How to Start An Avant Garde Health and Beauty Business: Mindset Tips
5 minute read
Caring about what others think about you will hold you back from starting a business. Now, I’m not encouraging you to provide horrific service and be unprofessional — not at all. What I am saying is that you need to be yourself because if you’re not people will call bullshit.
Oh my God, I said a cuss word… the world is going to end now. Maybe I should crawl into a hole and hide because you “can’t say those things.” Listen, I’ve built my business off being blunt and having a potty mouth.
Why?
Well, besides helping people heal everything from mental health issues to terminal illness, the blunt, potty of a mouth that I have is part of my personality. I’ve been in the holistic health and beauty industry for 9 years and instead of acting like a stuff shirt, or fluff muffin, I let my authenticity shine through.
You may fear letting your authenticity show because it may turn away clients, but as crazy as it sounds, in business this is what you want. Let’s face the music…
In life, you’re not going to get along with everyone so you’re not going to work with everyone. This is what I’ve realized in my own experience running a business. The people who connect to you will work with you and the ones who don’t gel with you will be repelled.
Stop People Pleasing
If you’re an avid people pleaser then repelling people might scare you. This can be due to a fear of abandonment or rejection. You can take it personally that people may not want to work with you.
As a holistic health and beauty owner you need to have a thick skin to keep momentum going. And the way you’re going to do this is by getting to the root cause of those people-pleasing tendencies.
Here’s a step-by-step way to do that:
Step 1: Why do you need to please others?
Choose what you think is the likely root of your people-pleasing: fear of abandonment or rejection. Get a piece of paper and write one of these down as a headline. This will give you a starting point to work with.
Step 2: Do a brain dump.
Underneath the headline do a brain dump. Get every worry, fear, and traumatic experience creating a blockage in you starting your business down on paper. This doesn’t have to be in a list format. You simply want a visual of everything in your head, so you can begin to free your mind.
Step 3: Set your priorities.
Next, set your priorities — these are the things you’ll work on first because you think they’ll have the biggest impact. Based on what you put down during your brain dump, make a list of three to five thought patterns or experiences that make you feel like you need to appease others in business. For example, maybe getting a bad review and being told your product sucks makes you feel inadequate.
Another example can be, posting content on social media and no one is interested. This can bring up a fear of not being competent. Whatever your fear is, write them down.
Step 4: Create a counter behavior or mindset.
Once you identify the situations and thought patterns that cause you to be a people pleaser, you can decide how to counter those. For example, if you fear getting a bad review and being told your product sucks, you might focus on how to boost your confidence to take constructive criticism. Or, you might find that your product doesn’t suck and read positive reviews that remind you that you’re doing a great job.
Take that opportunity to be mindful that you’re not a failure and you can improve at any time. No product or service is perfect. Always strive to hone your craft and make necessary changes that yield success.
If you consistently post on social media and no one is interested, and your immediate reaction is to post what everyone wants to hear based on trends, you might remind yourself in those situations that you have to post what feels right to you and appeals to your ideal client.
So, you’re still not following trends and trying to fit in with others, but you are using your brand voice and attracting ideal clients in the process with clear messaging.
Countering people-pleasing tendencies is a gradual process. It may take some time before the behavior subsides, so be patient with yourself.
The more you do it, the more you’ll feel ready to take the actions you need to build your business.
Being Avante Garde
Avante-garde is a term used in art and music. It consisted of experimental and unusual ideas. Often the artists and musicians were controversial and authentically expressive.
Although it’s associated with those, you can apply it to your business.
Having an avant-garde mindset can cause you to be an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.
And you will be unstoppable if you focus on what you have to offer to your potential clients.
Have you ever heard the saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy”?
It truly is.
And when you are an avante garde holistic health and beauty brand there’s no need to compare yourself to anyone…
Because you are setting the tone and standard with your unique ideas, you’re not trying to keep up with trends and fit in. You’re not trying to use the same ingredients in a beauty product. You’re not trying to build the same course structure as another health coach.
There are millions of makeup brands, vitamins, supplements, diets, courses, etc.
But they may keep up with the latest and greatest, whereas you don’t.
When you are doing your email marketing and posting your social media content you're not thinking about how someone else writes. You're focused on how you want to write that conveys who you are as a brand.
While you're mindful and empathetic to others, you can’t make everyone happy.
Will people have negative opinions about how you run your business? Absolutely, but when you’re avante garde you don’t care.
You’ll stop caring about people’s negative opinions by doing the following:
Identify what triggers you have and don’t react. For example, if it’s that you don’t feel good enough, maybe talk to someone who reminds you of how amazing you are. Watch a motivational video that takes you from feeling like you failed to feel like a winner again.
Developing security within yourself with meditation and chakra alignment. People are always going to have something to say, but it doesn’t have to take you out of character or throw you off balance. Many times, when you feel insecure, it’s due to you not feeling safe. There are a variety of meditation music that has different frequencies to help you feel safe and grounded.
Don’t internalize. Let people’s words roll off you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t stand up for yourself… but you shouldn’t allow someone’s negative words to make you feel less than others. Cultivate “transmutative humility” if you will. What do I mean by that? Sometimes people are rude, but what they’re saying could improve your business. So, take that negativity and transmute it for the positive by strengthening your weaknesses.
I recently did a podcast episode on Avi Unfiltered and one of my favorite lines was, “I’m a cult classic, bitch.” When starting your business, you don’t want to focus on everyone loving you.
You want to focus on what you love doing and you will draw the right people towards you who will love the products and services you have to offer.