341 - Nikki Arensman and Remi Aliseo, Thirdeye Studio: Expanding Revenue and Scaling Creatively with Permanent Jewelry

Hey, entrepreneurs. It's stuff here with a special invite just for you. Do you want to experience what it's like to be part of our Entrepreneursal League community of founders? Now is your chance. You can join me this month at one of our upcoming Entrepreneursal League Info sessions where I'm going to share with you all you're going to get access to when you join the community. Plus, I'll be giving away some big bonuses that you will only be able to get access to when you attend live. Head over to refer.ontrapernisa.com/info session to join us at one of our virtual info sessions this month. That's refer.ontrapernisa.com/info session or head over to the show notes right now and tap the link to join us. I can't wait to meet you there and learn more about you and your business. It's important that yeah, everyone like leaves happy and they want to come back and then everything we do is super authentic. Everyone's really an artist in there so it's like people are gravitating obviously to the authenticity of liking someone's work and wanting to come back for that work and then yeah, back end wise just obviously caring about how everyone feels when they leave and I also think everyone there is happy to be there. All the artists and the team like no one's like and I would go I don't want to be here today. If you don't want to be here then you risk out your client because you want to be 100% for everyone. We are doing really permit services like we're not just like serving you breakfast. Nikki Arensman and Remy Alicio are two incredibly creative founders and sisters who have each turned their artistic talents into powerful purpose driven brands on their own terms. Nikki is a brand strategist and business growth consultant and the host of the Business of Branding podcast where she helps women build magnetic brands that convert and Remy is the founder of Third Eye Studio, a tattoo, micro bleeding and permanent jewelry business that fuses art with entrepreneurship to create deeply personal client experiences. In this episode, Nikki and Remy share their journey of adding permanent jewelry as a service and creating an additional revenue stream by partnering with Sunstone in entrepreneurs to approve company that makes it super easy to expand your business offerings. Sunstone provides the machinery, tools, training and tech that you need to start offering permanent jewelry so you can increase your income without any stress. If you're an entrepreneur looking to turn passion into profit, you'll find this episode is packed with inspiration and actionable strategy. Get ready to hear how two bold founders transformed their creative superpowers into thriving businesses and how you can easily add another source of revenue to your business too. This is the entrepreneur podcast presented by Social Fly. It's the best business meeting you'll ever have with must-hear real-life looks at how leading women in business are getting it done and what it takes to build and grow a successful company. It's beyond the ground with no filters, no limits and plenty of surprises. Alright, my friends, this is going to be such a fun episode right now, but I feel like we should just fill everyone in on how we all actually met and connected because I think at the end of the day, you know, that's right, Nikki, I'll road's lead back to community and connection, so for those of you who haven't met Nikki before, Nikki and I met through a networking group back in 2020 at the height of all the craziness of 2020 and I was moving down to Florida. We connected. I wasn't on message. No, it was even before you were moving to Florida. Right before, yeah. You were like, I think I'm going to get out of New York and where should I go? And I was like, I love where I live and you were like, okay, can you help me? Can you help me? Yeah. Literally. And the rest is history. We moved down here. Yeah. And then I still remember, it was like the first week we were down here. You were like, I'm getting together with some friends. Yeah. To meet up. And it was a baby. She was just a year. She'd just turned a year old. And then we realized. We had to do boys. I remember, like, at the beach. Oh, I remember this. Yeah. I forget what we were doing there. We were like barbecuing. Yeah. It was Anna. Yeah. That's so funny. And then we quickly realized we had so much in common. We're both obsessed with entrepreneurship and family and became friends and I've just done all the things together and then I got to meet your amazing family. Yes. And to Remy. I know. We've done a Christmas together. I know. All the things. That was the first time I met you. Yes. Christmas. And Molly was still so little then. Yeah. And just running around. It was probably three. Yeah. Yeah. So crazy. Oh, we had all these like business things that we like connected on and you were, you were really just getting started with like the league and everything was like not even the league yet. You. Yeah. It hadn't even didn't exist. I remember. I told you I'm like, I have this vision to build and create this community. And you said, I tell this people this all the time, like, how did you create entrepreneur Nisa? You hadn't built a community. I'm like, I got a really great introduction from my friend Nikki who preferred me to a business coach that taught people how to build communities as businesses and build online businesses. And that's why coaching, mentorship, everything is just so important because that is how you learn and connect and and can build. So the entrepreneur needs to league exists because of you, Nikki. Wow. That's a heavy way to carry. Up next, Nikki and Remy share all about their career journeys and how having a supportive community helped them both grow and thrive as founders. Hi, entrepreneur says it's staff here. As a founder, I know firsthand that building a business can feel so lonely, but it doesn't have to. And that's why we created our entrepreneur Nisa founders began wealth and wellness retreat. And I can't wait to meet you in person there. So you're officially invited to join us from April 30th to May 3rd, 2026 at the stunning PGA National Resort in Palm Beach, Garden, Florida for three transformative days of connection, collaboration and real business growth. This isn't just another business conference. It is a curated retreat designed to help you build authentic, lasting relationships with women who truly understand your journey. From business panels and workshops to wellness activations and so much more, this is the room that you need to be in. So if you are ready to invest in yourself and your business and your vision and your next level of success, head over to entrepreneurnisa.com/boundersweekend to reserve your ticket today. That's entrepreneurnisa.com/boundersweekend or head over to the show notes right now and tap the invitation to reserve your ticket. I'll see you there. We can talk more about this, but Remi and I had a clothing line together and we were so young. I mean, how old were you? I was like, no. I was like 20. Okay. Yeah. Not even because I was 23, so you were 90 and that was a baby. I mean, 23 is really young. And there was so much that we just didn't know how to do financial stuff, manufacturing stuff, create, you know, just like so much of the bulk of the like running a business outside of just like being creative and making leggings. And I remember like, I always talk about this that you and I had like tried to find a mentor. Do you remember we went to that like old guy? We like went to this guy. Someone had recommended us to like, it might have been like the Chamber of Commerce, right? To like go there and like find a mentor in a certain industry. And they like, no, it was like a pop a bill. Yeah. It was like our grandpa was like, he was like, you should go talk to these like business. Oh, yeah. It was like literally through like the Chamber. It really was. It was. Oh, that's so funny. I was like, I was afraid about that. We literally got paired with like, he's like 80 year old Joe who like maybe worked in the garment industry in New York for a really long time ago and like retired to Florida. And like maybe like maybe mentors people are like works, one is a member of something. And I just remember being like, this is like not it. Like he gave us like a booklet. He did. He was like, he read through this booklet. Okay. And meanwhile, this is like the height of like influencer marketing, social media like. It was like Joe had no clue about it. Joe did not know. Okay. No. He didn't even know Instagram exists. I don't think. No. I really wasn't even a big thing, man. Yes. And I remember thinking like this, there's like, how do we find somebody or how do we reach out to someone or what door do we knock on to like get support and be able to like bounce ideas and ask questions? And like long story short, we like the business thrived. It did so amazing. And then we ended up like exiting out of the business and sold it in 2017. But which was also this weird bless. We miss it all the time. And it was like this weird blessing because it was right before COVID and so much retail got shut down. Our business was like primarily wholesale and it really would have just tanked our business. Being that we were USA, like manufacturing in America, the margins just would never have sustained that. But once we were done, I was like, I need to go into that world and coach and consult and like figure out how to like help other people build their brands because like we just did not have that. Yeah. And that's why supporting guidance is so important because you don't know what you don't know until you start going through it and realize like, oh, there's so much to learn. And I feel like first businesses are usually these big learning lessons of just kind of figuring it out, making lots of mistakes and being like, okay, on Round 2, we're not going to make those mistakes there are learning lessons and we're going to do it differently next time. So what happened next? So after exiting that business, I know what you did, Nikki, but most of our listeners probably don't know. So what did you do? And I can't wait to hear all about the launch of third eye. She did so much and left me, but we, I went into coaching. I really kind of like, I mean, I took a little time, I had just had Coral and I really kind of was like, what did I love about Jeeva and what like worked and what like lit me up and what didn't and how can I not do those things, you know? And then I kind of went down the route of helping other businesses build a brand and got back to just like my creative roots because as you know, like you can start a business being creative, but then like the numbers have to get taken care of and all these other things that like it was just her and I, so we were really doing all of the things. And so yeah, I got into like consulting, got back into like graphic work and marketing and then I ended up like going down, like then I got introduced to this whole digital marketing funnel, online, you know, space, and that's how I started selling like template systems and coaching programs and never built a membership. But like I was in that like mastermind community when you and I had connected. And so I just have kind of like kind of been doing that ever since and like various capacities in addition to mommy, yes, and piercing all the new things that you're doing and all of that. Yeah. So Remi, how about you? What happened? How did you end up launching your studio? Yeah. So we kind of divide it. No, me so I'm if that's California. Not for long. It was like a year and a half. And I was actually working for the new owners of the company for a little bit just doing some sell stuff. But it was short-lived, like maybe a few months I was doing that. And then I was like, what's one am I doing next? So I really wanted to really like get back into something artistic, I've been an artist all my life. So I wanted to use my artistic side in my, you know, next career. And actually my consultant, you know, obviously I went to her like my idea, I think you actually suggest that you should get into like the skin industry or something. Um, so yeah, then I went and did, so micro boating was like a really big booming industry, especially in California at the time. And I was like, oh, this is like so at my alley, like it's going to use my artistic skills. Um, I'm going to do this and we'll see, you know, where I go. So I went into the training out there. Um, also like I worked out there for a little bit with a friend out of her studio. But then I quickly moved back home to Jupiter and really like went full on with Third Eye once I went back home and, um, yeah, I really started just on my own for a while. It's, I offered micro blading, um, all skin services. So I got my aesthetician license and then I forgot you were like doing facials and stuff at one point. Yeah. I was, I was pretty much offering like almost everything we offer now. Well, we offer way more now. But I had like, I was doing like 20 different things and I really was doing that to see like what, um, like what people wanted the most and like where I was going to be making the most money and things like that. Um, and then I started tattooing like maybe a year after I started Third Eye. Um, but I was getting really busy. So then COVID happened and or no before that. So back up, um, right before COVID happened, I was getting really busy, right? And I was like, I need to hire someone else to help me. Um, so I found Kelly, she was the first artist that I hired and trained her, um, and then it kind of just kept expanding after that. When you opened Third Eye, did you already open a brick and mortar store right from the beginning? No. So I started Third Eye, I did my whole like, you know, I will see all of that in California. Okay. Worked, um, at my friends, like kind of little studio space, just like one or two days a week, and then when I moved back to Jupiter, I found a little, another little studio space, like renting a room in a place basically. Um, so it started off so small, like very like no like breaking mortar first. It was like, I was like, let me test this out, see how it goes, and then I'll start, you know, it's kind of like a forward facing like store front. No, I wasn't like, okay, like I'm doing this, I'm going all in. It was like, I took baby steps, but the baby steps moved, like moved really quickly because I was like, okay, this is like a great, like this is happening. It's good. It's working. Um, what were the signs that you knew it was working and you could really move to the next step? Um, my schedule was just filling up. I, like most of my clients at first were like friends, honestly, like I pretty much grew up here. I, I knew a lot of people, I did a few posts on social media and I started just getting more and more clientele and then it was just word of mouth from there. Um, and I also loved what I was doing. Like I was so enjoyable, I was like, this is, I'm making money. It's something I enjoy doing and it's working. Like I'm busy. I have a full pack schedule. So you're really good at it too. Like, you know what I mean, like I, like a lot of people can learn a skill and I'm just saying this as a sister, like you, I've watched you, like be an artist so much of your life that like you, doing like the micro bleeding was such a natural talent for you. Yeah. Yeah. The work spoke for itself. I feel like you were like getting recommended on like the Facebook groups and like, yeah. You know what I mean? I mean, it definitely, it took time for me to get good at that, like 100% and anyone like getting into that industry, like you're not like off the bat right out of training like the best there is, you know, it takes time or like perfect, you are really, and that goes for just tattooing in general, like when you first start off, you're like just doing little basic things. You're not like jumping into a lion's face, you know? Yeah. So yeah, it took a lot of time. Like when I look back on my work that when I first started, it was good. Like you would never know. It's like, it was bad. But it's like, not up to my standard now. So, but yeah, it was stuff that was like the biggest talent was my schedule was getting packed. So I was like, okay, this is ready to go. And did you decide to take the lead to open a location you have now? So I almost got like forced out of the space I was in. It was like the universe was like, it's time for you to like keep expanding. There was like a new buyer was coming in for the building I was in. So it was like, either pay more rent here or go find another space. And I was like, well, I'm going to be paying like that much for this little room. I might as well just go try and find like a storefront, right? So I just, you know, browse down the internet, like what's around? What are the prices? And I found the perfect little spot. And I was like, okay, I can do this. I can afford it. Like, I'm going to go in and do it. And so yeah, I found my first spot in Jupiter was like right around the corner from where I was. So it wasn't like a huge difference for clients. And we, we actually all grew that within like six months and then I expanded that even. So we've been in the news like that space for now, like three years. Wow. Yeah. What are your biggest learning lessons from having a brick and mortar retail space, negotiating with landlords, spill all the learning lessons and secrets? Oh my gosh. I think they're lucky. And are. Yeah. 100% like the place I'm in has there's so lenient and like it's really relaxed. I think I feel like positive that I'm in. It was just like, here's the least sign it, you're good to go. And then, you know, I mean, I'm a very like, I don't know, I, the studio was definitely needed like a lot of work before I went in there. So, but I didn't put like a ton of money into it. I did kind of what we could, you know, at the time, paint it like a lot of DIY stuff. I did. That's just kind of how I am. When I was left on the place, yeah, it was like a fresh in and all that. Yeah. I mean, when I look back, like, yeah, there was so many like a list of things to like check off to like get done first, but, you know, thankfully it wasn't, there wasn't any like huge hiccups along the way. So I think one of the biggest parts of that, this, that type of industry is like the health department stuff, you know, especially when we think about piercing, like it. There's just things you have to do and have like ready and need to be like up to par, right fully so in order to operate a clean functioning space that is like sanitary, you know? What are some of those things? So for entrepreneurs who are thinking about opening any type of similar business, what do you need to know? So I feel like, well, actually, something that I actually learned from from my first space was that when I went into my first space, I was like, well, this place is huge. Like I don't even think I'm being able to fill it. I ended up getting like walls built in there to like divide spaces and that made this space so much smaller and it limited us. So then my next space, I was like, this is going to be a totally open concept, all furniture to make like no walls, nothing permanent, like it needs to be like movable so that we can expand in this space. And then we added on, so we like added on more things like the piercing and piercing requirements at the health department are like so many, so different from the tattoo. So there was things we had to like install sink in there. So there's like different, every state is different, first of all, like every state health department has different requirements. And then every, every state even, like tattooing is different than piercing, you know what I mean? The requirements, like even though the tattooing and the micro bleeding and everything had already been functioning and was passed by the health department to add in the piercing, we then had to add in all these other layers to that would make it compliant for that. So definitely check your state requirements and see if you're going to get into piercing or going to get into tattooing or micro bleeding. And you know what I mean? You have to make sure that even the building is like compliant with, with that type of stuff. And you can like, like she said, like we had to add plumbing. You know, it's like we had to add a whole sink and figure out, hey, where's that going? But like one weird thing I felt like with the piercing in particular was like, if you want to do piercing that's like below the head or like anything else, like ideally you have a closed-end room and we have like an open concept space that we were like, well, we don't really want to like add in a room nor nor was I wanting to get it. It's like full body piercing, but regardless, it was like, you know, that was the decision that we had to then make of like, okay, we want this to be a part of the full like open concept. And so, yeah, we like need that, you know, conscious decision to like only do certain services and. So interesting. How have you decided what new services to offer or what new revenue streams to bring into the business? Um, really the clients, like whatever we, you know, we were getting like so many requests for piercings like we would get calls in her to do us offer piercing and it's like, no, we don't. And then I'm like, we need to add piercing on here. And that was the same thing with permanent jewelry, we were getting so many requests for permanent jewelry. And I was like, okay, it's time to add permanent jewelry on. So it was really just like the demand was there. And so that's when I added it on and the permanent jewelry is cool because people were asked for it. But even it's one of those services that like if you're already doing stuff and people already in there, they see it, they see your cute setup, they see the charms, the chains. And like they'll just, we get people just who are in there for micro bleeding and then are like, oh, you do permanent jewelry like, oh, okay, cool. Like I want that, you know, it is a great add on it. So I'm like, oh, I'm going to get a tattoo on here. It's like, yeah, you know, it's a lot of some people tell you that when I was younger, I just walked by a tattoo place and was like, I think I wanted to learn my lesson. And I was like, yeah, it was, yeah, it pulls head to you sometimes that does happen. But usually not. Yeah. Well, we're appointment only. So like, however, I took a walk in today, like we'll get like walkings, but like today it works out. Yeah, like my walk in today was a permanent jewelry appointment that came in, got permanent jewelry and then was like, oh, you do piercing and I just happened to be there and had time and was like, yeah, I'll do it. So like I feel like the permanent jewelry is great just like it's great to have in there. It's also great for events for us. Like we do our events at 3rd eye are just awesome. Like it's, we have such a community like Bill around just the studio and the energy and like, you know, people who haven't even got in services come to the events, there's, there's, it's always just like, I feel like speechless every time I talk about them because I always tell people I'm like, can you please text the extent of the events? Because I always see them after and I'm like, wait, I would have gone to that event. I know. But I guess everyone right now go to the show notes right now and tap the link to 3rd eye. So you see all the events that are coming up at their studio and Jupiter. But we do like fun interactive events, but and like the permanent jewelry is always like great to have there. But also it's a great off-site service that we can't do like, like I can't pierce off-site because of the health experiments that we were talking about. I can, but it's like, you got to jump through more hoops to do it. Same with tattooing. So many people want like, oh, can you come pop up and tattoo, which sounds so cool. But lily, like you need to, yeah, you need to get it like all past you, the health department get the space inspected. There's like so many requirements. As like a temporary space to tattoo. Darryl. Yeah, sorry, man. Once you started hearing from your customers that they were interested in permanent jewelry and you just heard this over and over again, how did you decide like what to do? Like, okay, we need to figure out how to do this to bring this in like what were the next steps. I feel like I'm the person like, Remy's so busy, like, she'll be like, can you look at it? Can you look into this? Yeah. She's a consultant. She's going on. Yeah. Now, especially if she comes up with an idea or like someone in this studio comes up with an idea, I'm like, okay, cool, let's do it. But like, I don't have time to actually research this. So you guys need to. You're the executive. Take it. Yeah. Yeah. So I definitely passed I think that on to you. Yeah. I think so I started, like, I went online and started researching and like, Sunstone was like the one of the first ones that I've, I mean, really permanent jewelry is a little, like, it was a little overwhelming for me initially because it's like, you learn about it. I went to YouTube so I'm watching how they're doing it. So I'm like, do we need an argon tank? What is that? What does that even do? Do we need, where do we need to get all of this jewelry from? Okay, wait, we need like, just chains, like endless links of chains, like, you know, it was just, I had, we just had never done this before. And so when I found Sunstone, it was like, here's the whole package. It was basically like, here's the, you can get the machine. It'll come with the starter chain. It came with like starter chain. It came with like, the jump rings and like, different stuff and obviously all the tools. But then it had this whole training also, which was like awesome because again, we had never really done this before. It was like, we knew we needed it, but and my mom does, our mom does a lot of the permanent jewelry. And so it was also like, okay, we're going to get this machine and this set up. And it was really kind of like the, the get started kit, like it wasn't like the top of the line machine. It was just like, what can we get to like get started and like, make sure we like, like, we know how to do it and we have the people who can do it. And so we ordered that machine, the zap and it came with, or I think it was the zap plus. And it came with, like I said, the starter chain. It came with the tools, the glasses, like, everything. And we watched the training, like my mom and I watched it. And well, she watched it and got the hang of it and then like started testing it and was like, okay, like, I think I got it. Like, you're literally just like, okay, like I think I got it. Let me just, let me try. And like, honestly, her and I just started doing a Revy would sit down and we'd be like, we would just be like, have it in the studio for a little bit and be like, okay, who wants to test it? Yeah. I think I still have my two on that. Yeah. I need to come in. I'm like, I'm the only one without the, the permanent jewelry I've got to come into third eye. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We can get my chain for sure. I know. How have you been doing the permanent jewelry for? It's been over a year. Yeah, definitely over a year. I think it's been almost two years, two years. Yeah. And it's good. It's like our traveling third eye, like, interactive piece that we can do. Like, we do like community events and local stuff and, you know, just like a lot of our clients have businesses and they like have events and stuff. And so, you know, we've done like, we've done parties. We've done like, you know, private gatherings, holiday things, community stuff. And like, that's the one thing that we can take with us and like, offer it in addition to like, booking people for like, other stuff at these events or selling our merch. But it's, it's like our, yeah. And then, like, we have it as just an open booking service on our site, too. And it's fun. It's fun. People come in. You know what I noticed? It's like, it's a really good when people are on vacation. We get a lot of like mom and daughter come in, they're on vacation down here, they googled permanent jewelry and that's how they ended up at third eye. That's awesome. Yeah. And I feel like when you're out at an event, that's great marketing for just the business because now you're just in permanent jewelry. But now people can learn about all of the other services that you've done earlier as well. Yeah. Coming up, you'll hear all about the benefits of adding a permanent jewelry offering to your business for a unique and lucrative additional revenue stream. 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Our members have access to everything we've used to grow our businesses over the past 10 plus years from in-person events to virtual events, business education, funding resources, office hours with myself and other top founders in your industry, press opportunities and access to our community platform, where you can instantly get all of your business questions answered. You can join us in the community over at refer dot entrepreneurista dot com forward slash join us that refer dot entrepreneurista dot com forward slash join us to join the community or head to the show notes right now and tap the link to join. I cannot wait to meet you. What other types of businesses do you think that doing permanent jewelry would be a great add on to for entrepreneurs that already have brick and mortar locations or maybe they have, you know, spa services or other types of businesses, like where do you think it's a good add on revenue stream service for other businesses? I mean, I think any storefront, like retail, like boutiques, um, definitely like med spa type environments, even if it's not something that you have all the time, but like, it's a fun service to offer for events or just to have maybe, yeah, even like two or three times a week someone comes in and does it or, I don't know, something like that. It's, I think it's just a fun, interactive thing for customers clients to come in and be able to do rather than just, you know, stop in and shop somewhere. It's like, oh, let's go and like do something like people like to go and like do something together. And it's a good experience. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good experience. Yeah. I feel like boutiques are really good salons. Like, if you have any kind of like hair salon, nails salon type of environment, obviously, like any cosmetic, you know, or a tattoo place, it's interesting. I mean, it's becoming more like, I feel like mainstream, but like our, our studio is like, it's like a creative studio that is like, we have tattooing and, you know, there's, um, like permanent makeup and all piercing and like all these other things that it's just like an easy to have there. It's like a no-brainer for places like that that are like female centric environments. I mean, we still, we still do get guys come in and get permanent jewelry stuff, especially at the events and stuff, but, um, but it is like, it's just like a good, girly, it's like a girl style. And it's like a little memory, you know, especially if you get it with like your best friend or sister. It's like, oh, like, you know, you guys get matching ones. Yeah. It's like a little memory that you guys have on. Like me and Coral have matching ones. All right. So here's what's gonna, here's what's about to happen in two weeks when I come coming to the studio. Yeah. You're doing Molly's ear piercing. Yeah. And we're gonna get matching and get matching bracelets. It's all happening. Yeah. It's so fun. Yeah. But like birthday parties. It's such a good, like, yeah, if, I mean, essentially, you don't even have to have a brick and mortar at all. And I think that's important about permanent jewelry is like, even if you don't have like a brick and mortar, like Remi has, you know, and you have this like, or, or you have a boutique and, like, permanent jewelry is a very low overhead, like lucrative business that you could have. And you could be just doing private party's events, weddings, bachelor's at parties. Like, I mean, really, it's like endless. Yeah. The places that you could do it at, and so many, the other thing is there's so many places that don't have services like that that would love to have you show up there on a weekend, on a Saturday, like a bar studio. Ask them if you can come and like, give them 10% or whatever, you need a mean to like, pop up there on a Saturday when they have their busiest time and go, like, make some money for yourself. This is why you are a coach and a business coach and a marketing coach because you were just full of all of the idea. So everyone is taking notes right now on all of your ideas for generating more revenue. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you can literally start an Instagram account on website. You can literally start it tomorrow, like, actually, order like the whole starter kit from Sunstone, create an Instagram, create a little website, and not even you could get like flow desk only and have like a landing page and a sign up and like, go get after it. Not easy. And I always tell people, it's never been easier to start a business. The hard part is staying in business and doing all the things that you have to do to actually run a profitable business, expand, expand, learn all the things as you're going. What have been both of your biggest learning lessons as you've been building your businesses? Oh, man, for me, yeah, you would be first. I would say just like making sure the, being authentic one and, you know, making sure that the client experience is really good. Client retention is having that good connection and, yeah, making sure everyone is feeling good. Did that answer that question? Yeah. Of course. Someone learned from you about how you have built such an incredible client experience because I feel like, in town, everyone knows third eye. Everyone talks about you guys. Everyone has been and heard about our senior services before. What have you done behind the scenes to create this incredible, beautiful experience that people have when they come see you? I think luckily I've been really grateful and blessed to like have a good team with me that we all like. And really what I was thinking is I was like, I feel like it's the people in the studio. Yeah, like thankfully we're all like very much like on the same wavelength by like everyone's super respectful and very caring about everyone's experience that comes in there. It's not like just me, like only I'm the one that cares about because it's my business. Like everyone's very like on the same page, make sure everyone like has a good experience that comes in there and because everyone's really, it's like, yeah, everyone works under third eye, but they're also, it's like you are also like your own, you know, you know, essentially. So it's important that, yeah, everyone like leaves happy and they want to come back. And then everything we do is super authentic, you know, everyone's really an artist in there. So it's like, people are gravitating obviously to the just authenticity of like liking someone's work and wanting to come back for that work. And then yeah, back end wise, just obviously caring about, you know, how everyone feels when they leave and etc. I also think everyone there is happy to be there, like the like all the artists in the team. Like, yeah, it's an enjoyable, enjoyable environment, you know, like no one's like, and I like, oh, I don't want to be here today. It's like, if you don't want to be here, then you risk out your client because you want to be 100% for everyone, you know, it's like we are doing really permit services like and it's not just like we're not just like serving you breakfast, you know, like we're doing permanent makeup, we're doing like we're doing self-permanence, yeah, you can't just like wipe it off and get home, other than obviously like the brushy thing and like premature, but still everything is very like it's everyone's appearance, you know, that we're working on so yeah, we're super caring of like everyone's time and just how they look and how they're leaving, how they're feeling so yeah, and I think that like to add to that and like to your point, it's like every like third eye has done a great job because it's kind of taken on its own like it's like its own thing of like attracting the right artists, you know, like the right team there and everyone's really good at what they do, like because they care about it and like the work outside of the studio has really spoke for itself, like you see it in like the recommendations and stuff, you know, it's like people are always like tagging third eye and recommending it and it's they're not doing that because there are friends, like they're doing it because they were there and had a really good experience and like have heard nothing but great things, you know, like you hear that all the time, but really it's just like that's the reality of the space and then I think like it is like every time people come in and they've never been and they're like oh like this is such a vibe in here, like it's so cool and chill and it's like something that doesn't really exist, you think I mean I get this a lot because piercing is typically only offered in will a either the pediatricians office when they're babies or in these like old school tattoo studios environments, like everyone feels that way when they kind of like whoa this is like such a different vibe. It's like a spa. Yeah. It's a spa experience. I think people should share, like with piercing, like they love it because it's like it's another female doing the piercing, especially if it's like kids, you know what I mean, they're just like they're like this is just such a better experience than Claire's or the doctor's office or like the grungy tattoo shop down the corner, you know, but and then like tattooing, it's like yeah, they like want to hang and want to take pictures and want to take this selfie in the mirror, you know what I mean, and like overall they're just like very like chill, it's like a very chilled out environment. Yeah, they were not playing like scream on music. Right. Right. But people love that and I think that's why they I think that's why the events do so good because they like want more time there and in community and then like friends, like so many groups of people like have all gotten different kinds of services, whether one got a piercing, one got a tattoo, one got permanent jewelry, you know, so then we like throw these events a couple times a year and there's like 200 people there and it's like all your clients, it's like all your clients and their friends and there's new people coming and there's vendors and like it's just cool, like people are just want to be a part of it, I feel like, which is like a testament to you and what you built because third eye in my mind is really like such a representation of like who you are, like in your like your life outside of third eye, like looks and feels like third eye, really, yeah, I was going to say that it starts at the top when you're like, you have the best people there. It's because of you. It's who you attract, right? If you are a kind, good human who wants to build a customer, centric environment that people love, you would attract those people who come and then everyone is like that and you build this community and that's what you've done. It's a testament to who you are and the incredible work that you've done. Thank you. Did you know you were going to be on a podcast today and everyone's just going to talk about how amazing you are? No, I don't know. I feel like I know. It feels good though. She's like, Mark, so what is your dynamic like? This is your studio, Nikki works for you, right? That's so much fun. I mean, it's definitely a better, well, from like our previous work experience together, like it's so different and it's a better setup too, but we're also like older and more mature. So, but emotionally available to have conversations where we were in 10, 12, yelling at each other then. Oh, we were totally. It was brutal. I mean, it was just, it had its ups and downs for sure. Yeah. It was just a lot. But I think now that it's like we have our own schedules, you know, it's like not like, it's not like we were like going and like sitting at a desk together all day. It's like everyone's got their own schedules in there. It's great to be able to like bounce ideas off of each other and like, but also not have that like attachment of like, who's the, who's the boss? I don't feel like I act like the boss lady at all. Do I? No. No, you're good. I don't feel like I take that role, but like, you know, yeah, like I started it and like I make, at the end of the day, like the soul decisions on things, I guess, but like it's such a team effort. It's such a collaborative environment of like, and it's needed and it's also really chill. I think everything's very just like in place and like, everyone does their thing and like does their job. And they're like in and out when they need to be. And so it's, it's a lot more chill than like, like nine to five. We're going to be in the office together type of situation, you know, I bring 10,000 ideas and Remy's like, okay, we don't have time for that. If you can execute them, you can do that, right? Yeah. Yeah. Every day is an idea. What do you wish you know, knew that you know now before you started the business? Hmm, I feel like my takeaway is like coming from running other businesses is like that. It's like not like there's like things that are everything is important, but not everything is urgent. It's like everything there has to be, I don't know, and I'm older and have kids now. But like I just think I took our last business that was like our, you know what I mean? Third eyes out my like are working together in the last business was like, so it was like everything. That was really the only thing to focus and think about. And like now that I'm like a older, I think a little wiser, you know, and like have other things in life too. It's like that balance is like important to me. Like I want flexibility and I don't want rigid schedule in that way. Like and like that you can still be successful like my idea of success was very much around the amount of time that I was sitting there doing XYZ, whatever that looked like. And like now it's like, I don't know, I feel like third eye and you building it has been like a good example that like you can have like this like super successful business and like have balance and like enjoy life, you know, and like if you have the right environment and the right team and the right people in place to be able to like help facilitate it all, then like that's totally doable. Definitely. Yeah. Not, you know, burning yourself out which can happen in any business really especially owning your own business. It's like when do you turn off, you know, and like you're constantly, tell us to have constantly work there. You know, it makes me happy. There's always something to do. Like something comes to your hand and you're like, oh, let me just go do that right now. But yeah, it's sometimes just to force yourself to let it just like put everything aside, leave the love shop at home and go to the beach. I'm like, yeah, I try and have good balance. I'm laughing at that. I'm laughing because I called Nicky with an idea a few months ago, I'm like, we have this idea for another business and then we're like, wait a second, we should not do this right now, but this is a good idea. Let's do this for another time. I love it because I'm like, I think I'm the type of person that like, it'll be like max chaos of just high, you know, like checklist and things to get done whether it's like an event or business, you know, whatever. And then like the second flow happens, I'm like, my brain's like, got another idea, let's get started. Or I just throw the LLC. Buy that domain on GoDad. Buy that. Like that's the Instagram. I know. Actually insane. I think that we just enjoy doing it so much now, you know, and it's like, you know how to start doing that. Yeah, but there's a thrill to like starting something and like seeing it. I mean, that's what I love about like coaching and consulting is like, I love the idea. So like sometimes, like I feel like I'm in consulting space because it allows me to like see other people's ideas come to life and I don't have to make my own, but like that just doesn't last long. And then I'm like, we're like onto the next thing. No, it is really exciting to see things grow. Yeah. It's like a kid. It's like, you know, a baby and watch them grow. Well, it's fun in your business. You can add on all these new things like as you're seeing the demand there. There is the opportunity to do more, but it does become hard a lot of times when we want to do absolutely everything. I want to do it right away. But there's nothing, there's nothing urgent that has to be done right now. Things can take the time. Just wait and see and then make the decision. I like believe that. And then the other thing that like devil on my shoulder is like, well, you've got this idea for a reason. Like if you don't do it, someone else will like, don't get the domain now. Like, is it trademarkable? It's only $10, but I mean, right, and yeah, I feel like so then I'm always just like, yeah, just like trying to keep busy and like keep it moving. I don't know. You never know what idea is going to be the million dollar one. I know. I know. But you're not different or I say it's like an addiction. It's like when you're just wired this way, it's just fun when you love it. It's just like, I love it. It's so fun. And people are always like aren't you tired of doing all that like, no, every day is amazing. I'm tired when I don't sleep all at night. Right. There's so many new things happening every day. So even in business right now, like with AI, right? Yeah. Everything is changing. So when you're in business, you still get to be learning every single day and like, it's so fun. You have to adapt. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. AI's side note is like blowing my mind, just like all of the things, right? Yeah. Well, let's actually, let's talk about AI and all the business tools and solutions that you both are using in the business right now. Are you the business tool solution person or is that all Nikki? Oh, yeah. No, she has a lot, but I'm like more, I was so like anti AI, like in the beginning of this year, probably. I was like, I'm not condoning. No. I'm not using this. And then I dabble in. And it's like get GPT though and start asking it some questions and now it's just integrated into like everything. I was like, oh, ask Sophie. Like Sophie's day. I hate you. Like what? So it's like, I do it. Yeah. And I use it here and there for certain things, like, you know, I don't have it like creating fully. And yeah, it's not like functioning my business or anything, but yeah, I use it here and there. She probably has more to talk about it than I do. Oh, I mean, like I like from a marketing perspective, we have work to do with that. I am just like getting more things integrated. It's a little different with a service based business like that where you're doing customer because like we said before, one of the reasons why Third Eye is so successful is because of that human connection that happens and it's art and it's personal and it's you know what I mean? So AI can be integrated in like some follow up things and things like that. But like as far as like the like wealth of AI being able to be integrated in other business models is so vast like you can just do so much as far as like content. Let me and we can use it for content creation. But like for like email follow up and like so many different things and just like everyday communication and scheduling, like you can do all of that through AI where that's a little hard to integrate because there's a lot of back and forth communication and actual artwork getting approved and needed to mean things like that with the services that are done at Third Eye. But yeah, like being able to like literally like I hate saying like replace employees because I think that it's more of a shifting of priority and like how to better utilize like the people that you have working with you and like better utilize your team to be able to take like the repeatable mundane like kind of like filler stuff and hand it off. Totally. Like it's yeah, I mean I definitely think you still need people to be managing the AI but it makes the roles that they were doing so much easier and they there's more productivity that can come down. Yeah. Yeah. So are there any other business tools and solutions that you're using in the business that you can't live without for website finance like what are all the things that you're using? I feel like our website solid. Yeah. The website we use Wix and it just has like everything that we need really integrate into it. So it's not like I have like like five different like I get water things happening. I agree. You know what? There's some Wix haters out there and I know like even probably people that send me this who do like web stuff. I've been in like I've been doing web design things for like a while and I Wix has grown so much and evolved so much over the last just like five years and really for a business like like a service based business or even just like an online business. It has like everything that you could need to like solution wise it's got like the scheduling stuff. It's got all the follow up things. It's got AI built in there. You have your landing pages funnel like you can do like everything through that. The booking the whole booking system and stuff is through there. All the forms compliant forms that have to be signed and then edited that's other like health department things like we have to like know what people are getting done and then go back into the forms and fill it out and like we can do all of that and that's what the health department goes through and looks at like you'd have to like you have to find something that does all of that and that's all built in there and it's all a way. That's amazing. It's amazing and it's so easy because it's not like you know we have like twenty different tabs open like trying to do this and that's all just right there so that's been really easy. You can find all the tools that you need that have everything in one. Yes. Totally. It's been like really solid actually. Every time we think about switching. Switching it's like well they just got this feature like that's just a year. Yeah. Don't change things that are broken. I know. You're like oh we're going to have to migrate all of this like what a that's a heavy left. Yeah. You know. Yes. Changing email service providers website. Yeah. It's like nobody wants to be doing. Oh yeah, I like wix is really good. We've used flow desk in the past or we still use flow desk for you know a little bit of email marketing which also could be done on wix but we just have had it on flow desk. Which is like you and user friendly and like fine for what we have I this is one that's one of the areas that it's like gosh it can like always be like there's always like the next best thing. You know I think of like high level and like all these other like it's probably this it's like the same with membership platforms. I know the league has got through like all that. It's a lot. It's a lot. It's so much work to change things. Right. And so you know what I think like more importantly it's just like finding the one that works for you and works for your setup and that you're able to like grow continue growing into and just like being comfortable with you know what I mean just like writing that out and like you finding the one that works for you because there's 10,000 tech solutions out there for all of everything you know community community growth you know what I mean like tech marketing, social, posting you know just like all the plot and then all the subscriptions add up. Right. So it's like oh you're spending twenty and a dollars on something but then you're spending that on 10 different things and all of a sudden you're paying hundreds or thousands of dollars a month could things be consolidated are there platforms where you can do more with with one thing something we started doing actually at entrepreneurs to through one of our team members that she was doing this in another company. She's like anytime you want to bring on another text solution or any product make sure you're evaluating at least three others before because we all at entrepreneurs we all have shiny on bricks syndrome and like oh yeah let's do that let's just switch and look at at least three different tools do a whole analysis of pricing what's involved in switching how much time is it going to take to actually switch over what could the potential results be to even evaluate which product or service to use and is even worth it is it worth the money is it worth the time? It's time. A lot of times. It's sometimes we forget. Yeah. You're like oh gosh. When you want to change an email service writer that is a no that is not just switching over to an email service writer that is a whole no you left a warm email everyone and get everything. Tell them that you tell us really like a big one. I'm working with a client right now on a switching email marketing which will be for the better but you could blow your whole email just literally like you can send out you can't just like switch email providers. If you've got a robust email list and go email 10 to 20,000 people not work that doesn't work. It'll like shut it down. It's like not cool in the ethos of email so you have to like slow roll that whole process and it has to be a little bit of time and kind of like sunset into this new provider. Yes. Like that's the whole thing. And that's why people hire you to work with you so yeah. This kind is going from like just utilizing what's in Shopify to getting clavio. Yes. And it's like dang like the capabilities of clavio are amazing. If you're using Shopify, just the way it integrates with Shopify is like game changer but it is a whole process. Yes. Yes. And it's a big learning curve. So we're on clavio now. We switched over from MailChimp and high level actually years ago into the whole process of moving everything over to clavio and there's it's a big process but there's so many capabilities in clavio. Is it clavio or clavio? I never know. I don't know. Clavio. I feel like there's so many business tools that you don't know is it Zepia or Zapier? People will say that and I'm like it's obviously Zepia because it's a Zepia. Very good point. Very good point. I remember when you remember Giff or Giff. Giff or Giff? Yeah. What is it? I don't have the answer. Yeah. Come back. Come back for the next episode. We will look it up on ChatGbT and find out. I don't know. I can just look right now here. It's a ChatGbT. Well, I have to ask both of you. What is your biggest business secret, something you've never shared with anyone before? To be your best learning lesson or just something you want everyone to know? Oh my gosh. I always feel like these questions are hard and I need like a minute, but I know. My business secret. I don't know. I feel like for me, it's like just being super authentic, just, you know, just following like you're intuition and just, yeah, being authentic with what you put out there. I feel like I'm on the same thing. It's like so much of business is technical and logistical and like, but there's this big giant part of it that's like gut instinct, I feel like you would agree that it's like, you kind of like you know when you know. Yeah. And like, if it's like, I said this before, but it's like, if it's like, not a hell yes, like it's a hell no. Yes. Absolutely. And like you, you like, you know. Yeah. I definitely, if I'm not like feeling like 100% or something, I'm like, yeah, I need some time to think about that. But also when something feels really good, you like, no, yeah, I'm like, let's go, let's go. Yeah. Yeah. What's the last big decision you guys made and we're ready to just jump in and do it. What's coming next for third eye? What do we need to know? We're too much just like, yeah, expanding on like some, yeah, piercing stuff and piercing and jewelry things, your, your, your things are happening. And yeah, like, you know, maybe a little sister brand, I don't know, what are you launching on your new brands right here right now? No. No. This is not our lunch. No, it's not our lunch yet. You know, we got to make sure trademarks are good and stuff. But we, yeah, we're like, I think we throw, I'm like an idea person for sure, total big picture thinker, I have ideas all the time. And like, I throw them out and a lot of times it's like, it's either like a, Remy's a good, you don't, you're like, um, decisions are not hidden behind like, she, I know. If I say something to her and it's like a yes, it's a yes, and if it's a no, it's a no. Oh, I'll be like, mm, she's like, I'm not sure. And then sometimes I'm like, no, hear me out, hear this full, I thought Rasa's out. Maybe a 10 year plan, but like, hear it out, um, and I feel like, like, yeah, like, it feels really good when it's like, when it's a full yes, and I feel like we're like onto some things right now. We'll see. So funny. Well, I can't wait to come in. I'm going to be there in two weeks with Molly. We're getting permanent jewelry and Molly's getting her ears pierced. Yeah. It's gonna be the best. Everyone will see it all over Instagram, right? Yes. Be sharing everywhere. We'll be sharing. We'll be tagging. We'll be collaborating. All everyone for all the services that you offer, where should everyone come find you? We'd see you plug away, Remi. Third, uh, third-eye studio.com. Yeah. We do. We're booking through our website. So. Yes. Mix it efficient. So everyone head to the show notes right now. Go follow third eye, follow Remi, follow Nikki everywhere. Thank you both so much for sharing your credible journey and story. I'm so excited to, that I get to witness it all and, and be a part of it and we can share more with the world and let's do this again soon. Yeah. Let's do it. This is fun. Yeah. It was so good. I'm Stephanie and this is the best business meeting I've ever had. Hi, Antifone says it's staff here and I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired and with some actionable tips that you can apply to your own business. The way we've grown our community and resources is by sharing content like this for years and asking for help along the way. So here's where we need your help so we can continue to make as much impact as possible together. If you can leave us a five star review and extra credit, if you share this episode on Instagram, LinkedIn or DM it to a founder friend who had benefit from hearing it. Not only would it mean the world to us, but you sharing this episode is going to help someone who just may need to hear what we shared today. And you know I love nothing more than giveaways and prizes. So every month I'll be giving away a one on one session with me to someone who has shared the episode and left a review. So send me a personal DM over on Instagram, I'm at Steph Jill Carton once you've done it so you can be entered to win, wishing you a productive week ahead and stay tuned for another impactful episode next week.