, you may not win, but you’re going to learn from it. And the reason why I want to get to this, it will truly make your career, I know for me when, when, and it was obviously very different when I started. But the the fact of how everybody in the industry knows you, not just the consumer, but everybody in the industry knows you, and knows who you are and and know how is an incredible place to do it. And here’s the here’s the even the kicker, even if you don’t win, it really is a part to really understanding your creativity, and it’s and it’s amazing what it can do for you and and I, I just have to say this, you don’t win all the time. I mean, I’m if you know, I have to say, My name is Susan Lucci. I’m the Susan Lucci of I’ve heard

Leslie Perry 21:43
this many times recently from people, yeah, yeah. Is that I’ve lost

Chris Baran 21:47
so many more times than I’ve won and but you just got to keep going. It’s just like the Academy Awards, anything else, the the heavy hitters don’t win all the time, you know? So I just encourage people to get involved.

Leslie Perry 22:00
Yeah, thank you. I do too. And seeing for me, one of my favorite categories is the student category, for that reason, where you get to see this incredible work that students are able to perform, and then watch them as their career progresses and some what they you know, where they end up going on in the industry, or working with brands, or doing their own things, starting their own companies, and it’s been really, really rewarding to see those students from when they win and just what they’re able to accomplish in the industry. Well,

Chris Baran 22:31
I mean, let’s face it, that, I mean, and I’m going to spout, and people are going to be going all here goes Chris one more time. But you know, and I have to say, and it just it pisses me off how sometimes Hollywood and and media in general looks at hairdressing when, you know, like, I’ll say this, there’s, I’ll bet you, there’s More more six figure earners in hairdressing than there is anywhere else, and I and it just really makes me angry how they just try to portray us as dumb or freaky. And okay, yeah, but maybe we got a couple different colors in our hair because that’s our vibe. That’s what we do. That’s the industry that we have. It’s no different than somebody that’s in the fashion industry wearing an avant garde outfit. We wear avant garde hair. That’s what we do. But I think the more that we can do in our industry to help to elevate the image of what we are and who we are. So when we go to my one of my business partners is Chris moody, and I’m not sure if you know Chris, that’s Steven’s brother and and in our we do a training program together, and when we talk to the people that are in our programs, the first thing that Chris always says is, I want to elevate our industry so that not only when I meaning Miss Mr. Moody, go to a cocktail party, but anybody goes to a cocktail party, and there’s lawyers and doctors and etc, etc, there that we’re held in the same regard, not only for what we do in earning, but what we do and the changes that we do on their wives and the people around them.

Leslie Perry 24:14
I agree wholeheartedly. I have said the same thing for years because of watching my mom and growing up with my mom, and seeing how she even looked down on herself. And I just told a story where she was an entrepreneur and a business owner and a successful one at that, and employed 12 to 15 stylists at any given time in her salon, and yet, when she would introduce herself, she would say, I’m just a hairdresser, yeah, oh, I was too dumb to go to college, so I just went, you know, I just went to Beauty School. And when I think of the work that she was doing, or that my sister does when having to know chemistry and the formulas and helping people, and it’s like even within our industry, we have to change the perception of who we are. And. In what we’ve chosen as a true profession, and completely agree that what drives me at PBA is I want that same future where, when someone comes home and a kid comes home and says, I want to go to cosmetology school, the parents are excited, just like they would be a kid came home and said, I’m going to go to medical school. I’m going to be a lawyer, I’m going to be whatever like. Why can’t we revere this profession as a true profession like it is? Because we, those of us in it, know how incredible it is, and what it can do for your your whole life, your family, how it can support just an incredible life. Because it’s really the It’s an endless it’s a license to create, right? Like it really is this just an incredible journey that you can lead. Whether you stay in the creative side, you go into the business side. I mean, there’s so many, it’s, it really is endless.

Chris Baran 25:48
Yeah, and you said the word perception was just, it’s like, I’m looking at the word right above your head says, mindset. You know, I’m so happy to see that on there that, you know, it’s like, we just finished our convention with with spec in in California, just this last weekend. And it was interesting how when L’Oreal came on stage, they’re one of our sponsors that are there. And so they when they came on stage, they showed a video of all the different people, of all different like so they had artistic directors. They had people that were traveled the world as as influencers as it mean, you name it, every kind, even everything from just a six figure earner at still at the chair, to educators, to people that run then they do Fashion Week and and the amount that people can get, and I have to say, I’m really, really excited about it is that my son, Lee, was the one that produced the video and and you saw you met him just a bit before, and that the work that Once the people in school, once the parents in school come and see that video, and that’s what L’Oreal created it for, was so that when a parent comes in, and we all know that they’ve got that, well, it’s just, you know, even though even the term hobby,

Leslie Perry 27:16
it’s a side thing to get you there till You get a real job

Chris Baran 27:20
or get married or whatever. But the idea is, is when they see what the potential that people have, you know, and then there’s, there’s the flip side of that, which I always talk about when everybody asks me, how much money can you earn in the beauty industry? I always, and this is the line that I use, because it’s true. You know exactly what you’re going to earn, exactly what you put into it. And you go into it hardcore. And I’ll show people my I can’t remember in Canada, what’s a PBA? PBA, WD, 40. Or here’s a w2

Leslie Perry 27:59
w2 you’re an employee, or, yeah, your tax return.

Chris Baran 28:05
Or you know that this is an amazing industry, so let’s kind of shake tunes. A little bit about where did what’s the background like? Where did PBA start? We know what it does now. Where did it come from? How did it start? What happened there? It

Leslie Perry 28:22
started from several different organizations, and over time, those organizations realizing the power in coming together. So PBA has existed in its current form for about 20 years, but prior to that, there are four separate organizations. There was a Manufacturing Association and distributor Association. There was a cosmetology Association and a salon Association. And so over time, they realized, if we all come together, because we do have interests that are common, and we do, if we can come together and align our interests, we’re going to be stronger as an industry together. So yeah, we were born out of separate entities that really saw the power of connection and collaboration, and that’s that mean being that as our foundation. That’s how we operate today, and love collaborating with others in the industry and finding ways that. And I tell people, I know it sounds cliche or like I’m Pollyanna, like, uh, but I mean it really like we’re better together. I firmly believe that in every thing I’ve done in my life, it’s because of being connected to others who help, and we can’t do it alone. And so that’s the same at PBA. We’re better together. Yep, absolutely

Chris Baran 29:32
I’m I’ve always believed, I think that I know personally i i work better on a collaboration than I do just trying to come up with my own ideas, I want to just jump over to. There is in I came from Canada, obviously, and Canada, from province to province, did not have reciprocity with with their licensure. And I know that there’s, there is some, there’s talk. Of it, and I know that right now, I saw that there’s some of the states that are actually combining, because it always got me when, you know, if I’m in my state, my province, and I’m just right by the border, and I can do hair, I’m licensed to do hair, but if I step across that line that people will say, No, no, no, you can’t do you can’t You don’t know anything about how to do hair here. So, like, what can we do? How do we what’s the what’s the plan? So

Leslie Perry 30:32
we, I agree, and I’m affected by that personally. When I moved from Michigan to Arizona, I did have to, I have, you know, I have a license in those two states at this point, but we are working with other groups on something for license reciprocity, or it’s called the state cosmetology compact. And so what that is, is working with states that come together to say, yes, we will be a part of this particular compact, and that means that we will recognize a license no matter which of these states you’re operating. So of course, the goal is to have all 50 states, so no matter where you go, then in the US you can operate, and you don’t have to worry about having a separate license for every state where you’re working. And it’s right now it started. It has the way the government works is you have to start with seven states. We do have the seven and more are being added to that. So it looks very promising that we’ll be able to to start offering that reciprocity. And it was born out of, actually, the Defense Department and realizing that, especially spouses of those who are in the Armed Services move frequently. And why should the spouse have to if they’re a barber or, you know, a licensed professional of any type, how are they? How are they supposed to work when their spouse is now being transferred to a different base in a different state? And so the Defense Department has has that set up for different types of professions and licenses, like the Nursing Association, for example. So that’s where that was born out of. And we’re working on putting together that that compact, and so that you would only have to have this one license, and then you could operate in every state that becomes a part of that group.

Chris Baran 32:14
I bet we have something in common. I have this love hate relationship. I hate paying for something that I’m not using. I hate working in a small, cramped box, yet I love working in a cool salon that impresses my clients, and I love the culture and synergy of a team while enjoying the freedom of being my own boss. You too. What if all that was available to you at the salon you rent from meet artist on go, a game changing way to rent salon space. With artist on go, you only pay for the time you’re behind the chair. You can choose a salon that fits your vibe, location and amenities. With artist on go, you’re a part of a stylist community, not hustling alone. Plus, you get to enjoy perks like clean towels and back bar supplies. Check out artist on go, built for stylists serious about their clients and growing their brand without the hassles of managing a space. Here’s the kicker, you can save more than 50% on your rent to find out more. Go to B, I T, dot L y slash artist on go. CB, that’s B, I T, dot L y slash artist on go. CB, there’s this whole thing on the FICA tax, right? Yes, you know. And you know, could you just give us a little bit of I can insight into that? We’ve

Leslie Perry 33:50
been fighting that for a while. So what it is, as a salon owner who has employees, and my stylists are employees, this is not for rental salons. This is for employment based salons only if my stylist receives a tip, which most of us do. That tip, 100% of the tip is income that goes to the stylist. The salon owner takes none of the tip. All of that goes to the stylist the way the tax code is written. However, the salon owner still is required to pay taxes on the money that was the tip, even though they aren’t getting any of that tip money as revenue for the salon. So they’re essentially being tax, paying taxes on not anything that’s revenue for them, and then it’s being taxed to the employee as well. So there’s, like, all of these tax implications for it The Restaurant Association in the 90s, came up with an exemption for their industry so that servers, they keep 100% of their tips the restaurant owner does not owe to or does not owe taxes on those tips, and so we are just have been fighting for that same exemption as the Restaurant Association. And to to just take off that burden from the salon owners in in the US,

Chris Baran 35:07
yeah, so. And then how to, you know is, is this something that only salon owners can voice? You can make their voice heard? No, we,

Leslie Perry 35:17
I mean, we will have anyone who wants to, you know, help us submit information to your legislature. If you go to the Government Affairs side the advocacy portion of our website, we make it really easy. You put in your address, zip code, and it pops up who, who represents you in Congress and in the Senate. And then we also have, if you sign up to be an advocate on our behalf, you’ll get the alerts right to your inbox or texted to your phone, and it’s already pre, pre made out for you, and you just have to sign it and then send it off to your legislature for your support. And that all helps.

Chris Baran 35:52
And, you know, for the people that are listening, that are going well, I, you know, I’m, you know, I’m a renter, you know, I’m a stylist, I’m working for somebody really doesn’t bother me, but you know, listen, you may be an owner one day, and if we don’t take care of this right now, that might affect you, and you have to pay double tax on and everything that we get as well. So this is to rally the troops on,

Leslie Perry 36:16
yeah, and you may be an owner someday, but even now, if you think of the money that your owner is spending on paying taxes to the government on income that isn’t theirs, they could reinvest that in their salon and get you that new, cool thing you wanted, or invested into education that you need to up level your skills. I mean, there’s so many ways that salon owners have told us that they would be using that revenue in beneficial ways that make the industry better and stronger than paying taxes.

Chris Baran 36:44
Yeah, and it’s interesting. I I know that it’s been I’ve heard that’s probably not true, but I’ve heard that there is some people that don’t declare their tips. And, you know, true, it’s not true, but I just heard it. But let’s say that somebody was thinking about bringing their tips is, I think that if people understand that, that’s the reason, part of the reason why, why stylists particularly can’t get loans or having, let me rephrase that. That wasn’t the right wording. Let me put that in a better and a better sentence. Part of the reason why some can’t get loans is because of the industry as a whole is seen as making less money than it does, and that affects everybody all the way down the line, and it affects every school. Because if there’s things that they think that right now, the government only thinks that the average hairdresser only makes 27 I think it’s 27 five, or some ridiculous number like that, that they make. And that’s that’s based on people that work maybe three hours a day or three days a week, and are things actually report their income and actually report and for the other two people that aren’t declaring their tips and when they start. So, you know, I think that what I loved about remember, Jason Everett was and we that’s we were on his gig together. What I loved is he, he had this pact going around with hairdressers where they had their own code of honor, and on their code of honor is, I will pay my tax and I will, I will, I will declare my tips and I will pay my taxes, because we have to have people that will be out there that will start this ball rolling. So because I’m looking in other words that you got while it says too legit to quit,

Leslie Perry 38:46
we have my 90s hip hop.

Chris Baran 38:51
Yeah? I mean, let’s face it, our 80s years beat your 90s. So come on, our music. You know, yeah, we were ruffians, but our music was great. Anyway,

Leslie Perry 39:01
I appreciate the 80s too. Yeah, so. But anyway,

Chris Baran 39:05
I just think that I didn’t want to turn this, and excuse me, into a preaching session, but I think that there is so much on that licensure side that PBA does that I think really makes it what are, what are some of the biggest hurdles that are going on in our in our industry right now, from your perspective, gosh.

Leslie Perry 39:24
I mean, some of it right now is just the uncertainty of of the economy and the tariff thing and like things that are beyond our control. But that’s what we hear a lot right now. Is just that uncertainty of from businesses all the way down to licensed professionals and independents that are on their own, or like a softening of the economy, where people aren’t coming in as frequently to get their hair. Does that mean? What does that mean for my business? And so that’s something big that that definitely is, you know, just wears on the hearts and minds of the people in the industry. And then I think. Something else we see for PBA, because we’re kind of, you know, I look at us as the center of it, and trying to pull everyone together. Sometimes we’re all off doing our own thing, and we’re and maybe we’re not as aligned as we could be and should be together as an industry. And then it goes back to what we’ve just been talking about from like, an advocacy side. If we can’t align ourselves, then the legislature See, like that industry can’t even agree on things together. Like, why should they even have why should it be regulated? Like, just deregulate it. You know what’s going on over there. So that’s something that that I take, you know, taking a look at and with the collaborations we do, and how do we come together? And you know, we can agree. We aren’t going to agree on everything, but I think there’s some core things that we can all agree upon and be aligned with as an industry together. Yeah, and

Chris Baran 40:50
I think that it the more that it’s really, I think there’s one simple word in there that the more we have a community. I mean, I know I can remember when I was just a young pup in it, and I’ve been, well, what can I do? I can’t do anything. Well, yeah, you can, you know, and it’s not maybe just you on your own, but it’s getting affiliated with a community and and nothing more than just so that they know what everybody’s needs and wants are, and then they go and advocate for you. And I think that’s the biggest thing that I think the reason why we need community, we need associations that help to support us.

Leslie Perry 41:25
Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, can’t disagree with that. Chris, well, yeah, I guess I’m preaching. I’m a little biased.

Chris Baran 41:38
Yeah, so the let’s talk about I had the great pleasure of judging some of the beacon students that applied for

Leslie Perry 41:49
one of my favorite things today.

Chris Baran 41:52
Tell us. Tell for people that don’t know, and if there’s schools that are listening, I want you to listen close to this, but tell, tell everybody a little bit about what beacon is about.

Leslie Perry 42:01
Yeah, beacon is our student program, and we with Beacon, the students who are selected into the program focus on the business of beauty and really like how to build their careers. So a lot of the things that we’ve been talking about are things that we talk that we teach with beacon. So beacon is it’s a program you apply to be a part of it. So cosmetology students, barber students, esthetics, makeup, nails, any, any area of the industry, are eligible to apply each year. And then you submit this application, which we keep it relatively easy. You submit a video, so that we get to know a little bit about you and why you chose beauty, why you want to be a part of Beacon, you submit a portfolio, and we help you do that with our great partner, buista. So that’s all done online, and it’s really easy to create this resume that you can use once you get out of school, too. It’s a great resource to have anyway, whether you make it into beacon or not, a letter of recommendation. And then we ask you to submit social media. So we can see that you’re starting to use social media, not just for personal but for professional. So it’s something you apply for. We like to keep it to an elite level, to the point of like, applying for something you may or may not get in but keeping it like very elevated to the students who we want that really have a passion and a desire to be a part of this. And then when selected, there’s a two and a half day program alongside premier Orlando. So you get so you get to be a part of the show experience. You get to go to Naha, as we were talking about Naha. And the most important, the coolest part is you get to learn from the industry’s best, and spend two and a half days, just immersed in inspiration, in all kinds of education, learning from people who have been there, who have made mistakes, who learn from their mistakes, people like Sam via John Mosley, Chris that you’ve been a part of it in the past. Ruth Roche, I mean, there’s, you know, Antoinette Beaners, like we just have some of the most incredible educators who come and pour into the students for those two and a

Chris Baran 44:06
half. And stampur is always Gino stamp or facilitator, and

Leslie Perry 44:09
Roger Samuels, and, I mean, I could go on and on with so many amazing people,

Chris Baran 44:14
you know, what in the judging, what? What struck me the most is I was thinking, you know, you know, what do they want? What does a student want? When, what they want to apply for it. But the biggest thing that I, that I that everybody commented on, was networking, and that just, I, you know, when I first started in the industry network, networking was, you know, but all these kids, they wanted to network, and they wanted to get in to meet people and to elevate their their position. Sometimes, you know you can go in, you can go into beacon or those kind of programs. You go in one person and come out another, simply, but around. I just remember there, and the last time I was there, uh. Um, these kids. It’s not, and I’m going to talk about, it’s going to sound selfish about to get your picture taken with these kids, but that’s what they want. They want, because that’s part of their network. And they get on their social media and and they every their clients, see who they’re hanging around with, you know. And it’s just, if you’re hanging with a certain group of people, you know, then you’re going to live up to that. And so I think that’s anybody, any kid that’s listening out there right now. This is something that you you can how many, you know, which rate me? How many people out of that? Is it? Is it one person that got selected out of that? Was it? So we

Leslie Perry 45:35
have the class this year, we had about 170 students who were selected to be in the class. So, so, yeah, so it’s we, we keep it at that number we find if we, of course, are always looking to grow it and looking for ways that we can grow it. But when it gets too big, sometimes it’s like the students get nervous to ask questions, or they don’t have the same interaction opportunities that they would when the group is like that, that kind of sweet spot of a size? Yeah. So, yeah. So we’re looking at ways that we can expand it and maybe offer it at different locations throughout the country at different times of the year, so that more students can get exposed to it. Because it really, I mean, the thing that I hear from students the most from that program is it was life changing, and like, a couple years later, when we get the success stories from some of the graduates and seeing what they’re doing, and some are, I mean, just the businesses that they’ve built and their entrepreneurial journey and where they’ve gone from being at Beacon, and some are now salon owners. Some work for brands. Some have their own suite, but they’re doing, you know, like specialized. I mean, one specialized and started doing wig making. And, I mean, it’s just the opportunities they really start to believe in themselves and see that this is possible for me. And when I see someone up on stage who was like me or has a similar story to me, and they make themselves accessible and talk to me during the breaks, and I have this opportunity to learn and grow, it becomes very real and not just

Chris Baran 46:59
textbook. What is there? Is there any heartfelt moments that that you either that happened there or after, etc, think things that really struck you? Gosh, there.

Leslie Perry 47:12
There are several. One I can think of right now as a young woman who when she came to Beacon, and it’s like, you don’t know their personal stories always, of like, what was going on in someone’s life when they came to Beacon? And she came to Beacon and apparent she didn’t have a lot of money. She was in a tough situation, bad relationship, has a child, single mom situation, and started dancing at a place. We’ll just say that, because she needed to make money and she needed to take care of her family, and she came to Beacon, and didn’t know how she was going to pay for anything. Didn’t know how she was going to pay to get there, but made it to Beacon, and a year later, fast forward and she graduated school, has a job. She’s not dancing anymore. She’s has a great job in cosmetology. And it was, I mean, it’s not all because of Beacon. Is what she put into it, too. But beacon, she told like, being at Beacon made her realize, I can’t give up because I I’m not going to give up on school just because of of what happened. And then another individual I can think of, he was at Beacon graduated in 2023 and didn’t really know what he wanted to do. And then met Michael develes, who’s one of our presenters. He’s the founder of the powder group, which is a makeup community. And he always gives everyone the offer at Beacon, reach out to me. Contact me. I’m happy to help you truly. And very small number, you know, actually follow up with that, right? And so this individual did. He now works for Michael at different shows across the country, works the booth, helps with education, got connected to more people, then ended up buying a salon. Now he employs stylist. He’s, you know, like bringing in all kinds of new lines and education to his salon. And it’s just he’s been a part of Beacon and continues to help us with beacon and give back to Beacon because of every he credits a lot of the success he’s had in just a few years to Beacon. So wow, yeah, that’s what makes you feel really good. And then I have to reread those on Monday night after three days

of being so tired and so like on your feet the whole time your feet are swollen, you have to play, yeah, you have to read those and remind yourself why you’re doing this.

Chris Baran 49:25
But yeah, we call that symposium feet, you know, standing your shoes on, no, well, they Well, no, you just can’t take off, yeah, because they won’t go back on. Oh, that’s that. That is amazing. So the true

Leslie Perry 49:38
story the shoes, yeah,

Chris Baran 49:41
but you know, there is a way we can help everybody. You know, I I remember sometimes we can feel that you just can’t do something to help someone because of whatever limitations. And I remember being at a salon down in the south. I. And the the salon owner said to me, Chris, but she calls me that because that’s what my name is. And she said, otherwise I wouldn’t have answered, you know, but she said, you know, Chris, I’ve got a young girl that works for me, and she helps out and does shampoos, etc, but she’s blind, and she wants to know if it’s okay if she takes the class. And I said, Hell yeah, we, we. So she came into the class. We had somebody that like as I was teaching hair cutting, teaching hair cutting and and we had one person that was designed that sat with her and could help to guide her. And you know, at the end of it, we got pictures of her holding her mannequin up, and she did an amazing job on it. And so I think that from both sides, not only just people that are kids just starting out and making sure to stay to it, but the people that are teaching as well is, don’t limit what you’re teaching to anybody, because they might be, you know, they can’t see or can’t hear or can’t do whatever we if you do the same thing, they, they can, they and I that, I think that blew me away. And if anything, I was probably one of the more prouder moments that I had then all of the other people put together, was that that kid really made a difference. And I just thought that that was on that same genre. That’s when I when I got a down day. That’s one of the, some of the stuff that I, that I that I talk about, that makes me feel good. You know,

Leslie Perry 51:43
no, I, I love that. And it’s, it’s a reminder, too, to not put ourselves in a box, or don’t put others in some predetermined box because of a judgment that we might make, or something that we might think by looking at them or not understanding their story either. And I’ve done that a lot in my life and in my career for myself, right? You prejudge and make up all of these ideas in your head about something, and then you find that you meet the person, or, like, start and you’re like, wow, I was so wrong. Like, why did I have this predetermined idea of what this was going to be? And I need to, like, let those walls down sometimes, yeah,

Chris Baran 52:17
I know I can. I can tell judgmental people just by looking at them.

Leslie, what pushes you, gosh, what makes you get up in the day and do that? Because it it can’t always be easy. It’s

Leslie Perry 52:37
not, you know, honestly it is.

It’s the deeper belief that this industry deserves the respect. It goes back to what you said earlier, and seeing I mean, it goes back to my mom and my childhood and my sister and how they feel about themselves just had such an impression on me, or how my mom, when I went to college and got a degree and was doing the corporate thing, and was so proud of that, and thought that was like better, a better choice than the choice that she had made. And even told me after I decided to get my esthetics license and start my business. And she did, she said, you have a master’s degree, and you, all you want to do is makeup, you know? And so she laughs about that. We laugh about that now, but it does it just that really just had such an impression on me that it is really what drives me and seeing just loving the people then this industry, loving the work that we get to do. It’s it, really, I’ve said this before. It’s not a job for me. It really is my life. Because I lived it, I still live it, and it’s something I just love to do. I don’t feel like, even on the hard days, I don’t feel like I’m going to work or doing a job. It’s, it’s, it’s more of is, again, another thing that people might say, it’s more of a calling. And I feel like, for some reason, I was called to do this and to be able to make this industry better in some small way. And that’s, that’s what I’m here to do.

Chris Baran 54:08
Yeah, well, I know that you’ve been making it in in a very big way and making a change. So thank you. If there’s a, if there’s a life lesson that, because there’s, you know, we’ve got some young kids that are out there and they’re just, either they’re in school or they’re just getting out, or they’ve they’re just starting their path. And as we all know, when, when you when you correct a mistake or a thing that you’ve learned in our business, the universe rewards you with even a bigger burden, problem that they’re going to throw at you. But if there’s a life lesson that you could share with the people that are listening that made you who you are today, what would that be?

Leslie Perry 54:55
I got advice from a mentor of mine, and it took me years to understand. And what it meant. And he wouldn’t tell me. And it always for us, I’m like, Just tell me what it means. I want to understand. Just tell me why. And he told me years ago. He said, Don’t be afraid of your life. And I couldn’t understand, for the life of what does that mean? Well, I had to live my life to understand what that meant, and for me, what it means I won’t be like him. I will tell you what it means to me, but for me, what it meant is go the path that you know is right for you, regardless of what others are saying. Because for the bulk of the first part of my career, I did what was safe. I did what I was supposed to do. I did what I should do. I listened to everybody’s other advice and did things that like in my gut, didn’t feel good, but other people said I should do it. And then when I finally stopped and got my license and esthetics and quit my job that had a salary and benefits and health insurance and all the things to do my own thing and not know from week to week if I’d have even enough money to pay my bills. That’s when things started to click in life. And even though I say I do, also say I was, I was the worst boss ever for myself. Like working for myself wasn’t always the best thing for me, but in many ways that I had to have those experiences, because it helped me let go of some of the should do this, and why aren’t you doing that? And you you have to, like, let yourself live the path that is your path and not everyone else’s, and not get distracted by what other people tell you you should do?

Chris Baran 56:43
Yeah, great words, but it’s hard. Yeah, no, I get it, because also life, life happens in moments. Yeah? So it’s, it’s, each one of them is going to give you a lesson. So that’s, I know after me, because I’m going to be what, 49 this year. So you didn’t even laugh out loud. I

Leslie Perry 57:03
laughing because I’m going to be 29 this year. Oh,

Chris Baran 57:07
there you go. So, I mean, there we go. We’re both liars.

Leslie Perry 57:13
We don’t look a day older than any age we’ve ever said,

Chris Baran 57:18
well, listen, it’s it’s time for rapid fire. Okay, I’m excited about this. Yeah, it’s just quick, quick, quick answers. First thing that comes to your brain, this is like

Leslie Perry 57:29
a game show. Around it is like a game show, yeah, it’s

Chris Baran 57:31
like, what? What do they say? Where it’s like, where the something happens and the points don’t matter, okay? What? In the creative process? So, you know, there’s creativity that happens and when we do hair in business, et cetera. But what turns you on in the creative process?

Leslie Perry 57:47
For me, it’s quieting all the noise, so I have to get out, either, if it’s walking, if it’s a workout, it has to be away from all the other noise, where I can just let my mind wander. And I come up with a lot of ideas when I’m either at the gym or out for a walk or especially hiking here in nature, like all of a sudden it’s like, oh, that’s a great idea.

Chris Baran 58:11
That javelina gave me all sorts of inspiration,

Leslie Perry 58:14
how to run fast.

Chris Baran 58:18
And what stifles the creative process,

Leslie Perry 58:22
the stress the stress of the noise and all of the other and when you look at the calendar or all the things that you have to do, like I find if I can just quiet that out, but that gets hard to do, too. When you look at all the I have to do’s instead of, okay, let that just go aside for a while. And value, something I’ve learned in my career, the older I’m getting, is valuing the space between. So I I’m very much an achiever, and I like to do things, and I like to accomplish things, and I have learned that it’s not all about that. It’s about the space between, because that’s when I can truly be creative.

Chris Baran 58:58
I’m going to write that down the space between.

Leslie Perry 59:01
Between. That’s

Chris Baran 59:03
awesome. The space between. Now, what in life? What? What do you love the most?

Leslie Perry 59:15
I mean the Lisa, the first thing that pops in your head, I love my family the most. They’re the most important

Chris Baran 59:22
and in life, what do you dislike the most? Hustle I’m with you in the industry, what do you love the most, the people and what do you dislike the most,

Leslie Perry 59:37
the negative comparisons that people drive themselves to

Chris Baran 59:43
person that you admire the most.

Leslie Perry 59:46
Oh my gosh, the person I admire the most. I I’m gonna go with my fiance so both of my grandmas, if I could, because they both came up at a time when women weren’t supposed to have big jobs. Clubs and weren’t supposed to be leaders, and both of them were in their own right, and taught me so many things about being a strong woman and being a strong

Chris Baran 1:00:08
leader. God bless grams. The your most prized possession.

Leslie Perry 1:00:18
This is so crazy. I’m not a possession person, oh gosh, a prize possession. I really don’t like. I could run my house. Could go on fire right now, and I wouldn’t grab a thing, okay? Well,

Speaker 1 1:00:31
that would work. I would just

Leslie Perry 1:00:33
walk out myself, yeah,

Chris Baran 1:00:34
just, I just make my computers. Like, that’s I’ve always

Leslie Perry 1:00:38
said. I’m not taking a thing. I’m just getting out like, pictures.

Chris Baran 1:00:41
I just want the pictures. That’s it. I mean, I

Leslie Perry 1:00:46
Yes, see, like, I have a lot of them in the cloud now, so, yeah, I’m just, I’m gonna say, I’m that my husband’s gonna see this. He’s gonna be like,

Chris Baran 1:00:57
Yeah, and just tell him he’s not a possession. So not a possession. I’d give them out, yeah, the a person you wish you could meet.

Leslie Perry 1:01:10
You know, I Audrey Hepburn just popped into my brain.

Chris Baran 1:01:13
That’s a first, yeah, that’s amazing. Just

Leslie Perry 1:01:17
see like I loved her movies, and I love also, like, I’m obviously big on strong females, and some of the things that she did again at her time, and just the, yeah, classy. I love

Chris Baran 1:01:31
the, you know, the strength in class, the strange little vibe, you know, I mean, you’ve almost got her little fringe going on there, and, you know, you just need, like, that little the long cigarette holder and

Leslie Perry 1:01:41
a tiara, because I love, I love

Chris Baran 1:01:43
chocolate cigarettes. Chocolate cigarette, yeah, something that people don’t know about

Leslie Perry 1:01:52
you. Oh, something that people don’t know about me. Well, a lot of people in the industry don’t necessarily know that I competed in pageants coming up, and I was a singer for my talent. I’m not going to sing right now, though, but I’m not

Chris Baran 1:02:08
singing. I’m not singing right now, but that’s awesome. A month off here, snap my fingers off. Where would you go? What would you do? I

Leslie Perry 1:02:19
want to go to Australia and New Zealand, and I just want to experience that, like slower pace. And apparently New Zealand people joke with me when I say I want to go to New Zealand that there’s more animals than people. Like grapes I could it could use. And my favorite, Sauvignon Blanc, it has to be from New Zealand. I love the grapefruit crisp.

Chris Baran 1:02:41
Yeah? Well, I believe that Lee, our producer, is probably salivating on that one right

Leslie Perry 1:02:46
now, I’m gonna show one in the fridge now that I’m talking about it.

Chris Baran 1:02:50
Yeah, you know, it’s late. Now, if we could have had that on here, you know what next time? Next time I’m not drinking a burst while this is going on. Sometimes interviews even better.

Leslie Perry 1:02:59
They can be better, my answers might be different. Well, let’s see there that there’s that

Chris Baran 1:03:06
a thing that terrifies you,

Leslie Perry 1:03:11
losing the people I love before they lose me. Well, yeah,

Chris Baran 1:03:13
favorite curse word?

Leslie Perry 1:03:18
I don’t I just love a good F bomb. Yeah, there you go. We talked about it’s an adjective, it’s a verb, it’s a noun, a pronoun, uh, an advert, like, it’s all the things. And sometimes there’s nothing, it doesn’t. Nothing works Other than that, yeah,

Chris Baran 1:03:33
and sometimes it can be hyphenated. It can be

Leslie Perry 1:03:36
hyphenated. I do hyphenated. I have a lot of variations of the word yes,

Chris Baran 1:03:41
your favorite comfort food.

Leslie Perry 1:03:45
It’s something that my mom made. It’s a family recipe. It’s called Bill min. It is basically a homemade egg noodle. And you roll it out like a almost like a pierogi, but it’s thicker, and then the middle is like a meatball kind of thing, and you, you grab it together, and then it boils in this broth, and I it, it’s my favorite. And any carb, though, put a carb I can’t like, I’ve never met a carb I didn’t like, didn’t

Chris Baran 1:04:11
like, yeah, all carbs, good. All carbs, good. Yeah, something in the industry you haven’t done, but you’d like to, I

Leslie Perry 1:04:24
uh, I don’t, oh, my gosh, that is a tough one. What have I haven’t thought about that. Something in industry. I haven’t done what

Speaker 1 1:04:31
I would like to do. We’re visualizing right now, visualizing right

Leslie Perry 1:04:36
now. I think it’s just sharing, sharing a stage with some of the heavy hitters in a way that like we are literally changing lives. Yeah, and I don’t know what that is, but I’m going to put it out into the universe. There you go,

Chris Baran 1:04:53
one do over in your life. And I won’t take that. I wouldn’t be who I am right now if I’d been all of those things. But if you had a do over. And you could go back and correct it. What would that

Leslie Perry 1:05:05
be? One do over I would have gone to a different university. So I went to Michigan State. Nothing wrong with that. But I went there out of comfort and fear of leaving home, and I really had wanted to go to American University in Washington, DC. Oh, wow. And yeah, so if I had it to do over, I would not be fearful and push myself to get out of my comfort zone earlier. Yeah, well,

Chris Baran 1:05:30
and bars, I know that’s still there too. Go take a class. Go take a class. Damn it. Listen, I got one more question. But before I do that and ask that question, I just want to know, what do people do if they either a want to talk to you, number one about something, or need advice on anything from any of the programs that you do, or want to join PBA, what do they where do they go and what do they do?

Leslie Perry 1:05:56
I mean, the best place to start is our website, so it’s just pro beauty.org or Instagram. You can follow us on Instagram, and if you want to just reach out to me directly, I’m happy to put, I mean, it’s Leslie AT Pro beauty.org I’ll put it out there. That’s

Chris Baran 1:06:11
a, that’s a difficult one to remember, and that’s, and it’s an L, i e,

Leslie Perry 1:06:16
it is L, E, S, l, i e,

Chris Baran 1:06:18
yes. Lesley E, uh huh. E. And last question, if you had one wish for our industry, what would that wish be,

Leslie Perry 1:06:31
that we would align and come together and stand in the power of what we are, so that the consumers, the others like that we have that reputation of being an incredible choice for a profession.

Chris Baran 1:06:45
Awesome, awesome. Well, Leslie E, Leslie, Leslie E, I mean, I think the space that we had between the beginning and the end has been very fruitful and very knowledgeable. I just want to thank you so much for being here and taking your time out of here.

Leslie Perry 1:07:01
Thank you. So enjoyable. And some of those rapid fire I was like, Ah, it’s good. If there’s

Chris Baran 1:07:12
anything that I can ever do for PBA that I’m not doing already, then just call on me and I’m there for you. But I just wanted to say, thank you so much.

Leslie Perry 1:07:20
Thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Cheers.

Chris Baran 1:07:24
Thanks again for watching this episode, and if you liked what you heard, remember to smash that like or follow button, depending on your preferred platform, and make sure to share it with anyone you know that might be a fellow head case. Head cases is produced by cut action media, with Marjorie Phillips doing the planning parts, Lee Baran on the video bits, and Adrian Taverner mixing the audio jazz you.