Speaker 2
[00.00.00]
Welcome to the Aesthetic Business Masters podcast. The podcast for driven aesthetic clinic owners who want to build a profitable, sustainable and scalable business without burnout. I’m your host, Nicole Montgomery, and each week we bring you real conversations, real strategies, and real stories from the leaders shaping our industry. If you’re ready to think bigger, lead smarter, and build a clinic that becomes a true asset, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in. Today I’m joined by Julia Tiara. Julia is a business advisor, speaker, and industry judge recognized for her grounded and discerning approach to leadership and long term business design. Having built, scaled, and exited her own beauty and Skin clinic, she now works alongside established business owners to strengthen decision making, evaluate personal standards, and design commercially sound businesses that support sustainability and not burnout. Her work sits at the intersection of mindset behavioural insight, including disc profiling and exit awareness. Rather than focusing on tools or tactics. Julia challenges founders to create white space, ask better questions and improve the quality of their thinking because clarity ultimately shapes every commercial outcome. She’s also the creator of a structured leadership journal designed specifically for established operators seeking sharper decision making and stronger leadership discipline as a speaker and judge, Julia values clarity, structure, ethical growth, and long term viability over short term noise. Julia, welcome to the podcast. Hello,
Speaker 1
[00.01.52]
Julia. How are you today?
Speaker 2
[00.01.54]
Hi, Nick. I’m well. How are you?
Speaker 1
[00.01.57]
I’m good. I’m very excited to have you here with me chatting today.
Speaker 2
[00.02.02]
Likewise. Thanks for having
Speaker 1
[00.02.03]
- So, Julia, let’s jump straight in. Today. We’re talking about all things future proofing. What does that actually mean?
Speaker 2
[00.02.13]
So future proofing in a business and commercial perspective is about designing a business that works without you and also still has value. Ten plus years without you.
Speaker 1
[00.02.29]
So is it like doing a vision board or setting a goal?
Speaker 2
[00.02.35]
It’s about designing your
Speaker 1
[00.02.36]
business and to to work without you and obviously having that, you know, those great teams in place. The strategy. Um, having strong leaders within those teams as well. So this could incorporate um, journaling vision boards.
Speaker 2
[00.02.56]
Um, having a business plan, knowing numbers. So it encompasses quite a lot of different things there. Um, and I’m happy to chip away at any of those with you. Yeah. Let’s
Speaker 1
[00.03.09]
explore. So when I’m sure you’ve heard people say this before, if you get hit by a bus tomorrow, we need to be able to have someone to step in and do your job. Um, as an employee, which is something awful because it makes people feel so replaceable. Um, even though, you know, technically, I suppose we all are. Does future proofing entail making it an option or a possibility for you to literally step out of your business and create another one? Yes.
Speaker 2
[00.03.37]
Uh, in a nutshell, yes. Um, I mean, you don’t need to go create another one unless you want to. However, it gives you the opportunity to step out of the business, not be on the org chart, and either be involved to some degree or you can pursue other opportunities. So, um, from personal experience, I believe your business needs to run without you. Uh, and you have all the systems in place to ensure that happens. Um, and if you do decide that you want to pursue other opportunities or do another business, you very well can.
Speaker 1
[00.04.15]
That freedom sounds incredible and amazing. But for most entrepreneurs, they’re making so many different decisions at 100 miles a day with all different lenses on. How do you recommend people make good quality decisions that will help them with future proofing their their business? So. Looking at good quality decisions. You need to have good quality questions. So how do you get to those good quality questions? I think most people with a business, especially in this industry, have started as an employee, and that means they’ve become a business owner with an employee mindset. However, I don’t want to touch on that today, but I do want to take you back into again the decision quality and asking better questions. I believe you ask better questions from having white space, having that time to think, having that time to evaluate and review. And I think most people feel their calendars full to the brim, and they just do not have that time to stop and reflect. So, um, if you have time to reflect, you can actually think about things in more detail. And what I’ve experienced with some clinics, working with them and even with my own is, um, no one’s no one’s got the white space there.
Speaker 2
[00.05.46]
So I would get the white space there, start to jot things down, start to journal, and then you can go back and look at previous Decisions and ask better questions based on what you do at that time.
Speaker 1
[00.06.00]
That makes so much sense. And, um, something that’s a little bit of a a conundrum, I guess, or confusing, I think, for some people is that, um, we have this saying that we hear thrown around, you know, done is better than perfect. Just get it out there. But then we also have our own standards and then we have other people, you know, who maybe business leaders who are saying, you know, to never settle or lower your standards for, you know, others. So how do you teach, I guess, and empower people to maintain their high standards and elevate themselves and the others around them while also getting stuff done?
Speaker 2
[00.06.40]
Yeah, that’s a great question, Nick, because for me, how I did it was I worked out what was my actual standard to begin with and my own personal standard. And was that standard the same as my business? Because I do believe you need to separate the two, and although your values can flow into one another, I think it’s really ideal to, you know, have a very, very clear picture on what your personal standard is and what your business standard is, and then you communicate that to your teams. And going back to the part about just getting things done versus perfection. I think when when you know what the standards are, they will be closer to not really caring about the perfection side of things. You’ll get things done because you have that baseline and you’re able to make decisions and ask better questions.
Speaker 1
[00.07.40]
That makes so much sense. And can you talk to us a little bit about leadership, discipline and what that means?
Speaker 2
[00.07.49]
Sure. So leadership discipline is a lot to do with, um, fostering really great leaders within your business and also yourself. Um, their discipline part about it is consistency. So you don’t automatically become a disciplined person without consistency. And that will also go back to your personal standard. How do you want to show up? And once you start to show up, you automatically elevate yourself in a leadership role as that’s not just the things you’re saying, it’s the things that you’re doing. And naturally you will become a better leader and you can pass that on to your teams. So, um, sometimes it irks me when people say stuff because it’s collaboration. So I believe it’s a team. And the way that you’re showing up consistently, they will also start to show up consistently, and you’ll recognize that the discipline comes through all of that consistency and alignment.
Speaker 1
[00.08.58]
Absolutely. I think. Um, you know, sometimes when business owners are busy and they’re running a hundred miles an hour, they can say little things like even just that one word start. And it has a detrimental impact on on the team. You know, we don’t actually realize sometimes how powerful our words can be, especially in a position of power. Absolutely. And
Speaker 2
[00.09.20]
this is something that I learned through the personal development programs that I attended when they were putting so much emphasis on the word team. I was like, I didn’t really understand it until I started to bring that philosophy back into my own space. And once the language was adjusted and people feel included, and again, they felt that there was collaboration and the team culture improved significantly and quickly. So I do think that it’s worth taking the time to adjust language and really make people feel like they are valued and worthy. And, you know, they’ll do they’ll do better.
Speaker 1
[00.10.04]
Absolutely. So true. And, um, I’m sure as a previous business owner, you’ve earned lots of businesses and I know lots of business owners. Sometimes it’s hard to not be reactive because you’re running 100 miles an hour, but you’re also there’s an element of fear. You know, sometimes there’s a state of desperation either needing to get more cash flow in or, um, oh my goodness, anything. And in this industry, good regulations are changing all the time and all sorts of things that constantly, you know, pulling the floor out from under us. How do you recommend and help people to make decisions ethically and ethically grow as opposed to reactive
Speaker 2
[00.10.46]
growth and response? Well, I think growth is easy. Sustainable growth is disciplined, and the only reason you would be reactive is if you one you don’t have your personal and business standards. You don’t know what they are or your business values or your personal values. Um, if you are running at 100 miles an hour, you need to stop and ask yourself, why am I doing this? Um, you probably don’t have a plan. Uh, and then that makes you reactive. So again, going back to creating whitespace to think it helps stop being reactive. Uh, now, as I understand, with the changes that are happening with opera and, um, what they’re enforcing, especially at the moment, is that. A lot of these rules and enforcements are already pre-existing. They are just highlighting it again and actually let that one of the ABM talks last year. So while I’m like clinical is is not my forte, I do understand what’s happening in the industry as a whole, and I can understand how stressful that may be for a lot of clinics, but I’d say, yeah, create the white space, take the time, sit with your your key leaders in your business. Or if it’s just you, um, sit down and write it out, um, approach. You know, people like you and Nick or, um, other, um, people that you would admire in the industry and, and talk and talk and collaborate and communicate and say, okay, these things are bothering me. I don’t know how to I don’t know how to address them. Uh, if you don’t have someone, um, you know, in that industry that you have a good connection with or you’re not unsure what to talk about, then you could come to someone like me where we could sit down and we could brain dump, and we could do a 90 minute strategy and help. Look at what the future may look like for you, or where you can make us better questions and make better decisions. So again, I think if you are running out 100 miles an hour and you are worried about different changes happening, I’d say you need to pause, breathe and get it all down on paper first.
Speaker 1
[00.13.11]
Absolutely. And what would you say separates a business owner who is creating an asset, as opposed to a business owner who is creating an income and probably quite rundown. Like you said, you know, so don’t have a minute and need to take a minute. Yeah, well,
Speaker 2
[00.13.32]
this is the death row. That’s, uh, people who are creating an asset versus an income. Their income, you know, it can be chopped off at any point, right? We all know that through Covid and the lockdowns and now with these changes with different regulators. So if you are looking at your business from an asset perspective or if you’re not yet, you definitely should because you need the longevity there. And I have seen lately that some clinics are
Speaker 1
[00.14.03]
ditching their leases and
Speaker 2
[00.14.04]
they’re moving in with doctors and different things like that. So I think you need to take the time to and have awareness of what is actually going on in the industry. Listen to podcasts. Jump into aesthetic business masters. Learn more. Because the more knowledge you have will arm you and you can make better decisions. Then you could work with a business coach or an advisor, or whoever it is that you think will be of most value to you. And you can say, you know, this is what I want to do, or I want to create a business asset, not an income, because the income, as I say, it can be cut off so quick. Absolutely. So true. And Julia, one of your, I guess, areas of expertise is teaching people. And obviously you’ve done it yourself a strong exit strategy and having that exit awareness, um, most clinic owners or most business owners don’t think about an exit strategy until they’re burnt out, exhausted, and, you know,
Speaker 1
[00.15.08]
decide they just want to throw the towel in. Why is that risky and how do you help people? Yeah. So I think the thing to distinguish here is when we say expert, an expert is someone who recognizes patterns. So over the years and through the different trainings that I’ve done, I have been able to recognize patterns a lot quicker than most. Um, and exit strategy and awareness is something that I became aware of through my different trainings. And it was something I had never thought about. Um, until I was actually at a point where I thought, I can’t do this anymore. What? What are my options? And I didn’t even know where to look. So I did get in contact with various business
Speaker 2
[00.15.54]
coaches and advisors, and I started to ask them questions because I said, have you been through this before? Do you know someone that has? So I think really connecting with different people is part of that strategy. Um, and also talking to someone who has exited a business, which I have, and I’m happy to talk to anyone about that. And hopefully we’ll be discussing that in a few other events coming up. So exit awareness and strategy could be anything from creating a well-oiled machine that someone is ready to invest in. It could be, and where you can step out of it or sell it and it’s it’s just ready to go. And it’s just doing its thing because no one wants to buy a job. They want to buy a business, a company. Uh, then there’s also the numbers, which every business coach and adviser talks about. Knowing the numbers, knowing your profit, reading all your key, um, key reports. Um, it’s it is essential. I don’t think anyone can get around any of those metrics. Um, and then also knowing what you want. Like a lot of people, we say, do you have, you know, a two year plan, a 12 month plan, a five year, whatever it is. And a lot of people don’t. Um, and yes, things can change in that time, but it would be better to know where you’re heading rather than going blindly. Uh, I do this all the time, but sometimes, you know, I get in the car and I think I know where I’m going. And then last minute I have to turn the map on. Wouldn’t it be great if I just turn the map on to begin with? So, you know, it’s sometimes those instances where you go, it’d be really nice to have a map, even if I do need to reroute. Uh, so I would recommend. Yeah, having a chart. Whether it’s with me or someone else. I mean, I think it would be really good to chat with someone that has the experience or is doing what you want to do, and then you can talk about exit awareness and strategy. Even if that’s not on your radar for the next couple of years, it’s if an opportunity also comes up, which it did in my case recently. Um, I got rid of my business and it was such a great decision for me at the time because I wasn’t even thinking about getting rid of the business until other opportunities started coming up. So you never really know what’s around the corner, but it’s really great to have the information there ready to go. I
Speaker 1
[00.18.24]
think you’ve just answered this question, but if someone wants to increase the long term value of their clinic, where should they start?
Speaker 2
[00.18.31]
Um, first of all, yeah, I would look at your business model and yeah, the longevity of your business and how well it runs and runs without you. People normally think, oh, you know, the business needs to have really good profit or really good numbers. Not
Speaker 1
[00.18.49]
necessarily. It needs
Speaker 2
[00.18.51]
to have the right structure. And procedures in place so anyone can step into it. And also then with that, you know, you’ve got your leadership teams within, you’ve got your great team culture, you’ve got your members, um, again, your devoted clients on on skincare plans or whatever they’re doing. So I think the thing is, you need to look at the business model and where it sits now and what would be appealing or of value to someone who potentially is interested in that business, or if you wanted to put it to market. What does that look like to an investor?
Speaker 1
[00.19.31]
Absolutely. And your work integrates behavioural insight, including disc profiling. How does understanding behaviour improve commercial outcomes? Sure. So
Speaker 2
[00.19.45]
when I did some training with behavioural profiling and desk, that was more for a personal reason, I wanted to understand how I operated and then how I also best received information. And then I took those, um, the behavioural profiling and the desk into the broader market. So at home I started to work out where, where does my husband sit Here. Where do my kids sit here? How can I communicate with them better? And then that flowed into teams, and then that flowed into clients. And from a client perspective. And we were looking at it from a sales, um, perspective. So how do clients like to be sold to and then how do team members respond? Better? Are they, you know, a person who prefers communication via email or do they prefer face to face? How do they like to be rewarded? How do they, um, respond in different communication styles? So it was something that I applied across every aspect of my life. And when I saw how fast and the results that came with it, I definitely wanted to dig deeper. And now I actually go out and do training and advisory on these two particular things. So for me, as I said, you know, it was very, very instant how much it improved relationships at home and in the business. So it continues to pick my interest.
Speaker 1
[00.21.20]
Wow, that’s so cool. And something that is a learned skill, which means we can all do it.
Speaker 2
[00.21.27]
Absolutely. And this is the thing you may have already had experience with. Disc profiling is fairly popular, and there’s other ones that have different names, essentially all the same thing. Um, but understanding and having it in just very basic terms, uh, I think is very, very useful for clinic owners because you can easily identify someone’s behavioral type or their disc profile, and then you can instantly apply the way you need to communicate best with them or receive information. So it’s always two ways. And can you
Speaker 1
[00.22.10]
tell us what a found a blind spot is?
Speaker 2
[00.22.13]
Oh found a blind spot. This one. It just depends on who who the founder is. Really? Um, I think founders have a huge blind spot in communication. And that’s also another reason why I have decided to lead with communication and mindset strategies. The profiling, as we just spoke about on the desk, uh, because it is such an imperative tool to have and skill to have to communicate effectively and also with yourself. Uh, you know, we’re constantly using different apps and things like that. And I think the thing is, if you don’t know how you communicate best and how you receive information best, that is 100% a blind spot.
Speaker 1
[00.23.05]
Yeah, absolutely. And I’m sure we’ve all done it or been in the situation at home or we’ve said someone, but I told you that and they’re like, no, you did it. Absolutely. And you know, the thing is, I’m still guilty of things like that myself. Um, but I think the thing is also, again, going back to your personal standard and knowing being aware and knowing when to stop and think about how you are delivering a message or how you are receiving a message and the perspective you’re taking at that time. So yeah,
Speaker 2
[00.23.41]
guilty of that as well. Sometimes I have to pull myself up and stop and change my state or change my communication method to to get the message across, because ultimately you’re responsible how communication is perceived on the other end. Yeah.
Speaker 1
[00.23.55]
You’re so right. And, um, we all like to pass blame. So tell me, coming back to that, where we all do get a little bit emotional. Um, what’s the difference between emotional decision making versus structure thinking, and why is it important for us to be aware of
Speaker 2
[00.24.14]
this? So emotional decision making, in my experience, is a lot to do with being reactive. So we immediately let something bubble up boil over and it’s a reactive response. Um, or if you’re tying your own self-worth to your business and it’s not separate, your decisions potentially are more emotional and reactive in that sense. On the flip side, when you’re a little bit more strategic about, you know, again, your decisions and your better questions, it allows you, uh, and you’ve got the white space to think about how you respond. It allows you time to process and respond. I mean, I’m probably not doing a good job of it right now, but, uh, I think, like watching the Olympics, right? There were so many gold medalists who just spoke so eloquently, and they’ve had time to think about how they respond, and they’ve probably trained. And this is the thing you need to train yourself in how you respond. Again, the clearer you know questions, better questions, better decisions will actually buffer out any emotional reactions.
Speaker 1
[00.25.30]
And creating white space in high performing operators. How do you do that or what do you recommend they do?
Speaker 2
[00.25.37]
So a little trick that we teach um, our clients is. We look at the calendar. We look at what can be delegated. And so we use a bit of a triage system. So we do what’s important and urgent. We do what’s not important and urgent what’s important. Not urgent and not important. Non-urgent. And then so we will either delegate or delete um, and also not have too many things sitting in the important and urgent basket. Uh, once we go through that triage, then we’ll also go through the calendar and create the white space. So normally 3:00 of an afternoon, doesn’t matter where you are is a really great time to have the white space.
Speaker 1
[00.26.27]
Because if, let’s say, team members come to you and they’ve got very pressing questions, first of all, you want to know, um, is this something they can actually solve on their own and give them the opportunity to do that and not be so available? Um, and then ask them to come back to you and generally, um, you know, 3:00 is a good time because they’ve had that opportunity to try and work things out on their own. Uh, also, if if something pops up, you need that time to be able to respond or put everything on hold. So basically what I’m getting at is, you know, we show you what to do and how to create that white space and. Then show you what it allows you to be able to do with that time. The other thing that has been a hot topic lately is AI. So while that’s really great at, um, speeding up different processes and, um, doing a lot of the work for you, a lot of people are then adding more to their calendar instead of using that time that they’ve just freed up with AI to do nothing and have the white space. So, uh, for example, you know, if you’ve just saved yourself, say, 2 to 4 hours of admin in the day, then I would say take that two hours and have a coffee and enjoy it, or, you know, take that time to read a book, go for a walk, do all the things that you want to do, or pick up the kids from school and really have it as a time where you can enjoy yourself and enjoy your life instead of wanting to run away from it or fill it with just more stuff. Um, this is the thing, you know, some of the best ideas come from, you know, your mid massage and you’re like, oh yeah, I thought of this and, or you’ve got that time to go for a walk. And then all of a sudden you get clarity because you’re in nature and you’re really not thinking about too many pressing things. So
Speaker 2
[00.28.27]
we will go through calendar and also talk about why we create the white space. So I would always recommend if you’re saving time with AI, uh, definitely at least take half of that time to do nothing.
Speaker 1
[00.28.44]
Yeah, absolutely. It’s it’s so hard. Um, but you’re right. It is absolutely worth it. And we have to start task force ourselves to step away.
Speaker 2
[00.28.55]
Um.
Speaker 1
[00.28.56]
So I have bought so many pretty cute journals in my time, and I know that journaling is a good thing to do, a good practice to have consistently. Um, but obviously knowing it and doing it are two very different things. Let’s talk about journaling and why everybody should journal and how and tell us everything. Julia. Okay, so I’m glad you asked because I do have a journal series coming out this year and Aesthetic Business master’s, um, community is going to have first access to it. So I’m really excited because journaling was one of the things that really, um, gave me my aha moments. Uh, it was time, that white space time, time to, you know, brain dump everything of an afternoon before bed. Um, brain dump in the morning, show gratitude, all the things. Right. And that’s what really moved the needle for me when I was, Um, you know, making big decisions in my life and also wanting change and getting it down on paper. So let’s talk about neuroscience for a moment as well. So the things that I learn, um, about neuroscience, uh, it tells us that when we show gratitude, um, we instantly will make a better decisions because we are in that state of gratitude. And anything that may be worrying you feels a bit lighter. So when you practice gratitude, and when you practice getting the thoughts out of your head and closing a loop, your brain will want to do more of that. So it’s not the same as a dopamine hit like scrolling through TikTok. It’s a different way of getting that, uh, that dopamine and serotonin, because you are doing something and completing a task and training yourself, um, to reward yourself in a way. So. I love, I love and created this new journal. As I said, it will be available to the ABM community and it specifically works with high performers, clinic owners, managers. Everyone’s a high performer in my mind. Uh, especially if you’re a mom, because we’ve got so much that we’re juggling. Right. So, um, it is going to have lots of prompts in there. It’s going to be infused with NLP, which is neuro linguistic programming. I have a little bit of quantum based information in there as well. And this is all self-paced. Uh, I will have some group webinars where we can run through things together. Uh, it will be available at retreats and other different events, exclusive events where we can do the journaling together. And then also, as I said, as a series, so touch on different topics in different journals. And as I said before, this is what moved the needle most for me personally in the business relationships, uh, improving relationships, strengthening relationships. So I look at all these key areas. Um, and then I said, okay, well, this is I think this is what needs to happen and this is what people need. And they can again, do it self-paced or come and join a group and do it together. So I’m really excited about this product because it’s available to everyone. Um, and as I said, ABM community members first. But
Speaker 2
[00.32.45]
I think the thing is, not everyone realizes how fundamental writing down and closing the loop with your thoughts is for the progress.
Speaker 1
[00.32.57]
Absolutely. I can’t wait for this journal. And, um, it’s a sign that we all have to start
Speaker 2
[00.33.02]
practicing every day. Yeah. So now we’re going to do some rapid fire questions, which means that they’re fire. They’re hot, they’re quick, they’re fast. First thing that comes to mind and, um. Are you ready? Yes. Let’s go. One leadership habit. Clinic owners must build white space.
Speaker 1
[00.33.21]
One commercial military. Too many law.
Speaker 2
[00.33.25]
Oh, this is rapid fire. Why am I thinking about it so much? It’s just like, uh. It’s such a hot topic, isn’t it? Um, you know, you need to know numbers.
Speaker 1
[00.33.35]
One standard every founder should raise immediately,
Speaker 2
[00.33.38]
a personal standard.
Speaker 1
[00.33.40]
One myth about scaling you’d like to challenge?
Speaker 2
[00.33.44]
Oh. Uh, yeah. So I think I said it right at the start of growth is easy, but sustainable growth is discipline and
Speaker 1
[00.33.52]
not a rapid fire question. But what, um, does truly future proofing aesthetic businesses look like? Future
Speaker 2
[00.34.00]
proofing is designing a business that still works with you and still holds value in ten or more years.
Speaker 1
[00.34.06]
And if our listeners would like to take one action this week, what should it be?
Speaker 2
[00.34.12]
Uh, write down, write down your personal standards and what you believe they are, and let that be an anchor and a guide for how you show up every day. So you know, that will also help you guide an anchor to your business standard as well, and talk about it with your teams and talk about it with your mentors and talk about it with your business coach, if you have one. Uh, because I think once you know who you are and what you stand for and how you show up every day consistently will be a really great start. And
Speaker 1
[00.34.50]
where can our listeners, a community, connect with
Speaker 2
[00.34.52]
you so you can connect that, um, in on Instagram? Hunter and Thor and I have a Linktree there which has access to, uh, you can do a 15 minute call with me. You can look at my keynote bookings. We’ll have access to the journal. So we’re taking registrations at the moment for interest. And also, uh, LinkedIn. It’ll have my LinkedIn.
Speaker 1
[00.35.19]
Fantastic. Julia, it has been such a pleasure to chat with you today and learn from you. And I can’t wait to see you across the East Coast for Aesthetic Business Masters.
Speaker 2
[00.35.29]
I’m so excited. Thank you so much for having me, Nick, and I’m really excited to share this information with ABM because, well, the ABM community, because I think it’s really important that we talk about all of these different things.
Speaker 1
[00.35.44]
Cast. Thank you so much for joining us on this City Business Masters podcast. If you’ve found value in today’s episode, please take a moment to subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a fellow clinic owner who needs to hear it. You’ll find all the links and resources mentioned in today’s show notes. And remember, you’re not just building a clinic, you’re building an asset. We’ll see you in the next podcast episode.
