Molly Meek: Tell All 2022
DISCLAIMER: This blog is my truth. my perspective and my opinion. This is my story, my experience, and I have every right to break my own silence
If you are clueless as to what this breaking news (really is 6 months late ya girl just need to heal is silence and process the second half of the year) is regarding, let me unfortunately catch you up to speed..
But first let's play a game of "Never have I ever"
I'll go first.
Have you ever opened a salon? Raise your hand👋🏻
Have you ever opened said salon on your own, in the middle of a global pandemic, with no capitol, active investors, and with less than 5 figures in the bank? Raise your hand 🙋🏼♀️
Have you ever dreamt of breaking beauty industry norms by creating an open concept co working salon space where women could work along side one another as start up's, opening their own businesses with guidance from you, your 10+ years behind the chair and all the mistakes you have made as a flawed entrepreneur?
Raise your fucking hand🙋🏼♀️
Have you ever hired (and when I say hired I mean leased a space/chair and were legally obligated to provide the bare minimum, keep the lights on & the wifi hot) artist's to work at your salon where you taught them everything you personally did to build your own brand to 6 figures for 3+ years in row?
Raise your hand🙋🏼♀️
Have you ever had a stylist not apply the things you shared so they stayed stuck, stagnant and began to blame you for the lack of results they were seeing in their own business?
Raise your hand 🙋🏼♀️
Now, let's remove the salon aspect as I know if you are an entrepreneur/ and or woman period you can probably relate to fragments of this story
Have you ever worked with a best friend before?
Have your best friend convos bleed into business discussions?
Have those convos ever been shared behind your back ?(I'm talking saved voice memos shared)
Have you ever vented (let's call it what it's called, talked shit) to your mom, boyfriend or other friends about work and other relationships before?
When you were upset, frustrated, and overwhelmed from being outcasted by the entire said friend group for months?
I thought so.🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️🙋🏼♀️
That sister wound runs deep for us all.
And it often leads to colluding (sometimes in your own building of business) and gossip, that I even at times took part in.. and at other times was the topic of conversation as an entire group planned a walk out on me early summer, with no notice, though they were all in lease agreement's for months to come?🙋🏼♀️
Gossip is like glitter, you can never really clean it up. Trust me I've tried. Dawn dish soap taste's like pine-sol smells. Promise.
Have you ever had said friends take screenshots of said convo's off an iPad that belonged to you and was used for music and checking out retail at the front desk?
Oh no? I have. 🙋🏼♀️ That was fun.
They even sent said screenshots to the salon, old colleges of mine in the industry, share on their stories- publicly (and privately with dozens of cosmetology students) trying to ruin my name, brand, and business.
Have you ever had state board called on your salon?
Whom then came out to "investigate" an anonymous tip that your salon was not up to code... only to pass my salon with flying colors, compliment it a dozen times for how clean and easy routine inspections are as they apologize to me repeatedly for wasting my time and express that tips like this usually come from past employee/renters and not to worry about it
Yeah, unfortunately, I have. 🙋🏼♀️
I've experienced all these things and more, WAY more, this year while almost 2 years in to opening my current salon
I however take full responsibility for "the shit talking" as I am human and will forever vent to my people (I will just choose my circle more wisely) when I am struggling, needing advice, and trying to navigate life as someone who wears multiple hats...trying to run a business with the same structure and model as a corporate salon suite, as a one woman show
I also take responsibility for letting there be such a gray area when it comes to friendships and colleges.
As a way maker in the beauty industry I pride myself in not following the rules, and creating such a unique environment for women to start their own business in, with a mentor (not a friend, lesson learned) and hella benefits you won't find in corporate salon America.
This is only a glimpse of my experience, which I will probably never share more of. This feel suffice.
I was done sitting it silence, sacred to speak my truth for blow back, more slander on socials, more rumors, more "psstt. did you hear Molly's whole salon walked out on her?!"
Let this set the record straight.
No one walked anywhere, as I spent months trying to compromise (being entirely too generous with the numbers & lawyers told me I was crazy with my offers) contracts they were all in.
A couple negotiations were made fortunately, 1 was never in a contract to begin with, so along with the rest of their contracts the others were dissolved the moment I felt so personally violated by the screenshooting of conversations (and even my nudes- you read that right) off my personal iPad.
Note to self, and all salon owners- have a separate iCloud account for your business (rookie ass mistake)
If that would have happened in Corporate America lawsuits would have been filed not just a harmless civil complaint.
This summer I lost my definition (at the time) of a few friends, a handful of renters as a salon owner, and a lot of fucking money. A lot.
I've spent the second half of the year, really the last qtr... I was numbed by the pain for months and in shock by everything that happened and everything that I lost.. and everything I was to them during the process, the villain.
I'll never know as I wasn't given answers & I have no intentions of speaking to any of them ever again.. but I think I was villianized in their stories for not fixing problems I either never knew existed, or wasnt aware of how much they mattered ..
I think I was also villianized by my own doing of oversharing and letting them see EVERY behind the scenes of my life, business and hot fucking mess as I navigating operations of that magnitude for the first time, draining my savings and balling on a budget during the whole process as the sole owner, manager, maintenance team, and marketing specialist
I think a lot of people in the beauty industry see salon owners or successful artist, the lifestyle, and the sales reports and of course want it for themselves. But they don't want to put in the years, the effort, the screen time, the late nights, the missed events, the negative bank account days, to see it through.
Artist's want what takes most 5-10 years in 12 months. If only.
I do believe in cheat codes, and mentors...
But we can only lead the horse to water, we can't make them drink sis.
So sip sip.
In closing
A letter to every stylist's I've ever hired:
I am sorry for not being clear on my expectations.
I am sorry for not living up to your expectations of me.
I am sorry for being your friend.
I am sorry for blurintg the lines and treating you like family.
I am sorry for oversharing my business practices with you.
I am sorry for not having better systems in place during my first year open.
I am sorry for making your feel like you couldn't bring problems directly to me.
I am sorry for anything I may have said to you, or another that was hurtful.
Things I am not sorry for:
Unknowingly teaching you how to run your own business as I hear you're crushing it on your own
Teaching you an upgraded skill set that increased your revenue by doubling or tripling your numbers.
Showing you that thoughts really do become things + just how real manifesting is.
The power of social media, and how potent it is when used for business.
A letter to the friend I never imagined calling a stranger:
I truly wish you, your loved ones, and business nothing but success. You cross my mind often, and I still stop to read your horoscopes but just stopped the habit of hitting the arrow + send. Maybe we will meet again in another karmic life. Until then I love you & I'm sorry.
To the public, thanks for coming to my ted talk on how toxic the beauty industry really can me.
It's me, HI! I'm the problem - it's me.
Part 2 Coming Soon & this sequel is about me & getting mines as a prelude to 2023 👀👀
Talk soon sis,
Molls.